Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Removal of Emerging Waterborne Pathogens and Pathogen Indicators by Pilot‐Scale Conventional Treatment

The goal of this project was to evaluate the removal of emerging pathogens and pathogen indicators by pilot‐scale coagulation, flocculation, sedimentation, and granular media filtration. The emerging pathogens included Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts, Encephalitozoon intestinalis spores, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Aeromonas hydrophila. Bacteriophage MS2 and turbidity were used as pathogen indicators. This work revealed that some emerging pathogens were removed much more effectively than others. A. hydrophila was removed more effectively than C. parvum, and E. intestinalis spores and E. coli O157:H7 were the least effectively removed. For the water tested in this study, the results suggest that a change in filter effluent turbidity requirements from 0.5 to 0.3 ntu would not achieve a significant improvement in the reliability of pathogen removal. However, by setting filter effluent turbidity goals below 0.2 ntu, significant improvements in microbiological quality could be obtained. In general, the pilot‐plant data suggest that good removal of both turbidity and natural organic matter (NOM) decreases the risk of achieving poor emerging pathogen removal. In other words, optimizing the coagulation process for reduction of turbidity and NOM would improve removal of emerging pathogens.
Vitamin D Level in Breast Cancer Patients before and after Adjuvant Therapy

Breast cancer isestimated as one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide with percentageof11.9%. It is the most common cause of cancer deathamong women and the most frequently diagnosed cancer in 140 out of 184 countries worldwide (Ferlay et al., 2012) including Egypt; where there were an estimated 49.5 cases of breast cancer per 100,000 adults in 2012, and an estimated 18,660 cases in total (UN, 2013), withyearly rise of percentage. In the cancer research field, many researchers connect vitamin D with risk reduction in various epithelial cancers.Vitamin D controlscalcium homeostasis with wide range of immunogenic and antiproliferative activities in the body (Khan et al., 2011). Oncologists found decreased incidence of breast, colon, and prostate cancers with higher sun exposure, higher intake or higher serum levels of vitamin D (Garland et al., 2009). There are few dietary sources of vitamin D, butadequate amounts of vitamin D can be synthesized in the skin using the energy of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in sunlight,which maintains adequate vitamin D Vitamin D Level in Breast Cancer Patients before and after Adjuvant Therapy
Activity of orange (Citrus Sinensis) and lemon (Citrus Limon) juice and oil on different bacteria that cause wound infection

The antibacterial activity of Citrus sinensis and Citrus limon was evaluated on bacterial strains. Juice and oil were used by agar disc and well diffusion. The antibacterial effects of Citrus oil were found to be effective using disc method among all strains, except Clostridium spp, which was found no inhibition with Citrus sinensis oil. However, Clostridium spp with Citrus limon oil had inhibitory zone (7±0mm), while the remainder of organisms, it showed moderate zones of inhibition ranging from 6-9.66mm in diameter. By well diffusion method, it showed highest zone of inhibition on S. aureus, which was 12mm in diameter, while on the other organisms with Citrus it showed little or no zones of inhibition ranging from 0-6mm in diameter. The juice from C.limon juice exhibited inhibitory activities against bacteria in using the disc method except for S. pyogenes, which was found no inhibition, while other organisms, it showed moderate zones of inhibition ranging from 6.66-12mm in diameter. Citrus sinensis juice showed no inhibition against bacteria. The results obtained in this study suggested that Citrus limon had overall better antibacterial activity compared to Citrus sinensis.
Granular Material Mixing: Experiments for Calibration and Validation

Yu Liu is a thirdyear PhD student working with Professor Carl Wassgren and Professor Marcial Gonzalez in the School of Mechanical Engineering. Before joining Purdue, he obtained his BA degrees in mechanical engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. His current research direction is focused on predicting granular material mixing and segregation using a finite element method and advectiondiffusionsegregation multiscale model.
DISTANCE AND PROPER MOTION MEASUREMENT OF THE RED SUPERGIANT, S PERSEI, WITH VLBI H2O MASER ASTROMETRY

We have conducted Very Long Baseline Array phase-referencing monitoring of H2O masers around the red supergiant, S Persei, for six years. We have fitted maser motions to a simple expanding-shell model with a common annual parallax and stellar proper motion, and obtained the annual parallax as 0.413 ± 0.017 mas and the stellar proper motion as (−0.49 ± 0.23 mas yr−1, −1.19 ± 0.20 mas yr−1) in right ascension and declination, respectively. The obtained annual parallax corresponds to the trigonometric distance of 2.42+0.11−0.09 kpc. Assuming a Galactocentric distance of the Sun of 8.5 kpc, the circular rotational velocity of the local standard of rest at a distance of the Sun of 220 km s−1, and a flat Galactic rotation curve, S Persei is suggested to have a non-circular motion deviating from the Galactic circular rotation for 15 km s−1, which is mainly dominated by the anti-rotation direction component of 12.9 ± 2.9 km s−1. This red supergiant is thought to belong to the OB association, Per OB1, so that this non-circular motion is representative of a motion of the OB association in the Milky Way. This non-circular motion is somewhat larger than that explained by the standard density-wave theory for a spiral galaxy and is attributed to either a cluster shuffling of the OB association, or to non-linear interactions between non-stationary spiral arms and multi-phase interstellar media. The latter comes from a new view of a spiral arm formation in the Milky Way suggested by recent large N-body/smoothed particle hydrodynamics numerical simulations.
Dark-bellied Brent Geese Branta bernicla bernicla, as recorded by satellite telemetry, do not minimize flight distance during spring migration

Nine Dark-bellied Brent Geese Branta bernicla bernicla were equipped with satellite transmitters during spring staging in the Dutch Wadden Sea in 1998 and 1999. The transmitters (in all cases less than 3% of body mass) were attached to the back by a flexible elastic harness. One juvenile female was tracked to the Yamal peninsula in 1998. Eight adult males were selected from a single catch of 75 to span the range of body mass observed on the date of capture (11 May 1999) and all but the lightest individual completed the first lap of the migratory flight to the White Sea, Russia, according to the time schedule normal for this species. Six birds were successfully tracked to Taymyr for a total distance averaging 5004 km (range 4577-5164) but judging from later movements none bred (although 1999 was breeding year). Although the routes chosen during spring migration were closely similar; none of the tagged birds migrated together. On average the geese used 16 flights to reach their summer destinations on Taymyr. The longest uninterrupted flights during the first half of the journey (Wadden Sea to Kanin) covered 1056 km (mean of seven adult males, range 768-1331), while the corresponding value for the second half of the migration (Kanin-Taymyr) was only 555 km (mean of six adult males). Only 7% of total time during spring migration was spent in active flight, as contrasted to c. 80% at long-term stopovers. Overall average travelling speed was 118 km/day (range 97-148). Including fattening prior to departure the rate of travel falls to 62 km/day (range 49-70), in keeping with theoretical predictions. Routes followed deviated from the great circle route, adding at least 700 km (16%) to the journey from Wadden Sea to Taymyr, and we conclude that the coastal route is chosen to facilitate feeding, drinking and resting en route instead of minimizing total flight distance.
“Insulin-Like” Effects of Palmitate Might Contribute to the Development of Insulin Resistance in Hypothalamic Neurons

Saturated fatty acids are implicated in the development of metabolic diseases, including obesity and type 2 diabetes. There is evidence, however, that polyunsaturated fatty acids can counteract the pathogenic effects of saturated fatty acids. To gain insight into the early molecular mechanisms by which fatty acids influence hypothalamic inflammation and insulin resistance, we performed time-course experiments in a hypothalamic cell line, using different durations of treatment with the saturated fatty acid palmitate, and the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Western blot analysis revealed that palmitate elevated the protein levels of phospho(p)AKT in a time-dependent manner. This effect seems involved in the pathogenicity of palmitate, as temporary inhibition of the PI3K/AKT pathway by selective PI3K inhibitors prevented palmitate-induced insulin resistance. Similarly to palmitate, DHA also increased levels of pAKT, but to a weaker extent. Co-administration of DHA with palmitate decreased pAKT close to the basal level after 8 h, and prevented palmitate-induced insulin resistance after 12 h. Measurement of the inflammatory markers pJNK and pNFκB-p65 revealed tonic elevation of both markers in the presence of palmitate alone. DHA alone transiently induced elevation of pJNK, returning to basal levels by 12 h treatment. Co-administration of DHA with palmitate prevented palmitate-induced inflammation after 12 h, but not at earlier time points.
Diferencias de género en los estilos de vida de los adolescentes

This research analyzes gender differences observed in different aspects of adolescent lifestyles, such as physical activities and sports, involvement in extracurricular activities, use of ICT's, time spent with friends and time spent studying, substance use, and sleep-related routines. Bearing this in mind, we analyzed differences by year and gender in a sample of 2400 adolescents, 55.5 percent girls and 44.5 percent of boys, aged between 12 and 17 (mean age =14.73 and SD = 1.24) in 20 schools from Andalusia. The results from correlation analysis, ANOVA, and Tukey test confirm significant correlations between most variables making up lifestyle, most of them positive except those related to substance use (most correlations were negative). We also found significant gender differences in lifestyles: 10 out of the 15 variables analyzed have significant gender differences. A significant negative correlation with age was found in a number of variables making up healthy lifestyles, such as the practice of sport and physical activity, participation in extracurricular activities and sleep.
REPORTS : GLOBAL HEALTH HYPERTENSION IN MONGOLIA : AN OVERVIEW

Tsogzolbaatar Enkh-Oyun, MD, MPH; Kazuhiko Kotani, MD, PhD; Dambadarjaa Davaalkham, MD, PhD; Ritei Uehara, MD, PhD; Atsuko Sadakane, MD, PhD; Yasuko Aoyama, PhD; Satoshi Tsuboi, MD, PhD; Yosikazu Nakamura, MD, FFPH Objectives: Although hypertension is the primary cause of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases in Mongolia, reviews about hypertension in this country have not been reported, to our knowledge. Information on the overview of this disease may be useful to establish measures and policy to prevent hypertension and its related complications. The aim of our article is to summarize the current situation vis-à-vis hypertension in Mongolia.
Heat shock response in PBMCs of Nellore cows after in vitro thermal stress

Adaptation is an important feature to be studied in animals when thinking about maintenance and raise of productivity. Although Nellore breed is widely disseminated in Brazil, the knowledge related to its thermotolerance in tropical climate conditions remains unknown. Hence, the aim of this study was to understand the Nellore breed cellular adaptation when exposed to heat shock in vitro, using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The comprehension of the most expressed and sensible heat shock proteins in Bos taurus indicus may elucidate a molecular marker for genetic improvement related to thermotolerance. Previous to blood sampling, the physiological parameters of 16 cows were measured in order to classify them in efficient and non-efficient on heat loss. For this experiment, the blood was collected in three different heparin tubes by jugular venipuncture only in 10 cows, 5 efficient and 5 nonefficient, at morning. The molecular analyzes were performed in Physiology and Molecular Endocrinology Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo. After sampling, each blood tube were placed in three different water bath devices calibrated for: 38°C, 40°C and 42°C for two consecutive hours. The PBMCs were separated, washed with hemolysis solution, the RNA extracted, the cDNA synthetized and performed the qPCR for the genes HSP60, HSP70 and HSP90. There was a maintenance on HSPs transcripts on 38°C and 40°C and a decrease on all HSPs transcripts at 42°C. Among all, the HSP70 was the most expressed at 38°C and 40°C, elucidating its protective importance. No difference was observed between gene expression and heat loss efficiency. In conclusion, the Nellore cell adaptability was confirmed by the maintenance of heat shock proteins 60, 70 and 90 kDa. The pathway for understanding responses involving thermotolerance is still long and requires more knowledge of cell signaling, either in vitro or in vivo conditions. Taken together, these informations may contribute in future keys for genetic selection of adapted animals.
Teaching Basic Ideas in Logic Using E-learning Tools

This paper is a study of various e-learning strategies for teaching basic ideas in logic. The focus is mainly on syllogistic validity and deduction. It is a continuation of earlier studies involving practical experiments with students of Communication using the Syllog system, which makes it possible to develop e-learning tools and to do learning analytics based on log-data. The aim of the present paper is to investigate whether the Syllog e-learning tools can be helpful in logic teaching in order to obtain a better understanding of logic and argumentation in general and syllogisms in particular. Four versions of a course in basic logic involving different teaching methods will be compared. Both short-and longterm effects are discussed.
Gulf War syndrome – has it gone away?

In 1991 a coalition of Allied Nations, including British and US troops, deployed to the Persian Gulf region. Although the war-fighting phase of the 1991 conflict was short and resulted in minimal casualties, few can have failed to notice the saga of ‘Gulf War syndrome’ which followed the conflict. The nature, and indeed existence, of Gulf War syndrome has been the subject of heated debates in the public arena for the past 15 years. This article reviews the history of Gulf War syndrome and brings the story up to date, by looking at the current deployment to Iraq.
Soldier-Specific Terpenoid Compounds of the Japanese Reticulitermes ( Isoptera , Rhinotermitidae )

Terpenoid secretions specific to termite soldiers were analyzed in Reticulitermes speratus speratus (Rss), R. speratus kyushuensis (Rsk), R. kanmonensis (Rk) and R. okinawanus (Ro), and 3 quantitatively major compounds were successfully identified. All these species possessed β-selinene whose content was high in soldiers of Rss and Rsk. While δ-cadinene was detected only in Ro, (S)-(+)(E,E)-geranyllinalool was first detected in the other species. Both soldiers of Rk and Rsk contained a large amount of this compound. Except for Ro, the soldier-specific terpenoids were identical among Rss, Rsk and Rk.
Coarticulation magnitude in German children

Dzhuma Abakarova , Khalil Iskarous , Elina Rubertus , Jan Ries , Mark Tiede , Aude Noiray a a University of Potsdam; b University of Southern California, c Haskins laboratories dzhuma.abakarova@uni-potsdam.de The present study investigated the development of coarticulation in German children, aged 3 to 7 year-old. Coarticulation is generally defined as the articulatory overlapping for neighboring phonemes. It involves multiple articulators (e.g., the tongue) whose actions must be finely coordinated to produce intelligible speech. From a developmental point of view, acquisition of coarticulation is essential to fluent language production. However, contrary to other important language-related capabilities emerging concomitantly with coarticulation in the first years of life, the development of spatial and temporal organization of speech gestures is not completely understood (e.g., Barbier et al., 2015; Noiray et al., 2013; Zharkova et al., 2011). Previous studies in the domain have reported contradictory results regarding the magnitude of coarticulation in syllables (CVs) and therefore generated diverging theories on the units of speech production. To date, it is still unclear whether children initially coarticulate more than adults and progressively develop from a syllabic representation associated with immature articulatory routines to a more segmental organization accompanied with more differentiated control over articulators (Nittrouer et al., 1996) or if the opposite occurs (Green et al., 2002). The present study examined developmental differences in coarticulation magnitude with a theoretical and methodological approach different from those mostly reported in the literature. First, it measures movement from the tongue using ultrasound imaging to directly track the spatial and temporal organization of lingual gestures for consecutive phonemes. Second, it examines the role of phonetic (articulatory) characteristics of the produced sequences to assess how much consonants and vowels can interact with one another in a target sequence. Finally, it uses a cross-sectional design to investigate how these characteristics change with age as the child gains more experience speaking his native language.
1 The Epistemology of Rational Constructivism

Rational constructivism is one of the leading theories in developmental psychology. But it is not a purely psychological theory: rational constructivism also makes a number of substantial epistemological claims about both the nature of human rationality and several normative principles that fall squarely into the ambit of epistemology. The aim of this paper is to clarify and defend both theses and several other epistemological claims, as they represent the essential epistemological dimensions of rational constructivism.
Can teenagers control a 3D racing game using motion-onset visual evoked potentials?

AbstractMotion-onset visual evoked potentials (mVEPs) are time- and phase-locked brain responses to motion-related stimuli. An mVEP response provides robust features for brain-computer interface (BCI) applications and has the added benefit of being less visually fatiguing than other visual evoked potentials (VEPs). In this study an mVEP BCI that enables control of a visually rich, three-dimensional (3D) car-racing video game is evaluated. A group of 15 teenage schoolchildren (13–16 years old) participated in a single session while they attended a summer school. Participants were asked to control the direction of a car within a realistic racing circuit, where the position of the car was controlled by focusing on one of five motion-related stimuli. Classification accuracy (%) and information transfer rate (ITR) (bits per minute (bpm)) results were encouraging, with participants achieving an average online accuracy of 72% (12 bpm) in the first lap, 67% (10 bpm) in the second lap and 65% (10 bpm) in the third.
Quality PREDICTING SOIL ORGANIC CARBON IN AGROECOSYSTEMS UNDER CLIMATE CHANGE SPECIAL SECTION Core Ideas

Accurately capturing dynamic soil response to disturbance effects in agroecosystem models remains elusive, thereby limiting projections of climate change mitigation potential. Perennial grasses cultivated in zero-tillage management systems hold promise as sustainable agroecosystems. High-yielding tropical C4 grasses often have extensive rooting systems, and the belowground processes of root turnover, aggregate formation, and mineral stabilization drove rapid C accumulation after cultivation in a recent study. We sought (i) to understand and constrain the size and responsiveness of dynamic, intermediate-cycling C pools contributing to the observed C accrual rates, and (ii) to simulate C stocks over time under the disturbance of elevated temperature using soil incubation at multiple temperatures and physical fractionation via density and sonication. Three-pool transfer modeling of soil incubations revealed small pools of readily available (i.e., days to months) microbial substrate that were responsive to temperature, time since cultivation, and inputs. Larger, kinetically slow-cycling pools were more indicative of long-term (i.e., years to decades) changes in C stock and strongly connected to measured changes in physical fractions. Combining the sensitivity of readily available microbial substrate with three-pool transfer modeling of the physical fractions over time since cultivation revealed that dynamic transfers of inputs occurred between the free organic and aggregateprotected fractions, and from these fractions to the mineral-associated dense fraction. Under 5°C temperature elevation, increased transfer rates outweighed elevated decomposition losses to sustain soil C accrual into the future. To effectively plan managed landscapes and monitor sustainable agroecosystems for climate change mitigation, tools must incorporate the complexity of soil response to change. Dynamic, Intermediate Soil Carbon Pools May Drive Future Responsiveness to Environmental Change
The Long-Run Performance of Sponsored and Conventional Spin-Offs

"A sponsored spin-off takes place when an equity stake in a subsidiary is sold to an outside investor before going public. The stock return performance of a sample of 57 sponsored spin-offs from 1994 to 2005 is significantly negative over a three-year period following the spin-off date. The parent firms' stock performance for the year preceding (following) the spin-off date are below average (average) suggesting that their earlier performances were adversely affected by their subsidiaries and motivated the parents to spin them off. We also find that parent firms underinvest in the subsidiary prior to the spin-off, which could have motivated the subsidiary to seek outside funding sources before going public". Copyright (c) 2010 Financial Management Association International.
Effects of Weather Conditions on Phenolic Content and Antioxidant Capacity in Juice of Chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa L.)

Abstract Chokeberries are a subject of numerous studies due to a high phenolic compound content, antioxidant properties and potential positive influence on the health. Effects of weather conditions on fruit quality attributes, phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) juice over three consecutive years were investigated. Total phenolic content and total flavonoids range were from 8834 to 11093 mg/L and from 6993 to 9710 mg/L, respectively. High variations and discrepancy during different growing seasons are due to the different air temperature, sunlight and rainfall rate. The highest concentrations of anthocyanins and phenolics were observed in fruits harvested in 2012, which is most likely due to the favorable weather conditions (temperature and bright sunshine hours). All chokeberry juices possess high antioxidant activity (12.9–14.6 mmol/L; 128–167 mmol/L). Strong correlation implies that flavonoids and non-flavonoids were the major contributors to the antioxidant capacity. This study indicates that although the examined properties vary considerably through the growing seasons (p≤0.05), chokeberry juices can serve as a good source of bioactive phytochemicals in a human diet.