gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Nonthermal aftertreatment of diesel engine exhaust (1995)

The ultimate objective of this work has been to develop a nonthermal plasma process to reduce NO{sub x} in diesel exhaust gas. A secondary objective has been to study the possibility of particulate matter (soot) reduction by the same technique. The early work revealed a fundamental difficulty with this NO{sub x} reduction approach in the gas environment of the diesel engine exhaust. These observations necessitated a thorough study of the unfavorable chemistry in the hope that knowledge of the chemical mechanism would offer an opportunity to make the approach useful for NO{sub x} reduction. Whereas fundamental understanding of the mechanism has been obtained, the authors have not found any measure that would make the approach meet its original objective.
Molecular Insights Into the Evolutionary Pathway of Vibrio cholerae O1 Atypical El Tor Variants (2014)

Pandemic V. cholerae strains in the O1 serogroup have 2 biotypes: classical and El Tor. The classical biotype strains of the sixth pandemic, which encode the classical type cholera toxin (CT), have been replaced by El Tor biotype strains of the seventh pandemic. The prototype El Tor strains that produce biotype-specific cholera toxin are being replaced by atypical El Tor variants that harbor classical cholera toxin. Atypical El Tor strains are categorized into 2 groups, Wave 2 and Wave 3 strains, based on genomic variations and the CTX phage that they harbor. Whole-genome analysis of V. cholerae strains in the seventh cholera pandemic has demonstrated gradual changes in the genome of prototype and atypical El Tor strains, indicating that atypical strains arose from the prototype strains by replacing the CTX phages. We examined the molecular mechanisms that effected the emergence of El Tor strains with classical cholera toxin-carrying phage. We isolated an intermediary V. cholerae strain that carried two different CTX phages that encode El Tor and classical cholera toxin, respectively. We show here that the intermediary strain can be converted into various Wave 2 strains and can act as the source of the novel mosaic CTX phages. These results imply that the Wave 2 and Wave 3 strains may have been generated from such intermediary strains in nature. Prototype El Tor strains can become Wave 3 strains by excision of CTX-1 and re-equipping with the new CTX phages. Our data suggest that inter-chromosomal recombination between 2 types of CTX phages is possible when a host bacterial cell is infected by multiple CTX phages. Our study also provides molecular insights into population changes in V. cholerae in the absence of significant changes to the genome but by replacement of the CTX prophage that they harbor.
ACOUSTIC EMISSION MONITORING OF IN-SERVICE BRIDGES. INTERIM REPORT (1987)

An experimental acoustic emission (AE) device, the GARD Acoustic Emission Weld Monitor (AEWM), has been field tested on six bridges during this study. In addition, the device was used to test three other bridges under separate contracts from state highway agencies. The device was evaluated to determine if it could detect fatigue-crack growth on in-service steel bridges. The AEWM employs a proprietary three-step model (filter) to reject noise-related AE activity and detect and locate defects subject to varying stress conditions. The unit uses built-in microprocessors to compare incoming data to the model. If defect-related AE activity is detected, the AEWM will notify the operator and locate the defect in relation to AE sensors placed on the test specimen. The device rejects high background noise rates typical of bridges and detects and locates AE activity from known defects such as cracks and subsurface flaws. The AEWM functioned properly in every field test situation to which it was applied. The device has demonstrated capability to perform AE tests on in-service bridges. It may be used to detect hidden defects or to assist in making repair decisions concerning detected discontinuities. The AEWM and AE testing have the potential for low-cost inspection of critical bridge members.
Characterization, detection, and supression of stationary grids in digital projection radiography imagery (1999)

Antiscatter grids are commonly used in projection radiography to reduce scattered x-rays and improve image contrast and signal-to noise ratio. In digital radiography, because of spatial sampling, stationary girds usually cause aliasing and sometimes result in moire patterns. We investigated the impact of stationary grids in computed radiography (CR) for images viewed both on film and soft- copy display devices. First, the relationship of various grid factors as they relate to the problem of aliasing and moire artifacts is presented, as well as recommendations of grid usage with CR systems. Next, because ultimately one would like the freedom to use nay grid configuration with their digital imaging system, we present an automated image processing method to detect and adaptively suppress the grid to reduce aliasing artifacts.
Chronic high dose transdermal nicotine in Parkinson's disease: an open trial (2007)

Whether nicotine has therapeutic effects on Parkinson's disease (PD) symptoms is controversial, but high doses and chronic treatment have never been tested. We report the results of a pilot, open-label trial to assess the safety and possible efficacy of chronic high doses of nicotine. Six patients with advanced idiopathic PD received increasing daily doses of transdermal nicotine up to 105 mg/day over 17 weeks. All patients but one accepted the target dose. Nausea and vomiting were frequent but moderate, and occurred in most of the patients (four of six) who received over 90 mg/day and 14 weeks of nicotine treatment. During the plateau phase, patients improved their motor scores and dopaminergic treatment was reduced. These results confirm the feasibility of chronic high dose nicotinic treatment in PD but warrant validation of the beneficial effects by a randomized controlled trial.
Muscarinic receptor subtypes in human iris-ciliary body measured by immunoprecipitation. (1997)

The m3 subtype is the predominant muscarinic receptor in the anterior segment of the human eye. The extensive heterogeneity of muscarinic receptors makes it difficult to predict whether subtype-selective drugs will have an improved efficacy and side-effect profile.
Design of a Digital Optical Tomography System for Dynamic Breast Imaging (2008)

We present the design of an optical breast imaging system, which is, unlike currently available analog instrumentation, based on digital conversion, processing, and filtering techniques. The system consists of 128 silicon photodiode detectors, 64 excitation points, and 4 near-infrared laser diodes. We provide detailed insight into signal conditioning, timing and light delivery to achieve robust and dynamic imaging.
Mode-selective magnetostatic wave resonator (1989)

A novel magnetostatic wave (MSW) resonator, based on yttrium iron garnet (YIG) epilayers, which has been designed for selective excitation of a desired higher-order resonant mode and contemporary suppression of all the other modes, is presented.
Stable Hybrid Silica Nanosieve Membranes for the Dehydration of Lower Alcohols (2009)

A thirst for water: Organic-inorganic hybrid silica nanosieve membranes with narrow pore size distributions were developed for the separation of binary (bio)alcohol/water mixtures, for example, to remove water from wet biofuels during production. These membranes dehydrate lower alcohols and show a stable performance in the presence of significant amounts of acetic acid.
Synthesis of (−)-Picrotoxinin by Late-Stage Strong Bond Activation (2020)

We report a concise, stereocontrolled synthesis of the neurotoxic sesquiterpenoid (-)-picrotoxinin (<b>1</b>, PXN). The brevity of the route is due to regio- and stereoselective formation of the [4.3.0] bicyclic core by incorporation of a symmetrizing geminal dimethyl group at C5. Dimethylation then enables selective C-O bond formation in multiple intermediates. A series of strong bond (C-C and C-H) cleavages convert the C5 <i>gem</i>-dimethyl group to the C15 lactone of PXN.
Automatic absolute frequency calibration of tunable optical sources (2002)

We demonstrate a procedure that can be used to automatically calibrate the optical frequency of DFB MQW tunable semiconductor laser optical sources by measuring and recognizing the absorption pattern of a reference optical filter such as a gas cell.
Rational Drug Design Leading to the Identification of a Potent 5-HT<sub>2C</sub> Agonist Lacking 5-HT<sub>2B</sub> Activity (2011)

The 5-HT(2C) receptor is an attractive drug target in the quest for new therapeutics to treat a variety of human disorders. We have previously undertaken a structural optimization campaign that has led to some potent and moderately selective 5-HT(2C) receptor agonists. After expanding our structure-function library, we were able to combine our datasets so as to allow the design of compounds of improved selectivity and potency. We disclose herein the structural optimization of our previously reported 5-HT(2B)/5-HT(2C) agonists, which has led to the identification of a highly selective 5-HT(2C) agonist, (+)-trans-[2-(2-cyclopropylmethoxyphenyl)cyclopropyl]methylamine hydrochloride, with an EC(50) of 55 nM and no detectable agonism at the 5-HT(2B) receptor.
A proline‐to‐histidine mutation in <i>POU1F1</i> is associated with production traits in dairy cattle (2008)

POU class 1 homeobox 1 (POU1F1) is a member of the tissue-specific POU-containing transcription factor family. The expression of POU1F1 in mammalian pituitary gland controls the transcription of the genes encoding growth hormone, prolactin (PRL) and the subunits of thyroid-stimulating hormone. In addition, some genes in the JAK/STAT signalling pathway downstream of POU1F1 have been shown to be associated with different production traits in dairy cattle. To investigate whether the POU1F1 gene is associated with economically important traits in dairy cattle, a pooled DNA sequencing approach was used to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the gene. An SNP in exon 3 of POU1F1 that changes a proline to a histidine was identified. A total of 2141 individuals from two North American Holstein cattle resource populations were genotyped for this SNP using a modified PCR-RFLP method. Statistical analyses revealed significant association of POU1F1 variants with milk yield and productive life, which makes POU1F1 a possible candidate for marker-assisted selection in dairy cattle breeding programmes.
Notable (1999)

This paper describes Notable, an annotation system for networked handheld devices. Notable's key features are its separation of the annotation platform from the reading platform and its use of search to link annotations and documents. We outline the scenario that inspired this system, then describe its interaction design, architecture, and prototype implementation.
Zinc-Iron Flow Batteries with Common Electrolyte (2017)

The feasibility of zinc-iron flow batteries using mixed metal ions in mildly acidic chloride electrolytes was investigated. Iron electrodeposition is strongly inhibited in the presence of Zn2+ and so the deposition and stripping processes at the negative electrode approximate those of normal zinc electrodes. In addition, the zinc ions have no significant effect on the Fe(II/III) couple at the positive electrode. This enables the use of mixed Zn-Fe electrolytes and microporous separators in place of expensive ion-exchange membranes. Considering the low-cost materials and simple design, zinc-iron chloride flow batteries represent a promising new approach in grid-scale energy storage. The preferential deposition of zinc occurs with similar behavior on titanium, graphite and glassy carbon substrates. A proof-of-concept zinc-iron chloride battery starting with mixed electrolytes was demonstrated and maintains a consistent open-circuit voltage of about 1.5 V and stable performance during over 10 days and 100 cycles of continuous charge-discharge cycling.
Single-End Adaptive Optics Compensation for Emulated Turbulence in a Bi-Directional 10-Mbit/s per Channel Free-Space Quantum Communication Link Using Orbital-Angular-Momentum Encoding (2019)

A single-end adaptive-optics (AO) module is experimentally demonstrated to mitigate the emulated atmospheric turbulence effects in a bi-directional quantum communication link, which employs orbital angular momentum (OAM) for data encoding. A classical Gaussian beam is used as a probe to detect the turbulence-induced wavefront distortion in the forward direction of the link. Based on the detected wavefront distortion, an AO system located on one end of the link is used to simultaneously compensate for the forward and backward channels. Specifically, with emulated turbulence and when the probe is turned on, the mode purity of photons carrying OAM <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mi mathvariant="script">l</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">1</mml:mn></mml:math> is improved by ~ 21 % with AO mitigation. We also measured the performance when encoding data using OAM <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"><mml:mo stretchy="false">{</mml:mo><mml:mi mathvariant="script">l</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">1</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mo>+</mml:mo><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">2</mml:mn><mml:mo stretchy="false">}</mml:mo></mml:math> and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"><mml:mo stretchy="false">{</mml:mo><mml:mi mathvariant="script">l</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mo>-</mml:mo><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">2</mml:mn><mml:mo>,</mml:mo><mml:mo>+</mml:mo><mml:mn mathvariant="normal">1</mml:mn><mml:mo stretchy="false">}</mml:mo></mml:math> in the forward and backward channels, respectively, at 10 Mbit/s per channel with one photon per pulse on average. For this case, we found that the AO system could reduce the turbulence effects increased quantum-symbol-error-rate (QSER) by ~ 76 % and ~ 74 %, for both channels in the uni-directional and bi-directional cases, respectively. Similar QSER improvement is observed for the opposite direction channels in the bi-directional case.
Development and application of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the quantitation of alternative complement pathway activation in human serum. (1984)

We have developed a new, specific, and highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) which quantitates activation of the alternative pathway in human serum, plasma, or on the surface of activators. The ELISA detects the third component of complement (C3b), proteolytic fragment of complement Factor B (Bb), and properdin (P) complex or its derivative product, C3b,P. In the method, activator-plasma mixtures, plasma containing an activated alternative pathway, or other samples are added to the wells of microtitration plates precoated with antibody to P. C3b, Bb,P or C3b,P complexes which become bound are quantitated by subsequently added, enzyme-labeled, anti-C3. The resulting hydrolysis of the chromogenic substrate is expressed as nanograms of C3b by reference to a C3 standard curve. In addition to absolute specificity for activation of the pathway because of the nature of the complex detected by the assay, the ELISA is highly sensitive and able to reproducibly detect 10-20 ng/ml of C3b,P complexes in serum. This value corresponds to 0.0015% of the C3 in serum. In a series of studies to validate the parameters of the ELISA, reactivity was found to be dependent on the presence of alternative pathway proteins, the functional integrity of the pathway, and on the presence of magnesium. Sheep erythrocytes were converted to activators by treatment with neuraminidase. By using a variety of activators, the kinetics of activation and the numbers of bound C3b molecules quantitated by the ELISA were very similar to those measured by C3b deposition. The ELISA also detected identical activation kinetics when MgEGTA-serum and a mixture of the purified alternative pathway proteins were used as sources of the pathway. ELISA reaction kinetics also correlated with the restriction index, a measure of alternative pathway-activating ability. These studies cumulatively validate the ELISA as a direct and quantitative assay for alternative pathway activation. The sensitivity of the ELISA has permitted its use to detect direct alternative pathway activation by several viruses. The ELISA has also shown that certain classical pathway activators trigger the amplification loop of the alternative pathway while others do not. In addition, stable ELISA reactive complexes appeared in the supernatant of mixtures of serum with certain, but not other activators. The ability of the ELISA to detect activation which has already occurred and the stability of the reactive complexes permits studies of clinical sera. Normal human sera (20) contained low levels (5-20 ng/ml) of ELISA-reactive complexes. A proportion of sera from individuals with the adult respiratory distress syndrome (9-10), typhoid fever (8-10), malaria (3-5), gram-negative sepsis (9 of 47), acute trauma and shock (6 f 25), and systemic lupus erythematosus (3 of 29) showed elevated levels of complexes reactive in the alternative pathway ELISA. In contrast, nine sera from patients with circulating C3 nephritic factor were not reactive in the ELISA.
Evaluation of the accuracy ofthermal dissociation CRDS and LIF techniques for atmospheric measurement of reactive nitrogen species (2016)

Abstract. The sum of all reactive nitrogen species (NOy) includes NOx (NO2 + NO) and all of its oxidized forms, and the accurate detection of NOy is critical to understanding atmospheric nitrogen chemistry. Thermal dissociation (TD) inlets, which convert NOy to NO2 followed by NO2 detection, are frequently used in conjunction with techniques such as laser induced fluorescence (LIF) and cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS) to measure total NOy when set at > 600 °C, or speciated NOy when set at intermediate temperatures. We report the conversion efficiency of known amounts of several representative NOy species to NO2 in our TD-CRDS instrument, under a variety of experimental conditions. We find that the conversion efficiency of HNO3 is highly sensitive to the flow rate and the residence time through the TD inlet, as well as the presence of other species that may be present during ambient sampling, such as ozone (O3). Conversion of HNO3 at 400 °C, nominally the set point used to selectively convert organic nitrates, can range from 2–6 % and may represent an interference in measurement of organic nitrates under some conditions. The conversion efficiency is strongly dependent on the operating characteristics of individual quartz ovens, and should be well calibrated prior to use in field sampling. We demonstrate quantitative conversion of both gas phase N2O5 and particulate ammonium nitrate in the TD inlet at 650 °C, the temperature normally used for conversion of HNO3. N2O5 has two thermal dissociation steps, one at low temperature representing dissociation to NO2 and NO3, and one at high temperature representing dissociation of NO3, which produces exclusively NO2 and not NO. We also find a significant interference from partial conversion (5–10 %) of NH3 to NO at 650 °C in the presence of representative (50 ppbv) levels of O3 in dry zero air. Although this interference appears to be suppressed when sampling ambient air, we nevertheless recommend regular characterization of this interference using standard additions of NH3 to TD instruments that convert reactive nitrogen to NO or NO2.
Evaluation of Methylation Biomarkers for Detection of Circulating Tumor DNA and Application to Colorectal Cancer (2016)

Solid tumors shed DNA into circulation, and there is growing evidence that the detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has broad clinical utility, including monitoring of disease, prognosis, response to chemotherapy and tracking tumor heterogeneity. The appearance of ctDNA in the circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA) isolated from plasma or serum is commonly detected by identifying tumor-specific features such as insertions, deletions, mutations and/or aberrant methylation. Methylation is a normal cell regulatory event, and since the majority of ccfDNA is derived from white blood cells (WBC), it is important that tumour-specific DNA methylation markers show rare to no methylation events in WBC DNA. We have used a novel approach for assessment of low levels of DNA methylation in WBC DNA. DNA methylation in 29 previously identified regions (residing in 17 genes) was analyzed in WBC DNA and eight differentially-methylated regions (DMRs) were taken through to testing in clinical samples using methylation specific PCR assays. DMRs residing in four genes, <i>BCAT1</i>, <i>GRASP</i>, <i>IKZF1</i> and <i>IRF4</i>, exhibited low positivity, 3.5% to 7%, in the plasma of colonoscopy-confirmed healthy subjects, with the sensitivity for detection of ctDNA in colonoscopy-confirmed patients with colorectal cancer being 65%, 54.5%, 67.6% and 59% respectively.
Etchless fabrication of photonic crystals in silicon (2002)

We present a method for fabricating two-dimensional photonic crystal structures in high index materials, including amorphous silicon. The method is a two-step process, in which a perforated polymer membrane is first created using multilayer electron beam lithography, and then a high index material is deposited by sputtering. The result is a suspended dielectric slab with an array of holes, which acts as a planar photonic crystal. We present the fabrication process and structures realized with this method.
STT-MRAM with double magnetic tunnel junctions (2015)

We report switching performance of perpendicularly magnetized Spin-Transfer Torque MRAM (STT-MRAM) devices with double tunnel barriers and two reference layers. We show that stacks with double tunnel barriers improve the switching efficiency (Eb/Ic0) by 2x, when compared to similar stacks with a single tunnel barrier. Switching efficiency up to 10 kBT/uA was observed in single devices. A large operating window, Vbreakdown-Vc10ns ∼ 0.7 V was achieved for 40nm devices, compared to 0.2V in single tunnel barrier devices.
Comparison of Recombinant Immunotoxins against Le<sup>Y</sup> Antigen Expressing Tumor Cells:  Influence of Affinity, Size, and Stability (1998)

Monoclonal antibody B3 (MAb B3) reacts with many epithelial cancers. It recognizes a carbohydrate antigen (Ley) which is expressed in a variety of solid tumors including breast and colon. We have used the Fab portion of MAb B3 and a portion of the constant domain of human IgG1 to make recombinant immunotoxins of different compositions. The toxin component employed is a truncated form of Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE38). The light chain or Fd of the antibody was cloned from hybridoma RNA and fused to PE38. Immunotoxin (IT) was then expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein and refolded with either the Fd or the light chain. We have also made B3(Fab) immunotoxins of different sizes ranging 85-140 kDa, by introducing different portions of the constant domain of human IgG1 at the junction of Fd and PE38 fusion site. We compared the properties of the resulting immunotoxins with existing anti-Ley immunotoxins side by side. All recombinant Fab-immunotoxins made in this study were cytotoxic to antigen-positive cancer cell lines. However, in contrast to the B3(scFv) immunotoxin, the B3(Fab) immunotoxins are very stable, retaining 90% of their activity after 24 h of incubation in human serum albumin at 37 degreesC. A pharmacokinetics study with these immunotoxin molecules showed a longer survival in the circulation of mice compared to the smaller Fv immunotoxins. The smaller size of the Fab immunotoxins compared to B3Lys-PE38 and the increased T1/2 value compared to B3(scFv)-PE38 and B3(dsFv)-PE38 make these recombinant immunotoxins alternative therapeutic agents to treat Ley antigen positive cancers.