The evolution of the brain, the human nature of cortical circuits and intellectual creativity

The tremendous expansion and the differentiation of the neocortex constitute two major events in the evolution of the mammalian brain. The increase in size and complexity of our brains opened the way to a spectacular development of cognitive and mental skills. This expansion during evolution facilitated the addition of microcircuits with a similar basic structure, which increased the complexity of the human brain and contributed to its uniqueness. However, fundamental differences even exist between distinct mammalian species. Here, we shall discuss the issue of our humanity from a neurobiological and historical perspective.

Residual effect of natural and synthetic zinc chelates on zinc in a soil solution of a waterlogged acidic soil. Evolution of the pH and redox potential.

Zinc chelates have been widely used to correct deficiencies in this micronutrient in different soil types and under different moisture conditions. The aging of the metal in soil could cause a change in its availability. Over time the most labile forms of Zn could decrease in activity and extractability and change to more stable forms. Various soil parameters, such as redox conditions, time, soil type and moisture conditions, affect the aging process and modify the solubility of the metal. In general, redox conditions influence pH and also the chemical forms dissolved in the soil solution. Soil pH also affects Zn solubility; at high pH values, most of the Zn is present in forms that are not bioavailable to plants. The objective of this study was to determine the changes in Zn over time in a soil solution in a waterlogged acidic soil to which synthetic and natural chelates were applied

Study of the damage evolution of the concrete under freeze-thaw cycles using traditional and non-traditional techniques

Some experiments have been performed to investigate the cyclic freeze-thaw deterioration of concrete, using traditional and non-traditional techniques. Two concrete mixes, with different pore structure, were tested in order to compare the behavior of a freeze-thaw resistant concrete from one that is not. One of the concretes was air entrained, high content of cement and low w/c ratio, and the other one was a lower cement content and higher w/c ratio, without air-entraining agent. Concrete specimens were studied under cyclic freeze-thaw conditions according to UNE-CENT/TS 12390-9 test, using 3% NaCl solution as freezing medium (CDF test: Capillary Suction, De-icing agent and Freeze-thaw Test). The temperature and relative humidity were measured during the cycles inside the specimens using embedded sensors placed at different heights from the surface in contact with the de-icing agent solution. Strain gauges were used to measure the strain variations at the surface of the specimens. Also, measurements of ultrasonic pulse velocity through the concrete specimens were taken before, during, and after the freeze-thaw cycles. According to the CDF test, the failure of the non-air-entraining agent concrete was observed before 28 freeze-thaw cycles; contrariwise, the scaling of the air-entraining agent concrete was only 0.10 kg/m 2 after 28 cycles, versus 3.23 kg/m 2 in the deteriorated concrete, after 28 cycles. Similar behavior was observed on the strain measurements. The residual strain in the deteriorated concrete after 28 cycles was 1150 m versus 65 m, in the air-entraining agent concrete. By means of monitoring the changes of ultrasonic pulse velocity during the freeze-thaw cycles, the deterioration of the tested specimens were assessed

Study of the evolution of the seismic cycle of stress and strain associated to the El Salvador Fault Zone

• Central America: – Regional studies in Central America (Seismic Hazard). – El Salvador Fault Zone (ESFZ). – Aguacaliente‐Navarro Fault Zone (ANFZ), Central Valley of Costa Rica. – Haiti (seismic hazard) • Spain: – Regional‐Nacional studies of seismic hazards (applications to building codes, eurocode, emergency plans, etc.) – Betic range zone, south of Spain. – Ibero‐Maghrebi region (collision zone)

Time Evolution of the Fractal Dimension in Turbulent Plumes

Turbulent mixing is a very important issue in the study of geophysical phenomena because most fluxes arising in geophysics fluids are turbulent. We study turbulent mixing due to convection using a laboratory experimental model with two miscible fluids of different density with an initial top heavy density distribution. The fluids that form the initial unstable stratification are miscible and the turbulence will produce molecular mixing. The denser fluid comes into the lighter fluid layer and it generates several forced plumes which are gravitationally unstable. As the turbulent plumes develop, the denser fluid comes into contact with the lighter fluid layer and the mixing process grows. Their development is caused by the lateral interaction between these plumes at the complex fractal surface between the dense and light fluids

Evolution of the Riparian forest corridor in a large Mediterranean river system

The well-documented re-colonisation of the French large river basins of Loire and Rhone by European otter and beaver allowed the analysis of explanatory factors and threats to species movement in the river corridor. To what extent anthropogenic disturbance of the riparian zone influences the corridor functioning is a central question in the understanding of ecological networks and the definition of restoration goals for river networks. The generalist or specialist nature of target species might be determining for the responses to habitat quality and barriers in the riparian corridor. Detailed datasets of land use, human stressors and hydro-morphological characteristics of river segments for the entire river basins allowed identifying the habitat requirements of the two species for the riparian zone. The identified critical factors were entered in a network analysis based on the ecological niche factor approach. Significant responses to riparian corridor quality for forest cover, alterations of channel straightening and urbanisation and infrastructure in the riparian zone are observed for both species, so they may well serve as indicators for corridor functioning. The hypothesis for generalists being less sensitive to human disturbance was withdrawn, since the otter as generalist species responded strongest to hydro-morphological alterations and human presence in general. The beaver responded the strongest to the physical environment as expected for this specialist species. The difference in responses for generalist and specialist species is clearly present and the two species have a strong complementary indicator value. The interpretation of the network analysis outcomes stresses the need for an estimation of ecological requirements of more species in the evaluation of riparian corridor functioning and in conservation planning.

The evolution of the laws of software evolution. A discussion based on a systematic literature review

After more than 40 years of life, software evolution should be considered as a mature field. However, despite such a long history, many research questions still remain open, and controversial studies about the validity of the laws of software evolution are common. During the first part of these 40 years the laws themselves evolved to adapt to changes in both the research and the software industry environments. This process of adaption to new paradigms, standards, and practices stopped about 15 years ago, when the laws were revised for the last time. However, most controversial studies have been raised during this latter period. Based on a systematic and comprehensive literature review, in this paper we describe how and when the laws, and the software evolution field, evolved. We also address the current state of affairs about the validity of the laws, how they are perceived by the research community, and the developments and challenges that are likely to occur in the coming years.

The temporal evolution of the energy flux across scales in homogeneous turbulence

A temporal study of energy transfer across length scales is performed in 3D numerical simulations of homogeneous shear flow and isotropic turbulence. The average time taken by perturbations in the energy flux to travel between scales is measured and shown to be additive. Our data suggests that the propagation of disturbances in the energy flux is independent of the forcing and that it defines a ‘velocity’ that determines the energy flux itself. These results support that the cascade is, on average, a scale-local process where energy is continuously transmitted from one scale to the next in order of decreasing size.

Technology transfer of renewable energy for rural development: historical evolution and lessons of experience from the model WWP

Technology transfer (TT) in the area of renewable energy (RE) throughout history has been an important tool for rural development (RD). Initially, the TT has been conceptualized as the purchase or donation of machinery from first world countries - without any consideration of staff training and contextual conditions for the adaptation of technology to the needs of the country. Various researches have revealed the existence of different approaches to planning the TT of RE, demonstrating the high complexity of projects from the social and contextual dimension. This paper addresses the conceptual evolution of the TT of RE for RD, examining its different periods considered for three criteria: historical events occurred, the role of stakeholders and changing objectives for the TT of RE for RD. For the conceptual analysis of changes the model Working With People (WWP) is used for planning and project management of high social complexity in RD. The analysis defines the existence of four historical periods in the TT of RE and synthesizes the lessons of experience from the three dimensions (ethical-social, technical-entrepreneurial, and political-contextual) of the WWP model.

Methodology for the metric restoration of the historical cartography applied to Francisco Coello's cartografic series of the Royal Site of Aranjuez

Hojas Kilométricas (Kilometric Sheets). Specifically, the study focuses on those sheets referring to the city centre and surrounding area of the Royal Site of Aranjuez, a town in the south of the Province of Madrid. The aim of this study is to restore the actual size and measurements of scanned images of the Hojas Kilométricas. This would allow us, among other things, to reestablish both the format and scale of the original plans. To achieve this goal it is necessary to rectify and then georeference these images, i.e. assign them a geographic reference system. This procedure is essential in the overlaying and comparison of the Hojas Kilométricas of the Royal Site with other historical cartography as well as other sources related to the same area from different time periods. Subsequent research would allow us, for example, to reconstruct the time-evolution of the urban area, to spot new construction and to pinpoint the locations of any altered or missing buildings or architectural features. In addition, this would allow us to develop and integrate databases for GIS models applicable to the management of our cultural heritage.

Modification and Developer Metrics at the Function Level: Metrics for the Study of the Evolution of a Software Project

Software evolution, and particularly its growth, has been mainly studied at the file (also sometimes referred as module) level. In this paper we propose to move from the physical towards a level that includes semantic information by using functions or methods for measuring the evolution of a software system. We point out that use of functions-based metrics has many advantages over the use of files or lines of code. We demonstrate our approach with an empirical study of two Free/Open Source projects: a community-driven project, Apache, and a company-led project, Novell Evolution. We discovered that most functions never change; when they do their number of modifications is correlated with their size, and that very few authors who modify each; finally we show that the departure of a developer from a software project slows the evolution of the functions that she authored.

Numerical simulation of the evolution of viscous rotating drops

In this contribution we simulate numerically the evolution of a viscous fluid drop rotating about a fixed axis at constant angular velocity ? or constant angular momentum L, surrounded by another viscous fluid. The problem is considered in the limit of large Ekman number and small Reynolds number. In the lecture we will describe the numerical method we have used to solve the PDE system that describes the evolution of the drop (3D boundary element method). We will also present the results we have obtained, paying special attention to the stability/instability of the equilibrium shapes.

GIS analysis of the accuracy of Tomas Lopez's historical cartography in the Canary Islands (1742 - 1746)

The accuracy of Tomás López´s historical cartography of the Canary Islands included in the “Atlas Particular” of the Kingdoms of Spain, Portugal and Adjacent Islands” is analyzed. For this purpose, we propose a methodology based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a comparison of digitized historical cartography population centres with current ones. This study shows that the lineal error value is small for the smaller islands: Lanzarote, El Hierro, La Palma and La Gomera. In the large islands of Tenerife, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria, the error is smaller in central zones but increases towards the coast. This indicates that Tomás López began his cartography starting from central island zones, accumulating errors due to lack of geodetic references as he moved toward the coast.

Reuse of vacant agro-industrial buildings. The case of the public slaughterhouses in Spain

Nearly 3000 slaughterhouses (74% of them public facilities) were built in Spain during the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century. The need to comply with new technical requirements and regulations on the hygiene of the meat passed in the 70s and the gradual replacement of public facilities by larger and more modern private slaughterhouses have subsequently led to the closure and abandonment of many of these buildings. Public slaughterhouses generally consisted of several single-storey and open-plan buildings located around a courtyard. Although originally they were preferably located on the outskirts of the towns, many slaughterhouses are now placed inside the built up areas, due to the urban development. The present work aims to contribute to a better understanding of these agro-industrial buildings and to provide ideas for their conservation and reuse. A review on the historical evolution and the architectural features of the public slaughterhouses in Spain is presented and different examples of old vacant slaughterhouses reused to accommodate libraries, offices, community centres, exhibition halls or sports centres, among others, are shown in the paper.

Modeling the evolution of item rating networks using time-domain preferential attachment

The understanding of the structure and dynamics of the intricate network of connections among people that consumes products through Internet appears as an extremely useful asset in order to study emergent properties related to social behavior. This knowledge could be useful, for example, to improve the performance of personal recommendation algorithms. In this contribution, we analyzed five-year records of movie-rating transactions provided by Netflix, a movie rental platform where users rate movies from an online catalog. This dataset can be studied as a bipartite user-item network whose structure evolves in time. Even though several topological properties from subsets of this bipartite network have been reported with a model that combines random and preferential attachment mechanisms [Beguerisse Díaz et al., 2010], there are still many aspects worth to be explored, as they are connected to relevant phenomena underlying the evolution of the network. In this work, we test the hypothesis that bursty human behavior is essential in order to describe how a bipartite user-item network evolves in time. To that end, we propose a novel model that combines, for user nodes, a network growth prescription based on a preferential attachment mechanism acting not only in the topological domain (i.e. based on node degrees) but also in time domain. In the case of items, the model mixes degree preferential attachment and random selection. With these ingredients, the model is not only able to reproduce the asymptotic degree distribution, but also shows an excellent agreement with the Netflix data in several time-dependent topological properties.