juan carlos valdez romero - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by juan carlos valdez romero
Estudios Gerenciales, 2011
1 .9%2)78)&%2 '%66%2>% 631)63 4L(4VSJIWSV MRZIWXMKEHSV (ITEVXEQIRXS HI)GSRSQuE 9RMZIVWMHEH-GIWM '... more 1 .9%2)78)&%2 '%66%2>% 631)63 4L(4VSJIWSV MRZIWXMKEHSV (ITEVXEQIRXS HI)GSRSQuE 9RMZIVWMHEH-GIWM 'SPSQFME NIGEVVER^E$MGIWMIHYGS <-1)2% (9)g%7 ,)66)6% 4L(' 4VSJIWSVE MRZIWXMKEHSVE (ITEVXEQIRXS HI)GSRSQuE 9RMZIVWMHEH-GIWM 'SPSQFME \HYIREW$MGIWMIHYGS '%6037 +-3:%22-+32>Å0)>)74-8-% 4L(' 4VSJIWSV MRZIWXMKEHSV (ITEVXEQIRXS HI)GSRSQuE 9RMZIVWMHEH-GIWM 'SPSQFME GKKSR^EPI^$MGIWMIHYGS RESUMEN El objetivo de este artículo es examinar la relación causal entre asesinatos y actividad económica en Colombia durante las décadas recientes. El análisis saca provecho de que la actividad económica en el resto de América Latina está altamente correlacionada con la actividad económica en Colombia, pero no es afectada directamente por la violencia homicida en Colombia. El uso de este instrumento permite establecer una fuerte relación causal que va de OD DFWLYLGDG HFRQyPLFD D ORV KRPLFLGLRV 8Q DQiOLVLV GH VHULHV GH WLHPSR GD sustento adicional a la hipótesis de que hay una relación de largo plazo entre homicidios y actividad económica. PALABRAS CLAVE Crimen, homicidios, actividad económica. &ODVLÀFDFLyQ-(/ , (& 1 Este artículo es resultado de las discusiones sobre el tema de tres profesores del grupo de investigación ´(FRQRPtD SROtWLFDV S~EOLFDV \ PpWRGRV FXDQWLWDWLYRVµ DÀOLDGR D OD 8QLYHUVLGDG ,FHVL FODVLÀFDFLyQ % de Colciencias. Los autores agradecen los comentarios de los participantes en el Encuentro Conjunto de
arXiv (Cornell University), Nov 2, 2021
In this systems paper, we present MillenniumDB: a novel graph database engine that is modular, pe... more In this systems paper, we present MillenniumDB: a novel graph database engine that is modular, persistent, and open source. Mil-lenniumDB is based on a graph data model, which we call domain graphs, that provides a simple abstraction upon which a variety of popular graph models can be supported. The engine itself is founded on a combination of tried and tested techniques from relational data management, state-of-the-art algorithms for worst-caseoptimal joins, as well as graph-specific algorithms for evaluating path queries. In this paper, we present the main design principles underlying MillenniumDB, describing the abstract graph model and query semantics supported, the concrete data model and query syntax implemented, as well as the storage, indexing, query planning and query evaluation techniques used. We evaluate MillenniumDB over real-world data and queries from the Wikidata knowledge graph, where we find that it outperforms other popular persistent graph database engines (including both enterprise and open source alternatives) that support similar query features.
Neural Computing and Applications, 2020
Entropy, 2020
Providing the visual complexity of an image in terms of impact or aesthetic preference can be of ... more Providing the visual complexity of an image in terms of impact or aesthetic preference can be of great applicability in areas such as psychology or marketing. To this end, certain areas such as Computer Vision have focused on identifying features and computational models that allow for satisfactory results. This paper studies the application of recent ML models using input images evaluated by humans and characterized by features related to visual complexity. According to the experiments carried out, it was confirmed that one of these methods, Correlation by Genetic Search (CGS), based on the search for minimum sets of features that maximize the correlation of the model with respect to the input data, predicted human ratings of image visual complexity better than any other model referenced to date in terms of correlation, RMSE or minimum number of features required by the model. In addition, the variability of these terms were studied eliminating images considered as outliers in prev...
Complexity, 2019
One of the general aims of evolutionary art research is to build a computer system capable of cre... more One of the general aims of evolutionary art research is to build a computer system capable of creating interesting, beautiful, or creative results, including images, videos, animations, text, and performances. In this context, it is crucial to understand how fitness is conceived and implemented to explore the “interestingness,” beauty, or creativity that the system is capable of. In this paper, we survey the recent research on fitness for evolutionary art related to aesthetics. We also cover research in the psychology of aesthetics, including relation between complexity and aesthetics, measures of complexity, and complexity predictors. We try to establish connections between human perception and understanding of aesthetics with current evolutionary techniques.
Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics, 2019
Following Oca (1914), this article argues that passive and impersonal se constructions in Spanish... more Following Oca (1914), this article argues that passive and impersonal se constructions in Spanish are regular transitive constructions where the pronominal clitic seis the argumental subject. Several arguments (secondary predication, non-argumental predicates, control and obviation, anaphora binding, active morphology or its alignment with overt nominative pronouns, among others)show that (i)bothconstructions are active structures, (ii)despite what agreement facts might suggest, in both the internal argument of the verb is not the subject but the direct object throughout the derivation, (iii) se is the active nominative pronominal subject of the construction. We argue that the alleged ‘special’ properties of passive-se are not construction-specific but follow from the lexical specifications of se agreeing with Tense as a quirky subject.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2013
An approach for exploring novelty in expression-based evolutionary art systems is presented. The ... more An approach for exploring novelty in expression-based evolutionary art systems is presented. The framework is composed of a feature extractor, a classifier, an evolutionary engine and a supervisor. The evolutionary engine exploits shortcomings of the classifier, generating misclassified instances. These instances update the training set and the classifier is retrained. This iterative process forces the evolutionary algorithm to explore new paths leading to the creation of novel imagery. The experiments presented and analyzed herein explore different feature selection methods and indicate the validity of the approach.
Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics, 2013
In this paper, we present empirical evidence showing that Differential Object Marking (DOM) in S... more In this paper, we present empirical evidence showing that Differential Object Marking (DOM) in Spanish is determined by structural conditions related to Case and agreement. We also argue that semantic concepts such as specificity, definiteness, animacy, or topicality, tightly connected to the presence or absence of A, must be parasitic on the syntactic configurations where DOM is licensed. We also present some consequences of our analysis for the general theory of agreement. We argue that the same structural relation is involved in all cases of DOM, as well as in Dative Clitic Constructions, where the presence of the particle A preceding clitic-doubled datives is syntactically unified with DOM phenomena. The accusative/dative distinction traditionally attributed to the Spanish pronominal system does not correspond, in synchronic terms, to different case relations, but distinguishes between agreeing and non-agreeing arguments. Similarly, the distribution of DOM corresponds to a Case...
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1999
We report on a prototype detector system designed to perform imaging and spectroscopy on 20-250 M... more We report on a prototype detector system designed to perform imaging and spectroscopy on 20-250 MeV neutrons. The detection techniques employed can be applied to measurements in a variety of disciplines including solar and atmospheric physics, radiation therapy and nuclear materials monitoring. The detector measures the energy and direction of neutrons by detecting double neutron-proton scatters and recording images of the ionization tracks of the recoil protons in a densely packed bundle of scintillating plastic fibers stacked in orthogonal layers. The scintillation tracks are detected and imaged by photomultipliers and image intensifier/CCD camera optics. By tracking the recoil protons from individual neutrons, the kinematics of the scatter are determined. This directional information results in a high signal-to-noise measurement. The self-triggering and track imaging features of a prototype for tracking in two dimensions are demonstrated in calibrations with 14-65 MeV neutrons, 20-67.5 MeV protons, and with cosmic-ray muons. Preliminary results of phantom imaging measurements using a proton beam are also presented. We discuss several applications for this detector technique and outline future development work.
New Generation Computing, 2005
User fatigue is probably the most pressing problem in current Interactive Evolutionary Computatio... more User fatigue is probably the most pressing problem in current Interactive Evolutionary Computation systems. To address it we propose the use of automatic seeding procedure, phenotype filters, and partial automation fitness assignment. We test this approaches in the visual arts domain. To further enhance interactive evolution applications in aesthetic domains, we propose the use of artificial art critics-systems that perform stylistic and aesthetic valuations of art-presenting experimental results.
Glia, 2009
Cannabinoid agonists might serve as neuroprotective agents in neurodegenerative disorders. Here, ... more Cannabinoid agonists might serve as neuroprotective agents in neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we examined this hypothesis in a rat model of Huntington's disease (HD) generated by intrastriatal injection of the mitochondrial complex II inhibitor malonate. Our results showed that only compounds able to activate CB 2 receptors were capable of protecting striatal projection neurons from malonate-induced death. That CB 2 receptor agonists are neuroprotective was confirmed by using the selective CB 2 receptor antagonist, SR144528, and by the observation that mice deficient in CB 2 receptor were more sensitive to malonate than wild-type animals. CB 2 receptors are scarce in the striatum in healthy conditions but they are markedly up-regulated after the lesion with malonate. Studies of double immunostaining revealed a significant presence of CB 2 receptors in cells labelled with the marker of reactive microglia OX-42, and also in cells labelled with GFAP (a marker of astrocytes). We further showed that the activation of CB 2 receptors significantly reduced the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) that had been increased by the lesion with malonate. In summary, our results demonstrate that stimulation of CB 2 receptors protect the striatum against malonate toxicity, likely through a mechanism involving glial cells, in particular reactive microglial cells in which CB 2 receptors would be upregulated in response to the lesion. Activation of these receptors would reduce the generation of proinflammatory molecules like TNF-α. Altogether our results support the hypothesis that CB 2 receptors could constitute a therapeutic target to slowdown neurodegeneration in HD.
Sensors
Structural health monitoring (SHM) in an electric arc furnace is performed in several ways. It de... more Structural health monitoring (SHM) in an electric arc furnace is performed in several ways. It depends on the kind of element or variable to monitor. For instance, the lining of these furnaces is made of refractory materials that can be worn out over time. Therefore, monitoring the temperatures on the walls and the cooling elements of the furnace is essential for correct structural monitoring. In this work, a multivariate time series temperature prediction was performed through a deep learning approach. To take advantage of data from the last 5 years while not neglecting the initial parts of the sequence in the oldest years, an attention mechanism was used to model time series forecasting using deep learning. The attention mechanism was built on the foundation of the encoder–decoder approach in neural networks. Thus, with the use of an attention mechanism, the long-term dependency of the temperature predictions in a furnace was improved. A warm-up period in the training process of t...
Linguistic Inquiry
Most analyses of non-paradigmatic SE derive their agreement patterns structurally, forcing a pass... more Most analyses of non-paradigmatic SE derive their agreement patterns structurally, forcing a passive/impersonal distinction against all evidence. Instead, we uniformly analyze them as regular sentences where the T-agreeing subject is se itself, an argumental clitic pronoun, with [person] but no number ϕ-features, and show that the overt argument, which has object properties, does not genuinely agree in syntax. We reveal a new asymmetry between postverbal and preverbal/null arguments, which conceals two postsyntactic processes with very distinctive properties: morphological clitic Mutation into number agreement, and T’s Number Harmony with a close DP, not ruled by syntax or morphology.
Entropy, 2020
RealTimeBattle is an environment in which robots controlled by programs fight each other. Program... more RealTimeBattle is an environment in which robots controlled by programs fight each other. Programs control the simulated robots using low-level messages (e.g., turn radar, accelerate). Unlike other tools like Robocode, each of these robots can be developed using different programming languages. Our purpose is to generate, without human programming or other intervention, a robot that is highly competitive in RealTimeBattle. To that end, we implemented an Evolutionary Computation technique: Genetic Programming. The robot controllers created in the course of the experiments exhibit several different and effective combat strategies such as avoidance, sniping, encircling and shooting. To further improve their performance, we propose a function-set that includes short-term memory mechanisms, which allowed us to evolve a robot that is superior to all of the rivals used for its training. The robot was also tested in a bout with the winner of the previous “RealTimeBattle Championship”, which...
Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research, 2017
The use of antifungals was assessed to improve embryo survival of Galaxias maculatus. Three treat... more The use of antifungals was assessed to improve embryo survival of Galaxias maculatus. Three treatments using formalin dose of 250 ppm, iodine dose of 100 ppm, and sea salt in doses of 30 ups were designed, and a control treatment under 10 of salinity water. For each treatment and control, 15 replicates were used, with 100 embryos in each replicate. Embryos were immersed into each treatment solution for one hour every two days. Larval survival after 15 days old was assessed. Higher embryonic and larval survival was obtained in sea salt treatment improving by 27.4 and 11.6% (P < 0.05) respectively over control results. Formalin treatment resulted in embryonic and larval survival of 9.8 and 4.0% respectively more than control (P < 0.05) and in the case of iodine embryonic survival, 2.6% more than control (P > 0.05) and larval survival of 16.4% lower than the control (P < 0.05). In conclusion, sea salt shows greater effectiveness as a prophylactic treatment to improve the em...
2017 IEEE 56th Annual Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2017
The Barabasi-Albert model is used to explain the formation of power laws in the degree distributi... more The Barabasi-Albert model is used to explain the formation of power laws in the degree distributions of networks. The model assumes that the principle of preferential attachment underlies the growth of networks, that is, new nodes connects to a fixed number of nodes with a probability that is proportional to their degrees. Yet, for empirical networks the number of new edges is often not constant, but varies as more nodes become part of the network. This paper considers an extension to the original Barabasi-Albert model, in which the number of edges established by a new node follows a power law distribution with support in the total number of nodes. While most new nodes connect to a few nodes, some new nodes connect to a larger number. We first characterize the dynamics of growth of the degree of the nodes. Second, we identify sufficient conditions under which the expected value of the average degree of the network is asymptotically stable. Finally, we show how the dynamics of the mo...
Revista de Psicología, 1999
El presente ensayo constituye un intento de relación de tres cuerpos teóricos: el constructivismo... more El presente ensayo constituye un intento de relación de tres cuerpos teóricos: el constructivismo radical; la biología de la cognición y la teoría pragmática del lenguaje. El propósito es describir el cómo podría darse la adquisición y/o emergencia de los deísticos de tiempo y espacio, que constituyen los componenetes léxicos básicos de la noción de realidad. Con este fin se establecen complementariedades y afinidades teóricas que orientan el análisis epistemológico y de la psicología del lenguaje.
Geopolítica(s). Revista de estudios sobre espacio y poder, 2020
La Unión Europea afronta lo que tal vez pudiera ser su última oportunidad para consolidar un proy... more La Unión Europea afronta lo que tal vez pudiera ser su última oportunidad para consolidar un proyecto político tan original como necesario. De los acuerdos políticos que se adopten para hacer frente a los efectos de la pandemia global dependerá que el proyecto salga reforzado o que se acentúe la crisis existencial y de legitimidad que hace tiempo se evidencia. Es el momento histórico para demostrar que desea ser algo muy distinto a una unión de mercado: una comunidad política. De otra parte, también puede ser una oportunidad para consolidarse como referente moral en defensa de una sociedad decente y como “tercer espacio” geopolítico en un mundo nuevo, sin centro, caracterizado durante las primeras décadas del siglo XXI por cierto (des)orden geopolítico, debido al declive relativo de EE UU y al ascenso relativo de China.
ACI Avances en Ciencias e Ingenierías, 2019
We present in the following work a hardware implementation of the two principal optical flow meth... more We present in the following work a hardware implementation of the two principal optical flow methods. The work is based on the methods developed by Lucas & Kanade, and Horn & Schunck. The implementation is made by using a field programmable gate array and Hardware Description Language. To achieve a successful implementation, the algorithms were optimized. The results show the optical flow as a vector field over one frame, which enable an easy detection of the movement. The results are compared to a software implementation to insure the success of the method. The implementation is a fast implementation capable of quickly overcoming a traditional implementation in software.
Estudios Gerenciales, 2011
1 .9%2)78)&%2 '%66%2>% 631)63 4L(4VSJIWSV MRZIWXMKEHSV (ITEVXEQIRXS HI)GSRSQuE 9RMZIVWMHEH-GIWM '... more 1 .9%2)78)&%2 '%66%2>% 631)63 4L(4VSJIWSV MRZIWXMKEHSV (ITEVXEQIRXS HI)GSRSQuE 9RMZIVWMHEH-GIWM 'SPSQFME NIGEVVER^E$MGIWMIHYGS <-1)2% (9)g%7 ,)66)6% 4L(' 4VSJIWSVE MRZIWXMKEHSVE (ITEVXEQIRXS HI)GSRSQuE 9RMZIVWMHEH-GIWM 'SPSQFME \HYIREW$MGIWMIHYGS '%6037 +-3:%22-+32>Å0)>)74-8-% 4L(' 4VSJIWSV MRZIWXMKEHSV (ITEVXEQIRXS HI)GSRSQuE 9RMZIVWMHEH-GIWM 'SPSQFME GKKSR^EPI^$MGIWMIHYGS RESUMEN El objetivo de este artículo es examinar la relación causal entre asesinatos y actividad económica en Colombia durante las décadas recientes. El análisis saca provecho de que la actividad económica en el resto de América Latina está altamente correlacionada con la actividad económica en Colombia, pero no es afectada directamente por la violencia homicida en Colombia. El uso de este instrumento permite establecer una fuerte relación causal que va de OD DFWLYLGDG HFRQyPLFD D ORV KRPLFLGLRV 8Q DQiOLVLV GH VHULHV GH WLHPSR GD sustento adicional a la hipótesis de que hay una relación de largo plazo entre homicidios y actividad económica. PALABRAS CLAVE Crimen, homicidios, actividad económica. &ODVLÀFDFLyQ-(/ , (& 1 Este artículo es resultado de las discusiones sobre el tema de tres profesores del grupo de investigación ´(FRQRPtD SROtWLFDV S~EOLFDV \ PpWRGRV FXDQWLWDWLYRVµ DÀOLDGR D OD 8QLYHUVLGDG ,FHVL FODVLÀFDFLyQ % de Colciencias. Los autores agradecen los comentarios de los participantes en el Encuentro Conjunto de
arXiv (Cornell University), Nov 2, 2021
In this systems paper, we present MillenniumDB: a novel graph database engine that is modular, pe... more In this systems paper, we present MillenniumDB: a novel graph database engine that is modular, persistent, and open source. Mil-lenniumDB is based on a graph data model, which we call domain graphs, that provides a simple abstraction upon which a variety of popular graph models can be supported. The engine itself is founded on a combination of tried and tested techniques from relational data management, state-of-the-art algorithms for worst-caseoptimal joins, as well as graph-specific algorithms for evaluating path queries. In this paper, we present the main design principles underlying MillenniumDB, describing the abstract graph model and query semantics supported, the concrete data model and query syntax implemented, as well as the storage, indexing, query planning and query evaluation techniques used. We evaluate MillenniumDB over real-world data and queries from the Wikidata knowledge graph, where we find that it outperforms other popular persistent graph database engines (including both enterprise and open source alternatives) that support similar query features.
Neural Computing and Applications, 2020
Entropy, 2020
Providing the visual complexity of an image in terms of impact or aesthetic preference can be of ... more Providing the visual complexity of an image in terms of impact or aesthetic preference can be of great applicability in areas such as psychology or marketing. To this end, certain areas such as Computer Vision have focused on identifying features and computational models that allow for satisfactory results. This paper studies the application of recent ML models using input images evaluated by humans and characterized by features related to visual complexity. According to the experiments carried out, it was confirmed that one of these methods, Correlation by Genetic Search (CGS), based on the search for minimum sets of features that maximize the correlation of the model with respect to the input data, predicted human ratings of image visual complexity better than any other model referenced to date in terms of correlation, RMSE or minimum number of features required by the model. In addition, the variability of these terms were studied eliminating images considered as outliers in prev...
Complexity, 2019
One of the general aims of evolutionary art research is to build a computer system capable of cre... more One of the general aims of evolutionary art research is to build a computer system capable of creating interesting, beautiful, or creative results, including images, videos, animations, text, and performances. In this context, it is crucial to understand how fitness is conceived and implemented to explore the “interestingness,” beauty, or creativity that the system is capable of. In this paper, we survey the recent research on fitness for evolutionary art related to aesthetics. We also cover research in the psychology of aesthetics, including relation between complexity and aesthetics, measures of complexity, and complexity predictors. We try to establish connections between human perception and understanding of aesthetics with current evolutionary techniques.
Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics, 2019
Following Oca (1914), this article argues that passive and impersonal se constructions in Spanish... more Following Oca (1914), this article argues that passive and impersonal se constructions in Spanish are regular transitive constructions where the pronominal clitic seis the argumental subject. Several arguments (secondary predication, non-argumental predicates, control and obviation, anaphora binding, active morphology or its alignment with overt nominative pronouns, among others)show that (i)bothconstructions are active structures, (ii)despite what agreement facts might suggest, in both the internal argument of the verb is not the subject but the direct object throughout the derivation, (iii) se is the active nominative pronominal subject of the construction. We argue that the alleged ‘special’ properties of passive-se are not construction-specific but follow from the lexical specifications of se agreeing with Tense as a quirky subject.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2013
An approach for exploring novelty in expression-based evolutionary art systems is presented. The ... more An approach for exploring novelty in expression-based evolutionary art systems is presented. The framework is composed of a feature extractor, a classifier, an evolutionary engine and a supervisor. The evolutionary engine exploits shortcomings of the classifier, generating misclassified instances. These instances update the training set and the classifier is retrained. This iterative process forces the evolutionary algorithm to explore new paths leading to the creation of novel imagery. The experiments presented and analyzed herein explore different feature selection methods and indicate the validity of the approach.
Borealis – An International Journal of Hispanic Linguistics, 2013
In this paper, we present empirical evidence showing that Differential Object Marking (DOM) in S... more In this paper, we present empirical evidence showing that Differential Object Marking (DOM) in Spanish is determined by structural conditions related to Case and agreement. We also argue that semantic concepts such as specificity, definiteness, animacy, or topicality, tightly connected to the presence or absence of A, must be parasitic on the syntactic configurations where DOM is licensed. We also present some consequences of our analysis for the general theory of agreement. We argue that the same structural relation is involved in all cases of DOM, as well as in Dative Clitic Constructions, where the presence of the particle A preceding clitic-doubled datives is syntactically unified with DOM phenomena. The accusative/dative distinction traditionally attributed to the Spanish pronominal system does not correspond, in synchronic terms, to different case relations, but distinguishes between agreeing and non-agreeing arguments. Similarly, the distribution of DOM corresponds to a Case...
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, 1999
We report on a prototype detector system designed to perform imaging and spectroscopy on 20-250 M... more We report on a prototype detector system designed to perform imaging and spectroscopy on 20-250 MeV neutrons. The detection techniques employed can be applied to measurements in a variety of disciplines including solar and atmospheric physics, radiation therapy and nuclear materials monitoring. The detector measures the energy and direction of neutrons by detecting double neutron-proton scatters and recording images of the ionization tracks of the recoil protons in a densely packed bundle of scintillating plastic fibers stacked in orthogonal layers. The scintillation tracks are detected and imaged by photomultipliers and image intensifier/CCD camera optics. By tracking the recoil protons from individual neutrons, the kinematics of the scatter are determined. This directional information results in a high signal-to-noise measurement. The self-triggering and track imaging features of a prototype for tracking in two dimensions are demonstrated in calibrations with 14-65 MeV neutrons, 20-67.5 MeV protons, and with cosmic-ray muons. Preliminary results of phantom imaging measurements using a proton beam are also presented. We discuss several applications for this detector technique and outline future development work.
New Generation Computing, 2005
User fatigue is probably the most pressing problem in current Interactive Evolutionary Computatio... more User fatigue is probably the most pressing problem in current Interactive Evolutionary Computation systems. To address it we propose the use of automatic seeding procedure, phenotype filters, and partial automation fitness assignment. We test this approaches in the visual arts domain. To further enhance interactive evolution applications in aesthetic domains, we propose the use of artificial art critics-systems that perform stylistic and aesthetic valuations of art-presenting experimental results.
Glia, 2009
Cannabinoid agonists might serve as neuroprotective agents in neurodegenerative disorders. Here, ... more Cannabinoid agonists might serve as neuroprotective agents in neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we examined this hypothesis in a rat model of Huntington's disease (HD) generated by intrastriatal injection of the mitochondrial complex II inhibitor malonate. Our results showed that only compounds able to activate CB 2 receptors were capable of protecting striatal projection neurons from malonate-induced death. That CB 2 receptor agonists are neuroprotective was confirmed by using the selective CB 2 receptor antagonist, SR144528, and by the observation that mice deficient in CB 2 receptor were more sensitive to malonate than wild-type animals. CB 2 receptors are scarce in the striatum in healthy conditions but they are markedly up-regulated after the lesion with malonate. Studies of double immunostaining revealed a significant presence of CB 2 receptors in cells labelled with the marker of reactive microglia OX-42, and also in cells labelled with GFAP (a marker of astrocytes). We further showed that the activation of CB 2 receptors significantly reduced the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) that had been increased by the lesion with malonate. In summary, our results demonstrate that stimulation of CB 2 receptors protect the striatum against malonate toxicity, likely through a mechanism involving glial cells, in particular reactive microglial cells in which CB 2 receptors would be upregulated in response to the lesion. Activation of these receptors would reduce the generation of proinflammatory molecules like TNF-α. Altogether our results support the hypothesis that CB 2 receptors could constitute a therapeutic target to slowdown neurodegeneration in HD.
Sensors
Structural health monitoring (SHM) in an electric arc furnace is performed in several ways. It de... more Structural health monitoring (SHM) in an electric arc furnace is performed in several ways. It depends on the kind of element or variable to monitor. For instance, the lining of these furnaces is made of refractory materials that can be worn out over time. Therefore, monitoring the temperatures on the walls and the cooling elements of the furnace is essential for correct structural monitoring. In this work, a multivariate time series temperature prediction was performed through a deep learning approach. To take advantage of data from the last 5 years while not neglecting the initial parts of the sequence in the oldest years, an attention mechanism was used to model time series forecasting using deep learning. The attention mechanism was built on the foundation of the encoder–decoder approach in neural networks. Thus, with the use of an attention mechanism, the long-term dependency of the temperature predictions in a furnace was improved. A warm-up period in the training process of t...
Linguistic Inquiry
Most analyses of non-paradigmatic SE derive their agreement patterns structurally, forcing a pass... more Most analyses of non-paradigmatic SE derive their agreement patterns structurally, forcing a passive/impersonal distinction against all evidence. Instead, we uniformly analyze them as regular sentences where the T-agreeing subject is se itself, an argumental clitic pronoun, with [person] but no number ϕ-features, and show that the overt argument, which has object properties, does not genuinely agree in syntax. We reveal a new asymmetry between postverbal and preverbal/null arguments, which conceals two postsyntactic processes with very distinctive properties: morphological clitic Mutation into number agreement, and T’s Number Harmony with a close DP, not ruled by syntax or morphology.
Entropy, 2020
RealTimeBattle is an environment in which robots controlled by programs fight each other. Program... more RealTimeBattle is an environment in which robots controlled by programs fight each other. Programs control the simulated robots using low-level messages (e.g., turn radar, accelerate). Unlike other tools like Robocode, each of these robots can be developed using different programming languages. Our purpose is to generate, without human programming or other intervention, a robot that is highly competitive in RealTimeBattle. To that end, we implemented an Evolutionary Computation technique: Genetic Programming. The robot controllers created in the course of the experiments exhibit several different and effective combat strategies such as avoidance, sniping, encircling and shooting. To further improve their performance, we propose a function-set that includes short-term memory mechanisms, which allowed us to evolve a robot that is superior to all of the rivals used for its training. The robot was also tested in a bout with the winner of the previous “RealTimeBattle Championship”, which...
Latin American Journal of Aquatic Research, 2017
The use of antifungals was assessed to improve embryo survival of Galaxias maculatus. Three treat... more The use of antifungals was assessed to improve embryo survival of Galaxias maculatus. Three treatments using formalin dose of 250 ppm, iodine dose of 100 ppm, and sea salt in doses of 30 ups were designed, and a control treatment under 10 of salinity water. For each treatment and control, 15 replicates were used, with 100 embryos in each replicate. Embryos were immersed into each treatment solution for one hour every two days. Larval survival after 15 days old was assessed. Higher embryonic and larval survival was obtained in sea salt treatment improving by 27.4 and 11.6% (P < 0.05) respectively over control results. Formalin treatment resulted in embryonic and larval survival of 9.8 and 4.0% respectively more than control (P < 0.05) and in the case of iodine embryonic survival, 2.6% more than control (P > 0.05) and larval survival of 16.4% lower than the control (P < 0.05). In conclusion, sea salt shows greater effectiveness as a prophylactic treatment to improve the em...
2017 IEEE 56th Annual Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2017
The Barabasi-Albert model is used to explain the formation of power laws in the degree distributi... more The Barabasi-Albert model is used to explain the formation of power laws in the degree distributions of networks. The model assumes that the principle of preferential attachment underlies the growth of networks, that is, new nodes connects to a fixed number of nodes with a probability that is proportional to their degrees. Yet, for empirical networks the number of new edges is often not constant, but varies as more nodes become part of the network. This paper considers an extension to the original Barabasi-Albert model, in which the number of edges established by a new node follows a power law distribution with support in the total number of nodes. While most new nodes connect to a few nodes, some new nodes connect to a larger number. We first characterize the dynamics of growth of the degree of the nodes. Second, we identify sufficient conditions under which the expected value of the average degree of the network is asymptotically stable. Finally, we show how the dynamics of the mo...
Revista de Psicología, 1999
El presente ensayo constituye un intento de relación de tres cuerpos teóricos: el constructivismo... more El presente ensayo constituye un intento de relación de tres cuerpos teóricos: el constructivismo radical; la biología de la cognición y la teoría pragmática del lenguaje. El propósito es describir el cómo podría darse la adquisición y/o emergencia de los deísticos de tiempo y espacio, que constituyen los componenetes léxicos básicos de la noción de realidad. Con este fin se establecen complementariedades y afinidades teóricas que orientan el análisis epistemológico y de la psicología del lenguaje.
Geopolítica(s). Revista de estudios sobre espacio y poder, 2020
La Unión Europea afronta lo que tal vez pudiera ser su última oportunidad para consolidar un proy... more La Unión Europea afronta lo que tal vez pudiera ser su última oportunidad para consolidar un proyecto político tan original como necesario. De los acuerdos políticos que se adopten para hacer frente a los efectos de la pandemia global dependerá que el proyecto salga reforzado o que se acentúe la crisis existencial y de legitimidad que hace tiempo se evidencia. Es el momento histórico para demostrar que desea ser algo muy distinto a una unión de mercado: una comunidad política. De otra parte, también puede ser una oportunidad para consolidarse como referente moral en defensa de una sociedad decente y como “tercer espacio” geopolítico en un mundo nuevo, sin centro, caracterizado durante las primeras décadas del siglo XXI por cierto (des)orden geopolítico, debido al declive relativo de EE UU y al ascenso relativo de China.
ACI Avances en Ciencias e Ingenierías, 2019
We present in the following work a hardware implementation of the two principal optical flow meth... more We present in the following work a hardware implementation of the two principal optical flow methods. The work is based on the methods developed by Lucas & Kanade, and Horn & Schunck. The implementation is made by using a field programmable gate array and Hardware Description Language. To achieve a successful implementation, the algorithms were optimized. The results show the optical flow as a vector field over one frame, which enable an easy detection of the movement. The results are compared to a software implementation to insure the success of the method. The implementation is a fast implementation capable of quickly overcoming a traditional implementation in software.