Do Deep Neural Networks Suffer from Crowding?

Crowding is a visual effect suffered by humans, in which an object that can be recognized in isolation can no longer be recognized when other objects, called flankers, are placed close to it. In this work, we study the effect of crowding in artificial Deep Neural Networks for object recognition. We analyze both standard deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) as well as a new version of DCNNs which is 1) multi-scale and 2) with size of the convolution filters change depending on the eccentricity wrt to the center of fixation. Such networks, that we call eccentricity-dependent, are a computational model of the feedforward path of the primate visual cortex. Our results reveal that the eccentricity-dependent model, trained on target objects in isolation, can recognize such targets in the presence of flankers, if the targets are near the center of the image, whereas DCNNs cannot. Also, for all tested networks, when trained on targets in isolation, we find that recognition accuracy of the networks decreases the closer the flankers are to the target and the more flankers there are. We find that visual similarity between the target and flankers also plays a role and that pooling in early layers of the network leads to more crowding. Additionally, we show that incorporating the flankers into the images of the training set does not improve performance with crowding.Comment: CBMM mem

The digital gap: gender and computer games

The purpose of this article is to consider a specific aspect which has become an obvious source of social inequality in the digital era: computer games from a gender perspective. To this end, the existing literature is reviewed to show that despite the positive educational aspects of play, educational use of computer games is minimal. Details are also given of various research which shows the gender bias in different aspects related to multimedia games. The results of the research carried out by the authors (which received a subsidy from the Catalan Autonomous Government Catalan Women's Institute), dealing with the prevailing sexism in multimedia games, is also listed. Finally, the need for safeguarding the quality of multimedia games is highlighted, without forgetting new technologies' socialising importance in today's society.The purpose of this article is to consider a specific aspect which has become an obvious source of social inequality in the digital era: computer games from a gender perspective. To this end, the existing literature is reviewed to show that despite the positive educational aspects of play, educational use of computer games is minimal. Details are also given of various research which shows the gender bias in different aspects related to multimedia games. The results of the research carried out by the authors (which received a subsidy from the Catalan Autonomous Government Catalan Women's Institute), dealing with the prevailing sexism in multimedia games, is also listed. Finally, the need for safeguarding the quality of multimedia games is highlighted, without forgetting new technologies' socialising importance in today's society

L'experiència d'Eratòstenes, 2011

Eratòstenes fou un matemàtic grec que va mesurar el perímetre de la Terra a partir d'una senzilla regla trigonomètrica amb una precisió extraordinària per l'època. L'European Association for Astronomy Education, EAAE, planeja reproduir el proper 21 de juny, i de forma simultània a escoles de diversos llocs d'Europa, l'experiència que Eratòstenes realitz

Nudging individuals to increase participation in NGOs

Treballs Finals del Grau d'Empresa Internacional, Facultat d'Economia i Empresa, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2018-2019, Tutor: Concepción Patxot Cardoner(eng) Forecast and decisions are often founded on the assumption of human rationality. Nevertheless, the past decades have proven that predictable irrationality rules the decision-making process, which raises the question whether it is possible to persuade others to increase the odds of behavioural compliance. The field of behavioural economics studies these anomalies in order to better guide individuals towards an optimal solution and behaviour. This research paper offers a general introduction to behavioural economics and nudging, along with a series of arguments and a nudging experiment regarding how it could be applied to a charitable context.(cast) Las predicciones y las decisiones están supuestamente basadas en la racionalidad humana. Sin embargo, durante las últimas décadas se ha demostrado que la irracionalidad predecible gobierna el proceso de toma de decisiones, la cual cosa plantea la pregunta de si es posible persuadir a los demás para aumentar las posibilidades de guiar el comportamiento hacia un resultado socialmente aceptado. El campo de la economía del comportamiento estudia este tipo de anomalías para poder guiar a cada individuo hacia una solución y un comportamiento óptimo. Este trabajo de investigación ofrece una introducción general a la economía del comportamiento y a los “nudges”, así como una serie de argumentos y un experimento basado en los “nudges” sobre como se podrían aplicar a un contexto caritativo

Life cycle assessment of alkali-activated cement compared to ordinary Portland cement

Treballs Finals del Màster d’Energies Renovables i Sostenibilitat Energètica, Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona, Curs: 2019-2020, Tutors: Joan Formosa Mitjans, Alex Maldonado AlamedaActualment el canvi climàtic s’ha convertit en una de les principals amenaces mundials. En els darrers anys ha augmentat l’interès en estratègies, acords i normatives locals, estatals i internacionals per tal de fer front a la crisi climàtica i d’aquesta manera reduir les creixents conseqüències. Aproximadament el 8% de les emissions globals de CO2 s’originen a la indústria del ciment, i el 3% de l’energia primària global consumida prové del ciment Portland (OPC). És per aquest motiu, que tot l’entorn científic i tecnològic està cercant nous materials per a substituir el material de construcció més emprat fins ara, l’OPC, per tal de reduir la petjada ambiental del sector de la construcció. Una possible alternativa són els ciments alcalins (AAC). Aquests permeten convertir una varietat de fluxos de residus en subproductes útils. L’elaboració de l’AAC consisteix en la reacció d’un precursor en pols ric en aluminosilicats amorfs amb una solució alcalina. L’AAC d’aquest treball, Sust-AAC, és el resultat d’una Tesi Doctoral del Sr. Maldonado-Alameda realitzada en el grup d’investigació DIOPMA (UB). El precursor utilitzat és l’escograva (WBA) i els activadors alcalins emprats són l’hidròxid de sodi i el silicat sòdic. L’objectiu principal d’aquest present projecte consisteix a avaluar l’impacte ambiental de l’OPC (CEM I) i del Sust-AAC; tot identificant i quantificant els consums d’energia, d’aigua i de matèries primeres, així com les emissions de CO2. Aquesta avaluació compara les entrades i sortides dels dos ciments en totes les etapes de la seva fabricació; i per tant, permet identificar quin producte presenta un menor impacte en el medi ambient. Els resultats finals demostren que el Sust-AAC estudiat presenta un impacte inferior al de l’OPC pel que fa a les categories avaluades (consum energia, consum aigua, consum matèries primeres i emissions de CO2). Tot i això, l’OPC presenta uns resultats més òptims envers l’àmbit estructural. Malgrat això, s’observa que aquests materials alternatius poden ser aptes per aplicacions no estructurals, com per exemple com aïllant tèrmic per tal de millorar l’eficiència energètica dels edificis. En conclusió, el Sust-AAC es troba en fase de recerca i per aquesta raó no és una alternativa factible avui en dia a causa de la manca d’investigació i conseqüent normalització que garanteixi la seva seguretat i viabilitat com a material de construcció. Tot i això, el Sust-AAC presenta un potencial òptim per poder substituir l’OPC en un futur pròxim permetent assolir els Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible (ODS) de l’Organització de les Nacions Unides (ONU)

The digital gap: gender and computer games

The purpose of this article is to consider a specific aspect which has become an obvious source of social inequality in the digital era: computer games from a gender perspective. To this end, the existing literature is reviewed to show that despite the positive educational aspects of play, educational use of computer games is minimal. Details are also given of various research which shows the gender bias in different aspects related to multimedia games.The results of the research carried out by the authors (which received a subsidy from the Catalan Autonomous Government Catalan Women's Institute), dealing with the prevailing sexism in multimedia games, is also listed.Finally, the need for safeguarding the quality of multimedia games is highlighted, without forgetting new technologies' socialising importance in today's society.The purpose of this article is to consider a specific aspect which has become an obvious source of social inequality in the digital era: computer games from a gender perspective. To this end, the existing literature is reviewed to show that despite the positive educational aspects of play, educational use of computer games is minimal. Details are also given of various research which shows the gender bias in different aspects related to multimedia games. The results of the research carried out by the authors (which received a subsidy from the Catalan Autonomous Government Catalan Women's Institute), dealing with the prevailing sexism in multimedia games, is also listed. Finally, the need for safeguarding the quality of multimedia games is highlighted, without forgetting new technologies' socialising importance in today's society

Car ownership and access to jobs in Spain

This study analyses the impact that job accessibility in public transport has on car ownership. An ordered probit explaining the number of cars per household is estimated as a function of head of household characteristics, household characteristics and job accessibility. The data used in the analysis come from the Microcensus of year 2001 of the Spanish Institute of Statistics for the areas of Barcelona and Madrid. Our results show a significant effect of accessibility on car ownership. Additionally, we carried out simulation exercises in which the expected number of vehicles decreases as accessibility improves. For instance, in the case of households living outside the central city, an improvement of accessibility up to the average level of the central city would offset the effect of the number of working adults on the expected number of vehicles.car ownership, job accessibility, public transport.

Materials fets a mida : aerogels de sílice modificats orgànicament

Els aerogels són els materials sòlids més lleugers que es coneixen, degut al fet que la major part de la seva estructura és buida. La seva extraordinària porositat fa que tinguin una gran àrea superficial, la qual cosa els proporciona característiques úniques dintre dels materials sòlids. Aquest treball descriu la síntesi de nous aerogels de sílice combinat amb molècules orgàniques i les propietats noves obtingudes