julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Heterocycles [h]-Fused onto 4-Oxoquinoline-3-carboxylic Acid, V [1]. Synthesis and Antibacterial Activity of Some New 2,3-Disubstituted 7-Oxo-7,10-dihydropyrido[2,3-f]quinoxaline-8-carboxylic Acids and Esters
2008-05-01

Cyclocondensation reaction of ethyl 7,8-diamino-1-cyclopropyl-6-fluoro-4-oxo-1,4-dihydroquinoline- 3-carboxylate (2) or the -3-carboxylic acid 3 with sym-1,2- diketones produced the corresponding ethyl 2,3-disubstituted pyrido[2,3- f ]quinoxaline-8-carboxylates (4a - h) or the -8-carboxylic acids 5a - h, respectively. The structures for these new heterocycles are supported by analytical and spectral (IR, MS, NMR) data. Compounds 5a - c, g, h exhibit moderate activity against an assortment of bacterial species.
Collaborative BPEL Design with a Rich Internet Application
2008-05-01

Workflow design is often an effort of distributed and inhomogeneous teams. We present a collaborative workflow design tool, which is implemented as a Rich Internet Application. The tool provides a desktop like user experience, but can easily be embedded into Web sites. It enables synchronous as well as asynchronous cooperation of design team members and encourages a well coordinated design process.
How to Compare Treebanks
2008-05-01

Recent years have seen an increasing interest in developing standards for linguistic annotation, with a focus on the interoperability of the resources. This effort, however, requires a profound knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of linguistic annotation schemes in order to avoid importing the flaws and weaknesses of existing encoding schemes into the new standards. This paper addresses the question how to compare syntactically annotated corpora and gain insights into the usefulness of specific design decisions. We present an exhaustive evaluation of two German treebanks with crucially different encoding schemes. We evaluate three different parsers trained on the two treebanks and compare results using EVALB, the Leaf-Ancestor metric, and a dependency-based evaluation. Furthermore, we present TePaCoC, a new testsuite for the evaluation of parsers on complex German grammatical constructions. The testsuite provides a well thought-out error classification, which enables us to compare parser output for parsers trained on treebanks with different encoding schemes and provides interesting insights into the impact of treebank annotation schemes on specific constructions like PP attachment or non-constituent coordination.
Why HDR is Important for 3DTV Model Acquisition
2008-05-01

Mechanisms for automatically acquiring high quality 3D content of both indoor and outdoor scenes are essential research topics within 3D Television (3DTV). The envisioned goal is that a photo-realistic 3D real-time rendering from the actual and potentially arbitrary viewpoint of the beholder who is watching 3DTV becomes possible. Such scenes include movie sets in studios, e.g., for talk shows, TV series and blockbuster movies, but also outdoor scenes, e.g., buildings in a neighborhood for a car chase or cultural heritage sites for a documentary. The goal of 3D model acquisition is to provide the 3D background models where potential 3D actors can be embedded. Although model acquisition platforms have become available, the dynamic range of the used cameras is too limited to fully cover real world environments. We present two multi-sensor systems for 3D model acquisition, demonstrate the need for high dynamic range (HDR) capable acquisition platforms and propose a system that performs HDR computation to produce 3D models with tonemapped HDR information. Combining depth and HDR color information, a Markov Random Field based technique is used to get best out of both worlds - the high spatial resolution of the tonemapped HDR image with the depth field of a time-of-flight camera.
The Metadata-Database of a Next Generation Sustainability Web-Platform for Language Resources.
2008-05-01

Our goal is to provide a web-based platform for the long-term preservation and distribution of a heterogeneous collection of linguistic resources. We discuss the corpus preprocessing and normalisation phase that results in sets of multi-rooted trees. At the same time we transform the original metadata records, just like the corpora annotated using different annotation approaches and exhibiting different levels of granularity, into the all-encompassing and highly flexible format eTEI for which we present editing and parsing tools. We also discuss the architecture of the sustainability platform. Its primary components are an XML database that contains corpus and metadata files and an SQL database that contains user accounts and access control lists. A staging area, whose structure, contents, and consistency can be checked using tools, is used to make sure that new resources about to be imported into the platform have the correct structure.
PTEN and p27Kip1 are not downregulated in the majority of renal cell carcinomas - implications for Akt activation
2008-05-01

Activation of the PKB/Akt pathway is supposed to substantially contribute to the pathogenesis and progression of malignant disease. The present study aimed at determining the occurrence of an impaired PTEN and p27Kip1 expression alone or in combination in a renal cell carcinoma to further clarify the role of Akt-pathway-associated proteins for the development and/or progression of this malignant disease. By using tissue microarray analysis, tissue samples from renal cell cancers and the corresponding benign tissue samples were investigated for expression of the PTEN, pAkt and p27Kip1 protein by immunohistochemistry. Additionally, a Western blot and RT-PCR analysis was performed to verify the results obtained from the immunohistochemical approach and to further clarify the mechanisms underlying the regulation of both proteins in renal cell cancer. Western blot analysis revealed an overexpression of PTEN and p27Kip1 in renal cell cancer samples and a significantly elevated expression of both proteins when compared with the corresponding benign tissue (p<0.0001 and p<0.0005). The latter finding was confirmed by real-time RT-PCR (p<0.05 and p<0.01) and immunohistochemistry (p<0.001 and p<0.0001). PTEN and p27Kip1 expression were positively correlated with each other both in the tumour and benign tissue (p<0.001 and p<0.0001). We concluded that a strong expression of PTEN in renal cell cancer did not block the PI3K-mediated phosphorylation of Akt in the tumour specimens analysed. Furthermore, Akt activation may not result in a decreased p27Kip1, the latter being retained and overexpressed in the majority of renal cell cancers when compared with the corresponding benign renal parenchyma.
Gene expression changes in a transgenic mouse model overexpressing human wildtype and mutant torsinA
2008-05-01

Abstract Primary torsion dystonia is an autosomal‐dominantly inherited, neurodevelopmental movement disorder caused by a GAG deletion (ΔGAG) in the DYT1 gene, encoding torsinA. This mutation is responsible for approximately 70% of cases of early‐onset primary torsion dystonia. The function of wildtype torsinA is still unknown, and it is unsolved how the deletion in the DYT1 gene contributes to the development of the disease. To better understand the molecular processes involved in torsinA pathology, we used genome‐wide oligonucleotide microarrays to characterize gene expression patterns in the striatum of mouse models overexpressing the human wildtype and mutant torsinA. By this approach we were able to detect gene expression changes that seem to be specific for torsinA pathology. We found an impact of torsinA, independent from genotype, on vesicle trafficking, exocytosis, and neurotransmitter release in our mouse model. In addition, we were able to identify several new pathways and processes involved in the development of the nervous system that are affected by wildtype and mutant torsinA. Furthermore, we have striking evidence from our gene expression data that glutamate receptor mediated synaptic plasticity in the striatum is the affected underlying cellular process for impaired motor learning in human ΔGAG torsinA transgenic mice.
Testing bulk models of icosahedral quasicrystals with STM images of clean surfaces
2008-05-01

Abstract\\n In the case of the icosahedral Al-Pd-Mn we compare the &#13;\\nSTM (scanning tunnelling microscopy) image of the real &#13;\\nfivefold surface to the STM simulations &#13;\\non the candidates of the fivefold bulk terminations. &#13;\\nWe make the choice, which termination fits the best to &#13;\\nthe real image. &#13;\\nAmong other conclusions we get some hints important &#13;\\neither for the chemistry of the bulk-model or for the &#13;\\neventual correction of the model of atomic positions &#13;\\nitself.&#13;\\nWe work in the frame of the particular model of atomic &#13;\\npositions, based on the diffraction data for &#13;\\nAl Pd Mn and &#13;\\nAl Cu Fe . We also discuss the &#13;\\npossibilities beyond this model.
A boosting approach for object classification in biosonar based robot navigation
2008-05-01

This paper addresses the problem of object classification in a biosonar based mobile robot in a natural environment using a boosting method. We present an algorithm based on gradient boosting for biosanar-based robots that recognize different objects such as different trees via reflected sonar echoes. Gradient boosting is a machine learning approach, that builds one strong classifier from many base learners. We present two kinds of base learners for the gradient boosting: ordinary least squares (OLS) and kernel-based base learners. Compared with our previous works, in which we presented a time resolved spectrum kernel to extract the similarities between echoes, we get more efficient and accurate results with the newly proposed boosting method. We compare the methods in terms of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and Matthew's correlation coefficient and also the runtime of training and testing.
Species identification and measurement of activity in odontocete species of Palmyra Atoll by acoustic monitoring
2008-05-01

Acoustic monitoring has been used to study odontocete presence at Palmyra Atoll, a remote island in the Northern Line Islands chain. Long-term recordings of high-frequency, broadband acoustic data have become possible with recent technological advances. A High-frequency Autonomous Recording Package (HARP) has been developed which samples at 200 kHz with a duty cycle of 1/4 for up to seven months. This instrument has recorded since October 2006 at Palmyra Atoll. Visual and acoustic surveys were conducted around Palmyra Atoll using a four-element towed hydrophone array sampling real-time at 200 kHz to obtain species-specific acoustic data. These data are used as reference for automatic detection algorithms applied on the long-term recordings. To date, acoustically and visually detected odontocetes include bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris), melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra) and beaked whales of the genus Mesoplodon. The long-term HARP data reveal acoustic activity primarily at night time and predominantely odontocete clicks. Both the beaked as well as the melon-headed whales are present year round and show a distinct daily acoustic activity cycle.
[Cinnamon in type 2 diabetics].
2008-05-01

At present numerous preparations containing cinnamon are in the market. And it is claimed that they are suitable as dietetic food or food additive to regulate glucose metabolism in patients with type 2 diabetes. Background for this proposition are the results of some pharmacological and clinical studies, showing improvement of glucose tolerance in streptozotocin-diabetic animals, stimulation of insulin secretion in vitro and lowering blood glucose in type 2 diabetic patients during simultaneous treatment with oral antidiabetics. This led to a controversy between producers of food additives on the one side and scientists in the field of pharmacology and diabetology on the other. In this connection in a scientific statement the German Diabetes Association (DDG) and the German Pharmaceutical Society (DPhG) kept on distance from the use of cinnamon as a dietetic food/food supplement. The point is the interpretation of what is considered to be a food and what is a drug for medical purposes. Since cinnamon has been used for long as a spice, the nutrition site claims cinnamon as a food. In contrary the medical site in this case claims cinnamon as a drug because of its pharmacological effects on glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, insulin release and blood-sugar. In the meantime this is a case of jurisdiction.
Electrical Stimulation-Induced Release of β-Endorphin from Genetically Modified Neuro-2a Cells
2008-05-01

The quantity of therapeutic gene products released from genetically engineered cells can be controlled externally at different levels. The widely used approach of controlling expression, however, generally has the disadvantage that chemical substances must be applied for stimulation. An alternative strategy aims at controlling gene products at posttranslational levels such as secretion. The secretion of a therapeutic agent can be regulated if the agent is targeted to the regulated secretory pathway and stored in the secretory granules until its release. In this article we address the question of whether the release of β-endorphin, an opioid with a potent analgesic effect, could be induced by electrically stimulating stably transfected Neuro-2a cells. Throughout this study we used the human proopiomelanocortin (POMC) gene, which is the precursor molecule for human β-endorphin. We analyzed its subcellular localization and found it in the regulated secretory pathway in Neuro-2a cells. Using electrical field stimulation we were able to identify a stimulation pattern that significantly increased the release of β-endorphin-immunoreactive material, although to a limited extent. This result indicates that electrical stimulation of secretion could be used to manipulate the amount of a therapeutic agent released from transplanted cells.
Monitoring T Cell Responses to Cancer Immunotherapy: Can We Now Identify Biomarkers Predicting Patients Who will be Responders
2008-05-01

The immune system plays an important role in eliminating tumors. Accordingly, many immunotherapy protocols have been developed in attempts to boost anti-tumor immune responses in cancer patients. These trials most commonly aim at augmenting T-cell-, especially CD8+ T-cell, responses. In clinical trials performed to date, however, little correlation has been observed between parameters measured to assess cellular immune responses and clinical outcome. Thus, identification of reliable surrogate predictors for evaluation of cancer vaccine efficacy still remains to be accomplished and would be crucial for successfully pursuing clinically significant results. In this review, we discuss the role of different cellular components of the immune system in orchestrating and regulating an anti-tumor immune response, and how to reliably monitor these using polychromatic flow cytometry (FC). The increasing use of multi-parameter FC is expected to be as revolutionary for immunomonitoring as was the introduction of first generation technology. The application of this novel technology and more standardised monitoring assays should help identify biomarkers reliably distinguishing patients who respond to treatment. Keywords: Tumor immunology, lymphocyte, immune monitoring, FACS, standardisation
Evaluation of treatment response after radiopeptide therapy by Ga-68-DOTATOC PET/CT
2008-05-01

570 Objectives: Y-90 or Lu-177 DOTATOC has been shown to be effective for treatment of somatostatin-receptor expressing neuroendocrine tumors (NET). The aim of our study was to evaluate Ga-68 DOTATOC-PET/CT for monitoring therapeutic effects, in particular, the biological significance of changes in receptor binding. Methods: In 33 patients with advanced NET a PET/CT with 150 MBq Ga-68 DOTATOC was performed 1-7 days before and 3 months after therapy with Y-90 DOTATOC (27/33) or Lu-177 DOTATOC (6/33). PET was analyzed with regard to number, extension, and uptake (SUV) of tumor manifestations and compared with tumor size (CT), changes of tumor markers (Chromogranin A), and clinical course (weight, symptoms). Results: After 3 months, CT and tumor markers showed in 6/33 patients tumor regression, in 15/33 stable disease, and in 12/33 progression. In 28/33 the findings of PET indicated the same, in 5/33 cases (15%), however, the results of PET were different. In 1 patient PET revealed constantly low uptake whereas conventional procedures demonstrated clear tumor progression. In 4 other patients PET depicted an increase of Ga-68 DOTATOC uptake while CT findings did not change and tumor markers were falling. Conclusions: In the majority of cases (85%) PET, CT, and tumor markers concordantly reflect treatment response. However, diverging findings occur and need to be interpreted with care taking into account changes of tumor biology. Exclusive use of PET to evaluate therapy response appears to be inadequate. Whether PET allows for prediction of future tumor progression and the need for immediate further therapy is subject of ongoing investigations.
Two-dimensional sonar beam characteristics of single harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) echolocation clicks measured with a 16 hydrophone array
2008-05-01

For the first time, the beam structure of single harbour porpoise echolocation clicks was simultaneously measured in both the vertical and horizontal plane. Echolocation clicks of a stationed animal and free-swimming animals catching fish were recorded with a “plus-shaped” array consisting of 16 hydrophones. The -3 dB beam width in the horizontal and vertical planes is in most cases similar to what has been previously measured by Au et al. (1999). However, individual clicks are sometimes broader or narrower than what has been previously reported. This may be caused by either voluntary control of the animal's beam width, or it may be a secondary effect of variations in intensity and air content within the sound production system.
The statistics of plant echoes as perceived by echolocating bats
2008-05-01

To explore the statistics of complex natural plant echoes, we emitted bat-like downsweeps (200-0 kHz) and recorded the echoes of various tree species. A Hilbert transform was used to calculate the envelope of the echoes impulse responses. This corresponds to a one-dimensional representation of the spatial reflector arrangement of the plant. We then calculated the envelope's power spectrum to asses the amount of periodic structures. In control experiments we compared power spectra of a single leaf, a branch and a few branches, and tested the effect of systematically decreasing the leaf density of a plant. On a bi-logarithmic plot, the averaged power spectra of all trees have a sigmoid shape with three approximately linear domains that represent different scales of structure, but differ between species. We hypothesize that the first domain is influenced by the gross skeleton of branches, while the others are associated with smaller scale structures. The control experiments showed a similar dependence between leaf density and power spectrum. Modeling plants as simple three-dimensional textures with stationary statistics was sufficient to predict the characteristics of the spectra. Our findings suggest an interpretable relation between the power spectrum of the echo's envelope and the spatial statistics of the plant.
Increases in Vo2max Depend On Baseline HPA, VO2max and BMI in Pre-diabetic Subjects
2008-05-01

Lifestyle intervention programs (LSI) that include physical activity have beneficial effects in the prevention of type 2 diabetes (T2D). PURPOSE: To reveal whether subjects with an increased risk for T2D respond differently to standardized LSI with their changes in VO2max depending on their baseline physical activity, VO2max, and BMI. METHODS: 218 subjects (134 women and 84 men, aged 18-69 years) with increased risk for T2D, who participated in the ongoing TUebingen Lifestyle Intervention Program (TULIP), were included in the present study. Measurements performed at baseline and after 9 months of LSI included a standardized self-administered questionnaire to determine habitual physical activity (HPA) and an incremental exercise test to determine VO2max. The standardized LSI protocol followed recommendations of existing guidelines. RESULTS: Women had a significantly higher mean HPA than men (8.26 ± 1.10 vs. 8.02 ± 1.21; p < 0.001). Baseline values of HPA correlated significantly with baseline VO2max (r = 0.25; p < 0.02). Mean values of HPA (+5.61 %; p < 0.0001) and VO2max (+6.17 %; p < 0.0001) increased significantly after LSI. High levels of HPA at baseline were associated with lower relative changes of HPA (r = −0.50; p < 0.0001). Delta HPA was independent of sex, delta VO2max and BMI. Surprisingly, the correlation between delta VO2max and delta HPA was not statistically significant. VO2max at baseline and BMI at baseline were both negatively correlated with relative changes of VO2max (r = −0.69; p < 0.0001 and r = −0.46; p < 0.0001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Not all individuals respond in the same way to a standardized intervention program. Males with low HPA, VO2max and BMI at baseline seem to have the best predisposition for a successful participation in LSI. Further studies will need to show whether the subpopulation of pre-diabetics with high initial values of HPA and VO2max can profit from a more individualized intervention, or whether this subgroup has a generally reduced potential to improve VO2max.
Monitoring subpopulations of CD4+ and CD8+ effector/memory and T regulatory cells in cancer patients: correlations with post-vaccination clinical responses.
2008-05-01

2837 The immune system plays an important role in eliminating tumors. Accordingly, many immunotherapy protocols have been developed in attempts to boost anti-tumor immune responses in cancer patients. In clinical trials performed to date, however, little correlation has been observed between parameters measured to assess cellular immune responses and clinical outcome. Moreover, when whole-cell vaccines are used, the ambiguity of the immunogenic antigen adds to the complexity of analysis, since it is not clear which components of the immune system contribute more to a favourable immune response. In this study, we have monitored the frequency of monocytes, B-cells, NK-cells, regulatory T-cells and different effector and memory T-cell subsets in cancer patients before and after vaccination with a proprietary allogeneic whole tumor cell line vaccine. Antigen-experienced T-cells can be divided into functionally distinct populations, according to the expression of different cell surface markers, such as CD45RA, CCR7, CD27 and CD28. Using 10-color flow cytometry, we subdivided circulating CD4+ and CD8+ effector memory (EM) (CCR7-,CD45RA-) and TEMRA (CCR7-, CD45RA+) cells according to their surface expression of CD27 and CD28, as well as CD57, a marker up-regulated on very late-differentiated T-cells. Significant alterations were only observed in the T-cell compartment, whereas the frequency of monocytes, B-cells and NK-cells remained unchanged. In both CD4 and CD8 cells, clinical responders but not non-responders showed significant decreases in central memory (CM) (CCR7+ CD45RA-) and a subset of EM (CD27+ CD28+, least differentiated, or EM1) cells (P=0.02 to 0.004). No other differences in any of the above mentioned T-cell subsets were observed. However, the numbers of T regulatory cells, defined as strongly staining for CD4, CD25 and Foxp3, but weakly for CD127, were more highly significantly reduced in responders (P=0.0002) but not non-responders (NS) than any other T cell subsets. These findings indicate better correlation of T regulatory cell subset reductions with clinical responses following vaccination than with changes in any other T cell subsets and emphasis the importance of T regulatory cell status for clinical outcome of immunotherapy. This work was supported by EC-LSHG-CT-2007-036894 “LifeSpan”, DFG-SFB685-B4 and DFG-PA 361-11/1.