Real-Time fusion of visual images and laser data images for safe navigation in outdoor environments

[EN]In recent years, two dimensional laser range finders mounted on vehicles is becoming a fruitful solution to achieve safety and environment recognition requirements (Keicher & Seufert, 2000), (Stentz et al., 2002), (DARPA, 2007). They provide real-time accurate range measurements in large angular fields at a fixed height above the ground plane, and enable robots and vehicles to perform more confidently a variety of tasks by fusing images from visual cameras with range data (Baltzakis et al., 2003). Lasers have normally been used in industrial surveillance applications to detect unexpected objects and persons in indoor environments. In the last decade, laser range finder are moving from indoor to outdoor rural and urban applications for 3D imaging (Yokota et al., 2004), vehicle guidance (Barawid et al., 2007), autonomous navigation (Garcia-Pérez et al., 2008), and objects recognition and classification (Lee & Ehsani, 2008), (Edan & Kondo, 2009), (Katz et al., 2010). Unlike industrial applications, which deal with simple, repetitive and well-defined objects, cameralaser systems on board off-road vehicles require advanced real-time techniques and algorithms to deal with dynamic unexpected objects. Natural environments are complex and loosely structured with great differences among consecutive scenes and scenarios. Vision systems still present severe drawbacks, caused by lighting variability that depends on unpredictable weather conditions. Camera-laser objects feature fusion and classification is still a challenge within the paradigm of artificial perception and mobile robotics in outdoor environments with the presence of dust, dirty, rain, and extreme temperature and humidity. Real time relevant objects perception, task driven, is a main issue for subsequent actions decision in safe unmanned navigation. In comparison with industrial automation systems, the precision required in objects location is usually low, as it is the speed of most rural vehicles that operate in bounded and low structured outdoor environments. To this aim, current work is focused on the development of algorithms and strategies for fusing 2D laser data and visual images, to accomplish real-time detection and classification of unexpected objects close to the vehicle, to guarantee safe navigation. Next, class information can be integrated within the global navigation architecture, in control modules, such as, stop, obstacle avoidance, tracking or mapping.Section 2 includes a description of the commercial vehicle, robot-tractor DEDALO and the vision systems on board. Section 3 addresses some drawbacks in outdoor perception. Section 4 analyses the proposed laser data and visual images fusion method, focused in the reduction of the visual image area to the region of interest wherein objects are detected by the laser. Two methods of segmentation are described in Section 5, to extract the shorter area of the visual image (ROI) resulting from the fusion process. Section 6 displays the colour based classification results of the largest segmented object in the region of interest. Some conclusions are outlined in Section 7, and acknowledgements and references are displayed in Section 8 and Section 9.projects: CICYT- DPI-2006-14497 by the Science and Innovation Ministry, ROBOCITY2030 I y II: Service Robots-PRICIT-CAM-P-DPI-000176- 0505, and SEGVAUTO: Vehicle Safety-PRICIT-CAM-S2009-DPI-1509 by Madrid State Government.Peer reviewe

Primeros casos de depredación de lechuza común Tyto alba y búho chico Asio otus sobre autillo europeo Otus scops (Baleares-España)

First cases of predation by the barn owl Tyto alba and the longeared owl Asio otus on the European scops owl Otus scops. The first cases are reported of predation by the barn owl and the long-eared owl on the European scops owl to be observed in the Balearic Islands. These cases are attributed to opportunism presented by the high numbers of European scops owls on passage during the migration periods

Influence of Pavement Structure, Traffic, and Weather on Urban Flexible Pavement Deterioration

[EN] Various studies have been recently conducted to predict pavement condition, but most of them were developed in a certain region where climate conditions were kept constant and/or the research focused on specific road distresses using single parameters. Thus, this research aimed at determining the influence of pavement structure, traffic demand, and climate factors on urban flexible pavement condition over time. To do this, the Structural Number was used as an indicator of the pavement capacity, various traffic and climate variables were defined, and the Pavement Condition Index was used as a surrogate measure of pavement condition. The analysis was focused on the calibration of regression models by using the K-Fold Cross Validation technique. As a result, for a given pavement age, pavement condition worsens as the Equivalent Single Axle Load and the Annual Average Height of Snow increased. Likewise, a cold Annual Average Temperature (5¿15 °C) and a large Annual Average Range of Temperature (20¿30 °C) encourage a more aggressive pavement deterioration process. By contrast, warm climates with low temperature variations, which are associated with low precipitation, lead to a longer pavement service life. Additionally, a new classification of climate zones was proposed on the basis of the weather influence on pavement deterioration.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, grant number RTC-2017-6148-7, with the European Regional Development Fund.Llopis-Castelló, D.; García-Segura, T.; Montalbán-Domingo, L.; Sanz-Benlloch, MA.; Pellicer, E. (2020). Influence of Pavement Structure, Traffic, and Weather on Urban Flexible Pavement Deterioration. Sustainability. 12(22):1-20. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229717S1201222Hajj, E. Y., Loria, L., & Sebaaly, P. E. (2010). Performance Evaluation of Asphalt Pavement Preservation Activities. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2150(1), 36-46. doi:10.3141/2150-05Santero, N. J., & Horvath, A. (2009). Global warming potential of pavements. Environmental Research Letters, 4(3), 034011. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/4/3/034011Pérez-Acebo, H., Linares-Unamunzaga, A., Abejón, R., & Rojí, E. (2018). Research Trends in Pavement Management during the First Years of the 21st Century: A Bibliometric Analysis during the 2000–2013 Period. Applied Sciences, 8(7), 1041. doi:10.3390/app8071041Prozzi, J. A., & Madanat, S. M. (2004). Development of Pavement Performance Models by Combining Experimental and Field Data. Journal of Infrastructure Systems, 10(1), 9-22. doi:10.1061/(asce)1076-0342(2004)10:1(9)Ragnoli, A., De Blasiis, M., & Di Benedetto, A. (2018). Pavement Distress Detection Methods: A Review. Infrastructures, 3(4), 58. doi:10.3390/infrastructures3040058Osorio, A., Chamorro, A., Tighe, S., & Videla, C. (2014). Calibration and Validation of Condition Indicator for Managing Urban Pavement Networks. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2455(1), 28-36. doi:10.3141/2455-04Loprencipe, G., Pantuso, A., & Di Mascio, P. (2017). Sustainable Pavement Management System in Urban Areas Considering the Vehicle Operating Costs. Sustainability, 9(3), 453. doi:10.3390/su9030453LTPP Data Analysis: Factors Affecting Pavement Smoothness. NCHRP Web Document 40http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/nchrp/nchrp_w40-a.pdfArambula, E., George, R., Xiong, W., & Hall, G. (2011). Development and Validation of Pavement Performance Models for the State of Maryland. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2225(1), 25-31. doi:10.3141/2225-04Meegoda, J. N., & Gao, S. (2014). Roughness Progression Model for Asphalt Pavements Using Long-Term Pavement Performance Data. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 140(8), 04014037. doi:10.1061/(asce)te.1943-5436.0000682Pérez-Acebo, H., Mindra, N., Railean, A., & Rojí, E. (2017). Rigid pavement performance models by means of Markov Chains with half-year step time. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 20(7), 830-843. doi:10.1080/10298436.2017.1353390Osorio-Lird, A., Chamorro, A., Videla, C., Tighe, S., & Torres-Machi, C. (2017). Application of Markov chains and Monte Carlo simulations for developing pavement performance models for urban network management. Structure and Infrastructure Engineering, 14(9), 1169-1181. doi:10.1080/15732479.2017.1402064Pérez-Acebo, H., Gonzalo-Orden, H., Findley, D. J., & Rojí, E. (2020). A skid resistance prediction model for an entire road network. Construction and Building Materials, 262, 120041. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.120041Pérez-Acebo, H., Linares-Unamunzaga, A., Rojí, E., & Gonzalo-Orden, H. (2020). IRI Performance Models for Flexible Pavements in Two-Lane Roads until First Maintenance and/or Rehabilitation Work. Coatings, 10(2), 97. doi:10.3390/coatings10020097Dong, Q., Huang, B., & Richards, S. H. (2015). Calibration and Application of Treatment Performance Models in a Pavement Management System in Tennessee. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 141(2), 04014076. doi:10.1061/(asce)te.1943-5436.0000738Hassan, R., Lin, O., & Thananjeyan, A. (2015). A comparison between three approaches for modelling deterioration of five pavement surfaces. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 18(1), 26-35. doi:10.1080/10298436.2015.1030744Pérez-Acebo, H., Gonzalo-Orden, H., & Rojí, E. (2019). Skid resistance prediction for new two-lane roads. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Transport, 172(5), 264-273. doi:10.1680/jtran.17.00045Ziari, H., Maghrebi, M., Ayoubinejad, J., & Waller, S. T. (2016). Prediction of Pavement Performance: Application of Support Vector Regression with Different Kernels. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2589(1), 135-145. doi:10.3141/2589-15Pérez-Acebo, H., Bejan, S., & Gonzalo-Orden, H. (2017). Transition Probability Matrices for Flexible Pavement Deterioration Models with Half-Year Cycle Time. International Journal of Civil Engineering, 16(9), 1045-1056. doi:10.1007/s40999-017-0254-zGarcía-Segura, T., Montalbán-Domingo, L., Llopis-Castelló, D., Lepech, M. D., Sanz, M. A., & Pellicer, E. (2020). Incorporating pavement deterioration uncertainty into pavement management optimization. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 1-12. doi:10.1080/10298436.2020.1837827Qiao, Y., Flintsch, G. W., Dawson, A. R., & Parry, T. (2013). Examining Effects of Climatic Factors on Flexible Pavement Performance and Service Life. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2349(1), 100-107. doi:10.3141/2349-12Mohd Hasan, M. R., Hiller, J. E., & You, Z. (2015). Effects of mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation on the performance of flexible pavement using ME design. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 17(7), 647-658. doi:10.1080/10298436.2015.1019504Anastasopoulos, P. C., & Mannering, F. L. (2015). Analysis of Pavement Overlay and Replacement Performance Using Random Parameters Hazard-Based Duration Models. Journal of Infrastructure Systems, 21(1), 04014024. doi:10.1061/(asce)is.1943-555x.0000208Alaswadko, N., & Hassan, R. (2016). Rutting progression models for light duty pavements. International Journal of Pavement Engineering, 19(1), 37-47. doi:10.1080/10298436.2016.115512

Caracterización de la artropofauna terrestre del humedal jaboque (bogotá, colombia)

En el humedal Jaboque, se estudió la diversidad y la estructura trófica de la artropofauna asociada a las comunidades de vegetación Juncus effusus, Juncus effusus-Polygonum punctatum, Schoenoplectus californicus y Typha latifolia. La composición y riqueza asociada a la comunidad Bidens laevis y la composición de los insectos antófilos relacionados a algunas plantas. Se identificaron en total 212 morfoespecies, distribuidas en 48 familias y siete órdenes. A lo largo del estudio se colectaron 8.944 individuos que presentan una biomasa seca de 9757,8 mg. El órden Diptera y sus familiasEphydridae, Chironomidae y Muscidae son taxas, con predominio a nivel de riqueza, abundancia y biomasa. Entre las comunidades de vegetación consideradas se aprecia una artropofauna variable en composición, diversidad de morfoespecies y diversidad trófica. Se encontraron seis tiposde patrones de distribución, con familias especialistas en cuanto a la selección de hábitats y con valores de abundancia relativa global bajos (0–1%) hasta familias generalistas en cuanto a selección de hábitats (4–5 comunidades de vegetación) y con valores de abundancia relativa altos( and gt;5%). Se encontró un total de 16 morfoespecies de insectos presentando contenido polínico. Estas morfoespecies pertenecen a las familias Muscidae, Syrphidae, Dolichopodidae, Tephritidae, Tipulidae, Sciaridae, Heleomyzidae, Sciomyzidae y Chrysomelidae. Los dípteros y sus familias Muscidae y Syrphidae registraron las mayores riquezas de morfoespecies, abundancias, número de familias vegetales visitadas, además de demostrar una alta capacidad de movilidad. Las compuestas con estrategia de polinización entomófila y las gramíneas con estrategia anemófila presentaron las mayores riquezas de insectos visitantes florales

Toward an Automatic Assessment of Cognitive Dysfunction in Relapsing–Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients Using Eye Movement Analysis

Multiple sclerosis; Ocular markers; Prediction methodsEsclerosis múltiple; Marcadores oculares; Métodos de predicciónEsclerosi múltiple; Marcadors oculars; Mètodes de prediccióDespite the importance of cognitive function in multiple sclerosis, it is poorly represented in the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), the commonly used clinical measure to assess disability, suggesting that an analysis of eye movement, which is generated by an extensive and well-coordinated functional network that is engaged in cognitive function, could have the potential to extend and complement this more conventional measure. We aimed to measure the eye movement of a case series of MS patients with relapsing–remitting MS to assess their cognitive status using a conventional gaze tracker. A total of 41 relapsing–remitting MS patients and 43 age-matched healthy controls were recruited for this study. Overall, we could not find a clear common pattern in the eye motor abnormalities. Vertical eye movement was more impaired in MS patients than horizontal movement. Increased latencies were found in the prosaccades and reflexive saccades of antisaccade tests. The smooth pursuit was impaired with more corrections (backup and catchup movements, p<0.01). No correlation was found between eye movement variables and EDSS or disease duration. Despite significant alterations in the behavior of the eye movements in MS patients, which are compatible with altered cognitive status, there is no common pattern of these alterations. We interpret this as a consequence of the patchy, heterogeneous distribution of white matter involvement in MS that provokes multiple combinations of impairment at different points in the different networks involved in eye motor control. Further studies are therefore required.This research was partially funding by RoboCity2030-DIH-CM Madrid Robotics Digital 366 Innovation Hub (Robotica aplicada a la mejora de la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos, Fase IV; 367 S2018/NMT-4331), funded by Comunidad de Madrid and cofunded by Structural Funds of the EU and partially funding by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Cooperation area. J. Benito-León is supported by the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA (NINDS R01 NS39422), the European Commission (grant ICT-2011-287739, NeuroTREMOR), the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant RTC-2015-3967-1, NetMD—platform for the tracking of movement disorder), and the Spanish Health Research Agency (grant FIS PI12/01602 and grant FIS PI16/00451)

Non-Uniform Spline Quasi-Interpolation to Extract the Series Resistance in Resistive Switching Memristors for Compact Modeling Purposes

This research was funded by the Consejeria de Conocimiento, Investigacion y Universidad, Junta de Andalucia (Spain) and the FEDER programme under projects A.TIC.117.UGR18 and IE2017-5414.An advanced new methodology is presented to improve parameter extraction in resistive memories. The series resistance and some other parameters in resistive memories are obtained, making use of a two-stage algorithm, where the second one is based on quasi-interpolation on nonuniform partitions. The use of this latter advanced mathematical technique provides a numerically robust procedure, and in this manuscript, we focus on it. The series resistance, an essential parameter to characterize the circuit operation of resistive memories, is extracted from experimental curves measured in devices based on hafnium oxide as their dielectric layer. The experimental curves are highly non-linear, due to the underlying physics controlling the device operation, so that a stable numerical procedure is needed. The results also allow promising expectations in the massive extraction of new parameters that can help in the characterization of the electrical device behavior.Junta de AndaluciaEuropean Commission A.TIC.117.UGR18 IE2017-541

Incorporating pavement deterioration uncertainty into pavement management optimization

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Pavement Engineering on 2022, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10298436.2020.1837827[EN] Pavement management systems can be used to efficiently allocate limited maintenance budgets to better align with pavement deterioration. However, pavement deterioration is subject to uncertain factors that complicate the prediction of future pavement conditions accurately, entailing differences in the optimum maintenance strategy. This paper addresses this challenge by introducing a method to aid local engineers in optimising the scheduling of maintenance activities under uncertain pavement deterioration conditions. Markov chains are used to simulate the variability of life-cycle performance. Moreover, a multi-objective optimisation of an urban network is carried out to find the maintenance programme that minimises the mean life-cycle cost, maximises the mean user benefit, and minimises the standard deviation of life-cycle cost. This third objective enables the optimisation routine to minimise the possibility of unintentionally increasing the life-cycle cost due to system variability. This approach results in a reduction of the life-cycle cost variability by up to 62%, provides pavement strategies that benefit road users as a result of better pavement conditions, and reduces the risk of resorting to costly future maintenance activities.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation with the European Regional Development Fund (grants BIA2017-85098-R and RTC-2017-6148-7).García-Segura, T.; Montalbán-Domingo, L.; Llopis-Castelló, D.; Lepech, MD.; Sanz-Benlloch, MA.; Pellicer, E. (2022). Incorporating pavement deterioration uncertainty into pavement management optimization. International Journal of Pavement Engineering. 23(6):2062-2073. https://doi.org/10.1080/10298436.2020.18378272062207323

Highly Enantioselective Iridium(I)-Catalyzed Hydrocarbonation of Alkenes: A Versatile Approach to Heterocyclic Systems Bearing Quaternary Stereocenters

We report a versatile, highly enantioselective intramolecular hydrocarbonation reaction that provides a direct access to heteropolycyclic systems bearing chiral quaternary carbon stereocenters. The method, which relies on an iridium(I)/bisphosphine chiral catalyst, is particularly efficient for the synthesis of five-, six- and seven-membered fused indole and pyrrole products, bearing one and two stereocenters, with enantiomeric excesses of up to >99 %. DFT computational studies allowed to obtain a detailed mechanistic profile and identify a cluster of weak non-covalent interactions as key factors to control the enantioselectivityThis work received financial support from the Spanish MINECO (SAF2016-76689-R, PID2019-108624RB-I00, CTQ2017-84767-P, PID2020-118579GB-I00), the Xunta de Galicia (ED431C 2017/19, 2015-CP082, Centro Singular de Investigación de Galicia accreditation 2019-2022, ED431G 2019/03, a predoctoral Fellowship to A. A. and M. C. and a postdoctoral Fellowship to D. F. F, ED481B-2019-005) and the ERDF, ERC (Adv. Grant No. 340055). The Orfeo-Cinqa network (CTQ2016-81797-REDC)S