COVID-19 is also unique from past pandemics due to its severity, easy transmissibility, and the nature of prescribed behavioral responses (i.e., hand washing and social distancing). We therefore discuss the ways in which COVID-19 may disproportionately affect individuals with OCD and health anxiety. We conclude with important topics for clinical and research attention to help mental health professionals respond in this time of crisis.This trial represents the final stage of the CARESSES project which aimed to develop and evaluate a culturally competent artificial intelligent system embedded into social robots to support older adult wellbeing. A parallel group, single-blind randomised controlled trial was conducted across older adult care homes in England and Japan. Participants randomly allocated to the Experimental Group or Control Group 1 received a Pepper robot for up 18 h across 2 weeks. Two versions of the CARESSES artificial intelligence were tested a fully culturally competent system (Experimental Group) and a more limited version (Control Group 1). Control Group 2 (Care As Usual) participants did not receive a robot. Quantitative outcomes of interest reported in the current paper were health-related quality of life (SF-36), loneliness (ULS-8), and perceptions of robotic cultural competence (CCATool-Robotics). Thirty-three residents completed all procedures. The difference in SF-36 Emotional Wellbeing scores between Experimental Group and Care As Usual participants over time was significant (F[1] = 6.614, sig = .019, ηp 2 = .258), as was the comparison between Any Robot used and Care As Usual (F[1] = 5.128, sig = .031, ηp 2 = .146). There were no significant changes in SF-36 physical health subscales. ULS-8 loneliness scores slightly improved among Experimental and Control Group 1 participants compared to Care As Usual participants, but this was not significant. This study brings new evidence which cautiously supports the value of culturally competent socially assistive robots in improving the psychological wellbeing of older adults residing in care settings.Possibly, and due to poor eating habits and unhealthy lifestyle, many viruses are transmitted to human people. Such is the case, of the novel coronavirus SARS-Cov-2, which has expanded of exponential way, practically, to whole world population. For this reason, the enhancement of real microscopic images of this coronavirus is of great importance. Of this way, one can highlight the S-spikes and visualizing those areas that show a high density, which are related to active zones of viral germination and major spread of the virus. The SARS-Cov-2 images were captured from nasopharyngeal samples of Cuban symptomatic individuals (RT-PCR positives for SARS-CoV-2) and processed via scanning electron microscopy. However, many times these microscopic images present some blurring problems, and the S-spikes do not look well defined. Therefore, the aim of this work is to propose new computational methods to carry out enhancement and segmentation of SARS-Cov-2 high-resolution microscopic images. The proposed strategy obtained very satisfactory results, and we validated its performance, together with specialist physicians, on a set of 1005 images. Due to the importance of the obtained results, this first work will be addressed to the application of the proposed algorithm. A second paper will deeply analyze the theory related to these algorithms.Research on robots that can be used for communication with humans has become popular in recent years. Communication robots should ideally be as small as an infant in order to reduce the user's feeling of threat. In addition, non-verbal communication (such as gestures) is also important in facilitating smooth interactions between humans and robots. There are currently a few communication robots that are small sized and can generate hand gestures. In this paper, we propose a small robot hand, which is optimized for gesture communication by using a shape memory alloy (SMA). The SMA employed is a Ti-Ni alloy, which is used as an actuator. The SMA shrinks when it transforms into the austenite phase at temperatures higher than the transformation temperature. When it is in the martensitic phase at a lower temperature, it is expanded by an external force. Each finger of the robot hand is driven by an individual SMA wire. The specifications of the small robot including the hand size, operation angles in each finger joint, response times and power consumption were determined according to the human finger and existing small communication robots. These required specifications have been fulfilled by carefully designing the geometry and heating/cooling power control. A questionnaire-based survey was also conducted with a robot hand. The five-finger hand was successfully shown to generate recognizable symbolic gestures. The online version supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11370-021-00364-9. The online version supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11370-021-00364-9.Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an endocrine tumour with high malignancy, high invasiveness and poor prognosis. Curcumin, a major component in turmeric, has been reported to have good efficacy and biological safety in treating cancer. However, the role and mechanism of curcumin in ACC have not yet been fully investigated and were thus the focus of this study. In vitro, ACC SW-13 and NCI-H295R cells were treated with curcumin and their viability, migration and invasion were assessed by CCK-8 and Transwell assays. Apoptosis was detected via flow cytometry and western blotting. High-throughput sequencing and comprehensive bioinformatics analyses were performed to elucidate the molecular processes underlying curcumin activity. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/rimiducid-ap1903.html In vivo, SW-13 cells were injected into nude mice, and the tumour volumes and weights were observed after 2 weeks of curcumin treatment. Organelle changes were observed by electron microscopy, and potential candidate genes and pathways were analysed by RT-qPCR and western blotting. The role of the CHOP target gene in curcumin-induced ACC cell apoptosis was verified via lentiviral transfection experiments. Curcumin inhibited the viability, migration and invasion, and induced the apoptosis of ACC cells. Transcriptome sequencing analysis showed that curcumin treatment markedly changed the gene expression levels. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analyses showed that the MAPK and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathways were the predominant pathways associated with curcumin-induced apoptosis of ACC cells. Subsequent in vivo and in vitro results demonstrated that the JNK, p38 MAPK and ER stress pathways were activated in curcumin-treated ACC cells, and that C/EBP homologous protein induction was responsible for curcumin-induced apoptosis of ACC cells. In summary, curcumin induced ACC cell apoptosis and inhibited tumour growth by activating the JNK, p38 MAPK and ER stress pathways. Thus, curcumin may be a potential therapeutic drug for ACC.