Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mathematical Models for Stock Pinning near Option Expiration Dates

This paper discusses mathematical models in Finance related to feedback between options trading and the dynamics of stock prices. Specifically, we consider the phenomenon of “pinning” of stock prices at option strikes around expiration dates. Pinning at the strike refers to the likelihood that the price of a stock coincides with the strike price of an option written on it immediately before the expiration date of the latter. (See Figure 1 for a diagrammatic description of pinning). Conclusive evidence of stock pinning near option expiration dates was given by Ni, Pearson and Poteshman (2005) [8] based on empirical studies. Theoretical work was done by Krishnan and Nelken (2001) [5], who proposed a model to explain pinning based on the Brownian bridge. Later, Avellaneda and ∗Courant Institute and Finance Concepts LLC †Courant Institute ‡Columbia University and Katama Trading LLC
[Efficacy of high dose atorvastatin on preventing contrast induced nephropathy in patients underwent coronary angiography].

OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy of high and low dose atorvastatin on preventing contrast induced nephropathy (CIN) in patients underwent diagnostic and therapeutic coronary intervention. METHODS All patients received atorvastatin 10 mg/d on the basis of hydrated therapy (n = 100) and high dose group received additional atorvastatin 80 mg at 12 to 24 hours before procedure (n = 50). Scr, Ccr, blood beta(2)-M, urine NAG/Cr, and urine osmolality before and after the procedure were compared between the groups. RESULTS Baseline demographic characteristics and nephropathy risk factors were similar between groups. Ccr was significantly reduced while blood beta(2)-M and uric NAG/Cr were significantly increased in low dose group (all P < 0.05). Blood beta(2)-M in the high dose group was significantly lower than that in the low dose group at day 1 [(2.35 +/- 0.52) mg/L vs. (2.67 +/- 0.64) mg/L, P = 0.008], day 3 [(2.49 +/- 0.55) mg/L vs. (2.80 +/- 0.64) mg/L, P = 0.011] and day 5 [(2.29 +/- 0.53) mg/L vs. (2.56 +/- 0.66) mg/L, P = 0.026] post-procedure respectively;urine NAG/Cr in the high dose group was also significantly lower than that in the low dose group at day 1 [(1.19 +/- 0.30) U/mmol vs. (1.46 +/- 0.34) U/mmol, P < 0.001], day 3 [(1.30 +/- 0.30) U/mmol vs. (1.59 +/- 0.33) U/mmol, P < 0.001], and day 5 [(1.10 +/- 0.30) U/mmol vs. (1.34 +/- 0.35) U/mmol, P = 0.001] post-procedure respectively;Ccr in the high dose group was significantly higher than that in the low dose group at day 1 [(73.69 +/- 20.99) ml/min vs. (65.19 +/- 18.72) ml/min, P = 0.035], day 3 [(64.04 +/- 15.82) ml/min vs. (56.79 +/- 14.50) ml/min, P = 0.019]post-procedure respectively. CONCLUSION High dose atorvastatin use before angiography is superior than low dose atorvastatin on attenuating contrast induced renal dysfunction.
Potentiation of a Survival Signal in the Ischemic Heart by Resveratrol through p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase/Mitogen- and Stress-Activated Protein Kinase 1/cAMP Response Element-Binding Protein Signaling

Resveratrol (3,4′,5-trihydroxy-trans-stilbene), a naturally occurring polyphenolic compound found abundantly in grape skins and red wines, has been found to pharmacologically precondition the heart against ischemia reperfusion injury through the potentiation of a survival signal involving cAMP response element-binding protein-dependent phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt-BclII pathway. The present study was designed to determine whether, similar to ischemic preconditioning, resveratrol uses mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) as upstream signaling targets. The isolated rat hearts were preperfused for 15 min with Krebs-Henseleit bicarbonate buffer in the absence (control) or presence of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 inhibitor 2′-amino-3′-methoxyflavone (PD98059), p38 MAPK inhibitor 4-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5-(4-pyridyl)-1H-imidazole (SB-202190), mitogen- and stress-activated protein kinase 1 (MSK-1) inhibitor N-[2-(4-bromocinnamylamino)ethyl]-5-isoquinoline (H89), protein kinase A inhibitor (9S,10S,12R)-2,3,9,10,11,12-hexahydro-10hydroxy-9-methyl-1-oxo-9,12-epoxy-1H-diindolo[1,2,3fg: 3′,2′,1′-kl]-pyrrolo[3,4-i][1,6]benzodiazocine-10-carboxylic acid hexyl ester (KT5720), resveratrol only, resveratrol plus PD98059, resveratrol plus SB-202190, resveratrol plus H89, or resveratrol plus KT5720. Consistent with previous reports, resveratrol provided cardioprotection as evidenced by its ability to improve postischemic ventricular function, reduction of myocardial infarct size, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis. The cardioprotection afforded by resveratrol was partially abolished with PD98059 or SB-202190, suggesting that ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK play roles in resveratrol-mediated preconditioning. An MSK-1 inhibitor, H89, abolished resveratrol-mediated preconditioning, indicating MSK-1 to be the downstream target molecule for both ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK. KT5720 had no effect on resveratrol-mediated cardioprotection. Corroborating these results, Western blot analysis revealed phosphorylation of ERK1/2, p38 MAPK, MAPK-activated protein (MAPKAP) kinase 2, and MSK-1 with resveratrol and inhibition of phosphorylation with corresponding inhibitors. These results showed for the first time that resveratrol triggers an MAPK signaling pathway involving ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK, the former using MSK-1 as the downstream target and the latter, using both MAPKAP kinase 2 and MSK-1 as downstream targets.
IT Demand Governance using Business Goal Structuring Notation

Given that the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) can also be used to decompose business goals into a tree- type structure, one would expect there to be a need for structuring and expressing business goals using Goal Structuring Notation (GSN). This article proposes Business Goal Structuring Notation (BGSN) based on an idea derived from said consideration. In addition, it also compares BSC with BGSN and Goal, Question, Metric-Business Strategy (GQM-BS) to verify the effectiveness of BGSN.
Body awareness and mental health: a body psychotherapy case study

Abstract Dohsa-hou is a Japanese form of body psychotherapy that utilises body movement as a means of enhancing the psychotherapy process. Body awareness has recently been proposed as a potential contributor to therapeutic progress made in the course of body psychotherapy. This paper reports the utilisation of Dohsa-hou with a patient who had a history of outpatient and inpatient treatment for depression-related psychiatric symptoms. At the start of treatment, the patient had difficulty in releasing tension because of the harsh rigidity of her body; further, the patient did not know how to regulate tension. As the Dohsa-hou therapy progressed, the patient became aware of her tenseness and learned to self-regulate her bodily rigidity. Her severe depressive symptoms were alleviated along with the change in her physical rigidity. This study illustrates the process of the treatment and the contribution of body awareness to the therapeutic progress made.
A Semantic-Rich Framework for Learning Software Patterns

Current approaches to learning software patterns are based on individual use of different learning systems and tools. With this dasiafragmentedpsila approach it is very hard to provide support for context-aware learning and offer personalized learning experience to students. In this paper, we propose a new approach to learning software patterns that integrates existing learning management systems, domain specific tools for software modeling and relevant online repositories of software patterns into a complex learning framework that supports collaborative learning. This framework is based on the semantic Web technologies.
Automated Tracking of Drosophila Specimens

The fruit fly Drosophila Melanogaster has become a model organism in the study of neurobiology and behavior patterns. The analysis of the way the fly moves and its behavior is of great scientific interest for research on aspects such as drug tolerance, aggression or ageing in humans. In this article, a procedure for detecting, identifying and tracking numerous specimens of Drosophila by means of computer vision-based sensing systems is presented. This procedure allows dynamic information about each specimen to be collected at each moment, and then for its behavior to be quantitatively characterized. The proposed algorithm operates in three main steps: a pre-processing step, a detection and segmentation step, and tracking shape. The pre-processing and segmentation steps allow some limits of the image acquisition system and some visual artifacts (such as shadows and reflections) to be dealt with. The improvements introduced in the tracking step allow the problems corresponding to identity loss and swaps, caused by the interaction between individual flies, to be solved efficiently. Thus, a robust method that compares favorably to other existing methods is obtained.
Analysis of bit-rate definitions for Brain-Computer Interfaces

A comparison of different bit-rate definitions used in the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) community is proposed; assumptions underlying those definitions and their limitations are discussed. Capacity estimates using Wolpaw and Nykopp bit-rates are computed for various published BCIs. It appears that only Nykopp's bit-rate is coherent with channel coding theory. Wol- paw's definition might lead to underestimate the real bit- rate and to infer wrong conclusions about the optimal number of symbols; its use should be avoided. The us- age of a proper bit-rate assessment is motivated and advocated. Finally, it is found that the typical signal-to- noise ratio of current BCIs lies around 0 dB.
Token-based sequential consistency in asynchronous distributed systems

A concurrent object is an object that can be concurrently accessed by several processes. Sequential consistency is a consistency criterion for such objects. It informally states that a multiprocess program executes correctly if its results could have been produced by executing that program on a single processor system. (Sequential consistency is weaker than atomic consistency-the usual consistency criterion-as it does not refer to real-time.) The paper proposes a new, surprisingly simple protocol that ensures sequential consistency when the shared memory abstraction is supported by the local memories of nodes that can communicate only by exchanging messages through reliable channels. The protocol nicely combines, in a simple way, the use a of token with cached values. It has the noteworthy property to never invalidate cached values, thereby providing fast read operations (i.e., a process has never to wait to get a correct value of a shared object). Additionally, The paper presents a simple token navigation protocol.
The SCUBA 8-mJy survey - II: Multiwavelength analysis of bright sub-mm sources

We present the results of a multi-wavelength study of the 19 most significant sub-mm sources detected in the SCUBA 8-mJy survey. As described in Scott et al. (2001), this survey covers ~260 arcmin^2 using the sub-millimetre camera SCUBA, to a limiting source detection limit S(850um) ~ 8 mJy. One advantage of this relatively bright flux-density limit is that accurate astrometric positions are potentially achievable for every source using existing radio and/or mm-wave interferometers. However, an associated advantage is that SED-based redshift constraints should be more powerful than in fainter sub-mm surveys. Here we therefore exploit the parallel SCUBA 450um data, in combination with existing radio and ISO data at longer and shorter wavelengths to set constraints on the redshift of each source. We also analyse new and existing optical and near-infrared imaging of our SCUBA survey fields to select potential identifications consistent with these constraints. Our derived SED-based redshift constraints, and the lack of statistically significant associations with even moderately bright galaxies allow us to conclude that all 19 sources lie at z > 1, and at least half of them apparently lie at z > 2.
Pembelajaran Kimia Berbantuan Multimedia Untuk Siswa Tunarungu Smalb-b

Development of Multimedia Aided Chemistry Instruction For Hearing Impairment Senior High School Students. This study aimed to develop multimedia on “compound” topic, supple­mented with student worksheets. It was implemented in chemistry instruction in Senior High School for students with hearing impairment. Multimedia prototype was produced as instructional CD; the visual presentation used total communication in text, graphic, video, animation, and sign language; with inter­active and tutorial system. Four students with hearing impairment were involved as the subjects. The us­age of multimedia as intervention and the target behavior was concept understanding, with visual analysis data for base-line and intervention conditions. The results showed the increasing trends from base-line to intervention conditions and these never overlapped to each other. It could be concluded that aided multimedia in chemistry instruction was effective for students with hearing impairment. Pembelajaran Kimia Berbantuan Multimedia untuk Siswa Tunarungu Smalb-B. Penelitian ini vertujuan mengembangkan multimedia topik “Senyawa” dilengkapi LKS dan diimplementasikan pada pembelajaran kimia. Prototipe multimedia: CD pembelajaran, visualisasi komunikasi total (komtal) dalam bentuk teks, grafis, video, animasi, dan berbagai bahasa isyarat, dengan sistem tutorial dan interaktif. Penelitian menggunakan Single Subject Research dengan subjek empat siswa tunarungu SMALB-B. Penggunaan multimedia sebagai intervensi dan perilaku yang diharapkan adalah pemahaman konsep. Pemahaman konsep kondisi base-line dan intervensi dianalisis dengan analisis data visual dalam dan antar kondisi. Kecenderungan meningkat antara kedua kondisi dengan prosentase tumpang tindih 0%. Dengan demikian dapat dikatakan penggunaan multimedia berpengaruh baik pada pemahaman konsep siswa.
Liquid Humans - Pedestrian Simulator based on the LWR-model

Dense human flow has been a concern for the safety of public events for a long time. Macroscopic pedestrian models, which are mainly based on fluid dynamics, are often used to simulate huge crowds due to their low computational costs. Similar approaches are used in the field of traffic simulations. A combined macroscopic simulation of vehicles and pedestrians is extremely helpful for all-encompassing traffic control. Therefore, we developed a hybrid model that contains networks for vehicular traffic and human flow. This comprehensive model supports concurrent multi-modal simulations of traffic and pedestrians.
Preoperative transcranial direct current stimulation: Exploration of a novel strategy to enhance neuroplasticity before surgery to control postoperative pain. A randomized sham-controlled study

Background An imbalance in the excitatory/inhibitory systems in the pain networks may explain the persistent chronic pain after hallux valgus surgery. Thus, to contra-regulate this dysfunction, the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) becomes attractive. Objective We tested the hypothesis that two preoperative active(a)-tDCS sessions compared with sham(s)-tDCS could improve the postoperative pain [as indexed by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) at rest and during walking (primary outcomes)]. To assess their effect on the change in the Numerical Pain Scale (NPS0-10) during Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM-task), disability related to pain (DRP) and analgesic consumption (secondary outcomes). Also, we assessed if the brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) after tDCS could predict the intervention’s effect on the DRP. Methods It is a prospective, double blind, sham-controlled, randomized single center, 40 women (18–70 years-old) who had undergone hallux valgus surgery were randomized to receive two sessions (20 minutes each) of anodal a-tDCS or s-tDCS on the primary motor cortex at night and in the morning before the surgery. To assess the DRP was used the Brazilian Profile of Chronic Pain: Screen (B-PCP:S). Results A-tDCS group showed lower scores on VAS at rest and during walking (P<0.001). At rest, the difference between groups was 2.13cm (95%CI = 1.59 to 2.68) while during walking was 1.67cm (95%CI = 1.05 to 2.28). A-tDCS, when compared to s-tDCS reduced analgesic doses in 73.25% (P<0.001), produced a greater reduction in B-PCP:S (mean difference of 9.41 points, 95%CI = 0.63 to 18.21) and higher function of descending pain modulatory system (DPMS) during CPM-task. Conclusion A-tDCS improves postoperative pain, the DRP and the function of DPMS. Also, the CSF BDNF after a-tDCS predicted the improvement in the DRP. In overall, these findings suggest that a-tDCS effects may be mediated by top-down regulatory mechanisms associated with the inhibitory cortical control. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02360462
MXS-Chaining: A Highly Efficient Cloning Platform for Imaging and Flow Cytometry Approaches in Mammalian Systems

The continuous improvement of imaging technologies has driven the development of sophisticated reporters to monitor biological processes. Such constructs should ideally be assembled in a flexible enough way to allow for their optimization. Here we describe a highly reliable cloning method to efficiently assemble constructs for imaging or flow cytometry applications in mammalian cell culture systems. We bioinformatically identified a list of restriction enzymes whose sites are rarely found in human and mouse cDNA libraries. From the best candidates, we chose an enzyme combination (MluI, XhoI and SalI: MXS) that enables iterative chaining of individual building blocks. The ligation scar resulting from the compatible XhoI- and SalI-sticky ends can be translated and hence enables easy in-frame cloning of coding sequences. The robustness of the MXS-chaining approach was validated by assembling constructs up to 20 kb long and comprising up to 34 individual building blocks. By assessing the success rate of 400 ligation reactions, we determined cloning efficiency to be 90% on average. Large polycistronic constructs for single-cell imaging or flow cytometry applications were generated to demonstrate the versatility of the MXS-chaining approach. We devised several constructs that fluorescently label subcellular structures, an adapted version of FUCCI (fluorescent, ubiquitination-based cell cycle indicator) optimized to visualize cell cycle progression in mouse embryonic stem cells and an array of artificial promoters enabling dosage of doxycyline-inducible transgene expression. We made publicly available through the Addgene repository a comprehensive set of MXS-building blocks comprising custom vectors, a set of fluorescent proteins, constitutive promoters, polyadenylation signals, selection cassettes and tools for inducible gene expression. Finally, detailed guidelines describe how to chain together prebuilt MXS-building blocks and how to generate new customized MXS-building blocks.
Fast Statistical Static Timing Analysis Using Smart Monte Carlo Techniques

In this paper, we propose a stratification+hybrid quasi Monte Carlo (SH-QMC) approach to improve the efficiency of Monte Carlo-based statistical static timing analysis (SSTA) using sample size reduction. Sample size reduction techniques proposed in the literature exhibit a tradeoff between accuracy of the Monte Carlo estimate with fewer samples and their ability to handle large number of variables in multidimensional space. This paper proposes to target several such techniques to different sets of process variation variables by using information about the importance of these variables to the circuit delay, and the capability of the techniques to handle multiple dimensions. Simulations on benchmark circuits up to 90 K gates show that the proposed method requires up to 224 samples for varying levels of process variation to achieve accurate timing estimates. Results also show that when SH-QMC is performed with multiple parallel threads on a quad-core processor, the approach is faster than traditional SSTA with comparable accuracy. When the proposed SH-QMC technique is supplemented with a graph pruning method the runtime is further reduced by 46-48% on average. The technique is also extended to include an incremental approach to recompute a percentile delay metric after engineering change order.
Well controlled assembly of silicon nanowires by nanowire transfer method

Efforts to date in silicon nanowire research have primarily focused on the nanowire synthesis and the demonstration of individual nanowire-based devices exhibiting interdisciplinary potential spanned from electrical (Duan et al 2003 Nature 425 274–8; Cui and Lieber 2001 Science 291 851–3; Morales and Lieber 1998 Science 279 208–11) through biomedical applications (Cui et al 2003 Science 293 1289–92; Zheng et al 2005 Nature Biotechnol. 23 1294–301). However, the realization of integrated nanowire devices requires well ordered assembly of a silicon nanowire (Huang et al 2001 Science 291 630–3; Whang et al 2003 Nano Lett. 3 1255–9) as well as simple and cost effective fabrication. Here we describe a simple fabrication scheme and a large-scale assembly of silicon nanowires by combining top-down fabrication with nanowire transfer onto another insulator substrate for device manufacture. Our innovative fabrication method enables us to obtain well defined silicon nanowires as a freestanding bridge structure with a diameter of 20–200 nm and a length varying from 5 to 100 µm using micro-machining processes. Direct transfer of the freestanding nanowires simply provides large-scale assembly of silicon nanowire on various substrates for highly integrated devices such as high-performance thin-film transistors (TFTs) (Duan et al 2003 Nature 425 274–8; Ishihara et al 2003 Thin Solid Films 427 77–85) and nanowire-based electronics (Cui and Lieber 2001 Science 291 851–3). Electrical transport properties of the transferred silicon nanowire were also investigated.
Personalization, gender, and social media: gubernatorial candidates’ social media strategies

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the ‘self-personalization’ of campaign politics, marked by candidates highlighting their personal lives over their policy positions. The rise of social media may be accelerating this shift. Applying Strategic Stereotype Theory [Fridkin, K. L. , & Kenney, P. J. (2014). The changing face of representation: The gender of U.S. senators and constituent communications. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ], which holds that women politicians try to deactivate stereotypes that associate men with agentic leadership traits while capitalizing on stereotypes that associate them with warmth, we assess what role gender plays in candidate self-personalization on social media. A large-scale computerized content analysis of social media posts by gubernatorial candidates in 2014 suggests that male candidates may see more and female candidates see less strategic benefits in personalizing, but this effect does not persist in the face of electoral contextual variables like competitiveness. We also find qualitative differences in the ways male versus female candidates personalize through social media.
The Flexible Sound Synthesizer on an FPGA

Digital synthesizers have laid the groundwork for the significant advances in sound computing devices and they have been spreading worldwide. Currently, to perform live music through mobile computing devices, higher-quality and higher-speed sound computation are in vital demand. But these demands have not been implemented due to the devices' scarce computational power. To successfully play symphonies using mobile devices, this paper proposes the flexible sound synthesizer which includes the programmability of internal modules. First, the paper proposes to design the high-quality basic modules which consider the amount of circuits for the parallel computation on an FPGA. These modules adopt the CORDIC methods thus enable smaller-sized FPGA to hold many modules. Then, we verified the modules from the viewpoint of sound quality and circuit size. Finally, the graphical user interface was introduced to design the original synthesizer.