Laparoscopic image analysis for automatic tracking of surgical tools

Laparoscopy is a surgical technique nowadays embedded in the clinical routine. Recent researches have been focused on analysing video information captured by the endoscope for extracting cues useful for surgeons, such as depth information. In particular, the 3D pose estimation of the surgical tools presents three important added values: (1) to extract objective parameters for the surgical training stage, (2) to develop an image-guided surgery based on the knowledge of the surgery tools localization, (3) to design new roboticsystems for an automatic laparoscope positioning, according to the visual feedback. Tool’s shape and orientation in the image is the key to get its 3D position. This work presents an image analysis for automatic laparoscopic tool’s detection along the recorded video without extra tool markers, using an edges detection strategy. Also, this analysis includes a previous stage of barrel distortion correction for videoendoscopic image

β-decay half-lives and β-delayed neutron emission probabilities for several isotopes of Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, and Bi, beyond N = 126

Background: There have been measurements on roughly 230 nuclei that are β-delayed neutron emitters. They range from 8 He up to 150La. Apart from 210Tl, with a branching ratio of only 0.007%, no other neutron emitter has been measured beyond A = 150. Therefore, new data are needed, particularly in the region of heavy nuclei around N = 126, in order to guide theoretical models and help understand the formation of the third r-process peak at A ∼ 195. Purpose: To measure both β-decay half-lives and neutron branching ratios of several neutron-rich Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, and Bi isotopes beyond N = 126. Method: Ions of interest were produced by fragmentation of a 238U beam, selected and identified via the GSI-FRS fragment separator. A stack of segmented silicon detectors (SIMBA) was used to measure ion implants and β decays. An array of 30 3 He tubes embedded in a polyethylene matrix (BELEN) was used to detect neutrons with high efficiency and selectivity. A self-triggered digital system is employed to acquire data and to enable time correlations. The latter were analyzed with an analytical model and results for the half-lives and neutron-branching ratios were derived by using the binned maximum-likelihood method. Results: Twenty new β-decay half-lives are reported for 204−206Au, 208–211Hg, 211–216Tl, 215–218Pb, and 218–220Bi, nine of them for the first time. Neutron emission probabilities are reported for 210,211Hg and 211–216Tl. Conclusions: The new β-decay half-lives are in good agreement with previous measurements on nuclei in this region. The measured neutron emission probabilities are comparable to or smaller than values predicted by global models such as relativistic Hartree Bogoliubov plus the relativistic quasi-particle random phase approximation (RHB + RQRPA).Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad-FPA2011- 28770-C03-03, FPA2008-04972-C03-3, AIC-D2011-0705, FPA2011-24553, FPA2008-6419, FPA2010-17142, FPA2014-52823-C2-1-P, FPA2014- 52823-C2-2-P, and CPAN CSD-2007-00042 (Ingenio2010)Program Severo Ochoa-SEV-2014-0398German Helmholtz Association (Young Investigators)-VH-NG 627 (LISA-Lifetime Spectroscopy for Astrophysics)Nuclear Astrophysics Virtual Institute-VH-VI-417German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung-06MT7178 / 05P12WOFNFSpanish Nuclear Security Council (CSN)-Catedra ArgosUK Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC)-ST/F012012/

Systematics and diversity of Neotropical ants.

With a long history of more than 100 million years and about 14,000 described living species, ants are one of the most important and well-known groups of insects in the world. Ants are key elements in the structure and dynamics of terrestrial systems, especially in the tropics, as well as models in studies of evolution, ecology, and monitoring of disturbed ecosystems. For all this, it is essential to know their history and phylogeny, in order among other things, to have a solid base for their systematics and taxonomy. Within Aculeata ants appear to be the sister group of Apoidea, and the ancestor of the Formicidae may have inhabited the northern hemisphere during the early Cretaceous. Since then, and especially since the Eocene, ants have spread throughout the planet, occupying almost all environments from forests to deserts. The Neotropical region has 137 genera and around 3,100 species of ants. The Neotropics seem to have been the “cradle” and “museum” of the groups of ants, which would explain their great diversity and a high degree of endemisms. This review describes the current state of knowledge of ants in the Neotropical region from a systematic point of view, with a synopsis of all supraspecific taxa described to date. Critical genera, problems to be solved, and perspectives for the study of these insects are also presented

Percepción de los riesgos asociados a la pérdida auditiva inducida por ruido. Estado del arte y diseño de herramientas interactivas para formación y concienciación

La exposición al ruido en el puesto de trabajo y la pérdida auditiva inducida por ruido se encuentran estrechamente relacionadas con las actitudes que tienen de los trabajadores sobre el uso de los dispositivos de protección auditiva. En estudios previos se ha demostrado que los trabajadores son reacios a su utilización por diferentes motivos: desconocimiento de los efectos que produce el ruido sobre la salud auditiva, dificultades para utilizarlos de forma correcta, incomodidad, etc. Con el objetivo de mejorar las actitudes de los trabajadores ante el uso de dispositivos de protección auditiva se llevó a cabo un estudio bibliográfico sobre los factores que influyen en la conducta de los trabajadores ante el uso de protectores auditivos, así como su conocimiento sobre los riesgos asociados. Una vez analizados los antecedentes y las actuales necesidades, se desarrollaron herramientas interactivas de fácil utilización para mejorar la concienciación de los trabajadores sobre este aspecto. Se presenta la revisión bibliográfica sobre el uso de protectores auditivos, un análisis de los diferentes enfoques comúnmente utilizados para formación y concienciación de trabajadores sobre los riesgos derivados de la pérdida auditiva inducida por ruido y finalmente las herramientas desarrolladas como propuesta para mejorar la percepción de dicho riesgo entre los trabajadores

CMOS Duobinary Transceiver for Multigigabit Communications

This work presents a CMOS transceiver for amplitude duobinary modulation over an equalized 50-m step-index plastic optical fiber (SI-POF). Both duobinary precoder and decoder have been fabricated in 0.18-μm CMOS technology, enabling a bandlimited system of 700 MHz to operate at 3.125 Gbps with a consumption of 28.4 mW

Carbon dioxide enrichment: a technique to mitigate the negative effects of salinity on the productivity of high value tomatoes

The present study was conducted to determine the mitigating influence of greenhouse CO2 enrichment on the negative effects of salinity in Mediterranean conditions. Hybrid Raf (cv. Delizia) tomato plants were exposed to two salinity levels of the nutrient solution (5 and 7 dS/m) obtained by adding NaCl, and two CO2 concentrations (350 and 800 μmol/mol) in which CO2 enrichment was applied during the daytime according to a strategy linked to ventilation. Increasing water salinity negatively affected the leaf area index (LAI), the specific leaf area (SLA), the water use efficiency (WUE), the radiation use efficiency (RUE) and dry weight (DW) accumulation resulting in lower marketable yield. The high salinity treatment (7 dS/m) increased fruit firmness (N), total soluble solids content (SSC) and titratable acidity (TA), whereas pH was reduced in the three ripening stages: mature green/breaker (G), turning (T), and pink/light red (P). Also, the increase in electrical conductivity of the nutrient solution led to a general change in intensity of the sensory characteristics of tomato fruits. On the other hand, CO2 enrichment did not affect LAI although SLA was reduced. RUE and DW accumulation were increased resulting in higher marketable yield, through positive effects on fruit number and their average weight. WUE was enhanced by CO2 supply mainly through increased growth and yield. Physical-chemical quality parameters such as fruit firmness, TA and pH were not affected by CO2 enrichment whereas SSC was enhanced. Greenhouse CO2 enrichment did mitigate the negative effect of saline conditions on productivity without compromising organoleptic and sensory fruit quality

The pp-Daugavet property for function spaces

A natural extension of the Daugavet property for $p$-convex Banach function spaces and related classes is analysed. As an application, we extend the arguments given in the setting of the Daugavet property to show that no reflexive space falls into this class

Experimental setup and procedure for the measurement of the 7Be(n,p)7Li reaction at n_TOF

Following the completion of the second neutron beam line and the related experimental area (EAR2) at the n_TOF spallation neutron source at CERN, several experiments were planned and performed. The high instantaneous neutron flux available in EAR2 allows to investigate neutron induced reactions with charged particles in the exit channel even employing targets made out of small amounts of short-lived radioactive isotopes. After the successful measurement of the 7Be(n,) cross section, the 7Be(n,p)7Li reaction was studied in order to provide still missing cross section data of relevance for Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), in an attempt to find a solution to the cosmological Lithium abundance problem. This paper describes the experimental setup employed in such a measurement and its characterization.Séptimo Programa Marco de la Comunidad Europea de la Energía Atómica (Euratom)-Proyecto CHANDA (No. 605203)Narodowe Centrum Nauki (NCN)-UMO-2012/04/M/ST2/00700-UMO-2016/22/M/ST2/00183Croatian Science Foundation-HRZZ 168