Med-UniC: Unifying Cross-Lingual Medical Vision-Language Pre-Training by Diminishing Bias

The scarcity of data presents a critical obstacle to the efficacy of medical visionlanguage pre-training (VLP). A potential solution lies in the combination of datasets from various language communities. Nevertheless, the main challenge stems from the complexity of integrating diverse syntax and semantics, language-specific medical terminology, and culture-specific implicit knowledge. Therefore, one crucial aspect to consider is the presence of community bias caused by different languages. This paper presents a novel framework named Unifying Cross-Lingual Medical Vision-Language Pre-Training (Med-UniC), designed to integrate multimodal medical data from the two most prevalent languages, English and Spanish. Specifically, we propose Cross-lingual Text Alignment Regularization (CTR) to explicitly unify cross-lingual semantic representations of medical reports originating from diverse language communities. CTR is optimized through latent language disentanglement, rendering our optimization objective to not depend on negative samples, thereby significantly mitigating the bias from determining positive-negative sample pairs within analogous medical reports. Furthermore, it ensures that the cross-lingual representation is not biased toward any specific language community. Med-UniC reaches superior performance across 5 medical image tasks and 10 datasets encompassing over 30 diseases, offering a versatile framework for unifying multi-modal medical data within diverse linguistic communities. The experimental outcomes highlight the presence of community bias in cross-lingual VLP. Reducing this bias enhances the performance not only in vision-language tasks but also in uni-modal visual tasks.Comment: NeurIPS 2023 Main trac

Variations of observed near-surface wind speed across Sweden since 1926

Trabajo presentado en el III Encuentro Extremeño de Climatología, celebrado en Badajoz (España) del 29 al 30 de septiembre de 2022

Climatology of near-surface wind speed from observational, reanalysis and high-resolution regional climate model data over the Tibetan Plateau

As near-surface wind speed plays a role in regulating surface evaporation and thus the hydrological cycle, it is crucial to explore its spatio-temporal characteristics. However, in-situ measurements are scarce over the Tibetan Plateau, limiting the understanding of wind speed climate across this high-elevation region. This study explores the climatology of near-surface wind speed over the Tibetan Plateau by using for the frst time homogenized observations together with reanalysis products and regional climate model simulations. Measuring stations across the center and the west of the plateau are at higher elevations and display higher mean and standard deviation, confrming that wind speed increases with increasing altitude. By exploring wind characteristics with a focus on seasonal cycle through cluster analysis, three regions of distinct wind regimes can be identifed: (1) the central Tibetan Plateau, characterized by high elevation; (2) the eastern and the peripheral areas of the plateau; and (3) the Qaidam basin, a topographic depression strongly infuenced by the blocking efect of the surrounding mountainous terrain. Notably, the ERA5 reanalysis, with its improvements in horizontal, vertical, and temporal spacing, model physics and data assimilation, demonstrates closer agreement to the measured wind conditions than its predecessor ERA-Interim. It successfully reproduces the three identifed wind regimes. However, the newest ERA5-Land product does not show improvements compared to ERA5, most likely because they share most of the parametrizations. Furthermore, the two dynamical downscalings of ERA5 analyzed here fail to capture the observed wind statistics and exhibit notable biases and discrepancies also when investigating the diurnal variations. Consequently, these high-resolution downscaling products do not show add value in reproducing the observed climatology of wind speed compared to ERA5 over the Tibetan Plateau

Myeloid Cell-Derived Reactive Oxygen Species Externally Regulate the Proliferation of Myeloid Progenitors in Emergency Granulopoiesis

SummaryThe cellular mechanisms controlling infection-induced emergency granulopoiesis are poorly defined. Here we found that reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations in the bone marrow (BM) were elevated during acute infection in a phagocytic NADPH oxidase-dependent manner in myeloid cells. Gr1+ myeloid cells were uniformly distributed in the BM, and all c-kit+ progenitor cells were adjacent to Gr1+ myeloid cells. Inflammation-induced ROS production in the BM played a critical role in myeloid progenitor expansion during emergency granulopoiesis. ROS elicited oxidation and deactivation of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), resulting in upregulation of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 signaling in BM myeloid progenitors. We further revealed that BM myeloid cell-produced ROS stimulated proliferation of myeloid progenitors via a paracrine mechanism. Taken together, our results establish that phagocytic NADPH oxidase-mediated ROS production by BM myeloid cells plays a critical role in mediating emergency granulopoiesis during acute infection

Herencia: salsa de rocoto verde

En el presente estudio se evalúa la viabilidad económica y financiera para la producción y comercialización de una nueva salsa de rocoto verde llamada Herencia. Para ello nace Productos Alimenticios Los Álamos S. A. C., una empresa peruana enfocada en la estrategia de cormecialización B2C, la cuál a través de sus distribuidores, permite llevar Herencia al alcance de más personas y éstas puedan conocer los sabores que ofrece. Herencia está conformada por un equipo de profesionales jóvenes, de distintas especialidades, pero con un objetivo común y con ambición de contribuir al desarrollo de las distintas regiones del Perú. Asimismo contará con las herramientas necesarias para proveer a sus clientes sabores únicos acompañados de un excelente servicio. En el Perú, según ADEX (citado en Gestión, 2017) se consume aproximadamente 17,000 toneladas de ají al año, equivaliendo a que el peruano consume 4.5 kilogramos de ají al año. Según Ipsos Apoyo (citado en La República, 2012) el 89 % de hogares acompaña sus comidas con salsas o cremas picantes, y de los 7 días de la semana, las personas consumen ajíes en al menos 5 días. Éstas estadísticas, explican claramente que en el Perú existe una cultura de consumo de ajíes, lo cual resultaría ser una atractiva oportunidad de negocio. Debido a la gran demanda de consumo de la categoría de ajíes, se aprovecha esta gran coyuntura y nace Herencia. El público objetivo estará conformado por hombres y mujeres sofisticados que residen en Lima Metropolitana, pertenecientes a los niveles socioeconómicos A, B y C1, con edades de 25 a 45 años, los cuales gustan acompañar sus comidas con algún tipo de ají. Finalmente la empresa Productos Alimenticios Los Álamos S. A. C. tiene por objetivo definir estrategias y planes de acción, que permiten desarrollar la producción y comercialización de rocoto verde dando una venta el primer año de 1,710,363.94 nuevos soles a lo que equivale a una facturación mínima de 142,530.33 nuevos soles mensuales, además de ello anualmente se tendrá que observar un incremento market share.Trabajo de investigaciónCampus Lima Centr

Biases in wind speed measurements due to anemometer changes

This research presents a case study of the biases and discontinuities that were introduced in observed long-term mean wind-speed and gust data-series due to anemometer changes in a meteorological station in northern Spain, operated by the Spanish State Meteorological Agency: San Sebastian-Igueldo. Field and wind-tunnel experiments with predefined conditions have been presented in the literature, however this research uses a real case study to assess the impact of anemometer changes on wind speed measurements due to three factors being: (i) the 3-cup anemometer model (SEAC vs. THIES companies); (ii) sensor height (∼19.95 m vs. ∼20.45 m) and (iii) sensor age (20-years old vs. new). Our results show (a) substantial biases in the measured wind speed and daily peak wind gusts, with the new THIES anemometer reporting stronger surface winds than the old SEAC anemometer; (b) opposing biases under weak (negative) and moderate-strong (positive) winds; and (c) significant breakpoints in the long-term wind data-series, which highlight the importance of data homogenization. National Weather Services and climate assessment groups will benefit from these findings since errors in wind speed and gust measurements can be minimized by implementing systematic observation protocols. Robust anemometer observations provide a basis for accurate quantification of the magnitude of changes and the variability of surface winds.This research was funded by the following projects: IBER-STILLING (RTI2018–095749-A-I00, MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE); VENTS (GVA-AICO/2021/023) and the CSIC Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform (PTI) Clima (PTI-CLIMA)

BVRI Light Curves for 29 Type Ia Supernovae

BVRI light curves are presented for 27 Type Ia supernovae discovered during the course of the Calan/Tololo Survey and for two other SNe Ia observed during the same period. Estimates of the maximum light magnitudes in the B, V, and I bands and the initial decline rate parameter m15(B) are also given.Comment: 17 pages, figures and tables are not included (contact first author if needed), to appear in the Astronomical Journa

BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF ARTICLES ABOUT PERIPHERAL VENOUS CATHETERIZATION IN PEDIATRICS

Objective: analyze the intellectual production on pediatric peripheral venous catheterizationavailable in the database Scopus.Method: bibliometric study focused on the electronically registered production between 1969and 2018, using descriptive statistical analysis.Results: 213 articles were retrieved, published in 123 journals. Nursing contributed with 21(9.8%) articles in the health area. The United States led the ranking with 92 articles (43.1%).The study shows the limitations of the WebQualis journal ranking, showing that 41 (33.36%)journals are not part of any Qualis level.Conclusion: the data elaborated in this study measured the contribution of the scientificknowledge deriving from the publications about catheterization. Therefore, its indicators canbe useful for the planning and execution of further studies, and for the scientific community’sknowledge on the system it is part of.Objetivo: analizar la producción intelectual sobre cateterismo venoso periférico pediátrico,disponible en la base Scopus.Método: estudio bibliométrico de la producción registrada electrónicamente de 1969 a 2018,con análisis estadístico descriptivo.Resultados: fueron recuperados 213 artículos publicados en 123 periódicos. La Enfermeríacontribuyó con 21 (9,8%) artículos del área de Salud. Los Estados Unidos lideraron con 92 artículos(43,1%). El estudio muestra las limitaciones de la estratificación de periódicos por el WebQualis,demostrando que 41 (33,36%) periódicos no hacen parte de ningún estrato Qualis.Conclusión: los datos elaborados mediante el estudio mensuraron la contribución del conocimientocientífico derivado de las publicaciones acerca de la cateterización. Por lo tanto, susindicadores pueden ser útiles para la planificación y la ejecución de nuevas investigaciones, ypara el conocimiento de la comunidad científica sobre el sistema en que está insertada.Objetivo: analisar a produção intelectual sobre cateterização venosa periférica pediátrica, disponibilizada na base Scopus. Método: estudo bibliométrico que abordou a produção registrada eletronicamente de 1969 a 2018, com análise estatística descritiva. Resultados: foram recuperados 213 artigos publicados em 123 periódicos. A Enfermagem contribuiu com 21 (9,8%) artigos da área de Saúde. Os Estados Unidos lideraram com 92 artigos (43,1%). O estudo mostra as limitações da estratificação de periódicos pelo WebQualis ao demonstrar que 41 (33,36%) periódicos não constam em nenhum estrato Qualis. Conclusão: os dados elaborados por meio estudo mensuraram a contribuição do conhecimento científico derivado das publicações acerca da cateterização. Portanto, seus indicadores podem ser úteis para o planejamento e a execução de novas pesquisas, e para o conhecimento da comunidade científica sobre o sistema em que está inserida