gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Biological Production of Selenium Nanoparticles from Waste Waters (2009)

Due to the photoelectric, semi-conducting and X-ray-sensing properties, selenium is an element of great economic potential. Since nanomaterials display special properties compared to bulk particles, the production of selenium nanostructures (wires, rods or spherical particles) has attracted much attention. In this study, alternative approaches to classical synthesis were investigated, producing selenium nanospheres biologically during treatment of contaminated water.
Tunable side-bounce monochromator (2020)

Side-bounce beamlines with fixed-exit angles have been intended to operate with only one selected energy. However, a tunable monochromator in a new geometry is presented here that will make side-bounce beamlines energy tunable. It requires the addition of two more rotations. Analytic solutions for the values of these two rotation angles are provided. The validity of the new concept was checked by ray tracing and two-dimensional searches in the additional angles. Operational details on the new scheme, including the exit offset and steering of the beams, were determined. In addition to tunability, the new monochromator will reduce the loss from the polarization factor at low energies.
Fast Microwave-Assisted Purification, Functionalization and Dispersion of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (2008)

Microwave-assisted purification, chemical functionalization and dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) are reported. To prevent sidewall functionalization, removal of residual catalyst was carried out using weak, dilute acids and complexing agents. Further covalent derivatization by attaching hydrophilic groups to the sidewall improved aqueous dispersibility to reach 1 mg/mL in deionized water and 0.5 mg/mL in ethanol. Oxidized MWNTs containing -COOH could be used for further functionalization, such as, amidation. The MWNTs were found to be less reactive and had lower solubility than the single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Electron microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Thermogravimetric Analyses and Atomic Absorption spectrometry studies were used to characterize the aimed-MWNTs.
A Tool for Requirements-Based Programming (2005)

Absent a general method for mathematically sound, automated transformation of customer requirements into a formal model of the desired system, developers must resort to either manual application of formal methods or to system testing (either manual or automated). While formal methods have afforded numerous successes, they present serious issues, e.g., costs to gear up to apply them (time, expensive staff), and scalability and reproducibility when standards in the field are not settled. The testing path cannot be walked to the ultimate goal, because exhaustive testing is infeasible for all but trivial systems. So system verification remains problematic. System or requirements validation is similarly problematic. The alternatives available today depend on either having a formal model or pursuing enough testing to enable the customer to be certain that system behavior meets requirements. The testing alternative for non-trivial systems always have some system behaviors unconfirmed and therefore is not the answer. To ensure that a formal model is equivalent to the customer s requirements necessitates that the customer somehow fully understands the formal model, which is not realistic. The predominant view that provably correct system development depends on having a formal model of the system leads to a desire for a mathematically sound method to automate the transformation of customer requirements into a formal model. Such a method, an augmentation of requirements-based programming, will be briefly described in this paper, and a prototype tool to support it will be described. The method and tool enable both requirements validation and system verification for the class of systems whose behavior can be described as scenarios. An application of the tool to a prototype automated ground control system for NASA mission is presented.
The Artemisinin Derivative Artemisone Is a Potent Inhibitor of Human Cytomegalovirus Replication (2018)

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a major cause of disease in immunocompromised individuals and the most common cause of congenital infection and neurosensorial disease. The expanding target populations for HCMV antiviral treatment along with the limitations of the currently available HCMV DNA polymerase inhibitors underscore the need for new antiviral agents with alternative modes of action. The antimalarial artemisinin derivative artesunate was shown to inhibit HCMV <i>in vitro</i> yet has demonstrated limited antiviral efficacy <i>in vivo</i>, prompting our search for more potent anti-HCMV artemisinin derivatives. Here we show that the innovative artemisinin derivative artemisone, which has been screened for its activity against malaria parasites in human clinical studies, is a potent and noncytotoxic inhibitor of HCMV. Artemisone exhibited an antiviral efficacy comparable to that of ganciclovir (50% effective concentration, 1.20 ± 0.46 μM) in human foreskin fibroblasts, with enhanced relative potency in lung fibroblasts and epithelial cells. Significantly, the antiviral efficacy of artemisone was consistently ≥10-fold superior to that of artesunate in all cells. Artemisone effectively inhibited both laboratory-adapted and low-passage-number clinical strains, as well as drug-resistant HCMV strains. By using quantitative viral kinetics and gene expression studies, we show that artemisone is a reversible inhibitor targeting an earlier phase of the viral replication cycle than ganciclovir. Importantly, artemisone most effectively inhibited HCMV infection <i>ex vivo</i> in a clinically relevant multicellular model of integral human placental tissues maintained in organ culture. Our promising findings encourage preclinical and clinical studies of artemisone as a new inhibitor against HCMV.
GDNF protects the cochlea against noise damage (1998)

Glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) was tested for its ability to prevent hearing and sensory cell loss in guinea pigs exposed to acoustic trauma. Hearing was measured prior to any treatment. Animals were exposed to damaging levels of noise either before or after local application of GDNF to one ear. Four weeks later, hearing and sensory cell loss was greater in the control ear than in the ear receiving GDNF before acoustic trauma or 2 h after trauma, but not 4 or 6 h after trauma. The results indicate that GDNF treatment in vivo can prevent cochlear sensory cell damage and hearing loss if present during or shortly after acoustic trauma.
The <i>Haemophilus influenzae</i> HtrA Protein Is a Protective Antigen (1998)

The htrA gene from two strains of nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae has been cloned and sequenced, and the encoded approximately 46-kDa HtrA proteins were found to be highly conserved. H. influenzae HtrA has approximately 55% identity with the Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium HtrA stress response proteins, and expression of the H. influenzae htrA gene was inducible by high temperature. Recombinant HtrA (rHtrA) was expressed from E. coli, and the purified protein was found to have serine protease activity. rHtrA was found to be very immunogenic and partially protective in both the passive infant rat model of bacteremia and the active chinchilla model of otitis media. Immunoblot analysis indicated that HtrA is antigenically conserved in encapsulated and nontypeable H. influenzae species. Site-directed mutagenesis was performed on the htrA gene to ablate the endogenous serine protease activity of wild-type HtrA, and it was found that eight of nine recombinant mutant proteins had no measurable residual proteolytic activity. Two mutant proteins were tested in the animal protection models, and one, H91A, was found to be partially protective in both models. H91A HtrA may be a good candidate antigen for a vaccine against invasive H. influenzae type b disease and otitis media and is currently in phase I clinical trials.
Promiscuous survivin peptide induces robust CD4<sup>+</sup> T‐cell responses in the majority of vaccinated cancer patients (2011)

CD4(+) T cells have been shown to be crucial for the induction and maintenance of cytotoxic T cell responses and to be also capable of mediating direct tumor rejection. Therefore, the anticancer therapeutic efficacy of peptide-based vaccines may be improved by addition of HLA class II epitopes to stimulate T helper cells. Survivin is an apoptosis inhibiting protein frequently overexpressed in tumors. Here we describe the first immunological evaluation of a survivin-derived CD4(+) T cell epitope in a multipeptide immunotherapy trial for prostate carcinoma patients. The survivin peptide is promiscuously presented by several human HLA-DRB1 molecules and, most importantly, is naturally processed by dendritic cells. In vaccinated patients, it was able to induce frequent, robust and multifunctional CD4(+) T cell responses, as monitored by IFN-γ ELISPOT and intracellular cytokine staining. Thus, this HLA-DR restricted epitope is broadly immunogenic and should be valuable for stimulating T helper cells in patients suffering from a wide range of tumors.
Dynamic Implementation of Computer-Generated Volume Holograms (2018)

We design computer-generated volume holograms and implement on a single spatial light modulator with a folded imaging system. This approach is dynamic, compact, and enhances device performance in terms of diffraction efficiency and multiplexing capacity.
LP‐1: <i>Late‐News Poster:</i> Development of a Novel Transflective‐Type VA‐LCD (2004)

Abstract We propose a novel transflective‐type of vertical alignment liquid crystal display (VA‐LCD) that adopts a new direction control method and an RGB multi‐gap structure. The shape of the pixel electrodes and the direction control projections are optimized to decrease disclination lines with fixation, and higher transmittance and reflectance are obtained. In addition, the RGB multi‐gap structure results in excellent voltage‐chromaticity characteristics at a low driving voltage. We also propose a process for producing this LCD.
Close-range Feature-based Head Motion Tracking for MRI and PET-MRI (2018)

Optical motion tracking systems are effective in measuring head motion during MRI and PET scans. However, most systems rely on tracking attached markers which can slip or move relative to the head. In this study, we aimed to validate a methodology which uses a stereo-optical camera system to track small feature patches on the forehead. This approach has the advantage that tracked features `native' to the skin can be tracked at very close range (<;5cm), making it ideal for use inside an MR scanner bore. 15 volunteers were instructed to perform 6 degree of freedom head motions while simultaneously being tracked by two systems - our feature-based tracking system, and a ground-truth multi-view optical system relying on passive IR-reflective markers attached to the back of the head. Sub-millimeter agreement between the two systems was achieved when head motion was purely rigid. In the case of non-rigid movement of the skin with respect to the head, large spikes in the motion traces derived from the feature-based algorithm were observed. This experiment provides a valuable dataset to benchmark future improvements and optimizations of the feature-based tracking algorithm, such as techniques to handle non-rigid motion.
Guest Editorial [intro. to the special issue on applications of ferroelectrics in microwave technology] (2007)

Provides a brief introduction to the special issue on applications of ferroelectrics in microwave technology. Topics covered include work on tunable filters, tunable matching networks for cellular amplifiers, phase shifters, and voltage-controlled oscillators. There are also papers discussing the modeling and characterization of losses and nonlinearities in these devices.
Tactile Imaging Markers to Characterize Female Pelvic Floor Conditions (2015)

The Vaginal Tactile Imager (VTI) records pressure patterns from vaginal walls under an applied tissue deformation and during pelvic floor muscle contractions. The objective of this study is to validate tactile imaging and muscle contraction parameters (markers) sensitive to the female pelvic floor conditions. Twenty-two women with normal and prolapse conditions were examined by a vaginal tactile imaging probe. We identified 9 parameters which were sensitive to prolapse conditions (<i>p</i> < 0.05 for one-way ANOVA and/or <i>p</i> < 0.05 for <i>t</i>-test with correlation factor <i>r</i> from -0.73 to -0.56). The list of parameters includes pressure, pressure gradient and dynamic pressure response during muscle contraction at identified locations. These parameters may be used for biomechanical characterization of female pelvic floor conditions to support an effective management of pelvic floor prolapse.
Path computation issues and solutions in Wavelength Switched Optical Networks (WSON) (2008)

Unique to lightpath computation in WSON is routing and wavelength assignment (RWA). In a WSON without wavelength converters two lightpaths that share a common fiber link can not be assigned the same wavelength. This constraint is referred to as “wavelength continuity” constraint. From the perspective of a carrier path computation functions should support both sequential path computation in which one path computation is done at a time and concurrent path computation in which a set of paths are computed optimally. Distributed path computation may not be suitable for concurrent path computation when the set of paths to be computed have different head-end nodes. This scenario occurs when computing shared backup path computation for a set of independent working paths.
Efficient Scheme for Native Carbon Dioxide Recovery from Sulphur Recovery Unit Tail Gas (2017)

Abstract Oil and Gas operators are more and more interested in developing and improving native CO2 recovery technologies as capturing native CO2 can drastically reduce the greenhouse gases emission and at the same time can be valorized for enhanced oil recovery. While considering CO2 emission from a gas plant, native CO2 significantly contributes to the total amount. Usually when natural gas contains both CO2 and H2S, they are removed together and sent to an air fueled Sulfur Recovery Unit (SRU) resulting in a tail gas containing mainly nitrogen and CO2. The native CO2 can then be separated by the use of a chemical solvent such as Monoethanolamine (MEA) for example. TOTAL and Air Liquide Engineering & Construction have developed and patented an innovative process scheme for recovering the native CO2 and reducing the overall operating and investment costs of such process. This patented innovative process scheme consists in a Claus unit, fed with pure oxygen or enriched air instead of air, which leads to a tail gas stream containing mainly CO2 and H2 but no or only little nitrogen. A CO2 purification unit allows a CO2 rich stream to be recovered with a purity level reaching even 99.9%, while producing valuable by-products such as pure nitrogen and a hydrogen-rich stream, both of which can be used as utilities in other process units depending upon selected technology. This also reduces continuous emissions from the gas plant by eliminating the continuous operation of an incineration system. The CO2 purification unit can be either membrane, cryogenic or adsorption technologies. This paper also discusses the integration of the technologies of Air Liquide Engineering & Construction: OxyClausTM, Tail Gas Treatment Unit (TGTU) and CryoCapTM, a very efficient CO2 purification technology. The scheme has been studied in detail for specific application to optimize the overall integration. It has been also compared to conventional CO2 capture schemes.
The encapsulation of trimetallic nitride clusters in fullerene cages (2000)

The Kratschmer-Huffman electric-arc generator typically produces endohedral metallofullerenes in low yields with a wide array of different products, but the introduction of nitrogen leads to a new family of encapsulates. A family of endohedral metallofullerenes AnB3−nN@C2n (n=0–3, x=34, 39, and 40) where A and B are Group III and rare-earth metals is formed by a trimetallic nitride template (TNT) process in relatively high yields. The archetypal representative of this new class is the stable endohedral metallofullerene, Sc3N@C80 containing a triscandium nitride cluster encapsulated in an icosahedron (Ih), C80 cage. The Sc3N@C80 is formed in yields even exceeding empty-cage C84. Other prominent scandium TNT members are Sc3N@C68 and Sc3N@C78. The former Sc3N@C68 molecule represents an exception to the well known isolated pentagon rule (IPR). These new molecules were purified by chromatography with corresponding characterization by various spectroscopic approaches. In this paper we focus on the characterization and properties of this fascinating new class of materials.
Kinetics and Structural Characterization of Calcium-Based Sorbents Calcined under Subatmospheric Conditions for the High-Temperature CO<sub>2</sub>Capture Process (2006)

The influence of several process parameters on the calcination of a naturally occurring limestone and a precipitated mesoporous calcium carbonate (CaCO3) sorbent structure to calcium oxide (CaO) is detailed in this study. CaCO3 calcination is an integral part of a multicyclic carbonation−calcination reaction (CCR) process that separates carbon dioxide (CO2) from high-temperature gas mixtures into a pure CO2 stream. Maintenance of high sorbent reactivity over repeated CCR cycles reduces the capital and operating cost of the CCR process. A lower calcination temperature, required to maintain high sorbent reactivity, reduces the calcination rate of CaCO3. This study investigates various process conditions such as subatmospheric calcination, sorbent dispersion in a rotary calciner, use of a high thermal conductivity sweep gas, etc. in enhancing the calcination rate at lower calcination temperatures. The high-temperature gas−solid carbonation studies of the resulting CaO sorbent prove the necessity to maintain a high porosity structure during limestone calcination.
Forecasting Uncertain Events with Small Groups (2001)

We present a novel methodology for predicting future outcomes that uses small numbers of individuals participating in an imperfect information market. By determining their risk attitudes and performing a nonlinear aggregation of their predictions, we are able to assess the probability of the future outcome of an uncertain event and compare it to both the objective probability of its occurrence and the performance of the market as a whole. Experiments show that this nonlinear aggregation mechanism vastly outperforms both the imperfect market and the best of the participants.
Bot2Vec: Learning Representations of Chatbots (2019)

Chatbots (i.e., bots) are becoming widely used in multiple domains, along with supporting bot programming platforms. These platforms are equipped with novel testing tools aimed at improving the quality of individual chatbots. Doing so requires an understanding of what sort of bots are being built (captured by their underlying conversation graphs) and how well they perform (derived through analysis of conversation logs). In this paper, we propose a new model, BOT2VEC, that embeds bots to a compact representation based on their structure and usage logs. Then, we utilize BOT2VEC representations to improve the quality of two bot analysis tasks. Using conversation data and graphs of over than 90 bots, we show that BOT2VEC representations improve detection performance by more than 16% for both tasks.
Arabic and Farsi Font Recognition: Survey (2014)

Font Recognition (FR) is useful in improving optical text recognition accuracy and time. In addition, it can be used to restore the original document text fonts, styles and sizes. In this paper, we survey the literature of Arabic and Farsi FR research and used databases. The main phases of FR systems are surveyed (viz. preprocessing, classification techniques and used features). All published work of Arabic and Farsi FR, which the authors are aware of, are surveyed. To our knowledge, this is the first survey of Arabic/Farsi FR and used databases. In addition, the paper addresses the strengths and limitations of the presented techniques and specified areas of research that are not, so far, addressed in Arabic/Farsi FR as well as areas of possible improvement.
Improved frequency comb operation of an InAs/GaAs hybrid multisection quantum dot laser on silicon (2023)

This work reports on a systematic investigation of the frequency comb enhancement in hybrid InAs/GaAs multisection quantum dot lasers on silicon. The colliding configuration provides an operating frequency at twice the fundamental frequency of the free-spectral range of the cold cavity. In particular, the contribution of the linewidth enhancement factor, or αH-factor, on the comb formation is investigated with respect to the reverse voltage and temperature conditions. When those parameters are varied, the formation of the combs is found to increase with respect to αH. In addition, we also demonstrate that this quantum dot laser exhibits a comb behavior, while the beatnote locking is not fully achieved. This effect is essentially due to the dispersion which is not fully compensated from the optical nonlinearities. These results bring further insights on comb and pulse formations in multisection quantum dot lasers, which is important for designing future light sources for on-chip and chip-to-chip optical interconnects.
Distributed fiber temperature and strain sensor using coherent radio-frequency detection of spontaneous Brillouin scattering (2007)

A novel technique that enables coherent detection of spontaneous Brillouin scattering in the radio-frequency (<500 MHz) region with excellent long-term stability has been demonstrated for distributed measurements of temperature and strain in long fiber. An actively stabilized single-frequency Brillouin fiber laser with extremely low phase noise and intensity noise is used as a well-defined, frequency-shifted local oscillator for the heterodyne detection, yielding measurements of spontaneous Brillouin scattering with high frequency stability. Based on this approach, a highly stable real-time fiber sensor for distributed measurements of both temperature and strain over long fiber has been developed utilizing advanced digital signal processing techniques.
Acoustic radiation force optical coherence elastography using vibro-acoustography (2015)

High-resolution elasticity mapping of tissue biomechanical properties is crucial in early detection of many diseases.We report a method of acoustic radiation force optical coherence elastography (ARF-OCE) based on the methods of vibroacoustography, which uses a dual-ring ultrasonic transducer in order to excite a highly localized 3-D field.The single element transducer introduced previously in our ARF imaging has low depth resolution because the ARF is difficult to discriminate along the entire ultrasound propagation path.The novel dual-ring approach takes advantage of two overlapping acoustic fields and a few-hundred-Hertz difference in the signal frequencies of the two unmodulated confocal ring transducers in order to confine the acoustic stress field within a smaller volume.This frequency difference is the resulting "beating" frequency of the system.The frequency modulation of the transducers has been validated by comparing the dual ring ARF-OCE measurement to that of the single ring using a homogeneous silicone phantom.We have compared and analyzed the phantom resonance frequency to show the feasibility of our approach.We also show phantom images of the ARF-OCE based vibro-acoustography method and map out its acoustic stress region.We concluded that the dual-ring transducer is able to better localize the excitation to a smaller region to induce a focused force, which allows for highly selective excitation of small regions.The beat-frequency elastography method has great potential to achieve high-resolution elastography for ophthalmology and cardiovascular applications.