Firefly-Inspired Synchronization in Swarms of Mobile Agents

Synchronization can be a necessary prerequisite to perform coordinated actions or reach consensus in decentralized multi-agent systems, such as robotic swarms and sensor networks. One of the simplest distributed synchronization algorithms is firefly synchronization, also known as pulse-coupled oscillator synchronization. In this framework, each agent possesses an internal oscillator and the completion of oscillation cycles is signaled by means of short pulses, which can be detected by other neighboring agents. This thesis focuses on a realistic mode of interaction for practical implementations, in which agents have a restricted field of view used to detect pulses emitted by other agents. The effect of agent speed on the time required to achieve synchronization is studied. Simulations reveal that synchronization can be fostered or inhibited by tuning the agent (robot) speed, leading to distinct dynamical regimes. These findings are further validated in physical robotic experiments. In addition, an analysis is presented on the effect that the involved system parameters have on the time it takes for the ensemble to synchronize. To assess the effect of noise, the propagation of perturbations over the system is analyzed. The reported findings reveal the conditions for the control of clock or activity synchronization in swarms of mobile agents

The PPARβ/δ agonist GW0742 prevents LPS-induced nitrite production in rat parenchyma but not in aorta or pulmonary arteries

Peroxisome Proliferator activated receptors (PPARs) are therapeutic targets in the treatment of inflammatory lung disease. The PPARβ/δ agonist GW0742 has potent anti-inflammatory effects in the vasculature (Kapoor et al 2010) which has been linked to a decrease in the production of iNOS in the heart (Kapoor 2010) and activation of Akt-eNOS in arteries (Quintela et al 2014). Here in this study we measured changes in LPS induced NO production in rat arteries and lung parenchyma. Male Wistar (300-350g) rats were killed by CO2 followed by cervical dislocation, and the aorta, conductance and resistance pulmonary arteries and lung parenchyma were dissected under sterile conditions, and placed into 24 well plates. Following incubation with 1µg/ml LPS with/without 10-7M GW0742 tissues were incubated for 24 hours, and Griess assay performed to measure nitrite production (a measure of NO release).Our results show that LPS induces a significant increase in NO production from arteries and parenchyma (figure 1). Incubation with GW0742 alone has no effect on basal nitrite levels and does not have an effect on LPS-induced NO production in all types of arteries. In comparison, GW0742 significantly reduces LPS induced NO release in lung parenchyma comparable to inhibition by 10-4M L-NAME and 10-5M 1400W.Figure 1. 2mm rings of aorta, conductance pulmonary artery (CPS), resistance pulmonary artery (RPA) and 1mm2 lung parenchyma strips (lung) were incubated with 1ug/ml LPS ± 10-7M GW0742 in DMEM for 24 hours. Supernatant was removed and Griess assay performed to measure nitrite. Data is expressed as mean ± SEM; * and f denote p<0.05 by one way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc test, respectively.In summary, incubation for 24 hours with 10-7M GW0742 significantly reduced LPS induced nitrite production in lung parenchyma but not in aorta or pulmonary arteries (conductance and resistance). These data suggest that the effects of PPARβ/δ agonists are tissue specific and might support their use as anti-inflammatory agents in lung disease. Kapoor et al Am J Respir Crit Care Med (2010):182; 1506–1515Quintela et al British Journal of Pharmacology (2014):171; 3089–3102Peer reviewe

Propuesta didáctica para fortalecer la vida cristiana en los estudiantes de segundo año de educación secundaria de una institución educativa pública de Chugur- Hualgayoc –Cajamarca

El presente trabajo de suficiencia profesional presenta las bases teóricas del paradigma cognitivo, socio-contextual-cultural y las teorías de la inteligencia, que son asumidos por el paradigma Socio-cognitivo-humanista, que es la base científica para el presente trabajo. Los aportes de las teorías antes mencionadas ayudarán a iluminar la propuesta didáctica planteada en el presente trabajo, cuya finalidad consiste en fortalecer la vida cristiana en los estudiantes de segundo año de educación secundaria de una institución educativa pública de Chugur- Hualgayoc – Cajamarca. Con el desarrollo sistemático de la programación curricular, desde lo general a lo específico, teniendo en cuenta las competencias dadas por el Ministerio de Educación para el área de Educación Religosa, el panel de capacidades y destrezas, el panel de valores y actitudes, concretándolas en la programación de unidad, se busca, en cada uno de los estudantes, una formación integral, que tenga como modelo a Jesucristo, que acogan su mensaje, su doctrina e imiten sus valores y acitudes. En definitiva, lo que se busca en los estudiantes es una sólida formación, una mayor participación en las celebraciones religiosas y una vivencia de su fe y de los valores en la Iglesia y en la sociedad.Trabajo de suficiencia profesiona

Methodological proposal on safety in the transmission of medical images in telehealth systems

ABSTRACT Information and communication technologies are managing to modify certain essential aspects in the lives of forgives, one of the positive impacts on the lives of people and even more so in the communities, is related to the democratization of health, bringing health For most people, it improves the quality of life, thus, the objective of this work is to be able to present a practical methodology, to be able to carry out a remote diagnosis, through the analysis of medical images, whether of any type or modality, the methodology is very practical because it does not require high value infrastructure, on the contrary it is considered as low cost, because we use computational resources that are available. The methodology allows a diagnosis by a doctor specializing in radiology, who being at a distance can help the diagnosis. The methodology allows the transmission of information, essential, which corresponds to the identification of the affected areas or that are considered with alterations in the image, this process consists of defining a mask for identification, the doctor who performs the diagnosis does not require sending the original image, otherwise it only requires the sending of the marking, with this you can use simple information delivery mechanisms that do not consume much resources, this is one of its strengths of the methodology. As a result, we present a simulation of the methodology, using computerized tomography images of the Brain, where foreign objects are identified in the image, we proceeded to use the methodology, where the DICOM image was converted to PNG; then we proceeded to mark the foreign objects in the image, and finally the image was obtained with all the markings, this image is sent to the health center of origin, for registration. The methodology can be replicated, used and adapted to each of the characteristics and needs of each health center

Membrane-Less Ethanol Electrooxidation over Pd-M (M: Sn, Mo and Re) Bimetallic Catalysts

The effect of the addition of three oxophilic co-metals (Sn, Mo and Re) on the electrochemical performance of Pd in the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) was investigated by performing half-cell and membrane-less electrolysis cell experiments. While the additions of Sn and Re were found to improve significantly the EOR performance of Pd, Mo produced no significant promotional effect. When added in significant amounts (50:50 ratio), Sn and Re produced a 3–4 fold increase in the mass-normalized oxidation peak current as compared to the monometallic Pd/C material. Both the electrochemical surface area and the onset potential also improved upon addition of Sn and Re, although this effect was more evident for Sn. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) measurements revealed a higher ability of Sn for accommodating OH- species as compared to Re, which could explain these results. Additional tests were carried out in a membrane-less electrolysis system. Pd50Re50/C and Pd50Sn50/C both showed higher activity than Pd/C in this system. Chronopotentiometric measurements at constant current were carried out to test the stability of both catalysts in the absence of a membrane. Pd50Sn50/C was significantly more stable than Pd50Re50/C, which showed a rapid increase in the potential with time. Despite operating in the absence of a membrane, both catalysts generated a high-purity (e.g., 99.99%) hydrogen stream at high intensities and low voltages. These conditions could lead to significant energy consumption savings compared to commercial water electrolyzerSe investigó el efecto de la adición de tres cometales oxófilos (Sn, Mo y Re) en el rendimiento electroquímico de Pd en la reacción de oxidación de etanol (EOR) realizando experimentos de celdas de electrólisis sin membrana y de media celda. Si bien se encontró que las adiciones de Sn y Re mejoraban significativamente el rendimiento EOR de Pd, Mo no produjo un efecto promocional significativo. Cuando se agregaron en cantidades significativas (proporción 50:50), Sn y Re produjeron un aumento de 3 a 4 veces en la corriente máxima de oxidación de masa normalizada en comparación con el material monometálico Pd/C. Tanto el área de superficie electroquímica como el potencial de inicio también mejoraron con la adición de Sn y Re, aunque este efecto fue más evidente para Sn. Las mediciones de voltamperometría cíclica (CV) revelaron una mayor capacidad de Sn para acomodar especies de OH- en comparación con Re, lo que podría explicar estos resultados. Se llevaron a cabo pruebas adicionales en un sistema de electrólisis sin membrana. PD50 Re 50 /C y Pd 50 Sn 50 /C mostraron una mayor actividad que Pd/C en este sistema. Se realizaron medidas cronopotenciométricas a corriente constante para probar la estabilidad de ambos catalizadores en ausencia de membrana. El Pd 50 Sn 50 /C fue significativamente más estable que el Pd 50 Re 50 /C, que mostró un rápido aumento del potencial con el tiempo. A pesar de operar en ausencia de una membrana, ambos catalizadores generaron una corriente de hidrógeno de alta pureza (por ejemplo, 99,99%) a intensidades altas y voltajes bajos. Estas condiciones podrían conducir a un ahorro significativo en el consumo de energía en comparación con los electrolizadores de agua comerciale

Methodological proposal for the ambulatory detection of covid-19 symptoms, using low-cost devices

ABSTRACT The pandemic caused by COVID-19, allowed to know at many levels, the situation of hospitals and its impact on the services they provide to the population. At the times with the highest rate of infections, health centers in most countries were brought to their maximum capacity, most of them collapsing and ceasing to attend to patients. Many health centers were dedicated only to treating patients infected by COVID-19. Lacking medical attention to the other specialties. In this environment, many of the symptomatic patients, such as asymptomatic ones, did not know if they had been infected, much less, did not know if they were infected, many of them were unable to detect certain symptoms so that they could request specialized medical attention. This work is dedicated to using low-cost devices as an evaluation and alert mechanism for possible symptoms caused by COVID-19, the methodology is based on the analysis of heart rhythm, blood pressure and oxygen saturation, the latter is the most important, because if the oxygen saturation begins to decrease, it is a symptom that the airways are being affected, which could be complicated if the oxygen saturation has a tendency to decrease, the variation of the rhythm can also be analyzed heart rate and blood pressure, but the predominant one is Oxygen Saturation. The results show that wearable devices in the form of a watch are widely used to control people's movements, the exercises they perform, the proposed methodology consists of a device that has the ability to evaluate these three biomedical variables, it is not necessarily a medical device with a high degree of sensitivity or accuracy. The usefulness of the device is to be able to carry out a quick analysis that helps people make a decision, the technique is not to measure oxygen saturation with a high degree of accuracy, the idea is to be able to measure if the saturation has a tendency to decrease. In the results we present the measurement of several people to verify the methodology

Blood stasis imaging predicts cerebral microembolism during acute myocardial infarction

Background: Cardioembolic stroke is a major source of mortality and disability worldwide. The authors hypothesized that quantitative characterization of intracardiac blood stasis may be useful to determine cardioembolic risk in order to personalize anticoagulation therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between image-based metrics of blood stasis in the left ventricle and brain microembolism, a surrogate marker of cardiac embolism, in a controlled animal experimental model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). -- Methods: Intraventricular blood stasis maps were derived from conventional color Doppler echocardiography in 10 pigs during anterior AMI induced by sequential ligation of the mid and proximal left anterior descending coronary artery (AMI-1 and AMI-2 phases). From these maps, indices of global and local blood stasis were calculated, such as the average residence time and the size and ratio of contact with the endocardium of blood regions with long residence times. The incidence of brain microemboli (high-intensity transient signals [HITS]) was monitored using carotid Doppler ultrasound. -- Results: HITS were detected in 0%, 50%, and 90% of the animals at baseline and during AMI-1 and AMI-2 phases, respectively. The average residence time of blood in the left ventricle increased in parallel. The residence time performed well to predict microemboli (C-index &#61; 0.89, 95% CI, 0.75&#8211;1.00) and closely correlated with the number of HITS (R &#61; 0.87, P &lt; .001). Multivariate and mediation analyses demonstrated that the number of HITS during AMI phases was best explained by stasis. Among conventional echocardiographic variables, only apical wall motion score weakly correlated with the number of HITS (R &#61; 0.3, P &#61; .04). Mural thrombosis in the left ventricle was ruled out in all animals. -- Conclusions: The degree of stasis of blood in the left ventricle caused by AMI is closely related to the incidence of brain microembolism. Therefore, stasis imaging is a promising tool for a patient-specific assessment of cardioembolic risk.This study was supported by grant PI15/02211, Rio Hortega (CM17/00144), and Juan Rodés fellowships (JR15/00039) from Instituto de Salud Carlos III; grant DPI2016-75706-P and a Juan de la Cierva fellowship (IJCI-2014-19507) from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; synergy grant Y2018/BIO-4858-PREFI-CM from Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid; the European Union - European Regional Development Fund; by the Spanish Society of Cardiology (ISBI-DCM); by the University of California,San Diego, CTRI Galvanizing Engineering and Medicine Program; American Heart Association grant 16GRNT27250262; and National Institutes of Health UC CAI grant CII4560. P.M.-L. was also funded by CIBERCV. P.M.-L., L.R., J.C.A., and J.B. are inventors of a method for quantifying intracardiac stasis from imaging data under a Patent Cooperation Treaty patent application (WO2017091746A1)

Robust Preparation of Wigner-Negative States with Optimized SNAP-Displacement Sequences

Hosting nonclassical states of light in three-dimensional microwave cavities has emerged as a promising paradigm for continuous-variable quantum information processing. Here we experimentally demonstrate high-fidelity generation of a range of Wigner-negative states useful for quantum computation, such as Schrodinger-cat states, binomial states, Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill states, as well as cubic phase states. The latter states have been long sought after in quantum optics and have never been achieved experimentally before. We use a sequence of interleaved selective number-dependent arbitrary phase (SNAP) gates and displacements. We optimize the state preparation in two steps. First we use a gradient-descent algorithm to optimize the parameters of the SNAP and displacement gates. Then we optimize the envelope of the pulses implementing the SNAP gates. Our results show that this way of creating highly nonclassical states in a harmonic oscillator is robust to fluctuations of the system parameters such as the qubit frequency and the dispersive shift

SALMANTICOR study. Rationale and design of a population-based study to identify structural heart disease abnormalities: a spatial and machine learning analysis

[EN]Introduction: This study aims to obtain data on the prevalence and incidence of structural heart disease in a population setting and, to analyse and present those data on the application of spatial and machine learning methods that, although known to geography and statistics, need to become used for healthcare research and for political commitment to obtain resources and support effective public health programme implementation. Methods and analysis: We will perform a cross-sectional survey of randomly selected residents of Salamanca (Spain). 2400 individuals stratified by age and sex and by place of residence (rural and urban) will be studied. The variables to analyse will be obtained from the clinical history, different surveys including social status, Mediterranean diet, functional capacity, ECG, echocardiogram, VASERA and biochemical as well as genetic analysis. Ethics and dissemination: The study has been approved by the ethical committee of the healthcare community. All study participants will sign an informed consent for participation in the study. The results of this study will allow the understanding of the relationship between the different influencing factors and their relative importance weights in the development of structural heart disease