El agua, el canto, el metal, y su relación con el mal y los hacedores de tormentas

São muitos os exemplos de fazedores de tempestades que povoam a literatura tradicional oral. No entanto, a partir de alguns exemplos de fazedores de tempestades que não gozam da fama, por exemplo, do mitológico Thor, proporemos no presente artigo uma série de motivos aplicáveis a todos eles. Este artigo explora os métodos de expulsão do mal, centrando-se nas relações que ele estabelece com a água/tempestade/mar, o canto e o metal. De aí que, depois de uma breve introdução ao papel que tais elementos exercem, procuremos determinar as funções que exercem sobre os seres malignos e os fazedores de tormentas. Da parte principal deste estudo, extrairemos uma conclusão de carácter social e literário. Por fim, e em apêndice, acrescentamos uma aparente excepção pertencente à literatura oral japonesa, para a qual indicamos um muito possível precedente e influência directa. Tal aparente excepção mais não faz que levar-nos a uma reflexão mais geral sobre a utilidade que a literatura popular oferece a uma comunidade e/ou sociedade

Las colocaciones en la enseñanza del español de los negocios

En el presente artículo se muestra una breve panorámica del tratamiento de las colocaciones en la enseñanza/aprendizaje del español de los negocios. Se comenzará con una breve introducción teórica a las UFS, para pasar a otra, no tan breve, de las colocaciones y su estatus dentro de la enseñanza de E/LE. Visto esto, se propondrá una actividad que pueda servir de modelo para la creación de otras. Por último, se añade un glosario de colocaciones en español extraído de los materiales al uso

Buddai, el gigante dormido australiano de Lovecraft, y el mito del gigante dormido de los aborígenes de Australia: de la tradición oral a la ficción científica

Los motivos mítico-folclóricos están muy presentes en la obra de Howard Phillips Lovecraft. En este artículo se detalla la vinculación entre motivos y temas del folclore internacional, y un ejemplo de la ficción científica del autor en cuestión. Para el relato La sombra fuera del tiempo, Lovecraft toma de fuentes orales aborígenes australianas la leyenda y mito del gigante dormido, los espantosos vientos que cruzan las tierras del continente austral, la siniestra luna, los campos de piedras que bañan el país, y las huellas fosilizadas que dejaron una vez los gigantes del Tiempo del Sueño.This paper analyses the way in wich some international mythical and folcloric elements are used by H. P. Lovecraft for the construction of his science fiction tale The Shadow out of Time. Having as source the oral aboriginal cultures of Australia, Lovecraft makes use of the legends and myths of the Sleeping Giant, the strong winds, the sinister moon, the mysterious fields of rocks, and the fossilised fingerprints of the giants of Dreamtim

Game State and Action Abstracting Monte Carlo Tree Search for General Strategy Game-Playing

When implementing intelligent agents for strategy games, we observe that search-based methods struggle with the complexity of such games. To tackle this problem, we propose a new variant of Monte Carlo Tree Search which can incorporate action and game state abstractions. Focusing on the latter, we developed a game state encoding for turn-based strategy games that allows for a flexible abstraction. Using an optimization procedure, we optimize the agent's action and game state abstraction to maximize its performance against a rule-based agent. Furthermore, we compare different combinations of abstractions and their impact on the agent's performance based on the Kill the King game of the Stratega framework. Our results show that action abstractions have improved the performance of our agent considerably. Contrary, game state abstractions have not shown much impact. While these results may be limited to the tested game, they are in line with previous research on abstractions of simple Markov Decision Processes. The higher complexity of strategy games may require more intricate methods, such as hierarchical or time-based abstractions, to further improve the agent's performance

Surgical Specialization and Standardization of Care Improves Outcomes in Mechanical Circulatory Support: A Single Center Experience

Purpose: Cardiac surgery continues to transform into areas of sub-specialization and expertise to reduce variability and have superior outcomes. We sought to analyze the impact of surgical sub-specialization and use of protocol and clinical pathways on outcomes with MCS at the time of LVAD implantation. Methods: A single center retrospective analysis of long term durable MCS patients between 2004-2019 was performed. The analysis was conducted comparing management of patients before (Era 1: 2004-2011) vs. after (Era 2: 2012-2019) based on before and after introduction of MCS sub-specialization. Since 2012, multiple initiatives were introduced namely recruitment of specialized MCS/transplant surgeons, multidisciplinary team rounds, establishment of a shock team, development of clinical care pathways, electronic medical record order sets and clinical practice guidelines. Results: A total of 542 patients were included. During Era 1, five cardiac surgeons implanted LVADs in 123 patients, while in Era 2, two MCS/transplant trained surgeons implanted LVADs in 419 patients. Era 2 included higher number of INTERMACS 1 and 2 profile patients (41% vs. 63%) reflecting higher-acuity patient population. With implementation of the sub-specialization services, 1-year survival improved from 70% to 90%. Median ICU stay decreased from 13 to 8 days and percent of patients discharged to home increased from 62% to 95%. Standardized protocols for management of high LDH, GI bleeding, and blood pressure management resulted in significant reduction in overall hospital length of stay. With introduction of clinical care pathways, the average time for workup from admission to LVAD implant decreased from 27.6 days to 8.5 days. Conclusion: Introduction of surgical sub-specialization and standardization of care with the use of clinical pathways and protocols in managing patients with LVADs can help improve survival, reduce variability in medical care, and reduce ICU length of stay

PETra: Software Tool for a Semiautomatic Positron Emission Tomography Image Analysis and its Application to the Study of Brain Glucose Consumption in Rats

[EN] This work presents a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) image analysis tool and its application to the study of rat brain glucose consumption (PETra comes from PET+rat). The described methodology has four steps: a preprocessing of PET images, a coregistration of these images with an atlas, a semiautomatic segmentation of the regions of interest in the rat brain and a 3D reconstruction of these regions to obtain the volumes of interest. Brain glucose uptake was quantified as Standardized Uptake Value (SUV). This tool was applied to nine Wistar rats, young (4-7 months) and old (22-24 months) groups, to study the effect of aging on brain glucose consumption and the difference between sexes. Results showed a lower glucose uptake in old rats than in young rats, regardless gender; while young female rats showed higher glucose consumption than young male rats, whereas these differences disappeared with aging. The developed tool allows the quantification of glucose in rat brain. Results show the accuracy of the tool to define ranges of variation in a population of young and old rats, showing a decrease in glucose consumption in aging.Del Canto, I.; Lopez-Grueso, R.; Gambini, J.; Monleón, D.; Borrás, C.; Viña, J.; Moratal, D. (2015). PETra: Software Tool for a Semiautomatic Positron Emission Tomography Image Analysis and its Application to the Study of Brain Glucose Consumption in Rats. IEEE Latin America Transactions. 13(3):876-884. doi:10.1109/TLA.2015.7069118S87688413

Efficient Small Extracellular Vesicles (EV) Isolation Method and Evaluation of EV-Associated DNA Role in Cell-Cell Communication in Cancer

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) released by all cell types function as a mediator in intercellular communication that can promote cell division and survival to remodel the tumor microenvironment to develop tumor invasion and metastasis. Even though dsDNA baggage is associated with all small EV populations, the functional role of EV-DNA in cancer remains poorly understood. This is due to a lack of methods allowing the efficient separation of small EVs (sEVs) from other non-sEV components. The main aim of our study was to develop an efficient sEV isolation method along with EV-associated DNA (EV-DNA) monitoring tool to evaluate the role of EV-DNA as a mediator of cell–cell communication in cancer. Our detailed small EV-DNA characterization confirmed that isolated sEVs using the TSU method (Tangential flow filtration + Size exclusion chromatography + Ultrafiltration) are free from contaminants such as cell-free and apoptotic bodies DNA, making TSU ideal for performing EV-DNA functional studies. Next, we revealed the exact EV-DNA distribution in the recipient cells using 3D image analysis and the association of EV-DNA with key cellular proteins, which may have an essential role in cancer. In the leukemia model, EV-DNA isolated from leukemia cell lines associated with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), a crucial factor in the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment. ABSTRACT: Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) play essential roles in intercellular signaling both in normal and pathophysiological conditions. Comprehensive studies of dsDNA associated with sEVs are hampered by a lack of methods, allowing efficient separation of sEVs from free-circulating DNA and apoptotic bodies. In this work, using controlled culture conditions, we enriched the reproducible separation of sEVs from free-circulated components by combining tangential flow filtration, size-exclusion chromatography, and ultrafiltration (TSU). EV-enriched fractions (F2 and F3) obtained using TSU also contained more dsDNA derived from the host genome and mitochondria, predominantly localized inside the vesicles. Three-dimensional reconstruction of high-resolution imaging showed that the recipient cell membrane barrier restricts a portion of EV-DNA. Simultaneously, the remaining EV-DNA overcomes it and enters the cytoplasm and nucleus. In the cytoplasm, EV-DNA associates with dsDNA-inflammatory sensors (cGAS/STING) and endosomal proteins (Rab5/Rab7). Relevant to cancer, we found that EV-DNA isolated from leukemia cell lines communicates with mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), a critical component in the BM microenvironment. Furthermore, we illustrated the arrangement of sEVs and EV-DNA at a single vesicle level using super-resolution microscopy. Altogether, employing TSU isolation, we demonstrated EV-DNA distribution and a tool to evaluate the exact EV-DNA role of cell–cell communication in cancer

El proceso de diseño de un molino vibro-planetario para la producción de materiales compuestos

En este trabajo se presenta el proceso del diseño de un molino que combina el movimiento planetario y vibratorio de recipientes que contienen material nano partículado, para utilizarlo en la producción de materiales compuestos. Se desea que con la combinación de dos movimientos, este se convierta en un molino de alta energía, por la cantidad de movimiento que se le puede imprimir a los elementos moledores, y, también en un molino de alta capacidad por la cantidad de masa que se puede llegar a moler en un solo bache. En su diseño se consideraron dos principios básicos que son, movimiento centrífugo y movimiento axial vibratorio de los recipientes que contienen los polvos, donde la combinación de los dos movimientos garantiza aceleraciones inducidas sobre los elementos moledores superiores a seis (6) veces la gravedad y a su vez alta calidad en la aleación mecánica final, en relación con el tamaño y uniformidad de la aleación. Se realizó el diseño conceptual y detallado de todos los mecanismos y partes que componen el molino, la simulación de la dinámica del conjunto y el análisis estructural de los componentes esenciales. Durante todo el proceso de diseño se soportó el trabajo con software especializado, así por ejemplo para el modelado de todas las piezas y el conjunto se utilizó el Solid Edge; para el análisis estructural se utilizó el Algor y el Ansys y, en la simulación dinámica se usó el Working Model, entre otros. El uso de todas estas herramientas computacionales se cumplió con criterios de diseño de ingeniería inversa y Quality Function Deployment- QFD.This paper show the process the design of a mill that combines the planetary and vibratory movement of the containers the material nano meter size, to use it in the production of composite materials. There is wished that with the combination of both movements, this to convert a mill of high energy for the quantity of movement on the milling elements, and, also on a mill of high capacity for the quantity of mass that it is possible to mill in every patch. In this design it was considered two basic principles that are, centrifugal movement and axial vibratory movement of the containers that of the powders, where the combination of both movements guarantees accelerations induced on the milling elements up to six (6) times the gravity and an high quality in the mechanical final alloy, in relation to the size and uniformity of the alloy. There was realized the conceptual and detailed design of all the mechanisms and parts that of the mill, the dynamics simulation of the assembly and the structural analysis of the essential components. During the all process of design it was support with specializing software, for example for the modeling of all the parts and the assembly used the Solid Edge; for the structural analysis used the Algor and the Ansys software, and, in the dynamical simulation used the Working Model and others. The use of all these tools computational they were realized by criteria of design of inverse Engineering and Quality Function Deploymen