Platón, Aristóteles y la narrativa histórica

Una de las cuestiones más llamativas de las obras de Platón y Aristóteles estriba en su silencio acerca de la historia. Leyeron y criticaron a físicos, filósofos, matemáticos, biólogos, poetas, retóricos, políticos, etc. Sin embargo, sus citas a propósito de los historiadores de su momento cabrían en una cuartilla. En este breve artículo tratamos de ofrecer una explicación a propósito de tal omisión. Así mismo, aprovechamos para ofrecer una razón del Menéxeno y aportar una confirmación de las razones que condujeron a L. Edelstein a cuestionar la autenticidad de las cartas séptima y octava atribuidas a Platón

Platón, Aristóteles y la narrativa histórica

Una de las cuestiones más llamativas de las obras de Platón y Aristóteles estriba en su silencio acerca de la historia. Leyeron y criticaron a físicos, filósofos, matemáticos, biólogos, poetas, retóricos, políticos, etc. Sin embargo, sus citas a propósito de los historiadores de su momento cabrían en una cuartilla. En este breve artículo tratamos de ofrecer una explicación a propósito de tal omisión. Así mismo, aprovechamos para ofrecer una razón del Menéxeno y aportar una confirmación de las razones que condujeron a L. Edelstein a cuestionar la autenticidad de las cartas séptima y octava atribuidas a Platón

Platón, Aristóteles y la narrativa histórica

Una de las cuestiones más llamativas de las obras de Platón y Aristóteles estriba en su silencio acerca de la historia. Leyeron y criticaron a físicos, filósofos, matemáticos, biólogos, poetas, retóricos, políticos, etc. Sin embargo, sus citas a propósito de los historiadores de su momento cabrían en una cuartilla. En este breve artículo tratamos de ofrecer una explicación a propósito de tal omisión. Así mismo, aprovechamos para ofrecer una razón del Menéxeno y aportar una confirmación de las razones que condujeron a L. Edelstein a cuestionar la autenticidad de las cartas séptima y octava atribuidas a Platón

X-ray fotos of 10 sediment cores from the Baltic Sea

Various types of trace fossils have been studied on radiographs of sediment cores from the Western Baltic since the early nineteen sixties. lnvestigations on the endo- und epifauna including their habitats and population densities carried out independently by biologists helped to identify the processes of their formation and classify the structures. Biogenic traces are ubiquitous in both sandy and muddy sediments of the Great Belt, where the bottom waters are weil oxygenated through inflows from the North Sea (through Kattegat-Skagerrak). Almost all types of bioturbation structures encountered in the Kiel Bay are also observed in a variety of shapes and forms, and can be considered as representative for the Western Baltic area. Polychaetes, bivalves and echinoderms were recorded at the sediment surface of the cores, and also in living positions in the sediment. The different types of burrows having distint outlines ('trace fossis'), and those having indistinct outlines ('biodeformational strctures'), and their varying abundance encountered in the area have been linked, wherever possible, to the sediment type, and to the macro-benthos.

Arquitectura óptima: Cuatro medios prácticos para optimizar proyectos de arquitectura

La investigación trata de mostrar cuatro acciones habitualmente empleadas al proyectar arquitectura. La tesis narra el discurso que construyen cuatro acciones como mecanismos optimizadores, fundamentales, activos y necesarios cuando creamos nuevos proyectos. En este trabajo se estudian en profundidad cuatro acciones optimizadoras a través de numerosos casos de estudio. Se estudia también la presencia de estas acciones en otros campos creativos, como la biología, el arte, la literatura, la filosofía, la matemática o la psicología de la creatividad. Se busca qué tienen en común estas cuatro acciones y se indaga sobre la posible narración que construyen entre ellas. La mayor parte de los textos que constituyen este trabajo se escriben en un formato próximo al del ensayo, empleando tiempos verbales presentes evitando los tiempos verbales pretéritos o imperfectos para potenciar la acción a través el estilo narrativo. La investigación se ha realizado a partir de fuentes bibliográficas existentes en numerosas bibliotecas. Se han llevado a cabo estudios de campo realizados a través de entrevistas personales a interlocutores expertos, no sólo de teoría arquitectónica sino también de prácticas constructivas, así como visitas a lugares íntimamente relacionados con el tema de investigación. Se ha completado el estudio de casos con ejercicios prácticos realizados por el autor de esta tesis, para profundizar con la propia investigación por empatía con los autores estudiados. La investigación bibliográfica principal se ha desarrollado en las bibliotecas de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, de la Universidad de Alicante, de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, de la Universidad Europea de Madrid, de la Universidad Camilo José Cela, de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, de la Columbia University, de la Harvard University, de la Delft University, de Heidelberg University, de la Biblioteca Central de Madrid y de la Regional de Murcia, así como de la del COAMU. También se ha utilizado recursos bibliográficos propios. La metodología utilizada muestra desde diferentes perspectivas el problema de las acciones optimizadoras, desde obras artísticas, pasando por ejemplos de arquitectura construida hasta ejercicios puramente intelectuales. La acumulación ha sido el método de obtención de conocimiento de esta tesis. Se han acumulado conocimientos y posteriormente se ha profundizado, reflexionando sobre los datos que se han ido obteniendo. Al profundizar se enlazan unas pruebas con otras, hilando y ensamblándolas en un discurso que hace continuo y coherente la aparición de cada caso estudiado. Estas entidades probatorias son acciones que han sido aplicadas frecuentemente por distintas generaciones de autores que proyectan utilizando alguna de estas cuatro acciones. Partimos de una extensa bibliografía general y de otra específica. A través de citas e imágenes se muestra el repertorio de objetos y textos estudiados. Los casos de estudio seleccionados exponen los efectos que produce cada acción en el ejercicio del proyectar. Se ha estudiado la necesidad de cada acción en todas y cada una de las partes del ciclo creativo del proyecto, tanto en prácticas imaginadas como en construidas, de los autores que proyectan. Se citan y se interpretan las descripciones de biólogos, sociólogos, antropólogos, psicólogos, escritores, artistas, arquitectos, matemáticos, ingenieros, físicos, médicos y filósofos en los cuales estas acciones se encuentran conscientemente incorporadas en su procedimiento de proyectar y de pensar. Por último, hemos obtenido unos resultados adecuados a la metodología empleada y a los objetivos planteados gracias a la acumulación y clasificación de pruebas. Los resultados se exponen a modo de discursos conclusivos con un intencionado carácter abierto que despliega nuevas posibles nuevas vías de investigación entorno a los temas estudiados. ABSTRACT. The research seeks to show four commonly used actions in designing architecture. Thesis recounts the speech that built four actions like optimizer, fundamental, active and necessary mechanisms when we create new projects. In this work it studies in depth four optimizer actions through numerous case studies. Also, it considers the presence of these actions in other creative fields, such as biology, art, literature, philosophy, mathematics or psychology of creativity. It is intended what these four actions have in common and it explores the possible narrative constructed among them. Most of the texts that constitute this work are written in a format close to the essay, using present tenses avoiding past or imperfect tenses of enhancing the action through the narrative style. Research has been done from literature sources available in numerous libraries. Field studies have been carried out through personal interviews with expert speakers, not just of architectonic theory but also from constructive practices, as well as visits to sites closely related to the research topic. case studies with practical exercises conducted by the author of this thesis has been completed, to deepen with the own research by empathy with the studied authors. Main bibliographical investigation has been developed in the libraries of UPM, UA, UAM, UEM, the CJC, the UCM, Columbia University, Harvard University Delft University, Heidelberg University, Madrid Central Library, Regional Murcia Library and COAMU Library. Also it has been used own bibliographical resources. Methodology shows from different perspectives the problem of optimizers actions, from art, passing through examples of architecture built up to puré intellectual exercise. Accumulation has been the method of obtaining knowledge of this thesis. it has been accumulated knowledge and later it has been deepened, reflecting on the data that have been obtained. By deepening tests are linked with other, spinning and locking into a discourse that makes continuous and consistent the development of each case study. These evidentiary entities are actions that have been frequently applied by different generations of authors who project using some of these four stocks. We leave from an extensive general bibliography and another specific one. Through quotes and pictures it shows the repertoire of objects and texts studied. The selected study cases set out the effects that each action produces in the exercise of projecting. It has studied the need of each action in every parts of creative cycle of the project, both imagined as constructed practices, by the authors who project. It is quoted and interpreted the descriptions of biologists, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, writers, artists, architects, mathematicians, engineers, physicists, physicians and philosophers in which these actions are consciously incorporated into his projecting and thinking procedure. Finally, we have obtained adequate results to the used methodology and to the stated objectives through the accumulation and classification of evidence. The results are presented as conclusive speeches with an intentional open character that unfolds new possible research routes around the studied topics.

Detecting reliable gene interactions by a hierarchy of Bayesian network classifiers

The main purpose of a gene interaction network is to map the relationships of the genes that are out of sight when a genomic study is tackled. DNA microarrays allow the measure of gene expression of thousands of genes at the same time. These data constitute the numeric seed for the induction of the gene networks. In this paper, we propose a new approach to build gene networks by means of Bayesian classifiers, variable selection and bootstrap resampling. The interactions induced by the Bayesian classifiers are based both on the expression levels and on the phenotype information of the supervised variable. Feature selection and bootstrap resampling add reliability and robustness to the overall process removing the false positive findings. The consensus among all the induced models produces a hierarchy of dependences and, thus, of variables. Biologists can define the depth level of the model hierarchy so the set of interactions and genes involved can vary from a sparse to a dense set. Experimental results show how these networks perform well on classification tasks. The biological validation matches previous biological findings and opens new hypothesis for future studies

Spatio-temporal filtering with morphological operators for robust cell migration estimation in "in-vivo" images

The understanding of the embryogenesis in living systems requires reliable quantitative analysis of the cell migration throughout all the stages of development. This is a major challenge of the "in-toto" reconstruction based on different modalities of "in-vivo" imaging techniques -spatio-temporal resolution and image artifacts and noise. Several methods for cell tracking are available, but expensive manual interaction -time and human resources- is always required to enforce coherence. Because of this limitation it is necessary to restrict the experiments or assume an uncontrolled error rate. Is it possible to obtain automated reliable measurements of migration? can we provide a seed for biologists to complete cell lineages efficiently? We propose a filtering technique that considers trajectories as spatio-temporal connected structures that prunes out those that might introduce noise and false positives by using multi-dimensional morphological operators.

MEDVIR: 3D visual interface applied to gene profile analisys.

The origins for this work arise in response to the increasing need for biologists and doctors to obtain tools for visual analysis of data. When dealing with multidimensional data, such as medical data, the traditional data mining techniques can be a tedious and complex task, even to some medical experts. Therefore, it is necessary to develop useful visualization techniques that can complement the expert’s criterion, and at the same time visually stimulate and make easier the process of obtaining knowledge from a dataset. Thus, the process of interpretation and understanding of the data can be greatly enriched. Multidimensionality is inherent to any medical data, requiring a time-consuming effort to get a clinical useful outcome. Unfortunately, both clinicians and biologists are not trained in managing more than four dimensions. Specifically, we were aimed to design a 3D visual interface for gene profile analysis easy in order to be used both by medical and biologist experts. In this way, a new analysis method is proposed: MedVir. This is a simple and intuitive analysis mechanism based on the visualization of any multidimensional medical data in a three dimensional space that allows interaction with experts in order to collaborate and enrich this representation. In other words, MedVir makes a powerful reduction in data dimensionality in order to represent the original information into a three dimensional environment. The experts can interact with the data and draw conclusions in a visual and quickly way.

A guided heuristic approach to the MEG inverse problem.

There is general agreement within the scientific community in considering Biology as the science with more potential to develop in the XXI century. This is due to several reasons, but probably the most important one is the state of development of the rest of experimental and technological sciences. In this context, there are a very rich variety of mathematical tools, physical techniques and computer resources that permit to do biological experiments that were unbelievable only a few years ago. Biology is nowadays taking advantage of all these newly developed technologies, which are been applied to life sciences opening new research fields and helping to give new insights in many biological problems. Consequently, biologists have improved a lot their knowledge in many key areas as human function and human diseases. However there is one human organ that is still barely understood compared with the rest: The human brain. The understanding of the human brain is one of the main challenges of the XXI century. In this regard, it is considered a strategic research field for the European Union and the USA. Thus, there is a big interest in applying new experimental techniques for the study of brain function. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is one of these novel techniques that are currently applied for mapping the brain activity1. This technique has important advantages compared to the metabolic-based brain imagining techniques like Functional Magneto Resonance Imaging2 (fMRI). The main advantage is that MEG has a higher time resolution than fMRI. Another benefit of MEG is that it is a patient friendly clinical technique. The measure is performed with a wireless set up and the patient is not exposed to any radiation. Although MEG is widely applied in clinical studies, there are still open issues regarding data analysis. The present work deals with the solution of the inverse problem in MEG, which is the most controversial and uncertain part of the analysis process3. This question is addressed using several variations of a new solving algorithm based in a heuristic method. The performance of those methods is analyzed by applying them to several test cases with known solutions and comparing those solutions with the ones provided by our methods.

The variability and interdependence of spider viscid line tensile properties

True stress-true strain curves of naturally spun viscid line fibers retrieved directly from the spiral of orb-webs built by Argiope trifasciata spiders were measured using a novel methodology. This new procedure combines a method for removing the aqueous coating of the fibers and a technique that allows the accurate measurement of their cross sectional area. Comparison of the tensile behaviour of different samples indicates that naturally spun viscid lines show a large variability, comparable to that of other silks, such as major ampullate gland silk and silkworm silk. Nevertheless, application of a statistical analysis allowed identifying two independent parameters that underlie the variability and characterize the observed range of true stress-true strain curves. Combination of this result with previous mechanical and microstructural data suggested the assignment of these two independent effects to the degree of alignment of the protein chains and to the local relative humidity which, in turn, depends on the composition of the viscous coating and on the external environmental conditions.

Desarrollo de una plataforma de biología bajo demanda

La Biología bajo Demanda es un concepto novedoso, que está siendo abordado en la actualidad desde distintos enfoques, que serán expuestos en este documento. Dado este carácter innovador, se trata de un ámbito donde la investigación está muy presente en estos momentos. Las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación (TICs) llevan un tiempo aportando soluciones muy efectivas para algunos de los problemas a los que se enfrente actualmente la biología sintética. Una de estas soluciones son las plataformas de Cloud Computing, que aportan un entorno de trabajo escalable, flexible y seguro. Por ello, se ha empleado este tipo de tecnología en este trabajo fin de grado en el área de la biología sintética mediante el concepto de biología bajo demanda. Para desarrollar la plataforma de biología bajo demanda ha sido necesario analizar el estado de esta temática actualmente y sus avances. Además, ha sido estimable el estudio de las opiniones de los miembros del grupo de investigación. Todo ello ha permitido llevar a cabo una captura de requisitos adecuada para el ámbito de este proyecto. Se ha decidido que los servidores de aplicaciones web son la respuesta más adecuada a la hora de implementar las soluciones obtenidas para el desarrollo de la plataforma de biología bajo demanda. En concreto, por sus características, se ha decidido emplear JavaEE de Oracle. El modelo implementado emplea soluciones conocidas y fiables basadas en patrones de diseño software. Así, conseguimos cumplir con uno de los principales objetivos de este proyecto, que es lograr un sistema flexible y escalable. Por otro lado, debido a la incertidumbre que conlleva un área tan innovadora, se ha decidido optar por una metodología ágil. Esto supone un plan de trabajo centrado en reuniones semanales conjuntas con el director y los compañeros del grupo de trabajo, empleando prototipado rápido y programación extrema. Finalmente, se ha conseguido desarrollar una plataforma de biología bajo demanda que puede ser la base para el trabajo de los biólogos del ámbito de la biología sintética en un futuro próximo.---ABSTRACT---Biology on demand is a new concept, which is currently being addressed from different approaches, which will be presented in this document. Given this innovative character, it is an area where research is a main factor right now. Technologies of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have provided very effective solutions to some of the problems that synthetic biology is currently facing. One of these solutions is cloud computing platforms, which provide an environment for scalable, flexible and secure work. Therefore, we have used this technology in this final project in the area of synthetic biology through the concept of biology on demand. To develop a biology-on-demand platform it has been necessary to analyze the state of art. The opinions of members of the research group have also been very influential. All this has allowed us to conduct a proper capture requirements for the scope of this project here developed. It was decided that web application servers are the best answer when it comes to implementing the solutions obtained for the development of biology-on-demand platform. In particular, by its main features, it was decided to use Oracle’s JavaEE. The implemented model uses known and reliable solutions based on software design patterns. So, we get to meet one of the main objectives of this project, which is to achieve a flexible and scalable system. On the other hand, due to the uncertainty involved in such an innovative area, it was appropriate to opt for an agile methodology. The work plan was focused on weekly meetings with the director and coworkers, using additive technology and extreme programming. Finally, this project has been successful in developing a biology-on-demand platform that can be the basis for the work of biologists in the field of synthetic biology in the near future.

Quantitative modeling of stochastic systems in molecular biology by using stochastic Petri nets

An integrated understanding of molecular and developmental biology must consider the large number of molecular species involved and the low concentrations of many species in vivo. Quantitative stochastic models of molecular interaction networks can be expressed as stochastic Petri nets (SPNs), a mathematical formalism developed in computer science. Existing software can be used to define molecular interaction networks as SPNs and solve such models for the probability distributions of molecular species. This approach allows biologists to focus on the content of models and their interpretation, rather than their implementation. The standardized format of SPNs also facilitates the replication, extension, and transfer of models between researchers. A simple chemical system is presented to demonstrate the link between stochastic models of molecular interactions and SPNs. The approach is illustrated with examples of models of genetic and biochemical phenomena where the UltraSAN package is used to present results from numerical analysis and the outcome of simulations.

5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors as hypothalamic targets of developmental programming in male rats

Funding The research reported in this publication was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (E007821/1 to M.S.M-G, R.L.C and E00797X/1; BB/K001418 /1 to L.K.H), the British Heart Foundation (FS/09/029/27902 to S.E.O.), the UK Medical Research Council Metabolic Diseases Unit (MC_UU_12012/4 to S.E.O and MC_UU_12012/1 to G.S.H.Y), the Wellcome Trust (WT081713 and WT098012 to L.K.H), the European Union (FP7-HEALTH-266408 Full4Health to G.S.H.Y) and the Helmholtz Alliance ICEMED to G.S.H.Y.