Self-Organization through a multi-agent system for orders distribution in large companies

This article presents the development of a multi-agent system in charge of self-managing a delivery system. The article focuses on the delivery management system and not on the movement systems of the different used vehicles./nThis system consists of different types of vehicles, each with different characteristics, and there may be several instances of each type of vehicle. There will be three operating agents (Drone Operator, Car Operator and Amphibious Operator), an agent that will be responsible for creating random tasks (used only in simulations) and another one that is responsible for distributing these tasks to the operators taking into account the algorithm. This algorithm follows the bases of backtracking and its main function is to assign a task to a vehicle taking into account the distance, the consumption, the limitations of weight and distances, etc. The whole system has been developed in JADE on java. The described software performs a complete simulation with a console in which it is indicated relevant information such as the tasks that are created, the type of vehicle and the instance of that type of vehicle that resolve the delivery, among others. The purpose of this system is to minimize costs and times

Sobre las funciones y reglas de agregación

En este artículo se analiza la definición actualmente al uso de función de agregación,haciendo hincapié en que, a pesar de considerar el problema de la variabilidad de la dimensión de la información a agregar, dicha definición no cierra la posibilidad de disfuncionalidades obvias, subyaciendo en su concepción un potencial abuso del formalismo matemático que, junto con las necesarias consideraciones de implementación práctica pueden llevar a reducir a una simple fórmula lo que es un complejo concepto. En este trabajo propondremos las bases para una definición alternativa que tenga en cuenta los objetivos y las limitaciones que se observan en las aplicaciones de las funciones de agregación dentro del contexto difuso

Adsorption and dissociation of molecular hydrogen on orthorhombic β- Mo2C and cubic δ-MoC (001) surfaces

Molybdenum carbides are increasingly used in heterogeneously catalyzed hydrogenation reactions, which imply the adsorption and dissociation of molecular hydrogen. Here a systematic density functional theory based study, including or excluding dispersion terms, concerning the interaction and stability of H2 with cubic δ-MoC(001) and orthorhombic β-Mo2C(001) surfaces is presented. In the latter case the two possible C or Mo terminations are considered. In addition, different situations for the H covered surfaces are examined. Computational results including dispersive forces predict as essentially spontaneous dissociation of H2 on β-Mo2C(001) independently of the surface termination, whereas on δ-MoC(001) molecular hydrogen dissociation implies a small but noticeable energy barrier. Furthermore, the ab initio thermodynamics formalism has been used to compare the stability of different H coverages. Finally, core level binding energies and vibrational frequencies are presented with the aim to assist the interpretation of yet unavailable data from X-ray photoelectron and infrared spectroscopies

Willingness to Be Vaccinated against COVID-19 in Spain before the Start of Vaccination: A Cross-Sectional Study

Vaccine hesitancy has increased in the past few years, influenced by the socio-cultural differences, political populism, or concerns related to the effectiveness and safety of some vaccines, resulting a feeling of distrust. This feeling can become a barrier against the achievement of the immunity necessary to stop the expansion of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to evaluate the acceptance of the vaccine against COVID-19 in Spain, as well as to identify the factors that have an influence on the concerns and attitudes of people against accepting the vaccine in the months prior to the start of vaccination on December 2020. An online questionnaire was created to obtain information about (1) sociodemographic characteristics; (2) concerns and sources of information about vaccines; and (3) attitudes about vaccination and state of health. A multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify the influencing factors. Of the 2501 participants, 1207 (48.3%) would accept the COVID-19 vaccine, 623 (24.9%) were hesitant, and 671 (26.8%) would reject it. The logistic regression showed that being male, older than 60, married, retired, with a high level of education, or with a leftist political inclination, could increase the probability of accepting the COVID-19 vaccine. Disinformation and the lack of political consensus were the main sources of distrust. The patients with hypertension, immunodepression, hypercholesterolemia, or respiratory disease, or were overweight, showed a greater acceptance to the vaccine, while those with cancer took the longest to accept it. A low acceptance of the vaccine against COVID-19 was observed among the Spanish population in the phase prior to its availability, and the main fears of the population were identified. It is necessary to offer correct and transparent information about these vaccines to reduce the concerns and increase the trust of the population, to thereby guarantee the success of the vaccination campaigns

Passive design strategies and performance of Net Energy Plus Houses

The first step in order to comply with the European Union goals of Near to Zero Energy Buildings is to reduce the energy consumption in buildings. Most of the building consumption is related to the use of active systems to maintain the interior comfort. Passive design strategies contribute to improve the interior comfort conditions, increasing the energy efficiency in buildings and reducing their energy consumption. In this work, an analysis of the passive strategies used in Net Energy Plus Houses has been made. The participating houses of the Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 competition were used as case studies. The passive design strategies of these houses were compared with the annual simulations, and the competition monitored data, especially during the Passive Monitored Period. The analysis included the thermal properties of the building envelope, geometric parameters, ratios and others passive solutions such as Thermal Energy Storage systems, evaporative cooling, night ventilation, solar gains and night sky radiation cooling. The results reflect the impact of passive design strategies on the houses' comfort and efficiency, as well as their influence in helping to achieve the Zero Energy Buildings category

Effect of the moderate and high intensity chronic exercise on plasma tumor necrosis factor alpha and Langerhans islets histology in healthy rats

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), a pro-inflammatory cytokine, negatively affects β-cell physiology and morphology, as occurs during type 1 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome. Physical exercise is a good tool to reduce the pro-inflammatory state. PURPOSE: The present study investigated the effects of moderate and high-intensity chronic exercise on plasma TNF-α levels in a basal state; it further analyzed whether these cytokine changes are associated with changes in the pancreatic Langerhans islets morphology under healthy state. METHODS: Two month-old healthy male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: control (C) (n = 7), moderate intensity training (MIT) (n = 7), and high intensity training (HIT) (n = 5). The training protocol consisted of 24 exercise sessions, which involved running in a treadmill. The training intensity was 60% of the maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) for MIT and 80% VO2max for HIT. Forty-eight hours after the last training session, plasma samples were obtained from the three groups to determine TNF-α and insulin levels with ELISA method. The duodenal pancreas was dissected to analyze the Langerhans islets. The correlation analysis among the nuclei/total islet area was carried out. RESULTS: The HIT group showed lower TNF-α plasma levels compared with the C group. Systemic insulin levels were not significantly modified in basal state by the chronic exercise intensity. In addition all the experimental groups showed a positive nuclei/islet area correlation. CONCLUSIONS: Under healthy conditions, the high intensity training reduces the plasma TNF-α level, but this effect is not associated with functionality or morphology changes of the pancreatic Langerhans islets. This study emphasizes the importance of one threshold in the exercise training to reduce the plasmatic TNF-α levels in a healthy state model

HIV/HBV coinfection: temporal trends and patient characteristics, Spain, 2002 to 2018

Background: Recent and reliable estimates on the prevalence of coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) in Europe are lacking.AimLeveraged on a study designed to assess HIV/HCV coinfection prevalence, we assessed the prevalence of HIV/HBV coinfection in Spain in 2018 and compared the results with five similar studies performed since 2002. Methods: This cross-sectional prevalence study was carried out in 43 centres, and patients were selected using simple random sampling. The reference population comprised 40,322 patients and the sample size were 1,690 patients.ResultsThe prevalence of HIV/HBV coinfection in Spain at the end of 2018 was 3.2%. The prevalence in 2002, 2009, 2015, 2016 and 2017 was 4.9%, 3.4%, 3%, 3.9% and 3%, respectively. Among the HIV/HBV-coinfected patients identified in 2018, 16.7% had cirrhosis according to transient elastography and 26.3% tested positive for antibodies against hepatitis D virus. All HIV/HBV-coinfected patients were receiving drugs with activity against HBV, and 97% of those tested for HBV DNA had an HBV DNA load < 80 IU/mL. Conclusions: The prevalence of HIV/HBV coinfection in Spain remained stable at around 3% for a decade. Our data could facilitate the design of national programmes to control HBV infection and help identify areas of patient management that need improvement.This study was supported by the Spanish AIDS Research Network (RD16/0025/0017, RD16/0025/0018), which is included in the Spanish R&D&I Plan and is co-funded by ISCIII-Subdirección General de Evaluación and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).S

Miradas contemporáneas de los pueblos originarios en México

Este libro resume una amplia discusión sobre el papel que tienen los grupos originarios en México y la condición de las etnias a lo largo del territorio nacional. Desde hace cientos de años los pueblos indígenas y afrodescendientes han sido excluidos del desarrollo central de México, y en mayor o menor medida, estos grupos han ocupado un lugar residual en las políticas públicas de los diferentes gobiernos, y sufrido de manera regular la discriminación por parte del resto de la población.CEDIPIEM, UAEMéx, BUAP, Center for Earth Ethic

El patrimonio paleontológico a partir de la experiencia de “Caminando sobre gliptodontes y tigres dientes de sable”: un proyecto de extensión universitaria en la Argentina

“Caminando sobre gliptodontes y tigres dientes de sable” es un colectivo universitario de Argentina -provincia de Buenos Aires- que reúne estudiantes y graduados de biología, paleontología, antropología, geología, informática y artes plásticas. Nuestra actividad gira en torno al patrimonio paleontológico como eje transversal a las Ciencias Naturales. Así, elaboramos material didáctico, dictamos capacitaciones docentes y talleres abiertos a la comunidad, donde reflexionamos sobre qué es el patrimonio fósil, la legislación vigente, por qué deberíamos conservarlo y cuáles son las instituciones y los actores involucrados. El primer diagnóstico que emerge es que la comunidad no considera a los fósiles como objetos patrimoniales, les otorga poca importancia o los utiliza de manera ornamental y/o de colección, desconociendo además la legislación vigente. En este panorama, nuestro trabajo pretende otorgar valor patrimonial a los objetos (incluidos los fósiles) como formadores de identidad. Así, el hecho de compartir un mismo suelo nos brinda la oportunidad de encontrar allí elementos que dan cuenta de lo que ocurrió en el pasado en esa región. El descubrimiento de un fósil debe propiciar la interacción y el trabajo conjunto entre los distintos actores de una sociedad (investigadores, organismos gubernamentales, personal de museos y la comunidad local). De esta manera, los restos fósiles cobran valor patrimonial, al ser redescubiertos y compartidos con la comunidad.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Extragalactic Magnetism with SOFIA (SALSA Legacy Program). VII. A tomographic view of far infrared and radio polarimetric observations through MHD simulations of galaxies

The structure of magnetic fields in galaxies remains poorly constrained, despite the importance of magnetism in the evolution of galaxies. Radio synchrotron and far-infrared dust polarization (FIR) polarimetric observations are the best methods to measure galactic scale properties of magnetic fields in galaxies beyond the Milky Way. We use synthetic polarimetric observations of a simulated galaxy to identify and quantify the regions, scales, and interstellar medium (ISM) phases probed at FIR and radio wavelengths. Our studied suite of magnetohydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in simulations features high-resolutions (10 pc full-cell size) and multiple magnetization models. Our synthetic observations have a striking resemblance to those of observed galaxies. We find that the total and polarized radio emission extends to approximately double the altitude above the galactic disk (half-intensity disk thickness of $h_\text{I radio} \sim h_\text{PI radio} = 0.23 \pm 0.03$ kpc) relative to the FIR total and polarized emission that are concentrated in the disk midplane ($h_\text{I FIR} \sim h_\text{PI FIR} = 0.11 \pm 0.01$ kpc). Radio emission traces magnetic fields at scales of $\gtrsim 300$ pc, whereas FIR emission probes magnetic fields at the smallest scales of our simulations. These scales are comparable to our spatial resolution and well below the spatial resolution ($<300$ pc) of existing FIR polarimetric measurements. Finally, we confirm that synchrotron emission traces a combination of the warm neutral and cold neutral gas phases, whereas FIR emission follows the densest gas in the cold neutral phase in the simulation. These results are independent of the ISM magnetic field strength. The complementarity we measure between radio and FIR wavelengths motivates future multiwavelength polarimetric observations to advance our knowledge of extragalactic magnetism.Comment: Submitted to ApJ. 32 pages, 15 figure