Rethinking Holistically the Risk of the Urban Home on Health: An Analysis from the Focus of the Socio-Demographic Vulnerability

Objectives: To describe the approach for determining health risks of poor urban housing and to characterize the holistic conception as an option to analyze socio-demographic vulnerability using concepts such as social, human and physical capital, and the structure of opportunities

A Fading Channel Simulator Implementation Based on GPU Computing Techniques

Channel simulators are powerful tools that permit performance tests of the individual parts of a wireless communication system. This is relevant when new communication algorithms are tested, because it allows us to determine if they fulfill the communications standard requirements. One of these tests consists of evaluating the system performance when a communication channel is considered. In this sense, it is possible to model the channel as an FIR filter with time-varying random coefficients. If the number of coefficients is increased, then a better approach to real scenarios can be achieved; however, in that case, the computational complexity is increased. In order to address this issue, a design methodology for computing the time-varying coefficients of the fading channel simulators using consumer-designed graphic processing units (GPUs) is proposed. With the use of GPUs and the proposed methodology, it is possible for nonspecialized users in parallel computing to accelerate their simulation developments when compared to conventional software. Implementation results show that the proposed approach allows the easy generation of communication channels while reducing the processing time. Finally, GPU-based implementation takes precedence when compared with the CPU-based implementation, due to the scattered nature of the channel. � 2015 R. Carrasco-Alvarez et al

A New Tool for Intelligent Parallel Processing of Radar/SAR Remotely Sensed Imagery

A novel parallel tool for large-scale image enhancement/reconstruction and postprocessing of radar/SAR sensor systems is addressed. The proposed parallel tool performs the following intelligent processing steps: image formation, for the application of different system-level effects of image degradation with a particular remote sensing (RS) system and simulation of random noising effects, enhancement/reconstruction by employing nonparametric robust high-resolution techniques, and image postprocessing using the fuzzy anisotropic diffusion technique which incorporates a better edge-preserving noise removal effect and faster diffusion process. This innovative tool allows the processing of high-resolution images provided with different radar/SAR sensor systems as required by RS endusers for environmental monitoring, risk prevention, and resource management. To verify the performance implementation of the proposed parallel framework, the processing steps are developed and specifically tested on graphic processing units (GPU), achieving considerable speedups compared to the serial version of the same techniques implemented in C language

Periodontitis and Systemic Markers of Neurodegeneration. A case-control study

Aim: To investigate whether periodontitis is associated with amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides and whether systemic inflammation could act as a potential mediator of this link. Materials and Methods: A case–control study was designed including 75 patients with periodontitis (cases) and 75 age‐balanced and gender‐matched participants without periodontitis (controls). Full‐mouth periodontal evaluation was performed in all participants. Demographic, clinical and behaviour data were also recorded. Fasting blood samples were collected, and serum levels of interleukin 6 (IL‐6), high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein (hs‐CRP), Aβ1‐40 and Aβ1‐42 were determined. Results: Cases showed higher levels of IL‐6 (8.7 ± 3.2 vs. 4.8 ± 0.5 pg/ml), hs‐CRP (3.3 ± 1.2 vs. 0.9 ± 0.7 mg/L), Aβ1‐40 (37.3 ± 6.0 vs. 30.3 ± 1.8 pg/ml) and Aβ1‐42 (54.5 ± 10.6 vs. 36.5 ± 10.0 pg/ml) when compared to controls (all p < .001). Diagnosis of periodontitis was statistically significantly associated with circulating Aβ1‐40 (urn:x-wiley:03036979:media:jcpe13267:jcpe13267-math-0001 = 6.9, 95% CI: 5.4–8.3; p < .001) and Aβ1‐42 (urn:x-wiley:03036979:media:jcpe13267:jcpe13267-math-0002 = 17.8, 95% CI: 14.4–21.3; p < .001). Mediation analysis confirmed hs‐CRP and IL‐6 as mediators of this association. Conclusions: Periodontitis is associated with increased peripheral levels of Aβ. This finding could be explained by enhanced systemic inflammation that can be seen in patients with periodontitis

Position Control of a Quadrotor under External Constant Disturbance

International audienceIn the present work, an adaptive backstepping algorithm is developed in order to counteract the effects of disturbances. These disturbances are modeled as a constant force in the translational model part and as a constant torque in the orientation model part. We make the deduction of the mathematical expression for the proposed control algorithm and also we show its performance in simulation. Additionally, we include some experiments for validating the results obtained via simulation

A comparison of microsecond vs. millisecond dwell times on particle number concentration measurements by single particle ICPMS

With the growing popularity of nanomaterials in a wide variety of products and processes, the need to measure and characterize these materials has also grown. For metallic or metal-containing engineered nanoparticles (NPs), single particle ICP-MS (SP-ICP-MS) has been developed and is growing in popularity due to its ability to rapidly detect and characterize a large number of particles, determine particle size and size distributions, the particle number concentration in a sample, and the elemental mass concentration of both dissolved and particulate species. SP-ICP-MS has been applied to a wide variety of sample types1-5, demonstrating its versatility. A key variable in SP-ICP-MS, which must be applied correctly for accurate measurement of particle concentration, is the dwell time of the ICP-MS. Although this topic has been discussed previously6,7, this work will focus on direct comparisons of results using both microsecond and millisecond dwell times. Since a detailed version of this work is available8, only a brief description will be given here

Reducción de la brecha digital en Comunidades Vulnerables del Sureste de México

In the XXI century, it is crucial for people belonging to vulnerable and highly marginalized communities have access to telecommunications and have the minimum skills required to use technology, as they are rapidly becoming a tool for transmitting and obtaining information. In today information society, remains a digital divide between those who have access to technological computing resources and Internet, and those who do not, presenting a constant challenge for the development of our people. This paper analyzes the impact of a mixed training program, called: REBREDIG-PJA for the reduction of the digital divide in young and adult people from a vulnerable community in southeastern Mexico, which presents high levels of social marginalization. The results of this study are discussed under the guidelines of the National Development Plan (2013-2018) and the National Digital Strategy (2013) for Mexico and are compared with the guidelines stated in the State Development Plan (2012-2018) for Yucatan.En el siglo XXI, es crucial para las personas pertenecientes a comunidades vulnerables y con alto grado de marginación tener acceso a las telecomunicaciones y poseer las competencias mínimas requeridas para utilizar la tecnología, ya que ésta se está convirtiendo rápidamente en una herramienta para difundir y obtener información. En la sociedad actual de la información, persiste una brecha digital entre quienes tienen acceso a los recursos tecnológicos de cómputo e internet y los que no, presentando un desafío constante para el desarrollo de nuestros pueblos. En este trabajo se analizó el impacto de un programa formativo mixto, denominado: REBREDIG-PJA para la reducción de la brecha digital en personas jóvenes y adultas de una comunidad vulnerable del sureste de México, que presenta altos grados de marginación social. Los resultados de este estudio se discuten bajo los lineamientos del Plan Nacional de Desarrollo (2013-2018) y la Estrategia Digital Nacional, (2013) para México y se comparan con los lineamientos declarados en el Plan Estatal de Desarrollo (2012-2018) para Yucatán

Stark effect in a wedge-shaped quantum box

The effect of an external applied electric field on the electronic ground state energy of a quantum box with a geometry defined by a wedge is studied by carrying out a variational calculation. This geometry could be used as an approximation for a tip of a cantilever of an atomic force microscope. We study theoretically the Stark effect as function of the parameters of the wedge: its diameter, angular aperture and thickness; as well as function of the intensity of the external electric field applied along the axis of the wedge in both directions; pushing the carrier towards the wider or the narrower parts. A confining electronic effect, which is sharper as the wedge dimensions are smaller, is clearly observed for the first case. Besides, the sign of the Stark shift changes when the angular aperture is changed from small angles to angles theta>pi. For the opposite field, the electronic confinement for large diameters is very small and it is also observed that the Stark shift is almost independent with respect to the angular aperture.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl