Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Robotic Identification of Kinesthetic Deficits After Stroke

Background and Purpose— Kinesthesia, the sense of body motion, is essential to proper control and execution of movement. Despite its importance for activities of daily living, no current clinical measures can objectively measure kinesthetic deficits. The goal of this study was to use robotic technology to quantify prevalence and severity of kinesthetic deficits of the upper limb poststroke. Methods— Seventy-four neurologically intact subjects and 113 subjects with stroke (62 left-affected, 51 right-affected) performed a robot-based kinesthetic matching task with vision occluded. The robot moved the most affected arm at a preset speed, direction, and magnitude. Subjects were instructed to mirror-match the movement with their opposite arm (active arm). Results— A large number of subjects with stroke were significantly impaired on measures of kinesthesia. We observed impairments in ability to match movement direction (69% and 49% impaired for left- and right-affected subjects, respectively) and movement magnitude (42% and 31%). We observed impairments to match movement speed (32% and 27%) and increased response latencies (48% and 20%). Movement direction errors and response latencies were related to clinical measures of function, motor recovery, and dexterity. Conclusions— Using a robotic approach, we found that 61% of acute stroke survivors (n=69) had kinesthetic deficits. Additionally, these deficits were highly related to existing clinical measures, suggesting the importance of kinesthesia in day-to-day function. Our methods allow for more sensitive, accurate, and objective identification of kinesthetic deficits after stroke. With this information, we can better inform clinical treatment strategies to improve poststroke rehabilitative care and outcomes.
The Association of Preschool Enrollment and the Predictive Traits of Special Education Identification

ii Acknowledgements.iv Chapter One.1 Need for Early Education in Literacy, Math, Music and Play.2 Response to Intervention and Special Education.6 Problem Statement.8 Purpose of the Study.12 Research Questions.14 Organization of the Study.16 Chapter Two.19 Introduction.19 Historical Overview of Early Childhood Education.19 Historical Overview of Early Childhood Special Education. 22 Demographic Factors Related to Preschool Enrollment.28 Predictive Factors of School Readiness.41 Examining ECE Longitudinal Outcomes.51 Chapter Three.57 Introduction.57 Colorado ECE Programming, Population and Sample.57 Restatement of the Research Questions.67 Rationale.68 Research Design.70 Research Analysis.71 Data Collection and Confidentiality.74 Anticipated Limitations.77 Chapter Four.78 Introduction.78 Descriptive and Inferential Statistics.78 Cross-Tabulation.79 Chi-Square Test.79 Logistic Regression.80 Description of Data Analyzed.81 Variables. 82 Data Preparation.83 Data Inclusion Dates. 88 Research Question One Results. 88 Research Question Two Results. 93 vi Chapter Five.104 Introduction. 104 Significance for Students, Policy and Practice Implications. 104 Interpretation of Key Findings. 107 Limitations and Ethical Considerations. 109 Recommendations for Future Research. 112 Conclusion. 114 References. 118 Appendices.136 Appendix A. 136 Appendix B. 145 Appendix C. 146 Appendix D. 147 Appendix E. 159 Appendix F.160 Appendix G. 164 Appendix H. 165
Factors Effecting Ethanol Fermentation Via Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation

A study to determine the optimal operating conditions to convert cellulosic biomass into ethanol during enzymatic hydrolysis and microbial fermentation. Abstract Biomass is becoming an increasingly popular source for alternative energy. Cellulosic biomass, an alternative to petroleum, is comprised of a molecule called lignocellulose. In order to be fermented into ethanol, lignocellulose must be broken down into glucose chains. This process requires several intermediate steps which are time consuming, costly, and relatively ineffective. This project studied simultaneous saccharification and fermentation, an alternative process to break down lignocellulose whereby all the intermediate processes were conducted simultaneously while undergoing microbial yeast fermentation. Temperature, substrate concentration and pH factors of fermentation were studied to determine the optimal operating conditions for this process. The optimal conditions were determined to be 35°C, 40 g/L of glucose, and a pH of 4.5.
Multisensory Stimulation Can Induce an Illusion of Larger Belly Size in Immersive Virtual Reality

Background Body change illusions have been of great interest in recent years for the understanding of how the brain represents the body. Appropriate multisensory stimulation can induce an illusion of ownership over a rubber or virtual arm, simple types of out-of-the-body experiences, and even ownership with respect to an alternate whole body. Here we use immersive virtual reality to investigate whether the illusion of a dramatic increase in belly size can be induced in males through (a) first person perspective position (b) synchronous visual-motor correlation between real and virtual arm movements, and (c) self-induced synchronous visual-tactile stimulation in the stomach area. Methodology Twenty two participants entered into a virtual reality (VR) delivered through a stereo head-tracked wide field-of-view head-mounted display. They saw from a first person perspective a virtual body substituting their own that had an inflated belly. For four minutes they repeatedly prodded their real belly with a rod that had a virtual counterpart that they saw in the VR. There was a synchronous condition where their prodding movements were synchronous with what they felt and saw and an asynchronous condition where this was not the case. The experiment was repeated twice for each participant in counter-balanced order. Responses were measured by questionnaire, and also a comparison of before and after self-estimates of belly size produced by direct visual manipulation of the virtual body seen from the first person perspective. Conclusions The results show that first person perspective of a virtual body that substitutes for the own body in virtual reality, together with synchronous multisensory stimulation can temporarily produce changes in body representation towards the larger belly size. This was demonstrated by (a) questionnaire results, (b) the difference between the self-estimated belly size, judged from a first person perspective, after and before the experimental manipulation, and (c) significant positive correlations between these two measures. We discuss this result in the general context of body ownership illusions, and suggest applications including treatment for body size distortion illnesses.
EXPERIMENTAL EMOTIONAL DISORDERS IN EPILEPSY AND THE IMPLICATION OF MUSCARINIC ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTORS: A FORGOTTEN PUTATIVE THERAPEUTIC TARGET

Over the last decades it has been observed a major breakthrough in the development of new drugs in the treatment of emotional disorders. Despite this evolutionary framework, the neurobiological mechanisms involved in anxiety process are poorly understood and new approaches are still required, taking into account the resistance to therapies and therapeutic side-effects. Despite the clear involvement of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChR) in the modulation of synaptic transmission and its role in controlling experimental epileptogenesis and emotional outcomes, little attention has been paid to this neurotransmitter system and its feasible action in the treatment of pathological processes. In this sense, the present review aims to shed light on this important, but not deeply explored receptor system in the control of experimental epilepsy and anxiety, besides discussing its implementation in translational studies.
Main influencing factors and health-related quality of life issues in patients with oesophago-gastric cancer – as measured by EORTC tools

Aim of the study To assess influencing factors and main health-related quality of life (HRQoL) issues in patients with cancers of the oesophago-gastric region using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality of life questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and its oesophago-gastric module (QLQ-OG25). Material and methods Patients were qualified for this study based on the histological confirmation of oesophageal, oesophago-gastric or gastric cancers. Each patient filled out the Polish version of the EORTC QLQ-C30, the QLQ-OG25 module and a personal questionnaire. Patients were divided into groups based on gender, age, treatment intention, tumour localization, working status and level of education. Results Our study included 112 patients – 39 women (35%) and 73 men (mean age ± SD; 60.2 ±10.9). Thirty-five patients (31.3%) completed the questionnaires twice. Eighty-four (75%) patients had gastric cancer (GC), twenty-six (23.2%) oesophageal cancer (OC) and two (1.8%) cancer of the oesophago-gastric junction (OGJC). Eighty (71.4%) patients underwent surgical treatment prior to either chemo-, radio- or chemoradiotherapy. The Global Health Status scale of the QLQ-C30 inversely correlated with all the other QLQ-C30 and QLQ-OG25 symptom scales (r = –0.26 to –0.61; p < 0.05). Conclusions The main HRQoL problems of Polish OC, OGJC and GC patients are fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, and appetite and weight loss. Older age, receiving palliative treatment, having gastric cancer, being on retirement and having lower education are factors associated with higher symptom scores (worse symptoms) and thus poorer HRQoL.
Spatial Integration at Multiple Scales: Rice Markets in Madagascar

The dramatic increase in the price of rice and other commodities over the past year has generated new interest in how these markets work and how they can be improved. This article uses an exceptionally rich data set to test the extent to which markets in Madagascar are integrated across space at different scales of analysis and to explain some of the factors that limit spatial arbitrage and price equalization within a single country. We use rice price data across four quarters of 2000–2001 along with data on transportation costs and infrastructure availability for nearly 1,400 communes in Madagascar to examine the extent of market integration at three different spatial scales—subregional, regional, and national—and to determine whether non-integration is due to high transfer costs or lack of competition. The results indicate that markets are fairly well integrated at the subregional level and that factors such as high crime rates, remoteness, and lack of information are among the factors limiting competition.
Energy-Infeasibility Tradeoff in Cognitive Radio Networks: Price-Driven Spectrum Access Algorithms

We study the feasibility of the total power minimization problem subject to power budget and Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR) constraints in cognitive radio networks. As both the primary and the secondary users are allowed to transmit simultaneously on a shared spectrum, uncontrolled access of secondary users degrades the performance of primary users and can even lead to system infeasibility. To find the largest feasible set of secondary users (i.e., the system capacity) that can be supported in the network, we formulate a vector-cardinality optimization problem. This nonconvex problem is however hard to solve, and we propose a convex relaxation heuristic based on the sum-of-infeasibilities in optimization theory. Our methodology leads to the notion of admission price for spectrum access that can characterize the tradeoff between the total energy consumption and the system capacity. Price-driven algorithms for joint power and admission control are then proposed that quantify the benefits of energy-infeasibility balance. Numerical results are presented to show that our algorithms are theoretically sound and practically implementable.
WEIGHING THE BALANCED SCORECARD: AN EXAMINATION OF RELEVANT RESEARCH

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) has evolved from a performance measurement tool to become a widely accepted strategic management system. This paper examines relevant research as it relates to the most pressing methodological and outcome issues surrounding the BSC and concludes that potential issues in each area can be traced back to its concept generation through innovation action research.
Brand personality, brand equity and revisit intention: an empirical study of a tourist destination in Iran

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how brand personality and brand equity affect intentions to revisit a city tourism destination. Design/methodology/approach Statistical population of this research consisted of those visitors who traveled to Pool city in Iran during Spring 2015. A structural equation model test with maximum likelihood estimation was performed to test the relationship among the research variables using 367 participants. Findings The empirical results from the structural model suggest that brand personality and brand equity positively influenced revisit intention. Furthermore, brand personality was a direct antecedent of brand equity. Originality/value An integrated model of brand personality, brand equity and revisit intention was tested in a tourism city in the context of a developing economy. The combination of a developing country context and the significance of destination brand enhance the contextual contribution of the paper.
The Seiberg-Witten equations on end-periodic manifolds and positive scalar curvature metrics

By studying the Seiberg-Witten equations on end-periodic manifolds, we give an obstruction on the existence of positive scalar curvature metric on compact $4$-manifolds with the same homology as $S^{1}\times S^{3}$. This obstruction is given in terms of the relation between the Fr{\o}yshov invariant of the generator of $H_{3}(X;Z)$ with the $4$-dimensional Casson invariant $\lambda_{SW}(X)$ defined by Mrowka-Ruberman-Saveliev. Along the way, we develop a framework that can be useful in further study of the Seiberg-Witten theory on general end-periodic manifolds.
Maintenance of improved lipid levels following attendance at a cardiovascular risk reduction clinic: a 10-year experience

Background: Specialty cardiovascular risk reduction clinics (CRRC) increase the proportion of patients attaining recommended lipid targets; however, it is not known if the benefits are sustained after discharge. We evaluated the impact of a CRRC on lipid levels and assessed the long-term effect of a CRRC in maintaining improved lipid levels following discharge. Methods: The medical records of consecutive dyslipidemic patients discharged ×6 months from a tertiary hospital CRRC from January 1991 to January 2001 were retrospectively reviewed. The primary outcome was the change in patients’ lipid levels between the final CRRC visit and the most recent primary care follow-up. A worst-case analysis was conducted to evaluate the potential impact of the patients in whom the follow-up lipid profiles post-discharge from the CRRC were not obtained. Results: Within the CRRC (median follow-up = 1.28 years in 1064 patients), we observed statistically significant improvements in all lipid parameters. In the 411 patients for whom post-discharge lipid profiles were available (median follow-up = 2.41 years), there were no significant differences observed in low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, total cholesterol (TC), or triglycerides since CRRC discharge; however, there were small improvements in high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and TC:HDL ratio (p < 0.05 for both). The unadjusted worst-case analysis (653 patients with no follow-up lipid profiles) demonstrated statistically significant worsening of all lipid parameters between CRRC discharge and the most recent follow-up. However, when the change in lipid parameters between the baseline and the most recent follow-up was assessed in this analysis, the changes in all lipid parameters were significantly improved (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrates that a CRRC can improve lipid levels and suggests that these benefits are sustained once patients are returned to the care of their primary physician.
Modeling a methylmalonic acid-derived change point for serum vitamin B-12 for adults in NHANES.

BACKGROUND No consensus exists about which cutoff point should be applied for serum vitamin B-12 (SB-12) concentrations to define vitamin B-12 status in population-based research. OBJECTIVE The study's aim was to identify whether a change point exists at which the relation between plasma methylmalonic acid (MMA) and SB-12 changes slope to differentiate between inadequate and adequate vitamin B-12 status by using various statistical models. DESIGN We used data on adults (≥19 y; n = 12,683) from NHANES 1999-2004-a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey. We evaluated 6 piece-wise polynomial and exponential decay models that used different control levels for known covariates. RESULTS The MMA-defined change point for SB-12 varied depending on the statistical model used. A linear-splines model was determined to best fit the data, as determined by the approximate permutation test; 3 slopes relating SB-12 and MMA and resulting in 2 change points and 3 subgroups were shown. The first group (SB-12 <126 pmol/L) was small and had the highest MMA concentration (median: 281 nmol/L; 95% CI: 245, 366 nmol/L; n = 157, 1.2%); many in this group could be considered at high risk of severe deficiency because combined abnormalities of MMA and homocysteine were very frequent and the concentrations themselves were significantly higher. The highest SB-12 group (SB-12 >287 pmol/L; n = 8569, 67.6%) likely had adequate vitamin B-12 status (median MMA: 120 nmol/L; 95% CI: 119, 125 nmol/L). The vitamin B-12 status of the sizable intermediate group (n = 3957, 33%) was difficult to interpret. CONCLUSIONS The 3 distinct slopes for the relation between SB-12 and MMA challenges the conventional use of one cutoff point for classifying vitamin B-12 status. In epidemiologic research, the use of one cutoff point would fail to separate the small, severely deficient group from the intermediate group that has neither normal nor clearly deficient vitamin B-12 concentrations (ie, unknown vitamin B-12 status). This intermediate group requires further characterization.
The neural bases of attentive reading

Recent studies have suggested that attention facilitates the formation of synchronous neural assemblies in the γ range (>40 Hz) to amplify behaviorally relevant signals. Whether this mechanism is general or confined to sensory cortices is still a matter of debate, since there is little evidence of a direct link between attention and increased γ synchronization in high‐level brain regions. We recorded the intracerebral EEG of 10 epileptic patients while manipulating their attention during reading, and compared the neural responses to attended and unattended words. Visual presentation of attended words induced γ band responses in the major brain regions associated with reading and those responses were attenuated for unattended words. The attenuation was not uniform within the reading network but followed a gradient from the posterior visual to the frontal areas. Altogether, these results support the view that the γ band response can be used as a quantitative marker of attention. Hum Brain Mapp 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
No Diffuse H2 in the Metal-deficient Galaxy I Zw 18

The metal-deficient starburst galaxy I Zw 18 has been observed with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) in a search for H2 molecules. The spectrum obtained with an aperture covering the full galaxy shows no absorption lines of diffuse H2 at the radial velocity of the galaxy. The upper limit for the diffuse H2 column density is found to be very low, N(H2) ≲ 1015 cm-2 (10 σ), unlike our Galaxy where H2 is generally present for even low H I column densities. Although the H I column density here is as high as N(H I) ≈ 2 × 1021 cm-2, we observe 2N(H2)/N(H I) ≪ 10-6. We cannot exclude the possibility that some H2 could be in very dense, small, and discrete clumps that cannot be detected with the present observation. However, the remarkable absence of diffuse H2 in this metal-poor galaxy can be explained by the low abundance of dust grains (needed to form this molecule from H atoms), the high ultraviolet flux, and the low density of the H I cloud surrounding the star-forming regions. Thus, having eliminated diffuse H2 as a significant contributor to the total mass, it appears that the gas of the galaxy is dominated by H I and that the high dynamical mass is not composed of cold and diffuse baryonic dark matter.
Mitigating Sync Amplification for Copy-on-write Virtual Disk

Copy-on-write virtual disks (e.g., qcow2 images) provide many useful features like snapshot, de-duplication, and full-disk encryption. However, our study uncovers that they introduce additional metadata for block organization and notably more disk sync operations (e.g., more than 3X for qcow2 and 4X for VMDK images). To mitigate such sync amplification, we propose three optimizations, namely per virtual disk internal journaling, dual-mode journaling, and adaptive-preallocation, which eliminate the extra sync operations while preserving those features in a consistent way. Our evaluation shows that the three optimizations result in up to 110% performance speedup for varmail and 50% for TPCC.
Applying Multi-Criteria Optimisation to Develop Cognitive Models

A scientific theory is developed by modelling empirical data in a range of domains. The goal of developing a theory is to optimise the fit of the theory to as many experimental settings as possible, whilst retaining some qualitative properties such as ‘parsimony’ or ‘comprehensibility’. We formalise the task of developing theories of human cognition as a problem in multi-criteria optimisation. There are many challenges in this task, including the representation of competing theories, coordinating the fit with multiple experiments, and bringing together competing results to provide suitable theories. Experiments demonstrate the development of a theory of categorisation, using multiple optimisation criteria in genetic algorithms to locate pareto-optimal sets.
Intelligent heart disease prediction system using data mining techniques

The healthcare industry collects huge amounts of healthcare data which, unfortunately, are not ";mined"; to discover hidden information for effective decision making. Discovery of hidden patterns and relationships often goes unexploited. Advanced data mining techniques can help remedy this situation. This research has developed a prototype Intelligent Heart Disease Prediction System (IHDPS) using data mining techniques, namely, Decision Trees, Naive Bayes and Neural Network. Results show that each technique has its unique strength in realizing the objectives of the defined mining goals. IHDPS can answer complex ";what if"; queries which traditional decision support systems cannot. Using medical profiles such as age, sex, blood pressure and blood sugar it can predict the likelihood of patients getting a heart disease. It enables significant knowledge, e.g. patterns, relationships between medical factors related to heart disease, to be established. IHDPS is Web-based, user-friendly, scalable, reliable and expandable. It is implemented on the . NET platform.
Designing patient education and counseling practices

Patient education and counselling are essential constituents of interaction between a patient and a healthcare organisation. This study explores patient education and counselling practices, focusing on the opportunities of modern technology in the development of interaction with patients. With the help of a qualitative study we illustrate nurses' conceptions about the topic and discuss future opportunities. Our approach is distinctively patient centred; all discussion about the use of technology is from the point-of-view of patient's well-being and empowerment.