740 research outputs found

    Seamless Multimodal Biometrics for Continuous Personalised Wellbeing Monitoring

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    Artificially intelligent perception is increasingly present in the lives of every one of us. Vehicles are no exception, (...) In the near future, pattern recognition will have an even stronger role in vehicles, as self-driving cars will require automated ways to understand what is happening around (and within) them and act accordingly. (...) This doctoral work focused on advancing in-vehicle sensing through the research of novel computer vision and pattern recognition methodologies for both biometrics and wellbeing monitoring. The main focus has been on electrocardiogram (ECG) biometrics, a trait well-known for its potential for seamless driver monitoring. Major efforts were devoted to achieving improved performance in identification and identity verification in off-the-person scenarios, well-known for increased noise and variability. Here, end-to-end deep learning ECG biometric solutions were proposed and important topics were addressed such as cross-database and long-term performance, waveform relevance through explainability, and interlead conversion. Face biometrics, a natural complement to the ECG in seamless unconstrained scenarios, was also studied in this work. The open challenges of masked face recognition and interpretability in biometrics were tackled in an effort to evolve towards algorithms that are more transparent, trustworthy, and robust to significant occlusions. Within the topic of wellbeing monitoring, improved solutions to multimodal emotion recognition in groups of people and activity/violence recognition in in-vehicle scenarios were proposed. At last, we also proposed a novel way to learn template security within end-to-end models, dismissing additional separate encryption processes, and a self-supervised learning approach tailored to sequential data, in order to ensure data security and optimal performance. (...)Comment: Doctoral thesis presented and approved on the 21st of December 2022 to the University of Port

    (b2023 to 2014) The UNBELIEVABLE similarities between the ideas of some people (2006-2016) and my ideas (2002-2008) in physics (quantum mechanics, cosmology), cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and philosophy (this manuscript would require a REVOLUTION in international academy environment!)

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    (b2023 to 2014) The UNBELIEVABLE similarities between the ideas of some people (2006-2016) and my ideas (2002-2008) in physics (quantum mechanics, cosmology), cognitive neuroscience, philosophy of mind, and philosophy (this manuscript would require a REVOLUTION in international academy environment!

    Changes in the saliva proteome of pigs with diarrhoea caused by Escherichia coli

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    Infection with the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli is one of the main causes of diarrhoea in pigs and currently represents a significant problem for producers. Saliva is a fluid that can be collected by non-invasive, non-stressful methods and contains analytes that change in disease. These changes can provide information on the pathophysiology of the disease and can be used as an aid to diagnosis or monitoring of therapy. The objective of the present work aims to identify potential alterations in the salivary proteome of pigs with diarrhoea caused by E. coli. For that reason, we used two groups of Large White post-weaning pigs, one control group and other infected group (E. coli group). We took samples of saliva from both groups and after we used two techniques for protein separation by isoelectric point/molecular mass and molecular mass. These are 2-DE gel electrophoresis and SDS PAGE, respectively. In addition to these techniques, a more sophisticated technique was used for protein identification called mass spectrometry. The total concentration of proteins in the infected group was three times higher than the control group. In the SDS-PAGE analysis, we have higher levels of salivary lipocalins and IgA bands and, in contrast, lower levels of odorant-binding proteins, protease inhibitor from the submandibular origin and prolactin inducible protein. In the two-dimensional profile analysis, we have higher levels of salivary lipocalins, adenosine deaminase, IgA bands and albumin peptides and, in contrast, lower levels of alpha- amylase, carbonic anhydrase, carbonate dehydratase VI and whole albumin. After this, a validation test was made in which pigs with diarrhoea by Escherichia coli had considerably greater levels of salivary adenosine deaminase activity in comparison to the control group (healthy group). Regarding this study, some of these proteins play a important role in physiological processes and in physiological/pathological conditions, it has been observed that these proteins suffer alterations at salivary proteome level. For this reason, it is possible to say that these techniques are used to identify new biomarkers in saliva which contributes for the discovery of new alternative diagnoses of diseases in the future; - Resumo: Alterações no Proteoma da Saliva de Suínos com Diarreia Causada por Escherichia coli - A infeção pela bactéria Gram-negativa Escherichia coli é uma das principais causas de diarreia em suínos e representa atualmente um problema significativo para os produtores. A saliva é um fluido que pode ser recolhido por métodos não invasivos e não stressantes e que contém analitos que se alteram em caso de doença. Estas alterações podem fornecer informações sobre a fisiopatologia da doença e podem ser utilizadas como auxiliares de diagnóstico ou na monitorização da terapêutica. O objetivo do presente trabalho é identificar potenciais alterações no proteoma salivar de suínos com diarreia causada por E. coli. Para tal, utilizámos dois grupos de suínos Large White pós-desmame, um grupo de controlo e outro grupo infetado (grupo E. coli). Recolhemos amostras de saliva de ambos os grupos e depois utilizámos duas técnicas de separação de proteínas, sendo elas a SDS-PAGE e a eletroforese bidimensional. Para além destas técnicas, foi utilizada uma técnica para a identificação de proteínas, denominada espetrometria de massa. A concentração total de proteínas no grupo infetado foi três vezes superior à do grupo de controlo. Na análise de SDS-PAGE, temos níveis mais elevados de lipocalinas salivares e bandas de IgA e, em contrapartida, níveis mais baixos de proteínas ligadoras de odorantes, inibidor de protease de origem submandibular e proteína induzível por prolactina. Na análise do perfil bidimensional, temos níveis mais elevados de lipocalinas salivares, adenosina deaminase, bandas de IgA e péptidos de albumina e, em contrapartida, níveis mais baixos de alfa-amilase, anidrase carbónica, carbonato desidratase VI e albumina total. Em seguida, foi efetuado um teste de validação em que os suínos com diarreia por Escherichia coli apresentavam níveis consideravelmente mais elevados de atividade da adenosina deaminase salivar em comparação com o grupo de controlo (grupo saudável). Relativamente a este estudo, algumas destas proteínas desempenham um papel importante em processos fisiológicos e em condições fisiológicas/patológicas, foi observado que estas proteínas sofrem alterações ao nível do proteoma salivar. Por esta razão, é possível afirmar que estas técnicas são valiosas para a identificação de novos biomarcadores na saliva que contribuem para a descoberta de novos diagnósticos alternativos de doenças no futuro

    LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volume

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    LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volum

    COVID-19 Booster Vaccine Acceptance in Ethnic Minority Individuals in the United Kingdom: a mixed-methods study using Protection Motivation Theory

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    Background: Uptake of the COVID-19 booster vaccine among ethnic minority individuals has been lower than in the general population. However, there is little research examining the psychosocial factors that contribute to COVID-19 booster vaccine hesitancy in this population.Aim: Our study aimed to determine which factors predicted COVID-19 vaccination intention in minority ethnic individuals in Middlesbrough, using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs, in addition to demographic variables.Method: We used a mixed-methods approach. Quantitative data were collected using an online survey. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured interviews. 64 minority ethnic individuals (33 females, 31 males; mage = 31.06, SD = 8.36) completed the survey assessing PMT constructs, COVID-19conspiracy beliefs and demographic factors. 42.2% had received the booster vaccine, 57.6% had not. 16 survey respondents were interviewed online to gain further insight into factors affecting booster vaccineacceptance.Results: Multiple regression analysis showed that perceived susceptibility to COVID-19 was a significant predictor of booster vaccination intention, with higher perceived susceptibility being associated with higher intention to get the booster. Additionally, COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs significantly predictedintention to get the booster vaccine, with higher conspiracy beliefs being associated with lower intention to get the booster dose. Thematic analysis of the interview data showed that barriers to COVID-19 booster vaccination included time constraints and a perceived lack of practical support in the event ofexperiencing side effects. Furthermore, there was a lack of confidence in the vaccine, with individuals seeing it as lacking sufficient research. Participants also spoke of medical mistrust due to historical events involving medical experimentation on minority ethnic individuals.Conclusion: PMT and conspiracy beliefs predict COVID-19 booster vaccination in minority ethnic individuals. To help increase vaccine uptake, community leaders need to be involved in addressing people’s concerns, misassumptions, and lack of confidence in COVID-19 vaccination

    Reidentificación de personas en imágenes empleando técnicas de aprendizaje profundo

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    En este trabajo se ha realizado el estudio, diseño, implementación y evaluación de un sistema de reidentificación de personas completo, que emplea redes neuronales profundas. La solución propuesta está compuesta de dos partes: un detector de personas basado en YOLOv8, y una red de reidentificación, basada en OSNET. Para poder desarrollar el sistema se ha llevado a cabo un estudio del estado del arte de reidentificación y un estudio teórico para comprender el uso y funcionamiento de los componentes elegidos. El sistema completo se ha implementado utilizando pytorch, y se ha realizado una evaluación experimental exhaustiva utilizando dos datasets, Market-1501 y GBA2016. Se ha realizado tanto un análisis cuantitativo, como un estudio cualitativo de los resultados, obteniendo diferentes métricas que han permitido la validación del sistema desarrollado.In this work we have carried out the study, design, implementation and evaluation of a complete person reidentification system using deep neural networks. The proposed solution consists of two parts: a person detector based on YOLO and a reidentification network based on OSNET. To develop the system, we have performed a study of the state of the art related to person reidentification as well as a theoretical study to understand the theory behind the chosen components and their operation. The complete system was implemented using pytorch and a thorough experimental evaluation was carried out using two datasets, Market-1501 and GBA2016. Both a quantitative analysis and a qualitative study of the results have been performed, obtaining different metrics that have allowed the validation of the proposed solution.Máster Universitario en Ingeniería de Telecomunicación (M125

    DEFINITION OF AN ADVANCED PROCESS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF LOW ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT CONTAINERS AS POTENTIAL ALTERNATIVE TO PLASTICS

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    For decades, petroleum-based synthetic polymers, commonly known as plastics, have become one of the most appealing materials used for a wide variety of applications. Nevertheless, currently, conventional petroleum-based plastics represent a serious problem for global pollution because remain for hundreds of years in the environment when discarded. In order to reduce dependence on fossil resources, bioplastic materials are being proposed as safer and more sustainable alternatives. Bioplastics are bio-based and/or biodegradable materials, typically derived from renewable sources. Among different resources, food waste is attracting more and more attention in the research field of bioplastics’ production. The sources of food waste include household, commercial, industrial and agricultural residues. In fact, every year, around one-third of all food resources produced for human consumption are lost or wasted. Although European Union guidelines stated that food waste should preferentially be used as animal feed, in some cases, it became illegal because of disease control concerns and other times its nutritional value is very poor. On the other hand, the production of bioplastics from food waste is a renewable, sustainable process, in which materials are fabricated from carbon neutral resources, thus aligning itself with the principles of the circular bioeconomy. However, the conversion of fruit and vegetable by-products into eco-friendly materials with mechanical and hydrodynamic performances comparable to those of fuel-based plastics still remains a challenge. In this thesis, different approaches have been investigated for the valorization of fruit and vegetable wastes to produce low environmental impact materials, as a potential alternative to plastics with application in the field of food packaging. In the first section, apple waste and tomato peel by-products have been used as fillers to fabricate starch-based biocomposites. The mechanical characterization of the samples showed their suitability for covering purposes, since a ductile and soft behaviour was exhibited. In the second section, an avocado by-product extract has been incorporated to an ethyl cellulose matrix for the production of impregnated paper with enhanced durability. Since fruit wastes can contain potential pathogens and physical and chemical contaminants which can be released when used as additive for active packaging, a preliminary untargeted metabolomic characterization of the extract was conducted by LC-ESI(-)-Q Exactive-Orbitrap- MS/MS. The lipid components detected in the extract proved to be useful additives to improve paper hydrophobicity, preventing food browning and moisture loss. In general, the addition of all tested wastes (apple waste, tomato peel and avocado by-products) has proved to be useful to increase the biodegradability of the fabricated biomaterials. Hence, the environmental benefits associated with their recovery are proposed as a driving force to expand their further use for these purposes. The upcycling of food waste through the production of value-added products is an ideal and practical end use, allowing to save huge economic and energy losses
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