An AER handshake-less modular infrastructure PCB with x8 2.5Gbps LVDS serial links

Nowadays spike-based brain processing emulation is taking off. Several EU and others worldwide projects are demonstrating this, like SpiNNaker, BrainScaleS, FACETS, or NeuroGrid. The larger the brain process emulation on silicon is, the higher the communication performance of the hosting platforms has to be. Many times the bottleneck of these system implementations is not on the performance inside a chip or a board, but in the communication between boards. This paper describes a novel modular Address-Event-Representation (AER) FPGA-based (Spartan6) infrastructure PCB (the AER-Node board) with 2.5Gbps LVDS high speed serial links over SATA cables that offers a peak performance of 32-bit 62.5Meps (Mega events per second) on board-to-board communications. The board allows back compatibility with parallel AER devices supporting up to x2 28-bit parallel data with asynchronous handshake. These boards also allow modular expansion functionality through several daughter boards. The paper is focused on describing in detail the LVDS serial interface and presenting its performance.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TEC2009-10639-C04-02/01Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2012-37868-C04-02/01Junta de Andalucía TIC-6091Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad PRI-PIMCHI-2011-076

Centennial-scale vegetation and North Atlantic Oscillation changes during the Late Holocene in the southern Iberia

High-reso CE to lution pollen analysis, charcoal, non-pollen palynomorphs and magnetic susceptibility have been analyzed in the sediment record of a peat bog in Sierra Nevada in southern Iberia. The study of these proxies provided the reconstruction of vegetation, climate, fire and human activity of the last ∼4500 cal yr BP. A progressive trend towards aridification during the late Holocene is observed in this record. This trend is interrupted by millennial- and centennial-scale variability of relatively more humid and arid periods. Arid conditions are recorded between ∼4000 and 3100 cal yr BP, being characterized by a decline in arboreal pollen and with a spike in magnetic susceptibility. This is followed by a relatively humid period from ∼3100 to 1600 cal yr BP, coinciding partially with the Iberian-Roman Humid Period, and is indicated by the increase of Pinus and the decrease in xerophytic taxa. The last 1500 cal yr BP are characterized by several centennial-scale climatic oscillations. Generally arid conditions from ∼450 to 1300 CE, depicted by a decrease in Pinus and an increase in Artemisia, comprise the Dark Ages and the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Since ∼ 1300 to 1850 CE pronounced oscillations occur between relatively humid and arid conditions. Four periods depicted by relatively higher Pinus coinciding with the beginning and end of the Little Ice Age are interrupted by three arid events characterized by an increase in Artemisia. These alternating arid and humid shifts could be explained by centennial-scale changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation and solar activity

Physical activity trends in spanish adolescents

Este estudio se propone conocer la evolución de la práctica de actividad física moderada-vigorosa y examinar si la tendencia se mantiene en función de factores sociodemográficos, como el sexo y la edad, así como de factores socioeconómicos y su influencia según la comunidad autónoma. La muestra está compuesta de adolescentes españoles de 11 a 18 años de las ediciones 2002 y 2006 del estudio Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC). Los principales resultados muestran que, a pesar de un cierto aumento en el nivel de actividad física en los cuatro años que distan entre ambas ediciones (especialmente en los adolescentes más pequeños), estos niveles se encuentran todavía lejos de las recomendaciones. Asimismo, los datos señalan como necesidades más urgentes promover un estilo de vida activo en los adolescentes de 13 años en adelante (especialmente en las chicas) y en los adolescentes de niveles socioeconómicos más bajos de determinadas comunidades autónomasThis study tries to find out the tendency of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and to assess whether the trends are maintained with regard to socio-demographic factors such as sex and age, and also socio-economic factors and how they vary depending on the region. The sample comprises Spanish adolescents aged between 11 and 18 years, from the 2002 and 2006 surveys of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. The main results reveal that, despite a certain increase in physical activity level in the four years span between both surveys (particularly in younger adolescents), these levels are still a long way from the recommendations. Likewise, data highlight, as immediate needs, the promotion of an active lifestyle among adolescents from 13 years onwards (particularly among the girls) and also among adolescents of lower socio-economic status in some regionsEsta investigación ha sido realizada gracias a los sucesivos convenios de colaboración firmados entre el Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo y la Universidad de Sevilla para la ejecución del estudio HBSC (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children) en Españ

Short-term microbial response after laboratory heating and ground mulching adition

Fire alters soil organic matter inducing quantitative and qualitative changes that presumably will affect post-fire soil microbial recolonisation. Several studies have evidenced marked soil organic carbon reduction after moderate and high intensity fire, which limit the total recovery of microbial biomass during years. In order to evaluate the role of soil organic matter alteration in short-term microbial colonization process, we perform a preliminary experiment where unaltered soil from Sierra Nevada Natural Park was heated at 300 ºC during 20 minutes in a muffle furnace (H300) to simulate a medium-high intensity fire. After heating, soil samples were inoculated with unaltered fresh soil, rewetted at 55-65% of water holding capacity and incubated during 3 weeks. At the same time, unheated soil samples were incubated under the same conditions as control (UH). In addition, trying to partially alleviate soil organic matter fire-induced alterations effects on microbial colonization, we include an organic amendment treatment (M+). So, part of heated and unheated samples were amended with a mix of ground alfalfa:straw (1:1) and soil microbial abundance and activity were monitored together with soil organic matter changes. Heating process reduces total organic carbon content. After one week of incubation carbon content in heated samples was lower than the control one, in both, amended and un-amended samples. Microbial biomass and respiration were negatively affected by heating. Ground mulching addition increase microbial biomass and respiration but was not enough to reach control values during the whole study. Nevertheless, viable and cultivable fungi and bacteria showed different pattern. After two weeks of incubation both, fungi and bacteria were higher in heated samples. Ground mulching addition appears to stimulate fungal response in both, heated and unheated samples. Preliminary results of this experiment evidence the transcendence of soil organic matter fire-induced changes on microbial colonization process and the importance to determine several microbial parameters to obtain a more faithful conclusion about microbial response. The organic amendment appears to alleviate partially heated-induced damage, highlighting the positive stimulation on fungal abundance in both, heated and unheated samples.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2013-47862-C2-1- RMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2012-38655-C04-0

AHP-group decision making based on consistency

The Precise consistency consensus matrix (PCCM) is a consensus matrix for AHP-group decision making in which the value of each entry belongs, simultaneously, to all the individual consistency stability intervals. This new consensus matrix has shown significantly better behaviour with regards to consistency than other group consensus matrices, but it is slightly worse in terms of compatibility, understood as the discrepancy between the individual positions and the collective position that synthesises them. This paper includes an iterative algorithm for improving the compatibility of the PCCM. The sequence followed to modify the judgments of the PCCM is given by the entries that most contribute to the overall compatibility of the group. The procedure is illustrated by means of its application to a real-life situation (a local context) with three decision makers and four alternatives. The paper also offers, for the first time in the scientific literature, a detailed explanation of the process followed to solve the optimisation problem proposed for the consideration of different weights for the decision makers in the calculation of the PCCM

Modelling the problem of parcel distribution in urban environments and analysis of the determining factors

This research has the objective to develop a model for the location selection of Automated Parcel Delivery Terminals to optimize the overall service, increasing satisfaction and consumption of users and reducing costs. A combination of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology with a geographic information system (GIS) has been applied to identify the influencing factors and perform the analysis of the alternatives. A case study focused on the city of Zaragoza, and specifically to a Spanish postal parcel delivery company, has been carried out to assess the model behavior. For this, a representative sampling of the postal districts and sections of Zaragoza has been performed, identifying the characteristics of the study areas. Next, sections and all possible locations have been identified and selected for study. Finally, the AHP methodology has been applied for the prioritization of alternatives. Results have shown that the operative criterion, accessibility (both pedestrian and with vehicle), time availability and safety are the most important elements to focus on, for solving the location selection problem. In addition, the use of GIS allows analyzing diverse urban areas in an agile and effective way

Population dynamics and adaptive strategies of Martiodrilus carimaguensis (Oligochaeta, Glossoscolecidae), a native species from the well-drained savannas of Colombia

23 páginas, 5 figuras, 2 tablas.Martiodrilus carimaguensis (Oligochaeta, Glossoscolecidae) is a large, anecic native earthworm species which was found in natural and disturbed savannas in the Oxisols of the Colombian Llanos. Its population dynamics were studied in a native savanna, and in a 17 years old grazed grass-legume pasture where density and biomass were higher. Monthly cast deposition on the soil surface in the improved pasture was 38.4×103 fresh casts ha−1, eleven times more than in the native savanna. A strong relationship was found between numbers of M. carimaguensis and numbers of fresh surface casts. Different patterns of adaptation to the dry season were observed for adults and juveniles. Adults are active for eight months whereas juveniles enter diapause 3–4 months earlier. The vertical distribution pattern of the earthworm population also shows marked seasonal changes.This work is funded by a research grant from the Macrofauna project (STD3 EC Program) for which we are greatly indebted. We also wish to thank CIAT (International Center for Tropical Agriculture), especially the Tropical Lowlands Program for human and technical support, and for scientific discussions on this study. Our deepest gratitude is expressed to all the people at Carimagua station, and especially to field workers, for their invaluable help.Peer reviewe