gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Quantification of <i>Bordetella pertussis</i> in clinical samples by colorimetric detection of competitive PCR products (1998)

Quantification of microorganisms is an important part of the normal diagnostic work of a clinical microbiology laboratory. Traditionally the diagnosis of pertussis is subject to a yes or no approach with no quantitative dimension. This can, however, be of interest as a factor when judging the risk of a patient spreading the bacterium and as a research tool. The aim of the present study was to develop a PCR-based quantitative assay for Bordetella pertussis DNA in clinical nasopharyngeal aspirates by combining a quantitative PCR with a colorimetric detection principle, DIANA (detection of immobilised amplified nucleic acid). A competitor to the PCR target sequence in IS-481, containing a lac-operator, was constructed and calibrated, and a test protocol prepared. A total of 46 clinical nasopharyngeal aspirates, previously diagnosed using a standard nested PCR assay and quantified by culture, were analysed by the quantitative PCR. The method showed acceptable precision and accuracy considering that it estimates the total number of bacterial genomes while culture detects viable bacteria. Recognised advantages were the simple colorimetric detection, the inborn indication of a working PCR assay, and the possibility of obtaining results even when partial inhibition of the PCR assay was seen. In addition, the quantitative PCR result can be obtained within one day compared to 3-10 days for culture. The present results and the qualities of the quantitative PCR suggest that this assay will be a useful complement in routine diagnostics and in research.
Autism: an introduction to psychological theory (1995)

Autism is a fascinating yet perplexing disorder that continues to intrigue researchers and clinicians studying brain and behavior. In this lucid and elegant book, Francesca Happe provides a concise overview of current psychological theory and research that synthesizes the established work on the biological foundations, cognitive characteristics, and behavioral manifestations of this disorder. She focuses her discussion on the cognitive approaches that deal with both thought and feeling--those hypotheses that link brain to action, deepen our understanding of the autistic person's view of the world, and offer better approaches to effectively managing the behavior of people with autism struggling to live in our world. The book reviews the latest research into the communication, socialization, and imagination impairments in autism, and further distinguishes the levels of severity in the spectrum of autistic disorders. Happe also includes a discussion of the talented few--high-functioning autistic individuals with Asperger's syndrome--and of the many childhood behavioral disorders, unrelated to autism, that manifest autistic-like symptoms. Autism is an important and much-needed contribution to the literature. It will be valued by parents and teachers of autistic children as well as by students and researchers interested in disorders of language and communication.
Comparing impacts of new cropping systems on biodiversity in traditional rural China (2014)

This study selected six geographically-similar villages with traditional and alternative cultivation methods (two groups of three, one traditional and two alternatives) in two counties of Henan Province, China—a representative area of the Huang-huai-hai Plain representing traditional rural China. Soil heavy metal concentrations, floral and faunal biodiversity, and socio-economic data were recorded. Heavy metal concentrations of surface soils from three sites in each village were analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS, chromium, nickel, copper, cadmium, and lead) and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS, zinc). The floral biodiversity of four land-use types was recorded following the Braun-Blanquet coverage-abundance method using 0.5×0.5m quadrats. The faunal biodiversity of two representative farmland plots was recorded using 0.3×0.3m quadrats at four 0.1m layers. The socio-economic data were recorded through face-to-face interviews of one hundred randomly selected households at each village. Results demonstrate different cultivation methods lead to different impact on above variables. Traditional cultivation led to lower heavy metal concentrations; both alternative managements were associated with massive agrochemical input causing heavy metal pollution in farmlands. Floral distribution was significantly affected by village factors. Diverse cultivation supported high floral biodiversity through multi-scale heterogeneous landscapes containing niches and habitats. Faunal distribution was also significantly affected by village factor nested within soil depth. Different faunal groups responded differently, with Acari being taxonomically diverse and Collembola high in densities. Increase in manual labour and crop number in villages using alternative cultivation may positively affect biodiversity. The results point to the conservation potential of diverse cultivation methods in traditional rural China and other regions under social and political reforms, where traditional agriculture is changing to unified, large-scale mechanized agriculture. This study serves as a baseline for conservation in small-holding agricultural areas of China, and points to the necessity of further studies at larger and longer scales.
PLC-based control systems for industrial production of fuel alcohol (2003)

We discuss the application of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) in the process monitoring and control for fuel alcohol production. The PLCs are mainly utilized for collecting process data as well as realizing auto-tuning PID and sequence control strategies. In addition, WinCC configuration software with a human-machine interface (HMI) is used to monitor the dynamical industrial process. Both software- and hardware-based implementations of our system are also described in detail.
On the stability of global non-radial pulsations of neutron stars (1999)

A neutron star is the cosmic nuclear object in which the energy of gravitational pull is brought to equilibrium by elastic energy stored in the neutron Fermi-continuum. Evidence for the viscoelastic behaviour of a stellar nuclear matter provides a seismological model of pulsar glitches interpreted as a sudden release of the elastic energy. In laboratory nuclear physics, the signatures of viscoelasticity of nuclear matter are found in the current investigations on the collective nuclear dynamics, in which a heavy nucleus is modelled by a spherical piece of viscoelastic Fermi-continuum compressed to the normal nuclear density. It is plausible to expect, therefore, that the motions of self-gravitating nuclear matter constituting the interior of neutron stars should be governed by the equations of an elastic solid, rather than by hydrodynamic equations describing the behaviour of gaseous plasma inside the main sequence stars. In this paper, we present arguments that elastodynamic equations, originally introduced in the context of nuclear collective dynamics, can provide a proper account of elasticity in the large scale motions of neutron matter under its own gravity. Emphasis is placed on mathematical physics underlying the constructive description of the continuum mechanics and the rheology of macroscopic nuclear matter. The capability of the elastodynamic approach is examined by analysis of oscillatory dynamics of a neutron star in the standard homogenous model, operating with a spherical mass of self-gravitating degenerate neutron matter whose viscoelastic behaviour is described in terms of the spheroidal and torsional gravitational-elastic eigenmodes, inherenly related to viscoelasticy. The energy variational principle is utilized to compute the frequencies of viscoelastic gravitational pulsations and their relaxation time. The method is demonstrated for both the idealized homogeneous model and the neutron star models constructed on realistic equations of state. Finally, we derive analytic conditions for the stability of a neutron star to linear elastic deformations accompanying the non-radial pulsations, and discuss the fingerprints of these pulsations in the electromagnetic activity of radiopulsars.
Hexyl Aminolevulinate Fluorescence Cystoscopy: A New Diagnostic Tool for Photodiagnosis of Superficial Bladder Cancer—A multicenter study (2003)

HAL fluorescence cystoscopy is a new, sensitive, promising diagnostic procedure that showed improved detection of bladder tumors, in particular CIS. The procedure is well tolerated and can easily be implemented in current clinical practice.
A loadless CMOS four-transistor SRAM cell in a 0.18-μm logic technology (2001)

This paper presents a loadless CMOS four-transistor (4T) cell for very high density embedded SRAM applications. Using 0.18-/spl mu/m CMOS technology, the memory cell size is 1.9344 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ (1.04 /spl mu/m/spl times/1.86 /spl mu/m), which is 35% smaller than a six-transistor (6T) cell using the same design rule. The newly developed CMOS 4T-SRAM cell operates with high stability at 1.8 V, even though its designed cell ratio is 1.0 to minimize the area. A pair of pMOS transfer transistors is used to store and retain full-swing signals in the cell without a refresh cycle. The fabrication process is fully compatible with high-performance CMOS logic technologies, because there is no need to integrate a poly-Si resistor or a TFT load.
Epitaxial Growth of a Highly Conductive Charge Transfer Complex from Vapor Phase —TTF-TCNQ— (2009)

The epitaxial film of 1 : 1 radical cation-radical anion salt of TTF and TCNQ was prepared on KC1 single crystal by vacuum deposition and the structure of the film as well as the nucleation mechanism have been investigated by means of electron microscopy and diffraction.The b-or a-axis of the crystal is parallel to the [110] direction of KC1.Some anomalous diffuse scatterings were observed along the normal of the most conductive b-axis direction and the causes have been discussed.
A frequency-based hypothesis for mechanically targeting and selectively attacking cancer cells (2015)

Experimental studies recently performed on single cancer and healthy cells have demonstrated that the former are about 70% softer than the latter, regardless of the cell lines and the measurement technique used for determining the mechanical properties. At least in principle, the difference in cell stiffness might thus be exploited to create mechanical-based targeting strategies for discriminating neoplastic transformations within human cell populations and for designing innovative complementary tools to cell-specific molecular tumour markers, leading to possible applications in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer diseases. With the aim of characterizing and gaining insight into the overall frequency response of single-cell systems to mechanical stimuli (typically low-intensity therapeutic ultrasound), a generalized viscoelastic paradigm, combining classical and spring-pot-based models, is introduced for modelling this problem by neglecting the cascade of mechanobiological events involving the cell nucleus, cytoskeleton, elastic membrane and cytosol. Theoretical results show that differences in stiffness, experimentally observed ex vivo and in vitro, allow healthy and cancer cells to be discriminated, by highlighting frequencies (from tens to hundreds of kilohertz) associated with resonance-like phenomena—prevailing on thermal fluctuations—that could be helpful in targeting and selectively attacking tumour cells.
Molecular Threading: Mechanical Extraction, Stretching and Placement of DNA Molecules from a Liquid-Air Interface (2013)

We present "molecular threading", a surface independent tip-based method for stretching and depositing single and double-stranded DNA molecules. DNA is stretched into air at a liquid-air interface, and can be subsequently deposited onto a dry substrate isolated from solution. The design of an apparatus used for molecular threading is presented, and fluorescence and electron microscopies are used to characterize the angular distribution, straightness, and reproducibility of stretched DNA deposited in arrays onto elastomeric surfaces and thin membranes. Molecular threading demonstrates high straightness and uniformity over length scales from nanometers to micrometers, and represents an alternative to existing DNA deposition and linearization methods. These results point towards scalable and high-throughput precision manipulation of single-molecule polymers.
China's ascent in global trade governance: from rule taker to rule shaker and, maybe rule maker? (2011)

As China enters its tenth year of WTO Membership, has the dragon brought a ‘reign of fire’ to the multilateral trading system and rocked its institutional foundations? This paper will answer this question by reviewing China’s participation in two key activities of the WTO, i.e., trade negotiations and dispute settlement, as well as another important component of global trade governance: regional trade agreements (RTAs). I will argue that, overall, China has evolved from a passive ‘taker’ of the existing rules to a country that will ‘shake’ the rules for its own interests or even ‘make’ new rules. At the same time, the pace of China’s ascent has been uneven in different areas; the most aggressive strategy has been apparent in RTA negotiations, where China has been on a frantic shopping spree since its accession to the WTO. Similarly, while China was initially reluctant to use the multilateral dispute settlement system, it has become a major player since 2007. In terms of multilateral trade negotiations, China has been sending mixed signals: while it has made many submissions on negotiating issues in the Doha Round of WTO negotiations, China has so far successfully resisted calls from the US and EU for it to play a leading role in the long-stalled trade talks. After exploring the reasons for varying behavioral patterns in a range of areas, the chapter concludes by exploring China’s future role in the WTO, as well as the potential ramifications of China’s ascent in global trade governance.
Renewable High-Performance Polyurethane Bioplastics Derived from Lignin–Poly(ε-caprolactone) (2017)

Here, we report novel lignin-poly(ε-caprolactone)-based polyurethane bioplastics with high performance. The poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) was incorporated as a biodegradable soft segment to the lignin by the bridge of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) with long flexible aliphatic chains and high reactivity. The effects of -NCO/-OH molar ratio, content of lignin, and molecular weight of the PCL on the properties of the resultant polyurethane plastics were thoroughly evaluated. It is important that the polyurethane film still possessed high performance in the tensile strength, breaking elongation, and tear strength, which could reach 19.35 MPa, 188.36%, and 38.94 kN/m, respectively, when the content of lignin reached as high as 37.3%; moreover, it was very stable at 340.8 °C and presented excellent solvent-resistance. The results demonstrated that the modification of the lignin based on the urethane chemistry represents an effective strategy for developing lignin-based high-performance sustainable materials.
Microcontroller-based strategy for reactive power control and distortion compensation (1990)

Compensation of the fundamental displacement and harmonic distortion currents drawn by nonlinear loads can be achieved by using a three-phase voltage-source inverter to generate an appropriate correction voltage. The real time feedback control scheme of the inverter presented in the paper is a full three-phase switching strategy based on a ‘periodic integral’ version of the error sawtooth pulse-width modulation technique. The switching commands for the transistors within the inverter are generated by a 16-bit single-chip microcontroller. This device has sufficient computational power to implement all aspects of the controller tasks as well as handling the man/machine interface. The output waveform of the compensator is precisely determined by theoretically perfect tracking of the periodic reference signal to cancel the harmonic components up to the synthetised switching frequency (2.7 kHZ). The value of the proposed algorithm is experimentally verified on a 5.5 kVA inverter circuit and is found to give very fast and precise compensation characteristics. Details are given for operation of the experimental system as well as the control algorithm implementation. Harmonic analysis of the voltage on the test system demonstrates the effectiveness of the developed control strategy for the compensator.
Immunization against Tularemia: Analysis of the Effectiveness of Live Francisella tularensis Vaccine in Prevention of Laboratory-Acquired Tularemia (1977)

A retrospective analysis was made of cases of laboratory-acquired infections with Francisella tularensis among civilian employees at Fort Detrick, Maryland. The incidence and clinical presentation of tularemia during the decade 1950-1959, when the phenol-killed Foshay vaccine was used routinely for immunization of employees, were compared with similar data from the first decade (1960-1969) after the live tularemia vaccine had come into use. The incidence of typhoidal tularemia fell (from 5.70 to 0.27 cases per 1,000 at-risk employee-years; P less than 0.001), whereas the incidence of ulceroglandular tularemia remained unchanged (from 0.76 to 0.54 cases per 1,000 at-risk employee-years). Ulceroglandular tularemia in employees immunized with live vaccine was characterized by clinical signs and symptoms that were milder than those in employees vaccinated with the Foshay vaccine.
Repetitive-Based Controller for a UPS Inverter to Compensate Unbalance and Harmonic Distortion (2007)

This paper discusses a repetitive-based controller for an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) inverter. It is shown that a bank of resonant filters, used as a refinement term for harmonic compensation in earlier works, is equivalent to a repetitive scheme with a particular structure. The latter is implemented using a simple feedback array with a delay line, thus making the implementation relatively easy. More precisely, the repetitive scheme takes a negative feedback structure plus a feedforward path whenever the odd harmonics are considered for compensation only. The repetitive scheme, equivalent to the bank of resonant filters, acts as a refinement term to reject the harmonic distortion caused by the unbalanced and distorted load current, and thus, allowing the UPS inverter to deliver an almost pure sinusoidal balanced voltage. Experimental results in a 1.5 KVA three-phase inverter are included to show the performance of the proposed controller
Pressure-Induced Amorphization and Porosity Modification in a Metal−Organic Framework (2009)

The impact of modest, industrially accessible pressures (0-1.2 GPa) on the structure and porosity of the zeolitic imidazolate framework Zn(2-methylimidazole)(2), ZIF-8, was investigated using in situ powder X-ray diffraction in combination with sorption measurements for pressure-treated samples. The framework is highly compressible, with a bulk modulus (K = -V partial differential P/partial differential V) of 6.52(35) GPa, the most compressible metal-organic framework (MOF) documented to date. The framework undergoes an irreversible pressure-induced amorphization following compression beyond 0.34 GPa. The pressure-amorphized ZIF-8 remains porous, although the sorption characteristics are distinctly altered compared to the pristine material. As such, pressure can provide a new route to systematically modify the sorption behavior and other functional properties of MOFs, a nontraditional form of postsynthetic modification. Importantly, pressure modification of MOFs is effective at lower pressures than in other porous materials (e.g., zeolites) and, as such, is easily scalable and industrially relevant.
Facet-dependent giant spin orbit torque in single crystalline antiferromagnetic Ir-Mn / ferromagnetic permalloy bilayers (2016)

There has been considerable interest in spin-orbit torques for the purpose of manipulating the magnetization of ferromagnetic (FM) films or nano-elements for spintronic technologies. Spin-orbit torques are derived from spin currents created from charge currents in materials with significant spin-orbit coupling that diffuse into an adjacent FM material. There have been intensive efforts to search for candidate materials that exhibit large spin Hall angles, i.e. efficient charge to spin current conversion. Here we report, using spin torque ferromagnetic resonance, the observation of a giant spin Hall angle of up to ~0.35 in (100) oriented single crystalline antiferromagnetic (AF) IrMn3 thin films, coupled to ferromagnetic permalloy layers, and a spin Hall angle that is about three times smaller in (111) oriented films. For the (100) oriented samples we show that the magnitude of the spin Hall angle can be significantly changed by manipulating the populations of the various AF domains through field annealing. Using ab-initio calculations we show that the triangular AF structure of IrMn3 gives rise to a substantial intrinsic spin Hall conductivity that is three times larger for the (100) than for the (111) orientations, consistent with our experimental findings.
Thermal Integrity Profiling of Drilled Shafts (2010)

AbstractThe construction of drilled shafts as well as other cast in place foundation alternatives relies heavily on good practices from the contractor, engineer, and inspector in order to produce a quality foundation element. As many of the installation methods involve blind concreting processes, it is difficult to be certain of an intact concrete mass of the intended dimensions. A new integrity test has been developed that provides additional insight into the integrity of drilled shaft concrete. By measuring the temperature throughout the shaft via standard access tubes, the measured temperature profile can be compared to the normal signature associated with a shaft of the specified size. This article provides an overview of the new method development, test procedure, analysis, and results.
Factors regulating mammalian sperm migration through the female reproductive tract and oocyte vestments (1989)

Mechanisms of mammalian sperm migration through the female reproductive tract and ovum vestments are described. The perspective is biophysical as well as biochemical and morphological, and the focus is upon the role of sperm motility in these processes. Sperm forward progression is characterized as an interactive process between the the cell and its environment, and the mediation of flagellar bend propagation by the physical properties of its surroundings is described. These properties, together with flagellar beat kinematics, sperm morphology, and surface properties, determine the magnitude of the forces generated by sperm and their consequent rate of progression. Sperm interactions with the cervical mucus, the cumulus oophorus, and the zona pellucida are described. The poorly understood affinity of the sperm surface for the macromolecules of the mucus, cumulus, and zona is stressed, as is the viscoelastic structural mechanical resistance of these biopolymers to sperm motion. The kinematics and consequences of hyperactivated sperm motion are presented, with emphasis on objective characterization of such motion (as a biomarker), along with analysis of the mechanical advantage that such motion may confer on spermatozoa during egg-vestment interaction.