Recognition of Japanese handwritten characters with Machine learning techniques

The recognition of Japanese handwritten characters has always been a challenge for researchers. A large number of classes, their graphic complexity, and the existence of three different writing systems make this problem particularly difficult compared to Western writing. For decades, attempts have been made to address the problem using traditional OCR (Optical Character Recognition) techniques, with mixed results. With the recent popularization of machine learning techniques through neural networks, this research has been revitalized, bringing new approaches to the problem. These new results achieve performance levels comparable to human recognition. Furthermore, these new techniques have allowed collaboration with very different disciplines, such as the Humanities or East Asian studies, achieving advances in them that would not have been possible without this interdisciplinary work. In this thesis, these techniques are explored until reaching a sufficient level of understanding that allows us to carry out our own experiments, training neural network models with public datasets of Japanese characters. However, the scarcity of public datasets makes the task of researchers remarkably difficult. Our proposal to minimize this problem is the development of a web application that allows researchers to easily collect samples of Japanese characters through the collaboration of any user. Once the application is fully operational, the examples collected until that point will be used to create a new dataset in a specific format. Finally, we can use the new data to carry out comparative experiments with the previous neural network models

Serverless Application for price compasion

Project Work presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Data Science and Advanced Analytics, specialization in Data ScienceThis project comes in collaboration with Deloitte to deliver a secure endpoint with access to a database where a catalog of retail products will be represented with their prices in each of the stores of various retailers. This database allows price comparisons between stores and retailers. The project's architecture was designed according to a serverless concept, prioritizing scalability and availability, discarding maintenance and server configurations concerns. To achieve the idealized architecture, the project was developed using AWS cloud services, where the functions of ingestion and data processing are allocated and all other components of the project. I will also take a closer look at each of the various technologies and libraries that were chosen for each part of the process, as well as their contribution to the functioning of the project. The result is a stable, secure, and fast structure, capable of providing information about retail products, with the possibility of scaling horizontally without limits, which offers little maintenance thanks to its serverless design. The database that feeds the API contains a catalog with more than 30,000 products for which we have more than two million daily prices from various retailers in various stores

The impact of Covid-19 on transaction data in Portugal

Mestrado em FinançasEsta dissertação analisa o impacto da pandemia COVID-19 em dados regionais de transações em Portugal. Mais especificamente, o impacto regional é ponderado, assim como o impacto em diversas características dos municípios. Os dados usados são provenientes do INE, PORDATA e DGS e consideramos características económicas, demográficas e sociais em 278 concelhos de Portugal continental de 2015 a 2020. O método OLS de regressão é usado para efetuar a analise estatística. Estudos anteriormente realizados sugerem um aumento das transações antes da pandemia, como forma de açambarcar, mas também sugerem que o consumo iria diminuir durante o período subsequente à declaração do estado de emergência. Neste estudo analisamos três modelos distintos para compreender os três canais de transações: Levantamentos em ATM, pagamentos usando cartão português e pagamentos usando cartão estrangeiro. Testamos estes três modelos de forma a compreender os efeitos regionais causados pelo COVID-19. Observamos que as regiões com maior número de pacientes infetados com COVID-19 têm um impacto negativo em todos os canais de transação e que os meses de verão fazem aumentar valor de transações dos três canais considerados. Controlamos também diversas outras características regionais como a demográficas, económicas e sociais.This dissertation aims to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on regional transaction data in Portugal. More specifically, the regional impact is assessed, as well as the impact on several characteristics of these counties. The data used is from INE, PORDATA and DGS and we consider economic, demographic and social characteristics in 278 counties in mainland Portugal from 2015 to 2020. An OLS regression method is used to perform the analytic analysis. Previous studies suggest an increase in transactions prior to the pandemic, as a stockpiling behavior, while also suggesting that the overall consumption drops in the months following the emergency state. In this study we analyze three different models to comprehend the three different transaction channels: Automated Teller Machine withdrawals, payments using Portuguese card and payments using foreign card. We use data from the counties in Portugal mainland in order to understand the regional effects caused by COVID-19. We found that regions with more COVID-19 infected people have a negative impact on all transactions and that summertime increases all three transaction channels in consideration. We also control for several other characteristics of each region like demographic, economic and social.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

La Bibliometría en la evaluación de la actividad científica

The analysis and assessment of information and knowledge resulting of scientific activity is an essential for all public research, technology and development programs which are implemented in a society; and this is where the Science of Information provides an invaluable help, by developing techniques and instruments to measure the production of knowledge and its transformation into goods.The quantification of publications is the basic element of most of the bibliometric studies, meanwhile the one of the quotations can be used directly as a measure of the repercussion or importance of a publication, or of the publications of a person, institution or country. The reference and quotations become, in this way, in the raw material of the bibliometrics. However, they must be treated with care. The quantification of publications is not bias-free.This paper analyses the different approaches to the assessment of research from a science-metric perspective. And, in consequence, given the repercussions that bibliometric evaluations have on the allocation of funds for research and even the accreditation and professional promotion of researchers, it is necessary to know very well the particularities and limitations that its use entails.El análisis y la evaluación de la información y el conocimiento resultante de la actividad científica es un elemento imprescindible para todos los programas de investigación pública, tecnología y desarrollo que se implementan en una sociedad; y es allí donde la Ciencia de la Información brinda una ayuda inestimable, al desarrollar técnicas e instrumentos para medir la producción de conocimiento y su transformación en bienes.La cuantificación de las publicaciones es el elemento básico de la mayor parte de los estudios bibliométricos, mientras que la de las citas puede usarse directamente como medida de la repercusión o importancia de una publicación, o de las publicaciones de una persona, institución o país. Las referencias y las citas se convierten, de esta manera, en la materia prima de la Bibliometría. Sin embargo, deben tratarse con cuidado. La cuantificación de publicaciones no está libre de sesgos.El presente trabajo hace un análisis de las diferentes aproximaciones a la evaluación de la investigación desde la perspectiva cienciométrica. Y, en consecuencia, dadas las repercusiones que las evaluaciones bibliométricas tienen sobre la asignación de fondos para la investigación e incluso la acreditación y promoción profesional de los investigadores, es necesario conocer muy bien las particularidades y las limitaciones que su uso conlleva

Comparación de psicopatología en pacientes dependientes de alcohol, de cocaína y policonsumidores

El presente estudio trata de evaluar la psicopatología y el perfil característico en policonsumidores de cocaína y alcohol (n=14), dependientes de alcohol (n=10) y dependientes de cocaína (n=11) que inician tratamiento ambulatorio. Se administraron un conjunto de pruebas: SCL-90-R, BDI, MCMI-III y la Escala de Impulsividad de Barrat. Los resultados muestran que los policonsumidores realizan una demanda de tratamiento más temprana y llevan menos años de consumo previo. Todos los grupos muestran una impulsividad elevada y sintomatología leve en depresión. En el SCL-90-R los tres grupos presentan un perfil similar excepto en la escala Ideación Paranoide donde los consumidores de una única sustancia puntúan más alto. Según el Millon en los dependientes de alcohol no se debería descuidar el patrón generalizado de desconfianza hacia los demás, las ideas delirantes que pueden manifestar, así como la sintomatología ansiosa. Asimismo, sería recomendable atender a los rasgos antisociales para el grupo de cocaína y los rasgos narcisistas para el de policonsumidores. Finalmente destacar la significación obtenida en las escalas de dependencia de alcohol y dependencia de sustancias lo que viene a confirmar la adecuación de la distribución de la muestra en los tres grupos que forman parte de esta investigación

Manuel Trillo de Leyva: "Construyendo Londres; dibujando Europa"

No es fácil reseñar un libro en el que se participa junto a varios arquitectos y profesores. Sin embargo, hay que considerar la oportunidad que ofrece la temática planteada por el Consejo Editorial para este número, que permite revisar interesantes aportaciones de muchos arquitectos formados en la escuelas de arquitectura españolas que asumieron una situación generacional muy determinada: en la necesaria formación de una teoría y práctica docente y en inevitable traslación a unos estudiantes que acabarían siendo además de arquitectos, también profesores. Con el empeño personal que deriva siempre de una actitud comprometida, Manuel Trillo logró motivar a dieciséis profesores para profundizar en el conocimiento de una serie de obras construidas en Londres, estratégicamente seleccionadas entre ejemplos clásicos e indiscutibles de la arquitectura moderna y otros más recientes y polémicos, fomentando con ello el espíritu crítico, imprescindible en la obtención de conclusiones

Adaptación al castellano y estructura factorial del «Denison Organizational Culture Survey»

En este estudio se presenta la adaptación al castellano del Denison Organizational Culture Survey, una encuesta diseñada para la evaluación de la cultura organizativa. Está compuesta por 60 ítems agrupados en 12 subescalas que identifican a su vez 4 dimensiones culturales, de aceptada influencia en la efectividad organizacional. La muestra consta de 488 personas y se ha utilizado análisis factorial confirmatorio. Los resultados obtenidos señalan unas propiedades psicométricas adecuadas, por lo que cabe concluir que la adaptación española replica casi en su totalidad la estructura planteada en la versión original.This article presents a Spanish adaptation of Denison Organizational Culture Survey, a questionnaire designed to evaluate organizational culture. This survey consists of 60 items, grouped in 12 sub-scales, which identify 4 cultural dimensions. These dimensions have been widely study and their influence in organizational effectiveness is accepted. This adaptation has been applied in 488 participants using confirmatory factor analysis. Results show adequate psychometric properties, so we can conclude that the Spanish adaptation almost fully replicates the structure of the original version in English

Mortalidad por cáncer bucomaxilofacial según nivel socio económico en la Región Metropolitana período 2002-2014

Tesis (Cirujano Dentista)Objetivo: Describir las tasas de mortalidad de cáncer orofaringeo comunal según IDH. Región Metropolitana, Santiago de Chile, 2002-2014. Material y Método: Estudio ecológico descriptivo. La población fueron los casos de 45 a más años. Se calcularon tasas de mortalidad cruda y ajustada por año y periodo. Se ajustó por método directo para comparar entre comunas y controlar el efecto de la edad, sexo e IDH. Resultados: La tasa ajustada para el periodo fue 3,98 muertes por 100.000 habitantes (5,93 hombres vs 2,3 mujeres). Según IDH, la tasa ajustada fue 15,6% mayor en el grupo de comunas con IDH alto y 13,8% más en el grupo de comunas con IDH medio respecto al grupo de IDH alto. Conclusión: La mortalidad por cáncer bucofaríngeo, entre los años 2002 y 2014, en las diferentes comunas de la Región Metropolitana presentaron una estrecha relación con los indicadores socioeconómicos.Objective: To describe, by commune, the mortality rates of oropharyngeal cancer according to HDI (Human Development Index). Metropolitan Region, Santiago, Chile, 2002-2014. Material and Method: The cases were the 45 years old and more age population., the crude and adjusted mortality rates have been calculating per years and periods. It has been adjusted by direct method to compare among communes and to control the age effect, sex and HDI. Results: The adjusted rate for the period was 3.98 deaths for each 100,000 peoples (5.93 men vs 2.3 women). According to the HDI, the adjusted rate was 15.6% greater in high HDI communes group and 13.8% upper in the medium HDI communes group than in high HDI group. Conclusion: Mortality for oropharyngeal cancer between 2002 and 2014 in the different communes of the Metropolitan Region showed a close relationship with socioeconomic indicators

A Framework for Enhancing the Operational Phase of Traffic Management Plans

Road traffic emergencies are dangerous and unexpected situations that require immediate actions by the authorities. These actions involve to attend to the people who have been affected by the emergency and to minimize its consequences. A Traffic Management Plan (TMP) is a set of pre-defined measures and actions designed to produce an effective and efficient use of available resources in order to deal with a specific road incident. The operational phase of a TMP involves the coordination of several independent agencies (road managers, traffic police, firemen, etc.). These agencies must provide the resources required by the TMP in the deployment of the measures and actions. In this paper, a new framework to support the TMP operational phase is presented. This framework models each agency as an intelligent agent and it uses a reverse combinatorial distributed auction as the core component of a negotiation process. The goal of this negotiation process is to obtain a common agreement on the best possible allocation of resources taking into account the role, competencies and interest of the involved agencies. The framework has been implemented in a real scenario with real data. The tests developed have demonstrated that the system is able to manage the resources in terms of the execution time and the quality of the provided solutions

Adaptación al español del instrumento sobre cultura organizacional de Denison

En este estudio se presentan los resultados de la adaptación a grupos I+D universitarios de habla hispana de la encuesta sobre cultura organizacional de Denison. Este cuestionario, compuesto por 60 ítems que identifican 12 tipos culturales, que a su vez se agrupan en cuatro dimensiones, ha demostrado su influencia para aumentar la efectividad organizacional. La adaptación al castellano que aquí se propone ha sido aplicada a 488 personas pertenecientes a 39 grupos de I+D tecnológicos de la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. Los resultados obtenidos muestran unas propiedades psicométricas adecuadas para la adaptación realizada en cuanto a validez y fiabilidad, que replican casi en su totalidad la estructura del modelo de la versión original. This article presents a Spanish adaptation of Denison Organizational Culture Survey. This questionnaire consists of 60 items, grouped in 12 sub-scales, which identify 4 cultural dimensions. These dimensions have been widely study and their influence in organizational effectiveness is accepted. The Spanish adaptation proposed here has been applied in 488 participants of 39 I+D technological groups of Polytechnic University of Valencia. Results show adequate psychometric properties, so we can conclude that the Spanish adaptation almost fully replicates the structure of the original version in English