Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prediction of Early Recurrence After Acute Ischemic Stroke.

IMPORTANCE Approximately half of recurrent strokes occur within days and weeks of an ischemic stroke. It is imperative to identify patients at imminent risk of recurrent stroke because recurrent events lead to prolonged hospitalization, worsened functional outcome, and increased mortality. OBJECTIVE To test the validity of a prognostic score that was exclusively developed to predict early risk of stroke recurrence in a multicenter setting. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This hospital-based cohort study examined patients with and without magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed recurrent stroke within 90 days after an ischemic stroke. The study was performed at 3 teaching hospitals in the United States, Brazil, and South Korea and comprised adult patients admitted within 72 hours of symptom onset with a magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke. Recruitment to the US cohort was performed from June 1, 2009, through April 30, 2011. Recruitment to the Korean and Brazilian cohorts was performed from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2011. Data analysis was performed from June 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was recurrent ischemic stroke as defined by a clinical incident that was clearly attributable to a new area of brain infarction occurring within the 90 days of index infarction. An investigator who was masked to the patient's recurrence status calculated the Recurrence Risk Estimator (RRE) score for each patient based on information available after initial line of testing in the emergency department. We assessed the predictive performance of the RRE by computing the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS The study included 1468 consecutive patients with 59 recurrent ischemic stroke events. The median age of the patients was 69 (interquartile range, 58-79) years, and 633 (43.1%) were female. The cumulative 90-day recurrence rate was 4.2% (95% CI, 3.2%-5.2%). The mean RRE score was 2.2 (95% CI, 1.9-2.5) in patients with recurrence and 1.0 (95% CI, 1.0-1.1) in patients without. The risk of recurrence increased with a higher RRE score (log-rank test, P < .001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for discrimination was 0.76 (95% CI, 0.70-0.82). The RRE identified 710 patients (48.4%) in the study population as high risk (>10%) or low risk (<1%). The sensitivity and specificity were 38% and 93% for identifying low-risk subsets and 41% and 90% for identifying high-risk subsets, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This study confirms the validity of the RRE score in a multicenter cohort of patients with diverse characteristics. Our findings suggest that the RRE could be useful in identifying high- and low-risk patients for targeted stroke prevention.
The Role of Attention in the Tinnitus Decompensation: Reinforcement of a Large-Scale Neural Decompensation Measure

Large-scale neural correlates of the tinnitus decompensation have been identified by using wavelet phase stability criteria of single sweep sequences of auditory late responses (ALRs). The suggested measure provided an objective quantification of the tinnitus decompensation and allowed for a reliable discrimination between a group of compensated and decompensated tinnitus patients. By interpreting our results with an oscillatory tinnitus model, our synchronization stability measure of ALRs can be linked to the focus of attention on the tinnitus signal. In the following study, we examined in detail the correlates of this attentional mechanism in healthy subjects. The results support our previous findings of the phase synchronization stability measure that reflected neural correlates of the fixation of attention to the tinnitus signal. In this case, enabling the differentiation between the attended and unattended conditions. It is concluded that the wavelet phase synchronization stability of ALRs single sweeps can be used as objective tinnitus decompensation measure and can be interpreted in the framework of the Jastreboff tinnitus model and adaptive resonance theory. Our studies confirm that the synchronization stability in ALR sequences is linked to attention. This measure is not only able to serve as objective quantification of the tinnitus decompensation, but also can be applied in all online and real time neurofeedback therapeutic approach where a direct stimulus locked attention monitoring is compulsory as if it based on a single sweeps processing.
Associations Among Depression, Obesity, and Metabolic Syndrome in Young Adult Females

Depression may be a risk factor for obesity or metabolic syndrome. The aims of this study were to determine the relationships among depression, obesity, and metabolic syndrome in young adult females as well as the role of depression in the components of metabolic syndrome. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 323 young adult females. Demographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and laboratory values were collected. The criteria of the Bureau of Health Promotion, Department of Health, Taiwan, were used to define metabolic syndrome. Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale. The prevalence of depression in the sample was 17%, that of overweight and obesity was 17%, and that of metabolic syndrome was 6.8%. Depression showed significant associations with high body mass index (BMI), increased waist circumference and blood pressure (BP), and overweight and obesity (β = 0.15, odds ratio [OR] = 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.11, 1.23], p < .001). No associations were observed between depression and metabolic syndrome (β = −0.01, OR = 0.99, 95% CI = [0.92, 1.06], p = .69) or any of its individual components after adjustment for BMI and demographic variables. The findings show that depression was associated with increasing odds of overweight and obesity in young adult females and may also have increased the physiological risk associated with metabolic syndrome. Early detection of depression and obesity as part of metabolic syndrome is important in the health management of young adult females for decreasing the risks of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The Cellular Hydration State: A Critical Determinant for Cell Death and Survival

Abstract Alterations in cellular hydration not only contribute to metabolic regulation, but also critically determine the cellular response to different kinds of stress. Whereas cell swelling triggers anabolic pathways and protects cells from heat and oxidative challenge, cellular dehydration contributes to insulin resistance and catabolism and increases the cellular susceptibility to stressinduced damage. Intracellular accumulation of organic osmolytes, cell cycle delay and the expression of heat shock proteins provide cellular tolerance to hyperosmolarity and protect against stressors under dehydrating conditions. This article discusses some mechanisms by which alterations in cell hydration contribute to cytoprotection or cell damage. In addition, the close relationship between osmotic and oxidative stress and the contribution of isoosmotic shrinkage to apoptotic cell death are considered.
Who Bears the Burden of Crime in Colombia?

Abstract: This paper investigates the distribution of crime and violence across victims in Colombia. Property and violent crimes as well as incidents of domestic violence are considered. The paper shows that rich households bear a disproportionate share of the burden of property crime: they are more likely to be victimized, to modify their behavior because of fear of crime, to feel unsafe in their cities, and to invest in crime avoidance. Homicides are borne disproportionately by the poor and kidnappings by the rich. Finally, poor, and in particular uneducated, individuals bear a disproportionate share of domestic violence.
On design and implementation of a contract monitoring facility

In this paper we present a solution to the problem of designing and implementing a contract monitoring facility as part of a larger cross-organisational contract management architecture. We first identify key technical requirements for such a facility and then present our contract language and architecture that address key aspects of the requirements. The language is based on a precise model for the expression of behaviour and policies in the extended enterprise and it can be used to build models for a particular enterprise contract environment. These models can be executed by a contract engine that supports the contract management life cycle at both the contract establishment and contract execution phases.
Research on PSO algorithms for the rectangular packing problem

For packing problems that are complex optimisation problems, the solutions must rely on heuristics. Particle swarm optimisation PSO is an emerging technique that utilises heuristics. Because of its simplicity, PSO has been widely applied to a variety of fields, including applications to the packing problem. This paper researches the search efficiency of the PSO algorithm. Through fitting the data to the length of the solution interval and the number of iterations, a strong search capability for the PSO is proved. Then, the results of experiments with comparisons of many disturbance strategies show that a stochastic strategy is beneficial for raising the search capability of the algorithm.
Psychological health of men with partners who have post-partum depression.

OBJECTIVE To compare the psychological health of men with partners who have post-partum depression (PPD; index group) with that of men with partners without PPD (comparison group). METHOD Using a cross-sectional survey, psychological symptoms and disturbances of index group men (n = 58) and comparison group men (n = 116) were compared. Validated self-report measures were used to assess five key areas of mental health: depression, anxiety, non-specific psychological impairment, aggression and alcohol use. RESULTS Index group men had more symptoms of depression, aggression and non-specific psychological impairment, and had higher rates of depressive disorder, non-specific psychological problems and problem fatigue than comparison group men. Index group men were also more likely to have three or more comorbid psychological disturbances. There was no difference between the groups on measures of anxiety and alcohol use. CONCLUSIONS Although many men in the postnatal period experience a variety of mental health problems, those who have a partner with PPD are themselves at increased risk for experiencing psychological symptoms and disturbances. Differentiation of psychological syndromes is important; higher rates of depressive disorder, non-specific psychological problems and problem fatigue were found, but rates of anxiety disorder and hazardous alcohol use did not differ between the groups. More attention from health professionals to men's mental health in the postnatal period may be beneficial to the entire family system.
Real Time Relighting with Dynamic Light Environment Using an RGB-D Camera

Relighting techniques often require knowledge about the shape and the reflectance property of a target object and the light environment. The quality of the relighting is highly dependent on the normals accuracy of the object since they are used for the computation of the illumination. We propose a new relighting approach for arbitrary shaped objects with dynamic light environment using an RGB-D camera such as the Microsoft’s Kinect. The generated depth map is useful to estimate the normals of the object, but it’s inaccurate because of the noise such as discrete depth values or missing data. We focus on the depth map modification to segment the accurate object region, and normal estimation for relighting. Our implementation achieves a relighting at 10fps with GPU. Therefore, our relighting system can apply for a moving object and a dynamic light environment in real time. Keywords—Relighting, GPU, RGB-D camera.
The biggest challenges currently facing companion diagnostic advancement

Low productivity in the pharmaceutical industry positions personalized medicine and companion diagnostics as an attractive approach. The oncology community is enthusiastic and optimistic that advances in molecular diagnostics have the potential to materialize the dream of personalized cancer therapy with the aim to: help the drug industry enhance the probability of success and, probably, accelerate time to market; help the diagnostics industry develop diagnostic tests utilizing precious human samples; and support accurate diagnosis and selection of the most efficacious and least toxic therapies. However, this spectacular road is not yet paved and remains facing the following biggest challenges: the need for better understanding of biology and limitations of preclinical models; pre-analytical variables that are likely to alter results; analytical discrepancies; and the wide gap between clinical/pharmaceutical and diagnostic understandings. This article explores these challenges, their possible impacts, and provides some suggestions for mitigation.
Imperatives of the Enterprise-Stinchcombe's Techno-Marxim

In the preface to Economic Sociology, Arthur Stinchcombe confesses that his editor described the initial 750-page draft for a textbook on comparative macrosociology as a "beached whale . a good deal of value in it, but . quite unmanageable. " Undaunted, Stinchcombe cut 500 pages and repackaged the manuscript as an attempt to "outline and illustrate the economic sociology required to complete and unify the Neo-Marxist tradition" (p. 20). In fact, the surviving 255 pages of text constitute two books. One, consisting of the first and last chapters and scattered passages in between, is a critique of the neo-Marxist scholarship in the work of Jeffery Paige, Theda Skocpol, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Erik Olin Wright. Stinchcombe argues that the neo-Marxists have strayed from what Marx was really up to: a theory of class dynamics derived from a detailed analysis of the economic enterprise. Instead of repairing Marx's theory of the enterprise, they have added a theory of politics. As a result, Skocpol's (1979) State and Social Revolutions misses the ecological basis of modes of production, Wallerstein's (1974, 1980) The Modern World-System lacks a theory of the dynamics of industrial sectors, Paige's (1975) Agrarian Revolution fails to specify a theory of incentive structures, and Wright's (1979) Class Structure and Income Inequality does not show how the demand for managers derives from the technical features of work arrangements. Stinchcombe promises to present an economic sociology encompassing each of these missing elements. Between the first and last chapters is a second book about ecology, technology, industrial sectors, and incentive structures. However, neither neo-Marxists nor their critics will view it as a step toward repairing, completing, or unifying Marx's sociology of the enterprise. Instead, they will find an undergraduate textbook describing how technology and the natural environment shape economic organization. Economic Sociology is much more successful at that level than as a critique and synthesis of neo-Marxist theory. In each chapter, Stinchcombe applies the concepts he develops to three societies: the tribal herding culture of the Karimojong, 18th-century
Implementation of Response to Intervention

This article provides a snapshot of how all 50 states are progressing with the development and implementation of response-to-intervention (RtI) models 1 year after the final regulations for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act were passed. Data were collected through a review of existing state department of education Web sites and conversations with representatives in each state department of education. Information related to RtI model type, implementation status, professional development, criteria for eligibility, and specific features of individual state RtI models are presented. Findings indicate that most states are in some phase of RtI development, although approaches vary widely throughout the country. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
A Function for Hard Real-Time System Search-Based Task Mapping Optimisation

A task mapping is deemed feasible for a hard real-time embedded system if the end-to-end response times of all tasks, which include the computation and the communication delays, does not exceed their deadlines. In this paper, we propose a new fitness function based on the concept of breakdown frequency to address the task mapping optimisation problem of hard real-time embedded systems. As a property of task mapping, the breakdown frequency is the minimal operating frequency under which a task set and its messages are able to execute in any scenario without missing their deadlines. With the frequency, unschedulable tasks and messages can become schedulable without changing the task mapping itself. These advantages are difficult to find in the state-of-the-art optimisation techniques that use the number of unschedulable tasks or latency as the property of task mapping. Results from the case studies suggest that the proposed function enables a wider design space exploration, allowing designers to easily trade-off operating frequency and core count without sacrificing hard real-time schedulability.
Emergency Fall Incidents Detection in Assisted Living Environments Utilizing Motion, Sound, and Visual Perceptual Components

This paper presents the implementation details of a patient status awareness enabling human activity interpretation and emergency detection in cases, where the personal health is threatened like elder falls or patient collapses. The proposed system utilizes video, audio, and motion data captured from the patient's body using appropriate body sensors and the surrounding environment, using overhead cameras and microphone arrays. Appropriate tracking techniques are applied to the visual perceptual component enabling the trajectory tracking of persons, while proper audio data processing and sound directionality analysis in conjunction to motion information and subject's visual location can verify fall and indicate an emergency event. The postfall visual and motion behavior of the subject, which indicates the severity of the fall (e.g., if the person remains unconscious or patient recovers) is performed through a semantic representation of the patient's status, context and rules-based evaluation, and advanced classification. A number of advanced classification techniques have been examined in the framework of this study and their corresponding performance in terms of accuracy and efficiency in detecting an emergency situation has been thoroughly assessed.
Control of myelin formation by axon caliber. (With a model of the control mechanism)

The relation between the growth of axons and the development of their myelin sheaths was determined in rats for normal, myelinating sciatic nerves, and for an experimental model allowing to retard or accelerate axon growth. Axon caliber was measured, and sheath development was determined from measurements of thickness (light microscopy), from counts of the number of turns of myelin lamellae (electron micrographs), and from the rate of the incorporation of acetate‐H3 into ether‐ethanol extractable lipids. An excellent correlation between changes in sheath thickness and acetate‐H3 incorporation was obtained for all experiments. For the myelinating nerves the changes in the rate of acetate‐H3 incorporation were related specifically to the rate with which new length of myelin leaflet was added to the existing turns of sheath.
Window shape effect in a single bowden power window system

Simulation results are not representative of a real system behavior up to its model validation. Validation activity needs a model characterization to match real system and model parameters. This activity impacts more on mechatronics systems which are affected by both physical and control characterizations. This work deals with single bowden power window systems; it improves a system model, previously developed, by deepening window aspects and force system. Force types and modules have been obtained by several experimental tests, in different operating conditions. Experimental automated tests have been carried out by means of a new virtual instrument developed in LabVIEW® environment. Comparison of test results highlights three main components related to: sliding friction, window friction and gravity. These components are affected by window shape which induces module variations. We named these variations "window shape effect and these results bring to a new procedure for system validation.
Coupling nutrient sensing to metabolic homoeostasis: the role of the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 pathway

The mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway is known to couple different environmental cues to the regulation of several energy-demanding functions within the cell, spanning from protein translation to mitochondrial activity. As a result, at the organism level, mTORC1 activity affects energy balance and general metabolic homoeostasis by modulating both the activity of neuronal populations that play key roles in the control of food intake and body weight, as well as by determining storage and use of fuel substrates in peripheral tissues. This review focuses on recent advances made in understanding the role of the mTORC1 pathway in the regulation of energy balance. More particularly, it aims at providing an overview of the status of knowledge regarding the mechanisms underlying the ability of certain amino acids, glucose and fatty acids, to affect mTORC1 activity and in turn illustrates how the mTORC1 pathway couples nutrient sensing to the hypothalamic regulation of the organisms’ energy homoeostasis and to the control of intracellular metabolic processes, such as glucose uptake, protein and lipid biosynthesis. The evidence reviewed pinpoints the mTORC1 pathway as an integrator of the actions of nutrients on metabolic health and provides insight into the relevance of this intracellular pathway as a potential target for the therapy of metabolic diseases such as obesity and type-2 diabetes.
Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor use in patients with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease or risk factors

Abstract Objectives: Management of cardiovascular (CV) risk is an essential aspect of diabetes care, and acceptable CV risk is a requirement for antidiabetes medications. Dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors effectively reduce glycated hemoglobin, with a low risk of hypoglycemia and weight gain. The purpose of this review is to discuss the use of DPP-4 inhibitors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and CV disease or risk factors. Methods: A PubMed search (January 2013–June 2015) was conducted to identify prospective trials, meta-analyses, pooled analyses and cohort studies evaluating CV outcomes with DPP-4 inhibitors. Results: Meta-analyses, pooled analyses and retrospective cohort studies in patients with T2DM suggest no increased CV risk and possible CV benefit compared with some antidiabetes medications. The three published, long-term, prospective, randomized, double-blind CV outcomes trials in patients with CV disease or risk factors found no increased rate of major CV events in patients treated with alogliptin, saxagliptin or sitagliptin versus placebo as add-on to standard-of-care. However, the analysis of the components of the secondary end point of the saxagliptin study showed an increased number of hospitalizations for heart failure (HF) in treated patients versus placebo. A post hoc analysis of the alogliptin study showed no increase in HF hospitalization in treated patients with a history of HF versus placebo, but did show an increase in alogliptin-treated patients with no baseline HF history. Sitagliptin showed no increased risk for HF hospitalization versus placebo in the overall cohort. Two CV outcomes trials for linagliptin are ongoing. Conclusion: The majority of available data from CV outcomes trials suggest a neutral effect of DPP-4 inhibitors on major CV events.