Controller Synthesis for Timeline-based Games

In the timeline-based approach to planning, the evolution over time of a set of state variables (the timelines) is governed by a set of temporal constraints. Traditional timeline-based planning systems excel at the integration of planning with execution by handling temporal uncertainty. In order to handle general nondeterminism as well, the concept of timeline-based games has been recently introduced. It has been proved that finding whether a winning strategy exists for such games is 2EXPTIME-complete. However, a concrete approach to synthesize controllers implementing such strategies is missing. This paper fills this gap, by providing an effective and computationally optimal approach to controller synthesis for timeline-based games.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2209.1031

Solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method validation for the determination of endogenous substances: urinary hexanal and heptanal as lung tumor biomarkers

Hexanal and heptanal are endogenous aldehydes coming from membrane lipid oxidation, found in lung cancer patients’ blood, and suggested as lung tumor biomarkers. Here the urinary matrix was investigated instead of blood and the difficulties related to the determination of endogenous substances in biological matrices were faced by developing an external calibration HS-SPME/GC/MS method. The methodology was validated according to international validation procedures and it was verified analyzing unknown biological samples from cancer patients and healthy subjects. Percentage accuracy and precision, ranging from −11.25 to 10.85% and from 0.45 to 4.46%, respectively, were obtained, together with limits of detection (LODs) and lower limits of quantification (LLOQs) of 0.11 and 0.23 pg L−1 for hexanal and of 0.10 and 0.21 pg L−1 for heptanal. Analytes percentage recoveries (66.3%, hexanal and 70.5%, heptanal) and stability were evaluated. No analytes degradation was found at room temperature, while the remarkable analytes loss found after 1 month storage suggests analyzing biological samples within a week from storage. Results coming from the analysis of unknown biological samples showed no evident differences of heptanal urinary excretion between lung cancer patients and healthy subjects (0.22–0.95 and 0.21–0.69 pg L−1, respectively), while hexanal urinary concentrations in cancer patients (0.24–4.36 pg L−1) were slightly higher than those found in control group ones (0.23–1.26 pg L−1). The obtained results highly suggest to do further investigations in order to collect statistically significant biological data to discriminate between the pathological state of lung cancer patients and physiological conditions of healthy subjects, using the simple, rapid and cheap method here reported for the quantification of urinary aldehydes

Evaluation by environmental monitoring of pesticide absorption in farm workers of 18 Italian tomato cultivations

Tornato cultivation farms of Soutbern Italy were investigated in order to evaluate tbe generai working conditions and tbe levels of exposure of farm workers to pesticides, during tbe mixinglloading and tbe application of pesticides on fields. Information on working modalities, personal protective equipment, etc. was collected using a questionnaire. Inbaling and cutaneous exposure levels were measured, and tbe estimated pesticide total absorbed dose was compared witb Admissible Daily Intakes (ADIs). Field treatments were mainly carried out by using sprayers witb open cab tractors, and, in 57 ~9% of cases, tbe pesticide mixture was manually prepared by mixing pesticides in a paU, often witbout using gloves (59.5%). Tbe estimated pesticides absorbed doses varied in tbe range 0.56-2630.31 mg (mean value, 46.9 mg), and 20% of tbe measured absorbed doses exceeded ADIs. Tbe findings obtained in tbe 18 examined farms sbow a worrying situation, suggesting tbe investigation of many more farms, so tbat a statistically significant picture of tornato cultivations in Soutbern Italy could be formed. Besides, tbe planning of training courses aimed to increase workers consciousness about bealtb risks and bow tbey can be prevented is advisable

Frailty Network in an Acute Care Setting: The New Perspective for Frail Older People

The incidence of elderly patients who come to the emergency room is progressively increasing. The specialization of the physician units might not be adequate for the evaluation of this complexity. The present study aimed to present a standard procedure, called ‘The Geriatric Frailty Network’, operating at the Policlinico Gemelli IRCCS Foundation, which is configured specifically for the level II assessment of frail elderly patients. This was a retrospective study in 1191 patients aged over 65, who were evaluated by the Geriatric Frailty Unit directly after emergency department admission for one year. All patients underwent multidimensional geriatric evaluation. Data were collected on demographics, co-morbidity, disease severity, and Clinical Frailty Scale. Among all patients, 723 were discharged directly from the emergency room with early identification of continuity of care path. Globally, 468 patients were hospitalized with an early assessment of frailty that facilitated the discharge process. The geriatric frailty network model aims to assist the emergency room and ward doctor in the prevention of the most common geriatric syndromes and reduce the number of incongruous hospitalization

COVID-19 and intestinal inflammation: Role of fecal calprotectin

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Design-time formal verification for smart environments: an exploratory perspective

Smart environments (SmE) are richly integrated with multiple heterogeneous devices; they perform the operations in intelligent manner by considering the context and actions/behaviors of the users. Their major objective is to enable the environment to provide ease and comfort to the users. The reliance on these systems demands consistent behavior. The versatility of devices, user behavior and intricacy of communication complicate the modeling and verification of SmE's reliable behavior. Of the many available modeling and verification techniques, formal methods appear to be the most promising. Due to a large variety of implementation scenarios and support for conditional behavior/processing, the concept of SmE is applicable to diverse areas which calls for focused research. As a result, a number of modeling and verification techniques have been made available for designers. This paper explores and puts into perspective the modeling and verification techniques based on an extended literature survey. These techniques mainly focus on some specific aspects, with a few overlapping scenarios (such as user interaction, devices interaction and control, context awareness, etc.), which were of the interest to the researchers based on their specialized competencies. The techniques are categorized on the basis of various factors and formalisms considered for the modeling and verification and later analyzed. The results show that no surveyed technique maintains a holistic perspective; each technique is used for the modeling and verification of specific SmE aspects. The results further help the designers select appropriate modeling and verification techniques under given requirements and stress for more R&D effort into SmE modeling and verification researc

Associations between depressive symptoms and disease progression in older patients with chronic kidney disease: results of the EQUAL study

Background Depressive symptoms are associated with adverse clinical outcomes in patients with end-stage kidney disease; however, few small studies have examined this association in patients with earlier phases of chronic kidney disease (CKD). We studied associations between baseline depressive symptoms and clinical outcomes in older patients with advanced CKD and examined whether these associations differed depending on sex. Methods CKD patients (>= 65 years; estimated glomerular filtration rate <= 20 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) were included from a European multicentre prospective cohort between 2012 and 2019. Depressive symptoms were measured by the five-item Mental Health Inventory (cut-off <= 70; 0-100 scale). Cox proportional hazard analysis was used to study associations between depressive symptoms and time to dialysis initiation, all-cause mortality and these outcomes combined. A joint model was used to study the association between depressive symptoms and kidney function over time. Analyses were adjusted for potential baseline confounders. Results Overall kidney function decline in 1326 patients was -0.12 mL/min/1.73 m(2)/month. A total of 515 patients showed depressive symptoms. No significant association was found between depressive symptoms and kidney function over time (P = 0.08). Unlike women, men with depressive symptoms had an increased mortality rate compared with those without symptoms [adjusted hazard ratio 1.41 (95% confidence interval 1.03-1.93)]. Depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with a higher hazard of dialysis initiation, or with the combined outcome (i.e. dialysis initiation and all-cause mortality). Conclusions There was no significant association between depressive symptoms at baseline and decline in kidney function over time in older patients with advanced CKD. Depressive symptoms at baseline were associated with a higher mortality rate in men

Monitoraggio ambientale della ciclofosfamide in ambiente ospedaliero mediante wipe test

Two Italian hospitals were investigated within a month, by taking wipe samples in the drug preparation rooms. Samples analyses were performed by gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (GC/MS-MS). Significant levels of cyclophosphamide contamination were found on the workbench and on the floor between the operator working position and the waste bin. Traces amount of cyclophosphamide were also found on door handles and storage shelves. These findings could be related to inappropriate working practices and cleaning procedures.Il campionamento dei siti del locale di preparazione dei farmaci antineoplastici è stato condotto, nell’arco di un mese, mediante tecniche di wipe test in due ospedali italiani. L’analisi dei campioni è stata effettuata in gas cromatografia/spettrometria di massa tandem (GC/MS-MS). Livelli significativi di contaminazione da ciclofosfamide sono stati rilevati principalmente sul banco di lavoro e sul pavimento antistante la cappa. Tracce di ciclofosfamide si ritrovano anche su parti di arredo. I risultati ottenuti evidenziano la non correttezza delle procedure di lavoro e l’inadeguatezza della pulizia delle superfici