Drivers of Microbial Risk for Direct Potable Reuse and de Facto Reuse Treatment Schemes: The Impacts of Source Water Quality and Blending.

Although reclaimed water for potable applications has many potential benefits, it poses concerns for chemical and microbial risks to consumers. We present a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) Monte Carlo framework to compare a de facto water reuse scenario (treated wastewater-impacted surface water) with four hypothetical Direct Potable Reuse (DPR) scenarios for Norovirus, Cryptosporidium, and Salmonella. Consumer microbial risks of surface source water quality (impacted by 0-100% treated wastewater effluent) were assessed. Additionally, we assessed risks for different blending ratios (0-100% surface water blended into advanced-treated DPR water) when source surface water consisted of 50% wastewater effluent. De facto reuse risks exceeded the yearly 10-4 infections risk benchmark while all modeled DPR risks were significantly lower. Contamination with 1% or more wastewater effluent in the source water, and blending 1% or more wastewater-impacted surface water into the advanced-treated DPR water drove the risk closer to the 10-4 benchmark. We demonstrate that de facto reuse by itself, or as an input into DPR, drives microbial risks more so than the advanced-treated DPR water. When applied using location-specific inputs, this framework can contribute to project design and public awareness campaigns to build legitimacy for DPR

“Risky” monetary aggregates for the UK and US

We extend the scope of monetary aggregation beyond capital certain assets that make up central bank data sets and identify groups of assets that form monetary aggregates composed of both capital certain and risky, capital uncertain, assets. We construct monetary aggregates for the US and UK using a superlative index and relax a key assumption of the Consumption Capital Asset Pricing Model (CCAPM), a one year planning horizon, by using forecasted returns on risky assets. Our new risky monetary aggregates perform well in VAR tests. We recommended exploring risky assets as providers of liquidity services in future research on this topic

Scotland as an optimal currency area

The June 2016 UK referendum on continued EU membership where the people of Scotland voted to remain, while the rest of the United Kingdom voted to leave, once again makes the issue of whether Scotland is an optimal currency area very topical. England voted strongly to leave Europe while Scotland backed remain by 62% to 38%. The Scottish government published its draft bill on a second independence referendum in October 2016. The move does not mean another referendum will definitely be held, but this does raise the possibility that Scotland might choose independence and staying in the EU without the rest of the United Kingdom. If Scotland charts a course of independence from the rest of the United Kingdom, then they would likely either issue their own currency or join or form another currency area. In this paper, we test the microeconomic foundations of a common currency area for Scotland, United Kingdom, and the rest of the United Kingdom without Scotland. We find that the United Kingdom, Scotland, and the United Kingdom without Scotland all meet the microeconomic criteria for a common currency area. In contrast, banking data suggest that lending in Scotland is different from lending in the rest of the United Kingdom, adding some doubt to the issue of whether or not Scotland is a common currency area with the United Kingdom.</p

Comparison performance of visible-nir and near-infrared hyperspectral imaging for prediction of nutritional quality of goji berry (Lycium barbarum l.)

The potential of hyperspectral imaging for the prediction of the internal composition of goji berries was investigated. The prediction performances of models obtained in the Visible-Near Infrared (VIS-NIR) (400–1000 nm) and in the Near Infrared (NIR) (900–1700 nm) regions were compared. Analyzed constituents included Vitamin C, total antioxidant, phenols, anthocyanin, soluble solids content (SSC), and total acidity (TA). For vitamin C and AA, partial least square regression (PLSR) combined with different data pretreatments and wavelength selection resulted in a satisfactory prediction in the NIR region obtaining the R2pred value of 0.91. As for phenols, SSC, and TA, a better performance was obtained in the VIS-NIR region yielding the R2pred values of 0.62, 0.94, and 0.84, respectively. However, the prediction of total antioxidant and anthocyanin content did not give satisfactory results. Conclusively, hyperspectral imaging can be a useful tool for the prediction of the main constituents of the goji berry (Lycium barbarum L.)

Feasibility study for the surface prediction and mapping of phytonutrients in minimally processed rocket leaves (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) during storage by hyperspectral imaging

A comprehensive study of the feasibility of hyperspectral imaging in visible (400–1000 nm) and near infrared (900–1700 nm) regions was investigated for prediction and concentration mapping of Vitamin C, ascorbic acid (AA), dehydroascorbic acid (DHAA) and phenols in wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) over a storage span of 12 days at 5 °C. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) with different data pretreatments and wavelength selection resulted in satisfactory predictions for all parameters in the NIR range except DHAA. Prediction models were used for concentration mapping to follow changes over time. The prediction maps will be comprehensively study to assess the pixel to pixel variation within the rocket leaves. The PLSR models for Vitamin C, AA and phenols yielded an R2 of 0.76, 0.73 and 0.78, respectively in external prediction with root mean square errors approximately equivalent to those of reference analysis. Conclusively, hyperspectral imaging, with the correct mapping approach, can be a useful tool for the prediction and mapping of phytonutrients in wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) over time

Triethyl orthoformate covalently cross-linked chitosan-(poly vinyl) alcohol based biodegradable scaffolds with heparin-binding ability for promoting neovascularisation

There is a need to develop pro-angiogenic biomaterials to promote wound healing and to assist in regenerative medicine. To this end, various growth factors have been exploited which have the potential to promote angiogenesis. However, these are generally expensive and labile which limits their effectiveness. An alternative approach is to immobilize heparin onto biocompatible degradable hydrogels. The heparin in turn will then bind endogenous proangiogenic growth factors to induce formation of new blood vessels.In this study, we continue our development of hydrogels for wound healing purposes by exploring covalently cross-linking chitosan and polyvinyl alcohol hydrogels using triethyl orthoformate. Two concentrations of triethyl orthoformate (4 and 16%) were compared for their effects on the structure of hydrogels - their swelling, pore size, and rate of degradation and for their ability to support the growth of cells and for their heparin-binding capacity and their effects on angiogenesis in a chick chorioallantoic membrane assay.Hydrogels formed with 4 or 16% both triethyl orthoformate cross-linker were equally cyto-compatible. Hydrogels formed with 4% triethyl orthoformate absorbed slightly more water than those made with 16% triethyl orthoformate and broke down slightly faster than non-cross-linked hydrogels. When soaked in heparin the hydrogel formed with 16% triethyl orthoformate showed more blood vessel formation in the CAM assay than that formed with 4% triethyl orthoformate

PAR1 Agonists Stimulate APC-Like Endothelial Cytoprotection and Confer Resistance to Thromboinflammatory Injury

Stimulation of protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1) on endothelium by activated protein C (APC) is protective in several animal models of disease, and APC has been used clinically in severe sepsis and wound healing. Clinical use of APC, however, is limited by its immunogenicity and its anticoagulant activity. We show that a class of small molecules termed “parmodulins” that act at the cytosolic face of PAR1 stimulates APC-like cytoprotective signaling in endothelium. Parmodulins block thrombin generation in response to inflammatory mediators and inhibit platelet accumulation on endothelium cultured under flow. Evaluation of the antithrombotic mechanism showed that parmodulins induce cytoprotective signaling through Gβγ, activating a PI3K/Akt pathway and eliciting a genetic program that includes suppression of NF-κB–mediated transcriptional activation and up-regulation of select cytoprotective transcripts. STC1 is among the up-regulated transcripts, and knockdown of stanniocalin-1 blocks the protective effects of both parmodulins and APC. Induction of this signaling pathway in vivo protects against thromboinflammatory injury in blood vessels. Small-molecule activation of endothelial cytoprotection through PAR1 represents an approach for treatment of thromboinflammatory disease and provides proof-of-principle for the strategy of targeting the cytoplasmic surface of GPCRs to achieve pathway selective signaling

Using chemometrics to characterise and unravel the near infra-red spectral changes induced in aubergine fruit by chilling injury as influenced by storage time and temperature

The early non-destructive detection of chilling injury (CI) in aubergine fruit was investigated using spectroscopy. CI is a physiological disorder that occurs when the fruit is subjected to temperatures lower than 12 °C. Reference measurements of CI were acquired by visual appearance analysis, measuring electrolyte leakage (EL), mass loss and firmness evaluations which demonstrated that even before three days of storage at 2 °C, the CI process was initiated. An ANOVA-simultaneous component analysis (ASCA) was used to investigate the effect of temperature and storage time on the Fourier transform – near infra-red (FT-NIR) spectral fingerprints. The ASCA model demonstrated that temperature, duration of storage, and their interaction had a significant effect on the spectra. In addition, it was possible to highlight the main variations in the experimental results with reference to the effects of the main factors, and with respect to storage time, to discover any major monotonic trends with time. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was used as a supervised classification method to discriminate between fruit based on chilling and safe temperatures. In this case, only significant spectral wavebands which were significantly influenced by the effect of temperature based on ASCA were utilised. PLS-DA prediction accuracy was 87.4 ± 2.7% as estimated by a repeated double-cross-validation procedure (50 runs) and the significance of the observed discrimination was verified by means of permutation tests. The outcomes of this study indicate a promising potential for near infra-red spectroscopy (NIRS) to provide non-invasive, rapid and reliable detection of CI in aubergine fruit

Comparing five equations to calculate estimated glomerular filtration rate to predict acute kidney injury following total joint arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) following total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is used as an indicator of renal function. The purpose of this study was (1) to assess each of the five equations that are used in calculating eGFR, and (2) to evaluate which equation may best predict AKI in patients following TJA. METHODS: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) was queried for all 497,261 cases of TJA performed from 2012 to 2019 with complete data. The Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) II, re-expressed MDRD II, Cockcroft-Gault, Mayo quadratic, and Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration equations were used to calculate preoperative eGFR. Two cohorts were created based on the development of postoperative AKI and were compared based on demographic and preoperative factors. Multivariate regression analysis was used to assess for independent associations between preoperative eGFR and postoperative renal failure for each equation. The Akaike information criterion (AIC) was used to evaluate predictive ability of the five equations. RESULTS: Seven hundred seventy-seven (0.16%) patients experienced AKI after TJA. The Cockcroft-Gault equation yielded the highest mean eGFR (98.6 ± 32.7), while the Re-expressed MDRD II equation yielded the lowest mean eGFR (75.1 ± 28.8). Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that a decrease in preoperative eGFR was independently associated with an increased risk of developing postoperative AKI in all five equations. The AIC was the lowest in the Mayo equation. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative decrease in eGFR was independently associated with increased risk of postoperative AKI in all five equations. The Mayo equation was most predictive of the development of postoperative AKI following TJA. The mayo equation best identified patients with the highest risk of postoperative AKI, which may help providers make decisions on perioperative management in these patients