Construcció modular d'agents basats en components: estudi i desenvolupament

La complexitat de disseny d’agents mòbils creix a mesura que s’incrementen les seves funcionalitats. Aquest projecte proposa enfocar el problema des d’un punt de vista modular. S’ha realitzat un estudi tant dels propis agents com de les parts que ho integren. De la mateixa forma, s’han establert i s'han implementat els mecanismes necessaris per habilitar les comunicacions segures entre agents. Finalment, s’han desenvolupat dos components que ofereixen les funcionalitats de seguiment de l’agent mòbil i la recuperació dels resultats generats. El desenvolupament d’agents basats en components tracta d’aplicar la vella estratègia "divideix i venceràs" a la fase de disseny, reduint, així,la seva gran complexitat.

Proposta de migració segura d'agents amb sol·licitud de classes sota demanda per a la plataforma JADE

Aquest projecte consisteix en la implementació d'una migració d'agents mòbils amb sol·licitud de classes sota demanda de manera segura per a la plataforma JADE. En aquest projecte hem desenvolupat dos protocols de control d'accés i autentificació sobre agents i/o plataformes. Però la línia central de desenvolupament d'aquest projecte radica en la creació d'un protocol de migració sota demanda d'agents. Hem implementat dues versions d'aquest protocol. La primera versió del protocol de migració es centra en la sol·licitud de classes sota demanda i la segona versió, per tal de millorar-ne el rendiment de la primera, emmagatzema les classes que ha demanat sota demanada en una cache de la plataforma.

Ultra high performance supercritical fluid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry for screening of doping agents. II: Analysis of biological samples.

The potential and applicability of UHPSFC-MS/MS for anti-doping screening in urine samples were tested for the first time. For this purpose, a group of 110 doping agents with diverse physicochemical properties was analyzed using two separation techniques, namely UHPLC-MS/MS and UHPSFC-MS/MS in both ESI+ and ESI- modes. The two approaches were compared in terms of selectivity, sensitivity, linearity and matrix effects. As expected, very diverse retentions and selectivities were obtained in UHPLC and UHPSFC, proving a good complementarity of these analytical strategies. In both conditions, acceptable peak shapes and MS detection capabilities were obtained within 7min analysis time, enabling the application of these two methods for screening purposes. Method sensitivity was found comparable for 46% of tested compounds, while higher sensitivity was observed for 21% of tested compounds in UHPLC-MS/MS and for 32% in UHPSFC-MS/MS. The latter demonstrated a lower susceptibility to matrix effects, which were mostly observed as signal suppression. In the case of UHPLC-MS/MS, more serious matrix effects were observed, leading typically to signal enhancement and the matrix effect was also concentration dependent, i.e., more significant matrix effects occurred at the lowest concentrations.

A class of stochastic games with infinitely many interacting agents related to Glauber dynamics on random graphs

We introduce and study a class of infinite-horizon nonzero-sum non-cooperative stochastic games with infinitely many interacting agents using ideas of statistical mechanics. First we show, in the general case of asymmetric interactions, the existence of a strategy that allows any player to eliminate losses after a finite random time. In the special case of symmetric interactions, we also prove that, as time goes to infinity, the game converges to a Nash equilibrium. Moreover, assuming that all agents adopt the same strategy, using arguments related to those leading to perfect simulation algorithms, spatial mixing and ergodicity are proved. In turn, ergodicity allows us to prove “fixation”, i.e. that players will adopt a constant strategy after a finite time. The resulting dynamics is related to zerotemperature Glauber dynamics on random graphs of possibly infinite volume.

Adjuvant early breast cancer systemic therapies according to daily used technologies.

Prognosis of early breast cancer patients is significantly improved with the use of adjuvant therapies. Various guidelines have been proposed to select patients who will derive the most benefit from such treatments. However, classifications have limited usefulness in subsets of patients such as those with node negative breast cancer. The 2007 St. Paul de Vence Clinical Practice Recommendations proposed to consider adjuvant therapy in accordance with the 10-year relapse-free survival reduction estimated by Adjuvant! Online. However, many limitations remain regarding the use of Adjuvant! Online. Among them, adverse prognostic and/or predictive factors such as vascular invasion, mitotic activity, progesterone receptor negativity, and HER-2 expression are not incorporated in the routine clinical decision process. Our group has therefore issued guidelines based on the consideration of both Adjuvant! Online calculations and the prognostic and/or predictive effects of these markers. In addition, web-accessible comprehensive tables summarizing these recommendations are provided.

Extensió de l'entorn SMARD per permetre la depuració d'aplicacions basades en agents mòbils

Un dels principals obstacles per l’adopció dels agents mòbils, fins i tot per tasques per les quals s’ha demostrat la seva idoneïtat, és la dificultat de desenvolupar-los. Aquest projecte aporta solucions per ajudar en aquest procés. Més concretament, per provar agents i observar-ne el seu comportament en un entorn de simulació, abans d’executar-los en un escenari real. Hem afegit un depurador i un constructor d’agents mòbils a la interfície gràfica de disseny d’itineraris de l’entorn SMARD. Fent servir afegit aquests nous components, el programador pot dissenyar, construir i fer proves d’un agent mòbil des d’aquesta aplicació.

Contribució a la mobilitat inter-plataforma d'agents mòbils: protocol de migració fragmentada

En aquest projecte s’ha dissenyat un protocol de migració d’agents mòbils per a l’arquitectura IPMA basat en l’enviament dels agents fragmentats en diversos missatges FIPA ACL. Aquest s’ha implementat dins el servei de migració JIPMS per a la plataforma JADE. Finalment s’ha dut a terme un conjunt exhaustiu de tests per avaluar-ne el rendiment i comparar-lo amb altres protocols de migració existents.

Desenvolupament d'un component de tolerància a fallades per a un sistema d'agents mòbils sobre plataformes lleugeres

A mesura que la complexitat de les tasques dels agents mòbils va creixent, és més important que aquestes no perdin el treball realitzat. Hem de saber en tot moment que la execució s’està desenvolupant favorablement. Aquest projecte tracta d’explicar el procés d’elaboració d’un component de tolerància a fallades des de la seva idea inicial fins a la seva implementació. Analitzarem la situació i dissenyarem una solució. Procurarem que el nostre component emmascari la fallada d’un agent, detectant-la i posteriorment recuperant l’execució des d’on s’ha interromput. Tot això procurant seguir la metodologia de disseny d’agents mòbils per a plataformes lleugeres.

Notes on Agents’ Behavioral Rules Under Adaptive Learning and Studies of Monetary Policy

These notes try to clarify some discussions on the formulation of individual intertemporal behavior under adaptive learning in representative agent models. First, we discuss two suggested approaches and related issues in the context of a simple consumption-saving model. Second, we show that the analysis of learning in the NewKeynesian monetary policy model based on “Euler equations” provides a consistent and valid approach.

Which subgroup of patients with rheumatoid arthritis benefits from switching to rituximab versus alternative anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) agents after previous failure of an anti-TNF agent?

BACKGROUND: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with an inadequate response to TNF antagonists (aTNFs) may switch to an alternative aTNF or start treatment from a different class of drugs, such as rituximab (RTX). It remains unclear in which clinical settings these therapeutic strategies offer most benefit. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the effectiveness of RTX versus alternative aTNFs on RA disease activity in different subgroups of patients. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of patients with RA who discontinued at least one aTNF and subsequently received either RTX or an alternative aTNF, nested within the Swiss RA registry (SCQM-RA) was carried out. The primary outcome, longitudinal improvement in 28-joint count Disease Activity Score (DAS28), was analysed using multivariate regression models for longitudinal data and adjusted for potential confounders. RESULTS: Of the 318 patients with RA included; 155 received RTX and 163 received an alternative aTNF. The relative benefit of RTX varied with the type of prior aTNF failure: when the motive for switching was ineffectiveness to previous aTNFs, the longitudinal improvement in DAS28 was significantly better with RTX than with an alternative aTNF (p = 0.03; at 6 months, -1.34 (95% CI -1.54 to -1.15) vs -0.93 (95% CI -1.28 to -0.59), respectively). When the motive for switching was other causes, the longitudinal improvement in DAS28 was similar for RTX and alternative aTNFs (p = 0.40). These results were not significantly modified by the number of previous aTNF failures, the type of aTNF switches, or the presence of co-treatment with a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug. CONCLUSION: This observational study suggests that in patients with RA who have stopped a previous aTNF treatment because of ineffectiveness changing to RTX is more effective than switching to an alternative aTNF.