High-performance functional renormalization group calculations for interacting fermions

We derive a novel computational scheme for functional Renormalization Group (fRG) calculations for interacting fermions on 2D lattices. The scheme is based on the exchange parametrization fRG for the two-fermion interaction, with additional insertions of truncated partitions of unity. These insertions decouple the fermionic propagators from the exchange propagators and lead to a separation of the underlying equations. We demonstrate that this separation is numerically advantageous and may pave the way for refined, large-scale computational investigations even in the case of complex multiband systems. Furthermore, on the basis of speedup data gained from our implementation, it is shown that this new variant facilitates efficient calculations on a large number of multi-core CPUs. We apply the scheme to the $t$,$t'$ Hubbard model on a square lattice to analyze the convergence of the results with the bond length of the truncation of the partition of unity. In most parameter areas, a fast convergence can be observed. Finally, we compare to previous results in order to relate our approach to other fRG studies.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figure

Automated generation of control design benchmark problems for computer-assessed education with Doctus

[ES] En este trabajo se presenta una aplicación que permite a un profesor generar de forma automática ejercicios de diseño de controladores para sistemas lineales para la plataforma de e-learning Doctus. Doctus es una aplicación que permite automatizar la recogida, almacenamiento y evaluación de ejercicios de contenido científico-técnico. En general, para utilizar Doctus es necesario escribir scripts de MATLAB, tanto para la evaluación automàtica de la respuesta de los alumnos como para la generación de enunciados personalizados. La aplicación que se presenta es una extensión de Doctus destinada a simplificar este trabajo, permitiendo generar ejercicios personalizados mediante la aplicación de un escalado temporal y de ganancia a partir de un problema semilla que proporciona el profesor. La aplicación presentada resuelve, por lo tanto, dos problemas: primero el de facilitar el uso de Doctus a profesores no expertos, y segundo el de proporcionar a cada estudiante un ejercicio individualizado[EN] This paper presents an application that enables the teacher to automatically generate control design exercises for linear systems for the Doctus e-learning platform. Doctus is an application that automates the collection, storage and evaluation of scientific and technical education exercises. In general, the use of Doctus requires writing MATLAB scripts, both for the automatic evaluation of student responses and for the generation of personalized wordings. The application presented is an extension of Doctus designed to simplify this work, allowing the generation of personalized exercises by applying time and gain scalings based on a seed problem provided by the teacher. As a consequence, the application presented solves two problems: first, to facilitate the use of Doctus to non-expert teachers, and second, to provide each student with an individualized exercise with guaranteed solution and equal diffculty.Asimismo desean agradecer la ayuda otorgada por el Vicerrectorado de investigación de la Universidad Loyola Andalucía. Este trabajo se ha financiado parcialmente con los proyectos DPI2016-75294-C2-2-R y DPI2016-76493-C3-1-R.Sánchez, C.; Muñoz De La Peña, D.; Gómez-Estern, F. (2020). Generación automática de problemas de diseño de controladores para sistemas lineales autoevaluables con Doctus. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial. 17(1):1-9. https://doi.org/10.4995/riai.2019.11243OJS19171Ala-Mutka, K. M., 2005. A survey of automated assessment approaches for programming assignments. Computer Science Education 15 (2), 83-102. https://doi.org/10.1080/08993400500150747Ayas, M. S., Altas, I. H., 2016. A virtual laboratory for system simulation and control with undergraduate curriculum. Computer Applications in Engineering Education 24 (1), 122-130. https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.21678Cerezo, F., Sastrón, F., 2015. Laboratorios virtuales y docencia de la automática en la formación tecnológica de base de alumnos preuniversitarios. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial 12 (4), 419-431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riai.2015.04.005Chih-Ming, C., Hahn-Ming, L., Ya-Hui, C., 2005. Personalized e-learning system using item response theory. Computers & Education 44 (3), 237-255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2004.01.006Dorf, R., Bishop, R., 2005. Sistemas de Control Moderno 10Ed. Pearson, Inglaterra.Douce, C., Orwell, J., Livingstone, D., 2005. Automatic test-based assessment of programming: A review. ACM Journal of Educational Resources in Computing 5 (3). https://doi.org/10.1145/1163405.1163409Guzmán, J., Costa, R., Berenguel, M., Dormido, S., 2012. Control automático con herramientas interactivas. Pearson, Inglaterra.Gómez-Estern, F., López-Martínez, M., Muñoz de la Peña, D., 2010. Sistemas de evaluación automática vía web en asignaturas prácticas de ingeniería. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática Industrial 7 (3), 111-119. https://doi.org/10.4995/RIAI.2010.03.10López-Martínez, M., Gómez-Estern, F., Muñoz de la Peña, D., 2010. Automatic web-based evaluation of C-programming exercises in engineering education. International Journal for Knowledge, Science and Technology 1 (2), 1-6.Martínez, J., Padilla, A., Rodríguez, E., Jiménez, A., Orozco, H., 2017. Diseño de herramientas didácticas enfocadas al aprendizaje de sistemas de control utilizando instrumentación virtual. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial 14 (4), 424-433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riai.2017.03.003Mendez, J. A., Gonzalez, E. J., 2011. Implementing motivational features in reactive blended learning: Application to an introductory control engineering course. IEEE Transactions on Education 54 (4), 619-627. https://doi.org/10.1109/TE.2010.2102028Méndez, J. A., González, E. J., 2013. A control system proposal for engineering education. Computers & Education 68, 266-274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.05.014Méndez, J. A., Lorenzo, C., Acosta, L., Torres, S., González, E., 2006. A webbased tool for control engineering teaching. Computer Applications in Engineering Education 14 (3), 178-187. https://doi.org/10.1002/cae.20080Muñoz de la Peña, A., González-Gómez, D., Muñoz de la Peña, D., Gómez-Estern, F., Sánchez, M., 2012a. Automatic web-based grading system: Application in an advanced instrumental analysis chemistry laboratory. Journal of Chemical Education 90, 308-314. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed3000815Muñoz de la Peña, D., Gómez-Estern, F., Dormido, S., 2012b. A new internet tool for automatic evaluation in control, systems and programming. IEEE Computers & Education 59, 535-550. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2011.12.016Ogata, K., 2011. Ingenier'ıa de Control Moderna 5ED. Pearson, Inglaterra.Pieterse, V., 2005. Automated assessment of programming assignments. Computer Science Education Research Conference.Prados, F., Boada, I., Soler, J., Poch, J., 2005. Automatic generation and correction of technical exercises. International Conference on Engineering and Computer Education.Ruano Ruano, I., Gámez García, J., Gómez Ortega, J., 2016. Laboratorio web scorm de control pid con integración avanzada. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial 13 (4), 472-483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riai.2016.05.007Sánchez-Alonso, R. E., Ortega-Moody, J., González-Barbosa, J. J., Reyes-Morales, G., 2017. Uso de plataformas para el desarrollo de aplicaciones virtuales en el modelado de robot manipuladores. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial 14 (3), 279-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riai.2017.04.001Tartaglia, A., Tresso, E., 2002. An automatic evaluation system for technical education at the university level. IEEE Transactions on Education 45 (3), 268-275. https://doi.org/10.1109/TE.2002.1024620Valera, A., Soriano, A., Vallés, M., 2014. Plataformas de bajo coste para la realización de trabajos prácticos de mecatrónica y robótica. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial 11 (4), 363-376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riai.2014.09.00

Anti-microbiota vaccines modulate the tick microbiome in a taxon-specific manner

The lack of tools for the precise manipulation of the tick microbiome is currently a major limitation to achieve mechanistic insights into the tick microbiome. Anti-tick microbiota vaccines targeting keystone bacteria of the tick microbiota alter tick feeding, but their impact on the taxonomic and functional profiles of the tick microbiome has not been tested. In this study, we immunized a vertebrate host model (Mus musculus) with live bacteria vaccines targeting keystone (i.e., Escherichia-Shigella) or non-keystone (i.e., Leuconostoc) taxa of tick microbiota and tested the impact of bacterial-specific antibodies (Abs) on the structure and function of tick microbiota. We also investigated the effect of these anti-microbiota vaccines on mice gut microbiota composition. Our results showed that the tick microbiota of ticks fed on Escherichia coli-immunized mice had reduced Escherichia-Shigella abundance and lower species diversity compared to ticks fed on control mice immunized with a mock vaccine. Immunization against keystone bacteria restructured the hierarchy of nodes in co-occurrence networks and reduced the resistance of the bacterial network to taxa removal. High levels of E. coli-specific IgM and IgG were negatively correlated with the abundance of Escherichia-Shigella in tick microbiota. These effects were not observed when Leuconostoc was targeted with vaccination against Leuconostoc mesenteroides. Prediction of functional pathways in the tick microbiome using PICRUSt2 revealed that E. coli vaccination reduced the abundance of lysine degradation pathway in tick microbiome, a result validated by qPCR. In contrast, the gut microbiome of immunized mice showed no significant alterations in the diversity, composition and abundance of bacterial taxa. Our results demonstrated that anti-tick microbiota vaccines are a safe, specific and an easy-to-use tool for manipulation of vector microbiome. These results guide interventions for the control of tick infestations and pathogen infection/transmission. © Copyright © 2021 Mateos-Hernández, Obregón, Wu-Chuang, Maye, Bornères, Versillé, de la Fuente, Díaz-Sánchez, Bermúdez-Humarán, Torres-Maravilla, Estrada-Peña, Hodžic, Šimo and Cabezas-Cruz

Predicting serious complications in patients with cancer and pulmonary embolism using decision tree modelling: the EPIPHANY Index

Background: Our objective was to develop a prognostic stratification tool that enables patients with cancer and pulmonary embolism (PE), whether incidental or symptomatic, to be classified according to the risk of serious complications within 15 days. Methods: The sample comprised cases from a national registry of pulmonary thromboembolism in patients with cancer (1075 patients from 14 Spanish centres). Diagnosis was incidental in 53.5% of the events in this registry. The Exhaustive CHAID analysis was applied with 10-fold crossvalidation to predict development of serious complications following PE diagnosis. Results: About 208 patients (19.3%, 95% confidence interval (CI), 17.1-21.8%) developed a serious complication after PE diagnosis. The 15-day mortality rate was 10.1%, (95% CI, 8.4-12.1%). The decision tree detected six explanatory covariates: Hestia-like clinical decision rule (any risk criterion present vs none), Eastern Cooperative Group performance scale (ECOG-PS; = 2), O-2 saturation (= 90%), presence of PE-specific symptoms, tumour response (progression, unknown, or not evaluated vs others), and primary tumour resection. Three risk classes were created (low, intermediate, and high risk). The risk of serious complications within 15 days increases according to the group: 1.6, 9.4, 30.6%; P<0.0001. Fifteen-day mortality rates also rise progressively in low-, intermediate-, and high-risk patients: 0.3, 6.1, and 17.1%; P<0.0001. The cross-validated risk estimate is 0.191 (s.e. = 0.012). The optimism-corrected area under the receiver operating characteristic curve is 0.779 (95% CI, 0.717-0.840). Conclusions: We have developed and internally validated a prognostic index to predict serious complications with the potential to impact decision-making in patients with cancer and PE

A chromosome-level genome assembly enables the identification of the follicule stimulating hormone receptor as the master sex determining gene in the flatfish Solea senegalensis

Sex determination (SD) shows huge variation among fish and a high evolutionary rate, as illustrated by the Pleuronectiformes (flatfishes). This order is characterized by its adaptation to demersal life, compact genomes and diversity of SD mechanisms. Here, we assembled the Solea senegalensis genome, a flatfish of great commercial value, into 82 contigs (614 Mb) combining long- and short-read sequencing, which were next scaffolded using a highly dense genetic map (28,838 markers, 21 linkage groups), representing 98.9% of the assembly. Further, we established the correspondence between the assembly and the 21 chromosomes by using BAC-FISH. Whole genome resequencing of six males and six females enabled the identification of 41 SNP variants in the follicle stimulating hormone receptor (fshr) consistent with an XX / XY SD system. The observed sex association was validated in a broader independent sample, providing a novel molecular sexing tool. Fshr displayed differential gene expression between male and female gonads from 86 days post-fertilization, when the gonad is still an undifferentiated primordium, concomitant with the activation of amh and cyp19a1a, testis and ovary marker genes, respectively, in males and females. The Y-linked fshr allele, which included 24 non-synonymous variants and showed a highly divergent 3D protein structure, was overexpressed in males compared to the X-linked allele at all stages of gonadal differentiation. We hypothesize a mechanism hampering the action of the follicle stimulating hormone driving the undifferentiated gonad toward testis.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Impact of biological agents on postsurgical complications in inflammatory bowel disease: A multicentre study of Geteccu

Background: The impact of biologics on the risk of postoperative complications (PC) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is still an ongoing debate. This lack of evidence is more relevant for ustekinumab and vedolizumab. Aims: To evaluate the impact of biologics on the risk of PC. Methods: A retrospective study was performed in 37 centres. Patients treated with biologics within 12 weeks before surgery were considered “exposed”. The impact of the exposure on the risk of 30-day PC and the risk of infections was assessed by logistic regression and propensity score-matched analysis. Results: A total of 1535 surgeries were performed on 1370 patients. Of them, 711 surgeries were conducted in the exposed cohort (584 anti-TNF, 58 vedolizumab and 69 ustekinumab). In the multivariate analysis, male gender (OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.2–2.0), urgent surgery (OR: 1.6; 95% CI: 1.2–2.2), laparotomy approach (OR: 1.5; 95% CI: 1.1–1.9) and severe anaemia (OR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.3–2.6) had higher risk of PC, while academic hospitals had significantly lower risk. Exposure to biologics (either anti-TNF, vedolizumab or ustekinumab) did not increase the risk of PC (OR: 1.2; 95% CI: 0.97–1.58), although it could be a risk factor for postoperative infections (OR 1.5; 95% CI: 1.03–2.27). Conclusions: Preoperative administration of biologics does not seem to be a risk factor for overall PC, although it may be so for postoperative infections

A genome-wide association study follow-up suggests a possible role for PPARG in systemic sclerosis susceptibility

Introduction: A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) comprising a French cohort of systemic sclerosis (SSc) reported several non-HLA single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showing a nominal association in the discovery phase. We aimed to identify previously overlooked susceptibility variants by using a follow-up strategy.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Methods: Sixty-six non-HLA SNPs showing a P value &#60;10-4 in the discovery phase of the French SSc GWAS were analyzed in the first step of this study, performing a meta-analysis that combined data from the two published SSc GWASs. A total of 2,921 SSc patients and 6,963 healthy controls were included in this first phase. Two SNPs, PPARG rs310746 and CHRNA9 rs6832151, were selected for genotyping in the replication cohort (1,068 SSc patients and 6,762 healthy controls) based on the results of the first step. Genotyping was performed by using TaqMan SNP genotyping assays. Results: We observed nominal associations for both PPARG rs310746 (PMH = 1.90 × 10-6, OR, 1.28) and CHRNA9 rs6832151 (PMH = 4.30 × 10-6, OR, 1.17) genetic variants with SSc in the first step of our study. In the replication phase, we observed a trend of association for PPARG rs310746 (P value = 0.066; OR, 1.17). The combined overall Mantel-Haenszel meta-analysis of all the cohorts included in the present study revealed that PPARG rs310746 remained associated with SSc with a nominal non-genome-wide significant P value (PMH = 5.00 × 10-7; OR, 1.25). No evidence of association was observed for CHRNA9 rs6832151 either in the replication phase or in the overall pooled analysis.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Conclusion: Our results suggest a role of PPARG gene in the development of SSc

Clinical Outcomes of a Zika Virus Mother-Child Pair Cohort in Spain

BACKGROUND: Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has been associated with congenital microcephaly and other neurodevelopmental abnormalities. There is little published research on the effect of maternal ZIKV infection in a non-endemic European region. We aimed to describe the outcomes of pregnant travelers diagnosed as ZIKV-infected in Spain, and their exposed children. METHODS: This prospective observational cohort study of nine referral hospitals enrolled pregnant women (PW) who travelled to endemic areas during their pregnancy or the two previous months, or those whose sexual partners visited endemic areas in the previous 6 months. Infants of ZIKV-infected mothers were followed for about two years. RESULTS: ZIKV infection was diagnosed in 163 PW; 112 (70%) were asymptomatic and 24 (14.7%) were confirmed cases. Among 143 infants, 14 (9.8%) had adverse outcomes during follow-up; three had a congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), and 11 other potential Zika-related outcomes. The overall incidence of CZS was 2.1% (95%CI: 0.4-6.0%), but among infants born to ZIKV-confirmed mothers, this increased to 15.8% (95%CI: 3.4-39.6%). CONCLUSIONS: A nearly 10% overall risk of neurologic and hearing adverse outcomes was found in ZIKV-exposed children born to a ZIKV-infected traveler PW. Longer-term follow-up of these children is needed to assess whether there are any later-onset manifestations

Association between Use of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Protocol and Postoperative Complications in Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty in the Postoperative Outcomes Within Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Protocol in Elective Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty Study (POWER2)

Importance: The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) care protocol has been shown to improve outcomes compared with traditional care in certain types of surgery. Objective: To assess the association of use of the ERAS protocols with complications in patients undergoing elective total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Design, Setting, and Participants: This multicenter, prospective cohort study included patients recruited from 131 centers in Spain from October 22 through December 22, 2018. All consecutive adults scheduled for elective THA or TKA were eligible for inclusion. Patients were stratified between those treated in a self-designated ERAS center (ERAS group) and those treated in a non-ERAS center (non-ERAS group). Data were analyzed from June 15 through September 15, 2019. Exposures: Total hip or knee arthroplasty and perioperative management. Sixteen individual ERAS items were assessed in all included patients, whether they were treated at a center that was part of an established ERAS protocol or not. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was postoperative complications within 30 days after surgery. Secondary outcomes included length of stay and mortality. Results: During the 2-month recruitment period, 6146 patients were included (3580 women [58.2%]; median age, 71 [interquartile range (IQR), 63-76] years). Of these, 680 patients (11.1%) presented with postoperative complications. No differences were found in the number of patients with overall postoperative complications between ERAS and non-ERAS groups (163 [10.2%] vs 517 [11.4%]; odds ratio [OR], 0.89; 95% CI, 0.74-1.07; P =.22). Fewer patients in the ERAS group had moderate to severe complications (73 [4.6%] vs 279 [6.1%]; OR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.56-0.96; P =.02). The median overall adherence rate with the ERAS protocol was 50.0% (IQR, 43.8%-62.5%), with the rate for ERAS facilities being 68.8% (IQR, 56.2%-81.2%) vs 50.0% (IQR, 37.5%-56.2%) at non-ERAS centers (P <.001). Among the patients with the highest and lowest quartiles of adherence to ERAS components, the patients with the highest adherence had fewer overall postoperative complications (144 [10.6%] vs 270 [13.0%]; OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.64-0.99; P <.001) and moderate to severe postoperative complications (59 [4.4%] vs 143 [6.9%]; OR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.45-0.84; P <.001) and shorter median length of hospital stay (4 [IQR, 3-5] vs 5 [IQR, 4-6] days; OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.96-0.99; P <.001). Conclusions and Relevance: An increase in adherence to the ERAS program was associated with a decrease in postoperative complications, although only a few ERAS items were individually associated with improved outcomes

Overview of recent TJ-II stellarator results

The main results obtained in the TJ-II stellarator in the last two years are reported. The most important topics investigated have been modelling and validation of impurity transport, validation of gyrokinetic simulations, turbulence characterisation, effect of magnetic configuration on transport, fuelling with pellet injection, fast particles and liquid metal plasma facing components. As regards impurity transport research, a number of working lines exploring several recently discovered effects have been developed: the effect of tangential drifts on stellarator neoclassical transport, the impurity flux driven by electric fields tangent to magnetic surfaces and attempts of experimental validation with Doppler reflectometry of the variation of the radial electric field on the flux surface. Concerning gyrokinetic simulations, two validation activities have been performed, the comparison with measurements of zonal flow relaxation in pellet-induced fast transients and the comparison with experimental poloidal variation of fluctuations amplitude. The impact of radial electric fields on turbulence spreading in the edge and scrape-off layer has been also experimentally characterized using a 2D Langmuir probe array. Another remarkable piece of work has been the investigation of the radial propagation of small temperature perturbations using transfer entropy. Research on the physics and modelling of plasma core fuelling with pellet and tracer-encapsulated solid-pellet injection has produced also relevant results. Neutral beam injection driven Alfvénic activity and its possible control by electron cyclotron current drive has been examined as well in TJ-II. Finally, recent results on alternative plasma facing components based on liquid metals are also presented. ISSN:0029-5515 ISSN:1741-432