Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling Nitrogen Losses in Conventional and Advanced Soil-Based Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems under Current and Changing Climate Conditions

Most of the non-point source nitrogen (N) load in rural areas is attributed to onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS). Nitrogen compounds cause eutrophication, depleting the oxygen in marine ecosystems. OWTS rely on physical, chemical and biological soil processes to treat wastewater and these processes may be affected by climate change. We simulated the fate and transport of N in different types of OWTS drainfields, or soil treatment areas (STA) under current and changing climate scenarios, using 2D/3D HYDRUS software. Experimental data from a mesocosm-scale study, including soil moisture content, and total N, ammonium (NH4+) and nitrate (NO3-) concentrations, were used to calibrate the model. A water content-dependent function was used to compute the nitrification and denitrification rates. Three types of drainfields were simulated: (1) a pipe-and-stone (P&S), (2) advanced soil drainfields, pressurized shallow narrow drainfield (PSND) and (3) Geomat (GEO), a variation of SND. The model was calibrated with acceptable goodness-of-fit between the observed and measured values. Average root mean square error (RSME) ranged from 0.18 and 2.88 mg L-1 for NH4+ and 4.45 mg L-1 to 9.65 mg L-1 for NO3- in all drainfield types. The calibrated model was used to estimate N fluxes for both conventional and advanced STAs under current and changing climate conditions, i.e. increased soil temperature and higher water table. The model computed N losses from nitrification and denitrification differed little from measured losses in all STAs. The modeled N losses occurred mostly as NO3- in water outputs, accounting for more than 82% of N inputs in all drainfields. Losses as N2 were estimated to be 10.4% and 9.7% of total N input concentration for SND and Geo, respectively. The highest N2 losses, 17.6%, were estimated for P&S. Losses as N2 increased to 22%, 37% and 21% under changing climate conditions for Geo, PSND and P&S, respectively. These findings can provide practitioners with guidelines to estimate N removal efficiencies for traditional and advanced OWTS, and predict N loads and spatial distribution for identifying non-point sources. Our results show that N losses on OWTS can be modeled successfully using HYDRUS. Furthermore, the results suggest that climate change may increase the removal of N as N2 in the drainfield, with the magnitude of the effect depending on a drainfield type.
UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Constraints on the Binary Companion to the SN Ic 1994I Progenitor

Core-collapse supernovae ( SNe ) , which mark the deaths of massive stars, are among the most powerful explosions in the universe and are responsible, e.g., for a predominant synthesis of chemical elements in their host galaxies. The majority of massive stars are thought to be born in close binary systems. To date, putative binary companions to the progenitors of SNe may have been detected in only two cases, SNe 1993J and 2011dh. We report on the search for a companion of the progenitor of the Type Ic SN 1994I, long considered to have been the result of binary interaction. Twenty years after explosion, we used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe the SN site in the ultraviolet ( F275W and F336W bands ) , resulting in deep upper limits on the expected companion: F275W  >  26.1 mag and F336W  >  24.7 mag. These allow us to exclude the presence of a main sequence companion with a mass  10 M e . Through comparison with theoretical simulations of possible progenitor populations, we show that the upper limits to a companion detection exclude interacting binaries with semi-conservative ( late Case A or early Case B ) mass transfer. These limits tend to favor systems with non-conservative, late Case B mass transfer with intermediate initial orbital periods and mass ratios. The most likely mass range for a putative main sequence companion would be ∼ 5 – 12 M e , the upper end of which corresponds to
Which variables matter in smell tests in the clinic?

Background: Testing of olfactory thresholds in the clinic is becoming more common, with commercially produced tests now available. The effect of common potential variables in the clinic setting on these results is unclear. If many variables must be controlled, tests become more complex and a universally accepted olfactory test becomes less likely. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine which potential variables the clinician needs to consider when testing olfaction in the out-patient clinic. Methods: The study was conducted in a clinic setting at a university hospital, using 103 normal volunteers, comprising staff members and patients and relatives from the ENT clinic waiting room. The subjects recruited had no active rhinological complaints, were not taking any medications and were aged between 16 and 70 years. An olfactory threshold was established for each subject for the odour eucalyptol. Gender, smoking status, age, peak nasal inspiratory flow, ambient temperature and relative humidity were all recorded. Results: For eucalyptol, the distribution of values for olfactory thresholds in the normal population lies around the concentration 10−3 log vol/vol. There was no significant effect of smoking status, tester, ambient temperature or humidity on the thresholds obtained. Conclusions: The above variables do not have a significant effect on olfactory thresholds elicited in the clinic. The clinician therefore need not attempt to control these factors when testing olfaction in the out-patient setting. These findings bring the implementation of a universal, reliable and easily administered measurement of olfaction a step closer.
Antisense Oligonucleotide Therapies

Many antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) from several classes of molecules are currently in drug development. Despite over 20 years of pharmaceutical research, few ASOs have been marketed due to problems with clinical efficacy or preclinical toxicologic challenges. However, a number of recent developments have renewed interest in this class including the registration of mipomersen, the advent of successful screening strategies to eliminate more toxic molecules, and new understanding of the risks of off-target nucleotide binding and mitigation of potential off-target effects. Recent advances in backbone chemistries, conjugation to other moieties, and new delivery systems have allowed better tissue penetration, enhanced intracellular targeting, and less frequent dosing, resulting in fewer toxicities. While these new developments provide invigorated interest in these platforms, a few lingering challenges and preclinical/clinical toxicity issues remain to be completely resolved, including: (1) proinflammatory effects (vasculitis/inflammatory infiltrates); (2) nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity unrelated to lysosomal accumulation; and (3) thrombocytopenia. Recent investigative work by several laboratories have helped elucidate mechanisms for these issues, allowing a better understanding of the clinical relevance and implications of particular toxicities. It is important for toxicologists, pathologists, and regulatory reviewers to be familiar with new developments in the ASO field and their implications, as a greater number of new types of antisense molecules undergo preclinical toxicity testing.
Potential of phage-displayed peptide library technology to identify functional targeting peptides

Combinatorial peptide library technology is a valuable resource for drug discovery and development. Several peptide drugs developed through phage-displayed peptide library technology are presently in clinical trials and the authors envision that phage-displayed peptide library technology will assist in the discovery and development of many more. This review attempts to compile and summarize recent literature on targeting peptides developed through peptide library technology, with special emphasis on novel peptides with targeting capacity evaluated in vivo.
Induction of reactive oxygen species and algal growth inhibition by tritiated water with or without copper

Tritium (3H) is a radioactive element of ecological concern because of its release into aquatic ecosystems from nuclear power plants. However, the acute and chronic effects of tritiated water (HTO) on aquatic organisms are poorly documented, as are its effects on oxidative stress. In addition, the effects of HTO in combination with other contaminants remain largely unexamined. Herein, we document the effect of HTO on a primary aquatic producer (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) by measuring growth and oxidative stress using fluorimetric (H2DCF‐DA) determination of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production. The maximum cell density of the alga (1.65 × 106 cells mL‐1) was reduced by 23% (1.27 × 106 cells mL‐1) at the highest exposure tested (59 MBq mL‐1 HTO), whereas cells exposed to 0.9 MBq mL‐1 showed a significantly enhanced maximum cell density of 1.90 × 106 cells mL‐1, an increase of 15%. With regard to oxidative stress, exposure to HTO (0.04, 0.16, and 2.8 MBq mL‐1) induced an early dose‐dependent peak in ROS production after 14–15 min of exposure, followed by a slow decrease in ROS which stabilized after 60 min. Moreover, this study showed that the presence of HTO may influence the impact of other conventional, nonradioactive contaminants, such as copper, a well known oxidizing trace metal for aquatic organisms. A significant synergic effect of copper and HTO on ROS production was observed. This synergic effect on oxidative stress was shown to be linked to an enhanced copper uptake rate measured in the presence of HTO (> 4 times). We conclude that HTO should be considered as a sensitizer when in a mixture with other contaminants, especially through interactions on the antioxidant system of algae. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol, 2012.
Effect of diesel exhaust inhalation on blood markers of inflammation and neurotoxicity: a controlled, blinded crossover study

Abstract Context: Epidemiological studies and animal research have suggested that air pollution may negatively impact the central nervous system (CNS). Controlled human exposure studies of the effect of air pollution on the brain have potential to enhance our understanding of this relationship and to inform potential biological mechanisms. Objectives: Biomarkers of systemic and CNS inflammation may address whether air pollution exposure induces inflammation, with potential for CNS negative effects. Materials and methods: Twenty-seven healthy adults were exposed to two conditions: filtered air (FA) and diesel exhaust (DE) (300 μg PM2.5/m3) for 120 min, in a double-blinded crossover study with exposures separated by four weeks. Prior to and at 0, 3, and 24 h following each exposure, serum and plasma were collected and analyzed for inflammatory cytokines interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), the astrocytic protein S100b, the neuronal cytoplasmic enzyme neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). We hypothesized that IL-6, TNF-α, S100b and NSE would increase, and BDNF would decrease, following DE exposure. Results: At no time-point following exposure to DE was a significant increase in concentration from baseline seen for IL-6, TNF-α, S100b, or NSE relative to FA exposure. Similarly, no significant decrease in BDNF concentration from baseline was seen following DE exposure, relative to FA. Furthermore, the repeated measures ANOVA considered for all time-points and biomarkers revealed no significant time-exposure interaction. Discussion and conclusion: These results suggest that short-term exposure to DE amongst healthy adults does not acutely affect the systemic or CNS biomarkers that we measured.
Enhanced real-time head pose estimation system for mobile device

This article proposes a real-time Head Pose Estimation HPE technique designed to be used in mobile devices. The method enables the interaction between the user and mobile devices using the device's inbuilt camera. The proposed technique is composed of different computer vision methods, which were optimized to operate in a restricted environment. The method has three Degrees of Freedom DOF, roll, yaw and pitch. The HPE is obtained using these movements. Experiments were conducted using 363 videos of 27 different people taken in varied scenarios with changes in illumination and background. The results demonstrate the robustness and efficiency of the proposed method.
Neurotrophic changes in the trigeminal territory. Disturbances after operation for trigeminal neuralgia.

The most frequent complications caused by operations for the relief of trigeminal neuralgia are well known. They are herpes simplex, neuropathic keratitis, corneal ulcer and opacity, iritis, conjunctivitis, paresthesias, dryness of the nasal mucous membrane, and facial paralysis. 1,2 This discussion concerns itself with 4 patients who developed a rare and poorly recognized sequela, that of neurotrophic changes in the skin with ulceration in the trigeminal area several months to several years following section of the sensory root. Since there is little likelihood of replacing the operative approach to the problem of tic douloureux in the foreseeable future, the occasional occurrence of this syndrome seems assured. Trophic disturbances are changes appearing in tissues that have been deprived of certain qualities of sensation, namely those of pain and temperature and light touch; and they conform sharply to neuroanatomic delineations. 3 Report of Cases Case 1. — A woman, aged 68, was first seen
Complications of endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation in infants and children

ObjectiveTo assess the frequency of complications of endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. DesignProspective cohort study. SettingPediatric tertiary multidisciplinary ICU. PatientsEight hundred sixty-nine serial patients, of whom 500 were endotracheally intubated and 431 were mechanically ventilated. InterventionsDaily clinical observation. Main Outcome MeasuresAge, diagnosis, endotracheal tube size, type of ventilator and humidification, duration of intubation and mechanical ventilation, ventilatory settings, and complications (accidental extubation, tissue damage, endobronchial intubation, postintubation stridor, endotracheal tube blockage, pulmonary airleak, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, pulmonary atelectasis) were recorded. ResultsThe median patient age was 10 months (25th and 75th quartiles: 1 month and 15 yrs). The median duration of endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation was 4 days and 2 days, respectively. A total of 186 complications were recorded in 119 (24%) patients. No deaths were due to intubation or ventilation. The overall frequency of accidental extubation was 3.2% of patients at a rate of 1.26 extubations/100 intubation days. In nonventilated, unsedated patients with croup or epiglottitis, the frequency of accidental extubation was 23% at a rate of 11.83 extubations/100 intubation days. Lung atelectasis occurred in 7.8%, airleak in 6.8%, and infection in 2.3% of patients. Other complications included tissue damage (3.4%), endobronchial intubation (2.4%), postintubation stridor (2.4%), bronchopulmonary dysplasia (2.3%), and endobronchial tube blockage (0.8%). ConclusionsComplications were related to the duration of intubation and mechanical ventilation.
Predictive value of serum insulin-like growth factor-1 in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the commonest primary malignant cancer of the liver in the world. Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels reflect hepatic function and are inversely correlated with the severity of background chronic liver disease. OBJECTIVE This study evaluated whether basal serum IGF-1 levels can predict prognosis of HCC patients according to different risks of disease progression. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 89 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were recruited in 3 groups: Group I, 30 HCC patients receiving sorafinib; Group II, 30 HCC patients with best supportive care; and Group III include 29 patients undergoing transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE). All patients were investigated for serum levels of AST, ALP, Bb, Cr, BUN, AFP and IGF-I. RESULTS Patients with disease control had significantly higher baseline IGF-1 levels 210 (185-232.5) ng/mL (p value<0.01) than did patients without disease control. Low basal IGF-1 levels were associated with advanced HCC, such as multiple tumors and advanced stage, and low IGF-1 levels predicted shorter TTP and overall survival in patients treated with TACE. CONCLUSIONS The levels of serum IGF-1, expressed as continuous values, may be helpful for accurately assessing hepatic function and the prognostic stratification of patients with HCC.
An analysis of letter expertise in a levels-of-categorization framework

While there has been increasing effort in dissociating the neural substrates recruited by perception of different objects, the theoretical and behavioural work needed to understand such dissociation lags behind. In an attempt to compare expertise in letter and face perception, we outline a theoretical framework that characterizes different types of object expertise based on the task demand (level of abstraction) required in object categorization. Face perception requires categorization at a subordinate level, whereas letter perception involves mainly basic-level categorization. Accordingly face and letter perception should represent two different types of expertise and display different neural and behavioural markers. Results from three behavioural experiments supported the predictions of the framework in that letter expertise is characterized by an enhancement of the basic-level advantage, instead of its attenuation as typically found for face perception. We compare this framework with Farah's taxonomy of visual abilities based on cooccurrence of deficits in visual agnosias.
Nonaccidental Pediatric Head Injury: Diffusion-weighted Imaging Findings

OBJECTIVEDiffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) reveals nonhemorrhagic posttraumatic infarction hours to days before conventional computed tomographic scanning or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We evaluated the diagnostic utility of DWI in children with nonaccidental head trauma. METHODSThe medical records and imaging examinations obtained between January 1998 and May 2000 for all children less than 2 years of age with presumed or suspected nonaccidental head injury were reviewed retrospectively. Twenty children who had undergone DWI within 5 days of presentation were included in the study. Computed tomographic scans, conventional MRI sequences, and DWI combined with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were evaluated. RESULTSEleven girls and nine boys (median age, 5 mo) were studied. Eighteen children had presumed nonaccidental head trauma, and two children had suspected nonaccidental head trauma. Of the 18 children with presumed nonaccidental trauma, 16 (89%) demonstrated abnormalities on DWI/ADC, as compared with neither of the two children with suspected nonaccidental trauma. In 13 (81%) of 16 positive cases, DWI revealed more extensive brain injury than was demonstrated on conventional MRI sequences or showed injuries not observed on conventional MRI. DWI combined with ADC maps allowed better delineation of the extent of white matter injury. DWI/ADC abnormalities in the nonaccidental head-injured children were likely to involve posterior aspects of the cerebral hemispheres, with relative sparing of the frontal and temporal poles. Severity on DWI correlated significantly with poor outcome (P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONDWI has broad applications in the early detection of infarction in children with nonaccidental head injury and enhances the sensitivity of conventional MRI. In the patients in this study, early DWI provided an indicator of severity that was more complete than any other imaging modality. The use of DWI may help to identify children at high risk for poor outcome and to guide management decisions.
Why Privacy Is All But Forgotten

Abstract Privacy and sharing are believed to share a dynamic and dialectical tension, where individuals have competing needs to be both open and closed in contact with others [8]. Online, technology can impact this dynamic process [68]. Indeed, a number of researchers observed that users’ stated privacy attitude do not match their behavior [2, 3, 23, 30, 64, 81]. In these studies privacy attitude is compared with behavior via a number of concepts related to privacy. While it is known in psychology that attitudes are multidimensional constructs [10, 15, 76], the question arises whether the user ambivalence with regards to privacy is due to different or contradictory cognitive and affective components of privacy and sharing attitude. We conducted an empirical study to investigate the difference between privacy attitude and sharing attitude. A US sample of N = 60 MTurk workers was assigned to two groups and asked to describe in a 250-word free-form response what [privacy/sharing] online means for them. Responses were coded in quantitative content analysis. The presence and frequency of codes were compared across conditions. Emotions and relationships to other parties were evaluated as predictors for a discriminative logistic regression classifying both attitudes. We found that privacy and sharing attitude differ significantly across a number of the extracted codes. Participants in privacy attitude were significantly more likely to express fear and significantly less likely to express happiness. For sharing attitude the reverse is true. We found that a discriminant logistic regression on a tone analysis of the participants’ responses offers excellent discrimination between privacy and sharing attitude. We cross-validated this classifier with another sample of N′ = 54. The observed differences contribute an understanding of user states in privacy (and sharing) situations online and has implications for both privacy research and practice.
ADRENAL TRANSITIONAL ZONE STEROIDS, 18‐OXO AND 18‐HYDROXYCORTISOL, USEFUL IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF PRIMARY ALDOSTERONISM, ARE ACTH‐DEPENDENT

1. The adrenal cortical ‘hybrid’ steroids 18‐oxocortisol (18‐OF) and 18‐hydroxy‐cortisol (18‐OHF) are elevated in patients with typical angiotensin‐unresponsive aldosterone‐producing adenoma (AII‐unresponsive APA) and fall to normal following surgical removal of the adrenal containing the tumour. Since 18‐OF was six times the upper limit of normal pre‐operatively, the tumour was the site of overproduction of hybrid steroids.