gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Protection of human plasma kallikrein from inactivation by c.hivin.1 inhibitor and other protease inhibitors. The role of high molecular weight kininogen (1981)

High Mr kininogen increases the activation rate of prekallikrein by activated factor XII on a surface. The resulting serine protease, plasma kallikrein, Mr 88 000, is inhibited in plasma by C1 inhibitor, Mr 105 000. Since prekallikrein circulates in plasma with high Mr kininogen as a complex and a kallikrein-high Mr kininogen complex can be formed in purified systems, we studied whether the inhibition of kallikrein by C1 inhibitor was influenced by high Mr kininogen. With C1 inhibitor in excess, the inactivation of kallikrein followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. The second-order rate constant for the reaction was 1.7 X 10(4) M-1 s-1, and a kallikrein-C1 inhibitor complex, Mr 190 000 was identified on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. Kallikrein and C1 inhibitor formed an irreversible complex without measurable prior equilibrium. The rate of this reaction was decreased by 50% in the presence of high Mr kininogen (1 unit/mL or 0.73 muM). Kinetic analysis indicated that this protection was the result of the formation of a reversible complex between kallikrein and high Mr kininogen, which had a dissociation constant of 0.75 muM. However, low Mr kininogen did not protect kallikrein from inactivation by C1 inhibitor. High Mr kininogen also protected kallikrein from inactivation by diisopropyl fluorophosphate. These findings suggest that the kallikrein-high Mr kininogen complex was formed by noncovalent interactions between the light chains of both kallikrein and high Mr kininogen.
Increasing the daily dose of recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (Puregon®) does not compensate for the age-related decline in retrievable oocytes after ovarian stimulation (2000)

A prospective, randomized, double-blind, multicentre (n = 6) study was conducted to compare the influence of either a 150 or 250 IU daily fixed-dose regimen of recombinant follicle stimulating hormone (FSH, Puregon) on the number of oocytes retrieved and the total dose used in down-regulated women between 30 and 39 years of age undergoing ovarian stimulation. In all, 138 women were treated with recombinant FSH, 67 with 150 IU and 71 with 250 IU. The number of oocytes retrieved in the low-dose group was 9.1 compared to 10.6 in the high-dose group (not significant). In the 30-33 years of age class receiving the 250 IU dose, a surplus of 4.2 oocytes (14.8 versus 10.6) was found, whereas in the 37-39 age class nearly one oocyte more was retrieved in the 150 IU group (8.1 versus 7.4). The total dose used to reach the criterion for human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) administration was 1727 IU for the women treated with 150 IU daily and 2701 IU for the 250 IU treated women (P < 0. 001). No significant relationships were found between serum FSH concentrations as obtained in the early follicular phase and the number of oocytes collected, or the total dose. It is concluded that in women between 30 and 39 years of age, the decline in number of oocytes retrieved with increasing age cannot be overcome by augmenting the daily dose of recombinant FSH from 150 to 250 IU.
Measuring methods of cell performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (2004)

Cell performance measuring methods for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) were investigated in comparison with those of crystalline silicon solar cells. It was found that cell performances of DSCs varied according to voltage sweep direction and sampling delay time. On the other hand, this dependence was not observed in silicon solar cells. Measurement of the transient photocurrent revealed that the dependence on sweep direction and sampling delay time may be explained by the longer time constant of DSCs. To improve accuracy, measurement should be carried out with a sampling delay time exceeding several seconds. However, it is also found that the average value of the efficiency measured by two sweeping directions is constant when the sampling delay time is longer than 40 ms. These measurement conditions will be useful to measuring cell performance more accurately and rapidly. Additionally, determining cell area using a shading mask with an area smaller than that of TiO2 electrodes will improve accuracy when evaluating solar cell performance.
Characterization of polysilicon-encapsulated local oxidation (1992)

Device isolation has been most commonly achieved through the use of local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) or LOCOS derivatives. LOCOS is a highly dependable, low-defect isolation technique, which explains its continued extensive use. Unfortunately, the inherently large oxide encroachment associated with LOCOS is not compatible with 0.8- mu m design rules. Many alternative isolation techniques designed to reduce oxide encroachment have been proposed. These alternatives often result in an increase in defectivity and/or process complexity. Polysilicon-encapsulated local oxidation (PELOX) utilizes a polysilicon-filled cavity self-aligned to the nitride edge to achieve oxide encroachment reduction. The physical (scanning electron and transmission electron micrographs) and electrical (electrical channel width, diode leakage, and gate oxide integrity) characterization of PELOX isolation are reported.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>
Interaction of Granulocyte Colony-stimulating Factor (G-CSF) with Its Receptor (1999)

Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) forms a tetrameric complex with its receptor, comprising two G-CSF and two receptor molecules. The structure of the complex is unknown, and it is unclear whether there are one or two binding sites on G-CSF and the receptor. The immunoglobulin-like domain and the cytokine receptor homologous module of the receptor are involved in G-CSF binding, and Arg288 in the cytokine receptor homologous module is particularly important. To identify residues in G-CSF that interact with Arg288, selected charged residues in G-CSF were mutated to Ala. To clarify whether there are two binding sites, a chimeric receptor was created in which the Ig domain was replaced with that of the related receptor gp130. This chimera bound G-CSF but could not transduce a signal, consistent with failure of dimerization and loss of one binding site. The G-CSF mutants had reduced mitogenic activity on cells expressing wild-type receptor. When tested with the chimeric receptor, all G-CSF mutants except one (E46A) showed reduced binding, suggesting that Glu46 is important for interaction with the Ig domain. On cells expressing R288A receptor, all the G-CSF mutants except E19A showed reduced mitogenic activity, indicating that Glu19 of G-CSF interacts with Arg288 of the receptor.
Interface charge engineering at atomic layer deposited dielectric/III-nitride interfaces (2013)

Interface charges at atomic layer deposited Al2O3/III-nitride interfaces were investigated for III-nitride layers of different polarity. A large positive sheet charge density is induced at the Al2O3/III-nitride interface on all the orientations of GaN and Ga-polar AlGaN, and this sheet charge can be significantly altered using post-metallization anneals. It is proposed that the charges are caused by interfacial defects that can be passivated and neutralized through a H2 based anneal. Tailoring of the interface charge density described here can be used to improve critical device characteristics such as gate leakage and electron transport, and for lateral electrostatic engineering.
ARMA parameter estimation using a novel recursive estimation algorithm with selective updating (1990)

The authors investigate an extension of a recursive estimation algorithm (the so-called optimal bounding ellipsoid or OBE algorithm) which features a discerning update strategy. In particular, an extension of the algorithm to ARMA (autoregressive moving-average) parameter estimation is presented along with a convergence analysis. The extension is similar to the extended least-squares (ELS) algorithm. However, the convergence analysis is complicated due to the discerning update strategy, which incorporates an information-dependent updating factor. The virtues of such an update strategy are more efficient use of the input data in terms of information processing and a modular adaptive filter structure which would facilitate the development of a parallel-pipelined signal processing architecture. It is shown that if the input noise is bounded and the moving-average parameters satisfy a certain magnitude bound, then the a posteriori prediction errors are uniformly bounded. With an additional persistence-of-excitation condition, the parameter estimates are shown to converge to a neighborhood of the true parameters, and the a priori prediction errors are shown to be asymptotically bounded. Simulation results show that the parameter estimation error for the EOBE algorithm is comparable to that for the ELS algorithm.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">></ETX>
Optimized Markov Chain Monte Carlo for Signal Detection in MIMO Systems: An Analysis of the Stationary Distribution and Mixing Time (2014)

We introduce an optimized Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique for solving integer least-squares (ILS) problems, which include maximum likelihood (ML) detection in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Two factors contribute to its speed of finding the optimal solution: the probability of encountering the optimal solution when the Markov chain has converged to the stationary distribution, and the mixing time of the MCMC detector. First, we compute the optimal “temperature” parameter value, so that once the Markov chain has mixed to its stationary distribution, there is a polynomially small probability ( 1/poly(N), instead of exponentially small) of encountering the optimal solution, where N is the system dimension. This temperature is shown to be O(√{SNR}/ln(N)), where SNR > 2ln(N) is the SNR. Second, we study the mixing time of the underlying Markov chain of the MCMC detector. We find that, the mixing time is closely related to whether there is a local minimum in the ILS problem's lattice structure. For some lattices without local minima, the mixing time is independent of SNR, and grows polynomially in N. Conventional wisdom proposed to set temperature as the noise standard deviation, but our results show that, under such a temperature, the mixing time grows unbounded with SNR if the lattice has local minima. Our results suggest that, very often the temperature should instead be scaling at least as Ω(√{SNR}). Simulation results show that the optimized MCMC detector efficiently achieves approximately ML detection in MIMO systems having a huge number of transmit and receive dimensions.
The Canine Purkinje Fiber: An In Vitro Model System for Acquired Long QT Syndrome and Drug-Induced Arrhythmogenesis (2001)

Torsade de pointes is a rare but potentially fatal ventricular arrhythmia associated with drug-induced delayed repolarization and prolongation of the QT interval. To determine if the arrhythmogenic potential of noncardiac drugs can be assessed in vitro, we evaluated the effects of 12 drugs on the action potential duration (APD) of cardiac Purkinje fibers and compared results with clinical observations. APD changes in canine and porcine fibers were evaluated under physiologic conditions (37 degrees C, [K+]0 = 4 mM) using standard microelectrode techniques. Six of seven drugs associated with QT prolongation or torsade de pointes in man (cisapride, erythromycin, grepafloxacin, moxifloxacin, sertindole, and sotalol) affected concentration-dependent prolongation of the APD in canine fibers during slow stimulation (2-s basic cycle length), attaining greater than 15% prolongation at high concentrations (> or = 10-fold clinically encountered plasma levels). Each of five drugs not linked clinically to QT prolongation and torsade de pointes (azithromycin, enalaprilat, fluoxetine, indomethacin, and pinacidil) failed to attain 15% prolongation, with fluoxetine, indomethacin, and pinacidil abbreviating the APD. Drugs eliciting the greatest prolongation also demonstrated prominent reverse rate-dependent effects. The antihistamine terfenadine (linked to dose-dependent QT prolongation and torsade de pointes clinically) only minimally prolonged the APD in canine and porcine fibers (and exerted no effect on midmyocardial fibers from left ventricular free wall) at supratherapeutic concentrations. On the basis of concentration-dependent APD prolongation and reverse rate-dependent effects, this Purkinje fiber model detects six of seven drugs linked clinically to acquired long QT syndrome and torsade de pointes, and clears each of five drugs not associated with repolarization abnormalities (overall 92% accuracy), validating the utility of this Purkinje fiber model in the preclinical evaluation of QT prolongation and proarrhythmic risk by noncardiac drugs.
A New Fourier Transform Infrared Method for the Determination of Moisture in Edible Oils (2005)

A rapid, practical, and accurate Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) method for the determination of moisture content in edible oils has been developed based on the extraction of water from oil samples into dry acetonitrile. A calibration curve covering a moisture content range of 0-2000 ppm was developed by recording the mid-infrared (MIR) spectra of moisture standards, prepared by gravimetric addition of water to acetonitrile that had been dried over molecular sieves, in a 500 microm ZnSe transmission flow cell and ratioing these spectra against that of the dry acetonitrile. Water was measured in the resulting differential spectra using either the OH stretching (3629 cm(-1) or bending (1631 cm(-1)) bands to produce linear standard curves having standard deviations (SDs) of approximately +/-20 ppm. For moisture analysis in oils, the oil sample was mixed with dry acetonitrile in a 1:1 w/v ratio, and after centrifugation to separate the phases, the spectrum of the upper acetonitrile layer was collected and ratioed against the spectrum of the dry acetonitrile used for extraction. The method was validated by standard addition experiments with samples of various oil types, as well as with oil samples deliberately contaminated with alcohols, hydroperoxides, and free fatty acids to investigate possible interferences from minor constituents that may be present in oils and are potentially extractable into acetonitrile. The results of these experiments confirmed that the moisture content of edible oils can be assessed with high accuracy (on the order of +/-10 ppm) by this method, thus providing an alternative to the conventional, but problematic, Karl Fischer method and facilitating the routine analysis of edible oils for moisture content.
Paradoxical effects of IL-10 in endotoxin-induced uveitis (1995)

Uveitis, or intraocular inflammation, can be provoked in laboratory rodents by the local or systemic injection of bacterial endotoxin. Many of the inflammatory effects of endotoxin are potentially due to the induction of cytokine synthesis. IL-10 is a cytokine that potently inhibits the synthesis of many cytokines, including IL-1 and TNF-alpha. We have assessed the ability of IL-10 to inhibit endotoxin-induced uveitis in rabbits and mice. The intravitreal injection of 1 micrograms of human recombinant IL-10 was extremely effective in rabbits in reducing the inflammation produced by the intravitreal injection of 250 ng of Escherichia coli endotoxin, as judged by the reduced accumulation of cells and protein in the aqueous humor. Locally injected IL-10 was similarly effective in blocking the ocular inflammatory effects of intravitreally injected endotoxin in a mouse model. If the injection of IL-10 was delayed subsequent to the endotoxin injection, the reduced inflammatory effects in the rabbit model were diminished. In contrast to its ability to inhibit the local inflammatory effect of endotoxin in the eye, IL-10 did not reduce the inflammation induced by a local ocular injection of 400 U of human recombinant IL-alpha. Paradoxically, in a mouse model of uveitis subsequent to intraperitoneally injected endotoxin, the simultaneous injection of 1 micrograms of IL-10 and endotoxin potentiated the ocular inflammation, as judged by the number of leukocytes seen in histologic sections. This effect was dose dependent, since eye inflammation was markedly inhibited by 100 micrograms of IL-10 injected i.p. These observations are compatible with the hypothesis that locally injected IL-10 acts by reducing cytokine synthesis in these uveitis models. Intraperitoneally injected IL-10 can either inhibit or suppress endotoxin-induced eye inflammation in a dose-dependent manner.
A Review of Testosterone Pellets in the Treatment of Hypogonadism (2014)

Currently, the most popular form of testosterone replacement is the topical gels that require daily applications and incur a risk of transfer of testosterone to partners and family. One of the problems with testosterone replacement is the short half-life of testosterone. A long-acting formulation is appealing to patients and physicians. In 1972, fused crystalline testosterone pellets were approved in the USA by the FDA but they were not marketed until 2008. Pharmacokinetics studies were available on a different formulation from which much can be learned and applied to the current formulation, Testopel®. The decay kinetics, pituitary suppression, and effect on other sex steroids are reviewed as well as the short-term complication rates. This review should provide the testosterone pellet implanter a better understanding of the physiology of testosterone pellet supplementation for hypogonadism.
Power law noise identification using the lag 1 autocorrelation (2004)

This paper describes a new method for power law noise identification, based on the lag 1 autocorrelation function, that can determine the dominant noise type for all common noise processes, from phase or frequency data, for all averaging factors, in a consistent and analytic manner.
A Scalable Spatial Sound Rendering System (2001)

The spatial rendering of sound in Virtual Reality systems can quickly become a computationally expensive process. The author proposes a Spatial Sound rendering system that allows for the graceful degradation of spatial quality based upon scaling parameters. The parameters are a combination of both physical and perceptual attributes. The Scalable Spatial Sound Rendering system is divided into three User-Profiles; Professional, Prosumer and Consumer, where each profile is composed of a number of varying levels of quality. Typical applications for this scalable framework include Mobile-VR systems and Personal VR systems based upon standard multimedia PCs. One of the main advantages of this scalable architecture is that the audio content is only created once and is appropriately scaled for the end user – write once read many.
A regenerative semi-dynamic frequency divider for mode-1 MB-OFDM UWB hopping carrier generation (2005)

A semi-dynamic regenerative frequency divider for MB-OFDM UWB hopping carrier generation is presented. With the ratio of 7.5, it provides quadrature symmetric 528 MHz deviation for direct frequency synthesis. Realized in 0.18 /spl mu/m CMOS, the chip occupies 0.8/spl times/0.85 mm/sup 2/. The synthesizer achieves -20 dBc image suppression while consuming 18 mW from a 1.8 V supply.
Molecular Diagnosis of <i>Chlamydia pneumoniae</i> Infection (1999)

Chlamydia pneumoniae is a common and important intracellular bacterium implicated in upper and lower respiratory tract infections in humans. Also, C. pneumoniae has been associated with chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis and asthma. Since C. pneumoniae can cause severe clinical disease, correct diagnosis and therapy are important issues. However, conventional assays for the detection of C. pneumoniae have limitations, and there is a need for more accurate diagnostic methods. Nucleic acid amplification (NAA) techniques have the potential to offer clinical laboratories a convenient means of detecting C. pneumoniae rapidly and reliably, ensuring optimal clinical decisions and patient care, including choice of appropriate antibiotic therapy. This minireview discusses the molecular biology-based amplification methods that are currently available for the detection of C. pneumoniae as well as potential new techniques. Topics that are discussed include specimen collection, preparation of nucleic acid from samples, choice of gene target and primer set selection, optimal amplification conditions, and detection of the amplification product. Also reviewed are methods for recognition and prevention of false-positive and false-negative results, evaluations of new and old tests, and clinical applications.
Light-regulated methylation of chloroplast proteins. (1987)

Protein carboxyl methyltransferases, which catalyze transfer of methyl groups from S-adenosyl-L-methionine to the free carboxyl groups of acidic amino acids in proteins, can be divided into two classes based on several characteristics, such as the stoichiometry of substrate protein methylation, base stability of the incorporated methyl group, specificity for substrate, and participation in a regulatory system with which methylesterases are associated. The presence of such an enzyme in a photosynthetic system was demonstrated in the present work. The extent of methylation of chloroplast proteins was stimulated 30% by light and then decreased by the same amount in the presence of the electron transport inhibitor 3-(3',4'-dichlorophenyl)-1', 1'-dimethylurea or uncouplers of phosphorylation, indicating a dependence of the methyltransferase activity on photosynthetic electron transport and the trans-membrane delta pH. The light-independent, as well as the light-dependent, activity is probably of chloroplast origin since the extent of light stimulation in the purified thylakoid membranes and the stromal fraction was similar, and at low concentrations of S-adenosyl-L-methionine the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase:oxygenase was found to be the predominant substrate. The labeling pattern of chloroplast proteins and labeling of an exogenous nonchloroplast protein indicated that the methyltransferase activity was not substrate-specific, although at low concentrations of the methyl donor, the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase:oxygenase was labeled almost exclusively. Based on the low stoichiometry (less than 100 pmol/mg protein) of the methylation, its base lability, irreversibility, and the lack of substrate specificity except at very low concentrations of methyl donor, it was inferred that the chloroplast methyltransferase is best classified as a class II system that may function as part of a repair mechanism to replace racemized amino acids.
A changing picture of shigellosis in southern Vietnam: shifting species dominance, antimicrobial susceptibility and clinical presentation (2009)

Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN55945881.