gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Fetal genome profiling at 5 weeks of gestation after noninvasive isolation of trophoblast cells from the endocervical canal (2016)

Single-gene mutations account for more than 6000 diseases, 10% of all pediatric hospital admissions, and 20% of infant deaths. Down syndrome and other aneuploidies occur in more than 0.2% of births worldwide and are on the rise because of advanced reproductive age. Birth defects of genetic origin can be diagnosed in utero after invasive extraction of fetal tissues. Noninvasive testing with circulating cell-free fetal DNA is limited by a low fetal DNA fraction. Both modalities are unavailable until the end of the first trimester. We have isolated intact trophoblast cells from Papanicolaou smears collected noninvasively at 5 to 19 weeks of gestation for next-generation sequencing of fetal DNA. Consecutive matched maternal, placental, and fetal samples (n = 20) were profiled by multiplex targeted DNA sequencing of 59 short tandem repeat and 94 single-nucleotide variant sites across all 24 chromosomes. The data revealed fetal DNA fractions of 85 to 99.9%, with 100% correct fetal haplotyping. This noninvasive platform has the potential to provide comprehensive fetal genomic profiling as early as 5 weeks of gestation.
Effect of propionyl-<scp>l</scp>-carnitine,<scp>l</scp>-arginine and nicotinic acid on the efficacy of vardenafil in the treatment of erectile dysfunction in diabetes (2009)

Although there was a small number of subjects in this study the data suggest that the test formulation may improve the endothelial situation in diabetes. The test formulation together with vardenafil was better than the 5PDE inhibitor alone, but further studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Leptin: A Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease (2009)

Adipocyte-derived leptin appears to regulate a number of features defining Alzheimer's disease (AD) at the molecular and physiological level. Leptin has been shown to reduce the amount of extracellular amyloid beta, both in cell culture and animal models, as well as to reduce tau phosphorylation in neuronal cells. Importantly, chronic administration of leptin resulted in a significant improvement in the cognitive performance of transgenic animal models. In AD, weight loss often precedes the onset of dementia and the level of circulating leptin is inversely proportional to the severity of cognitive decline. It is speculated that a deficiency in leptin levels or function may contribute to systemic and CNS abnormalities leading to disease progression. Furthermore, a leptin deficiency may aggravate insulin-controlled pathways, known to be aberrant in AD. These observations suggest that a leptin replacement therapy may be beneficial for these patients.
Calibration methods for silicon nanowire BioFETs (2014)

Nanowire Field Effect Transistors have emerged as a promising technology for point-of-care application. However, their application as quantitative sensors has not been well explored. In this work we propose a calibration scheme for multiplexed nanoribbon field effect sensors by utilizing the initial current rate rather than the end point detection. A linear response of nanosensors is observed in medically relevant range of analyte concentration. Moreover, we are able to show that top-down fabrication technique yields reproducible result and devices with uniform electrical characteristics. In addition, we demonstrate that device calibration can be done by using either baseline current or device transconductance normalization.
Emission of Coherent THz Radiation from Superconductors (2007)

Compact solid-state sources of terahertz (THz) radiation are being sought for sensing, imaging, and spectroscopy applications across the physical and biological sciences. We demonstrate that coherent continuous-wave THz radiation of sizable power can be extracted from intrinsic Josephson junctions in the layered high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8. In analogy to a laser cavity, the excitation of an electromagnetic cavity resonance inside the sample generates a macroscopic coherent state in which a large number of junctions are synchronized to oscillate in phase. The emission power is found to increase as the square of the number of junctions reaching values of 0.5 microwatt at frequencies up to 0.85 THz, and persists up to approximately 50 kelvin. These results should stimulate the development of superconducting compact sources of THz radiation.
Motion correction using coil arrays (MOCCA) for free‐breathing cardiac cine MRI (2011)

In this study, we present a motion correction technique using coil arrays (MOCCA) and evaluate its application in free-breathing respiratory self-gated cine MRI. Motion correction technique using coil arrays takes advantages of the fact that motion-induced changes in k-space signal are modulated by individual coil sensitivity profiles. In the proposed implementation of motion correction technique using coil arrays self-gating for free-breathing cine MRI, the k-space center line is acquired at the beginning of each k-space segment for each cardiac cycle with 4 repetitions. For each k-space segment, the k-space center line acquired immediately before was used to select one of the 4 acquired repetitions to be included in the final self-gated cine image by calculating the cross correlation between the k-space center line with a reference line. The proposed method was tested on a cohort of healthy adult subjects for subjective image quality and objective blood-myocardium border sharpness. The method was also tested on a cohort of patients to compare the left and right ventricular volumes and ejection fraction measurements with that of standard breath-hold cine MRI. Our data indicate that the proposed motion correction technique using coil arrays method provides significantly improved image quality and sharpness compared with free-breathing cine without respiratory self-gating and provides similar volume measurements compared with breath-hold cine MRI.
Principle and validation of digital driving for active matrix organic light emitting diodes displays (2014)

Abstract The feasibility of digital driving has been investigated, which may be an enabling technology for low‐cost, power‐efficient and high‐quality active matrix organic light emitting diodes displays (AMOLED displays). The theoretical requirements therefore are analyzed. Methods for avoiding imaging artifacts are proposed. Results based on two prototypes are presented showing that digital drive is feasible for state‐of‐the‐art manufacturing technology with comparable image quality to analog‐driven AMOLED displays but at lower power consumption and lower production cost.
Chlamydia vaccine candidates and tools for chlamydial antigen discovery (2009)

The failure of the inactivated Chlamydia-based vaccine trials in the 1960s has led researchers studying Chlamydia to take cautious and rational approaches to develop safe and effective chlamydial vaccines. Subsequent research efforts focused on three areas. The first is the analysis of the immunobiology of chlamydial infection in animal models, with supporting clinical studies, to identify the immune correlates of both protective immunity and pathological responses. Second, recent radical improvements in genomics, proteomics and associated technologies have assisted in the implementation of creative approaches to search for suitable vaccine candidates. Third, progress in the analysis of host response and adjuvanticity regulating both innate and adaptive immunity at the mucosal site of infection has led to progress in the design of optimal delivery and adjuvant systems for enhancing protective immunity. Considerable progress has been made in the first two areas but research efforts to better define the factors that regulate immunity at mucosal sites of infection and to develop strategies to boost protective immunity via immunomodulation, effective delivery systems and potent adjuvants, have remained elusive. In this article, we will summarize progress in these areas with a focus on chlamydial vaccine antigen discovery, and discuss future directions towards the development of a safe and effective chlamydial vaccine.
Comparison of integrated gas cleanup technologies for gasification-based energy systems (2006)

The enzyme activities of creatine kinase (CK), its isoenzyme MB (CK-MB) and of lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme 1 (LD-1) have been used for years in diagnosing patients with chest pain in order to differentiate patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) from non-AMI patients. These methods are easy to perform as automated analyses, but they are not specific for cardiac muscle damage. During the early 90's the situation changed. First creatine kinase MB mass (CK-MB mass) replaced the measurement of CK-MB activity. Subsequently cardiac-specific proteins troponin T (cTnT) and troponin I (cTnI) appeared on the scene, displacing LD-1 analysis. However, troponin concentrations in blood increase only from four to six hours after onset of chest pain. Therefore a rapid marker such as myoglobin, fatty acid binding protein or glycogen phosphorylase BB could be used in early diagnosis of AMI. On the other hand, CK-MB isoforms alone may also be useful in rapid diagnosis of cardiac muscle damage. Myoglobin, CK-MB mass, cTnT and cTnI are nowadays widely used in diagnosing patients with acute chest pain. Myoglobin is not cardiac-specific and therefore requires supplementation with some other analyses such as troponins to support the myoglobin value. Troponins are very highly cardiac-specific. Only the sera of some patients with severe renal failure, which requires hemodialysis, have elevated cTnT and/or cTnI without there being any evidence of cardiac damage. On the other hand, the latest studies have shown that elevated troponin levels in sera of hemodialysis patients point to an increased risk of future cardiac events in a similar manner to the elevated troponin values in sera of patients with unstable angina pectoris. In addition, the bedside tests for cTnT and cTnI alone or together with myoglobin and CK-MB mass can be used instead of quantitative analyses in the diagnosis of patients with chest pain. These rapid tests are easy to perform and they do not require expensive instrumentation. For routine clinical laboratory practice we suggest that in diagnosis of patients with chest pain, myoglobin and CK-MB mass measurements should be performed whenever they are requested (24 h/day) and cTnT or cTnI on admission to the hospital and then 4-6 and 12 hours later.
In Ovo Sexing of Domestic Chicken Eggs by Raman Spectroscopy (2016)

Male birds of egg-laying hen strains have no commercial value and are culled immediately after hatching, raising concerns for animal welfare. Existing experimental methods for in ovo sexing require taking samples and are applicable after embryos' sexual differentiation. We demonstrate that Raman spectroscopy enables contactless in ovo sex determination of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus f. dom.) already at day 3.5 of egg incubation. A sexing accuracy of 90% was obtained by analyzing the spectra of blood circulating in the extraembryonic vessels. The measurement is damage-free and barely affects the hatching rate. Sex recognition is achieved before the onset of sensitivity. Therefore, Raman spectroscopy provides an alternative to the culling of 1-day-old male chicks in laying hen production.
Microphone Detects Boiler-Tube Leaks (1985)

Unit simple, sensitive, rugged, and reliable. Diaphragmless microphone detects leaks from small boiler tubes. Porous plug retains carbon granules in tube while allowing pressure changes to penetrate to granules. Has greater life expectancy than previous controllers and used in variety of hot corrosive atmospheres.
Short Peptide Type I Interferon Mimetics: Therapeutics for Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis, Melanoma, and Viral Infections (2014)

The classical canonical model of interferon (IFN) signaling focuses solely on the activation of STAT transcription factors, which limits the model in terms of specific gene activation, associated epigenetic events, and IFN mimetic development. Accordingly, we have developed a noncanonical model of IFN signaling and report the development of short type I IFN peptide mimetic peptides based on the model. The mimetics, human IFNα1(152–189), human IFNβ(150–187), and ovine IFNτ(156–195) are derived from the C-terminus of the parent IFNs and function intracellularly based on the noncanonical model. Vaccinia virus produces a decoy IFN receptor (B18R) that inhibits type I IFN, but the IFN mimetics bypass B18R for effective antiviral activity. By contrast, both parent IFNs and mimetics inhibited vesicular stomatitis virus. The mimetics also possessed anti-tumor activity against murine melanoma B16 tumor cells in culture and in mice, including synergizing with suppressor of cytokine signaling 1 antagonist. Finally, the mimetics were potent therapeutics against experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. The mimetics lack toxic side effects of the parent IFNs and, thus, are a potent therapeutic replacement of IFNs as therapeutics.
A new current mode sine wave inverter (1980)

A new sine wave inverter topology is presented. Its current mode operation is described and its performance is compared to that of the more conventional series, or voltage mode, inverter. It is shown that higher frequency and more efficient operation is possible. A Parity Simulation of the new circuit is performed and parametric operating data is presented in a form useful for design purposes. The simulation results are verified on a 250 W, 10–20 kHz hardware version of the current mode sine wave inverter.
A DC-blocking dielectric waveguide via design for high speed signaling at millimeter wave frequencies (2013)

This study presents a dielectric waveguide via design. The design serves two purposes. First, it removes the need for DC-blocking capacitors within a high speed signaling system. This is because it is free of conductors and made of dielectric materials thus inherently accomplishing DC-blocking on a signal travel route. Second, it allows for efficient via performance at millimeter wave frequencies which is harder to achieve using traditional metallic via designs. The design uses quasi-optical principles in order to make the transit between one PCB layer trace to another possible. This study presents the design guidelines for such a via along with simulations showing operation and evaluating performance.
On the electrochemical deposition of metal–organic frameworks (2016)

In this paper we study and compare the anodic and cathodic electrodeposition of Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and suggest guidelines for the electrodeposition of new MOFs with this technique. KHUST-1 was electrodeposited both anodically and cathodically and a four step mechanism is proposed to explain the anodic synthesis.
Multi-sensor observations of earthquake related atmospheric signals over major geohazard validation sites (2012)

We are conducting a scientific validation study involving multi-sensor observations in our investigation of phenomena preceding major earthquakes. Our approach is based on a systematic analysis of several atmospheric and environmental parameters, which we found, are associated with the earthquakes, namely: thermal infrared radiation, outgoing long-wavelength radiation, ionospheric electron density, and atmospheric temperature and humidity. For first time we applied this approach to selected GEOSS sites prone to earthquakes or volcanoes. This provides a new opportunity to cross validate our results with the dense networks of in-situ and space measurements. We investigated two different seismic aspects, first the sites with recent large earthquakes, viz.- Tohoku-oki (M9, 2011, Japan) and Emilia region (M5.9, 2012,N. Italy). Our retrospective analysis of satellite data has shown the presence of anomalies in the atmosphere. Second, we did a retrospective analysis to check the re-occurrence of similar anomalous behavior in atmosphere/ionosphere over three regions with distinct geological settings and high seismicity: Taiwan, Japan and Kamchatka, which include 40 major earthquakes (M>5.9) for the period of 2005-2009. We found anomalous behavior before all of these events with no false negatives; false positives were less then 10%. Our initial results suggest that multi-instrument space-borne and ground observations show a systematic appearance of atmospheric anomalies near the epicentral area that could be explained by a coupling between the observed physical parameters and earthquake preparation processes.
Whole-Spacecraft Vibration Isolation Flown on the Minotaur Launch Vehicle (2001)

Small launch vehicles present an economically viable method for placing small satellites into orbit. These launch vehicles would be even more attractive to satellite customers if they could provide a softer ride to orbit. Passive whole-spacecraft vibration isolation systems have been developed for small launch vehicles to greatly reduce the dynamic launch loads. To date, two types of isolation systems have been designed. The first is a single-axis “SoftRide” axial isolation system that provides isolation for predominantly axial loads. This type of system has been flown successfully three times on the Taurus/GFO mission in February 1998, the Taurus/STEX mission in October 1998, and the Taurus/MTI mission in March 2000. The second type of isolation system is a multi-axis device that provides vibration isolation in three axes. This type of system is needed to alleviate dynamic launch loads on the Minotaur vehicle (Figure 1). This multi-axis “SoftRide” system inserts flexibility and damping in three orthogonal axes between the launch vehicle and the satellite. The result is that dynamic launch loads with both axial and lateral components can be effectively mitigated. Additionally, these isolation systems provide extreme reductions to shock and structure-borne acoustic loads. The multi-axis isolation system is a logical extension of the single-axis system and has the same qualities of being simple, passive, small, lightweight, reliable, and highly effective. Two flights have demonstrated this new isolation system to date: these are the Minotaur/JAWSAT mission in January of 2000 and the Minotaur/MightySat mission in July 2000. Coupled loads analyses and flight telemetry data indicate that the new multi-axis vibration isolation system performed as expected and greatly reduced dynamic launch loads for the satellites. This new isolation system can be sized for any satellite and is being considered for other small and large launch vehicle missions.
β-Adrenergic receptor antagonism in mice: a model for pediatric heart disease (2013)

Children with heart failure are treated with similar medical therapy as adults with heart failure. In contrast to adults with heart failure, these treatment regiments are not associated with improved outcomes in children. Recent studies have demonstrated age-related pathophysiological differences in the molecular mechanisms of heart failure between children and adults. There are no animal models of pediatric cardiomyopathy to allow mechanistic studies. The purpose of the current experiments was to develop a mouse model of pediatric heart disease and test whether the influence of β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) antagonism could be modeled in this system. We hypothesized that isoproterenol treatment of young mice would provide a model system of cardiac pathology, and that nonselective β-AR blockade would provide benefit in adult, but not young, mice, similar to clinical trial data. We found that isoproterenol treatment (through osmotic minipump implantation) of young and adult mice produced similar degrees of cardiac hypertrophy and recapitulated several age-related molecular abnormalities in human heart failure, including phospholamban phosphorylation and β-AR expression. We also found that nonselective β-AR blockade effectively prevented pathological cardiac growth and collagen expression in the adult but not young mice, and that selective β1-AR blockade was effective in both young and adult isoproterenol-treated mice. In conclusion, we have developed the first model system for β-AR-mediated pediatric heart disease. Furthermore, we have generated novel data suggesting beneficial effects of selective β1-AR blockade in the pediatric heart.
Integrated Microfluidic and Imaging Platform for a Kinase Activity Radioassay to Analyze Minute Patient Cancer Samples (2010)

Oncogenic kinase activity and the resulting aberrant growth and survival signaling are a common driving force of cancer. Accordingly, many successful molecularly targeted anticancer therapeutics are directed at inhibiting kinase activity. To assess kinase activity in minute patient samples, we have developed an immunocapture-based in vitro kinase assay on an integrated polydimethylsiloxane microfluidics platform that can reproducibly measure kinase activity from as few as 3,000 cells. For this platform, we adopted the standard radiometric (32)P-ATP-labeled phosphate transfer assay. Implementation on a microfluidic device required us to develop methods for repeated trapping and mixing of solid-phase affinity microbeads. We also developed a solid-state beta-particle camera imbedded directly below the microfluidic device for real-time quantitative detection of the signal from this and other microfluidic radiobioassays. We show that the resulting integrated device can measure ABL kinase activity from BCR-ABL-positive leukemia patient samples. The low sample input requirement of the device creates new potential for direct kinase activity experimentation and diagnostics on patient blood, bone marrow, and needle biopsy samples.
A first test of the hypothesis of biogenic magnetite-based heterogeneous ice-crystal nucleation in cryopreservation (2016)

An outstanding biophysical puzzle is focused on the apparent ability of weak, extremely low-frequency oscillating magnetic fields to enhance cryopreservation of many biological tissues. A recent theory holds that these weak magnetic fields could be inhibiting ice-crystal nucleation on the nanocrystals of biological magnetite (Fe3O4, an inverse cubic spinel) that are present in many plant and animal tissues by causing them to oscillate. In this theory, magnetically-induced mechanical oscillations disrupt the ability of water molecules to nucleate on the surface of the magnetite nanocrystals. However, the ability of the magnetite crystal lattice to serve as a template for heterogeneous ice crystal nucleation is as yet unknown, particularly for particles in the 10-100 nm size range. Here we report that the addition of trace-amounts of finely-dispersed magnetite into ultrapure water samples reduces strongly the incidence of supercooling, as measured in experiments conducted using a controlled freezing apparatus with multiple thermocouples. SQUID magnetometry was used to quantify nanogram levels of magnetite in the water samples. We also report a relationship between the volume change of ice, and the degree of supercooling, that may indicate lower degassing during the crystallization of supercooled water. In addition to supporting the role of ice-crystal nucleation by biogenic magnetite in many tissues, magnetite nanocrystals could provide inexpensive, non-toxic, and non-pathogenic ice nucleating agents needed in a variety of industrial processes, as well as influencing the dynamics of ice crystal nucleation in many natural environments.
Development of cermets for high level radioactive waste fixation (1979)

A method for the solidification and fixation of commercial and defense high-level radioactive wastes, namely a cermet process, is currently under development. Chemical and physical processing techniques, as developed up to this time, and the subsequent properties of the resulting cermet bodies are described; unique and advantageous features of the cermet waste form and the conversion process are discussed.