julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Enabling Peer Feedback in Teacher Education: The Use of Virtual Reality-Based Microteaching
2025-10-18

Virtual reality (VR) in teacher education offers an immersive environment for microteaching which, when coupled with peer-feedback can enhance pre-service teachers’ competence. This study employed a mixed-method quasi-experimental design to compare VR-based microteaching with real-world microteaching among 150 pre-service teachers ( n = 73 feedback providers, n = 77 feedback receivers). Quantitative analyses revealed similar perceptions of feedback across both conditions, but minor differences in feedback quality, particularly in the specificity of comments. Qualitative findings highlighted VR’s potential for safe, standardized practice and guided reflection, while also pointing to limitations in simulating complex classroom interactions. The study highlights VR’s potential for feedback-oriented teacher training and its potential to support the development of professional teaching competencies.
Emotion recognition largely unaffected by combined oral contraceptive transitions or their androgenicity
2025-10-20

Oral contraceptive (OC) intake has been linked to reduced emotion recognition, particularly for negative emotions, though cross-sectional findings are inconclusive. Differences in the androgenicity of OC formulations may partly explain these inconsistencies. This study examined the association of OC initiation or discontinuation on facial emotion recognition in women. A total of 133 healthy young women completed the Vienna Emotion Recognition Test (VERT-K), which measures accuracy and response time of recognition of basic emotional expressions. Most participants (n = 115) completed the test twice and five groups were analyzed based on hormonal states: early follicular, peri-ovulatory, and active OC intake (control groups measured during the same hormonal phase twice), as well as OC discontinuation and initiation (before and after OC status transition). Generalized linear mixed models revealed no significant changes in emotion recognition linked to OC initiation or discontinuation. Women in the early follicular phase and those discontinuing OCs were less accurate in recognizing neutral expressions compared to continuous OC users. Cross-sectional analysis showed no significant differences in emotion recognition between androgenic and antiandrogenic OC users. Exploratory correlation analyses suggest that changes in synthetic hormone levels may relate to emotion recognition performance, particularly improved anger recognition following OC discontinuation. This first repeated-session study investigating OC status transitions could not replicate cross-sectional findings of impaired emotion recognition with OC use. However, given the importance of emotion recognition for social functioning and mental health, better powered longitudinal studies are essential to clarify mixed results and further investigate the potential associations between OCs and emotional processing.
Brain region-specific and systemic transcriptomic alterations in a human alpha-synuclein overexpressing rat model
2025-10-20

Synucleinopathies are age-dependent neurodegenerative diseases characterized by alpha-synuclein accumulation with distinct vulnerabilities across brain regions. Understanding early disease stages is essential to uncover initial molecular changes that might enable earlier diagnosis and causal therapy. In this study, we profiled longitudinal and brain region-resolved gene expression changes in a rat model of synucleinopathies overexpressing human <i>SNCA</i>. Transcriptomic analyses were performed on gene and transcript level of striatal, frontocortical, and cerebellar tissue in 5- and 12-month-old transgenic (BAC SNCA) and wild type rats revealing that <i>SNCA</i> overexpression leads to age-dependent transcriptomic changes that largely occur region-specific. In frontal cortex, dysregulation of myelination-associated genes agreed with Parkinson patient data as shown before. In addition, BAC SNCA rats displayed more gene expression changes at younger age, with a common and characteristic alteration pattern across all three examined brain regions. We also identified a cross-regional set of differential genes that were affected by <i>SNCA</i> overload. This set was also partially reflected in the gut transcriptome of the same rat model, suggesting a systemic impact of <i>SNCA</i> overload. Taken together, our findings highlight both brain region-specific vulnerabilities and global molecular perturbations associated with alpha-synuclein biology and provide insights into early transcriptomic changes in synucleinopathies.
Distinct genomic profile of pediatric lung carcinoma: High frequency of ALK fusions and TP53 mutations compared to adults
2025-10-20

This study provides crucial insights into the genomic landscape across different types of pediatric lung cancer. We observed frequent presence of ALK fusions in pediatric LUAD + ASC, which are less common in adult LUAD. Other alterations in this subgroup showed resemblance with adult LUAD findings. In pediatric PMEC, we demonstrated the ubiquitous presence of MAML2 translocations. However, the conclusions of the study are limited due to the small sample size and potential artifacts from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples. In summary, the results provide better understanding of the development of rare pediatric tumors and approaches for targeted therapies.
Metabolomics in the Context of Exercise in Subjects with Multimorbidity: A Pilot Study
2025-10-20

Lifestyle-related diseases, such as overweight/obesity, diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM), cardiovascular disease, or osteoarthritis, are a major health burden in Western societies. Due to common risk factors, most patients suffer from multimorbidity, i.e., have been diagnosed with more than one of these diseases. Physical activity (PA) is known to have a positive effect on all of these diseases; however, little is known about the effects of PA on patients with multimorbidity. In particular, so far, no reliable biomarkers have been found to predict and monitor the effects of PA-based lifestyle intervention programs on these subjects. Employing a metabolomics approach with dried blood spots, we analyzed the concentrations of different metabolites in subjects with multimorbidity over the course of the lifestyle intervention program MultiPill-Exercise. We found increased concentrations of all tested amino acids (AAs), total carnitine (Cx), and short- (C2-C6) and long- (&gt;C12) chain acylcarnitines (ACs) after 12 weeks (t1) and/or 24 weeks (t2) of intervention. When correlating baseline (t0) metabolite concentrations with changes in physiological and clinical parameters, we observed associations of various metabolite concentrations with changes in metabolic and cardiovascular parameters. When analyzing metabolite acute reactions in response to exhaustive exercise (ergometer test), however, few overall changes were observed. Nevertheless, a significant negative correlation was found between the mobilization of medium-chain acylcarnitines (MC-ACs) at t2 and changes in peak power output (PPO) between t0 and t2. Taken together, these data suggest that specific AAs and ACs might be candidate biomarkers to predict and monitor the effects of PA-based lifestyle intervention programs in subjects with multimorbidity, a hypothesis that should be further tested in larger cohorts.
Assessment of the Binding Patterns for Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Complex with Estrogen and Androgen Receptors by Leveraging the Asclepios Enalos KNIME Nodes
2025-10-20

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have been shown to mediate metabolic disruptions in human cells and have been associated with severe adverse health effects. By antagonizing the hormones that act on nuclear hormone receptors, like the estrogen receptor α (ERα) and the androgen receptor (AR), these chemicals disrupt the regulation of various biochemical processes, thereby adversely affecting metabolic homeostasis. The expression of estrogen and androgen receptors in the liver and pancreas, which play an important role in lipid and glucose homeostasis regulation, has made them prime targets affected by EDCs. The different chemical structures of EDCs impose limitations on elucidating their binding mechanisms in nuclear receptors. In this context, <i>in silico</i> tools are able to highlight the potential interactions between the chemicals and the receptors. The aim of this study is to apply molecular simulation and experimental techniques to identify common patterns in the binding process of selected EDCs to ERα and AR and, thus, pinpoint key elements that could be characterized as molecular initiating events (MIE). MM-GBSA and alchemical relative binding free energy (RBFE) calculations have verified the trends observed in the experimental assays regarding the binding affinity of bisphenol compounds. The findings that confirm the agreement between computational and experimental methods offer a framework for future studies on the behavior of EDCs with other metabolically relevant receptors.
Impact of tissue storage time on immunodetection of c-Fos and GAD67 in the rat brain
2025-10-20

These findings underscore that whereas intact brains can be safely stored for prolonged periods at 4°C without compromising antigenicity, brain slices are highly susceptible to storage-induced deterioration - insights important for planning and interpreting immunohistochemical studies in neuroscience.
Public Communication about Science in 68 Countries: Global Evidence on How People Encounter and Engage with Information about Science
2025-10-21

This 68-country survey ( n = 71,922) examines science information diets and communication behavior, identifies cross-country differences, and tests how such differences are associated with sociopolitical and economic conditions. We find that social media are the most used sources of science information in most countries, except those with democratic-corporatist media systems where news media tend to be used more widely. People in collectivist societies are less outspoken about science in daily life, whereas lower education is associated with higher outspokenness. Limited access to digital media is correlated with participation in public protests on science matters. We discuss implications for future research, policy, and practice.
The Athlete’s Body Image in the Context of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport—A Scoping Review
2025-10-21

Background: Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) results from an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, leading to low energy availability (LEA) and impairments of physiological and/or psychological functions in female and male athletes. While physical determinants of REDs are well documented, psychological factors such as body image (BI) have received comparatively little attention. The aim of this scoping review was to synthesize the current scientific evidence on the relationship between BI and REDs. Methods: A scoping review examined the current literature, including quantitative and qualitative studies. The scoping review was conducted in April 2025 in PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, APA PsycArticles, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL and OpenDissertations. Studies were included if they examined BI aspects in relation to LEA or REDs in a sporting context, regardless of participants’ gender, age, level or sport. Inclusion criteria were based on the Population—Context—Concept (PPC) framework. Results: Seven studies met the inclusion criteria, covering athletes from various ages, genders, sports, and performance levels. Findings indicate that BI dissatisfaction—manifesting, for example, as a drive for thinness or muscularity, exercise dependence, and disordered eating—represents a relevant psychological factor associated with LEA in both female and male athletes. Conclusions: The relationship between BI and REDs is complex and insufficiently explored. Future research should address this link systematically across sports, performance levels, genders, and age groups. In sports medicine practice, screening tools should systematically incorporate psychological risk factors such as BI disturbances to enable early detection, targeted intervention, and prevention of long-term health consequences.
Personalized real-time inference of momentary excitability from human EEG
2025-10-22

The efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is often limited by non-adaptive protocols that disregard instantaneous brain states, potentially constraining therapeutic outcomes. Current EEG-guided approaches are hindered by their reliance on motor-evoked potentials (MEPs), which confound cortical and spinal excitability and restrict applications to the motor cortex, and a dependence on static biomarkers that cannot adapt to changing neurophysiological patterns. We introduce PRIME (Personalized Real-time Inference of Momentary Excitability), a deep learning framework that predicts cortical excitability, quantified by TMS-evoked potential (TEP) amplitude, from raw EEG signals. By targeting cortical excitability directly, PRIME provides a framework that could potentially extend brain state-dependent stimulation beyond the motor cortex, though validation in other cortical regions remains to be established. PRIME incorporates transfer learning and continual adaptation to automatically identify personalized biomarkers, allowing stimulation timing to be adapted across individuals and sessions. PRIME successfully predicts cortical excitability with minimal latency, providing a computational foundation for next-generation, personalized closed-loop TMS interventions.
Less distracted, more restrained: Attentional differences on the rapid serial visual presentation task in restrained eaters to food words and pictures
2025-10-22

Restrained eaters (RE) are individuals that regularly show disinhibited food intake despite attempts of cognitive dietary restraint. This disinhibition is often attributed to an abundance of food cues in the environment that repeatedly draw attention, although the literature remains ambiguous. One source of ambiguity is the influence of different food cue modalities (pictures, words) on attentional processes. The current study therefore investigates the effect different modalities have on attentional bias to food cues in RE (n = 70) compared to unrestrained eaters (URE; n = 74). After a standardized lunch, participants completed a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation task with concurrent electroencephalography. Trials consisted of streams of pictures or words, with task-irrelevant food and animal distractors at lag 2 before an animal target appeared. Model comparisons indicated a significant Group × Distractor Type interaction. Specifically, RE were more accurate at identifying targets that were preceded by food compared to animal stimuli than URE. Exploratory analyses indicated that this was especially due to food pictures. This finding was not accompanied by changes in event related potentials. Furthermore, we found a significant Modality × Distractor Type interaction. In the picture, but not in the word condition, participants correctly identified targets preceded by a food distractor more often than when preceded by an animal distractor. This finding was accompanied by an increased P300 after food cues. In all, we showed that RE more effectively ignore food cues, especially in the image condition. This contributes to a body of research that demonstrates increased inhibitory control over food cues in RE. Future studies have to determine under which conditions inhibition of food cues is successful in RE.
B7–H4 ImmunoPET Imaging Tracks Tumor-Associated Macrophage Changes in Prostate Cancer
2025-10-22

B7-H4 is an inhibitory immune checkpoint molecule that is upregulated in various cancers and correlates with advanced tumor stages and poor clinical outcomes. This study aimed to develop an immunoPET radiotracer for noninvasive assessment of B7-H4 expression in tumors and tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) and to evaluate the radiotracer potential to monitor therapeutic responses. We generated a B7-H4-targeted immunoPET imaging tracer by radiolabeling the anti-B7-H4 monoclonal antibody (2H9) with [<sup>89</sup>Zr], yielding [<sup>89</sup>Zr]Zr-DFO-2H9, and assessed its biodistribution in prostate cancer xenografts to quantitatively measure B7-H4 expression in vivo. In vitro binding studies confirmed the retained immunoreactivity and specificity for B7-H4. Radiochemical purity was verified using size exclusion chromatography. In vivo evaluation of [<sup>89</sup>Zr]Zr-DFO-2H9 was first performed in immunodeficient nude mice bearing subcutaneous DU145 human prostate tumors, with longitudinal PET imaging conducted over 7 days postinjection, followed by terminal biodistribution analysis. [<sup>89</sup>Zr]Zr-DFO-2H9 demonstrated a good tumor-binding profile and specificity in DU145 tumor xenografts. To distinguish PET signals from tumor cells versus macrophages, immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice bearing syngeneic TRAMP-C2 prostate tumors were divided into three cohorts and treated with PBS (control), cold anti-B7-H4 mAb (for B7-H4 blockade), or clodronate liposome (for macrophage depletion). In TRAMP-C2 tumors, the PET signal was significantly reduced in both the B7-H4 blocked and macrophage-depleted group compared to controls. Immunohistochemistry revealed that B7-H4 expression differences among TRAMP-C2 treatment groups were not as clearly distinguishable as those observed in vivo via PET imaging. Multiplexed immunofluorescence staining of macrophage markers indicated that infiltrating TAMs were the major contributors to B7-H4-specific PET signals within the tumor stroma. Collectively, these results show that [<sup>89</sup>Zr]Zr-DFO-2H9 binds B7-H4 with high affinity and specificity and reflects changes in TAM levels in vivo. The new radiotracer shows promise for detecting B7-H4 positive tumors and TAM levels, profiling the immune microenvironment, and monitoring macrophage-targeted immunotherapies.
Diverse Environmental Factors Shape Patterns of Terrestrial and Riverine Productivity Decoupling
2025-10-22

Abstract Synchronization of terrestrial and riverine gross primary productivity (GPP) reflects seasonal coordination of carbon uptake across land–water interfaces. Although watershed processes link terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the environmental influences on their productivity synchronization remain insufficiently quantified. To address this, we analyzed coupling strength (CS), defined as the annual correlation between daily terrestrial and riverine GPP, across 142 U.S. watersheds. Using interpretable machine learning, we found that water temperature, reach width, watershed area, and terrestrial leaf area index were the strongest predictors of CS, with non‐linear, context‐dependent effects and interactions among factors. Clustering analysis based on interpreted predictor effects revealed four distinct coupling regimes, reflecting contrasting combinations of watershed attributes such as climate, land cover, and anthropogenic impacts. Our study provides a robust and interpretable framework for evaluating productivity alignment across terrestrial–riverine ecosystems, highlighting the diverse local environmental influences on continental‐scale watershed carbon dynamics.
Immunopeptidome analysis reveals SERPINB3 as an autoantigen driving eczematized psoriasis
2025-10-22

Psoriasis (Pso) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease driven by T helper 17 (T H 17) cells, with several clinical subtypes. While self-reactive immune responses have been observed, the role of autoantigens in Pso remains unclear. Using immunopeptidomics, we identified serpin family B member 3 (SERPINB3) and SERPINB4 as candidate autoantigens in Pso skin. In a mouse model, the SERPINB3 ortholog Serpinb3b enhanced inflammation, promoted tissue-resident memory T cells, and skewed immunity toward a T H 2 phenotype. In humans, SERPINB3 reactivity was specifically associated with “eczematized psoriasis” (EczPso), a subtype marked by T H 2/T H 17 immune signatures. SERPINB3 protein was enriched in EczPso lesions and highly secreted by keratinocytes under combined T H 2/T H 17 stimulation. Lesional T cells from EczPso—but not from eczema or classical plaque Pso—proliferated in response to SERPINB3 and induced EczPso-like features in a skin model. Our findings identify SERPINB3 as an autoantigen driving a distinct Pso subtype, supporting more precise diagnosis and therapy.
Rehabilitated richness: biodiversity recovery in Germany's gypsum post‐mining landscapes
2025-10-22

In light of European and international mandates to protect natural areas in order to preserve biodiversity, all unused or abandoned areas become invaluable resources. We examined the botanical and structural diversity of post‐mining areas and surrounding landscapes across four major mining regions in Germany over a year‐long study. We categorized our 66 study transects over 24 mining sites based on their structure and usage. Our results indicate that the vascular plant richness in restored post‐mining landscapes is significantly higher than in the undisturbed, surrounding area. This research emphasizes the importance of these disturbed landscapes for Red List species and of recovering gypsum‐mining sites in Germany for the protection of biodiversity. We also expose the strong effect of management in the value development of these areas, with particular importance being placed on rewilding and restoration projects as effective techniques to increase the nature conservation value of abandoned sites.
Hemolysis index. Can we uncritically trust manufacturer declarations?
2025-10-23

Abstract Objectives Hemolysis is a common preanalytical interference in clinical biochemistry, affecting up to 3.3 % of routine samples and contributing to approximately 60 % of rejected specimens. It results from the release of intracellular constituents, such as hemoglobin and potassium, into the plasma due to cell membrane disruption. This interference is often evaluated through hemolysis index (HI) thresholds defined by in vitro diagnostic (IVD) analyzers, but these thresholds may not align with clinical needs or biological variation. Methods A descriptive study was conducted from February to April 2025, comparing the hemolysis interference data of 72 clinical chemistry analytes across five major manufacturers: Abbott, Beckman Coulter, BioSystems, Roche, and Siemens. Manufacturer package inserts were reviewed and compared to the CLSI C56-A guideline for hemolysis interference testing. Results The compliance of manufacturers with the CLSI guideline varied significantly. Siemens had the highest compliance, reporting hemolysis interference at two analyte levels in 46/71 of cases, while BioSystems did not report analyte concentrations for any tested parameters. Criteria for significant interference was often missing, and in many cases, manufacturers used arbitrary thresholds, such as 10 % bias. Additionally, acceptance criteria and reported bias values were inconsistent across manufacturers, with only Abbott and Siemens providing detailed bias data. Conclusions Manufacturer instructions often lack completeness and consistency, making it crucial for clinical laboratories to independently validate hemolysis thresholds. A harmonized approach, incorporating manufacturer data, research, and local validation, is essential to improve laboratory quality, minimize misinterpretations, and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.