Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
MIF: a key player in cutaneous biology and wound healing

Abstract: Owing to its implication in a range of pathological conditions, including asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer, the pleiotropic cytokine macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) has been the subject of intensive recent investigation. In the field of dermatology, MIF is believed to be a detrimental factor in diseases such as systemic sclerosis, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, eczema and UV radiation damage. However, its contribution to other aspects of cutaneous biology is currently unclear. Although its expression in intact skin is well characterized, little is known about MIF’s role in cutaneous homoeostasis. However, recent data do identify MIF as a key player in the immune privilege of hair follicles. Similarly, although MIF is rapidly released and its local expression significantly induced upon wounding, its primary role in the ensuing repair process remains a source of contention. MIF has been identified as being a key effector of the beneficial effects of estrogen on wound repair, yet studies employing Mif null mice, recombinant MIF, and neutralizing anti‐MIF antibodies have failed to provide a consensus as to whether it benefits or inhibits healing. In fact MIF appears to be able to exert both positive and negative effects, with the cell‐specific relevancy of MIF in wound healing still unclear. Thus, if MIF and/or its downstream targets are to be therapeutically useful in the context of cutaneous repair, more needs to be done to establish the nature and mechanism of action of MIF and its receptors in healing wounds.
Pratique institutionnelle et contrat didactique lors du processus d'enseignement de la notion de volume au collège

Nous mettons en evidence certaines dimensions des rapports institutionnels a l'objet volume en mathematiques, mis en place par des enseignants en fonction de la reussite scolaire des eleves telle qu'elle est institutionnellement reperee dans des colleges ayant une politique de creation de classes de niveau. Aussi, en nous referant a la theorie anthropologique des savoirs d'Yves Chevallard, a celle des situations de Guy Brousseau et a celle des champs conceptuels de Gerard Vergnaud nous degageons certaines clauses du contrat didactique c'est-a-dire les attentes implicites de l'enseignant et des eleves par rapport au savoir. Nous avons recueilli nos donnees en enregistrant l'ensemble des seances que trois professeurs consacrent a l'etude du volume, chaque professeur intervenant, la meme annee, dans deux classes l'une dite "forte", l'autre dite "faible'. Ce recueil a ete effectue dans deux classes de 6e et quatre classes de 3e. Notre analyse porte sur l'organisation mathematique et sur celle de l'etude. Pour la premiere, nos objets sont les textes du savoir et les "exercices travailles", c'est-a-dire ceux qui ne sont pas l'objet d'une evaluation sommative. Pour la seconde, il s'agit d'analyser le deroulement de l'etude, tel qu'il est mene par chaque professeur, ainsi que des interactions a travers des actions didactiques du professeur (annonces, institutionnalisations, traces ecrites au tableau) temoins d'intentions didactiques, c'est-a-dire de la volonte de l'enseignant de modifier le fonctionnement cognitif des eleves. Nos analyses montrent l'existence de clauses du contrat didactique liees aux classes dites "faibles" ou dites "fortes", depassant ainsi non seulement le segment de scolarisation des eleves (6e ou 3e) mais egalement l'individu professeur. Mais les professeurs ayant la charge de maintenir l'equilibre du systeme didactique, les decalages mis en evidence sont interpretes comme la manifestation de contraintes issues du contrat scolaire.
Nonlocal Effects Dominate the Global Mean Surface Temperature Response to the Biogeophysical Effects of Deforestation

Deforestation influences surface temperature locally (“local effects”), but also at neighboring or remote regions (“nonlocal effects”). Observations indicate that local effects induce a warming in most locations, while many climate models show a global mean cooling when simulating global deforestation. We show that a nonlocal cooling in models, which is excluded from observations, may strongly contribute to these conflicting results. For the MPI‐ESM, the globally averaged nonlocal cooling exceeds the globally averaged local warming by a factor of three, for global deforestation but also for realistic areal extents and spatial distributions of deforestation. Furthermore, the globally averaged nonlocal effects dominate the local effects in realistic scenarios across a range of climate models. We conclude that observations alone are not sufficient to capture the full biogeophysical effects, and climate models are needed to better understand and quantify the full effects of deforestation before they are considered in strategies for climate mitigation.
Bootstrapping Reinforcement Learning with Imitation for Vision-Based Agile Flight

We combine the effectiveness of Reinforcement Learning (RL) and the efficiency of Imitation Learning (IL) in the context of vision-based, autonomous drone racing. We focus on directly processing visual input without explicit state estimation. While RL offers a general framework for learning complex controllers through trial and error, it faces challenges regarding sample efficiency and computational demands due to the high dimensionality of visual inputs. Conversely, IL demonstrates efficiency in learning from visual demonstrations but is limited by the quality of those demonstrations and faces issues like covariate shift. To overcome these limitations, we propose a novel training framework combining RL and IL's advantages. Our framework involves three stages: initial training of a teacher policy using privileged state information, distilling this policy into a student policy using IL, and performance-constrained adaptive RL fine-tuning. Our experiments in both simulated and real-world environments demonstrate that our approach achieves superior performance and robustness than IL or RL alone in navigating a quadrotor through a racing course using only visual information without explicit state estimation.
Fast Patient Workup in Acute Stroke Using Parallel Imaging

Treatment of ischemic stroke is a very frustrating topic for neurologists. Presently, the most promising therapy seems to be thrombolysis of the clot. However, this intervention is associated with complication risks, most significantly the risk of post-treatment hemorrhage. This risk of bleeding increases not only with the size of the ischemic brain tissue but also with the time-to-treatment interval. Studies suggest a time window of 3 hours for most effective treatment. Hence, there is demand for a rapid imaging workup, which thus far has been accomplished with computed tomography. Because of the risks associated with thrombolytic therapy, more detailed information is desirable. The distinction between patients with viable ischemically challenged neural tissue and those with complete infarcts is of great importance, and computed tomography is insufficient for this task. This is also true for outlining the etiology of stroke, which may impact treatment. For these tasks, magnetic resonance imaging has been proposed. However, comprehensive imaging protocols take time, which is limited in stroke treatment. Therefore, new imaging techniques are required that provide both in-depth information and short scanning times. Parallel imaging is uniquely suited for this purpose.
Dispersal, Migration, and Offspring Retention in Saturated Habitats

We examine the evolutionary stability of year‐round residency in territorial populations, where breeding sites are a limiting resource. The model links individual life histories to the population‐wide competition for territories and includes spatial variation in habitat quality as well as a potential parent‐offspring conflict over territory ownership. The general form of the model makes it applicable to the evolution of dispersal, migration, partial migration, and delayed dispersal (offspring retention). We show that migration can be evolutionarily stable only if year‐round residency in a given area would produce a sink population, where mortality exceeds reproduction. If this applies to a fraction of the breeding habitat only, partial migration is expected to evolve. In the context of delayed dispersal, habitat saturation has been argued to form an ecological constraint on independent breeding, which favors offspring retention and cooperative breeding. We show that habitat saturation must be considered as a dynamic outcome of birth, death, and dispersal rates in the population, rather than an externally determined constraint. Although delayed dispersal often associates with intense competition for territories, life‐history traits have direct effects on stable dispersal strategies, which can often override the effect of habitat saturation. As an example, high survival of floaters selects against delayed dispersal, even though it increases the number of competitors for each breeding vacancy (the “habitat saturation factor”). High survival of territory owners, by contrast, generally favors natal philopatry. We also conclude that spatial variation in habitat quality only rarely selects for delayed dispersal. Within a population, however, offspring retention is more likely in high‐quality territories.
Heegaard genus of the connected sum of m-small knots

We prove that if $K_1 \subset M_1,. ,K_n \subset M_n$ are m-small knots in closed orientable 3-manifolds then the Heegaard genus of $E(#_{i=1}^n K_i)$ is strictly less than the sum of the Heegaard genera of the $E(K_i)$ ($i=1,.,n$) if and only if there exists a proper subset $I$ of $\{1,. ,n\}$ so that $#_{i \in I} K_i$ admits a primitive meridian. This generalizes the main result of Morimoto in \cite{morimoto1}.
Non-Recognition-of-BTH4, an Arabidopsis Mediator Subunit Homolog, Is Necessary for Development and Response to Salicylic Acid[C][W]

This work identifies NONRECOGNITION OF BTH4 (NRB4), which acts in SA signaling in defense and development, finding that NRB4 encodes a predicted subunit of the Mediator complex, which connects specific transcription factors to the general transcription machinery. NRB4 functions downstream of NONEXPRESSER OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED1in SA signaling. Salicylic acid (SA) signaling acts in defense and plant development. The only gene demonstrated to be required for the response to SA is Arabidopsis thaliana NON-EXPRESSER OF PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENE 1 (NPR1), and npr1 mutants are insensitive to SA. By focusing on the effect of analogs of SA on plant development, we identified mutants in additional genes acting in the SA response. In this work, we describe a gene necessary for the SA Non-Recognition-of-BTH4 (NRB4). Three nrb4 alleles recovered from the screen cause phenotypes similar to the wild type in the tested conditions, except for SA-related phenotypes. Plants with NRB4 null alleles express profound insensitivity to SA, even more than npr1. NRB4 null mutants are also sterile and their growth is compromised. Plants carrying weaker nrb4 alleles are also insensitive to SA, with some quantitative differences in some phenotypes, like systemic acquired resistance or pathogen growth restriction. When weak alleles are used, NPR1 and NRB4 mutations produce an additive phenotype, but we did not find evidence of a genetic interaction in F1 nor biochemical interaction in yeast or in planta. NRB4 is predicted to be a subunit of Mediator, the ortholog of MED15 in Arabidopsis. Mechanistically, NRB4 functions downstream of NPR1 to regulate the SA response.
Solving Low-Frequency EM-CKT Problems Using the PEEC Method

The partial element equivalent circuit (PEEC) formulation is an integral equation based approach for the solution of combined electromagnetic and circuit (EM-CKT) problems. In this paper, the low-frequency behavior of the PEEC matrix is investigated. Traditional EM solution methods, like the method of moments, suffer from singularity of the system matrix due to the decoupling of the charge and currents at low frequencies. Remedial techniques for this problem, like loop-star decomposition, require detection of loops and therefore present a complicated problem with nonlinear time scaling for practical geometries with holes and handles. Furthermore, for an adaptive mesh of an electrically large structure, the low-frequency problem may still occur at certain finely meshed regions. A widespread application of loop-star basis functions for the entire mesh is counterproductive to the matrix conditioning. Therefore, it is necessary to preidentify regions of low-frequency ill conditioning, which in itself represents a complex problem. In contrast, the charge and current basis functions are separated in the PEEC formulation and the system matrix is formulated accordingly. The incorporation of the resistive loss (R) for conductors and dielectric loss (G) for the surrounding medium leads to better system matrix conditioning throughout the entire frequency spectrum, and it also leads to a clean dc solution. We demonstrate that the system matrix is well behaved from a full-wave solution at high frequencies to a pure resistive circuit solution at dc, thereby enabling dc-to-daylight simulations. Finally, these techniques are applied to remedy the low-frequency conditioning of the electric field integral equation matrix
Preterm Birth After the Utah Valley Steel Mill Closure: A Natural Experiment

Background: Prior studies have linked the Utah Valley Steel Mill closure that took place between August 1986 and September 1987 to improvements in several health outcomes. So-called natural experiments ease concerns over confounding and exposure misclassification, concerns that are common in studies of air pollution and pregnancy outcome. Methods: We compare birth outcomes for Utah mothers within and outside the Utah Valley, before, during, and after the mill closure. Results: Mothers who were pregnant around the time of the closure of the mill were less likely to deliver prematurely than mothers who were pregnant before or after; effects were strongest for exposure during the second trimester. Preterm birth within the Utah Valley did not change during the time of mill closure. No patterns for birth weight were observed. Conclusions: These results support other studies that have found effects on preterm birth of air pollution exposure early in pregnancy.
NIOBOKUPLETSKITE, A NEW ASTROPHYLLITE-GROUP MINERAL FROM MONT SAINT-HILAIRE, QUEBEC, CANADA: DESCRIPTION AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE

Niobokupletskite is a new member of the astrophyllite group found in nepheline syenite pegmatites at Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, in association with aegirine, albite, analcime, calcio-ancylite-(Ce), calcite, catapleiite, epididymite, fluorite, genthelvite, microcline, natrolite, pyrochlore, rhodochrosite and wurtzite. It is transparent, with a vitreous luster, brittle with a perfect {001} cleavage, and has an uneven to splintery fracture. Niobokupletskite is biaxial positive, α 1.718(1), β 1.733(1), γcalc 1.750(1), 2 V meas = 87(2)°. It is triclinic, P 1, a 5.4303(9), b 11.924(2), c 11.747(2) A, α 112.927(3), β 94.750(3), γ 103.175(3)°, V 669.5(3) A3. The average result of three electron-microprobe analyses is: Na2O 2.62, K2O 5.97, Rb2O 0.82, Cs2O 0.12, MgO 0.15, MnO 26.37, FeO 2.64, ZnO 4.08, Al2O3 1.14, TiO2 1.34, ZrO2 3.43, Nb2O5 12.13, Ta2O5 0.63, SiO2 31.85, F 0.14, H2O(calc.) 2.48, total 95.85 wt. %, corresponding to (K1.84Rb0.13Cs0.01)∑1.98Na0. 95 (Mn5.40Zn0.73Fe0.53Na0.28Mg0.05)∑6.99(Nb1.33Zr0.40Ti0.24Ta0.04)∑2.01 (Si7.71Al0.32)∑8.03 O26(OH)4.00(O0.89F0.11)∑1.00 on the basis of 31 anions, or, ideally, K2Na(Mn,Zn,Fe)7(Nb,Zr,Ti)2Si8O26(OH)4(O,F). Niobokupletskite is a heterophyllosilicate with a HOH -structure consisting of a sheet of close-packed octahedra ( O -sheet) sandwiched between two heterogeneous sheets ( H -sheets) with a Si:Nb ratio of 4:1. It forms a solid-solution series with kupletskite via the coupled substitution Ti4+ + F− or OH− ⇔ Nb5+ + O2−. Niobokupletskite is a postmagmatic phase and possibly the result of late-stage remobilization of Nb via late oxidized aqueous fluids.
Eviction Strategies for Semantic Flow Processing

In order to cope with the ever-increasing data volume continuous processing of incoming data via Semantic Flow Processing systems have been proposed. These systems allow to answer queries on streams of RDF triples. To achieve this goal they match (triple) patterns against the incoming stream and generate/update variable bindings. Yet, given the continuous nature of the stream the number of bindings can explode and exceed memory; in particular when computing aggregates. To make the information processing practical Semantic Flow Processing systems, therefore, typically limit the considered data to a (moving) window. Whilst this technique is simple it may not be able to find patterns spread further than the window or may still cause memory overruns when data is highly bursty. In this paper we propose to maintain bindings (and thus memory) not on recency (i.e., a window) but on the likelihood of contributing to a complete match. We propose to base the decision on the matching likelihood and not creation time (fifo) or at random. Furthermore we propose to drop variable bindings instead of data as do load shedding approaches. Specifically, we systematically investigate deterministic and the matching-likelihood based probabilistic eviction strategy for dropping variable bindings in terms of recall. We find that a matching likelihood based eviction can outperform fifo and random eviction strategies on synthetic as well as real world data.
State-based key management scheme for wireless sensor networks

In wireless sensor networks, the random key pre-distribution arises as the practical solution for sharing common keys between sensor nodes. Since sensor networks suffer from the resource constraints like limited memory space, key pre-distribution scheme should require less memory space as possible while supporting strong security strength, i.e., high resilience against node capture. However, the existing schemes still require a large number of keys for each sensor to carry. Although location information is facilitated as deployment knowledge for improvement, if two sensor nodes closely located each other have very low probability to be in active-state at the same time, unnecessary key assignments can be happened since keys shared only between them may be hardly used. In this paper, we propose a novel random key pre-distribution scheme that exploits new deployment knowledge, state of sensors, to avoid unnecessary key assignments and reduce the number of required keys that each sensor node should carry while supporting higher connectivity and better resilience against node captures. The analysis of our proposed scheme shows the better performance and security strength than the previous schemes
Genetic and Clinical Features of Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Types 1 and 2

Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) are clinical inherited syndromes affecting different endocrine glands. Three different patterns of MEN syndromes can occur (MEN 1, MEN 2A, and MEN 2B). MEN syndromes are very rare, affect all ages and both sexes are equally affected. MEN 1 is characterized by the neoplastic transformation of the parathyroid glands, pancreatic islets, anterior pituitary, and gastrointestinal tract. Heterozygous MEN 1 germline mutations have been detected in about 70–80% of patients with MEN 1. The mutations are scattered throughout the entire genomic sequence of the gene. MEN 1 patients are characterized by variable clinical features, thus suggesting the lack of a genotype-phenotype correlation. Therapeutical approaches are different according to the different endocrinopathies. The prognosis is generally good if adequate treatment is provided. In MEN 2 syndromes, the medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is almost invariably present and can be associated with pheochromocytoma (PHEO) and/or multiple adenomatosis of parathyroid glands with hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). The different combination of the endocrine neoplasia gives origin to 3 syndromes: MEN 2A, MEN 2B, and FMTC. The clinical course of MTC varies considerably in the three syndromes. It is very aggressive in MEN 2B, almost indolent in the majority of patients with FMTC and with variable degrees of aggressiveness in patients with MEN 2A. Activating germline point mutations of the RET protooncogene are present in 98% of MEN 2 families. A strong genotype-phenotype correlation has been observed and a specific RET mutation may be responsible for a more or less aggressive clinical course. The treatment of choice for primary MTC is total thyroidectomy with central neck lymph nodes dissection. Nevertheless, 30% of MTC patients, especially in MEN 2B and 2A, are not cured by surgery. Recently, developed molecular therapeutics that target the RET pathway have shown very promising activity in clinical trials of patients with advanced MTC. MEN 2 prognosis is strictly dependent on the MTC aggressiveness and thus on the success of the initial treatment.
Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences Current Progress in the Development of Therapeutic Vaccines for Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Review article Chronic hepatitis B is still a major public health issue despite the successful prophylactic vaccination attempts. Chronicity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is mainly due to its ability to debilitate host's immune system. Therefore, major measures have been taken to stop this process and help patients with chronic hepatitis B infection recover from their illness. While satisfactory results have been achieved using preventive HBV vaccines, a reliable and effective therapeutic treatment is still in need of extensive studies. Current treatments for chronic hepatitis B include direct antiviral agents and nucleoside/nucleotide analogs, which are not always effective and are also costly. In addition, due to the fact that chronic HBV is responsible for debilitation of the immune system, studies have focused on developing therapeutic vaccines to help host's immune system recover and limit the infection. Several approaches including but not restricted to recombinant peptide-based, DNA-based, viral vector-based, and cell-based approaches are currently in use to develop therapeutic vaccines against the chronic form of HBV infection. In the current review, the authors will first discuss the role of the immune system in chronic hepatitis B infection and will then focus on latest advancements in therapeutic vaccination of HBV especially the clinical trials that have been carried out so far. Current progress in the development of therapeutic vaccines for chronic hepatitis B virus infection.
The Challenges of Educational Leadership: Values in a Globalized Age.

The Book's Intentions Shifting Frames of Reference: The Need for Ecological Leadership PART ONE: SETTING THE CONTEXT The Global Challenge The Impact of Commodification and Fragmentation The Impact of Standardization and Control PART TWO: EXAMINING THE IMPACT The Impact on Trust The Impact on Truth and Meaning The Impact on Identity PART THREE: BEGINNING A RESPONSE Learning Communities in a World of Control and Fragmentation Professionals at the Crossroad Models of Educational Leadership
Algebraic Multigrid Based on Element Interpolation (AMGe)

We introduce AMGe, an algebraic multigrid method for solving the discrete equations that arise in Ritz-type finite element methods for partial differential equations. Assuming access to the element stiffness matrices, we have that AMGe is based on the use of two local measures, which are derived from global measures that appear in existing multigrid theory. These new measures are used to determine local representations of algebraically "smooth" error components that provide the basis for constructing effective interpolation and, hence, the coarsening process for AMG. Here, we focus on the interpolation process; choice of the coarse "grids" based on these measures is the subject of current research. We develop a theoretical foundation for AMGe and present numerical results that demonstrate the efficacy of the method.