Generative Adversarial Neural Networks: A Pictorial Approach

This current work explores the basis of the ambit of Generative Modeling approached through Adversarial Neural Networks. The project starts by introducing Discriminative and Generative Modelling, both explained and set apart from one another, so that the latest, which is the main focus of this work, can be properly understood. Then, examples of Deep Learning architectures modeled as means to approach this kind of modeling, through a setting inspired in Game Theory, are showcased. In the end, a proof of concept to showcase the capabilities of this kind of approaches, capable of learning to reproduce the work of pictorial artist, referred to as PictorialGAN, is presented. In the annex there are references to the theoretical ambit over which this work rises, a whole detailed explanation of Multilayer Perceptrons, as well as the practical bricks used during the development of the project, those being the computational environment and the datasets used to test the models

Buenas prácticas en la aplicación de la metodología del Proyecto USAID Municipios y Comunidades Saludables II en las regiones de San Martín y Ucayali con la intención de contribuir a la sostenibilidad de otros proyectos de desarrollo social (2011- 2015)

La participación ciudadana y la adecuada articulación de los actores involucrados en la promoción de la salud sigue siendo un reto hoy en día en el Perú. El presente trabajo ha documentado y analizado los buenos resultados obtenidos en la implementación de la metodología de promoción de la salud denominada “Municipios y Comunidades Saludables” que fue empleada por el proyecto USAID/ MCS II en las regiones de San Martín y Ucayali durante el periodo 2011 – 2015. Para ello, se tuvo en cuanta tanto los factores internos como externos que mediaron la adopción de dicha metodología por parte de las familias, las comunidades organizadas y los municipios. El análisis de dichos factores permite delinear una hoja de ruta o lecciones aprendidas a ser tomadas en cuenta por los gobiernos regionales y locales, así como por todo actor involucrado en la promoción de la salud que tenga por finalidad implementar un programa o proyecto que involucre la participación de la comunidad y sus autoridades locales. Así, luego de haber identificado la escasa documentación referida al involucramiento directo y trabajo articulado entre los grupos familiares, comunidades y municipios en la labor de la promoción de la salud vinculada a sus cuatro fases (sensibilización y organización, planificación, ejecución y autoevaluación); mediante la presente investigación tratamos de dar a conocer el desenvolvimiento e interacción entre aquellas familias, comunidades y sus respectivos municipios, mostrando hallazgos tales como: la existencia de familias con niños menores de 2 años y mujeres gestantes que lograron implementar compromisos para mejorar sus viviendas y prácticas de salud, comunidades empoderadas que implementaron acciones de promoción de la salud y de mejora de sus determinantes sociales de la salud mediante el empleo de instrumentos de gestión como diagnósticos y planes comunales, así como gobiernos locales que llegaron a implementar acciones contenidas en su plan distrital para promover escenarios saludables y brindar soporte para realizar un trabajo articulado con el personal de los establecimientos de salud. Para ello, se desarrolló un análisis descriptivo con enfoque cualitativo, siendo el ámbito de estudio 6 comunidades de la Región San Martín y 4 comunidades de la Región Ucayali, se realizó grupos focales a las familias y comunidades organizadas bajo el modelo de juntas vecinales comunales (JVC), entrevistas a representantes del personal de salud, entrevistas a funcionarios de los gobiernos locales, una entrevista a un representante del Ministerio de Salud y una entrevista al profesional responsable del componente de promoción de la salud del proyecto USAID/ MCS II. De esta forma, producto de las indagaciones realizadas por cada escenario saludable (familias, comunidades y municipios) se registró y procesó la información recabada, la cual fue utilizada posteriormente en el proceso de análisis e interpretación de los resultados, entre los cuales se puede describir los siguientes: En el escenario familia, la implementación de la metodología de familias saludables buscó que aquellas adopten un compromiso de cambio, el cual se manifestase mediante la puesta en marcha de nuevas prácticas de salud orientadas a generar una cultura de auto cuidado y de mejora del entorno familiar. De esta manera, se promovería que los niños y niñas menores de 2 años de edad se beneficien de prácticas saludables tales como: acceso a la lactancia materna exclusiva (en los 6 primeros meses), consumo de alimentos balanceados y en la frecuencia adecuada para su edad, vacuna y control de crecimiento al día, así como consumo de agua segura y niños con documento de identidad (DNI). A nivel de la comunidad se buscó que las autoridades comunales organizadas en JVC se empoderasen, asuman un liderazgo democrático y adopten una gestión comunal planificada a favor de la salud de sus familias; todo ellos a partir de la implementación de herramientas de gestión comunal tales como los diagnósticos y los planes comunales. A nivel de los Municipios se esperó que las autoridades municipales como los encargados o gerentes de desarrollo social y alcaldes distritales fortalezcan sus capacidades para asumir el liderazgo de la gestión local de promoción de la salud de manera articulada con sus comunidades, equipos de los EESS y otros actores locales clave. De esta forma, es importante que los gobiernos regionales y locales adopten e interioricen la metodología como propia, para que las familias, comunidades y municipios cuenten con actores clave a cada nivel, suscitando condiciones e involucramiento de las distintas entidades para la adopción de una cultura de auto cuidado de la salud y gestión de los determinantes sociales de la salud.Tesi

Photodegradation of cytostatic drugs by g-C3N4: Synthesis, properties and performance fitted by selecting the appropriate precursor

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) was synthetized by a one-step thermal method from different N-rich precursors, namely melamine, dicyandiamide, urea, thiourea and cyanamide. The structure, optical and physicochemical properties of g-C3N4 materials were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy, among others. Both melamine and dicyandiamide provided a less porous structure composed by large flake sheets, whereas urea and thiourea favoured g-C3N4 composed by small flat sheets and wrinkles with a larger porosity. The establishment of more condensed g-C3N4 networks with a reduced band gap was also evidenced for melamine and dicyandiamide precursors, while urea favoured less condensed melem or melon structures. The photoactivity of the different g-C3N4 was assessed for the removal of an aqueous solution containing 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), cyclophosphamide (CP) or a mixture of both cytostatic drugs, under near UV-Vis and solar-LED irradiations. The best performing photocatalysts under near UV-Vis irradiation, were those prepared from melamine (kapp = 14.6 × 10–2 min–1 for 5-FU) and thiourea (kapp = 2.5 × 10–2 min–1 for CP), while urea was the most active under solar-LED irradiation (kapp = 0.183 × 10–2 min–1 for 5-FU). In addition, CP was more resistant to be degraded than 5-FU, and a competitive effect for the generated hydroxyl radicals was evidenced when both pollutant molecules were in the same solution. The photoactivity of g-C3N4 materials was justified by the combination of various effects: (i) surface area, (ii) well-connected and condensed g-C3N4 structures and (iii) high surface C/N ratios with nitrogen vacanciesSpanish Projects from MCIN/AEI/FEDER "Una manera de hacer Europa" RTI2018-099224-B-I00FEDER/Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Transformacion Economica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades B-RNM-486-UGR20Junta de Andalucia-Consejeria de Universidad, Investigacion e Innovacion -Proyecto P21_00208MICIN/AEIEuropean Social Found (FSE) PRE2019-087946MICIN/AEI RYC-2019-026634-IFSE "El FSE invierte en tu futuro"Universidad de Granada/CBU

Functionalized Graphene Derivatives and TiO2 for High Visible Light Photodegradation of Azo Dyes

Functionalized graphene derivatives including graphene oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and heteroatom (nitrogen/sulphur (N/S) or boron (B))-doped graphene were used to synthesize composites with TiO2 (T). The photocatalytic performance of composites was assessed for the degradation of Orange G dye (OG) under simulated solar light. All the prepared graphene derivatives—TiO2 composites showed better photocatalytic performance than bare TiO2. A higher photocatalytic activity was found for the composites containing GO and N/S co-doped rGO (kapp = 109.2 × 10−3 and 48.4 × 10−3 min−1 , for GO-T and rGONS-T, respectively). The influence of both initial solution pH and the reactive species involved in the OG degradation pathway were studied. The photocatalytic activity of the samples decreased with the increase of the initial pH (from 3.0 to 10.0) due to the occurrence of electrostatic repulsive forces between the photocatalysts surface and the molecules of OG, both negatively charged. The use of selective scavengers showed that although the photogenerated holes dominate the degradation mechanism, radicals and singlet oxygen also participate in the OG degradation pathway. In addition, reutilization experiments indicated that the samples were stable under the reaction conditions used.ERDF/Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities-State Research Agency RTI2018-099224-B-I0

Immunohistochemical Assessment of Immune Response in the Dermis of Sarcoptes scabiei—Infested Wild Carnivores (Wolf and Fox) and Ruminants (Chamois and Red Deer)

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)[EN] Sarcoptic mange is caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei and has been described in several species of domestic and wild mammals. Macroscopic lesions are predominantly hyperkeratotic (type I hypersensitivity) in fox, chamois and deer, but alopecic (type IV hypersensitivity) in wolf and some fox populations. To begin to understand the immune processes underlying these species differences in lesions, we examined skin biopsies from wolves (Canis lupus), foxes (Vulpes vulpes), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) and red deer (Cervus elaphus) naturally infested with S. scabiei. Twenty skin samples from five animals per species were used. Sections were immuno-stained with primary antibodies against Iba1 to detect macrophages, lambda chain to detect plasma cells, CD3 to detect T lymphocytes and CD20 to detect B lymphocytes. Skin lesions contained significantly more inflammatory cells in the fox than in the wolf and chamois. Macrophages were the most abundant inflammatory cells in the lesions of all the species studied, suggesting a predominantly innate, non-specific immune response. Lesions from the wolf contained higher proportions of macrophages than the other species, which may reflect a more effective response, leading to alopecic lesions. In red deer, macrophages were significantly more abundant than plasma cells, T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes, which were similarly abundant. The fox proportion of plasma cells was significantly higher than those of T and B lymphocytes. In chamois, T lymphocytes were more abundant than B lymphocytes and plasma cells, although the differences were significant only in the case of macrophages. These results suggest that all the species examined mount a predominantly innate immune response against S. scabiei infestation, while fox and chamois may also mount substantial humoral and cellular immune responses, respectively, with apparently scarce effectiveness that lead to hyperkeratotic lesions.SIThe authors would like to thank the Vice-Ministry of the Environment of the Principado of Asturias. The authors thank A. Chapin Rodríguez for critically reviewing the manuscript.This work was partially supported by the Principado de Asturias, PCTI 2018–220 (GRUPIN: IDI2018-000237 and FEDER). Ms. Ileana Z. Martínez was supported by a Fundación Carolina PhD scholarship (2017 call)

Spike-based computational models of bio-inspired memories in the hippocampal CA3 region on SpiNNaker

The human brain is the most powerful and efficient machine in existence today, surpassing in many ways the ca pabilities of modern computers. Currently, lines of research in neuromorphic engineering are trying to develop hardware that mimics the functioning of the brain to acquire these superior capabilities. One of the areas still under development is the design of bio-inspired memories, where the hippocampus plays an important role. This region of the brain acts as a short-term memory with the ability to store associations of information from different sensory streams in the brain and recall them later. This is possible thanks to the recurrent collateral network architecture that constitutes CA3, the main sub-region of the hippocampus. In this work, we developed two spike-based computational models of fully functional hippocampal bio-inspired memories for the storage and recall of complex patterns implemented with spiking neural networks on the SpiNNaker hardware platform. These models present different levels of biological abstraction, with the first model having a constant oscillatory activity closer to the biological model, and the second one having an energy efficient regulated activity, which, although it is still bio-inspired, opts for a more functional approach. Different experiments were performed for each of the models, in order to test their learn ing/recalling capabilities. A comprehensive comparison between the functionality and the biological plausibility of the presented models was carried out, showing their strengths and weaknesses. The two models, which are publicly available for researchers, could pave the way for future spike-based implementations and applications.Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2019-105556GB-C33/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (MINDROB

Photocatalytic Perfomance of ZnO-Graphene Oxide Composites towards the Degradation of Vanillic Acid under Solar Radiation and Visible-LED

Graphene oxide (GO) is used to enhance the photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanoparticles for the degradation of vanillic acid (VA) under simulated solar light and visible-LED (λ > 430 nm). ZnO-GO composites are prepared by a mixing and sonication process with different GO loadings (i.e., from 1.8 to 6.5 wt.%). The materials are extensively characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), physisorption of N2 , X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), point of zero charge (pHPZC), and UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRUV). The presence of GO increases the photocatalytic activity of all the prepared composites in comparison with the pristine ZnO. The highest photocatalytic activity is found for the composite containing 5.5 wt.% of GO (i.e., ZnO-GO5.5), reaching a VA degradation of 99% and 35% under solar light and visible-LED, respectively. Higher TOC removal/VA degradation ratios are obtained from the experiments carried out under visible-LED, indicating a more effective process for the mineralization of VA than those observed under simulated solar light. The influence of hole, radical, and non-radical scavengers is studied in order to assess the occurrence of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) involved in the photocatalytic mechanism. The study of the photo-stability during three reuse experiments indicates that the presence of GO in the composites reduces the photocorrosion in comparison with pristine ZnO.Spanish Project ref. RTI 2018-099224-B100 funded by ERDF/Ministry of Science, Innovation and UniversitiesState Research Agency and the Nano4Fresh project (ref. PCI2020-112045), as part of the PRIMA Programme supported by the European Unio

Bioinspired Spike-Based Hippocampus and Posterior Parietal Cortex Models for Robot Navigation and Environment Pseudomapping

The brain has great capacity for computation and efficient resolution of complex problems, far surpassing modern computers. Neuromorphic engineering seeks to mimic the basic principles of the brain to develop systems capable of achieving such capabilities. In the neuromorphic field, navigation systems are of great interest due to their potential applicability to robotics, although these systems are still a challenge to be solved. This work proposes a spike-based robotic navigation and environment pseudomapping system formed by a bioinspired hippocampal memory model connected to a posterior parietal cortex (PPC) model. The hippocampus is in charge of maintaining a representation of an environment state map, and the PPC is in charge of local decision-making. This system is implemented on the SpiNNaker hardware platform using spiking neural networks. A set of real-time experiments are applied to demonstrate the correct functioning of the system in virtual and physical environments on a robotic platform. The system is able to navigate through the environment to reach a goal position starting from an initial position, avoiding obstacles and mapping the environment. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first implementation of an environment pseudomapping system with dynamic learning based on a bioinspired hippocampal memory. © 2023 The Authors. Advanced Intelligent Systems published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte (MECD). España PID2019‐105556GB‐C33Horizonte 2020 (Unión Europea) CHIST‐ERA‐18‐ACAI‐004Horizonte 2020 (Unión Europea) PCI2019‐111841‐2/AEI/10.13039/501100011033Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MCIN) España AEI/10.13039/50110001103

Angiogenin secretion from hepatoma cells activates hepatic stellate cells to amplify a self-sustained cycle promoting liver cancer

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) frequently develops in a pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrogenic environment with hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) remodeling the extracellular matrix composition. Molecules secreted by liver tumors contributing to HSC activation and peritumoral stromal transformation remain to be fully identified. Here we show that conditioned medium from HCC cell lines, Hep3B and HepG2, induced primary mouse HSCs transdifferentiation, characterized by profibrotic properties and collagen modification, with similar results seen in the human HSC cell line LX2. Moreover, tumor growth was enhanced by coinjection of HepG2/LX2 cells in a xenograft murine model, supporting a HCC-HSC crosstalk in liver tumor progression. Protein microarray secretome analyses revealed angiogenin as the most robust and selective protein released by HCC compared to LX2 secreted molecules. In fact, recombinant angiogenin induced in vitro HSC activation requiring its nuclear translocation and rRNA transcriptional stimulation. Moreover, angiogenin antagonism by blocking antibodies or angiogenin inhibitor neomycin decreased in vitro HSC activation by conditioned media or recombinant angiogenin. Finally, neomycin administration reduced tumor growth of HepG2-LX2 cells coinjected in mice. In conclusion, angiogenin secretion by HCCs favors tumor development by inducing HSC activation and ECM remodeling. These findings indicate that targeting angiogenin signaling may be of potential relevance in HCC managementThis study was funded by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS PI12/00110, PI09/00056 to A.M., FIS PI10/02114, PI13/00374 to M.M., PI12/01265 to J.C. and PI11/0325 to J.F.C.), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (SAF 2012/34831 to J.F.C. and SAF2011-23031 to C.G.R.) and co-funded by FEDER (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea. “Una manera de hacer Europa”); center grant P50-AA-11999 from Research Center for Liver and Pancreatic Diseases, US NIAAA to J.F.C.); Fundació la Marató de TV3 to J.F.C., Mutua Madrilea (AP103502012) to C.G.R., and by CIBERehd from the Instituto de Salud Carlos IIIPeer Reviewe

Efectos de un plan de entrenamiento de ocho semanas en la capacidad de autovalencia en adultos mayores

Tesis (Profesor de Educación Física para la Enseñanza Básica, Licenciado en Educación)Tanto en Chile como en el mundo entero la población de adultos mayores va aumentando de manera exponencial y el paso del tiempo trae consigo de manera indeclinable e indefectible la aparición de ciertas enfermedades por el respectivo deterioro generalizado en las funciones orgánicas; además existen ciertos factores que determinan el ritmo de envejecimiento como los de carácter genético, metabólico, hormonal, ambiental y por supuesto el estilo de vida que lleva la persona. Un estilo de vida sedentario repercute de manera negativa en el adulto mayor, acelerando su proceso de envejecimiento y trascendiendo invariablemente en su nivel de autovalencia, es ahí donde yace el foco principal de este estudio, ya que se pretende determinar los efectos de un plan de entrenamiento de ocho semanas de duración en la capacidad de auto valencia en adultos mayores, mediante la aplicación de los exámenes de medicina preventiva del adulto mayor (EMPAM); teniendo como base que el ejercicio físico constituye el medio más seguro para mantener la autonomía, asegurar las capacidades motrices y cognitivas, además de potenciar la sociabilidad y educar sobre el uso del tiempo libre, evitando el sedentarism