Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Can tDCS enhance treatment of aphasia after stroke?

Background: Recent advances in the application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in healthy populations have led to the exploration of the technique as an adjuvant method to traditional speech therapies in patients with post-stroke aphasia. Aims: The purpose of the review is: (i) to review the features of tDCS that make it an attractive tool for research and potential future use in clinical contexts; (ii) to describe recent studies exploring the facilitation of language performance using tDCS in post-stroke aphasia; (iii) to explore methodological considerations of tDCS that may be key to understanding tDCS in treatment of aphasia post stroke; and (iv) to highlight several caveats and outstanding questions that need to be addressed in future work. Main Contribution: This review aims to highlight our current understanding of the methodological and theoretical issues surrounding the use of tDCS as an adjuvant tool in the treatment of language difficulties after stroke. Conclusions: Preliminary evidence shows that tDCS may be a useful tool to complement treatment of aphasia, particularly for speech production in chronic stroke patients. To build on this exciting work, further systematic research is needed to understand the mechanisms of tDCS-induced effects, its application to current models of aphasia recovery, and the complex interactions between different stimulation parameters and language rehabilitation techniques. The potential of tDCS is to optimise language rehabilitation techniques and promote long-term recovery of language. A stimulating future for aphasia rehabilitation!
HOW NATURAL IS THE RECENT CENTENNIAL WARMING? AN ANALYSIS OF 2249 SURFACE TEMPERATURE RECORDS

We evaluate to what extent the temperature rise in the past 100 years was a trend or a natural fluctuation and analyze 2249 worldwide monthly temperature records from GISS (NASA) with the 100-year period covering 1906–2005 and the two 50-year periods from 1906 to 1955 and 1956 to 2005. No global records are applied. The data document a strong urban heat island effect (UHI) and a warming with increasing station elevation. For the period 1906–2005, we evaluate a global warming of 0.58°C as the mean for all records. This decreases to 0.41°C if restricted to stations with a population of less than 1000 and below 800 meter above sea level. About a quarter of all the records for the 100-year period show a fall in temperatures. Our hypothesis for the analysis is, as generally in the papers concerned with long-term persistence of temperature records, that the observed temperature records are a combination of long-term correlated records with an additional trend, which is caused for instance by anthropogenic CO2, the UHI or other forcings. We apply the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) and evaluate Hurst exponents between 0.6 and 0.65 for the majority of stations, which is in excellent agreement with the literature and use a method only recently published, which is based on DFA, synthetic records and Monte Carlo simulation. As a result, the probabilities that the observed temperature series are natural have values roughly between 40% and 90%, depending on the stations characteristics and the periods considered. "Natural" means that we do not have within a defined confidence interval a definitely positive anthropogenic contribution and, therefore, only a marginal anthropogenic contribution cannot be excluded.
Plasma PAI-1 Levels Are More Strongly Related to Liver Steatosis Than to Adipose Tissue Accumulation

Objective—Because obesity and insulin resistance (IR) are strongly associated with liver steatosis (LS), we investigated the relation between the degree of LS and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) in ob/ob mice, in C57/BL6 mice with alcoholic LS, and in severely obese humans. Methods and Results—In both mouse models, plasma PAI-1 levels were associated with PAI-1 expression in the liver and with the degree of LS. Liver PAI-1 antigen was associated with the tumor necrosis factor receptor-II (TNFRII) antigen, whereas association with TNF antigen content was found in ob/ob mice only. No significant correlation between plasma PAI-1 and PAI-1 expression in adipose tissue of ob/ob mice was observed. Furthermore, the relation between plasma PAI-1 levels and body weight was positive in ob/ob mice but negative in C57/BL6 mice (both P <0.001). In humans, PAI-1 levels were correlated with the degree of LS, and 26% of plasma PAI-1 activity was independently explained by LS and serum insulin levels. Conclusions—Plasma PAI-1 levels are more closely related to fat accumulation and PAI-1 expression in the liver than in adipose tissue. In steatotic liver, PAI-1 antigen content is associated with those of TNF and TNFRII. Therefore, we suggest that TNF pathway dysregulation in LS could be involved in increased plasma PAI-1 in obesity with IR.
Respiratory health screening for opiate misusers in a specialist community clinic: a mixed-methods pilot study, with integrated staff and service user feedback

Objectives Increased rates of illicit drug inhalation are thought to expose opiate misusers (OMUs) to an enhanced risk of respiratory health problems. This pilot study aimed to determine the feasibility of undertaking respiratory screening of OMUs in a community clinic. Setting Single-centre UK community substance misuse clinic. Participants All clinic attendees receiving treatment for opiate misuse were eligible to participate. 36 participants (mean age=37) were recruited over a 5-week period. The sample included 26 males and 10 females. Outcome measures Spirometry without bronchodilation; health related quality of life EQ-5D-3L; Asthma Control Test; Mini Asthma Quality of Life; Clinical COPD Questionnaire and the Treatment Outcome Profile were used to assess the respiratory health of participants. Findings were discussed with staff and service users in 2 patient and public involvement events and feedback was analysed thematically. Results 34 participants reported that they had smoked heroin. 8 participants diagnosed with asthma, scored under 13 on the Asthma Control Test, suggesting poorly controlled asthma. Participants (n=28), without a diagnosis of asthma completed the Lung Function Questionnaire. Of these, 79% produced scores under 18, indicating symptoms associated with the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Spirometry showed 14% of all participants had forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity <0.7 (without bronchodilator), indicating potential obstructive lung disease. Feedback from service users and staff suggested a willingness and capacity to deliver respiratory health screening programmes. Insight towards the difficulties service users have in accessing services and the burden of respiratory health was also provided. Conclusions It is feasible to undertake respiratory health screening of OMUs in a community clinic. Larger screening studies are warranted to determine the prevalence of respiratory health problems in this population. Research regarding asthma medicines adherence and access to healthcare among OMUs is also required.
On the Cramér–Rao Bound of Power System Electromechanical Mode Meters

In this paper, an expression for the Cramér–Rao bound (CRB) on the frequency and damping of electromechanical modes is derived. This provides an invaluable tool when documenting the performance capabilities of mode meter algorithms, as the CRB is used as a benchmark to which mode meter variance may be compared. It is shown that the derived CRB expression is supported by several well-known mode estimation phenomena, and it is numerically validated using the asymptotically efficient Prediction Error Method (PEM) on Monte Carlo simulations of an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model. Finally, a practical use case is given, in which the CRB on the frequency and damping of an inter-area mode from the miniWECC system is used to compare the performance of several well-known mode meters in a study of how sample size affects accuracy.
Economics in the Laboratory

The questions addressed in this paper include: What is a laboratory experiment? What are the reasons why economists conduct such experiments? What have we learned? Among the many findings of experiments are included: institutions (the rules of exchange) matter; optimization in markets is not achieved by conscious calculation; less information is sometimes better; common information is not sufficient to yield common 'knowledge' or expectations; underrevelation is compatible with efficiency; and fairness is a matter of tastes or expectations. Also discussed is the methodological role of experiments in contributing to our knowledge of how things work.
A New Finding for Board Size Effects

Several papers have reported board size effects and concluded that firm performance is going down as the board size goes larger. This paper investigates board size effects using the data of Japanese companies which have a larger size than companies in other countries in general. The sample of Japanese companies provides us a very wide range of board sizes which is different from the samples in other papers so that we can capture something which is neglected in other papers. We find a significantly positive relation between board size and profitability when board size is moderate, but a significantly negative relation between board size and profitability when board size still goes larger. Thus, our new finding for board size effects to some extent reconciles some opposing opinions.
Modulation of manual preference induced by lateralized practice diffuses over distinct motor tasks: age-related effects

In this study we investigated the effect of use of the non-preferred left hand to practice different motor tasks on manual preference in children and adults. Manual preference was evaluated before, immediately after and 20 days following practice. Evaluation was made with tasks of distinct levels of complexity requiring reaching and manipulation of cards at different eccentricities in the workspace. Results showed that left hand use in adults induced increased preference of that hand at the central position when performing the simple task, while left hand use by the children induced increased preference of the left hand at the rightmost positions in the performance of the complex task. These effects were retained over the rest period following practice. Kinematic analysis showed that left hand use during practice did not lead to modification of intermanual performance asymmetry. These results indicate that modulation of manual preference was a consequence of higher frequency of use of the left hand during practice rather than of change in motor performance. Findings presented here support the conceptualization that confidence on successful performance when using a particular limb generates a bias in hand selection, which diffuses over distinct motor tasks.
Soluble ST2 for Prediction of Heart Failure and Cardiovascular Death in an Elderly, Community‐Dwelling Population

Background Soluble ST2 (sST2), a marker of myocyte stretch and fibrosis, has prognostic value in many cardiovascular diseases. We hypothesized that sST2 levels are associated with incident heart failure (HF), including subtypes of preserved (HFpEF) and reduced (HFrEF) ejection fraction, and cardiovascular death. Methods and Results Baseline serum sST2 was measured in 3915 older, community‐dwelling subjects from the Cardiovascular Health Study without prevalent HF. sST2 levels were associated with older age, male sex, black race, traditional cardiovascular risk factors, other biomarkers of inflammation, cardiac stretch, myocardial injury, and fibrosis, and abnormal echocardiographic parameters. In longitudinal analysis, greater sST2 was associated with a higher risk of incident HF and cardiovascular death; however, in multivariate models adjusting for other cardiac risk factors and the cardiac‐specific biomarker, N‐terminal pro–type B natriuretic peptide, these associations were attenuated. In these models, an sST2 level above the US Food and Drug Administration–approved cut‐off value (>35 ng/mL) was significantly associated with incident HF (hazard ratio [HR], 1.20; 95% CI, 1.02–1.43) and cardiovascular death (HR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.02–1.44), and greater sST2 was continuously associated with cardiovascular death (per 1‐ln increment: HR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.02–1.50). sST2 was not associated with the HF subtypes of HFpEF and HFrEF in adjusted analysis. Addition of sST2 to existing risk models of HF and cardiovascular death modestly improved discrimination and reclassification into a higher risk. Conclusions The predictive value of sST2 for HF of all subtypes and cardiovascular death is modest in an elderly population despite strong cross‐sectional associations with risk factors and underlying cardiac pathology.
Scaphoid fracture: functional outcome following fixation with Herbert Screw.

BACKGROUND Most scaphoid fractures though heal uneventfully with cast treatment, immobilization with cast is associated with complication like wrist stiffness. Open reduction and fixation with Herbert Screw though technically demanding procedure can yield excellent results and prevents complication like nonunions and loss of wrist function. OBJECTIVES To assess clinical outcome and radiological union of scaphoid fracture after operative management following Herbert screw fixation in patient attending Dhulikhel Hospital. METHODS All scaphoid fracture, treated from Feb 2007 till Feb 2011, were retrospectively studied in Dhulikhel Hospital, Kathmandu University Hospital. Fifteen patients with scaphoid fractures were treated with Herbert screw. Fourteen were males and one was female. Serial radiographs were taken to assess radiographic union and functional outcome was assessed using Modified Mayo wrist score. RESULTS Out of 15 patients, 13 scaphoid had waist fractures and two had proximal pole fractures. All scaphoid were treated with open reduction and Herbert screw fixation either by volar approach or by dorsal approach. All fractures maintained good alignment post operatively. Nine (60%) patients had excellent results with normal wrist range of motion, five (33.3%) patients had good results and one (6.7%) patient had poor outcome. In 14 (93.3%) patients good radiological union was seen at final follow up at six months time. CONCLUSION Fixation with Herbert screw for scaphoid fracture is an effective and convenient way of treatment with satisfactory functional outcome and less complication.
Return Map Characterizations for a Model of Bursting with Two Slow Variables

Various physiological systems display bursting electrical activity (BEA). There exist numerous three‐variable models to describe this behavior. However, higher‐dimensional models with two slow processes have recently been used to explain qualitative features of the BEA of some experimentally observed systems [T. Chay and D. Cook, Math. Biosci. , 90 (1988), pp. 139–153; P. Smolen and J. Keizer, J. Memb. Biol., 127 (1992), pp. 9–19; R. Bertram et al., Biophys. J., 79 (2000), pp. 2880–2892; R. Bertram et al., Biophys. J., 68 (1995), pp. 2323–2332; J. Keizer and P. Smolen, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 88 (1991), pp. 3897–3901]. In this paper we present a model with two slow and two fast variables. For some parameter values the system has stable equilibria, while for other values there exist bursting solutions. Singular perturbation methods are used to define a one‐dimensional return map, wherein fixed points correspond to singular bursting solutions. We analytically demonstrate that bursting solutions may exist .
The Para Predicament: Investigating the Intersectionality of Race, Disability, and Paraeducator Assignment

This study examined the relationship between student characteristics and paraeducator assignment. A Disability Critical Race framework was chosen to investigate whether current models of special education service delivery, which rely heavily on paraeducator supports, may be further marginalizing Students of Color with disabilities. A secondary dataset from one school district of 322 students serviced under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in grades PK-12 was analyzed. This quantitative study utilized multivariate logistic regression with a focus on student characteristics as a predictor variable for paraeducator assignment. My first research question investigated whether individual student characteristics (i.e., race/ethnicity, disability category, gender, school level) were predictive of paraeducator assignment. Findings of the multivariate logistic regression yielded some significant findings. Students at the elementary school level and students with a low incidence disability were found to be more likely to be assigned full-time paraeducator support. My second research question focused on determining the risk of paraeducator assignment based on student race/ethnicity. Findings of the risk ratio analysis suggested African American and Asian American students had an elevated risk of full-time paraeducator assignment, and Asian American students and students of two of more races had an elevated risk of part-time paraeducator assignment when compared to all other students included in the sample. The small study size somewhat hindered the analysis, rendering only limited interpretations from the data. Replication of this research design with larger sample sizes across various school districts and states is recommended to further evaluate reported findings. Implications for students, schools, and policy makers are provided with corresponding recommendations. THE PARA PREDICAMENT ii The Para Predicament: Investigating the Intersectionality of Race, Disability, and Paraeducator Assignment Christina V. Saccoccio B.A., University of Connecticut, 2005 M.S., Southern Connecticut State University, 2008 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Educational Leadership at the University of Connecticut 2018 THE PARA PREDICAMENT iii Copyright by Christina Saccoccio
Managing Quality under Heterogeneous Consumer Demand and Product Quality

Based on accepted advances in the marketing, economics, consumer behavior, and satisfaction literatures, we develop a micro-foundations model of a firm that needs to manage the quality of a product that is inherently heterogeneous in the presence of varying customer tastes or expectations for quality. Our model blends elements of the returns to quality, customer lifetime value, and service profit chain approaches to marketing. The model is then used to explain several empirical results pertaining to the marketing literature by explicitly articulating the trade-offs between customer satisfaction and costs (including opportunity costs) of quality. In this environment firms will find it optimal to allow some customers to go unsatisfied. We show that the relationship between the expected number of repeated purchases by an individual customer is endogenous to the choice of quality by the firm, indicating that the number of purchases cannot be chosen freely to estimate a customer's lifetime value.
Southern Culture and Aggravated Assault: Exploring the Generality of the Southern Cultural of Violence

ABSTRACT Numerous studies have investigated the Southern culture of violence (SCOV). In particular, prior analyses have focused on white argument-based homicide in rural areas, a context in which the SCOV should be most prominent. Initial analyses examined dichotomous regional indicators (South/non-South) and often neglected to control for structural disadvantage. Recent research developed a summary based measure of Southern cultural influence that consolidates regional, ethnic, and religious characteristics. Unfortunately, a lack of available data on the underlying circumstances of different forms of violence has hindered our ability to assess the generality of the Southern cultural tolerance of violence. The current study addresses this limitation by using NIBRS data to assess the influence of a composite measure of Southern culture on variation in white argument-based aggravated assault. Analyses of county-level data support the generalizability of the Southern cultural influence to non-lethal forms of argument-based violence.
High-SNR power offset in multi-antenna Ricean channels

In the high-SNR regime, the multi-antenna mutual information behaves as an affine function of SNR|/sub dB/, described by the multiplexing gain, which quantifies the multiplicative increase as function of the number of antennas, and the power offset (zero-order term in dB). The conventional high-SNR analysis that considers only the multiplexing gain is unable to assess the impact of channel features such as the Rician factor since, irrespective thereof, the multiplexing gain equals the minimum of the number of transmit and receive antennas. The impact of the Rician factor at high SNR can be conveniently quantified through the corresponding power offset, which this paper evaluates in closed-form.
Research into services and needs for people experiencing complicated grief: Final report

This report is the result of research into services and needs for people experiencing complicated grief. The project was undertaken by the Centre for Health Service Development, a multidisciplinary research centre based within the Australian Health Services Research Institute at the University of Wollongong, on behalf of the Palliative Care Section, Cancer and Palliative Care Branch, Australian Government Department of Health
Revealing knowledge networks from computer mediated communication in organizations

In today’s knowledge driven economy, knowledge is considered to be the key factor in defining the success of an organization. We have learned that knowledge is residing in the informal network of the organization. Hence, to improve performance, it is the informal knowledge network that should be examined and developed. For this purpose, social network analysis is increasingly applied in business contexts. This is, however, a new domain, which is still in development. This paper aims to aid in this development by researching how representative knowledge networks can be revealed in organizations. While surveying is a common first option to capture an organizational network, this technique may not always be suitable. Communication sources (e.g. e-mail) may provide an alternative, however, we do not know to what extent these sources can represent the actual knowledge network. This paper examines a Dutch IT services organization. Here, a web-survey among the employees baselines the knowledge network, which is compared to 3 communication networks from the same organization, captured by means of e-mail, telephone and SMS (Short Message Service) communication (also known as text messaging or texting). A comparison is made by means of correlating the network matrices and by comparing essential network properties. Findings show that only the e-mail network is significantly representative for the baselined knowledge network. This exercise is exploratory in nature as only one organization is examined, but comprehensive with regard to the richness of data that is available for examination. From our findings we gain insight in the extent to which networks, captured from e-mail, telephone and SMS archives can represent an organizational knowledge network.