Intentional processing as a key for rational behaviour through natural interaction

28 pages, 13 figures.-- Special Issue: "Symbiotic Performance between Humans and Intelligent Systems".This paper presents an interaction model pursuing flexible and coherent human–computer interaction. Starting from a cognitive architecture for Natural Interaction, an agent-based design is presented, focusing particularly on the role of the interaction agent. Regarding the intentional processing within this agent, the Threads Model is proposed. Finally, its implementation is described and evaluated to find out the integrity of the intentional approach.We thank the ISYS research group at the Technical University of Madrid and the LABDA research group at the Carlos III University of Madrid for their support during the design and development of the interaction agent, and everyone involved in the ADVICE (IST 1999-11305), VIP-ADVISOR (IST 2001-32440), and recent IntegraTV4All (FIT-350301-2004-2) projects for their hard work

A double safety lock tumor-specific device for suicide gene therapy in breast cancer

Producción CientíficaThe complexity and continuous evolution of cancer make the design of novel strategies of treatment a constant challenge in biomedicine. Moreover, most of cancer treatments are still not tumor-specific and provoke high systemic toxicity. Herein we have developed a novel selective nanodevice to eliminate tumor cells while leaving healthy ones intact. To achieve this objective, a polyplex carrier, comprising an elastin like-recombinamer covalently conjugated to an aptamer and complexed with therapeutic DNA, was tested. This carrier forms a double-lock multifunctional device due to specific binding to a tumor cell marker and the selective expression of therapeutic DNA inside human breast-cancer cells. Due to the stability provided by ELRs, the homogeneous population of polyplexes obtained showed selective toxicity against cancer cells in in vitro and in vivo assay. Inhibition of tumor progression was detected early being very significant at the end point, with a dose-dependent reduction in tumor mass. Histological studies revealed a specific reduction in tumor parenchyma and in specific tumor cell markers. These results represent an important step toward the rational development of an efficient, safe and more specialized gene-delivery device for tumor therapy.Fondo Social Europeo - FEDER- Unión Europea (project MP-2014-646075Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (project PCIN-2015-010 / MAT2015-68901-R / MAT2016-78903-R)Junta de Castilla y León (project VA317P18

Finite time singularities for the free boundary incompressible Euler equations

In this paper, we prove the existence of smooth initial data for the 2D free boundary incompressible Euler equations (also known for some particular scenarios as the water wave problem), for which the smoothness of the interface breaks down in finite time into a splash singularity or a splat singularity.Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónEuropean Research CouncilNational Science Foundatio

Structural stability for the splash singularities of the water waves problem

In this paper we show a structural stability result for water waves. The main motivation for this result is that we would like to exhibit a water wave whose interface starts as a graph and ends in a splash. Numerical simulations lead to an approximate solution with the desired behaviour. The stability result will conclude that near the approximate solution to water waves there is an exact solution.Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónInstituto de Ciencias Matemáticas Severo OchoaEuropean Research CouncilNational Science Foundatio

Splash singularity for water waves

We exhibit smooth initial data for the two-dimensional (2D) waterwave equation for which we prove that smoothness of the interface breaks down in finite time. Moreover, we show a stability result together with numerical evidence that there exist solutions of the 2D water-wave equation that start from a graph, turn over, and collapse in a splash singularity (self-intersecting curve in one point) in finite time.Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónEuropean Research CouncilNational Science Foundatio

Finite time singularities for water waves with surface tension

Here we consider the 2D free boundary incompressible Euler equation with surface tension. We prove that the surface tension does not prevent a finite time splash or splat singularity, i.e. that the curve touches itself either in a point or along an arc. To do so, the main ingredients of the proof are a transformation to desingularize the curve and a priori energy estimates.Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónEuropean Research CouncilNational Science Foundatio

Análisis de regularidad en fibrilación ventricular: aplicación a registros de mapeado cardíaco

Las técnicas utilizadas en el análisis de la señal de fibrilación ventricular (FV), obtenida mediante sistemas de mapeado utilizando matrices de electrodos, extraen información del proceso a partir de parámetros calculados principalmente en el dominio del tiempo o de la frecuencia. El presente trabajo plantea la aplicación del índice de regularidad (IR), propuesto inicialmente para caracterizar la fibrilación auricular humana, a la señal de FV en un modelo experimental de corazón animal. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que el IR permite extraer información de los mapas de FV no disponible de forma directa cuando se estudian mediante los métodos clásicos en el tiempo o la frecuencia, cuantificando el grado de modificación en la morfología de las ondas de activación durante la FV

Modifications on regularity and spectrum of ventricular fibrillation signal induced by physical training

The objective of this work is to study the modifications on cardiac response during ventricular fibrillation (VF) induced by physical training. The analysis was performed in the frequency domain of VF, and the regularity of the signal was also considered. Two sets of records were acquired: control (G1: without physical training, N=10), and trained (G2, N=9). Cardiac registers were obtained using a 240-electrodes matrix located on left ventricle of isolated rabbit heart. A Langendorff system was used to maintain the heart perfusion. VF was induced by increased frequencies. To analyze the time course of VF, records were processed in 4-second segments. For every segment and channel, Welch periodogram with Hanning window, two non-overlapped sections and zero padding, was computed. Parameters considered in frequency domain are: dominant frequency (DF) and normalized energy (NE: spectral energy in the window DF±1Hz, normalized by spectral energy in 5-35Hz band). For every segment and channel, a regularity analysis of VF was performed, obtaining the regularity index (RI), which is a measure of similarity among local activation waves present in every channel. Mean values for the parameters (DF, NE and RI) of the whole set of electrodes were computed for every segment. Obtained results show that DF is lower for trained rabbits (G1: 18.234±1, 241Hz; G2: 14.370±0, 866Hz; p<0.001). NE is greater for this group (G1: 0.140±0.006; G2: 0.263±0.017; p<0.001), suggesting a greater spectral concentration around DF. Finally, a greater regularity has been observed in the fibrillation signal for trained group (IR, G1: 0.756±0.026; G2: 0.834±0.014; p<0.001). As a summary, the results suggest that both spectral characteristics and regularity of VF signal are clearly different for G1 and G2 groups. The trained group (G2) shows greater regularity, lower DF and spectral dispersion. These factors should be interpreted as a more stable cardiac response to V

Analysis of spatial and temporal evolution of regularity maps during ventricular fibrillation

The analysis of cardiac mapping allows investigating the structure of ventricular fibrillation (VF). This work analyzes regions of interest (ROI) on cardiac maps obtained from the regularity analysis of VF records, providing information about signal regularity at each time instant and its spatial distribution. Cardiac registers were obtained using a 240- electrodes matrix located on left ventricle of isolated rabbit heart. A Langendorff system was used to maintain the heart perfusion. VF was induced by increased frequencies. Two groups of records were considered: control (G1: without physical training, N=10), and trained (G2, N=9). Records were processed in consecutive 4-second segments. Regularity index (RI) was obtained for every segment and channel. RI is a measure of similarity degree among local activation waves for every channel. A map with the RI value of each channel was computed for the 82 register segments. To analyze the spatial distribution of RI, a threshold value was determined experimentally and applied to the map in order to obtain the ROI. Two parameters were calculated: ROI spatial number (ROIsn, a measure of spatial fragmentation), and ROI spatial area (ROIsa, the percentage of area map occupied by ROI). In case of the time course of ROI, two additional parameters were computed: the number of electrodes which value had changed respect to the threshold in two consecutive maps (ROIen, which is related with the change size), and the cumulative absolute differences of RI values for the electrodes which are changed (ROIed). Obtained results for spatial analysis show that the number of ROI is lower for trained rabbits (ROIsn; G1: 4.465±1.120; G2: 2.,227±0.623; p<0.001), but ROI spatial area is greater than the control group (ROIsa; G1: 76.235±5.355%; G2: 88.163±2.885%; p<0.001). Time-course analysis shows that more electrodes change between consecutive maps in the control group (ROIen, G1: 22.455±6.702; G2: 13.877±2.485; p<0.001). No significant differences were found for ROIed (G1: 18.509±6.932; G2: 18.619±4.196; n.s.). To conclude, ROI analysis on RI maps applied to trained and no trained rabbits groups shows that VF cardiac response is more irregular and spatially fragmented in no trained group. In addition, regularity maps are more stable with time in trained group