Placental restriction in multi-fetal pregnancies increases spontaneous ambulatory activity during daylight hours in young adult female sheep

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) has adverse effects on metabolic health and early life, whereas physical activity is protective against later development of metabolic disease. Relationships between birth weight and physical activity in humans, and effects of IUGR on voluntary activity in rodents, are mixed and few studies have measured physical activity in a free-ranging environment. We hypothesized that induced restriction of placental growth and function (PR) in sheep would decrease spontaneous ambulatory activity (SAA) in free-ranging adolescent and young adult progeny from multi-fetal pregnancies. To test this hypothesis, we used Global Positioning System watches to continuously record SAA between 1800 and 1200 h the following day, twice during a 16-day recording period, in progeny of control (CON, n=5 males, 9 females) and PR pregnancies (n=9 males, 10 females) as adolescents (30 weeks) and as young adults (43 weeks). PR reduced size at birth overall, but not in survivors included in SAA studies. In adolescents, SAA did not differ between treatments and females were more active than males overall and during the day (each P&lt;0.001). In adults, daytime SAA was greater in PR than CON females (P=0.020), with a similar trend in males (P=0.053) and was greater in females than males (P=0.016). Adult SAA was negatively correlated with birth weight in females only. Contrary to our hypothesis, restricted placental function and small size at birth did not reduce progeny SAA. The mechanisms for increased daytime SAA in adult female PR and low birth weight sheep require further investigation.</jats:p

Observations of total RONO2 over the boreal forest: NO x sinks and HNO3 sources

In contrast with the textbook view of remote chemistry where HNO 3 formation is the primary sink of nitrogen oxides, recent theoretical analyses show that formation of RONO2 (ΣANs) from isoprene and other terpene precursors is the primary net chemical loss of nitrogen oxides over the remote continents where the concentration of nitrogen oxides is low. This then increases the prominence of questions concerning the chemical lifetime and ultimate fate of ΣANs. We present observations of nitrogen oxides and organic molecules collected over the Canadian boreal forest during the summer which show that ΣANs account for ∼20% of total oxidized nitrogen and that their instantaneous production rate is larger than that of HNO3. This confirms the primary role of reactions producing ΣANs as a control over the lifetime of NOx (NOx =NO+NO2) in remote, continental environments. However, HNO 3 is generally present in larger concentrations than ΣANs indicating that the atmospheric lifetime of ΣANs is shorter than the HNO3 lifetime. We in-vestigate a range of proposed loss mechanisms that would explain the inferred lifetime of ΣANs finding that in combination with deposition, two processes are consistent with the observations: (1) rapid ozonolysis of isoprene nitrates where at least ∼40% of the ozonolysis producs t ts release NOx from the carbon backbone and/or (2) hydrolysis of particulate organic nitrates with HNO3 as a product. Implications of these ideas for our understanding of NOx and NOy budget in remote and rural locations are discussed. © Author(s) 2013

An intelligent multi-agent memory assistant

World population is ageing and increasingly scarce resources are required to cover the needs of everyone adequately. Medical conditions, especially memory problems, restrict the daily life of a broad slice of the elderly population, affect their independence. To prevent this, providing the right care and assistance while having in mind the costs implicated is essential. One possible path is to work with resources that we already have today and create innovative solutions to achieve the required level of support. There are not many solution either technological or not to prevent memory loss. In this work we present a possible solution aimed at restoring or maintaining the independence of elderly people, through the use of so-called Memory Assistants. We thus present an Intelligent Multi-Agent Memory Assistant designed to help people with memory problems remember their events and activities. The implementation of an event manager, free time manger, medication remainder and a sensory system, to manage and monitor the user, we aim to improve their quality of life and increase their independence

Deliberate Evolution in Multi-Agent Systems

This paper presents an architecture for an agent capable of deliberation about the creation of new agents, and of actually creating a new agent in the multi-agent system, on the basis of this deliberation. The agent architecture is based on an existin

An approach for a negotiation model inspired on social networks

Supporting group decision-making in ubiquitous contexts is a complex task that needs to deal with a large amount of factors to be successful. Here we propose an approach for a negotiation model to support the group decisionmaking process specially designed for ubiquitous contexts. We propose a new look into this problematic, considering and defining strategies to deal with important points such as the type of attributes in the multi-criteria problem and agents' reasoning. Our model uses a social networking logic due to the type of communication employed by the agents as well as to the type of relationships they build as the interactions occur. Our approach intends to support the ubiquitous group decision-making process in a similar way to the real process, which simultaneously preserves the amount and quality of intelligence generated in face-to-face meetings and is adapted to be used in a ubiquitous context.This work is part-funded by ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124- FEDER-028980 (PTDC/EEISII/1386/2012) and SFRH/BD/89697/2012.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Distributed autonomy and trade-offs in online multiobject k-coverage

In this article, we explore the online multiobject k-coverage problem in visual sensor networks. This problem combines k-coverage and the cooperative multirobot observation of multiple moving targets problem, and thereby captures key features of rapidly deployed camera networks, including redundancy and team-based tracking of evasive or unpredictable targets. The benefits of using mobile cameras are demonstrated and we explore the balance of autonomy between cameras generating new subgoals, and those responders able to fulfill them. We show that higher performance against global goals is achieved when decisions are delegated to potential responders who treat subgoals as optional, rather than as obligations that override existing goals without question. This is because responders have up-to-date knowledge of their own state and progress toward goals where they are situated, which is typically old or incomplete at locations remote from them. Examining the extent to which approaches overprovision or underprovision coverage, we find that being well suited for achieving 1-coverage does not imply good performance at k-coverage. Depending on the structure of the environment, the problems of 1-coverage and k-coverage are not necessarily aligned and that there is often a trade-off to be made between standard coverage maximization and achieving k-coverage

Competing for the Platform: How Organized Interests affect Party Positioning in the United States

What explains which groups are included in a party coalition in any given election cycle? Recent advances in political party theory suggest that policy demanders comprise parties, and that the composition of a party coalition varies from election to election. We theorize three conditions under which parties articulate an interest group?s preferred positions in its quadrennial platform: when groups are ideologically proximate to the party median, when groups display party loyalty, and when groups are flush with resources. Using computer-assisted content analysis on a unique and rich data source, we examine three cycles of testimony that 80 organized groups provided to the Democratic Party. The analysis compares group requests with the content of Democratic and Republican National Committee platforms in 1996, 2000, and 2004. Results show that parties reward loyal groups and those that are ideologically proximate to the party, but offer no confirmation of a resource effect

Quantifying Child Mortality Reductions Related to Measles Vaccination

Background: This study characterizes the historical relationship between coverage of measles containing vaccines (MCV) and mortality in children under 5 years, with a view toward ongoing global efforts to reduce child mortality. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using country-level, longitudinal panel data, from 44 countries over the period 1960–2005, we analyzed the relationship between MCV coverage and measles mortality with (1) logistic regressions for no measles deaths in a country-year, and (2) linear regressions for the logarithm of the measles death rate. All regressions allowed a flexible, non-linear relationship between coverage and mortality. Covariates included birth rate, death rates from other causes, percent living in urban areas, population density, per-capita GDP, use of the two-dose MCV, year, and mortality coding system. Regressions used lagged covariates, country fixed effects, and robust standard errors clustered by country. The likelihood of no measles deaths increased nonlinearly with higher MCV coverage (ORs: 13.8 [1.6–122.7] for 80–89% to 40.7 [3.2–517.6] for ≥95%), compared to pre-vaccination risk levels. Measles death rates declined nonlinearly with higher MCV coverage, with benefits accruing more slowly above 90% coverage. Compared to no coverage, predicted average reductions in death rates were −79% at 70% coverage, −93% at 90%, and −95% at 95%. Conclusions/Significance: 40 years of experience with MCV vaccination suggests that extremely high levels of vaccination coverage are needed to produce sharp reductions in measles deaths. Achieving sustainable benefits likely requires a combination of extended vaccine programs and supplementary vaccine efforts

Intelligent negotiation model for ubiquitous group decision scenarios

Supporting group decision-making in ubiquitous contexts is a complex task that must deal with a large amount of factors to succeed. Here we propose an approach for an intelligent negotiation model to support the group decision-making process specially designed for ubiquitous contexts. Our approach can be used by researchers that intend to include arguments, complex algorithms and agents' modelling in a negotiation model. It uses a social networking logic due to the type of communication employed by the agents and it intends to support the ubiquitous group decision-making process in a similar way to the real process, which simultaneously preserves the amount and quality of intelligence generated in face-to-face meetings. We propose a new look into this problematic by considering and defining strategies to deal with important points such as the type of attributes in the multicriteria problems, agents' reasoning and intelligent dialogues.This work has been supported by COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) within project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007043, by National Funds through the FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within the Projects UID/CEC/00319/2013, UID/EEA/00760/2013, and the João Carneiro PhD grant with the reference SFRH/BD/89697/2012 and by Project MANTIS - Cyber Physical System Based Proactive Collaborative Maintenance (ECSEL JU Grant nr. 662189).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio