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Histamine in fish is formed due to histidine decarboxylase which occurs due to decay by bacteria. In the Maluku community, melinjo leaves (Gnetum gnemon) are used as boiled water in processing rotten fish so that the decay process is inhibited. The compound content of melinjo leaves is tethered to the macromolecule decarboxylase PDB ID (4E1O). Test ligands, seven components of melinjo leaves were optimized using Gaussian. Ligands were bound to the receptor with AutoDock-Vina in grid box size and evaluated with Discovery Studio. The tethering results showed no ligand with affinity exceeding the standard ligand. However, three test ligands were close to the standard such as, dehydrovomifoliol affinity -6.7 kcal/mol, inhibition constant 1.2269 x 10-5. P-cumaric acid and gnetumal affinity -6.1 kcal/mol, inhibition constant 3.3778 x 10-5. Amino acid residue interactions showed hydrogen and hydrophobic bonding. The results of the binding affinity of the test ligand have not been able to be equivalent to the affinity of the standard ligand. However, the dehydrovomifoliol ligand is close to the affinity of the standard with a value of -6.7 kcal/mol and an RMSD of 2 Å. Thus, dehydrovomifoliol compounds from melinjo leaves show antihistamine effects as histidine decarboxylase inhibitors with promising potential.

Energy demand is continuously increasing owing to rapid technological developments and population growth. Additionally, it has been shown that the consumption of fossil fuels contributes to the emission of gases that increase the greenhouse effect. An alternative for addressing the problems of greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on oil is to replace fossil fuels with biofuels. This article presents the combustion gas emissions and performance assessment of a used car using gasoline–bioethanol blends at concentrations free of mechanical risk to contribute information for energy transition. The tests were carried out using the mixtures E0, E5, and E10 at speeds of 1500, 2500, and 4500 rpm for the evaluation of emissions. Meanwhile, for the performance assessment, the speed was varied from 2500 rpm to 8000 rpm. The vehicle was analyzed under functional operating conditions, and no mechanical modifications were made to the alcohol mixtures. Testing was performed using a gas analyzer with non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) electroluminescence and electrochemical cells to measure the emissions, and a computerized chassis dynamometer was used to measure the torque and speed. From the results shown here, it can be concluded that the use of bioethanol at low concentrations in the range without mechanical risk, such as E0, E5, and E10, can be utilized in used cars and in functional operating conditions, improving the thermal efficiency of the engine by 2% and 1.2% with the E5 and E10 mixtures. The specific consumption increased up to 3% with the E10 mixture owing to the lower energy capacity of the mixture. Meanwhile, HC polluting emissions decreased by up to 8.44%, 20%, and 100 at speeds of 1500 rpm, 2500 rpm, and 4500 rpm, respectively. The nitrogen oxide emissions decreased by up to 5% for mixtures E5 and E10. The results presented in this article may be useful for decision making in the use of biofuels in automobiles used in the energy transition. In addition, our study can be taken as a reference for studies on cars that are more than 20 years old.

Heat stress is a known challenge for dairy farms, but standardized, practical heat abatement assessments are lacking. Our objectives were to evaluate the summer ventilation system performance of Wisconsin freestall facilities, provide farms with feedback, and refine our assessment method for knowledge transfer to the industry. Six naturally ventilated (NV) and six cross-ventilated (CV) facilities (n=12) were enrolled. On day 1, 30 focal cows received data loggers to measure resting behavior and intravaginal temperature. Data loggers recorded barn air temperature and relative humidity. Air speeds (AS) were measured manually with anemometers to characterize AS distributions at cow resting (0.5m) and standing (1.5m) heights. Data loggers were removed on day 5, resulting in 3 days of data for resting behavior, vaginal temperature, and temperature humidity index (THI). The fixed effects of average AS and daily maximum THI on daily maximum vaginal temperature (VT), 24-h lying time (LT), and the number and duration of daily lying bouts were analyzed using linear mixed models. We evaluated the fixed effects of THI, average AS, and within-facility SD in AS among stalls on within-facility SD of VT, LT, and the number and duration of lying bouts among focal cows. Stall AS in NV vs. CV barns was 1.4 ± 0.3 vs. 2.0 ± 0.7 m/s (inter-facility ranges: 0.9–1.7 vs. 1.4–3.1 m/s) at resting height and 2.3 ± 0.3 vs. 2.5 ± 0.5 m/s (range: 1.7–2.8 vs. 1.7–3.1 m/s) at standing height. When facility AS increased by 1 m/s, cows had 0.8 fewer lying bouts per day. When the within-facility SD of AS among stalls increased by 1 m/s, the SD among cows of daily lying time increased 1 h/d, driven by an increase in the SDs of lying bouts (+2.5 bouts/d) and durations (13.9 min/bout). For every 10-unit increase in THI, VT increased 0.4°C, daily lying bouts tended to increase by 0.9/d, and SD of daily lying time increased 0.4 h/d. The farms received reports with summary data and suggestions to improve the consistency of AS at cow resting height. Consistent air speeds of ≥1 m/s among stalls can improve cow comfort during heat stress by reducing variation in lying behavior.

Objetivos: La miocardiopatía arritmogénica (MCA) es un trastorno cardíaco complejo asociado con arritmias ventriculares (AV). Comprender la relación entre el desacoplamiento mecánico y los cambios estructurales cardíacos en pacientes con MCA es crucial para una estratificación de riesgos y una gestión mejorada. Métodos: En este estudio, reclutamos a 25 pacientes con MCA (edad media 34 años, 72% hombres) basándonos en los criterios del Task Force 2019 y los criterios de Padua. Los pacientes se clasificaron según la presencia o ausencia de taquicardia ventricular clínicamente relevante (crVT), que requería intervenciones de emergencia. Se evaluó el acoplamiento ventricular derecho-arterial (VAC) mediante ecocardiografía. Se utilizaron low-rank regression splines para modelar la fracción de eyección del ventrículo izquierdo (FEVI) y la fracción de eyección del ventrículo derecho (FEVD) en relación con el VAC. Resultados: Se observaron asociaciones positivas entre el VAC y la FEVI (ρ = 0.472, p = 0.023), la FEVD (ρ = 0.522, p = 0.038) y el volumen de eyección indexado del ventrículo derecho (ρ = 0.79, p < 0.001). Los pacientes con crVT mostraron correlaciones con acortamiento del ventrículo derecho, disminución de la FEVD (39.6 vs. 32.2%, p = 0.025), aumento de la masa ventricular izquierda (38.99 vs. 45.55, p = 0.045) y volumen diastólico final del ventrículo izquierdo (VDVI) (56.99 vs. 68.15 mL/m2, p = 0.045). Se observaron asociaciones positivas para el VAC con el VDVI (p = 0.039) y la masa ventricular izquierda (p = 0.039), mientras que se observaron correlaciones negativas con la FEVD por RMC (p = 0.023) y el acortamiento del ventrículo derecho por ecocardiografía (p = 0.026). Conclusiones: Nuestros hallazgos subrayan la importancia del VAC derecho en la MCA, demostrando correlaciones con la FEVD y FEVI, el volumen de eyección del ventrículo derecho y arritmias clínicamente relevantes. Las percepciones sobre la FEVD, la masa ventricular izquierda y el volumen diastólico final proporcionan contribuciones valiosas para comprender la fisiopatología de la MCA y pueden informar estrategias de evaluación de riesgos.

Conventional communications systems centered on data prioritize maximizing network throughput using Shannon’s theory, which is primarily concerned with securely transmitting the data despite limited radio resources. However, in the realm of edge learning, these methods frequently fall short because they depend on traditional source coding and channel coding principles, ultimately failing to improve learning performance. Consequently, it is crucial to transition from a data-centric viewpoint to a task-oriented communications approach in wireless system design. Therefore, in this paper, we propose efficient communications under a task-oriented principle by optimizing power allocation and edge learning-error prediction in an edge-aided non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) network. Furthermore, we propose a novel approach based on the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm to jointly minimize the learning error and optimize the power allocation variables. Moreover, we investigate four additional benchmark schemes (particle swarm optimization, quantum particle swarm optimization, cuckoo search, and butterfly optimization algorithms). Satisfactorily, simulation results validate the superiority of the ACO algorithm over the baseline schemes, achieving the best performance with less computation time. In addition, the integration of NOMA in the proposed task-oriented edge learning system obtains higher sum rate values than those achieved by conventional schemes.

Precison-scalable (PS) multipliers are gaining traction in Deep Neural Network accelerators, particularly for enabling mixed-precision (MP) quantization in Deep Learning at the edge. This paper focuses on the Sum-Together (ST) class of PS multipliers, which are subword-parallel multipliers that can execute a standard multiplication at full precision or a dot-product with parallel low-precision operands. Our contributions in this area encompass multiple aspects: we enrich our previous comparison of SoA ST multipliers by including our recent radix-4 Booth ST multiplier and two novel designs; we extend the explanation of the architecture and the design flow of our previously proposed ST-based PS hardware accelerators designed for 2D-Convolution, Depth-wise Convolution, and Fully-Connected layers that we developed using High-Level Synthesis (HLS); we implement the uniform integer quantization equations in hardware; we conduct a broad HLS-driven design space exploration of our ST-based accelerators, varying numerous hardware parameters; finally, we showcase the advantages of ST-based accelerators when integrated into System-on-Chips (SoCs) in three different scenarios (low-area, low-power, and low-latency), running inference on MP-quantized MLPerf Tiny models as case study. Across the three scenarios, the results show an average latency speedup of 1.46x, 1.33x, and 1.29x, a reduced energy consumption in most of the cases, and a marginal area overhead of 0.9%, 2.5% and 8.0%, compared to SoCs with accelerators based on fixed-precision 16-bit multipliers. To sum up, our work provides a comprehensive understanding of ST-based accelerators’ performance in an SoC context, paving the way for future enhancements and the solution of identified inefficiencies.

This study explores the effects of plant compounds on human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced W12 cervical precancer cells and bioelectric signaling. The aim is to identify effective phytochemicals, both individually and in combination, that can prevent and treat HPV infection and HPV associated cervical cancer. Phytochemicals were tested using growth inhibition, combination, gene expression, RT PCR, and molecular docking assays. W12 cells, derived from a cervical precancerous lesion, contain either episomal or integrated HPV16 DNA. Several compounds, including digoxin, tanshinone IIA, dihydromethysticin and carrageenan, as well as fractions of turmeric, ginger and pomegranate inhibited the growth of W12 precancer and cervical cancer cells. Curcumin and tanshinone IIA were the most active and relatively nontoxic compounds. RT-PCR analysis showed that tanshinone IIA activated the expression of p53, while repressing the expression of HPV16 E1, E2, E4, E6, and E7 viral transcripts in W12 (type 1 and 2) integrant cells. In addition, curcumin synergized with tanshinone IIA in HeLa cells. Molecular docking studies suggested tanshinone IIA and curcumin bind to the Na+/K+-ATPase ion channel, with curcumin binding with higher affinity. Our findings highlight the potential of these multifaceted phytochemicals to prevent and treat HPV-induced cervical cancer, offering a promising approach for combinatorial therapeutic intervention.

Emulsification is a feared and common complication of the use of silicone oil (SO) as tamponade fluid after vitrectomy as it potentially associated with significant risks to ocular health, including elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), glaucoma, corneal and retinal changes. The aim of this study was to investigate the role and interplay of physical factors on the formation of SO emulsion. Experiments were performed in a model of the vitreous chamber with a realistic shape, filled with SO and an aqueous solution containing different concentrations of albumin, an endogenous protein known to modify the interfacial properties between SO and aqueous solutions. The model was subjected to harmonic and saccadic rotations and kept at body temperature. Results indicated that no emulsions were detected in the absence of albumin in the aqueous solution, while the presence of the protein facilitated emulsion formation, acting as a surfactant. Mechanical energy from eye movements was also found to be a key mechanism to produce emulsification, with higher mechanical energy provided to the system leading to smaller droplet sizes. The emulsions formed were stable over extended times. This study highlights the complex interplay of factors influencing SO emulsification in the vitreous chamber. A better understanding of the mechanisms underlying SO emulsification is crucial for developing strategies to mitigate SO emulsion and the related complications.

ABSTRACT: Heat abatement (e.g., soakers, fans) effectively reduces the negative physiological and production effects of heat stress, but no previous studies have documented effective interventions for the reduced lying times observed in response to hot weather. Although likely adaptive for heat dissipation, the reduction in motivated lying behavior may be an animal welfare concern. We evaluated the effect of air speed from fans with variable frequency drives on the heat stress responses of cows in a naturally ventilated freestall barn. Eight groups of lactating Holsteins (16 cows/group) were exposed to 3 treatments in a replicated crossover design: control (fans off, 0.4 ± 0.2 m/s, measured 0.5 m above the stall surface to represent cow resting height) versus 60% (1.7 ± 0.5 m/s; ≥1 m/s in all stalls) and 100% (2.4 ± 0.8 m/s) fan power. Each treatment was applied for 3 d of acclimation and 4 d of data collection. The effects of treatment on daily maximum vaginal temperature (VT) and lying time (LT; both measured with data loggers), respiration rate (RR; recorded from video), unshaved scapular skin temperature (ST), milk yield (MY), and dry matter intake (DMI) were analyzed using linear mixed models. All models included the fixed effect of treatment and a repeated term for treatment day within group of cows, with group as the subject. The models for LT, VT, and RR also included a fixed effect for same-day temperature-humidity index (THI; recorded in the pens with data loggers) and the THI × treatment interaction. The models for DMI and MY, using data from the latter 3 d of each treatment period, also included a fixed effect for the previous day's THI and the −1 d THI × treatment interaction. Lying time differed among treatments (100% vs. 60% fan power vs. control: 14.2 vs. 13.9 vs. 13.2 h/d, respectively, SEM = 0.15 h/d), but both fan treatments prevented the reduction in LT observed in the control treatment as THI increased. Relative to the control, both fan treatments effectively reduced ST, RR, and VT and increased DMI and MY. In the control, average values were elevated for both RR (68.7 ± 1.5 breaths/min, mean ± SEM, greater than a common benchmark of 60 breaths/min) and VT (39.3 ± 0.05°C) but remained in the normal range in both fan treatments (54.2 vs. 50.7 breaths/min in the 60% vs. 100% fan power treatments; 39.0°C in both fan treatments). Both fan treatments resulted in greater overall MY (42.6 vs. 43.0 ± 0.4 kg/d in the 60% vs. 100% fan power treatments) relative to the control (41.0 kg/d) and similarly avoided the reduction in MY when −1 d THI increased. Compared with natural ventilation alone, fans delivering air speeds of at least 1 m/s at cow resting height were effective not only for reducing thermoregulatory responses, but also for maintaining lying time, DMI, and MY in heat stress conditions. This is the first study to demonstrate an intervention to improve animal welfare by maintaining lying times during periods of heat stress.

Abstract Background Radiation-induced damage (RID) after radiotherapy (RT) of primary brain tumors and metastases can be challenging to clinico-radiographically distinguish from tumor progression. RID includes pseudoprogression and radiation necrosis; the latter being irreversible and often associated with severe symptoms. While histopathology constitutes the diagnostic gold standard, biopsy-controlled clinical studies investigating RID remain limited. Whether certain brain areas are potentially more vulnerable to RID remains an area of active investigation. Here, we analyze histopathologically confirmed cases of RID in relation to the temporal and spatial dose distribution. Methods Histopathologically confirmed cases of RID after photon-based RT for primary or secondary central nervous system malignancies were included. Demographic, clinical, and dosimetric data were collected from patient records and treatment planning systems. We calculated the equivalent dose in 2 Gy fractions (EQD22) and the biologically effective dose (BED2) for normal brain tissue (α/β ratio of 2 Gy) and analyzed the spatial and temporal distribution using frequency maps. Results Thirty-three patients were identified. High-grade glioma patients (n = 18) mostly received one normofractionated RT series (median cumulative EQD22 60 Gy) to a large planning target volume (PTV) (median 203.9 ccm) before diagnosis of RID. Despite the low EQD22 and BED2, three patients with an accelerated hyperfractionated RT developed RID. In contrast, brain metastases patients (n = 15; 16 RID lesions) were often treated with two or more RT courses and with radiosurgery or fractionated stereotactic RT, resulting in a higher cumulative EQD22 (median 162.4 Gy), to a small PTV (median 6.7 ccm). All (n = 34) RID lesions occurred within the PTV of at least one of the preceding RT courses. RID in the high-grade glioma group showed a frontotemporal distribution pattern, whereas, in metastatic patients, RID was observed throughout the brain with highest density in the parietal lobe. The cumulative EQD22 was significantly lower in RID lesions that involved the subventricular zone (SVZ) than in lesions without SVZ involvement (median 60 Gy vs. 141 Gy, p = 0.01). Conclusions Accelerated hyperfractionated RT can lead to RID despite computationally low EQD22 and BED2 in high-grade glioma patients. The anatomical location of RID corresponded to the general tumor distribution of gliomas and metastases. The SVZ might be a particularly vulnerable area.

This descriptive-correlational research design aimed to determine the significant relationships between e-Work SelfEfficacy digital competence, and work engagement of teachers in secondary schools in the Philippines. The respondents of the study were 244 teachers from public secondary from two provinces. They were selected through Simple Random Sampling. The study was conducted via online forms. The gathered data were treated using statistical tools such as Mean, Standard Deviation, Pearson r, Hayes Process, and Multiple Linear Regression. The results of the study suggest that enhancing e-Work Self-Efficacy and digital competence may lead to increased work engagement, which could ultimately lead to better job performance and satisfaction in the context of remote work. The results of moderation analyses revealed that the respondents’ profile age, length of service, and academic rank significantly moderated the relationship between e-Work Selt-Efficacy and work engagement. Hence, the hypothesis stating that the respondents’ profile variables do not significantly moderate between e-Work Self-Efficacy and work engagement and also the hypothesis stating that the respondents’ profile variables do not significantly moderate between digital competence and work engagement of the respondents were both partly upheld. The result of regression analysis identified that digital competence singly predicted the Work Engagement of the respondents. Moreover, the regression further revealed that digital competence and e-Work Selt-Efficacy, in combination, predict the work engagement of the respondents. Hence, the hypothesis stating that the respondents’ profile, e-Work Self-Efficacy and digital competence do not significantly predict their work engagement was partly upheld.

Abstract Detecting and tracking multiple moving objects in a video is a challenging task. For living cells, the task becomes even more arduous as cells change their morphology over time, can partially overlap, and mitosis leads to new cells. Differently from fluorescence microscopy, label-free techniques can be easily applied to almost all cell lines, reducing sample preparation complexity and phototoxicity. In this study, we present ALFI, a dataset of images and annotations for label-free microscopy, made publicly available to the scientific community, that notably extends the current panorama of expertly labeled data for detection and tracking of cultured living nontransformed and cancer human cells. It consists of 29 time-lapse image sequences from HeLa, U2OS, and hTERT RPE-1 cells under different experimental conditions, acquired by differential interference contrast microscopy, for a total of 237.9 hours. It contains various annotations (pixel-wise segmentation masks, object-wise bounding boxes, tracking information). The dataset is useful for testing and comparing methods for identifying interphase and mitotic events and reconstructing their lineage, and for discriminating different cellular phenotypes.

Clinical studies indicate that Arthrospira platensis (A. platensis) mitigates cardiometabolic risk factors, but the underlying mechanisms are very elusive. To fill this gap, Sprague-Dowley rats were fed either AIN-76 normal diet (5 % corn oil) or high-fat (HF; 30 % lard + 3 % corn oil) or HF + 5 % A. platensis F&M-C256 diet for 3 months. A. platensis F&M-C256 decreased blood triglycerides and total cholesterol, systolic and diastolic pressure and enhanced the expression of thermogenesis-related genes Prdm16, Dio2, PPARγ, Ucp1 and Lpl in visceral adipose tissue, compared to HF-diet. A. platensis reduced ANGPTL3 plasma levels and hepatic steatosis, prevented periaortic adipose tissue hypertrophy and increased aortic eNOS expression. These data provide some mechanistic evidence about the beneficial effects of A. platensis observed in human studies. Further controlled trials are needed to verify the clinical usefulness of A. platensis supplementation against metabolic disorders, to select the dosing regimens and the subgroup of patients with likelihood of benefit.

The three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus was introduced into Lake Constance in the 1940s and occupied a limited range until late 2012. Since then the species has expanded from a solely littoral habitat in Upper Lake Constance, but now makes seasonal migrations into the pelagic zone. This behavioral change has been accompanied by a drastic increase in stickleback abundance. In order to integrate information about feeding of sticklebacks in Upper Lake Constance over two consecutive years, stomach content analysis was combined with seasonal stable isotope analysis on two types of tissue (muscle and liver). Isotope values were also obtained for zooplankton, whitefish larvae and eggs. We calculated the contribution of potential food sources for sticklebacks’ diet using a Bayesian mixing model (SIMMR). Furthermore, we determined stickleback trophic position, and δ15N and δ13C values were compared with those of other fish species of Lake Constance. The results of the Bayesian model as well as the stomach content analysis showed clear evidence of stickleback predation on fish eggs and larvae. Stickleback δ15N values were elevated during winter and comparable to those of piscivorous pike, while δ15N values of zooplankton were reduced, and those of whitefish larvae were similar to those of sticklebacks after accounting trophic fractionation of N isotopes. Trophic position calculations further identified sticklebacks as piscivorous, while the δ13C values of the liver and stomach content analysis suggests that a benthic-pelagic species pair may exist in Lake Constance. These findings support the hypotheses that sticklebacks in Lake Constance can display piscivorous feeding behaviour on sympatric fish species, most likely whitefish larvae and eggs.

The inertia displacement in power grids, caused by the massive integration of renewable energy resources (RES) and responsive loads, has become one of the biggest challenges to operating and controlling power systems. Locating the centre of inertia (COI) of a region can help identify this inertia displacement. This work proposes a novel fully data-driven disturbance-based methodology to estimate both the COI and the inertia of a region, where the variation of the COI due to RES and load contribution are considered. The methodology uses a recursive form of the typicality-based data analysis (TDA) to find the pilot-bus (TDAp). The TDA methodology approximates the multi-modal distribution of active power and frequency measurements by the typicality property, to detect the COI of each region and the corresponding pilot-bus. A composite metric of correlation and cosine similarities of active power and frequency measurements is used to approximate the measurements’ unknown distribution. The window of measurements necessary for detection is attained by the convergence of the typicality variance. The frequency of the detected pilot-bus of the region and tie-lines active powers deviations are used by an auto-regressive moving average exogenous input (ARMAX) approach to estimate the inertia of a regional equivalent machine. The methodology is capable of identifying RES and load contribution, since the pilot-bus detection through the TDAp is sensible to the COI displacement by these equipments, unlike traditional methods that only consider an average of synchronous machines’ inertia and some heuristics for load contribution. The proposed methodology is tested by using the IEEE 68-bus benchmark test system, an adapted version with aggregated dynamical loads, and also with RES participation through type-3 wind generators, corroborating the effectiveness of the proposal.

Abstract This paper proposes a single‐phase transformerless photovoltaic (PV) microinverter for low and medium‐voltage applications. The proposed approach comprises a suitable combination of multilevel boost/buck and H‐bridge topologies with a current‐sensorless control scheme, where the system controller only needs a straightforward‐to‐implement control loop to reach the desired attributes in solar PV conversion systems. Compared with other microinverters, this proposal significantly reduces the number of hardware components and required software resources, considerably attaining industrial and production advantages; guaranteeing: (i) a high DC elevation factor; (ii) an extraction of maximum power from solar PV panels; (iii) a multilevel output voltage; (iv) a low total harmonic distortion; and (v) a power factor close to unity. The multilevel microinverter's feasibility and effectiveness are assessed by a comprehensive mathematical model, whose simulation results are evaluated using MATLAB‐Simulink, and the experimental results are validated by means of an on‐grid low‐scale prototype, generating a power capacity of 1.5 kW.

Abstract A growing body of evidence links gut microbiota changes with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), raising the potential benefit of exploiting metagenomics data for non-invasive IBD diagnostics. The sbv IMPROVER metagenomics diagnosis for inflammatory bowel disease challenge investigated computational metagenomics methods for discriminating IBD and nonIBD subjects. Participants in this challenge were given independent training and test metagenomics data from IBD and nonIBD subjects, which could be wither either raw read data (sub-challenge 1, SC1) or processed Taxonomy- and Function-based profiles (sub-challenge 2, SC2). A total of 81 anonymized submissions were received between September 2019 and March 2020. Most participants’ predictions performed better than random predictions in classifying IBD versus nonIBD, Ulcerative Colitis (UC) versus nonIBD, and Crohn’s Disease (CD) versus nonIBD. However, discrimination between UC and CD remains challenging, with the classification quality similar to the set of random predictions. We analyzed the class prediction accuracy, the metagenomics features by the teams, and computational methods used. These results will be openly shared with the scientific community to help advance IBD research and illustrate the application of a range of computational methodologies for effective metagenomic classification.

Abstract Electrical power systems are continuously upgrading into networks with a higher degree of automation capable of identifying and reacting to different events that may trigger undesirable situations. In power systems with decreasing inertia and damping levels, poorly damped oscillations with sustained or growing amplitudes following a disturbance may eventually lead to instability and provoke a major event such as a blackout. Additionally, with the increasing and considerable share of renewable power generation, unprecedented operational challenges shall be considered when proposing protection schemes against unstable electro‐mechanical (e.g. ringdown) oscillations. In an emergency situation, islanding operations enable splitting a power network into separate smaller networks to prevent a total blackout. Due to such changes, identifying the underlying types of oscillatory coherency and the islanding protocols are necessary for a continuously updating process to be incorporated into the existing power system monitoring and control tasks. This paper examines the existing evaluation methods and the islanding protocols as well as proposes an updated operational guideline based on the latest data‐analytic technologies.

In this paper, we study a cognitive radio (CR)-enabled wireless powered communication network (WPCN) with an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS). A cognitive wireless powered communication network (CWPCN) consisting of one secondary wireless powered communication network, in which a hybrid access point broadcasts wireless energy to multiple users on downlink and receives information signals on uplink, shares the same spectrum with the existing primary wireless communication network. In this paper, we consider an underlay CWPCN in which the secondary network is regulated by a given interference temperature constraint (ITC) such that interference with the primary network is kept no greater than a predefined threshold. To enhance the performance of the CWPCN, we consider an IRS-assisted network in which multiple passive reflection elements are configured to reflect the signals in any desired phase/direction. Our main goal is to maximize the sum throughput of secondary users while managing the interference constraint. For this, we jointly optimize the uplink and downlink phase shift matrices of the IRS elements with optimal time slots for wireless energy transfer (WET) on downlink and wireless information transfer on uplink. In finding the optimal solution, the formulated optimization problem is non-convex, complex, and intractable. In this paper, we propose an alternating optimization (AO)-based solution with a successive convex approximation (SCA) technique. We show through simulation results that the proposed IRS-assisted network provides a significant enhancement in performance over the conventional CWPCN.

Flip-flops are the most used sequential elements in synchronous circuits, but designs based on latches can operate at higher frequencies and occupy less area. Techniques to increase the maximum operating frequency of flip-flop based designs, such as time-borrowing, rely on tight hold constraints that are difficult to satisfy using traditional back-end optimization techniques. We propose Mix & Latch, a methodology to increase the operating frequency of synchronous digital circuits using a single clock tree and a mixed distribution of positive- and negative-edge-triggered flops, and positive- and negative-level-sensitive latches. An efficient mathematical model is proposed to optimize the type and location of the sequential elements of the circuit. We ensure that the initial registers are not moved from their initial location, although they may change type, thus allowing the use of equivalence checking and static timing analysis to verify formally the correctness of the transformation. The technique is validated using a $\mathrm {28 \text {n} \text {m} }$ CMOS FDSOI technology, obtaining $\mathrm {1.33 X}$ post-layout average operating frequency improvement on a broad set of benchmarks over a standard commercial design flow. Additionally, the circuit area was also reduced by more than $\mathrm {1.19 X}$ on average for the same benchmarks, although the overall area reduction is not a goal of the optimization algorithm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that proposes combining mixed-polarity flip-flops and latches to improve the circuit performance.

Abstract Background We previously identified Leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobulin-like domains 1 (Lrig1) as a marker of long-term neurogenic stem cells in the lateral wall of the adult mouse brain. The morphology of the stem cells thus identified differed from the canonical B1 type stem cells, raising a question about their cellular origin. Thus, we investigated the development of these stem cells in the postnatal and juvenile brain. Furthermore, because Lrig1 is a known regulator of quiescence, we also investigated the effect(s) of its deletion on the cellular proliferation in the lateral wall. Methods To observe the development of the Lrig1-lineage stem cells, genetic inducible fate mapping studies in combination with thymidine analog administration were conducted using a previously published Lrig1 T2A-iCreERT2 mouse line. To identify the long-term consequence(s) of Lrig1 germline deletion, old Lrig1 knock-out mice were generated using two different Lrig1 null alleles in the C57BL/6J background. The lateral walls from these mice were analyzed using an optimized whole mount immunofluorescence protocol and confocal microscopy. Results We observed the Lrig1-lineage labeled cells with morphologies consistent with neurogenic stem cell identity in postnatal, juvenile, and adult mouse brains. Interestingly, when induced at postnatal or juvenile ages, morphologically distinct cells were revealed, including cells with the canonical B1 type stem cell morphology. Almost all of the presumptive stem cells labeled were non-proliferative at these ages. In the old Lrig1 germline knock-out mice, increased proliferation was observed compared to wildtype littermates without concomitant increase in apoptosis. Conclusions Once set aside during embryogenesis, the Lrig1-lineage stem cells remain largely quiescent during postnatal and juvenile development until activation in adult age. The absence of premature proliferative exhaustion in the Lrig1 knock-out stem cell niche during aging is likely due to a complex cascade of effects on the adult stem cell pool. Thus, we suggest that the adult stem cell pool size may be genetically constrained via Lrig1.

This paper introduces a new digital adaptive background technique to jointly compensate for the analog impairments of the frequency and time-interleaved sections of jointly frequency-time interleaved digital-to-analog converters. This architecture consists of a hierarchical structure of lower bandwidth converters organized as time-interleaved at the bottom and frequency-interleaved at the top. This system design emerges as a natural candidate to achieve the extreme specifications of applications such as next-generation optical communication systems, which will require converters with bandwidths in the 120 GHz range, sampling rates of about 300 GHz, and $\ge 6.5$ effective number of bits. The compensation or calibration of analog impairments in this architecture is a new challenge that has not been addressed by prior research. In this work, we present an adaptive background algorithm that simultaneously estimates and compensates for the linear impairments of the hierarchical structure. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method through numerical simulations of a coherent optical transceiver at a symbol rate of 160 GBd. In addition, we prove this device to be effective as a general-purpose converter. Our results show that the compensated architecture is an excellent candidate for high-speed commercial devices for multiple applications.

This paper presents an adaptive background compensation technique designed to address analog impairments in frequency-interleaved analog-to-digital converters. Frequency interleaving has been proposed as a solution to the bandwidth bottleneck of data converters in high-speed digital communication receivers, including those deployed in coherent optical transmission systems. The proposed technique combines an adaptive multiple-input multiple-output equalizer with the well-established backpropagation algorithm commonly utilized in machine learning. Unlike previous proposals, the new algorithm ( ${i}$ ) compensates the linear impairments in the analog front-end of the receiver (e.g., mismatches of track-and-hold and trans-impedance amplifier frequency responses, time skews, quadrature imbalance in electrical carriers, etc.), and (ii) maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio at the decision point of the receiver without requiring estimation of the channel parameters. The proposed background compensation scheme is thoroughly investigated in a dual-polarization coherent optical receiver with 16-QAM operating at ~200 GBd (i.e., ~1.6 Tbps). Numerical results show the excellent performance and high robustness of the new background compensation algorithm. These features, combined with its low implementation complexity, will pave the way for the deployment of commercial transceivers with bandwidths of 100 GHz and beyond.

Summary: Healthcare systems in Latin America are broadly heterogeneous, but all of them are burdened by a dramatic rise in liver disease. Some challenges that these countries face include an increase in patients requiring a transplant, insufficient rates of organ donation, delayed referral, and inequitable or suboptimal access to liver transplant programs and post-transplant care. This could be improved by expanding the donor pool through the implementation of education programs for citizens and referring physicians, as well as the inclusion of extended criteria donors, living donors and split liver transplantation. Addressing these shortcomings will require national shifts aimed at improving infrastructure, increasing awareness of organ donation, training medical personnel, and providing equitable access to care for all patients.

AbstractThis study explores the role of trust in purchase intentions for collaborative consumption services in Colombia. Data were collected through an online survey (n = 233) to test the proposed conceptual model. Results confirmed the direct relationship among disposition of trust, trust in the intermediary, and trust in the service provider and, consequently, the positive relationship among these variables in relation to purchase intentions. Additionally, the disposition of trust does not directly influence purchase intentions. Practical implications for the enhancement of trust are provided. This work advances the literature on the influence of trust on collaborative consumption in emerging economies.

The validation of instruments is integral to sound psychometric assessment practices. Construct validity, as the apex indicator, is established largely based on data-reduction techniques. This bias overlooks the importance of expert-based content validity and alternate approaches to construct validity. The construct definition, object classification, attribute classification, rater identification, scale formation, and enumeration and reporting (C-OAR-SE) framework provides an alternative to traditional approaches to construct validation. However, the theory lacks articulation into an appraisal instrument that can form an integral part of the methodology used for validation studies. There is a need to focus on the conceptual clarity of constructs and its subsequent impact on operationalisation as a prerequisite to data reduction. This study reports on the development of the Conceptual Construct Validity Appraisal Checklist (CCVAC), based on the C-OAR-SE framework. The CCVAC assesses conceptual construct validity as the logical underpinning of instruments. The CCVAC has three sections, assessing theoretical definitions, operational definitions and scoring, respectively. The measure produces subsection and section scores and a global interpretation matrix. The construction followed a rigorous five-step process. The CCVAC was piloted on the Emotional Social Screening Tool for School Readiness (E3SR). The CCVAC performed well and appears non-sensitive to theoretical frameworks. The E3SR achieved a moderate level of construct validity as estimated by the CCVAC. The kappa statistic (0.55) indicated a moderate inter-rater agreement. All ethics principles were adhered to. Contribution: The CCVAC is theoretically grounded and provides a quantifiable methodology to objectively assess conceptual construct validity. The CCVAC makes the methodology underpinning construction explicit and produces quantifiable outcomes.

The presence of antibiotics in soils is increasing drastically in last decades due to the intensive farming industry and excessive human consumption. Clay minerals are one of the soil components with great adsorption capacity for organic pollutants. The study of interactions between antibiotics and mineral surfaces will give us scientific knowledge of these pollutants through soils. In this work, we study the adsorption of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin in the clay mineral fraction of soils from the Argentinian zone of Santa Rosa (Corrientes), in a collaborative research of experiments and atomistic modelling calculations of the intercalation of ciprofloxacin in the interlayer space of montmorillonite. Adsorption and desorption isotherms were performed and compared with different isotherm models. Additionally, enthalpy, entropy, and free energy were determined from equilibrium constants at a function of temperature. All these experiments and calculations lead to the conclusions that two adsorption types of ciprofloxacin are found on clay minerals: one weakly sorbed that is released during the desorption experiments, and other one strongly joined that remains in the soil.

Malaria is among the tropical diseases that cause the most deaths in Africa. Around 500,000 malaria deaths are reported yearly among African children under the age of five. Chloroquine (CQ) is a low-cost antimalarial used worldwide for the treatment of Plasmodium vivax malaria. Due to resistance mechanisms, CQ is no longer effective against most malaria cases caused by P. falciparum. The World Health Organization recommends artemisinin combination therapies for P. falciparum malaria, but resistance is emerging in Southeast Asia and some parts of Africa. Therefore, new medicines for treating malaria are urgently needed. Previously, our group identified the 4-aminoquinoline DAQ, a CQ analog containing an acetylenic bond in its side chain, which overcomes CQ resistance in K1 P. falciparum strains. In this work, the antiplasmodial profile, drug-like properties, and pharmacokinetics of DAQ were further investigated. DAQ showed no cross-resistance against standard CQ-resistant strains (e.g., Dd2, IPC 4912, RF12) nor against P. falciparum and P. vivax isolates from patients in the Brazilian Amazon. Using drug pressure assays, DAQ showed a low propensity to generate resistance. DAQ showed considerable solubility but low metabolic stability. The main metabolite was identified as a mono N-deethylated derivative (DAQM), which also showed significant inhibitory activity against CQ-resistant P. falciparum strains. Our findings indicated that the presence of a triple bond in CQ-analogues may represent a low-cost opportunity to overcome known mechanisms of resistance in the malaria parasite.

Ethical practices as viewed on the three ethics approaches can drive leader and employee involvement in sustainability-related behaviors. This study sought to determine the ethical practices of employees and leaders of a state university in the province of Laguna Philippines as well as the institution’s sustainability. Descriptive research was conducted through a survey administered to sixty-six (66) faculty members. The study also investigated if there are differences in the ethical practices of the leaders and employees when grouped according to profile factors as well as looked into the relationship between ethical practices and organization sustainability. The study revealed that the leaders and employees highly put into action the ethical practices in relation to Kantian, Virtue, and Care Ethics. Moreover, the level of sustainability exercised by the institution in terms of its contribution to society and the environment is perceived to be highly practiced. Furthermore, it was concluded that there is no significant difference in the ethical practices of the leaders as perceived by the faculty members. A significant relationship between ethical practices and organizational sustainability was established. As such, continuous review of the ethical code of conduct and laying down of procedures in carrying out ethical issues are emphasized by the results.

An in silico study was conducted to inhibit the active compound in Kirinyuh leaves (Chromolaena odorata L.) against α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes using a molecular docking approach. The docking was carried out on 19 active compounds that had been identified in Kirinyuh leaves and were optimized using the PM3 method. The best results in inhibit on of the α-amylase enzyme were shown by compounds from the flavanone group, namely genkwanin and sakuranetin with binding affinities of -8.3 kcal/mol and -8.1 kcal/mol, respectively, while the best results in inhibiting on of the α-glucosidase enzyme were shown by two compounds from the hydroxybenzoic acid group, namely p-coumaric acid and p-hydroxybenzoic acid with bond affinities of -5.7 kcal.mol and -5.5 kcal.mol, respectively. The interaction between α-amylase with genkwanin and sakuranetin produces one conventional hydrogen bond GLU 233 and GLN 63 respectively. The interaction between α-glucosidase with p-coumaric acid and p-hydroxybenzoic acid produces three conventional hydrogen bonds, HIS 112; GLN 182; ASP 352 and GU 277; GLN 279; ASP 352.

Abstract Improving boiling is challenging due to the unpredictable nature of bubbles. One way to enhance boiling is with surfactants, which alter the solid–liquid and liquid–vapor interfaces. The conventional wisdom established by previous studies suggests that heat transfer enhancement is optimized near the critical micelle concentration (CMC), which is an equilibrium property that depends on surfactant type. However, these studies only tested a limited number of surfactants over small concentration ranges. Here, we test a larger variety of nonionic and anionic surfactants over the widest concentration range and find that a universal, optimal concentration range exists, irrespective of CMC. To explain this, we show that surfactant-enhanced boiling is controlled by two competing phenomena: (1) the dynamic adsorption of surfactants to the interfaces and (2) the increase in liquid dynamic viscosity at very high surfactant concentrations. This dynamic adsorption is time-limited by the millisecond-lifetime of bubbles on the boiling surface—much shorter than the timescales required to see equilibrium behaviors such as CMC. At very high concentrations, increased viscosity inhibits rapid bubble growth, reducing heat transfer. We combine the effects of adsorption and viscosity through a simple proportionality, providing a succinct and useful understanding of this enhancement behavior for boiling applications.

Glutaminolysis is a hallmark of the activation and metabolic reprogramming of T cells. Isotopic tracer analyses of antigen-activated effector CD8+ T cells revealed that glutamine is the principal carbon source for the biosynthesis of polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine. These metabolites play critical roles in activation-induced T cell proliferation, as well as for the production of hypusine, which is derived from spermidine and is covalently linked to the translation elongation factor eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A). Here, we demonstrated that the glutamine/polyamine/hypusine axis controlled the expression of CD69, an important regulator of tissue-resident memory T cells (Trm). Inhibition of this circuit augmented the development of Trm cells ex vivo and in vivo in the BM, a well-established niche for Trm cells. Furthermore, blocking the polyamine/hypusine axis augmented CD69 expression as well as IFN-γ and TNF-α production in (a) human CD8+ T cells from peripheral blood and sarcoma tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and (b) human CD8+ CAR-T cells. Collectively, these findings support the notion that the polyamine-hypusine circuit can be exploited to modulate Trm cells for therapeutic benefit.

Abstract Museum specimens and citizen science initiatives are valuable sources of information on how anthropogenic activities affect biodiversity and how species respond to rapid global change. Although tropical regions harbor most of the planet's biodiversity, investigations on species' phenological changes are heavily biased toward temperate regions. Such unevenness in phenological research is also taxonomically biased, with reptiles being the least studied group among tetrapod species regarding animal phenology. Herein, we used long‐term time‐series data to investigate environmentally driven changes in the activity pattern of tropical forest snakes. We gathered natural history collection and citizen science data for 25 snake species (five venomous and 20 non‐venomous) from an Atlantic Forest region in southeastern Brazil. Using circular mixed‐effects models, we investigate whether snake activity patterns followed the variation in environmental variables over a decade. Our results show that the activity pattern of Atlantic Forest snakes was seasonal and largely driven by average temperature and relative humidity. Since snakes are ectothermic animals, they are particularly sensitive to temperature variations, especially at small scales. Moreover, relative humidity can affect snake's seasonal activities through physiological constraints and/or prey availability. Most specimens were registered during the rainy season, with highly venomous snakes (lanceheads and coral snakes) emerging as the most abundant taxa. We highlight the importance of citizen science and natural history collections in better understanding biodiversity. Furthermore, our data obtained from local collectors underscore the need for environmental education programs and collaboration between researchers and local decision‐makers to raise awareness and reduce conflicts between people and snakes in the region.

Abstract Identifying disease-associated susceptibility loci is one of the most pressing and crucial challenges in modeling complex diseases. Existing approaches to biomarker discovery are subject to several limitations including underpowered detection, neglect for variant interactions, and restrictive dependence on prior biological knowledge. Addressing these challenges necessitates more ingenious ways of approaching the “missing heritability” problem. This study aims to discover disease-associated susceptibility loci by augmenting previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) using the integration of random forest and cluster analysis. The proposed integrated framework is applied to a hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance GWAS data. Multiple cluster analyses were performed on (1) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) considered significant by GWAS and (2) SNPs with the highest feature importance scores obtained using random forest. The resulting SNP-sets from the cluster analyses were subsequently tested for trait-association. Three susceptibility loci possibly associated with HBsAg seroclearance were identified: (1) SNP rs2399971, (2) gene LINC00578, and (3) locus 11p15. SNP rs2399971 is a biomarker reported in the literature to be significantly associated with HBsAg seroclearance in patients who had received antiviral treatment. The latter two loci are linked with diseases influenced by the presence of hepatitis B virus infection. These findings demonstrate the potential of the proposed integrated framework in identifying disease-associated susceptibility loci. With further validation, results herein could aid in better understanding complex disease etiologies and provide inputs for a more advanced disease risk assessment for patients.

La ecuación de Richards se utiliza para modelar la infiltración y el movimiento de agua en suelos, u otro medio poroso. Esta ecuación, junto con las complejas ecuaciones constitutivas que caracterizan al suelo, resulta en un sistema de ecuaciones no lineales en derivadas parciales. En este trabajo, la ecuación de Richards se escribe en función del grado de saturación del suelo, y se resuelve por medio de un método explícito en diferencias finitas. El potencial matricial se obtiene como una función del grado de saturación y la convergencia de las soluciones numéricas se analiza por medio del procedimiento de von Neumann. Como resultado, se obtiene una expresión analítica para determinar si una simulación es estable con pasos temporales y espaciales dados. A partir de estos parámetros de simulación y las propiedades del suelo, se definen números adimensionales para generalizar el método propuesto.

Cooperative networks integrating non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and simultaneous wireless information power transfer (SWIPT) are emerging technologies that have been investigated as potential techniques to support the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) and to obtain greener communications. In this sense, the optimization of resource allocation schemes is crucial to improve the performance of future cooperative wireless networks. However, conventional optimization methods that attempt to find the optimal solution may entail high computational complexity. Therefore, we propose a low-complexity particle swarm optimization (PSO)-based scheme to solve the resource allocation problem in a cooperative non-linear SWIPT-enabled NOMA system with a non-linear energy harvesting (EH) user. Specifically, we consider two optimization problems. First, we minimize transmission power, and second, we maximize energy efficiency subject to meeting quality-of-service (QoS) constraints. The problems are non-convex and challenging to solve. Furthermore, we develop the optimal solution based on convex optimization and the exhaustive search (ES) method to validate the results of the proposed PSO-based framework. Afterward, we investigate the performance of five swarm intelligence-based baseline schemes and evaluate an additional low-complexity solution based on the cuckoo search (CS) technique. For comparison purposes, we use orthogonal multiple access (OMA), equal power splitting (EPS), and time fixed (TF) baseline schemes. To our satisfaction, the proposed SWIPT NOMA network outperforms the benchmark schemes, and the proposed PSO-based framework achieves the nearest performance to the optimal scheme with lower complexity than obtained by the comparative swarm intelligence techniques and from convex optimization with the ES method.

This paper proposes a system identification framework based on eigensystem realization to accurately model power electronic converters. The proposed framework affords an energy-based optimal reduction method to precisely identify the dynamics of power electronic converters from simulated or actual raw data measured at the converter's ports. This method does not require any prior knowledge of the topology or internal parameters of the converter to derive the system modal information. The accuracy and feasibility of the proposed method are exhaustively evaluated via simulations and practical tests on a software-simulated and hardware-implemented dual active bridge (DAB) converter under steady-state and transient conditions. After various comparisons with the Fourier series-based generalized average model, switching model, and experimental measurements, the proposed method attains a root mean square error (RMSE) of less than 1% with respect to the actual raw data. Moreover, the computational effort is reduced to 1/8.6 of the Fourier series-based model.

In this article, we consider a multi-user multiple-input single-output underlay cognitive radio system with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) based on the rate-splitting multiple access (RSMA) framework. The system model is composed of a set of secondary users that only decode information, and another set of secondary users that simultaneously decode information and harvest energy based on a power-splitting (PS) ratio. Precoders are designed to minimize the transmission power of the secondary transmitter subject to a minimum rate requirement, an energy harvesting requirement, and maximum allowable interference with the primary network. The optimization problem is non-convex and challenging. Thus, we divide it into two subproblems where the outer problem is solved by a deep neural network (DNN)-based scheme with an autoencoder, and the inner problem is solved based on the semidefinite relaxation (SDR) technique. The inner problem takes the solution of the DNN-based scheme to provide the precoder vectors and PS ratios based on SDR, where a penalty function is proposed to guarantee feasible solutions to the problems. Our simulation results prove that the proposed framework based on RSMA outperforms the conventional methods and can achieve performance close to that of the optimal solutions, with a significant reduction in computational complexity.

A novel background calibration technique for Time-Interleaved Analog-to-Digital Converters (TI-ADCs) is presented in this paper. This technique is applicable to equalized digital communication receivers. As shown in the literature, in a digital receiver it is possible to treat the TI-ADC errors as part of the communication channel and take advantage of the adaptive equalizer to compensate them. Therefore calibration becomes an integral part of channel equalization. No special purpose analog or digital calibration blocks or algorithms are required. However, there is a large class of receivers where the equalization technique cannot be directly applied because other signal processing blocks are located between the TI-ADC and the equalizer. The technique presented here generalizes earlier works to this class of receivers. The error backpropagation algorithm, traditionally used in machine learning, is applied to the error computed at the receiver slicer and used to adapt an auxiliary equalizer adjacent to the TI-ADC, called the Compensation Equalizer (CE). Simulations using a dual polarization optical coherent receiver model demonstrate accurate and robust mismatch compensation across different application scenarios. Several Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) schemes are tested in simulations and experimentally. Measurements on an emulation platform which includes an 8 bit, 4 GS/s TI-ADC prototype chip fabricated in 130nm CMOS technology, show an almost ideal mitigation of the impact of the mismatches on the receiver performance when 64-QAM and 256-QAM schemes are tested.

Protein conformation and cell compartmentalization are fundamental concepts and subjects of vast scientific endeavors. In the last two decades, we have witnessed exciting advances that unveiled the conjunction of these concepts. An avalanche of studies highlighted the central role of biomolecular condensates in membraneless subcellular compartmentalization that permits the spatiotemporal organization and regulation of myriads of simultaneous biochemical reactions and macromolecular interactions. These studies have also shown that biomolecular condensation, driven by multivalent intermolecular interactions, is mediated by order-disorder transitions of protein conformation and by protein domain architecture. Conceptually, protein condensation is a distinct level in protein conformational landscape in which collective folding of large collections of molecules takes place. Biomolecular condensates arise by the physical process of phase separation and comprise a variety of bodies ranging from membraneless organelles to liquid condensates to solid-like conglomerates, spanning lengths from mesoscopic clusters (nanometers) to micrometer-sized objects. In this review, we summarize and discuss recent work on the assembly, composition, conformation, material properties, thermodynamics, regulation, and functions of these bodies. We also review the conceptual framework for future studies on the conformational dynamics of condensed proteins in the regulation of cellular processes.

ObjectiveThis study provides a first approach to the use of the Multiple-Choice Procedure in social media networks use, as well as empirical evidence for the application of the Behavioral Perspective Model to digital consumption behavior in young users in conjunction with a methodology based on behavioral economics.Participants/methodsThe participants were part of a large university in Bogotá, Colombia, and they received an academic credit once they completed the online questionnaire. A total of 311 participants completed the experiment. Of the participants, 49% were men with a mean age of 20.6 years (SD = 3.10, Range = 15–30); 51% were women with a mean age of 20.2 years (SD = 2.84, Range = 15–29).ResultsAmong the total participants, 40% reported that they used social networks between 1 and 2 h a day, 38% between 2 and 3 h, 16% for 4 h or more, and the remaining 9% used them for 1 h or less per day. The factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) allowed us to identify a statistically significant effect of the delay of the alternative reinforcer, that is, the average crossover points were higher when the monetary reinforcer was delayed 1 week, compared to the immediate delivery of the monetary reinforcer. There was no statistically significant effect of the interaction between the magnitude of the reinforcer and the delay time of the alternative reinforcer.ConclusionsThis study supports the relative reinforcing value of an informational reinforcement consequence such as social media use, which is sensitive to both the magnitude of reinforcement and the delay in delivery as individual factors. The findings on reinforcer magnitude and delay effects are consistent with previous research that have applied behavioral economics to the study of non-substance-related addictions.

Background: Pigmented (or melanocytic) neurofibroma (PN) constitutes only 1% of cases and is considered a rare variant of neurofibroma containing melanin-producing cells. In addition, the association of PN with hypertrichosis is infrequent. Case report: We describe the case of an 8-year-old male with a neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) diagnosis, who presented a light brown hyperpigmented plaque, smooth and well-demarcated, and hypertrichosis on the left thigh. The skin biopsy showed characteristics of neurofibroma; however, in the deep portion of the lesion, melanin deposits positive for S100, Melan-A, and HMB45 were observed, thus establishing the diagnosis of pigmented neurofibroma. Conclusions: Although PN is a rare subtype of neurofibroma, it is considered a chronically progressive benign tumor containing melanin-producing cells. These lesions can appear alone or in association with neurofibromatosis. Since this is a tumor that can be confused with other skin lesions, biopsy analysis is essential to differentiate it from other pigmented skin tumors, such as melanocytic schwannoma, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, neurocristic hamartoma, or neuronevus. Surveillance is part of the treatment, and surgical resection is sometimes performed.

Tourism in a post-pandemic era will likely be oriented toward nature because contact with nature has restorative health benefits. The purpose of this study was to analyze the antecedents of tourists' intentions to visit nature-based resorts during a pandemic. A nationally representative sample of the Spanish population (n = 500) was recruited by an online commercial panel to test and empirically validate the proposed conceptual framework. The findings confirmed a direct relationship between negative perceptions of wearing face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic and tourists' intentions to visit nature-based resorts. The relationship between the perceived negative effects of wearing face masks and the intention to visit nature-based resorts was positively mediated by the need for escapism. This impact was less pronounced for anxious travelers, as shown by results corroborating the moderating effect of travel anxiety. The findings of this study contribute to research on tourism crises and provide future insights into the recovery of the industry during COVID-19.