Nash Equilibrium and information transmission coding and decoding rules

The design of equilibrium protocols in sender-receiver games where communication is noisy occupies an important place in the Economic literature. This paper shows that the common way of constructing a noisy channel communication protocol in Information Theory does not necessarily lead to a Nash equilibrium. Given the decoding scheme, it may happen that, given some state, it is better for the sender to transmit a message that is different from that prescribed by the codebook. Similarly, when the sender uses the codebook as prescribed, the receiver may sometimes prefer to deviate from the decoding scheme when receiving a message.Noisy channel, Shannon's Theorem, sender-receiver games, Nash equilibrium

Pragmatic Languages with Universal Grammars

This paper shows the existence of an equilibrium pragmatic Language with a universal grammar as a coordination device under communication misunderstandings. Such a language plays a key role in achieving efficient outcomes in those Sender-Receiver games where there may exist noisy information transmission. The Language is pragmatic in the sense that the Receiver’ best response depends on the context, i.e, on the payoffs and on the initial probability distribution of the states of nature of the underlying game. The Language has a universal grammar because the coding rule does not depend on such specific parameters and can then be applied to any Sender-Receiver game with noisy communication.grammar, pragmatic language, prototypes, separating equilibria

Attitude Control System for a Balloon Based Telescope

The Balloon Experimental Twin Telescope for Infrared Interferometry (BETTII) is an 8-meter interferometer which operates on a high-altitude balloon. BETTII had its first successful engineering flight in June 2017. In this paper we discuss the design of the control system for BETTII, which includes the coarse pointing loop and the estimator controls algorithm (Extended Kalman Filter) implemented in FPGA. We will also discuss the different system modes that we defined in the controls system loop, which are used in different phases of the flight and are activated in order to acquire a target star in the science detector. The pointing loop uses different sensors and actuators in each phase to keep pointing at the desired target. The main sensors aregyroscopes, star cameras, and auxiliary sensors such as high-altitude GPS and magnetometers. The azimuth control is achieved with Compensated Controlled Moment Gyros (CCMG) and a Momentum Dump motor. For the elevation control, high-precision motors are used, which change the elevation of the siderostat mirrors. The combination of these instruments keep the baseline oriented within few arcseconds from the target star.In this paper, we will also present the software architecture relevant to the control system. This includes the description of the two flight computers present on the payload and the different control loops that are executed on them. Similarly, we will explain the importance of synchronization between all the sensors and actuators, which have to be referenced to a single master clock in order to obtain science data

Novel RNA viruses from the Atlantic Ocean: Ecogenomics, biogeography, and total virioplankton mass contribution from surface to the deep ocean

Marine viruses play a major role in the energy and nutrient cycle and affect the evolution of their hosts. Despite their importance, there is still little knowledge about RNA viruses. Here, we have explored the Atlantic Ocean, from surface to deep (4.296 m), and used viromics and quantitative methods to unveil the genomics, biogeography, and the mass contribution of RNA viruses to the total viroplankton. A total of 2481 putative RNA viral contigs (>500 bp) and 107 larger bona fide RNA viral genomes (>2.5 kb) were identified; 88 of them representing novel viruses belonging mostly to two clades: Yangshan assemblage (sister clade to the class Alsuviricetes) and Nodaviridae. These viruses were highly endemic and locally abundant, with little or no presence in other oceans since only ≈15% of them were found in at least one of the Tara sampling metatranscriptomes. Quantitative data indicated that the abundance of RNA viruses in the surface and deep chlorophyll maximum zone was within ≈106 VLP/mL representing a potential contribution of 5.2%–24.4% to the total viroplankton community (DNA and RNA viruses), with DNA viruses being the predominant members (≈107 VLP/mL). However, for the deep sample, the observed trend was the opposite, although as further discussed, several biases should be considered. Together these results contribute to our understanding of the diversity, abundance, and distribution of RNA viruses in the oceans and provide a basis for further investigation into their ecological roles and biogeography.This work was supported by the Generalitat Valenciana ACIF2020 grant and by the research grants funded by Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (refs. RTI2018-094248-B-I00 and PID2021-125175OB-I00), and by the Gordon and Moore Foundation (ref. 5334)

Nutritional Status and Risk Factors for Frailty in Community-Dwelling Older People : A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: This study aims to assess the relationship that frailty has with nutritional status and functional risk factors in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: Cross-sectional study in community-dwelling older people, independent for walking and without impaired cognition. Frailty was assessed by Fried criteria. Nutritional status was analyzed by the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF), biochemical markers (albumin, total proteins, cholesterol, lymphocytes, and hemoglobin); and anthropometric parameters (body mass index [BMI], body fat percentage, handgrip, and perimeters). A comprehensive geriatric assessment analyzed other risk factors: functionality, cognition, falls, comorbidity, polypharmacy, physical activity, and quality of life (QoL). Results: We included 564 elderly people with a mean age of 76.05 (standard deviation 3.97) years; 63.1% (n = 356) were women, and 83.9% (n = 473) were prefrail, and frail. The sample presented high functionality and a nutritional status with a predominance of overweight and obesity. Factors associated with frailty (R2 = 0.43) were age over 75 years (odds ratio [OR] 3.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.76, 6.21; p < 0.001), female gender (OR 2.37, 95% CI 1.24, 4.52; p = 0.009), anemia (OR 2.45, 95% CI 1.19, 5.02; p = 0.015), falls (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.12, 3.25; p = 0.016) and the fear of falling (OR 4.01: 95% CI 1.76, 9.16; p = 0.001). Performing more than 3 weekly hours of physical activity was found to be a protective factor (OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.15, 0.35; p < 0.001). Conclusions: The relationship between frailty and malnutrition in functionally independent community-dwelling older people is unclear. More studies are needed to know what nutritional markers are related to frailty, cognition, and functionality in order to discriminate the risk factors for community-dwelling older people at risk of malnutrition and dependency

Fabrication and Characterization of a NIR-FIR Dichroic for the Infrared Interferometer BETTII

BETTII is a balloon-borne far infra-red (FIR: 30-100 m) interferometer that also uses a near-infrared (NIR: 1-2.5 m) channel for fine pointing sensing using stars. We have developed an inductive grid dichroic to divide the incoming beam into two components, by reflecting FIR light and transmitting NIR light. The dichroic is fabricated using focused electron beam technology to produce a 1 m period, 100 nm width metal grid on a sapphire substrate in order to have high reflectance for FIR wavelengths. Here we discuss the design and the detailed manufacturing process for such a dichroic. The transmission and reflectance characteristics are also presented. We discuss them in context of the BETTII requirements

Estimation of the carbon footprint in the road infrastructure sector: A case study for a 190 km road construction in the operation and maintenance phase, Colombia

La generación de los Gases de Efecto Invernadero (GEI) ha incrementado en los últimos años en el planeta, tal como, reporta la Oficina Nacional de Administración Oceánica y Atmosférica (NOAA) en abril de 2023 se generaron 423,28 ppm de CO2 a nivel mundial, con un incremento de 3,05 ppm CO2 en comparación al año anterior; lo que continúa motivando la búsqueda y aplicación de estrategias para la reducción de estas emisiones en los diferentes sectores socioeconómicos. Para el caso del sector de edificaciones y construcción, se registra una generación importante de emisiones con un valor aproximadamente de 10 GtCO2 (35% a nivel mundial). A nivel de Colombia para el año 2018 se reportó por parte del sector de construcción y transporte una generación de emisiones por 238,93 GgTonCO2e y 29.601,91 GgTonCO2e, respectivamente. En razón a lo anterior, se han desarrollado diferentes metodologías para la estimación de la huella de carbono con el fin de identificar operaciones o procesos sensibles que representen una oportunidad de mejora frente a la emisión de GEI en dichos sectores. La presente investigación se centra en la estimación de la huella de carbono para un corredor vial en la fase de operación y mantenimiento, basado en la metodología GHG Protocol, donde se analizan las fuentes de generación (combustibles fósiles y energía eléctrica) bajo una perspectiva y valores de referencia de estándares internacionales y nacionales, que permiten plantear posibles alternativas para reducir la huella de carbono en pro de contribuir al desarrollo sostenible.Universidad Libre - Facultad de Ingeniería - Especialización en Gerencia AmbientalThe generation of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) has increased in recent years on the planet, as reported by the National Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in April 2023, 423,28 ppm of CO2 were generated worldwide, with an increase of 3,05 ppm CO2 compared to the previous year, which continues to motivate the search and implementation of strategies for the reduction of these emissions in the different socioeconomic sectors. In the case of the building and construction sector, there is a significant generation of emissions with a value of approximately 10 GtCO2 (35% worldwide). At the Colombian level for 2018, the construction and transportation sector reported emissions generation of 238,93 GgTonCO2e and 29.601,91 GgTonCO2e, respectively. Due to the above, different methodologies have been developed to estimate the carbon footprint in order to identify sensitive operations or processes that represent an opportunity to improve GHG emissions in these sectors. This research focuses on the estimation of the carbon footprint for a road construction in the operation and maintenance phase, based on the GHG Protocol methodology, where the generation sources (fossil fuels and electric energy) are analyzed under a perspective and reference values of international and national standards, which allow proposing possible alternatives to reduce the carbon footprint in order to contribute to sustainable development

Video-based tasks for emotional processing rehabilitation in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a breakdown of cognitive processes and by a deficit of typi-cal emotional responses. Effectiveness of computerized task has been demonstrated in the field of cognitive rehabilitation. However, current rehabilitation programs based on virtual environments normally focus on higher cognitive functions, not covering social cognition training. This paper presents a set of video-based tasks specifically designed for the rehabilita-tion of emotional processing deficits in patients in early stages of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders. These tasks are part of the Mental Health program of Guttmann NeuroPer-sonalTrainer® cognitive tele-rehabilitation platform, and entail innovation both from a clinical and technological per-spective in relation with former traditional therapeutic con-tents

Lessons Learned from the Investigation of an Anomalous Termination of BETTII

The Balloon Experimental Twin Telescope for Infrared Interferometry (BETTII) mission launched from Palestine, Texas in June 2017. After an exciting launch and successful cruise, the BETTII gondola suffered an anomalous event at termination. BETTII separated from its parachute and free-fell 136,000 feet into the west Texas desert. This event was classified as a "close-call" and investigated as such. We present here the recovery effort required to find the payload and extract the payload from its impact site. We also present lessons learned from the event and results from the investigation, the design for the next BETTII gondola, and a path forward for return to flight