gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Association between Serum γ-Glutamyltransferase and Chronic Kidney Disease among US Adults (2010)

Higher serum GGT levels were not associated with CKD after adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education levels, smoking, alcohol intake, body mass index (BMI), diabetes, hypertension and serum cholesterol. Compared to quartile 1 of GGT, the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of CKD associated with quartile 4 was 1.02 (0.81-1.28); p trend = 0.377. Subgroup analyses that examined the relation between GGT and CKD by gender, alcohol intake, and BMI categories also showed a consistent null association. In summary, there was no association between increasing levels of serum GGT and CKD in a sample of US adults.
Performance of expanded graphite and expanded milled‐graphite fillers in thermosetting resins (2005)

Abstract Epoxy/expanded graphite (EG) and polyester/EG composites were prepared with the aid of sonication, while epoxy/expanded‐milled graphite (epoxy/milled‐EG) and polyester/expanded‐milled graphite (polyester/milled‐EG) composites were prepared on a three‐roll paint mill. The epoxy/EG and polyester/EG composites exhibit a sharp insulator/semiconductor transition at markedly low percolation thresholds, due to the vermicular shape of EG having high aspect ratio and surface area. The morphologies of epoxy and polyester resins incorporated with EG and milled‐EG fillers were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of dynamic mechanical analysis of the composites reveal that both EG and milled‐EG fillers increase the T g of the epoxy matrix. Milled‐EG increases the G ′ of the epoxy matrix, while EG decreases the G ′ of the epoxy matrix, due to the existence of abundant pores in EG. The milled‐EG filler has the same effect on the polyester matrix as on the epoxy matrix, but the EG filler has no significant effect on the mechanical properties of polyester matrix. POLYM. COMPOS., 26:526–533, 2005. © 2005 Society of Plastics Engineers
Upconversion Nanoprobes for the Ratiometric Luminescent Sensing of Nitric Oxide (2017)

By taking advantage of the optical properties of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), we have designed a luminescence ratiometric nanosensor for measuring nitric oxide (NO) in biological fluids, live cells, and tissues. This nanoconjugate consists of a UCNP core with two strong fluorescence emission peaks at 540 and 656 nm as the upconversion fluorophore, NO-reactive rhodamine B-derived molecules (RdMs) encapsulated within the mesopores of the mSiO<sub>2</sub> shell, and a β-cyclodextrin (βCD) layer on the exterior of the particle. Reaction of the analyte with the O-phenylenediamine of the RdM induces opening of the spiro-ring and is accompanied by an appearance of a strong rhodamine B (RdB) absorption band between 500 and 600 nm, which has spectral overlap with the green emission (540 nm) of the UCNPs. This results in an increase in the I<sub>656</sub>/I<sub>540</sub> ratio and quantitatively correlates with [NO]. The assay is validated under clean buffer conditions as well as inserum and liver tissue slices obtained from mouse models.
Joint Multislot Scheduling and Precoding for Unicast and Multicast Scenarios in Multiuser MISO Systems (2021)

This paper studies the joint multislot design of user scheduling and precoding to minimize the time needed to serve all the users for unicast and multicast transmission in single-cell multiuser MISO downlink systems. In the literature, the joint design of scheduling and precoding is typically undertaken based on feedback from previous slots. In a system with time-varying channels and QoS requirements, joint multislot designs can achieve better performance since they have the flexibility to schedule users over multiple slots and also can split users across slots efficiently. Further, a joint multislot design can provide a feasible solution even when the sequential design fails. In this paper, scheduling is represented by a binary matrix where the rows represent users, columns represent slots and entries represent scheduling of users in the slots. Noticing that the users may not be permuted across slots for time-varying channels, service time needed for scheduling is rendered as the highest column index corresponding to non-zero columns. With the help of binary scheduling matrix, service time minimization is formulated as a structured mixed-Boolean fractional programming. Further, by exploiting the hidden convex-concave structure in the problem, a convex-concave procedure-based iterative algorithm is proposed. Finally, we vindicate the necessity and illustrate the superiority in performance of joint multislot design over the sequential solution through Monte-Carlo simulations.
ChemInform Abstract: Selective Electrochemical and Photochemical Syntheses of Unsymmetrical Biaryls and Their Non‐Linear Optical Properties. (1988)

Abstract The (het)aryl radicals, formed from the (het)aryl chlorides (I) or (IV), react with the phenoxide anion (II) to give the unsymmetrical biaryls (III).
Wavelength Tunable Group delay in InGaAs Subwavelength Grating Waveguide for Mid-Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy (2022)

An engineered structure based on InGaAs-InP subwavelength grating waveguide is proposed on QCL/QCD platform for sensing application. The proposed structure attribute slow light effect with fine group index tuning capability of 0.48nm/K using thermo-optic effect.
A Transgenic Marker Expressed on Discrete Populations during B‐Cell Development (2001)

We describe a transgenic mouse strain that selectively express a surface marker (huCD25) on transitional B cells, pre-B cells and a lineage unidentified bone marrow (BM) population. We show that a subpopulation of B cells in Peyer's patches, spleen, blood and BM expressed the transgenic huCD25 marker on the cell surface. In the spleen, the huCD25 expression was found on transitional B cells, that had not yet been recruited into the recirculating pool. In the BM a fraction of the B220low surface immunoglobulin (Ig) negative PB493+ pre-B cells were huCD25+. HuCD25 expression was also seen on practically all immature B cells while the mature recirculating B cells did not express huCD25. A huCD25+B220- cell population was also found in the BM that had not rearranged the Ig heavy chain locus and did not express the lineage markers CD3, T-cell receptor (TCR), CD19 and Mac-1. A low expression of CD4 on these cells may indicate that they represent a noncommitted, hematopoetic progenitor cell population.
First-in-Human Evaluation of Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography With [18F]FB(ePEG12)12-Exendin-4: A Phase 1 Clinical Study Targeting GLP-1 Receptor Expression Cells in Pancreas (2021)

Pancreatic β-cell mass (BCM) has a central importance in the pathophysiology of diabetes mellitus. Recently, pancreatic β-cell-specific imaging, especially positron emission tomography (PET) with exendin-based probes, has emerged for non-invasive evaluation of BCM. We developed a novel exendin-based probe labeled with fluorine-18, [<sup>18</sup>F]FB(ePEG12)12-exendin-4 (<sup>18</sup>F-Ex4) for PET imaging. We subsequently conducted a first-in-human phase 1 study of <sup>18</sup>F-Ex4 PET/computed tomography (CT) and investigated the safety and utility for visualizing the pancreas. Six healthy male subjects were enrolled in this study. A low dose (37.0 MBq) of <sup>18</sup>F-Ex4 PET/CT was administered (first cohort: n = 2), and subsequently a higher dose (74.0 MBq) was administered (second cohort: n = 4). In the first and second cohorts, 38.6 ± 4.8 and 71.1 ± 4.8 MBq of <sup>18</sup>F-Ex4 were administered, respectively. No serious adverse events were observed in both groups. Only one participant in the first cohort showed transient hypoglycemia during the PET scans. <sup>18</sup>F-Ex4 PET/CT successfully visualized the pancreas in all participants. The mean standardized uptake value of the pancreas was found to be higher than that in the surrounding organs, except for the bladder and kidney, during the observation. Dosimetry analyses revealed the effective systemic doses of <sup>18</sup>F-Ex4 as 0.0164 ± 0.0019 mSv/MBq (first cohort) and 0.0173 ± 0.0020 mSv/MBq (second cohort). <sup>18</sup>F-Ex4 PET/CT demonstrated the safety and utility for non-invasive visualization of the pancreas in healthy male subjects. <sup>18</sup>F-Ex4 is promising for clinical PET imaging targeting pancreatic β cells.
Hormonal Mechanisms in Blood Pressure Reduction during Hemodialysis in Patients with Chronic Renal Failure (1995)

To elucidate the hormonal mechanisms of blood pressure (BP) reduction during hemodialysis in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), we performed this study using 7 normotensive (NT) and 17 hypertensive (HT) patients who were strictly matched in age, body weight, body weight gain from the last HD, and duration of HD. Blood pressure, pulse rate, plasma norepinephrine (NE), and plasma dopamine levels were used as indices of sympathetic nerve activity, before, at 50% of hemodialysis (HD) and at 100% of HD (at the end of HD) on the third day after the last HD. As hemodialytic BP reduction was defined as BP decline of more than 10% in pre-HD mean BP, in normotensive patients with CRF, hemodialytic BP reduction was recognized in 0/7 (0%) at 50% of HD and 4/7 (57%) at 100% of HD, and in hypertensive patients it was recognized in 3/17 (18%) at 50% of HD and 4/17 (24%) at 100% of HD. Percentile changes in plasma NE levels increased slightly following hemodialysis in normotensive patients with hemodialytic BP reduction and in hypertensives without BP reduction, while those in normotensives without BP reduction and in hypertensives with BP reduction did not change. However, percentage changes in plasma dopamine (DA) levels decreased significantly at the end of HD (NT; p < 0.05, HT; p < 0.01) following hemodialysis in both normotensive and hypertensive patients with hemodialytic BP reduction, while changes in patients without BP reduction, percentage changes in DA did not change (patients with BP reduction vs. patients without BP reduction). In conclusion, hemodialytic BP reduction may be predisposed by abnormal sympathetic nerve responsiveness.
Image method for induced surface charge from many-body system of dielectric spheres (2016)

Charged dielectric spheres embedded in a dielectric medium provide the simplest model for many-body systems of polarizable ions and charged colloidal particles. We provide a multiple scattering formulation for the total electrostatic energy for such systems and demonstrate that the polarization energy can be rapidly evaluated by an image method that generalizes the image methods for conducting spheres. Individual contributions to the total electrostatic energy are ordered according to the number of polarized surfaces involved, and each additional surface polarization reduces the energy by a factor of (a/R)<sup>3</sup>ϵ, where a is the sphere radius, R the average inter-sphere separation, and ϵ the relevant dielectric mismatch at the interface. Explicit expressions are provided for both the energy and the forces acting on individual spheres, which can be readily implemented in Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations of polarizable charged spheres, thereby avoiding costly computational techniques that introduce a surface charge distribution that requires numerical solution.
Three-dimensional measurements of fundamental plasma parameters in pulsed ICP operation (2020)

Radio frequency inductively coupled plasma sources are widely used in low temperature industrial processing. Recent computer simulations and experiments indicate significant improvement in processing results with the use of pulsed plasmas. We report three dimensional spatial and temporal measurements of fundamental plasma parameters in a pulsed Argon plasma in an industrial etch tool modified for diagnostic access. The pulse repetition rate is 1 kHz with 50% duty cycle. The density does not decay to zero at the end of the afterglow period, and this affects the initial conditions for the beginning of the next powered phase. At 5 mTorr, the plasma starts in the E-mode for each pulse and grows into a “ring” shape density profile. Subsequently, the profile evolves to peak in the middle of the chamber as it reaches a steady state toward the end of the active-glow. At 25 mTorr, the plasma density profile always peaks at the center of the chamber throughout the entire pulse.
Pre-stressed FRP-Strengthening and Wireless Monitoring of a Metallic Bridge in Australia (2018)

This paper presents the first application of pre-stressed carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) material for strengthening of a metallic bridge in Australia. The study also describes the application of a wireless sensor network (WSN) system for long-term structural health monitoring (SHM) of the installed retrofit system. A flat pre-stressed un-bonded reinforcement (FPUR) system was developed to apply pre-stressed CFRP strips to the steel girders of Diamond-Creek Bridge. The bridge is a 121-year-old metallic roadway bridge in Melbourne, which is subjected to daily passenger and heavy truck vehicles. Sets of laboratory tests were performed to examine the efficiency of the proposed FPUR system, prior to its installation on the bridge. Furthermore, in order to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed retrofit technique, the bridge was instrumented with different types of sensors (including strain gauges, temperature and humidity sensors) and short- and long-term measurements were performed. As for short-term measurements, the bridge was loaded by a 42.5-tonnes semi-trailer before and after strengthening. For the long-term monitoring, a WSN system was used to monitor the prestress level in the CFRP reinforcements for at least one year. The CFRP plates were pre-stressed up to about 980 MPa (≈38% of the CFRP ultimate strength), which resulted in about 50% reduction in the maximum tensile stress in the bridge girders. The results of the short- and long-term measurements in this study showed that the FPUR system was very effective for flexural and fatigue strengthening of the bridge girders.
ChemInform Abstract: Fragmentation‐Cyclization Reactions of O‐Stannyl Ketyls: The Synthesis of an Angular Triquinane Skeleton. (1996)

Abstract ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.
Confined Modes Between a Lossy Slab Load and a Metal Plane as Determined by a Waveguide Trough Model (1994)

The particular mode types which can propagate in the region underneath a large thick food item in for example a microwave oven are investigated by a model using the geometry of a rectangular wave guide trough. The waves are trapped surface waves and may have inefficiently small losses to the load if there is no additional dielectric layer such as a shelf Too high losses, resulting in absorption of most of the energy in the outer parts of the load may, however, occur in slabs having dielectric properties corresponding to those of large frozen food items.
57 Update of IMPACT Invasive Meningococcal Surveillance, 2016-2020 (2022)

Abstract Background Meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV) programs in Canada began in 2002. Objectives This study examines the most recent surveillance data to describe the current Canadian epidemiology of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) and the effect of MCV programs, especially on age and serogroup distribution. Design/Methods Active metropolitan area surveillance for hospitalization of adults and children due to IMD, which was defined as a clinical infection with Neisseria meningitidis isolated or detected by molecular methods or culture from a sterile body site. The study was conducted via the 12 centres of the Canadian Immunization Monitoring Program, Active (IMPACT) network from January 1, 2016 – December 31, 2020. Results During 2016-2020, a total of 105 pediatric (&amp;lt;20 years of age) and 145 adult IMD cases occurred. Serogroup B accounted for the greatest proportion of pediatric cases (N=58, 55.2%), followed by W (n=19, 18.1%) and Y (n=9, 8.6%) and C (n=2, 1.9%). Among adults, serogroup W accounted for the majority of cases (n=55, 38.0%), followed by Y (n=41, 28.3%), B (n=33, 22.8%) and C (n=7, 4.8%). The age distribution for serogroups covered by MCV programs has shifted to adults. The median age was 24.2 years (33.4 mean). Whereas the median age of serogroup B cases was 7.7 years (19.4 years mean) with 63.7% of cases occurring in children &amp;lt; 19 years of age and 46.2% in children 0-4 years of age. A total of 20 people died from meningococcal infections in 2016–2020. Five deaths were in children, four from serogroup B and one from serogroup W. Fifteen deaths were in adults, one from serogroup B, eight from serogroup W, three from serogroup Y, and three from Non-typeable/Other/Unknown serogroups. Conclusion Serogroup B, which is not covered by MCV programs, still accounts for the majority of pediatric IMD. Serogroup C has been controlled and rarely causes pediatric infection. With the implementation of MCV programs in children and adolescents, the median and mean age at infection has increased across all serogroups, except serogroup B. Serogroup W is still causing IMD among pediatric age groups.
Application of Back Propagation Neural Network Algorithms on Modeling Failure of B-737 Bleed Air System Valves in Desert Conditions (2012)

Accurate life prediction of aircraft engine components is very critical because it has a direct impact on aircraft safety and on operators’ profits. The engine bleed air system valves have considerably high failure rates when the engines are operated in desert conditions because of sand particles erosion and blockage. In this work, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model for the prediction of failure rate of the most important of these valves in Boeing 737 engines is developed and validated. A previously developed feed-forward back-propagation algorithm is implemented to train the ANN. The effects of changing the number of neurons in the input layer, the number of neurons in the hidden layer, the rate of learning, and the momentum constant are investigated. The model results are validated using comparisons with actual valves failure data from a local operator in Saudi Arabia, as well as comparisons with classical Weibull model results.
Influence of temperature and interface charge on the grain-boundary conductivity in acceptor-doped SrTiO3 ceramics (1998)

The temperature dependence of both the grain-boundary potential barrier height and the conductivity across the grain-boundary space-charge depletion layer in acceptor-doped SrTiO3 ceramics has been investigated by a numerical simulation technique. The underlying model is that of a back-to-back double Schottky barrier at the grain boundary. The influence of the amount of positively charged donorlike grain-boundary interface states on the charge transport behavior of the grain-boundary region is also discussed. An interpretation in terms of a defect chemistry model of the bulk and the space-charge depletion layer, which on both sides surrounds the grain-boundary core is presented. The temperature behavior of the potential barrier at the grain boundary can be divided into three different regimes: a linear regime, and subsequently, saturation and decreasing regimes. The theoretical explanation for this behavior is given. Two different spatial conductivity profiles at the grain boundaries have to be considered, which clearly can be identified by two different characteristic thermal activation energies of the effective grain-boundary conductivity. The barrier height itself is not equal to the the thermal activation energy of the effective grain-boundary conductivity. The electrical characteristics of the grain boundaries can be influenced deliberately by decorating the grain boundaries with suitable dopants.
Limited Angle Slant-Hole Tomography (2020)

Tomographic radiography was developed approximately 60 years ago and is now a major clinical imaging modality. The performance of the rotating single slant-hole collimator for the detection of myocardial perfusion abnormalities was reported by Ratib et al. Herfkens et al. developed a rotating slant-hole (RSH) system which they felt was clinically useful and offered certain advantages over seven-pinhole systems. Calculation of the damping factor is relatively complicated because it is intended to minimize simultaneously the relative errors between all observed and calculated ray sums. Clinical applications of RSH tomography as applied to the cardiovascular system were reported by Herfkens et al. There are several institutions using slant-hole collimators for clinical applications that do not involve tomographic imaging. The future of RSH tomography may come from improved software algorithms; that is unlikely, however, to solve the limited angle sampling and attenuation problems.
mTORC1 promotes proliferation of immature Schwann cells and myelin growth of differentiated Schwann cells (2017)

The myelination of axons in peripheral nerves requires precisely coordinated proliferation and differentiation of Schwann cells (SCs). We found that the activity of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1), a key signaling hub for the regulation of cellular growth and proliferation, is progressively extinguished as SCs differentiate during nerve development. To study the effects of different levels of sustained mTORC1 hyperactivity in the SC lineage, we disrupted negative regulators of mTORC1, including TSC2 or TSC1, in developing SCs of mutant mice. Surprisingly, the phenotypes ranged from arrested myelination in nerve development to focal hypermyelination in adulthood, depending on the level and timing of mTORC1 hyperactivity. For example, mice lacking TSC2 in developing SCs displayed hyperproliferation of undifferentiated SCs incompatible with normal myelination. However, these defects and myelination could be rescued by pharmacological mTORC1 inhibition. The subsequent reconstitution of SC mTORC1 hyperactivity in adult animals resulted in focal hypermyelination. Together our data suggest a model in which high mTORC1 activity promotes proliferation of immature SCs and antagonizes SC differentiation during nerve development. Down-regulation of mTORC1 activity is required for terminal SC differentiation and subsequent initiation of myelination. In distinction to this developmental role, excessive SC mTORC1 activity stimulates myelin growth, even overgrowth, in adulthood. Thus, our work delineates two distinct functions of mTORC1 in the SC lineage essential for proper nerve development and myelination. Moreover, our studies show that SCs retain their plasticity to myelinate and remodel myelin via mTORC1 throughout life.
IFN-γ enables cross-presentation of exogenous protein antigen in human Langerhans cells by potentiating maturation (2004)

We compared monocyte-derived dendritic cells and transforming growth factor-beta1-induced Langerhans-like cells (LCs) for their capacity to cross-present exogenous NY-ESO-1 protein/antibody immune complexes to an NY-ESO-1-specific CD8+ T cell clone. In contrast to dendritic cells, LCs were not able to cross-present NY-ESO-1 to the T cell clone constitutively but did so after treatment with IFN-gamma. Remarkably, this IFN-gamma-inducible characteristic was due neither to enhanced antigen uptake nor to facilitated antigen processing in LCs. Rather, IFN-gamma acted at least in part by potentiating the maturation of otherwise refractory LCs, enabling in turn exogenous antigen to reach the processing machinery. This model of conditional cross-presentation establishes an original level of action for IFN-gamma as an effective immune modulator and supports the use of IFN-gamma in protein vaccination strategies targeting LCs.