Evaluating Membrane Bioreactors for Removal of Contaminants of Emerging Concern using Analytical Chemistry and Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas) Exposure

Wastewater originates from industrial, commercial, and residential sources. Each source has the potential to add contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) that may interact with an organism’s cellular pathways and metabolic processes. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are built to remove macro pollutants, nutrients, and microorganisms through three-stage processes but are not optimized for CEC removal. In the three-stage process primary treatment removes macro-pollutants, tertiary treatment disinfects, and the secondary treatment removes micro-pollutants such as CECs. Secondary treatment technologies range from well-established oxidation treatments to membrane bioreactors (MBR). Oxidation treatments use agitators to promote bacterial growth and nutrient removal, while MBRs uses a similar biological treatment but add membrane filtration. Studies have shown that the effluent released after oxidation treatments still contains CECs. While studies on MBR have shown better removal of CECs than oxidation treatments it is not known how the effluent affect exposed fish. The Hutchinson, MN WWTP splits its primary treatment effluent into both a MBR treatment and oxidation treatment allowing for direct comparison of the efficacy of CEC removal. The objective of the current study was to compare CEC removal efficacy between these wastewater treatment technologies through analytical chemistry and replicate exposure of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). Fathead minnows were exposed for 21-days via a flow through system to four treatments including a reference control, primary treatment effluent, oxidation treatment effluent, and MBR effluent. The results show that both secondary treatments reduce exposure activity ratios for all measured chemicals when compared to the primary treatment effluent. While fish did not survive in primary treated effluent the survival rate increased to \u3e94% for fish exposed to MBR and oxidation treatment effluent. The reduction in exposure activity ratios for bisphenols and alkylphenols were similar between MBR and oxidation treatments, but there were notable differences in pesticide removal. MBR treatment resulted in significant decreases in gene expression for aerobic metabolism regulators in the liver when compared to control in the first exposure. Meanwhile results in the second exposure show significant differences in gene expression for reproductive pathways when the oxidation treatment was compared to control. The molecular endpoints are not reflected at the tissue or organ levels indicating that the impacts are subtle. Oxidation treatment, though it is not removing CECs as well as MBR, is providing better outcomes for fathead minnows. These results demonstrate that both treatments greatly improve the quality of effluent when compared to the influent. Meanwhile when comparing the secondary treatments CEC removal differs creating complex mixtures that are leading to better outcomes in fish treated with oxidation treatment effluent

Does Increased Adenoma Detection Reduce the Risk of Colorectal Cancer, and How Good Do We Need to Be?

Purpose of Review Colorectal cancer (CRC) is largely preventable with colonoscopy and other screening modalities. However, the effectiveness of screening and surveillance depends on the quality of the colonoscopy exam. Adenoma detection rate (ADR) is the best-validated metric by which we measure individual physicians’ performance. Recent Findings Recent evidence suggests that ADR benchmarks may be inappropriately low. There is proof that improving ADR leads to significant reductions in post-colonoscopy CRC (PCCRC). Two studies have demonstrated that when a colonoscopy is performed by physicians with higher ADRs, patients are less likely to have advanced adenomas on surveillance and less likely to develop or die from PCCRC. Finally, there is at least some evidence that higher ADRs do not lead to more cumulative surveillance exams. Summary The ADR is a useful outcome measure that can provide individual endoscopists and their patients with information about the likelihood of developing PCCRC. To achieve the lowest possible PCCRC rate, we should be striving for higher ADRs. While strategies and innovations may help a bit in improving ADRs, our efforts should focus on ensuring a complete mucosal exam for each patient. Behavioral psychology theories may provide useful frameworks for studying motivating factors that drive a careful exam

Exploring the Motivations, Attitudes, Beliefs and Intentions of Men Who Have Sex with Men for Acquiring Sex Partners

This study explores the sexual motivations, attitudes, beliefs and intentions (MABI) of men who have sex with men (MSM), utilizing qualitative and quantitative research methods. The study uses the theory of planned behavior for its theoretical framework. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 men between the ages of 18 and 39 years of age residing in the southwestern Pennsylvania area, who reported sexual activity with at least one male partner in the preceding year. These interviews provided information for the development of a survey instrument to measure response to various motivations, attitudes, beliefs and intentions (MABI) and how these correlate to numbers of sex partners in a twelve-month period along with the number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in a lifetime. For the quantitative component, a convenience sample of 150 MSM from a variety of venues was surveyed and the data analyzed through frequency distribution, crosstabs, correlations, factor analysis and logistic regression, Sample size and the number of variables created the need for factor analysis. Nine new variables related to MABI were created. Association between these variables and a series of key outcomes were assessed. Outcomes include low number of sex partners in 12 months (<4), no STIs in a lifetime, and no intention to have an open relationship. Results indicate that physical and emotional trust are significant predictors of a low number of sex partners in a twelve-month period considered, no lifetime STIs, and never having an intention to be in an open relationship. The public health relevance of this study is that an increased understanding of what drives the sexual partnering of MSM will provide the basis for improved HIV and STI prevention programs

MEASURING THE MORAL IMPACT OF OPERATING DRONES ON PILOTS IN COMBAT, DISASTER MANAGEMENT AND SURVEILLANCE

Remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs or drones ) have become important tools in military surveillance and combat, border protection, police and disaster management. In particular, the use of weaponized RPAs has led to a discussion on the ethical, strategic and legal implications of using such systems in warfare. In this context, studies suggest that RPA pilots experience similar exposure to post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety disorders compared to fighter pilots, although the flight and combat experiences are completely different. In order to investigate this phenomenon, we created an experiment that intends to measure the moral stress RPA pilots may experience when the operation of such systems leads to human casualties. Moral stress refers to the possibility that deciding upon moral dilemmas may not only cause physiological stress, but may also lead to (unconscious) changes in the evaluation of valus and reasons that are relevant to problem solving. The experiment includes an RPA simulation based on a game engine and novel measurement tools to assess moral reasoning. In this contribution, we outline the design of the experiment and the results of pretests that demonstrate the sensitivity of our measures. We close by arguing for the need of such studies to better understand novel forms of human-computer interaction

Periodontal disease and risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease in U.S. male physicians

AbstractOBJECTIVESWe sought to prospectively assess whether self-reported periodontal disease is associated with subsequent risk of cardiovascular disease in a large population of male physicians.BACKGROUNDPeriodontal disease, the result of a complex interplay of bacterial infection and chronic inflammation, has been suggested to be a predictor of cardiovascular disease.METHODSPhysicians’ Health Study I was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of aspirin and beta-carotene in 22,071 U.S. male physicians. A total of 22,037 physicians provided self-reports of presence or absence of periodontal disease at study entry and were included in this analysis.RESULTSA total of 2,653 physicians reported a personal history of periodontal disease at baseline. During an average of 12.3 years of follow-up, there were 797 nonfatal myocardial infarctions, 631 nonfatal strokes and 614 cardiovascular deaths. Thus, for each end point, the study had >90% power to detect a clinically important increased risk of 50%. In Cox proportional hazards regression analysis adjusted for age and treatment assignment, physicians who reported periodontal disease at baseline had slightly elevated, but statistically nonsignificant, relative risks (RR) of nonfatal myocardial infarction, (RR, 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.92 to 1.36), nonfatal stroke (RR, 1.10; CI, 0.88 to 1.37) and cardiovascular death (RR, 1.20; CI, 0.97 to 1.49). Relative risk for a combined end point of all important cardiovascular events (first occurrence of nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke or cardiovascular death) was 1.13 (CI, 0.99 to 1.28). After adjustment for other cardiovascular risk factors, RRs were all attenuated and nonsignificant.CONCLUSIONSThese prospective data suggest that self-reported periodontal disease is not an independent predictor of subsequent cardiovascular disease in middle-aged to elderly men

Security evaluation against side-channel analysis at compilation time

Masking countermeasure is implemented to thwart side-channel attacks. The maturity of high-order masking schemes has reached the level where the concepts are sound and proven. For instance, Rivain and Prouff proposed a full-fledged AES at CHES 2010. Some non-trivial fixes regarding refresh functions were needed though. Now, industry is adopting such solutions, and for the sake of both quality and certification requirements, masked cryptographic code shall be checked for correctness using the same model as that of the the theoretical protection rationale (for instance the probing leakage model). Seminal work has been initiated by Barthe et al. at EUROCRYPT 2015 for automated verification at higher orders on concrete implementations. In this paper, we build on this work to actually perform verification from within a compiler, so as to enable timely feedback to the developer. Precisely, our methodology enables to provide the actual security order of the code at the intermediate representation (IR) level, thereby identifying possible flaws (owing either to source code errors or to compiler optimizations). Second, our methodology allows for an exploitability analysis of the analysed IR code. In this respect, we formally handle all the symbolic expressions in the static single assignment (SSA) representation to build the optimal distinguisher function. This enables to evaluate the most powerful attack, which is not only function of the masking order $d$, but also on the number of leaking samples and of the expressions (e.g., linear vs non-linear leakages). This scheme allows to evaluate the correctness of a masked cryptographic code, and also its actual security in terms of number of traces in a given deployment context (characterized by a leakage model of the target CPU and the signal-to-noise ratio of the platform)

Cancellous bone and theropod dinosaur locomotion. Part II—a new approach to inferring posture and locomotor biomechanics in extinct tetrapod vertebrates

This paper is the second of a three-part series that investigates the architecture of cancellous bone in the main hindlimb bones of theropod dinosaurs, and uses cancellous bone architectural patterns to infer locomotor biomechanics in extinct non-avian species. Cancellous bone is widely known to be highly sensitive to its mechanical environment, and therefore has the potential to provide insight into locomotor biomechanics in extinct tetrapod vertebrates such as dinosaurs. Here in Part II, a new biomechanical modelling approach is outlined, one which mechanistically links cancellous bone architectural patterns with three-dimensional musculoskeletal and finite element modelling of the hindlimb. In particular, the architecture of cancellous bone is used to derive a single ‘characteristic posture’ for a given species—one in which bone continuum-level principal stresses best align with cancellous bone fabric—and thereby clarify hindlimb locomotor biomechanics. The quasi-static approach was validated for an extant theropod, the chicken, and is shown to provide a good estimate of limb posture at around mid-stance. It also provides reasonable predictions of bone loading mechanics, especially for the proximal hindlimb, and also provides a broadly accurate assessment of muscle recruitment insofar as limb stabilization is concerned. In addition to being useful for better understanding locomotor biomechanics in extant species, the approach hence provides a new avenue by which to analyse, test and refine palaeobiomechanical hypotheses, not just for extinct theropods, but potentially many other extinct tetrapod groups as well

Cure of Chronic Viral Infection and Virus-Induced Type 1 Diabetes by Neutralizing Antibodies

The use of neutralizing antibodies is one of the most successful methods to interfere with receptor–ligand interactions in vivo. In particular blockade of soluble inflammatory mediators or their corresponding cellular receptors was proven an effective way to regulate inflammation and/or prevent its negative consequences. However, one problem that comes along with an effective neutralization of inflammatory mediators is the general systemic immunomodulatory effect. It is, therefore, important to design a treatment regimen in a way to strike at the right place and at the right time in order to achieve maximal effects with minimal duration of immunosuppression or hyperactivation. In this review, we reflect on two examples of how short time administration of such neutralizing antibodies can block two distinct inflammatory consequences of viral infection. First, we review recent findings that blockade of IL-10/IL-10R interaction can resolve chronic viral infection and second, we reflect on how neutralization of the chemokine CXCL10 can abrogate virus-induced type 1 diabetes

Quantification of artemisinin in Artemisia annua extracts by 1H‐NMR

Artemisinin is a polycyclic sesquiterpene lactone that is highly effective against multidrug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum, the etiological agent of the most severe form of malaria. Determination of artemisinin in the source plant, Artemisia annua, is a challenging problem since the compound is present in very low concentrations, is thermolabile and unstable, and lacks chromophoric or fluorophoric groups. The ain of this study was to develop a simple protocol for the quantification of artemisinin in a plant extract using an (1)H-NMR method. Samples were prepared by extraction of leaf material with acetone, treatment with activated charcoal to remove chlorophylls and removal of solvent. (1)H-NMR spectra were measured on samples dissolved in deuterochloroform with tert-butanol as internal standard. Quantification was carried out using the using the delta 5.864 signal of artemisinin and the delta 1.276 signal of tert-butanol. The method was optimised and fully validated against a reference standard of artemisinin. The results were compared with those obtained from the same samples quantified using an HPLC-refractive index (RI) method. The (1)H-NMR method gave a linear response for artemisinin within the range 9.85-97.99 mm (r(2) = 0.9968). Using the described method, yields of artemisinin in the range 0.77-1.06% were obtained from leaves of the A. annua hybrid CPQBA x POP, and these values were in agreement with those obtained using an HPLC-RI.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Hexagonal and Square Flux Line Lattices in CeCoIn5

Using small-angle neutron scattering, we have imaged the magnetic flux line lattice (FLL) in the d-wave heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5. At low fields we find a hexagonal FLL. Around 0.6 T this undergoes what is very likely a first-order transition to square symmetry, with the nearest neighbors oriented along the gap node directions. This orientation of the square FLL is consistent with theoretical predictions based on the d-wave order parameter symmetry.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figs (1 color