The "Ñireco Caldera" in the central-western Neuquén Andes (38°50'S - 70°50'O)

In the southern segment of the Copahue- Pino Hachado block, next to the Moquehue-Alumine lacustrine basin, an anomalous concentration of calderas, resulting from a Pliocene-Quaternary volcanic activity was recognized. The Ñireco caldera, which was proposed as part of this caldera complex, is the reason of the present work. The authors object the interpretation of such a morphostructural feature on the basis of a detailed geomorphologic, structural and stratigraphic analyses of the area. The limits of the proposed caldera coincide mostly with fluvial valleys that seem to be controlled by previous structures like faults and regional lineaments. There are no evidences that could suggest the presence of a volcanic complex that theoretically contains such a depression, or for its external and internal flanks. The central sector of the proposed caldera presents the highest altitude values of the region (± 2,900 m a.s.l.), which highly surpass those of the Principal Cordillera at these latitudes. The local stratigraphy of the area, is dominated by the oldest rocks of the region (Upper Paleozoic granitoids and Triassic volcanic and volcaniclastic sequences), and shows not temporal coincidence with the Pliocene-Quaternary volcanic activity, well represented immediately to the north. The study area falls on the contrary into a thick-skinned west-verging fold-and-thrust-belt, where tectonic inversion played a central role.Fil:García Morabito, E. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina

A Generative Model for Concurrent Image Retrieval and ROI Segmentation

This paper proposes a probabilistic generative model that concurrently tackles the problems of image retrieval and region-of-interest (ROI) segmentation. Specifically, the proposed model takes into account several properties of the matching process between two objects in different images, namely: objects undergoing a geometric transformation, typical spatial location of the region of interest, and visual similarity. In this manner, our approach improves the reliability of detected true matches between any pair of images. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the links to the ROI provided by the true matches, the proposed method is able to perform a suitable ROI segmentation. Finally, the proposed method is able to work when there is more than one ROI in the query image. Our experiments on two challenging image retrieval datasets proved that our approach clearly outperforms the most prevalent approach for geometrically constrained matching and compares favorably to most of the state-of-the-art methods. Furthermore, the proposed technique concurrently provided very good segmentations of the ROI. Furthermore, the capability of the proposed method to take into account several objects-of-interest was also tested on three experiments: two of them concerning image segmentation and object detection in multi-object image retrieval tasks, and another concerning multiview image retrieval. These experiments proved the ability of our approach to handle scenarios in which more than one object of interest is present in the query.This work has been partially supported by the project AFICUS, co-funded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, and the European Fund for Regional Development, with Ref.: TSI-020110-2009-103, and the National Grant TEC2011-26807 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.Publicad

Public broadcasting service under austerity: cross-comparison between Portugal and Spain

Versão final do autor / Accepted version | Pré-publicação online do artigo (11/04/2020) / Online First (11/04/2020)Following the global financial crisis of 2007/08, five European countries called for external financial assistance. Austerity policies were implemented, but the extent to which the bailout deal impacted the Portuguese and Spanish public service broadcasters has not been yet thoroughly investigated. Both born in dictatorial regimes, these public services broadcasters in democratic contexts followed different solutions for governance and funding. This article investigates the changes produced in the Portuguese and Spanish public media under the austerity era, analysing the policy measures implemented, as well as the economic and ratings performance of both public service broadcasters. The aim is to assess if external factors (such as external assistance) originated similar effects in both countries Results show that, in spite of different funding and governance models adopted, both public services were heavily impacted in terms of revenues and ratings and that the austerity period provided the context to set up a neoliberal ideological point-of-view. Both public services lost legitimacy and their cultural and political role was undermined by a discussion that was grounded on economic factors alone.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was financed by Portuguese national funds through FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the project UIDB/00736/2020

Automated Office Blood Pressure Measurement for the Diagnosis of Hypertension

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A generative model for concurrent image retrieval and ROI segmentation

Proceedings of: 10th International Workshop on Content-Based Multimedia Indexing (CBMI). Annecy, France, 27-29 June 2012.This paper proposes a probabilistic generative model that concurrently tackles the problems of image retrieval and detection of the region-of-interest (ROI). By introducing a latent variable that classifies the matches as true or false, we specifically focus on the application of geometric constrains to the keypoint matching process and the achievement of robust estimates of the geometric transformation between two images showing the same object. Our experiments in a challenging image retrieval database demonstrate that our approach outperforms the most prevalent approach for geometrically constrained matching, and compares favorably to other state-of-the-art methods. Furthermore, the proposed technique concurrently provides very good segmentations of the region of interest.This work has been partially supported by the project AFICUS, co-funded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, and the European Fund for Regional Development, with Ref.: TSI-020110- 2009-103, and the National Grant TEC2011-26807 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.Publicad

Development of phonological and orthographic processing in teenagers with and without reading disabilities

El objetivo de este estudio ha sido analizar el desarrollo del procesamiento fonológico y ortográfico en la lectura en adolescentes normolectores y adolescentes con dificultades de aprendizaje en la lectura. Para analizar el rendimiento de los alumnos se utilizó la Batería Multimedia Sicole-R- ESO (www.ocideidi.net), que evalúa los procesos cognitivos asociados a las DEAL. La herramienta tiene un formato altamente modular, de forma que las tareas de evaluación se agrupan en cinco módulos. Para poder llevar a cabo este estudio se administró el módulo de procesamiento fonológico que evalúa la conciencia fonológica. Este módulo consta de cuatro subtareas: aislar, omitir, síntesis y segmentar. También se administró el módulo de procesamiento ortográfico que consta de dos subtareas, la comprensión de homófonos y la comprensión de pseudohomófonos. Se seleccionó una muestra de adolescentes con dislexia de una población de 945 alumnos de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (12-16 años) de institutos públicos y privados de las Islas Canarias. Los resultados demostraron que los disléxicos en todos los cursos de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria se diferencian respecto a los normolectores de su misma edad, tanto en el procesamiento fonológico como en el ortográfico. Este resultado nos indica, que a la hora de diagnosticar las DEAL, debemos evaluar el perfil cognitivo del alumno, estableciendo con precisión dónde reside la dificultad, y no sólo centrarnos en la competencia curricular o en un diagnóstico general de nivel lector. En este sentido, la Batería Multimedia Sicole-R-ESO lleva a cabo un registro exhaustivo del funcionamiento de todos los procesos cognitivos implicados en la lectura, para localizar concretamente donde se presenta la dificultad, permitiéndonos obtener respuestas significativas para comprender ese problema y articular posibles soluciones, adaptadas siempre a las necesidades individuales de los alumnos.The aim of this study was to analyze the development of phonological and orthographic processing in reading in teenagers with and without DEAL using a cross-sectional design. To analyze the performance of the teenagers the Sicole-R-ESO Multimedia Battery (www.ocideidi.net) was used, measuring different cognitive processes associated to reading disabilities. The battery has a highly modular format, so that the assessment tasks are grouped into five modules. To carry out this study phonological processing module that assesses phonological awareness was administered. This module consists of four subtasks: blending, isolation, segmentation, and deletion. Orthographic processing module which consists of two subtasks, homophone and pseudohomophone comprehension subtask were also administered. A sample of teenagers with dyslexia was selected from a population of 945 secundary school students (12-16 years old) from different public and private schools in the Canary Islands. Significant differences were found between dyslexics and normally achieving readers across grades in both, phonological and orthographic processing involved in reading acquisition. This result indicates that when diagnosing DEAL, we must assess the student’s cognitive profile, establishing precisely where the difficulty lies, not just focus on curricular competition or a general diagnosis of reading level. In this sense, the Sicole-R-ESO Multimedia Battery carries out an exhaustive record the performance of all cognitive processes involved in reading, to locate precisely where the difficulty is, allowing to obtain significant information to understand the problem and provide possible solutions to articulate answers, adapted to the individual needs of students.peerReviewe

Aportación al conocimiento paleoecológico del Holoceno en el NW de la Península Ibérica

Se ha hecho análisis polínico de dos palcosudos enterrados bajo un yacimiento arqueológico de cultura catrexa y dt un depósito lacustre. Los tres está.n geográficamente próximos y son com:lacionablc.~ debido a la CXJSI-encia d!:.datacioncs C-14 y a datos culturales. Coll los datos polfnicos obtenidos, se ban hecho dos diagramas en los que se dcfmcn distintas etapas de vegetación dc5dc finales del Sub-Boreal al Sub-Atlántico actual. Dichas etapas son: fin Uel Sub-Boreal con boS()UC de Q¡:e~eu.r y presencia de ÚlJianea; expansión del roble a comien- 7.0s del Sub-Atlántico y presencia deAinus; fase de cultivo de COJtanta hacia 1580 B.P .; fase de máxima dcforcsucióo y fmalmcntc, fase. de cultivo dcPjnr.uA polleo analysi! of two palcosoih buricd under an arcbacological deposit o[ caHcxa culture aod Jakc dcposils was carricd out. Thc thrcc are geograpbkally close and are relatcd as tbe cOOstence of C-14 data and cultaral in(onnation preves. With the po11en data oblai.ned we dcvi.sed rwo diagrams dcfming severa! Mage..~ of vegc.tation ranging from thc cnd of lhc Sub-Boreal te thc prcscnt Sub·Atlantic. Thcse stagcs are: tbc cnd of tbc Sub-Boreal wi tb QuerroJ furcsts and thc prcsc:mx: of Ca¡ftm , u; extcrmon o( oaks at thc bcginning of thc Sub-Atlantic and the presence of Afnus; tbe Castnnea cultivation phase (rom about 1580 B.P .; the maximum deforcslation phase and lastly, cultivation ofthe Pil11tS phas

The 2010–2015 Megadrought and its influence on the fire regime in central and south-central Chile

Forest fire activity has increased in recent years in central and south-central Chile. Drought conditions have been associated with the increase of large wildfires, area burned and longer fire seasons. This study examines the influence of drought on fire regimes and discusses landscape management opportunities to decrease fire hazard. Specifically, we investigate the effect of the 2010–2015 Megadrought (MD) compared to 1990–2009 period on fire activity (fire-season length, number of fires and burned area across months, fire sizes, regions and vegetation cover types, simultaneity, and duration of fires) in central and south-central Chile (32°–39° S), using contemporary fire statistics derived from the Chilean Forest Service. For large fire events (>200 ha) the average season length increased by 67 d (44%), comparing 2010–2015 to 1990–2009. Earlier and later ignition dates resulted in extended fire seasons in MD years. During the MD, the number, area burned, simultaneity, and duration of large fires increased significantly compared to the control period, including the unprecedented occurrence of large fires during winter. The burned area in large fires increased in all vegetation types, during the MD compared to the control period, especially in the exotic plantation cover type. The regions that were most affected by fire (i.e., total area burned) during the MD were Maule, B ıo-B ıo, and Araucan ıa (35–39° S) that concentrate >75% of forest plantations in Chile. Although both maximum temperatures and precipitation are drivers of fire activity, a simple attribution analysis indicates that the sustained rainfall deficit during 2010–2015 was the most critical factor in the enhanced fire activity. Future climate change predictions indicate more recurrent, intense, and temporally extended droughts for central and south-central Chile. Under this scenario, land-use planning and fire and forest management strategies must promote a more diverse and less flammable landscape mosaic limiting high load, homogenous, and continuous exotic plantations