Comparación de técnicas de clasificación deductivas para estimar la distribución potencial de insectos cuarentenarios

El objetivo de este trabajo fue comparar el desempeño de los criterios de clasificación nítidos y difusos en la construcción de modelos deductivos de la distribución potencial de insectos exóticos. Considerando criterios de clasificación binaria nítida y difusa, de capas ráster de temperatura máxima, media y mínima diaria, se generó un índice de riesgo bioclimático relativo, considerando el número de días con condiciones óptimas para el desarrollo de Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin) (Diptera: Tephritidae) y Cerotoma arcuatus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Se realizaron análisis de sensibilidad de los modelos. Los modelos deductivos de distribución potencial de especies realizados mediante clasificación difusa, serían más robustos y menos restrictivos en la determinación de áreas de riesgo fitosanitario potencial que aquellos realizados con criterios de clasificación nítidos. Estos últimos serían más sensibles y tendrían mayor capacidad de discriminar áreas con diferentes perfiles de riesgo ambiental.The objective of this paper was to evaluate the performance of crisp and fuzzy classification criteria in the construction of deductive potential distribution models of exotic insects. As case studies, Bactrocera oleae (Gmelin) (Diptera: Tephritidae) and Cerotoma arcuatus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) were selected. Considering crisp and fuzzy classification for raster layers of maximum, average and minimum daily temperature, a relative bioclimatic risk index was generated. The number of days with optimal conditions for pests’ development was considered. Sensitivity analyses of both models were performed. Considering each case evaluated and the variables used, deductive pest distribution models made by fuzzy classification was more robust and less conservative in the determination of potential phytosanitary risk areas than those made with crisp classification criteria. This last case was more sensitive and would have a greater capacity to discriminate areas with different environmental risk profiles.Fil: Heit, Guillermo Eugenio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomia. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Cátedra de Zoología Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Sione, Walter Fabian. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Rí­os. Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología. Centro Regional de Geomática; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Luján; ArgentinaFil: Claps, Lucia Elena. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto Superior de Entomología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Aceñolaza, Pablo Gilberto. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; Argentin

A receding horizon event-driven control strategy for intelligent traffic management

AbstractIn this paper, the intelligent traffic management within a smart city environment is addressed by developing an ad-hoc model predictive control strategy based on an event-driven formulation. To this end, a constrained hybrid system description is considered for safety verification purposes and a low-demanding receding horizon controller is then derived by exploiting set-theoretic arguments. Simulations are performed on the train-gate benchmark system to show the effectiveness and benefits of the proposed methodology

An Observer-Based Key Agreement Scheme for Remotely Controlled Mobile Robots

Remotely controlled mobile robots are important examples of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs). Recently, these robots are being deployed in many safety critical applications. Therefore, ensuring their cyber-security is of paramount importance. Different control schemes that have been proposed to secure such systems against sophisticated cyber-attacks require the exchange of secret messages between their smart actuators and the remote controller. Thus, these schemes require pre-shared secret keys, or an established Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) that allows for key agreement. Such cryptographic approaches might not always be suitable for the deployment environments of such remotely mobile robots. To address this problem, in this paper, we consider a control theoretic approach for establishing a secret key between the remotely controlled robot and the networked controller without resorting to traditional cryptographic techniques. Our key agreement scheme leverages a nonlinear unknown input observer and an error correction code mechanism to allow the robot to securely agree on a secret key with its remote controller. To validate the proposed scheme, we implement it using a Khepera-IV differential drive robot and evaluate its efficiency and the additional control cost acquired by it. Our experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed key establishment scheme.Comment: This preprint has been submitted to the 2023 IFAC World Congres

Digitalize Work in Health Organization during pandemic Covid-19

Covid-19 has impacted many aspects of daily life. The behaviors of organizations had to adopt this evolution. The Covid-19 emergency has put Smart Working at the center of attention. Working remotely made it possible to cope with the limitations due to the current health emergency while guaranteeing business continuity. This new intelligent mode is increasingly leading to the spread of autonomous, subjective and decentralized forms of work. Technological progress offers rapid access to information and reduces space-time constraints. Modern technologies put at the service of a new way of working, as experienced during the pandemic, allow the worker to manage the organization of space and the execution time of his employment in complete autonomy. On this basis, the work in progress study seeks to provide useful information to improve practices in the field of smart work, to better investigate the phenomenon in the healthcare sector, a field that has not been explored and debated in the literature

Occurrence of Aflatoxins and Fumonisins Contamination in Herbal Medicinal Products Sold in Nairobi, Kenya

Aflatoxins and fumonisins are referred to as Mycotoxins. They are secondary metabolites of some moulds which are highly toxic, mutagenic or teratogenic compounds. These substances are not formed by all mould species but are characteristic of their producers. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of Aflatoxin and Fumonisins contamination in herbal medicinal products sold in Nairobi Kenya. The study was undertaken in Nairobi, the capital and largest city in Kenya. Nairobi has several herbal clinics, especially in densely populated areas. This study employed an exploratory as well as laboratory-based experimental design to sample 138 herbal medicinal products. The sample were in different preparations, which included liquids, powders, capsules, creams/lotions, and syrups. Screening of the presence of aflatoxins and fumonisins were done using Envirologix Quick ToxTM Kit following the manufacturer’s instructions. Fumonisins and aflatoxins concentration in parts per billion (ppb) was analyzed statistically using Pearson Chi square test at 95% confidence interval. Contaminations were presented in form of frequencies and percentages. Aflatoxins were detected in 74(53.6%) samples while fumonisins were detected in 75(54.3%). Four (11.8%) samples from herbal clinics and 3(4.1%) from street vendors in form of powders and liquids had aflatoxins levels above 4.0ppb. Nine (26.5%) samples from herbal clinics, 10(13.5%) from streets vendors/hawkers and two (10.5%) from the supermarkets in form of powders and liquids had fumonisins levels above 4.0ppb. There was no significant association (c2 test; p>0.05) between detection of fungi from an herbal product and the occurrence of mycotoxins. Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus isolated in this study were associated with occurrence of aflatoxins while the Fusarium isolated were responsible for the presence of fumonisins among the herbal products. We conclude that herbal products investigated were contaminated with fumonisins and aflatoxins in varying degrees. Some were contaminated beyond the accepted limits. There were many genera of molds isolated in this study, which are associated with mycotoxins production, but the current study only focused on aflatoxins and fumonisins and therefore other mycotoxins should be investigated so as to ensure overall fungi toxins safety among the herbal products. Key words: aflatoxin, fumonisins, contamination, herbal medicinal products, Aspergillus, Fusarium, Nairobi

Robustness of electronic screening effects in electron spectroscopies: example of V2_2O5_5

In bulk and low-dimensional extended systems, the screening of excitations by the electron cloud is a key feature governing spectroscopic properties. Widely used computational approaches, especially in the framework of many-body perturbation theory, such as the GW approximation and the resulting approximate Bethe-Salpeter equation, are explicitly formulated in terms of the screened Coulomb interaction. In the present work we explore the effect of screening in absorption and electron energy loss spectroscopy, concentrating on the effect of local distortions on the screening and elucidating the resulting changes in the various spectra. Using the layered bulk oxide V$_2$O$_5$ as prototype material, we show in which way local distortions affect the screening, and in which way changes in the screening impact electron energy loss and absorption spectra including excitons. We highlight cancellations that make many-body effects in the spectra very robust with respect to structural modifications, while the band structure undergoes significant changes and the nature of the excitations may also be affected. This yields insight concerning the structure-properties relations that are crucial for the use of V$_2$O$_5$ as energy storage material, and more generally, that may be used to optimize the analysis and the calculation of electronic spectra in complex materials

Pepducin-mediated cardioprotection via β-arrestin-biased β2-adrenergic receptor-specific signaling

Reperfusion as a therapeutic intervention for acute myocardial infarction-induced cardiac injury itself induces further cardiomyocyte death. β-arrestin (βarr)-biased β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) activation promotes survival signaling responses in vitro; thus, we hypothesize that this pathway can mitigate cardiomyocyte death at the time of reperfusion to better preserve function. However, a lack of efficacious βarr-biased orthosteric small molecules has prevented investigation into whether this pathway relays protection against ischemic injury in vivo. We recently demonstrated that the pepducin ICL1-9, a small lipidated peptide fragment designed from the first intracellular loop of β2AR, allosterically engaged pro-survival signaling cascades in a βarr-dependent manner in vitro. Thus, in this study we tested whether ICL1-9 relays cardioprotection against ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced injury in vivo. Methods: Wild-type (WT) C57BL/6, β2AR knockout (KO), βarr1KO and βarr2KO mice received intracardiac injections of either ICL1-9 or a scrambled control pepducin (Scr) at the time of ischemia (30 min) followed by reperfusion for either 24 h, to assess infarct size and cardiomyocyte death, or 4 weeks, to monitor the impact of ICL1-9 on long-term cardiac structure and function. Neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVM) were used to assess the impact of ICL1-9 versus Scr pepducin on cardiomyocyte survival and mitochondrial superoxide formation in response to either serum deprivation or hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) in vitro and to investigate the associated mechanism(s). Results: Intramyocardial injection of ICL1-9 at the time of I/R reduced infarct size, cardiomyocyte death and improved cardiac function in a β2AR- and βarr-dependent manner, which led to improved contractile function early and less fibrotic remodeling over time. Mechanistically, ICL1-9 attenuated mitochondrial superoxide production and promoted cardiomyocyte survival in a RhoA/ROCK-dependent manner. RhoA activation could be detected in cardiomyocytes and whole heart up to 24 h post-treatment, demonstrating the stability of ICL1-9 effects on βarr-dependent β2AR signaling. Conclusion: Pepducin-based allosteric modulation of βarr-dependent β2AR signaling represents a novel therapeutic approach to reduce reperfusion-induced cardiac injury and relay long-term cardiac remodeling benefits