julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Evaluating three independent-channels models of temporal-order and simultaneity judgment
2025-10-23

How do people judge the temporal order and simultaneity/successiveness of events? Three candidate models can explain the theoretically constraining shapes of the psychometric functions observed in tasks with more complex response formats. First, the response-error model allows that internal states generated by a triggered-moments process are misreported due to finger errors, requiring that psychometric functions are parallel after empirically accounting for finger errors (parallelism) and that successiveness perception is necessary for temporal-order perception (necessity). Second, the two-stage model posits that two independent and serial processes generate simultaneity/successiveness and temporal-order judgments, requiring that temporal-order judgment accuracy does not depend on simultaneity/successiveness judgment accuracy (independence) and that simultaneity responses are not slower than order responses (seriality). Third, the two-threshold model formalizes the idea that the order threshold can be higher than the successiveness threshold, requiring necessity and that the order threshold is not lower than the successiveness threshold (threshold inequality). Five experiments evaluated these model assumptions against precise individual data collected with audio-visual and visual stimuli in temporal-order judgment, simultaneity judgment, ternary-response, and dual-response tasks. The response-error model was invalidated by near-universal violations of parallelism in 63/64 tests, and the two-stage model by consistent violations of independence (20/20) and predominant violations of seriality (30/44). By contrast, the threshold inequality in the two-threshold model was satisfied in 39/40 tests, whereas necessity was violated in 10/20 tests. Joint model fits across the four tasks also revealed that the two-threshold model provides the best general account of temporal judgment. We conclude that the two-threshold model is the least inadequate of the three candidate models, and consider a generalized two-threshold model with fluctuating criteria to address violations of necessity.
Small, enigmatic alligatoroid from the Middle Eocene Clarno Formation, John Day Fossil Beds, Oregon
2025-10-23

Alligatoroidea is the crocodylian superfamily that includes extant alligators, caimans and many related extinct taxa. Palaeogene North America offers a rich record of alligatoroid diversity representing more than a dozen forms. The Eocene-aged Hancock Mammal Quarry (HMQ, Clarno Formation, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, central Oregon, USA) has yielded two crocodylian fossils, a right humerus and the anterior portion of a left lower jaw from an unknown alligatoroid. Though fragmentary, discrete morphological traits of the HMQ alligatoroid are shared with several contemporaneous alligatoroids, but the suite of character states is unique. Though its phylogenetic placement is uncertain, the presence of an alligatoroid in north-western North America, along with the biostratigraphic record of other Palaeogene alligatoroids and Asian floral and faunal associations of the HMQ suggest that an Asian origin for the taxon is plausible.
Oxytocin Effects on Food Stimulus Processing and Food Intake in Females With or Without Binge Eating Disorder
2025-10-23

ABSTRACT Objective Binge eating disorder (BED) is maintained by increased food‐related incentive salience, which is reflected by an attentional bias for food. Oxytocin acutely attenuates this bias in patients with anorexia nervosa and reduces food intake in males with normal or increased body weight. However, results in individuals with BED have been inconclusive. We assessed the acute effect of oxytocin on food stimulus processing and reward‐driven eating behavior in females with or without BED in a double‐blind, placebo‐controlled cross‐over study. Method Females with BED ( n = 48) and female control participants with overweight ( n = 46) or normal weight ( n = 40) received intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) and, respectively, placebo, after an overnight fast and a standardized breakfast. In participants with a natural menstrual cycle, sessions were scheduled during consecutive luteal phases. Participants completed a food‐related dot‐probe task with concurrent eye tracking and a bogus taste test measuring snack intake. Results Oxytocin compared to placebo increased dwell time bias on food stimuli in the BED relative to the overweight control group, in which this effect was reversed. Contrary to our hypothesis, oxytocin increased calorie intake across groups. Exploratory analyses indicated that the latter effect focused on females taking hormonal contraception. Discussion These results indicate disorder‐ and, respectively, sex‐specific effects of oxytocin on food‐related incentive salience and food intake and point to a role of oxytocin in binge eating pathology. They moreover suggest that sex hormones determine the acute effect of oxytocin on eating behavior in females.
Ultra-deep long-read metagenomics captures diverse taxonomic and biosynthetic potential of soil microbes
2025-10-23

Abstract Background Soil ecosystems have long been recognised as hotspots of microbial diversity, but most estimates of their microbial and functional complexity remain speculative despite decades of study, in part because conventional sequencing campaigns lack the depth and contiguity required to recover low-abundance and repetitive genomes. Here, we revisit this question using one of the deepest metagenomic sequencing efforts to date, applying 148 billion base pairs of Nanopore long-read and 122 billion base pairs of Illumina short-read data to a single forest soil sample. Results Our hybrid assembly reconstructed 837 metagenome-assembled genomes, including 466 that meet high- and medium-quality standards, nearly all lacking close relatives among cultivated taxa. Rarefaction and k-mer analyses reveal that, even at this depth, we capture only a fraction of the extant diversity: non-parametric models project that more than ten trillion base pairs of sequencing data would be required to approach saturation. These findings offer a quantitative, technology-enabled update to long-standing diversity estimates and demonstrate that conventional metagenomic sequencing efforts likely miss the majority of microbial and biosynthetic potential in soil. We further identify more than 11 000 biosynthetic gene clusters, over 99% of which have no match in current databases, underscoring the breadth of unexplored metabolic capacity. Conclusions Taken together, our results emphasise both the power and the present limitations of metagenomics in resolving natural microbial complexity, and they provide a new baseline for evaluating future advances in microbial genome recovery, taxonomic classification, and natural product discovery.
Thalamus involvement in genetic frontotemporal dementia assessed using structural and diffusion MRI: a GENFI study
2025-10-23

Abstract Thalamic subregions are commonly, but variably, affected by different forms of frontotemporal dementia. We aimed to better characterise thalamic subregional involvement in genetic frontotemporal dementia with a recently published thalamus segmentation tool that utilises structural and diffusion MRI, offering additional assessment of mean diffusivity and a more fine-grained analysis of the pulvinar specifically compared to previous studies. Using this tool, we performed thalamus segmentations in MRI scans from C9orf72, GRN and MAPT mutation carriers and mutation non-carriers with suitable 3-Tesla MRI cross-sectional data from the GENetic Frontotemporal dementia Initiative. Mutation carriers were divided according to their genetic group and Clinical Dementia Rating® Dementia Staging Instrument plus National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center Behaviour and Language Domains global score (0 or 0.5: presymptomatic/prodromal stage, 1 or higher: symptomatic stage). Following stringent quality control and harmonisation across sites and scanners, we compared volumes and mean diffusivity values of thalamic subregions in C9orf72 (47 presymptomatic, 10 symptomatic), GRN (57 presymptomatic, 11 symptomatic) and MAPT (31 presymptomatic, 12 symptomatic) mutation carriers to those in 109 mutation non-carriers with analyses of covariance including age and sex (and total intracranial volume for volumetric comparisons) as covariates. Presymptomatic C9orf72 expansion carriers showed smaller volumes (3 to 8% difference from non-carriers) and higher mean diffusivity (2 to 5% difference from non-carriers) for several thalamic subregions, including all pulvinar subdivisions. We found subtly larger volumes of the ventral anterior subregion and the non-medial pulvinar (3% difference from non-carriers for both) in presymptomatic GRN mutation carriers, and of the anteroventral subregion (5% difference from non-carriers) in presymptomatic MAPT mutation carriers. Symptomatic mutation carriers in all three genetic groups showed significantly smaller volumes and widespread higher mean diffusivity of thalamic subregions compared with non-carriers, which were overall most prominent in subregions involved in associative and limbic functions (the midline, medial pulvinar, anteroventral, mediodorsal, laterodorsal and lateral posterior subregions). Notably smaller volume (12 to 23% difference from non-carriers) and higher mean diffusivity (16 to 23% difference from non-carriers) of the most medial part of the medial pulvinar was a shared feature across the three genetic groups at the symptomatic stage. Overall, our study confirms that thalamic subregions are affected in genetic frontotemporal dementia and identifies prominent involvement of the most medial part of the medial pulvinar as a potential unifying feature in the variable pattern of thalamic subregional involvement across the main genetic groups.
No evidence for restriction of Beta-HPV8 gene expression by epidermodysplasia verruciformis susceptibility genes CIB1, TMC6, or TMC8 in keratinocytes
2025-10-23

Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by an extraordinary susceptibility to infections with human papillomaviruses (HPV), mainly from the genus beta. EV patients carry biallelic loss-of-function mutations in TMC6 encoding Transmembrane channel-like protein 6 or EV protein 1 (EVER1), TMC8 encoding Transmembrane channel-like protein 8 or EV protein 2 (EVER2), or CIB1 encoding Calcium and integrin-binding protein 1. TMC6, TMC8 and CIB1 form a protein complex in the endoplasmic reticulum which has been hypothesized to act as a restriction factor for beta-HPV in keratinocytes. SiRNA-mediated knock-down of CIB1, TMC6, or TMC8 greatly reduces transcript and protein levels, but does not activate beta-HPV8 gene expression in normal keratinocytes. TMC6 and TMC8 transcript levels are much lower in normal and HPV-positive human keratinocytes than in CD4<sup>+</sup> T-cells suggesting that the levels are too low for anti-viral activity. However, neither the activation of DNA sensing pathways by HPV genomes, supernatants from activated immune cells, nor activation of pathways important for the viral life cycle such as the DNA damage response or keratinocyte differentiation induce high levels of TMC6 or TMC8 in normal keratinocytes. This is consistent with findings that TMC6 and TMC8 do not restrict Mus musculus PV1 expression in keratinocytes. Taken together, we find no evidence for restriction factor activity of EV susceptibility genes for beta-HPV8 or conditions to induce high levels of TMC6 and TMC8 in keratinocytes. Thus, it is plausible that the EV phenotype in humans may be associated with an immune deficiency involving immune cells.
Volume‒outcome relationships in bariatric surgery: a rapid review
2025-10-24

Abstract Background The treatment of obesity is complex and requires long-term multidisciplinary care. While behavioral, pharmacological and psychological therapies are integral, bariatric surgery remains the most effective intervention. Therapeutic success is influenced by factors such as comorbidities and potentially by the experience of the treatment facilities. This rapid review evaluates the evidence of volume-outcome associations in bariatric surgery, focusing on the endpoint of mortality. Methods We performed a rapid review of the literature published after 2000, including adult patients (≥18 years) who underwent bariatric surgery for weight loss, or weight loss and diabetes management. Searches across EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Cochrane Trials yielded 3540 records. The primary outcome was mortality; secondary outcomes included complications, morbidity and hospital stay. Mortality results were stratified by type of mortality and synthesized according to volume type (hospital or surgeon). Study quality was assessed using the ISPOR and ROBINS-E tools. An additional synthesis was conducted for studies above a quality score cutoff. Results Thirty-six studies met the inclusion criteria. Of these, 12 studies examined the association between hospital volume and mortality, and five studies focused on surgeon volume. Eight of the hospital volume studies and four of the surgeon volume studies reported a positive association with reduced mortality; some showed mixed results. Most studies also linked higher volumes to fewer complications and shorter hospital stays. However, the focus was predominantly on hospital volume and short-term mortality, with limited evaluations of long-term outcomes or weight loss success. Overall study quality varied, with noted limitations including arbitrary volume thresholds. Conclusion Higher hospital and surgeon volumes were associated with lower short-term mortality, fewer complications and shorter hospital stays. The association was more pronounced in higher-quality studies. Future research should aim to standardize volume definitions to improve comparability and support policy efforts to centralize care and enhance patient outcomes.
AI-Assisted Binoculars Improve Learning in Novice Birders
2025-10-24

AI tools like Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) and apps like iNaturalist and Merlin are increasingly used in bird monitoring and species identification. The purpose of this study was to assess whether AI-assisted binoculars improve bird species knowledge, particularly in novice birders, and to examine users’ motivation and experience. This study focuses on the learning impact of users, not data quality or accuracy of the device itself. Participants were recruited via social media, mostly novices (10 women, 9 men, 1 diverse). Four experimental groups (A–D, with N = 5 participants each) were designated. Participants used AI-supported binoculars to identify 10 bird species and the same binoculars with AI function switched off to identify another 10 bird species based on two sets of different species (counterbalanced to avoid order effects). This allowed a between-group as well as a within-subject comparison. We used a pre-test/post-test design for learning. Significant knowledge gains occurred only when using AI binoculars (Wilcoxon tests, p = 0.008). Pooled data across the intervention groups showed strong learning effects for AI-assisted users (Z = −3.736, p = 0.001). No significant learning occurred under control conditions. As a conclusion, AI-assisted binoculars significantly enhance bird identification learning in novices, but as a cautionary note, the study needs to be extended to live birds and in longitudinal settings.
Natorp and Cohen on the Problem of Religion in Modernity
2025-10-24

In this study Paul Natorpʼs writing Religion within the Limits of Humanity is interpreted as a treatment of the problem of religion in modernity, which takes up and transforms the impulses of Kant and Schleiermacher. Five aspects of this problem, which were already present in Schleiermacher’s Speeches on religion , are once again a subject of further processing in the medium of the Neo-Kantian discourse in Marburg encluding encounters with Hermann Cohen and Wilhelm Herrmann. One of the answers found here points ahead to Hans Blumenbergʼs St. Matthew Passion . The latterʼs late work at the end of the 20th century can be read within the horizon of these earlier discourses at its beginning as a variation of a musico-dramatic treatment of existential and religious fundamental questions in a general culture affected to change.
Iboga‐Indole Alkaloids as Potential Plasmodial Inhibitors: Identification, Biosynthesis, and Molecular Docking Studies
2025-10-24

ABSTRACT A previously undescribed iboga‐indole alkaloid, voacamine A ( 1 ), and the known alkaloids, voacamine ( 2 ), voacorine ( 3 ), and voacangine ( 4 ) were isolated from the stem bark of Voacanga africana . The structures of the alkaloids were established by one‐ and two‐dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance analyses as well as by comparison with published data. The antiplasmodial activity of the alkaloids was assessed on a chloroquine‐sensitive 3D7 Plasmodium falciparum ( Pf3D7 ) strain, and the half‐maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) values were determined. Alkaloids 2 and 3 showed good in vitro antiplasmodial activity with IC 50 values of 5.734 ± 1.365 and 5.319 ± 2.206 μg/mL, respectively, at the concentration tested. A plausible biogenetic pathway of the bisindole alkaloids has been proposed. Protein‐ligand co‐folding was used to generate protein‐ligand complexes for the pfATP6 protein target and the isolated alkaloids. The stability of the modelled complexes was evaluated using molecular dynamics simulation. Scoring metrics of the generated complexes coupled to molecular mechanics generalized‐born solvation rescoring of the modelled ligand poses were employed to explain the antimalarial structure‐activity relationship for the investigated compounds. Alkaloids 2 and 3 can be considered as possible scaffolds for designing new antiplasmodial lead compounds.
Effectiveness of fluorescent angling lures on catch outcomes in European perch (Perca fluviatilis) under ambient light conditions
2025-10-24

Anecdotal reports in angling media suggest that using fluorescent lures may increase catch rates in dim light or at high turbidity. We conducted a controlled angling experiment, comprising 501 30-min experimental fishing trials in three meso- to eutrophic waterbodies and assessed catch rates and sizes of European perch (Perca fluviatilis) caught when offered two soft plastic lures (fluorescent vs. non-fluorescent) with similar reflective spectra. We also examined fluorescent properties of a range of market-available lures and modelled the experimental lure’s fluorescing effects under natural lake light. Considering the specific light environment of the study waters, the experimental fluorescent lure could get excited by downwelling visible daylight and fluoresce at depths of up to 3 meters. Based on a sample catch of 331 perch, and after controlling for interactions with illuminance, cloud cover, water depth and daytime, the fluorescence of the experimental lure did, however, neither affect the catch rate nor the size of perch caught. Lure fluorescence maybe less important than many anglers believe, but further studies in different lake conditions are needed.
Epidemiological and Clinical Data from the European lipodystrophy (ECLip) registry
2025-10-24

Abstract Objective Lipodystrophy syndromes comprise a group of rare diseases characterized by loss of adipose tissue without nutritional or catabolic causes. As the rarity of these conditions necessitates collaboration, the European Consortium of Lipodystrophies (ECLip) established an international, longitudinal registry for patients with all forms of lipodystrophy (excluding HIV-associated cases). Methods From December 2017 to November 2023, 19 centres from 13 countries recruited 631 patients into the ECLip registry. Cross-sectional data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results Prospective data was available for 467 patients (82.7%, female; 86.5% adults; median age 44.0 years). Familial partial lipodystrophy (FPLD) was the most common subtype (57.4%), especially FPLD2 (37.9%). However, in men congenital generalized lipodystrophy was nearly as common as FPLD (33.3% vs. 35.8%). Symptoms at onset varied by subtype, with loss of adipose tissue being the most frequent. More than 70% of the patients suffered from metabolic complications, particularly dyslipidaemia (59.0%) and diabetes (48.4%) but prevalence and severity varied between subtypes (prevalence of diabetes for example 76.9% in patients with acquired partial lipodystrophy vs 8.7% in acquired localized lipodystrophy). Metreleptin, the only disease-specific treatment, was used by 11.6% of all patients. 34 deaths were documented, primarily due to cardiovascular events and cancer. Patients with generalized forms of lipodystrophy died earlier compared to patients with partial forms (median age at death 27.0 vs. 72.0 years). Conclusion This study describes the largest cohort of patients with lipodystrophy reported to date. The dataset offers a comprehensive view of the epidemiology, clinical presentation, and associated comorbidities of lipodystrophy.
Local recurrence and locoregional metastases as precursors of death by cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma
2025-10-25

Summary Background In cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), there is a paucity of data regarding local recurrence (LR) and regional lymph node metastasis (LM) as precursors to tumor death. Patients and Methods We estimated parameters of a multistate model with a proportion of patients without risk of progression using maximum likelihood. For seven risk factors, the relative risks of progression to LR, LM, and LR&amp;LM were compared with the relative risks of cSCC death among patients with progression. Results Of the 1,400 patients, 124 (8.9%) were diagnosed with either LR (68), LM (42), or LR&amp;LM (14). cSCC‐specific death occurred in 33 patients (2.4%), 10 by LR, 14 by LM, and 9 by LR&amp;LM, among these 10 distant metastases. Conversely, 493 patients (35.2%) died from other causes. The risk of death from cSCC was 14.7% for LR, 33.3% for LM, and 64.3% for LR&amp;LM. The median time to disease‐related death was 1.3 years. Conclusions The risk of progression is limited to approximately 25% of patients. LM has been found to be associated with a higher risk of disease‐specific death in comparison to LR. The median interval from progression to disease‐specific death was found to be 1.3 years.