pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
Pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic interaction between BIA 3-202, a novel COMT inhibitor, and levodopa / benserazide

BIA 3-202 is a novel catechol-O-methyltransferase
(COMT) inhibitor being developed for use as a
levodopa-sparing agent in Parkinson_s disease. This study
investigated the effect of four single oral doses of BIA
3-202 (50 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, and 400 mg) compared
with placebo on plasma concentrations of levodopa and
its metabolite 3-O-methyl-levodopa (3-OMD) and on
inhibition of erythrocyte COMT in healthy subjects
receiving 100 mg of levodopa and 25 mg of benserazide
(Madopar 125). This was a single-centre, double-blind,
placebo-controlled, randomised, crossover study with
five single-dose treatment periods. The washout period
between doses was 2 weeks. On each treatment period, a
different dose of BIA 3-202 or placebo was administered
concomitantly with Madopar 125. Tolerability was
assessed by recording adverse events, vital signs, continuous
electrocardiogram and clinical laboratory parameters.
In the study, 18 subjects (12 male and 6 female)
participated. The drug combination was well tolerated.
All doses of BIA 3-202 significantly increased the area
under the concentration–time curve (AUC) versus
placebo, ranging from 39% (95% confidence intervals,
1.06–1.69) with 50 mg to 80% (95% confidence intervals,
1.42–2.22) with 400 mg. No significant change in mean
maximum plasma concentrations (Cmax) of levodopa was
found. Mean Cmax and AUC of 3-OMD significantly
decreased for all doses tested. BIA 3-202 caused a rapid
and reversible inhibition of S-COMT activity, ranging
from 57% (50 mg) to 84% (400 mg). In conclusion, the
novel COMT inhibitor BIA 3-202 was well tolerated and
significantly increased the bioavailability of levodopa and
reduced the formation of 3-OMD when administered
with standard release levodopa/benserazide
Towards Data Warehousing and Mining of Protein Unfolding Simulation Data

Objectives. The prediction of protein structure and the precise understanding of protein folding and unfolding processes remains one of the greatest challenges in structural biology and bioinformatics. Computer simulations based on molecular dynamics (MD) are at the forefront of the effort to gain a deeper understanding of these complex processes. Currently, these MD simulations are usually on the order of tens of nanoseconds, generate a large amount of conformational data and are computationally expensive. More and more groups run such simulations and generate a myriad of data, which raises new challenges in managing and analyzing these data. Because the vast range of proteins researchers want to study and simulate, the computational effort needed to generate data, the large data volumes involved, and the different types of analyses scientists need to perform, it is desirable to provide a public repository allowing researchers to pool and share protein unfolding data.Methods. To adequately organize, manage, and analyze the data generated by unfolding simulation studies, we designed a data warehouse system that is embedded in a grid environment to facilitate the seamless sharing of available computer resources and thus enable many groups to share complex molecular dynamics simulations on a more regular basis.Results.To gain insight into the conformational fluctuations and stability of the monomeric forms of the amyloidogenic protein transthyretin (TTR), molecular dynamics unfolding simulations of the monomer of human TTR have been conducted. Trajectory data and meta-data of the wild-type (WT) protein and the highly amyloidogenic variant L55P-TTR represent the test case for the data warehouse.Conclusions.Web and grid services, especially pre-defined data mining services that can run on or ‘near’ the data repository of the data warehouse, are likely to play a pivotal role in the analysis of molecular dynamics unfolding data.http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10877-005-0676-
Multispectroscopic methodology to study Libyan desert glass and its formation conditions

Libyan desert glass (LDG) is a melt product whose
origin is still a matter of controversy. With the purpose of
adding new information about this enigma, the present paper
analyzes the inner part of LDG specimens and compares them
with the results of LDG surfaces. An integrated analytical
methodology was used combining different techniques such
as Raman spectroscopy, in point-by-point and imaging modes,
scanning electron microscopy with X-ray microanalysis
(SEM-EDS), energy-dispersive micro X-ray fluorescence
spectrometry (μ-EDXRF), electron probe micro analyzer
(EPMA), and optical cathodoluminescence (Optical-CL).
According to our results, flow structures of the melt and the
amorphous nature of the matrix could be discerned. Moreover,
the observed displacement of Raman bands, such as in the
cases of quartz and zircon, and the identification of certain
compounds such as coesite (the most clarifying phase of high
pressures), α-cristobalite, gypsum, anhydrite, corundum, rutile,
amorphous calcite, aragonite, and calcite allowed us to
know that LDGs could be subjected to shock pressures between
6 and more than 30 GPa, and temperatures between 300
and 1470 °C. The differences of temperature and pressure
would be provoked by different cooling processes during the
impact. Besides, in most cases the minerals corresponding to
high pressure and temperatures were located in the inner part
of the LDGs, with some exceptions that could be explained
because they were trapped subsequently to the impact; there
was more than one impact or heterogeneous cooling.
Furthermore, nitrogen and oxygen gases were identified
inside bubbles, which could have been introduced from the
terrestrial atmosphere during the meteorite impact.
These data helped us to clarify some clues about the origin
of these enigmatic samples.Proyecto MINECO Retos de la Sociedad. Ref. ESP2014-56138-C3-2-
Dependence of kinetic friction on velocity: Master equation approach

We investigate the velocity dependence of kinetic friction with a model which
makes minimal assumptions on the actual mechanism of friction so that it can be
applied at many scales provided the system involves multi-contact friction.
Using a recently developed master equation approach we investigate the
influence of two concurrent processes. First, at a nonzero temperature thermal
fluctuations allow an activated breaking of contacts which are still below the
threshold. As a result, the friction force monotonically increases with
velocity. Second, the aging of contacts leads to a decrease of the friction
force with velocity. Aging effects include two aspects: the delay in contact
formation and aging of a contact itself, i.e., the change of its
characteristics with the duration of stationary contact. All these processes
are considered simultaneously with the master equation approach, giving a
complete dependence of the kinetic friction force on the driving velocity and
system temperature, provided the interface parameters are known
A workflow execution platform for collaborative artifact-centric business processes

To execute an artifact-centric process model, current workflow execution approaches require it to be converted to some existing executable language (e.g., BPEL) in order to run on a workflow system. We argue that the transformation can incur losses of information and degrade traceability. In this paper, we proposed and developed a workflow execution platform that directly executes a collaborative (i.e., inter-organizational) workflow specification of artifact-centric business processes without performing model conversion
Constraining inflationary dark matter in the luminogenesis model

Using renormalization-group flow and cosmological constraints on inflation models, we exploit a unique connection between cosmological inflation and the dynamical mass of dark matter particles in the luminogenesis model, a unification model with the gauge group SU(3)C × SU(6) × U(1)Y, which breaks to the Standard Model with an extra gauge group for dark matter when the inflaton rolls into the true vacuum.  In this model, inflaton decay gives rise to dark matter, which in turn decays to luminous matter in the right proportion that agrees with cosmological data.  Some attractive features of this model include self-interacting dark matter, which may resolve the problems of dwarf galaxy structures and dark matter cusps at the centers of galaxies
Thermal corrections to entanglement entropy from holography

We use holographic techniques to calculate the first thermal correction to the entanglement entropy of a cap-like region of a CFT defined on a sphere, successfully reproducing the field theory result. Since this is an order-one correction to the entropy in the large- N expansion, quantum corrections to the holographic entanglement entropy formula are essential. The bulk calculation is made tractable using the same technical machinery recently used to derive the linearized Einstein equations in the bulk from the first law of entanglement entropy in the CFT
Higgs inflation as a mirage

We discuss a simple unitarization of Higgs inflation that is genuinely weakly coupled up to Planckian energies. A large non-minimal coupling between the Higgs and the Ricci curvature is induced dynamically at intermediate energies, as a simple ratio of mass scales. Despite not being dominated by the Higgs field, inflationary dynamics simulates the ‘Higgs inflation’ one would get by blind extrapolation of the low-energy effective Lagrangian, at least qualitatively. Hence, Higgs inflation arises as an approximate ‘mirage’ picture of the true dynamics. We further speculate on the generality of this phenomenon and show that, if Higgs-inflation arises as an effective description, the details of the UV completion are necessary to extract robust quantitative predictions
Photoelectrochemistry of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 thin-films fabricated by sequential pulsed electrodeposition

A novel approach for the fabrication of compact stoichiometric copper indium gallium selenium (CIGS) thin-films is reported. It uses a solution of CuCl2, GaCl3 and H2SeO3, pH adjusted with HCl with LiCl as additive employing a high purity graphite plate anode and Mo sputtered glass cathode during a simplified sequential pulsed current electrodeposition which avoids impurities from the use of a reference electrode during deposition and a separate selenization step. A Cu-Ga-Se film is optimally deposited by optimizing the deposition voltage, followed by deposition of In from InCl3 solution, and then annealing of the Cu-Ga-Se/In thin-film in an Argon atmosphere at 550 °C. A single phase chalcopyrite CIGS forms with a compact morphology and well-controlled composition of individual elements. The flat-band potential and carrier density of CIGS thin-films are −0.15 V and 2.6 × 1016 cm−3, respectively, as determined by Mott–Schottky studies. The photoelectrochemical performance of CIGS films shows a photocurrent density of −0.8 mA cm−2 at −0.4 V vs. SCE, an eight fold increment compared to our previous reported value. This simplified preparation using pulse plating gives superior quality CIGS films which are promising for application in thin-film solar cells and photoelectrochemical cells
An evaluation of minor groove binders as anti-lung cancer therapeutics

A series of 47 structurally diverse MGBs, derived from the natural product distamycin, was evaluated for anti-lung cancer activity by screening against the melanoma cancer cell line B16-F10. Five compounds have been found to possess significant activity, more so than a standard therapy, Gemcitabine. Moreover, one compound has been found to have an activity around 70-fold that of Gemcitabine and has a favourable selectivity index of greater than 125. Furthermore, initial studies have revealed this compound to be metabolically stable and thus it represents a lead for further optimisation towards a novel treatment for lung cancer
Robustness of discrete semifluxons in closed Bose-Hubbard chains

We present the properties of the ground state and low-energy excitations of
Bose-Hubbard chains with a geometry that varies from open to closed and with a
tunable twisted link. In the vicinity of the symmetric $\pi-$flux case the
system behaves as an interacting gas of discrete semifluxons for finite chains
and interactions in the Josephson regime. The energy spectrum of the system is
studied by direct diagonalization and by solving the corresponding
Bogoliubov--de Gennes equations. The atom-atom interactions are found to
enhance the presence of strongly correlated macroscopic superpositions of
semifluxons
Two-pulse interference and superluminality

We examine how the interference of a coherent light-pulse with its slightly time-delayed copy may generate a pulse nearly identical to the original one and ahead of it. The simplicity of this 2-pulse system enabled us to obtain exact analytic expressions of the pulse distortion, valid for a wide class of pulse shapes. Explicit results are given for the pulses usually considered (gaussian, hyperbolic secant) but also for more realistic pulses of strictly limited duration. We finally show that the efficiency of the 2-pulse system is comparable to that of the other superluminal systems, at least for the pulse advancements actually demonstrated in the optical experiments
Calibration and signal reconstruction in the ATLAS Tile Hadronic calorimeter

International audienceTileCal is the barrel hadronic calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment at LHC/CERN, made of steel and scintillating tiles and read out by optical fibers and photomultiplier tubes. It provides measurements for hadrons, jets and missing transverse energy. The TileCal calibration procedures rely on the performance of dedicated calibration systems: - calibration of the full signal read-out path with movable radioactive 137Cs gamma source; - monitoring of the Photomultiplier tube gains with the laser system; - calibration of the front-end electronic gains with the charge injection system. In this talk we will describe the energy and time calibration procedures used in TileCal to establish the reference detector response and synchronization. We will also discuss the calibration systems performance and the corresponding uncertainties to the energy and timing measurements
Effective pairing interactions with isospin density dependence

We perform Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) calculations for semi-magic Calcium, Nickel, Tin and Lead isotopes and $N$=20, 28, 50 and 82 isotones using density-dependent pairing interactions recently derived from a microscopic nucleon-nucleon interaction. These interactions have an isovector component so that the pairing gaps in symmetric and neutron matter are reproduced. Our calculations well account for the experimental data for the neutron number dependence of binding energy, two neutrons separation energy, and odd-even mass staggering of these isotopes. This result suggests that by introducing the isovector term in the pairing interaction, one can construct a global effective pairing interaction which is applicable to nuclei in a wide range of the nuclear chart. It is also shown with the local density approximation (LDA) that the pairing field deduced from the pairing gaps in infinite matter reproduces qualitatively well the pairing field for finite nuclei obtained with the HFB method
Electron gas polarization effect induced by heavy H-like ions of moderate velocities channeled in a silicon crystal

International audienceWe report on the observation of a strong perturbation of the electron gas induced by 20 MeV/u U91+ ions and 13 MeV/u Pb81+ ions channeled in silicon crystals. This collective response (wake effect) induces a shift of the continuum energy level by more than 100 eV, which is observed by means of radiative electron capture into the K- and L-shells of the projectiles. We also observe an increase of the REC probability by 20–50% relative to the probability in a non-perturbed electron gas. The energy shift is in agreement with calculations using the linear response theory, whereas the local electron density enhancement is much smaller than predicted by the same model. This shows that, for the small values of the adiabaticity parameter achieved in our experiments, the density fluctuations are not strongly localized in the vicinity of the heavy ions
Parental history of type 2 diabetes, TCF7L2 variant and lower insulin secretion are associated with incident hypertension. Data from the DESIR and RISC cohorts.

For details of the DESIR Study Group and the RISC study and investigators, see the ESM.International audienceAIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The relationship between insulin secretion and the incidence of hypertension has not been well characterised. We hypothesised that both a parental history of diabetes and TCF7L2 rs7903146 polymorphism, which increases susceptibility to diabetes because of impaired beta cell function, are associated with incident hypertension. In a separate cohort, we assessed whether low insulin secretion is related to incident hypertension. METHODS: Nine year incident hypertension was studied in 2,391 normotensive participants from the Data from an Epidemiological Study on the Insulin Resistance Syndrome (DESIR) cohort. The relationship between insulin secretion and 3 year incident hypertension was investigated in 1,047 non-diabetic, normotensive individuals from the Relationship between Insulin Sensitivity and Cardiovascular Disease (RISC) cohort. Insulin secretion during OGTT was expressed in relation to the degree of insulin resistance, as assessed by a hyperinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamp. RESULTS: In the DESIR cohort, a parental history of diabetes and the TCF7L2 at-risk variant were both associated with hypertension incidence at year 9, independently of waist circumference, BP, fasting glucose, insulin levels and HOMA-IR at inclusion (p = 0.02 for parental history, p = 0.006 for TCF7L2). In the RISC cohort, a lower insulin secretion rate during the OGTT at baseline was associated with both higher BP and a greater risk of hypertension at year 3. This inverse correlation between the insulin secretion rate and incident hypertension persisted after controlling for baseline insulin resistance, glycaemia and BP (p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Parental history of diabetes, TCF7L2 rs7903146 polymorphism and a reduced insulin secretion rate were consistently associated with incident hypertension. A low insulin secretion rate might be a new risk factor for incident hypertension, beyond insulin resistance
Visco-potential flows in electrohydrodynamics

13 pages, 5 figures, 26 references. Other author's papers can be downloaded at http://www.denys-dutykh.com/In this study we consider the problem of the interface motion under the capillary-gravity and an external electric forces. The infinitely deep fluid layer is assumed to be viscous, perfectly conducting and the flow to be incompressible. The weak viscous effects are introduced using the Helmholtz-Leray decomposition and the visco-potential flow approach. The electric charge distributions above and on the free surface are considered. Finally, we derive some linearized analytical solutions for the free surface elevation shape under the localised pressure distribution and the combined action of the forces mentioned hereinabove
Physics of the frequency response of rectifying organic Schottky diodes

International audienceThe frequency response of unipolar organic Schottky diodes used in a rectifying circuit, such as an RFID tag, has been investigated in detail. The time dependent response of rectifying circuits has been simulated solving both the Drift Diffusion and Poisson equations to model the hole transport within the diode, coupled with time dependent circuit equations. Several approximations have also been discussed. It turns out that the cut off frequency of the rectifying circuit is indeed limited by the carrier time-of-flight and not by the diode equivalent capacitance. Simulations have also been confirmed by comparison with experiments, involving diodes with different mobilities and thicknesses. This work confirms that the 13.56MHz frequency can be reached using polymer semiconductors, as already experimentally demonstrated in the literature, by an adequate control of the active layer thicknes
Rethinking the Roles of Actors in the Mobility of Healthcare Services

Part 3: Creating Value through ApplicationsInternational audiencePatients seek attention and treatments to various types of diseases and symptoms. Diseases infection and symptoms are often not predictive. Normally, there is a spread and movement of people across the geographical locations, of both the rural and urban communities, in countries including Namibia. As such, healthcare could be needed at any location, and at anytime. There is significant mobility of individuals and groups within a country. Unfortunately, the healthcare services are not always as mobile at the level and speed that individuals and groups does in Namibia. Hence, there is need for the mobility of healthcare services at both primary and secondary healthcare levels, particularly in the developing countries, such as Namibia.The population of Namibia is scantly spread among its towns and cities. The major towns and cities are situated, in the average of 175km far apart from each other, in the country’s 825, 418km square landscape. The spread necessitates movements of individuals and groups, particularly the old, poor, and nomadic people. Unfortunately, healthcare records in the country are not centralised and virtualised, making accessibility into patients’ records difficult or impossible, from any location. As a result, healthcare service delivering is challenged. This study therefore explored and examined the possibility of mobility of healthcare services to those who live in the country.The study employed the qualitative research method, within which data was gathered from primary healthcare service providers, using open-ended questionnaires. The Moments of Translation from the perspective of actor network theory (ANT) was used as a lens in the analysis of the data, to examine and understand the power and factors, which influences mobility of healthcare service in Namibia. Categorisation of Patients, Response Time, Understanding the Actors, Actors’ participatory to service delivery, and Actors’ Alliance were found to be the influencing factors in the provision of mobility of healthcare services