An exploration of microaggression awareness in real-time conversations and long-term tracking and learning system

Microaggression is a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group. Microaggressions are often subtle and ambiguous, it\u27s often hard to know if you\u27re committing one or if you\u27re on the receiving end. The recipients of microaggressions always feel a sense of powerlessness and invisibility, while the aggressors are often unaware of the harm they’ve brought. The impact of microaggressions always negatively affects both mental and physical health of recipients and results in persistent health problems. My goal of the thesis is to make the invisible visible. Leverage technology to help people notice and rethink their microaggression behavior in real time, educate and inform people to interact better with each other. The first step to solve the problem is to raise awareness of unconscious behavior in real time during the conversation. People should be able to recognize their own inappropriate actions or be reminded by other people immediately so that they can realize what is considered unacceptable. Learning to be empathetic is another factor in the process. People need to experience and feel emotionally and mentally while confronting with each other so that the aggressor will be more understanding about the recipient’s feeling and the impact of a certain microaggression. It\u27s also important to help people form a consistent habit and an inclusive mind to change their inappropriate behavior in a long-term period. They will be able to view and track specific types of microaggressions based on their activities and get a reminder of their performance in a daily basis to help them keep aware of what they are saying and doing all the time. It is hoped that my exploration in microaggression can bring more awareness to people and help them address microaggressions more easily and confidently

El papel del Oncogen c-MYC para el desarrollo y la progresión de la enfermedad del hígado graso no alcohólico en ratones

esis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Inmunología, Oftalmología y Otorrinolaringología, leída el 14-07-2021Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has rapidly risen as one of the leading etiologies for HCC and represents a large societal and health problem. Many factors are responsible for the high risk of NAFLD and NAFLD-related HCC development. Lately, oncogenes have been suggested to be determinant.The oncogene activation of c-MYC can induce genetic instability, promote the cell cycle, and increase proliferation, thereby accelerating tumor progression, studies also observed a significant c-MYC over expression in livers with CLD including hepatic hepatitis, fibrosis and cirrhosis, and also indicates the overexpression of c-MYC might increase the susceptibility of liver cells to develop HCC; however, their role still remains unknown. Here we overall aimed to analyse the impact of the proto-oncogene c-MYC in the development of murine NAFLD and NAFLD-associated HCC...La enfermedad del hígado graso no alcohólico (NAFLD) se ha convertido rápidamente en una de las principales etiologías del HCC y representa un gran problema social y de salud. Muchos factores son responsables del alto riesgo de desarrollar HCC relacionado con NAFLD. Últimamente, se ha sugerido que los oncogenes son determinantes. La activación oncogénica dec-MYC puede inducir inestabilidad genética, promover el ciclo celular y aumentar la proliferación, acelerando así la progresión tumoral, los estudios también observaron una sobreexpresión significativa de c-MYC en hígados con CLD, incluida la hepatitis hepática, fibrosis y cirrosis, y también indica la sobreexpresión de c-MYC podría aumentar la susceptibilidad de las células hepáticas a desarrollar HCC; sin embargo, su papel aún se desconoce. Engeneral, nuestro objetivo fue analizar el impacto del protooncogén c-MYC en el desarrollo de HCC asociado a NAFLD murino...Fac. de MedicinaTRUEunpu

Regional anti-corruption effort, political connections and firm innovation effort: Evidence from China

This paper examines how firm characteristics and local anti‐corruption effort moderate the influence of political connections on enterprises’ private R&D investment using data from 2,587 Chinese A‐share listed enterprises. Our results show that the local anti‐corruption institutional environment significantly moderates the strong relationship between political connections and enterprises’ private R&D investment. Firm characteristics (i.e., firm size and firm age) also show a moderating effect on the relationship between political connection and enterprises’ private R&D investment; larger and older enterprises are more likely to have innovative resources and business cooperation partners, and thus are able to reduce their degree of reliance on political connections and government funding. The results of our study suggest the importance of having a transparent and fair institutional environment for enterprise innovation activities

Predictors of human-infective RNA virus discovery in the United States, China, and Africa, an ecological study

BACKGROUND: The variation in the pathogen type as well as the spatial heterogeneity of predictors make the generality of any associations with pathogen discovery debatable. Our previous work confirmed that the association of a group of predictors differed across different types of RNA viruses, yet there have been no previous comparisons of the specific predictors for RNA virus discovery in different regions. The aim of the current study was to close the gap by investigating whether predictors of discovery rates within three regions—the United States, China, and Africa—differ from one another and from those at the global level. METHODS: Based on a comprehensive list of human-infective RNA viruses, we collated published data on first discovery of each species in each region. We used a Poisson boosted regression tree (BRT) model to examine the relationship between virus discovery and 33 predictors representing climate, socio-economics, land use, and biodiversity across each region separately. The discovery probability in three regions in 2010–2019 was mapped using the fitted models and historical predictors. RESULTS: The numbers of human-infective virus species discovered in the United States, China, and Africa up to 2019 were 95, 80, and 107 respectively, with China lagging behind the other two regions. In each region, discoveries were clustered in hotspots. BRT modelling suggested that in all three regions RNA virus discovery was better predicted by land use and socio-economic variables than climatic variables and biodiversity, although the relative importance of these predictors varied by region. Map of virus discovery probability in 2010–2019 indicated several new hotspots outside historical high-risk areas. Most new virus species since 2010 in each region (6/6 in the United States, 19/19 in China, 12/19 in Africa) were discovered in high-risk areas as predicted by our model. CONCLUSIONS: The drivers of spatiotemporal variation in virus discovery rates vary in different regions of the world. Within regions virus discovery is driven mainly by land-use and socio-economic variables; climate and biodiversity variables are consistently less important predictors than at a global scale. Potential new discovery hotspots in 2010–2019 are identified. Results from the study could guide active surveillance for new human-infective viruses in local high-risk areas. FUNDING: FFZ is funded by the Darwin Trust of Edinburgh (https://darwintrust.bio.ed.ac.uk/). MEJW has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 874735 (VEO) (https://www.veo-europe.eu/)

Tectorigenin ameliorates myocardial cell injury caused by hypoxia/reoxygenation by inhibiting autophagy via activation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway

Purpose: To investigate the protective role of tectorigenin in myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion. Methods: Myocardial cells (H9c2) were treated with different concentrations of tectorigenin and exposed to hypoxia/reoxygenation. Cell viability and apoptosis were determined by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide) and TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling) staining, respectively. Oxidative stress and inflammation were evaluated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), while autophagy and the underlying mechanisms of action were evaluated by Western blot. Results: Tectorigenin enhanced the proliferative activity of H9c2 under hypoxia/reoxygenation conditions, and significantly reduced the apoptotic activity (p < 0.001) through decrease in Bax and increase in Bcl-2. Tectorigenin also significantly up-regulated SOD (superoxide dismutase) and GSH (glutathione) levels (p < 0.01), and down-regulated MDA (malondialdehyde) and MPO (myeloperoxidase) in hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced H9c2. TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-α), IL(interleukin)-1β, and IL-6 levels were also inhibited by tectorigenin by down-regulating p-p65. Hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced increase in p62 and decrease in Beclin-1 and LC3-II/LC3-I were reversed by tectorigenin. Protein expressions of p-mTOR, p-AKT, and p-PI3K in hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced H9c2 were elevated by tectorigenin. Conclusion: Tectorigenin exerts anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-autophagic effects on hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced H9c2 through the activation of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, thus suggesting that it is a potential agent for the management of myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion