Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficiently Combining Water Reuse and Desalination through Forward Osmosis—Reverse Osmosis (FO-RO) Hybrids: A Critical Review

Forward osmosis (FO) is a promising membrane technology to combine seawater desalination and water reuse. More specifically, in a FO-reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid process, high quality water recovered from the wastewater stream is used to dilute seawater before RO treatment. As such, lower desalination energy needs and/or water augmentation can be obtained while delivering safe water for direct potable reuse thanks to the double dense membrane barrier protection. Typically, FO-RO hybrid can be a credible alternative to new desalination facilities or to implementation of stand-alone water reuse schemes. However, apart from the societal (public perception of water reuse for potable application) and water management challenges (proximity of wastewater and desalination plants), FO-RO hybrid has to overcome technical limitation such as low FO permeation flux to become economically attractive. Recent developments (i.e., improved FO membranes, use of pressure assisted osmosis, PAO) demonstrated significant improvement in water flux. However, flux improvement is associated with drawbacks, such as increased fouling behaviour, lower rejection of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) in PAO operation, and limitation in FO membrane mechanical resistance, which need to be better considered. To support successful implementation of FO-RO hybrid in the industry, further work is required regarding up-scaling to apprehend full-scale challenges in term of mass transfer limitation, pressure drop, fouling and cleaning strategies on a module scale. In addition, refined economics assessment is expected to integrate fouling and other maintenance costs/savings of the FO/PAO-RO hybrid systems, as well as cost savings from any treatment step avoided in the water recycling.
Association of histo-blood group antigens and susceptibility to norovirus infections.

BACKGROUND Noroviruses (NoVs) are the leading cause of viral gastroenteritis in humans of all ages. Challenge studies that used the NoV prototype strain Norwalk virus (NV) have shown that some individuals are not susceptible to infection, suggesting the absence of a receptor. Recent studies have identified histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs) as possible receptors. Being a nonsecretor and presence of HBGA type B were associated with protection against infection with NV, a genogroup (GG) I NoV. METHODS In the present retrospective study, we investigated the association between presence of HBGAs and the risk of infection with another NoV belonging to GGI (Hu/NV/I/Birmingham/93/UK). The study was done as part of an investigation of a waterborne outbreak in a group of schoolchildren and of a cohort of healthy adults. The ABH histo-blood group phenotype was determined by use of saliva or serum samples from these individuals. RESULTS Presence of HBGA type B was significantly correlated with a lack of susceptibility to infection with GGI NoV and with an absence of antibodies. No correlation was found with GGII NoV. Although the infection rate in nonsecretors was lower, this difference was not statistically significant, and several children lacking HBGAs in saliva were found to be infected. CONCLUSIONS Individuals with the HBGA type B may be protected against infection with GGI (but not GGII) NoVs. The association between susceptibility to NoV infection and being a secretor may be restricted to GGI NoV.
Media Talk: Conversation Analysis And The Study Of Broadcasting

Acknowledgements Note on Data and Transcription Discovering Media Talk Analysing Media Talk Television Talk and Audience Participation Audience Participation Television and Public Discourse The Spectacle of Confrontation Radio Talk Language, Interaction and Power on Talk Radio Distributed Expertise: The Discourse of Advice-Giving Shows Broadcasters and Politicians News Interviews: Journalists and Politicians On the Air Political Rhetoric and Televised Debate Postscript Media Talk and Conversation Analysis: Some Concluding Glossary References
The evaluation of MRSA surveillance cultures by the number and combinations of anatomical sites

Abstract Introduction The identification of patients infected and/or colonised by methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is necessary for the timely introduction of measures for infection control. We compared the diagnostic efficacy of combinations of MRSA surveillance swabs routinely taken by health institutions in the country. Methods All surveillance samples, which were sent for a microbiological analysis to detect MRSA with the culture method in 2014, in the three departments for medical microbiology of the National Laboratory for Health, Environment and Food, were included in this study. Results Among 65,251 surveillance cultures from 13,274 persons, 1,233 (2.1%) were positive (490 positive persons). Prevailing positive surveillance cultures were throat swabs (31.3%), followed by nose swab (31.2%), skin swab (18.9%), perineum (16.4%) and wound swabs (1.4%). The contribution of other samples, such as aspirate, urine and excreta, was under 1%. We found no statistically significant differences in the frequency of detection of a positive patient, if the combination of samples NTS (nose, throat, skin) or NTP (nose, throat, perineum) was analysed. However, statistically significant differences were confirmed when any of the anatomic sites would be omitted from the sets of NTP and NTS (chi square; p<0.01). Adding additional samples resulted in only 24 additional positive patients (4.9%). Conclusions The results indicate that increasing the number of surveillance cultures above three does not add much to the sensitivity of MRSA surveillance, the exception could be wound. The swabs from the perineum and from the skin are exchangeable.
Essays on the formal labor market of Brazil

In this dissertation, I study the formal labor market of Brazil using restricted-access, employeremployee matched data from RAIS. In the first chapter, I show that estimates derived from administrative data smaller wage gaps, driven by racial bias; estimates from survey data yield much larger wage gaps, driven not just by racial bias, but also by differences in observable worker characteristics. In the second chapter, I identify wage discrimination using variation in the perception of the same worker’s race by different employers and find that roughly 30 percent of the racial wage gap among workers changing jobs is associated with variation in the employer’s perception of race and find that race change is strongly associated with movements of workers between racially segregated plants. In the final chapter, I estimate firm-specific starting pay and wage-tenure profiles and document features between these estimates and turnover that provide insight about firms personnel management practices. Index words: Labor (General), Demography, Brazil, Econometrics Essays on the Formal Labor Market of Brazil
Equity Risk Premia Across Major International Markets

An important element in interpreting financial market prices is the identification of the risk premia they contain. Risk premium is defined as the additional compensation required by investors for holding a risky security. The analysis is, however, complicated due to the fact that neither the premium nor their main drivers are directly observable. In addition, the risk premium may vary over time according to the investors’ perception of the underlying risk of the asset and their attitude towards risk. This means that the equity premium moves as uncertainty regarding corporate earnings prospects changes but also as investors change their risk appetite. In this article we analyse movements in equity risk premia in several major international stock markets, try to identify common influences across international markets and their association with a general shift in investors risk appetite. Once the common factor has been isolated we estimate country-specific influences on the equity risk premia. Finally, we assess the relative importance of the common and the country-specific components in explaining the behaviour of the equity risk premia since 1995, with a special focus on the current crisis.
Partial parallelism and partial blockade by bryostatin 1 of effects of phorbol ester tumor promoters on primary mouse epidermal cells.

Bryostatin 1, a macrocyclic lactone, functions like the phorbol esters biochemically in binding to and activating protein kinase C. Biologically, however, although it induces some phorbol ester responses such as mitogenesis in Swiss 3T3 cells, it paradoxically blocks the effects of the phorbol esters on differentiation in HL-60 promyelocytic leukemia cells and Friend erythroleukemia cells. Since the phorbol esters induce proliferation and terminal differentiation in distinct subpopulations of epidermal basal cells, we have now examined the action of bryostatin 1 in that system. Bryostatin 1 decreased epidermal growth factor binding and induced ornithine decarboxylase activity, the latter a marker of proliferation. The magnitude of the maximal induction of ornithine decarboxylase was less than for phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate. Bryostatin 1 only transiently caused the morphological change typical of phorbol ester treatment and did not induce transglutaminase or cornified envelope production, markers of the differentiative pathway. Combined treatment with bryostatin 1 and phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate gave similar results to treatment with bryostatin 1 alone, i.e., slight reduction to complete inhibition of phorbol ester action, depending on the response. The mechanism may reflect time dependent block of the protein kinase C pathway by bryostatin 1 in this system; although bryostatin 1 inhibited epidermal growth factor binding at short incubation times (1-2 h), by 4 h of incubation its inhibition was markedly reduced and it correspondingly blocked inhibition of epidermal growth factor binding by phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate. Since induction of terminal differentiation is proposed to be an essential component of phorbol ester mediated tumor promotion in skin, our findings suggest that bryostatin 1 may function as an inhibitor of phorbol ester promotion.
Niemann-Pick C1 Like 1 (NPC1L1) Is the Intestinal Phytosterol and Cholesterol Transporter and a Key Modulator of Whole-body Cholesterol Homeostasis*

Niemann-Pick C1 Like 1 (NPC1L1) is a protein localized in jejunal enterocytes that is critical for intestinal cholesterol absorption. The uptake of intestinal phytosterols and cholesterol into absorptive enterocytes in the intestine is not fully defined on a molecular level, and the role of NPC1L1 in maintaining whole body cholesterol homeostasis is not known. NPC1L1 null mice had substantially reduced intestinal uptake of cholesterol and sitosterol, with dramatically reduced plasma phytosterol levels. The NPC1L1 null mice were completely resistant to diet-induced hypercholesterolemia, with plasma lipoprotein and hepatic cholesterol profiles similar to those of wild type mice treated with the cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimibe. Cholesterol/cholate feeding resulted in down-regulation of intestinal NPC1L1 mRNA expression in wild type mice. NPC1L1 deficiency resulted in up-regulation of intestinal hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase mRNA and an increase in intestinal cholesterol synthesis, down-regulation of ABCA1 mRNA, and no change in ABCG5 and ABCG8 mRNA expression. NPC1L1 is required for intestinal uptake of both cholesterol and phytosterols and plays a major role in cholesterol homeostasis. Thus, NPC1L1 may be a useful drug target for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and sitosterolemia.
Influences of semantic and syntactic incongruence on readiness potential in turn-end anticipation

Knowing when it is convenient to take a turn in a conversation is an important task for dialog partners. As it appears that this decision is made before the transition point has been reached, it seems to involve anticipation. There are a variety of studies in the literature that provide possible explanations for turn-end anticipation. This study particularly focuses on how turn-end anticipation relies on syntactic and/or semantic information during utterance processing, as tested with syntactically and semantically violated sentences. With a combination reaction time and EEG experiment, we used the onset latencies of the readiness potential (RP) to uncover possible differences in response preparation. Although the mean anticipation timing accuracy (ATA) values of the behavioral test were all within a similar time range (control sentences: 108 ms, syntactically violated sentences: 93 ms and semantically violated sentences: 116 ms), we found evidence that response preparation is indeed different for syntactically and semantically violated sentences in comparison with control sentences. Our preconscious EEG data, in the form of RP results, indicated a response preparation onset to sentence end interval of 1452 ms in normal sentences, 937 ms in sentences with syntactic violations and 944 ms in sentences with semantic violations. Compared with control sentences, these intervals resulted in a significant RP interruption for both sentence types and indicate an interruption of preconscious response preparation. However, the behavioral response to sentence types occurred at comparable time points.
Soil Moisture Retrieval Using GNSS-R Techniques: Experimental Results Over a Bare Soil Field

This paper presents a new technique to retrieve soil moisture using global navigation satellite signals reflected over the soil surface using the measurement of the power fluctuations of the signal created by the interference between the direct GPS signal and the one reflected over the soil surface. As a function of the elevation angle, power fluctuations at vertical polarization pass through a notch, which is related to the soil moisture content, while horizontal polarization exhibits a very weak dependence. Experimental results of the measurements obtained over a bare soil field are presented and discussed.
QOL in caregivers of Japanese patients with Prader–Willi syndrome with reference to age and genotype

This study aimed to measure quality of life (QOL) of the primary family caregivers for patients with Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS). Comparisons were made between caregivers' QOL in regard to their dependents' genotype and age group. The participants with PWS consisted of 22 children (aged from 6 to 12 years) and 23 adolescents (aged from 13 to 19 years), including 6 children and 7 adolescents with maternal uniparental disomy (mUPD) and 16 children and 16 adolescents with deletion (DEL). The QOL of the primary family caregiver for each patient was assessed using the Japanese version of the WHOQOL‐BREF. To examine the effect that age (children vs. adolescents) and genotype (DEL vs. mUPD) have on the QOL of caregivers, a two‐way ANOVA was conducted, followed by the Bonferroni procedure to test the simple main effects. The two age groups and the two genotypes of PWS were used as independent variables and the total QOL of caregivers as a dependent variable. The two‐way ANOVA (F(1, 41) = 6.98, P < 0.05), followed by the Bonferroni procedure, showed the following: the total QOL of caregivers of DEL adolescents showed little difference from that with DEL children, but the QOL of caregivers for mUPD adolescents was shown to be lower than that with mUPD children along with that of caregivers with DEL adolescents. There is hence a growing tendency for the deterioration in the QOL of caregivers to manifest itself later in the patients' adolescence, found mainly with mUPD patients. © 2014 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE SPATIAL LOCALIZATION OF NANOFLARE HEATING WITHIN A MULTISTRANDED ATMOSPHERIC LOOP

Determining the preferred spatial location of the energy input to solar coronal loops would be an important step forward toward a more complete understanding of the coronal heating problem. Following from the 2008 paper of Sarkar and Walsh, this paper presents a short (109 cm ≡10 Mm) “global loop” as 125 individual strands, where each strand is modeled independently by a one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation. The strands undergo small-scale episodic heating and are coupled together through the frequency distribution of the total energy input to the loop which follows a power-law distribution with index ∼2.29. The spatial preference of the swarm of heating events from apex to footpoint is investigated. From a theoretical perspective, the resulting emission-measure-weighted temperature profiles along these two extreme cases do demonstrate a possible observable difference. Subsequently, the simulated output is folded through the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) instrument response functions and a rederivation of the temperature using different filter ratio techniques is performed. Given the multithermal scenario created by this many-strand loop model, a broad differential emission measure results; the subsequent double and triple filter ratios are very similar to those obtained from observations. However, any potential observational signature to differentiate between apex and footpoint dominant heating is possibly below instrumental thresholds. The consequences of using a broadband instrument like TRACE and Hinode-XRT in this way are discussed.
Management Going-Concern Disclosures: Impact of Corporate Governance and Auditor Reputation

"The UK regulatory requirements relating to going-concern disclosures require directors to report on the going-concern status of their firms. Such directors have incentives not to report fairly in the case of financially-distressed firms. We expect effective corporate governance mechanisms will encourage directors to report more truthfully in such situations. This paper tests this proposition explicitly using a large sample of going-concern cases over the period 1994-2000. We find that whereas auditors' going-concern opinions predict the subsequent resolution of going-concern uncertainties directors' going-concern statements convey arbitrary and unhelpful messages to users. However, robust corporate governance structures and high auditor reputation constrain directors to be more truthful in their going-concern disclosures, bringing these more into line with the more credible auditor opinions. " Copyright 2006 The Authors Journal compilation (c) 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Nuclear Imaging in Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy*

Recently, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has become implemented in the treatment of patients with severe heart failure. Although the improvement in systolic function after CRT implantation can be considerable, 20%–30% of patients do not respond to CRT. Evidence is accumulating that the presence of left ventricular (LV) dyssynchrony is mandatory for a response to CRT. Since the early 1980s attempts have been made to assess cardiac dyssynchrony with nuclear imaging, and it has been reported recently that information on LV dyssynchrony can be obtained from gated myocardial perfusion SPECT with phase analysis. Other studies with SPECT have shown that extensive scar tissue will limit the response to CRT; similarly, it has been demonstrated that viable tissue (assessed with SPECT) in the target zone for the LV pacing lead (usually the lateral wall) is needed for a response to CRT. Moreover, studies with PET have provided insight into the changes in myocardial perfusion, metabolism, and efficiency after CRT. In the current review, a comprehensive summary is provided on the potential role of nuclear imaging in the selection of heart failure patients for CRT. The value of other imaging techniques is also addressed.
Evaluative Reaction to Interpersonal Touch in a Counseling Interview

A counseling analogue study investigated the effects of the use of touch gestures by counselors on client evaluative responses to the counseling experience. Specifically, a 2 (touch vs. no touch) X 2 (male vs. female client) X 2 (male vs. female counselor) between-subjects design was used. Results indicate that clients who were touched evaluated the counseling experience more positively than no-touch control subjects. However, the magnitude of the effect of touch was affected by the sex composition of the counseling dyad, with stronger effects occurring when clients were touched by an opposite-sex counselor. The results are discussed in terms of conceptual implications and with respect to applied relevance for therapeutic practice and the training of counselors.
Protein topology and stability define the space of allowed sequences

We describe a new approach to explore and quantify the sequence space associated with a given protein structure. A set of sequences are optimized for a given target structure, using all-atom models and a physical energy function. Specificity of the sequence for its target is ensured by using the random energy model, which keeps the amino acid composition of the sequence constant. The designed sequences provide a multiple sequence alignment that describes the sequence space compatible with the structure of interest; here the size of this space is estimated by using an information entropy measure. In parallel, multiple alignments of naturally occurring sequences can be derived by using either sequence or structure alignments. We compared these 3 independent multiple sequence alignments for 10 different proteins, ranging in size from 56 to 310 residues. We observed that the subset of the sequence space derived by using our design procedure is similar in size to the sequence spaces observed in nature. These results suggest that the volume of sequence space compatible with a given protein fold is defined by the length of the protein as well as by the topology (i.e., geometry of the polypeptide chain) and the stability (i.e., free energy of denaturation) of the fold.
Prediction of protein secondary structure with a reliability score estimated by local sequence clustering.

Most algorithms for protein secondary structure prediction are based on machine learning techniques, e.g. neural networks. Good architectures and learning methods have improved the performance continuously. The introduction of profile methods, e.g. PSI-BLAST, has been a major breakthrough in increasing the prediction accuracy to close to 80%. In this paper, a brute-force algorithm is proposed and the reliability of each prediction is estimated by a z-score based on local sequence clustering. This algorithm is intended to perform well for those secondary structures in a protein whose formation is mainly dominated by the neighboring sequences and short-range interactions. A reliability z-score has been defined to estimate the goodness of a putative cluster found for a query sequence in a database. The database for prediction was constructed by experimentally determined, non-redundant protein structures with <25% sequence homology, a list maintained by PDBSELECT. Our test results have shown that this new algorithm, belonging to what is known as nearest neighbor methods, performed very well within the expectation of previous methods and that the reliability z-score as defined was correlated with the reliability of prediction. This led to the possibility of making very accurate predictions for a few selected residues in a protein with an accuracy measure of Q3 > 80%. The further development of this algorithm, and a nucleation mechanism for protein folding are suggested.