Matrix metalloproteinases in liver injury, repair and fibrosis.

The liver is a large highly vascularized organ with a central function in metabolic homeostasis, detoxification, and immunity. Due to its roles, the liver is frequently exposed to various insults which can cause cell death and hepatic dysfunction. Alternatively, the liver has a remarkable ability to self-repair and regenerate after injury. Liver injury and regeneration have both been linked to complex extracellular matrix (ECM) related pathways. While normal degradation of ECM components is an important feature of tissue repair and remodeling, irregular ECM turnover contributes to a variety of liver diseases. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are the main enzymes implicated in ECM degradation. MMPs not only remodel the ECM, but also regulate immune responses. In this review, we highlight some of the MMP-attributed roles in acute and chronic liver injury and emphasize the need for further experimentation to better understand their functions during hepatic physiological conditions and disease progression

Multichannel calculation of excited vector ϕ\phi resonances and the ϕ(2170)\phi(2170)

A multichannel calculation of excited $J^{PC}=1^{--}$ $\phi$ states is carried out within a generalization of the Resonance-Spectrum Expansion, which may shed light on the classification of the $\phi(2170)$ resonance, discovered by BABAR and originally denoted X(2175). In this framework, a complete spectrum of bare $s\bar{s}$ states is coupled to those OZI-allowed decay channels that should be most relevant for the considered energy range. The included $S$- and $P$-wave two-meson channels comprise the lowest pseudoscalar, vector, scalar, and axial-vector mesons, while in the $q\bar{q}$ sector both the $^{3}S_1$ and $^{3}D_1$ states are coupled. The only two free parameters are tuned so as to reproduce mass and width of the $\phi(1020)$, but come out reasonably close to previously used values. Among the model's $T$-matrix poles, there are good candidates for observed resonances, as well other ones that should exist according to the quark model. Besides the expected resonances as unitarized confinement states, a dynamical resonance pole is found at $(2186-i246)$ MeV. The huge width makes its interpretation as the $\phi(2170)$ somewhat dubious, but further improvements of the model may change this conclusion.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, RevTex4; v2: very recent experimental result, some extra discussion, and 2 references added; v3: 3 new figures, 2 new equations, and some rephrasing; version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Reinforcement Learning for Dual-Resource Constrained Scheduling

This paper proposes using reinforcement learning to solve scheduling problems where two types of resources of limited availability must be allocated. The goal is to minimize the makespan of a dual-resource constrained flexible job shop scheduling problem. Efficient practical implementation is very valuable to industry, yet it is often only solved combining heuristics and expert knowledge. A framework for training a reinforcement learning agent to schedule diverse dual-resource constrained job shops is presented. Comparison with other state-of-theart approaches is done on both simpler and more complex instances that the ones used for training. Results show the agent produces competitive solutions for small instances that can outperform the implemented heuristic if given enough time. Other extensions are needed before real-world deployment, such as deadlines and constraining resources to work shifts

The impact of intelligent automation in internal supply chains

Nowadays, industry is being forced to produce smaller and more diverse batches, increasing the complexity of internal supply chains. Data has become a valuable asset, supporting the development of intelligent automation solutions. Decision support systems, which leverage data, require the automation pyramid to be more flexible, as information needs to be exchanged simultaneously and in real-time with all automation layers. This paper proposes a framework for intelligent automation to deal with current challenges in acquisition and management of data in industrial settings, towards feeding decision support systems. It frames the topic within the scope of internal supply chains, addressing the framework impact on work practices within the organisation. Two real industrial implementation cases are examined, in the wood and chemical industries. Results help practitioners address the most impactful challenges affecting the performance of internal supply chains, by developing systems which are faster, more flexible, efficient and with improved quality.This work was supported by FCT, through IDMEC, under LAETA, project UIDB/50022/2020

Dual-resource Constrained Scheduling for Quality Control Laboratories

This work presents a novel formulation for quality control laboratory scheduling considering both equipment and analysts as constraints. The problem is modelled as a dualresource constrained exible job shop problem. The formulation considers analyst's tasks in multiple time points during the processing of samples. The mathematical model is implemented as a mixed integer linear programming model (MILP) aiming to minimize makespan. Two sets of instances for the scheduling problem are developed and solved. The rst instance consists on a small example that illustrates the proposed formulation and is solved to optimality. The second instance mimics the real industrial problem and shows the challenges resulting from growing complexity

Intelligent Sensors for Real-Time Decision-Making

The simultaneous integration of information from sensors with business data and how to acquire valuable information can be challenging. This paper proposes the simultaneous integration of information from sensors and business data. The proposal is supported by an industrial imple mentation, which integrates intelligent sensors and real-time decision-making, using a combination of PLC and PC Platforms in a three-level architecture: cloud-fog-edge. Automatic identification intelligent sensors are used to improve the decision-making of a dynamic scheduling tool. The proposed platform is applied to an industrial use-case in analytical Quality Control (QC) laborato ries. The regulatory complexity, the personalized production, and traceability requirements make QC laboratories an interesting use case. We use intelligent sensors for automatic identification to improve the decision-making of a dynamic scheduling tool. Results show how the integration of intelligent sensors can improve the online scheduling of tasks. Estimations from system processing times decreased by over 30%. The proposed solution can be extended to other applications such as predictive maintenance, chemical industry, and other industries where scheduling and rescheduling are critical factors for the production.This work was supported by FCT, through IDMEC, under LAETA, project UIDB/50022/2020

Issues and Opportunities in Exotic Hadrons

The last few years have been witness to a proliferation of new results concerning heavy exotic hadrons. Experimentally, many new signals have been discovered that could be pointing towards the existence of tetraquarks, pentaquarks, and other exotic configurations of quarks and gluons. Theoretically, advances in lattice field theory techniques place us at the cusp of understanding complex coupled-channel phenomena, modelling grows more sophisticated, and effective field theories are being applied to an ever greater range of situations. It is thus an opportune time to evaluate the status of the field. In the following, a series of high priority experimental and theoretical issues concerning heavy exotic hadrons is presented

Multi-agent system for dynamic scheduling

This paper proposes a flexible manufacturing system based on intelligent computational agents. A Multi-Agent System composed of 4 types of reactive agents was designed to control the operation of a real implementation in the Intelligent Automation Lab at Instituto Superior Tecnico. This implementation was ´ based and constructed analogously to a known benchmark, AIPPRIMECA. The agents were modelled using Petri nets and agent communications were defined through the combination of FIPA Interaction Protocols. The system was tested under the conditions of static and dynamic scenarios, having its performance validated whenever possible by comparison with results from a Potential Fields Approach in the same benchmark. Overall, the performance exhibited by the proposed MAS was slightly better and it is worth highlighting the simple behaviour of each agent and ability to respond in real-time to all the dynamic scenarios tested

Tilt Test in Elderly Patients with Syncope of Unknown Etiology: Experience with Pharmacological Stimulation with Nitroglycerin

Está demonstrado o papel do teste de inclinação na avaliação de doentes com síncope de causa não esclarecida. Nos idosos, a prevalência de episódios sincopais aumenta, associa-se a pior prognóstico e, frequentemente, implica o recurso a múltiplos exames de diagnóstico. Objectivos: Avaliar a utilidade do teste de inclinação com recurso a nitroglicerina sub-lingual como agente provocativo em idosos com síncope de etiologia desconhecida. Métodos: Foram estudados 46 doentes consecutivos com > 65 anos (56,5% do sexo feminino; 74 ± 6 anos) por síncope de etiologia não esclarecida. Em 25 doentes(54%) não havia evidência de patologia cardíaca, tendo os restantes cardiopatia hipertensiva (14 doentes) ou isquémica (7 doentes). O protocolo incluiu massagem do seio carotídeo em decúbito a após ortostatismo passivo. O teste de inclinação foi efectuado sob monitorização contínua do electrocardiograma e tensão arterial, com inclinação a 70º durante 20 minutos. Na ausência de síncope, administrou-se 500 mcg de nitroglicerina sub-lingual com monitorização por mais 20 minutos. O teste de inclinação foi considerado positivo quando houve reprodução da sintomatologia acompanhada de bradicardia e/ou hipotensão arterial (respostas cardio-inibitória, vasodepressora ou mista). Considerou-se haver hipotensão ortostática nos casos com queda da tensão arterial sistólica > 20 mmHg ou da tensão arterial diastólica > 10 mmHg nos 3 minutos após ortostatismo; nos doentes com sintomas associados à descida gradual, paralela, da tensão arterial sistólica e diastólica durante o teste de inclinação passivo, admitiu-se um perfil do tipo disautonómico; nos doentes com descida gradual da tensão arterial após nitroglicerina, considerou-se haver resposta exagerada aos nitratos. Resultados: Ocorreu reprodução de sintomas em 34 doentes (73,9%): 19,6% no teste de inclinação passivo (resposta neurocardiogénica vasodepressora – 3 doentes, hipersensibilidade do seio carotídeo – 1 doente, hipotensão ortostática – 1 doente, perfil disautonómico – 4 doentes) e 54,3% após nitroglicerina (resposta neurocardiogénica vasodepressora – 12 doentes, mista – 5 doentes , cardio-inibitória – 2 doentes e resposta exagerada aos nitratos – 6 doentes). A síncope foi neurocardiogénica em 47,8% (teste passivo – 13,6%, pós-nitroglicerina – 86,4%). Em 16,2% dos doentes submetidos a nitroglicerina ocorreu resposta exagerada aos nitratos. Não se registaram complicações durante o exame. Conclusões: O teste de inclinação em idosos com síncope de etiologia não esclarecida: 1. contribui para o diagnóstico diferencial no estudo etiológico da síncope, 2. quando potenciado pela nitroglicerina associa-se a um aumento significativo do número de respostas positivas, e permite identificar um número considerável de doentes com resposta exagerada aos nitratos

EM Decay of X(3872) as the 11D2(2−+)1{^1D_2}(2^{-+}) charmonium

The recently BaBar results raise the possibility that X(3872) has negative parity. This makes people reconsider assigning X(3872) to the $1{^1D_2}(c\bar c)$ state. In this paper we give a general form of the wave function of $2^{-+}$ mesons. By solving the instantaneous Bethe-Salpeter equation, we get the mass spectrum and corresponding wave functions. We calculate electromagnetic decay widths of the first $2^{-+}$ state which we assume to be the X(3872) particle. The results are $\Gamma(2^{-+}(3872)\rightarrow J/\psi\gamma) = 1.59^{+0.53}_{-0.42}$ keV, $\Gamma(2^{-+}(3872)\rightarrow \psi(2S)\gamma) = 2.87^{+1.46}_{-0.97}$ eV and $\Gamma(2^{-+}(3872)\rightarrow \psi(3770)\gamma) = 0.135^{+0.066}_{-0.047}$ keV. The ratio of branch fractions of the second and first channel is about 0.002, which is inconsistent with the experimental value $3.4\pm 1.4$. So X(3872) is unlikely to be a $2^{-+}$ charmonium state. In addition, we obtain a relatively large decay width for $2^{-+}(3872)\rightarrow h_c\gamma$ channel which is $392^{+62}_{-111}$ keV.Comment: Revised versio