Selection, tinkering and emergence in complex networks: crossing the land of tinkering

Complex biological networks have very different origins than technologic ones. The latter involve extensive design and, as engineered structures, include a high level of optimization. The former involve (in principle) contingency and structural constraints, with new structures being incorporated through tinkering with previously evolved modules or units. However, the observation of the topological features of different biological nets suggests that nature can have a limited repertoire of ”attractors” that essentially optimize communication under some basic constraints of cost and architecture or that allow the biological nets to reach a high degree of homeostasis. Conversely, the topological features exhibited by some technology graphs indicate that tinkering and internal constraints play a key role, in spite of the ”designed” nature of these structures. Previous scenarios suggested to explain the overall trends of evolution are re-analyzed in light of topological patterns.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Structural Path Analysis: Applications to Structural Changes in the Andalusian economy (1990-1999)

Social Accounting Matrices (SAM) are an useful tool that enables to get extenser information than Input-Output analysis as far as they work not only with an economy´s intersectorial relations, but also with consumers' behaviour, government or foreign sector; reflecting the income flow of rent. In this paper, we use Social Accounting Matrices for Andalusia for years 1990, 1995 y 1999, that we got from previous works. With this information we use "path analysis" technique to obtain the main changes in the productive structure and demand in Andalusia for the last ten years. Those changes will be represented in a three-dimensional picture. We also want to know which are the sectors that have strongly contributed to regional economic growth. Finally we measure the influence of sectorial shocks on themselves and also on the other sectors of this regional economy. Keywords: social accounting matrix, regional accounting, structural analysis. JEL: C67, D57, R15.

Attesting Digital Discrimination Using Norms

More and more decisions are delegated to Machine Learning (ML) and automatic decision systems recently. Despite initial misconceptions considering these systems unbiased and fair, recent cases such as racist algorithms being used to inform parole decisions in the US, low-income neighborhood's targeted with high-interest loans and low credit scores, and women being undervalued by online marketing, fueled public distrust in machine learning. This poses a significant challenge to the adoption of ML by companies or public sector organisations, despite ML having the potential to lead to significant reductions in cost and more efficient decisions, and is motivating research in the area of algorithmic fairness and fair ML. Much of that research is aimed at providing detailed statistics, metrics and algorithms which are difficult to interpret and use by someone without technical skills. This paper tries to bridge the gap between lay users and fairness metrics by using simpler notions and concepts to represent and reason about digital discrimination. In particular, we use norms as an abstraction to communicate situations that may lead to algorithms committing discrimination. In particular, we formalise non-discrimination norms in the context of ML systems and propose an algorithm to attest whether ML systems violate these norms

Shall we play together? Game-based learning for engagement and classroom climate in Spanish socially deprived communities

This research is part of the Educational Research Project entitled Instagamers (PIV-023/21), called under the Order of 14 January 2009 (BOJA No. 21, February 2, 2009).Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of a game-based learning (GBL) program on the classroom climate and engagement of high schools in socially deprived communities in Spain. Methods: The study included 277 students from two secondary schools located in Southern Spain, situated in Zones in Need of Social Transformation. Sampling was non-probabilistic and accidental, based on the accessibility of the school and the willingness of the management and teaching staff to participate in the GBL program. The study employed a control group and two experimental groups (cooperative games group only and cooperative and competitive games group) to compare pre-test and post-test data in both groups. The Brief Class Climate Scale and Engagement Inventory, validated in academic literature, were used as assessment instruments. Results: The study used a series of ANOVA tests to compare the experimental groups with the control group. The results indicated statistically significant changes in all study variables. In all cases, the experimental groups demonstrated greater benefits than the control group. Discussion and conclusion: The study findings reveal that games can provide significant benefits to students, regardless of whether they are cooperative or competitive. The study provides evidence of the benefits of GBL in high schools located in socially deprived communities in Spain.Educational Research Project entitled Instagamers (PIV-023/21

Hacia una web independiente del dispositivo mediante CC/PP

Composite Capabilities/Preferences Profiles (CC/PP) es el nuevo lenguaje estándar creado por el World Wide Web Constortium (W3C) para que la gran diversidad de dispositivos que disponen, o dispondrán, de un acceso a Internet (móvil, PDA, PC, TV ... ), sean capaces de expresar sus capacidades y las preferencias del usuario mediante perfiles, tal y como su nombre indica. Para expresar estas características, los perfiles CC/PP emplean Resource Descripción Framework (RDF), otro estándar del W3C y pilar de la web semántica, el cual, a su vez, se encuentra construido sobre Extensible Markup Language (XML). La especificación User Agent Profile (UAProf) definida por la Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), antiguo W APForum, utiliza CC/PP para la descripción de los teléfonos móviles. Se puede entender como el primer gran desarrollo CC/PP y ya se encuentra incluido en los últimos dispositivos móviles, implicando la existencia actual de millones de dispositivos que usan CC/PP.Mediante CCIPP los dispositivos tienen la habilidad de enviar la información CCIPP conjuntamente con las peticiones HTTP a los servidores, de manera que éstos puedan procesar la información CC/PP y realizar la adaptación o selección de contenidos adecuados a las características del di spositivo, consiguiendo así una Web independiente del dispositivo, acercándose cada vez más a uno de las principales metas del W3C: El Acceso Universal a laWeb. En este artículo se pone de manifiesto la problemática actual de la negociación de contenidos utilizando HTTP/l.l y se describe la especificación CCIPP, el estándar propuesto por W3C para solucionar esta carencia, justificando sus claves de diseño. También se describe el estándar de la OMA, UAProf, la primera implementación de CCIPP para la descripción de los terminales móviles que se encuentra incluido en la nueva especificación W AP 2.0. Palabras clave- CC/PP, UAProJ, RDF, Adaptación de contenidos, móvil, WebPeer Reviewe

The importance of early parenting for later child outcomes: A study with Spanish families with children with disabilities

Children with different disability conditions have varied developmental trajectories, which perhaps influences parent-child interaction. For these and all infants, an optimal home environment that includes good parenting and positive parent-child interactions predicts better developmental outcomes (Spiker et al., 2005). Interventions using a family-centered, parenting-focused approach result in better parenting behavior that contributes to improved early child development (Avellar & Suplee, 2013; Roggman & Cardia, 2016). Information on parent-child interaction patterns is needed to guide intervention in natural contexts of families (Fuligni & Brooks-Gunn, 2013). Parent-child interaction data were collected from 44 mothers and 35 fathers interacting with their children (23 to 47 months) who had a disability and were in one of eight Spanish Early Interventions Centers. Mothers and fathers, separately, auto-recorded 10-minute play sessions at home. Parental interactions were assessed using PICCOLO (Roggman et al., 2013), a standardized measure of parenting. Two independent observers coded the interactions; strong intra-class correlation coefficients were found (.82 to .97 for mothers, .77 to .89 for fathers). The BSID-III scales (Bayley, 2015) assessed children’s development. Mothers scored slightly higher than did fathers. Scores varied by PICCOLO domains but were consistent with other PICCOLO studies of typical developing children (Roggman et al., 2013). Mother and father’s scores correlated indicating that the higher the scores of mothers in any dimension correlated with those of the parents combined. Positive significant Pearson correlations were found between parenting and child’s development with different patterns of father and mother domains predicting better language and cognitive outcomes. Although barriers to optimal parenting need further investigation, PICCOLO can be a useful tool to support optimal parenting.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Inmunohistoquímica

Inclou referències bibliogràfique

MiRNA expression profile of human subcutaneous adipose and during adipocyte differentiation

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.[Background]: Potential regulators of adipogenesis include microRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNAs that have been recently shown related to adiposity and differentially expressed in fat depots. However, to date no study is available, to our knowledge, regarding miRNAs expression profile during human adipogenesis. Thereby, the aim of this study was to investigate whether miRNA pattern in human fat cells and subcutaneous adipose tissue is associated to obesity and co-morbidities and whether miRNA expression profile in adipocytes is linked to adipogenesis. [Methodology/Principal Findings]: We performed a global miRNA expression microarray of 723 human and 76 viral mature miRNAs in human adipocytes during differentiation and in subcutaneous fat samples from non-obese (n=6) and obese with (n=9) and without (n=13) Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM-2) women. Changes in adipogenesis-related miRNAs were then validated by RT-PCR. Fifty of 799 miRNAs (6.2%) significantly differed between fat cells from lean and obese subjects. Seventy miRNAs (8.8%) were highly and significantly up or down-regulated in mature adipocytes as compared to pre-adipocytes. Otherwise, 17 of these 799 miRNAs (2.1%) were correlated with anthropometrical (BMI) and/or metabolic (fasting glucose and/or triglycerides) parameters. We identified 11 miRNAs (1.4%) significantly deregulated in subcutaneous fat from obese subjects with and without DM-2. Interestingly, most of these changes were associated with miRNAs also significantly deregulated during adipocyte differentiation. [Conclusions/Significance]: The remarkable inverse miRNA profile revealed for human pre-adipocytes and mature adipocytes hints at a closely crosstalk between miRNAs and adipogenesis. Such candidates may represent biomarkers and therapeutic targets for obesity and obesity-related complications.This work was supported by research grants from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC) (SAF2008-02073), the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBERObN, CB06/03/0010), and the Hospital Dr. Josep Trueta de Girona.Peer reviewe