An evolutionary behavioral model for decision making

For autonomous agents the problem of deciding what to do next becomes increasingly complex when acting in unpredictable and dynamic environments pursuing multiple and possibly conflicting goals. One of the most relevant behavior-based model that tries to deal with this problem is the one proposed by Maes, the Bbehavior Network model. This model proposes a set of behaviors as purposive perception-action units which are linked in a nonhierarchical network, and whose behavior selection process is orchestrated by spreading activation dynamics. In spite of being an adaptive model (in the sense of self-regulating its own behavior selection process), and despite the fact that several extensions have been proposed in order to improve the original model adaptability, there is not a robust model yet that can self-modify adaptively both the topological structure and the functional purpose\ud of the network as a result of the interaction between the agent and its environment. Thus, this work proffers an innovative hybrid model driven by gene expression programming, which makes two main contributions: (1) given an initial set of meaningless and unconnected units, the evolutionary mechanism is able to build well-defined and robust behavior networks which are adapted and specialized to concrete internal agent's needs and goals; and (2)\ud the same evolutionary mechanism is able to assemble quite\ud complex structures such as deliberative plans (which operate in the long-term) and problem-solving strategies

Selection of critical events in nuclear fragmentation

The calculation of the critical exponent τ is crucial in the determination of critical phenomena in heavy ion reactions. This, however, is obscured by the unavoidable mixing of critical and noncritical events that results in nonclean signals. Here we report on a method to extract critical events from a set of mixed ones. In comparing to the traditional one, based on the so-called Campi plot, a distinct advantage is found.Fil: Dorso, Claudio Oscar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, J. A.. University of Texas at El Paso; Estados Unido

Análisis del deseo y estructuración subjetiva en dos casos clínicos

El estudio de variables relativas a la familia cobra especial relevancia en México, ya que como en algunos otros países de Latinoamérica le es otorgada una gran importancia social, al mismo tiempo que sigue siendo una institución con mucha fuerza. A pesar de que la misma ha sufrido diferentes cambios a lo largo del tiempo, la crianza sigue siendo una de sus funciones, ya que los padres continúan teniendo la tarea de estimular el bienestar y desarrollo de los hijos (Oudhof y Robles, 2014).La crianza juega un papel importante en la vida de todas las personas. Es durante ese proceso que se transmite una cantidad considerable de información a cada individuo, y es a partir de esa información, según la teoría social-cognitiva, que el mismo actúa sobre el ambiente. Alonso y Román (2005) mencionan que cuando los padres transmiten apoyo y afecto a sus hijos, así como incentivan la comunicación familiar, establecen normas y dan cumplimiento a las mismas utilizando el razonamiento inductivo, los hijos tienen mayor probabilidad de ser sociables cooperativos y autónomos.La publicación de distintos manuales diagnósticos para los trastornos mentales ha sido objeto de gran reflexión y polémica para los especialistas en el campo de la salud, la ocupación de dichos manuales en el campo de la Psicología no es la excepción debido a que la gran variedad en la que se presentan los síntomas sigue siendo un enigma para los psicólogos clínicos a pesar de los esfuerzos de la psiquiatría de clasificar y describir los trastornos; por otro lado el Psicoanálisis al proponer la escucha de los síntomas en relación al deseo incita a la Psicología a dejar de lado la generalización que puede llegar a interpretarse en los manuales y trabajar caso por caso, pensando en las distintas relaciones de objeto como representaciones de la representación que marcan la estructura psíquica de un sujeto que se posiciona frente a un deseo producto de esta primer representación que está en el campo de lo impensable

Dielectric elastomer composites: the critical role of interphasial phenomena

In this discussion, I will present new theoretical results in conjunction with experiments that reveal the critical role that interphasial phenomena play on the macroscopic electromechanical properties of soft dielectric composites

Fracture and healing of elastomers: a phase-transition theory and numerical implementation

Recent experiments, analogous to the classical experiments by Gent and collaborators but carried out at higher spatiotemporal resolution (of 1 micron in space and 60 ms in time), have provided a complete qualitative picture of the nucleation and the ensuing growth and interaction of internal cavities/cracks in elastomers subjected to externally applied quasi-static mechanical loads. In this talk, I will begin by presenting a continuum field theory seemingly capable to explain, describe, and predict all of the classical and recent experimental observations: from the nucleation of cavities/cracks, to their growth to micro-cracks, to their continued growth to macro-cracks, to the remarkable healing of some of the cracks. The theory rests on two central ideas. The first one is to view elastomers as solids capable to undergo finite deformations and capable also to phase transition to another solid of vanishingly small stiffness, whereas the forward phase transition serves to characterize the nucleation and propagation of fracture, the reverse phase transition characterizes the healing. The second central idea is to take the phase transition to be driven by the competition between a combination of strain energy and stress concentration in the bulk and surface energy on the created/healed new surfaces in the elastomer. In the second part of the talk, I will present a numerical implementation of the theory capable of efficiently dealing with large deformations, the typical near incompressibility of elastomers, and the large changes in the deformation field that can ensue locally in space and time from the nucleation of fracture. I will close by confronting its predictions with a number of recent experiments.Publicado en: Mecánica Computacional vol. XXXV, no. 1.Facultad de Ingenierí