Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Fenton and Photo-Fenton Processes for Livestock Wastewater Treatment

In this study, the photochemical degradation of livestock wastewater was carried out by the Fenton and Photo-Fenton processes. The effects of pH, reaction time, the molar ratio of Fe2 +/H2O2, and the Fe2 + dose were studied. The optimal conditions for the Fenton and Photo-Fenton processes were found to be at a pH of 4 and 5, an Fe2 + dose of 0.066 M and 0.01 M, a concentration of hydrogen peroxide of 0.2 M and 0.1 M, and a molar ratio (Fe2 +/H2O2) of 0.33 and 0.1, respectively. The optimal reaction times in the Fenton and Photo-Fenton processes were 60 min and 80 min, respectively. Under the optimal conditions of the Fenton and Photo-Fenton processes, the chemical oxygen demand (COD), color, and fecal coliform removal efficiencies were approximately 70–79, 70–85 and 96.0–99.4%, respectively.
L'emiciclo del Circo Massimo nell'utilizzazione post classica

Paola Brandizzi-Vittucci, L'emiciclo del Circo Massimo nell'utilizzazione post classica, p. 7-40. ; ; Gli scavi effettuati nella zona dell'emiciclo del Circo Massimo hanno consentito di pervenire, attraverso l'analisi dei dati stratigrafici, alla periodizzazione delle attivita connesse con l'utilizzazione post-classica dell'area. Le testimonianze archeologiche, lette anche in rapporto alle fonti, hanno permesso di riconoscere le fasi di una frequentazione che si e constatata ininterrotta dall'epoca della tarda funzionalita del circo ai tempi moderni. Ne deriva un contributo alla conoscenza dell'assetto e dell'evoluzione della topografia dell'intera area, in cui si riconoscono, tra l'altro, emergenze che possono essere ricondotte all'impianto e all'esercizio della diaconia di S. Lucia, all'acquedotto denominato «forma Iupia» e alla canalizzazione ed utilizzazione della Marrana dell'Acqua Mariana.
Fluency variation in adolescents

The Speech Fluency Profile of fluent adolescent speakers of Brazilian Portuguese, were examined with respect to gender and neurolinguistic variations. Speech samples of 130 male and female adolescents, aged between 12;0 and 17;11 years were gathered. They were analysed according to type of speech disruption; speech rate; and frequency of speech disruptions. Statistical analysis did not find significant differences between genders for the variables studied. However, regarding the phases of adolescence (early: 12;0–14;11 years; late: 15;0–17;11 years), statistical differences were observed for all of the variables. As for neurolinguistic maturation, a decrease in the number of speech disruptions and an increase in speech rate occurred during the final phase of adolescence, indicating that the maturation of the motor and linguistic processes exerted an influence over the fluency profile of speech.
Quality of Sage (Salvia officinalis L.) Essential Oil Grown in Egypt

Salvia officinalis (Lamiaceae) is one of the most important medicinal plants has powerful biological activity and pharmacological properties. This work reports the essential oil content and its composition of Salvia officinalis grown in Egypt, and determines their active constituents. The volatile oil content has been analyzed by GC/MS. The GC/MS revealed the presence of camphore (23.38%), α-thujone (22.82%), sclareol (10.46%), β-thujone (9.96%), 1,8-cineole (7.83%), γ-selinene (7.73%), α-humulene (5.59%), caryophyllene, (3.16%), borneol (3.06%), limonene (1.74%) and humulene epoxide (1.02%)which represents the main compounds of volatile oil extracted from Salvia officinalis fresh herb.
Blood–brain barrier: An impediment to neuropharmaceuticals

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) serves as a highly selective barrier separating the central nervous system from the systemic circulation. Although contributing to neurological health, the BBB restricts the ability of drugs to reach their site of action and thus presents a major challenge to the treatment of neurological disorders. Advances in our understanding of the complexity of the BBB have fostered development of novel pharmacometric models and drug delivery strategies to better predict and improve therapeutic access.
A novel approach for preparing anti‐T cell receptor constant region antibodies

To obtain antibodies against the individual chains of the T cell receptor (TCR) complex, we have produced chimeric proteins containing domains from immunoglobulin (Ig) and TCR polypeptide chains. Basically, the Ig light chains were used as carriers for the TCR constant (C) region domains. The exons which encode the main body of the C regions of the α, β and the related γ polypeptide chains were “engineered” into the intronic region between the rearranged Ig variable (V) region and Cx region genes. All three chimeric genes were expressed in myeloma cells, and the proteins of expected apparent molecular weight were produced. Secreted proteins containing the Cβ domain were purified from the culture supernatant by using anti‐x antibody affinity columns, and two rabbits were then immunized with the purified protein. Both rabbits produced antibodies able to immunoprecipitate the heterodimeric TCR protein.
Dysregulation of HER2/HER3 Signaling Axis in Epstein-Barr Virus-Infected Breast Carcinoma Cells

ABSTRACT The role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in the pathogenesis of breast cancer has been of long-standing interest to the field. Breast epithelial cells can be infected by EBV through direct contact with EBV-bearing lymphoblastoid cells, and EBV infection has recently been shown to confer breast cancer cells an increased resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. In this study, we established EBV-infected breast cancer MCF7 and BT474 cells and demonstrated that EBV infection promotes tumorigenic activity of breast cancer cells. Firstly, we showed that the EBV-infected MCF7-A and BT474-A cells exhibited increased anchorage-independent growth in soft agar. The increased colony formation capacity in soft agar was associated with increased expression and activation of HER2/HER3 signaling cascades, as evidenced by the findings that the treatment of HER2 antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase inhibitor, or MEK inhibitor completely abolished the tumorigenic capacity. In the EBV-infected breast cancer cells, the expression of EBV latency genes including EBNA1, EBER1, and BARF0 was detected. We next showed that BARF0 alone was sufficient to efficiently up-regulate HER2/HER3 expression and promoted tumorigenic activity in MCF7 and BT474 cells by the use of both overexpression and small interfering RNA knock-down. Collectively, we demonstrated that EBV-encoded BARF0 promotes the tumorigenic activity of breast cancer cells through activation of HER2/HER3 signaling cascades.
Les patients face aux modifications de traitement après une hospitalisation : intérêt du pharmacien clinicien dans la conciliation médicamenteuse de sortie

La lutte contre l'iatrogenie medicamenteuse est un enjeu majeur de sante publique. Pour y repondre, le concept de conciliation medicamenteuse et de pharmacie clinique sont en plein developpement mais restent peu pratiques en sortie d'hospitalisation. L'impact est pourtant preoccupant et nous pousse a ameliorer cet aspect de la prise en charge. Notre etude, ciblee sur la sortie du patient, combine une analyse pharmaceutique de l'ordonnance de sortie au concept de conciliation medicamenteuse. Elle a permis d'intercepter des erreurs medicamenteuses avant la sortie du patient, d'eviter des modifications de traitement non justifiees et d'optimiser l'ordonnance de sortie. L'avis des patients a ete pris en compte et demontre leur besoin d'etre informe sur leurs traitements et les modifications apportees par l'hospitalisation. Notre etude demontre l'interet du pharmacien clinicien et sa collaboration avec le service de soins dans la prise en charge medicamenteuse du patient sortant.
Phosphodiesterase type 5 expression in human and rat lower urinary tract tissues and the effect of tadalafil on prostate gland oxygenation in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

INTRODUCTION In humans, prostate phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5) expression was prominently localized in the endothelial and smooth muscle cells of the vascular bed, suggesting a possible action of PDE5 inhibitors (PDE5i) on prostate blood flow. AIM To investigate PDE5 expression in human and rat lower urinary tract (LUT) tissues, including vasculature, and determine the effects of PDE5 inhibition with tadalafil on prostatic blood perfusion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Human vesicular-deferential arteries (which originate from the inferior vesical artery, the main arterial source of blood supply to the bladder and prostate) were analyzed for PDE5 expression and activity. The effects of tadalafil on prostate oxygenation were studied in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), characterized by ischemia/hypoxia of the genitourinary tract. METHODS PDE5 expression was evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry. SHR were treated with tadalafil (2 mg/kg/day) for 1, 7, or 28 days and compared with untreated SHR and the unaffected counterpart Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. Prostate oxygenation was detected by Hypoxyprobe-1 and hypoxia markers (hypoxia-inducible factor-1α[HIF-1α] and endothelin-1 type B [ETB]) immunostaining. RESULTS Human vesicular-deferential artery expressed high levels of PDE5, similar to corpora cavernosa, immunolocalized in the endothelial and smooth muscle layer. In these arteries, tadalafil inhibited cyclic guanosine monophosphate breakdown (half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC(50) ) in the low nanomolar range, as in corpora cavernosa) and increased the relaxant response to sodium nitroprusside. SHR prostate resulted markedly hypoxic (hypoxyprobe immunopositivity) and positive for HIF-1α and ETB, while tadalafil treatment restored oxygenation to WKY level at each time point. The mRNA expression of the HIF-1α target gene, BCL2/adenovirus E1B 19 kDa interacting protein 3, was significantly increased in SHR prostate and partially restored to WKY level by tadalafil. CONCLUSION Human vesicular-deferential artery is characterized by a high expression and activity of PDE5, which was inhibited by tadalafil in vitro. In SHR, tadalafil increases prostate tissue oxygenation, thus suggesting a possible mechanism through which PDE5i exert beneficial effects on LUT symptoms.
The Properties of Simple Vs. Absolute Majority Rule: Cases Where Absences and Abstentions Are Important

Little attention has been paid to the differences between absolute majority rule and simple majority rule, which differ in their treatment of absences and ‘votes to abstain’. This article fills that gap by undertaking a probabilistic analysis of the two voting rules assuming two alternatives and a quorum requirement for simple majority rule. The rules are compared in both a modified sincere setting and a strategic setting using five criteria: (1) the Pareto criterion, (2) the BT criterion (Buchanan and Tullock, 1962), (3) the Expected Social Gain criterion, (4) the Responsiveness criterion, and (5) a modified version of Rae’s criterion. In the sincere setting, we find that simple majority rule (with and without a quorum) outperforms absolute majority rule under most conditions for four out of the five criteria. In the strategic setting, we find that the voting rules perform much more similarly.
The effect of organic selenium supplementation on productive and physiological performance in a local strain of chicken. 1 - the effect of organic selenium (Sel-PlexTM) on productive, reproductive and physiological traits of Bandarah local strain.

the effect of selenium yeast (Sel- Plex™) as dietary organic selenium supplementation on the productive, reproductive and physiological traits of Bandarah local chickens from 40 to 60 weeks of age was studied. One hundred and sixty females and forty males at 40 weeks of age were distributed randomly among four treatment groups (40 females and 10 males in each group). Females and males were fed on a basal diet supplemented with 0.0, 0.1, 0.2 or 0.3 mg Se / kg diet in the form of Sel- Plex™. The obtained results indicated that the live body weight was significantly increased in females and males fed Sel-Plex™ supplementation, while no significant effect on feed consumption. Live body weight of females was significantly increased with increase of hens age, but no significant effect on feed consumption as the age of birds increased. Egg production percentage, egg weight, egg quality (Haugh unit, egg yolk index and shell thickness) and selenium content in yolk and albumen were significantly increased for hens fed Sel-Plex™ supplementation compared with those in control group. All previous mentioned traits were significantly affected by hen's age. Semen ejaculate volume, advanced motility (%), alive sperm (%) and sperm concentration were significantly increased by Sel- Plex™ supplementation in cock's diet. These traits were not significantly affected by cock age except for sperm concentration which was increased (P ≤ 0.05) at 56 and 60 weeks of age. Sel-Plex™ supplementation at 0.2 and 0.3 mg in females and males diet significantly increased the concentrations of total protein, globulin, glutathione peroxidase, selenium, triiodotherionine (T3), hemoglobin(Hb), RBCs and WBCs while, no
Dynamics for variable length multisection continuum arms

Variable length multisection continuum arms are a class of continuum robotic manipulators that generate motion by structural mechanical deformation. Unlike most continuum robots, the sections of these arms do not have (central) supporting flexible backbone, and are actuated by multiple variable length actuators. Because of the constraining nature of actuators, the continuum sections can bend and/or elongate (compress) depending on the elongation/contraction characteristics of the actuators being used. Continuum arms have a number of distinctive differences with respect to traditional rigid arms namely: smooth bending, high inherent compliance, and adaptive whole arm grasping. However, due to numerical instability and the complexity of curve parametric models, there are no spatial dynamic models for multisection continuum arms. This paper introduces novel spatial dynamics and applies these to variable length multisection continuum arms with any number of sections. An efficient recursive computational scheme for deriving the equations of motion is presented. This is applied in a general form based on structurally accurate and numerically well-posed modal kinematics that assumes circular arc deformation of continuum sections without torsion. It is shown that the proposed modal dynamics are highly scalable, producing efficient and accurate numerical results. The spatial dynamic simulation results are experimentally validated using a pneumatic muscle actuated multisection prototype continuum arm. For the first time this enables investigation of spatial dynamic effects in this class of continuum arms.
Fast multidimensional ensemble empirical mode decomposition for the analysis of big spatio-temporal datasets

In this big data era, it is more urgent than ever to solve two major issues: (i) fast data transmission methods that can facilitate access to data from non-local sources and (ii) fast and efficient data analysis methods that can reveal the key information from the available data for particular purposes. Although approaches in different fields to address these two questions may differ significantly, the common part must involve data compression techniques and a fast algorithm. This paper introduces the recently developed adaptive and spatio-temporally local analysis method, namely the fast multidimensional ensemble empirical mode decomposition (MEEMD), for the analysis of a large spatio-temporal dataset. The original MEEMD uses ensemble empirical mode decomposition to decompose time series at each spatial grid and then pieces together the temporal–spatial evolution of climate variability and change on naturally separated timescales, which is computationally expensive. By taking advantage of the high efficiency of the expression using principal component analysis/empirical orthogonal function analysis for spatio-temporally coherent data, we design a lossy compression method for climate data to facilitate its non-local transmission. We also explain the basic principles behind the fast MEEMD through decomposing principal components instead of original grid-wise time series to speed up computation of MEEMD. Using a typical climate dataset as an example, we demonstrate that our newly designed methods can (i) compress data with a compression rate of one to two orders; and (ii) speed-up the MEEMD algorithm by one to two orders.
Relationship between regional spending on vascular care and amputation rate.

IMPORTANCE Although lower extremity revascularization is effective in preventing amputation, the relationship between spending on vascular care and regional amputation rates remains unclear. OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that higher regional spending on vascular care is associated with lower amputation rates for patients with severe peripheral arterial disease. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Retrospective cohort study of 18,463 US Medicare patients who underwent a major peripheral arterial disease-related amputation during the period between 2003 and 2010. EXPOSURE Price-adjusted Medicare spending on revascularization procedures and related vascular care in the year before lower extremity amputation, across hospital referral regions. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Correlation coefficient between regional spending on vascular care and regional rates of peripheral arterial disease-related amputation. RESULTS Among patients who ultimately underwent an amputation, 64% were admitted to the hospital in the year prior to the amputation for revascularization, wound-related care, or both; 36% were admitted only for their amputation. The mean cost of inpatient care in the year before amputation, including costs related to the amputation procedure itself, was $22,405, but it varied from $11,077 (Bismarck, North Dakota) to $42,613 (Salinas, California) (P < .001). Patients in high-spending regions were more likely to undergo vascular procedures as determined by crude analyses (12.0 procedures per 10,000 patients in the lowest quintile of spending and 20.4 procedures per 10,000 patients in the highest quintile of spending; P < .001) and by risk-adjusted analyses (adjusted odds ratio for receiving a vascular procedure in highest quintile of spending, 3.5 [95% CI, 3.2-3.8]; P < .001). Although revascularization was associated with higher spending (R = 0.38, P < .001), higher spending was not associated with lower regional amputation rates (R = 0.10, P = .06). The regions that were most aggressive in the use of endovascular interventions were the regions that were most likely to have high spending (R = 0.42, P = .002) and high amputation rates (R = 0.40, P = .004). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Regions that spend the most on vascular care perform the most procedures, especially endovascular interventions, in the year before amputation. However, there is little evidence that higher regional spending is associated with lower amputation rates. This suggests an opportunity to limit costs in vascular care without compromising quality.
High concentrations of soluble P-selectin are associated with risk of venous thromboembolism and the P-selectin Thr715 variant.

BACKGROUND The cell adhesion molecule P-selectin has an important role in the pathophysiology of thrombosis. The effect on venous thromboembolism (VTE) of increased circulating concentrations of soluble P-selectin (sP-selectin) and their association with the P-selectin variant Thr715Pro is still uncertain. METHODS This study was a case-control study of 116 patients with confirmed recurrent VTE and at least 1 event of unprovoked deep venous thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, and 129 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals. We measured sP-selectin by ELISA and P-selectin gene (SELP) variation by genotyping and sampled blood after a mean interval of 2.55 years after the most recent VTE event. RESULTS The mean (SD) sP-selectin concentration was higher in patients than in controls: 47.3 (15.0) microg/L vs 36.8 (11.0) microg/L, P <0.001. The unadjusted odds ratio (OR) for sP-selectin >55.1 microg/L, representing the 95th percentile for controls, was 8.5 (95% CI, 3.7-23.3; P <0.001) and increased after adjustment for factor V Leiden, the prothrombin G20210A variant, increased factor VIII, and hyperhomocysteinemia (OR, 10.6; 95% CI, 4.1-31.2; P <0.001). Pro715 carriers were more prevalent among controls than patients (21.7% vs 14.7%). sP-selectin concentrations were lower in this subgroup than in noncarriers: 31.3 (7.9) microg/L vs 44.1 (14.1) microg/L; P <0.001). CONCLUSIONS Increased sP-selectin concentrations are associated with VTE and genotype status. sP-selectin concentrations are lower in individuals carrying the P-selectin Pro715 variant than in those without this variant.
The "EyeCane", a new electronic travel aid for the blind: Technology, behavior & swift learning.

PURPOSE Independent mobility is one of the most pressing problems facing people who are blind. We present the EyeCane, a new mobility aid aimed at increasing perception of environment beyond what is provided by the traditional White Cane for tasks such as distance estimation, navigation and obstacle detection. METHODS The "EyeCane" enhances the traditional White Cane by using tactile and auditory output to increase detectable distance and angles. It circumvents the technical pitfalls of other devices, such as weight, short battery life, complex interface schemes, and slow learning curve. It implements multiple beams to enables detection of obstacles at different heights, and narrow beams to provide active sensing that can potentially increase the user's spatial perception of the environment. Participants were tasked with using the EyeCane for several basic tasks with minimal training. RESULTS Blind and blindfolded-sighted participants were able to use the EyeCane successfully for distance estimation, simple navigation and simple obstacle detection after only several minutes of training. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate the EyeCane's potential for mobility rehabilitation. The short training time is especially important since available mobility training resources are limited, not always available, and can be quite expensive and/or entail long waiting periods.