An eigenvalue problem for non-bounded quasi-linear operator

In this paper we study the eigenvalues associated with a positive eigenfunction of a quasilinear elliptic problem with a not necessarily bounded operator. For that, we use the bifurcation theory and obtain the existence of positive solution for a range of values of the bifurcation parameter.Dirección General de Enseñanza Superior (Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia)Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologi

Papel de SAM68 en la diferenciación del adipocito

Sam68, sustrato de Src en mitosis, es una proteína STAR (transductor de señales y activador del metabolismo de ARN) que está involucrada en diversos y muy importantes procesos biológicos tales como la regulación de la expresión génica, corte-empalme alternativo, señalización, ciclo celular, exportación de ARN, traducción de proteínas, etc... Debido a esta gran variedad de funciones diferentes es fácil pensar en la importancia de conocer cada uno de los mecanismos biológicos donde se ha encontrado su participación. Nuestro grupo ha trabajado en el papel de Sam68 en la señalización del receptor de insulina y leptina. La insulina es uno de los factores necesarios para la diferenciación del adipocito, y la leptina es una adipocina producida fundamentalmente por el adipocito. Por tanto pensamos que Sam68 podría tener algún papel en la diferenciación del adipocit

Entre la posmodernidad y el homoerotismo: la imaginería procesional del siglo XXI y el neobarroco gay

La teoría del neobarroco gay se corresponde con un lenguaje estético que postula la exaltación del homoerotismo masculino, explícito o sutil, en clave manifiestamente morbosa y en un contexto religioso específico, aplicado a la escultura procesional de finales del siglo XX y lo que llevamos del XXI, donde además se ha tergiversado la construcción social del género en el hombre/escultura. Este proceso coincide con un espacio/tiempo donde se ha producido una creciente aceptación social de la homosexualidad masculina y su visibilidad, además de una evidente puesta en valor de la misma a través de obras donde el cuerpo del hombre sintoniza con su consideración actual como “objeto” de consumo dentro de los medios de masas.Theory of the called “Gay Neobaroque” is an aesthetic language which promotes exaltation of homoerotic and diseased senses applied to sculptural representation of men, in the particular religious context of Spanish sacred imaginery made for celebrations of Holy Week since the end of XX century to the present days and also twisting social construction of “genus” by the man/sculpture because. The called “Gay Neobaroque” is situated on specific space and time with a specific relationships with visibility, value and acceptance of masculine homosexuality and conversion of men´s body in “object” for consumers according rudiments of marketing and motif for publicity and audio-visual and artistic creation

CMOS Vision Sensors: Embedding Computer Vision at Imaging Front-Ends

CMOS Image Sensors (CIS) are key for imaging technol-ogies. These chips are conceived for capturing opticalscenes focused on their surface, and for delivering elec-trical images, commonly in digital format. CISs may incor-porate intelligence; however, their smartness basicallyconcerns calibration, error correction and other similartasks. The term CVISs (CMOS VIsion Sensors) definesother class of sensor front-ends which are aimed at per-forming vision tasks right at the focal plane. They havebeen running under names such as computational imagesensors, vision sensors and silicon retinas, among others. CVIS and CISs are similar regarding physical imple-mentation. However, while inputs of both CIS and CVISare images captured by photo-sensors placed at thefocal-plane, CVISs primary outputs may not be imagesbut either image features or even decisions based on thespatial-temporal analysis of the scenes. We may hencestate that CVISs are more “intelligent” than CISs as theyfocus on information instead of on raw data. Actually,CVIS architectures capable of extracting and interpretingthe information contained in images, and prompting reac-tion commands thereof, have been explored for years inacademia, and industrial applications are recently ramp-ing up.One of the challenges of CVISs architects is incorporat-ing computer vision concepts into the design flow. Theendeavor is ambitious because imaging and computervision communities are rather disjoint groups talking dif-ferent languages. The Cellular Nonlinear Network Univer-sal Machine (CNNUM) paradigm, proposed by Profs.Chua and Roska, defined an adequate framework forsuch conciliation as it is particularly well suited for hard-ware-software co-design [1]-[4]. This paper overviewsCVISs chips that were conceived and prototyped at IMSEVision Lab over the past twenty years. Some of them fitthe CNNUM paradigm while others are tangential to it. Allthem employ per-pixel mixed-signal processing circuitryto achieve sensor-processing concurrency in the quest offast operation with reduced energy budget.Junta de Andalucía TIC 2012-2338Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC 2015-66878-C3-1-R y TEC 2015-66878-C3-3-

In the quest of vision-sensors-on-chip: Pre-processing sensors for data reduction

This paper shows that the implementation of vision systems benefits from the usage of sensing front-end chips with embedded pre-processing capabilities - called CVIS. Such embedded pre-processors reduce the number of data to be delivered for ulterior processing. This strategy, which is also adopted by natural vision systems, relaxes system-level requirements regarding data storage and communications and enables highly compact and fast vision systems. The paper includes several proof-o-concept CVIS chips with embedded pre-processing and illustrate their potential advantages. © 2017, Society for Imaging Science and Technology.Office of Naval Research (USA) N00014-14-1-0355Ministerio de Economía y Competitiviad TEC2015-66878-C3-1-R, TEC2015-66878-C3-3-RJunta de Andalucía 2012 TIC 233

Stress Increases Vulnerability to Inflammation in the Rat Prefrontal Cortex

Inflammation could be involved in some neurodegenerative disorders that accompany signs of inflammation. However, because sensitivity to inflammation is not equal in all brain structures, a direct relationship is not clear. Our aim was to test whether some physiological circumstances, such as stress, could enhance susceptibility to inflammation in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), which shows a relative resistance to inflammation. PFC is important in many brain functions and is a target for some neurodegenerative diseases. We induced an inflammatory process by a single intracortical injection of 2 μg of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a potent proinflammogen, in nonstressed and stressed rats. We evaluated the effect of our treatment on inflammatory markers, neuronal populations, BDNF expression, and behavior of several mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases and the transcription factor cAMP response element-binding protein. Stress strengthens the changes induced by LPS injection: microglial activation and proliferation with an increase in the levels of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α; loss of cells such as astroglia, seen as loss of glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity, and neurons, studied by neuronal-specific nuclear protein immunohistochemistry and GAD67 and NMDA receptor 1A mRNAs expression by in situ hybridization. A significant increase in the BDNF mRNA expression and modifications in the levels of MAP kinase phosphorylation were also found. In addition, we observed a protective effect from RU486 [mifepristone (11β-[p-(dimethylamino)phenyl]-17β-hydroxy-17-(1-propynyl)estra-4,9-dien-3-one)], a potent inhibitor of the glucocorticoid receptor activation. All of these data show a synergistic effect between inflammation and stress, which could explain the relationship described between stress and some neurodegenerative pathologies.España,Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia Grants SAF2002-01952 and SAF2004-0660

Existence of a Reversible T-Point Heteroclinic Cycle in a Piecewise Linear Version of the Michelson System

The proof of the existence of a global connection in differential systems is generally a difficult task. Some authors use numerical techniques to show this existence, even in the case of continuous piecewise linear systems. In this paper we give an analytical proof of the existence of a reversible T-point heteroclinic cycle in a continuous piecewise linear version of the widely studied Michelson system. The principal ideas of this proof can be extended to other piecewise linear systems

A sub-supersolution method for nonlinear elliptic singular systems with natural growth and some applications

In this paper we give a sub-supersolution method for nonlinear elliptic singular systems with quadratic gradient whose model system is the following where Ω is a smooth bounded domain of RN (N≥3), β,μ≥0, 0<α,γ<1 and regular f1,f2 functions. Moreover, we apply it to prove existence of solution for some systems, including the classical Lotka-Volterra models with gradient terms. Specifically, we study the competition and the symbiotic Lotka-Volterra systems.Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónJunta de Andalucí

Existence and non-existence of positive solutions for nonlinear elliptic singular equations with natural growth

In this paper we analyze the existence, non-existence and uniqueness of positive solutions of some nonlinear elliptic equations containing singular terms and natural growth in the gradient. We use an adequate sub-supersolution method to prove the existence of solutions, different arguments for the nonexistence and results from Arcoya-Segura de León for the uniqueness.Ministerio de Ciencia e InnovaciónJunta de Andalucí