gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Effects of<i>Bifidobacterium animalis</i>administered during lactation on allergic and autoimmune responses in rodents (2008)

Probiotics are promoted as being beneficial to health and positive effects on the immune system have been reported. Beneficial immune effects have been attributed to several mechanisms, including stimulating T helper 1 (Th1) immunity. To explore the effects of the probiotic Bifidobacterium animalis on Th1- and Th2-mediated immune responses, two different animal models representing either Th1- or Th2-mediated immune responses were used: a rat model for experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) (Th1) and a mouse model for respiratory allergy induced by ovalbumin (OVA) (Th2). B. animalis administration started when the mice or rats were 2 weeks old. Respiratory allergy or EAE were induced when the animals were 6-7 weeks old. In the allergy model, B. animalis modestly reduced the number of infiltrating eosinophils and lymphocytes in the lungs, but no effects on allergen-specific serum immunoglobulin E levels were found. Cytokine profiles assessed after culturing spleen cells with the mitogen concanvalin A (ConA) showed that B. animalis skewed the Th1/Th2 balance towards Th1 in females. However, allergen-induced cytokine production in females was not affected by B. animalis. In males, B. animalis significantly decreased ConA-induced interleukin-13 and a trend towards lower levels of OVA-induced Th2 cytokines. In the EAE model, B. animalis significantly reduced the duration of clinical symptoms by almost 2 days in males and improved the body weight gain during the experimental period compared with the control group. Our data show that B. animalis reduced several immune parameters in the allergy as well as in the autoimmunity model.
New continuous-input current charge pump power-factor-correction electronic ballast (1999)

Continuous-input current charge pump power-factor-correction (CIC-CPPFC) electronic ballasts are proposed in this paper. The CPPFC circuit and unity power factor condition using the charge pump concept are derived and analyzed. The average lamp current control with switching frequency modulation was developed so that low crest factor and constant lamp power operation can be achieved. The developed electronic ballast has continuous input current, so that a small line input filter can be used. The proposed CIC-CPPFC electronic ballast was implemented and tested with two 45 W fluorescent lamps. It is shown that the measured line input current harmonics satisfy IEC 1000-3-2 Class C requirements.
Continuous Production of Biodiesel from Soybean Oil in Supercritical Ethanol and Carbon Dioxide as Cosolvent (2009)

This work investigates the effect of carbon dioxide as cosolvent on the production of fatty acid ethyl esters from soybean oil transesterification in supercritical ethanol in a continuous catalyst-free process. The experiments were performed in a tubular reactor in the temperature range of 573−623 K, from 7.5 to 20 MPa, with an oil to ethanol molar ratio ranging from 1:10 to 1:40 and cosolvent to substrates mass ratio from 0:1 to 0.5:1. Results showed that the yield of ethyl esters decreased with increasing addition of carbon dioxide to the system. The reaction conversion was noticed to decrease at lower substrates flow rates due to products decomposition. Considerable reaction yields were achieved at 623 K, 10 MPa, oil to ethanol molar ratio of 1:40 and using a CO2 to substrate mass ratio of 0.05:1. It is shown that the use of a tubular reactor with smaller inner diameter can provide high reaction conversions in short residence times, thus offering a promising route for the investigation of biodiesel production.
Syntax for language teachers: Revisiting the nature of language (2021)

Teaching language is not only a matter of delivering language materials to the learners (e.g., using various methods or media), but it is also about what is thought and what is understood by the teachers that might contribute indirectly in designing and delivering the materials. Those aspects are the manifestations of teachers’ knowledge about language. Teachers who have sufficient understanding on language will be able to conduct better practice of language teaching since they understand what they are teaching. It is then intriguing to discuss the roles of syntax for language teachers: what can teachers benefit from it? This paper aims at revisiting the importance of syntax for language teachers by looking at the nature of language and the nature of syntax. This paper reviews the available relevant literature. The result of discussion emphasizes the potentiality of syntax to equip teachers with adequate knowledge on language, language structure and how to cope with changes in language. Moreover, reading syntax research can enrich teachers’ knowledge. This knowledge can be of beneficial for teachers, for instance in designing the language content of teaching materials. These are not surprising since language teachers are teaching language; therefore, they should also consider language characteristics of the language they are teaching.
Leveraging big data for grasp planning (2015)

We propose a new large-scale database containing grasps that are applied to a large set of objects from numerous categories. These grasps are generated in simulation and are annotated with different grasp stability metrics. We use a descriptive and efficient representation of the local object shape at which each grasp is applied. Given this data, we present a two-fold analysis: (i) We use crowdsourcing to analyze the correlation of the metrics with grasp success as predicted by humans. The results show that the metric based on physics simulation is a more consistent predictor for grasp success than the standard υ-metric. The results also support the hypothesis that human labels are not required for good ground truth grasp data. Instead the physics-metric can be used to generate datasets in simulation that may then be used to bootstrap learning in the real world. (ii) We apply a deep learning method and show that it can better leverage the large-scale database for prediction of grasp success compared to logistic regression. Furthermore, the results suggest that labels based on the physics-metric are less noisy than those from the υ-metric and therefore lead to a better classification performance.
Ovary development and polydnavirus morphogenesis in the parasitic wasp Chelonus inanitus. II. Ultrastructural analysis of calyx cell development, virion formation and release (2003)

Polydnaviruses are unique symbiotic viruses that are formed only in calyx cells in the ovary of parasitic wasps in the families Braconidae and Ichneumonidae; accordingly, two genera, Bracovirus and Ichnovirus are recognized. We have presented a detailed ultrastructural analysis of ovary and calyx cell differentiation and virion morphogenesis, together with the first data on virion release in a bracovirus. Differentiation of the ovary into germarium/vitellarium and the calyx region begins immediately after pupation. In the periphery and central part of the calyx, some cells and their nuclei begin to enlarge and the DNA content increases. The calyx cell nuclei then further increase and become highly lobulated, nuclear pores become very abundant and the cytoplasm is rich in ribosomes. This suggests synthesis and import of viral envelope proteins as viral envelopes appear in the nuclei shortly later. The appearance of viral envelopes is accompanied by a swelling of the nucleus and a change in electron density. Thereafter, the calyx cells reach the final stage with a highly swollen nucleus containing virogenic stroma and mature virions with nucleocapsids. Up to this stage, the DNA content of nuclei increases 120-fold and the volume 45-fold. The mature calyx cells are positioned in the vicinity of the oviduct lumen; for release of virions first the nuclear and then the plasma membrane disintegrate. On the border of the oviduct lumen, cells of an epithelial layer become phagocytic and remove debris, leading to a calyx fluid that contains only densely packed virions.
Metabotropic glutamate receptors depress glutamate‐mediated synaptic input to rat midbrain dopamine neurones <i>in vitro</i> (1998)

1. Glutamate (AMPA receptor-mediated) excitatory postsynaptic potentials (e.p.s.ps.), evoked by electrical stimulation rostral to the recording site, were examined by intracellular microelectrode recording from dopamine neurones in parasagittal slices of rat ventral midbrain. 2. The e.p.s.p. was depressed by the group III metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptor agonist L-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyric acid (L-AP4; 0.01-30 microM) by up to 60% with an EC50 of 0.82 microM. The depression induced by L-AP4 (3 microM) was reversed by the group III preferring mGlu receptor antagonist, alpha-methyl-4-phosphonophenylglycine (MPPG; 250 microM). 3. The group I and II mGlu agonist, 1S,3R-aminocyclopentanedicarboxylic acid (ACPD; 3-30 microM) also depressed the e.p.s.p. in a concentration-dependent manner. The effect of ACPD (10 microM) was reversed by (+)-alpha-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG; 1 mM; 4 cells). This effect of ACPD was also partially antagonized (by 50.3+/-15.7%, 4 cells) by MPPG (250 microM). 4. The selective agonist at group I mGlu receptors, dihydroxyphenylglycine (DHPG; 100 microM), decreased e.p.s.p. amplitude by 27.1+/-8.2% (7 cells), as did the group II mGlu receptor-selective agonist (1S,1R,2'R,3'R)-2-(2,3-dicarboxycyclopropyl)glycine (DCG-IV; 1 microM) by 26.7+/-4.3% (5 cells). 5. DHPG (10-100 microM) caused a depolarization of the recorded cell, as did ACPD (3-30 microM), whereas no such postsynaptic effect of either L-AP4 or DCG-IV was observed. 6. These results provide evidence for the presence of presynaptic inhibitory metabotropic glutamate autoreceptors from the mGlu receptor groups II and III on descending glutamatergic inputs to midbrain dopamine neurones. Group I mGlu receptors mediate a postsynaptic depolarization, and can also depress glutamatergic transmission, but may not necessarily be localized presynaptically. These sites represent novel drug targets for treatment of schizophrenia and movement disorders of basal ganglia origin.
Research on High-Temperature Aerospace Materials at NASA Glenn Research Center (2013)

Within the Structures and Materials Division at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Glenn Research Center (GRC), research is being conducted to develop durable high-temperature materials for the most challenging aerospace applications. Research is advancing material and coating technologies for applications including turbine engine hot section components, rocket engine combustion chamber liners, high-temperature components of advanced space power systems, and atmospheric reentry vehicle surfaces. As part of the volume of papers recognizing 70 years of research at the GRC, this paper summarizes key research contributions that GRC has made to the field of high-temperature aerospace materials.
Rapidly Cycling Affective Disorder (1992)

Of 919 patients with major affective disorders who completed at least 1 year of a 5-year, semiannual follow-up, 45 developed a rapidly cycling bipolar course during the first year, but only one developed a rapidly cycling unipolar course. In comparison with patients who showed a non-rapidly cycling bipolar course, those who became rapid cyclers were more likely to be female and to have exhibited depression, hypomania, or cycling between depression and hypomania within the index episode. Family study data revealed no evidence that high cycle frequencies breed true. Rapid cycling was associated with a significantly lower likelihood of recovery in the second year of follow-up but not in the third, fourth, or fifth. These data suggest that rapid cycling is, in the large majority of cases, a transient, nonfamilial manifestation of bipolar affective disorder.
Antiapoptotic and Trophic Effects of Dominant-Negative Forms of Dual Leucine Zipper Kinase in Dopamine Neurons of the Substantia Nigra<i>In Vivo</i> (2008)

There is extensive evidence that the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling cascade mediates programmed cell death in neurons. However, current evidence that the mixed linage kinases (MLKs), upstream in this cascade, mediate cell death is based, in the in vivo context, entirely on pharmacological approaches. The compounds used in these studies have neither complete specificity nor selectivity among these kinases. Therefore, to better address the molecular specificity of the MLKs in mediating neuron death, we used dominant-negative constructs delivered by AAV (adenoassociated virus) vector transfer. We assessed effects in a neurotoxin model of parkinsonism, in which neuroprotection by pharmacologic MLK inhibition has been reported. We find that two dominant-negative forms of dual leucine zipper kinase (DLK) inhibit apoptosis and enhance long-term survival of dopamine neurons, but a dominant negative of MLK3 does not. Interestingly, the kinase-dead form of DLK not only blocks apoptosis but also has trophic effects on dopamine neurons. Although the MAPK cascade activates a number of downstream cell death mediators, we find that inhibition of DLK correlates closely with blockade of phosphorylation of c-jun and prevention of cell death. We conclude that DLK acts primarily through c-jun phosphorylation to mediate cell death in this model.
Bayesian Machine Learning and Its Potential Applications to the Genomic Study of Oral Oncology (2003)

With the completion of the Human Genome Project and the growing computational challenges presented by the large amount of genomic data available today, machine learning is becoming an integral part of biomedical research and plays a major role in the emerging fields of bioinformatics and computational biology. This situation offers unparalleled opportunities and unprecedented challenges to machine learning research in general and to Bayesian learning methods in particular. This paper outlines some of the opportunities and the challenges of this endeavor, it describes where the efforts of "cracking the code of life" can most benefit from a Bayesian approach, and it identifies some potential applications of Bayesian machine learning methods to the genomic analysis of squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck.
Expression of catalytically active telomerase does not prevent premature senescence caused by overexpression of oncogenic Ha-Ras in normal human fibroblasts. (1999)

All normal cells in culture display a limited capacity to divide and eventually undergo an irreversible growth arrest known as replicative cellular senescence. The development of cellular immortality has been implicated as an important factor in the progression of human cancers. Expression of telomerase has been shown to elicit a bypass of senescence and the acquirement of an extended life span. Although oncogenic Ras induces malignant transformation in most immortal cells, it has been shown to cause a senescence-like cell cycle arrest in presenescent human fibroblasts. To test the relationship between the senescence-inducing effect of Ras and the senescence-bypassing activity of telomerase, we used retroviral vector infection to introduce the catalytic subunit of human telomerase into normal human lung fibroblasts. Cell clones displaying in vitro telomerase catalytic activity and life span extension were obtained. However, these cells still became senescent after infection with a retrovirus vector expressing oncogenic Ha-Ras. No differences in premature senescence phenotypes between normal and telomerase-expressing cells were observed. A small number of colonies were recovered after the introduction of Ha-Ras into either normal or telomerase-expressing cells, but in all cases, these clones failed to express the exogenously introduced Ras. We propose that even in the presence of active telomerase, the cellular senescence machinery remains intact and can be activated by appropriate signals. Consequently, interventions aimed at the activation of the latent senescence program may be a fruitful approach in cancer therapy.
Brain tumour segmentation and tumour tissue classification based on multiple MR protocols (2011)

Segmentation of brain tumours in Magnetic Resonance (MR) images and classification of the tumour tissue into vital, necrotic, and perifocal edematous areas is required in a variety of clinical applications. Manual delineation of the tumour tissue boundaries is a tedious and error-prone task, and the results are not reproducible. Furthermore, tissue classification mostly requires information of several MR protocols and contrasts. Here we present a nearly automatic segmentation and classification algorithm for brain tumour tissue working on a combination of T1 weighted contrast enhanced (T1CE) images and fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images. Both image types are included in MR brain tumour protocols that are used in clinical routine. The algorithm is based on a region growing technique, hence it is fast (ten seconds on a standard personal computer). The only required user interaction is a mouse click for providing the starting point. The region growing parameters are automatically adapted in the course of growing, and if a new maximum image intensity is found, the region growing is restarted. This makes the algorithm robust, i.e. independent of the given starting point in a certain capture range. Furthermore, we use a lossless coarse-to-fine approach, which, together with the automatic adaptation of the parameters, can avoid leakage of the region growing procedure. We tested our algorithm on 20 cases of human glioblastoma and meningioma. In the majority of the test cases we got satisfactory results.
Biochemical and physical characterizations of tumor-associated fetal antigens. (1979)

Tumor-associated fetal antigens (TAFA) were extracted from methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcomas and Moloney sarcoma virus (Soehner-Dmochowski strain) osteosarcomas. Tumors from New Zealand black rats were treated with hypertonic KCI and high-intensity sonication, and TAFA were solubilized from these lesions. Preparative affinity chromatography and isoelectric focusing techniques resolved TAFA into six different glycoproteins. TAFA with isoelectric points of pH 8.0 and 5.5 were found in each tumor and were subsequently characterized. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoelectrophoresis of TAFA I (pl 8.0) and TAFA II (pl 5.5) revealed, by chemical and serological techniques, their respective purity. Molecular weight determinations using sodium dodecyl sulfatepolyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were conducted; the molecular weight of TAFA I is approximately 10,000, and that of TAFA II is 3,500 to 4,000. Monospecific antiserum raised against each TAFA were prepared, and the expression of these antigens on embryonic and transformed syngeneic cells was determined by antibody-complement-dependent cytotoxicity assays. TAFA I and TAFA II are expressed on the membranes of rat embryo fibroblasts, and on fibrosarcoma and osteosarcoma cells. Quantitative absorptions of the monospecific antisera with purified TAFA I or TAFA II produced absorption curves which were utilized to establish an in vitro assay for TAFA. The presence of TAFA I and TAFA II on cell membranes was also evaluated using membrane immunofluorescence. Each antigen produced membrane capping in the presence of the homologous antiserum.
Near diffraction limited 100 TW-10 Hz femtosecond laser. New approaches towards ultra-high intensities (2001)

Summary form only given. The chirped pulse amplification method reduced dramatically non-linear effects, enabling thereby higher amplification levels. But when increasing average power needed to pump the Ti:sapphire amplifier crystals, strong thermal effects appear which affect beam propagation by inducing unwanted wavefront distortions. Moreover, amplification process narrows the spectrum of a chirped pulse because of gain narrowing and gain saturation effects. Our laser chain is composed of a Kerr lens mode locked Ti:sapphire laser oscillator delivering a 80 Mhz/300 mW a pulse train with a spectrum of 65 nm FWHM centered around 810 nm. Pulses are stretched through an Offner triplet, and amplified at -10 Hz through three multipass amplifiers to reach, first the millijoule regime through a high-gain amplifier.
Influence of heart rate and sympathetic stimulation on arrhythmogenic T wave alternans (2000)

We determined the temporal stability of T wave alternans (TWA) during constant rate stimulation and the dependence of alternans on heart rate (HR) and beta-adrenergic stimulation. Although it is established that exercise can provoke microvolt-level TWA in patients at risk for reentrant ventricular arrhythmias, the mechanisms underlying TWA in humans are not well understood. Specifically, the temporal stability of alternans at any given HR and the influence of HR vs. sympathetic activation on alternans remain unclear. TWA was measured during prolonged fixed-rate atrial pacing at multiple cycle lengths (CLs) in 10 subjects referred for electrophysiological testing and in 14 additional subjects in whom atrial pacing was performed at identical pacing CLs with and without isoproterenol. During constant CL stimulation, TWA amplitude oscillated significantly over time (typically by 10 microV) in a quasiperiodic fashion with periodicity of approximately 2-3 min. Alternans amplitude was strongly dependent on HR but not on adrenergic stimulation. There was a patient-specific threshold HR over which alternans appeared. At higher HR, alternans amplitude increased and oscillations were less prominent. Adrenergic stimulation was required to produce TWA that was not already elicited by moderate elevation of HR in only 2 of 14 (14%) patients. In conclusion, TWA 1) fluctuates spontaneously over 2-3 min and 2) increases monotonically with increased HR (without a major adrenergic contribution in most patients). These data suggest that increased HR rather than sympathetic activation is responsible for arrhythmogenic microvolt-level TWA measured during exercise.
The Use of the MCMI-III in Completing Parenting Capacity Assessments (2008)

ABSTRACT MCMI-III scores from 325 individuals completing court-ordered parenting capacity assessments were examined. The mean MCMI-III profile in this group was a sub-clinical elevation on Scales Y, 4, 5, & 7. Some differences between male and female participants were found, with females tending to exhibit higher scores. Present results are consistent with previous findings suggesting a positive self-presentation bias on psychological tests completed with this population. Results are also similar to MCMI-III results described in individuals involved in custody and access litigation, with somewhat greater pathology found in the parenting capacity group. Recommendations with respect to interpreting MCMI-III profiles of individuals undergoing parenting capacity assessments are made.