Depth-size trends in western Mediterranean demersal deep-sea fishes

Se discute y argumenta la distribución de los peces en función de su talla. Gráficos, Tallas, Tablas.We analyze the bathymetric trends of demersal deep-sea flshes in the Catalan Sea (NW Medlterranean) between 1000 and 2250 m depth In the first part of the study, only the pattern shown by the whole fauna (wthin-fauna pattern ) 1s considered At 1200 m there is a significant decrease In fish mean welght, as a consequence of the replacement of the dominant large or medium-sized specles by small ones This fauna1 shift may be a consequence of the lower trophic availability at greater depths, as shown by an important decrease in megafaunal biomass between 1000 and 2250 m In the second part, the study focuses on the depth-size trends of the most common species (within-species pattern) Results show that the bigger-deeper phenomenon is not a well-estabhshed tendency None of the lower slope species and only 2 of the 5 middle slope species analyzed behave as bigger-deeper species Moreover some specles which display a bigger-deeper trend in North Atlantic waters do not show any significant trend In the Medlterranean Considering the recent Atlantic origin of Mediterranean ichthyofauna and the contrasting behaviour in the 2 areas, the hypothesis that mean slze increase with depth is the result of inherited ontogenic behaviour can be discarted.Research program BATIMAR (CSICCAICYT; reference PAC 86-008/ID 821).Peer reviewe

Design and implementation of automatic hand's pose classification systems for multiple sclerosis patients perfoming the Nine-Hole Peg Test

Neurological damage in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) affects the motor, sensory, visual, cognitive and sphincteric systems, resulting in different degrees of disability. A core deficit affecting multiple sclerosis patients is the upper limb dysfunction. Since this impairment is not properly recorded in the disability scale of MS, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), other tests have been developed. In this direction, the Nine Hole Peg Test (9HPT) is widely considered a gold standard metric for manual dexterity. However, its quantification strongly depends on the subjectivity of each clinician. This Master Thesis describes a developed framework to automate and objectivize the 9HPT. The framework compares the performance of different Machine Learning and Deep Learning models on MS diagnosing. To that end, two different experiments are conducted. Firstly, a system is built to analyze videos of subjects performing the 9HPT, to extract the hand’s pose using Convolutional Neural Networks, to acquire the Hand’s kinematic features and to finally classify the severity of the disease based on several Machine Learning algorithms. For the framework validation, two classification approaches are proposed. The first one is a binary classification problem, separating the subjects between control and patients. The second one is a multiclass classification problem, where the patients are separated into three different classes based on the severity assessed by the clinicians. A technical validation has been implemented with an accuracy of up to 96.67% for the binary classification and 92.22% for the multiclass. Secondly, the multivariate time series data representing the hand movement when performing the 9HPT is classified using several Deep Learning architectures. In this direction, a binary classification problem is solved to detect if the subject suffers of MS and an accuracy of 88.24% is obtained

Synthesis, morphology, and dynamics of microgels with different architectures

My research work is focused on the characterisation of novel microgel systems using theoretical and experimental analytical tools. The Flory theory for the swelling of microgels was generalised in order to include a bimodal heterogeneous morphology in terms of crosslink distribution in the microgel particle. Further extension to the Flory theory was developed for random copolymer microgels in the heterogeneous crosslinking morphology approximation. The core-shell architecture of microgels was also investigated with an extended Flory swelling theory in the homogeneous approximation. The theories developed allow the determination of specific microgel structural parameters, valuable to the field of study. The distribution of monomer units in a copolymer microgel was investigated using 1H transverse relaxation measurements, establishing a new approach to determine the location of different components specific for microgel particles. The phase transition of microgel as response to the alcohol concentration in water/alcohol mixtures was also investigated. Two definitions of the cononsolvency effect were proposed and exemplified for the case of two different types of microgels. The findings presented, their explanation and the novel methods established for the characterisation of microgels are valuable for the scientific community. Most of the studies presented in this work are peer reviewed and published in high ranking journals

Western Star, 1915-02-03

The Western Star began publication on Newfoundland's west coast on 4 April 1900, appearing weekly with brief semiweekly periods up to 1952, when it became a daily. As of 17 April 2019 it continues as a free weekly community paper