Bicriteria data compression

The advent of massive datasets (and the consequent design of high-performing distributed storage systems) have reignited the interest of the scientific and engineering community towards the design of lossless data compressors which achieve effective compression ratio and very efficient decompression speed. Lempel-Ziv's LZ77 algorithm is the de facto choice in this scenario because of its decompression speed and its flexibility in trading decompression speed versus compressed-space efficiency. Each of the existing implementations offers a trade-off between space occupancy and decompression speed, so software engineers have to content themselves by picking the one which comes closer to the requirements of the application in their hands. Starting from these premises, and for the first time in the literature, we address in this paper the problem of trading optimally, and in a principled way, the consumption of these two resources by introducing the Bicriteria LZ77-Parsing problem, which formalizes in a principled way what data-compressors have traditionally approached by means of heuristics. The goal is to determine an LZ77 parsing which minimizes the space occupancy in bits of the compressed file, provided that the decompression time is bounded by a fixed amount (or vice-versa). This way, the software engineer can set its space (or time) requirements and then derive the LZ77 parsing which optimizes the decompression speed (or the space occupancy, respectively). We solve this problem efficiently in O(n log^2 n) time and optimal linear space within a small, additive approximation, by proving and deploying some specific structural properties of the weighted graph derived from the possible LZ77-parsings of the input file. The preliminary set of experiments shows that our novel proposal dominates all the highly engineered competitors, hence offering a win-win situation in theory&practice

World Warrior

The purpose of this thesis project is to research the design elements of three of the most recognizable armors in world history (the Samurai, the Knight, and the Viking) and adapt them for futuristic character designs for my own fictious real-time computer game called World Warrior. Much like the command and conquer game Age of Empires, players will pick from a vast range of civilizations, construct their own civilization, build an army, and destroy their opponents. It will take place far into the future, and in a time period where great civilizations such as the Byzantines, the Saracens, the Persians, and the Vikings exist within an alternate reality. This project will not only be an exploration of game character design, but one that can be easily implemented in the evergrowing computer game industry, where there is still a strong market for command and conquer real-time strategy games such as Warcraft, Starcraft, and the Diablo series. I will be researching every component and part of each suit of armor, identifying the weaknesses of that armor, and redesigning the armor for a fantasy future strategy game. The scope of my research for my thesis is heavily within the areas of character design, concept art, and 3D modeling fields for the gaming industry

Pulmonary delivery of fenretinide: A possible adjuvant treatment in COVID-19

At present, there is no vaccine or effective standard treatment for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (or coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19)), which frequently leads to lethal pulmonary inflammatory responses. COVID-19 pathology is characterized by extreme inflammation and amplified immune response with activation of a cytokine storm. A subsequent progression to acute lung injury (ALI) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) can take place, which is often followed by death. The causes of these strong inflammatory responses in SARS-CoV-2 infection are still unknown. As uncontrolled pulmonary inflammation is likely the main cause of death in SARS-CoV-2 infection, anti-inflammatory therapeutic interventions are particularly important. Fenretinide N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) retinamide is a bioactive molecule characterized by poly-pharmacological properties and a low toxicity profile. Fenretinide is endowed with antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and immunomodulating properties other than efficacy in obesity/diabetic pathologies. Its anti-inflammatory and antiviral activities, in particular, could likely have utility in multimodal therapies for the treatment of ALI/ARDS in COVID-19 patients. Moreover, fenretinide administration by pulmonary delivery systems could further increase its therapeutic value by carrying high drug concentrations to the lungs and triggering a rapid onset of activity. This is particularly important in SARS-CoV-2 infection, where only a narrow time window exists for therapeutic intervention

The relationships intra-capital in the Mendoza’s : asymmetry and leading agents

La industria del vino comprende distintas etapas, de cada una de ellas participan diversos agentes socio- económicos con desiguales dotaciones de capital y diferentes capacidades de negociación. Estos agentes se vinculan entre sí a partir de relaciones mercantiles y no mercantiles. Como consecuencia de estas relaciones, de las características de los sectores propietarios y de las políticas económicas vigentes van configurándose lógicas diferenciales de reproducción de los diversos estratos de la pequeña burguesía y la burguesía vitivinícola. Procesos que conllevan la expansión de algunos y el retroceso de otros determinando, en cada período histórico, un cuadro de ganadores y perdedores. En el artículo recurrimos a los conceptos de la Escuela Francesa de la Regulación, adaptados por Ariel Filadoro para el análisis de los complejos productivos regionales. El foco del estudio son las formas de la competencia, las relaciones capital- capital. Para este propósito recurrimos a una estrategia de triangulación metodológica, en donde la información provista por las entrevistas a informantes claves son complementadas con fuentes documentales y estadísticas. Finalmente en las conclusiones profundizamos en las causas de la frágil inserción de los pequeños viñateros independientes y esbozamos algunas sugerencias en pos de una vitivinicultura sustentable, inclusiva y competitiva internacionalmente.The wine industry comprises different stages, each of them involves different socio-economic agents with unequal capital endowments and different negotiating capacities. These agents are linked to each other through mercantile and non-mercantile relationships. As consequence of these relations, of the caracteristics of the various strata of the petty bourgeoisie and the wine bourgeoisie. Processes that involve the expansion of some and the regression of others determining, in each historical period, a picture of winners and losers. In the article, we will use the concepts of the French School of Regulation, adapted by Ariel Filadoro for the analysis of the regional productive complexes. The focus of the study will be the forms of competition, the capital-capital relationships. For thid purpose, we will resort to a strategy of methodological triangulation, where the information provided by interviews to key informants will be complemented with documentary and statistical sources. Finally, in the conclusions, we will look closely the causes of the fragile insertion of the independent small vintners and we will outline some suggestions in pursuit of a sustainable, inclusive and internationally competitive vitiviniculture.Fil: García, Marcos Jesús. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Estudios Sociales ContemporáneosFil: Giménez Farruggia, Esteban Hernán. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociale