Analysis of video sequences: table of content and index creation

This paper deals with the representation of video sequences useful for tasks such as long-term analysis, indexing or browsing. A Table Of Content and index creation algorithm is presented, as well as additional tools involved in their creation. The proposed method does not assume any a priori knowledge about the content or the structure of the video. It is therefore a generic technique. Some examples are presented in order to assess the performance of the algorithmPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Dependencia cultural y creación de cultura en América Latina

Ningun

Un federalismo que todavía pugna por nacer

The recognized Argentine economist Juan J. Llach dedicates this article to the current issue of federalism. The article describes some present aspects of the regional economies, and the problem of fiscal responsibility. Though today a very important rebirth of the regional economies is taking place, the different governments continue delaying the establishment of a fiscal system of federal co-participation that yields the tributary responsibilities to theprovincial governments. Llach offers his view on the reasons for this delay, and on the factors that sustain them. On the other hand, he also indicates that it would be a great mistake to fail in taking advantage of the moment that the country is going through.El reconocido economista argentino Juan J. Llach se refiere, en este artículo, al siempre vigente tema del federalismo. El artículo desarrolla algunos aspectos actuales de las economías regionales y el problema de la responsabilidad fiscal. Aunque hoy se está dandoun importante renacimiento de las economías locales, los distintos gobiernos nacionales siguen postergando de manera sistemática el establecimiento de un sistema fiscal de coparticipación federal que ceda las responsabilidades tributarias a los gobiernos provinciales.Llach ofrece su mirada sobre las razones de este retraso y sobre los factores que las sustentan, considerando el comportamiento de los gobiernos nacionales y provinciales. Por otro lado, señala también que sería un gran error desaprovechar el momento que el país estáviviendo, en relación con la regularización de la recaudación

Molecular characteristics of several drugs evaluated from solvent/water partition measurements: Solvation parameters and intramolecular hydrogen bond indicator

A wide set of well-known drugs, most of them included in the Abraham´s reference database, covering a wide variety of chemical structures and therapeutical functionalities were chosen in order to determine some molecular properties from solvent/water partition measurements. Partition data from aqueous solutions and four different solvents (n-dodecane, toluene, chloroform and n-octanol) were measured and reported. From them, Abraham´s molecular descriptors of selected compounds (A, B and S, accounting for hydrogen bond donor, hydrogen bond acceptor and dipolarity/polaritzability, respectively) were estimated. A and B values derived from the experimental measurements strongly agree with the tabulated ones showing the suitability of the used procedure to achieve reliable values for new molecules. However, obtained S values differ from those previously reported for several compounds. Moreover, values for a new indicator of the propensity to form intramolecular hydrogen bonds (Δlog P oct-tol ) were estimated from the experimental data and also calculated according to both, the Abraham´s model and the molecular structures (SMD). The quality of both series of calculated descriptors was evaluated by contrast with the experimental values and satisfactory results were obtained in both instances. Thus, the Abraham´s way is useful when molecular descriptors are available but very good estimations can be achieved by SMD, which only requires the drug´s molecular structur

VO2 indirect maximum and fitness age of sedentary and non-sedentary

El objetivo es: comparar la edad cronológica con la edad fitness obtenida por medio del VO2 máximo indirecto, de un grupo de personas sedentarias y no sedentarias. Método: 253 personas fueron evaluadas respecto a masa corporal, estatura, perímetro de cintura, frecuencia cardiaca basal y un cuestionario del modelo web "Fitness Calculator". Los resultados demostraron diferencias significativas en las variables antropométricas y fisiológicas entre personas sedentarias y no sedentarias (P<,001). Las personas no sedentarias tienen un mayor VO2máx en comparación con las personas sedentarias. Las personas sedentarias indican que presentan una edad fitness que se encuentra sobre 12 años cronológicos promedio de lo esperado. Conclusión: Las personas sedentarias tienen una mayor edad fitness, esto permite establecer que su cuerpo se deteriora más rápido que los no sedentarios. El bajo VO2 máx es un potente predictor de la capacidad cardiorrespiratoria y se establece como un predictor de enfermedades cardiovascularesThe purpose was to compare chronological age with fitness age obtained through indirect VO2max in a group of sedentary and non-sedentary people. Method: 253 people were evaluated for body mass, height, waist circumference, basal heart rate and a web model questionnaire "Fitness Calculator". The results: showed significant differences in anthropometric and physiological variables between sedentary and non-sedentary people (P <.001). Non- Sedentary people have a greater higher VO2máx group compared to sedentary people. This indicates that sedentary people have a fitness age 12 years over their expected chronological average age. Conclusion: Sedentary people have a higher fitness age; therefore your body deteriorates faster than the nonsedentary people. A low level of VO2máx is a powerful predictor of cardiorespiratory capacity and of cardiovascular diseasesEl estudio fue financiado por la Escuela de Kinesiología de la Universidad Bernardo O`higgin

Cardiac electrical defects in progeroid mice and Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome patients with nuclear lamina alterations

Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare genetic disease caused by defective prelamin A processing, leading to nuclear lamina alterations, severe cardiovascular pathology, and premature death. Prelamin A alterations also occur in physiological aging. It remains unknown how defective prelamin A processing affects the cardiac rhythm. We show age-dependent cardiac repolarization abnormalities in HGPS patients that are also present in the Zmpste24-/- mouse model of HGPS. Challenge of Zmpste24-/- mice with the ß-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol did not trigger ventricular arrhythmia but caused bradycardia-related premature ventricular complexes and slow-rate polymorphic ventricular rhythms during recovery. Patch-clamping in Zmpste24-/- cardiomyocytes revealed prolonged calcium-transient duration and reduced sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium loading and release, consistent with the absence of isoproterenol-induced ventricular arrhythmia. Zmpste24-/- progeroid mice also developed severe fibrosis-unrelated bradycardia and PQ interval and QRS complex prolongation. These conduction defects were accompanied by overt mislocalization of the gap junction protein connexin43 (Cx43). Remarkably, Cx43 mislocalization was also evident in autopsied left ventricle tissue from HGPS patients, suggesting intercellular connectivity alterations at late stages of the disease. The similarities between HGPS patients and progeroid mice reported here strongly suggest that defective cardiac repolarization and cardiomyocyte connectivity are important abnormalities in the HGPS pathogenesis that increase the risk of arrhythmia and premature death.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Factors in the development of secondary hyperparathyroidism during graded renal failure in the rat

Factors in the development of secondary hyperparathyroidism during graded renal failure in the rat. Secondary hyperparathyroidism (2° HPT) develops as a result of renal failure. Hypocalcemia, phosphorus retention, calcitriol deficiency and skeletal resistance to the calcemic action of parathyroid hormone (PTH) are closely interrelated pathogenic factors important for the development of 2° HPT in renal failure. Since previous studies have mainly focused on advanced renal failure, only limited data are available in early renal failure. The goal of the present study was to evaluate how alterations in the dietary calcium and phosphorus composition affect the factors known to contribute to the genesis of 2° HPT in early and more advanced renal failure. To achieve this goal, graded differences in renal function were surgically induced in 453 rats while the dietary content of calcium and phosphorus was varied. Three different diets were used: (1) a high phosphorus diet (HPD), to induce phosphorus retention and stimulate 2° HPT; (2) a high calcium diet (HCaD), to inhibit calcitriol synthesis; and (3) a moderate calcium-moderate phosphorus diet (MCaPD), to separate the effects of high dietary phosphorus and calcium. Based on the serum creatinine (SCr) concentration rats were assigned to one of four different groups: (1) normal renal function (SCr ≤ 0.3 mg/dl); (2) mild renal failure (SCr 0.4 to 0.6 mg/dl); (3) moderate renal failure (SCr 0.7 to 0.8 mg/dl); or (4) advanced renal failure (SCr ≥ 0.9 mg/dl). As the severity of renal failure increased, progressive 2° HPT developed in each of the dietary groups. In the HPD group, the increase in PTH in normals from 47 ± 2 to 135 ± 14 pg/ml in mild renal failure (P < 0.001) was associated with hyperphosphatemia, a decrease in calcitriol and a decreased calcemic response to PTH. In the HCaD group, the increase in PTH in normals from 42 ± 2 to 74 ± 4 pg/ml in mild renal failure (P < 0.001) was associated with a decrease in calcitriol. In the MCaPD group, 2° HPT developed (40 ± 2 vs. 70 ± 4 pg/ml, normals vs. mild renal failure, P < 0.001) despite normal serum calcium, phosphorus and calcitriol levels; however, a decreased calcemic response to PTH was observed. In advanced renal failure, progressive increases of PTH were observed in all groups, but PTH levels were approximately three-fold greater in the HPD than the HCaD and MCaPD groups (410 ± 24, 114 ± 14 and 138 ± 17 pg/ml, respectively; P < 0.001). While serum calcitriol levels were markedly decreased in the HPD and HCaD groups in advanced renal failure, normal calcitriol levels were present in the MCaPD group. In summary, the development and magnitude of 2° HPT in the HPD group could be best explained by the contribution of several additive factors which included: hypocalcemia, phosphorus retention, a calcitriol deficiency and a decreased calcemic response to PTH. In the HCaD group, a calcitriol deficiency appeared to be the most important factor for the development of 2° HPT. In the MCaPD group, a decreased calcemic response to PTH, which may have been due to uremia, was the only factor to which 2° HPT could be attributed

Scheduling in Dense Small Cells with Successive Interference Cancellation

published_or_final_versio

Prediction of the n‑octanol/water partition coefficients in the SAMPL6 blind challenge from MST continuum solvation calculations

The IEFPCM/MST continuum solvation model is used for the blind prediction of n-octanol/water partition of a set of 11 fragment-like small molecules within the SAMPL6 Part II Partition Coefficient Challenge. The partition coefficient of the neutral species (log P) was determined using an extended parametrization of the B3LYP/6-31G(d) version of the Miertus-Scrocco-Tomasi continuum solvation model in n-octanol. Comparison with the experimental data provided for partition coefficients yielded a root-mean square error (rmse) of 0.78 (log P units), which agrees with the accuracy reported for our method (rmse = 0.80) for nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds. Out of the 91 sets of log P values submitted by the participants, our submission is within those with an rmse < 1 and among the four best ranked physical methods. The largest errors involve three compounds: two with the largest positive deviations (SM13 and SM08), and one with the largest negative deviations (SM15). Here we report the potentiometric determination of the log P for SM13, leading to a value of 3.62 ± 0.02, which is in better agreement with most empirical predictions than the experimental value reported in SAMPL6. In addition, further inclusion of several conformations for SM08 significantly improved our results. Inclusion of these refinements led to an overall error of 0.51 (log P units), which supports the reliability of the IEFPCM/MST model for predicting the partitioning of neutral compounds

Frankenstein’s problem

This text is based on an invited address presented at IFIP 8.2 ‘Living with Monsters’ in San Francisco, CA, 11 December 2018. Taking the 200th anniversary of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s Frankenstein as a starting place, I explore questions of autonomy and control with respect to human/technology relations. I consider the ambivalence of these agencies, and recent initiatives in science and technology studies and related fields to reconceptualize the problem as matters of relation and care. While embracing this turn, I reflect as well upon the ambivalences of relation and care, and the need to address the resilient politics of alterity in our figurations (and celebrations) of the monstrous