RBM-based Silhouette Encoding for Human Action Modelling

Abstract—In this paper we evaluate the use of Restricted Bolzmann Machines (RBM) in the context of learning and recognizing human actions. The features used as basis are binary silhouettes of persons. We test the proposed approach on two datasets of human actions where binary silhouettes are available: ViHASi (synthetic data) and Weizmann (real data). In addition, on Weizmann dataset, we combine features based on optical flow with the associated binary silhouettes. The results show that thanks to the use of RBM-based models, very informative and shorter feature vectors can be obtained for the classification tasks, improving the classification performance. Keywords-Restricted Boltzmann Machines; binary silhouettes; human actions

Relación del bajo peso al nacer con el desarrollo psicomotor del niño de Puriscal

Artículo científico -- Universidad de Costa Rica, Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud. 1985This is a study of psycho-motor development of 84 eighteen months old children, living in the districts of Barbacoas, Grifo Alto and Candelarita in the canton of Puriscal. Gesell and Casati-Lezine tests were employed to study motricity, adaptation, languaje and several other areas of psycho-motor development. A total developmental index (D.I) was obtained and related with children's gestational age and weight at birth. Preterrn babies showed lowered D. I. than babies born at term (p=0,003). Direct relationship between weight at birth and D. I. (r=0,39, p=0,001). D. I. was even lower when low birth weight and prematurity were considered togetherSe realizó un estudio del desarrollo psicomotor en 84 niños de los distritos de Barbacoas, Grifo Alto y Candelarita de Puriscal, a los 18 meses de edad. El estudio comprendió las áreas de motricidad, adaptación, lenguaje, personal- social, utilización de recursos, búsqueda del objeto y exploración, evaluadas por media de pruebas de desarrollo psicomotor de Gesell y Casati-Lezine. Luego de evaluar las áreas se obtuvo un índice de desarrollo (l.D.) global que fue relacionado con la edad gestacional y el peso al nacer de los niños. Los niños de pre término mostraron I.D. inferiores en relación con los nacidos a término (13=0,003). Además, se encontró una relación directa entre el peso al nacer y el índice de desarrollo, pues cuanto mes bajo era el peso, más bajo fue el Índice (r=0,39, p=0,001). Al combinarse el bajo peso al nacer con la prematuridad el I.D. fue aún más bajo.Universsidad de Costa Rica, Instituto de Investigaciones en SaludUniversidad de Costa Rica, Escuela de PsicologíaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud (INISA

Perfil plurilingüe del alumnado de nuevo ingreso en el Campus de Melilla de la Universidad de Granada

XV Congreso Internacional de la Sociedad Española de Didáctica de la Lengua y la Literatura (SEDLL 2014), celebrado en Valencia, 19-21 de noviembre de 2014.Being competent in foreign languages is evident at university due to student mobility and the transmission of knowledge and research in a multilingual higher education. The Andalusian Council of Universities set the level B1 as a requirement for obtaining a university degree. In Melilla, this requirement is added to the high percentage of linguistic diversity that exists. This investigation describes the plurilingual reality of first-year students, and the socio-linguistic variables that account for results. With 206 subjects, we determine that a clear plurilingual profile exists, although their level in a foreign language is not sufficient to become independent users.Este trabajo forma parte del proyecto de investigación Estudio de la competencia multilingüe del alumnado universitario en el Campus Universitario de Melilla, incluido en el II Contrato-programa de investigación de la Facultad de Educación y Humanidades de Melilla. Plan 20 (2012-2014), financiado por el Vicerrectorado de Política Científica e Investigación de la Universidad de Granada (España)

Drivers of the Ectoparasite Community and Co-Infection Patterns in Rural and Urban Burrowing Owls

We analyzed the ectoparasite community of a monomorphic and non-social bird, the burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia, breeding in rural and urban habitats. Such community was composed by two lice, one mite and one flea species. Rural individuals had more fleas and less mites than urban ones. Adult birds harbored less ectoparasites than young ones and females harbored more lice than males. The presence of lice was positively related to the presence of fleas. On the contrary, the presence of mites was negatively related to the presence of fleas and lice. The study of parasite communities in urban and rural populations of the same species can shed light on how urban stressor factors impact the physiology of wildlife inhabiting cities and, therefore, the host-parasite relationships. Urbanization creates new ecological conditions that can affect biodiversity at all levels, including the diversity and prevalence of parasites of species that may occupy these environments. However, few studies have compared bird-ectoparasite interactions between urban and rural individuals. Here, we analyze the ectoparasite community and co-infection patterns of urban and rural burrowing owls, Athene cunicularia, to assess the influence of host traits (i.e., sex, age, and weight), and environmental factors (i.e., number of conspecifics per nest, habitat type and aridity) on its composition. Ectoparasites of burrowing owls included two lice, one flea, and one mite. The overall prevalence for mites, lice and fleas was 1.75%, 8.76% and 3.50%, respectively. A clear pattern of co-infection was detected between mites and fleas and, to less extent, between mites and lice. Adult owls harbored fewer ectoparasites than nestlings, and adult females harbored more lice than males. Our results also show that mite and flea numbers were higher when more conspecifics cohabited the same burrow, while lice showed the opposite pattern. Rural individuals showed higher flea parasitism and lower mite parasitism than urban birds. Moreover, mite numbers were negatively correlated with aridity and host weight. Although the ectoparasitic load of burrowing owls appears to be influenced by individual age, sex, number of conspecifics per nest, and habitat characteristics, the pattern of co-infection found among ectoparasites could also be mediated by unexplored factors such as host immune response, which deserves further research

Herramientas para la gestión sanitaria de la COVID-19 en el Área Metropolitana de Granada

Este es el informe que presentamos en octubre de 2020 a responsables de la gestión sanitaria en el Hospital Virgen de las Nieves de Granada, Hospital Universitario San Cecilio de Granada y del Servicio Andaluz de Saluz. La realización de este informe se enmarca en los dos contratos de colaboración siguientes: 1. Identificación de áreas vulnerables para mejorar el control de la COVID-19. Universidad de Granada y Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves. IP: Ángeles Sánchez (UGR). 29/07/2020 - 09/03/2021. 2. Factores socioeconómicos asociados con la incidencia de la COVID-19 en el Área Metropolitana de Granada. Universidad de Granada y Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves. IP: Ángeles Sánchez (UGR). 10/03/2021-11/10/2021.Uno de los retos que plantea esta crisis sanitaria consiste en anticiparse a los efectos de los rebrotes de la COVID-19. Los objetivos principales de esta investigación son estudiar la incidencia espacial de la COVID-19 en el Área Metropolitana de Granada y analizar los factores socioeconómicos que permitan identificar las áreas de mayor vulnerabilidad a la enfermedad. Con ello se pretende dotar a los gestores sanitarios de herramientas de la información obtenida en el periodo de tiempo en el cual la enfermedad se ha mostrado más hostil para orientar sus decisiones, así como facilitar instrumentos que permitan optimizar los recursos ante un rebrote. El estudio proporciona información cuantitativa y cualitativa sobre el comportamiento espacial y temporal de la enfermedad en dos periodos de tiempo del Área Metropolitana de Granada, el primero que abarca desde el 11 de marzo hasta el 15 de junio de 2020, y el segundo del 16 de junio hasta el 9 de septiembre del mismo año. Como resultados del trabajo se han obtenido los mapas de densidades o puntos calientes de la incidencia de la COVID-19, se han identificado los factores demográficos y socioeconómicos más correlacionados con la enfermedad en los 48 distritos que integran el Área Metropolitana de Granada, se ha construido un índice de vulnerabilidad socioeconómica de la COVID-19 para cada distrito, y se ha realizado una aplicación de los modelos de Kaplan-Meier para medir la ocupación de camas por casos de la COVID-19 en los hospitales de Granada. Las bases de datos han sido facilitadas por el Servicio Andaluz de Salud (incluye los resultados de las pruebas diagnósticas y serológicas de la COVID-19) y por el INE (información demográfica y socioeconómica a nivel de distrito).Universidad de GranadaHospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieve

Beneficial effect of systemic allogeneic adipose derived mesenchymal cells on the clinical, inflammatory and immunologic status of a patient with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa: A case report

Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is an incurable inherited mucocutaneous fragility disorder characterized by recurrent blisters, erosions, and wounds. Continuous blistering triggers overlapping cycles of never-ending healing and scarring commonly evolving to chronic systemic inflammation and fibrosis. The systemic treatment with allogeneic mesenchymal cells (MSC) from bone marrow has previously shown benefits in RDEB. MSC from adipose tissue (ADMSC) are easier to isolate. This is the first report on the use of systemic allogeneic ADMSC, correlating the clinical, inflammatory, and immunologic outcomes in RDEB indicating long-lasting benefits. We present the case of an RDEB patient harboring heterozygous biallelic COL7A1 gene mutations and with a diminished expression of C7. The patient presented with long-lasting refractory and painful oral ulcers distressing her quality of life. Histamine receptor antagonists, opioid analgesics, proton-pump inhibitors, and low-dose tricyclic antidepressants barely improved gastric symptoms, pain, and pruritus. Concomitantly, allogeneic ADMSC were provided as three separate intravenous injections of 106 cells/kg every 21 days. ADMSC treatment was well-tolerated. Improvements in wound healing, itch, pain and quality of life were observed, maximally at 6-9 months post-treatment, with the relief of symptoms still noticeable for up to 2 years. Remarkably, significant modifications in PBL participating in both the innate and adaptive responses, alongside regulation of levels of profibrotic factors, MCP-1/CCL2 and TGF-beta, correlated with the health improvement. This treatment might represent an alternative for non-responding patients to conventional management. It seems critical to elucidate the paracrine modulation of the immune system by MSC for their rational use in regenerative/immunoregulatory therapies.This study was supported by a donation from Berritxuak-Elkartea (2015/00397/002), a collaborative rare disease association and, from La Paz University Hospital as well as by grants from the Community of Madrid (AvanCell-CM S2017/BMD-3692) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF2017-86810-R). The UCMteamis supported by grants from the Spanish Institute of Health Carlos III (RD16/0011/0002) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (RTI2018-093899-B-I00). MJE is recipient of a contract funded by DEBRA-Spain

Influence of Regulated Deficit Irrigation on Arbequina’s Crop Yield and EVOOs Quality and Sensory Profile

Regulated deficit irrigation in super-high-density (SHD) olive orchards is a well-known strategy to save water and control plant vigor, without decreasing fruit or oil yield. As there is controversial information about its influence on virgin olive oil quality, a trial was conducted in five SHD olive orchards of Arbequina cultivar in different locations of central, east, north and northeast Spain under full irrigation (FI) and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) treatments. RDI applied during phase II of fruit growing (40% of total needs) saves more than 20% of water on average, without reductions in olive fruit or extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) yield. No threshold of 3.5 MPa of stem water potential was crossed in any case. RDI modified sterols and the fatty acid profile of EVOOs but not phenols, quality parameters, or the sensory profile. Latitude, altitude, and yearly rainfall have a big impact on some compounds such as campesterol, oleuropein, or margaroleic or linolenic acids.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Revealing the Specificity of Human H1 Influenza A Viruses to Complex N-Glycans

Influenza virus infection remains a threat to human health since viral hemagglutinins are constantly drifting, escaping infection and vaccine-induced antibody responses. Viral hemag-glutinins from different viruses display variability in glycan recognition. In this context, recent H3N2 viruses have specificity for alpha 2,6 sialylated branched N-glycans with at least three N- acetyllactosamine units (tri-LacNAc). In this work, we combined glycan arrays and tissue binding analyses with nuclear magnetic resonance experiments to characterize the glycan specificity of a family of H1 variants, including the one responsible for the 2009 pandemic outbreak. We also analyzed one engineered H6N1 mutant to understand if the preference for tri-LacNAc motifs could be a general trend in human-type receptor-adapted viruses. In addition, we developed a new NMR approach to perform competition experiments between glycans with similar compositions and different lengths. Our results point out that pandemic H1 viruses differ from previous seasonal H1 viruses by a strict preference for a minimum of di-LacNAc structural motifs.R.P.d.V. is a recipient of an ERC Starting grant from the European Commission (802780) and a Beijerinck Premium of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences. The glycan array setup was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, TOP-PUNT 718.015.003 to G.-J.P.H.B.). Dr. Lin Liu (CCRC) and Dr. Margreet A . Wolfert (Utrecht University) developed, printed, and validated the glycan microarray. We would like to thank Nikoloz Nemanichvili for technical assistance. A.C. acknowledges funding from Agencia Estatal de Investigacion "Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation" (MICINN) project PID2019-105237GB-I00. J.P.C. acknowledges funding by the Spanish MICINN, grant no. RTI2018-095588-B-I00 (co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund, "Invest-ing in your future"). JJB also tha n k s funding by the European Research Council (RECGLYCANMR, Advanced grant no. 788143), the Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (Spain) for grants RTI2018-094751-B-C21 and C22 and PDI2021-1237810B-C21 and C22, and CIBERES, an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Madrid, Spain. The NMR spectra were acquired at the NMR service of CIBMargarita Salas and in the NMR faci l i t y of the UCM. We also acknowledge Prof. Robert Woods group for sending us the coordinates of a glycan-hemagglut i n i n model

Morphofunctional and Molecular Assessment of Nutritional Status in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Undergoing Systemic Treatment: Role of Inflammasome in Clinical Nutrition

Malnutrition in patients with head and neck cancer is frequent, multifactorial and widely associated with clinical evolution and prognosis. Accurate nutritional assessments allow for early identification of patients at risk of malnutrition in order to start nutritional support and prevent sarcopenia. We aimed to perform a novel morphofunctional nutritional evaluation and explore changes in inflammasome-machinery components in 45 patients with head and neck cancer who are undergoing systemic treatment. To this aim, an epidemiological/clinical/anthropometric/biochemical evaluation was performed. Serum RCP, IL6 and molecular expression of inflammasome-components and inflammatory-associated factors (NOD-like-receptors, inflammasome-activation-components, cytokines and inflammation/apoptosis-related components, cell-cycle and DNA-damage regulators) were evaluated in peripheral-blood mononuclear-cells (PBMCs). Clinical-molecular correlations/associations were analyzed. Coherent and complementary information was obtained in the morphofunctional nutritional assessment of the patients when bioimpedance, anthropometric and ultrasound data were analyzed. These factors were also correlated with different biochemical and molecular parameters, revealing the complementary aspect of the whole evaluation. Serum reactive C protein (RCP) and IL6 were the most reliable parameters for determining patients with decreased standardized phase angle, which is associated with increased mortality in patients with solid malignancies. Several inflammasome-components were dysregulated in patients with malnutrition, decreased phase angle and dependency grade or increased circulating inflammation markers. A molecular fingerprint based on gene-expression of certain inflammasome factors (p27/CCL2/ASC) in PBMCs accurately differentiated patients with and without malnutrition. In conclusion, malnutrition induces a profound alteration in the gene-expression pattern of inflammasome-machinery components in PBMCs. A comprehensive nutritional assessment including novel morphofunctional techniques and molecular markers allows a broad characterization of the nutritional status in cancer patients. Profile of certain inflammasome-components should be further studied as potential targets for nutrition-focused treatment strategies in cancer patients

Genomic mutation profile in progressive chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients prior to first-line chemoimmunotherapy with FCR and rituximab maintenance (REM)

Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) is the most prevalent leukemia in Western countries and is notable for its variable clinical course. This variability is partly reflected by the mutational status of IGHV genes. Many CLL samples have been studied in recent years by next-generation sequencing. These studies have identified recurrent somatic mutations in NOTCH1, SF3B1, ATM, TP53, BIRC3 and others genes that play roles in cell cycle, DNA repair, RNA metabolism and splicing. In this study, we have taken a deep-targeted massive sequencing approach to analyze the impact of mutations in the most frequently mutated genes in patients with CLL enrolled in the REM (rituximab en mantenimiento) clinical trial. The mutational status of our patients with CLL, except for the TP53 gene, does not seem to affect the good results obtained with maintenance therapy with rituximab after front-line FCR treatment