Capacity of DNA Data Embedding Under Substitution Mutations

A number of methods have been proposed over the last decade for encoding information using deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), giving rise to the emerging area of DNA data embedding. Since a DNA sequence is conceptually equivalent to a sequence of quaternary symbols (bases), DNA data embedding (diversely called DNA watermarking or DNA steganography) can be seen as a digital communications problem where channel errors are tantamount to mutations of DNA bases. Depending on the use of coding or noncoding DNA hosts, which, respectively, denote DNA segments that can or cannot be translated into proteins, DNA data embedding is essentially a problem of communications with or without side information at the encoder. In this paper the Shannon capacity of DNA data embedding is obtained for the case in which DNA sequences are subject to substitution mutations modelled using the Kimura model from molecular evolution studies. Inferences are also drawn with respect to the biological implications of some of the results presented.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures; preliminary versions of this work were presented at the SPIE Media Forensics and Security XII conference (January 2010) and at the IEEE ICASSP conference (March 2010

Study of the development of automatic control systems for autonomous exploration robots

El projecte consisteix en la recerca, disseny i possible programació de sistemes de control per tal de conferir al rover d’una certa autonomia i poder controlar-lo en situacions on el control en temps real no sigui factible o desitjat. Aquest estudi inclou la recerca i disseny de sistemes sensorials, sistemes de detecció d’obstacles i sistemes d’optimització de ruta, tant com l’estudi de les actuacions necessàries per a seguir aquesta ruta.This thesis explores the necessities of autonomous exploration rovers within the context of a high latency communications link and proposes a program architecture made up of different modules which takes these necessities into account. A MATLAB simulator is designed and implemented to test the proposed software architecture and to verify the correct behaviour of the proposed algorithms within each module. Finally, these modules are implemented in C++ and tested for verification with a real rover

Object Detection and Classification in Occupancy Grid Maps using Deep Convolutional Networks

A detailed environment perception is a crucial component of automated vehicles. However, to deal with the amount of perceived information, we also require segmentation strategies. Based on a grid map environment representation, well-suited for sensor fusion, free-space estimation and machine learning, we detect and classify objects using deep convolutional neural networks. As input for our networks we use a multi-layer grid map efficiently encoding 3D range sensor information. The inference output consists of a list of rotated bounding boxes with associated semantic classes. We conduct extensive ablation studies, highlight important design considerations when using grid maps and evaluate our models on the KITTI Bird's Eye View benchmark. Qualitative and quantitative benchmark results show that we achieve robust detection and state of the art accuracy solely using top-view grid maps from range sensor data.Comment: 6 pages, 4 tables, 4 figure

Indirect test of M-S circuits using multiple specification band guarding

Testing analog and mixed-signal circuits is a costly task due to the required test time targets and high end technical resources. Indirect testing methods partially address these issues providing an efficient solution using easy to measure CUT information that correlates with circuit performances. In this work, a multiple specification band guarding technique is proposed as a method to achieve a test target of misclassified circuits. The acceptance/rejection test regions are encoded using octrees in the measurement space, where the band guarding factors precisely tune the test decision boundary according to the required test yield targets. The generated octree data structure serves to cluster the forthcoming circuits in the production testing phase by solely relying on indirect measurements. The combined use of octree based encoding and multiple specification band guarding makes the testing procedure fast, efficient and highly tunable. The proposed band guarding methodology has been applied to test a band-pass Butterworth filter under parametric variations. Promising simulation results are reported showing remarkable improvements when the multiple specification band guarding criterion is used.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Feminist Disability Studies, Education and Citizenship

[Resumen] Para as mulleres con discapacidade, a súa andaina social na loita pola cidadanía atopou na educación un instrumento de influencia. Entre outras cuestións, os Estudios Feministas da Discapacidade analizan desde unha perspectiva crítica a función da educación en beneficio do propio colectivo e da sociedade. As aulas continúan a posuír o seu innegable grao de responsabilidade en canto á construcción da cidadanía, a partir certamente dos condicionantes do xénero e da discapacidade.[Abstract] In society, women´s with disabilities advanced search of citizenship found a powerful instrumental: education. Critical Feminist Disability Studies analize some questions about the role of education in society. Classroom continues to take responsibility for the construction of citizenship, from gender and disability conditionings

Oral tradition and writing in popular culture: printed calendars, a transition towards written culture in urban society

[RESUMO] O avance na consolidación do modelo económico capitalista esixía racionalizar a medida do tempo nos diferentes territorios europeos, tanto para o fomento da productividade económica, como para o ‘disciplinamento’ social. Así, o calendario, que fora unha mediación característica, pero tamén variable, da sociedade tradicional, foise convertendo durante a Modernidade tardía e a Contemporaneidade nunha publicación impresa crecentemente popular, paulatinamente normalizada como xénero impreso. Como obxecto de consumo cultural, o calendario ou almanaque incorporou novidades científicas nas súas páxinas publicitarias, conxuntamente cos contidos máis tradicionais e desenvolveu un rol formativo en contextos informais de educación[ABSTRACT] The consolidation of capitalism made it necessary to rationalize the measurement of time in different areas of Europe for two reasons – to foster economic productivity and to achieve social discipline. Thus the calendar, which had been a typical, but variable measurement, gradually became an increasingly popular printed publication in late modernity and contemporary times. As an object of cultural consumption, the calendar or almanac started to include scientific innovations in the form of advertisements, in addition to its traditional contents. The calendar also played an important role in informal educational settings

High dimensional autocompensating quantum cryptography in optical fibers implemented with discrete and integrated photonic devices

O obxectivo global desta tese é contribuir ao deseño de novos sistemas de criptografía cuántica e ao desenvolvemento de dispositivos fotónicos discretos e integrados que implementen operacións específicas para implementalos usando multiplexación espacial. Deste xeito, na tese propoñense novos metodos de encriptación cuántica autocompensada, que fan uso dos modos espaciais propagados por diversas fibras ópticas (fibras de poucos modos e multinúcleo) para conseguir transmitir información en alta dimensión, correxindo tódalas fluctuacións que estes sofren ao longo da transmisión pola fibra. Ao mesmo tempo, deseñanse os distintos dispositivos fotónicos necesarios para implementar ditos métodos, baseados tanto en elementos ópticos discretos como en dispositivos integrados. En particular, na tese presentanse novos dispositivos para xerar estados cuánticos útiles en criptografía (baseados en estados vórtice), así como proxectores cuánticos capaces de medir ditos estados. Ademáis, na tese demóstrase a viabilidade de fabricar ditos dispositivos de xeito integrado por medio de intercambio iónico en vidrio

Pharmaceutical compounding and drug repositioning from hospital pharmacy in situations of therapeutic gap

This doctoral thesis focuses on offering therapeutic alternatives through pharmaceutical compounding and drug repositioning from the hospital pharmacy to cover therapeutic gaps. An ophthalmic compounded formulation of cysteamine in hyaluronic acid packaged in novel single-dose containers was developed for the treatment of ocular cystinosis. On the other hand, an inhaled compounded formulation of ethanol was developed for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and subsequently studied for efficacy and safety in the phase II clinical trial ALCOVID-19. In both cases, appropriate galenic development and characterisation has been performed in conjunction with preclinical pharmacokinetic studies prior to appropriate translation into clinical practice

The establishment of wage inequality in the food processing industry

Este artículo expone los resultados de una investigación cualitativa sobre los procesos que influyen en la brecha salarial entre hombres y mujeres en la industria agroalimentaria. La infravaloración del trabajo realizado por las mujeres, su exclusión de los sectores y empleos con mejores perspectivas salariales así como sus reducidas trayectorias laborales son algunos de los mecanismos que contribuyen a mantener la desigualdad retributiva. El artículo indaga también en las dificultades que aparecen en la aplicación del principio de igual retribución por trabajos de igual valor como instrumento para garantizar la igualdad salarial.This article highlights the results of a qualitative study into the processes which influence the wage gap between men and women in the food processing industry. The undervaluation of the work carried out by women, their exclusion from sectors and jobs with better salary prospects and reduced career expectations are some of the mechanisms which contribute to maintaining wage inequality. The article also looks into the problems that occur in applying the principle of equal pay for work of equal value as a means of guaranteeing wage equality

Explicit harmonic self-maps of complex projective spaces

We study ${ \mathrm{ SU } ( p + 1 ) \times \mathrm{ SU } ( n - p ) }$-equivariant maps between complex projective spaces. For every ${ n, p \in \mathbb{ N } }$ with ${ 0 \leq p < n }$, we construct two explicit families of uncountable many harmonic self-maps of $\mathbb{ CP }^n$, one given by holomorphic maps and the other by maps that are neither holomorphic nor antiholomorphic. We prove that each solution is equivariantly weakly stable and explicitly compute the equivariant spectrum for some specific maps in both families.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure. v2: section 5 has been expande