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Local Reasoning and Attribute-Based Memory Updates for Enforcing Global Invariants in Collective Adaptive Systems
We address the problem of enforcing global invariants, i.e., system-level properties, in Collective Adaptive Systems, such as distributed and decentralized Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. In particular, we propose a novel approach adopting Attribute-based memory Updates (AbU), a calculus modeling declarative, event-driven systems with attribute-based communication.
Our methodology leverages a combination of precise node-level scheduling and local reasoning, with local invariants derived from the system-level property to guarantee. This distributed and decentralized approach promotes efficient enforcing while ensuring desired system-wide behavior, without the need for a central controlling authority
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diabetes-related mortality
Official statistics on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on diabetes mortality in the US were obtained from the Wonder (Wide-Ranging, Online Data for Epidemiologic Research) database, a repository maintained by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that allows specific queries to analyze the unique causes of death of the entire US population in a given time period. The age-adjusted death rate (×100,000) for diabetes mellitus in the overall US population showed a notable increase in 2020 (24.8; 95 %CI, 24.6–25.0) compared with the previous 2 pre-pandemic years 2018 (21.4; 95 %CI, 21.2–21.5) and 2019 (21.6; 95 %CI, 21.4–21.7), then displayed a further increase in 2021 (25.4; 95 %CI, 25.2–25.6) and a slight decrease in 2022 (24.1; 95 %CI, 24.2–23.9). The cumulative diabetes-related mortality increased by 17.0 % in the first two pandemic years 2020–2021 compared to the last two years before the pandemic (2018–2019), with a highly significant variation throughout the study period (one-way ANOVA: 567; p < 0.001). An identical trend was observed for diabetes-related mortality in men (one-way ANOVA: f: 248; p < 0.001) and in women (one-way ANOVA: f: 297; p < 0.001), with a death rate constantly higher in males than in females. The increase in diabetes-related mortality in the first two years of the pandemic compared to the previous two years was 16.3 % in men and 17.2 % in women, respectively
Persuasion, pride, prejudice. Interpretive communities and their winning arguments in a time of climate narratives
This chapter addresses two interpretive communities performing climate narratives. The first one is made up of social movements for climate change, whereas the second one comprises transnational economic actors, according to which global warming must be tackled by preserving the current economically constructed paradigms. These probe a ‘strategic’ use of the law, which is servient to normalising the ecological catastrophe and making consumerism a channel for a greener future. The socio-climatic consequences of our economic systems are thus dismissed with a mix of persuasion, pride, and prejudice. Climate narratives do not automatically exclude loopholes within their texture, which is vulnerable to the assaults of the ecological catastrophe. As interpretive communities, social movements are called upon to stir up both our consciences and legal formalism, teaching us to remain vigilant and keep the door of the law open to a constant conversation with the world and its environmental concerns
Early divergent modulation of NLRP2’s and NLRP3’s inflammasome sensors vs. AIM2’s one by signals from Aβ•Calcium-sensing receptor complexes in human astrocytes
Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most prevalent human dementia, is driven by accruals of extracellular Abeta42 senile patches and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles of hyperphosphorylated Tau (p-Tau) proteins. AD’s concurrent neuroinflammation is prompted by innate immunity-related cytosolic protein oligomers named inflammasomes. Upon proper “first” (priming) and “second” (activating) signals, inflammasomes overproduce proinflammatory Interleukin (IL)-1beta, and IL-18 while cleaving pyroptosis-promoting Gasdermin D’s N-terminal fragments. Our earlier studies highlighted that in pure monocultures, exogenous Abeta25-35-treated nonproliferating human cortical astrocytes (HCAs) made and released surpluses of endogenous Abeta42-oligomers (-os) and p-Tau-os, just as alike-treated human cortical neurons did. Abeta25-35-exposed HCAs also over-released NO, VEGFA, and IL-6. Abeta•CaSR (Beta•Calcium-Sensing Receptor) complexes generated intracellular signals mediating all such neurotoxic effects since CaSR’s negative allosteric modulators (aka NAMs or calcilytics, e.g., NPS2143) fully suppressed them. However, it had hitherto remained unexplored whether signals from Abeta•CaSR complexes also induced the early expression and/or activation of NOD-like 2 (NLRP2) and 3 (NLRP3) and of PYHIN absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) inflammasomes in monocultured HCAs. To clarify this topic, we used in-situ-Proximity Ligation, qRT-PCR, double antibody arrays, immunoblots, and Caspase 1/4 enzymatic assays. Abeta•CaSR complexes quickly assembled on HCAs surface and issued intracellular signals activating Akt and JAK/STAT axes. In turn, the latter upregulated NLRP2 and NLRP3 PRRs (pattern recognition receptors) yet downregulated AIM2. These effects were specific, being significantly hindered by NPS2143 and inhibitors of PI3K (LY294002), AMPKalpha (Dorsomorphin), mTOR (Torin1), and JAK/TYK (Brepoticinib). A wide-spectrum inhibitor, Bay11-7082, intensified the Abeta•CaSR/Akt/JAK/STAT axis-driven opposite control of NLRP3's and AIM2's PRR proteins without affecting NLRP2 PRR upregulation. However, the said effects on the PRRs proteins vanished within 24-h. Moreover, Abeta•CaSR signals neither concurrently changed ASC, pro-IL-1beta, and Gasdermin-D (holo- and fragments) protein levels and Caspases 1 and 4 enzymatic activities nor induced pyroptosis. Therefore, Abeta•CaSR cues acted as "first (priming) signals" temporarily increasing NLRP2 and NLRP3 PRRs expression without activating the corresponding inflammasomes. The neatly divergent modulation of NLRP3’s vs. AIM2’s PRR proteins by Abeta•CaSR cues and by Bay11-7082 suggests that, when bacterial or viral DNA fragments are absent, AIM2 might play “anti-inflammasomal” or other roles in HCAs. However, Bay11-7082’s no effect on NLRP2 PRR overexpression also reveals that CaSR’s downstream mechanisms controlling inflammasomes’ sensors are quite complex in HCAs, and hence, given AD’s impact on human health, well worth further studies
Measure-valued processes for energy markets
We introduce a framework that allows to employ (non-negative) measure-valued processes for energy market modeling, in particular for electricity and gas futures. Interpreting the process' spatial structure as time to maturity, we show how the Heath-Jarrow-Morton approach (see Heath et al. (1992)) can be translated to this framework, thus guaranteeing arbitrage free modeling in infinite dimensions,
while allowing for the incorporation of important stylized facts, in particular stochastic discontinuities, i.e. jumps or spikes at pre-specified (deterministic) dates. We derive an analog to the HJM-drift condition and then treat in a Markovian setting existence of non-negative measure-valued diffusions that satisfy this condition. To analyze mathematically convenient classes we build on Cuchiero et al. (2024) and consider measure-valued polynomial and affine diffusions,
where we can precisely specify the diffusion part in terms of continuous
functions satisfying certain admissibility conditions. For calibration purposes these functions
can then be parameterized by neural networks yielding measure-valued analogs of neural SPDEs.
By combining Fourier
approaches or the moment formula with stochastic gradient descent methods, this then allows for tractable calibration procedures which we also test by way of example on market data
Chapter 4 - Handling of food samples
Food safety is the basis of consumer health protection and requires, among other things, the identification and quantification of all those contaminants that may be harmful to humans and animals. In order to take care of this important aspect, the scientific community is increasingly engaged in the development of reliable analytical methodologies to isolate such contaminants from food matrices. Among the strategies currently employed in this regard, some can be defined ‘conventional’ such as liquid–liquid extraction (LLE), solid–liquid extraction (SLE) as well as solid-phase extraction (SPE). These approaches are the most widely used, either in their traditional version or in the form of variants based, for example, on the use of new solvents (e.g., deep eutectic solvent, DSE-LLE), stationary phases with special properties (e.g., magnetic SPE) or aimed at minimising the amount of material (e.g., dispersive LLE and SPE).
In addition to these, there is also a series of more ‘advanced’ approaches involving the use of instrumental extraction technologies that allow the extraction of analytes to be conducted more efficiently by the application of energy forms, as in the case of microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) or ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE), which are also characterised by traditional and more sophisticated variants. Finally, the large family of QuEChERS (Quick, Efficient, Cheap, Rudge and Safe) methods is slowly gaining ground both in the determination of specific contaminant classes and in multi-target analysis. This chapter will provide an overview of current trends in the extraction of contaminants from food samples
Generalization and enhancement of the effects of an active placebo nasal spray on sadness
Introduction: The placebo effect, i.e., the psychobiological response arising from administering an inert treatment, influences various domains, such as pain perception and emotional regulation. Positive framing might enhance this effect. This study tested whether the effect of an active placebo (mimicking drug side effects to enhance treatment credibility) on is generalized between two different contexts of sadness induction and if positive framing of side effects enhances this effect. Methods: Ninety-six healthy participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: Placebo+positive framing (PPF), Placebo+standard information (PSI), or no treatment control (NTC). Participants underwent a sadness induction protocol during an in-person lab session and a 20-min online follow-up at home six hours later. Primary outcome was self-reported sadness, secondary outcome was self-reported side effects. Results: Both the PPF and PSI groups showed a significant decrease in sadness compared to the NTC group after placebo administration during the lab session (p < 0.001) and at follow-up (p < 0.05). At follow-up, only the PPF group did not experience a significant increase in sadness. Positive framing did not improve side effect tolerability. Limitations: Self-reported measures introduce subjective bias. The sample restriction to healthy volunteers limits generalizability. The six-hour period may not capture clinically relevant long-term effects. Conclusions: The active placebo nasal spray effectively reduced sadness, with effects persisting for six hours and across different contexts. Positive framing did not enhance side effect tolerability but may have helped maintain effectiveness at follow-up. Further research is needed in clinical populations and to explore long-term effects
String Processing and Information Retrieval
The 31st International Symposium on String Processing and Information Retrieval (SPIRE) was held on September 23–25, 2024, in Puerto Vallarta (Mexico), followed by the 18th Workshop on Compression, Text, and Algorithms (WCTA) held on September 26, 2024. This volume contains the accepted papers presented at SPIRE 2024, as well as the abstracts of the three invited talks
Reply to increase in diabetic deaths during COVID-19 pandemic. Some comments
It is not true to conclude that there was no logical reason to die of diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic, as there are many SARS-CoV-2-realted factors that may have worsened the health of this particular population, including weakened immune response to the pathogen, pro-inflammatory state (up to the so-called “cytokine storm”), higher risk of developing life-threatening complications in these particularly vulnerable patients (especially pneumonia, ischemia of heart, brain and peripheral arteries), and disruption of access to medical care with higher risk of delays in treatment of hyper- or hypo-glycaemia
Measure-valued affine and polynomial diffusions
We introduce a class of measure-valued processes, which – in analogy to their finite dimensional counterparts – will be called measure-valued polynomial diffusions. We show the so-called moment formula, i.e. a representation of the conditional marginal moments via a system of finite dimensional linear PDEs. Furthermore, we characterize the corresponding infinitesimal generators and obtain a representa- tion analogous to polynomial diffusions on Rm+ , in cases where their domain is large enough. In general the infinite dimensional setting allows for richer specifications strictly beyond this representation. As a special case we recover measure-valued affine diffusions, sometimes also called Dawson-Watanabe superprocesses. From a mathematical finance point of view the polynomial framework is especially attractive as it allows to transfer the most famous finite dimensional models, such as the Black-Scholes model, to an infinite dimensional measure-valued setting. We outline in particular the applicability of our approach for term structure modeling in energy markets