A Risk-Based Model Predictive Control Approach to Adaptive Interventions in Behavioral Health

This brief examines how control engineering and risk management techniques can be applied in the field of behavioral health through their use in the design and implementation of adaptive behavioral interventions. Adaptive interventions are gaining increasing acceptance as a means to improve prevention and treatment of chronic, relapsing disorders, such as abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, mental illness, and obesity. A risk-based model predictive control (MPC) algorithm is developed for a hypothetical intervention inspired by Fast Track, a real-life program whose long-term goal is the prevention of conduct disorders in at-risk children. The MPC-based algorithm decides on the appropriate frequency of counselor home visits, mentoring sessions, and the availability of after-school recreation activities by relying on a model that includes identifiable risks, their costs, and the cost/benefit assessment of mitigating actions. MPC is particularly suited for the problem because of its constraint-handling capabilities, and its ability to scale to interventions involving multiple tailoring variables. By systematically accounting for risks and adapting treatment components over time, an MPC approach as described in this brief can increase intervention effectiveness and adherence while reducing waste, resulting in advantages over conventional fixed treatment. A series of simulations are conducted under varying conditions to demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm

Synthesis and proton conduction properties of lanthanide amino-sulfophosphonates

Crystalline acid-functionalized metal phosphonates are potential candidates as proton conducting electrolytes. Their frameworks can be chemically modified to contain proton carriers such as acidic groups (P-OH; -SO3H, -COOH,…) and guest molecules (H2O, NH3,…) that generates hydrogen bond networks stable in a wide range of temperature [1,2]. In this work, focus is laid on properties derived from the combination of lanthanide ions with the amino-sulfophosphonate ligand (H2O3PCH2)2-N-(CH2)2-SO3H. Hightrough-put screening was followed to reach the optimal synthesis conditions under solvothermal conditions at 140 ºC. Isolated polycrystalline solids, Ln[(O3PCH2)2-NH-(CH2)2-SO3H].2H2O (Ln= La, Pr and Sm), crystallize in the monoclinic (La) and orthorhombic (Pr and Sm) systems with unit cell volume of ~2548 Å3. Preliminary proton conductivity measurements for Sm derivative have been carried out between 25º and 80 ºC at relative humidity (RH) values of 70 % and 95 %. The sample exhibits enhanced conductivity at high RH and T (Figure 1) and constant activation energies of 0.4 eV, typical of a Grothuss mechanism of proton.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. FQM-1656; MAT2013-41836-

Ammonia effects on proton conductivity properties of coordination polymers

Crystalline metal phosphonates are referred to as a type of structurally versatile coordination polymers [1]. Many of them contain guest molecules (H2O, heterocyclics, etc.), acidic sites and, furthermore, their structure can be also amenable for post‐synthesis modifications in order to enhance desired properties [2]. In the present work, we examine the relationships between crystal structure and proton conductivity for several metal phosphonates derive from multifunctional ligands, such as 5-(dihydroxyphosphoryl)isophthalic acid (PiPhtA) [3] and 2-hydroxyphosphonoacetic acid (H3HPAA). Crystalline divalent metal derivatives show a great structural diversity, from 1D to 3D open-frameworks, possessing hydrogen-bonded water molecules and acid groups. These solids present a proton conductivity range between 7.2·10-6 and 1.3·10−3 S·cm-1. Upon exposure to ammonia vapor, from an aqueous solution, solid state transformations are observed accompanied of enhance proton conductivities. The stability of these solids under different environment conditions (temperature and relative humidities) as well as the influence of the ammonia adsorption on the proton conduction properties of the resulting solids will be discussed.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Análisis y propuesta metodológica desde una perspectiva constructivista para la didáctica jurídica en Chile

88 p.This research focuses on the teaching of law in Chile, which has as a main feature in its development that teachers, in the legal field, do not always reflect on their work as university professors, and its action basically limits it to the exercise of the profession and by taking specialized studies, preferably Doctorates as input for the chair. In addition to the above, the scarce implementation of alternative methodologies to the master class is presented, which has generated a strong asymmetry between the current demands that are required of legal professionals and their academic training. Consequently, pedagogical reflection is necessary, which implies the understanding of the educational act, not as a simple process of transmitting information from an expert to an apprentice, but as a multidimensional process from a constructivist-communicative perspective in perfect dialectic with the context in which it arises and from where the problem to be investigated is based. In order to analyze this problem it is necessary to mention its possible causes that can be seen from the perspective of the lack of a theoretical and methodological framework based on the pedagogical sciences and, on the other, of the divergence in the conception of the very object of legal education. Thus, from personal experience, we seek to analyze the classroom practices implemented in the training of legal professionals, their origins and foundation, to know the new demands that are required of these professionals, the new scenarios in which they will exercise their functions and the way in which the learning of the necessary skills for these new contexts could be incorporated. For the development we will expose three chapters: The first in which starting from the personal experience and review of the state of the art of the authors will try to reconstruct the problem in terms of the way in which the law is taught. In a second stage we will analyze what would be the theoretical device that allows us in the action to transform the traditional pedagogical practice of teaching law. In a third stage, an analysis and conclusions of what was observed in the research and the presentation of a proposal that can be implemented to improve the teaching of law will be presented

Evaluación de los Riesgos por Iluminación en los Puestos de Trabajo de Oficinas PDVSA a través de un Programa de Computación | Risk Assessment for Lighting in the Office Jobs PDVSA through a Computer Program

Se evalua el riesgo por las condiciones de iluminación en puestos de trabajo ubicados en oficinas de las instalaciones de Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), específicamente en el Edificio de “La Campiña” (Caracas) y el Edificio (Maturín), además de calcular y rediseñar estos mediante la utilización de un software diseñado para tal fin. Se trata de una investigación de campo que permitió recoger los datos mediante luxometrías que serealizaron en los puestos de trabajo siguiendo los lineamientos dictados por la norma de la Comisión Venezolana de Normas Industriales (COVENIN) 2249-93 “Iluminancias en tareas y áreas de trabajo”, en el periodo 2006- 2007. Se encontró que el 69,65% de los puestos de trabajo no cumplen con la norma COVENIN 2249-93, por lo cual se hizo necesario la evaluación y el rediseño de la iluminación de los puestos de trabajo de las oficinas mencionadas, para optimizar las condiciones de los puestos de trabajo y cumplir de esta manera a cabalidad con las normas tanto nacionales como internacionales de iluminación en puestos de trabajo. Palabras clave: Iluminación, riesgo por iluminación, evaluación, rediseño. ABST RACT This risk for lighting conditions at workstations in offices of installations of Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), specifically in the Building "La Campiña " (Caracas) and the Building (Maturin), were evaluated, and calculations to redesign these conditions were performed using a software designed for that purpose. This is a field research, which allowed the collection of data using luxometries in the workplace according to the norm of the Venezuelan Industrial Standards Committee (COVENIN) 2249-93 "Illuminance on tasks and work areas" in the period 2006-2007. It was found that 69.65% of the workstations did not meet the norm COVENIN 2249-93, so it was necessary to evaluate and redesign the lighting of the workstations in these locations, in order to optimize the working conditions fully comply with the national and international standards on lighting in workstations. Key words: Lighting, risk for lighting, evaluation, redesign

NIRS potential use for the determination of natural resources quality from dehesa (acorn and grass) in Montanera system for Iberian pigs.

NIRS technology has been used as an alternative to conventional methods to determinate the content of nutrients of acorns and grass from dehesa ecosystem. Dry matter (DM), crude fat (CF), crude protein (CP), starch, total phenolic compounds (TP), α-tocopherol, γ-tocopherol, fatty acids, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), total antioxidant activity (TAA) and total energy (TE) were determined by conventional methods for later development of NIRS predictive equations. The NIR spectrum of each sample was collected and for all studied parameters, a predictive model was obtained and external validated. Good prediction equations were obtained for moisture, crude fat, crude protein, total energy and γ-tocopherol in acorns samples, with high coefficients of correlation (1-VR) and low standard error of prediction (SEP) (1-VR=0.81, SEP=2.62; 1-VR=0.92, SEP=0.54; 1-VR=0.86, SEP=0.47; 1-VR=0.84, SEP=0.2; 1-VR=0.88, SEP=5.4, respectively) and crude protein, NDF, α-tocopherol and linolenic acid content in grass samples (1-VR=0.9, SEP=1.99; 1-VR=0.87, SEP=4.13; 1-VR=0.76, SEP=10.9; 1-VR=0.82, SEP=0.6, respectively). Therefore, these prediction models could be used to determinate the nutritional composition of Montanera natural resources

Proton conductivity and luminiscence properties of lanthanide aminotriphosphonates

Metal phosphonates are multifunctional solids with tunable properties, such as internal H-bond networks, and high chemical and thermal stability [1]. In the present work, we describe the synthesis, structural characterization, luminescent properties and proton conduction performance of a new family of isostructural cationic compounds with general formula [Ln(H4NMP)(H2O)2]Cl·2H2O [Ln = La3+, Pr3+, Sm3+, Gd3+, Tb3+, Dy3+, Ho3+, H6NMP = nitrilotris(methylphosphonic acid)]. These solids are formed by positively charge layers, which consist of isolated LnO8 polyhedra and bridge chelating NMP2- ligands, held apart by chloride ions and water molecules. This arrangement result in extended interlayer hydrogen networks with possible proton transfer pathways. The proton conductivity of Gd3+ sample, selected as prototype of the series, was measured. In the range between range 25º and 80 ºC, the conductivity increase with the temperature up to a maximum value of 3.10-4 S·cm-1, at relative humidity of 95 %. The activation energy obtained from the Arrhenius plot (Figure 1) is in the range corresponding to a Grotthuss transfer mechanism.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. FQM-1656; MAT2013-41836-R