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  • Burnett Mccarthy posted an update 5 days ago

    One line of research has indicated that directional social cues, such as eye gaze and pointed fingers, increase the salience of spatial locations or objects in a relatively involuntary manner (social cueing effect). A separate line of research has indicated that the compatibility between the body part that is observed by an actor primes and facilitates responses with a similar body part more than a dissimilar body part (body-part compatibility effect). The present experiment investigated whether or not social cueing effects were modulated by the relationship between the responding effector and the body part observed as the cue. To this end, non-predictive directional hand or foot cues were presented 100 or 1000 ms prior to a target. On different blocks of trials, participants (n = 19) executed discrete hand-button and foot-pedal responses to the location of a target to examine the influence of cue-effector body-part compatibility on social cueing effects. Response times (RTs) of both hand and foot responses were shorter to cued targets than to uncued targets when hand cues were used. No cueing effects emerged when foot cues were used, regardless of the responding effector. These results suggest changes in salience following social cues are determined by the body part used as the cue and are not modulated by the compatibility between the limb used as the cue and effector. Overall, the social relevance and learned use of a cue seem more pertinent than body-part matching of a stimulus type and response effector in social cueing.Previous research has demonstrated that individuals are more likely to engage in imitation of movements when the observed behavior is psychologically proximal. The present research tested whether movement imitation of proximal behavior is increased even when imitation is in conflict with own task goals. MEK inhibition Participants completed a connect-the-dots task that was presented as either a speed task or an accuracy task. Additionally, participants watched a video of a person modeling the solution to the task in a way that contradicted the stated goal. Temporal distance to the model was manipulated in Experiment 1. Participants imitated the model’s way to solve the task more when the model was proximal and followed the task goal comparably more when the model was distant. Experiment 2 replicated the effect with a direct mindset manipulation and additionally ruled out an alternative explanation (i.e., a stronger goal focus when thinking abstractly).Histamine is primarily found in spoiled food and often used as an indicator of food safety. Compared to various existing methods for analyzing histamine, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) which is accurate but time-consuming, and immunochemical methods that are difficult to produce high specificity and affinity antibodies towards small molecules have been used. In this study, we developed a newly designed, sensitive, and selective fluorescence detection platform for histamine sensing, utilizing carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and synthetic peptides. Specifically, through biopanning approaches, a series of peptides having a high affinity towards immobilized histamine hapten were selected from phage-displayed libraries. Then, CQDs were synthesized by one-pot hydrothermal treatment enabling their fluorescence to be effectively quenched by peptides via the electron transfer interactions. While, in the presence of histamine, fluorescence will be recovered because of the stronger interaction between peptide and target. In this study, from the selectivity tests towards histamine and in contrast to structurally similar compounds, peptide Hisp3 (DIDRAGKASHWP) along with its dipeptide repeat derivative (Hisp3-2-C) were chemically synthesized to be used as promising histamine receptors. Furthermore, the application of peptide along with gold-coated magnetic nanoparticles (MNP@Au NPs) was designed for purification and analysis of fish samples. These results indicate that the CQDs and peptide sensor system could detect histamine at lower concentrations with high sensitivity and selectivity.Developing low-cost methods for the fabrication of electrochemical microfluidic devices is urgently needed for transferring such devices from fundamental research to daily-life technology. Herein, glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG)-based microfluidic devices with embedded channels and gold film electrode (GFE) are developed by a one-step, low-cost, straightforward, and mass-producible method, and are sealed by a reversible hydrophilic tape-based mechanism. Easily accessible poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polyethylene terephthalate (polyester, PET), and PETG are explored as substrate options for fabricating electrochemical sensors. The results demonstrated that PETG can be an excellent substrate for fabricating the electrode. The electrochemical stability and morphology of the device are investigated. Both redox ions ([Fe(CN)6]3-/4-) and redox organic compounds (dopamine) are used as model analytes to prove the electrochemical performance of the device. The PETG-based microfluidic devices integrated with electrochemical sensors can be used as alternative electrochemical devices for the detection of biological and chemical analytes. Meanwhile, batch-fabricated flexible electrochemical sensors based on PETG film and their electrochemical performance are reported.

    To conduct a systematic literature review and analyze the demographic/biochemical parameters and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and combined DKA/HHS (hyperglycemic hyperosmolar syndrome).

    PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Google Scholar databases were systematically searched till August 3, 2020 to identify studies reporting COVID-19 patients with DKA and combined DKA/HHS. A total of 19 articles reporting 110 patients met the eligibility criteria.

    Of the 110 patients, 91 (83%) patients had isolated DKA while 19 (17%) had DKA/HHS. The majority of the patients were male (63%) and belonged to black ethnicity (36%). The median age at presentation ranged from 45.5 to 59.0 years. Most of the patients (77%) had pre-existing type 2 diabetes mellitus. Only 10% of the patients had newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus. The median blood glucose at presentation ranged from 486.0 to 568.5mg/dl, being higher in patients with DKA/HHS compared to isolated DKA. The volume of fluid replaced in the first 24h was higher in patients with DKA/HHS in contrast to patients with DKA alone.