21,279 research outputs found
Activation thresholds in epidemic spreading with motile infectious agents on scale-free networks
We investigate a fermionic susceptible-infected-susceptible model with
mobility of infected individuals on uncorrelated scale-free networks with
power-law degree distributions of exponents
. Two diffusive processes with diffusion rate of an infected
vertex are considered. In the \textit{standard diffusion}, one of the
nearest-neighbors is chosen with equal chance while in the \textit{biased
diffusion} this choice happens with probability proportional to the neighbor's
degree. A non-monotonic dependence of the epidemic threshold on with an
optimum diffusion rate , for which the epidemic spreading is more
efficient, is found for standard diffusion while monotonic decays are observed
in the biased case. The epidemic thresholds go to zero as the network size is
increased and the form that this happens depends on the diffusion rule and
degree exponent. We analytically investigated the dynamics using quenched and
heterogeneous mean-field theories. The former presents, in general, a better
performance for standard and the latter for biased diffusion models, indicating
different activation mechanisms of the epidemic phases that are rationalized in
terms of hubs or max -core subgraphs.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Discrete and continuous symmetries in multi-Higgs-doublet models
We consider the Higgs sector of multi-Higgs-doublet models in the presence of
simple symmetries relating the various fields. We construct basis invariant
observables which may in principle be used to detect these symmetries for any
number of doublets. A categorization of the symmetries into classes is
required, which we perform in detail for the case of two and three Higgs
doublets.Comment: 13 pages, RevTex, references adde
Mobile applications for active aging
Many countries, including several European states are aging. This demographic change opens a variety of opportunities for innovation in products and services tailored to the needs of an aging population. This paper focus on how ICT-based mobile application can be used to potentiate active aging. The role that mobile computing can play in the support of everyday activities is increasingly recognized. Several countries are currently faced to the aging of their population. Therefore, it is of major importance to develop solutions that extend the time that elderly can live in their preferred environment by increasing their autonomy, comfort and mobility while limiting associated costs and the effects of a possible lack of caregiver human resources. This paper describes the state of the art of solutions for elderly population active aging through mobile applications, as well as the opportunities that mobile applications offer to improve the quality of life of the elderly and to support a cohesive and inclusive society.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
Multiscale model for the effects of adaptive immunity suppression on the viral therapy of cancer
Oncolytic virotherapy - the use of viruses that specifically kill tumor cells
- is an innovative and highly promising route for treating cancer. However, its
therapeutic outcomes are mainly impaired by the host immune response to the
viral infection. In the present work, we propose a multiscale mathematical
model to study how the immune response interferes with the viral oncolytic
activity. The model assumes that cytotoxic T cells can induce apoptosis in
infected cancer cells and that free viruses can be inactivated by neutralizing
antibodies or cleared at a constant rate by the innate immune response. Our
simulations suggest that reprogramming the immune microenvironment in tumors
could substantially enhance the oncolytic virotherapy in immune-competent
hosts. Viable routes to such reprogramming are either in situ virus-mediated
impairing of CD T cells motility or blockade of B and T lymphocytes
recruitment. Our theoretical results can shed light on the design of viral
vectors or new protocols with neat potential impacts on the clinical practice.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
On the -Dirac Oscillator revisited
This Letter is based on the -Dirac equation, derived from the
-Poincar\'{e}-Hopf algebra. It is shown that the -Dirac
equation preserves parity while breaks charge conjugation and time reversal
symmetries. Introducing the Dirac oscillator prescription,
, in the -Dirac
equation, one obtains the -Dirac oscillator. Using a decomposition in
terms of spin angular functions, one achieves the deformed radial equations,
with the associated deformed energy eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. The
deformation parameter breaks the infinite degeneracy of the Dirac oscillator.
In the case where , one recovers the energy eigenvalues and
eigenfunctions of the Dirac oscillator.Comment: 5 pages, no figures, accepted for publication in Physics Letters
Roaming service for electric vehicle charging using blockchain-based digital identity
We present a suitable approach to address the electric vehicle charging roaming problem (e-roaming). Blockchain technologies are applied to support the identity management process of users charging their vehicles and to record energy transactions securely. At the same time, off-chain cloud-based storage is used to record the transaction details. A user wallet settled on a mobile application stores user verified credentials; a backend application in the vehicle charging station validates the user credentials to authorize the energy transaction. The current model can be applied to similar contexts where the user may be required to keep several credentials from different providers to authenticate digital transactions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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