Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A modified approach to professional learning communities in mathematics: Fostering teacher reflection around formative assessments of students’ thinking

A team of three third grade teachers utilized a modified approach to Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) based on principles and procedures that characterize Lesson Study to collaborate about their mathematics instruction. They gathered to design mathematical tasks and anticipate the thinking those tasks might elicit. Subsequent to facilitating lessons based on those tasks, they gathered again to compare the thinking they observed to the thinking they anticipated they would see, and then designed additional tasks informed by their observations. This paper reports on an investigation conducted by one of the teachers who assumed the role of a native, participant researcher as she qualitatively studied the nature of the teachers’ reflections as they collaborated on five occasions. The six domains of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) were used as a conceptual framework for analysis, particularly in looking for connections the teachers were making between or among MKT domains. Our analysis revealed that the teachers learned to consistently engage in very complex thinking that involved interconnected webs representing multiple MKT domains. Furthermore, evidence suggests that the construction of these webs influenced changes in teacher perspectives on the nature of mathematics teaching and learning and produced an increased interest and ability in “making serious use of student thinking,” (p. 11). Such an approach to conducting PLCs appears to possess some potential as a grass roots means of promoting mathematics education reform.
Methylation-driven gene DLL3 is a potential prognostic biomarker in ocular melanoma correlating with metastasis

Background Ocular melanoma is an aggressive malignancy with a high rate of metastasis and poor prognosis. Increasing evidence indicated that DNA methylation plays an important role in the occurrence and development of ocular melanoma. Hence, exploring new diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers at the genetic level may be beneficial to the prognosis of patients with ocular melanoma. Methods We collected DNA methylation and gene expression profiles of human UM (uveal melanoma) and CM (conjunctival melanoma) samples from various datasets. We conducted differential methylation and expression analyses to screen the potential biomarkers. Correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationships between the expression level of DLL3 (delta-like protein 3) and the methylation level of its corresponding CpGs. We explored the prognostic and diagnostic value of DLL3 in UM and CM. Functional annotation and GSEA (gene set enrichment analysis) were applied to get insight into the possible biological roles of DLL3. A cohort of 60 ocular melanoma patients as well as UM and CM cell lines were used to validate our findings in bioinformatic analyses. Results We found that DLL3 was a methylation-driven gene correlating with UM metastasis. The CpGs of DLL3 are mainly located in the gene body and their methylation level positively correlated to DLL3 expression. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that DLL3 was an independent protective factor for UM patients. High DLL3 expression significantly prolonged the overall survival and disease-free survival of UM patients. DLL3 also showed a promising power to distinguish CM from normal tissues. Functional annotation exhibited that DLL3 may suppress UM progression through modulating immune activities and down-regulating various signaling pathways. External datasets, biospecimens, and cell lines further validated the aberrant expression and prognostic role of DLL3 in ocular melanoma. Conclusion Methylation-driven gene DLL3 could serve as a new potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in ocular melanoma. Our findings may contribute to improving the clinical outcomes of patients with UM or CM.
Computational genomics insights into cold acclimation in wheat

Development of cold acclimation in crops involves transcriptomic reprograming, metabolic shift, and physiological changes. Cold responses in transcriptome and lipid metabolism has been examined in separate studies for various crops. In this study, integrated computational approaches was employed to investigate the transcriptomics and lipidomics data associated with cold acclimation and vernalization in four wheat genotypes of distinct cold tolerance. Differential expression was investigated between cold treated and control samples and between the winter-habit and spring-habit wheat genotypes. Collectively, 12,676 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Principal component analysis of these DEGs indicated that the first, second, and third principal components (PC1, PC2, and PC3) explained the variance in cold treatment, vernalization and cold hardiness, respectively. Differential expression feature extraction (DEFE) analysis revealed that the winter-habit wheat genotype Norstar had high number of unique DEGs (1884 up and 672 down) and 63 winter-habit genes, which were clearly distinctive from the 64 spring-habit genes based on PC1, PC2 and PC3. Correlation analysis revealed 64 cold hardy genes and 39 anti-hardy genes. Cold acclimation encompasses a wide spectrum of biological processes and the involved genes work cohesively as revealed through network propagation and collective association strength of local subnetworks. Integration of transcriptomics and lipidomics data revealed that the winter-habit genes, such as COR413-TM1, CIPKs and MYB20, together with the phosphatidylglycerol lipids, PG(34:3) and PG(36:6), played a pivotal role in cold acclimation and coordinated cohesively associated subnetworks to confer cold tolerance.
Dragon fruit detection in natural orchard environment by integrating lightweight network and attention mechanism

An improved lightweight network (Improved YOLOv5s) was proposed based on YOLOv5s in this study to realise all-weather detection of dragon fruit in a complex orchard environment. A ghost module was introduced in the original YOLOv5s to realise the lightweight of the model. The coordinate attention mechanism was joined to make the model accurately locate and identify the dense dragon fruits. A bidirectional feature pyramid network was built to improve the detection effect of dragon fruit at different scales. SIoU loss function was adopted to improve the convergence speed during model training. The improved YOLOv5s model was used to detect a dragon fruit dataset collected in the natural environment. Results showed that the mean average precision (mAP), precision (P) and recall (R) of the model was 97.4%, 96.4% and 95.2%, respectively. The model size, parameters (Params) and floating-point operations (FLOPs) were 11.5 MB, 5.2 M and 11.4 G, respectively. Compared with the original YOLOv5s network, the model size, Params and FLOPs of the improved model was reduced by 20.6%, 18.75% and 27.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, the mAP of the improved model was improved by 1.1%. The results prove that the improved model had a more lightweight structure and better detection performance. Moreover, the average precision (AP) of the improved YOLOv5s for dragon fruit under the front light, back light, side light, cloudy day and night was 99.5%, 97.3%, 98.5%, 95.5% and 96.1%, respectively. The detection performance met the requirements of all-weather detection of dragon fruit and the improved model had good robustness. This study provides a theoretical basis and technical support for fruit monitoring based on unmanned aerial vehicle technology and intelligent picking based on picking robot technology.
Resting-state functional connectivity alteration in elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis and declined cognition: An observational study

Objective This study is designed to investigate the brain function changed regions in elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and to explore the relationship between neuropsychological tests and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) network to clarify the possible mechanism underlying cognitive changes in KOA patients. Materials and methods Fifty-two patients aged ≥ 65 with KOA and twenty-two healthy-matched controls were recruited in this study. All participants were given rs-fMRI check. We used graph theory analysis to characterize functional connectivity (FC) and topological organization of the brain structural network. The relationship between FC values, topological properties, and the neuropsychological test scores was analyzed. Results Compared with the controls, fourteen edges with lower functional connectivity were noted in the KOA group. Local efficiency and small-worldness of KOA patients decreased compared to the healthy controls. No significant alterations of nodal topological properties were found between the two groups. There was a significant positive correlation between the AVLT-H (L) and the internetwork of default mode network (DMN) (left/right orbitofrontal Superior cortex) and limbic/cortical areas (left/right caudate, right amygdala). AVLT-H(L) was positively correlated with small-worldness and local efficiency. Conclusion The results indicated that for elderly KOA patients with declined cognition, topological properties, FC between DMN and subcortical limbic network related regions are significantly decreased compared to healthy controls. These alterations demonstrated a significant correlation with the neuropsychological test scores.
The potential of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of foxtail and broomcorn millets for investigating ancient farming systems

Foxtail and broomcorn millets are the most important crops in northern China since the early Neolithic. However, little evidence is available on how people managed these two crops in the past, especially in prehistory. Previous research on major C3 crops in western Eurasia demonstrated the potential of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of charred archaeobotanical remains to reveal the management of water and manure, respectively. Here, we evaluate the feasibility of a similar approach to C4 millets. Foxtail and broomcorn millet plants grown in pots in a greenhouse under different manuring and watering regimes were analysed to test the effects of management on stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of grains. Stable nitrogen isotope values of both millets increased as manuring level increased, ranging from 1.7 ‰ to 5.8 ‰ in different conditions; hence, it appears a feasible tool to identify manuring practices, in agreement with results from recent field studies. However, the two millets exhibit opposing trends in stable carbon isotope values as watering level increased. The shift in stable carbon isotope values of millets is also smaller than that observed in wheat grown in the same experimental environment, making it difficult to identify millet water status archaeologically. In addition, we charred millet grains at different temperatures and for varying durations to replicate macro-botanical remains recovered archaeologically, and to evaluate the offsets in carbon and nitrogen isotope values induced by charring. We found that the stable nitrogen isotope values of foxtail millet and broomcorn millet can shift up to 1–2 ‰ when charred, while the stable carbon isotope values change less than 0.3 ‰. Overall, we demonstrate that stable nitrogen isotope values of charred foxtail and broomcorn millet seeds could provide insight into past field management practices, and both carbon and nitrogen isotope values can together inform palaeodietary reconstruction.
The correlation of temporal changes of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio with seizure severity and the following seizure tendency in patients with epilepsy

Background Changes in the neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been reported to be associated with epilepsy. Here we aim to investigate the correlation of temporal changes of NLR level with seizure severity and the follow-up seizure attacks in patients with epilepsy (PWE). Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of the laboratory data including leukocyte count and NLR within 24 h of acute seizure and during the follow-up period of 5–14 days after acute seizure (NLR1, NLR2, respectively) in 115 PWE, and 98 healthy individuals were included as controls in this study. The correlation of laboratory data with seizure types, etiology of epilepsy, anti-seizure drugs (ASDs), seizure severity, and the follow-up seizure attacks in PWE was studied. Results Leukocyte count (P < 0.001) and NLR level (P < 0.001) were found significantly different between PWE and controls. On the other hand, a multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that NLR1 level (OR = 2.992, P = 0.001) and admission leukocyte (OR = 2.307, P = 0.002) were both independently associated with acute epileptic seizures. Especially, higher NLR1 level was significantly associated with status epileptics (P = 0.013) and recurrent seizures after admission (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that higher NLR1 was a predictor for the tendency of the following recurrent seizure attacks (OR = 1.144, P = 0.002). NLR2 was inversely correlated with ASDs taken (P = 0.011). Levels of NLR1 (r = 0.441, P < 0.001) and NLR2 (r = 0.241, P = 0.009) were both positively correlated with seizure severity. Conclusions Seizures were correlated with the alterations of systemic inflammation reflected by leukocyte and NLR. NLR1 and admission leukocyte were both independently associated with acute epileptic seizures. Higher NLR1 was associated with status epilepticus and independently predicted the tendency of the following epileptic seizures. NLR2 was significantly associated with ASDs taken. Besides, NLR may be used as a biomarker for seizure severity.
Metabolic folate profiling as a function of time during cultivation suggests potential C2-metabolism in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Yeasts are reported to be rich in folates, a group of vitamers known to be involved in several biosynthetic reactions such as methylation reactions, oxidation and reduction processes, and nucleotide synthesis. Not being able to synthesize folates, humans rely on external folate supply. Here, we show the application of LC/MS-MS methods using SIDA (stable isotope dilution analysis) assays for the quantitative analysis of different folate mono- and polyglutamates during growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Molecular networking (MN) was applied for detailed analysis of further folate metabolites. Highest folate contents of 13,120 μg/100 g were observed after 20 h of cultivation. The main vitamers 5-CH3-H4folate and H4folate decreased during cultivation, while 5-CHO-H4folate increased during cultivation. The hexa- and heptaglutamate of 5-CH3-H4folate accounted for >96% of the total 5-CH3-H4folate content. A shift of the major polyglutamate from hexa- to heptaglutamate was observed after 29 h. MN unraveled two groups of novel folates which could be assigned to a potentially existing C2-metabolism in yeast. In detail, 5,10-ethenyl-tetrahydrofolate and a further CO-substituted 5-CH3-H4folate were identified as hexa- and heptaglutamates. The latter was neither identified as 5-acetyl-tetrahydrofolate nor as EthylFox, the oxidation product of 5-ethyl-tetrahydrofolate. The structure needs to be elucidated in future studies.
MERP: Motifs enhanced network embedding based on edge reweighting preprocessing

Network embedding has attracted a lot of attention in different fields recently. It represents nodes in a network into a low-dimensional and dense space while preserving the structural properties of the network. Some methods (e.g. motif2Vec, RUM, and MODEL) have been proposed to preserve the higher-order structures, i.e., motifs in embedding space, and they have obtained better results in some downstream network analysis tasks. However, there still exists a significant challenge because original motifs may include redundant noise edges, and embedding entire motifs into embedding space may adversely affect the performance in downstream tasks. To overcome this problem, we propose a motifs enhancement framework for network embedding, based on edge reweighting. Through edge reweighting, the weight of redundant noise edges between motifs is decreased. Therefore, the effect of redundant noise edges will be reduced in the embedding space. We apply the edge reweighting as a preprocessing phase in network embedding, and construct the motifs enhanced network by incorporating enhanced motifs structures with the original network. By doing this, the embedding vectors from the motifs enhanced network can achieve better performance in downstream network analysis tasks. Extensive experiments are performed on two network analysis tasks (community detection and node classification) with synthetic and real-world datasets. The results show that our framework outperforms state-of-the-art network embedding methods.
Functional connectivity of brain networks during semantic processing in older adults

The neural systems underlying semantic processing have been characterized with functional neuroimaging in young adults. Whether the integrity of these systems degrade with advanced age remains unresolved. The current study examined functional connectivity during abstract and concrete word processing. Thirty-eight adults, aged 55–91, engaged in semantic association decision tasks during a mixed event-related block functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm. During the semantic trials, the task required participants to make a judgment as to whether pairs were semantically associated. During the rhyme trials, the task required participants to determine if non-word pairs rhymed. Seeds were placed in putative semantic hubs of the left anterior middle temporal gyrus (aMTG) and the angular gyrus (AG), and also in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), an area considered important for semantic control. Greater connectivity between aMTG, AG, and IFG and multiple cortical areas occurred during semantic processing. Connectivity from the three seeds differed during semantic processing: the left AG and aMTG were strongly connected with frontal, parietal, and occipital areas bilaterally, whereas the IFG was most strongly connected with other frontal cortical areas and the AG in the ipsilateral left hemisphere. Notably, the strength and extent of connectivity differed for abstract and concrete semantic processing; connectivity from the left aMTG and AG to bilateral cortical areas was greater during abstract processing, whereas IFG connectivity with left cortical areas was greater during concrete processing. With advanced age, greater connectivity occurred only between the left AG and supramarginal gyrus during the processing of concrete word-pairs, but not abstract word-pairs. Among older adults, robust functional connectivity of the aMTG, AG, and IFG to widely distributed bilateral cortical areas occurs during abstract and concrete semantic processing in a manner consistent with reports from past studies of young adults. There was not a significant degradation of functional connectivity during semantic processing between the ages of 55 and 85 years. As the study focused on semantic functioning in older adults, a comparison group of young adults was not included, limiting generalizability. Future longitudinal neuroimaging studies that compare functional connectivity of young and older adults under different semantic demands will be valuable.
Topical application of the plant extract SDTL-E in ovariectomized rats: A potential new approach for treating osteoporosis

Current osteoporosis medications have drawbacks of causing side effects and having slow onset, therefore developing osteoporosis drugs with faster onset and less side effects is essential. This study investigated the effects of the natural plant extract, SDTL-E, in ovariectomized (OVX)-induced osteoporosis rats. Rats were randomly assigned to sham operation control group (Control Group); OVX rat model group (Model Group) or OVX rat SDTL-E treatment group (SDTL-E Group). All groups underwent ovariectomy, but the Control Group did not have the ovaries removed. SDTL-E Group was treated with SDTL-E, Model and Control Groups were treated with vegetable oil, treatments were topically applied twice daily for 20 days. Results showed when compared with Model Group, SDTL-E Group significantly restored serum estradiol back to near Control Group level, serum ALP activity, serum and urinary calcium were significantly decreased, bone mechanics indicators increased and trabecular bone numbers slightly increased. These results demonstrated 20 days of SDTL-E topical treatment improved bone strength and trabecular bone structure in OVX-induced osteoporosis rats. The underlying mechanisms include restoring estradiol level, reducing bone turnover, net bone resorption, bone calcium loss, and calcium excretion through kidney. These findings suggest topical application of plant extract is a potential new approach with quick efficacy for treating osteoporosis.
Effect of treatment zone decentration on axial length growth after orthokeratology

Objective To study the effect of treatment zone (TZ) decentration on axial length growth (ALG) in adolescents after wearing the orthokeratology lenses (OK lenses). Materials and methods This retrospective clinical study selected 251 adolescents who were fitted OK lenses at the Clinical College of Ophthalmology, Tianjin Medical University (Tianjin, China) from January 2018–December 2018 and wore them continuously for >12 months. The age of the subjects was 8–15 years, spherical equivalent (SE): −1.00 to −5.00 diopter (D), and astigmatism ≤ 1.50 D. The corneal topography were recorded at baseline and 1-, 6-, and 12-month visits, and the axial length (AL) were recorded at baseline and 6-, 12-month visits. The data of the right eye were collected for statistical analysis. Results The subjects were divided into three groups according to the decentration distance of the TZ after wearing lenses for 1 month: 56 cases in the mild (<0.5 mm), 110 in the moderate (0.5–1.0 mm), and 85 in the severe decentration group (>1.0 mm). A significant difference was detected in the ALG between the three groups after wearing lenses for 6 and 12 months (F = 10.223, P < 0.001; F = 13.380, P < 0.001, respectively). Among these, the 6- and 12-month ALG of the mild decentration group was significantly higher than that of the other two groups. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that age, baseline SE, and 1-month decentration distance associated with the 12-month ALG (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, and P = 0.001, respectively). Conclusion The decentration of the TZ of the OK lens affected the growth of the AL in adolescents, i.e., the greater the decentration, the slower the ALG.
On the double object construction

Etude des complements d'attribution, en anglais, dans le cadre de la theorie du liage et du gouvernement. L'auteur montre qu'on peut etablir un parallele entre ce complement et la transformation passive, et discute la structure de la complementation a l'interieur du VP