Botulinum toxin in the treatment of partially accommodative esotropia with high AC/A ratio

PURPOSE: To study the outcome of botulinum toxin (BTX) treatment (group 1) in partially accommodative esotropia with high accommodative convergence/accommodation (AC/A) ratio, in comparison with bilateral medial rectus muscles recessions and posterior fixation (group 2). METHODS: In a retrospective comparative study, children aged 3-8 years old treated between 2011 and 2016, with partially accommodative esotropia with high AC/A ratio, deviation at distance of 10 prism diopters or more, and at least 1 year of follow-up, were included. Visual acuity, alternate prism and cover test, stereoacuity, biomicroscopy, and cycloplegic retinoscopy were carried out at initial, baseline visit, 6 months and 1 year after BTX injection or surgery. Main outcome variables were deviation at distance and near, improvement in stereoacuity, and percentage of success. We used multiple regression or proportional odds analysis to control for potential confounding variables. RESULTS: Of 95 patients, 84 were eligible, 48 children in group 1 and 36 in group 2. Deviation and stereoacuity were similar in the two groups at 6 months, but significantly better in the BTX group at 1 year (median distance deviation 0 prism diopters vs 5 prism diopters, p<0.01), although differences were not clinically relevant. Percentage of success was also significantly better only at 1 year (93% vs 72%, p = 0.01). Change in distance-near disparity was not significantly different in the two groups in the period of study. CONCLUSIONS: Botulinum toxin could be superior to, or as effective as surgery, at middle term, in the treatment of partially accommodative esotropia with high AC/A ratio.JT received grant MINECO UAMA13-4E-219

Robust symmetric multiplication for programmable analog VLSI array processing

This paper presents an electrically programmable analog multiplier. The circuit performs the multiplication between an input variable and an electrically selectable scaling factor. The multiplier is divided in several blocks: a linearized transconductor, binary weighted current mirrors and a differential to single-ended current adder. This paper shows the advantages introduced using a linearized OTA-based multiplier. The circuit presented renders higher linearity and symmetry in the output current than a previously reported single-transistor multiplier. Its inclusion in an array processor based on CNN allows for a more accurate implementation of the processing model and a more robust weight distribution scheme than those found in previous designs.Office of Naval Research (USA) N-00014- 02-1-0884Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología TIC2003-09817-C02-0

A Focal-Plane Image Processor for Low Power Adaptive Capture and Analysis of the Visual Stimulus

Portable applications of artificial vision are limited by the fact that conventional processing schemes fail to meet the specifications under a tight power budget. A bio-inspired approach, based in the goal-directed organization of sensory organs found in nature, has been employed to implement a focal-plane image processor for low power vision applications. The prototype contains a multi-layered CNN structure concurrent with 32times32 photosensors with locally programmable integration time for adaptive image capture with on-chip local and global adaptation mechanisms. A more robust and linear multiplier block has been employed to reduce irregular analog wave propagation ought to asymmetric synapses. The predicted computing power per power consumption, 142MOPS/mW, is orders of magnitude above what rendered by conventional architectures

Elevation matrix data in the evaluation of keratoconus and normal corneas

To determine whether elevation matrix data of the anterior corneal surface could be useful for the diagnosis of keratoconus. In a cross-sectional study, subjects aged 10–40 years with keratoconus (n = 74) or age-matched controls (n = 36) underwent complete ophthalmological examination, including Scheimpflug corneal topography (Pentacam HR). Exclusion criteria comprised previous ocular surgery, other eye disease, or significant corneal scarring. A raw data matrix of distance measurements to the most anterior corneal point was used to compare each subject with the mean normal cornea. A central 6-mm zone (6.1 × 6.1 mm) and two inferior eccentric matrices (0.4 × 6.1 and 1.1 × 1.1 mm) were used. Outcome measures were sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, likelihood ratio, accuracy, and odds ratio. Sensitivity of central matrix for the diagnosis of keratoconus was low (6.7%) whereas specificity reached 94.4%. Sensitivity and specificity were respectively 93.2% and 94% for the 6.1 × 0.4 mm eccentric matrix and 97.2% and 97.2% for the 1.1 × 1.1 mm eccentric matrix. Positive predictive and negative predictive values were 71.4% and 33%, respectively, for the central matrix; 97.1% and 87.1%; 98.6% and 94.5%, for the two eccentric matrices, respectively. The likelihood ratio of a positive test was 1.1, 16.7, and 35, respectively. Sensitivity and specificity of the eccentric matrices were significantly better in the diagnosis of subclinical keratoconus (but not definite keratoconus) than other Pentacam indices. Using eccentric elevation matrix data analysis of the cornea is useful in the detection of keratoconus versus normal cornea

ABPgame+: siete asignaturas, un proyecto

El Aprendizaje Basado en Proyectos (ABP) ha demostrado ser una metodología muy adecuada para los estudios de ingeniería. Además, si su aplicación trasciende a una única asignatura e implica a varias, sus beneficios se ven incrementados por la transversalidad, multidisciplinariedad y la riqueza del proyecto. Pero el aumento de complejidad del proyecto también conlleva dificultades que hay que superar. Por un lado, la existencia de un proyecto que recoja los objetivos principales de todas las asignaturas y, por otro, superar la incoherencia del sistema educativo que representa la fragmentación de los estudios en asignaturas y la estanqueidad de las mismas, necesaria pero muchas veces mal entendida y con excesivas trabas administrativas. En este trabajo presentamos la experiencia de aplicación de la metodología ABP en el cuarto curso del itinerario de Creación y Entretenimiento Digital del Grado en Ingeniería Multimedia. Los proyectos que se desarrollan en este itinerario están orientados hacia los videojuegos, lo que nos permite vencer la primera dificultad planteada anteriormente. Por otro lado, para salvar la segunda dificultad, la aplicación de la metodología ABP está centrada en la asignatura Proyectos Multimedia, ya que, además de tener carácter obligatorio, su objetivo principal es que los estudiantes, organizados en grupos de trabajo, planifiquen y realicen el seguimiento del desarrollo de sus proyectos de forma adecuada para que puedan obtener un producto terminado al final del curso.SUMMARY -- Project Based Learning (PBL) has proved to be a very suitable methodology for engineering studies. Moreover, when its application domain is extended beyond a single subject to involve several of them, their benefits are increased by the cross-curricularity, multidisciplinarity and richness of the project. However, the increased complexity of the project also involves difficulties to overcome. On the one hand, finding a project which includes the main objectives of all involved subjects; On the other hand, dealing with the obstacles of an education system which breaks up knowledge in closed pieces (subjects), a necessary but generally misunderstood model, with too many administrative barriers. In this paper we present our experience applying PBL methodology to the specialization branch Creación y Entretenimiento Digital (Leisure and Digital Entertainment) from the fourth year of Multimedia Engineering Degree. Projects developed in this specialization are focused on computer games, which allows us to easily overcome the first difficulty stated before. In addition to that, to face the second difficulty, our PBL methodology is focused on the Multimedia Projects subject. This subject is mandatory and leads students to correctly organize themselves in working teams, plan and perform an appropriate tracking of the development status of their projects, in order to ensure a finished product as their outcome at the end of course

Gamificar una propuesta docente. Diseñando experiencias positivas de aprendizaje

Comunicación presentada en las XX Jornadas sobre la Enseñanza Universitaria de la Informática (JENUI), Oviedo, 9-11 julio 2014

Performance evaluation and limitations of a vision system on a reconfigurable/programmable chip

This paper presents a survey of the characteristics of a vision system implemented in a reconfigurable/programmable chip (FPGA). System limitations and performance have been evaluated in order to derive specifications and constraints for further vision system synthesis. The system hereby reported has a conventional architecture. It consists in a central microprocessor (CPU) and the necessary peripheral elements for data acquisition, data storage and communications. It has been designed to stand alone, but a link to the programming and debugging tools running in a digital host (PC) is provided. In order to alleviate the computational load of the central microprocessor, we have designed a visual co-processor in charge of the low-level image processing tasks. It operates autonomously, commanded by the CPU, as another system peripheral. The complete system, without the sensor, has been implemented in a single reconfigurable chip as a SOPC. The incorporation of a dedicated visual co-processor, with specific circuitry for low-level image processing acceleration, enhances the system throughput outperforming conventional processing schemes. However, time-multiplexing of the dedicated hardware remains a limiting factor for the achievable peak computing power. We have quantified this effect and sketched possible solutions, like replication of the specific image processing hardware. © J.UCS.This work has been partially funded by project FIT-330100-2005-162 of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce. The work of F. J. Sánchez-Fernández is supported by a grant of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science.Peer Reviewe

The molecular basis of defective lens development in the Iberian mole

Background: Fossorial mammals face natural selection pressures that differ from those acting on surface dwelling animals, and these may lead to reduced visual system development. We have studied eye development in a species of true mole, the Iberian mole Talpa occidentalis, and present the molecular basis of abnormal lens development. This is the first embryological developmental study of the eyes of any fossorial mammal at the molecular level. Results: Lens fibre differentiation is not completed in the Iberian mole. Although eye development starts normally (similar to other model species), defects are seen after closure of the lens vesicle. PAX6 is not down-regulated in developing lens fibre nuclei, as it is in other species, and there is ectopic expression of FOXE3, a putative downstream effector of PAX6, in some, but not all lens fibres. FOXE3-positive lens fibres continue to proliferate within the posterior compartment of the embryonic lens, but unlike in the mouse, no proliferation was detected anywhere in the postnatal mole lens. The undifferentiated status of the anterior epithelial cells was compromised, and most of them undergo apoptosis. Furthermore, β-crystallin and PROX1 expression patterns are abnormal and our data suggest that genes encoding β-crystallins are not directly regulated by PAX6, c-MAF and PROX1 in the Iberian mole, as they are in other model vertebrates. Conclusion: In other model vertebrates, genetic pathways controlling lens development robustly compartmentalise the lens into a simple, undifferentiated, proliferative anterior epithelium, and quiescent, anuclear, terminally differentiated posterior lens fibres. These pathways are not as robust in the mole, and lead to loss of the anterior epithelial phenotype and only partial differentiation of the lens fibres, which continue to express 'epithelial' genes. Paradigms of genetic regulatory networks developed in other vertebrates appear not to hold true for the Iberian mole.This work was supported by the Alfonso Martín Escudero Foundation and Junta de Andalucía through Group PAI CVI-109 (BIO-109). Work in JMC's laboratory is supported by Wellcome Trust grant 074127 and BBSRC grant BB/E015840/1

Performance evaluation and limitations of a vision system on a reconfigurable/programmable chip

This paper presents a survey of the characteristics of a vision system implemented in a reconfigurable/programmable chip (FPGA). System limitations and performance have been evaluated in order to derive specifications and constraints for further vision system synthesis. The system hereby reported has a conventional architecture. It consists in a central microprocessor (CPU) and the necessary peripheral elements for data acquisition, data storage and communications. It has been designed to stand alone, but a link to the programming and debugging tools running in a digital host (PC) is provided. In order to alleviate the computational load of the central microprocessor, we have designed a visual co-processor in charge of the low-level image processing tasks. It operates autonomously, commanded by the CPU, as another system peripheral. The complete system, without the sensor, has been implemented in a single reconfigurable chip as a SOPC. The incorporation of a dedicated visual co-processor, with specific circuitry for low-level image processing acceleration, enhances the system throughput outperforming conventional processing schemes. However, timemultiplexing of the dedicated hardware remains a limiting factor for the achievable peak computing power. We have quantified this effect and sketched possible solutions, like replication of the specific image processing hardware