Examining The Archaeology of ‘Antik’-quity: The Eastern Caucasus Beyond Rome And Parthia

A new political power, Caucasian Albania, grew in the eastern Caucasus between the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire and the consolidation of the Sasanian Empire (ca. 300 BCE – 300 CE). During this period, the region was a multi-polar intersection of Mediterranean, Iranian, and Steppe zones of interest and socio-political frameworks. Although never comfortably integrated into the Seleucid, Roman, or Arsacid empires, residents in the eastern Caucasus interacted with all of them. Antik Albania, however, has remained at the margins of modern scholarship, creating a gap in our perceptions of the networks flowing across antiquity. In this dissertation, I provide an archaeological, historical, and historiographic investigation of Antik Albania that addresses that gap. It focuses on Albania’s interactions with the Mediterranean world, while also exploring the ancient Iranian context. Additionally, it examines the intellectual history of the Russian Empire, the Soviet South Caucasus, and contemporary Azerbaijan that generated most archaeological data and previous scholarship on the region. Building from an examination of textual sources, I consider the way that the landscape of the eastern Caucasus shaped movement and connectivity. The mountainous terrain created distinct transit corridors through the space, but instead of positioning themselves directly along one of these, the Albanians chose to build their base of power in more distant space that controlled a juncture between low- and highlands. Despite their choice of an out-of-the-way location, the material culture associated with Albanian state administration demonstrates that local political authorities constructed their own vocabulary of power, which freely incorporated and re-imagined elements from Mediterranean and Iranian neighbors. Finally, mortuary data reflecting social identity highlight the sustained presence of mobile pastoralist populations connected to the Pontic and Eurasian steppes. These data show the fluidity between elements of the population that have been previously been presumed to be either mobile or sedentary. Throughout this study, I argue that the ‘remoteness’ of Albania in both its ancient context and within our Anglo-American scholarly one is, in, fact a conceptual strength of the space. It prompts us to wrestle with diverse datasets and conflicting intellectual histories, enriching and expanding our vision of a connected antiquity

Pertinencia de los programas técnicos y tecnológicos en Bogotá

La educación técnica y tecnológica presenta una evolución favorable gracias a las campañas emprendidas por el gobierno a través de la televisión nacional donde se trata de rescatar este tipo de formación como de calidad y pertinencia. Jóvenes bachilleres de poblaciones pequeñas que no tienen los recursos económicos para viajar a los centros urbanos o no pueden abandonar su región (650.000 para 2010 según MEN).Jóvenes que culminan su bachillerato básico e ingresan a educación media, prospectos vía articulación (Decreto 749 de 2002), (corresponde a 950.000 jóvenes para 2010, según los datos del MEN).Personas que se encuentran vinculadas a empresas y necesitan concluir sus estudios de pregrado o mejorar su competitividad laboral. Están tecnológicamente preparadas y no lo han hecho porque sus exigencias laborales o su situación geográfica hacen imposible que puedan asistir regularmente a un centro educativo.Egresados de instituciones técnicas y tecnológicas que deseen profesionalizarse (solamente del SENA egresan 150.000 tecnólogos).Miembros de las fuerzas armadas o de comunidades religiosas asignados a localidades remotas.Servidores públicos que por lejanía o por seguridad no pueden desplazarse fácilmente a una universidad.Madres de familia que desean mantenerse actualizadas profesionalmente mientras atienden los primeros años de sus hijos.Personas con limitaciones físicas que les impiden presentarse diariamente a una institución educativa.Empresarios retirados, profesionales jubilados o personas de edad que no se encuentran cómodos en el ambiente juvenil de un campus universitario

Aplicação de técnicas de controle preditivo em robô paralelo

This paper addresses the position tracking control application of a parallel robot using predictive control techniques. A Generalized Predictive Control strategy (GPC), which considers the linear dynamic model, is used to enhance the tracking position accuracy. The robustification of GPC against measurement noise and neglected dynamics using Youla parameterization is performed. A simulation of the orthoglide robot considering uncertainties related to geometrical and dynamic parameters, sensors noise and frictions is performed on two different trajectories. Finally, it is compared the ro-bustified GPC controller with the classical Computed Torque Control (CTC). The robustified GPC controller shows a better performance for high accelerations and it also reduces the effect of the noise in the control signal of the parallel robot.Este trabalho apresenta a aplicação de técnicas de controle preditivo para rastreamento de trajetórias de um robô paralelo. A estratégia de controle preditivo generalizado (GPC), que considera o modelo dinâmico linearizado, é usada para melhorar a precisão de rastreamento das trajetórias. O controlador preditivo generalizado é robustificado devido ao ruído de medição e dinâmicas não modeladas utilizando parametrização Youla. É realizada Uma simulação do robô Orthoglide considerando as incertezas dos parâmetros geométricos e dinâmicos, ruído nos sensores e atritos para duas trajetórias diferentes. Finalmente, o controlador GPC robus-tificado e a técnica de Controle de Torque Computado (CTC) são comparadas. Os resultados das simulações mostram que o controlador GPC robustificado apresenta um melhor desempenho para altas acelerações e também reduz o efeito do ruído no sinal de controle do robô paralelo.530540Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Aspectos basicos de la doma en equinos

Esta revisión bibliográfica proporciona información sobre algunos aspectos históricos y actuales de la doma del caballo, y hace énfasis en los métodos tradicionales, que en su mayoría son violentos, y los métodos racionales (sin violencia). Se llevó a cabo una búsqueda de publicaciones de corporaciones y sociedades profesionales que subieron a la web información científica de alusiva al tema. El adiestramiento es un punto clave para el uso y explotación de los caballos. De este depende el aprendizaje y la correcta ejecución de tareas o trabajos impuestos por el ser humano al animal. El presente escrito compara los distintos métodos de doma que existen y correlaciona los factores positivos y negativos de cada una de ellos. Se recomienda que la doma debe iniciarse a temprana edad y debe estar basada en la confianza y en la constancia; preferiblemente, debe hacerse con el acompañamiento de la madre del animal, con el fin de brindarle seguridad al caballo. La doma tiene que ser realizada por personal capacitado y con amplio conocimiento en etología equina. El nivel de exigencia en el adiestramiento va de la mano con la disciplina, deporte o trabajo para el cual va a ser usado el caballo, teniendo en cuenta que cada individuo puede comportarse y aprender de manera diferente.This bibliographic review provides information on some historical and current aspects of horse training, and emphasizes traditional methods, which are mostly violent, and rational methods (non-violent). A search was carried out for publications from corporations and professional societies that uploaded scientific information on the subject to the web. Training is a key point for the use and exploitation of horses. On this depends the learning and the correct execution of tasks or works imposed by the human being on the animal. This paper compares the different dressage methods that exist and correlates the positive and negative factors of each of them. It is recommended that dressage should start at an early age and should be based on trust and perseverance; preferably, it should be done with the accompaniment of the animal's mother, in order to provide security to the horse. Dressage must be carried out by trained personnel with extensive knowledge in equine ethology. The level of demand in training goes hand in hand with the discipline, sport or work for which the horse will be used, taking into account that each individual can behave and learn differently.1. Introducción. -- 2. Metodología. -- 3. Diseño. -- 4. Estrategias de búsqueda. -- 5. Definición de doma. -- 6. Imprinting o estimulación temprana. -- 7. Doma tradicional. -- 8. Doma racional. -- 9. Conclusiones. -- 10. Referencias bibliográficas

A Functional ABCC11 Allele Is Essential in the Biochemical Formation of Human Axillary Odor

The characteristic human axillary odor is formed by bacterial action on odor precursors that originate from apocrine sweat glands. Caucasians and Africans possess a strong axillary odor ,whereas many Asians have only a faint acidic odor. In this study, we provide evidence that the gene ABCC11 (MRP8), which encodes an apical efflux pump, is crucial for the formation of the characteristic axillary odor and that a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) 538G → A, which is prominent among Asian people, leads to a nearly complete loss of the typical odor components in axillary sweat. The secretion of amino-acid conjugates of human-specific odorants is abolished in homozygotic carriers of the SNP, and steroidal odorants and their putative precursors are significantly reduced. Moreover, we show that ABCC11 is expressed and localized in apocrine sweat glands. These data point to a key function of ABCC11 in the secretion of odorants and their precursors from apocrine sweat glands. SNP 538G → A, which also determines human earwax type, is present on an extended haplotype, which has reached >95% frequency in certain populations in recent human evolution. A strong positive selection in mate choice for low-odorant partners with a dysfunctional ABCC11 gene seems a plausible explanation for this striking frequency of a loss-of-function allele

Moduli-dependent Calabi-Yau and SU(3)-structure metrics from Machine Learning

We use machine learning to approximate Calabi-Yau and SU(3)-structure metrics, including for the first time complex structure moduli dependence. Our new methods furthermore improve existing numerical approximations in terms of accuracy and speed. Knowing these metrics has numerous applications, ranging from computations of crucial aspects of the effective field theory of string compactifications such as the canonical normalizations for Yukawa couplings, and the massive string spectrum which plays a crucial role in swampland conjectures, to mirror symmetry and the SYZ conjecture. In the case of SU(3) structure, our machine learning approach allows us to engineer metrics with certain torsion properties. Our methods are demonstrated for Calabi-Yau and SU(3)-structure manifolds based on a one-parameter family of quintic hypersurfaces in $\mathbb{P}^4.$Comment: 27+15 pages, 12 figures, 3 table

Uncertainty Analysis Techniques Applied to Rotating Machines

This chapter presents the modeling procedure, numerical application, and experimental validation of uncertain quantification techniques applied to flexible rotor systems. The uncertainty modeling is based both on the stochastic and fuzzy approaches. The stochastic approach creates a representative model for the flexible rotor system by using the stochastic finite element method. In this case, the uncertain parameters of the rotating machine are characterized by homogeneous Gaussian random fields expressed in a spectral form by using the Karhunen-Loève (KL) expansion. The fuzzy approach uses the fuzzy finite element method, which is based on the α-level optimization. A comparative study regarding the numerical and experimental results obtained from a flexible rotor test rig is analyzed for the stochastic and fuzzy approaches