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"RUIZ, JORGE"
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Job-Boj
\"Written in alternating voices, Jorge Guzman's JOB BOJ is a captivating novel that explores the progression from melancholy to happiness, or vice versa. The delicate interplay between a light-hearted narrator and a brooding, introspective one draws the reader in to question identity. Are they the same man? Two different periods from the same life? Or are they two separate people? The reader is left to judge. While the novel is a superb masterclass in structure and innovation, JOB BOJ is a \"rich and absorbing entertainment.\") -- Provided by publisher.
Book
Full court pressure
\"Zack's new teammates won't pass to him, and he's being guarded by his former friend, Joey Jacobs, who's the fastest player in the league. Joey wants to make Zack look bad, and he has the skills to do it. Without a doubt, Zack will be facing full court pressure.\"--Page 4 of cover.
Book
Learning time : in pursuit of educational equity
In this book, the authors focus on how learning time--including the nature, quality, and quantity of that time--differs dramatically for affluent children and poor children and also explore a range of ways to improve the quality and quantity of learning time for children in poverty-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Antioxidant, antihypertensive, anti-hyperglycemic, and antimicrobial activity of aqueous extracts from twelve native plants of the Yucatan coast
Looking for a biotechnical potential, aqueous extracts of leaves of 12 native species used in the Mayan traditional medicine of the coastal dune and mangrove of Yucatan (Mexico) were selected to evaluate their biological activities. Rhizophora mangle and Manilkara zapota showed the highest free radical scavenging activity (3.94 ± 0.19 and 6.42 ± 0.32 μg/mL, respectively), and the highest antihypertensive activity was obtained from Solanum donianum (0.38 μg/mL). The anti-hyperglycemic activity of these species was also tested; the highest activities were registered with R. mangle. The antimicrobial activity of Malvaviscus arboreus, S. donianum, M. zapota, and R. mangle at 10% (w/v) was positive against six human pathogenic bacteria and Bonellia macrocarpa against one pathogenic fungus. Solanum donianum, M. zapota, B. macrocarpa, and R. mangle were positive against two pathogenic plant fungi. These results show that the aqueous extracts of five native plants of the Yucatan coast have potential as antioxidants, ACE inhibitors, α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitors, and as antimicrobials, which make their exploration for utilization in the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries a possibility.
Journal Article
Complex behavior from intrinsic motivation to occupy future action-state path space
Most theories of behavior posit that agents tend to maximize some form of reward or utility. However, animals very often move with curiosity and seem to be motivated in a reward-free manner. Here we abandon the idea of reward maximization and propose that the goal of behavior is maximizing occupancy of future paths of actions and states. According to this maximum occupancy principle, rewards are the means to occupy path space, not the goal per se; goal-directedness simply emerges as rational ways of searching for resources so that movement, understood amply, never ends. We find that action-state path entropy is the only measure consistent with additivity and other intuitive properties of expected future action-state path occupancy. We provide analytical expressions that relate the optimal policy and state-value function and prove convergence of our value iteration algorithm. Using discrete and continuous state tasks, including a high-dimensional controller, we show that complex behaviors such as “dancing”, hide-and-seek, and a basic form of altruistic behavior naturally result from the intrinsic motivation to occupy path space. All in all, we present a theory of behavior that generates both variability and goal-directedness in the absence of reward maximization.
Intelligent behavior of artificial agents and their design are usually considered as a reward maximization phenomenon, however, the reward function construction may be challenging. The authors introduce an alternative principle for agents’ behavior and design based on maximizing the occupancy of possible state and action paths.
Journal Article
Long non-coding RNAs as a source of new peptides
Deep transcriptome sequencing has revealed the existence of many transcripts that lack long or conserved open reading frames (ORFs) and which have been termed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). The vast majority of lncRNAs are lineage-specific and do not yet have a known function. In this study, we test the hypothesis that they may act as a repository for the synthesis of new peptides. We find that a large fraction of the lncRNAs expressed in cells from six different species is associated with ribosomes. The patterns of ribosome protection are consistent with the translation of short peptides. lncRNAs show similar coding potential and sequence constraints than evolutionary young protein coding sequences, indicating that they play an important role in de novo protein evolution. Despite the terms being largely interchangeable in modern language, ‘DNA’ and ‘gene’ do not mean the same thing. A gene is made of DNA and contains the instructions to make a protein, and it is the protein that performs the function of the gene. However, cells in the body also contain DNA that does not form genes. Far from being ‘junk’ DNA with no biological purpose; this DNA has a variety of roles, including affecting how other genes are used. To produce a protein, the DNA sequence of a gene is transcribed into an intermediate molecule called RNA, which is then translated to produce a protein. So-called long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) molecules are also transcribed from DNA, but whether these are translated to make proteins has been a subject of much debate. Indeed, the function of the vast majority of lncRNA molecules is unknown. Ruiz-Orera et al. analyzed RNA sequences collected from earlier experiments on six different species—humans, mice, fish, flies, yeast, and a plant—and found nearly 2500 as yet unstudied lncRNAs in addition to those previously identified. Many of the lncRNAs that Ruiz-Orera et al. investigated could be found lodged inside the cellular machinery used to translate RNA into proteins. Furthermore, these lncRNA molecules are oriented in the machinery as if they are primed and ready for translation, suggesting that many lncRNAs do produce proteins. However, it is unclear how many of these proteins have a useful function. Very few lncRNAs were found in more than one species, suggesting that they have evolved recently. The properties of lncRNA molecules also show many similarities with the properties of ‘young’—recently evolved—genes that are known to produce proteins. The combined findings of Ruiz-Orera et al. therefore suggest that lncRNAs are important for developing new proteins. The emergence of proteins with new functions has been an important driving force in evolution, and this work provides important clues into the first steps of this process.
Journal Article
SodSAR: A Tower-Based 1–10 GHz SAR System for Snow, Soil and Vegetation Studies
We introduce SodSAR, a fully polarimetric tower-based wide frequency (1–10 GHz) range Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) aimed at snow, soil and vegetation studies. The instrument is located in the Arctic Space Centre of the Finnish Meteorological Institute in Sodankylä, Finland. The system is based on a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA)-operated scatterometer mounted on a rail allowing the formation of SAR images, including interferometric pairs separated by a temporal baseline. We present the description of the radar, the applied SAR focusing technique, the radar calibration and measurement stability analysis. Measured stability of the backscattering intensity over a three-month period was observed to be better than 0.5 dB, when measuring a target with a known radar cross section. Deviations of the estimated target range were in the order of a few cm over the same period, indicating also good stability of the measured phase. Interforometric SAR (InSAR) capabilities are also discussed, and as a example, the coherence of subsequent SAR acquisitions over the observed boreal forest stand are analyzed over increasing temporal baselines. The analysis shows good conservation of coherence in particular at L-band, while higher frequencies are susceptible to loss of coherence in particular for dense vegetation. The potential of the instrument for satellite calibration and validation activities is also discussed.
Journal Article
Effect of Working Fluid-Filling Ratio Combination on Thermosyphon Performance as Add-In Enhancer for Indoor Air Conditioning Devices
An experimental study is presented to account for the implementation of a two-phase closed thermosyphon pipe, for energy-saving purposes, in air conditioning systems in the context of COVID-19. The experimental setup consisted of a 0.5 m × 0.0127 m type L copper pipe which was employed as the body of the heat exchanger; an electric resistance heater of 0.1 m length located at the bottom; and a 0.25 m length water-cooled concentric condenser located at the top. The evaluation was conducted employing acetone, ethanol, and distilled water as working fluids; ranging the heat supplied at the evaporator from 25 to 125 W and the filling ratio from 20% to 40% of the total inner volume of the thermosyphon. From the data obtained, it was found that ethanol is the working fluid most susceptible to changes in operation conditions. Contrarily, distilled water was found to deliver consistent performance, up to a point that, for the analysed setup, it is considered to be independent of both, heat flow supplied at the evaporator and thermosyphon filling ratio. Meanwhile, acetone was found to be the only fluid tested that displays a directly proportional behaviour between heat absorption and dissipation. From compiling experimental data, response surfaces were constructed and used as direct and rough optimization tools. The information provided by this approach is considered to be particularly useful and is introduced for modelling and design purposes. Based on the results, it was found that acetone, within operation ranges of 34%<ϕ<40% and 75 W
Journal Article