Optimization of back-propagation learning algorithm on MLP networks

In order to generate more efficient neural networks, the configuration of the ANN itself has to be optimized, specially refering to its parameters and architecture. To do so, this problem will be approached from the learning and training process point of view, realizing different tests. These evaluations will lead us to determine which are the most optimum parameters for this processes. At the same time, the importance of the input pattern and the data used will be studied, observing how these influences on the learning process, not only from a runtime point of view, but also measuring the obtained error in the trained network. On the other side, the implementation itself will be optimized, doing this by executing the learning algorithm in parallel, using different nodes, meassuring the time needed for completing the trainning, and comparing it with the time needed in a sequential execution

Optimización de la operación del almacenamiento en centrales de torre solar

El objetivo de este proyecto es optimizar el uso, almacenamiento y consumo de la energía obtenida a través de una Central de Torre Solar. El proyecto inicialmente nos contextualiza en la situación energética mundial, y nos explica los objetivos que hay que cumplir a nivel global. Seguidamente, viene la explicación de unos conceptos básicos para entender la energía solar y por qué es interesante. A continuación, se explica de manera básica los tipos de centrales solares que hay en el momento. Antes de llegar al desarrollo del objetivo de este proyecto, se explica en profundidad los constituyentes y funcionamiento de una central solar de torre. Se hace de esta manera para que así el lector no se pierda al no entender conceptos técnicos en el desarrollo del objetivo de este proyecto. Con el fin de optimizar el uso de la energía, se ha diseñado el bloque de potencia diseñando el ciclo y eligiendo los componentes necesarios para su funcionamiento. Para el diseño del campo de captación, distribución del campo de heliostatos, altura del receptor, la torre y tamaño del receptor, así como los materiales de los que están compuestos, se ha utilizado el programa System Advisor Model (SAM), del cual se ha obtenido la información necesaria. También se ha utilizado el programa SAM para la obtención de los datos meteorológicos de la zona elegida, Sevilla. Se ha elegido esta localidad puesto que tiene unas condiciones climatológicas favorables a lo largo del año y además ya existe una planta con características similares en la realidad. Para el diseño del bloque de potencia, primero se ha diseñado un ciclo optimo con toda la información obtenida previamente al desarrollo del objetivo y después se ha hecho uso del programa Thermofllow, para ver el funcionamiento del ciclo y hacer las correcciones pertinentes. En cuanto al código de gestión de las operaciones del sistema de almacenamiento y uso de la energía ha sido escrito en el programa MATLAB R2016b. Inicialmente se desarrollan todas las operaciones que tienen lugar en el sistema de almacenamiento. El código tiene como objetivo el correcto y optimo uso de la energía, es decir se usa para: optimizar los procesos de carga y descarga del sistema de almacenamiento, evitar congelamiento en las sales etc. Para ver el funcionamiento del código y sus ventajas se compara con el funcionamiento que tendría la misma central sin el sistema de almacenamiento. Se elige como fluido de trabajo sal fundida (NaNO3 60% KNO3 40%) más conocida como sal solar. Una vez visto el funcionamiento más general y viendo sus ventajas, se mejora. La mejora consiste en, mediante ligeras modificaciones en el código, prolongar y aumentar al máximo la generación de energía eléctrica producida. Además, se explica como con unos ligeros ajustes, el código podría utilizarse también para optimizar los beneficios de la planta en vez de la generación eléctrica. Por último, se hace un estudio del presupuesto requerido para la realización del proyecto y unas conclusiones de los resultados.Ingeniería en Tecnologías Industriale

El inmediato 'posconflicto' y la construcción de la paz en el mundo antiguo : tres casos de estudio

La guerra sin duda constituye uno de los signos del 'final de los tiempos' en la Antigüedad. Del análisis de tres casos de estudio, centrados en el Levante de la Edad del Hierro, la Grecia clásica y la Roma ba-jorrepublicana, parece desprenderse que en ocasiones en la fase posterior a la guerra se fraguaban las condiciones del siguiente conflicto bélico. El 'final de los tiempos' significa, desde esta perspectiva, un estadio de conflicto permanente, del que natural-mente la religión tampoco estaba desliga-do y, en ocasiones, incluso implicaba una razón más para iniciar un nuevo conflicto. En este artículo, por tanto, se analiza la particular relación simbiótica entre 'gue-rra', 'paz' y 'política' pero también 'reli-gión' en los períodos de 'posconflicto'.In Antiquity war may be considered a sign of 'the end of all times'. After a tho-rough analysis of three case studies taken from the Iron Age Levant, the classical Greece and the Late Republican Rome, conditions for the next war may be detec-ted in postwar. Accordingly, 'the end of all times' in Antiquity also means a stage of permanent conflict, in which religion was not only a notorious issue but, on certain occasions, even the key to understand how a new conflict began. Therefore, this paper analyzes the unique symbiotic relationship between war and politics, but also peace and religion, during immediate postwa

The immediate 'post-conflict' and the construction of peace in the ancient world: three case studies

La guerra sin duda constituye uno de los signos del final de los tiempos en la Antigüedad. Del análisis de tres casos de estudio, centrados en el Levante de la Edad del Hierro, la Grecia clásica y la Roma bajorrepublicana, parece desprenderse que en ocasiones en la fase posterior a la guerra se fraguaban las condiciones del siguiente conflicto bélico. El 'final de los tiempos' significa, desde esta perspectiva, un estadio de conflicto permanente, del que naturalmente la religión tampoco estaba desligado y, en ocasiones, incluso implicaba una razón más para iniciar un nuevo conflicto. En este artículo, por tanto, se analiza la particular relación simbiótica entre 'guerra', 'paz' y 'politica' pero también 'religión' en los períodos de 'posconflicto'In Antiquity war be considered a sign of 'the end of all times'. After a thorough analys of three case studies taken from the Iron Age Levant, the classical Greece and the Late Republican Rome, conditions for the next war may be detected in postwar. Accordingly, 'the end of all times' in Antiquity also means a stage of permanent conflict, in which religion was not only a notorious issue but, on certain occasions, even the key to understand how a new conflict began. Therefore, this paper analyzes the unique symbiotic relationship between war and politics, but also peace and religion, during immediate postwa

El inmediato ‘posconflicto’ y la construcción de la paz en el mundo antiguo: tres casos de estudio

In Antiquity war may be considered a sign of ‘the end of all times’. After a thorough analysis of three case studies taken from the Iron Age Levant, the classical Greece and the Late Republican Rome, conditions for the next war may be detected in postwar. Accordingly, ‘the end of all times’ in Antiquity also means a stage of permanent conflict, in which religion was not only a notorious issue but, on certain occasions, even the key to understand how a new conflict began. Therefore, this paper analyzes the unique symbiotic relationship between war and politics, but also peace and religion, during immediate postwar.La guerra sin duda constituye uno de los signos del ‘final de los tiempos’ en la Antigüedad. Del análisis de tres casos de estudio, centrados en el Levante de la Edad del Hierro, la Grecia clásica y la Roma bajorrepublicana, parece desprenderse que en ocasiones en la fase posterior a la guerra se fraguaban las condiciones del siguiente conflicto bélico. El ‘final de los tiempos’ significa, desde esta perspectiva, un estadio de conflicto permanente, del que naturalmente la religión tampoco estaba desligado y, en ocasiones, incluso implicaba una razón más para iniciar un nuevo conflicto. En este artículo, por tanto, se analiza la particular relación simbiótica entre ‘guerra’, ‘paz’ y ‘política’ pero también ‘religión’ en los períodos de ‘posconflicto’

Exploring the role of meditation and dispositional mindfulness on social cognition domains: a controlled study.

Research suggests that mindfulness can induce changes in the social domain, such as enhancing emotional connection to others, prosocial behavior, and empathy. However, despite growing interest in mindfulness in social psychology, very little is known about the effects of mindfulness on social cognition. Consequently, the aim of this study was to explore the relationship between mindfulness and social cognition by comparing meditators with non-meditators on several social cognition measures. A total of 60 participants (meditators, n = 30; non-meditators, n = 30) were matched on sex, age, and ethnic group, and then asked to complete the following assessment measures: Mindful Awareness Attention Scale (MAAS), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Short Form (FFMQ-SF), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), Revised Eyes Test, Hinting Task, Ambiguous Intentions and Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Screening for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (SCIP). The results showed that meditators reported higher empathy (except for the personal distress subscale), higher emotional recognition, higher theory of mind (ToM), and lower hostile attributional style/bias. The findings also demonstrated that dispositional mindfulness (both total score assessed with MAAS and mindfulness facets using the FFMQ) was associated with social cognition, although it was not equally correlated with all social cognition outcomes, and correlation patterns differ when analyses were conducted separately for meditators and non-meditators. In addition, results showed potential predictors for each social cognition variable, highlighting non-reactivity to inner experience as a key component of mindfulness in order to explain social cognition performance. In summary, the findings indicated that the meditator sample performed better on certain qualities (i.e., empathy, emotional recognition, ToM, hostile attributional style/bias) in comparison to non-meditators and, furthermore, support the notion that mindfulness is related to social cognition, which may have implications for the design of mindfulness-based approaches for use in clinical and non-clinical settings.N/

Effects and acceptability of virtual reality to facilitate mindfulness practice in university students

Mindfulness practices have proven to be effective for improving the mental health of many populations, including university students. However, these practices can be challenging for naive meditators. Virtual reality (VR) can create virtual scenarios that facilitate the practice of mindfulness. This study presents secondary data from a randomized controlled trial on the effects and acceptability of mindfulness-based VR environments conducted with a sample of university students. Specifically, it involved a single condition (n = 93) receiving an intervention that comprised six short mindfulness sessions in VR. Measurements were taken of participants’ state mindfulness and emotional state immediately before and after the implementation of each VR environment. Sense of presence was measured subsequent to each VR environment. Furthermore, participants were asked to rate their expectations for at baseline and satisfaction with the experience after the intervention. Participants significantly improved both state mindfulness and emotional states, and they reported a moderate-to-strong sense of presence in each of the VR environments. Moreover, participants reported high expectation and satisfaction scores for the intervention. This study shows the potential of VR in mindfulness, although there is a need for more research in this area and, in particular, more sophisticated trial designs

Meditation experts try Virtual Reality Mindfulness: A pilot study evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of Virtual Reality to facilitate mindfulness practice in people attending a Mindfulness conference

Regular mindfulness practice benefits people both mentally and physically, but many populations who could benefit do not practice mindfulness. Virtual Reality (VR) is a new technology that helps capture participants’ attention and gives users the illusion of “being there” in the 3D computer generated environment, facilitating sense of presence. By limiting distractions from the real world, increasing sense of presence and giving people an interesting place to go to practice mindfulness, Virtual Reality may facilitate mindfulness practice. Traditional Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT®) mindfulness skills training was specifically designed for clinical treatment of people who have trouble focusing attention, however severe patients often show difficulties or lack of motivation to practice mindfulness during the training. The present pilot study explored whether a sample of mindfulness experts would find useful and recommend a new VR Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT®) mindfulness skills training technique and whether they would show any benefit. Forty four participants attending a mindfulness conference put on an Oculus Rift DK2 Virtual Reality helmet and floated down a calm 3D computer generated virtual river while listening to digitized DBT® mindfulness skills training instructions. On subjective questionnaires completed by the participants before and after the VR DBT® mindfulness skills training session, participants reported increases/improvements in state of mindfulness, and reductions in negative emotional states. After VR, participants reported significantly less sadness, anger, and anxiety, and reported being significantly more relaxed. Participants reported a moderate to strong illusion of going inside the 3D computer generated world (i.e., moderate to high “presence” in VR) and showed high acceptance of VR as a technique to practice mindfulness. These results show encouraging preliminary evidence of the feasibility and acceptability of using VR to practice mindfulness based on clinical expert feedback. VR is a technology with potential to increase computerized dissemination of DBT® skills training modules. Future research is warranted

Exploring the Role of Meditation and Dispositional Mindfulness on Social Cognition Domains: A Controlled Study

Research suggests that mindfulness can induce changes in the social domain, such as enhancing emotional connection to others, prosocial behavior, and empathy. However, despite growing interest in mindfulness in social psychology, very little is known about the effects of mindfulness on social cognition. Consequently, the aim of this study was to explore the relationship between mindfulness and social cognition by comparing meditators with non-meditators on several social cognition measures. A total of 60 participants (meditators, n = 30; non-meditators, n = 30) were matched on sex, age, and ethnic group, and then asked to complete the following assessment measures: Mindful Awareness Attention Scale (MAAS), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Short Form (FFMQ-SF), Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI), Revised Eyes Test, Hinting Task, Ambiguous Intentions and Hostility Questionnaire (AIHQ), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Screening for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (SCIP). The results showed that meditators reported higher empathy (except for the personal distress subscale), higher emotional recognition, higher theory of mind (ToM), and lower hostile attributional style/bias. The findings also demonstrated that dispositional mindfulness (both total score assessed with MAAS and mindfulness facets using the FFMQ) was associated with social cognition, although it was not equally correlated with all social cognition outcomes, and correlation patterns differ when analyses were conducted separately for meditators and non-meditators. In addition, results showed potential predictors for each social cognition variable, highlighting non-reactivity to inner experience as a key component of mindfulness in order to explain social cognition performance. In summary, the findings indicated that the meditator sample performed better on certain qualities (i.e., empathy, emotional recognition, ToM, hostile attributional style/bias) in comparison to non-meditators and, furthermore, support the notion that mindfulness is related to social cognition, which may have implications for the design of mindfulness-based approaches for use in clinical and non-clinical settings

New conservation viewpoints when plants are viewed at one level higher. Integration of phylogeographic structure, niche modeling and genetic diversity in conservation planning of W Mediterranean larkspurs

Protection and management of closely related endangered species and subspecies at a very narrow regional scale is the origin of multiple dysfunctional conservation decisions. These include artificially increased IUCN risk assessment categories and derived consequences: poor effectiveness in allocating public and private funds or repeat of unnecessary actions/facilities. Data provided by the revisited study of a group of W Mediterranean larkspurs (Delphinium ser. Fissa), including new data on demography, niche modeling, genetic diversity and phylogeography, contributed to a new and wider analysis of causes of threat. Although current IUCN Red List regulations did not allow for assessments at levels higher than a specific rank, scientific information suggests that in some cases this could be a better approach for sound scientifically-based biodiversity conservation planning and action