gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Senescent Swallowing: Impact, Strategies, and Interventions (2009)

The risk for disordered oropharyngeal swallowing (dysphagia) increases with age. Loss of swallowing function can have devastating health implications, including dehydration, malnutrition, pneumonia, and reduced quality of life. Age-related changes increase risk for dysphagia. First, natural, healthy aging takes its toll on head and neck anatomy and physiologic and neural mechanisms underpinning swallowing function. This progression of change contributes to alterations in the swallowing in healthy older adults and is termed presbyphagia, naturally diminishing functional reserve. Second, disease prevalence increases with age, and dysphagia is a comorbidity of many age-related diseases and/or their treatments. Sensory changes, medication, sarcopenia, and age-related diseases are discussed herein. Recent findings that health complications are associated with dysphagia are presented. Nutrient requirements, fluid intake, and nutrition assessment for older adults are reviewed relative to dysphagia. Dysphagia screening and the pros and cons of tube feeding as a solution are discussed. Optimal intervention strategies for elders with dysphagia ranging from compensatory interventions to more rigorous exercise approaches are presented. Compelling evidence of improved functional swallowing and eating outcomes resulting from active rehabilitation focusing on increasing strength of head and neck musculature is provided. In summary, although oropharyngeal dysphagia may be life threatening, so are some of the traditional alternatives, particularly for frail, elderly patients. Although the state of the evidence calls for more research, this review indicates that the behavioral, dietary, and environmental modifications emerging in this past decade are compassionate, promising, and, in many cases, preferred alternatives to the always present option of tube feeding.
Integrated Control and Navigation for Omni-directional Mobile Robot Based on Trajectory Linearization (2007)

In this paper, an integrated navigation and control for omni-directional mobile robot is developed. Both control and navigation algorithms are based on trajectory linearization. The robot control is based on trajectory linearization control (TLC), in which an open-loop kinematic inversion and a closed-loop linear time varying (LTV) stabilizer are combined together to provide robust and accurate trajectory tracking performance. The LTV stabilizer is designed along the nominal trajectory provided by the kinematic inversion. The robot navigation is based on a sensor fusion using nonlinear Kalman filter which is also designed along the nominal trajectory. The sensor fusion combines onboard sensor and vision system measurements together, and provides reliable and accurate location and orientation measurements. Gating technology is employed to remove the inaccurate vision measurement. A real-time hardware-in-the- loop (HIL) simulation system was built to verified the proposed integrated control and navigation. Test results show that the proposed method improves robot location and orientation measurements reliability and accuracy, thus it improves the robot controller performance significantly.
Structure and rheology of semisolid o/w creams containing cetyl alcohol/non‐ionic surfactant mixed emulsifier and different polymers (2004)

Oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions for cosmetic use, such as lotions and creams, are complex multiple-phase systems, which may contain a number of interacting surfactants, fatty amphiphiles, polymers and other excipients. This study investigates the influence of two synthetic cationic polymers, Polyquaternium-7 and Polyquaternium-11, and the natural anionic polymer, gum of acacia, on the rheology and microstructure of creams prepared with a non-ionic mixed emulsifier (cetyl stearyl alcohol-12EO/cetyl alcohol) using rheology (continuous shear, and viscoelastic creep and oscillation), microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A control cream containing no polymer was also investigated. The semisolid control cream was structured by a swollen lamellar gel network phase formed from the interaction of cetyl alcohol and the POE surfactant, in excess of that required to stabilize oil droplets, with continuous phase water. Endothermic transitions between 25 and 100 degrees C were identified as components of this phase. Incorporation of cationic polymer into the formulation caused significant loss of structure to produce a mobile semisolid containing larger oil droplets. The microscopical and thermal data implied that the cationic polymer caused the swollen lamellar gel network phase to transform into non-swollen crystals of cetyl alcohol. In contrast, incorporation of gum of acacia produced a thicker cream than the control, with smaller droplet sizes and little evidence of the gel network. Microscopical and thermal data implied that although there were also interactions between gum of acacia and both the surfactant and the swollen gel network phase, the semisolid properties were probably because of the ability of the gum of acacia to stabilize and thicken the emulsion in the absence of the swollen lamellar network.
Fuzzy logic controller for accurate positioning of direct-drive mechanism using force pulses (2002)

The paper describes a novel approach to accurate positioning control of mechanical devices with nonlinear (stick-slip) friction. The controller applies narrow torque pulses to achieve the desired displacement of the mechanism. The pulse shapes are computed through fuzzy logic approximation of the dependence between the desired displacement and the pulse shape. The stability conditions of the proposed controller are derived taking into account an influence of random variation of the friction properties. A detailed experimental study of the system response to the torque pulses of different shapes and a detailed controller design are presented for a direct-drive manipulator setup. It is experimentally demonstrated that the developed controller achieves positioning precision up to the limits of the position encoder resolution.
Effect of laboratory acclimation on food and water consumption of pregnant sheep after fetal catheterization. (2000)

The objectives of this study were to determine 1) the time required for food and water consumption of late-gestation pregnant sheep to stabilize after a 6- to 7-h shipment by truck and 2) whether the duration of laboratory acclimation altered food and/or water consumption of pregnant sheep after fetal and maternal vascular catheterization. We used a semi-quantitative scale and a retrospective study design to determine food and water consumption as a function of acclimation time in post-shipping and post-surgery animals. These animals had been in our research facility for 2, 3, 4, and 5 or more days prior to surgical catheterization of the fetus and mother. We used a quantitative scale and a prospective study design to determine food and water consumption in post-surgery animals that had been in the laboratory for either 2 or > or = 7 days at the time of surgery. We used two- and three-factor repeated measures analyses of variance to determine the statistical significance of any differences. Although food and water consumption in post-shipping animals were significantly (p < 0.001) lower on day 1 than other days, we attributed this difference to the fact that "day 1" was shorter than 24 hours because the animals arrived in the laboratory at noon. Further, the post-surgery decrease and subsequent recovery in food and water consumption did not depend on the duration of the acclimation prior to surgery. We conclude that differences in pre-surgery, post-transportation acclimation periods ranging from 48 hours to > or = 7 days do not affect post-operative recovery from fetal surgery in sheep.
Multimicroprocessor computer systems in optics (1986)

The commercial availability of powerful 32-bit microprocessors provides an unprecedented opportunity for researchers to construct inexpensive but very powerful multiprocessor computer systems that are optimally designed for specific computational tasks. However, to obtain good performance from such systems it is essential that both the processor interconnection architecture and the system software be appropriate for the problem. Two multiprocessor system designs being developed at the Optical Sciences Center illustrate the potential of such systems. The first is an image- data-driven dynamically reconfigurable multiprocessor using thirty Motorola 68000 microprocessors interconnected by multiple global data buses. This system is fully operational and is being used to develop machine vision systems capable of very high speed biomedical image acquisition and image understanding. The second system is still in the design phase and will be used for image reconstruction using simulated annealing. It consists of an array of sixty-four Inmos Transputers with fourway or six-way nearest-neighbor interconnections.
Microbial Ecology Adherent Interactions Which May Affect Microbial Ecology in the Mouth (1984)

Bacteria attach to teeth and oral mucosal surfaces in a surprisingly selective manner, and attachment appears to be the first step in the colonization process. Attachment is thought to involve lectin-like and/or hydrophobic ligands, called adhesins, often present in bacterial surface appendages which interact with receptors on oral tissues. A variety of factors can influence bacterial attachment, and therefore have the potential to affect host-parasite interactions in the mouth. Factors discussed include salivary components, dietary lectins, and sublethal concentrations of antibiotics.
Ischemia induced peroxynitrite dependent modifications of cardiomyocyte MLC1 increases its degradation by MMP-2 leading to contractile dysfunction (2010)

Damage to cardiac contractile proteins during ischemia followed by reperfusion is mediated by reactive oxygen species such as peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)), resulting in impairment of cardiac systolic function. However, the pathophysiology of systolic dysfunction during ischemia only, before reperfusion, remains unclear. We suggest that increased ONOO(-) generation during ischemia leads to nitration/nitrosylation of myosin light chain 1 (MLC1) and its increased degradation by matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), which leads to impairment of cardiomyocyte contractility. We also postulate that inhibition of ONOO(-) action by use of a ONOO(-) scavenger results in improved recovery from ischemic injury. Isolated rat cardiomyocytes were subjected to 15 and 60 min. of simulated ischemia. Intact MLC1 levels, measured by 2D gel electrophoresis and immunoblot, were shown to decrease with increasing duration of ischemia, which correlated with increasing levels of nitrotyrosine and nitrite/nitrate. In vitro degradation of human recombinant MLC1 by MMP-2 increased after ONOO(-) exposure of MLC1 in a concentration-dependent manner. Mass spectrometry analysis of ischemic rat cardiomyocyte MLC1 showed nitration of tyrosines 78 and 190, as well as of corresponding tyrosines 73 and 185 within recombinant human cardiac MLC1 treated with ONOO(-). Recombinant human cardiac MLC1 was additionally nitrosylated at cysteine 67 and 76 corresponding to cysteine 81 of rat MLC1. Here we show that increased ONOO(-) production during ischemia induces MLC1 nitration/nitrosylation leading to its increased degradation by MMP-2. Inhibition of MLC1 nitration/nitrosylation during ischemia by the ONOO(-) scavenger FeTPPS (5,10,15,20-tetrakis-[4-sulfonatophenyl]-porphyrinato-iron[III]), or inhibition of MMP-2 activity with phenanthroline, provides an effective protection of cardiomyocyte contractility.
Deposition of Thin Nanoporous Silica Layers on Solid Surfaces (2006)

We report a novel synthetic way to deposit a thin nanoporous silica layer on a variety of solids surfaces from flat substrates to micrometer size powders and, as to the materials, from oxides and hydroxides to organic polymers.
Collision Resolution in Slotted ALOHA with Multi-User Physical-Layer Network Coding (2011)

Two new schemes are proposed for collision resolution in slotted ALOHA networks based on multi-user physical-layer network coding (MU PHY NC). In the proposed random access schemes, a collision of a generic number of packets can be recovered decoding the XOR of the original messages, such that the signal resulting from the collision is exploited rather than being discarded. Two different schemes that differ in terms of the amount of control information that needs to be transmitted from the access point, are studied.
Bus energy reduction by transition pattern coding using a detailed deep submicrometer bus model (2003)

A data-distribution and bus-structure aware methodology for the design of coding schemes for low-power on-chip and interchip communication is presented. A general class of coding schemes for low power, termed transition pattern coding schemes, is introduced. The energy behavior of the schemes is mathematically analyzed in detail. Two algorithms are proposed for deriving such efficient coding schemes, which are optimized for desired bus structures and data distributions. Bus partitioning is proposed and mathematically analyzed as a way to reduce the complexity of the encoder/decoder.
Molecular cloning and characterization of the structural gene coding for the developmentally regulated lysosomal enzyme, alpha-mannosidase, in Dictyostelium discoideum. (1992)

The gene coding for the Dictyostelium discoideum lysosomal enzyme, alpha-mannosidase, has been cloned and sequenced. To accomplish this, the mature 60- and 58-kDa subunits of the enzyme were purified and subjected to liquid-phase N-terminal amino acid sequencing. Sequence information was obtained for both of the mature subunits, and a 48-mer oligonucleotide was synthesized based on the determined amino acid sequence of the 58-kDa subunit. Using this oligonucleotide as a probe, an 8-kilobase HindIII fragment of genomic DNA was isolated and subjected to Sanger dideoxy DNA sequencing. The first 4400 nucleotides contained the complete alpha-mannosidase gene and 1100 nucleotides of 5'-flanking DNA. Primer extension analysis indicated that transcription begins at multiple sites -48 to -64 nucleotides upstream of the first nucleotide of the predicted translation initiation codon. A single open reading frame (ORF) of 3015 nucleotides was found that was interrupted by a single intron and that contained the amino acid sequences of the N termini of the two mature alpha-mannosidase subunits; a polyadenylation signal was also found just downstream of the termination codon. A potential cleavable signal sequence was identified in the first 22 amino acids of the predicted precursor protein, and two propeptide regions (Pro I and II) were identified that were immediately upstream of the N termini of the 60- and 58-kDa mature subunits, respectively. These propeptide regions are not present in the mature protein and are therefore predicted to be proteolytically removed as the membrane associated 140-kDa precursor is transported to lysosomes and processed to the soluble 60- and 58-kDa mature forms of the enzyme. In fact, potential proteolytic cleavage sites were identified flanking the Pro I and Pro II regions. Pro I, which immediately follows the signal sequence, consists of 18 amino acids, most of which are highly charged and hydrophilic residues, while Pro II, found in the central portion of the precursor, is very hydrophobic. While no obvious transmembrane regions were identified, several short hydrophobic amino acid stretches were found to be localized in and around the Pro II region, and these may be responsible for attachment of precursors to membranes.
N-Phosphoryl derivatives of bisantrene. Antitumor prodrugs with enhanced solubility and reduced potential for toxicity (1993)

The selective phosphorylation of bisantrene (1) affords bis(phosphonoguanidinic acid) 6, a prodrug with enhanced aqueous solubility (as sodium salt 7) at physiological pH. Unlike 1, in a rat tail vein model, no precipitation was observed when bis(phosphonoguanidinic acid) 6 was injected. While in rats 6 hydrolyzed to monophosphonoguanidinic acid 9 with a half-life of ca. 12 min., complete hydrolysis to bisantrene required several hours. The corresponding monophosphonoguanidinic acid 9 was synthesized from bisantrene and also showed good solubility and antitumor activity. While the antitumor activities of 6 in mice were comparable to bisantrene against B-16 melanoma and P-388 and L-1210 leukemias, it was inactive in vitro vs several tumor cell types. Thus, its activity in vivo resulted from its ability to serve as a prodrug for bisantrene.
Dutch Normal-Pressure Hydrocephalus Study: randomized comparison of low- and medium-pressure shunts (1998)

Outcome was better for patients who had an LPV shunt than for those with an MPV shunt, although most differences were not statistically significant. The authors advise that patients with NPH be treated with an LPV shunt.
Studies on the active site of rat glutathione <i>S</i>‐transferase isoenzyme 4–4 (1989)

The active site of glutathione S-transferase isoenzyme 4-4, purified from rat liver, was studied by chemical modification. Tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone, a compound previously shown to inactivate glutathione S-transferases very efficiently by covalent binding in or close to the active site, completely prevented the alkylation of the enzyme by iodoacetamide, indicating that the reaction had taken place with cysteine residues. Both from radioactive labeling and spectral quantification experiments, evidence was obtained for the covalent binding of three benzoquinone molecules per subunit, i.e. equivalent to the number of cysteine residues present. This threefold binding was achieved with a fourfold molar excess of the benzoquinone, illustrating the high reactivity of this compound. Comparison of the number of amino acid residues modified by tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone with the decrease of catalytic activity revealed an almost complete inhibition after modification of one cysteine residue. Chemical modification studies with diethylpyrocarbonate indicated that all four histidine residues of the subunit are ethoxyformylated in an at least partially sequential manner. Modification of the second histidine residue resulted in complete loss of catalytic activity. Preincubation of the transferase with the glutathione conjugate of tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone resulted in 78% protection against this modification. However, glutathione itself hardly protected against the reaction with diethylpyrocarbonate. The intrinsic fluorescence properties of the enzyme were affected by covalent binding of tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone. The concentration dependency of the fluorescence quenching is strongly correlated with the inactivation of the enzyme, indicating that covalent binding of the benzoquinone occurs in the vicinity of at least one tryptophan residue. Finally, the binding of bilirubin, as measured by means of circular dichroism, was inhibited by preincubation of the enzyme with tetrachloro-1,4-benzoquinone in a manner which strongly correlated with the loss of enzymatic activity, the protection against inactivation by diethylpyrocarbonate, and the fluorescence quenching. All processes showed a 70-80% decrease after incubation of the enzyme with an equimolar amount of the benzoquinone. Thus, evidence is presented for the presence of a cysteine, a histidine and a tryptophan residue in, or in the vicinity of, the active site of the glutathione S-transferase 4 subunit.
Redefining the Role of the β-Lactamase Locus in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus: β-Lactamase Regulators Disrupt the MecI-Mediated Strong Repression on <i>mecA</i> and Optimize the Phenotypic Expression of Resistance in Strains with Constitutive <i>mecA</i> Expression (2013)

In response to β-lactam chemotherapy, Staphylococcus aureus has acquired two resistance determinants: blaZ, coding for β-lactamase, which confers resistance to penicillins only, and mecA, coding for an extra cell wall cross-linking enzyme with reduced affinity for virtually all other β-lactams. The transcriptional control of both resistance determinants is regulated by homologous repressors (BlaI and MecI, respectively) and sensor inducers (BlaR1 and MecR1, respectively). There is a cross-talk between the two regulatory systems, and it has been demonstrated that bla regulators stabilize the mecA acquisition. In a recent study, we have unexpectedly observed that in most MRSA strains, there was no significant change in the resistance phenotype upon the overexpression in trans of a MecI repressor, whereas in those few strains negative for the bla locus, there was a massive decrease of resistance (D. C. Oliveira and H. de Lencastre, PLoS One 6:e23287, 2011). Here, we demonstrate that, contrary to what is currently accepted, the bla regulatory system efficiently disrupts the strong MecI-mediated repression on mecA, enabling the optimal expression of resistance. This effect appears to be due to the formation of MecI::BlaI heterodimers that might bind less efficiently to the mecA promoter and become nonfunctional due to the proteolytic inactivation of the BlaI monomer. In addition, we have also observed that the presence of bla regulators may enhance dramatically the expression of β-lactam resistance in MRSA strains with constitutive mecA expression, compensating for the fitness cost imposed by the large β-lactamase plasmid. These observations point to important unrecognized roles of the bla locus for the expression of the methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) phenotype.
The regulation of the calcium conductance of cardiac muscle by adrenaline. (1977)

1. The effect of adrenaline on the Ca-dependent slow inward current, Is, of mammalian cardiac muscle has been investigated by the voltage-clamp method. The mechanism of the increase in the conductance, gs, was analysed on the basis of a kinetic scheme (Hodgkin & Huxley, 1952) applicable to this system. 2. The rate constants alphad and betad, of activation of gs were not influenced by adrenaline, although the limiting conductance, gs, was greatly increased. 3. Reduction of [Ca]o from 1-8 to 0-2 mM decreased the amplitude of inward tail currents when gs was fully activated; however, the relative decrease of the current amplitude was the same with and without adrenaline. The reversal potential, ER, of Is was not changed by the drug. This indicates that the catecholamine has no influence on the selectivity of these conductance channels. 4. An increase in the number of functional conductance channels by adrenaline is discussed as a possible mechanism for the increase in Gs.