A GPU-based Evolution Strategy for Optic Disk Detection in Retinal Images

La ejecución paralela de aplicaciones usando unidades de procesamiento gráfico (gpu) ha ganado gran interés en la comunidad académica en los años recientes. La computación paralela puede ser aplicada a las estrategias evolutivas para procesar individuos dentro de una población, sin embargo, las estrategias evolutivas se caracterizan por un significativo consumo de recursos computacionales al resolver problemas de gran tamaño o aquellos que se modelan mediante funciones de aptitud complejas. Este artículo describe la implementación de una estrategia evolutiva para la detección del disco óptico en imágenes de retina usando Compute Unified Device Architecture (cuda). Los resultados experimentales muestran que el tiempo de ejecución para la detección del disco óptico logra una aceleración de 5 a 7 veces, comparado con la ejecución secuencial en una cpu convencional.Parallel processing using graphic processing units (GPUs) has attracted much research interest in recent years. Parallel computation can be applied to evolution strategy (ES) for processing individuals in a population, but evolutionary strategies are time consuming to solve large computational problems or complex fitness functions. In this paper we describe the implementation of an improved ES for optic disk detection in retinal images using the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) environment. In the experimental results we show that the computational time for optic disk detection task has a speedup factor of 5x and 7x compared to an implementation on a mainstream CPU

La Academia de los Desconfiados

---

Sombreros y zapatos para desarrollar el pensamiento lateral

Esta conferencia tiene el propósito de que los participantes vivan una breve experiencia que ilustre, mediante algunas situaciones geométricas, cómo constantemente, cuando nos encontramos con caminos sin salida, el pensamiento lógico (llamado también vertical o convencional) no es suficiente para salir del atasco, quedando limitados. Al dar pequeñas muestras de cómo abordar las situaciones, pretendemos que cada quien contemple la existencia de otra vertiente del pensamiento para resolver problemas que parecen no tener solución. Entonces se podrá establecer la pertinencia educativa que tiene la consideración de formas para pensar y para actuar que desarrollan el pensamiento lateral, cuyo estudio inicial se debe al doctor Edward de Bono

Educación [hetero]sexual, subjetivación y la materialización de los cuerpos

Este trabajo toma como punto de partida un concepto clave tanto para la racionalidad occidental como para el pensamiento feminista: el cuerpo. Delimitado como un elemento fijo, biológico y natural a la vez que subordinado a la “mente” dentro de una dicotomía reduccionista, el cuerpo ha operado como condición de posibilidad para la construcción de distintos dominios epistémicos. Por un lado, las formas dominantes de producción de la “verdad” han impuesto un sujeto de conocimiento que para ser tal debía ser un sujeto descorporizado. Por el otro lado, una parte del pensamiento feminista no ha escapado a los fundamentos de la dicotomía entre lo corporal y lo mental. Ya se ha señalado que los feminismos tanto “esencialistas”, “igualitaristas” como “constructivistas” han operado sobre el basamento incuestionado de la distinción discreta entre el cuerpo y la mente (cf. Fernández, 2003; Grosz, 1994; Preciado, 2002:126; Spelman, 1982), dando por sentado rápida y acríticamente el carácter natural, dado e inmutable del cuerpo frente a la maleabilidad e historicidad de lo mental –o bien, análogamente, lo ideológico o lo social.Eje temático 5: SexualidadesFacultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Concentration of land control and land grabbing in Colombia : dynamics of conflict and development : the case of Baldíos in Altillanura

This master thesis addresses the concentration of land ownership and land use in Colombia. I focus especially on unallocated state lands, which are called Baldíos. The study on the usage of these lands is important for many reasons, one being the lack of critical studies on their grabbing by elites. Officially, Baldíos should be used in land redistribution programs for landless peasants and other rural poor populations. This should take through an administrative process wherein the State issues property titles to landless peasants; however, as the research done for this thesis uncovered, there are serious problems and wrongdoings in this process. Theoretically, the thesis criticizes the overall development model that is seen as explaining the problematic land grabbing of the Baldíos in the studied Colombian Altillanura region. The crippling effects of the 50 years of armed conflict and the increasing demand for agrofuels receive also critical analysis, given their centrality as processes that are intermeshed with the overall, problematic developmental process. The outcomes of this master thesis are derived from fieldwork conducted in Colombia during July, 2017. The research material consists of 1) various interviews with representatives of land administrative offices, 2) a database that I collected on the extension of different types of cash crops, allocation of property rights, distribution of Baldíos, and numbers on forced displacement. This database was systematically analyzed using various methods and statistical software programs. I also produced a cartography that geographically opens up the key relations between the variables. Thereafter, qualitative, quantitative and geographical methods support the findings of this research. The key analytical concepts used are primitive accumulation, accumulation by dispossession and social capital. I explain how the use of these concepts is fruitful for critical understanding a so-called ‘modern’ dynamics that result however in violent scenarios of land grabbing and sophisticated but predatory practices, such as legal trickery, creation of shell companies and the illegitimate use of public resources. Through these analytical concepts, I relate my findings with important, contemporary global dynamics, such as the promotion of agroindustries in places formerly dominated by family farming. Such projects require considerable investment and use of natural resources. As I show, this may imply the acquisition of land or its control through mechanisms other than ownership. The findings suggest that the processes of expanding cash crops, forced displacement and grabbing Baldíos are interrelated. This holds true especially in the Altillanura region, where I found that: 1. Large investors are prone to take advantage of forced displacement by purchasing the dispossessed lands at low prices and thereby making large profits. 2. Agroindustrial actors have been grabbing former Baldíos; a practice that is completely prohibited. This is made possible by using complex extra-legal mechanisms, such as the creation of various fictional juridical identities to purchase these lands. And finally, that 3. Social influence and status are still valuable assets for accessing lands in Colombia, also illegally. The conclusions explain how these circumstances are due to pervasive armed confrontation and pressures from international markets. These are developmental problems resulting from a model that sees small farmers as an inconvenient and incapable mass of people that uses obsolescent and ineffective methods of agriculture. Currently, agroindustries turn these peasants’ social status and possibilities to that of mere salaried workers. This is unfortunate, as I explain, since small-scale agriculture can be profitable, and should be given more priority in the developmental policies allocating state lands

How are transfer prices and royalty payments used for tax avoidance?

This paper analyses how multinational enterprises (MNEs) use transfer pricing methods and royalty payments for tax avoidance. A description of the transfer pricing methods is given to respond to the research aim, evaluating its application in the manufacturing industry and analysing its potential applicability in the internet business to finally assess potential alternative rules. Due to the outdated tax codes created for traditional manufacturing industries, the actual framework requires evolution to digital economy aspects. Globalisation gives to MNEs the tools to shift profits within its subsidiaries between jurisdictions to those with the lower tax rates to take advantage and maximise after-tax profits. Despite the OECD actions to fight against base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), individual countries are taxing MNEs in a different way addressing mainly the digital economy challenges (no physical presence and reliance on intangibles, among others). The European Union is, in percentage, the main looser due to tax avoidance payments. Although, the developing countries sacrifice by this practice a larger share of its revenue. Alternative rules on the short and long run appear as a country response and multilateral response, respectively

Cattle marks similarity measure by shape distributions

This paper reports the investigation results addressed to design of a di­gital image processing method for automate the registration and control process of livestock marks according to Colombian regulations livestock sector. It allows automate the process of search and comparison required for livestock mark uniqueness assurance on a computer assisted system. First, a histogram is generated based on statistical distribution of geome­trical information, which permit to detect similarities between registered marks by means Minkowski-based metric. The results show that the method allows discriminating between images using a digital signature from a Shape Distribution the geometric structure reducing ambiguity and ensuring the uniqueness of registered marks. We show the results and make an analysis of system application.Este documento reporta los resultados de una investigación orientada hacia el diseño de un método de tratamiento de imágenes digitales para la automatización de los procesos de registro y control de marcas de ga­nado requeridas por las regulaciones del sector ganadero en Colombia. El método permite automatizar los procesos de búsqueda y de comparación necesarios para garantizar la unicidad de las marcas dentro de un sistema asistido por computadora. Se inicia con la generación de un histograma estimado de la geometría de la marca, lo que permite comparar y detec­tar similitudes entre las figuras previamente almacenadas, mediante una métrica de similitud basada en la distancia de Minkowski. Los resultados obtenidos indican que el método es adecuado para realizar un proceso de discriminación de dichas imágenes, reducir las ambigüedades y garantizar la unicidad de los registros. Los resultados obtenidos y un análisis de su aplicación son reportados