A Circuit Implementing Massive Parallelism in Transition P Systems

ransition P-systems are based on biological membranes and try to emulate cell behavior and its evolution due to the presence of chemical elements. These systems perform computation through transition between two consecutive configurations, which consist in a m-tuple of multisets present at any moment in the existing m regions of the system. Transition between two configurations is performed by using evolution rules also present in each region. Among main Transition P-systems characteristics are massive parallelism and non determinism. This work is part of a very large project and tries to determine the design of a hardware circuit that can improve remarkably the process involved in the evolution of a membrane. Process in biological cells has two different levels of parallelism: the first one, obviously, is the evolution of each cell inside the whole set, and the second one is the application of the rules inside one membrane. This paper presents an evolution of the work done previously and includes an improvement that uses massive parallelism to do transition between two states. To achieve this, the initial set of rules is transformed into a new set that consists in all their possible combinations, and each of them is treated like a new rule (participant antecedents are added to generate a new multiset), converting an unique rule application in a way of parallelism in the means that several rules are applied at the same time. In this paper, we present a circuit that is able to process this kind of rules and to decode the result, taking advantage of all the potential that hardware has to implement P Systems versus previously proposed sequential solutions

Delimited Massively Parallel Algorithm based on Rules Elimination for Application of Active Rules in Transition P Systems

In the field of Transition P systems implementation, it has been determined that it is very important to determine in advance how long takes evolution rules application in membranes. Moreover, to have time estimations of rules application in membranes makes possible to take important decisions related to hardware/software architectures design. The work presented here introduces an algorithm for applying active evolution rules in Transition P systems, which is based on active rules elimination. The algorithm complies the requisites of being nondeterministic, massively parallel, and what is more important, it is time delimited because it is only dependant on the number of membrane evolution rules

Delimited Massively Parallel Algorithm Based on Rules Elimination for Application of Active Rules in Transition P Systems

In the field of Transition P systems implementation, it has been determined that it is very important to determine in advance how long takes evolution rules application in membranes. Moreover, to have time estimations of rules application in membranes makes possible to take important decisions related to hardware / software architectures design. The work presented here introduces an algorithm for applying active evolution rules in Transition P systems, which is based on active rules elimination. The algorithm complies the requisites of being nondeterministic, massively parallel, and what is more important, it is time delimited because it is only dependant on the number of membrane evolution rules

Hunting management in relation to profitability aims: red-legged partridge hunting in central Spain

22 páginas, 3 tablas, 2 figuras.Game management is widely implemented in Spain, affecting more than 70 % of land cover. Management intensity may be linked to the financial aims of hunting estates, but no study of these aspects has been developed in Spain, where commercial hunting is common. Through interviews with game managers and field surveys, we quantified physical and economic traits, management techniques and hunting methods in a sample of 59 small game hunting estates located in south-central Spain (where Red-legged partridge hunting has the highest socio-economic importance in the country). We compared non-commercial estates (aimed for leisure, managed mainly by local hunting societies) and commercial estates (aimed at financial benefit); among the latter, we also assessed “intensive” estates (a special category of commercial estates licensed to release farm-reared partridges without temporal or numerical limits throughout the hunting season). Commercial estates had more intensive management, including more and larger partridge releases, higher density of supplementary feeders and more intensive predator control. Thus, any positive or negative effects on biodiversity of these management techniques would be higher in commercial than in non-commercial estates. Commercial estates also retained more natural vegetation, which may help to enhance the landscape and biodiversity value of farmland in central Spain. On the other hand, differences in management and hunting styles were most marked between intensive and other type of estates (both commercial and non-commercial); this indicates that intensive estates are qualitatively different from other small game estates, both ecologically (hunting based on releases and driven shooting) and economically (higher inputs and outputs). It would be desirable to find ways to quantify the environmental or social costs and benefits of different management techniques, and integrate them in the economics of hunting estates.This work was supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development through project HUNT (212160, FP7-ENV-2007-1), Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (CGL2008-04282/BOS) and the Consejería de Agricultura of Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM). Additionally, this paper uses partial data from a project funded by the Fundación Fauna y Flora. S. Diaz-Fernandez had a predoctoral grant jointly financed by the European Social Fund and by JCCM, in the framework of the Operational Programme PRINCET 2005-2010. M. Delibes-Mateos is currently holding a Juan de la Cierva research contract awarded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the European Social Fund. We thank all game managers for their collaboration, and ADEMAC and the Asociación de cotos de caza menor Sierra de Alcaraz-Campo de Montiel for facilitating this collaboration with game managers. We thank Steve Redpath, Mick Marquiss, Justin Irvine and two anonymous referees for useful comments on the manuscript.Peer reviewe

Technologies for Learning Writing in L1 and L2 for the 21st Century: effects on writing metacognition, self-efficacy and argumentative structuring

Quality in higher education assumes the challenge of developing in all citizens of the 21st century the cognitive, motivational, and socio-cultural dimensions that provide them with communication competences including the use of infor-mation and communication technologies, for the dissemination of sustainable scientific knowledge in different languages. Hence this paper evaluates a di-dactic-technological process called “Ensayo Científico Multilingüe” or ECM (“Multilingual Scientific Essay”), which guides the construction of argumenta-tive texts in a shared didactic space in the native language (L1) and in the first foreign language (L2). It can be stated that the ECM creates a shared didactic-technological space in different languages, producing similar effects in L1 and L2, both on writing metacognition and on self-efficacy and argumentative structuring. The ECM en-hances the association of writing metacognition with argumentative self-efficacy in L1 and L2. However, these dimensions are not associated with the structur-ing of argumentative essays, either in L1 or in L2. Furthermore, it is verified that the described variables are associated with the didactic-technological proce-dures integrated in the ECM in the following ways: (i) the procedure to pro-mote writing metacognition (through the Lesson tool) is associated with argu-mentative structuring in L2; (ii) the extent of writing activities is associated, only, with argumentative self-efficacy in L1; and (iii) participation in the Forums presents a very low association with all the variables measured

A C1 finite element for Kirchhoff plate bending

After a short introduction the possibilities and limitations of polynomial simple elements with C1 continuity are discussed with reference to plate bending analysis. A family of this kind of elements is presented.. These elements are applied to simple cases in order to assess their computational efficiency. Finally some conclusions are shown, and future research is also proposed

The role of economic and social factors driving predator control in central Spain

14 páginas, 3 figuras, 3 tablas.One of the most important human-wildlife conflicts in the world is that where predators are involved. Predators may compete with us for the same resources, such as game species. As a consequence, predators have been frequently controlled by game managers, which has negatively affected many predator populations worldwide. The understanding of human-wildlife conflicts requires a multidisplicinary framework that is rarely considered. We aim to evaluate the attitudes and behavior of game managers with regard to predator management in central Spain, as well as to explore factors that lead to these attitudes and behavior. Data were gathered through face to face interviews with game managers from 59 small-game hunting estates within central Spain. Predator control was employed in 90% of the estates, but control intensity was very variable among estates. Economic interests and perceptions about predators apparently influenced variation in control intensity. The main methods employed were cage-traps and shooting, but some illegal practices (e.g., leg-hold traps or snares without stopping devices) were also admittedly used for carnivores. Most managers considered that efficacy of legal methods for control of foxes (Vulpes vulpes) was very limited. Overall, nonselective methods, such as some types of snares, were more frequently employed in commercial than in noncommercial estates. Most managers believed that predators had an important effect on prey, and therefore that not doing it would lead to smaller hunting bags. Only managers from commercial hunting estates used stronger discourses such as that hunting would be impossible without carrying out predator control, which suggests that their tolerance for predators was lower than that of managers whose main motivation was not economic. Most managers considered that predator control was effective to reduce the number of predators, but only in the short term. Therefore, they highlighted the need of maintaining predator control every year. Our results highlight the important role that both social and economic factors (even stronger than ecological factors) play driving predator control, and therefore the need of incorporating these factors when making decisions to mitigate the human-predator conflict.This work was supported by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development through project HUNT (212160, FP7-ENV-2007-1), Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (CGL2008-04282/BOS) and the Consejería de Agricultura of Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM).Peer reviewe

Iluminación de vías públicas: mejora eficiencia energética del túnel de la Alcazaba (Málaga)

Ante la deficiente iluminación que actualmente está instalada en el túnel de la Alcazaba en Málaga,se realiza un estudio sobre cómo se podría mejorar este importante factor y a la vez reducir el consumo energético

Germline BRCA1 mutation reprograms breast epithelial cell metabolism towards mitochondrial-dependent biosynthesis : evidence for metformin-based "starvation" strategies in BRCA1 carriers

Altres ajuts: This work was supported by grants from the European Regional Development Fund [FEDER] to JJ and Grant CD12/00672 to SFA), co-founded by theand Departament d'Economia I Coneixement, Catalonia, Spain.Altres ajuts: MSCBS/CD15-00033We hypothesized that women inheriting one germline mutation of the BRCA1 gene ("one-hit") undergo cell-type-specific metabolic reprogramming that supports the high biosynthetic requirements of breast epithelial cells to progress to a fully malignant phenotype. Targeted metabolomic analysis was performed in isogenic pairs of nontumorigenic human breast epithelial cells in which the knock-in of 185delAG mutation in a single BRCA1 allele leads to genomic instability. Mutant BRCA1 one-hit epithelial cells displayed constitutively enhanced activation of biosynthetic nodes within mitochondria. This metabolic rewiring involved the increased incorporation of glutamine- and glucose-dependent carbon into tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolite pools to ultimately generate elevated levels of acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA, the major building blocks for lipid biosynthesis. The significant increase of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) including the anabolic trigger leucine, which can not only promote protein translation via mTOR but also feed into the TCA cycle via succinyl-CoA, further underscored the anabolic reprogramming of BRCA1 haploinsufficient cells. The anti-diabetic biguanide metformin "reversed" the metabolomic signature and anabolic phenotype of BRCA1 one-hit cells by shutting down mitochondria-driven generation of precursors for lipogenic pathways and reducing the BCAA pool for protein synthesis and TCA fueling. Metformin-induced restriction of mitochondrial biosynthetic capacity was sufficient to impair the tumor-initiating capacity of BRCA1 one-hit cells in mammosphere assays. Metabolic rewiring of the breast epithelium towards increased anabolism might constitute an unanticipated and inherited form of metabolic reprogramming linked to increased risk of oncogenesis in women bearing pathogenic germline BRCA1 mutations. The ability of metformin to constrain the production of mitochondrial-dependent biosynthetic intermediates might open a new avenue for "starvation" chemopreventive strategies in BRCA1 carriers