A Decision Support Tool for Water Supply System Decentralization via Distribution Network Sectorization

[EN] Many water supply systems, conceived to operate in centralized manner, face difficulties to adapt to dynamic changes, such as population growth, city extension, and industrial development. Decentralization of these systems may be an effective solution. Known techniques for distribution network sectorization design can help to achieve such a goal, but this has not been recognized in the literature. None of those known techniques considers the conversion of a centralized system to a decentralized one. In this paper, two new distinct yet complementary methodologies for water supply system decentralization by distribution network sectorization are proposed and implemented in a software decision support tool freely available on internet. The first methodology identifies the main flow paths from water sources to some strategic nodes and considers the nodes in these paths as new potential sources for dividing the rest of the network. The second methodology sectorizes the network according to the contribution of sources to the consumption at nodes, based on mass balance equations for the transport of a hypothetical conservative constituent in a steady state. Both methods were applied to two real network models. The results obtained were better, for decentralizing the supply, compared to those obtained by other methodologies proposed in the literature.The main author of this paper wishes to thank the National Studentship Program of Peru for financing his doctoral studies at the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain.Vegas Niño, OT.; Martínez Alzamora, F.; Tzatchkov, VG. (2021). A Decision Support Tool for Water Supply System Decentralization via Distribution Network Sectorization. Processes. 9(4):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9040642S1159

Análisis del control de inventarios en la empresa Grupo Marydely E.I.R.L., Tarapoto 2020

La investigación planteó como objetivo determinar el nivel de control de inventario en la empresa Grupo Marydely E.I.R.L., Tarapoto 2020. En cuanto a la metodología, presenta un tipo de investigación aplicada, de nivel descriptivo, con diseño no experimental de corte transversal. Se ha empleado la técnica de encuesta, cuyo instrumento fue el cuestionario dirigido a una muestra de 25 colaboradores. Los resultados principales revelan que existe el incumplimiento de actividades relacionados a los procesos de almacenamiento, preparación y distribución de pedidos, cuyas deficiencias radican en las medidas de seguridad durante el internamiento de las existencias, también los espacios no son distribuidos de acuerdo a la dimensión de los productos, no existe una adecuada comunicación entre las áreas involucradas, no se cumplen en su totalidad los lineamientos en cuanto a tiempo, sin embargo, existe la documentación correspondiente para el seguimiento y control de los productos almacenados, siendo estos elaborados de acuerdo a la necesidad y realidad de la empresa. Concluyendo que el nivel de control de inventario en la empresa Grupo Marydely E.I.R.L., Tarapoto 2020, presenta un nivel medio de 68%, por ello se sugiere a la empresa cumplir con las acciones de mejora propuestas en la investigación

Professional Quality of Life in Research Involving Laboratory Animals

Many workers contribute to the success of animal welfare and study outcomes in biomedical research. However, the professional quality of life (ProQoL) of those who work with laboratory animals has not been explored in Spain. To this end, we adapted the ProQoL scale to the Spanish population working with laboratory animals. Participants were contacted by email and asked to complete an anonymous on-line questionnaire. The study comprised a total of 498 participants, 12.4% welfare officers/veterinarians, 19.5% caretaker/technicians, 13.9% principal investigators, 20.7% investigators, 13.6% research technicians, and 19.9% PhD students. The adapted scale revealed very good reliability and internal validity, providing information about two different subscales, compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. Animal-facility personnel showed higher total ProQoL and compassion-satisfaction scores than researchers; PhD students showed the lowest scores. Thus, our results indicate that job category is a contributing factor in perceived professional quality of life. We observed that compassion satisfaction is negatively associated with the perceived animal stress/pain. Participants reporting poorer compassion satisfaction also reported lower social-support scores. Overall, our ProQoL scale is a useful tool for analyzing the professional quality of life in the Spanish population, and may help to design future interventions to improve workplace wellbeing in Spain and other Spanish-speaking populations.The research of G.A. is supported by grants from the University of Basque Country (UPV/EHU)—Psicobiologia PPGI19/14 and GIU18/103

A Review of Digital Twins and their Application in Cybersecurity based on Artificial Intelligence

The potential of digital twin technology is yet to be fully realized due to its diversity and untapped potential. Digital twins enable systems' analysis, design, optimization, and evolution to be performed digitally or in conjunction with a cyber-physical approach to improve speed, accuracy, and efficiency over traditional engineering methods. Industry 4.0, factories of the future, and digital twins continue to benefit from the technology and provide enhanced efficiency within existing systems. Due to the lack of information and security standards associated with the transition to cyber digitization, cybercriminals have been able to take advantage of the situation. Access to a digital twin of a product or service is equivalent to threatening the entire collection. There is a robust interaction between digital twins and artificial intelligence tools, which leads to strong interaction between these technologies, so it can be used to improve the cybersecurity of these digital platforms based on their integration with these technologies. This study aims to investigate the role of artificial intelligence in providing cybersecurity for digital twin versions of various industries, as well as the risks associated with these versions. In addition, this research serves as a road map for researchers and others interested in cybersecurity and digital security.Comment: 60 pages, 8 Figures, 15 Table

Efecto gastroprotector y capacidad antioxidante del extracto acuoso de las vainas de Caesalpinia spinosa ‘tara’, en animales de experimentación

Objective: To determine the protective effect of the aqueous extract of the pods of Caesalpinia spinosa (Molina) Kuntze “tara” in the gastric mucosa of experimental animals. Design: Experimental. Institution: Research Center on Biochemistry and Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru. Biological material: Aqueous extract tara pods (AETP) and 36 albino male rats (217g ± 22 g). Interventions: After a 24-hour fast, the albino rats were divided into 6 groups: GI and GII, NaCl 0.9% to 20 mL/kg; GIII, GIV and GV, AETP at doses of 100, 400 and 800 mg/kg respectively; and GVI, Hidroflat 500 mg/kg. An hour later, gastric injury was caused with 70° ethanol and then gastrectomy was performed. Main outcome measures: Percentage of mucosal protection, using the software ImageJ 1.48v, and the antioxidant activity method 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Results: AETP presented tannins and phenolic compounds in large amounts. High antioxidant activity (IC50 = 1, 1 ± 0.04 μg/mL) was exhibited. The highest percentage of protection was observed at doses of 800 mg/kg (99.7%) and 400 mg/kg (73.1%), p<0, 01, confirmed by histopathological analysis. Conclusions: AETP exhibited antioxidant and protective activity in the experimental model of gastric injury induced by ethanol 70°, in a dose-dependent manner.Objetivo. Determinar el efecto protector del extracto acuoso de las vainas de tara Caesalpinia spinosa (Molina) Kuntze, en la mucosa gástrica de animales de experimentación. Diseño. Experimental. Institución. Centro de Investigación de Bioquímica y Nutrición, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú. Material biológico. Extracto acuoso de las vainas de tara (EAVT) y 36 ratas albinas macho (217g ± 22 g). Intervenciones. Las ratas albinas previo ayuno de 24 h fueron divididas en 6 grupos: GI y GII, NaCl 0,9% a 20 mL/kg; GIII, GIV y GV, EAVT en dosis de 100, 400 y 800 mg/kg, respectivamente; y, GVI hidroflat 500 mg/kg. Una hora después, se provocó la injuria gástrica con etanol 70° para luego realizar la gastrectomía. Principales medidas de resultados. Porcentaje de protección de la mucosa, empleando el software ImageJ 1.48v, y para la actividad antioxidante el método 2,2-difenil-1-picrilhidracil (DPPH). Resultados. El EAVT presentó compuestos fenólicos y taninos en mayor cantidad. Exhibió alta actividad antioxidante (IC50 = 1,12 ± 0,04 μg/mL). El mayor porcentaje de protección se observó a las dosis de 800 mg/kg (99,7%) y 400 mg/ kg (73,1%) p<0,01, lo cual fue confirmado por el análisis histopatológico. Conclusiones. El EAVT mostró actividad antioxidante y protectora en el modelo experimental de lesión gástrica inducida por etanol de 70°, de manera dosis dependiente

Anxiety and depression after breast cancer: The predictive role of monoamine levels

The authors would like to thank the women involved in the present study for their participation.Despite the fact that the prevalence of anxiety and depression in breast cancer survivors is higher than in general female population, the psychobiological substrate of this phenomenon has yet to be elucidated. We aimed to examine the predictive role of peripheral dopamine (DA), noradrenaline (NA), serotonin (5-HT) and kynurenine (KYN) in anxiety and depression among breast cancer survivors. We evaluated 107 women using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and monoamine levels were analyzed via high-performance liquid chromatography. High KYN levels predicted both disorders, while low NA and DA predicted anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. A negative conditional effect of 5-HT was found for anxiety and depression among younger women only, while being both middle-aged and younger influenced the negative conditional effect of DA on depression. Monoamine variations may render breast cancer survivors more vulnerable to anxiety and depression, with young women being especially vulnerable to the detrimental effect of low DA and 5-HT. Assessing subclinical psychobiological markers allows mental health nurses to identify vulnerable survivors prior to the onset of anxiety and depression, and to adjust nursing interventions accordingly.This study was supported by the Basque Government Project: IT757-13 and by the University of Basque Country Projects: GIU18/103

Estructura Metamaterial Quiral de tipo Fishnet con refracción negativa y bajas perdidas

In this work the authors present a novel chiral metamaterial structure focused on providing negative refractive index and low losses in a wide frequency band. This new structure is constituted by the combination of two low losses structures, a composite chiral metamaterial and a modified fishnet structure. With the aid of a commercial electromagnetic software simulator, the structure is numerically analyzed and characterized. This new fishnet-like chiral metamaterial features two wide frequency bands wherein the refractive indices are negative and exhibits lower losses than its constituents do.Ingeniería, Industria y Construcció

Sleep problems at ages 8–9 and ADHD symptoms at ages 10–11:evidence in three cohorts from INMA study

Sleep problems and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are interrelated during childhood and preadolescence. The objective of this work is assessing if sleep problems at ages 8–9 represent an alarm sign for presenting ADHD problems at ages 10–11 in three cohorts from INMA Study. Participants were 1244 children from Gipuzkoa, Sabadell, and Valencia cohorts. Sleep problems were assessed (ages 8–9) with the sleep items of the Child’s Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), and ADHD problems were collected through the Conner’s Parent Rating Scales-Revised: Short Form (CPRS-R:S) (age 10–11). Minimally and fully adjusted negative binomial models were fitted for each CPRS-R:S scale. Linearity of the relationship was assessed with generalized additive models (cubic smoothing splines with 2, 3, and 4 knots). For sensitivity analyses, children with previous symptoms, those born preterm and small for gestational age, and cases with extreme values, were excluded. Sleep problems presented IRR (95% CI) of 1.14 (1.10–1.19), 1.20 (1.14–1.26), 1.18 (1.11–1.25), and 1.18 (1.13–1.23) for opposition, inattention, hyperactivity, and ADHD scales, respectively. Fully adjusted models slightly decreased the IRR, but the association remained similar and significant. Sensitivity analyses showed similar results to fully adjusted models with only hyperactivity shown a slight decrease on significance (p = 0.051) when ADHD cases at age 9 were excluded. Conclusion: Sleep problems are an alarm sign for later neurodevelopment problems such as ADHD. Healthcare systems could take advantage implementing policies to pay special attention on the sleep habits and sleep hygiene. This could contribute to add evidence to public health programmes such as the Healthy Child Programme.</p