Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Skin Tone, Discrimination, and Allostatic Load in Middle-Aged and Older Puerto Ricans

Supplemental digital content is available in the text. ABSTRACT Objective A growing body of research suggests that skin tone may be a health risk indicator for Hispanics. Black and darker-skinned Hispanics have worse mental and physical outcomes than White and lighter-skinned Hispanics. Discrimination exposure has been implicated as a risk factor that may explain the association between skin tone and health. However, there is scant research examining the interrelationship between skin tone, discrimination, and health, particularly among Puerto Ricans. We examine the interrelationships between two measures of skin tone, two measures of discrimination, and allostatic load (AL) among Puerto Rican adults. Methods Using cross-sectional data from wave 3 of the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (n = 882), we examined the indirect association (IA) of skin tone on physiological dysregulated systems, also known as AL, through major discrimination and everyday discrimination. We tested these associations using two distinct measures of skin tone: interviewer-ascribed skin tone and spectrophotometer-measured skin tone. Results Interviewer-ascribed skin tone was indirectly associated with AL through major discrimination (IA = 0.03, 95% confidence interval = 0.004 to 0.06). However, there was no evidence of an IA of interviewer-ascribed skin tone on AL through everyday discrimination (IA = −0.01, 95% confidence interval = −0.03 to 0.01). In addition, there was no evidence that spectrophotometer-measured skin tone was indirectly associated with AL through major discrimination or everyday discrimination. Conclusions The sociocultural significance of skin tone may affect how Puerto Ricans are perceived and treated by others, which can, in turn, have physiological health consequences. Future research is needed to replicate these findings and examine the interrelationship between skin tone, discrimination, and other health outcomes.
The effectiveness of schema therapy for patients with anxiety disorders, OCD, or PTSD: A systematic review and research agenda

Objectives We reviewed the evidence regarding the effectiveness of schema therapy for anxiety disorders, obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD), and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Methods This systematic review followed the recommendation of the PRISMA guidelines. A database search (PsycINFO, MEDLINE, EMBASE, WEB OF SCIENCE, and Academic Search Ultimate) was conducted to identify eligible studies up until 2 April 2021. The search included the keywords (‘schema therap*’ or ‘schema group therap*’ or ‘schema mode therap*’ or ‘schema focused’ or ‘young’s model’) and (‘anxiety disorder*’ or ‘anxiety‐related disorder*’ or ‘agoraphobia’ or ‘health anxiety’ or ‘phobi*’ or ‘panic disorder’ or ‘obsessive compulsive disorder’ or ‘OCD’ or ‘posttraumatic stress’ or ‘post traumatic stress’ or ‘PTSD’ or ‘hypochondria’ or ‘axis 1’). Included studies were appraised on methodological quality according to the Psychotherapy Outcome study Methodology Rating Form. Results We identified 41 studies that were eligible based on the topic. However, only six (comprising 316 anxiety, OCD, and PTSD patients) could be included despite lenient methodological inclusion/exclusion criteria. Results showed that schema therapy can lead to beneficial effects in disorder‐specific symptoms and early maladaptive schemas. Yet, we also uncovered substantial methodological limitations in most studies. Conclusions Schema therapy is a promising treatment for anxiety, OCD, and PTSD. Yet, there is a systematic problem in the quality of research despite growing clinical interest and application. We therefore concluded with a research agenda presenting recommendations for future research that will be crucial for building a solid evidence‐base for schema therapy in chronic anxiety, OCD, and PTSD. Practitioner points A systematic review on the effectiveness of schema therapy for anxiety disorders, OCD, and PTSD. Preliminary but limited evidence that schema therapy leads to beneficial effects in disorder‐specific symptoms. Preliminary but limited evidence that schema therapy leads to beneficial effects in early maladaptive schemas in anxiety, OCD, and PTSD. More research of higher methodological quality is needed to provide more conclusive empirical support for the use of schema therapy for anxiety, OCD, and PTSD.
The role of Bag3 in cell signaling

Bag3 has been implicated in a wide variety of physiological processes from autophagy to aggresome formation and from cell transformation to survival. We argue that involvement of Bag3 in many of these processes is due to its distinct function in cell signaling. The structure of Bag3 suggests that it can serve as a scaffold that links molecular chaperones Hsp70 and small Hsps with components of a variety of signaling pathways. Major protein‐protein interaction motifs of Bag3 that recruit components of signaling pathways are WW domain and PXXP motif that interacts with SH3‐domain proteins. Furthermore, Hsp70‐Bag3 appears to be a sensor of abnormal polypeptides during the proteotoxic stress. It also serves as a sensor of a mechanical force during mechanotransduction. Common feature of these and probably certain other sensory mechanisms is that they represent responses to specific kinds of abnormal proteins, i.e. unfolded filamin A in case of mechanotransduction or stalled translating polypeptides in case of sensing proteasome inhibition. Overall Hsp70‐Bag3 module represents a novel signaling node that responds to multiple stimuli and controls multiple physiological processes.
Modelling Tourism Demand: An Augmented Gravity Model (Permodelan Permintaan Perlancongan: Model Graviti Tambahan)

This paper aims to investigate the factors affecting tourism demand in Sabah using an augmented gravity model. In modelling tourism demand, a balanced panel data set of ten countries over 2010-2016 is analyzed using the static panel data approach. The income levels in tourist origin countries and the income level in Sabah are positively affecting Sabah tourism demand. Meanwhile, transportation costs and tourism prices adversely influence tourism demand in Sabah.
The Prevalence of Good governance in Urban Land Administration System of Assosa Town, Benishangul Gumuz Region, Ethiopia

The study assessed the prevalence of good governance in urban land administration system of Assosa town. Descriptive research design was used. Mixed approach of research was employed. Both primary and secondary sources of data were used. A simple random sampling technique was used. The study comprised 407 total house hold respondents of Assosa town. A descriptive method was employed to analyze data collected through structured questionnaire. Five governance indicators were used to assess the prevalence of good governance in urban land administration system of Assosa town, and none of them found to be inspiring. Thus, it is recommended Assosa city administration should ensure transparency, accountability, equity, and efficiency and effectiveness, as well as promote public participation in its urban land administration system of Assosa town.
Preparation, Identification, and Preliminary Application of Monoclonal Antibody Against Pyrethroid Insecticide Fenvalerate

Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against pyrethroid insecticide fenvalerate were achieved, identified, and applied in environmental water. Mice were immunized with a novel synthesized hapten conjugated with bovine serum albumin (BSA). Three positive clones of MAbs were obtained after cell fusion and hybridoma selection, among them MAb-2 (5B10) showed the highest reactivity toward fenvalerate. The IC50 of MAb-2 was 94.5 ng mL−1; moreover, it showed lower cross-reactivity with other pyrethroids such as bifenthrin, tetramethrin, deltamethrin and beta-cypermethrin. Optimization of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was studied. The limit of detection (LOD) of the assay was 8.8 ng mL−1 and the detection range was 0.017–27.33 μg mL−1. For preliminary application, addition recovery experiments in water samples were performed. The mean recoveries of three kinds of samples varied from 90.6% to 108.7% and the coefficients of variation ranged from 0.5% to 5.3%. The results showed that MAb-2 could be used for the detection of fenvalerate contamination in environmental water.
The OOD Blind Spot of Unsupervised Anomaly Detection

Deep unsupervised generative models are regarded as a promising alternative to supervised counterparts in the ﬁeld of MRI-based lesion detection. They denote a principled approach for detecting unseen types of anomalies without relying on large amounts of expensive ground truth annotations. To this end, deep generative models are trained exclusively on data from healthy patients and detect lesions as Out-of-Distribution (OOD) data at test time (i.e. low likelihood). While this is a promising way of bypassing the need for costly annotations, this work demonstrates that it also renders this widely used unsupervised anomaly detection approach particularly vulnerable to non-lesion-based OOD data (e.g. data from diﬀerent sensors). Since models are likely to be exposed to such OOD data in production, it is crucial to employ safety mechanisms to ﬁlter for such samples and run inference only on input for which the model is able to provide reliable results. We ﬁrst show extensively that conventional, unsupervised anomaly detection mechanisms fail when being presented with true OOD data. Secondly, we apply prior knowledge to disentangle lesion-based OOD from their non-lesion-based counterparts.
Borneol and Rhizome of Chuanxiong on Facilitating Permeation for Compound Shuyu Jiannao Decoction through Blood Brain Barrier

Objective To study the effects of borneol and rhizome of chuanxiong on facilitating permeation for Compound Shuyu Jiannao Decoction through blood brain barrier(BBB). Methods Compare the cerebral contents of jujuboside A between the Compound Shuyu Jiannao Decoction plus borneol and that plus rhizome by HPLC.Results Either rhizome or borneol was added,the mice were observed increase in cerebral contents of jujuboside A.Conclusion Borneol and rhizome facilitate the active components permeating through the BBB,therefore enforcing the effect of the smoothing qi stasis,strengthening the brain,calming the heart and tranquilizing the mind of the decoction.
ANALYSIS OF SILVER´S ADSORPTION ON CALCINED “VERDE-LODO” CLAY

The removal of heavy metals from wastewater has become an important subject for scientific research. Among the common methods, adsorption has shown good potential to treat contaminated effluents. In this study, the thermally treated clay called “Verde-lodo” was used in the adsorption of silver ions, a metal with wide industrial use and high commercial value. Firstly, the process kinetics was studied in different silver concentrations. The kinetic curves were adjusted by the following models: pseudo-first order, pseudo-second order, intra-particle diffusion, Boyd and mass transfer in the extern film models. The adsorbent before and after process was characterized by the techniques: BET and Helium Pycnometry.
Influence of Gas Impurities on Thermodynamics of Amine Solutions. 1. Aromatics

New parameters for improving the Electrolyte-NRTL model have been regressed for acidic gas-MDEA aqueous solution systems containing aromatics. Values of binary interaction parameters for liquid phase activity coefficients are estimated from regressions of experimental data. Aspen Plus has been used for regressions and thermodynamic modeling. The focus of the work is to have better predictions of VLE of aromatic compounds in amine systems for acidic gases purification.
Unstable regulatory T cells, enriched for naïve and Nrp1neg cells, are purged after fate challenge

Lymphophenic fate challenge purges incompletely committed regulatory T cells, a subset enriched for naïve neuropilin-1–negative Treg. Exposing unstable Tregs The regulatory T cell (Treg) gene expression program is stably maintained by the transcription factor Foxp3, although certain environmental signals can trigger loss of Foxp3 expression and acquisition of an effector phenotype. Using genetic fate mapping and adoptive transfers in mice, Junius et al. demonstrate that fate instability is limited to a subset of Tregs that can be purged through serial exposure to a lymphopenic environment. Tregs lacking neuropilin-1 (Nrp1) expression and displaying a naïve phenotype were transcriptionally related to progeny that had recently lost Foxp3 expression, and Nrp1neg Tregs were enriched for unstable Tregs upon lymphopenic challenge. These results demonstrate that Foxp3+ cells are heterogeneous in their commitment to the Treg lineage, which could be applied to improve the stability of Treg-based cell therapies. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are indispensable for the control of immune homeostasis and have clinical potential as a cell therapy for treating autoimmunity. Tregs can lose expression of the lineage-defining Foxp3 transcription factor and acquire effector T cell (Teff) characteristics, a process referred to as Treg plasticity. The extent and reversibility of such plasticity during immune responses remain unknown. Here, using a murine genetic fate-mapping system, we show that Treg stability is maintained even during exposure to a complex microbial/antigenic environment. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the observed plasticity of Tregs after adoptive transfer into a lymphopenic environment is a property limited to only a subset of the Treg population, with the nonconverting majority of Tregs being resistant to plasticity upon secondary stability challenge. The unstable Treg fraction is a complex mixture of phenotypically distinct Tregs, enriched for naïve and neuropilin-1–negative Tregs, and includes peripherally induced Tregs and recent thymic emigrant Tregs. These results suggest that a “purging” process can be used to purify stable Tregs that are capable of robust fate retention, with potential implications for improving cell transfer therapy.
Study on Extracting Process of Total Flavonoids from Vitex quinata by Ultrasonic Method and Its Antioxidant Activity

[Objective] The aim was to study the optimum extracting process of total flavonoids from Vitex quinata and its antioxidant activity. [Method] With V.quinata leaf as the material,the single factor and orthogonal tests were taken to study the effects of ethanol concn. ,solid-liquid ratio,ultrasonic time,ultrasonic power on extraction rate of total flavonoids.On the basis of it,the extraction process was optimized.With rat liver homogenate as the material,the antioxidant activity of total flavonoids from V.quinata was determined. [Result] The effects of all factors on extraction rate of total flavonoids from bid to small in order was ethanol concn.ultrasonic time solid-liquid ratio ultrasonic power.When ethanol was 30%,solid-liquid ratio was 1∶10-1∶20,ultrasonic time was 30-60 min and ultrasonic power was 600 W,the extraction rate of total flavonoids was higher.The optimized extraction process was that: ethanol of 40%,solid-liquid ratio of 1∶20,ultrasonic time of 60 min,ultrasonic power of 600 W,and under the situation the extraction rate of total flavonoids was 5.886%. [Conclusion] The total flavonoids from V.quinata had stronger antioxidant activity and there was a good dose-effect relationship when its concn.was in 0-0.125 5 mg/ml.
Integrative taxonomic analysis reveals a new species of Leptobrachium Tschudi, 1838 (Anura, Megophryidae) from Bangladesh

ABSTRACT We report on a new species of frogs of the genus Leptobrachium from Lawachara National Park, Moulvibazar District, Sylhet Division in northeastern Bangladesh, based on molecular, morphological and bioacoustic evidence. Leptobrachium sylheticum sp. nov. is to date reliably known only from Sylhet Division of Bangladesh and Tripura State of India. The new species belongs to the L. smithi complex within the subgenus Leptobrachium and based on phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA mtDNA gene is suggested as a sister lineage to the clade comprised L. smithi and L. rakhinense. The new species can be distinguished from all other congeners by the following combination of characters: adult SVL of 50.2–60.9 mm in males, 63.9–68.3 mm in females; digit tips rounded; relative finger lengths: II<I< IV<III; relative toe lengths: V < I = II<III<IV; toe webbing formula: I 1–1 II 1–2 III 1–3¼ IV 3½–1 V; inner metatarsal tubercle large; iris bicoloured, black ventrally, red dorsally, sclera bright-blue; dorsum grey with few small black spots laterally, dark head markings indistinct; belly and limbs ventrally dark-grey to black with sparse whitish marbling on chest and belly and characteristic orange-red dots on ventral surfaces of lower jaws and gular area; dark marking covering the entire tympanum; dark canthal stripe narrow; dark spots or blotches on body flanks absent or small, not forming a row; limbs dorsally with 2–3 dark markings not forming complete transverse bars; dark blotch at groin absent, posterior sides of thighs blackish with white spots; femoral gland in shape of small white blotch; axillary gland as a large roundish blotch; males with single vocal sac, lacking spinules on lips during breeding; and an advertisement call consisting of 3–8 notes and a dominant frequency of 1.4–1.9 kHz (at 31.0°C). Our study provides further evidence for still unrecognised amphibian diversity in Bangladesh. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:35B25466-AC5D-47E9-96FE-B1B8FF0A36FB http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:C6BC1DE1-818D-4657-83A6-F6C693C5FCAD
Exploring the “Presence” of Prospective Teachers in the Virtual Reality Environment: A Qualitative Study

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the perception of “presence” of 43 prospective teachers participating in a virtual reality (VR) environment with an immersion function and to describe their opinions and experiences regarding the implementation process. The case study model, a qualitative research approach, was used. Participants experienced the VR environment using an HTC Vive device with an immersive feature. Qualitative data were collected through a structured interview form at the end of the application. Findings indicated that most participants provided positive perceptions regarding their VR experience. Additionally, the perceptions of participants were categorized into three main areas: technology, design, and individual characteristics. These categories and the participants’ experiences may contribute to the process of integrating VR systems into educational environments and developing novel VR applications.
Living on a sticky trap: natural history and morphology of Bactrodes assassin bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Bactrodinae)

ABSTRACT Plants with glandular trichomes have been shown to attract specialist, mutualistic predatory insects. Despite recent advances in understanding the plant component in this association, few sticky plant specialist insects are well documented and their adaptations to the sticky plant environment are understudied. We here describe and illustrate, for the first time, aspects of the natural history and morphology of a small clade of predatory hemipteran insects, the Bactrodinae (Reduviidae). Our study suggests that these insects are exclusively associated with plant species with glandular trichomes. The relationship is not specific as one species of Bactrodes Stål may be associated with multiple species, genera or even families of plants. We document a unique clamp-like structure formed by one of the pretarsal claws and opposing tarsal spine-like setae that enables Bactrodinae to grasp trichomes and walk on leaves densely covered with trichomes. We further present observations of Bactrodes species scavenging on insects entrapped on leaves. Bactrodinae also oviposit on their host plants, and females engage in behaviours that we interpret as maternal egg guarding, a life history strategy that is rare in predatory true bugs. We speculate that instead of or in addition to decreasing egg predation or egg parasitism, female egg guarding may be a response to the limited availability of sticky plants and a strategy against cannibalism.
Urban heronry birds tolerate human presence more than its conspecific rural birds

ABSTRACT Urbanisation is a major threat to biodiversity by forcing animals to either adapt to it, emigrate or face extinction. Wetland depended birds, and in particular heronry birds, are known to be adapted to fresh urban conditions in Kerala, India. They nest on large trees and forage at waste yards and fish markets in urban sites. We used flight initiation distance (FID) as a measure of bird’s tolerance level to humans and to study urban adaptation in heronry birds. When a foraging bird of interest was spotted, we walked towards it holding a rangefinder to measure the FID. We studied this for 237 and 217 foraging birds in urban and rural sites, respectively. We also counted the number of birds in the foraging ground before walking in order to study the effect of group size on FID of the targeted bird. The FID of all bird species, except the intermediate egret, was significantly shorter in urban sites. While the habitat type affected FID, the group size and the interaction between group size and habitat type did not. This study concludes that heronry birds tolerate human presence in urban habitats more than in rural habitats, indicating urban adaptation of heronry birds.
Investigating the Utility of Humanized Pregnane X Receptor-Constitutive Androstane Receptor-CYP3A4/7 Mouse Model to Assess CYP3A-Mediated Induction

Clinical induction liability is assessed with human hepatocytes. However, underpredictions in the magnitude of clinical induction have been reported. Unfortunately, in vivo studies in animals do not provide additional insight because of species differences in drug metabolizing enzymes and their regulatory pathways. To circumvent this limitation, transgenic animals expressing human orthologs were developed. The aim of this work was to investigate the utility of mouse models expressing human orthologs of pregnane X receptor, constitutive androstane receptor, and CYP3A4/7 (Tg-Composite) in evaluating clinical induction. Rifampin, efavirenz, and pioglitazone, which were employed to represent strong, moderate, and weak inducers, were administered at multiple doses to Tg-Composite animals. In vivo CYP3A activity was monitored by measuring changes in the exposure of the CYP3A probe substrate triazolam. After the in vivo studies, microsomes were prepared from their livers to measure changes of in vitro CYP3A4 activity. In both in vivo and in vitro, distinction of clinic induction was recapitulated as rifampin yielded the greatest inductive effect followed by efavirenz and pioglitazone. Interestingly, with rifampin, in vivo CYP3A activity was approximately 4-fold higher than in vitro activity. Conversely, there was no difference between in vivo and in vitro CYP3A activity with efavirenz. These findings are consistent with the report that, although rifampin exhibits differential inductive effects between the intestines and liver, efavirenz does not. These data highlight the promise of transgenic models, such as Tg-Composite, to complement human hepatocytes to enhance the translatability of clinical induction as well as become a powerful tool to further study mechanisms of drug disposition. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Underprediction of the magnitude of clinical induction when using human hepatocytes has been reported, and transgenic models may improve clinical translatability. The work presented here showcases the human orthologs of pregnane X receptor, constitutive androstane receptor, and CYP3A4/7 model, which was able to recapitulate the magnitude of clinical induction and to differentiate tissue-dependent induction observed with rifampin but not with efavirenz. These results not only foreshadow the potential application of such transgenic models in assessing clinical induction but also in further investigation of the mechanism of drug disposition.