Druggability profile of stilbene-derived PPAR agonists: Determination of physicochemical properties and PAMPA study

PPAR agonists represent a new therapeutic opportunity for the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative disorders, but their pharmacological success depends on favourable pharmacokinetic properties and capability to cross the BBB. In this study, we assayed some PPAR agonists previously synthesized by us for their physicochemical properties, with particular references to lipophilicity, solubility and permeability profiles, using the PAMPA. Although tested compounds showed high lipophilicity and low aqueous solubility, the results revealed a good overall druggability profile, encouraging further studies in the field of neurodegenerative diseases

A framework to decompose GSPN models

This paper presents a framework to decompose a single GSPN model into a set of small interacting models. This decomposition technique can be applied to any GSPN model with a finite set of tangible markings and a generalized tensor algebra (Kronecker) representation can be produced automatically. The numerical impact of all the possible decompositions obtained by our technique is discussed. To do so we draw the comparison of the results for some practical examples. Finally, we present all the computational gains achieved by our technique, as well as the future extensions of this concept for other structured formalisms.</p

Learning into the Wild: A Protocol for the Use of 360\ub0 Video for Foreign Language Learning

Learning a second language could be a boring task if accomplished by repeating bilingual words lists. Laboratory research demonstrated that second language learning is more efficient if the material is enriched by pictures or gestures during the encoding phase. Here we want to test the impact of 360\ub0 videos on foreign language learning. The 360\ub0 videos are spherical videos that allow a lifelike exploration of the environment, if experienced immersively (namely, by means of a Head Mounted Display). The protocol includes ten 360\ub0 videos representing natural landscapes, sport performances and adventures; each video has been enriched with a narrative that guides the subject\u2019s attention towards the relevant elements named in English (the second language). The goals are twofold: first, we want to investigate whether the videos fruition is able to promote language learning; second, we want to verify the acceptability and perceived utility of this technology by potential users

Distributed and structured analysis approaches to study large and complex systems

Abstract. Both the logic and the stochastic analysis of discrete-state systems are hindered by the combinatorial growth of the state space underlying a high-level model. In this work, we consider two orthogonal approaches to cope with this “state-space explosion”. Distributed algorithms that make use of the processors and memory overall available on a network of N workstations can manage models with state spaces approximately N times larger than what is possible on a single workstation. A second approach, constituting a fundamental paradigm shift, is instead based on decision diagrams and related implicit data structures that efficiently encode the state space or the transition rate matrix of a model, provided that it has some structure to guide its decomposition; with these implicit methods, enormous sets can be managed efficiently, but the numerical solution of the stochastic model, if desired, is still a bottleneck, as it requires vectors of the size of the state space.