gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Enhanced PMN response in chronic bronchitis and community-acquired pneumonia (2004)

Chronic bronchitis is a frequent underlying disease in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). It is unclear to what extent an impaired or exaggerated innate immune response contributes to disease manifestations and severity. To assess the role of neutrophil activation and recruitment during acute pneumonic episodes, peripheral polymorphonulcear neutrophil (PMN) activation, chemotactic activity, interleukin-8 (CXCL-8) and CXCL-8 receptor (CXCR) expression and apoptosis rate were evaluated in CAP patients with and without chronic bronchitis. In addition, the expression of CXCRs and CXCL-8 was assessed on pulmonary neutrophils in chronic bronchitis patients to compare the activation of the chemokine system in different compartments. CAP severity was assessed by the simplified acute physiology score II and the prognosis of disease was assessed by the pneumonia severity index (PSI). An increased chemotactic activity of PMN from chronic bronchitis patients with CAP was found, which was not related to the expression of CXCRs. In addition, a decreased apoptosis rate of PMN was observed. Chemotactic activity was related to the PSI. Comparison of peripheral and pulmonary PMN revealed enhanced CXCL-8 levels and a decreased CXCR expression in the lung. In conclusion, neutrophil function in patients with chronic bronchitis and community-acquired pneumonia is characterised by an increased chemotactic activity combined with a decreased apoptosis rate. The downregulation of interleukin-8 receptors in the pulmonary compartment deserves further investigation.
Comparative study on the inhibitory effect of green tea, coffee and levamisole on the hepatocarcinogenic action of diethylnitrosamine (1992)

The present study aimed at clarifying whether Chinese green tea, coffee and levamisole (LMS) have similar inhibitory effect on hepatocarcinogenesis induced by diethylnitrosamine (DEN) as they had been proved in our previous aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) experiments. Male Wistar rats were divided into control (A), Green tea (B), coffee (C) and levamisole (D) groups. All rats received the same basic DEN treatment according to the program originally designed by Solt and Farber. During the two weeks before and one week after i.p. injection of DEN, the Groups B, C and D were given 2.5% green tea, 5% coffee and 0.1% LMS diet, respectively. The results demonstrated that coffee, LMS and, in particular, green tea showed inhibitory effect against DEN-induced hepatocarcinogenesis, indicating that green tea can be used as chemopreventive agent for DEN-, as well as for AFB1-induced hepatocarcinogenesis.
A simple and highly efficient Agrobacterium-mediated transformation protocol for Setaria viridis (2015)

The production and use of sugarcane in Brazil is very important for bioenergy production and is recognized as one of the most efficient in the world. In our laboratory, <i>Setaria viridis</i> is being tested as a model plant for sugarcane. <i>S. viridis</i> has biological attributes (rapid life cycle, small genome, diploid, short stature and simple growth requirements) that make it suitable for use as a model system. We report a highly efficient protocol for <i>Agrobacterium</i>-mediated genetic transformation of <i>S. viridis</i>. The optimization of several steps in tissue culture allowed the rapid regeneration of plants and increased the rate of transformation up to 29%. This protocol could become a powerful tool for functional genomics in sugarcane.
Amine‐Based Polar Solvent Treatment for Highly Efficient Inverted Polymer Solar Cells (2013)

The interfacial dipolar polarization in inverted structure polymer solar cells, which arises spontaneously from the absorption of ethanolamine end groups, such as amine and hydroxyl groups on ripple-structure zinc oxide (ZnO-R), lowers the contact barrier for electron transport and extraction and leads to enhanced electron mobility, suppression of bimolecular recombination, reduction of the contact resistance and series resistance, and remarkable enhancement of the power conversion efficiency.
Techniques For High Speed SEM Wafer Inspection For Production Applications (1989)

Two techniques suited for high speed SEM wafer inspection are presented. The dependancies of beam focus variations on Linewidth Measurements (LWM) precision are reviewed. It is reasoned that high LWM precisions and high-speed operator-independent wafer inspection are mutually exclusive requirements. A more aggressive inference is made : existing SEMs may not satisfy the inspection and LWM production environment requirements of lines 0.5 micron or less. Revolutionary, new inspection techniques are needed in the SEM to make them as easy to use as today's light optics instrumentation. One such technique is presented, which is a laser-based Automatic Working Distance Control (AWDC) system. AWDC eliminates the need to re-focus the electron beam during wafer inspection. It also creates optimum scenarios for precise LWM and inspection in future sub-half micron production lines of 200 mm wafers. The second technique is an in-vacuum wafer transfer and staging mechanism. The mechanism is suited for very high speed SEM inspection, and integrates the technique described before. The design was implemented with judicious consideration of the sub-micron production requirements: high reliability, low contamination, high speed inspection, and low cost. The novel components of the design are described. Emphasis is made on a minimum volume and surface area vacuum lock, with no internal moving parts. Three commercially available vacuum pumps are evaluated. The outgassing load of 200 mm wafers with recently coated photoresist is quantified. Computer simulations show that high throughputs are feasible using standard vacuum engineering techniques. Throughput figures are given for "single-wafer" and "wafer-queueing" modes of operation. Operational speeds comparable to light optics tools are achievable.
Protecting Software through Obfuscation (2016)

Software obfuscation has always been a controversially discussed research area. While theoretical results indicate that provably secure obfuscation in general is impossible, its widespread application in malware and commercial software shows that it is nevertheless popular in practice. Still, it remains largely unexplored to what extent today’s software obfuscations keep up with state-of-the-art code analysis and where we stand in the arms race between software developers and code analysts. The main goal of this survey is to analyze the effectiveness of different classes of software obfuscation against the continuously improving deobfuscation techniques and off-the-shelf code analysis tools. The answer very much depends on the goals of the analyst and the available resources. On the one hand, many forms of lightweight static analysis have difficulties with even basic obfuscation schemes, which explains the unbroken popularity of obfuscation among malware writers. On the other hand, more expensive analysis techniques, in particular when used interactively by a human analyst, can easily defeat many obfuscations. As a result, software obfuscation for the purpose of intellectual property protection remains highly challenging.
Factors influencing hematologic toxicity of radioimmunotherapy with131I-labeled anti-carcinoembryonic antigen antibodies (1997)

Red marrow dose, baseline platelet or white blood cell counts, multiple bone and/or marrow metastases, and chemotherapy 3-6 months before RAIT were the only four significant factors affecting hematologic toxicity according to multivariate analysis. The identification of bone and/or marrow metastases and recent chemotherapy as significant factors for hematologic toxicity could be important in the design of future clinical trials.
Stopping rules for Landweber-type iteration (2007)

We describe a class of stopping rules for Landweber-type iterations for solving linear inverse problems. The class includes both the discrepancy principle (DP rule) and the monotone error rule (ME rule). We also unify the error analysis of the two methods. The stopping rules depend critically on a certain parameter whose value needs to be specified. A training procedure is therefore introduced for securing robustness. The advantages of using a trained rule are demonstrated on examples taken from image reconstruction from projections. After training the stopping rules became quite robust and only small differences were observed between, e.g. the DP rule and ME rule.
Synthesis of Water-Soluble Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with Grafted Temperature-Responsive Shells by Surface RAFT Polymerization (2005)

Water-soluble multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) with temperature-responsive shells were synthesized by grafting poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAM) from sidewall of MWNT via surface reversible addition and fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization using RAFT agent functionalized MWNT as chain transfer agent. Carboxylic groups on MWNT were formed by nitric acid oxidation. Then bromoisobutyrate groups were covalently attached to the MWNT by esterification of 2-hydroxyethyl-2‘-bromoisobutyrate with carboxylic groups, forming bromoisobutyrate functionalized MWNT (MWNT-Br). RAFT agent functionalized MWNT was produced by substitute reaction of MWNT-Br with PhC(S)SMgBr. 1H NMR, FT-IR, and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) results showed that PNIPAAM chains grew from MWNT by surface reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. The molecular weight of PNIPAAM on MWNT increased linearly with monomer conversion, and its PDI is narrow (around 1.3). TGA showed that the amount of PNIPAAM grown from the MWNT increased with the increase of polymerization time. The MWNT-g-PNIPAAM has good solubility in water, chloroform, and tetrahydrofuran. TEM images also showed the MWNT-g-PNIPAAM was dispersed individually, indicating that the bundles of original MWNT were separated into individual tubes by surface RAFT polymerization. The produced MWNT-g-PNIPAAM has a PNIPAAM shell, which is very sensitive to change of temperature. This method can also be employed to graft other functional polymer chains onto MWNTs.
Real-Time Dynamic Pricing with Minimal and Flexible Price Adjustment (2015)

We study a standard dynamic pricing problem where the seller (a monopolist) possesses a finite amount of inventories and attempts to sell the products during a finite selling season. Despite the potential benefits of dynamic pricing, many sellers still adopt a static pricing policy because of (1) the complexity of frequent reoptimizations, (2) the negative perception of excessive price adjustments, and (3) the lack of flexibility caused by existing business constraints. In this paper, we develop a family of pricing heuristics that can be used to address all these challenges. Our heuristic is computationally easy to implement; it requires only a single optimization at the beginning of the selling season and automatically adjusts the prices over time. Moreover, to guarantee a strong revenue performance, the heuristic only needs to adjust the prices of a small number of products and do so infrequently. This property helps the seller focus his effort on the prices of the most important products instead of all products. In addition, in the case where not all products are equally admissible to price adjustment (due to existing business constraints such as contractual agreement, strategic product positioning, etc.), our heuristic can immediately substitute the price adjustment of the original products with the price adjustment of similar products and maintain an equivalent revenue performance. This property provides the seller with extra flexibility in managing his prices. This paper was accepted by Noah Gans, stochastic models and simulation.
BENCHMARKING HAAR AND HISTOGRAMS OF ORIENTED GRADIENTS FEATURES APPLIED TO VEHICLE DETECTION (2007)

This paper provides a comparison between two of the most used visual descriptors (image features) nowadays in the field of object detection. The investigated image features involved the Haar filters and the Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HoG) applied for the on road vehicle detection. Tests are very encouraging with a average detection of 96% on realistic on-road vehicle images.
District cooling network optimization with redundancy constraints in Singapore (2017)

This study presents a mathematical optimization model for planning topology and capacity of a district cooling network. The model relies on a mixed-integer linear programming formulation to find the most economic network layout while satisfying redundancy criteria against unavailability of cooling stations. The simplicity of the formulation makes it easy to embed in other models or to extend it to other redundancy cases. The model is applied to a case study in the central business district of Singapore. Results show that district cooling is a profitable option for Singapore, especially due to its constant high cooling demand that is currently satisfied mainly through decentralized cooling units. This result generalizes to tropical cities world-wide with high cooling demand density.
Method for automatic localization of MR‐visible markers using morphological image processing and conventional pulse sequences: Feasibility for image‐guided procedures (2007)

Detection and localization of MR-visible markers by morphological image processing is feasible, simple, and very accurate. In combination with safe wireless markers, the method is found to be useful for image-guided procedures.
Forward link capacity based on interference characteristics in CDMA systems (2002)

Interference is one of the key factors in determining the capacity and performance of CDMA (code division multiple access) systems. In the forward link, the interference consist of a non-stationary process from the multipath of the same cell and stationary Gaussian process resulting from the background noise and interfering signals of other cells, which vary according to the number of multipaths and mobile's position. We investigated the interference characteristics and the required E/sub b//I/sub t/ in WCDMA environments adopting the described interference model. The forward link capacity can be obtained from the results under uniform user distribution throughout the cell. The effect of outer loop power control on the capacity, by which the received E/sub b//I/sub t/ is set exactly to the target value at each position, is also investigated.
Obesity increases sensitivity to endotoxin liver injury: Implications for the pathogenesis of steatohepatitis (1997)

Genetically obese fatty/fatty rats and obese/obese mice exhibit increased sensitivity to endotoxin hepatotoxicity, quickly developing steatohepatitis after exposure to low doses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Among obese animals, females are more sensitive to endotoxin liver injury than males. LPS induction of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha), the proven affecter of endotoxin liver injury, is no greater in the livers, white adipose tissues, or sera of obese animals than in those of lean controls. Indeed, the lowest serum concentrations of TNF occur in female obese rodents, which exhibit the most endotoxin-induced liver injury. Several cytokines that modulate the biological activity of TNF are regulated abnormally in the livers of obese animals. After exposure to LPS, mRNA of interferon gamma, which sensitizes hepatocytes to TNF toxicity, is overexpressed, and mRNA levels of interleukin 10, a TNF inhibitor, are decreased. The phagocytic activity of liver macrophages and the hepatic expression of a gene encoding a macrophage-specific receptor are also decreased in obesity. This new animal model of obesity-associated liver disease demonstrates that hepatic macrophage dysfunction occurs in obesity and suggests that this might promote steatohepatitis by sensitizing hepatocytes to endotoxin.
Fuel tank wall response to hydraulic ram during the shock phase. (1973)

THIS Note outlines some preliminary work accomplished in a research program at the Naval Postgraduate School to study the effects of hydraulic ram in fuel tanks upon aircraft survivability and vulnerability. The problem of predicting the interaction of a high speed projectile with a liquid filled tank (hydraulic ram) is a complex but necessary study if kill probabilities are to be predicted for this type of event. Furthermore, to design survivable fuel tanks, it is necessary to understand hydraulic ram in detail. The hydraulic ram phenomenon may be divided into two phases: 1) the shock phase where the projectile exchanges some of its energy with the fluid by the production of a strong, nearly hemispherical shock wave originating from the entry wall, and 2) the cavity phase where further energy is imparted to the fluid by the production and collapse of a vapor filled cavity formed by separation of the fluid from the surface of the projectile as it moves through the tank. This Note considers the shock phase and examines the structural response of the entry wall during this phase.
Progress toward Ignition and Burn Propagation in Inertial Confinement Fusion (1992)

For the past four decades, scientists throughout the world have pursued the dream of controlled thermonuclear fusion. The attraction of this goal is the enormous energy that is potentially available in fusion fuels and the view of fusion as a safe, clean energy source. The fusion reaction with the highest cross section uses the deuterium and tritium isotopes of hydrogen, and D-T would be the fuel of choice for the first generation of fusion reactors. (See the article by J. Geoffrey Cordey, Robert J. Goldston and Ronald R. Parker, January, page 22.)
Ultracentrifugation Technique for Measuring the Binding of Peptides and Proteins to Sucrose-Loaded Phospholipid Vesicles (2003)

The binding of extrinsic proteins to membranes is important for their biological activity in many different systems. Consider a few examples from the calcium/phospholipid second-messenger system (reviewed in refs. 1 and 2). First, membrane binding facilitates interaction of the Gq protein with both its activated receptor and its membrane-bound effector, phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PLC-β). Second, it enhances the ability of PLC to hydrolyze its membrane-bound substrate phosphatidylmositol 4,5bis-phosphate (PIP2) in a precessive manner (i.e., the enzyme can “scoot” over the surface, hydrolyzing many PIP2 molecules before desorbing from the membrane). Third, membrane binding increases the probability that protein kinase C (PKC) will phosphorylate its membrane-bound substrates, which include pp60src (Src) and MARCKS (mynstoylated alanine-rich C kinase substrate). Fourth, membrane binding is required for the biological activity of proteins such as Src and Ras. All these proteins bind to the membrane by a combination of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions (see refs. 3 and 4 and references therem). This chapter describes a simple ultracentrifugation technique for measuring the binding of extrinsic proteins and peptides to membranes.
Performance of an optical receiver employing an avalanche photodetector in the presence of timing uncertainty (1985)

The performance of an optical receiver employing an avalanche photodetector (APD) in the presence of timing uncertainty of the receiver sync subsystem is evaluated using Gaussian approximation to the APD output statistics.
Sticky projection mapping (2015)

We present a fast tracking projection system with an uncalibrated high-speed camera-projector pair. To enable fast projection, we have developed a homography-warping hardware embedded in a projector. The camera-projector pair runs at 450 fps and offers quick adaptation of a projected image to a planar surface.
Small bowel exclusion from the pelvis by a polyglycolic acid mesh sling (1984)

Radiation enteritis is seen in patients receiving radiation therapy for various pelvic malignancies. Attempts to prevent this have included various surgical as well as nutritional approaches with little success. The use of a polyglycolic acid mesh sling sewn above the pelvic inlet has prevented small bowel descent into the true pelvis in rats and in humans. The technique has been successful in both with no attendant morbidity during an 11-month follow up. Several patients have received additional doses of radiation therapy that would not have been given if the small bowel were not removed from the area to be irradiated.
Quantitative stratigraphic inversion: Case study using Jurassic tank data (2007)

We develop a methodology for systematic inversion of quantitative stratigraphic models. Quantitative stratigraphic modeling predicts stratigraphy using numerical simulations of geologic processes. We tested the inversion scheme on the topography dataset obtained from the eXperimental EarthScape facility simulation. The excellent result of the piecewise inversion, which used different parameterizations for different time intervals, demonstrate the need for development or incorporation of time‐variant parameterizations.
Monitoring Disease Trends using Hospital Traffic Data from High Resolution Satellite Imagery: A Feasibility Study (2015)

Challenges with alternative data sources for disease surveillance include differentiating the signal from the noise, and obtaining information from data constrained settings. For the latter, events such as increases in hospital traffic could serve as early indicators of social disruption resulting from disease. In this study, we evaluate the feasibility of using hospital parking lot traffic data extracted from high-resolution satellite imagery to augment public health disease surveillance in Chile, Argentina and Mexico. We used archived satellite imagery collected from January 2010 to May 2013 and data on the incidence of respiratory virus illnesses from the Pan American Health Organization as a reference. We developed dynamical Elastic Net multivariable linear regression models to estimate the incidence of respiratory virus illnesses using hospital traffic and assessed how to minimize the effects of noise on the models. We noted that predictions based on models fitted using a sample of observations were better. The results were consistent across countries with selected models having reasonably low normalized root-mean-squared errors and high correlations for both the fits and predictions. The observations from this study suggest that if properly procured and combined with other information, this data source could be useful for monitoring disease trends.