Plato's Phaedo: Selected Papers From the Eleventh Symposium Platonicum

The paper deals with the "deuteros plous", literally ‘the second voyage’, proverbially ‘the next best way’, discussed in Plato’s "Phaedo", the key passage being Phd. 99e4–100a3. The second voyage refers to what Plato’s Socrates calls his “flight into the logoi”. Elaborating on the subject, the author first (I) provides a non-standard interpretation of the passage in question, and then (II) outlines the philosophical problem that it seems to imply, and, finally, (III) tries to apply this philosophical problem to the "ultimate final proof" of immortality and to draw an analogy with the ontological argument for the existence of God, as proposed by Descartes in his 5th "Meditation". The main points are as follows: (a) the “flight into the logoi” can have two different interpretations, a common one and an astonishing one, and (b) there is a structural analogy between Descartes’s ontological argument for the existence of God in his 5th "Meditation" and the "ultimate final proof" for the immortality of the soul in the "Phaedo"

Solving dynamic stochastic economic models by mathematical programming decomposition methods.

Discrete-time optimal control problems arise naturally in many economic problems. Despite the rapid growth in computing power and new developments in the literature, many economic problems are still quite challenging to solve. Economists are aware of the limitations of some of these approaches for solving these problems due to memory and computational requirements. However, many of the economic models present some special structure that can be exploited in an efficient manner. This paper introduces a decomposition methodology, based on a mathematical programming framework, to compute the equilibrium path in dynamic models by breaking the problem into a set of smaller independent subproblems. We study the performance of the method solving a set of dynamic stochastic economic models. The numerical results reveal that the proposed methodology is efficient in terms of computing time and accuracyDynamic stochastic economic model; Computation of equilibrium; Mathematical programming; Decomposition techniques;

Multivectorial strategy to interpret a resistive behaviour of loads in smart buildings

In Smart buildings, electric loads are affected by an important distortion in the current and voltage waveforms, caused by the increasing proliferation of non linear electronic devices. This paper presents an approach on non sinusoidal power theory based on Geometric Algebra that clearly improves traditional methods in the optimization of apparent power and power factor compensation. An example is included that demonstrates the superiority of this approach compared with traditional methods.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

El consejo de administración y la reputación corporativa: un análisis empírico

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the association between board of director characteristics and corporate reputation. Design/methodology/approach – Logistic and multivariate regressions are performed to analyse whether the board of director characteristics are associated with the level of corporate reputation. The sample is composed of listed companies in the Madrid Stock Exchange (Índice General de la Bolsa de Madrid)atleastonceduringtheperiod2004-2010.Corporategovernancedataweremanuallyextracted from governance reports released by Spanish companies. The data for the design of a corporate reputation measure were obtained from the Monitor Español de Reputación Corporativa (MERCO) institute web site. Findings – Results from the empirical analysis show that Spanish companies that appear high up in terms of ranking in the reputation index provided by MERCO tend to have a higher percentage of independent directors as well as more female directors on their board. Firm size and the image of the president of a firm are also linked to corporate reputation. Originality/value – The results have direct implications for the management of corporate governance mechanisms by shareholders who should take into account their role in the creation and maintenance of corporate reputation.Objetivo El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la asociación entre las características de los consejos de administración y la reputación corporativa. Metodología La metodología empleada se basa en el uso de regresiones logísticas y multivariantes. Nuestra muestra se compone de las empresas que cotizaron en el Índice General de la Bolsa de Madrid (IGBM) durante el período 2004-2010. Los datos sobre gobierno corporativo se obtuvieron manualmente a partir de los informes de gobierno corporativo publicados por las empresas españolas. La información para diseñar la medida de la reputación corporativa se obtuvo de la página web de MERCO (Monitor Español de Reputación Corporativa). Resultados Los resultados del análisis empírico muestran que las empresas españolas que aparecen en las posiciones más altas del ranking de reputación corporativa proporcionado por MERCO tienden a tener un mayor porcentaje de directores independientes y de mujeres en sus consejos de administración. El tamaño de la empresa y la reputación del presidente también están relacionados con la reputación corporativa. Originalidad Los resultados tienen implicaciones directas para la gestión de los mecanismos de gobierno corporativo por parte de los accionistas, que deberían considerar el papel de los consejos de administración en la creación y mantenimiento de la reputación corporativa

Actividad e indicación quirúrgica en una Unidad de Alta resolución de Tiroides y puesta en marcha del Comité Multidisciplinar de Patología de Tiroides. Incidentaloma tiroideo.

El hallazgo de un nódulo tiroideo se ha convertido en uno de los motivos más frecuentes de consulta endocrinológica. La implantación de las unidades de alta resolución de tiroides (UART) puede ser la solución para este problema sanitario. Por ello, la importancia en este estudio reside en conocer los factores de riesgo relacionados con el cáncer de tiroides en nuestro medio, evaluar la actividad e indicación quirúrgica de una UART, así como los incidentalomas encontrados en esta. Nuestro médodo consiste en un estudio observacional de base hospitalaria en el total de pacientes remitidos a la UART durante los años 2015 y 2016; así como en aquellos pacientes remitidos al CT para evaluación de cirugía por cualquier causa. Del total de pacientes evaluados se remitieron para valoración quirúrgica un total de 241 pacientes. Las variables que establecieron relación con malignidad y obtuvieron significación estadística en nuestro estudio fueron la presencia de microcalcificaciones, halo desdibujado e hipofunción tiroidea. Al comparar los carcinomas de tiroides frente a los incidentalomas solamente se observó diferencia significativa en el tamaño del tumor principal (p<0.01). Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que la puesta en marcha de este tipo de unidades es una alternativa viable y coste efectiva a la hora de diagnosticar la patología tiroidea maligna.Grado en Medicin

Quantum Benchmarking: entanglement measures in quantum computers

Màster Oficial de Ciència i Tecnologia Quàntiques / Quantum Science and Technology, Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2022-2023. Tutora : Alba Cervera-LiertaQuantum computation has emerged as a promising paradigm shift in the field of computing, and with the advent of new quantum computers, it has become crucial to assess and quantify their performance. Benchmarking, a wellestablished practice in the field, plays a vital role in this regard. One effective way to evaluate a quantum computer’s capabilities is by measuring the amount of entanglement it exhibits, as entanglement is a fundamental characteristic of quantum systems. In this thesis, we provide a comprehensive overview of the current landscape of quantum benchmarking and propose several protocols for estimating the Rényi entropy of quantum states, which offers valuable insights into the entanglement structure of these states. We present a protocol based on the renowned Swap test, specifically designed for future fault-tolerant devices, as well as another protocol based on randomized measurements to address the limitations of current NISQ devices. We have implemented these protocols on the quantum simulation framework of Qibo, ensuring an efficient and reliable execution on any quantum computer, in particular the one at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC). Through this work, we aim to contribute to the advancement of quantum benchmarking and facilitate the assessment of entanglement in quantum computing systems

Amarakaeri

Highlighting the enormous biodiversity of the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve (ACR) and the critical role this protected area plays in the conservation of Madre de Dios, in southeastern Peru, with more than 1,700 vivid photographs, Amarakaeri: Connecting Biodiversity offers readers a glimpse into the extensive research conducted by scholars from the Smithsonian National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute and their Peruvian counterparts. For three years, scientists and local experts had the extraordinary opportunity to collect data at the premontane forests of the ACR to determine potential impacts of an exploratory gas platform on selected animal and plant groups. Amarakaeri also portrays the main threats to the ACR and presents a vision for the region’s future

Aerodynamic scaling of cylindircal structures through surface roughness modification

[ES] El flujo alrededor de un cilindro circular y la fuerza de arrastre sobre el mismo han sido motivo de estudio durante mucho tiempo, ya que muchos investigadores han estudiado el efecto de la rugosidad de la superficie de los cilindros en el pasado. Esto es debido a la gran cantidad de dificultades que son encontradas a la hora de simular flujos de Re supercriticos sobre la superficie de los cilindros a velocidades relativamente bajas en un túnel de viento de capa límite. La simulación de los efectos del vientos a escala real sobre las superficies de los cilindros en los modelos a escala se hace difícil debido a la diferencia del Re entre la escala del modelo y las estructuras a escala real. Este estudio intenta controlar el flujo, así como el punto de separación alrededor de un cilindro circular a través de la aplicación de la rugosidad de la superficie artificial a través del exterior del cilindro. Con el fin de hacer eso, rugosidades definidas en patrones dentados y diferentes tipos de asperezas en papel de lija serán testados en la superficie de los cilindros , que fueron sujeots a prueba frente a flujos laminares en un BLWT. Al mismo tiempo, este estudio tiene como un objetivo principal para tratar de simular las condiciones de flujos de super-críticos con las velocidades de viento sub-crítico más bajas a fin de aplicar estos resultados, en caso de que eran óptimas, en el proyecto de un prototipo real de una torre eólica.[EN] The flow around a circular cylinder and the drag force on it have been studied for a long time, as many researchers have studied the effect of surface roughness on cylinders in the past. This is because of a lot of difficulties are found when trying to simulate super critical Re flow effects over cylinder surfaces at relatively low wind speeds in a boundary layer wind tunnel. Simulating the effects of full scale winds over cylinder surfaces on scale models is made difficult due to the contrast in Re between the model scale and full scale structures. This study attempts to control the flow as well as the separation point around a circular cylinder through the implementation of artificial surface roughness across the exterior of the cylinder. In order to do that, roughness indented patterns and several roughnesses with sandpaper will be tested at the circular cylinders surface, which were subjected to wind laminar flows in a BLWT. At the same time, this study has as a main target to try to simulate super-critical flows conditions with the lowest sub-critical wind velocities so as to apply these results, in case they were optimal, to the project of a real wind tower prototype.Bravo López, FJ. (2016). Aerodynamic scaling of cylindircal structures through surface roughness modification. Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/144644TFG

Current status of las tablas de daimiel national park wetland and actions required for conservation

Wetlands are complex ecosystems that play multiple roles. ‘Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park’ (TDNP) undoubtedly plays a role in several ecosystem services and provides a connection between nature, farmers, scientists, residents, and other stakeholders. The state of degradation and/or vulnerability of this ecosystem (with a series of socio-economic implications) have led the publication of numerous articles. The work reported here provides a description of the growing importance of this wetland within the rural landscapes of La Mancha and emphasizes its state of degradation, mainly since pedological point of view. In this way, particular attention is required to assure the conservation of the Tablas of Daimiel Wetland; thus, several measures are proposed to improve the conservation of this area as to control and prohibit any dumping of any type of waste in the park or in its vicinityThis Research was funded by Organismo Autonomo Parques Nacionales (Autonomous Organism National Parks) of Spain (OAPN