Interaction of nucleic acids with carbon nanotubes and dendrimers

Nucleic acid interaction with nanoscale objects like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and dendrimers is of fundamental interest because of their potential application in CNT separation, gene therapy and antisense therapy. Combining nucleic acids with CNTs and dendrimers also opens the door towards controllable self-assembly to generate various supra-molecular and nano-structures with desired morphologies. The interaction between these nanoscale objects also serve as a model system for studying DNA compaction, which is a fundamental process in chromatin organization. By using fully atomistic simulations, here we report various aspects of the interactions and binding modes of DNA and small interfering RNA (siRNA) with CNTs, graphene and dendrimers. Our results give a microscopic picture and mechanism of the adsorption of single- and double-strand DNA (ssDNA and dsDNA) on CNT and graphene. The nucleic acid-CNT interaction is dominated by the dispersive van der Waals (vdW) interaction. In contrast, the complexation of DNA (both ssDNA and dsDNA) and siRNA with various generations of poly-amido-amine (PAMAM) dendrimers is governed by electrostatic interactions. Our results reveal that both the DNA and siRNA form stable complex with the PAMAM dendrimer at a physiological pH when the dendrimer is positively charged due to the protonation of the primary amines. The size and binding energy of the complex increase with increase in dendrimer generation. We also give a summary of the current status in these fields and discuss future prospects.

Solid-state optical absorption from optimally tuned time-dependent range-separated hybrid density functional theory

We present a framework for obtaining reliable solid-state charge and optical excitations and spectra from optimally tuned range-separated hybrid density functional theory. The approach, which is fully couched within the formal framework of generalized Kohn-Sham theory, allows for the accurate prediction of exciton binding energies. We demonstrate our approach through first principles calculations of one- and two-particle excitations in pentacene, a molecular semiconducting crystal, where our work is in excellent agreement with experiments and prior computations. We further show that with one adjustable parameter, set to produce the known band gap, this method accurately predicts band structures and optical spectra of silicon and lithium fluoride, prototypical covalent and ionic solids. Our findings indicate that for a broad range of extended bulk systems, this method may provide a computationally inexpensive alternative to many-body perturbation theory, opening the door to studies of materials of increasing size and complexity.

1D Tight-Binding Models Render Quantum First Passage Time ``Speakable''

The calculation of First Passage Time (moreover, even its probability density in time) has so far been generally viewed as an ill-posed problem in the domain of quantum mechanics. The reasons can be summarily seen in the fact that the quantum probabilities in general do not satisfy the Kolmogorov sum rule: the probabilities for entering and non-entering of Feynman paths into a given region of space-time do not in general add up to unity, much owing to the interference of alternative paths. In the present work, it is pointed out that a special case exists (within quantum framework), in which, by design, there exists one and only one available path (i.e., door-way) to mediate the (first) passage -no alternative path to interfere with. Further, it is identified that a popular family of quantum systems - namely the 1d tight binding Hamiltonian systems - falls under this special category. For these model quantum systems, the first passage time distributions are obtained analytically by suitably applying a method originally devised for classical (stochastic) mechanics (by Schroedinger in 1915). This result is interesting especially given the fact that the tight binding models are extensively used in describing everyday phenomena in condense matter physics.

Evaluación de una mezcla de cepas de Rhizobium bajo diferentes niveles de fertilización en tres variedades de frijol rojo (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) en Nicaragua

El ensayo se realizó en la Estación Experimental La Compañía, Masatepe, en la época de postrera (octubre-diciembre) de 1998. Los objetivos fueron: Determinar el crecimiento y rendimiento de tres cultivares de frijol, utilizando la técnica de inoculación en bolsas de polietileno y evaluar el rendimiento de tres cultivares de frijol, utilizando la técnica de inoculación y diferentes niveles de fertilización en condiciones de campo. Se montaron dos ensayos, uno en bolsas de polietileno con diseño en parcelas divididas en BCA con 40 observaciones y el ensayo en campo con diseño en parcelas subdivididas con cuatro réplicas. Los factores evaluados fueron; A: variedades (a1: Door-364, a2: Compañia y •a3: Criolla), B: inoculante con cepa de Rhizobium (b1: Semilla Inoculada y b2: Semilla Sin Inocular) y C: niveles de fertilizantes (c1: 127 kg/ha de completo (12-24-12) a la siembra, C2: 127 kg/ha de completo (12-24-12) a la siembra más 63.5 kg/ha de urea a los 25 días después de la siembra y c3: 127 kg/ha de completo (12-24-12) a la siembra más 127 kg/ha de urea a los 25 días después de la siembra),• este último factor no se evaluó en el ensayo en bolsas. En el experimento en bolsas la variedad Door-364 obtuvo el mayor peso seco y la variedad Criolla el mayor rendimiento entre los demás cultivares. En el factor inoculante con cepa de Rhizobium las plantas no inoculadas superaron en altura, peso seco de plantas y rendimientos a las plantas inoculadas. En el experimento en campo la variedad Door-364 superó en número de vainas por planta, granos por vaina, peso seco de paja y rendimiento en campo a las demás variedades, los cultivares Compañia y Criolla presentaron mayor peso en mil granos y población por hectárea respectivamente. Las plantas inoculadas superaron a las plantas no inoculadas en todas las variables con excepción del peso seco de paja. El nivel de fertilizantes 127 kg/ha de la formula completa (l2-24-12) a la siembra más 127 kg/ha de urea a los 25 días después de la siembra obtuvo más vainas por planta, peso de mil granos, rendimientos y peso seco de paja. La dosis de 127 kg/ha de la fórmula completa (12-24-12) a la siembra más 63.5 kg/ha de urea a los 25 días después de la siembra presentó el mayor número de plantas por hectárea y granos por vaina, en esta última variable la dosis de 127 kg/ha de la fórmula completa (12-24-12) a la siembra obtuvo el mismo resultado.

Liberalismo, neutralidad estatal y perfeccionismo : Rawls y su crítica

Resumen: Este artículo expone ciertos ejes del debate contemporáneo en torno al liberalismo político y la neutralidad estatal para intentar una recapitulación crítica que permita arrojar luz sobre la posibilidad de una posición que concilie el respeto a la pluralidad contemporánea y a ciertos principios constitucionales con la no abdicación del rol que la política debe tener en el fomento de la “vida buena” (lo que en la tradición de la filosofía política anglosajona se ha designado como “perfeccionismo”). El artículo explora, al menos preliminarmente, sobre qué premisas se asentaría dicha conciliación, a través del análisis de la justificación del “perfeccionismo” y del tratamiento del tema del paternalismo estatal, la coerción y el fomento. Se analizan las ideas de Rawls así como las de algunos de sus críticos, en especial de Sandel y – sobre todo– de Raz, dado que es un autor que abre las puertas a la posibilidad de un liberalismo “perfeccionista”, fiel a los principios del liberalismo político clásico, pero que abandona la exigencia de “neutralidad” ante distintas concepciones del bien.

[A_Laguardia_SanJuan] Levantamiento fotogramétrico de la portada Sur o “de los abuelos” de la iglesia de San Juan de Laguardia (Álava)

[ES] La documentación contenida en este registro ha servido de base para los siguientes documentos:

[R_SanAsensio_Estrella] Levantamiento topográfico de la antigua hospedería y de los aposentos del arcediano. Estudio e integración de la cartografía existente. Monasterio de la Estrella (San Asensio, La Rioja)

[ES] La parte documentada consta de un edificio independiente (que no exento) que corresponde a la antigua hospedería, que tiene unas dimensiones de 25x15 metros y está formado por ocho espacios abovedados. En la fachada exterior Norte tiene adosada la denominada «Fuente de Felipe II». Por otro lado, los «aposentos del arcediano» consisten en una entrada al claustro por la conocida como «Puerta de los Caballeros» que es un espacio abovedado de 6 x 6 metros que da también acceso a una estancia rectangular de 12 x 6 metros que actualmente se utiliza como capilla. Este espacio cuenta también con varias vidrieras que también se han documentado.

[A_Arlucea_SanMartin] Documentación geométrica y representación virtual de la iglesia de San Martín de Arlucea (Álava)

[ES] El edificio tiene planta rectangular de unos 30 x 15 metros con un interior con una altura de 10 metros. Cuenta con una torre anexa a los pies y un pórtico de piedra de ocho arcos de posible factura medieval. La antigua cabecera ha quedado como la sacristía actual.

Configurations and relative efficiencies of shrimp trawls employed in southeastern United States waters

Common shrimp trawl designs employed in the southeastern United States shrimp fishery are the flat, balloon, semiballoon, jib, and super X-3. Recent innovations in trawl design and rigging, including the twin trawl rigging and tongue trawl design, have improved the efficiency of shrimp trawling gear. A description of the construction techniques for the different designs indicate differences which affect gear performance. Measurements of horizontal spread and vertical opening for 76 trawl configurations indicate the relative efficiencies of the different designs. Maximum horizontal spreading efficiency was achieved by the "twin" and "tongue" trawl designs followed by the super X-3, jib, balloon, and semiballoon designs. Designs having the greatest vertical openings were the tongue and flat trawl designs followed by the semiballoon. Maximum total gape dimension was demonstrated by the "Mongoose" tongue trawl. Comparison of trawl spreading efficiency and door area to headrope length ratio indicates that a range of 70-80 in square (per door) of door area is required for each foot of trawl headrope length for maximum efficiency with conventional trawl designs and 66-75 in square per foot of headrope for tongue trawl designs. (PDF file contains 18 pages.)

FTT-MA: A Flexible Time-Triggered Middleware Architecture for Time Sensitive, Resource-Aware AmI Systems

There is an increasing number of Ambient Intelligence (AmI) systems that are time-sensitive and resource-aware. From healthcare to building and even home/office automation, it is now common to find systems combining interactive and sensing multimedia traffic with relatively simple sensors and actuators (door locks, presence detectors, RFIDs, HVAC, information panels, etc.). Many of these are today known as Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS). Quite frequently, these systems must be capable of (1) prioritizing different traffic flows (process data, alarms, non-critical data, etc.), (2) synchronizing actions in several distributed devices and, to certain degree, (3) easing resource management (e.g., detecting faulty nodes, managing battery levels, handling overloads, etc.). This work presents FTT-MA, a high-level middleware architecture aimed at easing the design, deployment and operation of such AmI systems. FTT-MA ensures that both functional and non-functional aspects of the applications are met even during reconfiguration stages. The paper also proposes a methodology, together with a design tool, to create this kind of systems. Finally, a sample case study is presented that illustrates the use of the middleware and the methodology proposed in the paper.

An austerity-driven energy reform

In July 2013, the government approved a major overhaul of the Spanish electricity sector to correct existing imbalances that have led to an exponential increase of regulated electricity costs and a huge tariff deficit. The reform addresses the problem of financial sustainability of the sector, severely affected by weak demand and overcapacity. Previous regulation introduced in 2012 and early 2013, also aimed at restoring financial stability of the sector, failed to correct the tariff shortfall and new regulatory measures were needed to reduce the 4.5 billion euros forecasted deficit for 2013. The frequent change of the rules of the game in the sector has created regulatory uncertainty, more so as it is not clear that the present reform will be sufficient to eliminate the deficit. Moreover, the government has left the door open to new regulation that would deal with the price formation system. In general, short run financial criteria have prevailed, while efficiency principles and a long run perspective have little weight in the reform.

Advances towards behaviour-based indoor robotic exploration

215 p.

[R_Logroño_Muralla] Documentación geométrica de la muralla del Cubo del Revellín de Logroño (La Rioja)

[ES] El tramo de muralla se compone de un lienzo recto de unos 40 metros de longitud y entre 6 y 12 metros de altura visible (según los tramos). En el centro de este tramo se encuentra una puerta monumental (denominada Puerta del Camino) a la que se accede por un puente. Este tramo recto se continúa por un cubo cilíndrico de unos 10 metros de radio. Continuando por el otro lado del Cubo la muralla se ha perdido pero se ha realizado una excavación que se extiende otros 30 metros en la que se han encontrado restos de varios sistemas defensivos.

Estimation and inference for grasping and manipulation tasks using vision and kinesthetic sensors

This thesis presents a novel framework for state estimation in the context of robotic grasping and manipulation. The overall estimation approach is based on fusing various visual cues for manipulator tracking, namely appearance and feature-based, shape-based, and silhouette-based visual cues. Similarly, a framework is developed to fuse the above visual cues, but also kinesthetic cues such as force-torque and tactile measurements, for in-hand object pose estimation. The cues are extracted from multiple sensor modalities and are fused in a variety of Kalman filters.

A hybrid estimator is developed to estimate both a continuous state (robot and object states) and discrete states, called contact modes, which specify how each finger contacts a particular object surface. A static multiple model estimator is used to compute and maintain this mode probability. The thesis also develops an estimation framework for estimating model parameters associated with object grasping. Dual and joint state-parameter estimation is explored for parameter estimation of a grasped object's mass and center of mass. Experimental results demonstrate simultaneous object localization and center of mass estimation.

Dual-arm estimation is developed for two arm robotic manipulation tasks. Two types of filters are explored; the first is an augmented filter that contains both arms in the state vector while the second runs two filters in parallel, one for each arm. These two frameworks and their performance is compared in a dual-arm task of removing a wheel from a hub.

This thesis also presents a new method for action selection involving touch. This next best touch method selects an available action for interacting with an object that will gain the most information. The algorithm employs information theory to compute an information gain metric that is based on a probabilistic belief suitable for the task. An estimation framework is used to maintain this belief over time. Kinesthetic measurements such as contact and tactile measurements are used to update the state belief after every interactive action. Simulation and experimental results are demonstrated using next best touch for object localization, specifically a door handle on a door. The next best touch theory is extended for model parameter determination. Since many objects within a particular object category share the same rough shape, principle component analysis may be used to parametrize the object mesh models. These parameters can be estimated using the action selection technique that selects the touching action which best both localizes and estimates these parameters. Simulation results are then presented involving localizing and determining a parameter of a screwdriver.

Lastly, the next best touch theory is further extended to model classes. Instead of estimating parameters, object class determination is incorporated into the information gain metric calculation. The best touching action is selected in order to best discern between the possible model classes. Simulation results are presented to validate the theory.

[R_SanMillan_Yuso] Documentación geométrica del refectorio mayor del Monasterio de Yuso

[ES] Se trata de una estancia de 35 x 9 metros de planta que se organiza con un banco corrido en tres de sus lados con un respaldo a modo de friso y una serie de mesas de madera, cuenta además con varias ventanas y tres lámparas que aportan la iluminación, una puerta de acceso destacada en madera con cancel, púlpito para la lectura y varios cuadros.