Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A comparison of perceptual anticipation in combat sports between experts and non-experts: A systematic review and meta-analysis

In order to systematically evaluate perceptual anticipation between experts and non-experts for different kinds of combat sports, we needed to perform a comprehensive assessment. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched four English-language and three Chinese-language databases that used expert/non-expert research paradigms, to explore perceptual anticipation in combat sports. We employed a random effects model for pooled analyses using the inverse variance method. We included 27 eligible studies involving 233 datasets in this meta-analysis. We observed large effect sizes for the differences between experts and non-experts in both response accuracy (1.51; 95% CI: 1.15 to 1.87, p < 0.05) and reaction time (-0.91; 95% CI: −1.08 to−0.73, p < 0.05). We also observed substantial differences between experts and non-experts in the mean duration of visual fixations per trial (1.51; 95% CI: −2.40 to −0.63, p < 0.05), but not in the visual fixation duration (0.16; −061 to 0.92, p = 0.69). Taken together, high-level combat athletes have more advantages in perceptual anticipation than lower-level athletes, showing faster and more accurate responses when facing the opponent's attacks, as well as focusing on fewer points of visual fixations than novice athletes. Different types of combat sports and stimulus presentations affect perceptual anticipation abilities to varying extents in relation to outcome measures, with more pronounced expertise in a stimulus that is closer to real-world situations. Systematic review registration https://www.crd. york.ac. uk/prospero/display_record. php? ID=CRD42021226343, PROSPERO CRD42021226343.
Application of next-generation sequencing for the high-resolution typing of MHC-B in Korean native chicken

The major histocompatibility complex-B (MHC-B) region of chicken is crucially important in their immunogenesis and highly diverse among different breeds, lines, and even populations. Because it determines the resistance/susceptibility to numerous infectious diseases, it is important to analyze this genomic region, particularly classical class I and II genes, to determine the variation and diversity that ultimately affect antigen presentation. This study investigated five lines of indigenous Korean native chicken (KNC) and the Ogye breed using next-generation sequencing (NGS) data with Geneious Prime-based assembly and variant calling with the Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK) best practices pipeline. The consensus sequences of MHC-B (BG1-BF2) were obtained for each chicken line/breed and their variants were analyzed. All of the Korean native chicken lines possessed an excessive number of variants, including an ample amount of high-impact variants that provided useful information regarding modified major histocompatibility complex molecules. The study confirmed that next-generation sequencing techniques can effectively be used to detect MHC variabilities and the KNC lines are highly diverse for the MHC-B region, suggesting a substantial divergence from red junglefowl.
Investigating a key structural determinant of health, racism, and related social determinants of health in Massachusetts during the COVID-19 pandemic

A disproportionate burden of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is being shouldered by members of racial and ethnic minorities and socially disadvantaged communities. Structural and social determinants of health have been recognized as key contributors to the inequalities observed. Racism, a major structural determinant of health that patterns related social determinants of health, in the USA, warrants further investigation. In this perspective piece we provide an overview of the historical context of racism, followed by preliminary findings from the ongoing COVIDStory study—a cross-sectional study addressing perceptions of COVID-19 and COVID-19 research—that highlights the experiences of non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic identifying adult participants, residing in Worcester Massachusetts, during the COVID-19 pandemic. We then discuss these findings in the context of current and past research considering racism and relevant social determinants of health. Our study results suggest that racism and its residuals (residential segregation, economic insecurity, discrimination, bias, and vigilance) are modern challenges for non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic participants, and these findings are supported by the existing literature. It is our hope that this perspective piece provides additional evidence for action on structural and social determinants affecting the health of minoritized people, especially those living in Massachusetts.
Measurement Equivalence and Extreme Response Bias in the Comparison of Attitudes Across Europe: A Multigroup Latent-Class Factor Approach

It is generally accepted that both measurement inequivalence and extreme response bias can seriously distort measurement of attitudes and subsequent causal models. However, these two issues have rarely been investigated together. In this article we demonstrate the flexibility of a multigroup latent class factor approach in both analysing measurement equivalence and detecting extreme response bias. Using data from the European Value Survey from 1999/2000, we identified an extreme response bias in answering Likert type questions on attitudes towards morals of compatriots. Furthermore, we found measurement inequivalence in form of direct effects of countries on response variables. When only one of these two issues – either measurement inequivalence or extreme response bias - was included into measurement model estimated effects of countries on attitudinal dimension were different from those obtained with a model that includes both measurement issues. Using this all-inclusive model we have got more valid estimates of the differences between countries on measured attitude.
Development of an inexpensive 3D clinostat and comparison with other microgravity simulators using Mycobacterium marinum

2D and 3D Clinostats are used to simulate microgravity on Earth. These machines continuously alter the sample’s orientation, so the acceleration vector changes faster than the biological endpoint being monitored. Two commercially available microgravity simulators are the Rotary Cell Culture System (Synthecon Inc.), which is a 2D clinostat, and the RPM 2.0 (Yuri), which is a 3D clinostat that can operate as a random positioning machine or in constant frame velocity mode. We have developed an inexpensive 3D clinostat that can be 3D printed and assembled easily. To determine the optimal combination of inner (I) and outer (O) frame velocities to simulate microgravity, two factors were considered: the time-averaged magnitude and the distribution of the acceleration vector. A computer model was developed to predict the acceleration vector for combinations of frame velocities between 0.125 revolutions per minute (rpm) and 4 rpm, and a combination of I = 1.5 rpm and O = 3.875 rpm was predicted to produce the best microgravity simulation. Two other frame velocity combinations were also used in further tests: I = 0.75 rpm and O = 3.625 rpm, and I = 2 rpm and O = 1.125 rpm. By operating the RPM 2.0 in constant velocity mode at these three velocity combinations, the RPM 2.0 algorithm data confirmed that these operating conditions simulated microgravity. Mycobacterium marinum was selected for biological comparison experiments as this bacterium can grow as a biofilm or a planktonic culture. Biofilm experiments revealed that the RPM 2.0 and the 3D clinostat with I = 1.5 rpm and O = 3.825 rpm produced similar structures in attached biofilm, and similar changes in transcriptome for the bacteria in suspension compared to the normal gravity transcriptome. Operating the 3D clinostat at I = 2 rpm and O = 1.125 rpm, and the Synthecon 2D clinostat in simulated microgravity orientation at 25 rpm resulted in the same decreased planktonic growth and increased rifampicin survival compared to normal gravity. This study validates the inexpensive 3D clinostat and demonstrates the importance of testing the operating conditions of lab-developed clinostats with biological experiments.
Quadratic Term Structure Models

We identify and characterize a class of term structure models where bond yields are quadratic functions of the Markov process. We label this class as the 'quadratic class' and aim to lay a solid theoretical foundation for its future empirical application. We contribute to the literature in three aspects: (i) We identify the necessary and sufficient conditions for the quadratic class in terms of the Markov process, the instantaneous interest rate, and the pricing kernel. (ii) We characterize the properties of the bond yields and forward rates in terms of their moment conditions and characteristic functions. (iii) We provide closed-form solutions to a wide variety of fixed income derivatives.
Genomic diversity of resistant and virulent factors of Burkholderia pseudomallei clinical strains recovered from Guangdong using whole genome sequencing

Background Burkholderia pseudomallei (B. pseudomallei) is a highly infectious agent and causes melioidosis, in both humans and animals, which is endemic in Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. Objectives This study aims to determine the molecular epidemiology, resistant determinants, and genomic diversity of the clinical isolates of B. pseudomallei to further elucidate the phylogenetic and evolutionary relationship of the strains with those in other endemic regions. Methods In this study, we obtained eight clinical B. pseudomallei isolates from Guangdong province from 2018 to 2019. All the isolates were sequenced using the Illumina NovaSeq platform. The draft genomes of B. pseudomallei were further used to find antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs), virulence factors, and gene mutations. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis were performed to characterize the diversity and epidemiology of the strains. Results All isolates were susceptible to antibiotics commonly used for melioidosis treatment. Class D beta-lactamases genes OXA-57 and OXA-59, as well as various mutation factors such as amrA, amrB, omp38, gyrA, and ceoB were identified. MLST analysis of the B. pseudomallei strains identified eight different sequence types (STs): ST1774, ST1775, ST271, ST562, ST46, ST830, ST1325, and ST10. Phylogenetic analysis found that the strains used in this study showed high genetic diversity. We also report 165 virulence factors among B. pseudomallei strains responsible for different neurological disorders, pneumonia, skin lesions, and abscesses. All strains recovered in this study were susceptible to commonly used antibiotics. However, high genetic diversity exists among the isolates. The surveillance, diagnosis, and clinical features of melioidosis varied in different geographical locations. These regional differences in the clinical manifestations have implications for the practical management of the disease. Conclusion The present study reports the identification of different mutation and virulence factors among B. pseudomallei strains responsible for different neurological disorders, pneumonia, skin lesions, and abscesses.
Quantitative and qualitative assessment of pine seedlings under controlled undergrowth disturbance: Fire and soil scarification

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is the most widespread forest tree species in Central Europe. The range of Scots pine depends on the influence of forest management on stand species composition, as the potential for the natural regeneration of Scots pine monocultures is smaller than the current range of the species. To achieve regeneration, pine requires specific ecological conditions, including adequate soil preparation. The literature notes that the effective natural regeneration of pine requires fire or mixing the organic soil layer with the mineral layer. This hypothesis was critically evaluated carrying out work with the main objective of comparing the germination and growth dynamic of pine seedlings in two variants, simulating fire or soil scarification against natural conditions. The research focused on analyzing the growth of pine seedlings from germination to the final number of seedlings, which remained unchanged until the end of the experiment. The evaluation was carried out in soil monoliths from Kampinos National Park (KNP), in which seeds from a homogeneous mother stand were planted. The quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the seedlings were statistically evaluated, including analyses of their root system characteristics. The results confirmed the positive effect of mixing an organic and mineral layer at the germination stage and during the subsequent growth of the pine. The seedlings had a high survival rate (65.3%). However, the positive effect of fire on the regenerative capacity of pine could not be confirmed; the number of obtained seedlings (29.5%) was significantly lower than in the control variant. In addition, the “fire variant” was characterized by high seedling mortality immediately after germination. Root systems were important for the survival of the seedlings, the development of which was affected by the tested variant. The analyses performed may have implications for the development of research on the possible natural regeneration of Pines after natural disturbances. Additional topic that needs further research is the response of seedling root systems to changes in soil conditions.
Altruistic preferences of pre-service teachers: The mediating role of empathic concern and the moderating role of self-control

Empathy and altruistic behavior are more crucial abilities for pre-service teachers to possess when compared with other study fields. The relationship between empathy and altruistic behavior in Chinese pre-service teachers and their underlying mechanisms, however, has received relatively little attention in the literature. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to examine the links between study fields (i.e., pre-service teachers whose study field is pedagogy and non-pre-service teachers whose study field is non-pedagogy), self-control, emotional empathy (i.e., empathic concern), and altruistic preferences among undergraduates and graduates in five Chinese universities (the age range of participants is 18–20 years; 58.4% women) with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index-C Questionnaire, the Self-Control Scale, and the Chinese Self-Report Altruism Scale tests. The results showed a significant difference between pre-service and non-pre-service teachers in empathic concern and self-control. Furthermore, empathic concern and altruistic behavior tendency of pre-service teachers were significantly higher than those of non-pre-service teachers. Moreover, mediation analyses indicated that empathic concern partially mediated the relationship between study fields and altruistic tendency. Moderated mediation analysis further revealed that self-control buffered the relation between empathic concern and altruistic behavior tendency. These results demonstrate that altruistic tendency of pre-service teachers is influenced by empathic concern and self-control.
Conceptualizing legitimacy: What to learn from the controversies related to an “essentially contested concept”

Based on a genealogy of the concept of Legitimacy, the goal of the paper is to develop a proposal that unites normative-theoretical and empirical approaches and hence reconciles two different conceptual-theoretical camps in legitimacy research. Legitimacy is a core concept in Political Science that relates to fundamental questions of politics, polity and policy–the relation between rulers and ruled, the properties of a political system, its democratic quality, the rule of law, and its policy output. However, in academia, no consensus has evolved on the conceptual and empirical core of legitimacy, it is still essentially contested. One main reason for this is that a concept such as legitimacy is not only a tool for analysis, but can also become an object of academic controversy itself, as researchers give different answers to key questions related to conceptualizing it. This is why academic controversies on a concept highlight key issues, questions and dimensions of understanding, defining, and operationalising it—which is also the case for legitimacy. The paper therefore recollects the main controversies around the concept of legitimacy since the 1950's by tracing a genealogy of legitimacy in the Social Sciences. A genealogy is a methodological tool in intellectual and conceptual history. Different from a classical literature review, a genealogy summarizes the main lines and traditions of thinking on a concept, the key controversies, predominant understandings, and crucial issues of conceptualizing it. In the conceptual debates on legitimacy in Political Science, the core controversy is the one between normative-theoretical and empirical approaches. Based on the genealogy, we develop a proposal for conceptualizing legitimacy that enables to reconcile the normative-theoretical and empirical camps in legitimacy research.
Immunomodulatory effect of extracellular vesicles from Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites: Regulation of NETs and respiratory burst during confrontation with human neutrophils

Parasites release extracellular vesicles (EVs) which, in some cases, modulate the host’s immune response contributing to the establishment of the infection. In this work we have isolated and characterized the EVs released by trophozoites of the human protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica, the causal agent of amoebiasis, when alone or in coculture with human neutrophils, and determined their effect on neutrophil NETs and ROS production. Nanoparticle tracking analysis showed that amoebic EVs are variable in size, ranging from less than 50 nm to nearly 600 nm in diameter (average of 167 nm), whereas neutrophil EVs are more uniform in size, with an average of 136 nm. In cocultures amoeba:neutrophil (1:100) most EVs are 98 nm in size, which is the typical size of exosomes. EVs from amoebae and neutrophils showed almost equal levels of ROS, which were considerably increased in EVs from cocultures. Uptake of amoebic EVs by neutrophils was demonstrated by fluorescence and resulted in a significant reduction in the oxidative burst and NET release triggered by PMA, ionophore A23187, or the amoebae itself used as stimuli. Interestingly, uptake of EVs from cocultures did not affect ROS production, but instead caused a greater delay in the onset of NETs release and in their quantity. A comparative proteomic analysis between the EVs of amoebae and neutrophils separately vs the cocultures showed a similar distribution of protein categories in the GO analysis, but differences in the expression and abundance of proteins such as the N-acetyl-D-galactosamine (GalNAc) inhibitable surface lectin and calreticulin in amoeba EVs, and various antimicrobial molecules in neutrophil EVs, such as lactoferrin and myeloperoxidase. These results highlight the importance of EVs in the immunomodulatory effects exerted by amoeba on human neutrophils.
Characterization of the interactome profiling of Mycoplasma fermentans DnaK in cancer cells reveals interference with key cellular pathways

Chaperone proteins are redundant in nature and, to achieve their function, they bind a large repertoire of client proteins. DnaK is a bacterial chaperone protein that recognizes misfolded and aggregated proteins and drives their folding and intracellular trafficking. Some Mycoplasmas are associated with cancers, and we demonstrated that infection with a strain of Mycoplasma fermentans isolated in our lab promoted lymphoma in a mouse model. Its DnaK is expressed intracellularly in infected cells, it interacts with key proteins to hamper essential pathways related to DNA repair and p53 functions and uninfected cells can take-up extracellular DnaK. We profile here for the first time the eukaryotic proteins interacting with DnaK transiently expressed in five cancer cell lines. A total of 520 eukaryotic proteins were isolated by immunoprecipitation and identified by Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis. Among the cellular DnaK-binding partners, 49 were shared between the five analyzed cell lines, corroborating the specificity of the interaction of DnaK with these proteins. Enrichment analysis revealed multiple RNA biological processes, DNA repair, chromatin remodeling, DNA conformational changes, protein-DNA complex subunit organization, telomere organization and cell cycle as the most significant ontology terms. This is the first study to show that a bacterial chaperone protein interacts with key eukaryotic components thus suggesting DnaK could become a perturbing hub for the functions of important cellular pathways. Given the close interactions between bacteria and host cells in the local microenvironment, these results provide a foundation for future mechanistic studies on how bacteria interfere with essential cellular processes.
Current landscape and future directions of bispecific antibodies in cancer immunotherapy

Recent advances in cancer immunotherapy using monoclonal antibodies have dramatically revolutionized the therapeutic strategy against advanced malignancies, inspiring the exploration of various types of therapeutic antibodies. Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) are recombinant molecules containing two different antigens or epitopes identifying binding domains. Bispecific antibody-based tumor immunotherapy has gained broad potential in preclinical and clinical investigations in a variety of tumor types following regulatory approval of newly developed technologies involving bispecific and multispecific antibodies. Meanwhile, a series of challenges such as antibody immunogenicity, tumor heterogeneity, low response rate, treatment resistance, and systemic adverse effects hinder the application of BsAbs. In this review, we provide insights into the various architecture of BsAbs, focus on BsAbs’ alternative different mechanisms of action and clinical progression, and discuss relevant approaches to overcome existing challenges in BsAbs clinical application.
Mindfulness and skills-based eHealth intervention to reduce distress in cancer-affected patients in the Reduct trial: Intervention protocol of the make it training optimized

Introduction Cancer-affected patients experience high distress due to various burdens. One way to expand psycho-oncological support is through digital interventions. This protocol describes the development and structure of a web-based psycho-oncological intervention, the Make It Training optimized. This intervention is currently evaluated in the Reduct trial, a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Methods The Make It Training optimized was developed in six steps: A patient need and demand assessment, development and acceptability analysis of a prototype, the formation of a patient advisory council, the revision of the training, implementation into a web app, and the development of a motivation and evaluation plan. Results Through a process of establishing cancer-affected patients’ needs, prototype testing, and patient involvement, the Make It Training optimized was developed by a multidisciplinary team and implemented in a web app. It consists of 16 interactive self-guided modules which can be completed within 16 weeks. Discussion Intervention protocols can increase transparency and increase the likelihood of developing effective web-based interventions. This protocol describes the process and results of developing a patient-oriented intervention. Future research should focus on the further personalization of web-based psycho-oncological interventions and the potential benefits of combining multiple psychotherapeutic approaches.