Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantification of nonpolar organic micropollutants in a wastewater treatment plant by GC×GC: method development, occurrence, and assessment of partitioning

This paper presents the development and validation of a method of extraction and quantification of various nonpolar organic micropollutants in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influent, effluent, primary sludge, and secondary sludge matrices (including the liquid and particle phases). Analysis was performed by a comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatograph (GC×GC) coupled to micro-electron capture detector (μECD). The 59 target analytes included polychlorinated naphthalenes, toxaphenes, organochlorine pesticides, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as well as emerging persistent and bioaccumulative nonpolar chemicals. Quantification of analyte concentrations in sample extracts involved: the use of the internal standard method; a correction using compoundand matrixspecific recoveries; and a peak volume correction based on method blanks. The method is reliable for a wide range of nonpolar micropollutants in all matrices, as indicated by the good intra-day precision, inter-day precision, and relative recovery values. Specifically, for most of the analytes, relative recovery fell between 70% and 130% in all matrix types. Analysis of influent, effluent, primary sludge and secondary sludge samples revealed the occurrence of the following lessstudied wastewater micropollutants: PBDE-10, PBDE-116, and pentachloronitrobenzene. Based on measured concentrations we used a three-way partitioning model between the aqueous phase, particulate organic matter (POM), and dissolved organic matter (DOM) to quantify apparent organic solid-water partition coefficients (Kp) of target micropollutants in the WWTP samples. Our findings indicate that sorption to DOM can contribute significantly to the apparent solid-liquid distribution of nonpolar organic micropollutants.
Maternal labor force participation and differences by education in an urban birth cohort study - 1998-2010.

BACKGROUND Maternal labor force participation has increased dramatically over the last 40 years, yet surprisingly little is known about longitudinal patterns of maternal labor force participation in the years after a birth, or how these patterns vary by education. OBJECTIVE We document variation by maternal education in mothers' labor force participation (timing, intensity, non-standard work, multiple job-holding) over the first nine years after the birth of a child. METHODS We use the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N~3000) to predict longitudinal labor force participation in a recent longitudinal sample of mothers who gave birth in large US cities between 1998 and 2000. Families were followed until children were age 9, through 2010. RESULTS Labor force participation gradually increases in the years after birth for mothers with high school or less education, whereas for mothers with some college or more, participation increases between ages 1 and 3 and then remains mostly stable thereafter. Mothers with less than high school education have the highest rates of unemployment (actively seeking work), which remain high compared with all other education groups, whose unemployment declines over time. Compared with all other education groups, mothers with some college have the highest rates of labor force participation, but also high rates of part-time employment, non-standard work, and multiple job-holding. CONTRIBUTION Simple conceptualizations of labor force participation do not fully capture the dynamics of labor force attachment for mothers in terms of intensity, timing of entry, and type of work hours, as well as differences by maternal education.
Running Head : TREATMENT FOR CHILDREN OF FIRST RESPONDERS 1 A Randomized Controlled Clinical Treatment Trial for Children of First Responders involved in the World Trade Center Attack

Previous research has suggested a relationship between exposure to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and a resulting diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Prior research has focused on Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT). However, this relationship has not been closely examined with children in regards to virtual reality exposure. This study examined both the previously researched imaginal exposure and experimental virtual reality exposure in children and whether there was a lower incidence of PTSD in relation to one treatment.
Adaptive Transient Fault Model for Sensor Attack Detection

This paper considers the problem of sensor attack detection for multiple operating mode systems, building upon an existing attack detection method that uses a transient fault model with fixed parameters. For a multiple operating mode system, the existing method would have to use the most conservative model parameters to preserve the soundness in attack detection, thus not being effective in attack detection for some operating modes. To address this problem, we propose an adaptive transient fault model to use the appropriate parameter values in accordance with the change of the operating mode of the system. The benefit of our proposed system is demonstrated using real measurement data obtained from an unmanned ground vehicle.
Regulation of NOTCH signaling by RAB7 and RAB8 requires carboxyl methylation by ICMT

Isoprenylcysteine carboxyl methyltransferase (ICMT) methylesterifies C-terminal prenylcysteine residues of CaaX proteins and some RAB GTPases. Deficiency of either ICMT or NOTCH1 accelerates pancreatic neoplasia in Pdx1-Cre;LSL-KrasG12D mice, suggesting that ICMT is required for NOTCH signaling. We used Drosophila melanogaster wing vein and scutellar bristle development to screen Rab proteins predicted to be substrates for ICMT (ste14 in flies). We identified Rab7 and Rab8 as ICMT substrates that when silenced phenocopy ste14 deficiency. ICMT, RAB7, and RAB8 were all required for efficient NOTCH1 signaling in mammalian cells. Overexpression of RAB8 rescued NOTCH activation after ICMT knockdown both in U2OS cells expressing NOTCH1 and in fly wing vein development. ICMT deficiency induced mislocalization of GFP-RAB7 and GFP-RAB8 from endomembrane to cytosol, enhanced binding to RABGDI, and decreased GTP loading of RAB7 and RAB8. Deficiency of ICMT, RAB7, or RAB8 led to mislocalization and diminished processing of NOTCH1-GFP. Thus, NOTCH signaling requires ICMT in part because it requires methylated RAB7 and RAB8.
Clinical Decision Support Tool for Parental Tobacco Treatment in Hospitalized Children

Summary Objectives To create and evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and usability of a clinical decision support (CDS) tool within the electronic health record (EHR) to help pediatricians provide smoking cessation counseling and treatment to parents of hospitalized children exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS). Methods Mixed method study of first-year pediatric residents on one inpatient unit. Residents received training in smoking cessation counseling, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) prescribing, and use of a CDS tool to aid in this process. The tool, which alerted when a patient was identified as exposed to SHS based on the history taken on admission or during a prior encounter, had the following capabilities: adding SHS exposure to the patient’s problem list; referral to Free Quitline through discharge instructions; and linking to a printable NRT prescription form. We measured feasibility by EHR utilization data. We measured acceptability and usability of the tool by administering questionnaires to residents. Results From June-August 2015, the alert triggered for 106 patients, and the tool was used for 52 (49%) patients. 41 (39%) patients had SHS exposure added to the problem list, 34 (32%) parents were referred to the Quitline through discharge instructions, and 15 (14%) parents were prescribed NRT. 10 out of 15 (67%) eligible pediatricians used the tool. All clinicians surveyed (9 out of 10) found the tool acceptable and rated its usability good to excellent (average System Usability Scale score was 85 out of 100, 95% CI, 76-93). Conclusions A non-interruptive CDS tool to help residents provide smoking cessation counseling in the hospital was feasible, acceptable, and usable. Future work will investigate impacts on patient outcomes.
Psychological Group-Treatments of Social Anxiety Disorder: A Meta-Analysis

Background A few meta-analyses have examined psychological treatments for a social anxiety disorder (SAD). This is the first meta-analysis that examines the effects of cognitive behavioural group therapies (CBGT) for SAD compared to control on symptoms of anxiety. Method After a systematic literature search in PubMed, Cochrane, PsychINFO and Embase was conducted; eleven studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. The studies had to be randomized controlled studies in which individuals with a diagnosed SAD were treated with cognitive-behavioural group therapy (CBGT) and compared with a control group. The overall quality of the studies was moderate. Results The pooled effect size indicated that the difference between intervention and control conditions was 0.53 (96% CI: 0.33–0.73), in favour of the intervention. This corresponds to a NNT 3.24. Heterogeneity was low to moderately high in all analyses. There was some indication of publication bias. Conclusions It was found that psychological group-treatments CBGT are more effective than control conditions in patients with SAD. Since heterogeneity between studies was high, more research comparing group psychotherapies for SAD to control is needed.
Disrupted dynamic network reconfiguration of the language system in temporal lobe epilepsy

Temporal lobe epilepsy tends to reshape the language system causing maladaptive reorganization that can be characterized by task-based functional MRI, and eventually can contribute to surgical decision making processes. However, the dynamic interacting nature of the brain as a complex system is often neglected, with many studies treating the language system as a static monolithic structure. Here, we demonstrate that as a specialized and integrated system, the language network is inherently dynamic, characterized by rich patterns of regional interactions, whose transient dynamics are disrupted in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Specifically, we applied tools from dynamic network neuroscience to functional MRI data collected from 50 temporal lobe epilepsy patients and 30 matched healthy controls during performance of a verbal fluency task, as well as during rest. By assigning 16 language-related regions into four subsystems (i.e. bilateral frontal and temporal), we observed regional specialization in both the probability of transient interactions and the frequency of such changes, in both healthy controls and patients during task performance but not rest. Furthermore, we found that both left and right temporal lobe epilepsy patients displayed reduced interactions within the left frontal 'core' subsystem compared to the healthy controls, while left temporal lobe epilepsy patients were unique in showing enhanced interactions between the left frontal 'core' and the right temporal subsystems. Also, both patient groups displayed reduced flexibility in the transient interactions of the left temporal and right frontal subsystems, which formed the 'periphery' of the language network. Importantly, such group differences were again evident only during task condition. Lastly, through random forest regression, we showed that dynamic reconfiguration of the language system tracks individual differences in verbal fluency with superior prediction accuracy compared to traditional activation-based static measures. Our results suggest dynamic network measures may be an effective biomarker for detecting the language dysfunction associated with neurological diseases such as temporal lobe epilepsy, specifying both the type of neuronal communications that are missing in these patients and those that are potentially added but maladaptive. Further advancements along these lines, transforming how we characterize and map language networks in the brain, have a high probability of altering clinical decision making in neurosurgical centres.10. 1093/brain/awy042_video1awy042media15754656112001.
Parasite Carbohydrate Vaccines

Vaccination is an efficient means of combating infectious disease burden globally. However, routine vaccines for the world's major human parasitic diseases do not yet exist. Vaccines based on carbohydrate antigens are a viable option for parasite vaccine development, given the proven success of carbohydrate vaccines to combat bacterial infections. We will review the key components of carbohydrate vaccines that have remained largely consistent since their inception, and the success of bacterial carbohydrate vaccines. We will then explore the latest developments for both traditional and non-traditional carbohydrate vaccine approaches for three of the world's major protozoan parasitic diseases—malaria, toxoplasmosis, and leishmaniasis. The traditional prophylactic carbohydrate vaccine strategy is being explored for malaria. However, given that parasite disease biology is complex and often arises from host immune responses to parasite antigens, carbohydrate vaccines against deleterious immune responses in host-parasite interactions are also being explored. In particular, the highly abundant glycosylphosphatidylinositol molecules specific for Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, and Leishmania spp. are considered exploitable antigens for this non-traditional vaccine approach. Discussion will revolve around the application of these protozoan carbohydrate antigens for vaccines currently in preclinical development.
The Densification and Diametral Compression Strength of Isi- Ogwuta Clay

The diametral compression strength of clay was investigated. The clay sample was analyzed to ascertain its chemical composition and mineralogical constituent. The diametral clay discs were produced using a uniaxial cold pressing hydraulic press and sintered at a predetermined temperature and time (1200℃ and 15 minutes). Two diameters (D) of discs of 23mm and 29mm were used with varying thicknesses (3mm-10mm). The effect of disc thickness with intent to qualitatively define the plane stress and the plane strain fracture conditions of the clay was undertaken. The plane stress condition was obtained by discs with thickness ≤ 1 ⁄ 4 D for 23mm and 29mm whilst the plane strain condition was obtained by testing discs of thickness > 1 ⁄ 4 D. The diametral compression strength of discs of thicknesses 3 − 10mm gave a range of 14.6 − 5.5MPa for samples of 23mm diameter whilst a range of 5.8 − 2.2MPa was obtained for samples of 29mm diameter. Greater numbers of 29mm diameter samples failed in the normal tensile fracture mode whilst more samples of 23mm diameter failed in the triple-cleft fracture mode. 23mm diameter discs gave higher values of Weibull moduli in comparison with the values obtained for discs of 29mm diameter indicating the flaws sampled in the 23mm diameter were of the same severity. Pores were observed to be singularly effective as initiation sites for failure as shown by the negative slope of the effect of porosity on the strength of clay.
Association between Virulence and Triazole Tolerance in the Phytopathogenic Fungus Mycosphaerella graminicola

Host resistance and synthetic antimicrobials such as fungicides are two of the main approaches used to control plant diseases in conventional agriculture. Although pathogens often evolve to overcome host resistance and antimicrobials, the majority of reports have involved qualitative host – pathogen interactions or antimicrobials targeting a single pathogen protein or metabolic pathway. Studies that consider jointly the evolution of virulence, defined as the degree of damage caused to a host by parasite infection, and antimicrobial resistance are rare. Here we compared virulence and fungicide tolerance in the fungal pathogen Mycosphaerella graminicola sampled from wheat fields across three continents and found a positive correlation between virulence and tolerance to a triazole fungicide. We also found that quantitative host resistance selected for higher pathogen virulence. The possible mechanisms responsible for these observations and their consequences for sustainable disease management are discussed.
Genetic Diversity in Introduced Golden Mussel Populations Corresponds to Vector Activity

We explored possible links between vector activity and genetic diversity in introduced populations of Limnoperna fortunei by characterizing the genetic structure in native and introduced ranges in Asia and South America. We surveyed 24 populations: ten in Asia and 14 in South America using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, as well as eight polymorphic microsatellite markers. We performed population genetics and phylogenetic analyses to investigate population genetic structure across native and introduced regions. Introduced populations in Asia exhibit higher genetic diversity (H E = 0.667–0.746) than those in South America (H E = 0.519–0.575), suggesting higher introduction effort for the former populations. We observed pronounced geographical structuring in introduced regions, as indicated by both mitochondrial and nuclear markers based on multiple genetic analyses including pairwise ФST, F ST, Bayesian clustering method, and three-dimensional factorial correspondence analyses. Pairwise F ST values within both Asia (F ST = 0.017–0.126, P = 0.000–0.009) and South America (F ST = 0.004–0.107, P = 0.000–0.721) were lower than those between continents (F ST = 0.180–0.319, P = 0.000). Fine-scale genetic structuring was also apparent among introduced populations in both Asia and South America, suggesting either multiple introductions of distinct propagules or strong post-introduction selection and demographic stochasticity. Higher genetic diversity in Asia as compared to South America is likely due to more frequent propagule transfers associated with higher shipping activities between source and donor regions within Asia. This study suggests that the intensity of human-mediated introduction vectors influences patterns of genetic diversity in non-indigenous species.
Protective effect of 3-hydroxybutyrate against endoplasmic reticulum stress-associated vascular endothelial cell damage induced by low glucose exposure

Aims/Hypothesis The aim of this study was to elucidate the mechanism by which severe hypoglycemia accelerates vascular complications. Furthermore, we assessed the possible protective effect of ketone bodies against the endothelial cell damage caused by glucose deficiency. Methods Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were cultured at a glucose level of either 0.56 or 5.6 mmol/L with or without 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-HB) supplementation. Cell viability was assessed with a CCK-8 assay and a lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay. The activity of caspases was measured using fluorogenic substrates. The expression of genes associated with endothelial cell function and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was evaluated by real-time quantitative PCR. Protein levels of ER stress-related molecules were assessed by Western blotting. Results Culture of HUVECs in low-glucose medium for 24 or 48 h resulted in reduction of cell viability accompanied by activation of caspase-3/7 and caspase-8. The addition of a pan caspase inhibitor attenuated the cell death. After incubation in the low-glucose medium, we found reduced mRNA and protein levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. ER stress responses mediated by phosphorylation of protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (PERK) and cleavage of activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) were augmented, but X-box binding protein 1 (Xbp1) splicing was reduced. Most of these responses to glucose deficiency were significantly attenuated by supplementation with 3-HB. Conclusions/Interpretation These observations showed that exposure to low glucose induces ER stress, caspase activation, endothelial cell dysfunction and cell death. The beneficial effects of 3-HB shown in this study suggest that hypoketonemic severe hypoglycemia induced by insulin injections or insulin secretagogue administration may be more harmful than hyperketonemic severe hypoglycemia.
Profile and burden of care among caregivers of Ultra-Orthodox Frail Elders

ABSTRACT Objective: A paucity of research exists on burden of care (BoC) and factors associated with it among minority groups, such as Ultra-Orthodox Jews. The aims of this study were (1) to portray the profile of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish (UOJ) caregivers and their BoC; (2) to explore relations between care recipients' characteristics, care situations, characteristics of caregivers, and BoC. Methods: A total of 107 UOJ (66 women, 41 men) family caregivers were interviewed face to face in their homes, using valid and reliable measures. Results: Participants reported moderate BoC and high level of social support. Caregiver's self-rated health, caregiver's anxiety, and social support emerged as significant predictors of caregiver burden. Conclusions: Our findings might help social workers and other health professionals to better understand the unique characteristics of the UOJ community and to target caregivers with higher anxiety, lesser social support, and poorer self-rated health in order to reduce their caregiving burden.
Scaling up: A guide to high‐throughput genomic approaches for biodiversity analysis

The purpose of this review is to present the most common and emerging DNA‐based methods used to generate data for biodiversity and biomonitoring studies. As environmental assessment and monitoring programmes may require biodiversity information at multiple levels, we pay particular attention to the DNA metabarcoding method and discuss a number of bioinformatic tools and considerations for producing DNA‐based indicators using operational taxonomic units (OTUs), taxa at a variety of ranks and community composition. By developing the capacity to harness the advantages provided by the newest technologies, investigators can “scale up” by increasing the number of samples and replicates processed, the frequency of sampling over time and space, and even the depth of sampling such as by sequencing more reads per sample or more markers per sample. The ability to scale up is made possible by the reduced hands‐on time and cost per sample provided by the newest kits, platforms and software tools. Results gleaned from broad‐scale monitoring will provide opportunities to address key scientific questions linked to biodiversity and its dynamics across time and space as well as being more relevant for policymakers, enabling science‐based decision‐making, and provide a greater socio‐economic impact. As genomic approaches are continually evolving, we provide this guide to methods used in biodiversity genomics.
Morphing and Shape Control using Unsymmetrical Composites

Unsymmetrical carbon fiber/epoxy composites with bonded piezoelectric actuators are investigated as a means to shape or morph, the composite structures. Both a cantilever and unsupported laminate structure are examined along with their response to applied strains (from piezoelectric actuators) and applied mechanical load; with particular emphasis on the characterization of shape/deflection, the influence of externally applied mechanical loads and methods of reversing or promoting snap-through of these materials from one stable state to another. A variety of shape change/actuation modes for such structures have been identified namely, (i) reversible actuation by maintaining a constant stable state using piezoelectric actuation, (ii) an increased degree of shape change by irreversible snap-through using piezoelectric actuation and (iii) reversible snap-through using combined piezoelectric actuation and an externally applied load.