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Dr Matt Parker

@parkerlab.bsky.social
615 followers 854 following 19 posts

Some days you’re a fish exploring new waters. Other days, you’re stuck in a maze making the same turn over and over. Either way, keep swimming. Neuroscientist and pharmacologist

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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Next week I’ll be announcing a fully funded #BBSRC DTP #PhD studentship at @uniofsurrey.bsky.social, working with collaborators at Brunel. The project focuses on how genes and nutrition interact to shape neurodevelopment, using CRISPR, mass spec and vessel-on-a-chip models. More details soon!!
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Dan Quintana @dsquintana.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Our paper on improving statistical reporting in psychology is now online 🎉 As a part of this paper, we also created the Transparent Statistical Reporting in Psychology checklist, which researchers can use to improve their statistical reporting practices www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Transparent and comprehensive statistical reporting is critical for ensuring the credibility, reproducibility, and interpretability of psychological research. This paper offers a structured set of guidelines for reporting statistical analyses in quantitative psychology, emphasizing clarity at both the planning and results stages. Drawing on established recommendations and emerging best practices, we outline key decisions related to hypothesis formulation, sample size justification, preregistration, outlier and missing data handling, statistical model specification, and the interpretation of inferential outcomes. We address considerations across frequentist and Bayesian frameworks and fixed as well as sequential research designs, including guidance on effect size reporting, equivalence testing, and the appropriate treatment of null results. To facilitate implementation of these recommendations, we provide the Transparent Statistical Reporting in Psychology (TSRP) Checklist that researchers can use to systematically evaluate and improve their statistical reporting practices (https://osf.io/t2zpq/). In addition, we provide a curated list of freely available tools, packages, and functions that researchers can use to implement transparent reporting practices in their own analyses to bridge the gap between theory and practice. To illustrate the practical application of these principles, we provide a side-by-side comparison of insufficient versus best-practice reporting using a hypothetical cognitive psychology study. By adopting transparent reporting standards, researchers can improve the robustness of individual studies and facilitate cumulative scientific progress through more reliable meta-analyses and research syntheses.
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Reform Party UK Exposed @reformexposed.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
Hi @reformuk.bsky.social when are you going to do something about Reform UK Cornwall and their disgusting Facebook account?
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Zebrafish Rock! @zebrafishrock.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
@wonglab.bsky.social‬ (Learning/ Behaviour) doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-00423-6 @parkerlab.bsky.social‬ (Husbandry/ Novel Tank Test) doi.org/10.1038/s41684-025-01548-x Cell Biology @kkostova.bsky.social‬ (Ribosomopathy) doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2025.04.017 (11/38)
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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Looking to apply for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoc Fellowship? Consider my lab at @uniofsurrey.bsky.social We work on behaviour and brain in zebrafish. PM me for a chat if interested! marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/node/1410 #MSCA #Postdoc #Neuroscience #Zebrafish #VR #Acad
marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu
MSCA opens €404.3 million call for Postdoctoral Fellowships
Postdoctoral Fellowships offer researchers holding a PhD the opportunity to acquire new skills through advanced training and international, interdisciplinary, and inter-sectoral mobility.
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Leanne Proops @leanneproops.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Something we've been meaning to do for years - documenting horse facial expressions during social interactions using EquiFACS. Well done @kate-lewis.bsky.social! And thanks for the netFACS support @jmicheletta.bsky.social 🐴 @parkerlab.bsky.social
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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Our new paper in PeerJ An ethogram of facial behaviour in domestic horses: evolutionary perspectives on form and function peerj.com/articles/193... @peerj.bsky.social
peerj.com
An ethogram of facial behaviour in domestic horses: evolutionary perspectives on form and function
Understanding cause and function of animal facial behaviour can provide key insights into the animal’s cognitive and emotional state. The Equine Facial Action Coding System (EquiFACS) has characterise...
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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
Just out in Lab Animal: our new global multi-lab zebrafish study is live! Housing and husbandry variables can significantly alter zebrafish anxiety-like behaviour. This is a call for better reporting and #standardisation in #zebrafish research. @uniofsurrey.bsky.social Open access: rdcu.be/enHLj
rdcu.be
Housing and husbandry factors affecting zebrafish novel tank test responses: a global multi-laboratory study
Lab Animal - This Article presents the results of a global multi-laboratory study assessing the effects of housing conditions and experimental settings on novel tank test responses in adult zebrafish.
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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
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Alan McElligott @amcell.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
"Ethics of animal behaviour and welfare research" [6 articles, 2023/2024] with @parkerlab.bsky.social - #AnimalEthics #ResearchEthics journals.sagepub.com/topic/collec...
journals.sagepub.com
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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
Looking to apply for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoc Fellowship? Consider my lab at @uniofsurrey.bsky.social We work on behaviour and brain in zebrafish. PM me for a chat if interested! marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu/node/1410 #MSCA #Postdoc #Neuroscience #Zebrafish #VR #Acad
marie-sklodowska-curie-actions.ec.europa.eu
MSCA opens €404.3 million call for Postdoctoral Fellowships
Postdoctoral Fellowships offer researchers holding a PhD the opportunity to acquire new skills through advanced training and international, interdisciplinary, and inter-sectoral mobility.
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Why didn't 341 MPs sign a letter urging Keir Starmer to create new opportunities for young British people to work and travel in Europe? Do the Greens pose a danger to Labour from the left? This and other questions answered in this week's political diary ⤵️
eastangliabylines.co.uk
Pecksniff: 62 Labour MPs want closer EU ties! (But apparently 341 don’t)
In which Mr Pecksniff lays before his readers for their approval certain observations and speculations reflecting on the political life
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
This weeks cover from @theneweuropean.bsky.social was spot on as always
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Katherine Stiles @katherinestiles.org · 01/03/2025
PhDs and postdocs are in limbo while universities across the US scale back admissions and new hires while they assess the financial impact of proposed federal funding cuts. #HigherEd #AcademicSky #EduSky
the-scientist.com
US Universities Reduce PhD Admissions in Response to Federal Funding Cuts
Amid cuts to federal funding, US universities tighten budgets, forcing PhD students and early-career researchers to navigate an uncertain future.
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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
He nails it.
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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Our latest new study shows that stimulant & non-stimulant #ADHD meds affect lipid & amino acid metabolism in similar ways—challenging the idea that they work differently! Even amlodipine mimics their effects, further supporting it's potential 🔗 authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S... #zebrafish
authors.elsevier.com
ScienceDirect.com | Science, health and medical journals, full text articles and books.
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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic...
dailymail.co.uk
Common drug taken by millions may banish ADHD symptoms, study suggests
Currently, ADHD medication - while effective - can come with significant side effects including headaches, sleep disturbance and loss of appetite.
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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Our new study found amlodipine reduces hyperactivity in ADHD-model #zebrafish & rats and is supported by genetic evidence linking #ADHD to its target pathways. Could L-type calcium channels hold the key to non-stimulant ADHD treatments? www.surrey.ac.uk/news/blood-p....
surrey.ac.uk
Blood pressure drug could be a safer alternative for treating ADHD symptoms, finds study | University of Surrey
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Stephen Curry @scurry.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
I hear this has generated some fury on X, so would be pleased if people could keep sharing as it is an attempt to be clear about the free speech implications of my open letter.
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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Check out our new #ADHD paper. Amlodipine reduces hyperactivity & impulsivity in #zebrafish & rats, crosses the blood-brain barrier, and alters neural activity. Human genetic data links ADHD to Ca+ targeted by amlodipine, with UK Biobank evidence supporting its potential benefits. rdcu.be/d9TtB
rdcu.be
Validation of L-type calcium channel blocker amlodipine as a novel ADHD treatment through cross-species analysis, drug-target Mendelian randomization, and clinical evidence from medical records
Neuropsychopharmacology - Validation of L-type calcium channel blocker amlodipine as a novel ADHD treatment through cross-species analysis, drug-target Mendelian randomization, and clinical...
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Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 13/02/2025
"The scientific literature is an essential ocean of knowledge, in which floats an alarming amount of junk." Reflecting on RFK Jr.'s use of scholarly papers in his confirmation hearings.
theatlantic.com
The Scientific Literature Can’t Save Us Now
You can cite peer-reviewed research in support of almost any claim, no matter how absurd.
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Claire Hart @drnarcissism.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
My PhD student is looking for Facebook users to complete her study. Please complete and/or share if you can: tinyurl.com/StudySOS
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Berta Verd @bertaverd.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
I am recruiting an #ERC funded PostDoc to work on the evolution of vertebral counts in cichlids. This is an experimental project & will be looking for candidates with experience generating reporter lines, live-imaging and experimental embryology. Application deadline: 25th Feb. tinyurl.com/33jbu8fa
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Giles Yeo @gilesyeo.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
I am excited to share our latest paper @Nature where we construct a hi-res spatial map of the human hypothalamus, the brain region central in appetite control. It is a collaboration between @IMS_MRL @Cambridge_Uni & @MPI_Metabolism www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
A comprehensive spatio-cellular map of the human hypothalamus - Nature
HYPOMAP integrates single-nucleus RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomic data to create a comprehensive spatio-cellular map of the human hypothalamus.
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Senator Bernie Sanders @sanders.senate.gov · 04/02/2025
I voted to reject RFK Jr.'s nomination to HHS. I cannot in good conscience support someone who denies and will dilute our public health protections, sow distrust in science, and oversee massive cuts to health care programs for vulnerable Americans.
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
UK will not accept EU offer to join pan-European customs union 'at present time', minister says Heaven help us www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
theguardian.com
UK will not accept EU offer to join pan-European customs union ‘at present time’, minister says – UK politics live
Housing minister shoots down idea floated by Maroš Šefčovič designed to help reset UK-EU discussions
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Dr Matt Parker @parkerlab.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
A rare #LabDay for me these days with my wonderful #zebrafish companions to keep me company :-) @zantiks.bsky.social @zebrafishrock.bsky.social
Zantiks AD units set up for tank diving
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Dorothy Bishop @deevybee.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
New blogpost: gobbledegook papers as canaries in the coalmine- and more bad news for MDPI deevybee.blogspot.com/2025/01/toma...
deevybee.blogspot.com
Tomatoes roaming the fields and canaries in the coalmine: another embarrassing paper for MDPI
Many publishers are getting nervous about infiltration by paper mills, who can torpedo a journal's reputation when they succeed in publis...
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Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
Elizabeth Warren has questions for RFK Jr — 175 of them. On vaccines. On abortion. On his theories, like suggesting covid was "ethnically targeted." "I ask that you review these questions and arrive prepared to answer them," @warren.senate.gov writes in letter to Kennedy and shared with The Post.
documentcloud.org
Sen. Elizabeth Warren letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his past statements over vaccines, abortion and other issues that relate to his potential role as the nation's top health official.
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Zebrafish Rock! @zebrafishrock.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
#ZebrafishCareers 🇺🇸 (Lab Manager)
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
🔥 🔥 Fantastic - the ball is really rolling now on pressure for a youth mobility scheme with the EU. If you haven't yet written to your MP to attend the debate on it this afternoon... please send that email now via this easy link --> action.stayeuropean.org/campaigns/yo...
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
💥 It passes!! 💥 The Youth Mobility (EU Countries) Bill has just passed its first reading. No opposition voiced by the govt. your thousands of emails stopped them shutting it down. Well done @jamesmaccleary.bsky.social on a superb speech. 👏👏👏
Picture of James MacCleary MP delivering speech.
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
💥 YES! The Youth Mobility Scheme (EU Countries) Bill is looking like it will go through without government opposition today. That’s because of YOU! You have all flooded the zone with 8-10,000 emails to your MPs on this. Keep them coming. And do follow-ups too.
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Matt Hodgkinson @mattjhodgkinson.scicomm.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 14/01/2025
Five years of pandemic. Long COVID is affecting 2 million people in the UK. www.theguardian.com/society/video/2…
theguardian.com
‘The pandemic isn’t over’: my year of long Covid – video
Darren Parkinson is one of about 2 million people living with long Covid in England and Scotland. The illness is having a detrimental impact on his life, stopping him from being the kind of active and involved parent he wants to be to his two children. The Guardian has spent a year with Darren and his family to document his journey as he tries to recover from long Covid and come to terms with his new reality
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Jennifer Waters @jencwaters.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Hey PIs, do your trainees need to learn light microscopy and image analysis? Send them to us! Financial aid is available. meetings.cshl.edu/coursesinten...
meetings.cshl.edu
Courses Intent to Apply Form
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meetings & Courses -- a private, non-profit institution with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, bioinformatics.
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Dorothy Bishop @deevybee.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
yup, that’s the distinguished scientist Elon Musk FRS @royalsociety.org
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Biology Open @biologyopen.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
🧪 Alexandra Noble and colleagues show that Joubert Syndrome gene dysfunction in #zebrafish leads to abnormal brain cilia, altered transcription of neuron-associated genes and abnormal swimming behaviour despite normal brain morphology. 🐟 doi.org/10.1242/bio.060421
Brain morphology and size is normal in cc2d2a and talpid3 mutants. (G-L) Whole-mount single optical slice widefield immunofluorescence images showing an overview of axonal tracts labelled with anti-acetylated tubulin (AcTub – green) and synaptic neuropil labelled with anti-synaptic vesicle 2 (SV2 – magenta) in control (G), cc2d2a−/− (H) and talpid3−/− (I) larvae at 5 dpf. (J-L) shows higher resolution whole-mount single optical slice confocal immunofluorescence images of boxed region in (G-I). The morphology of axonal tracts and synaptic neuropil appears unchanged in both mutants compared to controls. All images show a dorsal view of 5 dpf larvae with anterior to the left.
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Alan McElligott @amcell.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Our article has been published today in @peerj.bsky.social. Do goats recognise humans cross-modally? peerj.com/articles/18786 #AnimalBehavior #Zoology #AnimalBehaviour #AnimalCognition #AnimalWelfare #Goats
peerj.com
Do goats recognise humans cross-modally?
Recognition plays a key role in the social lives of gregarious species, enabling animals to distinguish among social partners and tailor their behaviour accordingly. As domesticated animals regularly ...
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Republicans Against Trumpism @rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
More than 15,000 doctors across the country signed an open letter urging senators to reject the nomination of RFK Jr. for HHS: “RFK Jr. has a well-documented history of spreading dangerous disinformation...His appointment is a direct threat to the safety of our patients and the public at large"
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Richard Branson @richardbranson.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
Fantastic to see the UK’s first drug consumption room finally open its doors in Glasgow. Congratulations to all those who made this happen. As the experience from more than 200 drug consumption rooms around the world shows, The Thistle will save many lives: www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
theguardian.com
‘All eyes are on Glasgow’: UK’s first legal drug consumption room ready to open
The Thistle will be available 365 days a year and provide a supervised space where drugs can be injected safely
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Zebrafish Rock! @zebrafishrock.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Adult zebrafish meningeal vasculature. Credit to @biomarina-vg.bsky.social. #ZebrafishZunday 🧪
An adult transgenic zebrafish brain showing meningeal blood vessels (red), skin/meningeal lymphatic vessels and perivascular meningeal cells (green), and lipid dye BODIPY (magenta). The skull shows its natural autofluorescence (blue). Credit text to University of Utah 3i
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Stephen Curry @scurry.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Kenan Malik, as so often the case, getting to the truth of the matter. A piece that Kemi Badenoch should read and reflect on. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
The right is trying to rewrite history with its toxic rhetoric on Britain’s rape gangs | Kenan Malik
Girls who have suffered terrible abuse are now being exploited by populists for their own ends
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Zebrafish Rock! @zebrafishrock.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute set out to sequence the #zebrafish genome in 2001, completing it in 2013. This revealed zfish have more than 26k protein-coding genes (more than humans) and that around 70% of human genes have at least one similar gene in zfish. #ZebrafishFunFacts 🧪
a. Orthologue genes shared between the zebrafish, human, mouse and chicken genomes, using orthology relationships from Ensembl Compara 63. Genes shared across species are considered in terms of copies at the time of the split. For example, a gene that exists in one copy in zebrafish but has been duplicated in the human lineage will be counted as only one shared gene in the overlap. Taken from Howe et al. 2013
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Zebrafish Rock! @zebrafishrock.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
Looking to enhance your timeline for 2025? Check out our Starter Pack of outstanding Group Leaders and Scientists from the #zebrafish community! #WomenInScience go.bsky.app/4BegEjv 🧪
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Katherine Stiles @katherinestiles.org · 08/01/2025
“I have been a factchecker at Full Fact in London for a year, investigating suspicious content on [FB, X, newspapers]. Our bread and butter includes a lot of video disinformation about wars […] and AI-generated fake video clips of politicians, which are getting harder to disprove.”
theguardian.com
‘Dispiriting’: factchecker reacts to Meta’s move to scrap role
Mark Zuckerberg accused fact-checkers in US of making biased decisions
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Dorothy Bishop @deevybee.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
End of fact-checking at Meta seems a retrograde step. And bad news for @fullfact.org, who've done such a great job in this space. fullfact.org/blog/2025/ja...
fullfact.org
Full Fact responds to Meta ending support for US fact checkers - Full Fact
Fact checkers refute allegations of bias in Meta’s ‘disappointing backwards step’ to end fact checking partnerships
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Alan McElligott @amcell.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
#whatweretheythinking springs to mind! 🔽 Is this the academic equivalent of Fartman getting re-elected? This is very deeply disappointing (and nonsensical) from German universities!
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