gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
A tunable hydrogel system for long‐term release of cell‐secreted cytokines and bioprinted in situ wound cell delivery (2016)

For many cellular therapies being evaluated in preclinical and clinical trials, the mechanisms behind their therapeutic effects appear to be the secretion of growth factors and cytokines, also known as paracrine activity. Often, delivered cells are transient, and half-lives of the growth factors that they secrete are short, limiting their long-term effectiveness. The goal of this study was to optimize a hydrogel system capable of in situ cell delivery that could sequester and release growth factors secreted from those cells after the cells were no longer present. Here, we demonstrate the use of a fast photocross-linkable heparin-conjugated hyaluronic acid (HA-HP) hydrogel as a cell delivery vehicle for sustained growth factor release, which extends paracrine activity. The hydrogel could be modulated through cross-linking geometries and heparinization to support sustained release proteins and heparin-binding growth factors. To test the hydrogel in vivo, we used it to deliver amniotic fluid-derived stem (AFS) cells, which are known to secrete cytokines and growth factors, in full thickness skin wounds in a nu/nu murine model. Despite transience of the AFS cells in vivo, the HA-HP hydrogel with AFS cells improved wound closure and reepithelialization and increased vascularization and production of extracellular matrix in vivo. These results suggest that HA-HP hydrogel has the potential to prolong the paracrine activity of cells, thereby increasing their therapeutic effectiveness in wound healing. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 1986-2000, 2017.
A Platform Incorporating Trimeric Antigens into Self-Assembling Nanoparticles Reveals SARS-CoV-2-Spike Nanoparticles to Elicit Substantially Higher Neutralizing Responses than Spike Alone (2020)

Antigens displayed on self-assembling nanoparticles can stimulate strong immune responses and have been playing an increasingly prominent role in structure-based vaccines. However, the development of such immunogens is often complicated by inefficiencies in their production. To alleviate this issue, we developed a plug-and-play platform using the spontaneous isopeptide-bond formation of the SpyTag:SpyCatcher system to display trimeric antigens on self-assembling nanoparticles, including the 60-subunit <i>Aquifex aeolicus</i> lumazine synthase (LuS) and the 24-subunit <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> ferritin. LuS and ferritin coupled to SpyTag expressed well in a mammalian expression system when an <i>N-</i>linked glycan was added to the nanoparticle surface. The respiratory syncytial virus fusion (F) glycoprotein trimer - stabilized in the prefusion conformation and fused with SpyCatcher - could be efficiently conjugated to LuS-SpyTag or ferritin-SpyTag, enabling multivalent display of F trimers with prefusion antigenicity. Similarly, F-glycoprotein trimers from human parainfluenza virus-type 3 and spike-glycoprotein trimers from SARS-CoV-2 could be displayed on LuS nanoparticles with decent yield and antigenicity. Notably, murine vaccination with the SARS-CoV-2 spike-LuS nanoparticles elicited ~25-fold higher neutralizing responses, weight-per-weight relative to spike alone. The versatile platform described here thus allows for multivalent plug-and-play presentation on self-assembling nanoparticles of trimeric viral antigens, with SARS-CoV-2 spike-LuS nanoparticles inducing particularly potent neutralizing responses.
Face recognition using spatial pyramid matching and LRBP (2014)

In this paper we propose a novel method for face recognition on frontal faces. In our method the coarse level shape information of the face is captured by Radon transform as it captures the shape information efficiently. A feature descriptor for each face is computed by applying local binary patterns (LBP) on Radon transform coefficients and computing the histogram of LBP. LBP is used due its computational simplicity and its good texture analysis capabilities. Individual histograms computed on each sub-block of the face image are concatenated in spatial pyramid fashion to attain the complete descriptor. These face descriptors are matched using a distance measure based on pyramid matching kernel(PMK). We evaluated this method using various distance metrics. Experimental results on FERET database shows the significance of this method.
Structure and function of a Clostridium difficile sortase enzyme (2015)

Sortase enzymes are responsible for covalent anchoring of specific proteins to the peptidoglycan of the cell wall of gram-positive bacteria. In some gram-positive bacteria (e.g. Staphylococcus aureus), sortases have been found to be essential for pathogenesis and their inhibitors are under development as potential novel therapeutics. Here we provide the first report on the structural characterisation of the C. difficile sortase. An active site mutant was crystallised and its structure determined to 2.55 Å by X-ray diffraction to provide structural insight into its catalytic mechanism. In order to elucidate the role of the sortase in the cell wall biogenesis, a C. difficile sortase knockout strain was constructed by intron mutagenesis. Characterisation of this mutant led to the discovery that the putative adhesin CD0386 is anchored to the peptidoglycan of C. difficile by the sortase SrtB and that an SPKTG peptide motif is involved in the transpeptidation reaction with the C. difficile peptidoglycan. In an animal model for C. difficile infection, the SrtB mutant caused disease at a similar rate of onset as the wild type strain. In conclusion, our detailed study shows that the SrtB enzyme from C. difficile does not play an essential role in pathogenesis.
Applicability of the Langmuir Equation of State for Asphaltene Adsorption at the Oil–Water Interface: Coal-Derived, Petroleum, and Synthetic Asphaltenes (2015)

In recent studies of asphaltenes from the Norwegian continental shelf at water–oil interfaces, adsorption from largely aliphatic oils appeared to be governed at early times by molecular diffusion and at later times by molecular random sequential adsorption. In addition, the interfacial tension of asphaltenes at the oil–water interface was a a unique function of interfacial coverage, and no apparent rearrangement of asphaltenes at the interface was observed within an experimental time frame of up to 12 h. Confirmation of this result was obtained by showing that high frequency elasticity is a unique function of asphaltene interfacial tension. Both interfacial tension versus coverage and elasticity versus interfacial tension data have been successfully captured by the Langmuir Equation of State (EoS), which also allows estimates of the sizes of the asphaltene polyaromatic cores to be made. The value obtained in experiments with asphaltenes from a Norwegian crude oil is 0.32 nm2/molecule, which corresponds to an average size of ∼6.2 ring polyaromatic core resting flat on the oil–water interface, which is supported by estimates made by other means. In the current study, we provide further investigation of these findings. UG8 asphaltenes, which have been well-studied previously, show interfacial behavior similar to the asphaltenes from the Norwegian oil. Experiments with coal-derived asphaltenes, which are known to have smaller cores, and model asphaltenes, with a larger cores, both confirm the applicability of the Langmuir EoS to fit the interfacial tension data and enable estimates of the polyaromatic core sizes from tensiometric measurements.
Impact of atmospheric turbulence and refractivity on the modulation transfer function of incoherent imaging systems (2016)

Using the brightness function imaging approach we analyze the impact of the desert and ocean type inverse temperature layer (ITL) on the modulation transfer function (MFT) of an incoherent imaging system. It is shown that an ITL located in vicinity of an imaging path can result in nonlinear deviation in imaging of an object spatial spectrum. Using periodical (sine) patterns of different spatial frequencies as an object, we show that presence of an ITL leads to formation of images with a broadened spatial spectrum with shifted frequency of the sine pattern image in respect to object frequency. The image spectrum shift and width depend on the ITL characteristics and its location in respect to optical wave propagation path. The observed changes in the sine pattern spectral content represent a challenge for analysis of imaging systems performance using conventional MTF based framework. We also analyzed impact of atmospheric turbulence on imaging of periodical (sine) patterns and compared this with the known theoretical results.
Design and Performance of Rate-Compatible Non-binary LDPC Convolutional Codes (2011)

In this paper, we present a construction method of non-binary low-density parity-check (LDPC) convolutional codes. Our construction method is an extension of Felström and Zigangirov construction [1] for non-binary LDPC convolutional codes. The rate-compatibility of the non-binary convolutional code is also discussed. The proposed rate-compatible code is designed from one single mother (2,4)-regular non-binary LDPC convolutional code of rate 1/2. Higher-rate codes are produced by puncturing the mother code and lower-rate codes are produced by multiplicatively repeating the mother code. Simulation results show that non-binary LDPC convolutional codes of rate 1/2 outperform state-of-the-art binary LDPC convolutional codes with comparable constraint bit length. Also the derived low-rate and high-rate non-binary LDPC convolutional codes exhibit good decoding performance without loss of large gap to the Shannon limits.
Transmission electron microscopy study of hydrogen-induced degradation in strontium bismuth tantalate thin films (2000)

The fabrication of nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memories based on SrBi2Ta2O9 (SBT) or other ferroelectric capacitors require exposure of these capacitors to processing gases mixtures including hydrogen. This results in a strong degradation of the capacitor electrical properties, mainly due to the interaction of hydrogen with the ferroelectric layer. Using surface analysis methods, we previously determined that the hydrogen-induced degradation of SBT capacitors might be partially due to the degradation of the near surface region of the SBT layer. It was also demonstrated that oxygen annealing after the hydrogen exposure results in the recovery of the degraded SBT surface layer and the electrical properties of the capacitor. We have now performed detailed cross sectional transmission electron microscopy studies of virgin, hydrogen, and oxygen annealed SBT/Pt/TiO2/SiO2/Si heterostructures. These studies combined microstructural imaging with a nanoscale compositional analysis of the SBT layer as a function of depth from the free surface of the film and across grain boundaries. High resolution energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy revealed that hydrogen annealed SBT layers have a deficiency of Bi up to a depth of ∼30 nm underneath the free surface, and that there is accumulation of Bi at the grain boundaries of pristine, hydrogen, and oxygen-recovery annealed SBT layers. This suggests that the diffusion of Bi is largely controlled by grain boundaries and they play a critical role in controlling the electrical properties of SBT capacitors.
Heterogeneous Kinetics of the Uptake of ClONO2on NaCl and KBr (1996)

The uptake kinetics of ClONO2 on NaCl (reaction 1) and on KBr (reaction 2) have been studied in a low-pressure, Teflon-coated Knudsen reactor at room temperature. The initial uptake coefficient for both reactions has been measured as 0.23 ± 0.06 and 0.35 ± 0.06 for reactions 1 and 2, respectively, and is independent of reactant density in the range 1010−1013 molecules cm-3. The values of the uptake coefficients are independent of presentation of the salt substrates: identical results are obtained on powder, grains, single-crystal surfaces, and thin deposited salt layers. The only product of reaction 1 is Cl2. Reaction 2 initially produces Br2, followed by BrCl and Cl2. In our proposed mechanism, BrCl is the product of reaction 2, and secondary reactions between BrCl and the KBr substrate yield Br2 at short reaction times and Cl2 under prolonged exposure.
Automated sequential chromogenic IHC double staining with two HRP substrates (2018)

Abstract Automated IHC double staining using DAB and HRP Magenta is illustrated utilizing a new acid block with sulfuric acid to prevent cross-reactivity. Residual cross-reactivity in double staining is determined to arise from chromogenic-bound antibodies and amplification system during the first part of the double staining.
Development of Smooth Shift Control System with Output Torque Estimation (1995)

&lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;Most automatic transmissions are controlled in compliance with a predetermined program. Transient control during gear shift is also carried out according to a predetermined process. In this method a lot of labor is required to tune data tables. So we developed a tuning free system by feedback control using torque estimation technology and the experimental result is reported.&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;Torque fluctuation during shift is detected and fed back to compare the torque reference, which is generated from the estimated torque itself. The engine torque is decreased by means of retarding the ignition spark advance, according to the comparison deviation.&lt;/div&gt; &lt;div class="htmlview paragraph"&gt;As a consequence of the feedback, the transient torque control is carried out without any tuning trouble, and better than usual torque fluctuation is obtained.&lt;/div&gt;
Driving Style Assessment System for Agricultural Tractors: Design and Experimental Validation (2022)

The diffusion of electronics and sensors in agricultural vehicles is enabling a revolution in the field, leading—among the rest—to the introduction of advanced driving-assistance systems (ADAS). From this perspective, the three key performance indicators (KPI) in a tractor are indeed the driving safety, fuel consumption, and operator comfort. Such indexes describe the way the driver interacts with the vehicle, the environment, and other vehicles, respectively. Therefore, such information would be particularly valuable if promptly provided to the driver, e.g., on a dashboard visualizer, so as to adapt the driving style accordingly. Within this context, we propose an algorithmic solution for the on-line estimation of such KPIs. More specifically, by using an off-the-shelf smart-sensor equipped with an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), the chassis accelerations are first processed to extract physics-inspired features and then used to assess the safety and comfort levels; similarly, the speed profile is used to evaluate the economicity of the driving style. The developed method is based upon a cheap setup, and thus it is industrially amenable for its simplicity and robustness. A sensitivity analysis to establish the best sensor placement is finally carried out, together with an extensive experimental campaign considering offroad, urban, and circuit paths.
Current limiting fuses: proposed NFPA 70-2017 240.67, arc modeling and an assessment based on IEEE 1584-2002 (2016)

When operating in current limiting mode, currentlimiting fuses can effectively mitigate the heat and pressure hazards associated with an arc event because they limit the current in the first ¼ cycle and interrupt current flow in less than 8.3 ms. The effectiveness of current limiting fuses is reinforced by their inclusion in NFPA 70E-2015: Note to Table 130.7(C)(15)(A)(b), Annex D.4.6, and Annex O.2.4(4). The incident energy levels associated with current limiting fuses can be determined from IEEE Standard 1584-2002, IEEE Guide for Performing Arc-Flash Hazard Calculations. IEEE 1584-2002 presents a method for directly determining incident energy without first determining arc current or arc duration. The fuse equations were derived from 600V arc tests involving a range of current limiting fuse sizes. This data is reviewed to assess the performance of current limiting fuses in reducing arc energy in accordance with the proposed NFPA 70-2017 Section 240.67. The IEEE 1584-2002 equations are used to assess the performance of these fuses in comparison with an arc energy reduction maintenance switch, and the combination of both technologies. The viability of predicting arc current and incident energy for installations involving current limiting fuses and implementing the proposed NEC Section 240.67 using general arc models is discussed.
Jet and underlying event properties as a function of charged-particle multiplicity in proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt {s}= 7\ \text{TeV}$ (2013)

Characteristics of multi-particle production in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] are studied as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity, <i>N</i><sub>ch</sub>. The produced particles are separated into two classes: those belonging to jets and those belonging to the underlying event. Charged particles are measured with pseudorapidity |<i>η</i>|<2.4 and transverse momentum <i>p</i><sub>T</sub>>0.25 GeV/<i>c</i>. Jets are reconstructed from charged-particles only and required to have <i>p</i><sub>T</sub>>5 GeV/<i>c</i>. The distributions of jet <i>p</i><sub>T</sub>, average <i>p</i><sub>T</sub> of charged particles belonging to the underlying event or to jets, jet rates, and jet shapes are presented as functions of <i>N</i><sub>ch</sub> and compared to the predictions of the pythia and herwig event generators. Predictions without multi-parton interactions fail completely to describe the <i>N</i><sub>ch</sub>-dependence observed in the data. For increasing <i>N</i><sub>ch</sub>, pythia systematically predicts higher jet rates and harder <i>p</i><sub>T</sub> spectra than seen in the data, whereas herwig shows the opposite trends. At the highest multiplicity, the data-model agreement is worse for most observables, indicating the need for further tuning and/or new model ingredients.
Reliability analysis of parallel processing systems (1988)

Parallel processors promise an increase in reliability as well as throughput. A quantitative framework for the evaluation and comparison of reliability-enhancement techniques for parallel systems must be employed by system architects. This paper presents a reliability evaluation of a parallel processing ensemble computer as a function of several fault tolerance techniques which might be applied to such a computer. For each fault tolerance approach, Markov models and combinatorial models are used to compute the reliability and expected value of the number of processing elements as a function of mission time. Using this analytical framework for the development of a high-reliability and high-throughput architecture, reliability-critical architectural parameters are identified, leading to a new organizational approach for obtaining high ensemble reliability. The reliability of an ensemble constructed using this approach is computed and found to be superior to the other approaches investigated.
Sex Attraction and Mating in Bursaphelenchus okinawaensis and B. xylophilus. (2015)

The fungal feeding, hermaphroditic Bursaphelenchus okinawaensis is a laboratory model to understand the biology of Bursaphelenchus. The extent to which B. okinawaensis can be used to model Bursaphelenchus xylophilus mating was investigated. A chemotaxis assay was conducted to examine whether B. xylophilus and B. okinawaensis produce and respond to volatile sex attractants. Unmated B. xylophilus females were found to attract B. xylophilus males. Similarly, old (sperm depleted) but not young (sperm repleted) B. okinawaensis hermaphrodites attract B. okinawaensis males. Thus, in both species, sperm status corresponds to its ability to attract males. B. xylophilus males also produce a volatile pheromone that attracts both mated and unmated females. A second assay, in which the behavior of males on petri plates in the presence of different females or hermaphrodites of Bursaphelenchus was observed, revealed that B. xylophilus unmated females attract B. okinawaensis males, and B. okinawaensis old hermaphrodites attract B. xylophilus males. These observations suggested that the pheromones of Bursaphelenchus work to some extent across species. Mating behavior through spicule insertion occurs across species, suggesting that postcopulatory mechanisms prevent production of interspecific progeny. The hermaphroditic B. okinawaensis will be a useful model to conduct genetic studies for the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying mating behavior in Bursaphelenchus nematodes.
Characterization of physiological 18F-FSPG uptake in healthy volunteers: Kinetics and biodistribution (2012)

555 Objectives (S)-4-(3-[18F] Fluoropropyl)-L-glutamic acid (18F-FSPG) is a novel radiopharmaceutical developed by Bayer HealthCare for PET imaging. It is a glutamate analogue with a good dosimetric profile that shows promise for oncologic imaging. The purpose of this study was to understand the normal biodistribution and kinetics of 18F-FSPG in healthy volunteers. Methods Eight (± 10%) mCi of 18F-FSPG was given IV to 5 subjects (3 women and 2 men) and 7 PET and 3 CT scans per volunteer were obtained 0-2 hours post-injection (p.i.). From the 60 minute p.i. scan, we measured mean standardized uptake values (SUV) for the brain, head and neck, mediastinum, lung, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, kidney, adrenal, colon, small bowel, rectal, muscle, and bone. A subset of these regions was analyzed over all 7 scans to evaluate the kinetics of this radiotracer as well. Results On the 60 minute p.i. scan, there was very low-grade background activity in the majority of regions analyzed. Significant activity was visualized throughout the pancreas. There was also prominent clearance of the radiotracer throughout the kidneys and collection into the bladder. See table for values and comparison to 18F-FDG. The kinetic data showed rapid clearance of the tracer from the blood pool and most organs, except the pancreas. Conclusions Understanding the physiological uptake of this promising new tracer throughout the body is critical for improved interpretative accuracy and understanding potential applications. This data suggests that 18F-FSPG may be suitable for a wide variety of malignancies (except for pancreas, kidneys and bladder) since there was low background activity in the brain, head and neck, chest, and abdomen. These findings have also been confirmed in cancer patients
Millimeter-wave asymmetric Fabry-Perot modulators (1995)

We have designed, fabricated, and characterized GaAs-AlGaAs (/spl lambda/=864 nm) asymmetric Fabry-Perot modulators with /spl ap/37 GHz modulation frequency response, comparable to the fastest waveguide modulators. The modulation response saturates at high optical powers due to saturation of the excitonic absorption and heating effects, but the frequency response is independent of the incident optical intensity, since it depends only on the RC time constant, and not on the carrier transit time. The device design takes advantage of the fact that the quantum-confined Stark effect is more pronounced at some distance from the absorption edge to achieve a modulator with /spl ges/20 dB contrast and /spl ap/3 dB insertion loss for /spl plusmn/2 V operating voltage, but only 21 fF capacitance. The DC bias used to move the operating point off the absorption edge has the additional benefits of improving the linearity and chirp of the device, as well as the saturation intensity. Here we present measurements of the modulation and photocurrent responses of the modulators, calculate the RC and transit times for the device, analyze the saturation mechanisms, and discuss the linearity and chirp of the device from the perspective of a high-speed digital optical communications system.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>