A networked voting rule for democratic representation

We introduce a general framework for exploring the problem of selecting a committee of representatives with the aim of studying a networked voting rule based on a decentralized large-scale platform, which can assure a strong accountability of the elected. The results of our simulations suggest that this algorithm-based approach is able to obtain a high representativeness for relatively small committees, performing even better than a classical voting rule based on a closed list of candidates. We show that a general relation between committee size and representatives exists in the form of an inverse square root law and that the normalized committee size approximately scales with the inverse of the community size, allowing the scalability to very large populations. These findings are not strongly influenced by the different networks used to describe the individuals interactions, except for the presence of few individuals with very high connectivity which can have a marginally negative effect in the committee selection process.Comment: Submitted for publicatio

Robustness of cultural communities in an open-ended Axelrod's model

We consider an open-ended set of cultural features in the Axelrod's model of cultural dissemination. By replacing the features in which a high degree of consensus is achieved by new ones, we address here an essential ingredient of societies: the evolution of topics as a result of social dynamics and debate. Our results show that, once cultural clusters have been formed, the introduction of new topics into the social debate has little effect on them, but it does have a significant influence on the cultural overlap. Along with the Monte-Carlo simulations, we derive and numerically solve an equation for the stationary cultural overlap based on a mean-field approach. Although the mean-field analysis reproduces qualitatively the characteristic phase transition of the Axelrod's model, it underestimates the cultural overlap, highlighting the role of the local interactions in the Axelrod's dynamics, as well as the correlations between the different cultural features.Comment: 6 pages and 5 figure

Analysis of a networked social algorithm for collective selection of a committee of representatives

A recent work by Hern\'andez et al. introduced a networked voting rule supported by a trust-based social network, where indications of possible representatives were based on individuals opinions. Individual contributions went beyond a simple vote-counting and were based on proxy voting. These mechanisms generated a high level of representativeness of the selected committee, weakening the possibility of relations of patronage. By incorporating the integrity of individuals and its perception, here we address the question of the trustability of the resulting committee. Our results show that this voting rule provides high representativeness for small committees with a high level of integrity. Furthermore, the voting system displays robustness to a strategic and untruthful application of the voting algorithm.Comment: 7 pages and 8 figures. Submitted for publication. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1801.0539

CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN PERSONALITY AND JOB TITLE

Does the position held by an individual in a company fit into his/her personality? The answer to this question is yes. This is because there is significant relationship between the characteristics possessed by a worker which includes his character, personality and way of life, with the current position he/she is holding in an organization. The evolution of man is in accordance with technological advancement, new cultures, social and economic developments, among other phenomena. In other words, the success in the position given to a person will depend largely on his/her personality from a mental and physical point of view. This aim of this paper is to analyze the part of clinical psychology which is associated with human talent through a series of characteristics and personality traits. Personality traits and characteristics are crucial for the proper performance of a worker in a specific job

Enhancing Therapeutic Approaches for Melanoma Patients Targeting Epigenetic Modifiers.

Melanoma is the least common but deadliest type of skin cancer. Melanomagenesis is driven by a series of mutations and epigenetic alterations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes that allow melanomas to grow, evolve, and metastasize. Epigenetic alterations can also lead to immune evasion and development of resistance to therapies. Although the standard of care for melanoma patients includes surgery, targeted therapies, and immune checkpoint blockade, other therapeutic approaches like radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and immune cell-based therapies are used for patients with advanced disease or unresponsive to the conventional first-line therapies. Targeted therapies such as the use of BRAF and MEK inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA4 only improve the survival of a small subset of patients. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify alternative standalone or combinatorial therapies. Epigenetic modifiers have gained attention as therapeutic targets as they modulate multiple cellular and immune-related processes. Due to melanoma\u27s susceptibility to extrinsic factors and reversible nature, epigenetic drugs are investigated as a therapeutic avenue and as adjuvants for targeted therapies and immune checkpoint inhibitors, as they can sensitize and/or reverse resistance to these therapies, thus enhancing their therapeutic efficacy. This review gives an overview of the role of epigenetic changes in melanoma progression and resistance. In addition, we evaluate the latest advances in preclinical and clinical research studying combinatorial therapies and discuss the use of epigenetic drugs such as HDAC and DNMT inhibitors as potential adjuvants for melanoma patients

Importance of MS selectivity and chromatographic separation in LC-MS/MS-based methods when investigating pharmaceutical metabolites in water. Dipyrone as a case of study.

Pharmaceuticals are emerging contaminants of increasing concern because of their presence in the aquatic environment and potential to reach drinking-water sources. After human and/or veterinary consumption, pharmaceuticals can be excreted in unchanged form, as the parent compound, and/or as free or conjugated metabolites. Determination of most pharmaceuticals and metabolites in the environment is commonly made by liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to mass spectrometry (MS). LC coupled to tandem MS is the technique of choice nowadays in this field. The acquisition of two selected reaction monitoring (SRM) transitions together with the retention time is the most widely accepted criterion for a safe quantification and confirmation assay. However, scarce attention is normally paid to the selectivity of the selected transitions as well as to the chromatographic separation. In this work, the importance of full spectrum acquisition high-resolution MS data using a hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight analyser and/or a suitable chromatographic separation (to reduce the possibility of co-eluting interferences) is highlighted when investigating pharmaceutical metabolites that share common fragment ions. For this purpose, the analytical challenge associated to the determination of metabolites of the widely used analgesic dipyrone (also known as metamizol) in urban wastewater is discussed. Examples are given on the possibilities of reporting false positives of dypirone metabolites by LC-MS/MS under SRM mode due to a wrong assignment of identity of the compounds detected

Occurrence and removal of pharmaceuticals in wastewater treatment plants at the Spanish Mediterranean area of Valencia

A survey on the presence of pharmaceuticals in urban wastewater of a Spanish Mediterranean area (Castellon province) was carried out. The scope of the study included a wide variety of pharmaceuticals belonging to different therapeutical classes. For this purpose, 112 samples, including influent and effluent wastewater, from different conventional wastewater treatment plants were collected. Two monitoring programmes were carried out along several seasons. The first was in June 2008 and January 2009, and the second in April and October 2009. During the first monitoring, the occurrence of 20 analytes in 84 urban wastewater samples (influent and effluent) was studied. The selection of these pharmaceuticals was mainly based on consumption. From these, 17 compounds were detected in the samples, with analgesics and anti-inflammatories, cholesterol lowering statin drugs and lipid regulators being the most frequently detected groups. 4-Aminoantipyrine, bezafibrate, diclofenac, gemfibrozil, ketoprofen, naproxen and venlafaxine were the compounds most frequently found. In the highlight of these results, the number of analytes was increased up to around 50. A lot of antibiotic compounds were added to the target list as they were considered “priority pharmaceuticals” due to their more potential hazardous effects in the aquatic environment. Data obtained during the second monitoring programme (spring and autumn) corroborated the results from the first one (summer and winter). Analgesics and anti-inflammatories, lipid regulators together with quinolone and macrolide antibiotics were the most abundant pharmaceuticals. Similar median concentrations were found over the year and seasonal variation was not clearly observed. The removal efficiency of pharmaceuticals in the wastewater treatment plants was roughly evaluated. Our results indicated that elimination of most of the selected compounds occurred during the treatment process of influent wastewater, although it was incomplete

Nutritional and management strategies of trace mineral supplementation for beef cattle

Two studies evaluated the mineral status of supplemented beef cattle over two different methods of supplementation. The objective of study 1 was to evaluate the mineral status at weaning and subsequent post-weaning performance of calves supplemented prior to weaning, with limited-fed supplements fortified with trace minerals (Cu, Se, and Zn) at the NASEM (2016) recommendation or above. The objective of study 2 was to evaluate the effect of injectable trace minerals (ITM) on the performance and mineral status of heifers and their calves when ITM was provided at calving (birth) and at breeding (summer grazing), both challenging periods in cattle production. In Study 1, we hypothesized that trace minerals requirements of calves prior to weaning are greater than the current NASEM (2016) recommendations for mature cattle. Further, calves supplemented at NASEM (2016) recommended levels are more likely to develop mineral deficiencies at weaning, which could result in poor health and performance in the post-weaning phase. A two-year study evaluated the supplementation of two different levels of trace minerals (Cu, Se, and Zn) to calves prior to weaning. Approximately 84 days prior to weaning, 24 calves/year (Angus × Hereford) were randomly assigned to one of two treatments: trace mineral supplementation following NASEM (2016) requirements (Control); and trace mineral supplementation above NASEM (2016) requirements (Super). Calves were individually fed, and trace minerals were provided in 1 lb of dry distiller grains three times weekly. The total weekly amount of trace minerals was divided into three feeding events (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) and supplemented individually to each calf. Body weight (BW), blood, and liver samples were collected on d 0 and weaning (d 84). All data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC). No differences (P ≥ 0.69) were observed for the initial liver concentration of Se, Cu, and Zn. No differences (P = 0.54) were observed for liver Se concentration at weaning. A year effect (P < 0.0001) and a tendency for treatment × year effect (P = 0.09) were observed for liver Zn concentration at weaning. In year 1 but not in year 2, calves assigned to the Control treatment had greater liver Zn concentration than calves assigned to the Super treatment. For Cu liver concentration, a year effect (P < 0.0001) and a tendency for treatment × year effect (P = 0.09) were observed at weaning. In year 2, but not in year 1, calves assigned to Super treatment had greater liver Cu concentration than calves assigned to Control treatment. No treatment effects (P ≥ 0.23) were observed for BW or average daily gain pre- or post-weaning. Except for Cu, supplementation of trace minerals above the NASEM (2016) recommendations does not lead to the improved mineral status of calves in this environment. In Study 2, we hypothesized that heifers and their calves receiving ITM at calving (birth) and at breeding would have improved mineral status and performance when compared to heifers and calves not receiving ITM. During the calving season, 50 heifers and their calves were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments: 1) Injectable trace mineral (ITM): heifers assigned to the ITM treatment received an ITM injection at the calving and breeding (cattle over 2 years: 1.0 ml/90 kg BW). Similarly, calves born to these heifers received an ITM injection at birth and breeding (1.0 ml/45 kg BW); 2) Control: cattle assigned to the Control treatment followed the same procedure as the cattle assigned to the ITM treatment, however, these heifers and calves were injected with saline solution. Body weight, blood, and liver samples were collected from heifers and calves at multiple time points to evaluate the performance and mineral status of heifer-calf pairs. Treatment effects (P = 0.02) were only observed for Cu liver concentration of heifers at breeding. Heifers assigned to ITM treatment had greater Cu status than heifers assigned to Control. No treatment effects were observed for the mineral status or performance of calves. However, calves assigned to ITM treatment had a consistent numerical advantage in body weight during the study. Collectively, both studies showed improvement in the Cu status of cattle when supplemented with levels greater than the NASEM (2016) recommendations, and when injected with ITM at strategic moments. It is likely that the findings of both studies are tied to the environment where those were conducted, where Cu concentration of forages are often limiting and consequently leading to reduced Cu status of cattle. In conclusion, the use of both strategies presented herein, supplementation of trace minerals above NASEM (2016) recommendations, and the use of ITM at strategic moments in the cattle production cycle, are effective in improving the Cu status of cattle raised in environments where Cu is limiting

Multi-class determination of personal care products and pharmaceuticals in environmental and wastewater samples by ultra-high performance liquid-chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

In this work, a multi-class method for the simultaneous determination of 17 emerging contaminants, including pharmaceuticals and personal care products, has been developed. Target analytes were two anti-inflammatories, a lipid regulator agent, two angiotensin II antagonists, two antiepileptic drugs and a diuretic. Among personal care products, four preservatives and five UV filters were included. The method is based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) using Oasis HLB cartridges followed by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC–MS/MS). Up to three simultaneous transitions per compound were acquired to assure a reliable identification. A detailed study of the extraction process efficiency and matrix effects was carried out in surface water and effluent wastewater. The use of isotope-labeled internal standards (ILIS) was tested to compensate both potential SPE losses during sample extraction and signal suppression/enhancement observed, especially in EWW. Satisfactory correction in all water samples was only ensured when the own analyte ILIS was used. The use of analogues ILIS was a rather useful approach for correction in the majority of the samples tested when analyte ILIS was unavailable. The method was successfully validated in five different surface water (SW) samples and five effluent wastewater (EWW) samples spiked at two concentration levels (0.05 and 0.5 μg/L in SW; 0.1 and 0.5 μg/L in EWW). The developed method was applied to the analysis of 22 samples (SW and EWW) from the Spanish Mediterranean area and 51 reservoir water samples from Colombia. Personal care products were frequently detected, with the highest concentrations corresponding to benzophenone and benzophenone-4 (samples from Spain), and methylparaben (samples from Colombia). Several pharmaceuticals were detected in the Spanish samples, where irbesartan and valsartan – two Angiotensin II antagonists that are not commonly monitored in the aquatic environment – were the compounds most frequently detected