Emotion Self-Regulation in Neurotic Students: A Pilot Mindfulness-Based Intervention to Assess Its Effectiveness through Brain Signals and Behavioral Data.

Neuroticism has recently received increased attention in the psychology field due to the finding of high implications of neuroticism on an individual's life and broader public health. This study aims to investigate the effect of a brief 6-week breathing-based mindfulness intervention (BMI) on undergraduate neurotic students' emotion regulation. We acquired data of their psychological states, physiological changes, and electroencephalogram (EEG), before and after BMI, in resting states and tasks. Through behavioral analysis, we found the students' anxiety and stress levels significantly reduced after BMI, with p-values of 0.013 and 0.027, respectively. Furthermore, a significant difference between students in emotion regulation strategy, that is, suppression, was also shown. The EEG analysis demonstrated significant differences between students before and after MI in resting states and tasks. Fp1 and O2 channels were identified as the most significant channels in evaluating the effect of BMI. The potential of these channels for classifying (single-channel-based) before and after BMI conditions during eyes-opened and eyes-closed baseline trials were displayed by a good performance in terms of accuracy (~77%), sensitivity (76-80%), specificity (73-77%), and area-under-the-curve (AUC) (0.66-0.8) obtained by k-nearest neighbor (KNN) and support vector machine (SVM) algorithms. Mindfulness can thus improve the self-regulation of the emotional state of neurotic students based on the psychometric and electrophysiological analyses conducted in this study.

Risk and Predictive Factors of Leptospirosis in Dogs Diagnosed with Kidney and/or Liver Disease in Selangor, Malaysia.

Canine leptospirosis is commonly associated with kidney and/or liver disease. It has been widely reported and causes public health concerns due to its zoonotic potential and its re-emergence, resulting from close contact between humans and dogs. The current study identified potential risk and predictive factors for dogs diagnosed with kidney and/or liver disease due to leptospirosis. A total of 124 client-owned dogs were recruited, and information such as signalment, medical history, management, and clinical findings were documented. Samples collected from the recruited dogs were directly tested using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and subsequently inoculated for bacterial isolation. Statistical analyses were descriptively analyzed, and risk analyses were performed using Pearson chi-square tests and logistic regression. A total of 53 dogs (42.7%) were positive for leptospiral infection based on PCR, and 10 leptospiral isolates were successfully recovered from eight dogs. The mortality rate of infected dogs was 34.0% (18/53). Medium and large dog breeds, with a history of exposure to rats, and managed outdoors had a greater risk for leptospirosis (p < 0.05). The significant predictors for the dogs' positivity were the presence of rats and acute clinical illness (p < 0.05). Administration of antibiotics and the detection of clinical illness at an early stage of the disease improved the survivability of the dogs (p < 0.05). Identifying the profile of dogs that are at risk to leptospirosis could be useful in the design of diagnostic and treatment strategies, as well as to increase awareness for prevention of the disease.

Shaping ability of three nickel-titanium rotary instruments in simulated L-shaped canals: OneShape, Hero Shaper, and Revo-S.

BACKGROUND: Shaping ability of a file plays an important role during instrumentation in an endodontic treatment. This study aimed to compare the shaping ability of OneShape (OS), Hero Shaper (HS), and Revo-S (RS) instruments in simulated L-shaped canals. METHODS: Forty-eight simulated L-shaped canals were prepared to an apical size of 25 using OS, HS, and RS (all from Micro-Mega SA, Besançon, France), (n = 16 canals/group) systems. The amount of resin removed after each canal's preparation was measured and compared after producing a composite image made from the superimposition of pre and post-instrumented canals. Canal aberrations and the preparation time were also recorded. The data were statistically analysed by using ANOVA, Tukey, and Chi-square tests. RESULTS: One file fractured during instrumentation in the RS group. A significant difference was found at the apical end of the prepared simulated canal between the groups, with RS showing the least amount of resin removal from the inner side of the canals and HS showing the highest amount of resin removal from the outer side (P < 0.05). Regarding the total width of the canals after preparation, a significant difference was found between the groups at the apical end and the straight portion of the canals, and RS removed the least amount of resin at the straight portion of the canals (P < 0.05). No statistically significant differences were found between the different instruments regarding canal aberrations' incidence (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: All of the files showed a tendency to straighten the canals, whereas OS files maintained the original canal curvatures well.

Shedding and Genetic Diversity of Leptospira spp. From Urban Stray Dogs in Klang Valley, Malaysia.

Leptospirosis is an endemic zoonoses of global proportions. Stray dogs have been postulated to play a role in disease transmission; however, supporting information are still limited. Roaming behavior may not only predispose the dogs to infection, but could also contribute to disease spread. In this study, the susceptibility of urban stray dogs in shedding Leptospira spp. was determined. Blood, urine, and tissue samples of kidney and liver were collected from 100 dogs from 2 animal control facilities. Serological testing using microscopic agglutination test (MAT) were performed on blood against 20 leptospiral serovars with a cut-off titre of ≥ 1:100. Samples were cultured onto semi-solid Ellinghausen and McCullough modified by Johnson and Harris (EMJH) media. Isolates were identified using molecular polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using 2 primers (16s rRNA and LipL32) and hyperimmune serum (HIS) MAT. The seroprevalence for the dogs positive for leptospirosis was 32% (n=32/100) with the following detected serovars: Javanica (n=13), Bataviae (n=10), Icterohaemorrhagiae (n=3), Autumnalis (n=2), Canicola (n=1), Pyrogenes (n=1), Copenhageni (n=1), and Australis (n=1). Six Leptospira spp. isolated were procured from urine (n=2), kidney (n=2) and liver (n=2). All 6 isolates belonged to L. interrogans, a pathogenic variant of Leptospira spp. Serotyping and phylogenetic analysis suggested serovar Bataviae (n=5) and serovar Canicola (n=1). Presence of vaccinal serovars (Icterohaemorrhagiae and Canicola) suggested potential post-vaccination antibodies but the predominance of non-vaccinal serovars (Javanica and Bataviae) indicate the possibility of current infection or post-exposure. Isolation of Leptospira spp. directly from urine sample not only suggested an active infection but highlighted the potential shedding capability among these stray dogs. These findings further strengthen speculations that urban stray dogs could play a role in transmission and dissemination of leptospirosis through their constant movement. The urine of infected dogs may contaminate the environment, posing a major public health threat.

Seroprevalence and Distribution of Leptospiral Serovars in Livestock (cattle, Goats, and Sheep) in Flood-prone Kelantan, Malaysia.

INTRODUCTION: Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals, the occurrence of which increases markedly during and after heavy rainfall and flooding. The aim of this study was to determine the serological prevalence of leptospiral infection in livestock after a voluminous flood in 10 districts of the Malaysian state of Kelantan. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In December 2014, Kelantan was hit by an extensive flood. A total of 1,728 serum samples were collected from livestock from the state, comprised of 1,024 from cattle, 366 from goats and 338 from sheep, and they were tested using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). RESULTS: Altogether, 203 (11.75%; 203/1728; 95% CI: 10.20%-13.30%) of the tested sera were found to be positive serologically. Cattle had the highest prevalence of 14.16% (145/1024), while goats and sheep had 11.20% (41/366) and 5.03% (17/338) respectively. The most frequent serovars detected were Hardjo-bovis (3.70%; 64/1728), Hebdomadis (2.08%; 36/1728) and Pomona (1.04%; 18/1728). There was a statistically significant association (P < 0.05) between livestock that were exposed to the flood and seropositivity. CONCLUSION: This study showed that flood is a risk factor that can play a role in the epidemiology of leptospiral infection in livestock.

Corrigendum to "Inventory and composting of yard waste in Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia" [Heliyon 6 (7) (July 2020) 04486].

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04486.].

Inventory and composting of yard waste in Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Composting of yard waste is one of the waste management approaches in the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) in Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. The yard waste inventory was developed in the headquarters' area and a pilot-scale study was performed on the potential compost product. The total amount of yard waste generated from June 2017 to December 2017 was 16.75 tonnes with an average generation of 0.60 tonnes per week on the dry weight (d.w.) basis. The collected yard waste consisted of three major characteristics, namely dry leaves, fresh green leaves, and grass cuttings, and a waste estimation technique was applied to determine the composition of these three elements. The acquired information was used to formulate the initial compost mixture. The wastes were then mixed with an appropriate amount of livestock manure and other wastes to obtain the optimum initial C/N ratio, which was then found in the analysis to range between 25:1 and 42:1. Meanwhile, the C/N ratios obtained from the matured compost product were from 10:1 and 15:1. Moreover, most of the compost yield ranged between 50% and 70% (w w-1 d.w. basis), while the percentage of the seed germination in the compost was over 95%. The viability of the project was indicated from the economic analysis, with benefit to cost ratio (BCR) values of more than 1. The results also suggested that the large scale composting of yard waste in MARDI was feasible and its applicability is continuous. This technique also fulfilled the objective of producing quality compost, which was suitable for agricultural use.

Exploring EEG Effective Connectivity Network in Estimating Influence of Color on Emotion and Memory.

Color is a perceptual stimulus that has a significant impact on improving human emotion and memory. Studies have revealed that colored multimedia learning materials (MLMs) have a positive effect on learner's emotion and learning where it was assessed by subjective/objective measurements. This study aimed to quantitatively assess the influence of colored MLMs on emotion, cognitive processes during learning, and long-term memory (LTM) retention using electroencephalography (EEG). The dataset consisted of 45 healthy participants, and MLMs were designed in colored or achromatic illustrations to elicit emotion and that to assess its impact on LTM retention after 30-min and 1-month delay. The EEG signal analysis was first started to estimate the effective connectivity network (ECN) using the phase slope index and expand it to characterize the ECN pattern using graph theoretical analysis. EEG results showed that colored MLMs had influences on theta and alpha networks, including (1) an increased frontal-parietal connectivity (top-down processing), (2) a larger number of brain hubs, (3) a lower clustering coefficient, and (4) a higher local efficiency, indicating that color influences information processing in the brain, as reflected by ECN, together with a significant improvement in learner's emotion and memory performance. This is evidenced by a more positive emotional valence and higher recall accuracy for groups who learned with colored MLMs than that of achromatic MLMs. In conclusion, this paper demonstrated how the EEG ECN parameters could help quantify the influences of colored MLMs on emotion and cognitive processes during learning.

Neural correlates of eye contact in face-to-face verbal interaction: An EEG-based study of the extraversion personality trait.

The extraversion personality trait has a positive correlation with social interaction. In neuroimaging studies, investigations on extraversion in face-to-face verbal interactions are still scarce. This study presents an electroencephalography (EEG)-based investigation of the extraversion personality trait in relation to eye contact during face-to-face interactions, as this is a vital signal in social interactions. A sample of healthy male participants were selected (consisting of sixteen more extraverted and sixteen less extraverted individuals) and evaluated with the Eysenck's Personality Inventory (EPI) and Big Five Inventory (BFI) tools. EEG alpha oscillations in the occipital region were measured to investigate extraversion personality trait correlates of eye contact during a face-to-face interaction task and an eyes-open condition. The results revealed that the extraversion personality trait has a significant positive correlation with EEG alpha coherence in the occipital region, presumably due to its relationship with eye contact during the interaction task. Furthermore, the decrease in EEG alpha power during the interaction task compared to the eyes-open condition was found to be greater in the less extraverted participants; however, no significant difference was observed between the less and more extraverted participants. Overall, these findings encourage further research towards the understanding of neural mechanism correlates of the extraversion personality trait-particularly in social interaction.

Preparation of a highly specific polyclonal antibody against and its use in development of ELISA for determination of in plasma.

For therapeutic monitoring and pharmacokinetic studies of the potent hypocholesterolaemic agent fluvastatin (FLV), a specific antibody was required for the development of a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the accurate determination of FLV in plasma. In this study, a highly specific polyclonal antibody against FLV has been prepared. FLV was coupled to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) using carbodiimide reagent. FLV-KLH conjugate was used as an immunogen. Female 8-weeks old New Zealand white rabbits were immunized with an emulsion of FLV-KLH with Freund's adjuvant. The immune response of the rabbits was monitored by direct ELISA using FLV-BSA immobilized onto microwell plates as a solid phase. The rabbit that showed the highest antibody titer and affinity to FLV was scarified and its sera were collected. The IgG fraction was isolated and purified by affinity chromatography on a protein A column. The specificity of the purified antibody for FLV was evaluated by indirect competitive ELISA using various competitors from the FLV-structural analogues and therapeutic agents used with FLV in a combination therapy. The high affinity of the antibody (IC50 = 150 pg ml-1) enabled the determination of FLV in plasma at concentrations as low as 20 pg ml-1.