Dear Mr. President

A letter expressing warm regards on the eve of the ambassador's departure

Compilability of Abduction

Abduction is one of the most important forms of reasoning; it has been successfully applied to several practical problems such as diagnosis. In this paper we investigate whether the computational complexity of abduction can be reduced by an appropriate use of preprocessing. This is motivated by the fact that part of the data of the problem (namely, the set of all possible assumptions and the theory relating assumptions and manifestations) are often known before the rest of the problem. In this paper, we show some complexity results about abduction when compilation is allowed

Load Generators for Automatic Simulation of Urban Fleets

[EN] To ensure cities sustainability, we must deal with, among other challenges, traffic congestion, and its associated carbon emissions. We can approach such a problem from two perspectives: the transition to electric vehicles, which implies the need for charging station infrastructure, and the optimization of traffic flow. However, cities are complex systems, so it is helpful to test changes on them in controlled environments like the ones provided by simulators. In our work, we use SimFleet, an agent-based fleet simulator. Nevertheless, SimFleet does not provide tools for easily setting up big experiments, neither to simulate the realistic movement of its agents inside a city. Aiming to solve that, we enhanced SimFleet introducing two fully configurable generators that automatize the creation of experiments. First, the charging stations generator, which allocates a given amount of charging stations following a certain distribution, enabling to simulate how transports would charge and compare distributions. Second, the load generator, which populates the experiment with a given number of agents of a given type, introducing them dynamically in the simulation, and assigns them a movement that can be either random or based on real city data. The generators proved to be useful for comparing different distributions of charging stations as well as different agent behaviors over the same complex setup.This work was partially supported by MINECO/FEDER RTI2018-095390-B-C31 project of the Spanish government. Pasqual Martí and Jaume Jordán are funded by UPV PAID-06-18 project. Jaume Jordán is also funded by grant APOSTD/2018/010 of Generalitat Valenciana - Fondo Social Europeo.Martí Gimeno, P.; Jordán, J.; Palanca Cámara, J.; Julian Inglada, VJ. (2020). Load Generators for Automatic Simulation of Urban Fleets. Springer. 394-405. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51999-5_33S394405Campo, C.: Directory facilitator and service discovery agent. FIPA Document Repository (2002)Dong, J., Liu, C., Lin, Z.: Charging infrastructure planning for promoting battery electric vehicles: an activity-based approach using multiday travel data. Transp. Res. Part C: Emerg. Technol. 38, 44–55 (2014)Jordán, J., Palanca, J., Del Val, E., Julian, V., Botti, V.: A multi-agent system for the dynamic emplacement of electric vehicle charging stations. Appl. Sci. 8(2), 313 (2018)Noori, H.: Realistic urban traffic simulation as vehicular Ad-hoc network (VANET) via Veins framework. In: 2012 12th Conference of Open Innovations Association (FRUCT), pp. 1–7. IEEE (2012)Palanca, J., Terrasa, A., Carrascosa, C., Julián, V.: SimFleet: a new transport fleet simulator based on MAS. In: De La Prieta, F., et al. (eds.) PAAMS 2019. CCIS, vol. 1047, pp. 257–264. Springer, Cham (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24299-2_22Skippon, S., Garwood, M.: Responses to battery electric vehicles: UK consumer attitudes and attributions of symbolic meaning following direct experience to reduce psychological distance. Transp. Res. Part D: Transp. Environ. 16(7), 525–531 (2011)del Val, E., Palanca, J., Rebollo, M.: U-tool: a urban-toolkit for enhancing city maps through citizens’ activity. In: Demazeau, Y., Ito, T., Bajo, J., Escalona, M.J. (eds.) PAAMS 2016. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 9662, pp. 243–246. Springer, Cham (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39324-7_2

Novel exogenous Calcium treatment strategies effectively mitigate physiological disorders in late season peach cultivars

7 Pags.- 3 Tabls.- 1 Fig. This work was presented by the authors into Session 2.3 of the VIII International Postharvest Symposium (2016) as the P.9 Poster. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License.To maintain fruit firmness and mitigate physiological alterations in a late season peach cultivar (Prunus persica ‘58GC-76’), environmentally friendly strategies including especial foliar calcium treatments, were developed. The innovation of these treatments consists of using an aqueous solution of the active matter (CaCl2) and a separate organic phase containing a concentrated adjuvant (tara gum) which confers to the final applied solution good characteristics of sticking and wettability, among others. This permits the spreading of calcium on the fruit surface and when environmental humidity increases, calcium solution can penetrate the fruit surface. This way of applying exogenous calcium, is only used in our laboratory so far. Conventional foliar applied calcium was not considered in this work because our previous results demonstrated their lack of effectiveness to mitigate physiological disorders in this commodity. Treatments at semi-industrial scale were conducted during 2014 and 2015 growing seasons. The very same pattern of treatments was applied to 58GC-76 peach orchards located in several sites of the ‘Bajo Aragón’ zone (NE Spain). The 58GC-76 variety suffers an emerging physiological disorder so called "corky spot" that has some similarities with vitrescent dark spot, which is affecting other late season peaches from the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Calanda’ in the same geographical region. The evolution of fruit nutrients (Ca, Mg and K), both in skin and pulp, demonstrated the effectiveness of calcium treatments during the two seasons in terms of increasing calcium concentration in both tissues. Regarding the evaluation of corky spot, a significant decrease in the severity and percentage of fruits affected was recorded in those fruits treated with calcium compared to control fruits which remained untreated.This work has been funded by the project ‘Mejora de la calidad del melocotón de Calanda: material vegetal, técnicas culturales, conservación y comercialización’ and by the grant from de Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitively ‘Mejora Genética de patrones Prunus y variedades de melocotonero’ (AGL2014-52063-R).Peer reviewe

Oxidation of o-xylene to phthalic anhydride on Sb-V/ZrO2 catalysts

Zirconia-supported and bulk-mixed vanadium-antimonium catalysts were used for the oxidation of o-xylene to phthalic anhydride. Vanadium promoted the transition of tetragonal to monoclinic zirconia. The simultaneous presence of antimony and vanadium on zirconia at low coverage led to a preferential interaction of individual V and Sb oxides with the zirconia surface rather than the formation of a binary Sb-V oxide, while at higher Sb-V contents, the formation of SbVO4 took place. Sb-V-ZrO2 catalysts showed high activity for o-xylene conversion and better selectivity to phthalic anhydride as compared to V/ZrO2 catalysts. However, their selectivity to phthalic anhydride was poor compared to V/TiO2 commercial catalysts. The improved selectivity of the Sb-containing catalysts was attributed to the blocking of non-effective surface sites of ZrO2, the decrease of the total amount of acid sites and the formation of surface V-O-Sb-O-V structures.Fil: Pieck, Carlos Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica; EspañaFil: del Val, S.. Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica; EspañaFil: López Granados, M.. Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica; EspañaFil: Bañares, M.A.. Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica; EspañaFil: Fierro, J.L.G.. Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica; Españ

La inversión Matuyama-Brunhes en la secuencia de terrazas del río Jarama entre Velilla de San Antonio y Altos de la Mejorada, al SE de Madrid (España)

Al Este de la ciudad de Madrid, en el valle del río Jarama y entre Mejorada del Campo y Velilla de San Antonio se han estudiado las propiedades paleomagnéticas de una secuencia de terrazas comprendidas entre El Rasillo y Altos de la Mejorada, a lo largo de la autopista M-203 de reciente construcción. La cartografía geomorfológica realizada permitió separar además de la llanura aluvial a +4-5 m, terrazas a +20 m, +30-35 m, +60-65 m, +85-90 m, +105-110 m y +125-130 m. De ellas se muestrearon 5 niveles, a excepción de la de +20 m, en taludes frescos de la autovía que permiten situar a las terrazas con altitudes relativas igual o mayores a +60-65 m en el Chron Matuyama, mientras que las terrazas a +20 m y +30-35 m pertenecerían al Chron Brunhes (< 0.780 Ma). Dataciones por ESR en terrazas del valle del río Arlanzón en Burgos (Moreno et al., 2012), sugieren que en el valle del Jarama la inversión Matuyama-Brunhes podría establecerse entre el final de la sedimentación de la terraza a +60-65 m y el encajamiento de la terraza a +50-55 m subsiguiente, representada aguas arriba de Mejorada del Campo, en Marchamalo (Pérez-González, 1994)

Cognitive training in mild cognitive mpairment

Alzheimer’s disease is characterised by a slow progression and by an extensive prodromal phase during which symptoms are dormant or very mild. The term mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been used to refer to older adults who do not meet the criteria for dementia but who present cognitive complaints and whose cognitive abilities do not fall within the expected range given their age and education. Longitudinal studies have found that many persons with MCI will later meet these criteria and are thus in the pre-dementia phase of Alzheimer’s disease. The potential impact of cognitive training could be remarkable, and these individuals make for ideal candidates for training as they retain the ability to acquire new skills. This chapter describes some of the studies that have measured the efficacy of cognitive training in MCI. One of the goals is to provide guidelines regarding the approach that may be most appropriate for persons with MCI based on cognitive outcomes, subjective outcomes, well-being, and outcomes of everyday life. It also describes some of the results obtained through brain imaging and discusses neuroscience-based models of training. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated the presence of training-induced neural changes in individuals with MCI. These changes indicate that the integrity of the compensatory and restorative neural mechanisms may be relatively preserved in this population. According to the INTERACTIVE model, the neural response to training is not only modulated by the severity of the disease but also by the training modalities and personal factors such as expertise and level of cognitive reserve

ProtSweep, 2Dsweep and DomainSweep: protein analysis suite at DKFZ

The wealth of transcript information that has been made publicly available in recent years has led to large pools of individual web sites offering access to bioinformatics software. However, finding out which services exist, what they can or cannot do, how to use them and how to feed results from one service to the next one in the right format can be very time and resource consuming, especially for non-experts