Spatio-temporal models of the functional architecture of the visual cortex

In this work I tried to explore many aspects of cognitive visual science, each one based on different academic fields, proposing mathematical models capable to reproduce both neuro-physiological and phenomenological results that were described in the recent literature. The structure of my thesis is mainly composed of three chapters, corresponding to the three main areas of research on which I focused my work. The results of each work put the basis for the following, and their ensemble form an homogeneous and large-scale survey on the spatio-temporal properties of the architecture of the visual cortex of mammals.

Lessons from the Multilateral Trading System for Reforming the Architecture of the International Environmental Regime

Recent studies on environmental regimes suggest that important lessons and policy recommendations may be drawn from the functioning of the multilateral trading regime. This brief compares the needs and goals of the trade and environment regimes, and discusses how insights from over sixty years of experience of the multilateral trading system might provide ideas for redesigning the architecture of the international environmental regime. It further calls for a better dialogue and improved complementarities between the two fields in order to enhance coherence within international law.

Über moderne Synagogen-Architektur in Amerika : Aus: Towards a Modern Syngagoge Architecture, in: The Menorah Journal

Lewis Mumford

Geophysical mapping of the sediment architecture in the Orkhon Valley, Mongolia

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) and capacitive coupled resistivity (CCR) measurements were conducted in order to image subsurface structures in the Orkhon Valley, Central Mongolia. The data are extended by information from drill cores to the entire transects distinguishing different sedimentary environments in the valley. The Orkhon Valley is part of the high sensitive Steppe region in Central Mongolia, one of the most important cultural landscapes in Central Asia. There, archaeological, geoarchaeological and sedimentological research aims to reconstruct the landscape evolution and the interaction between man and environment during the last millennia since the first settlement. In May 2009 and 2010 geophysical surveys have been conducted including transects with lengths between 1.5 and 30 km crossing the entire valley and a kilometre-scaled grid in the southern part of the investigation area. The geoelectrical and GPR data revealed the existence of two layers characterized by different resistivity values and radar reflectors. The two layers do not only represent material contrasts, but also reflect the influence of sporadic permafrost which occurs in several areas of Mongolia. The results help to reconstruct the evolution of the braided Orkhon River and therefore give important hints to understand the environmental history of the Orkhon Valley.

Influence of the molecular architecture on the secondary relaxations of Poly(styrene-co-methylmethacrylate) copolymers

The processes of adsorption of grafted copolymers onto negatively charged surfaces were studied using a dissipative quartz crystal microbalance (D-QCM) and ellipsometry. The control parameters in the study of the adsorption are the existence or absence on the molecular architecture of grafted polyethyleneglycol (PEG) chains with different lengths and the chemical nature of the main chain, poly(allylamine) (PAH) or poly(L-lysine) (PLL). It was found out that the adsorption kinetics of the polymers showed a complex behavior. The total adsorbed amount depends on the architecture of the polymer chains (length of the PEG chains), on the polymer concentration and on the chemical nature of the main chain. The comparison of the thicknesses of the adsorbed layers obtained from D-QCM and from ellipsometry allowed calculation of the water content of the layers that is intimately related to the grafting length. The analysis of D-QCM results also provides information about the shear modulus of the layers, whose values have been found to be typical of a rubber-like polymer system. It is shown that the adsorption of polymers with a charged backbone is not driven exclusively by the electrostatic interactions, but the entropic contributions as a result of the trapping of water in the layer structure are of fundamental importance.

A Description Framework and Event-Driven Architecture for the Semantic Web and Semantic Grid

In this introductory chapter we put in context and give a brief outline of the work that we thoroughly present in the rest of the dissertation. We consider this work divided in two main parts. The first part is the Firenze Framework, a knowledge level description framework rich enough to express the semantics required for describing both semantic Web services and semantic Grid services. We start by defining what the Semantic Grid is and its relation with the Semantic Web; and the possibility of their convergence since both initiatives have become mainly service-oriented. We also introduce the main motivators of the creation of this framework, one is to provide a valid description framework that works at knowledge level; the other to provide a description framework that takes into account the characteristics of Grid services in order to be able to describe them properly. The other part of the dissertation is devoted to Vega, an event-driven architecture that, by means of proposed knowledge level description framework, is able to achieve high scale provisioning of knowledge-intensive services. In this introductory chapter we portrait the anatomy of a generic event-driven architecture, and we briefly enumerate their main characteristics, which are the reason that make them our choice.

An ITS architecture specification - The FOTsis project experience

The recent continuous development of Cooperative ITS has resulted in several initiatives which focus on different parts of the Cooperative environment landscape. The FOTsis project focuses on the infrastructure side of the Cooperative environment and will deploy and test 7 services designed to maximise the benefits of the integration of the road operator and infrastructure-based information providers into the ITS environment. This integration can take place in any of the stages of data collection, processing and actuations of the services, but also support and trigger external tasks such as operations of the emergency response entities, etc. This paper describes the current status of the project and focuses on the specification of the supporting architecture to the services tested: references, a brief outline of the requirements’ definition, and the FOTsis architecture proposal, with some conclusions about the architecture tests conducted. The outlook on the project’s next steps is given in the last section of the paper.

A model of economic management of cultural heritage: the rehabilitation of fort christmas as an interpretation center of defensive architecture of the Mediterranean in Cartagena (Spain)

The Cultural Heritage constitutes a way to generate social identities and play an important role in the development of the Spanish Mediterranean cities that opt to sustainable quality tourism. The reflection on the necessity of intervention on this heritage, in addition to establishing what should be done, brings up the need to define the reasons for taking action, why and what-for. These decisions are essential to establish if its maintenance and recovery are economically sustainable. The Project "Cartagena Port of Cultures", with support from the European Union, is an example of effective instrument for ensuring the sustainability of our built heritage conservation. Its main objective was to enable sustainable development of tourism in Cartagena based on sustainability and seasonality. This was achieved through a process of recovery of heritage resources and their optimum promotion and marketing.

Reseña. Architecture of the Sun: Los Angeles Modernism 1900-1970

Reseña bibliográfica de Architecture of the Sun: Los Angeles Modernism 1900-1970

Heterogeneous architecture for the optimization of large-scale graph processing data centres

Con el auge del Cloud Computing, las aplicaciones de proceso de datos han sufrido un incremento de demanda, y por ello ha cobrado importancia lograr m�ás eficiencia en los Centros de Proceso de datos. El objetivo de este trabajo es la obtenci�ón de herramientas que permitan analizar la viabilidad y rentabilidad de diseñar Centros de Datos especializados para procesamiento de datos, con una arquitectura, sistemas de refrigeraci�ón, etc. adaptados. Algunas aplicaciones de procesamiento de datos se benefician de las arquitecturas software, mientras que en otras puede ser m�ás eficiente un procesamiento con arquitectura hardware. Debido a que ya hay software con muy buenos resultados en el procesamiento de grafos, como el sistema XPregel, en este proyecto se realizará una arquitectura hardware en VHDL, implementando el algoritmo PageRank de Google de forma escalable. Se ha escogido este algoritmo ya que podr��á ser m�ás eficiente en arquitectura hardware, debido a sus características concretas que se indicaráan m�ás adelante. PageRank sirve para ordenar las p�áginas por su relevancia en la web, utilizando para ello la teorí��a de grafos, siendo cada página web un vértice de un grafo; y los enlaces entre páginas, las aristas del citado grafo. En este proyecto, primero se realizará un an�álisis del estado de la técnica. Se supone que la implementaci�ón en XPregel, un sistema de procesamiento de grafos, es una de las m�ás eficientes. Por ello se estudiará esta �ultima implementaci�ón. Sin embargo, debido a que Xpregel procesa, en general, algoritmos que trabajan con grafos; no tiene en cuenta ciertas caracterí��sticas del algoritmo PageRank, por lo que la implementaci�on no es �optima. Esto es debido a que en PageRank, almacenar todos los datos que manda un mismo v�értice es un gasto innecesario de memoria ya que todos los mensajes que manda un vértice son iguales entre sí e iguales a su PageRank. Se realizará el diseño en VHDL teniendo en cuenta esta caracter��ística del citado algoritmo,evitando almacenar varias veces los mensajes que son iguales. Se ha elegido implementar PageRank en VHDL porque actualmente las arquitecturas de los sistemas operativos no escalan adecuadamente. Se busca evaluar si con otra arquitectura se obtienen mejores resultados. Se realizará un diseño partiendo de cero, utilizando la memoria ROM de IPcore de Xillinx (Software de desarrollo en VHDL), generada autom�áticamente. Se considera hacer cuatro tipos de módulos para que as�� el procesamiento se pueda hacer en paralelo. Se simplificar�á la estructura de XPregel con el fin de intentar aprovechar la particularidad de PageRank mencionada, que hace que XPregel no le saque el m�aximo partido. Despu�és se escribirá el c�ódigo, realizando una estructura escalable, ya que en la computación intervienen millones de páginas web. A continuación, se sintetizar�á y se probará el código en una FPGA. El �ultimo paso será una evaluaci�ón de la implementaci�ón, y de posibles mejoras en cuanto al consumo.

An ITS architecture specification - The FOTsis project experience

The recent continuous development of Cooperative ITS has resulted in several initiatives which focus on different parts of the Cooperative environment landscape. The FOTsis project focuses on the infrastructure side of the Cooperative environment and will deploy and test 7 services designed to maximise the benefits of the integration of the road operator and infrastructure-based information providers into the ITS environment. This paper describes the current status of the project and focuses on the road safety approach within the project: safety services and safety impact assessment. The outlook on the project's next steps is given in the last section of the paper.