Hybrid Automata in Systems Biology: How far can we go?

We consider the reachability problem on semi-algebraic hybrid automata. In particular, we deal with the effective cost that has to be afforded to solve reachability through first-order satisfiability. The analysis we perform with some existing tools shows that even simple examples cannot be efficiently solved. We need approximations to reduce the number of variables in our formulae: this is the main source of time computation growth. We study standard approximation methods based on Taylor polynomials and ad-hoc strategies to solve the problem and we show their effectiveness on the repressilator case study

A BIOMECHANICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL COMPARISON OF OLYMPIC FLATWATER CANOEING

Simulation of sporting activities for the purpose of assessing physiological parameters and for conditioning athletes has been an important development within the sports world. The purpose of this study was to compare Olympic flatwater canoeing technique to that of an ergometer developed by Pyke et al. at Dalhousie University. The comparison, using three national team members, was both physiological and biomechanical in order to determine; 1) if accurate physiological measurements focusing on the upper body during racing conditions could be matched while using the laboratory ergometer; 2) if the ergometer movement patterns closely approximated the actual on-water racing stroke. The results indicated that the techniques were similar physiologically and different biomechanically. VE and VO2 max, for the 500 m. race and for a simulated 500 m. trial were close and consistent across all S's. Results for the 1000 m. were acceptable, but not as accurate as the 500 m. The use of the Pyke ergometer was judged on the whole to be a valid physiological testing procedure. The major difficulty with the ergometer was that it forced all S's to alter their racing strokes in order to successfully maintain movement of the mechanism. Changes in movement and velocity patterns of the trunk, arms and hands of all S's were considerable and led to the conclusion that this ergometer, in its original design, not be used as a training device

Integrating Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) with Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) creating a Global GIS platform

Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDIs) are a special category of data hubs that involve technological and human resources and follow well defined legal and technical procedures to collect, store, manage and distribute spatial data. INSPIRE is the EU’s authoritative SDI in which each Member State provides access to their spatial data across a wide spectrum of data themes to support policy-making. In contrast, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) is one type of user-generated geographic information (GI) where volunteers use the web and mobile devices to create, assemble and disseminate spatial information. There are similarities and differences between SDIs and VGI, as well as advantages and disadvantages to both. Thus, the integration of these two data sources will enhance what is offered to end users to facilitate decision-making. This idea of integration is in its early stages, because several key issues need to be considered and resolved first. Therefore, this chapter discusses the challenges of integrating VGI with INSPIRE and outlines a generic framework for a global integrated GIS platform, similar in concept to Digital Earth and Virtual Geographic Environments (VGEs), as a realistic scenario for advancements in the short term

Early maladaptive schemas, emotion regulation difficulties, and alexithymia : A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Emotion regulation is an integral part of the schema therapy model. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to synthesize the evidence on the associations between early maladaptive schemas (EMSs), difficulties with emotion regulation and alexithymia. Method PsycINFO, PubMed and CINAHL Complete databases were searched on 28 May 2022 and 3 February 2023 in compliance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Included studies were in English, in peer-reviewed journals and reported on the association between one or more of the 18 EMSs or five schema domains and emotion regulation difficulties or alexithymia. Methodological quality was assessed using the Appraisal Tool for Cross-Sectional Studies. Meta-analyses were conducted to examine difficulties with emotion regulation and alexithymia as correlates of each EMS and domain. Results A total of 19 studies published between 2008 and 2022 were included (Pooled N = 5957). Difficulties with emotion regulation were positively correlated with all 18 EMSs (range: entitlement r(7) = .28, 95% CI [.13, .42] to negativity pessimism r(5) = .53, 95% CI [.23, .74]) and schema domains (range: impaired limits r(5) = .34, 95% CI [.08, .56] to disconnection rejection r(5) = .44, 95% CI [.33, .73]). Alexithymia was positively correlated with the other-directedness domain (r(2) = .40, 95% CI [.09, .64]) and 16 of the 18 EMSs (range: unrelenting standards r(5) = .21, 95% CI [.12, .28] to emotional inhibition r(5) = .50, 95% CI [.34, .63]). Conclusions The findings suggested that almost all 18 EMSs are implicated in emotion regulation difficulties and alexithymia, particularly those relating to unmet needs for attachment and autonomy

LA SCELTA DEI MATERIALI PER LE GRANDI OPERE CIVILI: IL NUOVO PONTE SUL TICINO A VIGEVANO

Nella memoria vengono presentate le linee guida che ispirano le moderne strategie nella realizzazione delle grandi opere civili. Per tali opere, gli obiettivi da considerare sono diventati via via più numerosi, talché si rivela ormai quasi indispensabile fare ricorso a materiali e a strategie che possano soddisfare assai bene a molti di tali obiettivi, in modo da poterne considerare poi un numero minore nell’ottimizzazione della soluzione. Anche perché, in effetti, alcuni di questi obiettivi sfuggono a razionali procedure scientifiche. La memoria evidenzia come sia da favorire l'impiego dei nuovi calcestruzzi (HPC, HSC, SCC), per la realizzazione delle opere in calcestruzzo armato sulla base di ragioni oggettive, le quali peraltro fanno soddisfare alla necessità di cui sopra si è detto. Emblematico, sotto questo riguardo, è il caso dei ponti stradali per le quali è essenziale una corretta progettazione a garanzia di un esercizio sicuro. A tal proposito, la memoria presenta, come caso studio, il progetto definitivo del nuovo ponte sul Ticino a Vigevano. Le valutazioni di LCC, eseguite con riferimento alla scelta dei materiali, adottate nel progetto definitivo del ponte, permettono di evidenziare come la scelta di materiali più durevoli e performanti, consenta di meglio salvaguardare la vita umana, con l’assurdo che le scelte che consentono di salvare più vite umane sono anche le meno costose per la collettività

effect of a nicotine free inhalator as part of a smoking cessation programme

Smoking-cessation drugs are inadequate at addressing the behavioural component of tobacco dependence. Nicotine-free inhalators are plastic devices that may provide a coping mechanism for conditioned smoking by replacing some of the rituals associated with smoking gestures. This study assessed the effect of using a nicotine-free inhalator to improve success in a cessation programme. At baseline, 120 smokers attending a smoking-cessation programme were assessed for their sociodemographic factors, smoking history, depression, physical and behavioural dependence, and motivation. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups, nicotine-free inhalator group (PAIPO; Echos Srl, Milan, Italy) versus reference group. For the whole sample, no significant difference was found in quit rates at 24 weeks between the PAIPO group and the reference group. However, the quit rate in the PAIPO group (66.7%) was more than three-fold higher than the reference group (19.2%) for those individuals with high Glover–Nilsson Smoking Behavioural Questionnaire (GN-SBQ) scores at baseline. The results of the logistic model analysis indicate that a high GN-SBQ score is a strong independent predictor for successful quitting at 24 weeks (OR 8.88; 95% CI 2.08–37.94) in the PAIPO group. Nicotine-free inhalators may be beneficial when used in the context of smoking-cessation interventions, particularly for those smokers for whom handling and manipulation of their cigarettes plays an important part in the ritual of smoking

Tortugas marinas en aguas argentinas

Con la ayuda de los sensores remotos y los sistemas de posicionamiento geográfico, los científicos están descubriendo varias facetas sobre las vida de las tortugas marinas. Se describe el método para realizar el siguimiento satelital, sus migraciones, y se dan las características de las especies de tortugas marinas encontradas en aguas costeras de la Argentina. Este trabajo de divulgación científica hace hincapié en la importancia de su conservación, según la Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, éstas se encuentran en peligro o en peligro crítico de extinción en todo el mundo. Se incluyen al final otras lecturas sugeridas sobre el tema

An Approach to Model Resources Rationalisation in Hybrid Clouds through Users Activity Characterisation

In recent years, some strategies (e.g., server consolidation by means of virtualisation techniques) helped the managers of large Information Technology (IT) infrastructures to limit, when possible, the use of hardware resources in order to provide reliable services and to reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of such infrastructures. Moreover, with the advent of Cloud computing, a resource usage rationalisation can be pursued also for the users applications, if this is compatible with the Quality of Service (QoS) which must be guaranteed. In this perspective, modern datacenters are “elastic”, i.e., able to shrink or enlarge the number of local physical or virtual resources from private/public Clouds. Moreover, many of large computing environments are integrated in distributed computing environment as the grid and cloud infrastructures. In this document, we report some advances in the realisation of a utility, we named Adaptive Scheduling Controller (ASC) which, interacting with the datacenter resource manager, allows an effective and efficient usage of resources, also by means of users jobs classification. Here, we focus both on some data mining algorithms which allows to classify the users activity and on the mathematical formalisation of the functional used by ASC to find the most suitable configuration for the datacenter’s resource manager. The presented case study concerns the SCoPE infrastructure, which has a twofold role: local computing resources provider for the University of Naples Federico II and remote resources provider for both the Italian Grid Infrastructure (IGI) and the European Grid Infrastructure (EGI) Federated Cloud

On the action potential as a propagating density pulse and the role of anesthetics

The Hodgkin-Huxley model of nerve pulse propagation relies on ion currents through specific resistors called ion channels. We discuss a number of classical thermodynamic findings on nerves that are not contained in this classical theory. Particularly striking is the finding of reversible heat changes, thickness and phase changes of the membrane during the action potential. Data on various nerves rather suggest that a reversible density pulse accompanies the action potential of nerves. Here, we attempted to explain these phenomena by propagating solitons that depend on the presence of cooperative phase transitions in the nerve membrane. These transitions are, however, strongly influenced by the presence of anesthetics. Therefore, the thermodynamic theory of nerve pulses suggests a explanation for the famous Meyer-Overton rule that states that the critical anesthetic dose is linearly related to the solubility of the drug in the membranes.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure