Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of microcin J25 on the porcine microbiome in a continuous culture model

The increased prevalence of Salmonella spp. resistance in swine spurs the search for alternatives to antibiotics. Microcin J25 (MccJ25), a bacteriocin produced by Escherichia coli, is a potent inhibitor of several pathogenic bacteria including Salmonella enterica. In this study, we aimed to evaluate in vitro the impact of MccJ25 on the composition and the metabolic activity of the swine colonic microbiota. The PolyFermS in vitro continuous fermentation model was used here with modified Macfarlane medium to simulate the porcine proximal colon. During 35 days of fermentation, a first-stage reactor containing immobilized swine fecal microbiota fed two second-stage control and test reactors operated in parallel and used to test the effects of MccJ25 on the composition and the metabolic activity of the microbiota. Reuterin, a broad-spectrum antimicrobial compound produced by Limosilactobacillus reuteri, a lactic acid bacterium naturally present in the gastro-intestinal tract of human and animals, and the antibiotic rifampicin were tested for comparison. Sequencing of 16S rRNA was performed using the Illumina MiSeq technology to evaluate microbial diversity, and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) followed by multivariate analysis was used to assess the bacteriocin/antibiotic degradation products and to monitor changes in the swine colonic microbiota metabolome. The results show that MccJ25 or reuterin treatments only induce subtle changes of both the microbial diversity and the metabolome of the swine colon microbiota, while rifampicin induces significant modification in amino acid levels. Although these findings need being validated in vivo, this study affords a first proof of concept for considering MccJ25 as a possible alternative to antibiotics for veterinary and farming applications, taking into account its pathogen-selective and potent inhibitory activity.
A Single-Dose Intramuscular Nanoparticle Vaccine With or Without Prior Intrauterine Priming Triggers Specific Uterine and Colostral Mucosal Antibodies and Systemic Immunity in Gilts but Not Passive Protection for Suckling Piglets

An effective single-dose vaccine that protects the dam and her suckling offspring against infectious disease would be widely beneficial to livestock animals. We assessed whether a single-dose intramuscular (i.m.) porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) vaccine administered to the gilt 30 days post-breeding could generate mucosal and systemic immunity and sufficient colostral and mature milk antibodies to protect suckling piglets against infectious challenge. The vaccine was comprised of polymeric poly-(lactide-co-glycolide) (PGLA)-nanoparticle (NP) encapsulating recombinant PEDV spike protein 1 (PEDVS1) associated with ARC4 and ARC7 adjuvants, a muramyl dipeptide analog and a monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) analog, respectively (NP-PEDVS1). To establish whether prior mucosal exposure could augment the i.m. immune response and/or contribute to mucosal tolerance, gilts were immunized with the NP-PEDVS1 vaccine via the intrauterine route at breeding, followed by the i.m. vaccine 30 days later. Archived colostrum from gilts that were challenged with low-dose PEDV plus alum was used as positive reference samples for neutralizing antibodies and passive protection. On day 100 of gestation (70 days post i.m. immunization), both vaccinated groups showed significant PEDVS1-specific IgG and IgA in the serum, as well as in uterine tissue collected on the day of euthanasia. Anti-PEDVS1 colostral IgG antibody titers collected at farrowing were significantly higher relative to the negative control gilts indicating that the NP vaccine was effective in contributing to the colostral antibodies. The PEDVS1-specific colostral IgA and anti-PEDVS1 IgG and IgA antibodies in the mature milk collected 6 days after farrowing were low for both vaccinated groups. No statistical differences between the vaccinated groups were observed, suggesting that the i.u. priming vaccine did not induce mucosal tolerance. Piglets born to either group of vaccinated gilts did not receive sufficient neutralizing antibodies to protect them against infectious PEDV at 3 days of age. In summary, a single i.m. NP vaccine administered 30 days after breeding and a joint i.u. /i.m. vaccine administered at breeding and 30 days post-breeding induced significant anti-PEDVS1 immunity in systemic and mucosal sites but did not provide passive protection in suckling offspring.
WHO and digital agencies: how to effectively tackle COVID-19 misinformation online

Correspondence to Dr Federico Germani; federico. germani@ uzh. ch © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Reuse permitted under CC BYNC. No commercial reuse. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. INTRODUCTION On 30 January 2020, as a consequence of the globally deteriorating epidemiological situation, WHO DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the COVID19 situation to be a public health emergency of international concern. The global health disaster has been exacerbated by a concomitant epidemic of misinformation online, which has been referred to as an ‘infodemic’. The prominent feature of this infodemic is an epidemiclike circulation of fake news, which includes scientific misinformation about COVID19 and vaccines. Misinformation circulates through digital channels faster and more effectively than accurate information does. Through social media in particular, 6 unfounded rumours and conspiracy theories can have a broad reach, greatly contributing to people’s beliefs and behaviours. Scientific misinformation has been a large challenge for the implementation of solutions to halt the ongoing pandemic, and high rates of vaccine hesitancy have been a deterrent to a successful management of COVID19. COVID19 misinformation is driven by conspiracy theories on the origin of the pandemic, on the dangers posed by global vaccination campaigns or by inaccurate measures to prevent or treat the disease. 8 For instance, one of the most popular conspiracy theories on the origin of the pandemic proposes that the outbreak was a plan to mitigate overpopulation through the employment of massive vaccination campaigns. Other popular conspiracies propose that 5G technology causes illnesses due to electromagnetic radiation and that the pandemic serves as a cover for the health damages caused by the new technology. These conspiracies have had reallife effects, with people burning 5G masts or attacking telecommunication workers. 10 Furthermore, misinformation reduced adherence to mask regulations and social distancing measures, due to the broad misunderstanding of the mechanisms of SARSCoV2 transmission, COVID19 symptoms or the concept of herd immunity. All these factors have had profound negative effects on the perception of the dangers posed by COVID19. In this process, political trust has been shown to play a direct and indirect role, proving that rumours and misinformation can spread from corners of the internet as well as from institutional figures. As an example, in 2020 a prominent political figure erroneously stated that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of COVID19. This was followed by a large request for these drugs, causing a shortage of medical supplies for those patients suffering from diseases which require chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. Misguided trust mixed with misinformation also led people to inhale disinfectants, to get exposed to ultraviolet radiation to kill the virus, as well as to create cocktails of drugs to make vaccines. Summary box
Editorial: Examining bias-based cyberaggression and cybervictimization from a cross-cultural perspective

COPYRIGHT © 2022 Ramos Salazar, Cabrera, Navarro and Schultze-Krumbholz. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Editorial: Examining bias-based cyberaggression and cybervictimization from a cross-cultural perspective
What does the public think about microplastics? Insights from an empirical analysis of mental models elicited through free associations

Microplastics are an issue of rising concern, in terms of their possible implications for both the environment and human health. A survey was distributed among a representative sample of the adult Norwegian population (N = 2720) to explore the public understanding of microplastics. Respondents were asked to report the first thing that came to mind when they read or heard the word “microplastics,” based on which a coding scheme was developed that served to categorize the obtained answers into thematic clusters. Results indicate that the public seem to think of microplastics as something bad that might pollute the ocean and harm animal species. Awareness of the sources of microplastics appeared to be rather low, and few respondents mentioned potential ways to solve the problem. Responses differed across certain socio-demographic characteristics; for example, female and younger respondents were more likely to think about the spread and causes/sources of microplastics, whereas a higher educational level was associated positively with thinking of ways to solve the problem. Additional analyses indicated relationships between personal values and the identified thematic clusters; for example, endorsing self-transcendence and openness-to-change values was associated with thinking of ways to solve and of consequences of microplastics. These findings are informative to those wanting to design tailored communications and interventions aimed at reducing plastic pollution and plastic waste.
Bayesian analysis of finite mixture distributions using the allocation sampler

Finite mixture distributions are receiving more and more attention from statisticians in many different fields of research because they are a very flexible class of models. They are typically used for density estimation or to model population heterogeneity. One can think of a finite mixture distribution as grouping the observations into components from which they are assumed to have arisen. In certain settings these groups have a physical interpretation. The interest in these distributions has been boosted recently because of the ever increasing computer power available to researchers to carry out the computationally intensive tasks required in their analysis. In order to fit a finite mixture distribution taking a Bayesian approach a posterior distribution has to be evaluated. When the number of components in the model is assumed known this posterior distribution can be sampled from using methods such as Data Augmentation or Gibbs sampling (Tanner and Wong (1987) and Gelfand and Smith (1990)) and the Metropolis-Hastings algorithm (Hastings (1970)). However, the number of components in the model can also be considered an unknown and an object of inference. Richardson and Green (1997) and Stephens (2000a) both describe Bayesian methods to sample across models with different numbers of components. This enables an estimate of the posterior distribution of the number of components to be evaluated. Richardson and Green (1997) define a reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo (RJMCMC) sampler while Stephens (2000a) uses a Markov birth-death process approach sample from the posterior distribution. In this thesis a Markov chain Monte Carlo method, named the allocation sampler. This sampler differs from the RJMCMC method reported in Richardson and Green (1997) because the state space of the sampler is simplified by the assumption that the components' parameters and weights can be analytically integrated out of the model. This in turn has the advantage that only minimal changes are required to the sampler for mixtures of components from other parametric families. This thesis illustrates the allocation sampler's performance on both simulated and real data sets. Chapter 1 provides a background to finite mixture distributions and gives an overview of some inferential techniques that have already been used to analyse these distributions. Chapter 2 sets out the Bayesian model framework that is used throughout this thesis and defines all the required distributional results. Chapter 3 describes the allocation sampler. Chapter 4 tests the performance of the allocation sampler using simulated datasets from a collection of 15 different known mixture distributions. Chapter 5 illustrates the allocation sampler with real datasets from a number of different research fields. Chapter 6 summarises the research in the thesis and provides areas of possible future research.
Title: The acute effect of magnesium supplementation on endothelial function: a randomised cross-over pilot study

: Magnesium (Mg) deficiency may be a catalyst in the process of endothelial dysfunction, an early event in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The aim was to determine the acute effect of an oral Mg supplement compared to control on endothelieal function assessed by flow-mediated-dilatation (FMD). Nineteen participants (39 years, body mass index (BMI) 22.9kg/m 2 ) completed this randomised cross-over study. Blood pressure (BP) and FMD were measured and blood samples taken before participants drank 200ml water with or without an over the counter Mg supplement (450mg and 300mg for men and women). Measurements were repeated at 60 and 120 minutes. There was a statistically significant two-way interaction between treatment and time on serum Mg (p = .037). A difference of -0.085mm in FMD was observed 60 minutes post drink in the control group compared to baseline FMD, and no difference was observed in the supplement group compared to baseline. Despite the non-significant interaction between treatment and time on FMD, the difference seen in the control group and the lack of change in the supplement group at 60 minutes post-drink suggests that Mg may attenuate the reduction in FMD post-prandially.
Fairness and efficiency in a random assignment: Three impossibility results

This paper considers the problem of allocating N indivisible objects among N agents according to their preferences when transfers are not allowed, and studies the tradeoff between fairness and efficiency in the class of strategy-proof mechanisms. The main finding is that for strategy-proof mechanisms the following efficiency and fairness criteria are mutually incompatible: (1) Ex-post efficiency and envy-freeness, (2) ordinal efficiency and weak envy-freeness and (3) ordinal efficiency and equal division lower bound. Result (1) is the first impossibility result for this setting that uses ex-post efficiency; results (2) and (3) are more relevant for practical implementation than similar results in the literature. In addition, for N = 3 the paper strengthens the characterization result by Bogomolnaia and Moulin (2001): the random serial dictatorship mechanism is the unique strategy-proof, ex-post efficient mechanism that eliminates strict envy between agents with the same preferences.
spe-10 Encodes a DHHC-CRD Zinc-Finger Membrane Protein Required for ER/Golgi Membrane Morphogenesis During Caenorhabditis elegans Spermatogenesis

C. elegans spermatogenesis employs lysosome-related fibrous body-membranous organelles (FB-MOs) for transport of many cellular components. Previous work showed that spe-10 mutants contain FB-MOs that prematurely disassemble, resulting in defective transport of FB components into developing spermatids. Consequently, spe-10 spermatids are smaller than wild type and contain defective FB-MO derivatives. In this paper, we show that spe-10 encodes a four-pass integral membrane protein that has a DHHC-CRD zinc-finger motif. The DHHC-CRD motif is found in a large, diverse family of proteins that have been implicated in palmitoyl transfer during protein lipidation. Seven spe-10 mutants were analyzed, including missense, nonsense and deletion mutants. An antiserum to SPE-10 showed significant co-localization with a known marker for the FB-MOs during wild-type spermatogenesis. In contrast, the spe-10(ok1149) deletion mutant lacked detectable SPE-10 staining; this mutant lacks a spe-10 promoter and most coding sequence. The spe-10(eb64) missense mutation, which changes a conserved residue within the DHHC-CRD domain in all homologs, behaves as a null mutant. These results suggest that wild-type SPE-10 is required for the MO to properly deliver the FB to the C. elegans spermatid and the DHHC-CRD domain is essential for this function.
Proof of ultra-violet ﬁniteness for a planar non-supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory

This paper focuses on a three-parameter deformation of N = 4 Yang–Mills that breaks all the supersymmetry in the theory. We show that the resulting non-supersymmetric gauge theory is scale invariant, in the planar approximation, by proving that its Green functions are ultra-violet ﬁnite to all orders in light-cone perturbation theory.
COPD_A_297087 1171..1182

1Department of Respiratory Diseases, University Hospital Brno, Brno, Czech Republic; 2Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; 3Institute of Biostatistics and Analyses, Ltd., Brno, Czech Republic; 4Pulmonary Department, University Hospital Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic; 5Faculty of Medicine, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic; 6Pulmonary Department, University Hospital Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic; 7Faculty of Medicine, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic; 8Pulmonary Department, Bulovka Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic; 9Pulmonary Department, Mlada Boleslav Hospital, Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic; 10Pulmonary Department, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic; 11Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic Introduction: The concept of phenotyping emerged, reflecting specific clinical, pulmonary and extrapulmonary features of each particular chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) case. Our aim was to analyze prognostic utility of: “Czech“ COPD phenotypes and their most frequent combinations, ”Spanish” phenotypes and Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stages + groups in relation to long-term mortality risk. Methods: Data were extracted from the Czech Multicenter Research Database (CMRD) of COPD. Kaplan-Meier (KM) estimates (at 60 months from inclusion) were used for mortality assessment. Survival rates were calculated for the six elementary “Czech” phenotypes and their most frequent and relevant combinations, “Spanish” phenotypes, GOLD grades and groups. Statistically significant differences were tested by Log Rank test. An analysis of factors underlying mortality risk (the role of confounders) has been assessed with the use of classification and regression tree (CART) analysis. Basic factors showing significant differences between deceased and living patients were entered into the CART model. This showed six different risk groups, the differences in risk were tested by a Log Rank test. Results: The cohort (n=720) was 73.1% men, with a mean age of 66.6 years and mean FEV1 44.4% pred. KM estimates showed bronchiectases/COPD overlap (HR 1.425, p=0.045), frequent exacerbator (HR 1.58, p<0.001), cachexia (HR 2.262, p<0.001) and emphysematous (HR 1.786, p=0.015) phenotypes associated with higher mortality risk. Co-presence of multiple phenotypes in a single patient had additive effect on risk; combination of emphysema, cachexia and frequent exacerbations translated into poorest prognosis (HR 3.075; p<0.001). Of the “Spanish” phenotypes, AE CB and AE non-CB were associated with greater risk of mortality (HR 1.787 and 2.001; both p=0.001). FEV1% pred. , cachexia and chronic heart failure in patient history were the major underlying factors determining mortality risk in our cohort. Conclusion: Certain phenotypes (“Czech” or “Spanish”) of COPD are associated with higher risk of death. Co-presence of multiple phenotypes (emphysematous plus cachectic plus frequent exacerbator) in a single individual was associated with amplified risk of mortality.
BASIC VECTOR VALUED SIEGEL MODULAR FORMS OF GENUS TWO

This is a finitely generated algebra. In addition, let ρ : GL(n,C) → GL(Z) be a rational representation on a finite dimensional complex vector space Z. We always will assume that ρ is irreducible and polynomial and does not vanish on the determinant surface detA = 0. Then we consider the space [Γ, rr0, v , ρ] of all vector-valued holomorphic modular forms f : Hn → Z of transformation type f(MZ) = v(M) det(CZ +D)0ρ(CZ +D)f(Z).
International Journal of Science and Business

One of the fundamental questions in international trade literature is whether “with whom countries conduct their trade with” matters for their respective trade flows. This paper examined the impact of trading with China on African countries’ trade flows. We proxy Africa-China partnership using membership in Forum for China – Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) framework. We also examined whether one country membership in FOCAC has trade creating advantages on its trade flows and whether two countries’ membership in FOCAC has trade creating advantages as well. Our study period is from 1990 to 2018 using a sample of 150 countries. We estimated our framework using panel data fixed effects methodology. We found that FOCAC has positive and significant impacts on both exports and imports in African countries. We found trade diversion effects of either one or both countries membership in FOCAC for our imports equation. For our export equation, we found that one country membership in FOCAC has trade creation impacts while two countries being members of FOCAC has trade diversion impacts. We conducted our robust estimation using Pseudo Poisson maximum likelihood estimation and found comparable results for our study. These findings may enable authorities in Africa, China and beyond to strategize on how their countries should position themselves in terms of industry structure to maximize their benefits as well as sensitizing both their producers and consumers on how they can take advantage of trade preferences offered. IJSB Accepted 18 April 2019 Published 19 April 2019 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.2647400