Sex-related differences in chromatic sensitivity

Generally women are believed to be more discriminating than men in the use of colour names and this is often taken to imply superior colour vision. However, if both X-chromosome linked colour deficient males (~8%) and females (<1%) as well as heterozygote female carriers (~15%) are excluded from comparisons, then differences between men and women in red-green colour discrimination have been reported as not being significant (e.g., Pickford, 1944; Hood et al., 2006). We re-examined this question by assessing the performance of 150 males and 150 females on the Colour Assessment and Diagnosis (CAD) test (Rodriguez-Carmona, 2005). This is a sensitive test that yields small colour detection thresholds. The test employs direction-specific, moving, chromatic stimuli embedded in a background of random, dynamic, luminance contrast noise. A four-alternative, forced-choice procedure is employed to measure the subject’s thresholds for detection of colour signals in 16 directions in colour space, while ensuring that the subject cannot make use of any residual luminance contrast signals. In addition, we measured the Rayleigh anomaloscope matches in a subgroup of 111 males and 114 females. All the age-matched males (30.8 ± 9.7) and females (26.7 ± 8.8) had normal colour vision as diagnosed by a battery of conventional colour vision tests. Females with known colour deficient relatives were excluded from the study. Comparisons between the male and female groups revealed no significant differences in anomaloscope midpoints (p=0.709), but a significant difference in matching ranges (p=0.040); females on average tended to have a larger mean range (4.11) than males (3.75). Females also had significantly higher CAD thresholds than males along the red-green (p=0.0004), but not along the yellow-blue discrimination axis. The differences between males and females in red-green discrimination may be related to the heterozygosity in X-linked cone photopigment expression common among females

Concurrent focal-plane generation of compressed samples fromtime-encoded pixel values

Compressive sampling allows wrapping the relevant content of an image in a reduced set of data. It exploits the sparsity of natural images. This principle can be employed to deliver images over a network under a restricted data rate and still receive enough meaningful information. An efficient implementation of this principle lies in the generation of the compressed samples right at the imager. Otherwise, i. e. digitizing the complete image and then composing the compressed samples in the digital plane, the required memory and processing resources can seriously compromise the budget of an autonomous camera node. In this paper we present the design of a pixel architecture that encodes light intensity into time, followed by a global strategy to pseudo-randomly combine pixel values and generate, on-chip and on-line, the compressed samples.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC 2015-66878-C3-1-RJunta de Andalucía TIC 2338-2013Office of Naval Research (USA) N000141410355CONACYT (Mexico) MZO-2017-29106

A prototype node for wireless vision sensor network applications development

This paper presents a prototype vision-enabled sensor node based on a commercial vision system of reduced size and power consumption. The wireless infrastructure for the deployment of a distributed smart camera network based on these nodes is provided by commercial motes. The smart camera, based on a low-power bio-inspired processing scheme, enables in-node image processing and vision tools. This permits to elaborate a lighter representation of the scene, keeping the relevant information in terms of detected elements, features and events, alleviating the data transmission through the network. Therefore by passing only the relevant information to the neighboring sensor nodes, distributed and collaborative vision is possible with the limited data rates available in commercial wireless sensor networks. Communication between the different components of the system is supported by the available UARTs and GPIOs. Several examples of in-node image processing and feature detection has been tested in the prototype, and information at different abstraction levels has been broadcasted to the network.Junta de Andalucía 2006-TIC-2352Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TEC2009-1181

Asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions between enals and nitrones catalysed by half-sandwich rhodium or iridium diphosphane complexes

The aqua complexes ¿(¿5-C5Me5)M¿PP*)¿H2O)]¿SbF6]2 (M = Rh, Ir; PP* = chiral diphosphane) have been tested as catalysts for the asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrones to a,ß-unsaturated aldehydes. Quantitative conversions with very high regioselectivity, perfect endo selectivity and excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee) were achieved. The stereochemical outcome was analyzed on the basis of the stereoelectronic properties of the intermediate enal complexes of the formula ¿(¿5-C5Me5)M¿PP*)¿enal)]¿SbF6]2

Beyond the Edge of the Century: The Postcolonial Imagination in the “New” Fictions of the Canadas

Whereas the 1990s witnessed the establishment of the basic parameters within which Canada could be considered a postcolonial enclave, the new millennium, shortly after its opening, has seen the reworking of the Canadian postcolonial. The contemporary rethinking of the postcolonial condition of Canada has given place to new theoretical moves, partly uncovered when looking at the long-standing mutual nurture between theoretical and imaginative writing. This paper centres on this contemporary theoretical revision to eventually propose that this revisionary invigoration has mainly been launched from fictions by authors indirectly affected by the multicultural agenda of the 1980s and 1990s. As a corollary of the reconfiguration of the Canadian postcolonial, and its views on nation, culture and identity in the negative, the fictions published in the late 1990s and the early years of the new millennium show a penchant for writing the nation in multifarious forms that gradate the (post)colonial, while bringing to the fore regional and communal histories silenced for the welfare of the national/state mirage

Activation of H-H, HO-H, C(sp2)-H, C(sp3)-H, and RO-H bonds by transition-metal frustrated lewis pairs based onon M/N (M = Rh, Ir) couples

Reaction of the dimers (Cp*MCl)2(µ-Cl)2] (Cp* = 5-C5Me5) with Ph2PCH2CH2NC(NH(p-Tolyl))2 (H2L) in the presence of NaSbF6 affords the chlorido complexes Cp*MCl(¿2N, P-H2L)]SbF6] (M = Rh, 1; Ir, 2). Upon treatment with aqueous NaOH, solutions of 1 and 2 yield the corresponding complexes Cp*M(¿3N, N', P-HL)]SbF6] (M = Rh, 3; Ir, 4) in which the ligand HL presents a fac ¿3N, N', P coordination mode. Treatment of THF solutions of complexes 3 and 4 with hydrogen gas, at room temperature, results in the formation of the metal hydrido-complexes Cp*MH(¿2N, P-H2L)]SbF6] (M = Rh, 5; Ir, 6) in which the N(p-Tolyl) group has been protonated. Complexes 3 and 4 react with deuterated water in a reversible fashion resulting in the gradual deuteration of the Cp* group. Heating at 383 K THF/H2O solutions of the complexes 3 and 4 affords the orthometalated complexes Cp*M(¿3C, N, P-H2L-H)]SbF6] M = Rh, 7; Ir, 8, H2L-H = Ph2PCH2CH2NC(NH(p-Tolyl))(NH(4-C6H3Me))], respectively. At 333 K, complexes 3 and 4 react in THF with methanol, primary alcohols, or 2-propanol giving the metal-hydrido complexes 5 and 6, respectively. The reaction involves the acceptorless dehydrogenation of the alcohols at a relatively low temperature, without the assistance of an external base. The new complexes have been characterized by the usual analytical and spectroscopic methods including the X-ray diffraction determination of the crystal structures of complexes 1-5, 7, and 8. Notably, the chlorido complexes 1 and 2 crystallize both as enantiopure conglomerates and as racemates. Reaction mechanisms are proposed based on stoichiometric reactions, nuclear magnetic resonance studies, and X-ray crystallography as well as density functional theory calculations. © 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society

Estilo de vida y control metabólico en pacientes con diabetes mellitus tipo 2. Validación por constructo del IMEVID

ObjetivoEvaluar la validez de constructo de un instrumento para medir el estilo de vida en los pacientes con diabetes mellitus tipo 2 (cuestionario IMEVID)DiseñoEstudio observacional transversal comparativoEmplazamientoSeis unidades de medicina familiar (atención primaria)ParticipantesUn total de 412 adultos con diabetes mellitus tipo 2Mediciones principalesSe aplicó el IMEVID por autoadministración y se midió el índice de masa corporal (IMC), índice cintura/cadera (ICC), hemoglobina glucosilada (HbA1C), colesterol total (CT), triglicéridos (TG), presión arterial (PA) y glucemia en ayunas (GA). El constructo hipotético de prueba fue que las mayores calificaciones totales en el IMEVID (mejor estilo de vida) estarían asociadas a valores menores de estas variables clínicas. Se dividió a los sujetos en tres grupos según su calificación total: grupo uno (< cuartil 25), grupo dos (cuartil 25-75), grupo tres (> cuartil 75) y se buscaron diferencias intergrupo en los valores de los parámetros medidosResultadosCompletaron el estudio 389 sujetos, y un 69,2% eran mujeres. Siete dimensiones del IMEVID tuvieron correlaciones débiles al menos con dos de los ocho parámetros (r, –0,22 a 0,16; p≤0,05). La calificación total se correlacionó con seis de ocho parámetros (r, –0,18 a 0,10; p≤0,05). Los sujetos del grupo tres tuvieron valores menores de IMC, ICC, HbA1C, GA, CT y TGL que los del grupo 1 (p<0,05)ConclusionesEl IMEVID tiene validez de constructo para medir el estilo de vida en los sujetos con diabetes tipo 2. Su calificación total discrimina las características clínicamente relevantesObjectiveTo evaluate construct validity of an instrument to measure lifestyle in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (IMEVID questionnaire)DesignComparative cross-sectional studySettingSix family medicine units (primary care)Patients412 adults with type 2 diabetesMeasurementsThe IMEVID was applied by self-administration and the following metabolic control parameters values were measured: body mass index (BMI), waist/hip index (WHI), hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and the average of fasting plasma glucose in the last three months (FG). The test hypothetic construct was that higher total scores in the IMEVID (better lifestyle) would be associated with lower values in the metabolic control parameters. Three groups of subjects were formed based on the total score: group one (<cuartil 25), group two (among cuartil 25 and 75) and group three (>cuartil 75). Differences on these parameters between groups were researchedResults389 subjects completed the study, 69,2% were women. Seven IMEVID domains had weak correlations at least with two of eight parameters (r between –0.22 and 0.16; P≤.05). The total score had correlation with six of eight parameter (r between –0.18 and 0.10; P≤.05). The group three subjects had lower levels of BMI,WHI, HbA1C, FG,TC and TGL than group one subjects (P≤.05)ConclusionsIMEVID has construct validity to measure the lifestyle in subjects with DM2. Its total score discriminates outstanding clinical characteristics in these patient

Técnicas de teledetección aplicadas al estudio de los ríos Tinto y Odiel

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados del tratamiento de imágenes Landsat TM y ATM Daedalus-1268 dirigido a la caracterización de la calidad del agua y al estudio de la hidrodinámica del estuario de los ríos Tinto y Odiel. La metodología aplicada se basa en la correlación de los parámetros físico-químicos y biológicos del agua con los valores radiométricos de las imágenes. El tratamiento de imágenes Landsat TM ha permitido estudiar la hidrodinámica del estuario, obteniendo la zonificación del mismo atendiendo a su homogeneidad temporal. Asimismo, se han aplicado técnicas de regresión múltiple y geoestadísticas (Cokrigeaje) para estimar la distribución espacial de parámetros de calidad. A partir del procesamiento de las imágenes ATM se ha obtenido una primera aproximación del contenido en clorofila, y de la distribución de temperaturas en el estuario.In this work we present the results of the Landsat TM and Daedalus image processing focus on the characterization of the water quality and on the study of the estuary hydrodynamic of the Tinto and Odiel rivers. The applied methodology is based on the correlation between parameters of water quality and the radiometric values of the images. The processing of a image set has allowed us to study the estuary hydrodynamic, obtaining the estuariny zones according to the degree of temporal homogeneity. Also, multiple regression and geostatistic techniques (Cokriging) has been applied to estimate the spatial distribution of quality water parameters. The ATM Daedalus image processing has enable us to obtain a first approximation of the chlorophyll and temperature distribution in the estuary

Diagnóstico de fibrosarcoma felino por imagen termográfica

La termografía es un método de diagnóstico que se basa en la captación de las radiaciones infrarrojas que emiten y reflejan los cuerpos, y que son proporcionales a la temperatura superficial. Utilizando una cámara térmica estas radiaciones se traducen en imágenes digitales que se pueden interpretar en función de una escala de colores. Mediante las imágenes termográficas se localizan lesiones que afectan a dermis y epidermis, pudiéndolas delimitar con gran precisión. Este método permite hacer un fácil diagnóstico de cualquier patología relacionada con cambios de temperatura. Se emplea esta técnica en el estudio de dos casos clínicos con el fin de comprobar el potencial de la técnica como diagnóstico complementario de tumores como el fibrosarcoma felino inducido por vacunación.Thermography is a complentary diagnosis method which is based on the reception of infrared radiations that bodies emit and reflex, that are proportional to surface temperature. Using a thermographic camera these radiations are turned into digital images which can be understood according to a colour scale. Through thermographic images, thermal changes that affect dermis and epidermis can be located, and they can also be delimitated with precision. This method permit to make an easy diagnosis of any pathology related with thermal changes. This technique has been used to study two clinical cases in order to prove the potential of the method as complementary diagnosis on feline skin tumor such as fibrosarcoma

Sexuality throughout all the stages of pregnancy: experiences of expectant mothers

Objective: To explore and understand the sexual experiences of expectant mothers during their pregnancy. Methods: The study was carried out in two healthcare centers in the Almería Health District, in southern Spain. The participants included pregnant women who received prenatal care and/or maternity education. The inclusion criteria were being pregnant, maintaining sexual activity and agreeing to participate in the study. The exclusion criteria were having limitations on sexual activity by medical prescription. The sample consisted of 15 expectant women selected using a convenience sample, of which 5 took part in a focus group (FG) and 10 in in-depth interviews (IDI). Data was collected between the months of June and December 2016. Participants were contacted by the main researcher and an appointment was made to carry out the FGs or the IDIs. Results: Three main categories emerged: False beliefs and a holistic approach to sexuality during pregnancy, which is related to the concept of sexuality, false beliefs, and limited sexual counseling during pregnancy. Limitations: From fear at the beginning to physical diffi culty at the end, referring to the fluctuations in sexual desire as well as the physical changes that limit sexual activity. Adapting to changes: safe practices and satisfaction with one’s body image, which encompasses concerns about the risks and the relationship between body image and self-esteem. Conclusion: A lack of sexual counseling during pregnancy leads to the creation of false beliefs, which, together with physical changes, concerns about the risk, and fl uctuations in sexual desire and interest, bring about a decrease in sexual activity. But sexuality remains an important aspect of pregnancy, toward which the participants must adopt a broader approach, not limited to intercourse, and adopt sexual practices that are adapted to the physical and emotional changes that happen during this time