gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
New Assay for Old Markers-Plasma Beta Amyloid of Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease (2012)

Although there is a consensus on the reduced levels of Aβ1-42 in the CSF of patients with AD, studies of plasma Aβ levels were inconsistent and have limited clinical value. We developed an immunomagnetic reduction assay (IMR) to determine the plasma levels of Aβ. We surveyed patients with varying AD severity (CDR = 0.5, n=16; CDR ≥ 1, n=18) and controls (n=26). Significant group differences were apparent in the levels of Aβ1-42 (F = 5.54, p = 0.002) and the Aβ1-42/Aβ1-40 ratio (F = 24.198, p < 0.001). Post-hoc analyses showed significant differences in the Aβ1-42 levels of controls and AD patients (p = 0.001) and in the Aβ1-42/Aβ1-40 ratio of control, MCI and AD subjects (all p ≤ 0.001). Regression analysis of Aβ1-42/Aβ1-40 ratios on dementia severity showed an adjusted R2 of 0.553 (p = 0.001). We identified a cut-off of 16.1 pg/ml for Aβ1-42 to differentiate control subjects from patients (both AD and MCI) with 85.3% sensitivity and 88.5% specificity. We also obtained a cut-off value of 0.303 for Aβ1-42/Aβ1-40 ratios with 85.3% sensitivity and 96.2% specificity. APOE 4 carriers had significantly higher Aβ1-42/Aβ1-40 ratios than the non-carriers (F = 4.839, p = 0.015). An independent group of case-control subjects validated both cut-off values for Aβ1-42/Aβ1-40 (100% sensitivity and 83.3% specificity) and for Aβ1-42 (100% sensitivity and 75.3% specificity). In a subgroup of longitudinal follow- up study, we found that the plasma Aβ was relatively stable with an interval of approximately 3 months. In conclusion, we found that the plasma Aβ1-42 is a useful biomarker for AD. The Aβ1-42/Aβ1-40 ratio improves the diagnostic power of the plasma Aβ biomarkers. The iron nanoparticles and IMR provides a novel method to measure plasma Aβ and could serve as an important clinical tool for the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases.
Protein kinase C activation by acidic proteins including 14-3-3 (2000)

14-3-3 proteins may function as adapter or scaffold proteins in signal transduction pathways. We reported previously that several 14-3-3 isotypes bind to protein kinase C (PKC)-ζ and facilitate coupling of PKC-ζ to Raf-1 [van der Hoeven, van der Wal, Ruurs, van Dijk and van Blitterswijk (2000) Biochem. J. 345, 297-306], an event that boosts the mitogen-activated protein kinase (ERK) pathway in Rat-1 fibroblasts. The present work investigated whether bound 14-3-3 would affect PKC-ζ activity. Using recombinant 14-3-3 proteins and purified PKC-ζ in a convenient, newly developed in vitro kinase assay, we found that 14-3-3 proteins stimulated PKC-ζ activity in a dose-dependent fashion up to approx. 2.5-fold. Activation of PKC-ζ by 14-3-3 isotypes was unrelated to their mutual affinity, estimated by co-immunoprecipitation from COS cell lysates. Accordingly, PKC-ζ with a defective (point-mutated) 14-3-3-binding site, showed the same 14-3-3-stimulated activity as wild-type PKC-ζ. As 14-13-3 proteins are acidic, we tested several other acidic proteins, which turned out to stimulate PKC-ζ activity in a similar fashion, whereas neutral or basic proteins did not. These effects were not restricted to the atypical PKC-ζ, but were also found for classical PKC. Together, the results suggest that the stimulation of PKC activity by 14-3-3 proteins is non-specific and solely due to the acidic nature of these proteins, quite similar to that known for acidic lipids.
<title>Multiple-scattering effects in lidar spectroscopy</title> (1996)

We have performed Monte Carlo calculations to investigate the effect of multiple scattering on the frequency spectra due to Brillouin scattering in the ocean. The use of the frequency spectra to determine the speed of sound and temperature profiles and the hydrosol backscattering probability is shown to be stable in turbid multiple scattering waters.
ChemInform Abstract: SYNTHESIS OF POLYNITROGEN HETEROCYCLES FROM FURAN, THIOPHENE, AND SELENOPHENE NITRILES OR IMINO ETHERS (1976)

Abstract Bei der Reaktion der Iminoäther (I) mit Hydrazin entstehen Gemische aus Triazolen (II), Dihydrotetrazinen (III) und Tetrazinen (IV) [durch partielle Luftoxidation von (III)].
Quantum metrology with parametric amplifier-based photon correlation interferometers (2014)

Conventional interferometers usually utilize beam splitters for wave splitting and recombination. These interferometers are widely used for precision measurement. Their sensitivity for phase measurement is limited by the shot noise, which can be suppressed with squeezed states of light. Here we study a new type of interferometer in which the beam splitting and recombination elements are parametric amplifiers. We observe an improvement of 4.1±0.3 dB in signal-to-noise ratio compared with a conventional interferometer under the same operating condition, which is a 1.6-fold enhancement in rms phase measurement sensitivity beyond the shot noise limit. The improvement is due to signal enhancement. Combined with the squeezed state technique for shot noise suppression, this interferometer promises further improvement in sensitivity. Furthermore, because nonlinear processes are involved in this interferometer, we can couple a variety of different waves and form new types of hybrid interferometers, opening a door for many applications in metrology.
Erythropoietin‐induced excessive erythrocytosis activates the tissue endothelin system in mice (2002)

The endothelium controls blood flow and pressure by releasing several vasoactive factors, among them the vasodilator nitric oxide (NO) and the potent vasoconstrictor endothelin-1 (ET-1). Although increased NO levels have been found in excessive erythrocytosis, little is known concerning ET-1 expression in this condition. Thus, we examined the endothelin system in transgenic mice that due to constitutive overexpression of erythropoietin (Epo) reached hematocrit levels of approximately 80%. Surprisingly, despite generalized vasodilatation, polycythemic mice exhibited a two- to fivefold elevation in ET-1 mRNA levels in aorta, liver, heart, and kidney. In line with this, increased expression of ET-1 protein was detected in the pulmonary artery by immunohistochemical analysis. Compared with their wild-type littermates, aortic rings of Epo transgenic animals exhibited a marked reduction in vascular reactivity to ET-1 and big ET-1, but this effect was abrogated upon preincubation with the NO synthase inhibitor N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). Pretreatment of polycythemic mice with the ET(A) receptor antagonist darusentan for 3 wk significantly prolonged their survival upon acute exposure to L-NAME. Taken together, these results demonstrate for the first time that excessive erythrocytosis induces a marked activation of the tissue endothelin system that results in increased mortality upon blockade of NO-mediated vasodilatation. Because ETA antagonism prolonged survival after acute blockade of NO synthesis, endothelin may be regarded as a contributor to the adverse cardiovascular effects of erythrocytosis and may thus represent a new target in the treatment of cardiovascular disease associated with erythrocytosis.
PPARγ ligands increase antileukemic activity of second- and third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors in chronic myeloid leukemia cells (2016)

PPARγ ligands increase antileukemic activity of second- and third-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors in chronic myeloid leukemia cells
Tumour promotion by cyanobacterial toxins (1996)

A study of chronic toxicity due to Microcystis in drinking water led to the initial experimental evidence of skin tumour promotion by microcystins. Because the main target for this toxicity is the liver, the later demonstration of accelerated growth of enzymically altered foci of potential hepatocellular carcinoma cells by microcystin was important. The identification of the mechanism of toxic action through inhibition of specific protein phosphatases linked the tumour promotion activity of microcystins to that of okadaic acid. Both inhibit the same enzymes, and both are tumour promoters. The mechanism of this promotion is under active investigation in several laboratories and appears to be related to the role of phosphorylated proteins at key points in cell-cycle control. The relevance of these cellular and sub-cellular mechanisms to human health is being investigated by two independent methods: whole animal exposure studies and epidemiological investigation. The results of a study of chronic microcystin exposure on duodenal and lymphoid tumour growth in mice are reported. Epidemiological work is in progress in Australia and in China. In Australia, where primary hepatocellular carcinoma is rare, a broad survey of cancer mortality and Microcystis contamination of water supplies is underway. In areas of South-Eastern China annual mortality rates for hepatocellular carcinoma are > 60 per 100000, and these rates of incidence show a strong positive correlation with surface water consumption. Analysis for microcystin in these waters showed concentrations averaging 6.5 μg l−1 compared to no detectable concentration in all but one sample of well water. It is apparent that further investigation of tumour promotion by microcystins is warranted, at molecular, whole animal and epidemiological levels.
Thermally assisted magnetic recording on flux-detectable RE-TM media (2001)

We studied a thermally assisted magnetic recording on flux-detectable RE-TM media. This recording scheme has a close affinity with near-field optics such as solid immersion lens (SIL) optics and scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM)-type optics. The requirements for high-density thermo-magnetic recording and a novel near-field optical head were discussed.
Midkine promoter-based adenoviral vector gene delivery for pediatric solid tumors. (2000)

It is important to develop a system to express therapeutic genes in tumor cells with sufficient selectivity for cancer gene therapy. Midkine (MK) is a newly identified heparin-binding growth factor that is transiently expressed in the early stages of retinoic acid-induced differentiation of embryonal carcinoma cells. It has been reported that many human malignant tumors express high levels of MK mRNA or protein. However, no MK expression is detected in human or mouse liver. These interesting features of MK led us to examine the MK promoter as a candidate for tumor-specific gene expression. We thus developed new recombinant adenoviral (Ad) vectors containing either luciferase reporter gene (AdMKLuc) or herpes simplex thymidine kinase gene (AdMKTK) under the control of the human MK promoter. AdMKLuc achieved relatively high activity in Wilms' tumor (G-401) and neuroblastoma (SK-N-SH) cell lines. In addition, AdMKTK induced marked cell death in response to ganciclovir (GCV) in these same lines. Conversely, very low activity of the MK promoter was observed in mouse liver in vivo compared with the cytomegalovirus promoter. Importantly, AdMKTK + GCV did not induce liver toxicity, whereas substantial toxicity was seen with AdCMVTK + GCV treatment. On the basis of these findings, we conclude that the MK promoter is a candidate tumor-specific promoter for Wilms' tumor or neuroblastoma.
Rationale for the Use of Immunotoxins in the Treatment of HIV-infected Humans (1998)

The first step in the replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is selective binding of the envelope glycoprotein (gp120) to CD4 receptors on T cells or macrophages. After penetration in these cells, the genome of the virus is integrated in the human genome. HIV-infection causes depletion of CD4-positive cells resulting in a severe immunosuppression. It is believed that eliminating HIV-infected cells is crucial in limiting further reduction of CD4-positive cells and thus, preventing disease progression. The most commonly used drugs, such as zidovudine (AZT), appeared to be not completely effective. Therefore many investigators are searching for alternative treatment modalities. The use of immunotoxins (ITs) to eliminate HIV-infected cells is discussed.ITs are chimeric molecules in which cell-binding ligands are coupled to toxins and can specifically eliminate undesired cells. The cell-binding carriers of anti-HIV ITs have been directed against different regions of the HIV envelope glycoprotein (gp120 and gp41) and surface antigens (e.g CD4, CD25). The ITs have been composed of different ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) like pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP), Pseudomonas exotoxin (PE), Diphtheria toxin (DT), or ricin. In in vitro studies, several of these ITs have been shown to be effective and specific in killing acute and persistently HIV-infected cells. The ITs were effective at concentrations (ID50 range from 10-9 M to 10-12 M) that were not toxic to uninfected cells or cells without the antigen. The IT CD4(178)PE40, a fusion protein directed against the CD4 binding site of gp120, has been investigated in two in vivo trials. The results were disappointing considering die antiviral activity in vitro. This was thought to be due to the rapid clearance of the IT and the differential resistance of clinical HIV isolates. Use of a panel of ITs is likely to be more effective because multiple approaches cover the intrinsic variability of HIV and the presence of IT-resistant or latently infected cells, as well as the blocking presence of neutralizing anti-HIV antibodies and the immunogenicity of most ITs.It may be possible to control the virus completely with a panel of ITs in combination with other antiviral or immunosuppressive agents such as RT inhibitors (e.g AZT), interferon α, or cyclosporine. More research will be necessary to develop such a combined therapy.
Determination of the Binding Specificity of an Integral Membrane Protein by Saturation Transfer Difference NMR:  RGD Peptide Ligands Binding to Integrin α<sub>IIb</sub>β<sub>3</sub> (2001)

Saturation transfer difference (STD) NMR is a fast and versatile method to screen compound mixtures in the presence of a receptor for binding affinity and to characterize the ligand's binding epitope. Here we demonstrate that ligand interactions with integral membrane proteins can be investigated by STD NMR if the receptor is embedded into the lipid bilayer of a liposome. The integrin alphaIIbbeta3, also termed GPIIb-IIIa, is a platelet surface glycoprotein that plays a pivotal role in platelet aggregation and that interacts with proteins and peptides presenting the peptide recognition motif RGD. Purified human integrin alphaIIbbeta3 was incorporated into liposomes, and the binding of RGD peptides was analyzed by STD NMR techniques. Cyclo(RGDfV) gave STD NMR effects in the presence of liposomes containing the integrin. The magnitude of the STD effect as a function of the ligand's concentration gave a value for the dissociation constant of 30-60 microM. Adding the weakly binding RGD to the solution of cyclo(RGDfV) resulted in STD effects of the stronger ligand cyclo(RGDfV) only. This demonstrates in agreement with literature that the peptide RGD is a much weaker ligand to the integrin than the peptide cyclo(RGDfV) that largely replaces the RGD peptides from the binding site. The binding epitope of the ligand cyclo(RGDfV) was characterized by STD NMR to contain sections of the D-Phe, the Val methyl groups, Arg alpha, beta, and gamma protons, one Hbeta of Asp, and one Halpha of Gly.
The<i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i><i>YPR184w</i>gene encodes the glycogen debranching enzyme (2000)

The YPR184w gene encodes a 1536-amino acid protein that is 34-39% identical to the mammal, Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans glycogen debranching enzyme. The N-terminal part of the protein possesses the four conserved sequences of the alpha-amylase superfamily, while the C-terminal part displays 50% similarity with the C-terminal of other eukaryotic glycogen debranching enzymes. Reliable measurement of alpha-1,4-glucanotransferase and alpha-1, 6-glucosidase activity of the yeast debranching enzyme was determined in strains overexpressing YPR184w. The alpha-1, 4-glucanotransferase activity of a partially purified preparation of debranching enzyme preferentially transferred maltosyl units than maltotriosyl. Deletion of YPR184w prevents glycogen degradation, whereas overexpression had no effect on the rate of glycogen breakdown. In response to stress and growth conditions, the transcriptional control of YPR184w gene, renamed GDB1 (for Glycogen DeBranching gene), is strictly identical to that of other genes involved in glycogen metabolism.
ProBNP That Is Not Glycosylated at Threonine 71 Is Decreased with Obesity in Patients with Heart Failure (2019)

Increased BMI is associated with decreased concentrations of proBNP not glycosylated at T71. Decreased proBNP substrate amenable to processing could partially explain the lower NT-proBNP and BNP concentrations observed in obese individuals, including those presenting with HF.
High-resolution study of (002, 113, 11−1) four-beam diffraction in Si (2012)

The results of a high-resolution study of the (002, 113, 11 ̅1) four-beam diffraction in Si are presented. The incident synchrotron radiation beam was highly monochromated and collimated with a multi-crystal arrangement in a dispersive setup in both vertical and horizontal planes, in an attempt to experimentally approach plane-wave incident conditions. The Renninger scheme was used with the forbidden reflection reciprocal-lattice vector 002 normal to the crystal surface. The azimuthal and polar rotations were performed in the crystal surface plane and the vertical plane correspondingly. The polar angular curves for various azimuthal angles were measured and found to be very close to theoretical computer simulations, with only a small deviation from the plane monochromatic wave. The effect of the strong two-beam 002 diffraction was observed for the first time with the maximum reflectivity close to 80%. The structure factor of the 002 reflection in Si was experimentally determined as zero.
A generalized class of fractal-wavelet transforms for image representation and compression (1998)

The action of an affine fractal transform or (local) lterated Function System with gray-level Maps (IFSM) on a function f(x) induces a simple mapping on its expansion coefficients, cij, in the Haar wavelet basis. This is the basis of the discrete fractal-wavelet transform, where subtrees of the wavelet coefficient tree are scaled and copied to lower subtrees. Such transforms, which we shall also refer to as IFS on wavelet coefficients (IFSW), were introduced into image processing with other (compactly supported) wavelet basis sets in an attempt to remove the blocking artifacts that plague standard IFS block-encoding algorithms. In this paper a set of generalized 2-D fractal-wavelet transforms is introduced. Their primary difference from usual IFSW transforms lies in treating “horizontal,” “vertical” and “diagonal” quadtrees independently. This approach may seem expensive in terms of coding. However, the added flexibility provided by this method, resulting in a marked improvement in accuracy and low degradation with respect to quantization, makes it quite tractable for image compression. As in the one-dimensional case, the IFSW transforms are equivalent to recurrent IFSM with condensation functions. The net result of an affine IFSW is an extrapolation of high-frequency wavelet coefficients which grow or decay geometrically, according to the magnitudes of fractal scaling parameters α <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ij</inf> . This provides a connection between the α <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ij</inf> and the regularity/irregularity properties of regions of the image. IFSW extrapolation also makes possible “fractal zooming.” The results of computations, including some simple compression methods, are also presented.
Ultra-Wideband Planar Antenna Optimized by a Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (2007)

An ultra-wideband (UWB) planar antenna optimized by a newly developed Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm- Jumping Genes Genetic Algorithm (JGGA) is proposed. The optimization procedure aims at finding an antenna not only with low voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) and small size, but also with stable radiation pattern over the wide band. There are five objective functions and they are based on VSWR, antenna size, radiation pattern and gain. Both the simulated and measured results are given and they agree well with each other.
Serological and prophylactic trials of Asian influenza vaccines in Sweden, 1957. (1959)

A serological trial of a formolized monovalent Asian influenza vaccine of conventional type, using a range of falling vaccine dilutions, showed a satisfactory antihaemagglutinin response in groups of volunteers vaccinated with relatively low numbers of haemagglutinating units (HU) of the vaccine.Booster injections, given 15-19 days after the primary vaccination, gave a further increase and more persistence of antibody response.In a field protection trial, performed in more than 1000 recruits who received a similar vaccine prepared from another line of the same virus strain, a good degree of protection (57%-78%) was obtained after a single injection of 2000 HU of aqueous vaccine. A lower but still statistically significant degree of protection (29%-45%) obtained with only 400 HU of the vaccine adsorbed on aluminium phosphate. Two injections or 2000 or 400 HU of vaccine (without AlPO(4)), given 9 days apart, protected, respectively, 69%-86% and 45%-51% of the vaccinated. The slightly better protective effect of the two-injection scheme appears to be due to the double amount of vaccine given rather than to a recall reaction.The numerical results of both trials were used for an evaluation of the quantitative relation between the antibody-stimulating and protective effects of influenza vaccines.Some pitfalls in the current method of expressing the potency of influenza vaccines in terms of their haemagglutinin content are discussed.
Immunity to coccidiosis: protective effects of transferred serum and cells investigated in chick embryos infected with<i>Eimeria tenella</i> (1971)

SUMMARY The chick embryo proved to be an eminently suitable medium for immunological studies on E. tenella infection, some of the difficulties encountered in the normal host, the hatched chicken, being circumvented. Adoptive transfer of immunity to E. tenella infections in the chick embryo was obtained with antibodies and with cells from caecal tonsils. Protective factors (antibodies) were demonstrated in the serum of fowls which had been infected with E. tenella and in their progeny. Suspensions of caecal tosnil cells inoculated on to the CAM of developing chick embryos reduced the extent of subsequent infections with E. tenella and this was particularly marked when the cell donors had been immunized with E. tenella. Serum globulin protected only when the donors were becoming immune, i.e. after the third inoculum of E. tenella oocysts. The experiment was not continued to the point at which the serum donors were ‘solidly immune’, when previous attempts to protect passively with serum have failed. Maternally transmitted protection was demonstrated in embryos only at the time at which peak protection was afforded by serum globulin, but this is probably an unsatisfactory method of testing since antibodies are not present in allantoic fluid until late in incubation, when coccidial infections are already well established.Some reduction in the oocyst output of the progeny of immunized hens was found when these were challenged at 4 days of age. The protection given by the inoculation of suspensions of cells from the caecal tonsils may have resulted from the production of antibodies by these cells or from their interaction with the parasite in some form of cell-mediated immune mechanism. We are grateful to Mrs Patricia Hesketh, Mr Martin Shirley and Mr Ron Waters for technical assistance and to Mr Peter Townsend for care of the animals.