A discussion on the validation tests employed to compare human action recognition methods using the MSR Action3D dataset

This paper aims to determine which is the best human action recognition method based on features extracted from RGB-D devices, such as the Microsoft Kinect. A review of all the papers that make reference to MSR Action3D, the most used dataset that includes depth information acquired from a RGB-D device, has been performed. We found that the validation method used by each work differs from the others. So, a direct comparison among works cannot be made. However, almost all the works present their results comparing them without taking into account this issue. Therefore, we present different rankings according to the methodology used for the validation in orden to clarify the existing confusion.Comment: 16 pages and 7 table

Traslados de población entre el Norte de África y el sur de la Península Ibérica en los contextos coloniales fenicio y púnico

Les Carthaginois ont déplacé des populations libyens plus au moins punicicés vers le sud d´Espagne dans le cadre de sa présence hégémonique dans le territoire a partir de la seconde moitié du Vléme siècle av. J-C. Ont trouve des precedents dans la colonie phénicienne de Lixus, ou ont peut suirve les traces de population dépendant provenant de la côte de Malaga

Liderazgo y empoderamiento en entornos universitarios

El liderazgo y el empoderamiento ocupan, desde la década de los noventa, un lugar destacado y transversal en la agenda política no solo de la Unión Europea y España, sino también en la política universitaria española. Sin embargo, diferentes informes sobre la posición de las mujeres en la Universidad ponen de manifiesto la persistencia de desigualdades y desequilibrios en el acceso, en la trayectoria profesional y en su presencia en los órganos de representación. En el plano de la realidad, el liderazgo mantiene una estrecha y compleja relación con procesos y realidades afines tales como la concepción del poder y la legitimidad, autoridad y el prestigio con el que se identifica a quien lidera. En esta compleja relación podemos identificar algunos elementos idiosincráticos del proceso de empoderamiento de las mujeres universitarias desde su consideración de ‘recién llegadas’. Los avances, retos, ambigüedades y tensiones que introduce el desarrollo de políticas de igualdad en los entornos universitarios en relación con los proceso de liderazgo y empoderamiento (individual y colectivo) se ejemplifican tomando en consideración los hallazgos arrojados por la investigación desarrollada en la universidad española, en concreto, en las universidades valencianas (Escolano, 2006) y, más recientemente, en la Universidad de Alicante (Rodríguez, González y Albert, 2014)

Knowledge Extraction and Improved Data Fusion for Sales Prediction in Local Agricultural Markets dagger

In This Paper, A Monitoring System Of Agricultural Production Is Modeled As A Data Fusion System (Data From Local Fairs And Meteorological Data). The Proposal Considers The Particular Information Of Sales In Agricultural Markets For Knowledge Extraction About The Associations Among Them. This Association Knowledge Is Employed To Improve Predictions Of Sales Using A Spatial Prediction Technique, As Shown With Data Collected From Local Markets Of The Andean Region Of Ecuador. The Commercial Activity In These Markets Uses Alternative Marketing Circuits (Cialco). This Market Platform Establishes A Direct Relationship Between Producer And Consumer Prices And Promotes Direct Commercial Interaction Among Family Groups. The Problem Is Presented First As A General Fusion Problem With A Network Of Spatially Distributed Heterogeneous Data Sources, And Is Then Applied To The Prediction Of Products Sales Based On Association Rules Mined In Available Sales Data. First, Transactional Data Is Used As The Base To Extract The Best Association Rules Between Products Sold In Different Local Markets, Knowledge That Allows The System To Gain A Significant Improvement In Prediction Accuracy In The Spatial Region Considered.This work was supported in part by Project MINECO TEC2017-88048-C2–2-R, Salesian Polytechnic University of Quito-Ecuador and by Commercial Coordination Network, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Ecuado

Visual Privacy Protection Methods: A Survey

Recent advances in computer vision technologies have made possible the development of intelligent monitoring systems for video surveillance and ambient-assisted living. By using this technology, these systems are able to automatically interpret visual data from the environment and perform tasks that would have been unthinkable years ago. These achievements represent a radical improvement but they also suppose a new threat to individual’s privacy. The new capabilities of such systems give them the ability to collect and index a huge amount of private information about each individual. Next-generation systems have to solve this issue in order to obtain the users’ acceptance. Therefore, there is a need for mechanisms or tools to protect and preserve people’s privacy. This paper seeks to clarify how privacy can be protected in imagery data, so as a main contribution a comprehensive classification of the protection methods for visual privacy as well as an up-to-date review of them are provided. A survey of the existing privacy-aware intelligent monitoring systems and a valuable discussion of important aspects of visual privacy are also provided.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under project “Sistema de visión para la monitorización de la actividad de la vida diaria en el hogar” (TIN2010-20510-C04-02) and by the European Commission under project “caring4U - A study on people activity in private spaces: towards a multisensor network that meets privacy requirements” (PIEF-GA-2010-274649). José Ramón Padilla López and Alexandros Andre Chaaraoui acknowledge financial support by the Conselleria d'Educació, Formació i Ocupació of the Generalitat Valenciana (fellowship ACIF/2012/064 and ACIF/2011/160 respectively)

Deficiency of Parkinson’s Related Protein DJ-1 Alters Cdk5 Signalling and Induces Neuronal Death by Aberrant Cell Cycle Re-entry

DJ-1 is a multifunctional protein involved in Parkinson disease (PD) that can act as antioxidant, molecular chaperone, protease, glyoxalase, and transcriptional regulator. However, the exact mechanism by which DJ-1 dysfunction contributes to development of Parkinson’s disease remains elusive. Here, using a comparative proteomic analysis between wild-type cortical neurons and neurons lacking DJ-1 (data available via ProteomeXchange, identifier PXD029351), we show that this protein is involved in cell cycle checkpoints disruption. We detect increased amount of p-tau and α-synuclein proteins, altered phosphoinositide-3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathways, and deregulation of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5). Cdk5 is normally involved in dendritic growth, axon formation, and the establishment of synapses, but can also contribute to cell cycle progression in pathological conditions. In addition, we observed a decrease in proteasomal activity, probably due to tau phosphorylation that can also lead to activation of mitogenic signalling pathways. Taken together, our findings indicate, for the first time, that aborted cell cycle re-entry could be at the onset of DJ-1-associated PD. Therefore, new approaches targeting cell cycle re-entry can be envisaged to improve current therapeutic strategies

Superovulation, in vivo Embryo Recovery and Cryopreservation for Aoudad (Ammotragus Lervia) Females Using Osmotic Pumps and Vitrification : A Preliminary Experience and its Implications for Conservation

We thank all of the administrative, veterinary and animal keeper staff of the Leon Zoological Park and the embryologists (especially to Claudia Gonzalez) of the Instituto de Ciencias en Reproducción Humana, also to J.I Castillo-Quan for critical reading of the manuscript. This work was partially supported by grants 0105961/10110/194/09 to RF, 59716 to JPRU from CONACYT and grant 107996 to JPRU from FOMIXYucatán 2008. JLS was supported by a doctoral scholarship from CONACYT (240847).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Thioredoxin Downregulation Enhances Sorafenib Effects in Hepatocarcinoma Cells

Sorafenib is the first-line recommended therapy for patients with advanced hepatocarcinoma (HCC) in de-differentiation stage (presenting epithelial–mesenchymal transition, EMT). We studied the role of the thioredoxin system (Trx1/TrxR1) in the sensitivity or resistance of HCC cells to the treatment with Sorafenib. As a model, we used a set of three established HCC cell lines with different degrees of de-differentiation as occurs in metastasis. By quantitative proteomics, we found that the expression levels of Trx1 and TrxR1 followed the same trend as canonical EMT markers in these cell lines. Treatment with Sorafenib induced thiol redox reductive changes in critical elements of oncogenic pathways in all three cell lines but induced drastic proteome reprograming only in HCC cell lines of intermediate stage. Trx1 downregulation counteracted the thiol reductive effect of Sorafenib on Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) but not on Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) or Protein Kinase B (Akt) and transformed advanced HCC cells into Sorafenib-sensitive cells. Ten targets of the combined Sorafenib–siRNATrx1 treatment were identified that showed a gradually changing expression trend in parallel to changes in the expression of canonical EMT markers, likely as a result of the activation of Hippo signaling. These findings support the idea that a combination of Sorafenib with thioredoxin inhibitors should be taken into account in the design of therapies against advanced HCC.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BFU2016-80006-PInstituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) PI13/00021 y PI16/00090Junta de Andalucía Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo BIO-0216 y CTS-6264Junta de Andalucía Consejería de Igualdad, Salud y Políticas Sociales PI-00025-2013 y PI-0198-201

Potential impact of dairy yeasts on the typical flavour of traditional ewes' and goats' cheeses

The contribution of Debaryomyces hansenii, Kluyveromyces lactis and Kluyveromyces marxianus strains to the typical flavour of traditional ewes' and goats' cheeses was assessed. Fourteen yeast strains were grown in liquid medium mimicking cheese composition and volatile compounds were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Yeasts were able to produce key volatile compounds characteristic of the cheeses from which they were isolated. Inter-species and inter-strain variations were observed. Under the conditions tested, D. hansenii produced the lowest levels of volatile compounds, with large intra-strain variations. Kluyveromyces strains primarily produced esters and alcohols. K. marxianus strains were associated with the production of acids, ethyl decanoate, 1-propanol and benzaldehyde, whereas K. lactis was correlated with the presence of ketones, ethyl acetate and secondary alcohols. In conclusion, this study shows the heterogeneous potential of dairy yeasts to contribute to final cheese flavour.The authors thank grants Consolider Ingenio Fun-C-Food, CSD2007-00063, INIARM2007-00010 and AGL2012-38884-C02-01 for financial support. BP thanks CSIC for a JAE Predoc contract. The authors are grateful to the Cheese Company “Los Corrales” for kindly supplying the cheese samples.Peer reviewe

La Innovación en TIC para la Salud en España

Este trabajo muestra las conclusiones de un estudio realizado sobre la actividad de I+D+i en España en TIC para la salud en el que se han analizado aspectos relacionados con el tipo de actividad que se lleva a cabo, las fuentes de financiación, las áreas sanitarias que están siendo objeto de atención preferentes, los agentes activos en estas actividades, etc. Asimismo se complementa con un análisis de las principales tendencias tecnológicas que se observan en este sector