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Revealing the synergistic effect in the BDD-based quadruple coupling system via active radical and non-radical species for efficient removal of refractory organic contaminant
Get PDFBoron-doped diamond (BDD)-based advanced oxidation processes featured exceptional advantages in treating refractory organic contaminants. Herein, we reported, for the first time, the BDD-based quadruple coupling system, namely (+)BDD|PMS + CoAl2O4+Air|GF(−), by fully integrating the advantages of electrochemical oxidation, peroxymonosulfate (PMS), CoAl2O4 and electro-Fenton-like process, to degrade tetracycline (TC) via active radicals (i.e., O2∙−, SO4∙−, ∙OH) and non-radical singlet oxygen (1O2). In the quadruple system, CoAl2O4 particles could be polarized into suspended particle electrodes, promoting PMS activation to form active radicals by homo- and heterogeneous pathways and expanding the reaction regions to a broad spatial range; meanwhile, aeration is the key to the electro-Fenton-like process and an indispensable source of 1O2. Interestingly, high concentrations of 1O2 existed both on the BDD surface and in the bulk solution whereas other active species only existed on the former, indicating the crucial role of 1O2 in the TC removal. Leveraging the synergistic effect, the quasi-first-order kinetic constant of the coupling system for TC removal was 8 times that of the single EO system at only the cost of one-seventh of its electric energy consumption. Finally, the proposed coupling system exhibited long-term stability and practical application potential.</p
Associations of personality trait level and change with mortality risk in 11 longitudinal studies
Get PDFPeople who are higher in conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness and lower in neuroticism tend to live longer. The present research tested the hypothesis that personality trait change in middle and older adulthood would also be associated with mortality risk, above and beyond personality trait level. Personality trait change may causally influence mortality risk through corresponding changes in health behaviors, social processes, and stress experience. Alternatively, personality trait change may be a marker of successful or unsuccessful adaptation to life circumstances, which in turn influences mortality risk, or shared risk factors may impact personality trait change and mortality risk. In the latter case, personality trait change may serve as a “psychosocial vital sign” pointing toward increased risk. In 11 samples of middle-aged and older adults (combined N = 32, 348), we used multilevel growth curve models to estimate personality trait level and personality trait change across three to 11 measurement occasions spanning 6–43 years. Next, we used Cox proportional hazards models to test whether personality trait level and personality trait change were associated with mortality risk. Higher conscientiousness (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.83), extraversion (HR = 0.93), and agreeableness (HR = 0.88) were associated with longer survival while higher neuroticism was associated with shorter survival (HR = 1.22). In contrast to personality trait level, we found limited evidence for associations between personality trait change and mortality risk. We discuss conceptual and methodological implications of the present findings that may guide future research on associations between personality trait change, health, and mortality
Comparative Performance of Ante-Mortem Diagnostic Assays for the Identification of Mycobacterium bovis-Infected Domestic Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris)
Get PDFThe domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a competent host for Mycobacterium (M.) bovis infection but no ante mortem diagnostic tests have been fully validated for this species. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of ante mortem diagnostic tests across samples collected from dogs considered to be at a high or low risk of sub-clinical M. bovis infection. We previously tested a total of 164 dogs at a high risk of infection and here test 42 dogs at a low risk of infection and 77 presumed uninfected dogs with a combination of cell-based and/or serological diagnostic assays previously described for use in non-canid species. The interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) identified the highest number of test-positive animals (85, 52%), with a suggested specificity of 97.3%, whilst a whole-blood IGRA was found to be unreliable. The production of antigen-specific tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) by PBMC in response to a cocktail of ESAT-6 and CFP-10 peptides correlated very strongly with the overall IGRA results, suggesting future diagnostic potential. All three serological assays employed in this study (Idexx M. bovis Ab ELISA, [Idexx Laboratories, Westbrook, ME, USA], DPP VetTB lateral flow assay [Chembio, Medford, NY, USA], and comparative PPD ELISA [in-house]) identified seropositive dogs but, overall, the test-positive rate for the serological assays was only one third that of the cellular-based assays. Circulating serum cytokine concentrations of interferon gamma and TNF-α were not statistically different between the high- and low-risk groups of dogs. While many dogs in the high-risk group had serum biochemical abnormalities, these did not correlate with the findings from the diagnostic TB tests. This study demonstrates, for the first time, the utility of two cellular and three serological assays for detecting sub-clinical M. bovis infections of dogs. Whilst the data suggest a high test specificity for all assays evaluated, further work is needed to validate the sensitivity and specificity of individual or combinations of tests using sufficient numbers of dogs of a known infection status.</p
On partially observed jump diffusions I: the filtering equations
Get PDFThis paper is the first part of a series of papers on filtering for partially observed jump diffusions satisfying a stochastic differential equation driven by Wiener processes and Poisson martingale measures. The coefficients of the equation only satisfy appropriate growth conditions. Some results in filtering theory of diffusion processes are extended to jump diffusions and equations for the time evolution of the conditional distribution and the unnormalised conditional distribution of the unobserved process at time t, given the observations until t, are presented
Brentford Football Club Community Sports Trust, Community and Empowerment
Get PDFBrentford FC Community Sports Trust, Community and Empowerment is the 10th data driven report produced by the University of Edinburgh’s Academy of Sport. The reports aim to: (i) support charities, clubs and national associations to better understand their communities and their impact, (ii) use data driven innovation as well as traditional methods of data collection to inform the football industry, and (iii) support the closing of data gaps where they exist. The purpose of this research report is to provide additional insight into the work of one grassroots community football organisation, Brentford FC Community Sports Trust. Brentford FC Community Sports Trust aim to remove barriers to football and build pathways that empower individuals to fulfil their potential on and off the pitch
A fluorogenic platform for real-time imaging of subcellular payload release in antibody-drug conjugates
Get PDFAntibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) represent promising therapeutic constructs to enhance the selective delivery of drugs to target cells; however, attaining precise control over the timing and location of payload release remains challenging due to the complex intracellular processes that define ADC internalization, trafficking and linker cleavage. In this study, we present novel real-time fluorogenic probes to monitor both subcellular dynamics of ADC trafficking and payload release. We optimized a tandem molecular design of sequential pH- and enzyme-activatable naphthalimide fluorophores to 1) track their subcellular localization along the endolysosomal pathway and 2) monitor linker cleavage with OFF-to-ON fluorescence switches. Live-cell imaging microscopy revealed that fluorogenic ADCs can traffic to the lysosomes, and yet require residence time in these subcellular compartments for efficient linker cleavage. Notably, the compact size of fluorogenic naphthalimides did not impair the recognition of target cell-surface reporters or the kinetics of payload release. This modular platform is applicable to many ADCs and holds promise to inform their rational design for optimal release profiles and therapeutic efficacy
Bayesian dependent mixture models: A predictive comparison and survey
Get PDFFor exchangeable data, mixture models are an extremely useful tool for density estimation due to their attractive balance between smoothness and flexibility. When additional covariate information is present, mixture models can be extended for flexible regression by modeling the mixture parameters, namely, the weights and atoms, as functions of the covariates. These types of models are interpretable and highly flexible, allowing not only the mean but the whole density of the response to change with the covariates. This article reviews Bayesian covariate-dependent mixture models, focusing on nonparametric constructions which we broadly organize into into three categories: (1) joint models of the responses and covariates, (2) conditional models with single-weights and covariate-dependent atoms, and (3) conditional models with covariate-dependent weights. The diversity and variety of the available models in the literature raises the question of how to choose among them for the application at hand. We attempt to shed light on this question through a careful analysis of the predictive equations for the conditional mean and density function as well as predictive comparisons in a variety of simulated data examples
Association of membership in a farmer producer organization with crop diversity, household income, diet diversity, and women’s empowerment in Uttar Pradesh, India
Get PDFIntroduction: To date, the impact of farmer producer organizations (FPOs) in India is under-explored in the empirical literature. The primary objective of this study was to test whether agricultural households with FPO members in Uttar Pradesh, India have greater crop diversity and higher income, and whether adults in those households have greater diet diversity and women are more empowered. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2023 with two groups of agricultural households, those: (1) with an FPO member (n=417 households, 414 men and 412 women) and (2) without an FPO member (n=402, 395 men and 388 women). Diet diversity was measured at the individual level using the FAO minimum diet diversity (MDD) score. Women’s empowerment was measured using a modified version of the Abbreviated Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (A-WEAI) score. The association between FPO membership and crop diversity, household income, MDD, and A-WEAI was estimated using separate regressions, adjusted for educational attainment, caste, farm size, and, for household income, number of household members.Results: FPO households had slightly greater crop diversity than non-FPO households (mean of 4 crops versus 3.5 crops, respectively). FPO households were more likely to have an income from cultivation and livestock than non-FPO households. Hence, FPO households had higher total annual household income than non-FPO households. Adults in FPO households were more likely to have diverse diets. However, they also had greater consumption of unhealthy foods. There was not a significant difference in women’s empowerment between FPO and non-FPO women. Conclusion: These findings suggest that FPOs are a potentially effective strategy for improving farmers’ incomes, and that this has mixed effects on the healthfulness of household diets. This information can be used to inform evidence-based policies to provide dedicated support for promotion of FPOs and for improved convergence between rural development, agriculture, and nutrition. <br/
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