Training a Convolutional Neural Network for Appearance-Invariant Place Recognition

Place recognition is one of the most challenging problems in computer vision, and has become a key part in mobile robotics and autonomous driving applications for performing loop closure in visual SLAM systems. Moreover, the difficulty of recognizing a revisited location increases with appearance changes caused, for instance, by weather or illumination variations, which hinders the long-term application of such algorithms in real environments. In this paper we present a convolutional neural network (CNN), trained for the first time with the purpose of recognizing revisited locations under severe appearance changes, which maps images to a low dimensional space where Euclidean distances represent place dissimilarity. In order for the network to learn the desired invariances, we train it with triplets of images selected from datasets which present a challenging variability in visual appearance. The triplets are selected in such way that two samples are from the same location and the third one is taken from a different place. We validate our system through extensive experimentation, where we demonstrate better performance than state-of-art algorithms in a number of popular datasets

Deuda pública: su relación con el gasto público y los periodos electorales. Un enfoque para Latinoamérica 1993-2018

Un considerable aumento del monto de deuda pública en Latinoamérica se ha observado en los últimos años. Empleando la metodología de mínimos cuadrados generalizados factibles para datos de panel con efectos fijos, este artículo encuentra que el gasto público, el tipo de cambio real, el nivel de precios y las importaciones son los mayores contribuyentes a la acumulación de deuda. Si bien, se logra comprobar que el gasto público es el mayor detonante, también se demuestra que los periodos de elecciones presidenciales han sido un factor significativo en la constitución de la deuda pública en los países latinoamericano

Parameter identification of periodical signals: Application to measurement and analysis of ocean wave forces

This article presents an approach based on state observers to identify the parameters of an unknown periodic force exerted on a mechanical system. This approach comprises two stages and can be executed in real time by using only displacement measurements. The first stage goal is the estimation of the coefficients of a Fourier series that approximates the periodic force. From the estimated coefficients, the phase and the amplitude of the signal can be simultaneously computed; and from the estimated force, in a second stage, the frequencies of the signal can be estimated. To perform the tasks at each stage, two state observers were designed. To show the applicability of the proposed approach, the reconstruction of a wave force affecting a marine structure as well as the computation of the amplitude and phase of its spectral components was taken as case of study. The performance of the state observer was examined by means of simulations and off-line tests carried out with experimental data. Such data were obtained by executing laboratory tests and measuring waves in the Caribbean sea

Ibrutinib in Combination With Rituximab for Indolent Clinical Forms of Mantle Cell Lymphoma (IMCL-2015): A Multicenter, Open-Label, Single-Arm, Phase II Trial

Ibrutinib; Mantle cell lymphomaIbrutinib; Linfoma de células del mantoIbrutinib; Limfoma de cèl·lules de mantellPURPOSE The need for an individualized management of indolent clinical forms in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is increasingly recognized. We hypothesized that a tailored treatment with ibrutinib in combination with rituximab (IR) could obtain significant responses in these patients. METHODS This is a multicenter single-arm, open-label, phase II study with a two-stage design conducted in 12 Spanish GELTAMO sites (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02682641). Previously untreated MCL patients with indolent clinical forms defined by the following criteria were eligible: no disease-related symptoms, nonblastoid variants, Ki-67 < 30%, and largest tumor diameter ≤ 3 cm. Both leukemic non-nodal and nodal subtypes were recruited. Patients received ibrutinib 560 mg once daily and a total of eight doses of rituximab 375 mg/m2. Ibrutinib could be discontinued after 2 years in the case of sustained undetectable minimal residual disease (MRD). The primary end point was the complete response (CR) rate achieved after 12 cycles according to Lugano criteria. RESULTS Fifty patients with MCL (male 66%; median age 65 years) were enrolled. After 12 cycles of treatment, 42 (84%; 95% CI, 74 to 94) patients had an overall response, including 40 (80%; 95% CI, 69 to 91) with CR. Moreover, undetectable MRD in peripheral blood was achieved in 87% (95% CI, 77 to 97) of cases. At 2 years, 24 of 35 evaluable patients (69%) could discontinue ibrutinib because of undetectable MRD. Four patients had disease progression; three were non-nodal MCL and carried high genomic complexity and TP53 mutations at enrollment. No unexpected toxicity was seen except one patient with severe aplastic anemia. CONCLUSION Frontline IR combination achieves a high rate of CRs and undetectable MRD in indolent clinical forms of MCL. Discontinuation seems appropriate in cases with undetectable MRD, except for TP53-mutated cases.The funding for the IMCL-2015 was obtained through unrestricted Janssen Clinical Investigator-Initiated Study (IIS) Research Support

Localization of Leaks in Water Distribution Networks using Flow Readings

This paper presents a novel approach to localize single and sequential leaks based on the lumped model of a water distribution network (WDN). The principal features of such a model are: a new friction term expressed as a power-law and a suitable representation expressed only in terms of the flow rate. From the response of this model and flow rate measurements at junctions of the pipelines composing the WDN, a set of residuals1 is proposed for each pipeline. The residuals closest to zero will indicate the leak positions in the faulty pipelines. We present some simulation tests based on data from PipelineStudio® from Energy Solutions to illustrate the suitability of our method

Monitoring the influence of marine aquaculture on wild fish communities: benefits and limitations of fatty acid profiles

Fatty acids (FA) have been applied as indicators of the influence of coastal sea-cage fish farming on wild fish communities in several recent scientific publications. Due to the relatively high conservation of FA composition throughout the food web, they are useful for characterizing trophic relationships. The increasing utilization of vegetable or alternative animal oils in the production of aquafeeds results in cultivated fish exhibiting higher levels of terrestrial FAs in their tissues. As previously reported, wild fish ubiquitously aggregate around fish farms as a consequence of the introduction of new habitat and the easy availability of food—fish farms act as enhanced fish aggregation devices (FADs). The influence of food pellets on the composition of wild fish has been detected in recent studies on salmon, sea bass and sea bream aquaculture, with increased levels of linoleic acid (18:2n-6) and a low n-3/n-6 ratio as clear indicators of the consumption of food pellets from the farms. The potential ecological and physiological effects on wild fish are presently unknown. In the present article, guidelines are proposed for the investigation and use of terrestrial FAs to track the effects of coastal aquaculture on wild fish communities and local fisheries, as well as the benefits or limitations of this technique

Impacto del programa de articulación de la educación media con la educación superior en el liceo nacional Agustín Nieto Caballero

La Educación Media es una etapa de radical importancia en el desarrollo cognitivo y en la formación y consolidación del proyecto de vida de los estudiantes. Han sido múltiples los intentos y esfuerzos por consolidar un modelo de Educación Media en Bogotá, que responda adecuadamente a las verdaderas necesidades y demandas de la población perteneciente a este nivel educativo, necesidades que van desde la generación de oportunidades de exploración y descubrimiento de intereses y aptitudes, hasta la vinculación con el mundo del trabajo, pasando, obviamente, por la orientación y preparación para el ingreso a la educación superior

Theoretical and experimental characterization of emission and transmission spectra of Cerenkov radiation generated by 177Lu in tissue

Cerenkov radiation (CR) is the emission of UV-vis light generated by the de-excitation of the molecules in the medium, after being polarized by an excited particle traveling faster than the speed of light. When β particles travel through tissue with energies greater than 219 keV, CR occurs. Tissues possess a spectral optical window of 600 to 1100 nm. The CR within this range can be useful for quantitative preclinical studies using optical imaging and for the in-vivo evaluation of 177Lu-radiopharmaceuticals (β-particle emitters). The objective of our research was to determine the experimental emission light spectrum of 177Lu-CR and evaluate its transmission properties in tissue as well as the feasibility to applying CR imaging in the preclinical studies of 177Lu-radiopharmaceuticals. The theoretical and experimental characterizations of the emission and transmission spectra of 177Lu-CR in tissue, in the vis-NIR region (350 to 900 nm), were performed using Monte Carlo simulation and UV-vis spectroscopy. Mice 177Lu-CR images were acquired using a charge-coupled detector camera and were quantitatively analyzed. The results demonstrated good agreement between the theoretical and the experimental 177Lu-CR emission spectra. Preclinical CR imaging demonstrated that the biokinetics of 177Lu-radiopharmaceuticals in the main organs of mice can be acquiredThis study was supported by the Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) through the CATEDRAS-CONACYT-ININ-337 and CONACYT-SEP-CB- 2016-286753 projects. It was carried out as part of the activities of the “Laboratorio Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo de Radiofármacos, CONACyT (LANIDER-CONACYT)” and the Red-Biofotónica, CONACYT. The financial support of the SIEA-UAEMex through the Grant No 4348/2017/CI is also acknowledged