Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Israeli soldiers' intentions and actions toward seeking mental health help: Barriers and facilitators

Abstract Background While military settings may increase psychological distress, soldiers frequently avoid seeking professional help. This study aimed to examine barriers and facilitators associated with intentions to seek help and actually seeking help from a mental health officer (MHO) and how these differ among soldiers who had sought help in the past and those who had not. Method This cross‐sectional study included 263 combat and noncombat soldiers. The Health Belief Model and the Help‐Seeking Model were the theoretical framework used to map the potential variables associated with soldiers' decision to seek help. Results Stigma and administrative barriers were found to be significant barriers to both the intention to seek help and actually consulting an MHO. These findings were more definitive among combat soldiers. The belief in the effectiveness of mental health treatment was positively associated with the intention to seek help. Positive associations were found between well‐being, perceived seriousness of one's condition, and belief in the effectiveness of mental health care and intention to seek MHO help. Distress and self‐concealment were positively associated with actual consultation with an MHO. Public stigma about seeking help was associated with both the intention to seek mental health assistance and actually consulting an MHO. Conclusion Military commanders should make an effort to make soldiers feel safe to seek mental health assistance by creating a supportive organizational atmosphere to reduce the stigma associated with mental health care.
STK11 mutation affects the killing effect of NK cells to promote the progression of lung adenocarcinoma

STK11 is a frequently mutated tumor suppressor in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). STK11 mutations also lead to dramatic changes in the tumor microenvironment. Studies have shown that strengthening the killing effect of NK cells is vital for effective cancer treatment. Nonetheless, the mechanism of STK11 mutation in modulating the killing effect of NK cells on LUAD cells remains unclear. The expression of STK11, Ki67, and IFN‐γ in tumor tissues was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The contents of T cells, NK cells, and macrophages were analyzed by immunofluorescence assay. The expression of IL2, IL6, and IFN‐γ was detected by ELISA. STK11 expression in LUAD cell line was evaluated by qRT‐PCR. CCK‐8 and colony formation assay were used to measure proliferative ability of LUAD cells and the viability of NK cells. Flow cytometry was utilized to analyze cell apoptosis and NK cell content. Transwell assay was utilized to measure the chemotactic capability of NK cells. In vivo experiments validated the effect of abnormal expression of STK11 on tumor growth. LUAD patients with STK11 mutation had a high tumor proliferative ability. Forced expression of STK11 could substantially constrain the proliferation of LUAD cells and induce cell apoptosis. In addition, STK11 deletion significantly reduced the infiltration level of NK cells and inhibited the viability and chemotactic ability of NK cells as well as their killing effect on LUAD cells. In vivo animal experiment results demonstrated that STK11 deletion significantly reduced NK cell infiltration and promoted LUAD tumor growth. This study revealed the mechanism of STK11 mutation regulating NK cytotoxicity and promoting tumor development, providing scientific basis for the exploration of STK11‐related LUAD therapeutic targets and theoretical reference for developing new NK cell‐based immunotherapy.
Mobilisation of HLA‐F on the surface of bronchial epithelial cells and platelets in asthmatic patients

Uncontrolled inflammation of the airways in chronic obstructive lung diseases leads to exacerbation, accelerated lung dysfunction and respiratory insufficiency. Among these diseases, asthma affects 358 million people worldwide. Human bronchial epithelium cells (HBEC) express both anti‐inflammatory and activating molecules, and their deregulated expression contribute to immune cell recruitment and activation, especially platelets (PLT) particularly involved in lung tissue inflammation in asthma context. Previous results supported that HLA‐G dysregulation in lung tissue is associated with immune cell activation. We investigated here HLA‐F expression, reported to be mobilised on immune cell surface upon activation and displaying its highest affinity for the KIR3DS1‐activating NK receptor. We explored HLA‐F transcriptional expression in HBEC; HLA‐F total expression in PBMC and HBEC collected from healthy individuals at rest and upon chemical activation and HLA‐F membrane expression in PBMC, HBEC and PLT collected from healthy individuals at rest and upon chemical activation. We compared HLA‐F transcriptional expression in HBEC from healthy individuals and asthmatic patients and its surface expression in HBEC and PLT from healthy individuals and asthmatic patients. Our results support that HLA‐F is expressed by HBEC and PLT under healthy physiological conditions and is retained in cytoplasm, barely expressed on the surface, as previously reported in immune cells. In both cell types, HLA‐F reaches the surface in the inflammatory asthma context whereas no effect is observed at the transcriptional level. Our study suggests that HLA‐F surface expression is a ubiquitous post‐transcriptional process in activated cells. It may be of therapeutic interest in controlling lung inflammation.
Extraction of Nonlinear Thermo-Electroelastic Equations for High Frequency Vibrations of Piezoelectric Resonators with Initial Static Biases

In this paper, the general case of an anisotropic thermo-electro elastic body subjected to static biasing fields is considered. The biasing fields may be introduced by heat flux, body forces, external surface tractions, and electric fields. By introducing proper thermodynamic functions and employing variational principle for a thermo-electro elastic body, the nonlinear constitutive relations and the nonlinear equation of motion are extracted. The equations have the advantage of employing the Lagrangian strain and second Piola-Kirchhoff stress tensor with symmetric characteristics. These equations are used to analyze the high frequency vibrations of piezoelectric resonators under finite biasing fields. A system of three dimensional equations is derived for initial and incremental fields on the body. Capability of the equations in numerical modelling of temperature-frequency and force-frequency effects in quartz crystal is demonstrated. The numerical results compare well with the data from experiments. These equations may be used in accurate modelling of piezoelectric devices subjected to thermo electro mechanical loads.
Coverage and effectiveness of conditional cash transfer for people with drug resistant tuberculosis in Zimbabwe: A mixed methods study

Background The End TB strategy recommends social protection to mitigate socio-economic impacts of tuberculosis. Zimbabwe started implementing a conditional cash transfer (CCT) programme for people on drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) treatment in 2013. We aimed to determine the proportion of people receiving CCT and effectiveness of CCT in improving treatment outcomes, explore their experiences with registering for CCT and understand the impact of CCT from the perspective of beneficiaries. Methods Data from 2014-2021 were extracted from TB registers and CCT payment records within the National TB Programme. Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted with people who were completing treatment or had completed treatment within two months. Poisson regression, adjusted for province, year of treatment, age and sex was used to investigate associations between receiving CCT and successful treatment outcomes among people who were in DR-TB care for at least 3 months after treatment initiation. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results A total of 481 people were included in the quantitative study. Of these, 53% (254/481) received CCT at some point during treatment. People who exited DR-TB care within three months were 73% less likely to receive CCT than those who did not (prevalence ratio (PR)=0.27 [95%CI: 0.18-0.41]). Among those who were alive and in care three months after treatment initiation, CCT recipients were 32% more likely to have successful outcomes than those who did not (adjusted PR=1.32, [95%CI: 1.00-1.75]). Qualitative results revealed lack of knowledge about availability of CCT among people with DR-TB and missed opportunities by healthcare providers to provide information about availability of CCT. Delays and inconsistencies in disbursements of CCT were frequent themes. Conclusion CCT were associated with successful treatment outcomes. Improvements in coverage, timeliness and predictability of disbursements are recommended.
Low-income parents’ perceptions of a sweetened beverage tax in Philadelphia

Abstract Objective: To characterise perceptions of the Philadelphia Beverage Tax among low-income parents. Design: We conducted semi-structured interviews and administered demographic questions via telephone. We based the interview guide and initial codebook on a conceptual model illustrating perceived fairness and effectiveness as essential for successfully adopting food policies. We performed thematic analysis using NVivo 12. Setting: We recruited from a primary care paediatrics clinic in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from July to August 2020. Participants: Philadelphia parents/caregivers of 2- to 11-year-old children with Medicaid insurance. Results: Participants were predominantly African American (97 %), female (100 %), and had annual household incomes <$50 000 (80 %). Participants were 26- to 72-years old, with an average aged child of 5 years (range 7 months to 20 years). Themes emerged regarding tax perceptions, revenue use and behaviour change due to the tax. Using revenue for highly valued programmes and accountability of city government to use revenue as promised were critical elements in perceptions of tax fairness. Some parents avoided the tax through cross-border shopping and buying drink powders or concentrates, influencing perceptions of tax effectiveness. The tax signalled the health dangers of sweetened beverage consumption to most parents. Conclusion: Our findings bring to light four key takeaways for policymakers designing sweetened beverage taxes. (1) Dedication of tax revenue to programmes highly valued by parents and (2) transparency in revenue spending may improve acceptability. (3) State or national taxes may be more effective at decreasing consumption due to cross-border shopping. (4) Pairing taxes with health promotion campaigns may enhance behaviour change.
Multi-Attribute Group-Decision on a Construction Diversion Scheme for Hydropower Projects Based on Perception Utility

The multi-attribute and group-decision problem in the selection of a construction diversion scheme for large hydropower projects often involves multi-decision subjects and schemes. Each scheme includes multiple attributes, and the attribute values and weights are multi-attribute group decision-making problems with interval numbers. In this study, a new method for solving the multi-attribute group-decision problem is proposed by integrating regret theory, negotiation gathering theory, and the Monte Carlo simulation technique. Firstly, decision-makers’ comprehensive perception utility for each scheme is calculated based on the regret theory. Then, non-uniform and fuzzy opinion of different decision subjects are negotiated and gathered, and negotiation intervals of the attribute weights are calculated through group negotiation gathering theory. Moreover, fuzzy complementary judgment matrixes describing an excellent degree of the diversion schemes are obtained by conducting Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, the alternative diversion schemes are sorted in terms of their priorities, and the reliability of the sorting procedure is confirmed. The multi-attribute group-decision problem in the selection of a construction diversion scheme for Jinping I Hydropower Station is effectively solved by the proposed method. The proposed method is reliable and may significantly contribute to engineering decision-making.
First Things First? Order Effects in Online Product Recommender Systems

Research on recommender systems has noted that the ranking of recommended items may play an important role in the performance of recommendation algorithms. To advance recommender systems research beyond the traditional approach that ranks recommended products in descending, it is crucial to understand the cognitive processes that online consumers experience when they evaluate products in a sequence. Drawing on evaluability theory and the order effects perspective, we formulate a scenario in which two products are presented sequentially and each product has two attributes, one of which can be evaluated independently while the other is difficult to evaluate without comparison. Analyses show that in two out of the three cases examined, presenting the most recommended product in the second place will result in stronger consumer purchase intentions and willingness to pay. Research hypotheses are proposed based on the results of the scenario analyses and are empirically tested through three laboratory experiments. In Study 1, evidence for the hypothesized order effects is found for the settings with randomly assigned product recommendations. In Study 2, the same effects are observed for the settings with personalized recommendations generated by a collaborative filtering algorithm. In Study 3, it is shown that such order effects also exist in terms of the recommendation strength of recommender systems. These findings provide novel insights into the behavioral implications of using recommender systems in e-commerce, shedding light on additional means of improving the design of such systems.
Molecular mechanism of dynein-dynactin activation by JIP3 and LIS1

Microtubule motors, like cytoplasmic dynein-1, are tightly regulated to prevent inappropriate activity in cells. Dynein functions as a ∼4 MDa complex containing its cofactor dynactin and a cargo-specific coiled-coil adaptor. However, how dynein and dynactin recognise diverse adaptors, how they interact with each other during complex formation, and the role of critical regulators such as LIS1 remain unclear. To address this, we determine the cryo-EM structure of dynein-dynactin on microtubules with LIS1 and the lysosomal adaptor JIP3. We show how JIP3 specifies complex formation despite a shorter coiled coil and lack of identifiable motifs compared to typical adaptors. We find LIS1 directly binds dynactin’s p150 subunit, closely tethering it to dynein. This interaction is necessary for dynein’s cellular and in vitro activity. We also show how dynein’s intermediate chain relieves p150’s autoinhibition to enable LIS1 binding. Together, our data suggest LIS1 and p150 constrain dynein-dynactin to ensure efficient complex formation.
mNGS Investigation of Single Ixodes pacificus Ticks Reveals Diverse Microbes, Viruses, and a Novel mRNA-like Endogenous Viral Elements

Ticks are increasingly important vectors of human and agricultural diseases. While many studies have focused on tick-borne bacteria, far less is known about tick-associated viruses and their roles in public health or tick physiology. To address this, we investigated patterns of bacterial and viral communities across two field populations of western black-legged ticks (Ixodes pacificus). Through metatranscriptomic analysis of 100 individual ticks, we quantified taxon prevalence, abundance, and co-occurrence with other members of the tick microbiome. Our analysis revealed 11 novel RNA viruses from Rhabdoviridae, Chuviridae, Picornaviridae, Phenuiviridae, Reoviridae, Solemovidiae, Narnaviridae, and 2 highly divergent RNA viruses lacking sequence similarity to known viral families. The majority of these viruses were also detectable in lab-raised ticks at all developmental life stages, localize to tick salivary glands, and show evidence of circulation in mice fed on by ticks. These data suggest that viruses are stable, heritable, and transmissible members of the tick microbiota. We also unexpectedly identified numerous virus-like transcripts that are associated with tick genomic DNA, most of which are distinct from known endogenous viral element-mediated immunity pathways in invertebrates. Together, our work reveals that in addition to potentially serving as vectors for potential viral pathogens, I. pacificus ticks may also have symbiotic partnerships with their own vertically-transmitted viruses or with ancient viruses through evolutionarily acquired virus-like transcripts. Our findings highlight how pervasive and intimate tick–virus interactions are, with major implications for both the fundamental physiology and vector biology of I. pacificus ticks.
UBA52 Is Crucial in HSP90 Ubiquitylation and Neurodegenerative Signaling during Early Phase of Parkinson’s Disease

Protein aggregation is one of the major pathological events in age-related Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathology, predominantly regulated by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). UPS essentially requires core component ubiquitin however, its role in PD pathology is obscure. This study aimed to investigate the role of ubiquitin encoding genes in the early phase of PD pathology. Wild-type human Myc-α-synuclein transfected neurons, α-synuclein-PFFs treated cells, rotenone-induced sporadic models of PD and SNCA C57BL/6J-Tg (Th-SNCA*A30P*A53T)39 Eric/J transgenic mice showed downregulated level of UBA52 in conjunction with significant downregulation of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and neuronal death. In silico predictions, mass spectrometric analysis and co-immunoprecipitation findings suggested strong interaction of UBA52 with α-synuclein, HSP90 and E3-ubiquitin ligase CHIP, besides its co-localization with α-synuclein in the mitochondrion. Next, in vitro ubiquitylation assay indicated an imperative requirement of the lysine-63 residue of UBA52 in CHIP-mediated HSP90 ubiquitylation. Myc-UBA52 expressed neurons exhibited the downregulated α-synuclein protein abundance with increased TH and restored proteasome activity during the diseased condition. Furthermore, Myc-UBA52 expression inhibited the augmented HSP90 protein level along with its various client proteins, HSP75 (homologue of HSP90 in mitochondrion) and ER stress-related markers during early PD. Taken together, data highlights the critical role of UBA52 in HSP90 ubiquitylation in parallel to its potential contribution to the modulation of various disease-related neurodegenerative signaling targets during the early phase of PD pathology.
Evaluating a Human/Machine Interface with Redundant Motor Modalities for Trajectory-Tracking

In human/machine interfaces (HMI), humans can interact with dynamic machines through a variety of sensory and motor modalities. Redundant motor modalities are known to have advantages in both human sensorimotor control and human-computer interaction: motor redundancy in sensorimotor control provides abundant solutions to achieve tasks; and incorporating diverse features from different modalities has improved the performance of gesture-, movement-, and brain-controlled computer interfaces. Our objective is to investigate whether redundant motor modalities enhance performance for a continuous trajectory-tracking task. We designed a multimodal human/machine interface with combined manual (joystick) and muscle (surface electromyography, sEMG) inputs and evaluated its closed-loop performance for tracking trajectories through second-order machine dynamics. In a human subjects experiment with 15 participants, we found that the multimodal interface outperformed the manual-only interface while performing comparably to the muscle-only interface; and that the multimodal interface enabled users to coordinate sensorimotor noise in individual modalities to improve performance. Multimodal human/machine interfaces could be beneficial in systems that require stability and robustness against perturbations such as motor rehabilitation and robotic manipulation.
Soil variation among natural habitats alters glucosinolate content in a wild perennial mustard

Baseline levels of glucosinolates—important defensive phytochemicals in Brassicaceous plants—are determined by both genotype and the environment. However, the ecological causes of glucosinolate plasticity are not well characterized. Fertilization is known to alter glucosinolate content of Brassica crops, but the effect of naturally-occurring soil variation on glucosinolate content of wild plants is unknown. Here, we conduct greenhouse experiments using Boechera stricta to ask 1) whether soil variation among natural habitats shapes leaf and root glucosinolate profiles; 2) whether such changes are caused by abiotic soil properties, soil microbes, or both; and 3) whether soil-induced glucosinolate plasticity is genetically variable. Total glucosinolate quantity differed up to two-fold between soils from different natural habitats, while the relative amounts of different compounds was less responsive. This effect was due to physico-chemical soil properties rather than microbial communities. We detected modest genetic variation for glucosinolate plasticity in response to soil. In addition, glucosinolate composition, but not quantity, of field-grown plants could be accurately predicted from measurements from greenhouse-grown plants. In summary, soil alone is sufficient to cause plasticity of baseline glucosinolate levels in natural plant populations, which may have implications for the evolution of this important trait across complex landscapes.
Receptor levels determine binding affinity of WNT-3A to Frizzled 7 in a colorectal cancer model

WNT binding to Frizzleds (FZD) is a crucial step that leads to the initiation of signalling cascades governing multiple processes during embryonic development, stem cell regulation and adult tissue homeostasis. Recent efforts have enabled us to shed light on WNT-FZD pharmacology in overexpressed HEK293 cell systems. However, it is important to assess ligand binding at endogenous receptor levels as there might be differential binding behaviour in a native environment. Here, we focus on one FZD paralogue: FZD7, and study its interactions with WNT-3A in a CRISPR-Cas9-edited SW480 colorectal cancer model. SW480 cells were CRISPR-Cas9-edited to insert a HiBiT-tag on the N-terminus of FZD7, preserving the native signal peptide. Subsequently, these cells were used to study eGFP-WNT-3A association to endogenous and overexpressed HiBiT-FZD7 using NanoBiT/BRET to measure ligand binding and quantification of NanoBiT-emitted luminescence to assess receptor internalization. eGFP-WNT-3A bound to endogenous HiBiT-FZD7 with significantly higher kon and with lower Kd than to overexpressed receptors. Importantly, as the fluorescent probe is an agonist, experiments performed in cell lysates demonstrated that eGFP-WNT-3A/HiBiT-FZD7 binding assessment is not altered by receptor internalization. In conclusion, binding affinities of eGFP-WNT-3A to HiBiT-FZD7 decreased with increasing receptor concentrations suggesting that HiBiT-FZD7 overexpression fails to recapitulate ligand binding behaviour in a (patho-)physiologically relevant context where endogenous receptor expression levels are lower.