Defining the Entropy and Internal Energy of a Monetary Schelling model through the Energy States of Individual Agents

This work investigates a modified Schelling model within the scope and aims of Social Physics. The main purpose is to see if how the concepts of potential and kinetic energy can be represented within a computational sociological system. A monetary value is assigned to all the agents in the Monetary Schelling model and a set of dynamics for how the money is spent upon agent position changes and gradual loss. The introduction of the potential and kinetic energy allows for the entropy to be calculated based upon the distribution of the agent energies and as well as the internal energy of the system at each time point. The results show how the movements of the agents produce identity satisfactions with their neighbors decreasing the internal energy of the system along with the decay in the monetary holdings. Simulations are run where agents are provided monetary values at fixed intervals and this causes a subset of the agents to mobilize and explore new positions for satisfaction and increases the entropy with the internal energy removing the system from the fixed point

Efficacy of Infliximab after Failure of Subcutaneous Anti-TNF Agents in Patients with Moderate to Severe Ulcerative Colitis

Aim: To assess the efficacy of infliximab in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients who had failed therapy with adalimumab or golimumab. Methods: Retrospective analysis of prospectively acquired data of all anti-TNF naive patients with moderate to severe UC who received adalimumab or golimumab in 4 tertiary referral centres. Patients with primary non response or secondary loss of response to adalimumab or golimumab received therapy with infliximab. Clinical response and remission rates were assessed at week 14 and 54 after initiation of infliximab. Results: Between September 2015 and September 2017, 29 of 58 (50%) anti-TNF naive patients with moderate to severe UC failed therapy with adalimumab (n=38) or golimumab (n=20). Twenty one of 29 (72.4%) patients were primary non responders and 8 (27.6%) patients lost response to adalimumab or golimumab. All these 29 patients received infliximab, while 15 (51.7%) were on concomitant azathioprine therapy. Eighteen (62.1%) and 10 (34.5%) patients showed clinical response and clinical remission at week 14 respectively, while 14 (48.3%) patients were on clinical remission at week 54 after initiation of infliximab. Azathioprine co-administration at the start of infliximab was associated with a greater proportion of patients achieving clinical remission at week 54 (10 of 15 patients on combination therapy vs 4 of 14 patients on infliximab monotherapy, p=0.04). Conclusions: A significant proportion of anti-TNF naive patients with moderate to severe UC who have failed 1st course therapy with subcutaneous anti-TNF agents can achieve clinical response and/or remission with 2nd course therapy with infliximab

Fournier's gangrene in a patient after third-degree burns: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Fournier's gangrene is characterized by tissue ischemia leading to rapidly progressing necrotizing fasciitis.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present the case of a patient with Fournier's gangrene after third-degree burns. Clinical manifestations, laboratory results and treatment options are discussed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Fournier's gangrene is a surgical emergency. Although it can be lethal, it is still a challenging situation in the field of surgical infections.</p

A possible thermodynamic definition and equation of state for a model of political election cycles.

This work demonstrates how a simulation of political discourse can be formulated using variables of the agents' behaviors in a simulation, as thermodynamic variables. With these relations the methodology provides an approach to create a correspondence between the variables of an agent based social system and those of a thermodynamic system. Extended from this observation, diagrams akin to a P-V diagram for gases can be created for this social system. The basic thermodynamic variables of temperature, pressure and volume are defined from a system of agents with political and non-political actions engaged in simulated political discourse. An equation of state is defined for the simulated political phenomenon. Through this equation of state the full thermodynamic map of the system is presented under a P-V diagram with isothermal and isentropic lines, which is able to represent the political situation of the system at each point of time. The classic election cycle that takes place can be represented on this thermodynamic map (corresponding to an Otto cycle). This provides a possibility for researching macroscopic social cycles as a thermodynamic/informational cycle as the traces on the thermodynamic map show similarities to an Otto cycle. Such a formulation reinforces the endeavours of social physics to view social phenomena with physical principles

A possible thermodynamic definition and equation of state for a model of political election cycles.

This work demonstrates how a simulation of political discourse can be formulated using variables of the agents' behaviors in a simulation, as thermodynamic variables. With these relations the methodology provides an approach to create a correspondence between the variables of an agent based social system and those of a thermodynamic system. Extended from this observation, diagrams akin to a P-V diagram for gases can be created for this social system. The basic thermodynamic variables of temperature, pressure and volume are defined from a system of agents with political and non-political actions engaged in simulated political discourse. An equation of state is defined for the simulated political phenomenon. Through this equation of state the full thermodynamic map of the system is presented under a P-V diagram with isothermal and isentropic lines, which is able to represent the political situation of the system at each point of time. The classic election cycle that takes place can be represented on this thermodynamic map (corresponding to an Otto cycle). This provides a possibility for researching macroscopic social cycles as a thermodynamic/informational cycle as the traces on the thermodynamic map show similarities to an Otto cycle. Such a formulation reinforces the endeavours of social physics to view social phenomena with physical principles

Coupling of Biokinetic and Population Balance Models to Account for Biological Heterogeneity in Bioreactors

The development of a population balance model accounting for cell adaptation to a fluctuating environment is focussed in this article. In a bioreactor, the substrate concentration field and the bioreaction kinetics are strongly coupled. The latter are determined by the intensity and magnitude of concentration fluctuations encountered along the cell trajectory. Modeling these interactions between hydrodynamics and biology in heterogeneous bioreactors is a major challenge. This model is based on a previous work regarding the dynamic response of bioreactors. It is shown that a simplified population balance equation considering only growth and adaptation is sufficient to reproduce the population growth rate dynamics in batch and continuous cultures. Finally, a validation of the model implementation in a computational fluid dynamics software is proposed. The model developed in the homogeneous case now allows the numerical scale-up of a bioreactor, for it connects the population state to the concentration changes experienced. (C) 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 369-379, 201

Single nucleotide polymorphisms of OCTN1, OCTN2, and DLG5 genes in Greek patients with Crohn&apos;s disease

AIM: To validate novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Greek patients with Crohn’s disease (CD). METHODS: A total of 120 patients with CD, 85 patients with UC, and 100 unrelated healthy controls were genotyped. Genotyping was performed by allele-specific PCR or by PCR-RFLP analysis. RESULTS: Our results showed that the 1672T and -207C alleles were obviously over-represented in CD patients only (P &lt; 0.01 and P &lt; 0.05, respectively) compared to the control population. The G113A polymorphism was completely absent in our studied population. The odds ratio for the carriage of the TC haplotype was 2.21 for CD patients as compared with controls. Additionally, the frequency of the TC haplotype was increased in patients with ileocolitis or colitis, and was mainly associated with the fibrostenotic phenotype of the disease. Furthermore, when the TC haplotype was compared jointly with the carriage of at least one mutation of the NOD 2/CARD 15 gene, there was an increased risk for CD, but not for UC, compared to controls. Regarding the location of the disease, the concomitant presence of the TC haplotype and NOD 2/CARD 15 mutations was mainly associated with ileocolitis or ileitis. CONCLUSION: Collectively, our results suggest that the 1672T variant of the OCTN 1 gene and the -207C variant of the OCTN2 gene represent risk factors for CD in the Greek population. (C) 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved