基于信息技术的公立医院行政管理协同体系构建

通过对公立医院行政管理流程繁琐、协同运作不畅、体系落后等现状和存在的审核程序繁琐、工作效率低下、医疗成本剧增等问题的分析,提出基于信息技术的公立医院行政管理协同这一全新的概念,并探讨了构建公立医院行政管理协同体系的重要意义以及体系框架、功能结构和保障机制等。     

区域PRED模型在环境区划中的应用

通过分析区域ＰＲＥＤ模型的特点和结构,显示了该模型在环境区划中的广泛应用前景和重要意义．该模型既丰富了环境区划的理论基础,又使区划的指标体系增加了新的内容,使研究者能更多地着眼于系统的协调发展．     

Bioindication in coral reef ecosystems

The concept of bioindication in the sense of the use of organisms for detecting environmental stress has been employed in coral reef conservation and management for the past several years. Important tools are coral growth rates and various community parameters, notably hard coral cover. The present need is the optimal coordination of international efforts for the earliest possible institution of an effective monitoring system.     

Statistical Determinants of Selective Ionic Complexation: Ions in Solvent, Transport Proteins, and Other “Hosts”

To provide utility in understanding the molecular evolution of ion-selective biomembrane channels/transporters, globular proteins, and ionophoric compounds, as well as in guiding their modification and design, we present a statistical mechanical basis for deconstructing the impact of the coordination structure and chemistry of selective multidentate ionic complexes. The deconstruction augments familiar ideas in liquid structure theory to realize the ionic complex as an open ion-ligated system acting under the influence of an “external field” provided by the host (or surrounding medium). Using considerations derived from this basis, we show that selective complexation arises from exploitation of a particular ion's coordination preferences. These preferences derive from a balance of interactions much like that which dictates the Hofmeister effect. By analyzing the coordination-state space of small family IA and VIIA ions in simulated fluid media, we derive domains of coordinated states that confer selectivity for a given ion upon isolating and constraining particular attributes (order parameters) of a complex comprised of a given type of ligand. We demonstrate that such domains may be used to rationalize the ion-coordinated environments provided by selective ionophores and biological ion channels/transporters of known structure, and that they can serve as a means toward deriving rational design principles for ion-selective hosts.     

Auditory sensory support of complicated voluntary goal-aimed bimanual movements

The intrasensory and sensor-effector interactions between inter-spike intervals of acoustic stem-evoked potentials with parameters of hands coordination was found with the help of correlation analysis. Role of excitation of ascending fibres of rostral part of the pons and lateral loop in mechanisms of the auditory-motor coordination was determined. Sex-dependent differences in integration of elements of the sensor-motor system because of lateralization of incoming auditory information and complication of the motor task performed were revealed. In men, mechanisms of auditory-motor coordination have less determined character than in women. That probably determines higher level of bi-manual coordination in men. Optimal correct realization of motor program in men is performed prognostically, while in women--after a mistake has been done.     

Coordination conjugates of therapeutic proteins with drug carriers: a new approach for versatile advanced drug delivery

We present here a general system for the coordination attachment of therapeutic proteins to a drug delivery system and its application in combined therapy. Proof of concept is demonstrated by the synthesis and testing of the targeted drug delivery system for cytostatics, which is based on a combination of the drug carrier Zn-porphyrin-cyclodextrin conjugates and their supramolecular coordination complexes with immunoglobulins. This system can be as readily used for a variety of therapeutic and targeting proteins including PAs, MAs, lectins, and HSA. Moreover, it allows combined photodynamic therapy, cell targeted chemotherapy and immunotherapy. When tested in a mouse model with human C32 carcinoma, the therapeutic superiority of the coordination assembly nanosystem was shown in comparison with the efficacy of building blocks used for the construction of the system.     

Quantification of nematic cell polarity in three-dimensional tissues

How epithelial cells coordinate their polarity to form functional tissues is an open question in cell biology. Here, we characterize a unique type of polarity found in liver tissue, nematic cell polarity, which is different from vectorial cell polarity in simple, sheet-like epithelia. We propose a conceptual and algorithmic framework to characterize complex patterns of polarity proteins on the surface of a cell in terms of a multipole expansion. To rigorously quantify previously observed tissue-level patterns of nematic cell polarity (Morales-Navarrete et al., eLife 2019), we introduce the concept of co-orientational order parameters, which generalize the known biaxial order parameters of the theory of liquid crystals. Applying these concepts to three-dimensional reconstructions of single cells from high-resolution imaging data of mouse liver tissue, we show that the axes of nematic cell polarity of hepatocytes exhibit local coordination and are aligned with the biaxially anisotropic sinusoidal network for blood transport. Our study characterizes liver tissue as a biological example of a biaxial liquid crystal. The general methodology developed here could be applied to other tissues and in-vitro organoids.     

La Geriatría de Enlace con residencias en la época de la COVID-19. Un nuevo modelo de coordinación que ha llegado para quedarse

Older people living in nursing homes fulfil the criteria to be considered as geriatric patients, but they often do not have met their health care needs. Current deficits appeared as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. The need to improve the coordination between hospitals and nursing homes emerged, and in Madrid it materialized with the implantation of Liaison Geriatrics teams or units at public hospitals. The Sociedad Española de Geriatría y Gerontología has defined the role of the geriatricians in the COVID-19 pandemic and they have given guidelines about prevention, early detection, isolation and sectorization, training, care homes classification, patient referral coordination, and the role of the different care settings, among others. These units and teams also must undertake other care activities that have a shortfall currently, like nursing homes-hospital coordination, geriatricians visits to the homes, telemedicine sessions, geriatric assessment in emergency rooms, and primary care and public health services coordination. This paper describes the concept of Liaison Geriatrics and its implementation at the Autonomous Community of Madrid hospitals as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. Activity data from a unit at a hospital with a huge number of nursing homes in its catchment area are reported. The objective is to understand the need of this activity in order to avoid the current fragmentation of care between hospitals and nursing homes. This activity should be consolidated in the future.     

Inter-joint coordination of posture on a seesaw device

Even though specific adjustments of the multi-joint control of posture have been observed when posture is challenged, multi-joint coordination on a seesaw device has never been accurately assessed. The current study was conducted in order to investigate the multi-joint coordination when subjects were standing on either a seesaw device or on a stable surface, with the eyes open or closed. Eighteen healthy active subjects were recruited. A principal component analysis and a Self-Organizing Maps analysis were performed on the joint angles in order to detect and characterize dominant coordination patterns. Intermuscular EMG coherence was analysed in order to assess the neurophysiological mechanisms associated with these coordination patterns. The results illustrated a multi-joint organization of posture on both stable ground and on the seesaw, with a higher variability among the individual postural responses observed when standing on the seesaw. These findings challenge the classical assumption of ankle mechanisms as dominating control on seesaw devices and confirm that inter-joint coordination in postural control is strongly modulated by stance conditions. When standing on the seesaw without vision, a decrease in intermuscular coherence was observed without any impact on the joint coordination patterns, likely due to an increase dependence on proprioceptive information.     

Functional organization of a photoperiodic brain system

The neurofunctional system, which receives a photoperiod, is a photoperiodic brain system. As a part of chronoperiodic system of organism it is involved in perception and transfer of information about the main external Zeitgeber to the peripheral tissues. Such role of photoperiodic system allows it not only synchronize the chronorhythms of different somatic and visceral functions, but also realize the coordination and the modulation of adaptation mechanisms to the stressors influence. The present review is focused on the ways of conduction of photoperiodic information, role of suprachiasmatic nuclei of hypothalamus in endogenous oscillation of chronorhythms and pineal gland as a neuroendocrinal transducer; and also on characteristics of circadian and circannual parts of photoperiodic system. Special attention is given to vegetative part of photoperiodic system and melatonin--"the hormone of dark". It is supposed that adenosine, one of the humoral elements of photoperiodic system, is involved in transfer of duration of the light part of photoperiod. Due to presented data we have come to the conclusion that septohippocampal system is one of the center for saving photoperiodic information.     

Leadership in orchestra emerges from the causal relationships of movement kinematics

Non-verbal communication enables efficient transfer of information among people. In this context, classic orchestras are a remarkable instance of interaction and communication aimed at a common aesthetic goal: musicians train for years in order to acquire and share a non-linguistic framework for sensorimotor communication. To this end, we recorded violinists' and conductors' movement kinematics during execution of Mozart pieces, searching for causal relationships among musicians by using the Granger Causality method (GC). We show that the increase of conductor-to-musicians influence, together with the reduction of musician-to-musician coordination (an index of successful leadership) goes in parallel with quality of execution, as assessed by musical experts' judgments. Rigorous quantification of sensorimotor communication efficacy has always been complicated and affected by rather vague qualitative methodologies. Here we propose that the analysis of motor behavior provides a potentially interesting tool to approach the rather intangible concept of aesthetic quality of music and visual communication efficacy.     

A molecular mechanical analysis of the active site of urease with a special emphasis on determining the binding conformations available to oxygen-bound urea.

In order to model the active site of urease which contains two nickel ions with differing coordination geometries new parameters were derived for the AMBER* force field. These parameters were obtained by structure based optimization and use a single set of parameters with points on a sphere approach to model nickel(II) high-spin in all its coordination geometries. The force field was successfully used to model the active site of urease and to predict that a bridging water between the two nickel ions in urease was missing from the solid state structure of urease. A thorough conformational search was undertaken to find the conformations available to urea within urease. All the low energy conformations found were used to determine a consensus urea binding model.     

Extremum seeking scheme for continuous fermentation processes described by an unstructured fermentation model

This paper examines the problem of maximising the productivity of a class of fermentation processes described by an unstructured fermentation process model. For a given dilution rate, an extremum seeking adaptive control has been used to maximise the productivity of a fermentation process. The concept behinds the extremum seeking method is to iteratively adjust the feed substrate rate in order to steer the process to yield a maximum productivity. The main advantage of the extremum seeking adaptive control is it does not require any structural information of the modeling uncertainty.     

Acute exposure to 2G phase shifts the rat circadian timing system

The circadian timing system (CTS) provides internal and external temporal coordination of an animal's physiology and behavior. In mammals, the generation and coordination of these circadian rhythms is controlled by a neural pacemaker, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), located within the hypothalamus. The pacemaker is synchronized to the 24 hour day by time cues (zeitgebers) such as the light/dark cycle. When an animal is exposed to an environment without time cues, the circadian rhythms maintain internal temporal coordination but exhibit a "free-running" condition in which the period length is determined by the internal pacemaker. Maintenance of internal and external temporal coordination are critical for normal physiological and psychological function in human and non-human primates. Exposure to altered gravitational environments has been shown to affect the amplitude, mean, and timing of circadian rhythms in species ranging from unicellular organisms to man. However, it has not been determined whether altered gravitational fields have a direct effect on the neural pacemaker, or affect peripheral physiological systems that express these circadian parameters. In previous studies, the ability of a stimulus to phase shift circadian rhythms was used to determine whether a stimulus has a direct effect on the neural pacemaker. The present experiment was performed in order to determine whether acute exposure to a hyperdynamic field could phase shift circadian rhythms.     

Examining the relationship between urbanization and the eco-environment using a coupling analysis: Case study of Shanghai,China

As a key issue in China’s urban development, urbanization creates increasing pressure on the environment. Thus, a better understanding of the relationship between urbanization and the eco-environment is necessary for Chinese policy makers to realize sustainable urbanization development. Making reference to physical coupling models, we developed a coupling coordination degree model in order to examine the relationship between urbanization and the eco-environment in Shanghai, using data from 1980 to 2013. The comprehensive level of Shanghai’s urbanization process during the study period was estimated using an index composed of four primary indicators, namely: demographic urbanization, spatial urbanization, social urbanization, and economic urbanization. We also developed an index system for the eco-environment, which was based on four primary indicators: the environmental level, eco-environmental endowment, eco-environmental pressure and eco-environment response. The entropy method was subsequently employed in order to identify the contribution made by each indicator to the compound system during the study period. The results show that: (1) economic urbanization and eco-environmental response made the greatest contributions to the urbanization subsystem and the eco-environmental subsystem, respectively—these are thus the key factors to consider in policy decisions aiming to adjust the coupling coordination degree between the two subsystems; (2) the two parameters α-urbanization and β-eco-environment were found to have minimal effect on the coupling coordination system; (3) the coupling coordination between urbanization and the eco-environment produced an S-shaped curve, and both subsystems were found to have evolved from seriously unbalanced development at the start of the study period into superiorly balanced development at the close of the study period. The results of this study hold important implications for efforts to achieve the coordinated development of both urbanization and the eco-environment.     

Virtual Partner Interaction (VPI): Exploring Novel Behaviors via Coordination Dynamics

Inspired by the dynamic clamp of cellular neuroscience, this paper introduces VPI—Virtual Partner Interaction—a coupled dynamical system for studying real time interaction between a human and a machine. In this proof of concept study, human subjects coordinate hand movements with a virtual partner, an avatar of a hand whose movements are driven by a computerized version of the Haken-Kelso-Bunz (HKB) equations that have been shown to govern basic forms of human coordination. As a surrogate system for human social coordination, VPI allows one to examine regions of the parameter space not typically explored during live interactions. A number of novel behaviors never previously observed are uncovered and accounted for. Having its basis in an empirically derived theory of human coordination, VPI offers a principled approach to human-machine interaction and opens up new ways to understand how humans interact with human-like machines including identification of underlying neural mechanisms.     

Sensitivity Analysis of Environmental Process Modeling in a Life Cycle Context: A Case Study of Hemp Crop Production

The aim of this article is to develop a methodological approach allowing to assess the influence of parameters of one or more elementary processes in the foreground system, on the outcomes of a life cycle assessment (LCA) study. From this perspective, the method must be able to: (1) include foreground process modeling in order to avoid the assumption of proportionality between inventory data and reference flows; (2) quantify influences of foreground processes’ parameters (and, possibly, interactions between parameters); and (3) identify trends (either increasing or decreasing) for each parameter on each indicator in order to determine the most favorable direction for parametric variation. These objectives can be reached by combining foreground system modeling, a set of two different sensitivity analysis methods (each one providing different and complementary information), and LCA. The proposed method is applied to a case study of hemp‐based insulation materials for buildings. The present study will focus on the agricultural stage as a foreground system and as a first step encompassing the entire life cycle. A set of technological recommendations were identified for hemp farmers in order to reduce the crop's environmental impacts (from –11% to –89% according to the considered impact category). One of the main limitations of the approach is the need for a detailed model of the foreground process. Further, the method is, at present, rather time‐consuming. However, it offers long‐term advantages given that the higher level of model detail adds robustness to the LCA results.     

Latency of visually evoked saccadic eye movements

The paper deals with the initiation of visually guided saccades, in order to break down the saccadic reaction time into functionally different periods of time. It takes into account that spatial processing of information is so basic that modelling of saccadic control properties should include spatio-temporal arrangements. The output signal of the saccadic system was measured in response to visual stimuli in which the time between the appearance of a visual stimulus in the peripheral field and the disappearance of the central fixation point was varied. The variation of the mean saccadic latency time, measured with respect to the onset of the peripheral stimulus, as a function of stimulus asynchrony was highly significant. This variation may be represented by a so-called gap-overlap curve, which is characterized here by means of five parameters. A facilitation model is introduced to fit the results of the gap-overlap experiments. The facilitation model for the initiation of visually evoked saccades incorporates a mechanism which governs the efficiency of processing of signals that arise from a stimulus presented at a particular position in space. It explains how visual information may be affected by other sensory information before it is used to command further saccades. It allows determination of saccadic system parameters, such as the peripheral and the foveal afferent processing time, the central processing time for a saccade and the degree of facilitation. These quantities were found to be characteristic for the given test subjects, and where these data could be compared with neurophysiological data, the agreement was within the experimental error.     

Evolving coordinated group behaviours through maximisation of mean mutual information

A well known problem in the design of the control system for a swarm of robots concerns the definition of suitable individual rules that result in the desired coordinated behaviour. A possible solution to this problem is given by the automatic synthesis of the individual controllers through evolutionary or learning processes. These processes offer the possibility to freely search the space of the possible solutions for a given task, under the guidance of a user-defined utility function. Nonetheless, there exist no general principles to follow in the definition of such a utility function in order to reward coordinated group behaviours. As a consequence, task dependent functions must be devised each time a new coordination problem is under study. In this paper, we propose the use of measures developed in Information Theory as task-independent, implicit utility functions. We present two experiments in which three robots are trained to produce generic coordinated behaviours. Each robot is provided with rich sensory and motor apparatus, which can be exploited to explore the environment and to communicate with other robots. We show how coordinated behaviours can be synthesised through a simple evolutionary process. The only criteria used to evaluate the performance of the robotic group is the estimate of mutual information between the motor states of the robots.