Cross-layer modeling and optimization of next-generation internet networks

Scaling traditional telecommunication networks so that they are able to cope with the volume of future traffic demands and the stringent European Commission (EC) regulations on emissions would entail unaffordable investments. For this very reason, the design of an innovative ultra-high bandwidth power-efficient network architecture is nowadays a bold topic within the research community. So far, the independent evolution of network layers has resulted in isolated, and hence, far-from-optimal contributions, which have eventually led to the issues today's networks are facing such as inefficient energy strategy, limited network scalability and flexibility, reduced network manageability and increased overall network and customer services costs. Consequently, there is currently large consensus among network operators and the research community that cross-layer interaction and coordination is fundamental for the proper architectural design of next-generation Internet networks. This thesis actively contributes to the this goal by addressing the modeling, optimization and performance analysis of a set of potential technologies to be deployed in future cross-layer network architectures. By applying a transversal design approach (i.e., joint consideration of several network layers), we aim for achieving the maximization of the integration of the different network layers involved in each specific problem. To this end, Part I provides a comprehensive evaluation of optical transport networks (OTNs) based on layer 2 (L2) sub-wavelength switching (SWS) technologies, also taking into consideration the impact of physical layer impairments (PLIs) (L0 phenomena). Indeed, the recent and relevant advances in optical technologies have dramatically increased the impact that PLIs have on the optical signal quality, particularly in the context of SWS networks. Then, in Part II of the thesis, we present a set of case studies where it is shown that the application of operations research (OR) methodologies in the desing/planning stage of future cross-layer Internet network architectures leads to the successful joint optimization of key network performance indicators (KPIs) such as cost (i.e., CAPEX/OPEX), resources usage and energy consumption. OR can definitely play an important role by allowing network designers/architects to obtain good near-optimal solutions to real-sized problems within practical running times

Improved Preparative Chemical Methodologies to Address Challenging Targets: Synthetic, Semi-synthetic and Multicomponent Approaches

[eng] In the context of facilitated methodologies for the obtention of bioactive compounds, in this thesis we have explored the possibility of introducing reliable, pot-economic and semi-synthetic approaches in the quest of addressing underexplored biological targets. The anionic channel Volume-regulated Anion Channel (VRAC) has been studied regarding its contribution in stroke damage in the brain. We have designed and synthesized novel blocker compounds, following both semi-synthetic and multi-step synthetic routes. Taking into account the unknown molecular identity of the VRAC itself, we have considered appropriate to employ biological and chemical approximations to address the challenging identification of the binding mode of our compounds with the pore of the channel. Regarding multicomponent reactions (MCRs) as a pot-economic approach that facilitates chemical exploration and rapid preparation of bioactive small-molecules, we have studied the incorporation of commercially available drugs in MCRs to yield drug-derivatives with improved properties. Moreover, we have explored novel and extended reactivities of indole inputs beyond MCRs, thus obtaining complex heterocyclic systems. The small-molecules and complex polyheteroaromatic systems obtained have been studied as Dihydrofolate Reductase (DHFR) inhibitors and Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) ligands, respectively. Finally, we have reviewed recent publications regarding MCRs incorporating heterocycles as components and have presented the current state of the topic. Overall, the discovery and deeper understanding of the nature of specific reactivities affording novel bioactive molecules will advance the general knowledge about biological processes and may lead to new strategies to treat diseases.[spa] En el contexto de metodologías que facilitan la obtención de compuestos bioactivos, en esta tesis hemos explorado la posibilidad de introducir aproximaciones fiables, pot-económicas y semi-sintéticas a la hora de abordar targets biológicos poco explorados. El canal aniónico Volume-regulated Anion Channel (VRAC) ha sido estudiado debido a su contribución en el daño por accidente cerebrovascular. Hemos diseñado y sintetizado nuevos compuestos bloqueadores, siguiendo rutas tanto semisintéticas como multietapa. Teniendo en cuenta la identidad molecular desconocida del propio VRAC, hemos considerado apropiado emplear aproximaciones biológicas y químicas para abordar la difícil identificación del modo de unión de nuestros compuestos con el poro del canal. Teniendo en cuenta que las reacciones multicomponente (MCRs) son una aproximación económica que facilita la exploración química y la preparación rápida de pequeñas moléculas bioactivas, hemos estudiado la incorporación de fármacos disponibles en el mercado en MCRs para obtener sus derivados con propiedades mejoradas. Además, hemos explorado reactividades novedosas y extendidas de los indoles más allá de las MCRs, obteniendo así sistemas heterocíclicos complejos. Las pequeñas moléculas y los sistemas poliheteroaromáticos complejos obtenidos se han estudiado como inhibidores de la dihidrofolato reductasa (DHFR) y como ligandos del receptor de hidrocarburos de arilo (AhR), respectivamente. Por último, hemos revisado las publicaciones recientes relativas a las MCR que incorporan heterociclos como uno de sus componentes y hemos presentado su estado actual. Finalmente, consideramos que para que el conocimiento general sobre procesos biológicos avance, tanto el descubrimiento como la comprensión de reactividades específicas que dan lugar a nuevas moléculas bioactivas son fundamentales. De esta manera, podremos recurrir a diferentes estrategias a la hora de estudiar y tratar enfermedades

La Denominació d'origen Terra Alta i el Terra Alta Garnatxa Blanca

El Terra Alta Garnatxa Blanca dóna nom a un distintiu de garantia creat pel Consell Regulador DO Terra Alta amb el propòsit de projectar en un vi els valors naturals i humans més remarcables de la denominació d'origen vinícola més meridional de Catalunya. Aquests valors són la mediterraneïtat i una cultura que aposta, majoritàriament, per les varietats tradicionals, amb certa especificitat per la producció de vins blancs.Terra Alta Garnacha Blanca da nombre a un distintivo de garantía creado por el Consejo Regulador DO Terra Alta con el propósito de proyectar en un vino los valores naturales y humanos más remarcables de la denominación de origen vinícola más meridional de Cataluña. Estos valores son la mediterraneidad y una cultura que apuesta, mayoritariamente, por las variedades tradicionales, con cierta especificidad para la producción de vinos blancos

L'escriptura medieval i els missatges SMS: dues realitats no tant llunyanes

En aquest article es presenten els resultats d'un estudi realitzat pels seus autors en el que s'analitza la similitud de les abreviatures usades en l'escriptura de missatges SMS via dispositius mòbils i les abreviatures més comuns usades a l'escriptura de l'edat mitja. Aquest estudi es realitza definint una categoria d'abreviatures de referència i la posterior anàlisi en els dos tipus d'escriptur

Simulation model comparing the hydroperiod of temporary ponds with different shapes

A model of the water dynamics for shallow, small and temporary Mediterranean ponds has been developed taking into account the annual patterns of rainfall and potential evaporation, pond parameters (pond area, depth and shape) and watershed parameters (watershed area and saturated water content of the soil). This model predicts the amount of water retained in the pond in real time and therefore, when a pond is going to dry out. It is then possible to calculate how much water will remain in the pond after raining or the number of days per year that the pond is going to be dry. Analyses have been performed for different shapes of ponds and sensitivity of the state variables, at different values for the parameters. The most interesting result of our simulations is that the amount of water in the pond (as % of the total) strongly depends on pond shape and maximum depth and saturated water content of the watershed. Watershed area of the pond will only be important for low intensity rain regimes and for soils with very low saturated water content. Also, the number of days without water (per year) depends on shape and maximum pond depth. Deeper ponds will dry at a slower rate (and therefore have more days with water a year and consequently shorter drought periods) than shallower ones, independently of their area or the total amount of water. A conical pond should have more days with water for the same amount of rain, unless the pond does get totally full in each rainfall episode. Around the Mediterranean Basin, most temporary ponds have a certain degree of arti ciality (because of agriculture or farms). Thus, this model could help in controlling the hydroperiod by conveniently modifying shapes and depth of ponds to manage and preserve different species or biotic communities. The simulation model used is freely available from the authors or in: http://personales.upv.es/∼algarsal/temporary ponds.zip. Modelo de simulación para comparar el hidroperiodo de las charcas temporales según su forma Se ha desarrollado un modelo de dinámica de aguas para charcas pequeñas, someras y temporales teniendo en cuenta los patrones anuales de lluvia y evaporación potencial, parámetros de la charca (área de la charca, profundidad y forma) y parámetros de la cuenca de captación (área de la cuenca y contenido de agua del suelo a saturación). Este modelo predice la cantidad de agua dentro de la charca en tiempo real y consecuentemente cuándo ésta va a secarse. Es entonces posible calcular cuanta agua permanecerá en la charca después de una lluvia o el número de días por año que la charca va a estar seca. Se han llevado a cabo diversos análisis para diferentes formas de charcas así como para comprobar la sensitividad de las variables de estado a diferentes parámetros. Lo más interesante de nuestras simulaciones es que la cantidad de agua dentro de la charca (como % del total) depende estrechamente de la forma de la charca y la profundidad máxima así como del contenido de captación de saturación de agua en su cuenca de captación. El área de la cuenca de captación de la charca solo será importante para regímenes de lluvia de baja intensidad y para suelos que saturan rápidamente (con muy bajo contenido de agua a saturación). También el número de días sin agua (por año) depende de la forma y de la profundidad máxima de la charca. Las charcas profundas se secarán lentamente (y consecuentemente estarán con agua más días al año y por tanto periodos más cortos de sequía) que las someras, independientemente de su área o de la cantidad total de agua. Una charca cónica deberá entonces tener más días con agua para las mismas precipitaciones a menos que la charca se llene totalmente en cada episodio lluvioso. Alrededor de la Cuenca Mediterránea, la inmensa mayoría de charcas temporales tienen un cierto grado de artificialidad (debido a la agricultura y ganadería). Así, este modelo podría ayudar a controlar el hidroperiodo a conveniencia modificando la forma y profundidad de las charcas para manejar y preservar las diferentes especies o comunidades bióticas. El modelo de simulación utilizado es posible adquirirlo gratis de los autores o en: http://personales.upv.es/∼algarsal/temporary ponds.zip

Gestió dels cadàvers d'animals de companyia

Treball presentat a l'assignatura de Deontologia i Veterinària Legal (21223

Applicazioni della valenza riflessiva dello European Language Portfolio

Nell’anno accademico 2004-05 il Centro Linguistico dell’Università di Trieste ha avviato un esperimento sul Portfolio Europeo delle Lingue utilizzando la traduzione italiana AICLU della versione del CercleS per studenti universitari. In quest’articolo verranno illustrati alcuni presupposti teorici dell’autovalutazione e della riflessione, le fasi iniziali dell’esperimento svolto con un gruppo di studenti della Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione, e infine, i problemi traduttivi incontrati nella trasposizione del European Language Portfolio (ELP) dall’inglese all’italiano

Missing Links Between Disjunct Populations of Androcymbium (Colchicaceae) in Africa Using Chloroplast DNA Noncoding Sequences

With the objective of clarifying some aspects of the biogeography, phylogeny, and taxonomy of the genus Androcymbium, we sequenced three chloroplastic DNA noncoding regions (trnL intron, trnL-trnF IGS, and trnY-trnD IGS). These data were analyzed with maximum parsimony and the ancestral areas methods following Bremer. Results show that Androcymbium is not monophyletic and that the origin of its distribution and speciation is situated in western South Africa. Later, it dispersed to North Africa, going first to eastern South Africa. Androcymbium austrocapense and A. roseum allow us to phylogenetically connect the species of western with eastern South Africa, and the southern species with the northern, respectively. The formation of an arid track in Africa at the end of the Miocene explains the colonization of Androcymbium in the Mediterranean basin. Androcymbium wyssianum is a key element in understanding colonization of the Canary Islands. The biogeographical pattern of distribution of Androcymbium fits with many other genera with similar disjunct distributions. This indicates the importance of the Miocene arid track in understanding the floristic connections between northern and southern Africa. Because of the close relationships of Bulbocodium, Colchicum, and Merendera, with Androcymbium inferred from the chloroplast data, restructuring the taxonomy and nomenclature of the tribe Colchiceae may be required

Evolutionary Trends in the Mitochondrial Genome of Archaeplastida: How Does the GC Bias Affect the Transition from Water to Land?

[EN] Among the most intriguing mysteries in the evolutionary biology of photosynthetic organisms are the genesis and consequences of the dramatic increase in the mitochondrial and nuclear genome sizes, together with the concomitant evolution of the three genetic compartments, particularly during the transition from water to land. To clarify the evolutionary trends in the mitochondrial genome of Archaeplastida, we analyzed the sequences from 37 complete genomes. Therefore, we utilized mitochondrial, plastidial and nuclear ribosomal DNA molecular markers on 100 species of Streptophyta for each subunit. Hierarchical models of sequence evolution were fitted to test the heterogeneity in the base composition. The best resulting phylogenies were used for reconstructing the ancestral Guanine-Cytosine (GC) content and equilibrium GC frequency (GC*) using non-homogeneous and non-stationary models fitted with a maximum likelihood approach. The mitochondrial genome length was strongly related to repetitive sequences across Archaeplastida evolution; however, the length seemed not to be linked to the other studied variables, as different lineages showed diverse evolutionary patterns. In contrast, Streptophyta exhibited a powerful positive relationship between the GC content, non-coding DNA, and repetitive sequences, while the evolution of Chlorophyta reflected a strong positive linear relationship between the genome length and the number of genes.This research was funded by the European Commission (Environment - LIFE Programme) project for the Comunidad Valenciana (Spain), LIFE05 NAT/E/000060.Pedrola-Monfort, J.; Lázaro-Gimeno, D.; Boluda, CG.; Pedrola, L.; Garmendia, A.; Soler, C.; Soriano, JM. (2020). Evolutionary Trends in the Mitochondrial Genome of Archaeplastida: How Does the GC Bias Affect the Transition from Water to Land?. Plants. 9(3):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9030358S1159