Uso de Kinect para el entrenamiento de actividades físicas

Este proyecto tiene como meta el diseño y desarrollo de un entrenador personal de capoeira con la tecnología de captura de movimiento de Kinect. La aplicación utilizará el nombre de VIC (Virtual Instructor of Capoeira). Para entender y abordar de una manera correcta este trabajo, se han revisado los diferentes sistemas y tecnologías que existen para la captura de movimientos. Se han expuesto las ventajas que han llevado a utilizar el dispositivo Kinect y se han mencionado varios estudios de investigación previos con resultados favorables. Además, se ha hecho hincapié en las novedades que aporta este proyecto en el ámbito de los Reactive Virtual Trainers (RVT), ya que ha dado lugar a una diversidad de soluciones para la danza, las artes marciales y el ejercicio físico en general. Este proyecto presenta un sistema de entrenamiento personal de capoeira, un arte marcial brasileño, definido como una mezcla entre los deportes de lucha y la danza. Este entorno está pensado para que el alumno pueda aprender a realizar diferentes movimientos de capoeira sin la necesidad de que esté presente un profesor. El entrenamiento consiste en imitar una serie de movimientos realizados por expertos y que han sido previamente grabados. Además, se puede escoger el nivel del alumno, ya sea principiante, avanzado o experto. Así, el alumno va aprendiendo de forma progresiva. Este sistema de bajo coste e intuitivo lleva a cabo un seguimiento del alumno en cada movimiento. Así, el sistema se podrá adaptar fácilmente para, por ejemplo, la rehabilitación de alguna parte del cuerpo dañada o en la medicina deportiva. Tras el estudio realizado, se observó que el funcionamiento de la aplicación es rápido y ofrece unas correcciones muy precisas de los movimientos ejecutados de forma errónea. Por todo ello, se puede afirmar que este entorno tiene un excelente presente y un futuro muy prometedor

Expanding congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) genetics: basonuclin 2 (BNC2) and lower urinary tract obstruction

his work was supported by FIS PI16/02057, PI19/00588, PI19/00815, DTS18/00032, REDinREN RD016/0009 Fondos FEDER, ERA-PerMed-JTC2018 (KIDNEY ATTACK AC18/00064 and PERSTIGAN AC18/00071), Sociedad Española de Nefrología, FRIAT, and Comunidad de Madrid B2017/BMD-3686 CIFRA2 and Rio Hortega to MV Perez-Gome

Uso de Realidad Virtual y Realidad Aumentada para el entrenamiento de actividades físicas

Este proyecto tiene como meta el diseño, desarrollo y despliegue de un entrenador personal virtual mediante la captura de movimiento utilizando la tecnología de realidad virtual y realidad aumentada. Con el objetivo de entender y abordar de una manera correcta este proyecto, se han revisador diferentes tecnologías existentes en el mercado para el desarrollo de un sistema capaz de captura los movimientos en tiempo real. Se han expuesto las ventajas que han llevado a utilizar dispositivos de VR, mencionando diferentes estudios previos con resultados satisfactorios. Además, se han detallado las novedades que aportan las diferentes soluciones existentes en la danza, los entrenadores personales o las artes marciales, en el ambito de los Reactive Virtual Trainers (RVT). Este proyecto presenta un sistema para el entrenamiento personal de un arte marcial brasileño (capoeira), el cual se define como una mezcla entre los deportes de danza y lucha. El entorno desarrollado está pensado para que el alumno pueda practicar y perfeccionar diferentes movimientos sobre capoeira sin la necesidad de que un profesor revise sus movimientos. Para la realización del entrenamiento, es necesario imitar una serie de movimientos grabados previamente por expertos en el arte marcial. Para que el alumno pueda avanzar en la realización de los movimientos, existen diferentes niveles de entrenamiento donde el alumno va aprendiendo de forma progresiva. El sistema es capaz de adaptarse fácilmente para, por ejemplo, la medicina deportiva o la rehabilitación de alguna parte del cuerpo dañada. Tras el estudio realizado, se pudo observar que el funcionamiento de las aplicaciones es inmersivo, intuitivo y rápido, ofreciendo un sistema amplio para determinar de una forma visual cuales son los movimientos ejecutados de forma errónea. Por todo ello, se puede afirmar que este tipo de sistemas son el presente y futuro para el aprendizaje en diferentes disciplinas

Toluene biodegradation in an algal-bacterial airlift photobioreactor: Influence of the biomass concentration and of the presence of an organic phase

Producción CientíficaThe potential of algal-bacterial symbiosis for off-gas abatement was investigated for the first time by comparatively evaluating the performance of a bacterial (CB) and an algal-bacterial (PB) airlift bioreactors during the treatment of a 6 g m−3 toluene laden air emission. The influence of biomass concentration and of the addition of a non-aqueous phase was also investigated. A poor and fluctuating performance was recorded during the initial stages of the experiment, which was attributed to the low biomass concentration present in both reactors and to the accumulation of toxic metabolites. In this sense, an increase in the dilution rate from 0.23 to 0.45 d−1 and in biomass concentration from ∼1 to ∼5 g L−1 resulted in elimination capacities (ECs) of 300 g m−3 h−1 (corresponding to removal efficiencies ∼ 90%). Microalgae activity allowed for a reduction in the emitted CO2 and an increase in dissolved O2 concentration in the PB. However, excess biomass growth over 11 g L−1 hindered light penetration and severely decreased photosynthetic activity. The addition of silicone oil at 20% (on a volume basis) stabilized system performance, leading to dissolved O2 concentrations of 7 mg L−1 and steady ECs of 320 g m−3 h−1 in the PB. The ECs here recorded were considerably higher than those previously reported in toluene-degrading bioreactors. Finally, microbial population analysis by DGGE-sequencing demonstrated the differential specialization of the microbial community in both reactors, likely resulting in different toluene degradation pathways and metabolites production.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Proyect CTM2015-70442-R)Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación – Ref. VA024U14 y UIC 71

Radiofrequency interferece filters design based on complementary split rings resonators

Low frequency analog and digital electronic circuits are susceptible to radiofre- quency interference (RFI). This disturbance is produced when the coupled RF signal is recti¯ed by the non-linear behavior of the semiconductors used in the small signal analog input stages of the electronic system. These circuits present an AM demodulation e®ect produced by nonlinear- ity of internal transistors, generating parasitic signals in the low-frequency range and undesired o®set voltage. In this paper, an alternative to the current standard EMI ¯lters is presented by combining the conventional printed circuit board layout with complementary split ring resonators (CSRRs), in order to reduce the output o®set impact due to RFI. An operational ampli¯er circuit has been designed with a 4-stage CSRR ¯lter, electromagnetically simulated and experimentally tested. Two prototypes have been implemented, with and without CSRRs in order to compare the ¯lter properties in standard FR4 substrate. The resonance frequency of the CSRRs has been designed in the vicinity of 2.4 GHz in order to prevent susceptibility in the ISM band. Electro- magnetic and electrical equivalent circuit model simulations are also provided and compared with experimental results. Measurement data show an e®ective rejection of the undesired RF demod- ulation without a®ecting the signal integrity out of the ¯lter band, and therefore a signi¯cant reduction concerning output o®set voltage impact in terms of RFI amplitude with no-extra cost in terms of the device area or manufacturing process.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Polyhydroxyalkanoates production from methane emissions in Sphagnum mosses: Assessing the effect of temperature and phosphorus limitation

Producción CientíficaThe isolation of highly efficient methanotrophic communities is crucial for the optimization of methane bioconversion into products with a high market value such as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). The research here presented aimed at enriching a methanotrophic consortium from two different inocula (Sphagnum peat moss (Sp) and Sphagnum and activated sludge (M)) able to accumulate PHA while efficiently oxidizing CH4. Moreover, the effect of the temperature and phosphorus limitation on the biodegradation rate of CH4 and the PHA accumulation potential was investigated. Higher CH4 degradation rates were obtained under P availability at increasing temperature (25, 30 and 37 °C). The biomass enriched from the mixed inoculum always exhibited a superior biodegradation performance regardless of the temperature (a maximum value of 84.3 ± 8.4 mg CH4 h−1 g biomass−1 was recorded at 37 °C). The results of the PHB production showed that phosphorus limitation is required to promote PHB accumulation, the highest PHB content being observed with the Sphagnum inoculum at 25 °C (13.6 ± 5.6%). The differential specialization of the microbial communities depending on the enrichment temperature supported the key role of this parameter on the results obtained. In all cases after the completion of the enrichment process and of the P limitation tests, Methylocystis, a type II methanotroph known for its ability to accumulate PHA, was the genus that became dominant (reaching percentages from 16 to 46% depending on the enrichment temperature). Thus, the results here obtained demonstrated for the first time the relevance of the temperature used for the enrichment of the methanotrophic bacteria to boost PHA production yields under P limiting condition, highlighting the importance of optimizing culture conditions to improve the cost-efficiency of bioprocesses based on using methane as the primary feedstock for the PHA industrial market.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - FEDER (Project CTM2015-73228-JIN)Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación - Ref. UIC 71 and CLU 2017-09

Radiofrequency interference filters design based on complementary split rings resonators

Low frequency analog and digital electronic circuits are susceptible to radiofrequency interference (RFI). This disturbance is produced when the coupled RF signal is rectified by the nonlinear behavior of the semiconductors used in the small signal analog input stages of the electronic system. These circuits present an AM demodulation effect produced by nonlinearity of internal transistors, generating parasitic signals in the low-frequency range and undesired offset voltage. In this paper, an alternative to the current standard EMI filters is presented by combining the conventional printed circuit board layout with complementary split ring resonators (CSRRs), in order to reduce the output offset impact due to RFI. An operational amplifier circuit has been designed with a 4-stage CSRR filter, electromagnetically simulated and experimentally tested. Two prototypes have been implemented, with and without CSRRs, in order to compare the filter properties in standard FR4 substrate. The resonance frequency of the CSRRs has been designed in the vicinity of 2.4 GHz in order to prevent susceptibility in the ISM band. Electromagnetic and electrical equivalent circuit model simulations are also provided and compared with experimental results. Measurement data show an effective rejection of the undesired RF demodulation without affecting the signal integrity out of the filter band, and therefore a significant reduction concerning output offset voltage impact in terms of RFI amplitude, with no-extra cost in terms of the device area or manufacturing process.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Chronicle of a Failure Foretold: 2017 Rector Election at Ghent University

Producción CientíficaAfter more than half a year of elections (yielding three voting stages and nine voting rounds), the 2017 Rector election at Ghent University (Belgium) resulted in a victory for the duo leading all nine voting rounds, and in a resounding defeat for the electoral system. Significant regulation changes were needed in order to break the institutional deadlock in which Ghent University found itself. In this paper, we follow the timeline of the election and dissect what went wrong in the election planningMinisterio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project ECO2016-77900-P)European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)Research Foundation of Flanders (FWO17/PDO/160

Control kernel based adaptive control implementation

[EN] A control system with distributed computing resources always should guarantee the safe control of the plant. In this contribution, the concept of control kernel is used for that purpose. Two types of nodes with different resources are defined: the powerful server node and the resource-constrained light node. This architecture allows to split the control tasks into two blocks. Those demanding strong computing resources are allocated in the server nodes and those compelling tasks required to ensure the safety of the controlled plant are allocated in the light nodes. Resource limitations lead to control adaptation. Two simple applications illustrate some of the benefits of this architecture with one server node and one light node, even the architecture can be extended to several nodes. In the first case, an adaptive control is implemented in the server node, providing the control algorithm to the light node, which is also able to compute a local safe control action. In the second experiment, two different control tasks requiring different resources are implemented in a mobile robot control. To keep bounded the computing time at the local level, the supervisor decides the time allocated to each activity, providing the resulting controller to the light node.This work has been partially granted by Conselleria de Educación Generalitat Valenciana, under PROMETEO project number 2008-088, and Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovaci´on under COBAMI project DPI2011-28507-C02-01/02.Simarro Fernández, R.; Albertos Pérez, P.; Simó Ten, JE. (2013). Control kernel based adaptive control implementation. SIGBED review. 10(1):24-28. doi:10.1145/2492385.2492389S242810

Gaussian Markov Random fields and totally positive matrices

The present paper focuses on the study of the conditions under which the covariance matrix of a multivariate Gaussian distribution is totally positive, paying particular attention to multivariate Gaussian distributions that are Gaussian Markov Random Fields. More specifically, it is proven that, if the graph over which the Gaussian Markov Random Field is defined consists of path graphs and the covariances between adjacent variables on the graph are non-negative, then there always exists a reordering of the variables that renders the resulting covariance matrix totally positive. Moreover, this reordering is identified and some cases for which the conditions for the covariance matrix of a multivariate Gaussian distribution to be totally positive are necessary and sufficient are provided