Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nintedanib in progressive interstitial lung diseases: data from the whole INBUILD trial

Background The primary analysis of the INBUILD trial showed that in subjects with progressive fibrosing interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), nintedanib slowed the decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) over 52 weeks. We report the effects of nintedanib on ILD progression over the whole trial. Methods Subjects with fibrosing ILDs other than idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, who had ILD progression within the 24 months before screening despite management deemed appropriate in clinical practice, were randomised to receive nintedanib or placebo. Subjects continued on blinded randomised treatment until all subjects had completed the trial. Over the whole trial, mean±sd exposure to trial medication was 15.6±7.2 and 16.8±5.8 months in the nintedanib and placebo groups, respectively. Results In the nintedanib (n=332) and placebo (n=331) groups, respectively, the proportions of subjects who had ILD progression (absolute decline in FVC ≥10% predicted) or died were 40.4% and 54.7% in the overall population (hazard ratio (HR) 0.66, 95% CI 0.53–0.83; p=0.0003) and 43.7% and 55.8% among subjects with a usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP)-like fibrotic pattern on high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) (HR 0.69, 95% CI 0.53–0.91; p=0.009). In the nintedanib and placebo groups, respectively, the proportions who had an acute exacerbation of ILD or died were 13.9% and 19.6% in the overall population (HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.46–0.98; p=0.04) and 15.0% and 22.8% among subjects with a UIP-like fibrotic pattern on HRCT (HR 0.62, 95% CI 0.39–0.97; p=0.03). Conclusion Based on data from the whole INBUILD trial, nintedanib reduced the risk of events indicating ILD progression. In patients with fibrosing ILDs other than IPF who had shown progression of ILD within the prior 2 years, events indicating further progression occurred frequently. Over a 16-month period, nintedanib reduced the risk of such events versus placebo. https://bit.ly/3yiZXnS
Systematic analysis of Russula in the North American Rocky Mountain alpine zone

ABSTRACT Russula (Russulales) is an important ectomycorrhizal fungal genus in Arctic and alpine regions where it occurs with Salix, Betula, Dryas, and Polygonum, yet a complex phylogenetic analysis of the genus in these habitats is lacking. This research compared collections of Russula from the Rocky Mountain alpine (Colorado, Montana, Wyoming) with reference specimens from Arctic and alpine habitats, mostly in Europe, using an in-depth morphological study and a phylogenetic analysis of the nuc rDNA internal transcribed spacer region ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 (ITS barcode) and the second largest subunit of the RNA polymerase II gene (rpb2). One hundred thirty-nine Russula collections were sequenced, including type material. Ten species are reported from alpine or treeline habitats in the Rocky Mountains. This is the first formal report of R. cf. altaica, R. saliceticola, and R. subrubens from the Rocky Mountains and of R. purpureofusca in North America. Russula laevis is reported for the first time under this name with a voucher, and not as an environmental sample. Previous reports of R. nana and R. laccata are molecularly confirmed. Two species are reported from subalpine habitats at treeline: R. montana with conifers and R. cf. altaica with Betula. In this study, R. laccata, R. subrubens, and R. laevis were collected in alpine habitats but have been reported below treeline in Europe; these species may also be present at lower elevations in North America. Most species have an intercontinental distribution and have been reported in other alpine or Arctic habitats. Two unidentified and potentially new species were only found in North America and are discussed. A key to the alpine Russulas of North America is provided.
Stability Analysis of Delayed Recurrent Neural Networks via a Quadratic Matrix Convex Combination Approach

This brief addresses the stability analysis problem of a class of delayed recurrent neural networks (DRNNs). In previously published studies, the slope information of activation function (SIAF) is just reflected in three slope information matrices, i.e., the upper and lower boundary matrices and the maximum norm matrix. In practice, there are <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2^{n}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> possible combination cases on the slope information matrices. To exploit more information about SIAF, first, an activation function separation method is proposed to derive <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> slope-information-based uncertainties (SIBUs) containing SIAF; second, a quadratic matrix convex combination approach is proposed to dispose <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$n$ </tex-math></inline-formula> SIBUs using <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2^{n}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> combination slope information matrices. Third, a stability criterion with less conservatism is established based on the proposed approach. Finally, two simulation examples are used to testify the validity of theoretical results.
Chemoradiotherapy with hyperthermia versus chemoradiotherapy alone in locally advanced cervical cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Purpose Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) is recommended as the standard treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). However, the synergistic effect of hyperthermia (HT) with CCRT remains unclear. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of HT with CCRT on LACC patients. Methods and materials A systematic literature search was conducted on the MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane library and SCOPUS databases for articles that compared CCRT with HT and CCRT alone as treatments for LACC. Hazard ratios (HRs) and risk ratios (RRs) were used to compare five-year overall survival (OS), local relapse-free survival (LRFS) and incidence of acute and chronic toxicity between the two treatments. Results Two articles out of 2860 were finally selected for analysis. A total of 536 patients were evaluated (CCRT with HT group: 268, CCRT group: 268). FIGO stages I–II and III–IV were found in 295 (55.0%) and 241 patients (45.0%), respectively. The CCRT with HT group had significantly better five-year OS than the CCRT group (HR 0.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.47–0.96, p = 0.03). LRFS of patients was superior in the CCRT with HT group than in the CCRT group, but without significance (HR 0.74, 95% CI 0.49–1.12; p = 0.16). Moreover, there was no difference between the two groups regarding acute and chronic toxicity. Conclusion This systematic review and meta-analysis showed that CCRT with HT significantly improved OS in LACC patients without increasing acute and chronic toxicity. Therefore, tri-modality treatment could be a feasible approach for patients with LACC.
Aggression and Violent Behavior

There is increased recognition that incorporating a social norms approach provides insights for understanding corporal punishment and/or discipline (CPD). This review seeks to explore how the literature analyses social norms and CPD in lowand middle-income countries (LMICs). We searched eight electronic databases, Google Scholar, Google and institutional websites, including articles in LMICs which examined social norms and CPD perpetrated by family members or teachers. Data was extracted, assessed for quality and analyzed according to key themes. Of 21,708 articles from academic databases and 92 from other sources, 37 studies were included. We observed heterogeneity in study design, and in the definition and measurement of social norms. In the majority of studies, social norms supporting CPD were either harmful or, at times, protective. The review also finds that gender, age, power hierarchies and changes such as conflict, migration and modernization may influence norms on CPD. CPD interventions should be evaluated over longer periods and with consideration to the continuum of violence between homes and schools. Future research on CPD should (1) theorize and define social norms more clearly; (2) examine both harmful and protective norms linked to CPD; (3) explicitly examine perpetration of violence across the home-school continuum.
From Pancreatic b-Cell Gene Networks to Novel Therapies for Type 1 Diabetes

Completion of the Human Genome Project enabled a novel systemsand network-level understanding of biology, but this remains to be applied for understanding the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D). We propose that defining the key gene regulatory networks that drive b-cell dysfunction and death in T1D might enable the design of therapies that target the core disease mechanism, namely, the progressive loss of pancreatic b-cells. Indeed, many successful drugs do not directly target individual disease genes but, rather, modulate the consequences of defective steps, targeting proteins located one or two steps downstream. If we transpose this to the T1D situation, it makes sense to target the pathways that modulate the b-cell responses to the immune assault—in relation to signals that may stimulate the immune response (e.g., HLA class I and chemokine overexpression and/or neoantigen expression) or inhibit the invading immune cells (e.g., PDL1 and HLA-E expression)—instead of targeting only the immune system, as it is usually proposed. Here we discuss the importance of a focus on b-cells in T1D, lessons learned from other autoimmune diseases, the “alternative splicing connection,” data mining, and drug repurposing to protect b-cells in T1D and then some of the initial candidates under testing for b-cell protection.
Naturalised modal epistemology and quasi-realism

Given quasi-realism, the claim is that any attempt to naturalise modal epistemology would leave out absolute necessity. The reason, according to Simon Blackburn, is that we cannot offer an empirical psychological explanation for why we take any truth to be absolutely necessary, lest we lose any right to regard it as absolutely necessary. In this article, I argue that not only can we offer such an explanation, but also that the explanation will not come with a forfeiture of the involved necessity. Using “squaring the circle” as evidence, I show that, contrary to quasi-realism, absolute necessity will not be left out in attempts to naturalise modal epistemology.
New earliest Paleocene (Puercan) periptychid ‘condylarths’ from the Great Divide Basin, Wyoming, USA

An earliest Paleocene (Puercan) locality in the China Butte Member of the Fort Union Formation in the Great Divide Basin (GDB) of Wyoming contains a diverse mammalian faunal assemblage, including a number of ‘condylarth’ taxa. From UCM locality 2011035, we describe three new periptychid ‘condylarths’ and report first occurrences of Maiorana noctiluca, Ampliconus antoni and Conacodon harbourae from the GDB. The new genus and species Miniconus jeanninae is characterized by a ridge-like metaconid and incipient paraconid on p4, and a molar parastylid. Based on its similarity to M. jeanninae and differences from other species of Oxyacodon, O. archibaldi is placed within the new genus Miniconus. A second new genus and species Beornus honeyi is characterized by its large size with inflated premolars and molars, and small molar paraconid. A new species of Conacodon, C. hettingeri, is similar to other species of Conacodon but differs in its m3 morphology. To examine the relationships of the three new GDB taxa to each other and to other Puercan ‘condylarths’ from the Western Interior of North America, a phylogenetic analysis was performed using 28 Puercan periptychid and arctocyonid taxa as well as the eutherian outgroup taxon Procerberus formicarum and 64 dental characters. The resulting strict consensus tree of 210 steps confirms that the three new species from the GDB fall within Periptychidae. Beornus honeyi forms a polytomy with Mithrandir gillianus and Hemithlaeus kowalevskianus. Conacodon hettingeri is recovered as the basal member of a clade that includes the other species of Conacodon. Miniconus jeanninae is the sister to M. archibaldi. Additionally, the early Puercan Mimatuta spp. and Maiorana noctiluca fall within the Arctocyonidae, supporting the phylogenetic placement of these taxa by other recent analyses. The occurrence of the three new periptychids in the GDB indicates that mammalian diversity is higher than previously suggested for the early Puercan. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org. pub:4F31F461-814D-4C4A-99A9-3D7ED5D6701C
A conceptual framework for Assessment-Informed Differentiation (AID) in the classroom

ABSTRACT Background: To enable all students to reach their full potential, teachers have to adapt their instruction to students’ varying needs. In order to do this, teachers need to engage in activities associated with formative assessment, as well as those associated with differentiation. However, both of these types of activities are, in themselves, difficult for teachers to carry out. Furthermore, as both fields tend to use their own terminology, frameworks, and cycles of teacher activities, it can be even more difficult for teachers to navigate both. Although the notion of the strong relationship between formative assessment and differentiation is not new, we argue that a better understanding of the close relationship between the two is needed in the context of teacher education. Purpose: Our aim was to develop a conceptual framework which offers teachers and teacher educators a coherent set of teacher activities in which both formative assessment and differentiation are represented. Sources of evidence: International literature in the fields of formative assessment and differentiation was reviewed. Through this process, we sought to identify, describe and compare teacher activities regarded as crucial for formative assessment and for differentiation. The review was based on extant review studies and frameworks used in both fields and handbooks on both topics. Main argument: Our analysis demonstrated that both approaches have much in common, but differ substantially in terms of the emphasis placed on different activities and the depth of elaboration. As such, we argue that the approaches complement each other well and that it is feasible to present teachers with one coherent set of teacher activities in which both approaches are unified. We propose a conceptual framework for Assessment-Informed Differentiation (AID), which involves a continual cycle of in-depth activities related to preparing and providing differentiated instruction based on assessment data. Conclusion: Formative assessment and differentiation approaches need to be treated as an integrated set of activities in order to realise the full potential of all students. Further research should focus on the usability and effectiveness of the proposed cycle. The conceptual framework we propose could ultimately be used in many different teacher education settings internationally, forming a starting point for much-needed teacher professional development in this area.
Thirty years of Male Daughters, Female Husbands: revisiting Ifi Amadiume’s questions on gender, sex and political economy

ABSTRACT This paper examines the legacy of Ifi Amadiume's Male Daughters, Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in an African Society (1987) to African gender theorisation three decades after its publication. We argue that Amadiume's detailed ethnography of the Nnobi society provides an example of what can be achieved when African scholars centre local histories, languages, and kinship ties to provide contextualised understandings of sex and gender. In southern African societies, we assess the ways in which gender fluidity, drawing from local languages, age, seniority and lineage do not strictly fix sex to gender, thus providing possibilities for flexible gender structures that allow women to access institutions of power through the lineage as first daughters (umafungwashe) and wives, among others. We further examine the ways conservative patriarchal discourses continue distorting African cultures and traditions, thus undermining women's rights and access to social, cultural, economic and political power. We argue that current Eurocentric attempts that aim to delink sex and gender do not move us beyond the universalised binaries of gender and sex. Through revisiting local social and linguistic histories that practised gender fluidity and tolerance, we can also begin to challenge the conservative attitudes towards the LGBTQIA+ communities. Given the continued sexual and gender diversities that are being challenged daily in the African continent, it is timely that we revisit the historical meanings along with their contemporary implications for sexual citizenship and gendered power relations today.
A new ‘rauisuchian’ archosaur from the Middle Triassic Omingonde Formation (Karoo Supergroup) of Namibia

The Middle Triassic uppermost Omingonde Formation of Namibia records a fossil tetrapod fauna including stahleckeriid dicynodonts and probainognathian and traversodontid cynodonts, similar to other contemporary Gondwanan deposits. GSN F382 is a large predatory ‘rauisuchian’ archosaur from the uppermost Omingonde Formation that was originally identified as an erythrosuchid archosauriform. In this study, we provide a detailed anatomical description and phylogenetic analysis of the specimen and diagnose it as a new taxon, Etjosuchus recurvidens. Etjosuchus is a non-crocodylomorph loricatan, branching earlier than Rauisuchidae and Crocodylomorpha. The addition of this large-bodied carnivorous pseudosuchian archosaur to the uppermost Omingonde tetrapod assemblage reinforces its faunal similarity to other Middle to Late Triassic Gondwanan ecosystems such as those in the Santa Maria Formation of Brazil, the Chañares Formation of Argentina and the Manda Beds of Tanzania. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:F5035597-24E0-4DA5-B89D-D3CF8851A8FF
Rethinking the role of local knowledge networks in territorial innovation models

Traditionally, territorial innovation models (Moulaert and Sekia 2003), such as clusters, industrial districts, and regional innovation systems, are characterised by a geographic concentration of competences and knowledge as well as by the spatial diffusion of competences and knowledge (Saxenian 1994; Sorenson and Stuart 2001; Tallman et al. 2004; Marshall 1920). However, competences and knowledge are not ubiquitous and available to all organisations located within such geographic concentrations. Knowledge, for instance, rather diffuses through internal and external knowledge networks (Giuliani and Bell 2005; Giuliani 2013; Fitjar and Rodríguez-Pose 2017). Consequently, it has been recognised for a long time that a comprehensive understanding of the working and success of territorial innovation systems is only possible when it is based on a framework centred on these systems’ internal and external knowledge networks (Giuliani 2005; Glückler 2007). Inspired by this idea, a rich stream of research has emerged that seeks to generate insights into the emergence, working, and structures of such networks. For instance, works in this stream analyse factors explaining the emergence and evolution over time of internal knowledge network relations (Cassi and Plunket 2015; Menzel, Feldman, and Broekel 2017; Niosi and Banik 2005; Plum and Hassink 2011; Ter Wal 2014), the embeddedness of clusters (and their internal networks) into interregional and global knowledge linkages (see many contributions in the special issue by Scherngell (2013); Broekel, Fornahl, and Morrison 2015), and the role-specific organisations play in the establishment of such external linkages (Graf 2011; Morrison 2008). This special issue contributes to this general debate and aims to rethink the role of local knowledge networks in territorial innovation models unveiling also new research opportunities. It partly consists of papers presented at two international conferences on ‘Rethinking Clusters’ in Florence in 2018 and in Padua, in 2019.
The evolution of central bank communication as experienced by the South Africa Reserve Bank

ABSTRACT Communication has evolved into a cornerstone of central bank design and policy implementation. The South African Reserve Bank has been proactive in this regard as well – most notably with the adoption of inflation targeting in 2001. Using novel text-mining techniques, we evaluate the communication of the SARB, as presented via public speeches and monetary policy committee (MPC) statements, in the context of historical developments from 1994 to 2020. Our analysis focuses on the volume, complexity, scope, and sentiment of communication. We conclude that MPC statements are consistently and narrowly focused on the mandate, whereas speeches capture more detail about how the thinking of SARB policy makers evolves over time. In both cases, communication serves as a channel to reduce uncertainty and build credibility in the public domain.
A preliminary evaluation of the environmental toxicology of road salts on plant root dynamics

Abstract. Although critical for the deicing of roads and bridges throughout the winter season in North America, road salts continue to have yearlong negative impacts on both anthropogenic and biological systems. Our objective was to measure the impact of four commonly used road salt ingredients on the dynamics of plant growth and development. Using onions as a model system, we hypothesized that exposing plants to different concentrations of sodium chloride, calcium chloride, potassium chloride, and magnesium chloride treatments would allow us to calculate the environmental concentration at which root development is halted by each road salt. We found that root growth decreased with sodium chloride, calcium chloride, and potassium chloride treatments, but increased with magnesium chloride. We used a linear model of root growth rates and concentrations to calculate the level at which each road salt becomes toxic to plants in the surrounding environment. We also apply the ecological theory of the principle of allocation to discuss how the chemical induction of root growth by magnesium chloride road salts may result in a life history trade-off that reduces investment toward plant-defense. The predicted trade-off in plant defense suggests that crop species in urban environments would be more susceptible to herbivory and as such would rely more on agricultural pesticides to sustain food security. We propose further studies to evaluate applications of plant defense theory in an urban context.