Efectos ambientales de la ocupación espontánea de áreas urbanas críticas : Análisis de una experiencia de EIA de un asentamiento marginal en el periurbano de Neuquén capital

Uno de los problemas más acuciantes de la gestión de las ciudades latinoamericanas es responder a su rápido y desordenado crecimiento, especialmente respecto a las condiciones de vida de los barrios carenciados. Estas urbanizaciones, carentes de servicios e infraestructuras adecuadas para satisfacer condiciones mínimas de habitabilidad a la población, está además ubicadas en áreas vulnerables ambíentalmente. El presente trabajo tiene por objeto analizar un instrumento metodológico de evaluación de impacto ambiental aplicado a un caso concreto, en un barrio marginal de la Ciudad de Neuquén. El desarrollo de esta metodología plantea la realización de una evaluación ambiental en primer término v una de impacto posterior, en plazo perentorio, con información básica fragmentaria e incompleta y con vados institucionales. Se exponen en el trabajo los resultados alcanzados y las experiencias adquiridas, habida cuenta de su caracterización como insumo de un programa de investigación en desarrollo en el CEVEqU.Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanism

Effect of heuristics on serendipity in path-based storytelling with linked data

Path-based storytelling with Linked Data on the Web provides users the ability to discover concepts in an entertaining and educational way. Given a query context, many state-of-the-art pathfinding approaches aim at telling a story that coincides with the user's expectations by investigating paths over Linked Data on the Web. By taking into account serendipity in storytelling, we aim at improving and tailoring existing approaches towards better fitting user expectations so that users are able to discover interesting knowledge without feeling unsure or even lost in the story facts. To this end, we propose to optimize the link estimation between - and the selection of facts in a story by increasing the consistency and relevancy of links between facts through additional domain delineation and refinement steps. In order to address multiple aspects of serendipity, we propose and investigate combinations of weights and heuristics in paths forming the essential building blocks for each story. Our experimental findings with stories based on DBpedia indicate the improvements when applying the optimized algorithm

Direct sediment transfer from land to deep-sea: Insights into shallow multibeam bathymetry at La Réunion Island

International audienceSubmarine canyon heads are key areas for understanding the triggering factors of gravity currents responsible for the transfer of detrital sediment to the deep basins. This contribution offers a detailed picture of canyon heads off La Réunion Island, with high-resolution multibeam bathymetry in the water depth range of 4-220 m. The present feeding of the Cilaos turbidite system, one of the largest modern volcaniclastic systems in the world, is deduced from morphological and sedimentological interpretations of newly acquired data. The study highlights small-scale sedimentary features indicating hydrodynamic and sedimentary processes. A direct connexion between the Saint-Etienne river mouth and submarine canyons is evidenced by the complete incision of the shelf and the presence of canyon heads connected to the modern deltaic bar. This direct connection, supplied by river torrential floods (cyclonic floods every two or three years), suggests the continuity of high-density fluvial flows to submarine gravity flows, forming hyperpycnal flows in the canyon. The initiation of secondary submarine gravity flows by storm waves (large austral waves and cyclonic waves) is also proposed for submarine canyons with large canyon heads developed in the surf zone from a sandy coastal bar. Bedforms in active canyon axis are considered as an indicator of the frequent activity of high-density turbidity currents. Moreover, a morphological record of last glacial and deglacial sea level variations is preserved, and particularly the Last Glacial Maximum sea level with the presence of small vertical cliffs, observed in this bathymetric data, which likely corresponds to a paleo-shoreline or paleo-reefs

Bringing Statistical Methodologies for Enterprise Integration of Conversational Agents

Proceedings of: 9th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multiagent Systems (PAAMS 11). Salamanca, 6-8 April, 2011In this paper we present a methodology to develop commercial conversational agents that avoids the effort of manually defining the dialog strategy for the dialog management module. Our corpus-based methodology is based on selecting the next system answer by means of a classification process in which the complete dialog history is considered. This way, system developers can employ standards like VoiceXML to simply define system prompts and the associated grammars to recognize the users responses to the prompt, and the statistical dialog model automatically selects the next system prompt.We have applied this methodology for the development of an academic conversational agent.Funded by projects CICYT TIN2008-06742-C02-02/TSI, CICYT TEC 2008-06732-C02-02/TEC, CAM CONTEXTS (S2009/TIC-1485), and DPS2008-07029- C02-02.Publicad

Unravelling the mechanisms that determine the uptake and metabolism of magnetic single and multicore nanoparticles in a Xenopus laevis model.

Multicore superparamagnetic nanoparticles have been proposed as ideal tools for some biomedical applications because of their high magnetic moment per particle, high specific surface area and long term colloidal stability. Through controlled aggregation and packing of magnetic cores it is possible to obtain not only single-core but also multicore and hollow spheres with internal voids. In this work, we compare toxicological properties of single and multicore nanoparticles. Both types of particles showed moderate in vitro toxicity (MTT assay) tested in Hep G2 (human hepatocellular carcinoma) and Caco-2 (human colorectal adenocarcinoma) cells. The influence of surface chemistry in their biological behavior was also studied after functionalization with O,O′-bis(2-aminoethyl) PEG (2000 Da). For the first time, these nanoparticles were evaluated in a Xenopus laevis model studying their whole organism toxicity and their impact upon iron metabolism. The degree of activation of the metabolic pathway depends on the size and surface charge of the nanoparticles which determine their uptake. The results also highlight the potential of Xenopus laevis model bridging the gap between in vitro cell-based assays and rodent models for toxicity assessment to develop effective nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Razvoj i vrednovanje plutajućih tableta norfloksacina s produljenim zadržavanjem u želucu

Floating matrix tablets of norfloxacin were developed to prolong gastric residence time, leading to an increase in drug bioavailability. Tablets were prepared by the wet granulation technique, using polymers such as hydroxy propyl methylcellulose (HPMCK4M, HPMCK100M) and xanthan gum. Tablets were evaluated for their physical characteristics viz., hardness, thickness, friability, and mass variation, drug content and floating properties. Further, tablets were studied for in vitro drug release characteristics for 9 hours. The tablets exhibited controlled and prolonged drug release profiles while floating over the dissolution medium. Non-Fickian diffusion was confirmed as the drug release mechanism from these tablets, indicating that water diffusion and the polymer rearrangement played an essential role in drug release. The best formulation (F4) was selected based on in vitro characteristics and was used in vivo radiographic studies by incorporating BaSO4. These studies revealed that the tablets remained in the stomach for 180 ± 30 min in fasting human volunteers and indicated that gastric retention time was increased by the floating principle, which was considered desirable for absorption window drugs.Razvijene su plutajuće tablete norfloksacina koje se produljeno zadržavaju u želucu i time povećavaju bioraspoloživost. Tablete su pripravljene metodom vlažne granulacije, koristeći hidroksipropil metilcelulozu (HPMCK4M, HPMCK100M) i ksantan gumu. Tabletama su određena fizikalna svojstva (čvrstoća, debljina, lomljivost i varijacija mase) te sadržaj ljekovite tvari i plutajuća svojstva. Nadalje, praćeno je oslobađanje ljekovite tvari in vitro tijekom 9 h. Uočeno je da je oslobađanje kontrolirano i produljeno te da tablete plutaju u ispitivanom mediju. Mehanizam oslobađanja nije slijedio Fickov zakon, što ukazuje da difuzija vode i promjene u strukturi polimera imaju bitnu ulogu u oslobađanju ljekovite tvari. Najbolja formulacija (F4) in vitro uporabljena je s dodatkom barijevog sulfata za radiografska ispitivanja in vivo. Ispitivanja na volonterima koji su apstinirali od hrane pokazala su da primjena plutajućih tableta produljuje vrijeme zadržavanja u želucu na 180 ± 30 min

Slow tourism as a new stake for sustainable development of territories and landscape preservation

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UNE DEMARCHE DE STRATEGIE PROSPECTIVE POUR LE GERS (FRANCE) AFIN DE REPONDRE AUX EVOLUTIONS DE LA CONSOMMATION TOURISTIQUE ADRESSEE A LA CAMPAGNE

International audienceAu-delà d'une fréquentation stable (autour de 30% des nuitées sur plusieurs décennies,-ATOUT France-), la demande touristique adressée à la campagne est en constante évolution dans les perceptions, les attentes, les pratiques. Elle est soumise à des changements de références chez les nouvelles générations, entre idéalisation et craintes (Urbain, 2008). Une approche prospective permet d’envisager, d’une part les enjeux autour de cette perception renouvelée, d’autre part autour de ceux qui vont transformer les campagnes elles-mêmes (évolutions démographiques, climatologiques, technologiques, administratives…). L’objectif est d’anticiper des phénomènes, de se préparer à l’échelle de l’entreprise comme du territoire, d’être proactif au moment du changement (Mazuel, 2012).Le Gers est une destination reconnue du tourisme rural français (DATAR, 2014). Comment le département peut-il envisager sa démarche de stratégie prospective pour les quinze ans qui viennent ?Au-delà d’un travail bibliographique, 80 entretiens auprès d’acteurs du tourisme ont permis de recueillir des analyses sur les changements en cours. Un groupe de travail a proposé des scenarii anticipatifs. Un séminaire en ateliers a permis de croiser les travaux. Enfin, nous avons synthétisé les productions dans une suite d’enjeux pouvant conduire à des actions spécifiques

Une démarche de stratégie prospective pour le Gers (France) afin de répondre aux évolutions de la consommation touristique adressée à la campagne

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