gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Minimisation of the peak to mean envelope power ratio of multicarrier transmission schemes by block coding (2002)

A block coding scheme for the reduction of the peak to mean envelope power ratio of multicarrier transmission schemes is described. The principle of the scheme is illustrated with the specific example of a four carrier signal. The potential of the technique is investigated and it is shown that the application of a 1/2 rate code could typically result in a peak to mean envelope power ratio of around 3 dB. The development of the technique in terms of the selection of suitable sets of code words based on Shapiro-Rudin sequences, Golay complementary sequences and other larger sets of code words is investigated. However, it is shown that none of these code sets are ideal.
Books in review (1952)

Sistemi monetari africani al lume dell'economia primitive by G. Tucci, (African money systems in the light of primitive economics), Napoli, Rivista di Etnografia, 1950. 136 pages. Trade Unions in Natal by H. G. Ringrose. (Oxford University Press. 1951. Cape Town.) 12s. 6d. Marriage in a Changing Society. By J. A. Barnes. (Rhodes Livingstone Papers No. 20. O.U.P. 1951.) pp. ix+137, 14 tables, 4 plates, 10s. 6d.
Famotidine, a Histamine H<sub>2</sub> Receptor Antagonist, Does Not Reduce Levodopa‐Induced Dyskinesia in Parkinson's Disease: A Proof‐of‐Concept Study (2014)

The neural mechanisms underlying levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) in Parkinson's disease (PD) may involve histamine (H<sub>2</sub>) receptors on striatopallidal pathways. We recently demonstrated that the clinically available oral histamine H<sub>2</sub> receptor antagonist (H<sub>2</sub> RA), famotidine, can reduce l-dopa-induced chorea in MPTP-lesioned macaques. We hypothesized that famotidine may be useful in the treatment of LID in PD patients. We performed a proof-of-concept, double-blind, randomized, multiple cross-over (4×) trial. Seven PD subjects with bothersome dyskinesia were randomized to oral famotidine 80, 120, and 160 mg/day and placebo. Each subject was randomized to receive each of the four treatment phases for 14 days followed by a 7-day wash-out period between each treatment phase. The primary outcome measure was change in the Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale (UDysRS; part III) between placebo and famotidine. Secondary outcomes were UDysRS (parts I and II), Global Impression of Change, Lang-Fahn Activities of Daily Living Dyskinesia Scale, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating part III, and adverse events (AEs). Outcomes were evaluated pre- and post-treatment per dose and analyzed using a mixed-effects linear model. There was no significant effect of famotidine treatment on any of the primary or secondary outcome measures compared to placebo (each dose and all doses combined). There were no significant AEs. Even though the sample size of the current study is limited, famotidine seems to be safe in patients with PD and LID, but showed no potential as an antidyskinetic agent.
Coaxial core needle biopsy under mammographic guidance: indications and applications. (1998)

Coaxial core needle biopsy under mammographic guidance: indications and applications.G J Whitman, D B Kopans, K A McCarthy, C B Stelling, N Sneige, K Sunku and M K WeissAudio Available | Share
The Emerging Use of Quantum Dots in Analysis (2007)

Abstract The optical properties of quantum dots (QDs) have made them attractive materials in diverse fields of application. Since water‐soluble derivatives were obtained, quantum dots have attracted intensive research interest in sensing, diagnosis, imaging, and optical tracking. The analytes that have been targeted span ions, small chemical molecules, proteins, nucleic acids, and cells. The fluorescence of functionalized QDs can be quenched, enhanced, or even ‘switch’ on and off in different cases. However, the mechanisms behind these various responses are not yet all fully understood. This review gives an overview of the emerging use of QDs in analysis. Typical examples, in particular in relation to the discussion on mechanisms are highlighted.
THE PLACE OF SOCIAL INTERACTION IN THE NIGERIAN SCHOOL SYSTEM: IMPLICATION FOR GROUP LIFE (2012)

For any society to exist, it has to fulfil its functional prerequisites.  These include adaptation, goal attainment, integration and coping with the demands of the society’s members. The society in itself does not exist and cannot do anything: it is after all no more than a collection of individuals.  Therefore it is necessary to persuade the members to act in certain ways, which will enable society to fulfil its needs and ensure its continuation.  Culture performs this task by emphasizing certain values, which guide members to act in a particular way and this ensures that the functional prerequisites are carried out.  While doing this, every member of the society must understand that they are mutually related and interdependent.
Carbon nanotube bolometers (2007)

A cryogenic bolometer has been fabricated using a bundle of single-walled carbon nanotubes as absorber. A bolometric response was observed when the device was exposed to radiation at 110GHz. The temperature response was 0.4mV∕K, with an intrinsic electrical responsivity at low frequency up to 109V∕W and noise equivalent power of 3×10−16W∕Hz1∕2 at 4.2K. The response is largest at input power levels of a few femtowatts and decreases inversely proportional to the input power. Low frequency noise shows a 1∕f dependence.
Zika Virus: Transmission, Detection, Control, and Prevention (2017)

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne <i>Flavivirus</i> discovered in Uganda in the 1940s. To date, three major ZIKV outbreaks have been reported. ZIKV infections have known to be primarily asymptomatic while causing mild illness in a few cases. However, the recent emergence and spread of ZIKV in the Americas has resulted in the declaration of "Public Health Emergency of International Concern" due to the potential association between the infection and prenatal microcephaly or other brain anomalies. In Brazil, a 20-fold increase in prenatal microcephaly cases and 19% increase in Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) cases were reported in 2015, as compared to the preceding year. The probable deleterious effects of ZIKV infection prompt the urgent development of diagnostics and therapeutics. To this end, the existing evidences supporting the increasingly common prenatal microcephaly and GBS association and the current known ZIKV transmission dynamics, modes of detection (molecular and serology-based), and current control strategies are summarized in this review. This review also emphasizes the importance of understanding ZIKV transmission in order to design a sensitive yet cost and time-efficient detection technique. Development of an efficient detection technique would subsequently allow for better surveillance and control of ZIKV infection. Currently, limited literature is available on the pathogenesis of ZIKV, hence, focusing on the modes of ZIKV transmission could potentially contribute to the understanding of the disease spectrum and formulation of targeted treatment and control.
Bandgap Tuning of Silicon Quantum Dots by Surface Functionalization with Conjugated Organic Groups (2015)

The quantum confinement and enhanced optical properties of silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) make them attractive as an inexpensive and nontoxic material for a variety of applications such as light emitting technologies (lighting, displays, sensors) and photovoltaics. However, experimental demonstration of these properties and practical application into optoelectronic devices have been limited as SiQDs are generally passivated with covalently bound insulating alkyl chains that limit charge transport. In this work, we show that strategically designed triphenylamine-based surface ligands covalently bonded to the SiQD surface using conjugated vinyl connectivity results in a 70 nm red-shifted photoluminescence relative to their decyl-capped control counterparts. This suggests that electron density from the SiQD is delocalized into the surface ligands to effectively create a larger hybrid QD with possible macroscopic charge transport properties.
Threshold voltage shift compensated active pixel sensor array for digital X-ray imaging in a-Si technology (2005)

A new active pixel sensor for X-ray digital imaging using amorphous silicon thin-film transistors (a-Si TFTs) is proposed. Simulation results show that this new APS structure is fully capable of compensating for variations in threshold voltage (VT) of a-Si TFTs under prolonged gate voltage stress.
Immunobiology of bone marrow transplantation as treatment for hematologic malignancies. (1991)

In conclusion, graft-versus-leukemia is important to prevent leukemia relapse following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. This beneficial GVL effect is at least partly mediated by T-lymphocytes and is greatest in transplants from HLA-nongenotypically identical donors. GVL is associated with the presence of GVHD, although preliminary studies suggest it may be possible to separate these two processes. Improvement in treatment results requires innovative effective therapies to enhance the direct antineoplastic effects of the preparative regimen or immune-mediated antileukemia mechanisms.
Assay of diffusion of different botulinum neurotoxin type a formulations injected in the mouse leg (2009)

Botulinum neurotoxin type-A (BoNT/A) is very effective in the therapy of a wide range of human syndromes characterized by hyperactivity of peripheral cholinergic nerve terminals. Little diffusion of this toxin from the site of injection is commonly observed, but even minor changes in this property would greatly affect the validity of the treatment. Different pharmacological formulations of BoNT/A are available, and they may have different diffusion characteristics due to protein complex size, product format, and pharmacological properties. Here we assessed the extent of diffusion of three commercial preparations of BoNT/A: Botox (Allergan), Dysport (Ipsen), and Xeomin (Merz Pharmaceuticals) using a novel and highly sensitive test based on neural cell adhesion molecule (N-CAM) expression in muscle. N-CAM is a membrane glycoprotein that accumulates on muscle fibers after denervation and is not expressed in untreated adult muscle. This allows fine monitoring of the functional diffusion of this toxin, and the sensitivity of this assay is emphasized by the use of the mouse model because of the small muscle dimensions. The results presented here indicate that there is no significant difference between Botox, Dysport, and Xeomin with respect to diffusion into adjacent muscles in the mouse leg.
Biogenic flux of Al to sediment in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean: Evidence for increased productivity during glacial periods (1993)

We examined the flux of Al to sediment accumulating beneath the zone of elevated productivity in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean, along a surface sediment transect at 135°W as well as downcore for a 650 kyr record at 1.3°N, 133.6°W. Across the surface transect, a pronounced, broadly equatorially symmetric increase in Al accumulation is observed, relative to Ti, with Al/Ti ratios reaching values 3–4 times that of potential detrital sources. The profile parallels biogenic accumulation and the modeled flux of particulate 234 Th, suggesting rapid and preferential adsorptive removal of Al from seawater by settling biogenic particles. Normative calculations confirm that most Al is unsupported by the terrigenous fraction. The observed distributions are consistent with previous observations of the relative and absolute behavior of Al and Ti in seawater, and we can construct a reasonable mass balance between the amount of seawater‐sourced Al retained in the sediment and the amount of seawater Al available in the overlying column. The close tie between Al/Ti and biogenic accumulation (as opposed to concentration) emphasizes that biogenic sedimentary Al/Ti responds to removal‐transport phenomena and not bulk sediment composition. Thus, in these sediments dominated by the biogenic component, the bulk Al/Ti ratio reflects biogenic particle flux, and by extension, productivity of the overlying seawater. The downcore profile of Al/Ti at 1.3°N displays marked increases during glacial episodes, similar to that observed across the surface transect, from a background value near Al/Ti of average upper crust. The excursions in Al/Ti are stratigraphically coincident with maxima in both bulk and CaCO 3 accumulation and the excess Al appears to not be preferentially affiliated with opaline or organic phases. Consistent with the similar behavioral removal of Al and 234 Th, the latter of which responds to the total particle flux, the Al flux reflects carbonate accumulation only because carbonate comprises the dominant flux in these particular deposits. These results collectively indicate that (1) Al in biogenic sediment and settling biogenic particles is strongly affected by a component adsorbed from seawater. Therefore, the common tenet that Al is dominantly associated with terrestrial particulate matter, and the subsequent use of Al distributions to calculate the abundance and flux of terrestrial material in settling particles and sediment, needs to be reevaluated. (2) The Al/Ti ratio in biogenic sediment can be used to trace the productivity of the overlying water, providing a powerful new paleochemical tool to investigate oceanic response to climatic variation. (3) The close correlation between the Al/Ti productivity signal and carbonate maxima downcore at 1.3°N suggests that the sedimentary carbonate maxima in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean record increased productivity during glacial episodes.
Chiral Monodentate Phosphines and Bulky Carboxylic Acids: Cooperative Effects in Palladium‐Catalyzed Enantioselective C(sp<sup>3</sup>)–H Functionalization (2012)

LCSA
The impossibility of resurrecting the past: Reconstructions on archaeological excavation sites (1999)

Since the beginnings of archaeological research, scientists have attempted to explain the past to a larger public. In the nineteenth century the quality of reconstruction drawings by architects was high but, after excavations were finished, the sites were left as they were, without conservation, while the movable finds were exhibited in the great museums of the European capitals. Today's mass tourism, however, demands attractions at the original ancient sites. The tourist industry, which brings by far the largest pool of visitors to the sites, sets the standards, but its interests centre on quick and simple ‘consumption’ of impressive ruins. Different methods have been employed in creating tourist attractions – from reconstructing ancient buildings to having museum staff in costume demonstrate elements of daily life in history. But it is the ruins on excavation sites, even in their damaged state, that are the irreplaceable, authentic records of the past. Archaeological preservation, therefore, has to mean uncompromising conservation of the damaged original remains. They should not be sacrificed for the sake of questionable ‘progress’ or popularization.
Characteristics of peptides which compete for presented antigen‐binding sites on antigen‐presenting cells (1990)

The T cell recognition of globular protein antigens requires the cell surface presentation of the protein by Ia-expressing antigen-presenting cells (APC). The mechanisms by which APC function remain to be elucidated. To gain a better understanding of association of antigen with APC surfaces, a large panel of peptides of diverse physicochemical properties was assayed for the ability to compete with presented antigen for binding sites on the APC surface. Competition was measured by the ability of a peptide to block the I-Ek-restricted T cell response to pigeon cytochrome c (Pc) as presented by APC. The panel assayed included overlapping peptides representing the entire length of sperm whale myoglobin and the alpha and beta chains of human adult hemoglobin as well as synthetic conformational peptides of lactate dehydrogenase C4 exhibiting stable secondary, alpha-helical structures. The results presented here show that several peptides of this group compete with the presented form of Pc for binding sites on the APC. However, there is no single biochemical property or amino acid sequence algorithm which predicts the blocking ability. The peptides which compete with presented Pc are not predicted to assume the amphipathic alpha-helical conformation hypothesized by De Lisi and Berzofsky (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1986. 82: 7048) for T cell antigenic peptides. However, peptides designed and synthesized to adopt a stable alpha-helical secondary structure show more potent blocking activity than the corresponding linear peptides, suggesting that the secondary structure may indeed be a contributing factor in the ability of presented antigenic peptides to be bound by the APC. The results with the myoglobin and hemoglobin peptides show no connection between any particular secondary structure of the peptide in the native proteins and the ability of the peptides to block presentation. Further, there is no correlation between the major histocompatibility complex restriction of the competing peptides and their ability to block the I-Ek-restricted Pc-specific T cell response. This suggests that antigen presented by the APC may be bound to APC structures other than Ia prior to association with Ia. Such additional binding sites for presented antigen may be necessary to facilitate association with Ia.
Avian influenza: genetic evolution under vaccination pressure (2008)

Antigenic drift of avian influenza viruses (AIVs) has been observed in chickens after extended vaccination program, similar to those observed with human influenza viruses. To evaluate the evolutionary properties of endemic AIV under high vaccination pressure (around 2 billion doses used in the last 12 years), we performed a pilot phylogenic analysis of the hemagglutinin (HA) gene of AIVs isolated from 1994 to 2006. This study demonstrates that Mexican low pathogenicity (LP) H5N2-AIVs are constantly undergoing genetic drifts. Recent AIV isolates (2002-2006) show significant molecular drifts when compared with the H5N2 vaccine-strain or other field isolates (1994-2000). This study also demonstrates that molecular drifts in the HA gene lineages follow a yearly trend, suggesting gradually cumulative sequence mutations. These findings might explain the increasing incidence of LP H5N2 AIV isolated from commercial avian farms. These findings support recent concerns about the challenge of AIV antigenic drift and influenza epidemics.
The Efficacy and Safety of KL4-Surfactant in Preterm Infants With Respiratory Distress Syndrome (1996)

The present study was undertaken to determine if a synthetic peptide, KLLLLKLLLLKLLLLKLLLLK (KL4), in which K = lysine and L = leucine, in an aqueous dispersion of phospholipids (DPPC and POPG), would expand pulmonary alveoli and improve gas exchange in premature human infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). The KL4 peptide was synthesized to resemble the amino acid pattern of surfactant protein B (SP-B). Forty-seven infants with RDS were treated within 4 h of birth with the KL4-peptide/phospholipid mixture, called KL4-Surfactant. The average arterial-to-alveolar oxygen tension ratios (a/A O2) of 39 patients included in efficacy analyses rose from pretreatment values of 0.14 +/- 0.02 (mean +/- SEM) to 0.40 +/- 0.04 (normal value > or = 0.40) by 12 h of age. Mean airway pressures and oxygenation index values fell concomitantly, and expansion of the lungs was observed on radiographs. The median duration of mechanical ventilation was 5.0 d. Of the 39 included infants, 29 required only a single dose. Radiographic data indicate that those patients requiring a second instillation of KL4-Surfactant but not showing a sustained rise in a/A O2 ratios did, in fact, exhibit expansion of alveoli in the lung. There were no RDS-related deaths; the incidence of complications was no higher than found in other comparable published studies. The data demonstrate that the synthetic peptide, KL4, which mimics the hydrophobic and hydrophilic pattern of SP-B, when formulated in an aqueous dispersion with the phospholipids DPPC and POPG, creates a strong and durable surfactant activity as judged by expansion of pulmonary alveoli and improvement of gas exchange in infants with RDS.
Optimizing multicore performance with message driven execution: A case study (2011)

With the growing amount of parallelism available on today's multicore processors, achieving good performance at scale is challenging. We approach this issue through an alternative to traditional thread-based paradigms for writing shared memory programs, namely message driven multicore programming. We study a number of optimizations that improve the efficiency of message driven programs on multicore architectures. In particular, we focus on the following runtime system-enabled optimizations: (i) grainsize control to effect a good concurrency-overhead tradeoff, (ii) dynamic balancing of processor load, (iii) low-overhead, asynchronous communication for lock-free and message-driven execution and (iv) communication-reduction through a novel chunked shared array abstraction. The practical impact of these optimizations is quantified through a parallel kd-tree construction program written in the message-driven paradigm. A comparison of the optimized code with a state-of-the-art parallel kd-tree construction program is also presented.