Pareto and Boltzmann-Gibbs behaviors in a deterministic multi-agent system

A deterministic system of interacting agents is considered as a model for economic dynamics. The dynamics of the system is described by a coupled map lattice with near neighbor interactions. The evolution of each agent results from the competition between two factors: the agent's own tendency to grow and the environmental influence that moderates this growth. Depending on the values of the parameters that control these factors, the system can display Pareto or Boltzmann-Gibbs statistical behaviors in its asymptotic dynamical regime. The regions where these behaviors appear are calculated on the space of parameters of the system. Other statistical properties, such as the mean wealth, the standard deviation, and the Gini coefficient characterizing the degree of equity in the wealth distribution are also calculated on the space of parameters of the system.Comment: 9 pages, 9 color .eps figures, submitted to Physica

Prediction of Pathological Tremor Signals Using Long Short-Term Memory Neural Networks

Previous implementations of closed-loop peripheral electrical stimulation (PES) strategies have provided evidence about the effect of the stimulation timing on tremor reduction. However, these strategies have used traditional signal processing techniques that only consider phase prediction and might not model the non-stationary behavior of tremor. Here, we tested the use of long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks to predict tremor signals using kinematic data recorded from Essential Tremor (ET) patients. A dataset comprising wrist flexion-extension data from 12 ET patients was pre-processed to feed the predictors. A total of 180 models resulting from the combination of network (neurons and layers of the LSTM networks, length of the input sequence and prediction horizon) and training parameters (learning rate) were trained, validated and tested. Predicted tremor signals using LSTM-based models presented high correlation values (from 0.709 to 0.998) with the expected values, with a phase delay between the predicted and real signals below 15 ms, which corresponds approximately to 7.5% of a tremor cycle. The prediction horizon was the parameter with a higher impact on the prediction performance. The proposed LSTM-based models were capable of predicting both phase and amplitude of tremor signals outperforming results from previous studies (32 - 56% decreased phase prediction error compared to the out-of-phase method), which might provide a more robust PES-based closed-loop control applied to PES-based tremor reduction.The authors would like to thank Cristina Montero Pardo for illustrations from Fig. 1 and the patients from Gregorio Marañón Hospital who voluntarily participated in this study

Enhanced gas sensing performance of TiO2 functionalized magneto-optical SPR sensors

9 páginas, 7 figurasPorous TiO2 thin films deposited by glancing angle deposition are used as sensing layers to monitor their sensing capabilities towards Volatile Organic Compounds both in a standard Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensor and in Magneto-Optical Surface Plasmon Resonance (MO-SPR) configuration in order to compare their sensing performances. Here our results on the enhanced sensing capability of these TiO2 functionalized MO-SPR sensors with Au/Co/Au transducers with respect to traditional SPR gas sensors are presented.This work has been funded by the European Commission (NMP3-SL-2008-214107-Nanomagma), the Spanish MICINN (CSD 2008-00023, MAT 2008-06765-C02-01/NAN, MAT2010-21228), CSIC (JAE fellowship for E. F.-V.) and Comunidad de Madrid (S2009 / MAT – 1726, S2009/TIC – 1476).Peer reviewe

Outward-inward information flux in an opinion formation model on different topologies

A simple model of opinion formation dynamics in which binary-state agents make up their opinions due to the influence of agents in a local neighborhood is studied using different network topologies. Each agent uses two different strategies, the Sznajd rule with a probability $q$ and the Galam majority rule (without inertia) otherwise; being $q$ a parameter of the system. Initially, the binary-state agents may have opinions (at random) against or in favor about a certain topic. The time evolution of the system is studied using different network topologies, starting from different initial opinion densities. A transition from consensus in one opinion to the other is found at the same percentage of initial distribution no matter which type of network is used or which opinion formation rule is used.Comment: 11 pages including figures. To appear in Physica

Prevalence and progression of chronic kidney disease after a liver transplant: a prospective, real-life, observational, two-year multicenter study

Introduction: chronic kidney disease is a frequent complication after liver transplantation. The use of calcineurin inhibitors is one of the causes of this complication. Current immunsuppression regimens that reduce the use of calcineurin inhibitors may be associated with an improved preservation of renal function. Objective: the study aimed to assess the evolution of renal function after liver transplantation in the current routine clinical practice. Methods: an observational, prospective, multicenter study in adult liver transplant recipients was performed. Two hundred and thirty patients with a good renal function before transplantation were assessed six months post-transplantation (baseline) and every six months until month 30. Results: at baseline, 32% of the patients had a reduction in the glomerular filtration rate below < 60 ml/min/1.73 m2. The mean glomerular filtration rate increased from 72.3 to 75.6 ml/min/1.73 m2 at baseline and month 30 respectively (p < 0.01). The mean serum creatinine levels (mg/dl) decreased from 1.13 to 1.09 (p < 0.01). The percentage of patients with stage 3 chronic kidney disease decreased from 31.7% to 26.4%, whereas the percentage of patients with stage 4 remained unchanged (0.4% at baseline and 0.5% at month 30). No patients progressed to end-stage kidney disease that required dialysis or renal transplantation. Conclusion: in the routine clinical practice, a moderate deterioration of renal function is frequent after liver transplantation. However, advanced chronic kidney disease is infrequent in patients with a good pre-transplant renal function

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with IGH translocations are characterized by a distinct genetic landscape with prognostic implications

Chromosome 14q32 rearrangements/translocations involving the immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) are rarely detected in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The prognostic significance of the IGH translocation is controversial and its mutational profile remains unknown. Here, we present for the first time a comprehensive next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis of 46 CLL patients with IGH rearrangement (IGHR-CLLs) and we demonstrate that IGHR-CLLs have a distinct mutational profile with recurrent mutations in NOTCH1, IGLL5, POT1, BCL2, FBXW7, ZMYM3, MGA, BRAF and HIST1H1E genes. Interestingly, BCL2 and FBXW7 mutations were significantly associated with this subgroup and almost half of BCL2, IGLL5 and HISTH1E mutations reported were previously identified in non-Hodgkin lymphomas. Notably, IGH/BCL2 rearrangements were associated with a lower mutation frequency and carried BCL2 and IGLL5 mutations, while the other IGHR-CLLs had mutations in genes related to poor prognosis (NOTCH1, SF3B1 and TP53) and shorter time to first treatment (TFT). Moreover, IGHR-CLLs patients showed a shorter TFT than CLL patients carrying 13q-, normal fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and +12 CLL, being this prognosis particularly poor when NOTCH1, SF3B1, TP53, BIRC3 and BRAF were also mutated. The presence of these mutations not only was an independent risk factor within IGHR-CLLs, but also refined the prognosis of low-risk cytogenetic patients (13q-/normal FISH). Hence, our study demonstrates that IGHR-CLLs have a distinct mutational profile from the majority of CLLs and highlights the relevance of incorporating NGS and the status of IGH by FISH analysis to refine the risk-stratification CLL model

Layer-by-layer technique to developing functional nanolaminate films with antifungal activity

The layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition method was used to build up alternating layers (five) of different polyelectrolyte solutions (alginate, zein-carvacrol nanocapsules, chitosan and chitosan-carvacrol emulsions) on an aminolysed/charged polyethylene terephthalate (A/C PET) film. These nanolaminated films were characterised by contact angle measurements and through the determination of water vapour (WVTR) and oxygen (O2TR) transmission rates. The effect of active nanolaminated films against the Alternaria sp. and Rhizopus stolonifer was also evaluated. This procedure allowed developing optically transparent nanolaminated films with tuneable water vapour and gas properties and antifungal activity. The water and oxygen transmission rate values for the multilayer films were lower than those previously reported for the neat alginate or chitosan films. The presence of carvacrol and zein nanocapsules significantly decreased the water transmission rate (up to 40 %) of the nanolaminated films. However, the O2TR behaved differently and was only improved (up to 45 %) when carvacrol was encapsulated, i.e. nanolaminated films prepared by alternating alginate with nanocapsules of zein-carvacrol layers showed better oxygen barrier properties than those prepared as an emulsion of chitosan and carvacrol. These films containing zein-carvacrol nanocapsules also showed the highest antifungal activity (30 %), which did not significantly differ from those obtained with the highest amount of carvacrol, probably due to the controlled release of the active agent (carvacrol) from the zein-carvacrol nanocapsules. Thus, this work shows that nanolaminated films prepared with alternating layers of alginate and zein-carvacrol nanocapsules can be considered to improve the shelf-life of foodstuffs.The authors acknowledge financial support from FP7 IP project BECOBIOCAP^. M. J. Fabra is recipients of a Juan de la Cierva contract from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity. Maria L. Flores-López thanks Mexican Science and Technology Council (CONACyT, Mexico) for PhD fellowship support (CONACyT Grant Number 215499/310847). The author Miguel A. Cerqueira is a recipient of a fellowship (SFRH/BPD/72753/2010) supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, POPH-QREN and FSE (FCT, Portugal). The authors also thank the FCT Strategic Project of UID/ BIO/04469/2013 unit, the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP- 01-0124-FEDER-027462) and the project BBioInd - Biotechnology and Bioengineering for improved Industrial and Agro-Food processes,^ REF. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000028 Co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2–O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER. The support of EU Cost Action FA0904 is gratefully acknowledged

The Mexican consensus on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of NSAID-induced gastropathy and enteropathy

Más de 30 millones de personas consumen diariamente antiinflamatorios noesteroideos (AINE) en el mundo, y este consumo se ve incrementado anualmente. Aunque losAINE poseen propiedades analgésicas y antiinflamatorias, sus eventos adversos gastrointesti-nales son bien reconocidos. En nuestro país no existía un consenso respecto al diagnóstico,tratamiento y prevención de la gastropatía y la enteropatía por AINE, por lo que la AsociaciónMexicana de Gastroenterología reunió a un grupo de expertos para establecer recomendacionesde utilidad para la comunidad médica. En este consenso se emitieron 33 recomendaciones. Elconsenso destaca que el riesgo de toxicidad gastrointestinal de los AINE varía según el fármacoempleado y su farmacocinética, lo cual debe ser considerado al momento de su prescripción. Losfactores de riesgo de complicación gastroduodenal por AINE son: antecedente de úlcera pép-tica, edad mayor a 65 a˜nos, dosis altas del AINE, infección por Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori), ypresencia de comorbilidades graves. Los síntomas y el da˜no gastroduodenal inducido por AINEson variables ya que puede cursar asintomático o manifestarse como anemia por deficiencia dehierro, hemorragia, estenosis y perforación. La cápsula endoscópica y la enteroscopia son méto-dos diagnósticos directos en la enteropatía por AINE. Respecto a la prevención, se recomiendaprescribir la dosis mínima necesaria de un AINE para obtener el efecto deseado y durante elmenor tiempo. Finalmente, los inhibidores de la bomba de protones (IBP) representan el están-dar de oro para la profilaxis y tratamiento de los efectos gastroduodenales, mas no son útilesen la enteropatía

Comercio Electrónico de flora y fauna exótica invasora (código de conducta)

Este código de conducta pretende alertar de la venta y adquisición on-line de especies invasoras y fomentar una serie de recomendaciones que ayuden a reducir el riesgo que conlleva el comercio electrónico como vía de introducción de fauna y flora invasora. Los principales destinatarios de este código de conducta son: Profesionales dedicados al comercio de plantas y animales de compañía y a la acuariofilia: importadores (mayoristas), intermediarios (comercializadores y distribuidores) y tiendas (minoristas).Consumidores: aficionados y usuarios de jardinería, mascotismo o acuariofilia. Este código de conducta ha sido redactado en el marco del proyecto LIFE INVASAQUA (LIFE17 GIE/ES/000515) con la contribución de la Comisión Europea a través del programa LIFE. El proyecto LIFE INVASAQUA tiene entre sus objetivos facilitar y apoyar las políticas europeas sobre gestión de especies exóticas invasoras generando información útil para su implementación. Los códigos de conducta son documentos que pretenden fomentar una serie de recomendaciones y buenas prácticas para reducir la problemática asociada a la introducción de fauna y flora invasora. Esta versión 1.0 del documento tiene por objeto difundir la información entre organismos, asociaciones y entidades relacionadas para fomentar la adopción de sus recomendaciones y recoger nuevas aportaciones.El proyecto LIFE INVASAQUA (LIFE17 GIE/ES/000515) está financiado por el Programa LIFE de la Unión Europe