Intership in low-vision and visual training programs: stage in Ipovisione e programmi Visual Training

In this final project for the Degree in Optics and Optometry, I collected information in low vision rehabilitation. I followed an internship at the San Paolo Hospital in Milan, under the guidance of Doctor Paolo Ferri, Orthoptist by profession, where I was able to observe and participate in the management of patients in order to ensure the best possible solution for each particular case. Therefore, I was able to gain valuable knowledge on the characteristics of low vision patients and in the types of visual rehabilitation procedures that are available to them. In addition, data was collected in order to determine which specific rehabilitation techniques were most useful for each condition. Different cases of low vision patients were observed, such as patients with retinopathies, glaucoma and others. However, it was noted that visual rehabilitation efforts were mainly directed to age related macular degeneration (ARMD), which was one of the most common types of visual threatening conditions we encountered at the San Paolo Hospital

A Decision Tree and S-Transform Based Approach for Power Quality Disturbances Classification

In this paper, it is presented an automated classification based on S-transform as feature extraction tool and Decision Tree as algorithm classifier. The signals generated according to mathematical models, including complex disturbances, have been used to design and test this approach, where noise is added to the signals from 40dB to 20dB. Finally, several disturbances, simple and complex, have been considered to test the implemented system. Evaluation results verifying the accuracy of the proposed method are presented.IEE

Heavy metals in water and stream sediments from the Auriferous District of Ginebra, Colombian Andes

Se determinaron concentraciones de metales pesados tóxicos en aguas, sedimentos de corriente y sedimentos en suspensión del Distrito Aurífero de Ginebra, un área minera de pequeña escala en el Departamento de Valle del Cauca (Colombia), mediante técnicas de espectrometría de absorción atómica. Los datos mostraron anomalías positivas relacionadas con las colas de mina, cuyas concentraciones decayeron hasta por debajo de los límites máximos permitidos para agua potable, como resultado de un efecto buffer del agua natural del área de estudio. Sin embargo, se debe considerar el riesgo potencial de polución severa aguas abajo, así como la introducción de metales pesados tóxicos en la cadena alimenticia, por contaminación de aguas y productos agrícolas. También se presentan algunas recomendaciones

Fractal parameters of pore space from CT images of soils under contrasting management practices

Soil structure plays an important role in flow and transport phenomena, and a quantitative characterization of the spatial heterogeneity of the pore space geometry is beneficial for prediction of soil physical properties. Morphological features such as pore-size distribution, pore space volume or pore?solid surface can be altered by different soil management practices. Irregularity of these features and their changes can be described using fractal geometry. In this study, we focus primarily on the characterization of soil pore space as a 3D geometrical shape by fractal analysis and on the ability of fractal dimensions to differentiate between two a priori different soil structures. We analyze X-ray computed tomography (CT) images of soils samples from two nearby areas with contrasting management practices. Within these two different soil systems, samples were collected from three depths. Fractal dimensions of the pore-size distributions were different depending on soil use and averaged values also differed at each depth. Fractal dimensions of the volume and surface of the pore space were lower in the tilled soil than in the natural soil but their standard deviations were higher in the former as compared to the latter. Also, it was observed that soil use was a factor that had a statistically significant effect on fractal parameters. Fractal parameters provide useful complementary information about changes in soil structure due to changes in soil management. Read More: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0218348X14400118?queryID=%24%7BresultBean.queryID%7D

Volume, Surface, Connectivity and Size Distribution of Soil Pore Space in CT Images: Comparison of Samples at Different Depths from Nearby Natural and Tillage Areas

The study of soil structure, i.e., the pores, is of vital importance in different fields of science and technology. Total pore volume (porosity), pore surface, pore connectivity and pore size distribution are some (probably the most important) of the geometric measurements of pore space. The technology of X-ray computed tomography allows us to obtain 3D images of the inside of a soil sample enabling study of the pores without disturbing the samples. In this work we performed a set of geometrical measures, some of them from mathematical morphology, to assess and quantify any possible difference that tillage may have caused on the soil. We compared samples from tilled soil with samples from a soil with natural vegetation taken in a very close area. Our results show that the main differences between these two groups of samples are total surface area and pore connectivity per unit pore volume

Structural and numerical identifiability of thermal resistances in plate fin-and-tube heat exchangers using manufacturer catalog data

Plate fin-and-tube heat exchangers, commonly known as heating/cooling coils, are widely used in HVAC systems to transfer heat to or from air. A problem of practical interest in coil simulation is to identify the thermal resistances on the air and liquid sides using manufacturer catalog data. Manufacturers rarely provide detailed information (geometry and circuitry) of the coils they sell or install in factory-made equipment such as air handling units or fan-coils; they just report the performance of the coil at a few typical operating conditions. This paper examines whether it is mathematically possible to back-calculate the thermal resistances on the air and liquid sides using a set of performance data that is disturbed by noise (e.g. measurement errors) and consists of operating cases in which none of the two thermal resistances can be neglected. The first part of the paper discusses the structural identifiability problem, that is, the mathematical possibility of fitting Nusselt-type correlations for air and liquid, as well as a constant resistance for the wall. The second part of the paper discusses the possibility of calculating the numerical value of the parameters of the Nusselt correlations (constant or constant and exponent) using noisy data. The analysis is applied to a typical coil, which is simulated by means of a mathematical modelUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Constructing virtual 5-dimensional tori out of lower-dimensional network cards

[EN] In the Top500 and Graph500 lists of the last years, some of the most powerful systems implement a torus topology to interconnect themillions of computing nodes they include. Some of these torus networks are of five or six dimensions, which implies an additional difficulty as the node degree increases. In previous works, we proposed and evaluated the nD Twin (nDT) torus topology to virtually increase the dimensions a torus is able to implement. We showed that this new topology reduces the distances between nodes, increasing, therefore, global network performance. In this work, we present how to build a 5DT torus network using a specific commercial 6-port network card (EXTOLL card) to interconnect those nodes. We show, using the same number of cards, that the performance of the 5DT torus network we are able to implement using our proposal is higher than the performance of the 3D torus network for the same number of compute nodes.Spanish MINECO; European Commission, Grant/Award Number: TIN2015-66972-C5-1-R and TIN2015-66972-C5-2-R; JCCM, Grant/Award Number: PEII-2014-028-P; Spanish MICINN, Grant/Award Number: FJCI-2015-26080Andújar-Muñoz, FJ.; Villar, JA.; Sanchez Garcia, JL.; Alfaro Cortes, FJ.; Duato Marín, JF.; Fröning, H. (2017). Constructing virtual 5-dimensional tori out of lower-dimensional network cards. Concurrency and Computation Practice and Experience. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpe.4361S11

Networks, Alliances and Social Capital in Innovation Processes: The Cases of Biotechnology from Puebla and Bologna

En este estudio se documentan diversos casos de grupos de investigación dedicados a la biotecnología, que provienen de Puebla (México) y Bolonia (Italia). En ambas localidades tal disciplina es un campo relativamente nuevo cuyos grupos de investigación surgieron en los años noventa. Aunque la biotecnología tuvo su origen y mayor desarrollo en las universidades norteamericanas durante los años cincuentas del siglo XX, en países con menor desarrollo como México e Italia su incorporación a la academia y a la industria ha seguido caminos peculiares. Los casos de Puebla y Bolonia permiten observar la forma en la que se ha desarrollado la biotecnología en contextos diversos, así como los factores que han influido para facilitar y limitar su desarrollo. En ambas localidades, la biotecnología agroalimentaria se encuentra en el mismo nivel de desarrollo, es decir, no existen desarrollos de start-ups o licencias de patentes, pero sí existen otros modos de colaboración universidad-industria no documentados (consultoría, investigación colaborativa, formación de recursos humanos y divulgación del conocimiento). Tales formas de colaboración, poco evidentes, representan las fuentes de la innovación tecnológica y son comunes a la mayoría de las universidades. La combinación de estas fuentes de innovación son las que hacen posible las formas avanzadas de colaboración, esperadas por las políticas públicas, dirigidas a la innovación y el desarrollo socioeconómico (spin-offs y licencia de patentes). Asimismo, en ambas localidades existen casos que involucran al capital social y la divulgación del conocimiento como drivers trascendentales para la transferencia tecnológica. De este modo, hemos documentado diversos procesos de innovación que implican la conformación de alianzas, a partir del esfuerzo realizado por los investigadores, que dan cuenta de una institucionalización creciente de la investigación tecnológica en ambas localidades; así como de importantes perspectivas de mayor colaboración universidad-industria.This study aims to describe different research group cases, focused on biotechnology, both in Puebla (Mexico) and Bologna (Puebla). In both places, such discipline is a relatively new field of study with networks of researchers from the 1990’s. Even though biotechnology originated and developed in American universities during the 1950’s, countries such as Mexico or Italy have incorporated it in the academy and the industry following peculiar paths. By means of these cases, it has been possible to analyze biotechnology evolution in different contexts, as well as the conditions which have facilitated or limited its development. Both in Puebla and Bologna, agro-food biotechnology is at the same level: with no start-up projects, or patent licenses but with other non-documented collaborative university-industry efforts (consultancy, collaborative research, human resources professionalization and knowledge dissemination). Such less evident collaborative types are the sources of technological innovation common to the majority of the universities. The combination of these sources represents the advanced forms of collaboration expected by the public policy aimed to the innovation and socioeconomic development (spin-offs and patent licenses). Furthermore, in both contexts, there are cases involving social capital and the dissemination of knowledge such as drivers, essential for the technology transfer. We have documented different innovation processes that imply the consolidation of alliances, achieved by the effort of researchers, which also evidence the growing institutionalization of technological research in both places; with an important perspective of greater university-industry collaboration

Morphological Functions with Parallel Sets for the Pore Space of X-ray CT Images of Soil Columns

During the last few decades, new imaging techniques like X-ray computed tomography have made available rich and detailed information of the spatial arrangement of soil constituents, usually referred to as soil structure. Mathematical morphology provides a plethora of mathematical techniques to analyze and parameterize the geometry of soil structure. They provide a guide to design the process from image analysis to the generation of synthetic models of soil structure in order to investigate key features of flow and transport phenomena in soil. In this work, we explore the ability of morphological functions built over Minkowski functionals with parallel sets of the pore space to characterize and quantify pore space geometry of columns of intact soil. These morphological functions seem to discriminate the effects on soil pore space geometry of contrasting management practices in a Mediterranean vineyard, and they provide the first step toward identifying the statistical significance of the observed differences

Parallel sets and morphological measurements of CT images of soil pore structure in a vineyard

Important physical and biological processes in soil-plant-microbial systems are dominated by the geometry of soil pore space, and a correct model of this geometry is critical for understanding them. We analyze the geometry of soil pore space with the X-ray computed tomography (CT) of intact soil columns. We present here some preliminary results of our investigation on Minkowski functionals of parallel sets to characterize soil structure. We also show how the evolution of Minkowski morphological measurements of parallel sets may help to characterize the influence of conventional tillage and permanent cover crop of resident vegetation on soil structure in a Spanish Mediterranean vineyard