Emotion detection in real-time on an Android Smartphone

During the last decade the proliferation and capabilities of smartphones have exploded, reaching a situation in which, nowadays, almost everybody carries one of these devices with enormous computational power, cameras and several sensors at any time. The omnipresence, the capabilities and the tools available to facilitate developing applications are the perfect combination for proposing solutions to numerous problems, some existing and some created. In this research, an approach of the widely researched topic of automatically detecting human emotions is brought to the Android platform by means of an application. A system is developed using some existing tools in order to detect emotions with few computations so that it may run in real time on smartphones with less computational power. Given the limited time available for developing this project, the scope of this work is to set the foundation so that the application can be improved in the future by other researchers; therefore, some limitations are set, and some stages are not fully optimized. Finally, future improvements are proposed to facilitate the continuation of this project

Fongs oportunistes: Avaluació de la patogènia i sensibilitat als antifungics

Les infeccions greus causades per fongs han augmentat molt en els últims anys, i sobretot les causades pels anomenats fongs oportunistes. Aquests últims acostumen a provocar infeccions en pacients que tenen altres malalties de base, com per exemple leucèmia, SIDA, càncer, o han rebut trasplantaments d'òrgans sòlids o de moll d'os. La llista de les espècies de fongs oportunistes implicades en infeccions greus és cada dia més llarga, i les estratègies per tractar aquestes infeccions continuen essent molt limitades. Els tres gèneres de fongs filamentosos oportunistes que han estat objecte d'estudi a la present tesi, Fusarium, Scedosporium i Paecilomyces es troben dins d'aquest grup de fongs oportunistes. Encara que només provoquen infeccions greus en pacients immunocompromesos, la taxa de mortalitat d'aquestes infeccions s'acosta al 100%. L'amfotericina B ha estat durant molts anys, i encara ho és en l'actualitat, el fàrmac més utilitzat per tractar les infeccions sistèmiques, però té importants problemes de toxicitat. En els últims anys s'han desenvolupat altres formulacions d'aquest mateix fàrmac, que presenten molts menys problemes de toxicitat. L'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi ha estat avaluar l'eficàcia d'una de les noves formulacions de l'amfotericina B, el preparat liposòmic, en models animals d'infecció disseminada.Per poder comparar els diferents tractaments primer ha calgut desenvolupar models animals d'infecció per cadascun dels fongs estudiats (utilitzant ratolins), que siguin reproduïbles i que puguin simular la infecció fúngica humana.Un cop desenvolupats els models animals es va comparar l'eficàcia de les dues formulacions de l'amfotericina B, en el tractament de les infeccions causades pels fongs estudiats. Això s'avaluava comparant amb mètodes estadístics el temps de supervivència (TMS) dels diferents grups. També es comparava la quantitat de fong present a diferents òrgans dels ratolins, que eren sacrificats quan finalitzava el tractament. A part de l'amfotericina B que és, tal i com hem dit, el fàrmac més utilitzat per combatre les infeccions provocades per fongs oportunistes, hi ha d'altres antifúngics, però han demostrat poca eficàcia al menys in vitro, i els resultats clínics són molt escassos. És per això que hem volgut avaluar el possible efecte sinèrgic d'algunes combinacions d'antifúngics in vitro.De forma resumida, les conclusions principals que es desprenen dels diversos estudis realitzats són els següents.1- Es van establir models d'infecció disseminada en ratolins per les espècies següents Paecilomyces variotii, P. lilacinus, P. javanicus, Fusarium verticillioides, Scedosporium prolificans, S. apiospermum en ratolins immunodeprimits o immunocompetents.2- Es va avaluar l'eficàcia de les dues formulacions de l'antifúngic amfotericina B (el desoxicolat i la formulació liposòmica) en diferents models d'infecció experimental desenvolupats en la primara fase dels estudis.En ratolins infectats amb P. variotii, les dues formulacions van ser equivalents a dosis baixes, però l'administració d'amfotericina B liposòmica a 10 mg/kg va provocar una disminució significativa de la presència del fong en alguns òrgans.Les dosis baixes d'amfotericina B liposòmica va fer augmentar el TMS dels ratolins infectats amb F. verticillioides. Les dosis altes, a més, van fer disminuir significativament la presència del fong en diversos òrgans.En els ratolins infectats per S. prolificans, es va observar un increment del TMS, que va ser més evident amb la dosi més alta d'amfotericina B liposòmica. L'administració de G-CSF amb la teràpia antifúngica no va millorar els resultats. 3- S'ha avaluat l'activitat in vitro de nou combinacions d'antifúngics davant de diverses espècies dels gèneres Fusarium i Paecilomyces.Les combinacions que s'han comportat de forma sinèrgica per un nombre més elevat de soques han estat les de ravuconazol combinat tant amb amfotericina B com amb terbinafina, i aquesta última combinada amb voriconazol. Les combinacions que s'han comportat de forma sinèrgica per un nombre més elevat de soques han estat totes les de terbinafina combinada amb azols.Deep infections caused by moulds have increased during the last years, and especially those caused by opportunistic fungi. These fungi use to provoke infections in patients with underlying diseases such as leukaemia, AIDS, cancer, and solid organ or bone marrow transplant recipients. The number of fungal species involved in deep infections increases every day, and the strategies to treat these infections are still limited. The three genera of filamentous fungi that have been studied in the present thesis Fusarium, Scedosporium and Paecilomyces are included in the group of emerging opportunistic pathogens. Even though they just provoke severe infections in immunocompromised patients, the mortality rate is close to 100%. Amphotericin B has been for many years, and is still nowadays, the most used drug to treat the systemic infections, but it has important toxicity problems. In recent years newer formulations of the drug have been developed, which show less toxicity problems. The main objective of the present thesis has been to evaluate the efficacy of one of the newer formulations of amphotericin B, the liposomal preparation, in murine models of disseminated infection.To be able to compare both treatments we previously developed reproducible animal models of infection (using mice) that could simulate the human infection, for each one of the strains. This was in order to compare the efficacy of both formulations of amphotericin B, in the treatment of the infections caused by the studied fungi. This was evaluated by comparing using statistic methods the mean survival time of the different groups of mice (MST). We also compared the tissue burden of the fungi in several target organs of mice, which were sacrificed after the treatment. In addition to amphotericin B which is, as we said before, the most widely used drug to treat infections caused by opportunistic fungi, there are other antifungal agents, but they have shown low efficacy, at least in vitro, and the clinical results are very scarce. That is why we wanted to evaluate the possible synergic effect in vitro of some of these drug combinations.In a resumed way, the main conclusions derived from the several performed studies are as follows:1- We established murine models of disseminaded infection by the following species: Paecilomyces variotii, P. lilacinus, P. javanicus, Fusarium verticillioides, Scedosporium prolificans, and S. apiospermum in immunosuppressed or immunocompetent mice.2- We evaluated the efficacy of two formulations of the antifungal agent amphotericin B (the deoxycholate and the liposomal formulations) in the different experimental infection models developed in the first phase of the studies.In mice infected with P. variotii, both formulations showed similar results at low doses, but the administration of liposomal amphotericin B at 10 mg/kg provoked a significant decrease of the presence of the fungus in target organs.Low doses of liposomal amphotericin B increased the MST of mice infected with F. verticillioides. At high doses, it also lowered the presence of the fungus in several organs.In mice infected with S. prolificans, the administration of high doses of high doses of liposomal amphotericin B provoked an increase of MST, which was more evident with the highest dose. The administration of G-CSF together with the antifungal therapy did not improve the results. 3- We evaluated the in vitro activity of nine combinations of antifungal drugs against several species of the genera Fusarium and Paecilomyces.The combinations that showed a highest percentage of synergic effects for Fusarium were ravuconazole combined with amphotericin B or terbinafine, and terbinafine with voriconazole. The combinations that showed a highest percentage of synergic effects for Paecilomyces were terbinafine combined with any of the azoles

Classification of physical activity from the embedded smartphone sensors: algorithm development and validation

Physical activity classification has grown in importance lately, for reasons such as positioning or health issues. Given the ubiquity of smartphones and the plethora of sensors they contain, these devices have become an extremely useful tool for this task. In that direction, this project provides an algorithm to count steps using the accelerometer of an Android smartphone. This algorithm searches for patterns in the accelerometer’s signal based on the correlation between consecutive fragments of the signal after a pre-processing step that adapts the data, to count steps under relatively unconstrained ways of carrying the smartphone. The accuracy of the designed algorithm is 92.5% using a database of eleven subjects and four different tests for each subject. As some limitations have been found, a plan for improving the algorithm has been introduced, based on the experience acquired.Clasificar actividad física es cada vez más importante, ya sea para posicionamiento o por problemas de salud. Dada la omnipresencia de los smartphones y el conjunto de sensores que contienen, estos aparatos se han convertido en herramientas verdaderamente útiles para ésta tarea. En esta línea, este proyecto proporciona un algoritmo para contar pasos a partir del acelerómetro de un móvil Android. Este algoritmo busca patrones en el señal de acelerometría basándose en la correlación entre fragmentos consecutivos de señal tras un preprocesado para adaptar los datos; para contar pasos con formas de llevar el móvil poco restrictivas. La precision del algoritmo diseñado es de 92.5% usando una base de datos de once sujetos y cuatro pruebas distintas para cada sujeto. Aunque los resultados no son tan buenos como se pretendía, se han planteado unos posibles pasos para mejorar el algoritmo basados en la experiencia adquirida.Classificar l’activitat física és cada cop més important, ja sigui per posicionament o per problemes de salut. Donada l’omnipresència dels smartphones i el conjunt de sensors que contenen, aquests aparells s’han convertit en eines verdaderament útils per aquesta tasca. En aquesta línia, aquest projecte proporciona un algorisme per comptar passos a partir de l’acceleròmetre d’un mòbil Android. Aquest algorisme busca patrons en el senyal d’accelerometria basant-se en la correlació entre fragments consecutius de senyal després d’un pre-processament per adaptar les dades; per comptar passos amb maneres de portar el mòbil poc restrictives. La precisió de l’algorisme dissenyat és de 92.5% fent servir una base de dades d’onze subjectes i quatre proves diferents per cada subjecte. Com s’han trobat certes limitacions, s’han plantejat uns possibles passos per millorar l’algorisme basats en l’experiència adquirida

Differential expression of genes involved in iron metabolism in Aspergillus fumigatus

The ability of fungi to survive in many environments is linked to their capacity to acquire essential nutrients. Iron is generally complexed and available in very limited amounts. Like bacteria, fungi have evolved highly specific systems for iron acquisition. Production and uptake of iron-chelating siderophores has been shown to be important for certain human bacterial pathogens, as well as in fungal pathogens such as Cryptococcus neoformans and Fusarium graminearum. This system also enables the opportunistic fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus to infect and subsequently colonize the human lung. In this study, advantage was taken of genome sequence data available for both Aspergillus nidulans and A. fumigatus either to partially clone or to design PCR primers for 10 genes putatively involved in siderophore biosynthesis or uptake in A. fumigatus. The expression of these genes was then monitored by semi-quantitative and quantitative real-time PCR over a range of iron concentrations. As expected, the putative biosynthetic genes sidA, sidC and sidD were all strongly up-regulated under iron starvation conditions, although the variable degree of induction indicates complex regulation by a number of transcriptional factors, including the GATA family protein SreA. In contrast, the gene sidE shows no iron-regulation, suggesting that SidE may not be involved in siderophore biosynthesis. The characterisation of the expression patterns of this subset of genes in the iron regulon facilitates further studies into the importance of iron acquisition for pathogenesis of A. fumigatus. [Int Microbiol 2006; 9(4):281-287

Controlling Water Temperature during the Electrocoagulation Process Using an Innovative Flow Column-Electrocoagulation Reactor

A flow column has been innovatively used in the design of a new electrocoagulation reactor (ECR1) that will reduce the temperature of water being treated; where the flow columns work as a radiator for the water being treated. In order to investigate the performance of ECR1 and compare it to that of traditional reactors; 600 mL water samples with an initial temperature of 350C were pumped continuously through these reactors for 30 min at current density of 1 mA/cm2. The temperature of water being treated was measured at 5 minutes intervals over a 30 minutes period using a thermometer. Additional experiments were commenced to investigate the effects of initial temperature (15-350C), water conductivity (0.15 – 1.2 mS/cm) and current density (0.5 -3 mA/cm2) on the performance of ECR1. The results obtained demonstrated that the ECR1, at a current density of 1 mA/cm2 and continuous flow model, reduced water temperature from 350C to the vicinity of 280C during the first 15 minutes and kept the same level till the end of the treatment time. While, the temperature increased from 28.1 to 29.80C and from 29.8 to 31.90C in the batch and the traditional continuous flow models respectively. In term of initial temperature, ECR1 maintained the temperature of water being treated within the range of 22 to 280C without the need for external cooling system even when the initial temperatures varied over a wide range (15 to 350C). The influent water conductivity was found to be a significant variable that affect the temperature. The desirable value of water conductivity is 0.6 mS/cm. However, it was found that the water temperature increased rapidly with a higher current density

Aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida y emprendizaje

Trabajo fin de master de profesorado basado sobre el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida y el emprendizaje realizado por Pablo Antoñanzas Ortoneda y autorizado por Luis Berges Mur

Improving biodiesel yield of animal waste fats by combination of a pre-treatment technique and microwave technology Renewable Energy

Recently, due to its low cost there has been increased attention on Animal Waste Fats (AWFs) as a feedstock for biodiesel production. Advanced microwave technology has also been reported by many researchers to enhance the transesterification in biodiesel production. However, esterification of free fatty acids in the feedstock reported here has not attracted so much attention. AWFs come with its challenges namely, high free fatty acid (FFA) content and high water content. This study utilizes AWFs (tallow) containing very large amount of FFA; (25wt.%, 18 wt.%, and 9.4 wt.% FFA/AWFs) as feedstock for fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) production. A simple thermal pre-treatment technique followed microwave assisted esterification with methanol (MeOH) was conducted in a batch process to reduce the FFA content to as low as 1wt.% FFA, which is then suitable for the alkaline transesterification process. The pre-treatment of AWFs at 88°C to first reduce water and decrease viscosity, followed by an operating microwave power of 70W producing a power density 1.147mW/m3, achieved a 15% increase in reduction of FFA over 30W microwave power and conventional thermal method. Under optimum conditions, using 2.0 wt.wt% sulphuric acid catalyst/AWFs and 1:6 molar ratio AWF/MeOH, the FFA conversion of 93wt. % was achieved. The results indicated that the pre-treatment and microwave application provided a faster route to high FFA reduction of AWFs during esterification process. The proposed technology is promising for the potential scale up industrial application