El desarrollo de la noción de autopropiación en el pensamiento de B. Lonergan. Una respuesta a la nueva regulación del sentido que demanda la cultura moderna

Lonergan señala que la cultura clasicista se ha desvanecido hoy día. Ya no existe una única comprensión de cultura que sea aceptada. En la cultura moderna se da una transposición de la lógica al método, de la ciencia como concebida en los analíticos posteriores a la ciencia como es concebida hoy, de la metafísica del alma a la autoapropiación del sujeto, de una aprehensión del hombre en términos de naturaleza humana a una aprehensión del hombre a través de la historia humana y de los primeros principios al método trascendental. Estos cambios son manifestaciones de la nueva mediación de sentido que surge en la cultura moderna, la cual está demandando una nueva regulación (control) del sentido

Intencionalidad afectiva y conciencia trina en la ética de Lonergan

La comprensión sobre los sentimientos, en los escritos de Lonergan, sufre un cambio significativo, sobre todo a partir de su obra Method in Theology (1972). En este artículo presentamos una visión sistemática y coherente de los elementos implicados en aquel cambio. En primer lugar presentamos la posición de Lonergan sobre la decisión y los sentimientos en su obra Insight (1957). En segundo lugar analizamos su comprensión sobre los sentimientos en Method. Luego, analizando las actividades asociadas al cuarto nivel de conciencia, el nivel moral, mostramos cómo el sujeto, al conocer y decidir, integra sus sentimientos en cuanto que estos son respuestas intencionales a los valores. Los sentimientos tienen un rol en la estructura intencional de la conciencia. El sujeto está invitado a vivir la profundaexperiencia de la conversión afectiva y así alcanzar su auto-trascendencia afectiva

Hacia una fundamentación del hacernos a nosotros mismos en la reflexión ética de Bernard Lonergan

En este artículo se da una respuesta a la pregunta por los fundamentos del hacerse a sí mismo del sujeto, y de este modo se explícita un horizonte de significación, al interior del cual se puede reconocer que el ideal de autenticidad encierra en sí una fuerza moral (no es un ideal meramente arbitrario y subjetivo) y merece ser tenido en cuenta en nuestras reflexiones éticas

Removal Efficiency of Cr6+ by Indigenous Pichia sp. Isolated from Textile Factory Effluent

Resistance of the indigenous strains P. jadinii M9 and P. anomala M10, to high Cr6+ concentrations and their ability to reduce chromium in culture medium was studied. The isolates were able to tolerate chromium concentrations up to 104 μg mL−1. Growth and reduction of Cr6+ were dependent on incubation temperature, agitation, Cr6+ concentration, and pH. Thus, in both studied strains the chromium removal was increased at 30°C with agitation. The optimum pH was different, with values of pH 3.0 and pH 7.0 in the case of P. anomala M10 and pH 7.0 using P. jadinii M9. Chromate reduction occurred both in intact cells (grown in culture medium) as well as in cell-free extracts. Chromate reductase activity could be related to cytosolic or membrane-associated proteins. The presence of a chromate reductase activity points out a possible role of an enzyme in Cr6+ reduction

Exploitation alternatives of olive mill wastewater: production of value-added compounds useful for industry and agriculture

Countries producing olive oil generate a considerable amount of olive mill wastewater (OMWW), one of the most harmful agro-industrial effluents with a powerful polluting capacity. In fact, owing to its high pollution load, this effluent is extremely toxic to the whole soil-air-water ecosystem as well as to the living organisms inhabiting it (i.e., plants, animals, aquatic organisms, microorganisms, etc.). Currently, OMWW is discarded but since it includes carbohydrates, organic acids and mineral nutrients, as well as elevated contents of phenolics and other natural antioxidants compounds, it could be considered as a potential source of high value-added natural products. Therefore, the valorization of different waste streams including OMWW into fine biochemicals and the recovery of valuable metabolites via biotechnological processes is probably the main challenge faced by the olive oil industry. In light of that, the aim of the present review article is to summarize the state-of-the-art in relation to the exploitation possibilities and the use of OMWW to generate added-value compounds of great significance for the biofuel, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, chemical, food, and agriculture industries. Valorization of this significant waste steam in particular through a biorefinery platform could substantially enhance the environmental sustainability aspects of the whole industry while simultaneously contributing to the improvement of its economic viability

Redes neuronales aplicadas a la predicción de tráfico en redes convergentes

El auge de las telecomunicaciones ha producido una transformación de las tecnologías de la información y de la comunicación, cuyo impacto ha afectado a todos los sectores de la sociedad. Las redes convergentes, se han convertido tanto para empresas y organizaciones públicas o privadas en la manera más rápida, eficiente y segura de transmitir información, compartir aplicaciones, administrar recursos, intercambiar de datos entre usuarios internos; agilizan en un paso gigante al mundo, porque grandes cantidades de información se trasladan de un sitio a otro, siendo su función principal interconectar redes o equipos terminales que se encuentran ubicados a grandes distancias. Estos cambios en el escenario de las TI están activando individual y colectivamente, el crecimiento exponencial en el tráfico de los sitios. Las empresas tendrán que reaccionar a este crecimiento ya que si no se aumentan anchos de banda y se prioriza los nuevos tráficos, se encontrarán que las aplicaciones deberán competir por recursos congestionados. Este proyecto de investigación busca desarrollar un modelo de sistema informático utilizando algoritmos de Inteligencia Artificial, específicamente las Redes Neuronales, para predecir el tráfico en las Redes Globales multiprotocolos.Eje: Agentes y Sistemas InteligentesRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Endocardial Approach for Substrate Ablation in Brugada Syndrome

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in Brugada syndrome (BrS) has been performed by both endocardial and epicardial. The substrate in BrS is not completely understood. We investigate the functional endocardial substrate and its correlation with clinical, electrophysiological and ECG findings in order to guide an endocardial ablation. Two patients agreed to undergo an endocardial biopsy and the samples were examined with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to investigate the correlation between functional and ultrastructural alterations. About 13 patients (38.7 ± 12.3 years old) with spontaneous type 1 ECG BrS pattern, inducible VF with programmed ventricular stimulation (PVS) and syncope without prodromes were enrolled. Before endocardial mapping, the patients underwent flecainide testing with the purpose of measuring the greatest ST-segment elevation for to be correlated with the size and location of substrate in the electro-anatomic map. Patients underwent endocardial bipolar and electro-anatomic mapping with the purpose of identify areas of abnormal electrograms (EGMs) as target for RFA and determine the location and size of the substrate. When the greatest ST-segment elevation was in the third intercostal space (ICS), the substrate was located upper in the longitudinal plane of the right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) and a greatest ST-segment elevation in fourth ICS correspond with a location of substrate in lower region of longitudinal plane of RVOT. A QRS complex widening on its initial and final part, with prolonged transmural and regional depolarization time of RVOT corresponded to the substrate located in the anterior-lateral region of RVOT. A QRS complex widening rightwards and only prolonged transmural depolarization time corresponded with a substrate located in the anterior, anterior-septal or septal region of RVOT. RFA of endocardial substrate suppressed the inducibility and ECG BrS pattern during 34.7 ± 15.5 months. After RFA, flecainide testing confirmed elimination of the ECG BrS pattern. Endocardial biopsy showed a correlation between functional and ultrastructural alterations. Endocardial RFA can eliminate the BrS phenotype and inducibility during programmed ventricular stimulation (PVS)

Knowledge to Serve the City: Insights from an Emerging Knowledge-Action Network to Address Vulnerability and Sustainability in San Juan, Puerto Rico

This paper presents initial efforts to establish the San Juan Urban Long-Term Research Area Exploratory (ULTRA-Ex), a long-term program aimed at developing transdisciplinary social-ecological system (SES) research to address vulnerability and sustainability for the municipality of San Juan. Transdisciplinary approaches involve the collaborations between researchers, stakeholders, and citizens to produce socially-relevant knowledge and support decision-making. We characterize the transdisciplinary arrangement emerging in San Juan ULTRA-Ex as a knowledge-action network composed of multiple formal and informal actors (e.g., scientists, policymakers, civic organizations and other stakeholders) where knowledge, ideas, and strategies for sustainability are being produced, evaluated, and validated. We describe in this paper the on-the-ground social practices and dynamics that emerged from developing a knowledge-action network in our local context. Specifically, we present six social practices that were crucial to the development of our knowledge-action network: 1) understanding local framings; 2) analyzing existing knowledge-action systems in the city; 3) framing the social-ecological research agenda; 4) collaborative knowledge production and integration; 5) boundary objects and practices; and 6) synthesis, application, and adaptation. We discuss key challenges and ways to move forward in building knowledge-action networks for sustainability. Our hope is that the insights learned from this process will stimulate broader discussions on how to develop knowledge for urban sustainability, especially in tropical cities where these issues are under-explored

Sudden cardiac death and pump failure death prediction in chronic heart failure by combining ECG and clinical markers in an integrated risk model

BACKGROUND: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) and pump failure death (PFD) are common endpoints in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients, but prevention strategies are different. Currently used tools to specifically predict these endpoints are limited. We developed risk models to specifically assess SCD and PFD risk in CHF by combining ECG markers and clinical variables. METHODS: The relation of clinical and ECG markers with SCD and PFD risk was assessed in 597 patients enrolled in the MUSIC (MUerte Súbita en Insuficiencia Cardiaca) study. ECG indices included: turbulence slope (TS), reflecting autonomic dysfunction; T-wave alternans (TWA), reflecting ventricular repolarization instability; and T-peak-to-end restitution (ΔαTpe) and T-wave morphology restitution (TMR), both reflecting changes in dispersion of repolarization due to heart rate changes. Standard clinical indices were also included. RESULTS: The indices with the greatest SCD prognostic impact were gender, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, left ventricular ejection fraction, TWA, ΔαTpe and TMR. For PFD, the indices were diabetes, NYHA class, ΔαTpe and TS. Using a model with only clinical variables, the hazard ratios (HRs) for SCD and PFD for patients in the high-risk group (fifth quintile of risk score) with respect to patients in the low-risk group (first and second quintiles of risk score) were both greater than 4. HRs for SCD and PFD increased to 9 and 11 when using a model including only ECG markers, and to 14 and 13, when combining clinical and ECG markers. CONCLUSION: The inclusion of ECG markers capturing complementary pro-arrhythmic and pump failure mechanisms into risk models based only on standard clinical variables substantially improves prediction of SCD and PFD in CHF patients