gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Reproductive Biology of the Relaxin-Like Factor (RLF/INSL3)1 (2002)

The relaxin-like factor (RLF), which is the product of the insulin-like factor 3 (INSL3) gene, is a new circulating peptide hormone of the relaxin-insulin family. In male mammals, it is a major secretory product of the testicular Leydig cells, where it appears to be expressed constitutively but in a differentiation-dependent manner. In the adult testis, RLF expression is a good marker for fully differentiated adult-type Leydig cells, but it is only weakly expressed in prepubertal immature Leydig cells or in Leydig cells that have become hypertrophic or transformed. It is also an important product of the fetal Leydig cell population, where it has been demonstrated using knockout mice to be responsible for the second phase of testicular descent acting on the gubernaculum. INSL3 knockout mice are cryptorchid, and in estrogen-induced cryptorchidism, RLF levels in the testis are significantly reduced. RLF is also made in female tissues, particularly in the follicular theca cells of small antral follicles and in the corpus luteum of the cycle and pregnancy. The ruminant ovary has a very high level of RLF expression, and analysis of primary cultures of ovarian theca-lutein cells indicated that, as in the testis, expression is probably constitutive but differentiation dependent. Female INSL3 knockout mice have altered estrous cycles, where RLF may be involved in follicle selection, an idea strongly supported by observations on bovine secondary follicles. Recently, a novel 7-transmembrane domain receptor (LGR8 or Great) has been tentatively identified as the RLF receptor, and its deletion in mice leads also to cryptorchidism.
Photochromic Polymers (1994)

Abstract Studies on photochromic polymers with spiro-type photochromic side groups indicate that properties of the polymers are substantially different from the properties of similar polymer-photochrome blends.
Efficient automatic OCR word validation using word partial format derivation and language model (2009)

In this paper we present an OCR validation module, implemented for the System for Preservation of Electronic Resources (SPER) developed at the U.S. National Library of Medicine.1 The module detects and corrects suspicious words in the OCR output of scanned textual documents through a procedure of deriving partial formats for each suspicious word, retrieving candidate words by partial-match search from lexicons, and comparing the joint probabilities of N-gram and OCR edit transformation corresponding to the candidates. The partial format derivation, based on OCR error analysis, efficiently and accurately generates candidate words from lexicons represented by ternary search trees. In our test case comprising a historic medico-legal document collection, this OCR validation module yielded the correct words with 87% accuracy and reduced the overall OCR word errors by around 60%.
Modeling and control of a quadrotor with variable geometry arms (2015)

The goal of this paper is to study the dynamics of a quadcopter using a variable geometry structure and discuss the advantages of using the geometry variation. A mathematical model has been described using simulation to show quadcopter dynamics. Based on the different geometric configurations of arms it is shown how the arms’ angles affect longitudinal and lateral dynamics. The design's assumptions refer to hovering and rotation with Euler angles. Simulation results show that both controllers stabilize the quadrotor and the amplitude of the vibrations is significantly decreased, compared to the vibration of a common quadcopter with fixed arms, by varying the arm's angle. The quadcopter remains stable and all Euler rotations are perfectly controlled.
Optimization of a retroviral vector for transduction of human CD34 positive cells. (2006)

Human stem and progenitor cells have recently become objects of intensive studies as an important target for gene therapy and regenerative medicine. Retroviral vectors are among the most effective tools for genetic modification of these cells. However, their transduction efficiency strongly depends on the choice of the ex vivo transduction system. The aim of this study was to elaborate a system for retroviral vector transduction of human CD34 positive cells isolated from cord blood. The retroviral vector pMINV EGFP was chosen for transduction of two human erythroblastoid cell lines: KG-1a (CD34 positive) and K562 (CD34 negative). For vector construction, three promoters and two retroviral vector packaging cell lines were used. To optimize the physicochemical conditions of the transduction process, different temperatures of supernatant harvesting, the influence of centrifugation and the presence of transduction enhancing agents were tested. The conditions elaborated with KG-1a cells were further applied for transduction of CD34 positive cells isolated from cord blood. The optimal efficiency of transduction of CD34 positive cells with pMINV EGFP retroviral vector (26% of EGFP positive cells), was obtained using infective vector with LTR retroviral promoter, produced by TE FLY GA MINV EGFP packaging cell line. The transduction was performed in the presence of serum, at 37 degrees C, with co-centrifugation of cells with viral supernatants and the use of transduction enhancing agents. This study confirmed that for gene transfer into CD34 positive cells, the detailed optimization of each element of the transduction process is of great importance.
Assembly of pili on the surface of <i> Corynebacterium diphtheriae</i> (2003)

Pili of Gram-negative pathogens are formed from pilin precursor molecules by non-covalent association within the outer membrane envelope. Gram-positive microbes employ the cell wall peptidoglycan as a surface organelle for the covalent attachment of proteins, however, an assembly pathway for pili has not yet been revealed. We show here that pili of Corynebacterium diphtheriae are composed of three pilin subunits, SpaA, SpaB and SpaC. SpaA, the major pilin protein, is distributed uniformly along the pilus shaft, whereas SpaB is observed at regular intervals and SpaC seems positioned at the pilus tip. Assembled pili are released from the bacterial surface by treatment with murein hydrolase, suggesting that the pilus fibres may be anchored to the cell wall envelope. All three pilin subunit proteins are synthesized as precursors carrying N-terminal signal peptides and C-terminal sorting signals. Some, but not all, of the six sortase genes encoded in the genome of C. diphtheriae are required for precursor processing, pilus assembly or cell wall envelope attachment. Pilus assembly is proposed to occur by a mechanism of ordered cross-linking, whereby pilin-specific sortase enzymes cleave precursor proteins at sorting signals and involve the side chain amino groups of pilin motif sequences to generate links between pilin subunits. This covalent tethering of adjacent pilin subunits appears to have evolved in many Gram-positive pathogens that encode sortase and pilin subunit genes with sorting signals and pilin motifs.
Protective Effect of Astragalus polysaccharides on Liver Injury Induced by Several Different Chemotherapeutics in Mice (2015)

Side effects are an unavoidable consequence of chemotherapy drugs, during which liver injury often takes place. The current study was designed to investigate the protective effect of Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) against the hepatotoxicity induced by frequently-used chemical therapy agents, cyclophosphamide (CTX), docetaxel (DTX) and epirubicin (EPI)) in mice. Mice were divided into five groups, controls, low or high dose groups (DTXL, CTXL, EPIL or DTXH, CTXH, EPIH), and low or high dose chemotherapeutics+APS groups (DTXL+APS, CTXL+APS, EPIL+APS or DTXH+APS, CTXH+APS, EPIH+APS). Controls were treated with equivalent normal saline for 28 days every other day; low or high dose group were intraperitoneal (i.p) injected with low or high doses of CTX, DTX and EPI for 28 days every other day; low or high dose chemotherapeutics+APS group were separately intraperitoneal (i.p) injected with chemotherapeutics for 28 days every other day and i.p with APS (100 mg/kg) for 7 days continually from the 22th to the 28th days. The body weight, serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), histopathological features, and ultrastructure morphological change of liver tissues, protein expression level of caspase-3 were estimated at different time points. With high dose treatment of DTX, CTX and EPI, weight gain was inhibited and serum levels of ALT and AST were significantly increased. Sections of liver tissue showed massive hepatotoxicity in CTXH group compared to the control group, including hepatic lobule disorder, granular and vacuolar degeneration and necrosis in hepatic cells. These changes were confirmed at ultrastructural level, including obvious pyknosis, heterochromatin aggregation, nuclear membrane resolution, and chondrosome crystal decrease. Western blotting revealed that the protein levels of caspase-3 increased in CTXH group. The low dose groups exhibited trivial hepatotoxicity. More interestingly, after 100 mg/kg APS, liver injury was redecued not only regarding serum transaminase activities (low or high dose chemotherapeutics+APS group), but also from pathological and ultrastructural changes and the protein levels of caspase-3 (CTXH+APS group). In conclusion, DTX, CTX and EPI induce liver damage in a dose dependent manner, whereas APS exerted protective effects.
[A report on 8 seronegative converted HIV/AIDS patients with traditional Chinese medicine]. (1997)

AIDS is a reversible disease. Using medicinal herbs to enhance the immune function will facilitate the appearance of seronegative conversion, which has not been reported before. If it could be further confirmed, its mechanism elucidated, this may greatly strengthen the confidence of the patients.
P2X<sub>4</sub>, P2Y<sub>1</sub> and P2Y<sub>2</sub> receptors on rat alveolar macrophages (2003)

ATP receptors present on rat alveolar macrophages (NR8383 cells) were identified by recordings of membrane current, measurements of intracellular calcium, RT-PCR and immunocytochemistry. In whole-cell recordings with a sodium-based internal solution, ATP evoked an inward current at -60 mV. This reversed at 0 mV. The EC50 for ATP was 18 microM in normal external solution (calcium 2 mm, magnesium 1 mm). The currents evoked by 2',3-O-(4-benzoyl)benzoyl-ATP were about five-fold smaller than those observed with ATP. ADP, UTP and alphabeta-methylene-ATP (alphabetameATP) (up to 100 microM) had no effect. ATP-evoked currents were potentiated up to ten-fold by ivermectin and were unaffected by suramin (30-100 microM), pyridoxal-phosphate-6-azophenyl-(2,4-sulphonic acid) (30-100 microM), and brilliant blue G (1 microM). In whole-cell recordings with a potassium-based internal solution and low EGTA (0.01 mm), ATP evoked an inward current at -60 mV that was followed by larger outward current. ADP and UTP (1-100 microM) evoked only outward currents; these reversed polarity at the potassium equilibrium potential and were blocked by apamin (10 nm). Outward currents were also blocked by the phospholipase C inhibitor U73122 (1 microM), and they were not seen with higher intracellular EGTA (10 mm). Suramin (30 microM) blocked the outward currents evoked by ATP and UTP, but not that evoked by ADP. PPADS (10 microM) blocked the ADP-evoked outward current without altering the ATP or UTP currents. RT-PCR showed transcripts for P2X subunits 1, 4 and 7 (not 2, 3, 5, 6) and P2Y receptors 1, 2, 4 and 12 (not 6). Immunocytochemistry showed strong P2X4 receptor expression partly associated with the membrane, weak P2X7 staining that was not associated with the cell membrane, and no P2X1 receptor immunoreactivity. We conclude that rat alveolar macrophages express (probably homomeric) P2X4 receptors, but find no evidence for other functional P2X subtypes. The P2Y receptors are most likely P2Y1 and P2Y2 and these couple through phospholipase C to an increase in intracellular calcium and the opening of SK type potassium channels.
Alternative‐splicing defects in cancer: Splicing regulators and their downstream targets, guiding the way to novel cancer therapeutics (2018)

Defects in alternative splicing are frequently found in human tumors and result either from mutations in splicing-regulatory elements of specific cancer genes or from changes in the regulatory splicing machinery. RNA splicing regulators have emerged as a new class of oncoproteins and tumor suppressors, and contribute to disease progression by modulating RNA isoforms involved in the hallmark cancer pathways. Thus, dysregulation of alternative RNA splicing is fundamental to cancer and provides a potentially rich source of novel therapeutic targets. Here, we review the alterations in splicing regulatory factors detected in human tumors, as well as the resulting alternatively spliced isoforms that impact cancer hallmarks, and discuss how they contribute to disease pathogenesis. RNA splicing is a highly regulated process and, as such, the regulators are themselves tightly regulated. Differential transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of splicing factors modulates their levels and activities in tumor cells. Furthermore, the composition of the tumor microenvironment can also influence which isoforms are expressed in a given cell type and impact drug responses. Finally, we summarize current efforts in targeting alternative splicing, including global splicing inhibition using small molecules blocking the spliceosome or splicing-factor-modifying enzymes, as well as splice-switching RNA-based therapeutics to modulate cancer-specific splicing isoforms. This article is categorized under: RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Disease RNA Processing > Splicing Regulation/Alternative Splicing.
Temperature effects on Ge condensation by thermal oxidation of SiGe-on-insulator structures (2004)

The Ge depth profile and generation of dislocations associated with oxidation of SiGe-on-insulator (SGOI) substrates are examined from the viewpoint of the temperature dependence. It is found that Ge profiles in SGOI layers after oxidation are strongly dependent on the oxidation temperature. This fact is explained by the competitive process between the accumulation of Ge atoms at the SiGe/thermal oxide interface, determined by the oxidation rate, and Ge diffusion toward substrates during oxidation of SGOI substrates. While the abrupt Ge profile obtained by low-temperature oxidation causes the generation of dislocations, SGOI layers with high Ge content and no dislocations can be achieved by high-temperature oxidation.
Detecting junctions using properties of the Laplacian of Gaussian detector (2002)

This paper describes a fast junction detection algorithm using the Laplacian of Guassian detector. We propose a general junction model and analyze its behavior in scale space. This study shows two properties: the Laplacian of Gaussian is zero at any junction and it has one or several elliptic extrema that always lie inside the junction sectors. These extrema move in scale space on lines passing by the junction point. Using these properties, we build an accurate and efficient junction detector. Experimental results confirm, in practice, the efficiency and the reliability of this detector.
Role of the L‐arginine/nitric oxide pathway in relaxation of isolated human penile cavernous tissue and circumflex veins (1993)

In human penile corpus cavernosum strips, pre-contracted by noradrenaline, electrical stimulation of nerves evoked non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic (NANC) relaxant responses which could be inhibited by tetrodotoxin 10(-6) M, NG-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA) 10(-7)-10(-4) M, and oxyhaemoglobin 10(-5) M, but not by methylene blue (MB) 10(-5) M. Acetylcholine-induced relaxations were also inhibited by L-NNA 10(-4) M and oxyhaemoglobin 10(-5) M, but were unaffected by pyrogallol 10(-4) M, MB 10(-5) M, and tetrodotoxin 10(-6) M. MB 5 x 10(-4)-10(-4) M significantly reduced the responses to both electrical stimulation and to acetylcholine. Nitric oxide (NO) 10(-7)-10(-4) M and sodium nitroprusside 10(-9)-10(-4) M caused concentration-dependent relaxations. The NO-induced relaxations were inhibited by oxyhaemoglobin 10(-5) M, and the concentration-response curve for sodium nitroprusside was shifted to the right by MB 10(-5) M. The response to sodium nitroprusside was unaffected by L-NNA 10(-4) M, oxyhaemoglobin 10(-5) M, and pyrogallol 10(-4) M. In circumflex veins, pre-contracted by noradrenaline, no NANC-mediated relaxation was found in response to electrical stimulation; acetylcholine caused endothelium-dependent relaxations, which were insensitive to L-NNA 10(-4) M and oxyhaemoglobin 10(-5) M. NO and sodium nitroprusside caused concentration-dependent relaxations; the concentration-response curves for NO and sodium nitroprusside were shifted to the right by oxyhaemoglobin 10(-5) M. Removal of the endothelium left the NO- and sodium nitroprusside-induced relaxations unchanged.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The Biomarker Guide (2004)

The second edition of The Biomarker Guide is a fully updated and expanded version of this essential reference. Now in two volumes, it provides a comprehensive account of the role that biomarker technology plays both in petroleum exploration and in understanding Earth history and processes. Biomarkers and Isotopes in the Environment and Human History details the origins of biomarkers and introduces basic chemical principles relevant to their study. It discusses analytical techniques, and applications of biomarkers to environmental and archaeological problems. The Biomarker Guide is an invaluable resource for geologists, petroleum geochemists, biogeochemists, environmental scientists and archaeologists.
<i>N</i>-Benzyl-3-sulfonamidopyrrolidines Are a New Class of Bacterial DNA Gyrase Inhibitors (2011)

This paper characterizes N-benzyl-3-sulfonamidopyrrolidines (gyramides) as DNA gyrase inhibitors. Gyramide A was previously shown to exhibit antimicrobial activity that suggested it inhibited bacterial cell division. In this study, we conducted target identification studies and identified DNA gyrase as the primary target of gyramide A. The gyramide A resistance-determining region in DNA gyrase is adjacent to the DNA cleavage gate and is a new site for inhibitor design. We studied the antibiotic effects of gyramides A-C in combination with the Gram-negative efflux pump inhibitor MC-207,110 (60 μM). The gyramides had a minimum inhibitory concentration of 10-40 μM against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella enterica, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pneumoniae; the compounds were ineffective against Enterococcus faecalis. The IC(50) of gyramides A-C against E. coli DNA gyrase was 0.7- 3.3 μM. The N-benzyl-3-sulfonamidopyrrolidines described in this manuscript represent a starting point for development of antibiotics that bind a new site in DNA gyrase.
A generalized sequential sign detector for binary hypothesis testing (1998)

It is known that for fixed error probabilities sequential signal detection based on the sequential probability ratio test (SPRT) is optimum in terms of the average number of signal samples for detection. But, often suboptimal detectors like the sequential sign detector are preferred over the optimal SPRT. When the additive noise statistic is independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.), the sign detector is preferred for its simplicity and nonparametric properties. However, in many practical applications such as the usage of high speed sampling devices the noise is correlated. A generalized sequential sign detector for detecting binary signals in stationary, first-order Markov dependent noise is studied. Under the i.i.d. assumptions, this reduces to the usual sequential sign detector. The optimal decision thresholds and the average sample number for the test to terminate are derived. Numerical results are given to show that the proposed detector exploits the correlation in the noise and hence results in quicker detection. The method can also be extended to Mth order Markov dependence by converting it to a first-order dependence in an extended state space.
Detecting Crowdsourced Spam Reviews in Social Media (2013)

User submitted reviews are used by potential buyers to evaluate products before their purchase. In this work we study cases of deceptive reviews on Amazon.com which rate the products favorably. These were paid for through a number of crowd- sourcing websites. The behavior of the review spammers as a group has distinguish- able characteristics which are used in our proposed method. We use a probabilistic model for spammer pairwise collaboration which is used to cluster reviewers. The introduced model is verified on a set of synthetic data and outperforms a baseline classifier which treats reviews on their own, without their social context. The performance of the proposed method for detecting clusters of spammers is also compared to an alternative approach. Finally we demonstrate some of the detected clusters of review spammers on the data set which was crawled from Amazon.
Cardiac compartment-specific overexpression of a modified retinoic acid receptor produces dilated cardiomyopathy and congestive heart failure in transgenic mice. (1997)

Retinoids play a critical role in cardiac morphogenesis. To examine the effects of excessive retinoid signaling on myocardial development, transgenic mice that overexpress a constitutively active retinoic acid receptor (RAR) controlled by either the alpha- or beta-myosin heavy chain (MyHC) promoter were generated. Animals carrying the alpha-MyHC-RAR transgene expressed RARs in embryonic atria and in adult atria and ventricles, but developed no signs of either malformations or disease. In contrast, beta-MyHC-RAR animals, where expression was activated in fetal ventricles, developed a dilated cardiomyopathy that varied in severity with transgene copy number. Characteristic postmortem lesions included biventricular chamber dilation and left atrial thrombosis; the incidence and severity of these lesions increased with increasing copy number. Transcript analyses showed that molecular markers of hypertrophy, alpha-skeletal actin, atrial natriuretic factor and beta-MyHC, were upregulated. Cardiac performance of transgenic hearts was evaluated using the isolated perfused working heart model as well as in vivo, by transthoracic M-mode echocardiography. Both analyses showed moderate to severe impairment of left ventricular function and reduced cardiac contractility. Thus, expression of a constitutively active RAR in developing atria and/ or in postnatal ventricles is relatively benign, while ventricular expression during gestation can lead to significant cardiac dysfunction.
The Lower Middle Hecla Hoek Rocks of Ny Friesland, Spitsbergen (1958)

Abstract This paper gives details of part of the Hecla Hoek Succession already outlined (Harland and Wilson, 1956). Field work in 1956 and 1957 in general confirmed the succession, and this account includes the results of the later work. A large-scale repetition of a sedimentary cycle is demonstrated, and the relationship with equivalent rocks in Nordaustlandet is discussed.
From images to traffic behavior - A UAV tracking and monitoring application (2007)

An implemented system for achieving high level situation awareness about traffic situations in an urban area is described. It takes as input sequences of color and thermal images which are used to construct and maintain qualitative object structures and to recognize the traffic behavior of the tracked vehicles in real time. The system is tested both in simulation and on data collected during test flights. To facilitate the signal to symbol transformation and the easy integration of the streams of data from the sensors with the GIS and the chronicle recognition system, DyKnow, a stream-based knowledge processing middleware, is used. It handles the processing of streams, including the temporal aspects of merging and synchronizing streams, and provides suitable abstractions to allow high level reasoning and narrow the sense reasoning gap.