A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words – Exploring Bias in Inclusive Chatbot Design

This study examines the impact of different avatar pictures (gender & disability representation) and gendering on students\u27 perceptions of chatbots in an interaction on learning strategies with 180 students from a German university. In the first experiment, we manipulated the chatbot’s humanoid profile picture based on gender and the representation of a visible handicap (wheelchair). In the second experiment, we varied its language style. Statistical analysis revealed that displaying a physical disability significantly enhanced trust, credibility, and empathy but reduced perceived competence and dominance. Gender-sensitive language improved perceptions of competence, trust, credibility, and empathy, whereas we did not find significant interaction effects between both factors. Our results imply the necessity of a more inclusive design of information systems and highlight designers\u27 responsibility in raising awareness and mitigating unconscious bias, as digital learning (technologies) continue to advance

Physical activity is a potential measure of physical resilience in older adults receiving hemodialysis

BackgroundPhysical resilience, or the ability to recover after a physical stressor, declines with aging. Efforts to preserve physical resilience in the older dialysis population are critically needed; however, validated, patient-centered measures that are sensitive to change are also needed. Our objective was to assess accelerometer-derived step count variability, or a measure of intra-individual variation in physical activity, as a potential measure of physical resilience among older adults receiving hemodialysis.MethodsCommunity-dwelling ambulatory older adults receiving in-center hemodialysis were prospectively enrolled. Participants wore wrist accelerometers during daytime hours on both dialysis and non-dialysis days up to 14 days, and the feasibility of accelerometer use was assessed from wear time. We used accelerometer data to compute step counts in 4-hour blocks and step count variability. Physical function was assessed with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB which includes gait speed test), grip strength, activities of daily living (ADLs) instruments, and life space mobility. We assessed interval fatigue (subjective rating from 0 to 10) on dialysis and non-dialysis days and self-reported recovery time. We assessed the correlations of step count variability with measures of physical function and step count and interval fatigue.ResultsOf 37 enrolled participants, 29 had sufficient accelerometer data for analyses. Among the 29 participants, mean (SD) age was 70.6(4.8) years, and 55% (n=16) were male and 72% (n=21) were Black race. Participants were largely sedentary with median (Q1-Q3) self-reported total kilocalories per week of 200 (36–552). Step count variability was positively correlated with measures of physical function: SPPB (r=0.50, p<0.05), gait speed (r=0.59, p<0.05), handgrip strength (r=0.71, p<0.05), Instrumental ADLs (r=0.44, p<0.05) and life space mobility (r=0.54, p<0.05).There was a weak inverse correlation between post-dialysis step counts (4-hour blocks after a dialysis session) and post-dialysis interval fatigue [r=-0.19 (n=102, p=0.06).ConclusionsPhysical activity assessment via accelerometer is feasible for older adults receiving hemodialysis. Step count variability correlated with physical function, so it may be a novel measure of physical resilience. Further studies are needed to validate this measure

StreptomeDB 2.0 - An extended resource of natural products produced by streptomycetes

Over the last decades, the genus Streptomyces has stirred huge interest in the scientific community as a source of bioactive compounds. The majority of all known antibiotics is isolated from these bac-terial strains, as well as a variety of other drugs such as antitumor agents, immunosuppressants and antifungals. To the best of our knowledge, Strep-tomeDB was the first database focusing on com-pounds produced by streptomycetes. The new ver-sion presented herein represents a major step for-ward: its content has been increased to over 4000 compounds and more than 2500 host organisms. In addition, we have extended the background in-formation and included hundreds of new manually curated references to literature. The latest update features a unique scaffold-based navigation system, which enables the exploration of the chemical diver-sity of StreptomeDB on a structural basis. We have included a phylogenetic tree, based on 16S rRNA se-quences, which comprises more than two-thirds of the included host organisms. It enables visualizing the frequency, appearance, and persistence of com-pounds and scaffolds in an evolutionary context. Ad-ditionally, we have included predicted MS- and NMR-spectra of thousands of compounds for assignment of experimental data. The database is freely acces-sible vi

The United States COVID-19 Forecast Hub dataset

Academic researchers, government agencies, industry groups, and individuals have produced forecasts at an unprecedented scale during the COVID-19 pandemic. To leverage these forecasts, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with an academic research lab at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to create the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub. Launched in April 2020, the Forecast Hub is a dataset with point and probabilistic forecasts of incident cases, incident hospitalizations, incident deaths, and cumulative deaths due to COVID-19 at county, state, and national, levels in the United States. Included forecasts represent a variety of modeling approaches, data sources, and assumptions regarding the spread of COVID-19. The goal of this dataset is to establish a standardized and comparable set of short-term forecasts from modeling teams. These data can be used to develop ensemble models, communicate forecasts to the public, create visualizations, compare models, and inform policies regarding COVID-19 mitigation. These open-source data are available via download from GitHub, through an online API, and through R packages

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Genetic associations at 53 loci highlight cell types and biological pathways relevant for kidney function.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate defines chronic kidney disease and is associated with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), combining data across 133,413 individuals with replication in up to 42,166 individuals. We identify 24 new and confirm 29 previously identified loci. Of these 53 loci, 19 associate with eGFR among individuals with diabetes. Using bioinformatics, we show that identified genes at eGFR loci are enriched for expression in kidney tissues and in pathways relevant for kidney development and transmembrane transporter activity, kidney structure, and regulation of glucose metabolism. Chromatin state mapping and DNase I hypersensitivity analyses across adult tissues demonstrate preferential mapping of associated variants to regulatory regions in kidney but not extra-renal tissues. These findings suggest that genetic determinants of eGFR are mediated largely through direct effects within the kidney and highlight important cell types and biological pathways

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

The effects of energy efficiency on GDP and GHG emissions in Germany

Energy efficiency improvements are a key component on the road towards a carbonneutral economy. We identify the development of energy efficiency in the data and show that in recent decades it has increased at the aggregate level. At the sectoral level, however, the development in energy efficiency was highly heterogenous. We, then, analyse the effects of exogenous improvements in energy saving technology by means of Environmental Multi-Sector Model EMuSe. According to the model, sustained exogenous gains in energy saving technology increase output while, at the same time, reduce emissions energy use and energy intensity. Thereby, they attenuate the model-implied negative co-movement of output and emissions that results from the introduction or an intensified increase of an emission price schedule. However, if energy efficiency evolves as during the last decades and the emission price follows the currently intended schedule in the national and EU-wide emissions trading system, the model predicts that the emissions reduction by 2030 set by the German Federal Climate Change Act cannot be met. It additionally requires a higher emission price or larger (exogenous) energy efficiency gains

VpStyA1/VpStyA2B of Variovorax paradoxus EPS: An Aryl Alkyl Sulfoxidase Rather than a Styrene Epoxidizing Monooxygenase

Herein we describe the first representative of an E2-type two-component styrene monooxygenase of proteobacteria. It comprises a single epoxidase protein (VpStyA1) and a two domain protein (VpStyA2B) harboring an epoxidase (A2) and a FAD-reductase (B) domain. It was annotated as VpStyA1/VpStyA2B of Variovorax paradoxus EPS. VpStyA2B serves mainly as NADH:FAD-oxidoreductase. A Km of 33.6 ± 4.0 µM for FAD and a kcat of 22.3 ± 1.1 s−1 were determined and resulted in a catalytic efficiency (kcat Km−1) of 0.64 s−1 μM−1. To investigate its NADH:FAD-oxidoreductase function the linker between A2- and B-domain (AREAV) was mutated. One mutant (AAAAA) showed 18.7-fold higher affinity for FAD (kcat Km−1 of 5.21 s−1 μM−1) while keeping wildtype NADH-affinity and -oxidation activity. Both components, VpStyA2B and VpStyA1, showed monooxygenase activity on styrene of 0.14 U mg−1 and 0.46 U mg−1, as well as on benzyl methyl sulfide of 1.62 U mg−1 and 3.11 U mg−1, respectively. The high sulfoxidase activity was the reason to test several thioanisole-like substrates in biotransformations. VpStyA1 showed high substrate conversions (up to 95% in 2 h) and produced dominantly (S)-enantiomeric sulfoxides of all tested substrates. The AAAAA-mutant showed a 1.6-fold increased monooxygenase activity. In comparison, the GQWCSQY-mutant did neither show monooxygenase nor efficient FAD-reductase activity. Hence, the linker between the two domains of VpStyA2B has effects on the reductase as well as on the monooxygenase performance. Overall, this monooxygenase represents a promising candidate for biocatalyst development and studying natural fusion proteins

A Regulator Based "Semi-Targeted" Approach to Activate Silent Biosynthetic Gene Clusters

Mingyar E, Muhling L, Kulik A, et al. A Regulator Based "Semi-Targeted" Approach to Activate Silent Biosynthetic Gene Clusters. International journal of molecular sciences. 2021;22(14): 7567.By culturing microorganisms under standard laboratory conditions, most biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) are not expressed, and thus, the products are not produced. To explore this biosynthetic potential, we developed a novel "semi-targeted" approach focusing on activating "silent" BGCs by concurrently introducing a group of regulator genes into streptomycetes of the Tubingen strain collection. We constructed integrative plasmids containing two classes of regulatory genes under the control of the constitutive promoter ermE*p (cluster situated regulators (CSR) and Streptomyces antibiotic regulatory proteins (SARPs)). These plasmids were introduced into Streptomyces sp. TU17, Streptomyces sp. TU10 and Streptomyces sp. TU102. Introduction of the CSRs-plasmid into strain S. sp. TU17 activated the production of mayamycin A. By using the individual regulator genes, we proved that Aur1P, was responsible for the activation. In strain S. sp. TU102, the introduction of the SARP-plasmid triggered the production of a chartreusin-like compound. Insertion of the CSRs-plasmid into strain S. sp. TU10 resulted in activating the warkmycin-BGC. In both recombinants, activation of the BGCs was only possible through the simultaneous expression of aur1PR3 and griR in S. sp. TU102 and aur1P and pntR in of S. sp. TU10