Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The whole-body motor skills of children with autism spectrum disorder taking goal-directed actions in virtual reality

Many symptoms of the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are evident in early infancy, but ASD is usually diagnosed much later by procedures lacking objective measurements. It is necessary to anticipate the identification of ASD by improving the objectivity of the procedure and the use of ecological settings. In this context, atypical motor skills are reaching consensus as a promising ASD biomarker, regardless of the level of symptom severity. This study aimed to assess differences in the whole-body motor skills between 20 children with ASD and 20 children with typical development during the execution of three tasks resembling regular activities presented in virtual reality. The virtual tasks asked to perform precise and goal-directed actions with different limbs vary in their degree of freedom of movement. Parametric and non-parametric statistical methods were applied to analyze differences in children’s motor skills. The findings endorsed the hypothesis that when particular goal-directed movements are required, the type of action could modulate the presence of motor abnormalities in ASD. In particular, the ASD motor abnormalities emerged in the task requiring to take with the upper limbs goal-directed actions with low degree of freedom. The motor abnormalities covered (1) the body part mainly involved in the action, and (2) further body parts not directly involved in the movement. Findings were discussed against the background of atypical prospective control of movements and visuomotor discoordination in ASD. These findings contribute to advance the understanding of motor skills in ASD while deepening ecological and objective assessment procedures based on VR.
Biomaterial-assisted tumor therapy: A brief review of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles and its composites used in bone tumors therapy

Malignant bone tumors can inflict significant damage to affected bones, leaving patients to contend with issues like residual tumor cells, bone defects, and bacterial infections post-surgery. However, hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (nHAp), the principal inorganic constituent of natural bone, possess numerous advantages such as high biocompatibility, bone conduction ability, and a large surface area. Moreover, nHAp’s nanoscale particle size enables it to impede the growth of various tumor cells via diverse pathways. This article presents a comprehensive review of relevant literature spanning the past 2 decades concerning nHAp and bone tumors. The primary goal is to explore the mechanisms responsible for nHAp’s ability to hinder tumor initiation and progression, as well as to investigate the potential of integrating other drugs and components for bone tumor diagnosis and treatment. Lastly, the article discusses future prospects for the development of hydroxyapatite materials as a promising modality for tumor therapy. Graphical Abstract
Motivation to teach and preparedness for teaching among preservice teachers in China: The effect of conscientiousness and constructivist teaching beliefs

“Preparedness for teaching” refers to the degree of confidence preservice teachers have, and reflects their ability. Developing preparedness for teaching is an important part of preservice teachers’ professionalization. A substantial body of literature has documented the critical influence of the motivation to teach on preparedness; however, how this relation is impacted by mediating and moderating mechanisms remains unclear. To respond to this gap in knowledge, the present study constructed a mediated moderation model through structural equation modeling and multigroup tests using 383 questionnaires completed by preservice teachers in China. The findings indicate that the preservice teachers’ genders, entry path, and levels of certainty about their future teaching career choices all influence their preparedness for teaching. Specifically, preservice teachers who believe that they will choose a teaching career in the future have more intrinsic motivation, stronger constructivist teaching beliefs, and a higher levels of teaching preparedness. Moreover, preservice teachers’ motivations to teach can positively predict their constructivist teaching beliefs and preparedness for teaching, but their constructivist teaching beliefs alone do not have a mediating effect on the relationship between motivation to teach and preparedness for teaching. However, the findings reveal that the constructivist teaching beliefs of highly conscientiousness group can partially mediate the relationship between the motivation to teach and the preparedness for teaching. Additionally, conscientiousness moderates the influence of constructivist teaching beliefs on preparedness for teaching. The study provides meaningful insights into the within-personal traits of how and when motivation to teach affects preparedness for teaching, which may be useful for the motivation best practices for preservice teacher recruitment, training, and support to create high-quality teachers.
Paradoxical leadership, team adaptation and team performance: The mediating role of inclusive climate

In an increasingly complex and changing competitive environment, organizations inevitably face various conflicting demands, such as the contradiction between the psychological needs of employees and the organization’s performance requirements. Paradoxical leadership could focus on these competing needs of the organization and employees in multiple ways simultaneously. According to the trickle-down effect of social learning theory, we investigated whether and how paradoxical leadership may increase team adaptation and team performance. The study had a time-lagged survey design and included 254 team members and 60 leaders in 60 work teams in mainland China. The results of the structural equation modeling analysis indicated that paradoxical leadership is an essential predictor of team adaptation and performance, and that inclusive climate is mediating in this relationship. Our findings reveal a mechanism underlying the benefits of paradoxical leadership on team adaptation and team performance from a team-level perspective.
Electrohydrodynamics of a current-carrying semi-insulating jet

A quasi-one-dimensional non-linear model is developed for the axisymmetric dynamics. Streaming is coaxial with a cylindrical ‘wall’ supporting a potential having a linear axial dependence. In addition to a tangential field due to an axial current, the stream surface supports charges in proportion to the stream-wall potential difference; hence it is driven by normal and shear electric stresses. Free charge and polarization waves compete with the destabilizing effect of capillarity. With supercritical steady flow (the local jet velocity exceeds the wave velocity), it is found that the stream accelerates or decelerates in accordance with whether an equivalent longitudinal force density is respectively positive or negative. With subcritical flow, the effect of the force is reversed. Experiments demonstrate accelerating and decelerating flow régimes. Model and experiment are in agreement with regard to choking at a critical radius, and the dependence of radius and potential on position. Hysteretic switching between flow régimes is obtained by adjustment of stream and wall potentials, and is explained in terms of the model.
The Relationship between Preparation, Impression Management, and Interview Performance in High-Stakes Personnel Selection: A Field Study of Airline Pilot Applicants

ABSTRACT Objective The present study investigates how airline pilot applicants prepare for a personnel selection procedure and how this relates to their deceptive and honest impression management (IM) in the job interview and their interview performance. Background It is thus far unclear how preparation relates to IM in real-world and high-stakes settings. This is of particular importance for the aviation industry, because numerous commercial providers offer preparation courses for selection procedures potentially impacting selection decisions. Method We conducted a field study of high-stakes job interviews embedded in a selection procedure for airline pilots. Data from 100 interviewees was acquired. Results The variety of preparation strategies an applicant used was positively correlated with two deceptive IM (faking) strategies in the job interview. Moreover, low effort preparation via social media and guidebooks was positively correlated with overall faking. The variety of preparation and preparation via social media were also positively correlated with honest IM. However, neither the aforementioned preparation nor IM showed significant correlations with the interview performance. Conclusion The effects of preparation depend on the specific preparation methods used. Certain methods of preparation are positively associated with applicants’ use of IM strategies in the job interview.
The smile revolution (hirak) as a driving force for an English ‘tidal wave’ and foreign language policy-making in Algeria

ABSTRACT The present study provides an insight into foreign language policy endeavour in Algeria. It responds to the concept of an English ‘tidal wave’ (Spolsky [2004]. Language policy. Cambridge University Press), and uses Spolsky’s ([2009]. Language management. Cambridge University Press) social approach and Djité’s ([1994]. From language policy to language planning. National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia) definition of language policy. The study is a qualitative research which relies on the contribution of 20 Algerian university students who are affiliated with eight Algerian universities, and on the researchers’ observations, social media pictures, videos, social media comments, and news outlet reports. The study concludes that there is a ‘seismic wave’ of English language (in terms of beliefs, practices and demands) amid the smile revolution protests (hirak) that will give rise to a future tidal wave of English based on the bottom-up involvement of participants in the policy-making process.
Regular Expression Matching using Bit Vector Automata

Regular expressions (regexes) are ubiquitous in modern software. There is a variety of implementation techniques for regex matching, which can be roughly categorized as (1) relying on backtracking search, or (2) being based on finite-state automata. The implementations that use backtracking are often chosen due to their ability to support advanced pattern-matching constructs. Unfortunately, they are known to suffer from severe performance problems. For some regular expressions, the running time for matching can be exponential in the size of the input text. In order to provide stronger guarantees of matching efficiency, automata-based regex matching is the preferred choice. However, even these regex engines may exhibit severe performance degradation for some patterns. The main reason for this is that regexes used in practice are not exclusively built from the classical regular constructs, i.e., concatenation, nondeterministic choice and Kleene's star. They involve additional constructs that provide succinctness and convenience of expression. The most common such construct is bounded repetition (also called counting), which describes the repetition of the pattern a fixed number of times. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm for the efficient matching of regular expressions that involve bounded repetition. Our algorithms are based on a new model of automata, which we call nondeterministic bit vector automata (NBVA). This model is chosen to be expressively equivalent to nondeterministic counter automata with bounded counters, a very natural model for expressing patterns with bounded repetition. We show that there is a class of regular expressions with bounded repetition that can be matched in time that is independent from the repetition bounds. Our algorithms are general enough to cover the vast majority of challenging bounded repetitions that arise in practice. We provide an implementation of our approach in a regex engine, which we call BVA-Scan. We compare BVA-Scan against state-of-the-art regex engines on several real datasets.
Antiferromagnetic spin fluctuation and superconductivity

In this review, we summarize the present status of theories of the spin fluctuation (SF) mechanism in explaining anomalous or non-Fermi liquid behaviours and unconventional superconductivity (SC) in strongly correlated electron systems around the antiferromagnetic (AF) quantum critical point. We refer to the high-Tc cuprates, two-dimensional organic compounds and heavy electron systems. We argue that the SF theories are successful in explaining at least the essential part of the problems, indicating that AF SF is the common origin of SC in these systems. This review is concluded by several comments on remaining problems which may require some additions to the SF theory, like the pseudo-gap phenomena observed in the hole-underdoped cuprates.
One Pass to Bind Them: The First Single-Pass SYCL Compiler with Unified Code Representation Across Backends

Current SYCL implementations rely on multiple compiler invocations to generate code for host and device, and typically even employ one compiler invocation per required backend code format such as SPIR-V, PTX or amdgcn. This makes generating “universal” binaries that can run on all devices supported by a SYCL implementation very time-consuming, or outright impractical. The ability to generate such universal binaries is however important e.g. when a software vendor wishes to distribute binaries to users that rely on unknown hardware configurations. To address this issue, we present the very first SYCL implementation with a single-source, single compiler pass (SSCP) design and a unified code representation across backends. This allows a single compiler invocation to generate a binary that can execute kernels on all supported devices, dramatically reducing both compile times as well as the user effort required to generate such universal binaries. Our work is publicly available as part of the hipSYCL implementation of SYCL, and supports Intel GPUs through SPIR-V, NVIDIA GPUs through CUDA PTX and AMD GPUs through ROCm amdgcn code. Our new compiler operates in two phases: At compile time, during the regular host compilation pass, it extracts the LLVM IR of kernels. This IR is then stored in a backend-independent fashion in the host binary. At runtime, the embedded LLVM IR is then lowered to the format required by backend drivers (e.g. PTX, SPIR-V, amdgcn). This approach enables portability of a single code representation even if backends do not support a common code format, while still allowing interoperability with vendor-specific optimized libraries. We find that our new compiler can generate highly portable binaries that run on any NVIDIA, Intel or AMD ROCm GPU with only 20% additional compilation time compared to a regular clang host compilation. On our test system, this is roughly 2.2 × faster than compiling with the existing hipSYCL compiler for just three AMD GPUs. We also show that the cost of the additional runtime compilation steps can be expected to be approximately comparable to the cost of runtime compilation that backend drivers already perform today, e.g. to lower SPIR-V to machine code. Lastly, we present early performance results on four different GPUs from three vendors. We find that performance is usually within 10% of current multipass SYCL compiler techniques, with the maximum deviations ranging from a performance regression of 13% to a speedup of 27%. This implies that compared to current SYCL compilation techniques, our new compiler achieves similar performance while substantially decreasing compile times, and increasing the portability of generated binaries.
Memory structure created through behavioral time 1 scale synaptic plasticity 2

6 Recent experimental studies in the awake brain have identified a new rule for synaptic plasticity that appears to be instrumental for the induction of episodic and conjunctive memories in the mammalian brain: behavioral time scale synaptic plasticity (BTSP) Bittner et al. (2015, 2017); Grienberger and Magee (2022). BTSP differs in essential aspects from previously studied rules for synaptic plasticity. But there is so far no theory that enables a principled understanding of the impact of BTSP on the structure of the associative memory that it induces. We extract fundamental mathematical principles from experimental data on BTSP that elucidate the capacity and associative recall capabilities of memory structures that it creates. Predictions of the resulting theory are corroborated by large-scale numerical experiments. In particular, we show that BTSP can create well-separated memory traces for a very large number of memory items, even if these are not orthogonal. Furthermore, BTSP induces the repulsion effect, a well-known fingerprint of memory organization in the human brain, that could not be explained by preceding types of synaptic plasticity.
Disruption of the rice 4-DEOXYOROBANCHOL HYDROXYLASE unravels specific functions of canonical strigolactones

Strigolactones (SLs) regulate many developmental processes, including shoot-branching/tillering, and mediate rhizospheric interactions. SLs are structurally diverse, divided into a canonical and a non-canonical sub-family. To better understand the biological function of particular SLs, we generated CRISPR/Cas9 mutants disrupted in OsMAX1-1400 or OsMAX1-1900, which encode cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP711A clade) contributing to SL diversity. The disruption of OsMAX1-1900 did neither affect the SL pattern nor plant architecture, indicating a functional redundancy. In contrast, disruption of OsMAX1-1400 activity, a 4-deoxyorobanchol hydroxylase, led to a complete lack of orobanchol and an accumulation of its precursor 4-deoxyorobanchol (4DO), both of which are a canonical SLs common in different plant species, accompanied by higher levels of the non-canonical methyl 4-oxo-carlactonoate (4-oxo-MeCLA). Os1400 mutants showed also shorter plant height, panicle and panicle base length, but did not exhibit a tillering phenotype. Hormone quantification and transcriptome analysis revealed elevated auxin levels and changes in the expression of auxin-related, as well as of SL biosynthetic genes. Interestingly, the Os900/1400 double mutant lacking both orobanchol and 4DO did not show the observed Os1400 architectural phenotypes, indicating that they are a result of 4DO accumulation. A comparison of the mycorrhization and Striga seed germinating activity of Os900, Os900/1400, and Os1400 loss-of-function mutants demonstrates that the germination activity positively correlates with 4DO content while disrupting OsMAX1-1400 negatively impact mycorrhizal symbiosis. Taken together, our paper deciphers the biological function of canonical SLs in rice and depicts their particular contributions to establishing architecture and rhizospheric communications.
Single-cell long-read mRNA isoform regulation is pervasive across mammalian brain regions, cell types, and development

RNA isoforms influence cell identity and function. Until recently, technological limitations prevented a genome-wide appraisal of isoform influence on cell identity in various parts of the brain. Using enhanced long-read single-cell isoform sequencing, we comprehensively analyze RNA isoforms in multiple mouse brain regions, cell subtypes, and developmental timepoints from postnatal day 14 (P14) to adult (P56). For 75% of genes, full-length isoform expression varies along one or more axes of phenotypic origin, underscoring the pervasiveness of isoform regulation across multiple scales. As expected, splicing varies strongly between cell types. However, certain gene classes including neurotransmitter release and reuptake as well as synapse turnover, harbor significant variability in the same cell type across anatomical regions, suggesting differences in network activity may influence cell-type identity. Glial brain-region specificity in isoform expression includes strong poly(A)-site regulation, whereas neurons have stronger TSS regulation. Furthermore, developmental patterns of cell-type specific splicing are especially pronounced in the murine adolescent transition from P21 to P28. The same cell type traced across development shows more isoform variability than across adult anatomical regions, indicating a coordinated modulation of functional programs dictating neural development. As most cell-type specific exons in P56 mouse hippocampus behave similarly in newly generated data from human hippocampi, these principles may be extrapolated to human brain. However, human brains have evolved additional cell-type specificity in splicing, suggesting gain-of-function isoforms. Taken together, we present a detailed single-cell atlas of full-length brain isoform regulation across development and anatomical regions, providing a previously unappreciated degree of isoform variability across multiple scales of the brain.
The genomic architecture of a continuous color polymorphism in the European barn owl (Tyto alba)

The maintenance of color polymorphism in populations has fascinated evolutionary biologists for decades. Studies of color variation in wild populations often focus on discrete color traits exhibiting simple inheritance patterns, while studies on continuously varying traits remain rare. Here, we studied the continuous white to rufous color polymorphism in the European barn owl (Tyto alba). Using a Genome Wide Association approach on whole-genome data of 75 barn owls sampled across Europe, we identified, in addition to a previously known MC1R mutation, two regions involved in this color polymorphism. We show that the combination of the three explains 80.37% (95% credible interval 58.45 to 100%) of the color variation. Among the two newly identified regions, the one on the sexual chromosome (Z) shows a large signal of differentiation in the Swiss population when contrasting individuals with different morph but the same MC1R genotype. We suggest it may play a role in the sexual dimorphism observed locally in the species. These results, uncovering two new genomic regions, provide keys to better understand the molecular bases of the color polymorphism as well as the mechanisms responsible for its maintenance in the European barn owl at both continental and local scales.
Identification of overlapping and distinct mural cell populations during early embryonic development

Mural cells are an essential perivascular cell population that associate with blood vessels and contribute to vascular stabilization and tone. In the embryonic zebrafish vasculature, pdgfrb and tagln are commonly used as markers for identifying pericytes and vascular smooth muscle cells (vSMCs). However, the expression patterns of these markers used in tandem have not been fully described. Here, we used the Tg(pdgfrb:Gal4FF; UAS:RFP) and Tg(tagln:NLS-EGFP) transgenic lines to identify single- and double-positive perivascular populations in the cranial, axial, and intersegmental vessels between 1 and 5 days post-fertilization. From this comparative analysis, we discovered two novel regions of tagln-positive cell populations that have the potential to function as mural cell precursors. Specifically, we found that the hypochord— a reportedly transient structure—contributes to tagln-positive cells along the dorsal aorta. We also identified a unique sclerotome-derived mural cell progenitor population that resides along the midline between the neural tube and notochord and contributes to intersegmental vessel mural cell coverage. Together, our findings highlight the variability and versatility of tracking pdgfrb and tagln expression in mural cells of the developing zebrafish embryo. Summary Statement Detailed analysis of pdgfrb/tagln vascular expression patterns in embryonic zebrafish reveals novel regions of tagln-positive populations such as the hypochord and a mural cell progenitor population adjacent to the midline.