Abstract
Background: Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) is a catabolic enzyme involved in the degradation of bioactive molecules including the neurotransmitters epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Higher COMT activity in depressive patients in comparison to non-depressed individuals has been reported. The effect of aerobic exercise on depressive patients has been studied and a number of researchers and clinicians believe it to be effective in the treatment of depression and to be involved in several molecular underlying mechanisms. However, the effect of physical exercise on this enzyme activity is unknown, and it remains to be elucidated if chronic exercise changes COMT activity. This randomized control trial evaluates the effects of chronic exercise on peripheral COMT (S-COMT) activity in women with depressive disorder. Methods: Fourteen women (aged: 51.4 + 10.5 years) diagnosed with depression (according to International Classification of Diseases-10) were randomized to one of two groups: pharmacotherapy plus physical exercise (n=7) or only pharmacotherapy (n=7). The aerobic exercise program was supervised, lasting between 45-50 min/session, three times/week for 16 weeks. Erythrocyte soluble COMT were assessed prior to and after the exercise program. Results: Exercise group when compared to a control group presented a significant decrease (p=0.02, r=-0.535) in S-COMT activity between baseline and post-intervention. Limitations: These data are preliminary outcomes from a small sample and should be replicated. Conclusions: Chronic exercise therapy combined with pharmacotherapy leads to significant decrease in S-COMT activity. Our results provide evidence that exercise interferes with S-COMT activity, a molecular mechanism involved in depression. (C) 2016 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Abstract
Flit-level preemptions via virtual channels have been proposed as one viable method to implement priority-preemptive arbitration policies in NoC routers, and integrate NoCs in the hard real-time domain. In recent years, researchers have explored several aspects of priority-preemptive NoCs, such as different arbitration techniques, different priority assignment methods (where applicable) and different workload mapping approaches, all with the common objective to use interconnect mediums more efficiently. Yet, the impact of different routing techniques on such a model is still an unexplored topic. Motivated by this reality, in this work we study the effects of routing flexibility on wormhole-switched priority-preemptive NoCs.

Abstract

Abstract
Software refactoring is a well-known technique that provides transformations on software artifacts with the aim of improving their overall quality. We have previously proposed a catalog of refactorings for spreadsheet models expressed in the ClassSheets modeling language, which allows us to specify the business logic of a spreadsheet in an object-oriented fashion. Reasoning about spreadsheets at the model level enhances a model-driven spreadsheet environment where a ClassSheet model and its conforming instance (spreadsheet data) automatically co-evolves after applying a refactoring at the model level. Research motivation was to improve the model and its conforming instance: the spreadsheet data. In this paper we define such refactorings using previously proposed evolution steps for models and instances. We also present an empirical study we designed and conducted in order to confirm our original intuition that these refactorings have a positive impact on end-user productivity, both in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. The results are not only presented in terms of productivity changes between refactored and nonrefactored scenarios, but also the overall user satisfaction, relevance, and experience. In almost all cases the refactorings improved end-users productivity. Moreover, in most cases users were more engaged with the refactored version of the spreadsheets they worked with. 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Abstract

Abstract
Development of distributed energy resources introduces high level of interdependency and the need for integrated models in a multienergy system (MES). Moreover, highlighting environmental aspects facilitates electrification in the transportation sector and integration of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). In this paper, aggregation of PEVs' batteries in parking lots (PL) is considered as a bulk electric storage in MES. The energy hub approach is employed for modeling MES considering PL. Due to the profitable behavior of PL in the reserve market, the energy hub model is modified to consider the reserve sources as ancillary services in the output energy vector. Moreover, the uncertain traffic pattern of PEVs' owners in PL is modeled by a stochastic approach. The numerical results demonstrate the proficiency of the proposed model, determining the changes in the behavior of other MESs elements in the presence of PL.