This study investigated the antioxidant, whitening, and anti-obesity properties of red-fleshed pitaya extracts. We aimed to increase the financial value of red-fleshed pitaya and demonstrate its potential as a functional food material in the future. Flesh and peel extracts were obtained using 70% ethanol and water extraction conditions. Total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity (ABTS and DPPH radical scavenging activity) for each extract were measured, and the 70% ethanol peel extract had the highest total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity. Mushroom tyrosinase inhibitory activity was used to measure the whitening effect, with the water flesh extract being the most effective. To investigate the anti-obesity effect, a 3T3-L1 preadipocyte differentiation experiment was performed at a non-cytotoxic concentration using 70% ethanol and water flesh extracts. In comparison to the control, the water flesh extract showed a substantial decrease in lipid accumulation in a dose-dependent manner. The antioxidant activity of the 70% ethanol pitaya peel extracts and the whitening and anti-obesity effects of the water flesh extracts are expected to make pitaya a highly valuable functional food ingredient.

People differ greatly in their capacity to persist in the face of challenges. Despite significant research, relatively little is known about cognitive factors that might be involved in perseverance. Building upon human threat-management mechanism, we predicted that perseverant people would be characterized by reduced sensitivity (i.e., longer detection latency) to threat cues. Our data from 5,898 job applicants showed that highly perseverant individuals required more time to correctly identify anger in faces, regardless of stimulus type (dynamic or static computer-morphed faces). Such individual differences were not observed in response to other facial expressions (happiness, sadness), and the effect was independent of gender, dispositional anxiety, or conscientiousness. Discussions were centered on the potential role of threat sensitivity in effortful pursuit of goals.

Do happy applicants achieve more? Although it is well established that happiness predicts desirable work-related outcomes, previous findings were primarily obtained in social settings. In this study, we extended the scope of the "happiness premium" effect to the artificial intelligence (AI) context. Specifically, we examined whether an applicant's happiness signal captured using an AI system effectively predicts his/her objective performance. Data from 3,609 job applicants showed that verbally expressed happiness (frequency of positive words) during an AI interview predicts cognitive task scores, and this tendency was more pronounced among women than men. However, facially expressed happiness (frequency of smiling) recorded using AI could not predict the performance. Thus, when AI is involved in a hiring process, verbal rather than the facial cues of happiness provide a more valid marker for applicants' hiring chances.

This paper shows scheduling methods to utilize heat pump systems as demand response resources in the smart grid environment. The heat pump system has a partial thermal storage tank which could be used at any time according to the consumer behavior based on the real time electricity tariff system. Some scheduling methods are proposed and an optimization basis is established considering areas, insulation conditions, heating set temperature, minimum heating maintaining period of thermal storage, maximum size of tank, etc.