Kinetic models with randomly perturbed binary collisions

We introduce a class of Kac-like kinetic equations on the real line, with general random collisional rules, which include as particular cases models for wealth redistribution in an agent-based market or models for granular gases with a background heat bath. Conditions on these collisional rules which guarantee both the existence and uniqueness of equilibrium profiles and their main properties are found. We show that the characterization of these stationary solutions is of independent interest, since the same profiles are shown to be solutions of different evolution problems, both in the econophysics context and in the kinetic theory of rarefied gases

No persistent effect of intravenous immunoglobulins in patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy

We report on four patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy (NC), who were treated with high-dose intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIg). Although in some patients transient effects were seen of both objective (multiple sleep latency test and maintenance of wakefulness test) and subjective symptoms (Epworth Sleepiness Scale and frequency of cataplexy), these effects lasted at the most for a few weeks and did not persist. Our report challenges the recent observations of a favorable and persistent effect of IVIg in NC patient

Participatory design, beyond the local

This workshop aims at stimulating and opening a debate around the capacity of Participatory Design (PD) and other co-design approaches to deliver outcomes and methodologies that can have an impact and value for reuse well beyond the local context in which they were originally developed. This will be achieved by stimulating the submission of position papers by researchers from the PD community and beyond.These papers will be discussed during the workshop in order to identify challenges, obstacles but also potentials for scaling up PD processes and results from the local to the global.</p

Central periodic breathing during sleep in 74 patients with acute ischemic stroke - Neurogenic and cardiogenic factors

Objectives : The aims of our study were 1) to better characterize central periodic breathing during sleep (CPBS) and its clinical relevance in acute stroke, 2) to better define the role of brain damage in its pathogenesis. Methods : We included 74 consecutive patients admitted within 96 hours after stroke onset. Stroke severity at admission, stroke outcome at discharge and stroke topography were assessed. ECG and transesophageal echocardiography were performed. Nocturnal breathing was assessed with an ambulatory device the first night after admission. CPBS severity was represented as absolute time and percentage of recording time. Results : Age was 63 ± 13 (25-82), 49 (66 %) were male. Thirty (41 %) patients showed CPBS during ≥ 10 % and 7 (9 %) during ≥ 50 % of recording time. CPBS severity was associated with age (p = 0.017), stroke severity (p = 0.008), ECG abnormalities (p = 0.005) and lower left ventricular ejection fraction (p < 0.0001). CPBS severity was higher in patients with extensive hemispheric strokes (n = 6, p < 0.0001), and lower in patients with partial strokes involving the left insula (n = 5, p < 0.0001) and the mesencephalon (n = 5, p = 0.002). Conclusions : CPBS is frequent in acute ischemic stroke and is associated with older age, stroke severity/extension, and lower left ventricular function. The lower occurrence of CPBS in left insular and mesencephalic stroke suggests a major role of distinct brain areas in the modulation of respiratory phenomena accompanying acute strok

Complete characterization of convergence to equilibrium for an inelastic Kac model

Pulvirenti and Toscani introduced an equation which extends the Kac caricature of a Maxwellian gas to inelastic particles. We show that the probability distribution, solution of the relative Cauchy problem, converges weakly to a probability distribution if and only if the symmetrized initial distribution belongs to the standard domain of attraction of a symmetric stable law, whose index $\alpha$ is determined by the so-called degree of inelasticity, $p>0$, of the particles: $\alpha=\frac{2}{1+p}$. This result is then used: (1) To state that the class of all stationary solutions coincides with that of all symmetric stable laws with index $\alpha$. (2) To determine the solution of a well-known stochastic functional equation in the absence of extra-conditions usually adopted