Simulation and Control of Groups of People in Multi-modal Mobility

Tourism and transport are constantly growing and, with it, the movements of travellers. This entails two fundamental effects on which we must focus: control of mass tourism and the organization of transport. Good transport organization and travel planning avoid crowds and therefore mass tourism. This allows promoting sustainable tourism in which it is sought to offer a quality service to tourists taking care of the environment. In this thesis the objective is to manage the flow of groups of people through means of transport. This control of groups of people is aimed at customer satisfaction by offering quality tourism. On the one hand, the study focuses on the problem to mitigate the negative effects due to mass arrivals in touristic locations. A TEN network has been developed to define the optimal tours for different groups of tourists. A related mixed integer quadratic optimization model has been developed with three main objectives: it minimizes the maximum value of occupancy in the selected destinations to limit mass tourism, reduces the divergence between the proposed visit tour and one required by the tourist group and the overall duration of their visit, and a heuristic approach has been introduced. On the other hand, it has been implemented a railway scheduling and rescheduling problem introducing optimization-based and min-max approaches on the regional and high-speed railway network. The scheduling model defines the best schedules for a set of trains considering costumers\u2019 demand and the priority of the trains to cover the rail sections in case of conflict on the railway lines. Consecutively, the generated feasible timetables are used to minimize possible consequences due to events that may negatively affect the real time traffic management. The main contribution of this section is the introduction in the second approach the innovative concept to prioritize the train that can access on the block section in case of conflicts on the network

Acute Physiological Stress Promotes Clustering of Synaptic Markers and Alters Spine Morphology in the Hippocampus

GluA2-containing AMPA receptors and their association with protein kinase M zeta (PKMζ) and post-synaptic density-95 (PSD-95) are important for learning, memory and synaptic plasticity processes. Here we investigated these synaptic markers in the context of an acute 1h platform stress, which can disrupt spatial memory retrieval for a short-term memory on the object placement task and long-term memory retrieval on a well-learned radial arm maze task. Acute stress increased serum corticosterone and elevated the expression of synaptic PKMζ while decreasing synaptic GluA2. Using co-immunoprecipitation, we found that this stressor promotes the clustering of GluA2, PKMζ and PSD-95, which is consistent with effects reported from overexpression of PKMζ in cell culture. Because PKMζ overexpression has also been shown to induce spine maturation in culture, we examined how stress impacts synaptic markers within changing spines across various hippocampal subfields. To achieve this, we employed a new technique combining Golgi staining and immmunohistochemistry to perform 3D reconstruction of tertiary dendrites, which can be analyzed for differences in spine types and the colocalization of synaptic markers within these spines. In CA1, stress increased the densities of long-thin and mushroom spines and the colocalization of GluA2/PSD-95 within these spines. Conversely, in CA3, stress decreased the densities of filopodia and stubby spines, with a concomitant reduction in the colocalization of GluA2/PSD-95 within these spines. In the outer molecular layer (OML) of the dentate gyrus (DG), stress increased both stubby and long-thin spines, together with greater GluA2/PSD-95 colocalization. These data reflect the rapid effects of stress on inducing morphological changes within specific hippocampal subfields, highlighting a potential mechanism by which stress can modulate memory consolidation and retrieval

La energía desde un enfoque CTS

Trabajo fin de Máster (Máster en profesorado de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria, Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanzas de Idiomas, Artísticas y Deportivas) de la Universidad de Zaragoza, Curso 2011/2012. Especialidad Biología y Geología

Reproductive traits of the round sardinella in the Canary Islands (Spain, NW Africa)

The present study aims to investigate the reproductive biology of the small pelagic Sardinella aurita Valenciennes, 1847 in the Canary Islands, to enable its reliable assessment and advise on appropriate management measures for a fishing resource showing a declining trend in landings. Reproductive biology and sexual patterns of round sardinella were examined from monthly random samples of commercial catches landed by the artisanal purse-seine fleet. The landings' length frequencies, ranging between 9–32 cm (based on the total lengths, TL), were recorded from 2013–2019. The overall mean value of TL was 20.9 cm, with annual mean values between 20–22 cm, except in 2016 (TL = 19 cm). The overall sex ratio M:F was 1:0.92, with males significantly predominant. Sex ratios fluctuated as a function of size and month: females were more abundant in the larger length classes, as well as before and after spawning, whereas males were more abundant in the smaller length classes and during spawning. Based on gonad maturity stages and gonadosomatic index, round sardinella spawns during almost all the year, with a peak in January–February and a resting period during October–November. The length at first maturity was estimated at TL of 18.2 cm, notably smaller than the value obtained for the NW African coastal waters where the demographic structure in round sardinellas' landings is totally different.Versión del edito

Underlying deficits in motor and language impairments in children

Children who, for some reason, are inferior in performance to their peers in certain domains of development often experience the feeling of falling short. This applies to children who are poor in motor skills and/or in academic skills such as spoken and written language. Although a relatively small group of children is affected by such problems, the problems may have serious implications for those concerned. Some children seem to be affected in the motor domain only, while others seem to experience problems only with relation to spoken and/or written language. Still, the coincidence of motor and language/writing impairments in children is considerable, and too large to be fortuitous. It is believed that intervention and prevention programs will be more effective if based upon knowledge about underlying sources of the observed problems. The aim of the present thesis, therefore, is to do a theoretical and empirical investigation of putative underlying sources of language (including both oral language and reading) and motor impairments in children, from a neuropsychological perspective. To that end, Chapter 1 provides a theoretical introduction to the theme motor/language impairment syndromes and presents different theoretic explanations that has been suggested in the literature, as to why such syndromes often co-occur. From a social scientific point of view, these syndromes may be regarded as indirectly linked mediated by social constraints such as, for example, self-esteem. However, from a neuropsychological perspective, language and motor impairments in children are regarded as directly related, due to a developmental lag or a deficit in the nervous system. That will be the main focus of the present thesis. From this perspective, several underlying neurological deficits that could account for language as well as motor impairments have been suggested. These are related to different neurological sites such as, for example, the cerebellum and the corpus callosum. Cerebellar explanations have been invoked to account for postural problems in language impaired children and dyslexics as well as temporal problems in both the motor and language domains. Bimanual co-ordination problems and other laterality problems observed in dyslexics, language impaired children as well as motor impaired children have been attributed to callosal dysfunction. A more recent theoretical explanation is the magnocellular theory, related to a certain kind of fast conducting nerve cells that bring information from the retina to the visual cortex. This theory was, originally, introduced as an explanatory factor of dyslexia, but was later suggested to play a role in motor impairment as well. Chapter 2 reports an exploratory study using quantitative and qualitative methods in attempt to identify putative neurological deficiencies that may account for the co-occurrence of motor and cognitive (measured as psycholinguistic abilities) impairments in a sample (N = 15) of 6-10 years old (oral) language impaired children. A subgroup of n = 4 children that are week in both language and cognitive functions is identified. The cerebellar deficit hypothesis and the inter/intra-hemispheric deficit hypothesis are discussed as candidate explanations. The inter- versus intra-hemispheric deficit hypothesis is further validated in Chapter 3. The same subgroup of four children as that identified in Chapter 2 is tested on two different movement tasks designed to measure inter- and intra- hemispheric functions. The results are discussed in the light of Liederman’s shielding model. This model emphasises the role of the corpus callosum in shielding information between the hemispheres, which is necessary in order to allow for independent processing. In Chapter 4 the focus shifts to motor co-ordination problems per se. A task that is particularly difficult for children with poor motor co-ordination, is that of catching a ball, a task imposed by severe spatial and temporal constraints. It is believed that information about where this task breaks down, at the spatial or temporal component, will provide clues as to what could be the underlying causes of the co-ordination problems. In order to separate out the temporal and spatial aspects of the catching task, two experiments are designed, one emphasising the reaching action (spatial orientation), the other emphasising the grasping action (imposed by temporal constraints). The performance of a sample (n = 8) of 10-11 year old children with poor motor skills is compared to that of an equal sized control group on these tasks. The temporal and spatial deficits discovered are discussed with relation to the distal and proximal proprioceptive systems as well as the visual system. The question whether the underlying problem is related to a visual or proprioceptive deficit, or to a combination of visual and proprioceptive deficits, is further explored in Chapter 5. Chapter 5 is written as a Research Note in extension of Chapter 4, using the same subjects. The groups are compared on two tests of proprioception, designed for the purpose of measuring inter-/ and intra hemispheric information processing (same tasks as those used in Chapter 3), and three different tests of visual perception, designed to measure magno- and parvocellular function. The results are discussed with relation to visual processing and maturation of the corpus callosum. In Chapter 6 the visual perceptual problems suggested in Chapters 4 and 5 are investigated with relation to both motor and reading impairment on an extended group of 10-11 year old children. Three groups of n = 8 children are selected from a larger sample (N = 102), one group which is motor impaired only, one which is both motor and language impaired, as well as a normal control group. These groups are compared on the same visual tests (with the exclusion of one) as those used in Chapter 5. Based on the results from the group comparisons and a correlation analyses, magno- and parvocellular involvement in both motor and reading tasks, as well as in motor and reading impairments, is discussed. Finally, Chapter 7 contains a summary and a general discussion that evaluates the theoretical positions presented in Chapter 1 in the light of the empirical studies reported in Chapters 2 – 6. Conclusions and suggestions for further studies are made