Monte Carlo and theoretical calculations of the first four perturbation coefficients in the high temperature series expansion of the free energy for discrete and core-softened potential models

The first four perturbation coefficients in the expansion of the Helmholtz free energy in power series of the inverse of the reduced temperature for a number of potential models with hard-sphere cores plus core-softened and discontinuous tails are obtained from Monte Carlo simulations. The potential models considered include square-well, double square-well, and square-shoulder plus square-well, with different potential parameters. These simulation data are used to evaluate the performance of a traditional macroscopic compressibility approximation (MCA) for the second order coefficient and a recent coupling parameter series expansion (CPSE) for the first four coefficients. Comprehensive comparison indicates the incapability of the MCA for the second order coefficient in most non-stringent situations, and significance of the CPSE in accurately calculating these four coefficients.J.R.S. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) under Grant No. FIS2009-09616. This project is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC) (Grant No. 21173271)

Unparticles-Higgs Interplay

This is Version nr. 2 (13/08/2007) of the original paper (30/07/2007). Includes corrected typos.We show that scalar unparticles coupled to the Standard Model Higgs at the renormalizable level can have a dramatic impact in the breaking of the electroweak symmetry already at tree level. In particular one can get the proper electroweak scale without the need of a Higgs mass term in the Lagrangian. By studying the mixed unparticle-Higgs propagator and spectral function we also show how unparticles can shift the Higgs mass away from its Standard Model value, λ v^2, and influence other Higgs boson properties. Conversely, we study in some detail how electroweak symmetry breaking affects the unparticle sector by breaking its conformal symmetry and generating a mass gap. We also show that, for Higgs masses above that gap, unparticles can increase quite significantly the Higgs width.Peer reviewe

Thermodynamic properties of Ar, Kr and Xe from a Monte Carlo-based perturbation theory with an effective two-body Lennard-Jones potential

A third-order perturbation theory is used to obtain the equilibrium properties of Ar, Kr and Xe over wide ranges of temperatures and densities. The theory belongs to the framework of the inverse temperature expansion of the Helmholtz free energy, with the perturbation terms determined from Monte Carlo simulation. The interactions are modeled by an effective two-body Lennard-Jones potential incorporating the main contribution of the three-body interactions. To this end, the ratio of three-body to two-body configuration energies have been determined also from Monte Carlo simulation. The results for the pressure and energy at supercritical temperatures are in quite good agreement with experimental data. The liquid?vapor coexistence is also reproduced fairly well, although for Ar and Kr the critical temperature is slightly overestimated as well as the liquid densities at low temperatures, and the coexistence densities of Xe are slightly overestimated for the vapor and underestimated for the liquid near the critical point. In any case, the calculations show a remarkable improvement in the predicted coexistence curve with including the three-body contribution

Wearables and machine learning for improving runners’ motivation from an affective perspective

Wearable technology is playing an increasing role in the development of user-centric applications. In the field of sports, this technology is being used to implement solutions that improve athletes’ performance, reduce the risk of injury, or control fatigue, for example. Emotions are involved in most of these solutions, but unfortunately, they are not monitored in real-time or used as a decision element that helps to increase the quality of training sessions, nor are they used to guarantee the health of athletes. In this paper, we present a wearable and a set of machine learning models that are able to deduce runners’ emotions during their training. The solution is based on the analysis of runners’ electrodermal activity, a physiological parameter widely used in the field of emotion recognition. As part of the DJ-Running project, we have used these emotions to increase runners’ motivation through music. It has required integrating the wearable and the models into the DJ-Running mobile application, which interacts with the technological infrastructure of the project to select and play the most suitable songs at each instant of the training

El comité español de automática: Vanguardia de la investigación, desarrollo y enseñanza universitaria en automática

Este trabajo tiene por objeto explicar la génesis y situación actual del Comité Español de Automática (CEA), una de las sociedades científico-tecnológicas más antiguas y activas en España. El objetivo del artículo es describir cómo a partir de un embrión muy pequeño en Madrid y Barcelona a mediados del siglo pasado, CEA aglutina hoy a la inmensa mayoría de Universidades y Centros de investigación españoles donde la Automática es una disciplina de estudio, investigación, desarrollo e innovación. Desde el planteamiento inicial de los pioneros de la Automática, que como ciencia científica se formaliza, prácticamente, después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, se van describiendo cronológicamente los principales hechos que han dado lugar a lo que hoy es CEA. Como conclusión principal puede establecerse que la Automática está cada vez más presente en la vida de la sociedad, y que CEA velará y contribuirá, gracias a su prometedor futuro, porque España sea una potencia internacional en este campo

The Conners Continuous Performance Test CPT3™: Is it a reliable marker to predict neurocognitive dysfunction in Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome?

Chronic fatigue syndrome; Continuous performance test; Neurocognitive dysfunctionSíndrome de fatiga crónica; Prueba de rendimiento continuo; Disfunción neurocognitivaSíndrome de fatiga crònica; Prova de rendiment contínua; Disfunció neurocognitivaIntroduction: The main objective is to delimit the cognitive dysfunction associated with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) in adult patients by applying the Continuous Performance Test (CPT3™). Additionally, provide empirical evidence on the usefulness of this computerized neuropsychological test to assess ME/CFS. Method: The final sample (n = 225; 158 Patients/67 Healthy controls) were recruited in a Central Sensitization Syndromes (CSS) specialized unit in a tertiary hospital. All participants were administered this neuropsychological test. Results: There were significant differences between ME/CFS and healthy controls in all the main measures of CPT3™. Mainly, patients had a worse indicator of inattentiveness, sustained attention, vigilance, impulsivity, slow reaction time, and more atypical T-scores, which is associated with a likelihood of having a disorder characterized by attention deficits, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In addition, relevant correlations were obtained between the CPT3™ variables in the patient's group. The most discriminative indicators of ME/CFS patients were Variability and Hit Reaction Time, both measures of response speed. Conclusion: The CPT3™ is a helpful tool to discriminate neurocognitive impairments from attention and response speed in ME/CFS patients, and it could be used as a marker of ME/CFS severity for diagnosing or monitoring this disease

Mercado español de deuda pública

Los dos volumenes de que consta este trabajo ofrecen una detallada descripcion de los distintos aspectos organizativos del mercado español de deuda publica. Su reciente creacion, en 1987, significo la introduccion de las estructuras mas convenientes para financiar los deficit publicos con recurso al mercado de valores. La obra analiza el diseño y evolucion del mercado primario, en el que el gobierno capta financiacion emitiendo bonos de acuerdo con criterios de mercadoestudia como se produce su transmision en el mercado secundario, identificandose los miembros, los tipos de operaciones y el perfil general de actividaddescribe los procedimientos de liquidacion y registro de operaciones en el marco del sistema de anotaciones en cuenta (SACDE) gestionado por el Banco de España. Asimismo, examina la organizacion y funcionamiento del mercado español de derivados sobre deuda publica, dada su importante funcion estabilizadora. La obra se cierra con un apartado dedicado a la fundamentacion legal de las distintas cuestiones tratadas. (jmr) (mac)Vol. 1: 132 pVol. 2: 175

Immunohistochemical analysis of knee chondral defect repair after autologous particulated cartilage and platelet-rich plasma treatment in sheep

This study performs an analysis that will enable the evaluation of the quality, durability, and structure of repaired cartilaginous extracellular matrix tissue using an autologous-based particulated autograft cartilage and platelet-rich plasma treatment (PACI + PRP). A single-blind controlled experiment was conducted on 28 sheep to evaluate the efficacy of the PACI + PRP treatment for cartilage defects. Full-thickness 8 mm diameter defects were created in the weight-bearing area of both knees. The right knees received PACI + PRP. The left knees were treated with Ringer’s lactate solution (RLS) or hyaluronic acid (HA) injections. Sheep were euthanized at 9- or 18-months post-surgery. An extensive immunohistochemical analysis was performed to assess collagen types (I, II, III, V, VI, IX, X, XI) and aggrecan positivity. A semiquantitative scoring system provided a detailed evaluation of immunostaining. Collagens and aggrecan scores in the PACI + PRP groups were similar to healthy cartilage. Significant differences were found in collagens associated with matrix maturity (II and V), degradation (IX), structure and mechanics (VI), and hypertrophy (X) between healthy cartilage and RLS- or HA-repaired cartilage. The PACI + PRP treatment advanced the repair cartilage process in chondral defects with mature hyaline cartilage and enhanced the structural and mechanical qualities with better consistent cartilage, less susceptible to degradation and without hypertrophic formation over tim

Circadian clock gene variants and their link with chronotype, chrononutrition, sleeping patterns and obesity in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC) study

Background & aims: The circadian clock is involved in the control of daily rhythms and is related to the individual's chronotype, i.e., the morningness-eveneningness preference. Knowledge is limited on the relationship between circadian genes, chronotype, sleeping patterns, chronutrition and obesity. The aim was to explore these associations within the EPIC-Spain cohort study. Methods: There were 3183 subjects with information on twelve genetic variants of six genes (PER1, PER2, PER3, CRY1, NR1D1, CLOCK). Their association was evaluated with: chronotype and sleeping duration/ quality (assessed by questionnaires), chrononutrition (number of meals and timing of intake assessed by a diet history), and also anthropometric measures of obesity at early and late adulthood (in two points in time), such as weight and waist circumference (assessed by physical measurements). Multivariable logistic and linear regression as well as additive genetic models were applied. Odds ratios (ORs), b coefficients, and p-values corrected for multiple comparisons were estimated. Genetic risk scores (GRS) were built to test gene-outcome associations further. Results: At nominal significance level, the variant rs2735611 (PER1 gene) was associated with a 11.6% decrease in long-term weight gain (per-allele b beta - -0.12), whereas three CLOCK gene variants (rs12649507, rs3749474 and rs4864548), were associated with a similar to 20% decrease in waist circumference gain (per-allele beta similar to -0.19). These and other associations with body measures did not hold after multiple testing correction, except waist-to-hip ratio and rs1801260, rs2070062 and rs4580704 (CLOCK gene). Associations with chrononutrition variables, chronotype and sleep duration/quality failed to reach statistical significance. Conversely, a weighted GRS was associated with the evening/late chronotype and with all other outcomes (p < 0.05). The chronotype-GRS was associated with an increased overweight/ obesity risk (vs normal weight) in both early and late adulthood (OR = 2.2; p = 0.004, and OR = 2.1; p = 0.02, respectively). Conclusion: Genetic variants of some circadian clock genes could explain the link between genetic susceptibility to the individual's chronotype and obesity risk

BETs: Propellant less de orbiting of space debris by bare electrodynamic tethers

As a fundamental contribution to limiting the increase of debris in the Space environment, a three-year project started on 1 November 2010 financed by the European Commission under the FP-7 Space Programme. It aims at developing a universal system to be carried on board future satellites launched into low Earth orbit (LEO), to allow de-orbiting at end of life. The operational system involves a conductive tape-tether left bare of insulation to establish anodic contact with the ambient plasma as a giant Langmuir probe. The project will size the three disparate dimensions of a tape for a selected de-orbit mission and determine scaling laws to allow system design for a general mission. It will implement control laws to restrain tether dynamics in/off the orbital plane; and will carry out plasma chamber measurements and numerical simulations of tether-plasma interaction. The project also involves the design and manufacturing of subsystems: electron-ejecting plasma contactors, an electric control and power module, interface elements, tether and deployment mechanisms, tether tape/end-mass as well as current collection plus free-fall, and hypervelocity impact tests