Polynomial Profits in Renewable Resources Management

A system of renewal equations on a graph provides a framework to describe the exploitation of a biological resource. In this context, we formulate an optimal control problem, prove the existence of an optimal control and ensure that the target cost function is polynomial in the control. In specific situations, further information about the form of this dependence is obtained. As a consequence, in some cases the optimal control is proved to be necessarily bang--bang, in other cases the computations necessary to find the optimal control are significantly reduced

Stability and Optimization in Structured Population Models on Graphs

We prove existence and uniqueness of solutions, continuous dependence from the initial datum and stability with respect to the boundary condition in a class of initial--boundary value problems for systems of balance laws. The particular choice of the boundary condition allows to comprehend models with very different structures. In particular, we consider a juvenile-adult model, the problem of the optimal mating ratio and a model for the optimal management of biological resources. The stability result obtained allows to tackle various optimal management/control problems, providing sufficient conditions for the existence of optimal choices/controls.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure

Differential Equations Modeling Crowd Interactions

Nonlocal conservation laws are used to describe various realistic instances of crowd behaviors. First, a basic analytic framework is established through an "ad hoc" well posedness theorem for systems of nonlocal conservation laws in several space dimensions interacting non locally with a system of ODEs. Numerical integrations show possible applications to the interaction of different groups of pedestrians, and also with other "agents".Comment: 26 pages, 5 figure

New V. cholerae atypical El Tor variant emerged during the 2006 epidemic outbreak in Angola

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>V. cholerae </it>is the etiological agent of cholera, a major public health concern in most developing countries. Virulence of <it>V. cholerae </it>relies on the powerful cholera toxin, encoded by the CTX prophage. The emergence of new pathogenic variants in the recent years has been mostly associated with new CTX prophage rearrangements.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this retrospective study, we show that the epidemic <it>V. cholerae </it>O1 El Tor strain responsible for the 2006 outbreak in Angola is clonally and genetically different from El Tor strains circulating in the 1990s in the same area. Strains from 2006 carry ICE<it>Vch</it>Ang3 of the SXT/R391 family. This ICE is associated with a narrower multidrug resistance profile compared to the one conferred by plasmid p3iANG to strains of the 1990s. The CTX prophage carried by 2006 El Tor strains is characterized by <it>rstR^ET</it>and <it>ctxB^Cla</it>alleles organized in a RS1-RS2-Core array on chromosome I. Interestingly, the newly emerging atypical strain belongs to a clade previously known to comprise only clinical isolates from the Indian subcontinent that also contain the same ICE of the SXT/R391 family.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings remark the appearance of a novel <it>V. cholerae </it>epidemic variant in Africa with a new CTXΦ arrangement previously described only in the Indian Subcontinent.</p

Case report: laser Nd:YAG e rieducazione funzionale nella sindrome del piriforme

La sindrome del piriforme \ue8 caratterizzata da una lombalgia con interessamento del gluteo e con possibile irradiazione all'arto inferiore; pu\uf2 essere definita come una patologia dovuta ad intrappolamento, compressione o irritazione del nervo sciatico a livello del muscolo piriforme con o senza deficit neurologici. In questo studio \ue8 stata valutata l'efficacia della sinergia terapeutica tra laser Neodimio:YAG e rieducazione funzionale nella riduzione del dolore e nel miglioramento dell'indipendenza funzionale in una paziente affetta da sindrome del piriforme

Anti-Alcohol and Anxiolytic Properties of a New Chemical Entity, GET73

N-[(4-trifluoromethyl)benzyl]4-methoxybutyramide (GET73) is a newly synthesized compound structurally related to the clinically used, alcohol-substituting agent, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB). The present study was designed to assess whether GET73 may share with GHB the capacity to reduce alcohol intake in rats. Additionally, the effect of treatment with GET73 on anxiety-related behaviors and cognitive tasks in rats was investigated. A series of in vitro binding assays investigated the capacity of GET73 to bind to the GHB binding site and multiple other receptors. GET73 (10−9–10−3 M) failed to inhibit [3H]GHB binding at both high- and low-affinity GHB recognition sites in rat cortical membranes. GET73 displayed minimal, if any, binding at dopamine, serotonin, GABA, and glutamate receptors in membranes from different rat brain areas. Acute treatment with low-to-moderate, non-sedative doses of GET73 (5–50 mg/kg, i.g. or i.p.) (a) reduced alcohol intake and suppressed “alcohol deprivation effect” (a model of alcohol relapse) in selectively bred, Sardinian alcohol-preferring (sP) rats, (b) exerted anxiolytic effects in Sprague-Dawley (SD) and sP rats exposed to the Elevated Plus Maze test, and (c) tended to induce promnestic effects in SD rats exposed to a modified water version of the Hebb–Williams maze test. Although the mechanism of GET73 action is currently unknown, the results of the present study suggest that GET73 has a multifaceted pharmacological profile, including the capacity to reduce alcohol drinking and anxiety-related behaviors in rats