Engineering Morphological Development in a Robotic Bipedal Walking Problem: An Empirical Study

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract]: In living beings, the natural development of the body has been shown to facilitate learning. The application of these natural developmental principles in robotics have been considered in different robotic morphologies and scenarios, leading to mixed results. Development was found to be beneficial for learning in some instances, but also irrelevant or detrimental in others. This mix of results and scenarios has allowed researchers to extract some notions about the conditions that must be fulfilled or set to apply morphological development successfully. Notions that we have organized to set a series of design conditions to successfully apply morphological development. Thus, in this article, we are going to focus on the study of one of them that has been frequently addressed by researchers in their studies in very general terms. It can be described as the need to achieve a suitable synergy among the different components involved in the development and learning process: morphological development strategy, controller, task, and learning algorithm. In particular, we have concentrated on empirically determining the influence of five developmental strategies, implemented in different ways, applied at different speeds and deployed in different orders and combinations, over the problem of a NAO robot controlled by an artificial neural network obtained through a neuroevolutionary algorithm learning a bipedal walking task. The results obtained permit providing a more detailed description of what a suitable synergy implies and how it can be utilized to design more successful morphological developmental processes to improve robot learning.Xunta de Galicia ; EDC431C-2021/39Research supported by the European Commission Horizon program PILLAR-Robots project, grant 101070381, the Xunta de Galicia and the European Regional Development Funds under grant EDC431C-2021/39 and the Spanish Science and Education Ministry through grant PID2021-126220OB-100. We wish to acknowledge the support received from the Centro de Investigación de Galicia ‘‘CITIC”, funded by Xunta de Galicia and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund-Galicia 2014-2020 Program), by grant ED431G 2019/01 and the Centro de Supercomputación de Galicia (CESGA)Xunta de Galicia; ED431G 2019/0

The long-term role of EU structural funds in the accessibility of peripheral regions : the case of Galicia in the period 1989-2013

Purpose: The main aim of this research is to analyzed the role of the European srtuctural funds in the region of Galicia, Spain. In 1980’s, Galicia was a peripheral region with poor external accessibility and internal connectivity with a lacked efficient transport infrastructure. Design/Methodology/Approach: The evaluation methodology used integrates documentary sources depending on the availability in each programme period (official documents, evaluation reports, basic statistics and papers). Findings: One of the most important lessons learned by the Structural Funds from the Galician experience relates to the effect of accessibility in peripheral lagging regions. Practical Implications: Enhanced accessibility to a large integrated market is a good way to boost structural adjustment and productivity. Originality/Value: The combination of the strong investment policy and increased competition in the single European market has been demonstrated as a powerful vehicle for economic development and convergence.peer-reviewe

European constitutional political economy : enlargement and the crisis of institutional system

The classical “integration process” has reached a critical point and constitutional limits, which make a qualitative change of importance in the system of community government indispensable. Our paper is based on an analysis of the constitutional choices of citizens and governments using a political-economic model, whose main conclusion centres on the need for breaking the central governments’ monopoly in the representation of national interests of the Union’s member states, both at a constitutional level (reform of treaties) and in the institutional balance (decision making).peer-reviewe

New Economic Geography And Educational Attainment Levels In The European Union

In this paper a New Economic Geography model is used to analyse the distribution of educational attainment levels in the European Union. The results show that educational attainment levels decrease with distance to large consumer markets, proving that the theoretical predictions of the model are verified empirically

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Human Capital Accumulation and Geography: Empirical Evidence from the European Union

Lopez-Rodriguez J., Faina J. A. and Lopez-Rodriguez J. (2007) Human capital accumulation and geography: empirical evidence from the European Union. Regional Studies 41, 217-234. This paper evaluates the role that geography plays in determining the spatial distribution of educational attainment levels among European Union regions, based on an extension of the standard two-sector (agriculture and manufacturing) Fujita et al. (1999) economic geography model. The present paper provides evidence that, in the European Union, educational attainment levels are higher in those regions with greater market access. This finding corroborates the theoretical predictions of the model and proves that remoteness is a penalty for the economic development and convergence of the European Union regions. Lopez-Rodriguez J., Faina J. A. et Lopez-Rodriguez J. (2007) L'accroissement du capital humain et la geographie: des preuves empiriques de l'Union europeenne. Regional Studies 41, 217-234. A partir d'une extension du modele economico-geographique type a deux secteurs (a savoir l'agriculture et l'industrie manufacturiere) d'apres Fujita et al. (1999), cet article cherche a evaluer le role que joue la geographie dans la determination de la distribution geographique du niveau scolaire a travers les regions de l'Union europeenne. Il en resulte que, au sein de l'Union europeenne, le niveau scolaire est superieur dans les regions ou l'acces au marche est plus facile. Ces resultats confirment les previsions theoriques du modele et prouvent que l'isolement penalise le developpement economique et la convergence des regions de l'Union europeenne. Developpement economique Geographie economique Structure geographique Capital humain Acces au marche Lopez-Rodriguez J., Faina J. A. und Lopez-Rodriguez J. (2007) Konzentration von Humankapital und Geografie: empirische Belege in der Europaischen Union. Regional Studies 41, 217-234. In diesem Beitrag wird untersucht, welche Rolle die Geografie bei der Pragung der raumlichen Verteilung hinsichtlich der Erzielung von Bildungsabschlussen innerhalb der Regionen der Europaischen Union spielt, ausgehend von einer Erweiterung des wirtschaftsgeografischen Standardmodells mit zwei Sektoren (Landwirtschaft und Produktion) nach Fujita et al. (1999). Wir liefern Belege dafur, dass das Niveau der Bildungsabschlusse innerhalb der Europaischen Union in Regionen mit starkerem Marktzugang hoher ausfallt. Dieses Ergebnis bestatigt die theoretischen Prognosen des Modells und beweist, dass eine abgelegene Lage ein Hindernis bei der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung und Konvergenz der EU-Regionen darstellt. Wirtschaftsentwicklung Wirtschaftsgeografie Raumliche Struktur Humankapital Marktzugang Lopez-Rodriguez J., Faina J. A. y Lopez-Rodriguez J. (2007) La acumulacion de capital humano y la geografia: prueba empirica en la Union Europea. Regional Studies 41, 217-234. En este ensayo analizamos el papel que desempena la geografia a la hora de determinar la distribucion espacial de los niveles de educacion entre las regiones de la Union Europea, basandonos en una extension del modelo estandar de una geografia economica de dos sectores (agricultura y fabricacion) segun Fujita et al. (1999). Demostramos que en la Union Europea, los niveles educativos son superiores en las regiones con un mayor acceso al mercado. Estos resultados corroboran las predicciones teoreticas del modelo y demuestran que la distancia es un obstaculo para el desarrollo economico y la convergencia de las regiones de la Union Europea. Desarrollo economico Geografia economica Estructura espacial Capital humano Acceso al mercadoEconomic development, Economic geography, Spatial structure, Human capital, Market access,

European Constitutional Political Economy: Enlargement and the Crisis of Institutional System

The classical “integration process” has reached a critical point and constitutional limits, which make a qualitative change of importance in the system of community government indispensable. Our paper is based on an analysis of the constitutional choices of citizens and governments using a political-economic model, whose main conclusion centres on the need for breaking the central governments’ monopoly in the representation of national interests of the Union’s member states, both at a constitutional level (reform of treaties) and in the institutional balance (decision making).Integration Demand, Integration Supply, Collective Supranational Action

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