Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Treatment of wastewater from paracetamol factory by using non-thermal plasma and active carbon

Non-thermal plasma combined with activated carbon was developed to purify wastewater from paracetamol factory. The effect of discharge time, discharge voltage, initial pH value of wastewater, velocity of the air flow and whether adding activated carbon on the COD degradation and decolorization ratio were investigated. It was found that as discharge time prolonged, decolorization ratio decreased but the COD degradation ratio increased at first and then reached to a constant value. The degradation ratio of COD increased and the decolorization decreased with the increasing of input voltage. The ratios of COD degradation and decolorization decreased when the initial pH value increased. With the increasing of inputting air flow the COD degradation ratio went up and had a optimal peak value and then the decolorization ratio declined. When activated carbon was added the ratio of decolorization and the COD degradation can be improved significantly. In this paper when the input voltage is 25kV, the distance between two electrodes is 6mm, air flow is 16L/h, initial pH value is 3.73, the 4 times diluted wastewater was discharged 120min and then added 1g activated carbon, the ratio of COD degradation reached to 82.76%.
Sleep environments and sleep durations in a sample of low-income preschool children.

STUDY OBJECTIVES Sleep duration is commonly studied in children, but less is known about the potential impact of adverse sleep environments, particularly at preschool ages. We examined the frequency of suboptimal sleep environments and tested for associations with sleep duration or nocturnal sleep time among low-income preschool children. METHODS Parents of Head Start preschoolers in Michigan (Detroit and greater Lansing) completed questionnaires on children's sleep schedules and sleep environments. Respondents indicated how often their children slept in a place "too bright," "too loud," "too cold," or "too hot" on a scale of 1 = never to 5 = always. A suboptimal sleep environment (SSE) was defined when one or more of these conditions were reported for ≥ 1-2 nights/week. Weeknight sleep duration or reported time that the child went to sleep was regressed on SSE as an explanatory variable, with adjustment for age, race/ethnicity, gender, maternal education, and average daily nap duration. RESULTS Among 133 preschool children, mean age was 4.1 ± 0.5 (SD), 48% were male, 39% were white, and 52% were black; 34% of parents had ≤ a high school degree. Parents reported that 26 (20%) of the children slept in a SSE ≥ 1-2 nights per week. In regression models, SSE was associated with 27 minutes shorter sleep duration (β = -0.45, SE = 0.22, p = 0.044) and 22 minutes later time child "fell asleep" (β = 0.37, SE = 0.19, p = 0.048) on weeknights. CONCLUSIONS Among these Head Start preschool children, environmental challenges to adequate sleep are not uncommon, and they may have consequences. Clinician or preschool assessment of sleep environments may open opportunities to improve sleep at early ages. CITATION Wilson KE; Miller AL; Lumeng JC; Chervin RD. Sleep environments and sleep durations in a sample of low-income preschool children.
A Predictive Account of Cafe Wall Illusions Using a Quantitative Model

This paper explores the tilt illusion effect in the Cafe Wall pattern using a classical Gaussian Receptive Field model. In this illusion, the mortar lines are misperceived as diverging or converging rather than horizontal. We examine the capability of a simple bioplausible filtering model to recognize different degrees of tilt effect in the Cafe Wall illusion based on different characteristics of the pattern. Our study employed a Difference of Gaussians model of retinal to cortical ON center and/or OFF center receptive fields. A wide range of parameters of the stimulus, for example mortar thickness, luminance, tiles contrast, phase of the tile displacement, have been studied. Our model constructs an edge map representation at multiple scales that reveals tilt cues and clues involved in the illusory perception of the Cafe Wall pattern. We present here that our model can not only detect the tilt in this pattern, but also can predict the strength of the illusion and quantify the degree of tilt. For the first time quantitative predictions of a model are reported for this stimulus. The results of our simulations are consistent with previous psychophysical findings across the full range of Cafe Wall variations tested. Our results also suggest that the Difference of Gaussians mechanism is the heart of the effects explained by, and the mechanisms proposed for, the Irradiation, Brightness Induction, and Bandpass Filtering models.
The E5 oncoprotein of bovine papillomavirus binds to a 16 kd cellular protein.

The E5 oncoprotein of bovine papillomavirus type 1 is the smallest known viral transforming protein. It is a 44 amino acid polypeptide asymmetrically oriented in Golgi and plasma membranes which appears to modify (either directly or indirectly) the internalization and phosphorylation of at least two growth factor receptors: EGF and CSF‐1. To identify cellular proteins associated with E5, we have constructed two E5 fusion proteins, each of which contains a well‐characterized epitope at the E5 amino terminus. These E5‐epitope fusion proteins are biologically active, localize normally to cellular membranes and form dimers. Both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against the inserted epitopes specifically co‐precipitate E5 and an associated 16 kd cellular protein. A transformation‐defective E5 mutant containing a substitution within the hydrophobic portion of E5 is defective in its ability to bind the 16 kd protein. These findings suggest a role for E5/16 kd binding in the process of cellular transformation.
Exploiting spatial and temporal dependencies to enhance fault diagnosis: Application to railway track circuits

In many practical applications, it is not feasible to measure a large number of variables. Therefore, strategies are required to enhance fault diagnosis, given the available monitoring signals. In this paper, we consider fault diagnosis in networks using a limited number of monitoring signals. We propose to use spatial dependencies between the monitoring data of the subsystems to discriminate between faults. Furthermore, the temporal properties of the monitoring signal are exploited. It is shown that, for a track circuit example, the spatial and temporal dependencies are valuable for diagnosis. Based on these features, an approach is proposed for fault diagnosis in the presence of environmental disturbances.
Contribution of Angiotensin-(1–7) to Blood Pressure Regulation in Salt-Depleted Hypertensive Rats

We exposed 63 adult spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and 10 (mRen-2)27 transgenic hypertensive rats to a 12-day regimen of either a normal diet (0.5%) or a low-salt diet (0.05%) to evaluate the hypothesis that the vasodepressor heptapeptide, angiotensin-(1–7) [Ang-(1–7)], buffers the pressor effects of angiotensin II during endogenous stimulation of the renin-angiotensin system. Catheters were inserted into a carotid artery and jugular vein under light anesthesia the day before the experiment. Separate groups of conscious instrumented SHR were given short-term infusions of an affinity-purified monoclonal Ang-(1–7) antibody or the neprilysin inhibitor SCH 39370. In addition, SHR and (mRen-2)27 rats were given the Ang-(1–7) receptor antagonist [d-Ala7]Ang-(1–7). Exposure to the low-salt diet increased plasma renin activity and elevated plasma levels of angiotensin I and angiotensin II in SHR by 81% and 68%, respectively, above values determined in SHR fed a normal salt diet. Concentrations of angiotensin I and angiotensin II were also higher in the kidney of salt-depleted SHR, whereas plasma and renal tissue levels of Ang-(1–7) were unchanged. Infusion of the Ang-(1–7) antibody produced dose-dependent pressor and tachycardic responses in salt-depleted SHR but no effect in SHR maintained on a normal-salt diet. A comparable cardiovascular response was produced in salt-depleted SHR given either SCH 39370 or [d-Ala7]Ang-(1–7). These agents had negligible effects on SHR fed a normal-salt diet. Blockade of Ang-(1–7) receptors produced a similar cardiovascular response in (mRen-2)27 transgenic hypertensive rats fed a low-salt diet. Injections of the heat-inactivated antibody or the subsequent infusion of the antibody to rats given [d-Ala7]Ang-(1–7) produced no additional effects. The data support the hypothesis that the hemodynamic effects of neurohormonal activation after salt restriction stimulate a tonic depressor action of Ang-(1–7).
Higher Radix and Redundancy Factor for Floating Point SRT Division

The execution performances of the Sweeney, Robertson, Tocher (SRT) division algorithm depend on two parameters: the radix-r and the redundancy factor p. In this paper, a study of the effect of these parameters on the division performances is presented. At each iteration, the SRT algorithm performs a multiplication by the quotient digit qi+1. This last can be just a simple shift, if the digit qi i +1is a power of two (qi+1 = 2k), otherwise, the SRT iteration needs a multiplier. We propose, in this work, an approach to circumvent this multiplication by decomposing the quotient digit qi+1 into two or three terms multiples of 2. Then, the multiplication is carried out by simple shifts and a carry save addition. The implementation of this approach on Virtex-II field-programmable gate-array (FPGA) circuits gives best performances than the approach which uses the embedded multipliers 18times18 bits. The iterations delays are operands sizes independent. The reduction tree delays are at most equivalent to the delay of two Virtex-II slices. This approach was tested for the 4, 8, and 16 radixes in the two cases of minimum and maximum redundancy factors. By this study, we conclude that the use of the radix-8 with a maximum redundancy factor gives the best performances by using our approach for the double precision computation of the SRT division.
The impact of client treatment preferences on outcome: a meta-analysis.

An important part of evidence-based practice is to include client preferences in the treatment decision-making process. However, based on previous reviews of the literature there is some question as to whether including client preferences actually has an effect on treatment outcome. This meta-analytic review summarized data from over 2,300 clients across 26 studies comparing the treatment outcome differences between clients matched to a preferred treatment and clients not matched to a preferred treatment. The findings indicate a small significant effect (r=.15, CI(.95): . 09 to . 21) in favor of clients who received a preferred treatment. The binomial effect size indicated that matched clients have a 58% chance of showing greater improvement, and further analysis indicate that they are about half as likely to drop-out of treatment when compared with clients not receiving a preferred treatment. Study design was seen to be a moderating variable in that partially randomized preference trials may underestimate the treatment preference effect. Implications for best practice standards are discussed.
On the Design and Implementation of an Integrated Security Architecture for Cloud with Improved Resilience

In this paper, we propose an integrated security architecture which combines policy based access control with intrusion detection techniques and trusted computing technologies for securing distributed applications running on virtualised systems. Our security architecture incorporates access control security policies for secure interactions between applications and virtual machines in different physical virtualized servers. It provides intrusion detection and trusted attestation techniques to detect and counteract dynamic attacks in an efficient manner. We demonstrate how this integrated security architecture is used to secure the life cycle of virtual machines including dynamic hosting and allocation of resources as well as migration of virtual machines across different physical servers. We discuss the implementation of the developed architecture and show how the architecture can counteract attack scenarios involving malicious users exploiting vulnerabilities to achieve privilege escalation and then using the compromised machines to generate further attacks. The feedback between the various security components of our security architecture plays a critical role in detecting sophisticated, dynamically changing attacks, thereby increasing the resilience of the overall secure system.
Incidence and clinical complications of myelodysplastic syndromes among United States Medicare beneficiaries.

PURPOSE To determine the incidence and complications of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) among Medicare beneficiaries. METHODS Retrospective review of 2003 Medicare Standard Analytic Files utilizing International Classification of Diseases for Oncology ninth edition CM code 238.7 to identify new MDS patients, with 3-year follow-up. RESULTS Among 1,394,343 individuals in Medicare Standard Analytic Files age > or = 65 years, 162 per 100,000 were coded as newly diagnosed MDS during 2003 yielding a calculated 45,000 new cases in the United States Medicare > or = 65 years population. Patients with MDS were older (median age, 77 years), and over-represented by males. Among patients with MDS diagnosed during first quarter of 2003, 73.2% suffered cardiac-related events during 3-year follow-up, which exceeded the Medicare population (54.5%; P < .01) even when age adjusted (odds ratio, 2.10; P < .01). Significant increases in prevalence of diabetes (40.0% v 33.1%), dyspnea (49.4% v 28.5%), hepatic diseases (0.8% v 0.2%), and infections (sepsis: 22.5% v 6.1%) were noted in MDS (all P < .01) compared with the Medicare population. Patients with MDS requiring RBC transfusions had greater prevalence of these comorbidities. Acute myeloid leukemia developed within 3 years in 9.6%, with increased transformation among transfused (24.6%; P < .001). The 3-year Kaplan-Meier age-adjusted survival for MDS was 60.0%, which was significantly lower than the Medicare population (84.7%; hazard ratio, 3.08; P < .001), and mortality was further increased among transfused MDS (P < .01). In 2003, median payment for MDS was $16,181, compared to $1,575 for the Medicare population (P < .001). CONCLUSION MDS is a common hematologic malignancy of the elderly, which places patients at risk for comorbid conditions. Transfusion dependency identifies patients with MDS at additional increased risk of organ impairment and shortened survival.
A statistical model of the grammatical choices in child production of dative sentences

Focusing on children's production of the dative alternation in English, we examine whether children's choices are influenced by the same factors that influence adults’ choices, and whether, like adults, they are sensitive to multiple factors simultaneously. We do so by using mixed-effect regression models to analyse child and child-directed datives extracted from the Child Language Data Exchange System corpus. Such models allow us to investigate the collective and independent effects of multiple factors simultaneously. The results show that children's choices are influenced by multiple factors (length of theme and recipient, nominal expression type of both, syntactic persistence) and pattern similarly to child-directed speech. Our findings demonstrate parallels between child and adult speech, consistent with recent acquisition research suggesting that there is a usage-based continuity between child and adult grammars. Furthermore, they highlight the utility of analysing children's speech from a multi-variable perspective, and portray a learner who is sensitive to the multiple cues present in her input.
Incidence of diabetes mellitus and factors associated with its development in HIV-positive patients over the age of 50

Objective We sought to determine the incidence and factors associated with development of diabetes mellitus (DM) in older HIV-infected individuals. Research design and methods We analyzed data from people living with HIV (PLWH) ≥50 years of age enrolled in a large urban HIV outpatient clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia. Patients were categorized as having DM if they had random blood sugar ≥11.1 mmol/L, fasting blood sugar ≥7 mmol/L, HbA1C ≥6.5%, antidiabetic medication use during the follow-up period, or medical chart review confirming diagnosis of DM. We estimated the probability of developing DM, adjusting for demographic and clinical factors, using a logistic regression model. Results Among 1065 PLWH followed for a median of 13 years (25th and 75th percentile (Q1–Q3): 9-18), the incidence of DM was 1.61/100 person-years follow-up. In the analysis of factors associated with new-onset DM (n=703), 88% were male, 38% had a history of injection drug use, 43% were hepatitis C coinfected, and median body mass index was 24 kg/m2 (Q1–Q3: 21–27). Median age at antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation was 48 years (Q1–Q3: 43–53) and at DM diagnosis was 55 years (Q1–Q3: 50–61). Patients who started ART in 1997–1999 and had a longer exposure to older ART were at the highest risk of developing DM. Conclusions Among PLWH aged ≥50 years, the incidence of DM was 1.39 times higher than men in the general Canadian population of similar age. ART initiated in the early years of the epidemic and exposure to older ART appeared to be the main drivers of the development of DM.
Did European temperatures in 1540 exceed present-day records?

There is strong evidence that the year 1540 was exceptionally dry and warm in Central Europe. Here we infer 1540 summer temperatures from the number of dry days (NDDs) in spring (March–May) and summer (June–August) in 1540 derived from historical documentary evidence published elsewhere, and compare our estimates with present-day temperatures. We translate the NDD values into temperature distributions using a linear relationship between modeled temperature and NDD from a 3000 year pre-industrial control simulation with the Community Earth System Model (CESM). Our results show medium confidence that summer mean temperatures (TJJA) and maximum temperatures (TXx) in Central Europe in 1540 were warmer than the respective present-day mean summer temperatures (assessed between 1966–2015). The model-based reconstruction suggests further that with a probability of 40%–70%, the highest daily temperatures in 1540 were even warmer than in 2003, while there is at most a 20% probability that the 1540 mean summer temperature was warmer than that of 2003 in Central Europe. As with other state-of-the-art analyses, the uncertainty of the reconstructed 1540 summer weather in this study is considerable, for instance as extrapolation is required because 1540-like events are not captured by the employed Earth system model (ESM), and neither by other ESMs. However, in addition to paleoclimatological approaches we introduce here an independent methodology to estimate 1540 temperatures, and contribute consequently to a reduced overall uncertainty in the analysis of this event. The characterization of such events and the related climate system functioning is particularly relevant in the context of global warming and the corresponding increase of extreme heat wave magnitude and occurrence frequency.
The Persistence of Long-Run Abnormal Returns Following Stock Repurchases and Offerings

The long-run abnormal returns following both stock repurchases and seasoned equity offerings disappear for the events in 2003–2012. The disappearance is associated with the changing market environment: increased institutional investment, decreased trading costs, improved liquidity, and enhanced regulations on corporate governance and information disclosure. In response to the more efficient pricing of stocks, firms become less opportunistic in stock repurchases and offerings. Recent events of stock repurchases and offerings are motivated more by business-operating reasons than to exploit mispricing. Both external market factors and internal firm factors contribute to the disappearance of the postevent abnormal returns. Our findings on the recent events contrast with those of earlier studies and shed light on how the changing market environment affects both asset pricing and corporate behavior. This paper was accepted by Wei Jiang, finance.
The Analysis of the Nominal Convergence in the New Member States of the European Union

The main objective of this research is to determine the stage where stands the new Member States of the European Union, that are not part of the euro area, in terms of nominal convergence. Based on comparative analysis, the research has highlighted that Romania, along with Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic meet the criteria imposed by the Maastricht Treaty and are prepared from this point of view to join the euro area. The study also revealed the need to reform the nominal convergence criteria, because of their limitation.
Childhood cognition and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in midadulthood: the 1958 British Birth Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES We sought to establish whether associations between childhood cognition and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in adulthood are explained by common causes, or adult social position or health behavior. METHODS We analyzed associations between cognition at age 11 and cardiovascular disease risk factors at age 45 in the 1958 British birth cohort (n=9377), with and without adjustment for covariates. RESULTS General ability was inversely associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure, glycosylated hemoglobin, triglycerides (in women), body mass index, and waist circumference. Systolic blood pressure decreased by 0.47 mm Hg (95% confidence interval [CI]=-0.90, -0.05) for a 1-standard-deviation increase in ability. Separate adjustment for social class at birth, education level by adulthood, adult social class, and health behaviors reduced the associations respectively by 14% to 34%, 36% to 50%, 14% to 36%, and 24% to 73%. Full adjustment reduced associations between ability and risk factors at age 45 years by 43% to 92%, abolishing all associations. CONCLUSIONS Increments across the distribution of childhood cognition are associated with improvements in cardiovascular risk profile in midlife, with associations primarily mediated through adult health behavior and social destinations.
Regional metabolism in primary torsion dystonia

Background: The authors have previously used [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET to identify a reproducible pattern of regional glucose metabolism that was expressed in both manifesting and nonmanifesting carriers of the DYT1 primary dystonia mutation. Objective: To identify specific regions that discriminated subjects according to clinical penetrance and genotype. Methods: FDG PET was used to scan 12 nonmanifesting and 11 manifesting DYT1 gene carriers, 6 nonmanifesting DYT6 gene carriers and 7 manifesting DYT6 gene carriers, as well as 11 control subjects. The data from all five groups were analyzed with statistical parametric mapping and analysis of variance with posthoc contrasts. Results: A dissociation of metabolic changes was found related to phenotype and genotype. Manifesting gene carriers of both genotypes exhibited bilateral hypermetabolism in the presupplementary motor area (Brodmann area [BA] 6) and parietal association cortices (BA 40/7) compared with the respective nonmanifesting counterparts. By contrast, genotype-specific increases in metabolism were found in the putamen, anterior cingulate (BA 24/32), and cerebellar hemispheres of DYT1 carriers. Genotype-specific changes in DYT6 involved hypometabolism of the putamen and hypermetabolism in the temporal cortex (BA 21). Conclusions: Dystonia may be associated with abnormal movement preparation caused by defective sensorimotor integration. Whereas clinical manifestations are related to cortical dysfunction, metabolic abnormalities in subcortical structures may represent trait features that are specific for individual dystonia genotypes.