Reasons and Means to Model Preferences as Incomplete

Literature involving preferences of artificial agents or human beings often assume their preferences can be represented using a complete transitive binary relation. Much has been written however on different models of preferences. We review some of the reasons that have been put forward to justify more complex modeling, and review some of the techniques that have been proposed to obtain models of such preferences

Biomarkers for monitoring antibiotic resistance in aquatic environments

The occurrence of antimicrobial resistance raises concerns as a human health threat that can be propagated through the environment. Wastewater discharge into the environment is an important source for antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Sewage collection and urban wastewater treatment plants (UWTPs) are major barriers that reduce environmental contamination by sewage-derived pathogens and nutrients. However, the continuous discharge of ARB and ARGs through wastewater, including when well-functioning UWTPs are available, is unavoidable. Regular and integrated antibiotic resistance monitoring in both wastewater and receiving water bodies would contribute to improve control measures. However, monitoring processes are not harmonized being the choice of suitable biomarkers a first limitation. In this study, we tested 10 selected potential antibiotic resistance biomarkers, which have been described has being associated to humans, and rare in clean environments - intI1, sul1, ermB, ermF, aph(3’’)-Ib, qacEΔ1, uidA, mefC, tetX and crAssphage. The public database MGnify (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/metagenomics/; hosted by EMBL-EBI), was screened using the filters corresponding to origin - human gut, wastewater, sewage, and fresh water. These biomarkers and the 16S rRNA gene were monitored by quantitative PCR (qPCR) tested in raw wastewater, activated sludge, treated wastewater and surface water (upstream and downstream the UWTP) samples, collected from different countries (Portugal, Czech Republic, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Israel). The abundance of the 10 potential biomarkers decreased on average by up to 2.5 log-units gene copies/mL of sample from raw wastewater to surface water, due to treatment and/or dilution in surface water. A clustering analysis of samples based on biomarkers abundance, grouped the samples according to the (waste)water type. This classification was confirmed when 12 anonymous (waste)water samples were analysed in a blind test. The tested biomarkers were observed to differentiate different types of sample, permitting the assessment of wastewater treatment efficiency or of impacts of UWTPs discharge or others in aquatic environments. The selection of suitable biomarkers that can typify different water sources and levels of ARG contamination, along with harmonized qPCR procedures, can facilitate regular and integrated legal requirements to antibiotic resistance monitoring in wastewater and related aquatic environments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Welding dynamics in an atomistic model of an amorphous polymer blend with polymer-polymer interface

We consider an atomistic model of thermal welding at the polymer-polymer interface of a polyetherimide/polycarbonate blend, motivated by applications to 3D manufacturing in space. We follow diffusion of semiflexible chains at the interface and analyze strengthening of the samples as a function of the welding time tw by simulating the strain-stress and shear viscosity curves. The time scales for initial wetting, and for fast and slow diffusion, are revealed. It is shown that each component of the polymer blend has its own characteristic time of slow diffusion at the interface. Analysis of strainstress demonstrates saturation of the Young’s modulus at tw = 240 ns, while the tensile strength continues to increase. The shear viscosity is found to have a very weak dependence on the welding time for tw > 60 ns. It is shown that both strain-stress and shear viscosity curves agree with experimental data

Quantification of the response of circulating epithelial cells to neodadjuvant treatment for breast cancer: a new tool for therapy monitoring

INTRODUCTION: In adjuvant treatment for breast cancer there is no tool available with which to measure the efficacy of the therapy. In contrast, in neoadjuvant therapy reduction in tumour size is used as an indicator of the sensitivity of tumour cells to the agents applied. If circulating epithelial (tumour) cells can be shown to react to therapy in the same way as the primary tumour, then this response may be exploited to monitor the effect of therapy in the adjuvant setting. METHOD: We used MAINTRAC(® )analysis to monitor the reduction in circulating epithelial cells during the first three to four cycles of neoadjuvant therapy in 30 breast cancer patients. RESULTS: MAINTRAC(® )analysis revealed a patient-specific response. Comparison of this response with the decline in size of the primary tumour showed that the reduction in number of circulating epithelial cells accurately predicted final tumour reduction at surgery if the entire neoadjuvant regimen consisted of chemotherapy. However, the response of the circulating tumour cells was unable to predict the response to additional antibody therapy. CONCLUSION: The response of circulating epithelial cells faithfully reflects the response of the whole tumour to adjuvant therapy, indicating that these cells may be considered part of the tumour and can be used for therapy monitoring

Elicitation of Preferences under Ambiguity

This paper is about behaviour under ambiguity ‒ that is, a situation in which probabilities either do not exist or are not known. Our objective is to find the most empirically valid of the increasingly large number of theories attempting to explain such behaviour. We use experimentally-generated data to compare and contrast the theories. The incentivised experimental task we employed was that of allocation: in a series of problems we gave the subjects an amount of money and asked them to allocate the money over three accounts, the payoffs to them being contingent on a ‘state of the world’ with the occurrence of the states being ambiguous. We reproduced ambiguity in the laboratory using a Bingo Blower. We fitted the most popular and apparently empirically valid preference functionals [Subjective Expected Utility (SEU), MaxMin Expected Utility (MEU) and α­-MEU], as well as Mean-Variance (MV) and a heuristic rule, Safety First (SF). We found that SEU fits better than MV and SF and only slightly worse than MEU and α­-MEU

Myasthenia gravis

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is a rare, autoimmune neuromuscular junction disorder. Contemporary prevalence rates approach 1/5,000. MG presents with painless, fluctuating, fatigable weakness involving specific muscle groups. Ocular weakness with asymmetric ptosis and binocular diplopia is the most typical initial presentation, while early or isolated oropharyngeal or limb weakness is less common. The course is variable, and most patients with initial ocular weakness develop bulbar or limb weakness within three years of initial symptom onset. MG results from antibody-mediated, T cell-dependent immunologic attack on the endplate region of the postsynaptic membrane. In patients with fatigable muscle weakness, the diagnosis of MG is supported by: 1. pharmacologic testing with edrophonium chloride that elicits unequivocal improvement in strength; 2. electrophysiologic testing with repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS) studies and/or single-fiber electromyography (SFEMG) that demonstrates a primary postsynaptic neuromuscular junctional disorder; and 3. serologic demonstration of acetylcholine receptor (AChR) or muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) antibodies. Differential diagnosis includes congenital myasthenic syndromes, Lambert Eaton syndrome, botulism, organophosphate intoxication, mitochondrial disorders involving progressive external ophthalmoplegia, acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), motor neuron disease, and brainstem ischemia. Treatment must be individualized, and may include symptomatic treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors and immune modulation with corticosteroids, azathioprine, cyclosporine, and mycophenolate mofetil. Rapid, temporary improvement may be achieved for myasthenic crises and exacerbations with plasma exchange (PEX) or intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg). Owing to improved diagnostic testing, immunotherapy, and intensive care, the contemporary prognosis is favorable with less than five percent mortality and nearly normal life expectancy