Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Towards a monophyletic Omphalodes —or an expansion of North American Mimophytum

Molecular studies have recently led to major changes to the systematics of Boraginaceae and changed our perception of fruit morphology, previously used as the most important character in Boraginaceae classification. Navel-shaped nutlets as the key character for Omphalodes turned out to be highly homoplasious, thus the genus was revealed to be polyphyletic. After the recent reclassifications, the genus Omphalodes is still left paraphyletic, since the remaining taxa correspond to two different lineages: a clade of essentially Mediterranean perennials including the type species ( O. verna ) and a clade with the annual to subperennial North American taxa including the genus Mimophytum . We here advocate transferring all taxa of the North American clade into the genus Mimophytum, subdividing the genus Omphalodes into morphologically coherent and monophyletic entities. Mimophytum was initially removed from Omphalodes based on its glochidiate nutlets, but this character state does not define a monophyletic entity. In overall morphology, the redefined genus Mimophytum is highly homogeneous and easily differentiated from the other clades: it has a lax growth habit, and leaves are long-petiolate, abruptly contracted at the base into a more or less cordate base, and with a fine pubescence of erect trichomes. After the proposed rearrangements, only O. erecta remains as a problematic species whose systematic placement is still to be found out.
Rater variation in pragmatic assessment: The impact of the linguistic background on peer-assessment and self-assessment

Abstract The present study investigates variability among raters from different linguistic backgrounds, who evaluated the pragmatic performance of English language learners with varying native languages (L1s) by using both self- and peer-assessments. To this end, written discourse completion task (WDCT) samples of requesting speech acts from 10 participants were collected. Thereafter, the participants were asked to assess their peers’ WDCTs before assessing their own samples using the same rating scale. The raters were further asked to provide an explanation for their rating decisions. Findings indicate that there may indeed be a link between a rater’s language background and their scoring patterns, although the results regarding peer- and self-assessment are mixed. There are both similarities and differences in the participants’ use of pragmatic norms and social rules in evaluating appropriateness.
Organizational Identification at a Multinational Company

Abstract Objective: The present case study investigates to what extent employees working at the Dutch site of an American multinational biotechnology organization identify with this company. According to prior research, organizational identification leads to higher commitment to the organization. Gaining more insight into which factors drive or impede organizational identification can help organizations increase their employees’ identification and thus, commitment. Two hypotheses were tested. First, organizational identification was expected to be higher among international employees than Dutch employees. Second, a correlation was expected between organizational identification and organizational commitment. Methodology: A questionnaire was conducted among 296 employees of the company site. The scale of Edwards and Peccei (2007) was used to measure the construct of organizational identification. Mowday et al.’s (1979) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire was used to measure the construct of organizational commitment. All data was statistically analyzed with the software SPSS; an independent samples t-test was performed to test the first hypothesis and a Pearson correlation coefficient was computed to test the second hypothesis. Findings: Both hypotheses were confirmed. A significant difference was found between international employees (M = 5.25, SD = 1.05, n = 81) and Dutch employees (M = 4.96, SD = 1.12, n = 215) regarding organizational identification (t(293) = -2.03, p =. 04, d = 0.27). Moreover, a significant positive correlation exists between organizational identification and organizational commitment (r(295) = . 81, p < . 001). Value Added: Most prior research regarding organizational identification has focused on top-down processes, stressing the roles managers play in developing organizational identification among employees. Scholars have devoted little attention to what factors drive or impede organizational identification in cross-cultural workplaces. Taking on a bottom-up perspective, this study concentrates on the impact of employees’ social identities, mainly considering expatriate membership, on the extent of their organizational identification. Recommendations: In order to increase organizational identification, multinational organizations could: 1) facilitate identity synergy by acknowledging the full portfolio of identities employees seek to enact within organizations, and 2) increase peer identification among employees by initiating group activities that facilitate peer-to-peer interactions, create a sense of community and strongly bond individuals to the organization.
A new species of Systenus Loew (Dolichopodidae, Diptera) from Slovakia

Abstract Dolichopodid specimens were collected during a field work in Prešov town in 2019. Systenus slovakiensis sp. nov. from anthropogenic habitats is described. Differential diagnoses are given and illustrated. A key to females of Systenus species of the Palearctic is provided. From all other Palaearctic species of this genus, the new species is distinguished by snow-white trochanters and black femora.
How Does Ritualized Behavior Lower Anxiety? The Role of Cognitive Load and Conscious Preoccupation in Anxiety Reduction

Abstract Although rituals are believed to lower anxiety, the underlying mechanism of anxiety reduction has not been explained well enough. According to Boyer and Liénard (2006), ritualized behavior decreases the anxiety levels because it swamps working memory. This blocks anxious thoughts’ access to consciousness. As a result, ritualized behavior lowers anxiety temporarily but maintains it in the long run. In the article, I analyze what processes should be engaged in ritualized behavior to bring the aforementioned outcomes. I propose that ritualized behavior has anxiolytic properties if it preoccupies consciousness without placing too many demands on cognitive control. While conscious preoccupation with ritualized behavior should reduce anxiety, cognitive control load related to efforts to concentrate on ritualized behavior may bring immediate paradoxical effects of self-regulation, i.e., anxiety increases. Moreover, since anxiety disrupts attentional control capabilities, ritualized behavior should not be too cognitively demanding if an anxious person is to perform it.
The Resistance Mechanisms of Lung Cancer Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy has revolutionized lung cancer treatment in the past decade. By reactivating the host’s immune system, immunotherapy significantly prolongs survival in some advanced lung cancer patients. However, resistance to immunotherapy is frequent, which manifests as a lack of initial response or clinical benefit to therapy (primary resistance) or tumor progression after the initial period of response (acquired resistance). Overcoming immunotherapy resistance is challenging owing to the complex and dynamic interplay among malignant cells and the defense system. This review aims to discuss the mechanisms that drive immunotherapy resistance and the innovative strategies implemented to overcome it in lung cancer.
YouTube Vloggers as Brand Influencers on Consumer Purchase Behaviour

Abstract Objective: The increasing influence of YouTube vloggers on consumer purchase behaviour and the specificity of the vloggers _ viewers/subscribers relationship are under-researched. Addressing this gap in knowledge, this paper explores the role of vloggers as brand influencers on consumer (their viewers) purchase behaviour. It aims to investigate the interaction between vloggers and viewers/subscribers in terms of brand awareness and consumers’ purchase behaviour. Methodology: A mixed-method approach (often connected with netnography) incorporated non-participant observation of vloggers’ activities and vloggers-viewers interactions within selected popular vlogs, supported by an online survey with both vloggers and viewers. Findings: We have observed specific brand endorsements and experiences, depending on the vloggers’ context, leading to both positive and negative feedback. This interaction and the consistently positive perception of reasons behind the vloggers’ choice of the endorsed brands underpin the credibility of the vloggers – viewers/subscribers relationship. Value added: Our results show not only the significance of vloggers as brand influencers, providing their audiences information perceived as trustworthy and convincing in terms of purchase recommendations but also explore the factors affecting this process. Recommendations: This research directed our attention into the viewer-viewer interaction on the vlogs platforms. It is a very dynamic and challenging (difficult to control) part of vlog marketing activities (including various eWOM aspects) which can be very influential in the analysed context and stays a task for the future research.
Diverse Enzymes With Industrial Applications in Four Thraustochytrid Genera

Thraustochytrids are heterotrophic fungus-like protists that can dissolve organic matters with enzymes. Four strains, AP45, ASP1, ASP2, and ASP4, were isolated from the coastal water of Taiwan, and respectively identified as Aurantiochytrium sp. , Schizochytrium sp. , Parietichytrium sp. , and Botryochytrium sp. based on 18S rRNA sequences. Transcriptome datasets of these four strains at days 3-5 were generated using Next Generation Sequencing technology, and screened for enzymes with potential industrial applications. Functional annotations based on KEGG database suggest that many unigenes of all four strains were related to the pathways of industrial enzymes. Most of all four strains contained homologous genes for 15 out of the 17 targeted enzymes, and had extra- and/or intra-cellular enzymatic activities, including urease, asparaginase, lipase, glucosidase, alkaline phosphatase and protease. Complete amino sequences of the first-time identified L-asparaginase and phytase in thraustochytrids were retrieved, and respectively categorized to the Type I and BPPhy families based on phylogenetic relationships, protein structural modeling and active sites. Milligram quantities of highly purified, soluble protein of urease and L-asparaginase were successfully harvested and analyzed for recombinant enzymatic activities. These analytical results highlight the diverse enzymes for wide-range applications in thraustochytrids.
Comparative Efficacy of Combined Radiotherapy, Systemic Therapy, and Androgen Deprivation Therapy for Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer: A Network Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Background: Recent randomized clinical trials have examined the efficacy of different combinations of systemic and local treatment approaches for metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC). We compared the efficacy of these combined regimens in order to identify the optimal therapy for specific patient subgroups. Methods: The treatments were abiraterone (ABI), apalutamide (APA), docetaxel (DOC), enzalutamide (ENZ), and radiotherapy (RT) combined with androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT). Five electronic databases were searched up to May 7, 2020 for relevant trials. The risk of bias in the included trials was evaluated with the Cochrane tool. The hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was determined for the included trials and indirect comparisons were performed using the R software. Results: In total, 10 randomized, controlled trials with 11,194 patients were included in the meta-analysis. ADT + RT was superior to ADT monotherapy in terms of overall survival (HR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.85–1.1) and conferred a survival benefit in a subgroup of low-volume patients (HR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.54–0.87). Combined systemic treatments were significantly superior to ADT monotherapy in comparisons of survival and prostate-specific antigen response, including in the high-volume subgroup; meanwhile, in the low-volume subgroup only ADT + ENZ (HR = 0.38, 95% CI 0.21–0.69) showed a significant clinical benefit. In the Gleason score <8 subgroup, all combined systemic treatments were superior to ADT monotherapy, but the results were only significant for ADT + APA (HR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.33–0.95) and ADT + DOC (HR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.54–0.92). In the Gleason score ≥8 subgroup, ADT monotherapy was inferior (albeit not significantly) to combined treatments. In a ranking of performed comparisons, ADT + ENZ was the optimal regimen, although this was non-significant. Combined therapies also demonstrated superiority in quality-of-life indicators such as time to skeletal events and pain progression. Conclusion: ADT + radiotherapy led to superior outcomes in mHSPC patients with low-volume disease. While all combined systemic regimens confer a survival advantage over ADT monotherapy, the optimal treatment approach for certain mHSPC patient subgroups remains to be determined.
Natural Killer T-Cell Agonist α-Galactosylceramide and PD-1 Blockade Synergize to Reduce Tumor Development in a Preclinical Model of Colon Cancer

Murine and human invariant natural killer T (iNKT) lymphocytes are activated by α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer) presented on CD1d. α-GalCer was first described as a lipid that had strong anti-metastatic effects in a mouse melanoma model, and it has subsequently been shown to induce efficient iNKT cell dependent tumor immunity in several tumor models. We have shown that α-GalCer treatment leads to a weak reduction of polyp burden in the autochthonous ApcMin/+ mouse model for human colon cancer, however this treatment resulted in upregulation of the inhibitory receptor PD-1 on iNKT cells. While anti-PD-1 treatment can prevent immune-suppression in other cancer types, human colon cancer is generally resistant to this treatment. Here we have used the ApcMin/+ model to investigate whether a combined treatment with α-GalCer and PD-1 blockade results in improved effects on polyp development. We find that PD-1 expression was high on T cells in polyps and lamina propria (LP) of ApcMin/+ mice compared to polyp free Apc+/+ littermates. Anti-PD-1 treatment alone promoted Tbet expression in iNKT cells and CD4 T cells, but did not significantly reduce polyp numbers. However, the combined treatment with anti-PD-1 and α-GalCer had synergistic effects, resulting in highly significant reduction of polyp numbers in the small and large intestine. Addition of PD-1 blockade to α-GalCer treatment prevented loss of iNKT cells that were skewed towards a TH1-like iNKT1 phenotype specifically in polyps. It also resulted in TH1 skewing and increased granzyme B expression of CD4 T cells. Taken together this demonstrates that a combination of immune stimulation targeting iNKT cells and checkpoint blockade may be a promising approach to develop for improved tumor immunotherapy.
Within-Clutch Repeatability of Egg Size Traits in Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus in a Long-Term View

Abstract. Female birds are exceptionally consistent in laying rather uniform and individually specific eggs, so that variation in eggs of individual females is low, while variation among females is high. Repeatability is a population-level parameter used in quantitative genetics to quantify the level of intraindividual consistency in relation to interindividual variation in phenotypic traits, in this case, the egg traits. The statistical measure of repeatability is intraclass correlation of particular egg traits clustered in clutches. This study is based on a long-term dataset on repeatabilities of the length, breadth, volume and shape of eggs of Blue Tits Cyanistes caeruleus investigated in two ecologically varying sites (an urban parkland versus a mature deciduous forest) around the city of Łódź, central Poland in 1999–2013. Coefficients of repeatability of egg length, breadth, volume and shape in the study populations of Blue Tits showed some variation between years and study sites, but were generally very high, on average 0.7 or more, and did not significantly differ between the traits within years. The observed differences between repeatabilities do not seem to be strongly associated with year-specific weather indicators for the first half of April. Only coefficients of variation in mean daily temperature influenced repeatabilities of egg length and breadth, whereas effects of mean temperature were non-significant. Repeatability of egg length in the forest and breadth in both sites increased with increasing variation in daily temperature, whereas repeatability of egg length in the urban park site showed a reverse relation with variation in temperature. Year-site-specific mean laying dates, clutch sizes and egg volumes, considered as indicators of breeding conditions, tended to negatively affect the repeatabilities. However, in general, repeatabilities of different egg traits were not consistent in their variation between years and sites, which suggests an important role of stochastic factors in shaping this variation. External factors that are able to force females to diversify traits of eggs in a particular laying sequence do not seem to directly result from the environmental conditions prevailing during a spring period critical for laying eggs in a population in a given year (the first half of April), but seem to be linked to more subtle aspects of variation in the conditions for egg laying, as shown by links with the mean values of basic breeding parameters.
Early Life Microbiota, Neonatal Immune Maturation and Hematopoiesis

Emerging epidemiologic data supports the hypothesis that early life colonization is a key player in development of a balanced immune system. Events in early life, as birth mode and infant diet, are shown to influence development of immune related diseases, like asthma, diabetes and inflammatory bowl disease, later in life. The intestinal epithelium makes up a physical and biochemical barrier between the bacteria in the gut lumen and the immune cells in the submocusal tissue. This monolayer of intestinal epithelial cells (IEC) makes up an extremely large surface and is highly important for the synergistic coexistence between trillions of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract and their mammalian hosts. The IEC actively communicate with the microbiota of the gut lumen and tolerance establishment in the intestine is induced as a result of a balanced and controlled communication between IEC and the commensals in the gut. Hematopoietic stem cells from the fetal liver seed the fetal spleen and bone marrow in perinatal phase. Granulocytosis in neonate mice and man just after birth is a natural event of early life hematopoiesis and likely contributes to elevated counts of neutrophil-like cells in the peripheral blood of newborns. Granular myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSC) have recently been described in human cord blood. MDSC are potential immunosuppressive cells often described in cancer, inflammation and during sepsis. They evolve from immature myeloid cells during hematopoiesis. Several recent studies show a role for various myeloid derived and immune suppressive cellular subsets in the newborn. In the present work we showed the presence of a prominent group of CD11bGr-1 cells in the neonate murine spleen. The presence of these cells were dependent on the colonizing microbiota, as germfree neonate mice held notably fewer of these cells in the spleen. Microscopy of spleens and livers indicated that these cells derived from hematopoietic tissue in the liver of the neonate mouse, and that mobilization and activation of the hematopoietic tissue is promoted by the presence of colonizing microbes. The regulation of epithelial barrier integrity was influenced by the nature of the microbiota, as expression of tight junction (TJ) protein encoding genes showed a faster and more tightly regulated rate in the murine ileum of conventionally colonized mice compared to the GF ileum. The conventional microbiota furthermore promotes the expression of genes involved in mucin secretion, TLR signaling pathways and cytokine production in the intestine, while downregulating genes encoding chemokines in the epithelial tissue. Newly published studies indicate that the prominent CD11bGr-1 cell group may have a role in early life immune regulation. This is however not proven by the data of present study.
Bioeconomics of the Allee effect in fisheries targeting sedentary resources

Bioeconomics of the Allee effect in fisheries targeting sedentary resources Enrique González-Durán, Alvaro Hernández-Flores*, Juan Carlos Seijo, Alfonso Cuevas-Jiménez, and Angélica Moreno-Enriquez Universidad Marista de Mérida, Periférico norte tablaje catastral 13941, Carretera Mérida-8 Progreso, C.P. 97300 Mérida, Yucatán, México Facultad de Ciencias Quı́mico Biológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Av. Agustı́n Melgar S/N entre Calle 20 y Juan de la Barrera, Col. Buenavista, C.P. 24039 San Francisco de Campeche, Campeche, México *Corresponding author. tel: þ52 9999 429700 ext. 1136; fax: þ52 9999 429701; e-mail: ahernandez@marista.edu. mx.
Oxidative stress in elderly population: A prevention screening study

Aging is a multifactorial phenomenon, characterized by a progressive decline in the efficiency of biochemical and physiological processes and an increased susceptibility to disease. There is increasing evidence that aging and age‐related disease are correlated with an oxidative stress (OS) condition. The latter is characterized by an imbalance between reactive species (RS), in particular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant reserve.
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics Models of Tumor Growth and Anticancer Effects in Discrete Time

Abstract We study the h-discrete and h-discrete fractional representation of a pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics (PK-PD) model describing tumor growth and anticancer effects in continuous time considering a time scale h𝕅0, where h > 0. Since the measurements of the drug concentration in plasma were taken hourly, we consider h = 1/24 and obtain the model in discrete time (i.e. hourly). We then continue with fractionalizing the h-discrete nabla operator in the h-discrete model to obtain the model as a system of nabla h-fractional difference equations. In order to solve the fractional h-discrete system analytically we state and prove some theorems in the theory of discrete fractional calculus. After estimating and getting confidence intervals of the model parameters, we compare residual squared sum values of the models in one table. Our study shows that the new introduced models provide fitting as good as the existing models in continuous time.