The epigraph and the hypograph indexes as useful tools for clustering multivariate functional data

The proliferation of data generation has spurred advancements in functional data analysis. With the ability to analyze multiple variables simultaneously, the demand for working with multivariate functional data has increased. This study proposes a novel formulation of the epigraph and hypograph indexes, as well as their generalized expressions, specifically tailored for the multivariate functional context. These definitions take into account the interrelations between components. Furthermore, the proposed indexes are employed to cluster multivariate functional data. In the clustering process, the indexes are applied to both the data and their first and second derivatives. This generates a reduced-dimension dataset from the original multivariate functional data, enabling the application of well-established multivariate clustering techniques that have been extensively studied in the literature. This methodology has been tested through simulated and real datasets, performing comparative analyses against state-of-the-art to assess its performance.Comment: 32 page

Functional clustering via multivariate clustering

Clustering techniques applied to multivariate data are a very useful tool in Statistics and have been fully studied in the literature. Nevertheless, these clustering methodologies are less well known when dealing with functional data. Our proposal consists of introducing a clustering procedure for functional data using the very well known techniques for clustering multivariate data. The idea is to reduce a functional data problem to a multivariate data problem by applying the epigraph and the hypograph indexes to the original data and to its first and second derivatives. All the information given by the functional data is therefore transformed to the multivariate context, being sufficiently informative for the usual multivariate clustering techniques to be efficient. The performance of this new methodology is evaluated through a simulation study and it is also illustrated through real data sets

Economic model predictive control for interactions of water sources connected crop field

Interest in predicting and optimizing irrigation to minimize water usage in agriculture is growing. In this paper, we present how different water sources interconnected in a farm (surface and underground reservoirs) can provide the optimal amount of water to the crop, considering the water available in each water source and the energy cost associated with pumping, without compromising the crop yield. For this purpose, the formulated economic Model Predictive Control makes use of the dynamical non-linear agro-hydrological model, considering the Volumetric Water Content (VWC) at different depths of the soil and the mass balance of the surface reservoir to generate optimal interactions and flow control strategies from the water sources to the crop field to meet future irrigation demands and finally consider the use of these water sources to alleviate the effects of environmental changes and water scarcity

Las voces gallegoportuguesas del castellano de Uruguay

[Resumen] El objetivo del trabajo es analizar las palabras de origen gallegoportugués en el español de Uruguay. Para ello, se utilizan principalmente los recursos digitales proporcionados por la Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española y, en particular, por la Real Academia Española. Así, se seleccionaron las palabras de la última edición del Diccionario de la Lengua Española a través de la plataforma Enclave, escogiendo las que procedían del gallegoportugués y portaban la marca geográfica de Uruguay en alguna de sus acepciones. La lista de vocablos, tras la extracción de verbos y adjetivos, quedó reducida a: aruera, buzo, capanga, cardumen, changa, chumbo, corpiño, fariña, farra, firulete, garrafa, jacana, macaco/a, motoneta, mucamo/a, naco, olero/a, pandeiro, petiso/a, pichincha, tacho, tucura, y zorro/a. Para la estructura del estudio de estas palabras, se siguió, en esencia, el modelo de artículo lexicográfico propuesto en el Diccionario Histórico de la Lengua Española. La etimología se obtuvo de la última versión del Diccionario de la Lengua Española, mas se confrontó con la información del Diccionario Crítico Etimológico Castellano e Hispánico de Coromines y Pascual, y del Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa de Machado. En esta línea, las definiciones se tomaron de la última versión del Diccionario de la Lengua Española. Posteriormente, se documentó la primera aparición de las acepciones dentro de la tradición lexicográfica del castellano, sirviéndonos para ello del Nuevo Tesoro Lexicográfico de la Lengua Española y otros diccionarios específicos, como el Nuevo Diccionario de Americanismos: uruguayismos de Kühl de Mones. A continuación, se revisaron el Corpus Diacrónico del Español, el Corpus del Diccionario Histórico de la Lengua Española y el Corpus del Español del Siglo XXI para determinar la primera ocurrencia de las distintas acepciones y sus primeros y últimos casos en este siglo. Los pocos datos que acompañan a alguna de las acepciones objeto del trabajo, ya sean textuales (aroeira, taipa, farra, etc.) o lexicográficos (pandeiro), volvieron, en ocasiones, difícil su estudio. A estos inconvenientes, se debe sumar la tardía inclusión en el DLE de estas voces (un tercio de ellas se incorporaron durante las tres últimas décadas) y la disposición imprecisa de sus definiciones (tacho). Igualmente, el repaso de las acepciones en los diferentes bancos de datos se vio obstaculizado por diferentes motivos: entre otros, las palabras o acepciones seleccionadas se medían irremediablemente con sus homónimas o con otras acepciones (normalmente del español general) y, por tanto, más frecuentes(buzo); las ocurrencias de alguna voz llegaban incluso a corresponderse, prácticamente en su totalidad, con nombres propios (pichincha). Por otra parte, los valores geográficos de los corpus no coincidían con los países apuntados en el DEL: en este no se registran algunos significados de ciertas palabras en la América española o se marcan en las acepciones menos territorios de los que realmente les corresponden de acuerdo con los testimonios (motoneta); además, los casos a veces llegaban como parte de un fragmento en gallegoportugués (fariña) o se manifestaban como pertenecientes a España cuando, en realidad, daban cuenta del vocabulario específico de otro lugar hispanoparlante (jacana)Traballo fin de grao (UDC.FIL). Español estudios lingüísticos y literarios. Curso 2022/202

Xulio Sigüenza: un poeta entre a patria e a paisaxe

[Resumo] O obxectivo do traballo é recuperar e mostrar a importancia da figura de Xulio Sigüenza (A Coruña, 1898 - Vigo, 1965), xornalista, poeta, novelista, ensaísta e membro da Real Academia Galega, e da súa produción escrita en galego, normalmente ignoradas ou esquecidas pola crítica e polo público. Máis concretamente, a finalidade deste estudo é examinar a poética creada polo galeguista durante unha fértil década para el, que comeza coa publicación dos seus primeiros poemas na revista Galicia (A Habana, 1918-1820), de evidente orientación nacionalista, e conclúe coa impresión do seu único poemario en galego, Cantigas e verbas ao ar (1928), incluído dentro da tradición hilozoísta. Para comezar, serán recompilados algúns datos biobibliográficos do autor emigrado para destacar tanto o seu activismo para o desenvolvemento cultural e político da Galiza como o seu extenso legado literario, que deixa máis de media ducia de obras. Após presentar a súa traxectoria, examinarase de forma cronolóxica o marco estabelecido pola historiografía literaria para a poesía do período 1916-1936 e, en particular, para a vangarda hilozoísta co propósito de identificar os criterios utilizados para categorizar a obra e a figura de Xulio Sigüenza, normalmente ligado aos seguidores e admiradores de Amado Carballo. A seguir, serán analizados os poemas publicados polo autor herculino durante o período de 1918 a 1928, en que dá os seus primeiros pasos como escritor en lingua galega e sae do prelo a primeira edición de Cantigas e verbas ao ar. Así, o groso do traballo será dividido en tres partes fundamentais en que se explorarán os dous grandes repertorios de Xulio Sigüenza: o patriótico e o paisaxístico. Inicialmente, será atendida a concepción que o autor fragua sobre Galiza nas súas primeiras e máis reivindicativas manifestacións, en que a historia, o espírito galego e a paisaxe se volven elementos fulcrais. En segundo lugar, será analizada a posterior orientación temático-ideolóxica e estética que o escritor herculino defende para a poesía galega a través de varias das súas publicacións ensaísticas: segundo el, cómpre unha renovación formal en que a paisaxe se coloque como principal protagonista. A seguir, partindo dos presupostos que fixou Arcadio López-Casanova (2001) para a definición e a análise retórico-estilística da imaxe, estudarase a variedade formal das imaxes hilozoístas que Sigüenza crea no seu poemario galego, así como os seus principais constituíntes: os corpos celestiais mesturados entre elementos asociados ao patrimonio galego (quer oficios, quer animais, quer construcións etc.). Isto permite ao poeta xerar imaxes dunha natureza esencialmente propia en tres momentos que orbitan ao redor da noite: o por do sol, a propia noite e o amencer.Traballo fin de grao (UDC.FIL). Galego e portugués estudios lingüísticos e literarios. Curso 2022/202

Psychometric properties of the spanish version of the pregnancy related anxiety questionnaire (PRAQ)

Although pregnancy increases the vulnerability to anxiety, no specific assessment instruments are usually used to detect it. The objective of this study was to adapt the Pregnancy Related Anxiety Questionnaire (PRAQ) to Spanish population, as well as analyze its validity and reliability. A sample of 367 nulliparous pregnant women with a normal risk status filled in a socio-demographic and obstetric-gynaecological questionnaire, the PRAQ, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). After performing a factorial analysis, a five-factor model that explains 53.1% of the variance was obtained. Estimates of internal consistency reliability were adequate (range = .78 to .93) for the five factors included in the final confirmatory factor analysis, and for the total scale (.97). Significant correlation among PRAQ, EPDS, and STAI was found (p < .001). The 85th percentile (score 234 or more) was used as a cut-off point to identify those women with high pregnancy-specific anxiety. In accordance with the results obtained, the PRAQ can be considered a useful screening tool to evaluate pregnancy-related anxiety among the Spanish populationS

A fast epigraph and hypograph-based approach for clustering functional data

Clustering techniques for multivariate data are useful tools in Statistics that have been fully studied in the literature. However, there is limited literature on clustering methodologies for functional data. Our proposal consists of a clustering procedure for functional data using techniques for clustering multivariate data. The idea is to reduce a functional data problem into a multivariate one by applying the epigraph and hypograph indexes to the original curves and to their first and/or second derivatives. All the information given by the functional data is therefore transformed to the multivariate context, being informative enough for the usual multivariate clustering techniques to be efficient. The performance of this new methodology is evaluated through a simulation study and is also illustrated through real data sets. The results are compared to some other clustering procedures for functional data.This research has been partially supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Gobierno de España, grant numbers PID2019-104901RB-I00, PID2019-104681RB-I00 and PTA2020-018802-I.Publicad

Model Predictive Control Structures for Periodic ON-OFF Irrigation

Agriculture accounts for approximately 70% of the world’s freshwater consumption. Furthermore, traditional irrigation practices, which rely on empirical methods, result in excessive water usage. This, in turn, leads to increased working hours for irrigation pumps and higher electricity consumption. The main objective of this study is to develop and evaluate periodic model predictive control structures that explicitly account for on-off irrigation, a characteristic of drip irrigation systems where watering can be turned on and off, but flow cannot be regulated. While both proposed control structures incorporate an economic upper layer (Real Time Optimizer, RTO), they differ in the costs associated with the lower layer. The first structure, called Model Predictive Control for Tracking (MPCT), focuses on tracking effectiveness, while the second structure, called Economic Model Predictive Control for Tracking (EMPCT), incorporates the economic cost into the tracking term. These proposed structures are tested in a realistic case study, specifically in a strawberry greenhouse, and both show satisfactory performance. The choice of the best option will depend on specific conditio

Metal dyshomeostasis based biomarkers for lung cancer diagnosis using human biofluids

Lung cancer (LC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths in the world and it is well known that trace elements play important roles in the carcinogenic process activating and inhibiting enzymatic reactions and metalloproteins, in which they usually participate as cofactors. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 48 lung cancer patients and 39 controls (56 men and 31 women), aged 44-76 years between March 2011 and June 2012. Eleven elements have been included in the study: V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Se, Mo, Cd, and Pb, some of them considered toxic (V, Cd, Cr and Pb), while others are essential (Co, Mo, Se, Fe and Zn), and they have been analyzed by ICP-QQQ-MS in serum, urine and for the first time in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). In order to understand the involvement of metals in this process, an analytical metallomic approach based on non-denaturing precipitation of proteins (NDPP) has been optimized for the fractionation of high molecular mass (HMM) and low molecular mass (LMM) metal species, in order to distinguish between metal species that affect the biological activity and toxicological potential of the elements. In this work, the NDPP followed by the analysis of metals by ICP-QQQ-MS has been applied for the first time to serum, urine and BALF samples from lung cancer patients and controls in order to get metal-size molecule profiles (MSMP), which can be used as metal-based biomarkers of altered metabolic processes such as oxidative stress and homeostasis. In this sense, we have demonstrated that several metals are good biomarkers when they are related to labile complexes, complexed with low molecular mass ligands, or in the form of metalloproteins (i.e. V and Cr in HMM and Cu in LMM), which has been described for the first time. On the other hand, metal dyshomeostasis biomarkers are proposed using metal ratios and correlations. Finally, the ratios between elements were shown to be important biomarkers for lung cancer in serum (V/Mn, V/Pb, V/Zn, Cr/Pb), urine (Cr/Cd, Mn/Cd, V/Cd, Co/Cd, Cd/Pb) and BALF (V/Cu), which reflects the dyshomeostasis of metals in lung cancer. In this sense, several metals are correlated to others suggesting also the existence of an interconnected homeostasis in lung cancer.The authors thank the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (CTM2015-67902-C2-1-P) and Regional Ministry of Economy, Innovation, Science and Employment (Andalusian Government. P12-FQM-0442). B. Callejon-Leblic thanks the Ministerio de Educacion for a predoctoral scholarship FPU13/03615. Finally, the authors are grateful to FEDER (European Community) (UNHU13-1E-1611 and UNHU15-CE-3140)