On Characterizing Spector Classes

We study in this paper characterizations of various interesting classes of relations arising in recursion theory. We first determine which Spector classes on the structure of arithmetic arise from recursion in normal type 2 objects, giving a partial answer to a problem raised by Moschovakis [8], where the notion of Spector class was first essentially introduced. Our result here was independently discovered by S. G. Simpson (see [3]). We conclude our study of Spector classes by examining two simple relations between them and a natural hierarchy to which they give rise

LpL^p-Taylor approximations characterize the Sobolev space W1,pW^{1,p}

In this note, we introduce a variant of Calder\'on and Zygmund's notion of $L^p$-differentiability - an \emph{$L^p$-Taylor approximation}. Our first result is that functions in the Sobolev space $W^{1,p}(\mathbb{R}^N)$ possess a first order $L^p$-Taylor approximation. This is in analogy with Calder\'on and Zygmund's result concerning the $L^p$-differentiability of Sobolev functions. In fact, the main result we announce here is that the first order $L^p$-Taylor approximation characterizes the Sobolev space $W^{1,p}(\mathbb{R}^N)$, and therefore implies $L^p$-differentiability. Our approach establishes connections between some characterizations of Sobolev spaces due to Swanson using Calder\'on-Zygmund classes with others due to Bourgain, Brezis, and Mironescu using nonlocal functionals with still others of the author and Mengesha using nonlocal gradients. That any two characterizations of Sobolev spaces are related is not surprising, however, one consequence of our analysis is a simple condition for determining whether a function of bounded variation is in a Sobolev space.Comment: 7 pages. Preprint of an article to appear in Comptes Rendus - the exposition of the two articles is substantially different and the full article will not be available as an arxiv paper. The title and abstract displaying on arxiv have been changed to that of the article in its more polished for

A methodology for the characterization of land use using medium-resolution spatial images

Introducción: La caracterización de los usos del suelo representa uno de los insumos indispensables para el manejo de los recursos naturales a diferentes escalas. Objetivo: Desarrollar una metodología para caracterizar el uso del suelo en la cuenca superior del arroyo del Azul (Buenos Aires, Argentina), a través de la fusión de imágenes satelitales de media resolución espacial. Materiales y métodos: Se utilizó una serie temporal de 23 imágenes del índice de vegetación de diferencia normalizada (NDVI, por sus siglas en inglés) del satélite MODIS-Terra (producto MOD13Q1) para el periodo mayo 2015 - mayo 2016. Además, se emplearon imágenes Landsat 8 para discriminar algunas categorías difíciles de clasificar con NDVI-MODIS. El mapa final de coberturas se validó considerando puntos de verificación independientes al proceso de clasificación; su precisión se evaluó a través del estadístico Kappa. Resultados y discusión: La serie temporal de NDVI permitió reconocer los patrones fenológicos de las coberturas y usos del suelo de mayor representatividad en la región. Se discriminaron siete coberturas; los usos agrícolas representaron 81.5 % de la superficie, siendo el sistema de doble cultivo trigo-soya (soja en Argentina) el predominante (39.4 %). La precisión global del mapa final fue alta (88.9 %, coeficiente Kappa = 0.86). Conclusión: La metodología empleada tiene la ventaja de ser rápida y replicable, para caracterizar los usos del suelo de una región determinada y evaluar sus cambios potenciales a lo largo del tiempo.Introduction: The characterization of land uses represents one of the essential inputs for the management of natural resources at different scales. Objective: To develop a methodology to characterize land use in the upper creek basin from the Azul stream (Buenos Aires, Argentina), through the fusion of satellite images with a medium spatial resolution. Materials and methods: A time-series of 23 images was used from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of the MODIS-Terra satellite (product MOD13Q1) for the period May 2015 - May 2016. Landsat 8 images were used to discriminate some categories difficult to classify with NDVI-MODIS. The final cover map was validated regarding verification points independent to the classification process; its accuracy was evaluated by means of the Kappa statistic. Results and discussion: The NDVI time series allowed to recognize the phenological patterns of the covers and land use of greater representativeness in the region. Seven land cover were discriminated; the agricultural uses represented 81.5 % of the surface, double-crop wheat-soya (soybean in Argentina) system predominated (39.4 %). The overall accuracy of the final map was high (88.9 %, Kappa coefficient = 0.86). Conclusion: The methodology used has the advantage of being quick and replicable, to characterize the land uses of a given region and to evaluate its potential changes over time.Fil: Guevara Ochoa, Cristian. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Rectorado. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras - Sede Azul. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras - Sede Azul; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lara, Bruno Daniel. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento Ciencias Básicas Agronómicas y Biológicas. Laboratorio de Investigación y Servicios en Teledetección de Azul; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Vives, Luis Sebastián. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Rectorado. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras - Sede Azul. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Hidrología de Llanuras - Sede Azul; ArgentinaFil: Zimmermann, Erik Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Ingeniería y Agrimensura. Centro Universidad Rosario de Investigaciones Hidroambientales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gandini, Marcelo Luciano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento Ciencias Básicas Agronómicas y Biológicas. Laboratorio de Investigación y Servicios en Teledetección de Azul; Argentin

Hybrid partnerships and social technology at the Bop : a case study

Stakeholder expectations have recently led many corporations to engage in initiatives aiming at social development and poverty eradication. However, in spite of the many attempts, compelling results have yet to be produced, leaving the gap between the individuals living at the base of the economic pyramid and those belonging to the higher tiers almost untouched. Some scholars have consequently criticized the lack of contextualization of existing managerial practices pointing their finger to the strong influence of western ideologies, which prevent social initiatives from adapting to the needs of different geopolitical contexts. Through the analysis of a set of Coca-Cola Brazil’s social initiatives (i.e. “Coletivo Projects”) implemented in various Brazilian communities, the present study shows how Coca-Cola Brazil has attempted to produce, in collaboration with local NGOs, an universal kind of “social technology”, which could be easily adapted to different contexts, accelerating the implementation process of social initiatives and increasing their impact.A crescente expectativa dos vários stakeholders, bem como as diferentes partes interessadas nas áreas de atuação de várias empresas, recentemente tem levado diversas corporações a se envolverem em iniciativas que visam o desenvolvimento social e a erradicação da pobreza. Porém, apesar das inúmeras tentativas, resultados convincentes ainda não foram produzidos, mantendo a separação entre os indivíduos que vivem na base da pirâmide económica e aqueles pertencentes às camadas mais elevadas quase inalterada. Consequentemente alguns estudiosos criticaram a falta de contextualização das práticas de gestão existentes, atribuindo o mesmo à forte influência das ideologias ocidentais, que impedem que as iniciativas sociais se adaptem às necessidades dos diferentes contextos geopolíticos. Por meio da análise de um conjunto de iniciativas sociais da Coca-Cola Brasil ("Projetos Coletivo") implementadas em várias comunidades brasileiras, o presente estudo mostra como Coca-Cola Brasil tentou produzir, em colaboração com os ONG locais, um tipo de "tecnologia social" universal, que poderia ser facilmente adaptada a diferentes contextos, acelerando o processo de implementação das iniciativas sociais e ampliando o seu impact

PMLB: A Large Benchmark Suite for Machine Learning Evaluation and Comparison

The selection, development, or comparison of machine learning methods in data mining can be a difficult task based on the target problem and goals of a particular study. Numerous publicly available real-world and simulated benchmark datasets have emerged from different sources, but their organization and adoption as standards have been inconsistent. As such, selecting and curating specific benchmarks remains an unnecessary burden on machine learning practitioners and data scientists. The present study introduces an accessible, curated, and developing public benchmark resource to facilitate identification of the strengths and weaknesses of different machine learning methodologies. We compare meta-features among the current set of benchmark datasets in this resource to characterize the diversity of available data. Finally, we apply a number of established machine learning methods to the entire benchmark suite and analyze how datasets and algorithms cluster in terms of performance. This work is an important first step towards understanding the limitations of popular benchmarking suites and developing a resource that connects existing benchmarking standards to more diverse and efficient standards in the future.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, submitted for review to JML

The nature of the animacy organization in human ventral temporal cortex

The principles underlying the animacy organization of the ventral temporal cortex (VTC) remain hotly debated, with recent evidence pointing to an animacy continuum rather than a dichotomy. What drives this continuum? According to the visual categorization hypothesis, the continuum reflects the degree to which animals contain animal-diagnostic features. By contrast, the agency hypothesis posits that the continuum reflects the degree to which animals are perceived as (social) agents. Here, we tested both hypotheses with a stimulus set in which visual categorizability and agency were dissociated based on representations in convolutional neural networks and behavioral experiments. Using fMRI, we found that visual categorizability and agency explained independent components of the animacy continuum in VTC. Modeled together, they fully explained the animacy continuum. Finally, clusters explained by visual categorizability were localized posterior to clusters explained by agency. These results show that multiple organizing principles, including agency, underlie the animacy continuum in VTC.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, code+data at - https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/VXWG9 Update - added supplementary results and edited abstrac

Bitter taste stimuli induce differential neural codes in mouse brain.

A growing literature suggests taste stimuli commonly classified as "bitter" induce heterogeneous neural and perceptual responses. Here, the central processing of bitter stimuli was studied in mice with genetically controlled bitter taste profiles. Using these mice removed genetic heterogeneity as a factor influencing gustatory neural codes for bitter stimuli. Electrophysiological activity (spikes) was recorded from single neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius during oral delivery of taste solutions (26 total), including concentration series of the bitter tastants quinine, denatonium benzoate, cycloheximide, and sucrose octaacetate (SOA), presented to the whole mouth for 5 s. Seventy-nine neurons were sampled; in many cases multiple cells (2 to 5) were recorded from a mouse. Results showed bitter stimuli induced variable gustatory activity. For example, although some neurons responded robustly to quinine and cycloheximide, others displayed concentration-dependent activity (p<0.05) to quinine but not cycloheximide. Differential activity to bitter stimuli was observed across multiple neurons recorded from one animal in several mice. Across all cells, quinine and denatonium induced correlated spatial responses that differed (p<0.05) from those to cycloheximide and SOA. Modeling spatiotemporal neural ensemble activity revealed responses to quinine/denatonium and cycloheximide/SOA diverged during only an early, at least 1 s wide period of the taste response. Our findings highlight how temporal features of sensory processing contribute differences among bitter taste codes and build on data suggesting heterogeneity among "bitter" stimuli, data that challenge a strict monoguesia model for the bitter quality