gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Causal Inference With Interference and Noncompliance in Two-Stage Randomized Experiments (2020)

In many social science experiments, subjects often interact with each other and as a result one unit’s treatment influences the outcome of another unit. Over the last decade, a significant progress has been made toward causal inference in the presence of such interference between units. Researchers have shown that the two-stage randomization of treatment assignment enables the identification of average direct and spillover effects. However, much of the literature has assumed perfect compliance with treatment assignment. In this article, we establish the nonparametric identification of the complier average direct and spillover effects in two-stage randomized experiments with interference and noncompliance. In particular, we consider the spillover effect of the treatment assignment on the treatment receipt as well as the spillover effect of the treatment receipt on the outcome. We propose consistent estimators and derive their randomization-based variances under the stratified interference assumption. We also prove the exact relationships between the proposed randomization-based estimators and the popular two-stage least squares estimators. The proposed methodology is motivated by and applied to our own randomized evaluation of India’s National Health Insurance Program (RSBY), where we find some evidence of spillover effects. The proposed methods are implemented via an open-source software package. Supplementary materials for this article, including a standardized description of the materials available for reproducing the work, are available as an online supplement.
Surface Modification of Solid‐State Nanopores for Sticky‐Free Translocation of Single‐Stranded DNA (2014)

Nanopore technology is one of the most promising approaches for fast and low-cost DNA sequencing application. Single-stranded DNA detection is primary objective in such device, while solid-state nanopores remain less explored than their biological counterparts due to bio-molecule clogging issue caused by surface interaction between DNA and nanopore wall. By surface coating a layer of polyethylene glycol (PEG), solid-state nanopore can achieve long lifetime for single-stranded DNA sticky-free translocation at pH 11.5. Associated with elimination of non-specific binding of molecule, PEG coated nanopore presents new surface characteristic as less hydrophility, lower 1/f noise, and passivated surface charge responsiveness on pH. Meanwhile, conductance blockage of single-stranded DNA is found to be deeper than double-stranded DNA, which can be well described by a string of blobs model for a quasi-equilibrium state polymer in constraint space.
PDGF, TGF-β, and FGF signaling is important for differentiation and growth of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs): transcriptional profiling can identify markers and signaling pathways important in differentiation of MSCs into adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic lineages (2008)

We compared the transcriptomes of marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with differentiated adipocytes, osteocytes, and chondrocytes derived from these MSCs. Using global gene-expression profiling arrays to detect RNA transcripts, we have identified markers that are specific for MSCs and their differentiated progeny. Further, we have also identified pathways that MSCs use to differentiate into adipogenic, chondrogenic, and osteogenic lineages. We identified activin-mediated transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta signaling, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signaling and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling as the key pathways involved in MSC differentiation. The differentiation of MSCs into these lineages is affected when these pathways are perturbed by inhibitors of cell surface receptor function. Since growth and differentiation are tightly linked processes, we also examined the importance of these 3 pathways in MSC growth. These 3 pathways were necessary and sufficient for MSC growth. Inhibiting any of these pathways slowed MSC growth, whereas a combination of TGF-beta, PDGF, and beta-FGF was sufficient to grow MSCs in a serum-free medium up to 5 passages. Thus, this study illustrates it is possible to predict signaling pathways active in cellular differentiation and growth using microarray data and experimentally verify these predictions.
Synergistic Interactions between Grafted Hyaluronic Acid and Lubricin Provide Enhanced Wear Protection and Lubrication (2013)

Normal (e.g., adhesion) and lateral (friction) forces were measured between physisorbed and chemically grafted layers of hyaluronic acid (HA), an anionic polyelectrolyte in the presence of lubricin (Lub), a mucinous glycoprotein, on mica surfaces using a surface forces apparatus (SFA). This work demonstrates that high friction coefficients between the surfaces do not necessarily correlate with surface damage and that chemically grafted HA acts synergistically with Lub to provide friction reduction and enhanced wear protection to the surfaces. Surface immobilization of HA by grafting is necessary for such wear protection. Increasing the concentration of Lub enhances the threshold load that a chemically grafted HA surface can be subjected to before the onset of wear. Addition of Lub does not have any beneficial effect if HA is physisorbed to the mica surfaces. Damage occurs at loads less than 1 mN regardless of the amount of Lub, indicating that the molecules in the bulk play little or no role in protecting the surfaces from damage. Lub penetrates into the chemically bound HA to form a visco-elastic gel that reduces the coefficient of friction as well as boosts the strength of the surface against abrasive wear (damage).
In Vitro Enamel Demineralization by Streptococcus mutans in the Presence of Salivary Pellicles (1977)

Salivary pellicles developed on extracted teeth favorably affected the degree and nature of enamel demineralization when the teeth were incubated in vitro with either of two pure strains of cariogenic Streptococcus mutans. The mechanism responsible for this protection may relate to the permselective properties of these salivary pellicles.
Meta-Analysis of Studies Comparing Single and Multi-Tablet Fixed Dose Combination HIV Treatment Regimens (2015)

Availability of a single source review of once-daily fixed-dose single tablet regimen (STR) and multiple tablet fixed-dose regimen (MTR) would optimally inform healthcare providers and policy makers involved in the management of population with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).We conducted a meta-analysis of published literature to compare patient adherence, clinical, and cost outcomes of STR to MTR.Published literature in English between 2005 and 2014 was searched using Embase, PubMed (Medline in-process), and ClinicalTrials.Gov databases. Two-level screening was undertaken by 2 independent researchers to finalize articles for evidence synthesis. Adherence, efficacy, safety, tolerability, healthcare resource use (HRU), and costs were assessed comparing STR to MTR. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed and heterogeneity examined using meta-regression.Thirty-five articles were identified for qualitative evidence synthesis, of which 9 had quantifiable data for meta-analysis (4 randomized controlled trials and 5 observational studies). Patients on STR were significantly more adherent when compared to patients on MTR of any frequency (odds ratio [OR]: 2.37 [95% CI: 1.68, 3.35], P < 0.001; 4 studies), twice-daily MTR (OR: 2.53 [95% CI: 1.13, 5.66], P = 0.02; 2 studies), and once-daily MTR (OR: 1.81 [95% CI: 1.15, 2.84], P = 0.01; 2 studies). The relative risk (RR) for viral load suppression at 48 weeks was higher (RR: 1.09 [95% CI: 1.04, 1.15], P = .0003; 3 studies) while RR of grade 3 to 4 laboratory abnormalities was lower among patients on STR (RR: 0.68 [95% CI: 0.49, 0.94], P = 0.02; 2 studies). Changes in CD4 count at 48 weeks, any severe adverse events (SAEs), grade 3 to 4 AEs, mortality, and tolerability were found comparable between STR and MTR. Several studies reported significant reduction in HRU and costs among STR group versus MTR.Study depicted comparable tolerability, safety (All-SAE and Grade 3-4 AE), and mortality and fewer Grade 3 to 4 lab abnormalities and better viral load suppression and adherence among patients on FDC-containing STR versus MTR; literature depicted favorable HRU and costs for STRs.These findings may help decision makers especially in resource-poor settings to plan for optimal HIV disease management when the choice of both STRs and MTRs are available.
Study of Detergent‐Mediated Liberation of Hepatitis B Virus‐like Particles from <i>S. cerevisiae</i> Homogenate: Identifying a Framework for the Design of Future‐Generation Lipoprotein Vaccine Processes (2008)

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are expressed intracellularly in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the recovery process involves the use of a detergent, which facilitates the release of VLP from host cell components. The detergent-mediated liberation of VLPs is a critical step in primary recovery and is responsible for setting the backdrop for subsequent purification in terms of product yield and characteristics of the process stream. In this paper the use of Triton X-100 detergent for the recovery of lipid envelope VLPs, using the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) as the VLP model, was investigated. To develop a framework that can be adopted in process design for future generation VLP vaccine candidates, the impact of Triton X-100 was characterized via different response factors: (i) recovery and activity of the HBsAg; (ii) level of protein and lipid contamination from the host cell; and (iii) indirect impact on the performance of an ultrafiltration step following primary recovery. Our studies identified that an increase in detergent concentration favors recovery of HBsAg only to a specific threshold, 0.5% v/v Triton X-100. Further increase in detergent results in delipidation of HBsAg leading to loss in antigenic activity. The level of contamination due to host protein and lipid co-liberation is in proportion with the amount of detergent employed. Greater membrane resistance during ultrafiltration was observed for samples generated using higher concentrations of detergent due to the increase in membrane fouling by the contaminants. Based on this study, Triton X-100 concentrations in the range of 0.2-0.5% v/v appears to be most suitable for recovery of native HBsAg. Choosing between 0.2-0.5% v/v would involve identifying a suitable tradeoff between desired product yield and the level of contamination that can be tolerated by downstream operations.
The Australian Complementary Medicine Workforce: A Profile of 1,306 Practitioners from the PRACI Study (2018)

The results from this survey of practitioners from most complementary professions in Australia provide new insights into the national complementary medicine workforce. Further exploration of the CM workforce is warranted to inform all who provide patient care and develop health policy for better patient and public health outcomes.
Software-Defined Cloud Computing: Architectural elements and open challenges (2014)

The variety of existing cloud services creates a challenge for service providers to enforce reasonable Software Level Agreements (SLA) stating the Quality of Service (QoS) and penalties in case QoS is not achieved. To avoid such penalties at the same time that the infrastructure operates with minimum energy and resource wastage, constant monitoring and adaptation of the infrastructure is needed. We refer to Software-Defined Cloud Computing, or simply Software-Defined Clouds (SDC), as an approach for automating the process of optimal cloud configuration by extending virtualization concept to all resources in a data center. An SDC enables easy reconfiguration and adaptation of physical resources in a cloud infrastructure, to better accommodate the demand on QoS through a software that can describe and manage various aspects comprising the cloud environment. In this paper, we present an architecture for SDCs on data centers with emphasis on mobile cloud applications. We present an evaluation, showcasing the potential of SDC in two use cases-QoS-aware bandwidth allocation and bandwidth-aware, energy-efficient VM placement-and discuss the research challenges and opportunities in this emerging area.
Nonlinear elasticity, yielding, and entropy in amorphous solids (2022)

The holographic duality has proven successful in linking seemingly unrelated problems in physics. Recently, intriguing correspondences between the physics of soft matter and gravity are emerging, including strong similarities between the rheology of amorphous solids, effective field theories for elasticity, and the physics of black holes. However, direct comparisons between theoretical predictions and experimental/simulation observations remain limited. Here, we study the effects of nonlinear elasticity on the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of amorphous materials responding to shear, using effective field and gravitational theories. The predicted correlations among the nonlinear elastic exponent, the yielding strain/stress, and the entropy change due to shear are supported qualitatively by simulations of granular matter models. Our approach opens a path toward understanding the complex mechanical responses of amorphous solids, such as mixed effects of shear softening and shear hardening, and offers the possibility to study the rheology of solid states and black holes in a unified framework.
Regulation of mitochondrial DNA copy number during spermatogenesis (2000)

The nuclear genome is physically compacted during spermatogenesis by replacing histones with protamines and transition proteins. This altered nuclear protein context may make gene regulation at the transcriptional level less efficient and could explain why post-transcriptional regulation is prominent in haploid male germ cells. Mitochondria and mitochondrial (mt) DNA are maternally inherited, whereas the transmission of paternal mtDNA is blocked in mammals. The paternal mtDNA enters the oocyte but is no longer detectable in the preimplantation embryo. Several mechanisms could be responsible for preventing the transmission of paternal mtDNA, including the down-regulation of mtDNA copy number during spermatogenesis, specific elimination of paternal mitochondria in fertilized oocytes, and the suspension of mtDNA replication in the fertilized oocyte. It is the first of these that is the subject of the present review. Mitochondrial transcription factor A (mtTFA, or Tfam) is a key regulator of mtDNA copy number in mammals. Germ cell-specific Tfam transcript isoforms are expressed during spermatogenesis in mice and humans. These alternative Tfam transcript isoforms have a structure that could prevent protein translation; their expression coincides with down-regulation of the mitochondrial Tfam protein values. We propose that this down-regulation of mitochondrial Tfam protein levels in turn down-regulates mtDNA copy number during mammalian spermatogenesis.
Requirements and Technologies for Ubiquitous Payment (2004)

With the upcoming of ubiquitous computing, banks and financial institutes meet new chances and challenges in their business. The goal of this paper is to identify requirements and test technologies for ubiquitous payment (u-payment). The work was done in a joint research project of our research team and United Bank of Switzerland (UBS). To derive the results the project team conducted interdisciplinary innovation workshops, built demonstrators and analyzed user and UBS experi-ences. The paper first evaluates the key features of u-payment in comparison to mobile payment (m-payment). Then, it describes the Preferred Payment Architecture (PPA), which is developed by Mobey Forum, a global, financial-industry driven forum. UBS is one of the founders of the forum and presses ahead with this architecture as this recommendation implements the requirements of customers, financial institutes and merchants in equal measure. The research team developed the test platform BluePay, which implements some chosen requirements of PPA in order to gain experiences with local payments in a store with the technologies Bluetooth and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The main results of this work are a definition of u-payment by the authors as unobtrusive, ubiquitous, invisible, and in the environment integrated payment, an evaluation of technologies and requirements of the u-payment system demonstrators, and some implications for the adoption path from m-payment to upayment.
Genetic transformation of sweet oranges with the D4E1 gene driven by the AtPP2 promoter (2013)

The objective of this work was to produce transgenic 'Pêra' and 'Valência' sweet orange plants using the D4E1 gene driven by the Arabidopsis thaliana phloem protein (AtPP2) promoter and to quantify transgene expression in different transformation events. Genetic transformation experiments were carried out with epicotyl segments co‑cultivated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Six plants from 'Pêra' sweet orange and seven plants from 'Valência' sweet orange were confirmed as different transgenic events by means of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the Southern blot techniques. Transgene expression was quantified using real‑time quantitative PCR. D4E1 gene expression levels vary from 5 up to 50 times among different transformation events.
Facile Syntheses of 1,8-Bis(diphenylphosphino)anthracene and 1,8-Bis(dimethylamino)anthracene by Nucleophilic Substitution of 1,8-Difluoroanthracene (1998)

1,8-Bis(diphenylphosphino)anthracene (1) was prepared in a three-step synthesis in 51% overall yield starting from 1,8-dichloro-9,10-anthraquinone (8). Compound 8 was converted by chlorine-fluorine exchange and reduction with zinc into 1,8-difluoroanthracene (7) from which 1 was obtained by reaction with potassium 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)anthracene (10) clearly showed that in the case of 7 direct nucleophilic displacement (addition-elimination mechanism) dominates over aryne formation (elimination-addition mechanism). Single crystal X-ray structure analyses are reported for 1 and 10.
Scaling Up Online Speech Recognition Using ConvNets (2020)

We design an online end-to-end speech recognition system based on Time-Depth Separable (TDS) convolutions and Connectionist Temporal Classification (CTC). We improve the core TDS architecture in order to limit the future context and hence reduce latency while maintaining accuracy. The system has almost three times the throughput of a well tuned hybrid ASR baseline while also having lower latency and a better word error rate. Also important to the efficiency of the recognizer is our highly optimized beam search decoder. To show the impact of our design choices, we analyze throughput, latency, accuracy, and discuss how these metrics can be tuned based on the user requirements.
Inside Cover: Bioreductively Activated Lysyl Oxidase Inhibitors against Hypoxic Tumours (ChemMedChem 10/2009) (2009)

The inside cover picture shows the hypoxia-driven extracellular production of lysyl oxidase (LOX) by cancer cells and its involvement in both early- (migration and invasion) and late-stage (extravasation and colonisation) metastasis formation. Selective delivery of a LOX inhibitor (BAPN) by hypoxia-activated nitroaryl prodrugs provides an anti-invasive effect on hypoxic breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells. For more details, see the Communication by F. Minutolo et al. on p. 1590 ff.
Applicability of piezoelectric sensors for speech rehabilitation (2009)

The applicability of piezoelectric sensors for speech rehabilitation was examined by setting vocalizing tasks for seven healthy young adults (four men and three women). A piezoelectric sensor was attached to the front of the neck and each seated subject was instructed to vocalize /a/ with subjective low and high tones and /pa/, /ta/, and /ka/ with a subjective middle tone. The three major findings were: (1) slow potential changes recorded at the start of these tasks were followed by rapid changes; (2) the tasks did not differ in the average range of the slow changes; (3) female subjects had higher average frequencies of rapid changes than male subjects. The frequencies and phases of the rapid changes paralleled the sound waves recorded in the neck during the tasks. Swallowing tasks verified the appropriateness of the recording system. The advantages of using piezoelectric sensors in the clinic are discussed.
Congenital Absence of the Pancreas and Intrauterine Growth Retardation (1979)

Recent investigations support the concept that insulin is a primary growth hormone during fetal life. The importance of insulin in fetal development is illustrated by the following case presentation, a severely growth-retarded infant who possessed no detectable pancreatic tissue at postmortem examination. CASE REPORT Patient B.G.C. was born following an uncomplicated pregnancy to a 19-year-old gravida 1, para 0, abortus 1 mother by emergency Cesarean section for fetal distress. The baby weighed 1,350 gm with Apgar scores of 2 at one minute, 2 at five minutes, and 4 at ten minutes, requiring immediate intubation and ventilation. Gestational age was 41 weeks by dates, 36 to 37 weeks by clinical examination, and greater than 36 weeks by radiologic evidence of teeth calcification.1
Evaluation Of Large Format Electron Bombarded Virtual Phase CCDs As Ultraviolet Imaging Detectors (1989)

An electron-bombarded Charge Coupled Device (EBCCD), when used with an external ultraviolet sensitive cathode, can be used as photon-counting UV detector with high quantum efficiency and wide dynamic range. We report on results obtained with the Texas Instruments VP1M 1024x1024 (18 micron square pixel) virtual phase CCD used with an electromagnetically focussed f/2 Schmidt camera. Excellent single photoevent discrimination and counting efficiency has been achieved with this device.
Review of thermally point‐bonded nonwovens: Materials, processes, and properties (2005)

Abstract Recent research on all aspects of thermally point‐bonded nonwovens has led to considerable improvements in the understanding of material requirements for these nonwovens, the changes that occur during bonding, and the mechanical properties of the resultant nonwoven materials. This article will review (1) how the thermal bonding process transforms the material properties of feed fibers, (2) the implications for material selection, and (3) the resultant failure properties of the bonded nonwoven. The formation of a bond during thermal bonding follows in sequence through three critical steps: (1) heating the web to partially melt the crystalline region, (2) reptation of the newly released chain segments across the fiber–fiber interface, and (3) subsequent cooling of the web to re‐solidify it and to trap the chain segments that diffused across the fiber–fiber interface. The time scales for these processes closely match commercial practice. In addition, adequate pressure is required to compress the fibers that form the bond spots and enhance heat transfer to these fibers. However, pressures typically used in commercial practice are insufficient to increase the melting temperature significantly or to produce significant heating due to compression of the fibers. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2006