Contributions to the Resilience Management in the Internet of Things

El auge del "Internet de las Cosas" (IoT, "Internet of Things") y sus tecnolog��as asociadas han permitido su aplicaci��n en diversos dominios de la aplicaci��n, entre los que se encuentran la monitorizaci��n de ecosistemas forestales, la gesti��n de cat��strofes y emergencias, la dom��tica, la automatizaci��n industrial, los servicios para ciudades inteligentes, la eficiencia energ��tica de edificios, la detecci��n de intrusos, la gesti��n de desastres y emergencias o la monitorizaci��n de se��ales corporales, entre muchas otras. La desventaja de una red IoT es que una vez desplegada, ��sta queda desatendida, es decir queda sujeta, entre otras cosas, a condiciones clim��ticas cambiantes y expuestas a cat��strofes naturales, fallos de software o hardware, o ataques maliciosos de terceros, por lo que se puede considerar que dichas redes son propensas a fallos. El principal requisito de los nodos constituyentes de una red IoT es que estos deben ser capaces de seguir funcionando a pesar de sufrir errores en el propio sistema. La capacidad de la red para recuperarse ante fallos internos y externos inesperados es lo que se conoce actualmente como "Resiliencia" de la red. Por tanto, a la hora de dise��ar y desplegar aplicaciones o servicios para IoT, se espera que la red sea tolerante a fallos, que sea auto-configurable, auto-adaptable, auto-optimizable con respecto a nuevas condiciones que puedan aparecer durante su ejecuci��n. Esto lleva al an��lisis de un problema fundamental en el estudio de las redes IoT, el problema de la "Conectividad". Se dice que una red est�� conectada si todo par de nodos en la red son capaces de encontrar al menos un camino de comunicaci��n entre ambos. Sin embargo, la red puede desconectarse debido a varias razones, como que se agote la bater��a, que un nodo sea destruido, etc. Por tanto, se hace necesario gestionar la resiliencia de la red con el objeto de mantener la conectividad entre sus nodos, de tal manera que cada nodo IoT sea capaz de proveer servicios continuos, a otros nodos, a otras redes o, a otros servicios y aplicaciones. En este contexto, el objetivo principal de esta tesis doctoral se centra en el estudio del problema de conectividad IoT, m��s concretamente en el desarrollo de modelos para el an��lisis y gesti��n de la Resiliencia, llevado a la pr��ctica a trav��s de las redes WSN, con el fin de mejorar la capacidad la tolerancia a fallos de los nodos que componen la red. Este reto se aborda teniendo en cuenta dos enfoques distintos, por una parte, a diferencia de otro tipo de redes de dispositivos convencionales, los nodos en una red IoT son propensos a perder la conexi��n, debido a que se despliegan en entornos aislados, o en entornos con condiciones extremas; por otra parte, los nodos suelen ser recursos con bajas capacidades en t��rminos de procesamiento, almacenamiento y bater��a, entre otros, por lo que requiere que el dise��o de la gesti��n de su resiliencia sea ligero, distribuido y energ��ticamente eficiente. En este sentido, esta tesis desarrolla t��cnicas auto-adaptativas que permiten a una red IoT, desde la perspectiva del control de su topolog��a, ser resiliente ante fallos en sus nodos. Para ello, se utilizan t��cnicas basadas en l��gica difusa y t��cnicas de control proporcional, integral y derivativa (PID - "proportional-integral-derivative"), con el objeto de mejorar la conectividad de la red, teniendo en cuenta que el consumo de energ��a debe preservarse tanto como sea posible. De igual manera, se ha tenido en cuenta que el algoritmo de control debe ser distribuido debido a que, en general, los enfoques centralizados no suelen ser factibles a despliegues a gran escala. El presente trabajo de tesis implica varios retos que conciernen a la conectividad de red, entre los que se incluyen: la creaci��n y el an��lisis de modelos matem��ticos que describan la red, una propuesta de sistema de control auto-adaptativo en respuesta a fallos en los nodos, la optimizaci��n de los par��metros del sistema de control, la validaci��n mediante una implementaci��n siguiendo un enfoque de ingenier��a del software y finalmente la evaluaci��n en una aplicaci��n real. Atendiendo a los retos anteriormente mencionados, el presente trabajo justifica, mediante una an��lisis matem��tico, la relaci��n existente entre el "grado de un nodo" (definido como el n��mero de nodos en la vecindad del nodo en cuesti��n) y la conectividad de la red, y prueba la eficacia de varios tipos de controladores que permiten ajustar la potencia de trasmisi��n de los nodos de red en respuesta a eventuales fallos, teniendo en cuenta el consumo de energ��a como parte de los objetivos de control. As�� mismo, este trabajo realiza una evaluaci��n y comparaci��n con otros algoritmos representativos; en donde se demuestra que el enfoque desarrollado es m��s tolerante a fallos aleatorios en los nodos de la red, as�� como en su eficiencia energ��tica. Adicionalmente, el uso de algoritmos bioinspirados ha permitido la optimizaci��n de los par��metros de control de redes din��micas de gran tama��o. Con respecto a la implementaci��n en un sistema real, se han integrado las propuestas de esta tesis en un modelo de programaci��n OSGi ("Open Services Gateway Initiative") con el objeto de crear un middleware auto-adaptativo que mejore la gesti��n de la resiliencia, especialmente la reconfiguraci��n en tiempo de ejecuci��n de componentes software cuando se ha producido un fallo. Como conclusi��n, los resultados de esta tesis doctoral contribuyen a la investigaci��n te��rica y, a la aplicaci��n pr��ctica del control resiliente de la topolog��a en redes distribuidas de gran tama��o. Los dise��os y algoritmos presentados pueden ser vistos como una prueba novedosa de algunas t��cnicas para la pr��xima era de IoT. A continuaci��n, se enuncian de forma resumida las principales contribuciones de esta tesis: (1) Se han analizado matem��ticamente propiedades relacionadas con la conectividad de la red. Se estudia, por ejemplo, c��mo var��a la probabilidad de conexi��n de la red al modificar el alcance de comunicaci��n de los nodos, as�� como cu��l es el m��nimo n��mero de nodos que hay que a��adir al sistema desconectado para su re-conexi��n. (2) Se han propuesto sistemas de control basados en l��gica difusa para alcanzar el grado de los nodos deseado, manteniendo la conectividad completa de la red. Se han evaluado diferentes tipos de controladores basados en l��gica difusa mediante simulaciones, y los resultados se han comparado con otros algoritmos representativos. (3) Se ha investigado m��s a fondo, dando un enfoque m��s simple y aplicable, el sistema de control de doble bucle, y sus par��metros de control se han optimizado empleando algoritmos heur��sticos como el m��todo de la entrop��a cruzada (CE, "Cross Entropy"), la optimizaci��n por enjambre de part��culas (PSO, "Particle Swarm Optimization"), y la evoluci��n diferencial (DE, "Differential Evolution"). (4) Se han evaluado mediante simulaci��n, la mayor��a de los dise��os aqu�� presentados; adem��s, parte de los trabajos se han implementado y validado en una aplicaci��n real combinando t��cnicas de software auto-adaptativo, como por ejemplo las de una arquitectura orientada a servicios (SOA, "Service-Oriented Architecture"). ABSTRACT The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) enables a tremendous number of applications, such as forest monitoring, disaster management, home automation, factory automation, smart city, etc. However, various kinds of unexpected disturbances may cause node failure in the IoT, for example battery depletion, software/hardware malfunction issues and malicious attacks. So, it can be considered that the IoT is prone to failure. The ability of the network to recover from unexpected internal and external failures is known as "resilience" of the network. Resilience usually serves as an important non-functional requirement when designing IoT, which can further be broken down into "self-*" properties, such as self-adaptive, self-healing, self-configuring, self-optimization, etc. One of the consequences that node failure brings to the IoT is that some nodes may be disconnected from others, such that they are not capable of providing continuous services for other nodes, networks, and applications. In this sense, the main objective of this dissertation focuses on the IoT connectivity problem. A network is regarded as connected if any pair of different nodes can communicate with each other either directly or via a limited number of intermediate nodes. More specifically, this thesis focuses on the development of models for analysis and management of resilience, implemented through the Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), which is a challenging task. On the one hand, unlike other conventional network devices, nodes in the IoT are more likely to be disconnected from each other due to their deployment in a hostile or isolated environment. On the other hand, nodes are resource-constrained in terms of limited processing capability, storage and battery capacity, which requires that the design of the resilience management for IoT has to be lightweight, distributed and energy-efficient. In this context, the thesis presents self-adaptive techniques for IoT, with the aim of making the IoT resilient against node failures from the network topology control point of view. The fuzzy-logic and proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control techniques are leveraged to improve the network connectivity of the IoT in response to node failures, meanwhile taking into consideration that energy consumption must be preserved as much as possible. The control algorithm itself is designed to be distributed, because the centralized approaches are usually not feasible in large scale IoT deployments. The thesis involves various aspects concerning network connectivity, including: creation and analysis of mathematical models describing the network, proposing self-adaptive control systems in response to node failures, control system parameter optimization, implementation using the software engineering approach, and evaluation in a real application. This thesis also justifies the relations between the "node degree" (the number of neighbor(s) of a node) and network connectivity through mathematic analysis, and proves the effectiveness of various types of controllers that can adjust power transmission of the IoT nodes in response to node failures. The controllers also take into consideration the energy consumption as part of the control goals. The evaluation is performed and comparison is made with other representative algorithms. The simulation results show that the proposals in this thesis can tolerate more random node failures and save more energy when compared with those representative algorithms. Additionally, the simulations demonstrate that the use of the bio-inspired algorithms allows optimizing the parameters of the controller. With respect to the implementation in a real system, the programming model called OSGi (Open Service Gateway Initiative) is integrated with the proposals in order to create a self-adaptive middleware, especially reconfiguring the software components at runtime when failures occur. The outcomes of this thesis contribute to theoretic research and practical applications of resilient topology control for large and distributed networks. The presented controller designs and optimization algorithms can be viewed as novel trials of the control and optimization techniques for the coming era of the IoT. The contributions of this thesis can be summarized as follows: (1) Mathematically, the fault-tolerant probability of a large-scale stochastic network is analyzed. It is studied how the probability of network connectivity depends on the communication range of the nodes, and what is the minimum number of neighbors to be added for network re-connection. (2) A fuzzy-logic control system is proposed, which obtains the desired node degree and in turn maintains the network connectivity when it is subject to node failures. There are different types of fuzzy-logic controllers evaluated by simulations, and the results demonstrate the improvement of fault-tolerant capability as compared to some other representative algorithms. (3) A simpler but more applicable approach, the two-loop control system is further investigated, and its control parameters are optimized by using some heuristic algorithms such as Cross Entropy (CE), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and Differential Evolution (DE). (4) Most of the designs are evaluated by means of simulations, but part of the proposals are implemented and tested in a real-world application by combining the self-adaptive software technique and the control algorithms which are presented in this thesis.

Desarrollo de un m��todo estad��stico para la generaci��n de escenarios clim��ticos de alta resoluci��n a partir de simulaciones de baja resoluci��n de Modelos de Circulaci��n General: aplicaci��n a Espa��a

Esta tesis doctoral presenta el desarrollo, verificaci��n y aplicaci��n de un m��todo original de regionalizaci��n estad��stica para generar escenarios locales de clima futuro de temperatura y precipitaci��n diarias, que combina dos pasos. El primer paso es un m��todo de an��logos: los "n" d��as cuya configuraci��n atmosf��rica de baja resoluci��n es m��s parecida a la del d��a problema, se seleccionan de un banco de datos de referencia del pasado. En el segundo paso, se realiza un an��lisis de regresi��n m��ltiple sobre los "n" d��as m��s an��logos para la temperatura, mientras que para la precipitaci��n se utiliza la distribuci��n de probabilidad de esos "n" d��as an��logos para obtener la estima de precipitaci��n. La verificaci��n de este m��todo se ha llevado a cabo para la Espa��a peninsular y las Islas Baleares. Los resultados muestran unas buenas prestaciones para temperatura (BIAS cerca de 0.1��C y media de errores absolutos alrededor de 1.9��C); y unas prestaciones aceptables para la precipitaci��n (BIAS razonablemente bajo con una media de -18%; error medio absoluto menor que para una simulaci��n de referencia (la persistencia); y una distribuci��n de probabilidad simulada similar a la observada seg��n dos test no-param��tricos de similitud). Para mostrar la aplicabilidad de la metodolog��a desarrollada, se ha aplicado en detalle en un caso de estudio. El m��todo se aplic�� a cuatro modelos clim��ticos bajo diferentes escenarios futuros de emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, para la regi��n de Arag��n, produciendo as�� proyecciones futuras de precipitaci��n y temperaturas m��ximas y m��nimas diarias. La fiabilidad de la t��cnica de regionalizaci��n fue evaluada de nuevo para el caso de estudio mediante un proceso de verificaci��n. Para determinar la capacidad de los modelos clim��ticos para simular el clima real, sus simulaciones del pasado (la denominada salida 20C3M) se regionalizaron y luego se compararon con el clima observado (los resultados son bastante robustos para la temperatura y menos concluyentes para la precipitaci��n). Las proyecciones futuras a escala local presentan un aumento significativo durante todo el siglo XXI de las temperaturas m��ximas y m��nimas para todos los futuros escenarios de emisiones considerados. Las simulaciones de precipitaci��n presentan mayores incertidumbres. Adem��s, la aplicabilidad pr��ctica del m��todo se demostr�� tambi��n mediante su utilizaci��n para producir escenarios clim��ticos futuros para otros casos de estudio en los distintos sectores y regiones del mundo. Se ha prestado especial atenci��n a una aplicaci��n en Centroam��rica, una regi��n que ya est�� sufriendo importantes impactos del cambio clim��tico y que tiene un clima muy diferente. ABSTRACT This doctoral thesis presents the development, verification and application of an original downscaling method for daily temperature and precipitation, which combines two statistical approaches. The first step is an analogue approach: the ���n��� days most similar to the day to be downscaled are selected. In the second step, a multiple regression analysis using the ���n��� most analogous days is performed for temperature, whereas for precipitation the probability distribution of the ���n��� analogous days is used to obtain the amount of precipitation. Verification of this method has been carried out for the Spanish Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. Results show good performance for temperature (BIAS close to 0.1��C and Mean Absolute Errors around 1.9��C); and an acceptable skill for precipitation (reasonably low BIAS with a mean of - 18%, Mean Absolute Error lower than for a reference simulation, i.e. persistence, and a well-simulated probability distribution according to two non-parametric tests of similarity). To show the applicability of the method, a study case has been analyzed. The method was applied to four climate models under different future emission scenarios for the region of Arag��n, thus producing future projections of daily precipitation and maximum and minimum temperatures. The reliability of the downscaling technique was re-assessed for the study case by a verification process. To determine the ability of the climate models to simulate the real climate, their simulations of the past (the 20C3M output) were downscaled and then compared with the observed climate ��� the results are quite robust for temperature and less conclusive for the precipitation. The downscaled future projections exhibit a significant increase during the entire 21st century of the maximum and minimum temperatures for all the considered future emission scenarios. Precipitation simulations exhibit greater uncertainties. Furthermore, the practical applicability of the method was demonstrated also by using it to produce future climate scenarios for some other study cases in different sectors and regions of the world. Special attention was paid to an application of the method in Central America, a region that is already suffering from significant climate change impacts and that has a very different climate from others where the method was previously applied.

El centro comercial : una teor��a tipol��gica : claves para el reconocimiento de una arquitectura ignorada

Existe en el panorama edificado un patrimonio construido que se reconoce como Centro Comercial. Un conjunto entendido, en sentido gen��rico, como familia arquitect��nica que tiene caracter��sticas propias y espec��ficas que la identifican. El objeto de la presente tesis doctoral consiste en argumentar que este conjunto constituye un nuevo tipo en el panorama de las tipolog��as arquitect��nicas. Un tipo con entidad propia, que se conecta a una forma diferente de entender la idea de modelo. Un concepto que va m��s all�� de la consideraci��n tradicional del t��rmino. Modelo virtual. Este tipo, que surge de una estructura te��rica que hemos denominado teor��a tipol��gica, se constituye en una herramienta m��s para el estudio y el desarrollo proyectual de los espacios arquitect��nicos, tanto del propio Centro Comercial como del conjunto de la disciplina arquitect��nica, como referencia leg��tima. El presente trabajo de tesis se inicia con un bloque introductorio denominado M��todo. Definimos en ��l una metodolog��a que hemos llamado emocional. Trata de la oportunidad de la tesis. Del porqu�� de un t��tulo que recoge la palabra ignorada. Del inter��s que suscita el asunto en el contexto del momento presente. Oportunidad e inter��s en base a una vida profesional dedicada al mundo del Centro Comercial y a la importancia del patrimonio elegido como objeto de estudio. Tambi��n ha sido un aliciente detectar como las planificaciones del territorio y de los ��mbitos de las relaciones colectivas no han sido capaces de integrar un resultado satisfactorio. Quiz��s por no considerar la complejidad de sus muchas facetas. En consecuencia, el texto busca la esencia del Centro Comercial como soporte para la cr��tica de su impacto en los nuevos escenarios de relaci��n que la sociedad y el entorno f��sico imponen. ��mbitos donde los mecanismos hist��ricos del asociacionismo tradicional han dado paso a otros, como el Centro Comercial, de exaltaci��n del individualismo, pero demandados por una sociedad que se identifica con ellos. Espacios que, con Galbraith, existen por de la perversidad intr��nseca del binomio consumo-producci��n que inducen la perplejidad. ��sta pasa a formar parte de la esencia del nuevo espacio comercial, como qued�� de manifiesto en el Congreso de Minnesota de 1997, sobre el Centro Comercial. Una sociedad que ha girado hacia el logro material en t��rminos de culto, ocasionando creciente valor significante del consumo. Raz��n ��ltima de la humanidad al decir de Rem Koolhaas. Culto que desemboca en la urgencia de alcanzar niveles de estatus y de identificaci��n con el grupo. Dos par��metros que marcan la relaci��n con el otro. Relaci��n de comparaci��n que excita la necesidad de posesi��n de objetos que llevaban a recrear en el consumidor la ilusi��n de ser especiales, de no pasar desapercibidos. El producto de consumo, el objeto, se eleva a la consideraci��n de valor social. En el Centro Comercial se venden valores. Marketing de valores. El deseo del individuo, no la necesidad, queda involucrado en el proceso. La oportunidad y el inter��s de este estudio surgen adem��s para aclarar el significado de un espacio que sirve al consumidor y a su entorno. Un significado que alcanza sentido, entre otros, por la aparici��n de un nuevo contexto tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Suburbanizaci��n, autom��vil, nivel de vida, un nuevo papel de la mujer. La Era del Consumo. Una era que genera la paradoja de un individuo con autodeterminaci��n y autosuficiencia crecientes, en un mundo cada vez m��s condicionado y controlado por din��micas de ofertas mediatizadas e ilimitadas. La arquitectura en este contexto ha de juzgarse por su relaci��n con un hombre contempor��neo que camina hacia una progresiva excepcionalidad. Cerramos la presentaci��n justificando el t��rmino ignorada que aparece en el T��tulo de la Tesis. Subrayamos la escasa existencia de estudios estructurados que relacionen Centro Comercial y arquitectura. Realidad que se constata partiendo del libro de Pevsner, Historia de las Tipolog��as Arquitect��nicas, de 1976. Analizamos tambi��n la aceptaci��n que el Centro Comercial, valorado en algunos ��mbitos como arquitectura populista. Primer Cap��tulo, los antecedentes. Se propone un recorrido hist��rico por la arquitectura comercial de todos los tiempos. El Documento busca concretar las caracter��sticas de la arquitectura comercial a lo largo de la historia para determinar relaciones entre ella y el Centro Comercial. Estas correspondencias van a permitir contestar la pregunta ret��rica que nos hacemos al inicio del Cap��tulo: ��Es la arquitectura del Centro Comercial una arquitectura subsidiaria, o tiene personalidad propia independiente de la del mundo comercial? Con Zevi40, queremos dejar constancia que la relaci��n arquitectura-historia es imprescindible en la tarea proyectual. Un an��lisis novedoso solo es posible desde la b��squeda de unas ra��ces aut��nticas. As�� mismo, con Guy de Maupassant, estamos convencidos que ���La arquitectura, a trav��s de los siglos, ha tenido el privilegio de dar un s��mbolo a cada una de las ��pocas, de resumir con un peque����simo n��mero de monumentos t��picos, el modo de pensar, de so��ar de una raza y de una civilizaci��n���. Este recorrido se inicia interpretando la arquitectura comercial minoica. Llegaremos, paso a paso, hasta el siglo XX, los grandes itinerarios comerciales y el Centro Comercial. Se descubren una serie de invariantes que permiten comparar y extraer conclusiones. Resulta novedoso constatar que el Centro Comercial nace para dar respuesta al hombre contempor��neo en su af��n consumista. Tambi��n lo es la r��pida implantaci��n y evoluci��n del Centro Comercial en un corto periodo de sesenta a��os frente al ritmo sosegado de otras soluciones comerciales. Novedad es ver como el comercio y sus arquitecturas nacen abiertos, bajo tenderetes y el Centro Comercial se presenta cerrado. As�� mismo, las referencias sacras constituyen un elemento de novedad para la reflexi��n, en un contexto materialista. Y tantas otras. En Minos, la ��ptica comercial ofrece otra visi��n de su legendaria cultura. ��Palacio o plataforma log��stica?, gesti��n centralizada del intercambio, ��vida p��blica y vida privada? As��, hasta llegar al siglo XIX. Sus las galer��as y sus pasajes acristalados concebidos en primera instancia como medida de recomposici��n urbana. Espacio entendido desde lo p��blico-privado, desde lo interior-exterior, desde el dentro-afuera, desde lo cerrado-abierto. Con los nuevos mercados de abastos, representan una revoluci��n en el ��mbito de la funcionalidad, de la m��quina, de la gesti��n moderna y de las relaciones del ciudadano con la ciudad apoyado en base al intercambio de bienes de consumo. El Centro Comercial es heredero de esta transformaci��n. El Gran Almac��n, por otra parte, es el reflejo de otra gran revoluci��n. La que va ligada a la producci��n y comercializaci��n en masa, las comunicaciones, el precio fijo y el aumento del nivel de vida. El Centro Comercial reinterpreta estas situaciones insert��ndolas en un nuevo modelo de gesti��n. En el siglo XX, maestro en t��cnicas de venta, aparece el hipermercado. El H��per, con su carga de pedagog��a, se incorpora al esquema org��nico del Centro Comercial. La tienda en si misma constituye la pieza base de dicho puzle org��nico. Es en esta ��poca cuando la tienda empieza su despegue aut��nomo como arquitectura, aportando su experiencia. Tras ello, llegamos a las grandes rutas comerciales, que proponemos como met��fora del shopping. Cerramos el cap��tulo concluyendo con Eugenio Ferrer que ���si establecemos una relaci��n entre el espacio y el capitalismo, entonces podemos inferir que los espacios del consumo de masas (ECM) son configuraciones nuevas respecto al pasado (...), pero el sistema que lo introduce no lo es del todo���. Segundo Cap��tulo. B��squeda de claves que permitan el reconocimiento del Centro Comercial. Llegados a este punto y con la perspectiva del tiempo cabe preguntarnos, ��qu�� entendemos pues por Centro Comercial? ��C��mo lo percibimos? Abordamos ahora el problema de la percepci��n del Centro Comercial y su significado. Adem��s de constituirse en s��mbolo, referencia siempre presente, la eficacia del Shopping es una de las principales causas de su poder de atracci��n. El Centro Comercial resulta de la s��ntesis de la revoluci��n del consumo y de la revoluci��n de la gesti��n. Espacio eficaz del entretenimiento como destino. El usuario resuelve su vida cotidiana dentro de un h��bitat que considera propio y que se entiende como el lugar hiperb��lico de la transacci��n comercial. Espacio de la abundancia para el disfrute. Una arquitectura involucrada en esta eficacia. Su sentido del lugar no es otro que el Shopping, que se desenvuelve de forma an��loga en todas partes. El hogar del consumidor. Las nuevas catedrales. Las catedrales del consumo. Destino m��stico. Lugar de peregrinaci��n para el consumidor fervoroso. Espacio sagrado que integra al usuario en la cultura dominante. Cultura del consumo. Templos, donde el tiempo ha perdido su sentido. Para��so. Un espacio donde la altura, la luz natural, la dimensi��n general refuerzan el car��cter sacro de un espacio para una nueva religi��n laica. Un espacio seguro, protegido que nos acerca a ideas como la de ��tero materno, con su carga de calidez y de significaci��n er��tica aplicado al encuentro compra-comprador y, ligado a ello, la literatura especializada habla del Centro Comercial como nave espacial hiperesterilizada o de agujero negro que absorbe la energ��a cultural. M��s all��, la simulaci��n, donde se percibe un simulacro de ciudad. Simulacro coherente con todo lo que el Shopping desencadena a su alrededor. El lugar de los sue��os, de la fantas��a. Aqu�� los productos se han metamorfoseado en fetiches, en significados. Televisi��n tridimensional, donde el usuario act��a guiado por una pulsi��n similar al zapping. Espacio l��dico de la fascinaci��n por comprar o de imaginar que se compra. Espacio de simulaciones que llevan a la enso��aci��n. Un nuevo lugar que sustituye al espacio cotidiano, con el se��uelo de la protecci��n, en un contexto imaginariamente p��blico. Espacio de la hiperrealidad donde no se distingue la realidad de la fantas��a, donde tras episodios de confusi��n y desconcierto, se borran las fronteras con lo imaginario. Espacio m��gico, escenario del gran espect��culo del consumo, controlado milim��tricamente, al modo de la visita a un gran monumento, que ha de sobrevivir a los tiempos para dar testimonio de nuestro momento. Un icono, un s��mbolo que transmite un mensaje, que solo el consumidor es capaz de interpretar. Una agitada mezcla, sin precedentes, de percepciones que hablan de perplejidad y asombro ante el fen��meno del Centro Comercial, su espacio y las reacciones del hombre contempor��neo. ��Cu��les ser��an las claves que nos permitir��an reconocer la calidad esencial de un Centro Comercial, en esta concurrencia de perplejidades? Primero, la funci��n de servicio. Un espacio donde ocurren muchas m��s cosas que lo obvio, que la compra. Un edificio que se involucra con el entorno de la mano de lo inesperado, la sorpresa y las expectativas. Esta vocaci��n de servicio conecta Centro Comercial y naturaleza arquitect��nica. Funci��n que sugiere percepciones ligadas a la experiencia de compra. Organismo que vive y late al un��sono con su visitante, coloc��ndose al servicio de sus necesidades, de su af��n de consumo, del que vive. Segundo, la comunidad servida. El Centro comercial sirve a una sociedad concreta. La sociedad consumista. Una nueva sociedad que se identifica con el edificio desarrollando un sentido de comunidad al nivel de sus deseos. Esta comunidad que se configura a su alrededor, constituye el activo m��s poderoso para el ��xito de su realidad cotidiana y de su futuro. Tercero, un compromiso de car��cter hol��stico. La econom��a de la experiencia aplicada al af��n consumista de una sociedad identificada con su Centro, da lugar a una experiencia hol��stica planificada. Dise��o emocional. Colaboraci��n para el ��xito de un conjunto de establecimientos comerciales que participan en la aventura espacio-comercial del Centro Comercial. Ellos son los inductores primarios del consumo. Pero esta colaboraci��n tiene su culminaci��n en la amplificaci��n del mensaje, como un inmenso altavoz, que proviene de la unidad configurada por todos ellos. El reflejo de esta amplificaci��n de mensajes, desde la poderosa unidad constituida, es el aumento de la rentabilidad, fin ��ltimo de la operaci��n. Cuarto, la forma a trav��s de una identificaci��n de car��cter gest��ltico. Desde la lectura gest��ltica que hacemos de la unidad hol��stica, se advierte una poderosa capacidad de comunicaci��n del sistema con su contexto. Centro y entorno se tornan entonces c��mplices que complementan sus realidades. El Centro Comercial, arquitectura estructurada como sistema se percibe ���ha de percibirse- como forma unitaria que procede de una mirada de ra��z gest��ltica que continuamente la recompone desde una ��ptica espacial y f��sica, ligada a la experiencia individual. Esta unidad formal, m��s all�� de la forma real, se constituye en esencia de de su arquitectura. Quinto, el Centro Comercial como sistema. Un sistema soportado por la Teor��a General de Sistemas. La consideraci��n del Centro Comercial como sistema es consecuencia de su estructura hol��stica. El todo no se comporta como la suma de las partes y estas no lo hacen como lo har��an en solitario. De aqu�� surge la necesidad de di��logo permanente entre la comercializaci��n ���proceso de incorporaci��n de partes- y su traducci��n al mundo del dise��o ���proceso de articular arquitect��nicamente las partes. Como sistema as�� configurado, el Centro Comercial se inserta en el paradigma contempor��neo, lo que genera realidades duales que no son excluyentes y reacciones de perplejidad e incertidumbre que el sistema corrige con su capacidad de autorregulaci��n. Aparece tambi��n el espectador cu��ntico, el visitante, el consumidor, que interact��a con el sistema. Desde las herramientas que nos aporta la idea de sistema complejo, afrontamos el Mix Comercial -en definitiva la eficaz localizaci��n de las piezas en orden a sus relaciones y al organismo resultante- y su incidencia en la arquitectura que estamos concibiendo. Una arquitectura impredecible por lo mutable, que se erige en reto de la operaci��n y del dise��ador. Dise��o que, de la mano del concepto de sistema se convierte en herramienta a mayor gloria de la operaci��n global. El debate del estilismo no ser�� m��s que el resultado del an��lisis en busca del ��xito de esta operaci��n. Sexto, una arquitectura de la negociaci��n. Negociaci��n como mecanismo proyectual y como resultado. La soluci��n de proyecto nunca resulta evidente en el Centro Comercial como consecuencia de lo imprevisible del propio proceso de configuraci��n. Su concreci��n solo puede ser fruto del compromiso de todos los agentes por conseguir el objetivo de la operaci��n. Esto se consigue desde el equilibrio de intereses. Comerciales y de dise��o. Un compromiso con la negociaci��n y una negociaci��n ��ntimamente ligada a la coordinaci��n. S��ptimo, el espacio y el tiempo. El debate espacio-tiempo condiciona y estructura la percepci��n del Centro Comercial. Introducimos conceptos como cronotopo ���el instante y el lugar donde ocurre algo- y paradoja ���incoherencia de la relaci��n causa efecto- que sit��an el v��nculo entre el tiempo y el espacio del Centro Comercial en un contexto de Shopping. En el discurrir paralelo del tiempo hist��rico ���el tiempo de fuera- y del tiempo interior, el de dentro del Centro Comercial ���tiempo presente o intemporalidad-, se produce el triunfo social del Centro Comercial que se traduce en haber sabido resolver en el espacio y en el tiempo las paradojas postmodernas del hombre contempor��neo. Octavo, de lo global. Globalidad que no es ajena a lo local. Una arquitectura que insertada en la din��mica de una econom��a de ��mbito mundial, refleja las contradicciones que ella impone, fundamentalmente en los procesos de inclusi��n y exclusi��n, afectando de manera decisiva al debate de lo local, que el Centro Comercial debe incorporar como herramienta ineludible de reconocimiento. Terminamos el cap��tulo segundo manifestando como estas ocho claves, asumidas en su conjunto, confirman que el Centro Comercial puede aparecer como un todo conceptual cohesionado, pasando a formar parte de una familia arquitect��nica coherente, cuya estructura funcional somos capaces de establecer. El Cap��tulo Tercero presenta con detalle la figura del arquitecto V��ctor Gruen, creador reconocido del moderno Centro Comercial. Presentamos su trayectoria profesional observando como las diferentes claves analizadas en cap��tulos anteriores van apareciendo de manera natural a lo largo de ella "Victor Gruen may well have been the most influential architect of the twentieth century." Malcolm Gladwell. The Terrazo Jungle. Fifty Years Ago, The Mall Was Born. America Never Would Be The Same. 2004. In The New Yorker. Hombre complejo, conflictivo. Las paradojas a lo largo de su carrera fueron notables. Sin embargo siempre apareci�� como un hombre recto. Garret Eckbo, reconocido paisajista y colaborador de Gruen en el Centro Comercial peatonal del Centro urbano de Fresno, California, se asombraba de que alguien como Gruen hubiese sido capaz de combinar cortes��a y humanidad en la carrera de ratas (sic) en la que se convirti�� el universo de la comercializaci��n americana y mantener la integridad542. Philip Johnson, en 1962, ponderando las muchas habilidades de Gruen manifest�� que no estaba seguro si alguno de ellos, arquitectos artistas, hubiera sido capaz de hacer lo que Gruen hizo. A m��s, sobre Gruen, manifest�� lo siguiente: "... El va m��s all�� de la creaci��n de un bello edificio. En jugar con la gente y sugerir lo que tienen que hacer, es un maestro. Y obtiene buenos resultados como hace la escultura. El suyo es un arte c��vico, un sentido c��vico.... ��l es capaz de sentarse y poner cosas juntas. No es pomposo ni vano. Yo no me reunir��a con ��l para hablar del dise��o (de edificios). V��ctor siente que cuando se habla de dise��o se est�� ignorando todo el contexto... Su arquitectura es poderosamente limpia, no vuela la fantas��a. Pero cuando te haces con su complejidad, ves que has descubierto algo m��s all�� del dise��o.... No puedes decir que haya alguien como ��l. La arquitectura tiene la suerte de tenerle como arquitecto..." Philip Johnson. Article in Fortune Review. 1962. El Documento de tesis cierra la visi��n de Gruen realizando un recorrido por los diferentes cap��tulos de su libro esencial, Shopping Towns Usa: The Planning of Shopping Centers. Solo su ��ndice resulta un monumento al proceso de gestaci��n del Centro Comercial. El libro, aqu�� simplemente mostrado en su estructura b��sica como un silencioso testigo, es la referencia can��nica los Centros Comerciales contempor��neos, desde su aparici��n. . El Cuarto Cap��tulo del Documento de tesis es una recapitulaci��n del trabajo anterior, en el que se sintetizan los conceptos de funci��n y estilo relacionados con el Centro Comercial, se define en qu�� consiste cada uno de ellos y como, a partir de ah��, podemos afirmar que nos encontramos ante un tipo arquitect��nico nuevo en el panorama de la disciplina arquitect��nica. Terminamos el Cap��tulo integrando el Centro Comercial con un cuerpo te��rico de referencias que se remiten a un tipo arquitect��nico concreto y particular, acogiendo su singularidad como fen��meno arquitect��nico aut��nomo. Como Conclusi��n de la tesis, resultado de todo lo anterior es decir, como consecuencia de la integraci��n de un torrente de percepciones e intuiciones en un cuerpo te��rico de referencias, deducidas de la existencia de unas claves que estructuran y penetran la esencia del singular modelo estudiado, haci��ndolo detectable y seductor, resultan las caracter��sticas de un tipo arquitect��nico con entidad propia que ordena, orienta y supedita la realidad y la existencia de esta nueva arquitectura. Una arquitectura nunca antes definida como tal, en el panorama tipol��gico de la disciplina. Teor��a tipol��gica para una nueva arquitectura, que hemos ido proponiendo a lo largo del trabajo y que es coherente con los diferentes par��metros que se han analizado. Un conjunto edificado que, desde el estudio de sus claves esenciales y de sus invariantes perceptibles, aparece ahora m��s cercano, m��s familiar. Tanto que es posible destilar desde este conocimiento cercano e ��ntimo, una s��ntesis ��til como referencia proyectual y como referencia para las grandes cuestiones que preocupan al discurrir del debate arquitect��nico y sus ideas. El debate de la disciplina. El objeto de esta tesis, que consist��a en establecer que el conjunto edificado que conocemos como Centro Comercial se constituye en un nuevo tipo en el panorama de las tipolog��as arquitect��nicas, entendido el Centro Comercial en sentido gen��rico como familia arquitect��nica con caracter��sticas propias y espec��ficas que la hacen aut��noma y reconocible, queda a nuestro juicio argumentado y justificado. ABSTRACT Within the frame of the built heritage there is a construction that is recognized as Shopping Center. An ensemble understood as an architectural family with its own specific recognizable characteristics. This thesis aims to explain that this building complex constitutes a new type in the panorama of architectural typology. This typology, with its singular identity, is connected to a way of understanding the idea of the model beyond an orthodox conception of the term understood as virtual model. This typology comes from a theoretical structure that we called typological theory, and it serves as yet another tool to reference the study and development design of the architectural spaces. In this first section, the Method, we emotionally explore the opportunities of this thesis. Why this typology has been ignored and the interest this work has in the present moment. An opportunity and an interest explained from an experience of a life dedicated to the world of Shopping Centers. The text then introduces the need for a rigorous knowledge of the Shopping Center���s essence in order to understand its impact in the frame of a new society and a new physical environment. A frame time where the historical mechanisms of association of civic community have given way to other gathering spaces like the Shopping Center, which encourages individualism, but is demanded by a society that relates to them. Spaces that, according to Galbraith, are a result of the intrinsic perversity of the unstoppable movement of the wheel of consumption-production. A society that has turned to worship of material achievement. Worship that provokes the appearance of an increasing value of consumption, according to Koolhaas, the only goal of humanity. Worship that ends in the need to reach certain status levels in the plane of a permanent comparison where the need of possession excites the consumer and gives them the illusion of being special. The product of consumption rises up to consideration of social values, entering a dynamic of marketing values, not only objects, but the desire of the individual remains. The study appears also to clarify the meaning of a space that serves the consumer and its context. A meaning that makes sense with the appearance of the suburbanization, the massive utilization of the car, the increase of living standards and the new role of women in the society after the Second World War, giving rise to the Age of Consumption. A world now determined and controlled by media and unlimited offers, where it���s necessary to place them in the context of the ordinary. An architecture that has to be judged precisely for its relation with this specific contemporary man. This section ends justifying the term ignored that appears in the Title of the Thesis, considering it in relation with the lack of studies structured about the Shopping Center and its architecture, drawing from Pevsner's work, A history of building types, 1976. Finally, the Shopping Center is analyzed with the most critical of thoughts, which considers it as populist architecture. The First Chapter, Precedents, proposes an historical tour of the commercial architecture throughout history. The Document looks to place on record the characteristics of the commercial architecture to set the connection between them and the Mall itself. These correspondences are going to allow us to answer the rhetorical question: is it the architecture of the Shopping Center a subsidiary architecture, or does it have its own personality independent from that of the commercial world? The reason of this historical search, citing Bruno Zevi, is that it is indispensable to establish the relationship between architecture and history, understating that an analysis is only possible when researching for their roots. Moreover, according to Guy de Maupassant, we are sure that architecture has had the privilege, across the centuries, of symbolizing as it were each age(���), through the harmony of lines and the charm of ornamentation all the grace and grandeur of an epoch. This historical reading, inseparable from a consistent design action, begins interpreting the commercial architecture of the Minoan to the 20th Century. Though this analysis of the big commercial itineraries and the study of the Shopping Center itself. A reading where we have found a series of constants that make it possible to draw conclusions from this comparison. The Mall appears to give response to the needs of a consumerist society. Comparing to the calm pace of the evolution of other commercial solutions, it is relevant its fast implantation and evolution in a short period of sixty years. Though via different solutions, the commercial spaces are considered taking into account the public-private relation, the interior-exterior, the inside-out, the closed-opened. Through that, the 19th century galleries and the food markets represent a revolution in functionality, in the machine, the modern management and the relations of the citizen within the city. All of this, the Mall inheritor feels. Likewise, the Department Store is the reflection of another great revolution. Production and commercialization en-mass, communications, the fixed price and increase of the living standard. The Mall reinterprets these situations inserting them in a new model of management. Already in the 20th century Mall and mass technologies of sale, the hypermarket is enthusiastically incorporated into the configuration of this organic scheme, constituting the base of one of the models, the French, that will be highly developed in the European continent. The shop itself constitutes, on the other hand, the key piece that completes the puzzle of the Mall and is in this epoch when it starts taking off as architecture, has an autonomous character. After all this, finally, we come to the big commercial routes, which we propose as metaphor of the shopping. Citing Eugenio Ferrer we can conclude that ���If we establish a relation between the space and the capitalism, then we can infer that the spaces of the consumption of masses (ECM) are new configurations with regard to the past (...), but the system that introduces it it is not completely��� Now we arrive at this point and with the perspective of time it is necessary to ask us, what do we understand about the Shopping Center? How do we perceive it? The second Chapter approaches the problem of the perception of the Mall and from this it is possible to detect and to identify key drivers that orientate the architectural comprehension of the space. The efficiency of the Shopping Center is its main power of attraction. A world that has ensued from the synthesis of the revolution of consumption and management. An effective cavern-like place of entertainment where the user, the consumer, the postmodern man solves his daily life inside a considered habitat. The hyperbolic place of commercial transaction. An abundance of space, that makes us perceive it as destination of entertainment. An architecture has evolved this efficiency, where the sense of place is at one with the sense of the Shopping. The home of the consumer. The new cathedrals. The cathedral of consumption. The place of peregrination for the fervent consumer. A sacred space that integrates the user in the dominant culture. A temple, where time itself has stopped existing. In this paroxysm, an expression of the Garden of Eden or Paradise itself. A space where the height, the natural daylight and the spatial dimension reinforce the sacred character of a new lay religion. Another common perception is that of a protected area, which leads to metaphors and considerations that suggest the idea of maternal womb, with its weight of erotic meaning, referring to the encounter of the shopper making a purchase. The literature also tells us about its perception as a sterile space capsule, a black hole that absorbs all cultural energy. Likewise, a world simulation where a mock city is perceived at first instance. Consistent with all that shopping triggers inside. A city, a space conceived as a place of dreams, fantasy, where the products have been metamorphosed into fetishes. Entertaining a television, three-dimensional television, where the user acts guided by a drive similar to zapping. A play area where the latest fascination is in the act of buying. Space simulations that unite and transcend creating atmospheres that lead to reverie. A new space replacing the daily space with the lure of safe space in a public context. A hyper-reality space with reality and fantasy, where borders are erased with imaginary episodes of confusion and bewilderment, without distinction. The charm and fascination of a space that reads like magic. The magic of a space which is defined as stage extravaganza, the large theatre, the consumer surveys in the fine control mode in which you visit a national monument. The shopping center has to survive the times to be a testimony of our time. An icon, a symbol that conveys a message, the message reads ���consumer���. In short, a Shopping Center is a mix of unprecedented insights that speak of a widespread phenomenon of bewilderment. Its space and the reactions of contemporary man unfold in it like a fish in water. What are the key aspects which allow us to recognize the essential quality of a shopping center in this concurrence of perplexities? First, we want to record a service function of space much deeper than the immediately obvious, i.e. a purchase occurs. A building that appears to be involved with the environment and its people from the hand of the unexpected circumstances; surprise and attention. And that, in turn, also involves the visitor beyond the purchase. This dedication to service closely links the mall with its architectural nature. It is not the function of a lifeless machine. It is a feature that suggests unsuspected perceptions linked to the purchase, which speaks of an organism that lives and breathes in unison with the visitor. Second, in addition to the vocation of service-oriented desire for consumption, the Mall environment serves a particular society - The consumer society. A new society which relates to building a sense of community developed to the level of their desires. This community also constitutes the most powerful asset to the success of the daily life of the Shopping Center. Third, we emphasize that the so called economy of the experience is combined with the consumer zeal of a company that is identified by the Shopping Center. It connects to form a holistic and planned experience. This experience takes shape in the entity that ensues from the premeditated association and synergy, in the sense of a collaboration for success. A set of concrete commercial and independent establishments, take part in the spatial and commercial adventure that is the Mall and they are the instigators of the consumption. This holistic behavior finds culmination in the amplification of a claim that becomes unitary, like an immense force that leads to an increased profitability to all the levels. Consummation is a reference of one human being overturned in an architecture assimilated into a legitimate, emotional design with stability. A holistic quality is born of the essence of the building - and by virtue of the Conditions of Alexander, Christopher Alexander, determines the system condition of the Shopping Center. Fourth, we propose to establish what character the Mall will form when joined with the concept of its typology. This is going to allow the architectural work to be formed. As a result of the holistic structure that we see, the Mall is perceived as a system whose parts have their own function, justifying their existence in the ecosystem. Across a gestalt there is a powerful capacity of communication between the system and its context. We visualize on the one that stands out our building, turning both, Center and environment, in accomplices of a few special relations who complement each other in his realities. This relationship within a complex and diverse environment gives the Mall a range of unique spatial perceptions, the result of disparate experiences, which because of its root origin of gestalt, are integrated into a unified and coordinated manner fully intelligible and organized. This is the final formal essence of the Shopping Center. We can conclude here that the Mall as architecture is a structured system and should be perceived as a unit both from a physical and spatial perspective as this is the essence of its architecture. Fifth, the Mall as a system. A system which is being supported by a broad theoretical corpus, the General Systems Theory, which offers sufficient methodology to descend into consideration and give an enlightened conclusion on the overall understanding of the Mall. Consideration of the Mall as a system is a result of its holistic structure. The whole does not behave like any of the parties and they do not behave the way they used to before belonging to the whole, because they inhibit many of their qualities to their advantage. It arises the need for an ongoing dialogue between marketing processes and its translation into the physical world, the design. The system generates multiple perceptions to be integrated into a body which is to be understood as unitary. As a system, the Mall is inserted into the contemporary paradigm, creating dual realities that are not exclusive and are reactions of uncertainty that the system be properly designed at all levels, faced with their ability to self-regulate. Likewise, considering the visitor, the customer, like the quantum spectator who interacts with the system permanently. Moreover, a complex system confronts us with the Commercial mix, the effective location of parts in order to relate to the body and its importance in the architecture we are conceiving. Unpredictable architecture, which stands as the challenge of the operation and the designer. Design that becomes the tool of the system to create success for the overall operation. The discussion of the styling is merely the result of analysis that also seeks the success of the system, i.e. the styling should send the right message for the environment to ensure its survival. Sixth, the idea of negotiation as an architecture project, a mechanism inherent to the status of the proposed system. The project solution is never evident at the Shopping Center because of the unpredictability of the process itself. It can only be the fruit of the commitment of all stakeholders to achieve the objective of the operation. This is achieved from the balance of interests, of commercial and design. A commitment to negotiation and a negotiation linked to coordination. The pursuit of stability is key, as instability is always present and constantly requires strategies to build the object you are configuring. Seventh, proposes space-time itself as a circumstance that determines and structures the perception of the Mall in a singular way. We introduce concepts as chronotope and paradox to help us place the relationship between time and space within the Mall in the context of shopping. A consequence of the parallel flow of historical time - the time outside - and the time inside the Mall, the big shopping center formula is precisely that of having the feeling of timelessness in the space. The social triumph of the mall is the ability to resolve in space and in time all postmodern paradoxes and, beyond that, of contemporary man, condensing into a small space and time an enormous amount of cultural symbols, often contradictory, but they attract the practice of consumerism. Eighth, global level. Globalization which doesn���t ignore the local level. Architecture that is inserted into the dynamics of a global economy, reflects the contradictions that it imposes, mainly in the processes of inclusion and exclusion. Inclusion and exclusion affect the debate of the local level, which the Mall must incorporate as an unavoidable tool of recognition. The eight fundamental principles, when applied as a whole, confirm that the built heritage, which corresponds to the general Mall idea, can be presented as a cohesive conceptual whole. This becomes part of a coherent architectural family, whose functional structures are able to be established. The Third chapter presents in a detailed way the figure of the architect Victor Gruen, recognized as the creator of the modern Mall. Studying his professional experience, it is shown how the different keys analyzed in previous chapters are appearing in a natural way. "Victor Gruen may well have been the most influential architect of the twentieth century." Malcolm Gladwell. The Terrazo Jungle. Fifty Years Ago, The Mall Was Born. America Never Would Be The Same. 2004. In The New Yorker. He was a complex, troubled man and the paradoxes along his career were notable. Nevertheless, always he appeared as a straight man. Garret Eckbo, the recognized landscape painter and collaborator of Gruen was astonished how Gruen had been capable of combining comity and humanity in this career of rates, into that the American commercialization turned, Johnson, in 1962, weighting many Gruen's skills demonstrated that he was not sure if anyone of them, architects artists, had been capable of doing what Gruen did. He goes beyond just the creation of a beautiful building. In playing on people and suggesting what they ought to do, he is a master. (���) his architecture is clean - hardly architecture, no flights of fancy. But when you get hold of its complexity, you've got something beyond the design... You can't say there's someone like him. Architecture is lucky to have him as an architect." Philip Johnson. Article in Fortune Review. 1962. The Document of the thesis closes with Gruen's vision of realizing a tour through the different chapters of his essential book, Shopping towns USA: The Planning of Shopping Centers. It���s mere index turns out to be a monument to the process of the gestation of the Mall. The book, simply acted in its basic structure as a silent witness, as the canonical reference for the contemporary Malls. The Fourth Chapter of the Document of the thesis is a recapitulation of the previous work, which synthesizes the concepts of function and style related to the Shopping Center, and clearly defines how they are defined so we can conclude that we have found an architectural new type in the panorama of the architectural discipline. Therefore, the Conclusion of the thesis integrates this development in a theoretical body of references that relate to an architectural specific and particular type, which receives the singularity of the Shopping Center as an architectural independent phenomenon as it has tried to demonstrate from the beginning of the work. To conclude, as a result of the integrative process and the development of the theoretical body of references, the essential characteristics of the order and concept of the architectural typology form the existence of a new architecture; architecture never before defined as such, in the theoretical typology of the discipline. A theoretical typology for a new architecture is proposed throughout the discussed research and forms a conclusion of the different parameters that have been analysed. As a building complex, from the study of the essential characteristics and of the perceptible constants, the typology is more clearly defined and thus, becomes a useful tool and precedent for the consideration of the discipline. The thesis then justifies how the building complex known as Shopping Center constitutes a new type of architectural typology.

The interaction of the general anesthetic etomidate with the ��-aminobutyric acid type A receptor is influenced by a single amino���acid

The ��-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptor is a transmitter-gated ion channel mediating the majority of fast inhibitory synaptic transmission within the brain. The receptor is a pentameric assembly of subunits drawn from multiple classes (��1���6, ��1���3, ��1���3, ��1, and ��1). Positive allosteric modulation of GABAA receptor activity by general anesthetics represents one logical mechanism for central nervous system depression. The ability of the intravenous general anesthetic etomidate to modulate and activate GABAA receptors is uniquely dependent upon the �� subunit subtype present within the receptor. Receptors containing ��2- or ��3-, but not ��1 subunits, are highly sensitive to the agent. Here, chimeric ��1/��2 subunits coexpressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes with human ��6 and ��2 subunits identified a region distal to the extracellular N-terminal domain as a determinant of the selectivity of etomidate. The mutation of an amino acid (Asn-289) present within the channel domain of the ��3 subunit to Ser (the homologous residue in ��1), strongly suppressed the GABA-modulatory and GABA-mimetic effects of etomidate. The replacement of the ��1 subunit Ser-290 by Asn produced the converse effect. When applied intracellularly to mouse L(tk���) cells stably expressing the ��6��3��2 subunit combination, etomidate was inert. Hence, the effects of a clinically utilized general anesthetic upon a physiologically relevant target protein are dramatically influenced by a single amino acid. Together with the lack of effect of intracellular etomidate, the data argue against a unitary, lipid-based theory of anesthesia.

Suppression of gene silencing: A general strategy used by diverse DNA and RNA viruses of plants

In transgenic and nontransgenic plants, viruses are both initiators and targets of a defense mechanism that is similar to posttranscriptional gene silencing (PTGS). Recently, it was found that potyviruses and cucumoviruses encode pathogenicity determinants that suppress this defense mechanism. Here, we test diverse virus types for the ability to suppress PTGS. Nicotiana benthamiana exhibiting PTGS of a green fluorescent protein transgene were infected with a range of unrelated viruses and various potato virus X vectors producing viral pathogenicity factors. Upon infection, suppression of PTGS was assessed in planta through reactivation of green fluorescence and confirmed by molecular analysis. These experiments led to the identification of three suppressors of PTGS and showed that suppression of PTGS is widely used as a counter-defense strategy by DNA and RNA viruses. However, the spatial pattern and degree of suppression varied extensively between viruses. At one extreme, there are viruses that suppress in all tissues of all infected leaves, whereas others are able to suppress only in the veins of new emerging leaves. This variation existed even between closely related members of the potexvirus group. Collectively, these results suggest that virus-encoded suppressors of gene silencing have distinct modes of action, are targeted against distinct components of the host gene-silencing machinery, and that there is dynamic evolution of the host and viral components associated with the gene-silencing mechanism.

Recruitment of SMRT/N-CoR-mSin3A-HDAC-repressing complexes is not a general mechanism for BTB/POZ transcriptional repressors: The case of HIC-1 and ��FBP-B

Hypermethylated in cancer (HIC-1), a new candidate tumor suppressor gene located in 17p13.3, encodes a protein with five C2H2 zinc fingers and an N-terminal broad complex, tramtrack, and bric �� brac/poxviruses and zinc-finger (BTB/POZ) domain found in actin binding proteins or transcriptional regulators involved in chromatin modeling. In the human B cell lymphoma (BCL-6) and promyelocityc leukemia (PLZF) oncoproteins, this domain mediates transcriptional repression through its ability to recruit a silencing mediator of retinoid and thyroid hormone receptor (SMRT)/nuclear receptor corepressor (N-CoR)-mSin3A-histone deacetylase (HDAC) complex, a mechanism shared with numerous transcription factors. HIC-1 appears unique because it contains a 13-aa insertion acquired late in evolution, because it is not found in its avian homologue, ��F1-binding protein isoform B (��FBP-B), a transcriptional repressor of the ��F-crystallin gene. This insertion, located in a conserved region involved in the dimerization and scaffolding of the BTB/POZ domain, mainly affects slightly the ability of the HIC-1 and ��FBP-B BTB/POZ domains to homo- and heterodimerize in vivo, as shown by mammalian two-hybrid experiments. Both the HIC-1 and ��FBP-B BTB/POZ domains behave as autonomous transcriptional repression domains. However, in striking contrast with BCL-6 and PLZF, both HIC-1 and ��FBP-B similarly fail to interact with members of the HDAC complexes (SMRT/N-CoR, mSin3A or HDAC-1) in vivo and in vitro. In addition, a general and specific inhibitor of HDACs, trichostatin A, did not alleviate the HIC-1- and ��FBP-B-mediated transcriptional repression, as previously shown for BCL-6. Taken together, our studies show that the recruitment onto target promoters of an HDAC complex is not a general property of transcriptional repressors containing a conserved BTB/POZ domain.

A mutant allele of essential, general translation initiation factor DED1 selectively inhibits translation of a viral mRNA

Positive-strand RNA virus genomes are substrates for translation, RNA replication, and encapsidation. To identify host factors involved in these functions, we used the ability of brome mosaic virus (BMV) RNA to replicate in yeast. We report herein identification of a mutation in the essential yeast gene DED1 that inhibited BMV RNA replication but not yeast growth. DED1 encodes a DEAD (Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp)-box RNA helicase required for translation initiation of all yeast mRNAs. Inhibition of BMV RNA replication by the mutant DED1 allele (ded1���18) resulted from inhibited expression of viral polymerase-like protein 2a, encoded by BMV RNA2. Inhibition of RNA2 translation was selective, with no effect on general cellular translation or translation of BMV RNA1-encoded replication factor 1a, and was independent of p20, a cellular antagonist of DED1 function in translation. Inhibition of RNA2 translation in ded1���18 yeast required the RNA2 5��� noncoding region (NCR), which also conferred a ded1���18-specific reduction in expression on a reporter gene mRNA. Comparison of the similar RNA1 and RNA2 5��� NCRs identified a 31-nucleotide RNA2-specific region that was required for the ded1���18-specific RNA2 translation block and attenuated RNA2 translation in wild-type yeast. Further comparisons and RNA structure predictions suggest a modular arrangement of replication and translation signals in RNA1 and RNA2 5��� NCRs that appears conserved among bromoviruses. The 5��� attenuator and DED1 dependence of RNA2 suggest that, despite its divided genome, BMV regulates polymerase translation relative to other replication factors, just as many single-component RNA viruses use translational read-through and frameshift mechanisms to down-regulate polymerase. The results show that a DEAD-box helicase can selectively activate translation of a specific mRNA and may provide a paradigm for translational regulation by other members of the ubiquitous DEAD-box RNA helicase family.

Structural evidence for a programmed general base in the active site of a catalytic antibody

The crystal structure of the complex of a catalytic antibody with its cationic hapten at 1.9-��� resolution demonstrates that the hapten amidinium group is stabilized through an ionic pair interaction with the carboxylate of a combining-site residue. The location of this carboxylate allows it to act as a general base in an allylic rearrangement. When compared with structures of other antibody complexes in which the positive moiety of the hapten is stabilized mostly by cation����� interactions, this structure shows that the amidinium moiety is a useful candidate to elicit a carboxylate in an antibody combining site at a predetermined location with respect to the hapten. More generally, this structure highlights the advantage of a bidentate hapten for the programmed positioning of a chemically reactive residue in an antibody through charge complementarity to the hapten.

Inactivation of the mouse sperm receptor, mZP3, by site-directed mutagenesis of individual serine residues located at the combining site for sperm

To initiate fertilization, mouse sperm bind to Ser- (O-) linked oligosaccharides located at the sperm combining site of zona pellucida glycoprotein mZP3. Apparently, the oligosaccharides are present on one or more of five Ser residues clustered in the carboxyl-terminal region of the mZP3 polypeptide. Here, each of the Ser residues, as well as an intervening Asn residue, was converted to a small, nonhydroxy amino acid by site-directed mutagenesis. Mouse embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells were then stably transfected with the wild-type and mutated mZP3 genes. In each case, transfected cells synthesized and secreted recombinant EC-mZP3 into the culture medium. The glycoproteins were partially purified and assayed for their ability to inhibit binding of sperm to ovulated eggs in vitro. As compared with wild-type EC-mZP3, mutations of Ser-329, Ser-331, or Ser-333 had no effect on sperm receptor activity. Mutation of Asn-330, a potential N-linked glycosylation site, also had no effect on sperm receptor activity. On the other hand, mutation of either Ser-332 or Ser-334, or mutation of Ser-332, Ser-333, and Ser-334, resulted in complete inactivation of EC-mZP3 as a sperm receptor. These results suggest that Ser-332 and Ser-334, residues conserved in mouse, hamster, and human ZP3, are essential for sperm receptor activity.

Perceived emotional intelligence, general intelligence and early professional success: predictive and incremental validity

Although the study of factors affecting career success has shown connections between biographical and other aspects related to ability, knowledge and personality, few studies have examined the relationship be-tween emotional intelligence and professional success at the initial career stage. When these studies were carried out, the results showed significant relationships between the dimensions of emotional intelligence (emotional self-awareness, self-regulation, social awareness or social skills) and the level of professional competence. In this paper, we analyze the relationship between perceived emotional intelligence, measured by the Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS-24) questionnaire, general intelligence assessed by the Cattell factor "g" test, scale 3, and extrinsic indicators of career success, in a sample of 130 graduates at the beginning of their careers. Results from hierarchical regression analysis indicate that emotional intelligence makes a specific contribution to the prediction of salary, after controlling the general intelligence effect. The perceived emotional intelligence dimensions of TMMS repair, TMMS attention and sex show a higher correlation and make a greater contribution to professional success than general intelligence. The implications of these results for the development of socio-emotional skills among University graduates are discussed.

"Streamlined auditing and monitoring of community based services: first steps toward a more efficient system for providers, state government, and the community" : report to the Illinois General Assembly as required by PA 96-1141 /

The Steering Committee recognizes that the Departments may need to implement reviews necessary to address specific Federal requirements and that while consolidated reporting should be used when possible, the review and reporting processes should facilitate the ability to garner Federal funding. However, the analysis thus far confirms the need for change and a significant potential to reduce redundant monitoring and reporting. At the end of this Executive Summary, there is a summary presentation, including a timeline and progress indicators, that gives more details on these recommendations.

The International coffee agreement : its impact on coffee prices, its ability to deal with unforeseen supply and demand conditions, alleged discrimination against U.S. ships in the carriage of coffee, and the soluble coffee controversy /

At head of title: 93d Congress, 1st session. Committee print.

Pilot study to determine the ability of health-care professionals to undertake drug dose calculations

Background: It is essential for health-care professionals to calculate drug doses accurately. Previous studies have demonstrated that many hospital doctors were unable to accurately convert dilutions (e.g. 1:1000) or percentages (e.g. percentage w/v) of drug concentrations into mass concentrations (e.g. mg/mL). Aims: The aims of the present study were to evaluate the ability of health-care professionals to perform drug dose calculations accurately and to determine their preferred concentration convention when calculating drug doses. Methods: A selection of nurses, medical students, house surgeons, registrars and pharmacists undertook a written survey to assess their ability to perform five drug dose calculations. Participants were also asked which concentration convention they preferred when calculating drug doses. The surveys were marked then analysed for health-care professionals as a whole and then by subgroup analysis to assess the performance of each health-care-professional group. Results: Overall, less than 14% of the surveyed health-care professionals could answer all five questions correctly. Subgroup analysis revealed that health-care pro-fessionals' ability to calculate drug doses were ranked in the following order: registrars approximate to pharmacists > house surgeons > medical students >> nurses. Ninety per cent of health-care professionals preferred to calculate drug doses using the mass concentration convention. Conclusions: Overall, drug dose calculations were performed poorly. Mass concentration was clearly indicated as the preferred convention for calculating drug doses.

Appetitive motivation predicts the majority of personality and an ability measure: a comparison of BAS measures and a re-evaluation of the importance of RST

Our first study develops a measure of appetitive motivation and our second study compares several measures of Gray's (1987) behaviour activation system (BAS) in the prediction of the surface scales of personality. In particular, we were interested in determining the utility of the new appetitive motivation scale and Dickman's functional impulsivity scale. In comparison to other well-known measures, both scales were generally good predictors. We conclude that the appetitive motivation scale is a promising measure of BAS based upon construct validation. Contrary to previous studies which have suggested that BAS is a generally poor predictor of the surface scales of personality, we discovered appetitive motivation to be an important predictor of personality in general. Interestingly, the scale was also predictive of scores on the Baddeley reasoning test. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

External health locus of control and general self-efficacy: Moderators of emotional distress among university students

A belief that doctors or family control one's health outcomes (external health locus of control), and a belief in one's own ability to achieve desired outcomes (general self-efficacy), may influence distress experienced in relation to a physical illness. This study examined the interaction between illness severity, external health locus of control and general self-efficacy in relation to distress. Illness severity was defined as acute or chronic illness, with the latter expected to be more stressful. Participants described a serious illness they experienced, and completed self-report scales in relation to it. Results confirmed that chronic illnesses were associated with more distress than acute illnesses across the sample. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses supported the predicted effects on distress of a three-way interaction involving external health locus of control, general self-efficacy and illness severity (acute vs. chronic). Analysis of these results may assist in explaining inconsistencies in previous research, and offer a model for understanding the role of person variables in emotional distress.