2,531 research outputs found
Direct multiple shooting and direct collocation perform similarly in biomechanical predictive simulations
Direct multiple shooting (DMS) and direct collocation (DC) are two common
transcription methods for solving optimal control problems (OCP) in
biomechanics and robotics. They have rarely been compared in terms of solution
and speed. Through five examples of predictive simulations solved using five
transcription methods and 100 initial guesses in the Bioptim software, we
showed that not a single method outperformed systematically better. All methods
converged to almost the same solution (cost, states, and controls) in all but
one OCP, with several local minima being found in the latter. Nevertheless, DC
based on fourth-order Legendre polynomials provided overall better results,
especially in terms of dynamic consistency compared to DMS based on a
fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. Furthermore, expressing the rigid-body
constraints using inverse dynamics was usually faster than forward dynamics. DC
with dynamics constraints based on inverse dynamics converged to better and
less variable solutions. Consequently, we recommend starting with this
transcription to solve OCPs but keep testing other methods.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure
Protention and retention in biological systems
This paper proposes an abstract mathematical frame for describing some
features of cognitive and biological time. We focus here on the so called
"extended present" as a result of protentional and retentional activities
(memory and anticipation). Memory, as retention, is treated in some physical
theories (relaxation phenomena, which will inspire our approach), while
protention (or anticipation) seems outside the scope of physics. We then
suggest a simple functional representation of biological protention. This
allows us to introduce the abstract notion of "biological inertia".Comment: This paper was made possible only as part of an extended
collaboration with Francis Bailly (see references), a dear friend and
"ma\^itre \'a penser", who contributed to the key ideas. Francis passed away
in february 2008: we continue here our inspiring discussions and joint wor
Nasal Carriage of Staphylococcus Aureus and Cross-Contamination in a Surgical Intensive Care Unit: Efficacy of Mupirocin Ointment
A six month prospective study was carried out in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU) of a university hospital to assess the incidence and routes of exogenous colonization by Staphylococcus aureus. A total of 157 patients were included in the study. One thousand one hundred and eleven specimens (nasal, surgical wound swabs, tracheal secretions obtained on admission and once a week thereafter, and all clinical specimens) were collected over a four month period from patients without nasal decontamination (A). They were compared with 729 specimens collected over a two month period from patients treated with nasal mupirocin ointment (B). All S. aureus strains were typed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) pulsed-field gel electrophoresis after SmaI macrorestriction. The nasal colonization rates on admission were 25.5 and 32.7% in groups A and B, respectively. Thirty-one untreated patients (31.3%) and three patients (5.1%) treated with nasal ointment, acquired the nasal S. aureus in the SICU (P = 0.00027). Nasal carriers were more frequently colonized in the bronchopulmonary tract (Bp) and surgical wound (Sw) (62%) than patients who were not nasal carriers (14%) (P < 0.00001). The patterns were identical for nasal, Bp and Sw strains from the same patient. RFLP analysis characterized seven epidemic strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) which colonized 60% of group A and 9% of group B patients (P < 0.00001). The bronchopulmonary tract infection rate was reduced in group B (P = 0.032). In conclusion, in an SICU, nasal carriage of S. aureus appeared to be the source of endogenous and cross- colonization. The use of nasal mupirocin ointment reduced the incidence of Bp and Sw colonization, as well as the MRSA infection rate
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Laser-driven acceleration of quasi-monoenergetic, near-collimated titanium ions via a transparency-enhanced acceleration scheme
Laser-driven ion acceleration has been an active research area in the past two decades with the prospects of designing novel and compact ion accelerators. Many potential applications in science and industry require high-quality, energetic ion beams with low divergence and narrow energy spread. Intense laser ion acceleration research strives to meet these challenges and may provide high charge state beams, with some successes for carbon and lighter ions. Here we demonstrate the generation of well collimated, quasi-monoenergetic titanium ions with energies ∼145 and 180 MeV in experiments using the high-contrast(<10-9) and high-intensity (6× 1020 W cm-2) Trident laser and ultra-Thin (∼100 nm) titanium foil targets. Numerical simulations show that the foils become transparent to the laser pulses, undergoing relativistically induced transparency (RIT), resulting in a two-stage acceleration process which lasts until ∼2 ps after the onset of RIT. Such long acceleration time in the self-generated electric fields in the expanding plasma enables the formation of the quasi-monoenergetic peaks. This work contributes to the better understanding of the acceleration of heavier ions in the RIT regime, towards the development of next generation laser-based ion accelerators for various applications
Clan structure analysis and new physics signals in pp collisions at LHC
The study of possible new physics signals in global event properties in pp
collisions in full phase space and in rapidity intervals accessible at LHC is
presented. The main characteristic is the presence of an elbow structure in
final charged particle MD's in addition to the shoulder observed at lower c.m.
energies.Comment: 9 pages, talk given at Focus on Multiplicity (Bari, Italy, June 2004
Ranking ligand affinity for the DNA minor groove by experiment and simulation
The structural and thermodynamic basis for the strength and selectivity of the interactions of minor-groove binders (MGBs) with DNA is not fully understood. In 2003 we reported the first example of a thiazole containing MGB that bound in a phase shifted pattern that spanned 6 base-pairs rather than the usual 4 (for tricyclic distamycin-like compounds). Since then, using DNA footprinting, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, isothermal titration calorimetry and molecular dynamics, we have established that the flanking bases around the central 4 being read by the ligand have subtle effects on recognition. We have investigated the effect of these flanking sequences on binding and the reasons for the differences and established a computational method to rank ligand affinity against varying DNA sequences
The Balance between Mono- and NEDD8-Chains Controlled by NEDP1 upon DNA Damage Is a Regulatory Module of the HSP70 ATPase Activity
International audienc
Analytic curves in algebraic varieties over number fields
We establish algebraicity criteria for formal germs of curves in algebraic
varieties over number fields and apply them to derive a rationality criterion
for formal germs of functions, which extends the classical rationality theorems
of Borel-Dwork and P\'olya-Bertrandias valid over the projective line to
arbitrary algebraic curves over a number field.
The formulation and the proof of these criteria involve some basic notions in
Arakelov geometry, combined with complex and rigid analytic geometry (notably,
potential theory over complex and -adic curves). We also discuss geometric
analogues, pertaining to the algebraic geometry of projective surfaces, of
these arithmetic criteria.Comment: 55 pages. To appear in "Algebra, Arithmetic, and Geometry: In Honor
of Y.i. Manin", Y. Tschinkel & Yu. Manin editors, Birkh\"auser, 200
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