30,059,730 research outputs found
Probabilistic Inference for Fast Learning in Control
We provide a novel framework for very fast model-based reinforcement learning in continuous state and action spaces. The framework requires probabilistic models that explicitly characterize their levels of confidence. Within this framework, we use flexible, non-parametric models to describe the world based on previously collected experience. We demonstrate learning on the cart-pole problem in a setting where we provide very limited prior knowledge about the task. Learning progresses rapidly, and a good policy is found after only a hand-full of iterations
Adelmidrol, in combination with hyaluronic acid, displays increased anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects against monosodium iodoacetate-induced osteoarthritis in rats
Background
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease produced by a cascade of events that can ultimately lead to joint damage. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of adelmidrol, a synthetic palmitoylethanolamide analogue, combined with hyaluronic acid on pain severity and modulation of the inflammatory response in a rat model of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA)-induced osteoarthritis.
Methods
OA was induced by intra-articular injection of MIA in the knee joint. On day 21 post-MIA administration, the knee joint was analyzed. Rats subjected to OA were treated by intra-articular injection of adelmidrol in combination with sodium hyaluronate at different doses and time points after MIA induction. Limb nociception was assessed by the paw withdrawal latency and threshold measurement. Samples were examined macroscopically, histologically, and by immunohistochemistry.
Results
At day 21 post-MIA injection, the MIA\u2009+\u2009solvent and MIA\u2009+\u20091.0% sodium hyaluronate groups showed irregularities and fibrillation in the surface layer, a decrease in blood cells and multilayering in transition and radial zones, no pannus formation, and modified Mankin scores significantly higher than sham knees. The combination of hyaluronic acid and adelmidrol dose-dependently (adelmidrol 0.6%\u2009+\u20091.0% sodium hyaluronate and adelmidrol 2%\u2009+\u20091.0% sodium hyaluronate) reduced the histological alterations induced by MIA. Moreover, degeneration of articular cartilage, mast cell infiltration, and pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine plasma levels were significantly downregulated by treatment with a combination of hyaluronic acid and adelmidrol at the above doses.
Conclusions
Our results clearly demonstrate that the combination of hyaluronic acid and adelmidrol improves the signs of OA induced by MIA
Assessing the Impact of the Conservation Reserve Program on Honey Bee Health
Insect pollinators are critically important for maintaining U.S. food production and ecosystem health. The upper Midwest is home to more than 40 percent of all U.S. honey bee colonies and is considered by many beekeepers to be America’s last beekeeping refuge. Beekeepers come to this region because their honey bees require high-quality grassland and bee-friendly agricultural crops to make honey and to improve bee health. Agricultural grassland, such as those enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), support flowers that provide bees with the pollen and nectar they need. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) formed a partnership to assess the impact of the CRP on honey bee health and determine how the costeffectiveness of the CRP could be improved to promote pollinator habitat. This USGS assessment has generated important findings that could improve USDA’s program delivery and demonstrates the importance of the CRP to honey bees, beekeepers, agricultural producers, and the public (Otto and others, 2017, 2018)
New Physics in b --> s bar(s) s Decay
We perform a model-independent analysis of the data on branching ratios and
CP asymmetries of and modes. The present
data is encouraging to look for indirect evidences of physics beyond the
Standard Model. We investigate the parameter spaces for different possible
Lorentz structures of the new physics four-Fermi interaction. It is shown that
if one takes the data at confidence level, only one particular
Lorentz structure is allowed. Possible consequences for the system are
also discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 3 encapsulated figures, minor changes in the text,
conclusions unchanged, a few references added, version to appear in PL
Color suppressed contributions to the decay modes B_{d,s} -> D_{s,d} D_{s,d}, B_{d,s} -> D_{s,d} D^*_{s,d}, and B_{d,s} -> D^*_{s,d} D^*_{s,d}
The amplitudes for decays of the type , have no
factorizable contributions, while , and have relatively small factorizable contributions
through the annihilation mechanism. The dominant contributions to the decay
amplitudes arise from chiral loop contributions and tree level amplitudes which
can be obtained in terms of soft gluon emissions forming a gluon condensate. We
predict that the branching ratios for the processes ,
and are all
of order , while ,
and are of
order . We obtain branching ratios for two 's in
the final state of order two times bigger.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Coulomb effects in a ballistic one-channel S-S-S device
We develop a theory of Coulomb oscillations in superconducting devices in the
limit of small charging energy . We consider a small
superconducting grain of finite capacity connected to two superconducting leads
by nearly ballistic single-channel quantum point contacts. The temperature is
supposed to be very low, so there are no single-particle excitations on the
grain. Then the behavior of the system may be described as quantum mechanics of
the superconducting phase on the island. The Josephson energy as a function of
this phase has two minima which become degenerate at the phase difference on
the leads equal to , the tunneling amplitude between them being controlled
by the gate voltage at the grain. We find the Josephson current and its
low-frequency fluctuations and predict their periodic dependence on the induced
charge with period .Comment: 11 pages, REVTeX, 10 figures, uses eps
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