A Systematic Review on the Effects of L-theanine and Caffeine Combination on Human Mood and Cognition

Caffeine is one of the most widely ingested psychoactive drugs in the world. However, this central nervous system stimulant has raised concerns because of its inauspicious effects on health that come with its overconsumption. Recent scientific advancements have allowed for the theoretical regulation of these side effects through the combination of caffeine and Ltheanine, an amino acid that promotes relaxation and improves mental function. This minireview aims to extend current knowledge by synthesizing both beneficial and detrimental effects of the administration of the combination of caffeine and L-theanine to the human brain and cognition. Information was extensively reviewed, analyzed, and compiled from a sample of 50 works of literature published from 2014 to 2020 in the DLSU Library Databases, as well as referenced studies excluded from the given timeframe that contain highly relevant information that help structuralize the review. Dosage was found to be important in attaining benefits on mood and cognition such as suppressed anxiety and stress, positive mental state, neurochemically fostered changes in neurotransmitter systems, improved accuracy, improved semantic and recognition memory, and heightened mental alertness. On the other hand, Ltheanine was found to reduce arousal more than it regulates elevated emotions caused by caffeine while some literature found that induced cognitive effects were only independent for each substance. In summary, existing studies support the hypothesis that the combination benefits human mood and cognition. As such, future research may gear towards a build-up on knowledge and innovations on the topic

Latent Tuberculosis and Active Tuberculosis Disease Rates among the Homeless, New York, New York, USA, 1992–2006

We conducted a retrospective study to examine trends in latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and TB disease rates among homeless persons in shelters in New York, NY, 1992–2006. Although TB case rates fell from 1,502/100,000 population to 0, a 31% LTBI rate in 2006 shows the value of identifying and treating TB in the homeless

Unsuspected and extensive transmission of a drug-susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A large and unsuspected tuberculosis outbreak involving 18.7% of the total of the tuberculosis cases studied, was detected in a population-based molecular epidemiological study performed in Zaragoza (Spain) from 2001 to 2004.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>drug-susceptible strain, named <it>MTZ </it>strain, was genetically characterized by IS<it>6110</it>-RFLP, Spoligotyping and by MIRU-VNTR typing and the genetic patterns obtained were compared with those included in international databases. The characteristics of the affected patients, in an attempt to understand why the <it>MTZ </it>strain was so highly transmitted among the population were also analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The genetic profile of the <it>MTZ </it>strain was rare and not widely distributed in our area or elsewhere. The patients affected did not show any notable risk factor for TB.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The <it>M. tuberculosis </it>strain <it>MTZ</it>, might have particular transmissibility or virulence properties, and we believe that greater focus should be placed on stopping its widespread dissemination.</p

#DefendPressFreedom: Paradigm repair, role perceptions and filipino journalists’ counterstrategies to anti-media populism and delegitimizing threats

Journalists increasingly have to cope with severe attacks – ranging from Fake News accusations to violence and death threats. To better understand how journalists can counter delegitimizing attacks such as anti-media populism and online harassment, this study examines their paradigm repair strategies to ward off assaults in the unconsolidated democracy of the Philippines. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 18 Filipino reporters and editors from three influential media outlets that then President Rodrigo Duterte targeted as enemies – the broadcaster ABS-CBN, the newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer, and the website Rappler – this paper offers novel insights on journalists’ counterstrategies with appeals to their strengthened roles as watchdogs, interpreters and disseminators of populist communication. Findings indicate that journalists discard practices like false equivalence and shift roles including from being detached observers to media freedom advocates and truth activists to respond to institutional attacks, rising disinformation, and perceived democratic erosion as they seek to speak truth to a populist in power. The study provides theoretical and empirical contributions by combining paradigm repair and role perceptions as tools in analyzing journalists’ responses to legitimacy threats, and by presenting an understudied case of anti-media populism in the Global South

An application of data transformation to normality

This study presents one of the most popular probability distributions which is the Normal Probability Distribution. A given data set will be evaluated whether it follows a Normal Distribution or not. The technique used is the Q-Q plot method

Cohort study of the mortality among patients in New York City with tuberculosis and COVID-19, March 2020 to June 2022

Both tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19 can affect the respiratory system, and early findings suggest co-occurrence of these infectious diseases can result in elevated mortality. A retrospective cohort of patients who were diagnosed with TB and COVID-19 concurrently (within 120 days) between March 2020 and June 2022 in New York City (NYC) was identified. This cohort was compared with a cohort of patients diagnosed with TB-alone during the same period in terms of demographic information, clinical characteristics, and mortality. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to compare mortality between patient cohorts. One hundred and six patients with concurrent TB/COVID-19 were identified and compared with 902 patients with TB-alone. These two cohorts of patients were largely demographically and clinically similar. However, mortality was higher among patients with concurrent TB/COVID-19 in comparison to patients with TB-alone, even after controlling for age and sex (hazard ratio 2.62, 95% Confidence Interval 1.66–4.13). Nearly one in three (22/70, 31%) patients with concurrent TB/COVID-19 aged 45 and above died during the study period. These results suggest that TB patients with concurrent COVID-19 were at high risk for mortality. It is important that, as a high-risk group, patients with TB are prioritized for resources to quickly diagnose and treat COVID-19, and provided with tools and information to protect themselves from COVID-19

Automated fish fry counting and schooling behavior analysis using computer vision

This paper presents an automated fish fry counting by detecting the pixel area occupied by each fish silhouette using image processing. A photo of the fish fry in a specially designed container undergoes binarization and edge detection. For every image frame, the total fish count is the sum of the area inside every contour. Then the average number of fishes for every frame is summed up. Experimental data shows that the accuracy rate of the method reaches above 95 percent for a school of 200, 400, 500, and 700 fish fry. To minimize errors due to crowding in the container, schooling behavior analysis is considered. The behavioral effects of different colored lights on milkfish and tilapia are thoroughly investigated. The system's effectiveness, efficiency, possible improvements, and other potential applications are discussed