Steady State Detection of Chemical Reaction Networks Using a Simplified Analytical Method

Chemical reaction networks (CRNs) are susceptible to mathematical modelling. The dynamic behavior of CRNs can be investigated by solving the polynomial equations derived from its structure. However, simple CRN give rise to non-linear polynomials that are difficult to resolve. Here we propose a procedure to locate the steady states of CRNs from a formula derived through algebraic geometry methods. We have applied this procedure to define the steady states of a classic CRN that exhibits instability, and to a model of programmed cell death

Review of Wind Models at a Local Scale: Advantages and Disadvantages

Wind forecasts are widely spread because of the growth in wind power, but also because there are other applications to consider, such as the long-term scenario forecasts regarding the effects of global warming. Overall, there have been big developments in global circulation models (GCM) that inform future scenarios at the large scale, but wind forecast at a local scale is a problem that has not totally been solved. It should be possible to estimate the winds in the near field with a certain accuracy, which is interesting for aspects such as the blowing of incident wind at wind farms, the wind on a dune in movement, or the wind blowing in a harbour. Therefore, a data-driven wind transference equation at a local scale is needed. Among the conclusions, it is worthy to state that the statistical downscaling techniques are suitable for application as a statistical inference at small scales. The aim of this paper is therefore to review the current methods and techniques used and show the different methodologies and their applications in the field. Additional targets will be to identify the advantages, disadvantages, or limitations of the current models at the local scale and propose research to find possible improvements

Factors Affecting Quality of Life for Children with Asthma

BACKGROUND: In the U.S., asthma is the most common chronic illness in children under 18 years. An exploration of asthma admission rates in emergency departments indicated this was also the case for Southeast Georgia. Despite the availability of effective asthma treatments and interventions, asthma continues to severely impact children’s health-related QOL. PURPOSE: This exploratory study sought to assess quality of life (QOL) issues facing children with asthma and their caregivers. Specifically, this study aimed to 1) Determine the baseline QOL in children with asthma and their parents/caregivers, & 2) Determine what factors affect QOL for children with asthma and their caregivers. METHODS: This exploratory study employed a mixed-model design. Participants were recruited for a convenience sample from a large children’s hospital outpatient clinic in Southeast Georgia. Participants included children aged 7-17 with a diagnosis of asthma or reactive airway disease (N=104) and their parents/caregivers (N=104). Child participants completed the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ), a reliable and validated QOL questionnaire for childhood asthma focusing on the domains of activity limitations, emotional function, and an exploration of symptoms. Caregiver participants completed a demographics questionnaire and the Paediatric Asthma Caregiver’s Quality of Life Questionnaire (PACQLQ), a reliable and validated QOL questionnaire for caregivers of children with childhood asthma focusing on two domains, activity limitations and emotional function. Items in both the PAQLQ and PACQLQ questionnaires are rated on a 7-point scale, with higher scores indicating less impairment and lower scores indicating greater impairment to the domain under consideration. RESULTS & CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: In addressing the first aim of this study, the results revealed that the baseline QOL for children with asthma and their caregivers was relatively high. In addressing the second aim of this study, the results of both the PAQLQ and the PACQLQ revealed that the most significant factor that affects the QOL of children with asthma is ED visits. The more ED visits reported, the greater the impairment to emotional function and physical activity. While the findings of this study demonstrate a positive baseline QOL, it is important to further investigate the specific impact of ED visits on QOL of children with asthma and their caregivers. An important clinical implication is that education on controlling asthma symptoms to prevent ED visits for both children and their caregivers may be of value to improve their QOL

Monitoring sound and Its perception during the lockdown and de-escalation of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Spanish study

The lockdown measures in Spain due to the SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic from 13 March to 21 June 2020 had extensive social and environmental implications. This study aims to understand how the measures of lockdown have influenced noise levels, as well as people’s perception of sound quality before and after lockdown, including de-escalation. For this purpose, an online survey was carried out. Moreover, the noise linked to the Global Positioning System (GPS) position of each individual respondent was recorded aiming to correlate the noise level with the result of the survey. An average reduction of over 30 dB was observed compared with the sound pressure level before lockdown. Furthermore, it was found that the loudness parameter, together with the overall level, increased as the country started relaxing restrictions. Additionally, results showed that the perception of noise quality changed depending on the phase of de-escalation (p p p p p p p < 0.05). It may be concluded that the most important measure to decrease noise levels is the reduction of traffic noise, through using eco-friendly public transportation or bicycles and limiting nightlife hours.We would like to acknowledge the support of the "Aula of software libre" at the University of Cordoba; "Aucorsa S.A." and "Interlight S.L."

The CORTEX Cognitive Robotics Architecture: use cases

CORTEX is a cognitive robotics architecture inspired by three key ideas: modularity, internal modelling and graph representations. CORTEX is also a computational framework designed to support early forms of intelligence in real world, human interacting robots, by selecting an a priori functional decomposition of the capabilities of the robot. This set of abilities was then translated to computational modules or agents, each one built as a network of software interconnected components. The nature of these agents can range from pure reactive modules connected to sensors and/or actuators, to pure deliberative ones, but they can only communicate with each other through a graph structure called Deep State Representation (DSR). DSR is a short-term dynamic representation of the space surrounding the robot, the objects and the humans in it, and the robot itself. All these entities are perceived and transformed into different levels of abstraction, ranging from geometric data to high-level symbolic relations such as "the person is talking and gazing at me". The combination of symbolic and geometric information endows the architecture with the potential to simulate and anticipate the outcome of the actions executed by the robot. In this paper we present recent advances in the CORTEX architecture and several real-world human-robot interaction scenarios in which they have been tested. We describe our interpretation of the ideas inspiring the architecture and the reasons why this specific computational framework is a promising architecture for the social robots of tomorrow

The neuronal migration hypothesis of dyslexia : a critical evaluation 30 years on

This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (092071/Z/10/Z to A.P.M., Z.M. and A.V.-B., and 082498/Z/07/Z to D.V.M.B.); L.G.G. receive a Doctoral Training Award from the Medical Research Council; S.P. is a Royal Society University Research Fellow.The capacity for language is one of the key features underlying the complexity of human cognition and its evolution. However, little is known about the neurobiological mechanisms that mediate normal or impaired linguistic ability. For developmental dyslexia, early postmortem studies conducted in the 1980s linked the disorder to subtle defects in the migration of neurons in the developing neocortex. These early studies were reinforced by human genetic analyses that identified dyslexia susceptibility genes and subsequent evidence of their involvement in neuronal migration. In this review, we examine recent experimental evidence that does not support the link between dyslexia and neuronal migration. We critically evaluate gene function studies conducted in rodent models and draw attention to the lack of robust evidence from histopathological and imaging studies in humans. Our review suggests that the neuronal migration hypothesis of dyslexia should be reconsidered, and the neurobiological basis of dyslexia should be approached with a fresh start.PreprintPublisher PDFPeer reviewe

Ammonia emissions from a soil amended with urea and inhibitor of urease activity in a Mediterranean area

Urea and ammonium-based fertilisers are nowadays one of the most important sources of ammonia (NH3) emissions to the atmosphere in Europe. However, little is known about NH3 volatilisation in Mediterranean areas. The aim of the present study was the quantification of NH3 emissions by using the Integrated Horizontal Flux (IHF) method after application of urea with the urease inhibitor N-(n-butyl) thiophosphorie triamide (NBPT) to a semiarid agricultural soil. The field experiment was carried out at "La Poveda" field station in Madrid on a sunflower crop in spring 2006. Urea and a mixture of urea and the inhibitor (0.14%) were surfaee-applied by hand at a rate of 170 kg N ha"' to eircular plots (diam. 40 m). The soil was irrigated with 10 mm of water just after the applieation of urea to dissolve and incorporate it onto the first layer of soil. There were three peaks in the NH3 flux over the duration of the measurement period (36 d). The first peak was associated to irrigation and the others to rainfall events. The total NH3 emission during the whole experiment (36 days) was 17.3 ±5.5kgNH3-N ha"1 in the ease of urea treated soils and 10.0 ± 4.5 kg NHrN ha"' where NBPT was ineluded with the urea

Placebo-controlled trial of nimodipine in the treatment of acute ischemic cerebral infarction

Nimodipine is a 1,4-dihydropyridine derivative that shows a preferential cerebrovascular activity in experimental animals. Clinical data suggest that nimodipine has a beneficial effect on the neurologic outcome of patients suffering an acute ischemic stroke. Our double-blind placebo-controlled multicenter trial was designed to assess the effects of oral nimodipine on the mortality rate and neurologic outcome of patients with an acute ischemic stroke. One hundred sixty-four patients were randomly allocated to receive either nimodipine tablets (30 mg q.i.d.) or identical placebo tablets for 28 days. Treatment was always started less than or equal to 48 hours after the acute event. The Mathew Scale, slightly modified by Gelmers et al, was used for neurologic assessment. Mortality rate and neurologic outcome after 28 days were used as evaluation criteria. We considered 123 patients to be valid for the analysis of efficacy. Mortality rates did not differ significantly between groups. Neurologic outcome after 28 days of therapy did not differ between groups. However, when only those patients most likely to benefit from any intervention (Mathew Scale sum score of less than or equal to 65 at baseline) were analyzed separately in post hoc-defined subgroups, the nimodipine-treated subgroups showed a significantly better neurologic outcome. This result suggests that some patients with acute ischemic stroke will benefit from treatment with nimodipine tablets