Dynamic Range Extension of a SPAD Imager Using Non-Uniformity Correction Techniques

The extraordinary sensitivity of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs) makes these devices the ideal option for vision systems aimed at low-light applications. Nevertheless, there exist large dark count rate and photon detection probability non-uniformities, which reduce the dynamic range of the detector. As a result, the capability to create image contrast is severely damaged or even lost. This paper presents the implementation of a correction algorithm to compensate for the mentioned non-uniformities and thus extend the contrast of the generated images. To demonstrate its efficiency, the proposed technique is applied to real images obtained with a fabricated SPAD image sensor. An increase of more than 3 b of contrast is obtained.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Psychomotor Intervention in Elderly Patients with respiratory changes: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

When it comes to aging we must take into account not only chronological age, but also a complex and dynamic process of biological, psychological and social changes. COPD (respiratory alteration) is highlighted in this study, for being one of the most common diseases and one of the main causes of worldwide mortality in the elderly. Therefore a psychomotor and social-emotional intervention is proposed, in order to promote the quality of life of the elderly

Development of low-pH cementitious materials for HLRW repositories. Resistance against ground waters aggression

One of the most accepted engineering construction concepts of underground repositories for high radioactive waste considers the use of low-pH cementitious materials. This paper deals with the design of those based on Ordinary Portland Cements with high contents of silica fume and/or fly ashes that modify most of the concrete “standard” properties, the pore fluid composition and the microstructure of the hydrated products. Their resistance to long-term groundwater aggression is also evaluated. The results show that the use of OPC cement binders with high silica content produces low-pH pore waters and the microstructure of these cement pastes is different from the conventional OPC ones, generating C–S–H gels with lower CaO/SiO2 ratios that possibly bind alkali ions. Leaching tests show a good resistance of low-pH concretes against groundwater aggression although an altered front can be observe

Adaptation of Applications to Compare Development Frameworks in Deep Learning for Decentralized Android Applications

Not all frameworks used in machine learning and deep learning integrate with Android, which requires some prerequisites. The primary objective of this paper is to present the results of the analysis and a comparison of deep learning development frameworks, which can be adapted into fully decentralized Android apps from a cloud server. As a work methodology, we develop and/or modify the test applications that these frameworks offer us a priori in such a way that it allows an equitable comparison of the analysed characteristics of interest. These parameters are related to attributes that a user would consider, such as (1) percentage of success; (2) battery consumption; and (3) power consumption of the processor. After analysing numerical results, the proposed framework that best behaves in relation to the analysed characteristics for the development of an Android application is TensorFlow, which obtained the best score against Caffe2 and Snapdragon NPE in the percentage of correct answers, battery consumption, and device CPU power consumption. Data consumption was not considered because we focus on decentralized cloud storage applications in this study

Durabilidad de hormigones autocompactantes con prestaciones especiales expuestos en atmósferas marinas y urbanas.

El hormigón autocompactante es aún una tecnología relativamente nueva y se tiene un escaso conocimiento acerca del comportamiento frente a durabilidad de este material. Sin embargo, la creciente tendencia al desarrollo de códigos y normativas que contemplan tanto la durabilidad del hormigón desde la fase de diseño como el empleo de nuevos materiales, implica un mayor conocimiento de las propiedades durables de este tipo de hormigón. En el presente trabajo se presentan los resultados obtenidos a partir de un estudio de durabilidad con hormigón autocompactante convencional fabricado con filler calizo, así como hormigones autocompactantes, con la misma dosificación pero modificados bien con incorporación de fibras (metálicas y poliméricas) o bien con sustitución del filler calizo por residuos de lodos de naturaleza caliza. Se han llevado a cabo tanto ensayos en laboratorio para determinación de indicadores de durabilidad como ensayos de exposición durante un año a atmósferas naturales (marina y urbana con distinta humedad relativa). Los indicadores de durabilidad analizados arrojan una elevada calidad de los distintos hormigones autocompactantes, lo cual se confirma a partir de ensayos de exposición en atmósferas reales. Si bien no se ha visto que la incorporación de fibras influya en la interacción de este material con el cloruro ni con el CO2, la sustitución del filler calizo por residuo de lodo indica un ligero aumento en la carbonatación y el transporte de cloruros

Creación curricular, curriculum vivido y relación educativa. Una indagación narrativa

En este trabajo se exponen los resultados finales de una tesis doctoral (FPU014/04782) que forma parte de un proyecto de investigación más amplio (EDU2016-77576-P). En esta investigación se ha partido de la diferencia entre “dos mundos curriculares”: el plan curricular y el currículum vivido. El plan curricular alude a lo que tradicionalmente se entiende por curriculum, un objeto simbólico que se concreta en diversos documentos que recogen los objetivos que se espera que el alumnado alcance al final de un periodo escolar. Por su parte el currículum vivido se entiende desde la fenomenología y la indagación narrativa como la construcción que el alumnado hace de su experiencia en el aula, que es de naturaleza narrativa. Desde este marco, el propósito de la investigación ha sido profundizar en la naturaleza del currículum vivido e indagar en las condiciones que construyen una relación que promueva la creación curricular. En línea con la concepción narrativa del currículum vivido, el trabajo se aborda desde el marco de una indagación narrativa. El trabajo de campo se ha realizado en los cursos 2016/17 y 2017/18, con dos docentes que trabajan en centros educativos de la provincia de Málaga. Los principales procedimientos han sido las conversaciones hermenéuticas (38 en total) y la observación de cerca (20 en total). Los resultados de la investigación apuntan a tres lugares: 1) la existencia de tensiones entre los dos mundos curriculares, que son resultado de diferencias epistemológicas en torno al constructo currículum; 2) el currículum se recrea en la continuidad de la experiencia de relación docente-estudiante en el aula; 3) dada la centralidad de la relación educativa en la creación curricular, se plantea la necesidad de abordar las tensiones mencionadas desde la experiencia del profesorado en el aula y con los saberes que este debe poner en juego.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucia Tec

Predicting High-Value Customers in a Portuguese Wine Company

Wine companies operate in a very competitive environment in which they must provide better-customised services and products to survive and gain advantage. The high customer turnover rate is a problem for these companies. This work aims to provide wine companies with new knowledge about customers that help to retain the existing ones. The study applies a collected dataset from a transaction database in a medium-sized ortuguese wine company to determinate: (1) customer lifetime value; (2) cluster customer value as output (customer loyalty). The measurement of the customer lifetime value (CLV) was analysed using the Pareto/NBD model and gamma-gamma model. Clustering techniques are employed to segment customers according to Recency, Frequency, and Monetary (RFM) values. Study findings show that exists three clusters with different interest to the marketing strategies, identifying the high-value customers, to target using marketing to increase their lifetime value effectively. The implications for the marketing strategy decisions is that using techniques based on the RFM model can make the most from data of customers and transactions databases and thus create sustainable advantages.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Confusion Matrix for Evaluating Feature Attribution Methods

The increasing use of deep learning models in critical areas of computer vision and the consequent need for insights into model behaviour have led to the development of numerous feature attribution methods. However, these attributions must be both meaningful and plausible to end-users, which is not always the case. Recent research has emphasized the importance of faithfulness in attributions, as plausibility without faithfulness can result in misleading explanations and incorrect decisions. In this work., we propose a novel approach to evaluate the faithfulness of feature attribution methods by constructing an ‘Attribution Confusion Matrix’, which allows us to leverage a wide range of existing metrics from the traditional confusion matrix. This approach effectively introduces multiple evaluation measures for faithfulness in feature attribution methods in a unified and consistent framework. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on various datasets, attribution methods, and models, emphasizing the importance of faithfulness in generating plausible and reliable explanations while also illustrating the distinct behaviour of different feature attribution methods

A confusion matrix for evaluating feature attribution methods

© 2023 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes,creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.The increasing use of deep learning models in critical areas of computer vision and the consequent need for insights into model behaviour have led to the development of numerous feature attribution methods. However, these attributions must be both meaningful and plausible to end-users, which is not always the case. Recent research has emphasized the importance of faithfulness in attributions, as plausibility without faithfulness can result in misleading explanations and incorrect decisions. In this work., we propose a novel approach to evaluate the faithfulness of feature attribution methods by constructing an ‘Attribution Confusion Matrix’, which allows us to leverage a wide range of existing metrics from the traditional confusion matrix. This approach effectively introduces multiple evaluation measures for faithfulness in feature attribution methods in a unified and consistent framework. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach on various datasets, attribution methods, and models, emphasizing the importance of faithfulness in generating plausible and reliable explanations while also illustrating the distinct behaviour of different feature attribution methods.This work is conducted within the NL4XAI project which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 860621. This work is also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (grants PID2021-123152OB-C21, TED2021-130295B-C33 and RED2022-134315-T) and the Galician Ministry of Culture, Education, Professional Training and University (grants ED431G2019/04 and ED431C2022/19). These grants were co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/FEDER program). This work is also supported by the European Union-Horizon 2020 Program under the scheme “INFRAIA-01-2018-2019 - Integrating Activities for Advanced Communities”, Grant Agreement n.871042, “SoBigData++: European Integrated Infrastructure for Social Mining and Big Data Analytics” (http://www.sobigdata.eu) and by the Departament de Recerca i Universitats of the Generalitat de Catalunya under the Industrial Doctorate Grant DI 2018-100.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Low X-Ray Luminosity Galaxy Clusters. II. Optical properties and morphological content at 0.18 < z < 0.70

This is the second of a series of papers on low X-ray luminosity galaxy clusters, in which we present the $r^\prime$, $g^\prime$ and $i^\prime$ photometry obtained with GMOS-IMAGE at Gemini North and South telescopes for seven systems in the redshift range of 0.18 to 0.70. Optical magnitudes, colours and morphological parameters, namely, concentration index, ellipticity and visual morphological classification, are also given. At lower redshifts, the presence of a well-defined red cluster sequence extending by more than 4 magnitudes showed that these intermediate-mass clusters had reached a relaxed stage. This was confirmed by the small fraction of blue galaxy members observed in the central regions of $\sim$ 0.75 Mpc. In contrast, galaxy clusters at higher redshifts had a less important red cluster sequence. We also found that the galaxy radial density profiles in these clusters were well fitted by a single power law. At 0.18 $<$ z $<$ 0.70, we observed an increasing fraction of blue galaxies and a decreasing fraction of lenticulars, with the early-type fraction remaining almost constant. Overall, the results of these intermediate-mass clusters are in agreement with those for high mass clusters.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA