SHA-256 Hardware Proposal for IoT Devices in the Blockchain Context.

This work proposes an implementation of the SHA-256, the most common blockchain hash algorithm, on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to improve processing capacity and power saving in Internet of Things (IoT) devices to solve security and privacy issues. This implementation presents a different approach than other papers in the literature, using clustered cores executing the SHA-256 algorithm in parallel. Details about the proposed architecture and an analysis of the resources used by the FPGA are presented. The implementation achieved a throughput of approximately 1.4 Gbps for 16 cores on a single FPGA. Furthermore, it saved dynamic power, using almost 1000 times less compared to previous works in the literature, making this proposal suitable for practical problems for IoT devices in blockchain environments. The target FPGA used was the Xilinx Virtex 6 xc6vlx240t-1ff1156.

Patterns of Gender Development Across Intersections of Age, Gender, and Ethnicity-Race.

Two components of gender identity are gender similarity, how one's self-concept relates to the major gender collectives (i.e., female, male), and felt pressure to conform to gender norms. The development of these components across ages and contexts has been understudied. The focus of this study was to examine variations in gender similarity and felt pressure across multiple intersecting contexts: developmental stage, gender, and ethnic-racial group. Six data sets were harmonized and means were compared across 2628 participants (51% girls, 49% boys) from four different developmental cohorts (childhood n = 678, early adolescence n = 1322, adolescence n = 415, and young adulthood n = 213) from diverse ethnic-racial backgrounds (45% White, 23% Latinx/Hispanic, 11% Black/African-American, 7% Asian-American, 5% American Indian, and 5% Multiracial). Results revealed nuanced patterns: Gender intensification was supported in early adolescence, primarily for boys. Young adult men reported lower levels of pressure and gender typicality than younger boys, but young adult women's levels were generally not different than younger girls. Surprisingly, young adult women's levels of own-gender similarity and pressure from parents were higher than adolescent girls. Expectations of gender differences in gender typicality and felt pressure were supported for all ages except young adults, with higher levels for boys. Finally, there were more similarities than differences across ethnic-racial groups, though when there were differences, minoritized participants reported heightened gender typicality and pressure (largely accounted for by higher scores for Black and Latinx participants and lower scores for White and Multiracial participants). These results add to what is understood about contextually dependent gender development.

Epidemiology of horse pythiosis in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso: Exploring the host-parasite-vector relationship.

Horse pythiosis is considered an endemic disease in the Brazilian Pantanal region, causing devastating health and economic losses. This study aimed to enhance the understanding of pythiosis epidemiology, map the distribution of horse body lesions, and investigate the correlation between these lesions and warm body surface areas, potentially implicating hematophagous vectors in the disease's transmission. A prospective study was conducted on equids in the Pantanal Mato-grossense and adjacent areas from 2012 to 2022, with 112 horses and three mules diagnosed with pythiosis. Clinical and epidemiological data, lesions' photographic records, and healthy equids' thermal imaging were collected. Most pythiosis cases occurred between January and March, correlating with regional flood cycles. Most lesions were found on limbs and the ventral abdomen, with dark-colored horses exhibiting a higher frequency of lesions. Interestingly, the thermal mapping revealed that warm areas on a healthy horse's body overlapped significantly with lesion distribution - blood-sucking insects also prefer these areas. The results suggest that pythiosis lesions in horses correlate with warmer areas of the animal body, reinforcing the hypothesis of vector involvement in disease transmission. This study underscores the need for further observational research to fully understand the complex epidemiological dynamics of pythiosis in horses.

A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis of the Interrelations among Exclusionary Immigration Policy, Ethnic Identity, and Self-Esteem of Latinx Early Adolescents.

Little is known about how exclusionary immigration laws affect ethnic identity and self-esteem among Latinx middle school students. Arizona's SB 1070, which required local officers to verify the legal status of detained individuals, garnered national attention for its impact on immigrant and Latinx communities. This study tested a longitudinal parallel multiple mediation model where perceptions of the effects of an exclusionary immigration law (Arizona's SB 1070) on self-esteem were mediated by dimensions of ethnic identity (ethnic centrality, ethnic private regard, ethnic public regard). Data were collected from a two-wave survey of 891 early adolescents ranging in age from 10 to 14 years (M = 12.09 years; SD = 0.99), a majority (71%) of whom were of Mexican descent. Analyses revealed an indirect effect of T1 perceptions of this law on T2 self-esteem (7 months later), holding T1 measures constant, with T2 ethnic centrality, private regard, and public regard acting as mediators. Perceived effects of this exclusionary law led to increased self-esteem through increased dimensions of ethnic identity. Results reveal how ethnic identity functions as a multidimensional construct in the process through which exclusionary immigration policy may impact the self-esteem of Latinx early adolescents.

Performance of artificial intelligence in the characterization of colorectal lesions.

Background: Image-enhanced endoscopy (IEE) has been used in the differentiation between neoplastic and non-neoplastic colorectal lesions through microvasculature analysis. This study aimed to evaluate the computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) mode of the CAD EYE system for the optical diagnosis of colorectal lesions and compare it with the performance of an expert, in addition to evaluating the computer-aided detection (CADe) mode in terms of polyp detection rate (PDR) and adenoma detection rate (ADR). Methods: A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the performance of CAD EYE using blue light imaging (BLI), dichotomizing lesions into hyperplastic and neoplastic, and of an expert based on the Japan Narrow-Band Imaging Expert Team (JNET) classification for the characterization of lesions. After white light imaging (WLI) diagnosis, magnification was used on all lesions, which were removed and examined histologically. Diagnostic criteria were evaluated, and PDR and ADR were calculated. Results: A total of 110 lesions (80 (72.7%) dysplastic lesions and 30 (27.3%) nondysplastic lesions) were evaluated in 52 patients, with a mean lesion size of 4.3 mm. Artificial intelligence (AI) analysis showed 81.8% accuracy, 76.3% sensitivity, 96.7% specificity, 98.5% positive predictive value (PPV), and 60.4% negative predictive value (NPV). The kappa value was 0.61, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.87. Expert analysis showed 93.6% accuracy, 92.5% sensitivity, 96.7% specificity, 98.7% PPV, and 82.9% NPV. The kappa value was 0.85, and the AUC was 0.95. Overall, PDR was 67.6% and ADR was 45.9%. Conclusions: The CADx mode showed good accuracy in characterizing colorectal lesions, but the expert assessment was superior in almost all diagnostic criteria. PDR and ADR were high.

Racial Discrimination Experiences and Friendship Network Dynamics Among Black and Latinx Youth.

Despite a robust volume of evidence documenting adverse effects of racial discrimination experiences on adolescent adjustment outcomes, relatively little is known about the relational consequences of racial discrimination experiences for adolescent friendship networks. To address this gap, this study examines how racial discrimination experiences shape and are shaped by friendship network dynamics in early and middle adolescence. The current study's goals were to explicate whether relational consequences of racial discrimination experiences for friendship network selection differed between interracial and intraracial friendships among Black and Latinx youth, and how these adolescents were influenced by their friends' racial discrimination experiences. Longitudinal social network analysis was used among a sample of predominantly Latinx and Black middle school students from the southwestern U.S. (n = 1034; 50.1% boys, Mage = 12.1, 13.8% White, 18.6% Black, 53.1% Latinx, 14.4% Other race and multiracial). The results showed that Black and Latinx youth preferred intraracial friends. Above and beyond that, Black youth were more likely to have intraracial friendships when the focal individual reported lower levels of general racial discrimination experiences and higher levels of adult-perpetrated racial discrimination experiences. Black and Latinx adolescents reported increases in general racial discrimination experiences over time, as a function of their friends reporting higher levels of racial discrimination (e.g., peer influence). These findings advance developmental research by showing that racial discrimination experiences are consequential for friendship network dynamics by increasing the likelihood of intraracial friend selection among Black youth and through peer influence processes.

Setting limits for N-nitrosamines in drugs: A defined approach based on read-across and structure-activity relationship for N-nitrosopiperazine impurities.

This paper describes DARAN (Defined Approach for Risk Assessment of New Nitrosamines), an new defined approach that uses lines of reasoning based on structure-activity relationship (SAR) patterns and Read-Across (RAx) to set transparent and acceptable limits for new N-nitrosamines for which no toxicological data exist. We selected the compound 1-methyl-4-nitrosopiperazine (MeNP) as a target to calculate a new acceptable limit on the basis of a more transparent and scientifically reasoned RAx. We used publicly available databases and datasets to retrieve experimental in vitro mutagenicity and in vivo carcinogenicity data for N-nitrosopiperazine compounds and to form the chemical category for an RAx. We carried out SAR analyses to try to understand patterns and to obtain interpretable inferences of variation in carcinogenic potency among the N-nitrosopiperazines compounds and their differences with the potent nitrosamines NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine) and NDEA (N-nitrosodiethylamine). To estimate an acceptable limit for the target MeNP, we used the scientifically based hypotheses and the evidence lines of about the influence of structural attributes for a robust RAx. On the basis of the criteria proposed in the Assessment Report EMA/369136/20202 and by using the SAR hypotheses obtained by the analysis, we obtained a robust RAx, scientifically supported assumptions, which resulted in TD50 values predicted from the closest structurally related compounds and a worst-case approach.

Effect of Linked-color Imaging on the Detection of Adenomas in Screening Colonoscopies.

OBJECTIVES: Linked-color imaging (LCI) is a new image-enhancement option that emphasizes mucosal surface contrast, facilitating the differentiation between colorectal lesions and normal mucosa. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of LCI to increase the detection of colorectal adenomas in screening colonoscopies. METHODS: A prospective randomized study was conducted using white-light imaging (WLI), blue-laser imaging (BLI)-bright and LCI. The outcome measures were adenoma detection rate (ADR), mean number of adenomas per patient, and withdrawal time. Lesion characteristics such as size, morphology, location, and histology were also evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 205 patients were randomized, and 251 adenomas were detected. The overall ADR was 62%. The ADR was 52.9% for WLI, 62.1% for BLI-bright, and 71% for LCI, and was significantly higher in the LCI group than in the WLI group (P=0.04). No significant difference was observed between LCI and BLI-bright (P=0.28) or BLI-bright and WLI (P=0.30). The mean number of adenomas per patient was 1.01, 1.03, and 1.62 for WLI, BLI-bright, and LCI, respectively, with a significant difference (P=0.02). Withdrawal time did not differ among the groups. A total of 71 adenomas were detected by WLI, 68 by BLI-bright, and 112 by LCI. There was no difference in the size and morphology of the adenomas detected, nor in the diagnosis of sessile serrated adenomas/polyps. CONCLUSION: LCI significantly increased the detection of adenomas in screening colonoscopies.

Spontaneous recovery, time course, and circadian influence on habituation of the cardiovascular responses to repeated restraint stress in rats.

We investigated the spontaneous recovery, time course, and the influence of the time of day on the habituation of the cardiovascular responses with repeated exposure to restraint stress in male rats. Habituation of the corticosterone response to repeated restraint stress was also evaluated. The circulating corticosterone response decreased during both the stress and recovery periods of the tenth session of restraint. Habituation of the cardiovascular responses was identified as a faster return to baseline values of the heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) during the recovery period of the tenth session of restraint. Habituation of the HR and BP was still observed after 10 days of discontinuation of the repeated exposure to restraint stress. However, spontaneous recovery of habituated responses was observed 20 days after the final restraint stress session. Time course analysis revealed decreased HR response during the recovery period of the third restraint session, without further reduction on the fifth, seventh, and tenth sessions. Decreased BP response was identified on the third and fifth sessions, whereas reduced tail skin temperature response was observed only on the fifth and seventh sessions. Regarding the time of day, habituation of the tachycardiac response was identified at the tenth session when repeated restraint stress was performed in the morning and night periods, but not in the afternoon. These findings provided evidence of spontaneous recovery of the habituation of cardiovascular responses to repeated restraint stress. Moreover, cardiovascular habituation was dependent on the number of trials and time of day.