Ride-Sharing in Medical Transportations: Dealing with Temporal Requirements

The ride-sharing problem aims at optimizing the path from one starting point to one destination point. The problem can be enriched by intermediate stops, spatio-temporal constraints, and external constraints (e.g. traffic congestion), adding uncertainty and increasing the overall complexity. Spatio-temporal networks can properly describe the problem by graphs, helping to identify the optimal or sub-optimal solution. We face here the specific issue, where a driver picks up several patients from their respective pick-up locations and drops them off at one care center. Ride-sharing of patients has specific requirements due to the particular health state of every patient. Indeed, every patient has his/her own constraints, which could be related to the maximum sustainable duration of the trip, according to the patient’s conditions, the maximum waiting time, and the time when the visit or treatment is scheduled. In our approach, we first consider the spatial facets, and then we superimpose the temporal facets, to recommend the best paths and schedules, allowing some kind of temporal uncertainty in the specification of different possible constraints

Avaliação da diferença racial na condição de escore corporal e parâmetros do metabolismo lipídico em cavalos Puro Sangue Árabes e Puro Sangue Ingleses treinados para corrida

Foi investigada a existência de diferença na deposição de gordura e no metabolismo lipídico em cavalos de duas raças distintas, com aptidões diferentes, porém, utilizadas para o mesmo esporte. Foram avaliados 20 cavalos Puro Sangue Árabe e 20 cavalos Puro Sangue Ingleses treinados para corrida. As avaliações foram escore de condição corporal, peso e colheita de sangue para determinação de triglicerídeos, colesterol total e ácidos graxos não esterificados. Foi realizada a ultrassonografia da espessura de camada de gordura subcutânea sobre o músculo Longissimus dorsi entre a 17º e 18º costela, a espessura de camada de gordura subcutânea sobre o músculo glúteo médio utilizando o acetábulo como referência e o corte transversal do mesmo músculo. Os cavalos Árabes de corrida apresentaram maior deposição de gordura na camada subcutânea dos músculos glúteo médio e Longissimus dorsei que os cavalos Puro Sangue Ingleses. Tais fatosindicam uma diferença racial que o treinamento, ainda que semelhante a todos, não foi capaz de igualar.This study investigated the existence of difference of fat deposition and lipid metabolism in horses with different races and skills that were used for the same kind of sport. 20 Purebred Arabian and 20 Thoroughbred horses trained for flat race were evaluated. The analyses performed were body condition score, weight and blood collected for determination of triglycerides, total cholesterol and non-esterified fatty acids. Ultrasonography of the thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer was performed on the Longissimus dorsi muscle between the 17th and 18th rib, the thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer on the Gluteus medius muscle using the acetabulum as reference, and the cross section of the same muscle. Race-trained Arabian horses showed greater fat layer deposition in the Gluteus medius and Longissimus dorsei musclesthan Thoroughbred horses. These facts indicate that there is a metabolic difference, besides the phenotype, between the races. They also indicate the need to study specific physical conditioning programs for each kind of race

Avaliação da glutamina, amônia e cortisol em cavalos de enduro durante corridas de diferentes distâncias

A glutamina e o aminoácido livre mais abundante no organismo de mamíferos, muito importante para a proliferação celular, metabolismo da amônia e para produção de energia na musculatura esquelética, principalmente durante o exercício aeróbico. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi investigar se os níveis séricos de glutamina, amônia e cortisol, em cavalos de enduro, podem ser modelos de estudo da dinâmica deste importante aminoácido durante o exercício, pois estes animais são submetidos a esforço aeróbico prolongado e intenso. Foram utilizados 33 cavalos de enduro que competiram nas categorias de 80 km (n = 13), 120 km (n = 14) e 160 km (n = 5) em quatro provas. Não houve diferença estatística nos níveis de glutamina entre os momentos de coleta (P > 0,05). Houve aumento significativo dos níveis plasmáticos de amônia apos o termino das provas (P < 0,05). Esse aumento foi mais marcado nos cavalos de 80 km, seguido pelos de 120 e por ultimo os de 160 km. Houve correlação positiva entre os níveis de amônia e glutamina nas categorias de 160, 120 e 80 km (r = 0,209, r = 0,151 e r = 0,176, respectivamente; P < 0,05). Oscilações séricas dos níveis de glutamina são difíceis de se detectar em cavalos de enduro, já que as fibras musculares oxidativas são importantes reservatórios desse aminoácido. Ainda, e difícil saber sobre consumo de glutamina dadas as reservas orgânicas e a facilidade de metabolização. A concentração sérica de amônia pode servir como indicador indireto do consumo de glutamina. Assim, concluiu-se que as dosagens de amônia e cortisol podem servir como medidas indiretas da utilização da glutamina durante o exercício aeróbico e ambas como marcadores de esforço. Glutamine is the most abundant free amino acid in the bodies of mammals. It is very important for cell proliferation, metabolism of ammonia and energy production in skeletal muscles, especially during aerobic exercise. The aim of this study was to investigate if serum levels of glutamine and ammonia could be models for studying the dynamics of this important amino acid during exercise in endurance horses, as these animals are subjected to prolonged and intense aerobic workloads. Thirty-three endurance horses that competed in the categories of 80 km (n = 13), 120 km (n = 14) and 160 km (n = 5) in four races were tested. There was no statistical difference in the levels of glutamine between moments (P > 0.05), but there was a significant increase in plasma levels of ammonia right after the race (P < 0.05). This increase is more marked in the horses that ran 80 km, followed by those that ran 120 km and finally by those running 160 km. There was a positive correlation between the levels of ammonia and glutamine in categories 160, 120 and 80 km (r = 0.209, r = 0.151 and r = 0.176, respectively; P < 0.05). Oscillations in serum levels of glutamine are difficult to detect in endurance horses, since oxidative muscle fibers are important reservoirs of this amino acid. Also, it is difficult to know about glutamine consumption because of the organic reserves and ease of metabolization; hence, measuring ammonia as an indicator of consumption of glutamine. We concluded that ammonia and cortisol levels can serve as indirect measures of the use of glutamine during aerobic exercise and both can be markers of effort

Active Android malware analysis: an approach based on stochastic games

Active Malware Analysis focuses on learning the behaviors and the intentions of a malicious piece of software by interacting with it in a safe environment. The process can be formalized as a stochastic game involving two agents, a malware sample and an analyzer, that interact with opposite objectives: the malware sample tries to hide its behavior, while the analyzer aims at gaining as much information on the malware sample as possible. Our goal is to design a software agent that interacts with malware and extracts information on the behavior, learning a policy. We can then analyze different malware policies by using standard clustering approaches. In more detail, we propose a novel method to build malware models that can be used as an input to the stochastic game formulation. We empirically evaluate our method on real malware for the Android systems, showing that our approach can group malware belonging to the same families and identify the presence of possible sub-groups within such families

Profile of small interfering RNAs from cotton plants infected with the polerovirus Cotton leafroll dwarf virus

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In response to infection, viral genomes are processed by Dicer-like (DCL) ribonuclease proteins into viral small RNAs (vsRNAs) of discrete sizes. vsRNAs are then used as guides for silencing the viral genome. The profile of vsRNAs produced during the infection process has been extensively studied for some groups of viruses. However, nothing is known about the vsRNAs produced during infections of members of the economically important family <it>Luteoviridae</it>, a group of phloem-restricted viruses. Here, we report the characterization of a population of vsRNAs from cotton plants infected with Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV), a member of the genus <it>Polerovirus</it>, family <it>Luteoviridae</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Deep sequencing of small RNAs (sRNAs) from leaves of CLRDV-infected cotton plants revealed that the vsRNAs were 21- to 24-nucleotides (nt) long and that their sequences matched the viral genome, with higher frequencies of matches in the 3- region. There were equivalent amounts of sense and antisense vsRNAs, and the 22-nt class of small RNAs was predominant. During infection, cotton <it>Dcl </it>transcripts appeared to be up-regulated, while Dcl2 appeared to be down-regulated.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first report on the profile of sRNAs in a plant infected with a virus from the family <it>Luteoviridae</it>. Our sequence data strongly suggest that virus-derived double-stranded RNA functions as one of the main precursors of vsRNAs. Judging by the profiled size classes, all cotton DCLs might be working to silence the virus. The possible causes for the unexpectedly high accumulation of 22-nt vsRNAs are discussed. CLRDV is the causal agent of Cotton blue disease, which occurs worldwide. Our results are an important contribution for understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in this and related diseases.</p

Evaluation basal lipid metabolism components and adiposity in trained Arabian horses for Endurance and Racing

ABSTRACT: Endurance and flat race are entirely different efforts and thus require completely different organism adaptations to achieve the performance. This study aimed to examine the difference in basal lipid metabolism in Arabian horses undergoing different training regimens for endurance and race and possible gender differences. The study enrolled sixty male and female’ Arabian horses; thirty were trained for race, and thirty were trained for 80 km endurance races. The analyses included body condition score, body weight, body mass index, % body fat, and blood collected to determine triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density proteins, high-density proteins, and non-esterified fatty acids. Ultrasonography was used to measure the thickness of the subcutaneous fat layer in the longissimus dorsi muscle, as well as the thickness of the rump fat and the cross-section of the gluteus medius muscle. This study showed that lipid profile is more influenced by type of exercise than by gender, being more efficient on endurance horses