Modeling of an Overactuated Vehicle in Simscape Multibody for the Characterization of Suspension and Steering Actuation Systems.

Overactuated systems are increasingly among us. They are used for applications in vehicles, aeronautics and robotics, among others [1, 2]. These systems have a number of advantages, among which we can mention that there are multiple (or infinite) solutions for a given problem. More specifically, in the case of overactuated vehicles, similar states of the system can be achieved in many different ways. These systems are still under development, especially in the field of vehicle dynamics. For example, there are various steer-by-wire algorithms, when the steering of the vehicles is independent, or brake blending strategies. In this work, a part of an overactuated vehicle is designed and validated. This multiphysics model allows to know the plant of the system in much more depth in order to develop control algorithms. More specifically, by modeling the delay of the systems and the nonlinear relationships inherent to multibody systems, much more accurate predictive control can be performed. These results allow a previous validation of the control algorithms in the test platform vehicle being manufactured and developed by the research group, greatly accelerating the control process of each of the overactuated systems of the vehicle.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

On-line learning applied to spiking neural network for antilock braking systems

Computationally replicating the behaviour of the cerebral cortex to perform the control tasks of daily life in a human being is a challenge today. First, … Finally, a suitable learning model that allows adapting neural network response to changing conditions in the environment is also required. Spiking Neural Networks (SNN) are currently the closest approximation to biological neural networks. SNNs make use of temporal spike trains to deal with inputs and outputs, thus allowing a faster and more complex computation. In this paper, a controller based on an SNN is proposed to perform the control of an anti-lock braking system (ABS) in vehicles. To this end, two neural networks are used to regulate the braking force. The first one is devoted to estimating the optimal slip while the second one is in charge of setting the optimal braking pressure. The latter resembles biological reflex arcs to ensure stability during operation. This neural structure is used to control the fast regulation cycles that occur during ABS operation. Furthermore, an algorithm has been developed to train the network while driving. On-line learning is proposed to update the response of the controller. Hence, to cope with real conditions, a control algorithm based on neural networks that learn by making use of neural plasticity, similar to what occurs in biological systems, has been implemented. Neural connections are modulated using Spike-Timing-Dependent Plasticity (STDP) by means of a supervised learning structure using the slip error as input. Road-type detection has been included in the same neural structure. To validate and to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, simulations as well as experiments in a real vehicle were carried out. The algorithm proved to be able to adapt to changes in adhesion conditions rapidly. This way, the capability of spiking neural networks to perform the full control logic of the ABS has been verified.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBUA This work was partly supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation under grant PID2019-105572RB-I00, partly by the Regional Government of Andalusia under grant UMA18-FEDERJA-109, and partly by the University of Malaga as well as the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and its initiative, TRENoP

Análisis de una intervención para la mejora de resultados en salud en EPOC agudizada en atención primaria

ResumenObjetivoAnalizar la efectividad de una intervención en profesionales sanitarios de atención primaria (AP) en la mejora de resultados de salud de pacientes agudizadores de EPOC (AEPOC).DiseñoObservacional, con análisis retrospectivo y prospectivo.EmplazamientoDistrito Sanitario Málaga-Guadalhorce (DSMG).ParticipantesPacientes EPOC agudizados atendidos por los dispositivos móviles de urgencias del DSMG (n=523; 21% pérdidas).IntervencionesFormación a los profesionales en la práctica clínica habitual e inclusión de indicadores de proceso de EPOC en objetivos ligado a incentivos.Mediciones principalesComparación de variables de proceso y de resultado mediante auditoría de la historia clínica. Variable respuesta: diferencia de agudizaciones en 2 periodos analizados. Análisis bivariante y multivariante.ResultadosEdad media 75 (±9,3) años; varones 63,7%, con un IMC de 29,4 (±7,1); fumadores activos 21%. El FEV1 medio fue del 48,2% (±18,7). La media de agudizaciones en el primer período fue de 2,86 (±2,29) y en el segundo, de 1,36 (±1,56) (p<0,001). La media de ingresos en el primer y segundo periodos fue 0,56 (±0,94) y 0,31 (±0,66) (p<0,001), respectivamente. La disminución del número de agudizaciones se relacionó de forma directa con haber tenido ≥2 agudizaciones en el primer período, exacerbación revisada en atención primaria y de forma inversa con tener insuficiencia cardiaca y ≥2 agudizaciones en el segundo período (coeficiente de determinación R2=0,28; p<0,001).ConclusionesEl número de agudizaciones y de ingresos entre ambos periodos evaluados disminuyó significativamente. Sin embargo, no mejoraron los indicadores de proceso evaluados. Se precisan estudios prospectivos de intervención para establecer la posible relación causal.AbstractObjectiveTo examine the impact of an intervention by Primary Care (PC) professionals of a Health District on the clinical outcomes for treating COPD exacerbations using a process and outcome indicators analysis (clinical audit).DesignObservational, retrospective and prospective analysis cross-sectional audit of clinical practiceSettingMalaga-Guadalhorce Sanitary District (DSMG).ParticipantsPatients with COPD exacerbations treated by the extra-hospital emergency services (n=523; 21% losses).InterventionsProfessional training in the usual clinical practice and inclusion of process indicators of COPD targets in relation to incentives.Principal measurementsComparison of external audit results (process and outcomes variables) from medical records and Health Outcomes (exacerbations, admissions). Variable response: Difference in exacerbations and admissions in 2 periods analysed. Bivariate and multivariate analysis.ResultsMean age was 75 (±9.3), 63.7% males with a BMI of 29.4 (±7.1), and 21% active smokers. Mean FEV1, 48.2% (±18.7). Mean exacerbations in the first period, 2.86 (±2.29) and in the second 1.36 (±1.56) (P<.001). Mean hospital admissions in the first and second period, 0.56 (±0.94) and 0.31 (±0.66) (P<.001), respectively. The decrease in the number of exacerbations was directly associated with having ≥2 exacerbations in the first period, reviewed in Primary Care, and inversely with heart failure and with having ≥2 exacerbations in the second period (R2=0.28; P<.001)ConclusionsThe number of exacerbations and admissions decreased significantly in both periods assessed. However, the evaluated process indicators did not improve. Prospective intervention studies are necessary to establish the possible causal relationship

Modeling of tire vertical behavior using a test bench

Tire models are of great importance for precise investigations of vertical vehicle dynamics, including vehicular safety and riding comfort. An adequate modeling of the tire is crucial to properly reproduce vehicle vertical behavior in simulations and to evaluate the influence of the tire in the overall performance of the suspension system. This paper introduced vehicle single-point tire models and, thereafter, investigated the influence of the excitation frequency and inflation pressure on the damping and stiffness coefficients of the proposed tires experimentally. In this manner, a test-bench was used to obtain the model parameters of a light vehicle tire and a motorcycle tire. Given the obtained results, it has been observed that both factors have a significant effect on the parameters of the proposed tire models. Moreover, a quarter car suspension model was investigated using the modelled tires to illustrate the influence of the correct characterization of the tire on the vertical suspension performance

Synthesis of Tricyclic Pterolobirin H Analogue: Evaluation of Anticancer and Anti-Inflammatory Activities and Molecular Docking Investigations

This research was funded by grants from the Regional Government of Andalusia (Projects B-FQM-278-UGR20, B-FQM-650-UGR-20), and assistance was provided to the group FQM-348.Supplementary Materials: The following supporting information can be downloaded at: https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/molecules28176208/s1Pterolobirin H (3), a cassane diterpene isolated from the roots of Pterolobium macropterum, exhibits important anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties. However, its relatively complex tetracyclic structure makes it difficult to obtain by chemical synthesis, thus limiting the studies of its biological activities. Therefore, we present here a short route to obtain a rational simplification of pterolobirin H (3) and some intermediates. The anti-inflammatory activity of these compounds was assayed in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. All compounds showed potent inhibition of NO production, with percentages between 54 to 100% at sub-cytotoxic concentrations. The highest anti-inflammatory effect was shown for compounds 15 and 16. The simplified analog 16 revealed potential NO inhibition properties, being 2.34 higher than that of natural cassane pterolobirin H (3). On the other hand, hydroxyphenol 15 was also demonstrated to be the strongest NO inhibitor in RAW 264.7 macrophages (IC50 NO = 0.62 ± 0.21 μg/mL), with an IC50NO value 28.3 times lower than that of pterolobirin H (3). Moreover, the anticancer potential of these compounds was evaluated in three cancer cell lines: HT29 colon cancer cells, Hep-G2 hepatoma cells, and B16-F10 murine melanoma cells. Intermediate 15 was the most active against all the selected tumor cell lines. Compound 15 revealed the highest cytotoxic effect with the lowest IC50 value (IC50 = 2.45 ± 0.29 μg/mL in HT29 cells) and displayed an important apoptotic effect through an extrinsic pathway, as evidenced in the flow cytometry analysis. Furthermore, the Hoechst staining assay showed that analog 15 triggered morphological changes, including nuclear fragmentation and chromatin condensation, in treated HT29 cells. Finally, the in silico studies demonstrated that cassane analogs exhibit promising binding affinities and docking performance with iNOS and caspase 8, which confirms the obtained experimental results.Regional Government of Andalusia B-FQM-278-UGR20, B-FQM-650-UGR-20, FQM-34

Inflammatory-related clinical and metabolic outcomes in Covid-19 patients

Background. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) infection elicits inflammatory manifestations that relate with a “cytokine storm.” Objective. The aim of this research was to assess the role of circulating interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels and other inflammatory markers in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on metabolic functions and accompanying clinical complications. Patients and Methods. A total of 165 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia were examined for medical features and inflammatory markers such as blood IL-6, CRP, ferritin, LDH, neutrophil/lymphocyte index (NLI), D-Dimer, and Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW). Regression analyses concerning electronically collected medical data were adjusted by appropriate factors and confounding variables. Results. Plasma IL-6 determinations evidenced a consistent association with hospital stay days, Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission, and mortality rates. Similar trends were found for other proinflammatory variables, where ferritin and NLI showed a remarkable value as surrogates. Hyperglycaemia and the Charlson Comorbidity Index Score were positively associated with the inflammatory response induced by the SARS-COV-2 infection. An unhealthy lifestyle such as smoking and alcoholic drinks consumption as well as excessive body adiposity influenced inflammatory-related outcomes in the screened patients. Conclusion. IL-6 together with other inflammatory biomarkers accompanied poor clinical and metabolic outcomes in COVID-19-infected patients. IL-6 may result in a suitable proxy to individually categorise patients in order to manage this infectious pandemic.CIBERon Instituto Carlos III in Madrid is credited for institutional support

Evaluation of Anticancer and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Some Synthetic Rearranged Abietanes

This research was funded by grants from the Regional Government of Andalusia (Projects B-FQM-278-UGR20, and B-FQM-650-UGR-20), and assistance was provided to the group FQM-348.Supplementary Materials: The following supporting information can be downloaded at https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/ijms241713583/s1Synthesis of the rearranged abietane diterpenes pygmaeocins C and D, viridoquinone, saprorthoquinone, and 1-deoxyviroxocine has been successfully achieved. The anticancer and anti-inflammatory activities of selected orthoquinonic compounds 5, 7, 13, and 19, as well as pygmaeocin C (17), were evaluated for the first time. The antitumor properties were assessed using three cancer cell lines: HT29 colon cancer cells, Hep G2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells, and B16-F10 murine melanoma cells. Compounds 5 and 13 showed the highest cytotoxicity in HT29 cells (IC50 = 6.69 ± 1.2 µg/mL and IC50 = 2.7 ± 0.8 µg/mL, respectively). Cytometric studies showed that this growth inhibition involved phase S cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction, possibly through the activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Morphological apoptotic changes, including nuclear fragmentation and chromatin condensation, were also observed. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory activity of these compounds was evaluated on the basis of their ability to inhibit nitric oxide production on the lipopolysaccharide activated RAW 264.7 macrophage cell line. Although all compounds showed high anti-inflammatory activity, with percentages between 40 and 100%, the highest anti-inflammatory potential was obtained by pygmaeocin B (5) (IC50NO = 33.0 ± 0.8 ng/mL). Our results suggest that due to their dual roles, this type of compound could represent a new strategy, contributing to the development of novel anticancer agents.Regional Government of Andalusia B-FQM-278-UGR20, B-FQM-650-UGR-20, FQM-34

Funcionalidad, implementación y líneas de desarrollo de la plataforma educativa SWAD / OpenSWAD

La plataforma de b-learning y gestión académica SWAD ofrece múltiples herramientas de apoyo a la gestión docente y al aprendizaje, y ha sido utilizada durante 19 años por 180.000 usuarios en la Universidad de Granada (UGR) y en los últimos 4 años por otros 23.000 usuarios procedentes de 1.500 instituciones educativas de todo el mundo. Este artículo resume las funcionalidades actuales de la plataforma y su implementación, y propone la incorporación de una serie de técnicas como son la gamificación, la geolocalización y la minería de datos con los objetivos de mejorar la motivación y el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes y de facilitar al profesorado las tareas de evaluación.The b-learning and academic management platform SWAD offers multiple tools to support teaching management and learning, and has been used for 19 years by 180,000 users at the University of Granada (UGR) and in the last 4 years by other 23,000 users from 1,500 educational institutions around the world. This article summarizes the current functionalities of the platform and its implementation, and proposes the incorporation of a series of techniques such as gamification, geolocation and data mining with the goals of improving students' motivation and academic performance, and supporting teachers in assessment tasks.Universidad de Granada: Departamento de Arquitectura y Tecnología de Computadore

Chronic ethanol induces morpohological changes on hippocampal microglia, which are reverted by pharmacological blockade of faah with urb597

Tipo de presentación: PósterHere, we evaluated the pharmacological effects of fatty-acid amide-hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor URB597 (0.3 mg/kg), oleoylethanolamide (OEA, 10 mg/kg), arachidonoylethanolamide (AEA, 10 mg/kg), the CB1 receptor agonist ACEA (3 mg/kg) and the CB2 receptor agonist JWH133 (0.2 mg/kg) administered for 5 days in a rat model of sub-chronic (2 weeks) ethanol diet (11% v/v) exposure. As a result of these trials, URB597 turned to be the most effective treatment. Contrary to ethanol, URB597 reduced the mRNA levels of Iba-1, Tnfα, IL-6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2), as well as the number of cells expressing GFAP or iNOS. Moreover, URB597 effects on hippocampal immune system were accompanied by changes in short and long-term visual recognition memory. Microglial morphometric analysis pointed out significant changes after ethanol exposure, suggesting that microglial cell morphology is closely related to ethanol-induced neuroinflammation. Ethanol provoked changes in fractal dimension, lacunarity, density, roughness, cell area and cell perimeter, which explain a decreased complexity of branches and increased cell surface irregularities. Such changes may represent a chronic activation state of microglia. In addition, ethanol effects on the microglial morphological parameters density and fractal dimension were reverted by URB597. Thus, this FAAH inhibitor was able to counteract the sub-chronic ethanol-induced morphological changes of microglia, resulting in a more compact and increased branch complexity, which apparently relate to a less activated state. Therefore, these morphometric parameters are sensitive and valuable tools to evaluate the chronic activation of microglia by ethanol and its pharmacological blockade.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. RETICS Red de Trastornos Adictivos, ISCIII, MINECO, ERDF-EU (RD16/0017/0001; PI17/02026; SAF2017-83645R). Plan Nacional sobre Drogas, MSCBS (PNSD2015/047; PND2017/043). Proyectos de investigación de excelencia, Junta de Andalucía (P11-CVI-07637)

La hoja de ruta de la ingeniería de computadores al final de la ley de Moore y el escalado de Dennard

En el presente trabajo se hace una revisión sobre la situación de la ingeniería de computadores al inicio de la década de los 2020 con objeto de perfilar algunos de los cambios que deberían establecerse en la enseñanza superior de esta disciplina. Se considera la gran relevancia del control del consumo energético y de las aplicaciones relacionadas con clasificación y optimización que requieren cantidades ingentes de datos (big data) y tiempos de respuesta difícilmente alcanzables utilizando las técnicas tradicionales de la ingeniería de computadores, y dada la reducción del ritmo que marca la ley de Moore y el final del escalado de Dennard. El artículo proporciona referencias bibliográficas recientes sobre la situación de la ingeniería de computadores, e identifica los nuevos requisitos de las interfaces presentes en la jerarquía de capas propia de los sistemas de cómputo, fundamentalmente los relacionados con la seguridad, el consumo energético, y el aprovechamiento del paralelismo heterogéneo. También se reflexiona sobre los límites teóricos que se pueden establecer para la computación y las expectativas que ofrece la computación cuántica.This paper reviews the state of Computer Engineering at the beginning of the 2020s in order to outline some of the changes that should be established in higher education in this discipline. It is considered the great relevance of controlling energy consumption and applications related to classification and optimization that require huge amounts of data (big data) and response times difficult to achieve using traditional techniques of computer engineering, and given the reduction of the improvement rate set by Moore's law and the end of Dennard scaling. The article also provides recent bibliographical references on the situation of Computer Engineering, and identifies the new requirements of the interfaces present in the hierarchy of layers of computer systems, mainly those related to security, energy consumption, and the use of heterogeneous parallelism. It also reflects on the theoretical limits that can be established for computation and the expectations that quantum computation offers.Universidad de Granada: Departamento de Arquitectura y Tecnología de Computadore