A Monte Carlo Approach to Measure the Robustness of Boolean Networks

Emergence of robustness in biological networks is a paramount feature of evolving organisms, but a study of this property in vivo, for any level of representation such as Genetic, Metabolic, or Neuronal Networks, is a very hard challenge. In the case of Genetic Networks, mathematical models have been used in this context to provide insights on their robustness, but even in relatively simple formulations, such as Boolean Networks (BN), it might not be feasible to compute some measures for large system sizes. We describe in this work a Monte Carlo approach to calculate the size of the largest basin of attraction of a BN, which is intrinsically associated with its robustness, that can be used regardless the network size. We show the stability of our method through finite-size analysis and validate it with a full search on small networks.Comment: on 1st International Workshop on Robustness and Stability of Biological Systems and Computational Solutions (WRSBS

MotionDesigner: Augmented artistic performances with kinect-based human body motion tracking

In the last two decades the use of technology in art projects has proliferated, as is the case of the interactive projections based on movement used in artistic performances and installations. However, the artists responsible for creating this work typically have to rely on computer experts to implement this type of interactive systems. The tool herein presented, MotionDesigner, intends to assist the design of these systems by providing artists with higher levels of autonomy and efficiency during the creative process, allowing them to specify the rules by which a human body interacts with both the audio and the visuals used in their interactive art work. The presented tool relies on an RGB-D camera to modulate the multimedia content according to the performer’s body motion. MotionDesigner is extensible so as to accommodate additions required by artists. The tool has been tested with dancers, choreographers, and architects. Results show that MotionDesigner is a valuable aid to artists, working as a catalyst of their creative process.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Sanitizing the fortress: protection of ant brood and nest material by worker antibiotics

Social groups are at particular risk for parasite infection, which is heightened in eusocial insects by the low genetic diversity of individuals within a colony. To combat this, adult ants have evolved a suite of defenses to protect each other, including the production of antimicrobial secretions. However, it is the brood in a colony that are most vulnerable to parasites because their individual defenses are limited, and the nest material in which ants live is also likely to be prone to colonization by potential parasites. Here, we investigate in two ant species whether adult workers use their antimicrobial secretions not only to protect each other but also to sanitize the vulnerable brood and nest material. We find that, in both leaf-cutting ants and weaver ants, the survival of the brood was reduced and the sporulation of parasitic fungi from them increased, when the workers nursing them lacked functional antimicrobial-producing glands. This was the case for both larvae that were experimentally treated with a fungal parasite (Metarhizium) and control larvae which developed infections of an opportunistic fungal parasite (Aspergillus). Similarly, fungi were more likely to grow on the nest material of both ant species if the glands of attending workers were blocked. The results show that the defense of brood and sanitization of nest material are important functions of the antimicrobial secretions of adult ants and that ubiquitous, opportunistic fungi may be a more important driver of the evolution of these defenses than rarer, specialist parasites

An 11-year-old boy with pharyngitis and cough: Lemierre syndrome

The authors present the case of an 11-year-old boy with pharyngitis, treated with amoxicillin, that worsened on day 7, with cough, high fever and refusal to eat. Lethargy and respiratory distress were noted. Based on radiographic findings of bilateral infiltrates he was diagnosed with pneumonia and started on intravenous ampicillin and erythromycin. Two days later he complained of right-sided neck pain and a palpable mass was identified. An ultrasound showed partial thrombosis of the right internal jugular vein and a lung CT scan revealed multiple septic embolic lesions. Lemierre syndrome was diagnosed, antibiotic treatment adjusted and anticoagulation started. A neck CT-scan showed a large parapharyngeal abscess. His clinical condition improved gradually and after 3 weeks of intravenous antibiotics he was discharged home on oral treatment. This case illustrates the importance of diagnosing Lemierre syndrome in the presence of pharyngitis with localised neck pain and respiratory distress, to prevent potentially fatal complications

Intangibles as innovative drivers for competitive businesses

This paper aims to identify the impact of intangible resources as drivers of firms’ performance and profitability, in the major technological firms in the world. Using information from the major technological firms for a four years economic period, a set of intellectual capital proxies were identified and regressed against the major performance and profitability indicators. The regression model embodies a set of knowledge-based resources intangible (e.g. goodwill, licenses and patents, software and R&D, and advertising expenses) and human capital proxies, aiming to identify potential disaggregated effects of intangibles those key performance indicators. Broadly, results suggest the existence of effective isolated effect for some variables, in particular for intangibles recognized in the financial reporting. Furthermore, this research also suggests that the capitalization of intangible resources can be associated with region and corresponding accounting standards used in the preparation of the financial reporting.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

DigitalPinDirector: A digital pinscreen editor for images and realtime animation in low cost personal computers

This paper presents the main characteristics of the traditional Pinscreen, the way it works, its problems and results achieved. The first Digital Pinscreen system is presented, along with its main characteristics and limitations. The rest of the paper describes and presents the DigitalPinDirector: a system that enables a full and true creative access to the unique visual and animation characteristics of the Pinscreen.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Developing and assessing shape grammar design systems

The ongoing and future research focus on the developing and assessing shape grammars design systems for architecture. The work started by the join paper from Eloy (ISTAR-IUL), Vermaas (TU Delft) and Andrade (ISTAR-IUL) (Eloy, Vermaas, & Andrade, n.d.) where the quality of designs generated by shape grammar systems with designs created by professional architects was compared. In this work authors collaborated in defining and analysing an experiment in which evaluators rank the quality of preliminary designs for refurbishing Lisbon’s Rabo-de-Bacalhau apartments, and that makes plausible that the design quality of the grammar solutions for this task is similar to that of the designs of the professional architects. It was argued that shape grammars can therefore be used as stand - alone design systems in architecture. The practical value is that shape grammar systems become alternative means to take up design challenges (such as refurbishing all of Lisbon’s Rabo -de-Bacalhau apartments) that currently require too much effort of architects to be economically feasible. In the scope of the developed work the three authors joined a consortium composed by TU Ghent, ISCTE-IUL, TU Delft, SWAP, MVRDV, ARUP and Caramel for a call proposal to H202 0 ICT-20-2017. The proposal project aims at bringing out creative architectural design content as smart digital data, and making this data effectively re - usable across different use - cases, offices and purposes. The project shall create a design engine that can work with given datasets and shape grammar rule set s to generate diverse alternative design solutions. The designs generated by the engine are customized since they responds to specifically selected architectural design language, to building regulations and to a particular architectural design brief. In this H2020 proposal the team of ISCTE-IUL was composed by Eloy, Andrade and Lopes. Within the project workplan the task and collaboration between the ISTAR group was the following: Sara Eloy tasks were related to architectural design and shape grammar design rules definition, Pedro Faria Lopes collaborated on the interface design and tests, Marina Andrade was part of the team for developing the experimental settings and performing statistical analysis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio