Análisis del Referéndum Constitucional 2008 en Ecuador

Este trabajo es un análisis de coyuntura del Referéndum Constitucional 2008 en Ecuador a partir de las estrategias y posicionamientos electorales de los actores políticos que participaron en la campaña a favor o en contra de la aprobación del texto de la nueva Constitución y los resultados que se produjeron. Los datos analizados provienen de medios de prensa escrita, así como de las declaraciones hechas por varios de los actores a través de medios de comunicación. Se abordan los posibles retos para la política ecuatoriana tras la victoria del Sí con el 63,93% de los votos.This is an analysis of the Constitutional Referendum 2008 in Ecuador through the examination of the political field and its actors. The article offers an interpretation of the dynamics currently at play in the national political arena, based on an analysis of the political campaign and a breakdown of the electoral results. The work draws on a close examination of the written press, as well as on the declarations made by diverse actors through other means of mass communication. It discusses some of the possible challenges to arise in the Ecuadorian political arena following the victory of the "Yes", which obtained 63.93% of the votes in the referendum

Effect of preparation conditions on the polymorphism and transport properties of lanthanum molybdates

In this work, La6MoO12-based compounds were investigated as part of a new family of materials very competitive as hydrogen separation membranes [1,2]. La5.4MoO11.1 was synthesized by the freeze-drying precursor method and the calcination conditions were optimized in order to obtain single phases. Several cooling rates were applied and different polymorphs were obtained: a simple cubic fluorite symmetry (Fm-3m) for the sample cooled by quenching, and two different rhombohedral (R-3) space groups for the samples cooled at 50 ºC•min-1 and 0.5 ºC•min-1 (see Figure below). For the quenched sample, the Rietveld refinement was satisfactory in a Fm-3m space group. For the other two compositions no structural model was available and were indexed in a R-3 space group, however some small reflections were not given any intensity by the model used. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of superstructures for those samples. All ceramic materials were obtained with relative densities close to 100% after sintering at 1500 ºC. Stability studies demonstrated that all three polymorphs were stable in oxidizing and reducing conditions at 800 ºC for 48 hours. The three samples present a significant proton contribution to the conductivity at temperatures lower than 800 ºC. These results were confirmed by thermogravimetric analysis. The highest conductivity values were observed for the samples prepared by quenching. The three polymorphs display a small p-type electronic contribution to the overall conductivity in oxidizing conditions and n-type electronic one in very reducing conditions, much more significant for the samples cooled by quenching and at 50 ºC•min-1.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

A New Optical Density Granulometry-Based Descriptor for the Classification of Prostate Histological Images Using Shallow and Deep Gaussian Processes

[EN] Background and objective Prostate cancer is one of the most common male tumors. The increasing use of whole slide digital scanners has led to an enormous interest in the application of machine learning techniques to histopathological image classification. Here we introduce a novel family of morphological descriptors which, extracted in the appropriate image space and combined with shallow and deep Gaussian process based classifiers, improves early prostate cancer diagnosis. Method We decompose the acquired RGB image in its RGB and optical density hematoxylin and eosin components. Then, we define two novel granulometry-based descriptors which work in both, RGB and optical density, spaces but perform better when used on the latter. In this space they clearly encapsulate knowledge used by pathologists to identify cancer lesions. The obtained features become the inputs to shallow and deep Gaussian process classifiers which achieve an accurate prediction of cancer. Results We have used a real and unique dataset. The dataset is composed of 60 Whole Slide Images. For a five fold cross validation, shallow and deep Gaussian Processes obtain area under ROC curve values higher than 0.98. They outperform current state of the art patch based shallow classifiers and are very competitive to the best performing deep learning method. Models were also compared on 17 Whole Slide test Images using the FROC curve. With the cost of one false positive, the best performing method, the one layer Gaussian process, identifies 83.87% (sensitivity) of all annotated cancer in the Whole Slide Image. This result corroborates the quality of the extracted features, no more than a layer is needed to achieve excellent generalization results. Conclusion Two new descriptors to extract morphological features from histological images have been proposed. They collect very relevant information for cancer detection. From these descriptors, shallow and deep Gaussian Processes are capable of extracting the complex structure of prostate histological images. The new space/descriptor/classifier paradigm outperforms state-of-art shallow classifiers. Furthermore, despite being much simpler, it is competitive to state-of-art CNN architectures both on the proposed SICAPv1 database and on an external databaseThis work was supported by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad through project DPI2016-77869. The Titan V used for this research was donated by the NVIDIA CorporationEsteban, AE.; López-Pérez, M.; Colomer, A.; Sales, MA.; Molina, R.; Naranjo Ornedo, V. (2019). A New Optical Density Granulometry-Based Descriptor for the Classification of Prostate Histological Images Using Shallow and Deep Gaussian Processes. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine. 178:303-317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmpb.2019.07.003S30331717

Casimir Force for Absorbing Media in an Open Quantum System Framework: Scalar Model

In this article we compute the Casimir force between two finite-width mirrors at finite temperature, working in a simplified model in 1+1 dimensions. The mirrors, considered as dissipative media, are modeled by a continuous set of harmonic oscillators which in turn are coupled to an external environment at thermal equilibrium. The calculation of the Casimir force is performed in the framework of the theory of quantum open systems. It is shown that the Casimir interaction has two different contributions: the usual radiation pressure from vacuum, which is obtained for ideal mirrors without dissipation or losses, and a Langevin force associated with the noise induced by the interaction between dielectric atoms in the slabs and the thermal bath. Both contributions to the Casimir force are needed in order to reproduce the analogous of Lifshitz formula in 1+1 dimensions. We also discuss the relation between the electromagnetic properties of the mirrors and the spectral density of the environmentComment: Minor changes, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Identification of 2C-B in hair by UHPLC-HRMS/MS. A real forensic case.

The analysis of drugs of abuse in hair and other biological matrices of forensic inter- 19 est requires great selectivity and sensitivity. This has been traditionally achieved through target 20 analysis, using one or more analytical methods that include different preanalytical stages, and 21 more complex procedures followed by toxicological laboratories. There is no exception with 2C- 22 series drugs, such as 2C-B, a new psychoactive substance (NPS), which use has emerged and sig- 23 nificantly increased, year by year, in the last decades. Continuously new analytical methods are 24 required to selectively detect and identify these new marketed substances at very low concentra- 25 tions. In this case report, one former case of a polydrug consumer (charged of a crime against pub- 26 lic health in Spain) was reanalyzed in hair matrix. In this reanalysis, 2C-B has been positively de- 27 tected and identified using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry 28 (UHPLC-HRMS/MS). The most selective analytical UHPLC-HRMS/MS method alongside a uni- 29 versal and simpler pretreatment methodology has opened up more possibilities for detection of 30 substances of different chemical structure and optimization of different HRMS/MS detection ap- 31 proaches allowing the identification of 2-CB in the hair of a real forensic case.Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Policiales (IUICP

Liittymätyypin muuttaminen kiertoliittymäksi ja sen vaikutuksia

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli tutkia ja selvittää liittymätyypin muutoksen vaikutuksia, kun se muutetaan kiertoliittymäksi. Työssä käytiin läpi kolme kiertoliittymää, jotka ovat olleet ennen muutosta valo-ohjaamattomia tai -ohjattuja tasoliittymiä. Liittymät sijaitsevat Lappeenrannassa, työn tilaajana toimi Lappeenrannan kaupunki ja työn ohjaavana opettajana Hämeen ammattikorkeakoulusta Janne Rautio. Liittymiä on muutettu ja tullaan muuttamaan yhä enemmän kiertoliittymiksi. Sille haettiin perusteluita tutkimuksen kautta mm. liikennemääriä, onnettomuustilastoja ja kustannuksia selvittämällä. Kaupungin tietokannoista löytyi asiasta paljon dataa. Niistä sain työtäni koskevien liittymien tilastot, joista keräsin tiedot työhöni. Lisäksi tutkin ja suoritin maastokäyntejä itse saadakseni ajantasaista tietoa liittymistä. Liittymien muuttamisella kiertoliittymiksi on paljon positiivisia ja melko vähän negatiivisia vaikutuksia. Se ei sovi jokaiseen paikkaan tilantarpeen vuoksi, mutta hyötyinä ovat liikenneturvallisuuden ja sujuvuuden parantuminen, rakennus- ja huoltokustannukset ovat pienemmät ja lisäksi onnettomuuksien vähenemisen myötä niistä aiheutuvat kustannukset pienenevät huomattavasti.Purpose of this thesis was to investigate and clarify effects of changing the intersection to a roundabout. Thesis contains three roundabouts, that have been before change either intersections with traffic lights, or without them. Intersections are located in Lappeenranta, thesis was ordered by city of Lappeenranta and Janne Rautio was director from Häme University of applied sciences. Intersections have been changed and will be changed much more in the future to roundabouts. For that I tried to get arguments with investigation about traffic quantity, statistics of accidents and costs. Lots of useful data was found from database of the city of Lappeenranta. From there I got statistics and information about intersections that are included in this thesis. Also I investigated and visited intersections to collect up-to-date information and data. Changing intersection’s type to roundabouts has much positive and just few negative effects. Roundabout needs a lot of space, so it doesn’t fit to every place, but as benefits there are improved traffic safety and fluency, build- and maintenance costs are smaller and also because number of accidents are smaller, costs from them are much smaller also

Supported Metal Nanohydrides for Hydrogen Storage

Producción CientíficaAdsorption of hydrogen on graphdiyne (GDY) and boron-graphdiyne (BGDY) doped with palladium clusters has been investigated by performing density functional calculations. Pd6 fits well on the large holes of those porous layers, preserving its octahedral structure in GDY and changing it to a capped trigonal bipyramid structure in BGDY. Pd6GDY adsorbs up to five H2 molecules with sizable adsorption energies, two dissociated and three nondissociated. The dissociation barrier of H2 on the Pd6GDY cluster is 0.58 eV. Pd6BGDY can adsorb up to six molecules, three dissociated and three nondissociated, and the dissociation barrier of H2 on Pd6BGDY is 0.23 eV. In both cases, the dissociation barriers are substantially smaller than the corresponding dissociation barriers on undoped GDY and BGDY. The Pd clusters saturated with hydrogen can be viewed as nanohydrides. Spilling of the adsorbed hydrogen atoms toward the GDY and BGDY substrates is hindered by large activation barriers. We then propose using BGDY and GDY layers as support platforms for metal nanohydrides. The amount of stored hydrogen using Pd as the dopant is below the target of 6% of hydrogen in weight, but replacing Pd by a lighter metal with similar or higher affinity for hydrogen would substantially enhance the storage.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033)(Grant PID2019-104924RB-I00

Metabolic syndrome and Growth Differentiation Factor 15 in older adults

This is a pre-print of an article published in GeroScience. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-021-00370-wGrowth Differentiation Factor 15 (GDF-15) is a cytokine produced in response to tissue injury and inflammatory states that may capture distinct pathways between the risk factors aggregated within metabolic syndrome (MS) and the development of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Objective: To study the association of MS and its components with GDF-15 among older adults, examining the roles of body fat distribution, glucose metabolism, and inflammation. Methods: Data were taken from the Seniors-ENRICA-2 study in Spain, which included 1938 non-institutionalized individuals aged ≥65 years free of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. MS was defined as the presence of ≥3 of the following components: high waist circumference, elevated fasting blood glucose levels, raised blood pressure, increased triglyceride levels; and low serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Statistical analyses were performed with linear regression models and adjusted for potential sociodemographic and lifestyle confounders. Results: MS was associated with higher GDF-15 levels (fully adjusted mean increase [95% confidence interval] = 9.34% [5.16,13.7]). The MS components showing the strongest associations were high waist circumference (6.74% [2.97,10.6]), elevated glucose levels (4.91% [0.77,9.23]), and low HDL-cholesterol (8.13% [3.51,13.0]). High waist-to-hip ratio (7.07% [2.63,11.7]), urine albumin (12.1% [2.57,22.5]), and C-reactive protein (10.4% [3.89,17.3]) were also associated with increased GDF-15. Conclusion: MS was associated with higher GDF-15 levels in older adults. Abdominal obesity, hyperglycemia -possibly linked to microvascular disease, as inferred from elevated urine albumin-, low HDL-cholesterol, and inflammation were the main drivers of this associationThis work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, State Secretary of R+D+I and FEDER/FSE (FIS grants 18/287, 19/319); grant 2020/017 from the National Plan on Drug Addiction (Ministry of Health), and the MITOFUN project grant from the Fundación Francisco Soria Melguiz

Automatic multiscale vascular image segmentation algorithm for coronary angiography

[Abstract] Cardiovascular diseases, particularly severe stenosis, are the main cause of death in the western world. The primary method of diagnosis, considered to be the standard in the detection and quantification of stenotic lesions, is a coronary angiography. This article proposes a new automatic multiscale segmentation algorithm for the study of coronary trees that offers results comparable to the best existing semi-automatic method. According to the state-of-the-art, a representative number of coronary angiography images that ensures the generalisation capacity of the algorithm has been used. All these images were selected by clinics from an Haemodynamics Unit. An exhaustive statistical analysis was performed in terms of sensitivity, specificity and Jaccard. Algorithm improvements imply that the clinician can perform tests on the patient and, bypassing the images through the system, can verify, in that moment, the intervention of existing differences in a coronary tree from a previous test, in such a way that it could change its clinical intra-intervention criteria.Galicia. Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; GRC2014/049Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; TIN2015-70648-