Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Degree of Functionality and Perception of Health-Related Quality of Life in People with Moderate Stroke: Differences between Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Typology

Objectives The objectives of this pilot study were to analyze the functional differences and the differences regarding the perception of health-related quality of life between people affected by ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, respectively, and between these and their normative groups. Methods A pre-post design study was conducted with 30 patients aged 65 ± 15 during eight weeks. It assessed disability, mobility, and health-related quality of life. Exact nonparametric tests were used to compare both types of stroke, and t-tests and effect size estimates were employed to compare the stroke group and the normative group. Results At baseline, there were differences in disability (“getting along” domain), where a poorer result was obtained by the hemorrhagic stroke group, and in the “vitality” and “mental health” domains of the health-related quality of life test, where the ischemic group obtained poorer results. Both groups made significant progress in their health assessments and functionality after eight weeks, and no significant differences were found between them at that time. The scores obtained in both groups differed statistically from the normative values, both at baseline and at posttest. Conclusions Regardless of the stroke type, divergent results were only found in two domains, “vitality” and “mental health. ” There was an improvement over time, but the scores obtained were still lower than those observed in the normative group, which indicated that the participants' health was highly compromised. This study provides more information for faster rehabilitation after stroke; even so, more studies are needed.
Gambling and Pricing of Derivatives

We introduce a criterion how to price derivatives in incomplete markets, which is based on the theory of optimal strategies in repeated multiplicative games. Arguments are presented why such growth-optimal strategies should be relevant to the problem of pricing derivatives. Under the assumptions of no trading costs, and no restrictions on lending, we find an appropriate equivalent martingale measure that prices the underlying and the derivative securities. We compare our approach with other alternative pricing procedures in the literature. We also discuss the lognormal approximation to the compounded martingale measure over many time-steps, and its limits of applicability.
Multiprocessing with the Exokernel Operating System M. Frans Kaashoek Associate Professor Thesis Supervisor Jul 2 7 2000 Libraries Multiprocessing with the Exokernel Operating System

Exokernel is a minimal operating system kernel that safely multiplexes hardware resources, while leaving all system abstractions to applications. An exokernel exhibits better performance and offers more functionality because applications can provide optimized system abstractions, at the user-level, based on their needs. Current design of the exokernel system, however, does not support multiprocessor architectures. This thesis presents a symmetric multiprocessing exokernel and demonstrates that unprivileged library implementation of operating system abstractions is viable on a multiprocessor system. This thesis focus on three issues. First, it presents synchronization strategies used in kernel. Second, this thesis describes three new exokernel interfaces: message passing, kernel support for multithreading, and multiprocessor scheduling. Third, because exokernel applications do not trust each other, traditional synchronization primitives used to guard system abstractions, such as voluntary memory locks, do not function well. This thesis presents and evaluates a strategy for synchronization among untrusted processes. A multiprocessor exokernel and a synchronized library operating system result from this thesis. Performance analysis shows that the overheads of synchronization in both the kernel and the library operating system are small. Thesis Supervisor: M. Frans Kaashoek Title: Associate Professor I would like to thank members of the PDOS group at MIT LCS for their support and help over the past year and half on this thesis. Particularly, Frans, Robert, Chuck, and Dave. To all my friends and brothers at MIT and ZBT. To my parents. For Melina.
Activated Lymphocyte Recruitment Into the Tumor Microenvironment Following Preoperative Sipuleucel-T for Localized Prostate Cancer

Background Sipuleucel-T is a US Food and Drug Administration–approved immunotherapy for asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Its mechanism of action is not fully understood. This prospective trial evaluated the direct immune effects of systemically administered sipuleucel-T on prostatic cancer tissue in the preoperative setting. Methods Patients with untreated localized prostate cancer were treated on an open-label Phase II study of sipuleucel-T prior to planned radical prostatectomy (RP). Immune infiltrates in RP specimens (posttreatment) and in paired pretreatment biopsies were evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Correlations between circulating immune response and IHC were assessed using Spearman rank order. Results Of the 42 enrolled patients, 37 were evaluable. Adverse events were primarily transient, mild-to-moderate and infusion related. Patients developed T cell proliferation and interferon-γ responses detectable in the blood following treatment. Furthermore, a greater-than-three-fold increase in infiltrating CD3+, CD4+ FOXP3-, and CD8+ T cells was observed in the RP tissues compared with the pretreatment biopsy (binomial proportions: all P < .001). This level of T cell infiltration was observed at the tumor interface, and was not seen in a control group consisting of 12 concurrent patients who did not receive any neoadjuvant treatment prior to RP. The majority of infiltrating T cells were PD-1+ and Ki-67+, consistent with activated T cells. Importantly, the magnitude of the circulating immune response did not directly correlate with T cell infiltration within the prostate based upon Spearman’s rank order correlation. Conclusions This study is the first to demonstrate a local immune effect from the administration of sipuleucel-T. Neoadjuvant sipuleucel-T elicits both a systemic antigen-specific T cell response and the recruitment of activated effector T cells into the prostate tumor microenvironment.
Determinants of PhD student satisfaction: the roles of supervisor, department, and peer qualities

Abstract Understanding the determinants of PhD student satisfaction is likely to become increasingly vital for universities as student satisfaction rankings already ubiquitous at undergraduate and master degree levels extend more broadly to the PhD level. Moreover, as PhD student populations and university competition become increasingly transnational, there is a growing need to understand cross-nationally common determinants of satisfaction. Building on prior research into PhD student satisfaction, and drawing upon relevant conceptual and metrical refinements in the measurement of satisfaction from cognate domains of psychology, we use cross-sectional data (N = 409) from PhD candidates across the sciences, social sciences and humanities in 63 universities from 20 countries to examine how overall PhD student satisfaction is determined by, respectively and in combination, supervisor, department and peer-group, in terms of both their academic qualities and supportiveness. Taken together, we find that supervisor supportiveness is the greatest predictor of PhD student satisfaction, but that supervisor academic qualities have no significant effect. However, both the academic qualities and supportiveness of departments significantly predict PhD student satisfaction, suggesting university departments and PhD supervisors would ideally work jointly, and perhaps more closely than many currently do, to achieve competitive levels of PhD student satisfaction.
Does distance matter? An ego-network approach towards the knowledge-based view of cluster

The purpose of this chapter is to empirically analyze how different forms of proximity influence interactive learning and ease of knowledge transfer among entrepreneurs, in order to advance the knowledge-based theory of clusters. Making use of ego-network data, gathered among entrepreneurs from the Amsterdam IT and new media-cluster, the data lead us to reconsidering the role of geographical proximity as main catalyst of interactive learning and knowledge flow among entrepreneurs. A strong case is put forward for acknowledging other forms of proximity, namely relational, cognitive, and in particular epistemic proximity, as main facilitators of interactive learning and ease of knowledge transfer. 30
Cavity optomechanical coupling assisted by an atomic gas

We theoretically study a cavity filled with atoms, which provides the optical-mechanical interaction between the modified cavity photonic field and a oscillating mirror at one end. We show that the cavity field "dresses" these atoms, producing two types of polaritons, effectively enhancing the radiation pressure of the cavity field upon the oscillating mirror, as well as establishing an additional squeezing mode of the oscillating mirror. This squeezing produces an adiabatic entanglement, which is absent in usual vacuum cavities, between the oscillating mirror and the rest of the system. We analyze the entanglement and quantify it using the Loschmidt echo and fidelity.
Social media and e-commerce: A scientometrics analysis

Article history: Received: October 20, 2018 Received in revised format: January 25, 2019 Accepted: February 1, 2019 Available online: February 2, 2019 The purpose of this research is to investigate the status and the evolution of the scientific studies on the effect of social networks on e-commerce. The study seeks to address the status of a set of scientific productions of researchers in the world indexed in Scopus based on scientometrics indicators. In total, 1926 articles were found and the collected data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative indicators of scientometrics with bibliometrix R software package. The findings show that researches have grown exponentially since 2009 and the trend has continued at relatively stable rates. Thematic analysis shows that the subject had a significant but not well-developed research field . There is a high rate of cooperation with a rich research network among institutions in United States, European and Asian countries. Studies also show that research interest in this area is prevalent in developed countries. In addition, the lack of funds and complex analytical tools may be due to lack of studies in developing countries, especially in Africa. The study of the global trend of research through scientometrics helps managers and researchers in identifying countries and institutions with the greatest potential for scientific production, which allows them to develop their professions. © 2019 by the authors; licensee Growing Science, Canada.
Quantitative Identification of Compound‐Dependent On‐Modules and Differential Allosteric Modules From Homologous Ischemic Networks

Module‐based methods have made much progress in deconstructing biological networks. However, it is a great challenge to quantitatively compare the topological structural variations of modules (allosteric modules [AMs]) under different situations. A total of 23, 42, and 15 coexpression modules were identified in baicalin (BA), jasminoidin (JA), and ursodeoxycholic acid (UA) in a global anti‐ischemic mice network, respectively. Then, we integrated the methods of module‐based consensus ratio (MCR) and modified Zsummary module statistic to validate 12 BA, 22 JA, and 8 UA on‐modules based on comparing with vehicle. The MCRs for pairwise comparisons were 1.55% (BA vs. JA), 1.45% (BA vs. UA), and 1.27% (JA vs. UA), respectively. Five conserved allosteric modules (CAMs) and 17 unique allosteric modules (UAMs) were identified among these groups. In conclusion, module‐centric analysis may provide us a unique approach to understand multiple pharmacological mechanisms associated with differential phenotypes in the era of modular pharmacology.
Development of a Consistent and Reproducible Porcine Scald Burn Model

There are very few porcine burn models that replicate scald injuries similar to those encountered by children. We have developed a robust porcine burn model capable of creating reproducible scald burns for a wide range of burn conditions. The study was conducted with juvenile Large White pigs, creating replicates of burn combinations; 50°C for 1, 2, 5 and 10 minutes and 60°C, 70°C, 80°C and 90°C for 5 seconds. Visual wound examination, biopsies and Laser Doppler Imaging were performed at 1, 24 hours and at 3 and 7 days post-burn. A consistent water temperature was maintained within the scald device for long durations (49.8 ± 0.1°C when set at 50°C). The macroscopic and histologic appearance was consistent between replicates of burn conditions. For 50°C water, 10 minute duration burns showed significantly deeper tissue injury than all shorter durations at 24 hours post-burn (p ≤ 0.0001), with damage seen to increase until day 3 post-burn. For 5 second duration burns, by day 7 post-burn the 80°C and 90°C scalds had damage detected significantly deeper in the tissue than the 70°C scalds (p ≤ 0.001). A reliable and safe model of porcine scald burn injury has been successfully developed. The novel apparatus with continually refreshed water improves consistency of scald creation for long exposure times. This model allows the pathophysiology of scald burn wound creation and progression to be examined.
Using Information from the Programmer to Implement Shared-Memory Optimizations Without Violating Sequential Consistency

The memory consistency model of a shared-memory system is a formal specification of the semantics of sharedmemory. The most commonly assumed model, sequential consistency, provides simple semantics but is not easily amenable to high performance. This paper focuses on using information from the programmer to determine system optimizations that will not violate sequential consistency. Previous efforts on using this approach have involved an ad hoc process to postulate useful program information, and complex correctness proofs to confirm the optimizations enabled by the information. The ad hoc nature of this process also does not provide insight on possible future optimizations or useful program information. This paper develops a general framework to derive an explicit relationship (or mapping) between potential optimizations and the corresponding information. The mapping enables an easier exploration of optimizations for future systems. We apply our mapping to determine the information required for optimizations of out-of-order execution, non-atomic execution of writes, and elimination of acknowledgements. We also apply our mapping to common programming constructs for critical sections and producer-consumer interactions. Using known information about such constructs, we determine the optimizations that can be applied to the constructs without violating sequential consistency. For each application of our mapping, we discover optimizations not allowed by previous work in this area. For example, we show that locks can be executed in parallel with certain subsequent memory operations, and common producer signal operations can be reordered and executed non-atomically. To preserve the illusion of sequential consistency for programmers, we are restricted to using program information pertaining to only sequentially consistent executions of the program. To meet this restriction, we develop a precondition, called the control requirement, that systems must obey. To the best of our knowledge, current systems already obey the control requirement.
Wealth Shocks and Macroeconomic Dynamics

The effect of wealth on consumption is an issue of longstanding interest to economists. Analysts believe that fluctuations in household wealth have driven major swings in economic activity. This paper considers so-called wealth effects—the impact of changes in wealth on household consumption and the overall macroeconomy. There is an extensive existing literature on wealth effects, but there are also many unanswered issues and questions. This paper reviews the important issues regarding the role wealth plays in the macroeconomy and argues that there is a need for much more wealth effect research as well as better data sources for conducting such analysis.
The Prosody of Public Evidence inJapanese: A Rating Study

The correlation between Information Structure and prosody has been central in theoretical and experimental studies. In particular, many studies have shown that focus induces particular prosodic patterns cross-linguistically. In Japanese, for instance, pitch register of the words following a focused element is reduced (called ‘post-focus/focal reduction’ in Sugahara 2003 and Ishihara 2003, 2007; see also Tomioka 2009; Kitagawa 2005, 2006). Our study identifies a similar yet distinct kind of deaccentuation which can be regarded as a reflection of another semantic-pragmatic phenomenon, evidentiality.
High-dose-rate interstitial brachytherapy for mobile tongue cancer: preliminary results of a dose reduction trial

Purpose To compare the outcome of our facility with another about the shortened schedule (60 Gy in 10 fractions to 54 Gy in 9 fractions) of high-dose-rate interstitial brachytherapy (HDR ISBT) for mobile tongue cancer. Material and methods Eighteen patients were treated with HDR ISBT as a monotherapy in dose reduction schedule with some unique technique to determine the border of tumor accuracy (lugol's staining and metal marker), and to minimize adverse effect (lead-lined silicon block) at our facility. Results The 2-year local and regional control rates and cause-specific survival rate were 82%, 80%, and 83% and moderate to severe late complications occurred in five patients (28%), which were almost the same treatment results achieved by another facility. Conclusions We recommend 54 Gy in 9 fractions over 7 days as a feasible treatment to reduce patient discomfort in mobile tongue cancer patients.
Markov Random Field Image Models and Their Applications to Computer Vision

1. Introduction. Computer vision refers to a variety of applications involving a sensing device, a computer, and software for restoring and possibly interpreting the sensed data. Most commonly, visible light is sensed by a video camera and converted to an array of measured light intensities, each element corresponding to a small patch in the scene (a picture element, or "pixel"). The image is thereby "digitized," and this format is suitable for computer analysis. In some applications, the sensing mechanism responds to other forms of light, such as in infrared imaging where the camera is tuned to the invisible part of the spectrum neighboring the color red. Infrared light is emitted in proportion to temperature, and thus infrared imaging is suitable for detecting and analyzing the temperature profile of a scene. Applications include automated inspection in industrial settings, medical diagnosis, and targeting and tracking of military objects. In single photon emission tomography, as a diagnostic tool, individual photons, emitted from a "radiopharmaceutical" (isotope combined with a suitable pharmaceutical) are detected. The object is to reconstruct the distribution of isotope density inside the body from the externally-collected counts. Depending on the pharmaceutical, the isotope density may correspond to local blood flow ("perfusion") or local metabolic activity. Other applications of computer vision include satellite imaging for weather and crop yield prediction, radar imaging in military applications, ultrasonic imaging for industrial inspection and a host of medical applications, and there is a growing role for video imaging in robotics. The variety of applications has yielded an equal variety of algorithms for restoration and interpretation. Unfortunately, few general principals have emerged and no common foundation has been layed. Algorithms are by and-large-ad=hoet=they=are=typic^^ ically tuned to the particulars of the environment (lighting, weather conditions, magnification, and so on) in which they are implemented. It is likely that a
Metabolic Covariant Network in Relation to Nigrostriatal Degeneration in Carbon Monoxide Intoxication-Related Parkinsonism

Presence of parkinsonian features after carbon monoxide (CO) intoxication is well known and the severity was found to relate to the pre-synaptic dopaminergic deficits. There is no systemic study to analyse the functional network involved in CO-related Parkinsonism. Forty-five CO-related parkinsonism patients and 25 aged-matched controls completed the 3D T1-weighted imaging and 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was performed to assess the structural and functional brain differences between the patients and controls. Spatial covariant networks responsible for distinguishing patients and controls were constructed using independent component analysis. For validation, the pre-synaptic dopaminergic functional network was established by regression model using striatal TRODAT-1 SPECT as the independent variable. The clinical significance of both networks was determined by correlation with the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Compared with controls, the spatial covariant signals of FDG-PET were significantly lower in the medial and lateral frontal, caudate nucleus, dorsomedial prefrontal areas, and temporal-parietal regions while the spatial intensities correlated significantly with UPDRS total scores. The functional network that correlated with striatum pre-synaptic dopaminergic uptakes included the midbrain, thalamus, caudate, lateral frontal cortex, ventral striatum, ventral, or dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. Both networks overlapped considerably and the topographies reflected structural damage pattern. Our study provides evidence that glucose metabolism in CO-parkinsonism patients pertains to an organized covariant pattern in the cortical regions that is spatially coherent with the cortical map of pre-synaptic dopamine deficits. As the fronto-temporal, striatum, and temporal-parietal areas were involved, the unique metabolic covariant network suggests a different pathophysiology in CO-related parkinsonism.