Some thesis about laicity

En este artículo se expresa que la laicidad indica una condición de la polis, esa condición que se funda en la separación operativa entre religión, moral y derecho. Aquello que distingue la laicidad, como modelo de vida civil de una sociedad, es que la separación entre las esferas religiosa, moral y jurídica es elevada a principio de organización primario, con el reconocimiento de una autonomía decisoria “soberana” a la sociedad civil, a través de sus representantes. No es preciso ser ateos para aceptar y sostener este modelo de laicidad, basado en la libertad de conciencia. Como tampoco supone ser agnósticos hacia lo trascendente, escépticos en lo cognitivo o indiferentistas en ética. Significa tan sólo admitir que todo hombre puede incurrir en error, sin por ello caer en el relativismo extremo. Así, la laicidad es la salvaguardia de la libertad también para las iglesias, en especial cuando son minoritarias.This article says that laicity indicates a condition of the polis, that condition is based on the operational separation between religion, morality and law. That which distinguishes laicity as a model of civic life in a society, is that the separation between the religious, moral and legal is high primary organizing principle, the recognition of a decision-making autonomy “sovereign” civil society, through their representatives. No one should be atheist to accept and support this model of laicity, based on freedom of conscience. Nor does it mean to be agnostic towards the transcendent, cognitive skeptical or indifferent ethics. It just means that every man can admit making an error, without falling into extreme relativism. Thus, laicity is the safeguarding of freedom also for the churches, especially when they are minority

Analytic description of the image to patient torso registration problem in image guided interventions

Objective: The accurate registration of virtual pre-operative information of the human body anatomy, obtained as images with imaging devices, with real intra-operative information is one of the key aspects on which effective Image Guided Surgery (IGS) is based. The registration of pre-operative images on the real patient, during abdominal and thoracic interventions, is influenced by many parameters, which in many cases are influenced each other, thus making it often difficult to define the problem and consequently to solve it for each specific kind of intervention. The objective of this paper is to obtain an analytic description of the 3D image to patient registration problem, which can be more intuitive than the traditional textual descriptions. Methods: The problem is formalized and various parameters affecting the registration are macro-classified in function of their nature. Results: The problem is analytically described discussing for each macro-category of parameters potential solutions to avoid or to reduce their contribution to the registration error. Conclusions: The availability of an analytic description of the image to patient torso registration problem can be beneficial for teaching IGS, to describe existing registration strategies, and to search new ones for each kind of surgery using a systematic approach

The role of camera convergence in stereoscopic video see-through augmented reality displays

In the realm of wearable augmented reality (AR) systems, stereoscopic video see-through displays raise issues related to the user's perception of the three-dimensional space. This paper seeks to put forward few considerations regarding the perceptual artefacts common to standard stereoscopic video see-through displays with fixed camera convergence. Among the possible perceptual artefacts, the most significant one relates to diplopia arising from reduced stereo overlaps and too large screen disparities. Two state-of-the-art solutions are reviewed. The first one suggests a dynamic change, via software, of the virtual camera convergence, whereas the second one suggests a matched hardware/software solution based on a series of predefined focus/vergence configurations. Potentialities and limits of both the solutions are outlined so as to provide the AR community, a yardstick for developing new stereoscopic video see-through systems suitable for different working distances

Comparison of measurement methods of the front velocity of small-scale debris flows

Debris flow is a gravity-driven process, which is characterized by a travelling dense surge including large boulders, and it is followed by a more fluid tail. These characteristics make difficult the measurement of the mean flow velocity by means of common hydraulic techniques. Different methods can be used at real scale and small-scale to measure the front velocity but a dedicate comparison between available methods is still lacking. This research aims to compare the front velocity measurements in the transport zone of a miniature debris flow using three devices: i) a common digital video camera (29 frames per second); ii) a high speed thermo camera (60 fps); and iii) a laser photoelectric sensors system. The statistical analysis of data has highlighted no significant differences exist between front velocities obtained by means of the video camera and the thermo camera, whereas photocells data statistically differ from those achieved via the other systems. Some lack of data recorded by photocell was documented, while the thermo camera technique did not show significant loss of information being also helpful to detect the kinematic behaviour of single particles. Finally, the tests confirmed the influence of the solid volumetric concentration in the debris-flow mechanics, which promotes, ceteris paribus, the debris-flow slowing down

Perspective Preserving Solution for Quasi-Orthoscopic Video See-Through HMDs

In non-orthoscopic video see-through (VST) head-mounted displays (HMDs), depth perception through stereopsis is adversely affected by sources of spatial perception errors. Solutions for parallax-free and orthoscopic VST HMDs were considered to ensure proper space perception but at expenses of an increased bulkiness and weight. In this work, we present a hybrid video-optical see-through HMD the geometry of which explicitly violates the rigorous conditions of orthostereoscopy. For properly recovering natural stereo fusion of the scene within the personal space in a region around a predefined distance from the observer, we partially resolve the eye-camera parallax by warping the camera images through a perspective preserving homography that accounts for the geometry of the VST HMD and refers to such distance. For validating our solution; we conducted objective and subjective tests. The goal of the tests was to assess the efficacy of our solution in recovering natural depth perception in the space around said reference distance. The results obtained showed that the quasi-orthoscopic setting of the HMD; together with the perspective preserving image warping; allow the recovering of a correct perception of the relative depths. The perceived distortion of space around the reference plane proved to be not as severe as predicted by the mathematical models

Augmented reality in open surgery

Augmented reality (AR) has been successfully providing surgeons an extensive visual information of surgical anatomy to assist them throughout the procedure. AR allows surgeons to view surgical field through the superimposed 3D virtual model of anatomical details. However, open surgery presents new challenges. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the available literature regarding the use of AR in open surgery, both in clinical and simulated settings. In this way, we aim to analyze the current trends and solutions to help developers and end/users discuss and understand benefits and shortcomings of these systems in open surgery. We performed a PubMed search of the available literature updated to January 2018 using the terms (1) “augmented reality” AND “open surgery”, (2) “augmented reality” AND “surgery” NOT “laparoscopic” NOT “laparoscope” NOT “robotic”, (3) “mixed reality” AND “open surgery”, (4) “mixed reality” AND “surgery” NOT “laparoscopic” NOT “laparoscope” NOT “robotic”. The aspects evaluated were the following: real data source, virtual data source, visualization processing modality, tracking modality, registration technique, and AR display type. The initial search yielded 502 studies. After removing the duplicates and by reading abstracts, a total of 13 relevant studies were chosen. In 1 out of 13 studies, in vitro experiments were performed, while the rest of the studies were carried out in a clinical setting including pancreatic, hepatobiliary, and urogenital surgeries. AR system in open surgery appears as a versatile and reliable tool in the operating room. However, some technological limitations need to be addressed before implementing it into the routine practice

Covid-19 Pandemic and labour relations: Some hypotheses

In this essay, the author frames some initial hypotheses about the effects that the Covid-19 Pandemic may have produced in the field of labour relations, with a special focus on remote working. He examines some data referred to the European context in general, as well as those of some countries (in particular Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, with an extension to the United States), and observes that such data, albeit fragmentary and still incomplete, reveal that apart from some oscillations due to the contingencies of the pandemic, remote working seems set to become stable in the years to come. This would produce consequences of considerable scope, in that it would oblige some fundamental aspects of both labour relations and workers’ private lives to be restructured