Information Geometry applied to action classification

El trabajo presenta un marco unificado que le permitirá al lector comprender de una manera detallada y completa la técnica de los Vectores de Fisher que se utiliza para dar solución al problema de clasificación de actividades en video, esta técnica se basa en conceptos de la Geometría de la Información, de manera que toda la teoría se incluye en el trabajo. Se presentan además los resultados obtenidos sobre una base de datos que contiene acciones llevadas a cabo en ambientes similares y se prueba que la técnica es eficiente.The purpose of this study is to provide a unified framework for the understanding of the Fisher Vectors technique applied to the problem of action classification, this technique has its foundations in Information Geometry, so the study provides all the theory required. The study shows that for a database with a limited number of videos and common environment the technique works efficiently.Matemático (a)Pregrad

The Campo de Calatrava volcanic field: geology and resources.

The volcanic region of Campo de Calatrava, located in South-Central Spain, and in particular in the Ciudad Real Province (Castilla-La Mancha region) is one of the three most important areas with recent volcanic activity in the Iberian Peninsula, together with those of Olot (Gerona, in Catalonia) and Cabo de Gata (Almeria, in Andalucía). In this work we describe succinctly the characteristics of this volcanism, as well as the related iron and manganese (plus minor cobalt) oxides mineralizations. Finally, an also brief description of the legal measures implemented to protect the local volcanic buildings is included

Incorporación de atributos intangibles en modelos de elección discreta

[ES] La principal herramienta en la modelación de la demanda de transporte durante muchos años ha sido el Logit Multinomial (MNL), pero sus limitaciones, fundamentalmente el supuesto de independencia de alternativas irrelevantes, han motivado diferentes mejoras, destacando entre ellas el Logit Mixto (ML). El ML permite mayor flexibilidad en las preferencias individuales, aunque no por ello ha colmado las expectativas de los modeladores, ya que el objetivo es representar la realidad de la forma más veraz posible. De este modo, se ha planteado la inclusión de elementos subjetivos, a través de modelos de utilidad híbridos que consideran atributos tangibles, fácilmente identificables para cada alternativa, así como elementos intangibles asociados a las percepciones y actitudes de los individuos, expresados a través de variables latentes. El principal objetivo de este trabajo es identificar las variables latentes relevantes en la modelación de la elección modal en el ámbito urbano, así como la estimación de MNL y ML con y sin variables latentes, con el fin de determinar si la inclusión de variables latentes mejora los resultados en la estimación de los modelos. La aplicación empírica se efectúa con datos obtenidos a partir de una encuesta de Preferencias Reveladas realizada en Santander (España), a la que se incorporó un cuestionario con indicadores de percepción, que permiten captar las variables latentes. La principal conclusión es que los modelos ML se muestran superiores a los MNL y, en ambos casos, la incorporación de variables latentes permite obtener mejores resultados.Garcia Melero, G.; Coto Millan, P.; Sainz González, R. (2016). Incorporación de atributos intangibles en modelos de elección discreta. En XII Congreso de ingeniería del transporte. 7, 8 y 9 de Junio, Valencia (España). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1067-1083. https://doi.org/10.4995/CIT2016.2015.4142OCS1067108

Trayectoria, inflexiones y variables en la carrea de Lionel Messi: Un análisis sociológico de sus inicios y su excepcionalidad

Bajo la guía de la sociología de Pierre-Michel Menger acerca de los artistas creativos y la influencia de Everett Hughes con sus nociones alrededor de los “puntos de inflexión” en los recorridos humanos, pretendemos analizar los momentos iniciales y aquellos claves que direccionaron la trayectoria de Lionel Messi. Este tipo de análisis puede contribuir hacia una guía para investigar la construcción, temprana y potencial, de grandes figuras de excepcionalidad deportiva. El texto explora en particular su infancia en la ciudad de Rosario; su promiscua partida al FC Barcelona; el papel fundamental de su padre y el carácter necesario para que el joven Lionel se convirtiera en un talento de élite mundial. De la misma manera, nos atrevemos a esbozar algunas razones que pueden explicar su incierto estatus como héroe argentino.Under the guidance of the sociology of Pierre-Michel Menger about the creative artists and the influence of Everett Hughes through his notions of “turning points”, we intend to analyze the initial and key moments that guided the starting points of the career of Lionel Messi. This type of analysis can contribute as a guide to explore the early and potential construction of exceptional sports figures. This text explores particularly the childhood of Lionel Messi in the city of Rosario; his promiscuous departure to FC Barcelona; the crucial role of his father and the necessary character of the young player to become an elite, world class, talent. In the same way, we dare to outline some reasons that propose explanation of Messi's uncertain status as an Argentinean hero.Fil: Segura Millan Trejo, Fernando. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales; MéxicoFil: Williams, John. University of Leicester; Reino UnidoFil: Roldan, Diego Pablo. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes. Instituto de Estudios Críticos en Humanidades. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Estudios Críticos en Humanidades; Argentin

On the new metrics for IMRT QA verification

Purpose: the aim of this work is to search for new metrics that could give more reliable acceptance/ rejection criteria on the IMRT verification process and to offer solutions to the discrepancies found among different conventional metrics. Therefore, besides conventional metrics, new ones are proposed and evaluated with new tools to find correlations among them. These new metrics are based on the processing of the dosevolume histogram information, evaluating the absorbed dose differences, the dose constraint fulfillment, or modified biomathematical treatment outcome models such as tumor control probability (TCP) and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP). An additional purpose is to establish whether the new metrics yield the same acceptance/rejection plan distribution as the conventional ones. Methods: Fifty eight treatment plans concerning several patient locations are analyzed. All of them were verified prior to the treatment, using conventional metrics, and retrospectively after the treatment with the new metrics. These new metrics include the definition of three continuous functions, based on dosevolume histograms resulting from measurements evaluated with a reconstructed dose system and also with a Monte Carlo redundant calculation. The 3D gamma function for every volume of interest is also calculated. The information is also processed to obtain dTCP or dNTCP for the considered volumes of interest. These biomathematical treatment outcome models have been modified to increase their sensitivity to dose changes. A robustness index from a radiobiological point of view is defined to classify plans in robustness against dose changes. Results: Dose difference metrics can be condensed in a single parameter: the dose difference global function, with an optimal cutoff that can be determined from a receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis of the metric. It is not always possible to correlate differences in biomathematical treatment outcome models with dose difference metrics. This is due to the fact that the dose constraint is often far from the dose that has an actual impact on the radiobiological model, and therefore, biomathematical treatment outcome models are insensitive to big dose differences between the verification system and the treatment planning system. As an alternative, the use of modified radiobiological models which provides a better correlation is proposed. In any case, it is better to choose robust plans from a radiobiological point of view. The robustness index defined in this work is a good predictor of the plan rejection probability according to metrics derived from modified radiobiological models. The global 3D gamma-based metric calculated for each plan volume shows a good correlation with the dose difference metrics and presents a good performance in the acceptance/rejection process. Some discrepancies have been found in dose reconstruction depending on the algorithm employed. Significant and unavoidable discrepancies were found between the conventional metrics and the new ones. Conclusions: The dose difference global function and the 3D gamma for each plan volume a e good classifiers regarding dose difference metrics. ROC analysis is useful to evaluate the predictive power of the new metrics. The correlation between biomathematical treatment outcome models and the dose difference-based metrics is enhanced by using modified TCP and NTCP functions that take into account the dose constraints for each plan. The robustness index is useful to evaluate if a plan is likely to be rejected. Conventional verification should be replaced by the new metrics, which are clinically more relevant

La presencia de Oriente en tres dancings barceloneses de los años 30: Oshima, Wu Li Chang y La Criolla

La relación entre Oriente y Occidente estuvo presente desde la antigüedad, aunque la industrialización aceleró el acercamiento entre ambos mundos. En nuestro país, la cultura de China y de Japón tuvo una influencia especialmente intensa en la ciudad de Barcelona desde mediados del siglo XIX hasta la Guerra Civil. En el presente artículo estudiamos esta conexión exponiendo el impacto de ambos países en el ambiente festivo, arquitectónico y decorativo de tres dancings barceloneses de los años 30 del siglo pasado: Oshima, Wu Li Chang y La Criolla. Para comprenderlos, explicaremos los fenómenos del japonismo y la tardo-chinoiserie a partir de las Exposiciones de 1888 y 1929. A continuación, mediante fotografías históricas y notas de prensa, ahondaremos en la historia de estos tres locales y el uso de la temática oriental para atraer, en un caso, a la burguesía catalana y, en los otros dos, a las clases populares

Comparison of visual and optical quality of monofocal versus multifocal intraocular lenses

Objective: To compare visual quality in patients implanted with Tecnis ® monofocal (ZCB00) and multifocal (ZMB00) intraocular lenses taking into account their optical quality measured in vitro with an eye model. Methods: In total, 122 patients participated in this study: 44 implanted with monofocal and 78 with multifocal intraocular lenses. Measurements of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity were performed. The optical quality of the intraocular lenses was evaluated in three image planes (distance, intermediate and near) using an eye model on a test bench. The metric considered was the area under the curve of the modulation transfer function. Results: Optical quality at the far focus of the monofocal intraocular lens (area under the curve of the modulation transfer function = 66.97) was considerably better than that with the multifocal lens (area under the curve of the modulation transfer function = 32.54). However, no significant differences were observed between groups at the distance-corrected visual acuity. Distance-corrected near vision was better in the multifocal (0.15 ± 0.20 logMAR) than that in the monofocal group (0.43 ± 0.21 logMAR, p < 0.001), which correlated with the better optical quality at near reached by the multifocal intraocular lens (area under the curve of the modulation transfer function = 29.11) in comparison with the monofocal intraocular lens (area under the curve of the modulation transfer function = 5.0). In intermediate vision, visual acuity was 0.28 ± 0.16 logMAR (multifocal) and 0.36 ± 0.14 logMAR (monofocal) with p = 0.014, also in good agreement with the values measured in the optical quality (area under the curve of the modulation transfer function = 10.69 (multifocal) and 8.86 (monofocal)). The contrast sensitivity was similar in almost all frequencies. Pelli–Robson was slightly better in the monofocal (1.73) than in the multifocal group (1.64; p = 0.023). Conclusion: Patients implanted with multifocal ZMB00 achieved a distance visual acuity similar to those implanted with monofocal ZCB00, but showed significantly better intermediate and near visual acuity. A correlation was found between intraocular lenses’ optical quality and patients’ visual acuity. Contrast sensitivity was very similar between the multifocal and monofocal groups

Social representations regarding the graduate profile of the differential education teaching course at Universidad Católica de Temuco, Chile, and its public social function

The subject of the present article is to reveal the social representations (SR) of first-year students on the differential education course of a university in the Araucanía Region of Chile, with respect to their professional identity, to interpret them and compare them to the graduate profile of the course. We will also analyse the public social function of the course. The research subjects were first-year students on the course, and the data were collected using interviews and natural semantic networks; these techniques were applied to two participating groups. On the one hand, the results show that the subjects are conscious of the importance of the graduate profile, having greater knowledge about the general competences taught in the course than the specific, and relating the profile with their future role and not with the discipline; on the other, the students’ SR are constructed in their initial training in different areas, and the subjects state that the vision of the teaching team has an impact on their understanding of the graduate profile

Adipose tissue mitochondrial dysfunction in human obesity is linked to a specific DNA methylation signature in adipose-derived stem cells

Background: A functional population of adipocyte precursors, termed adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (ASCs), is crucial for proper adipose tissue (AT) expansion, lipid handling, and prevention of lipotoxicity in response to chronic positive energy balance. We previously showed that obese human subjects contain a dysfunctional pool of ASCs. Elucidation of the mechanisms underlying abnormal ASC function might lead to therapeutic interventions for prevention of lipotoxicity by improving the adipogenic capacity of ASCs. Methods: Using epigenome-wide association studies, we explored the impact of obesity on the methylation signature of human ASCs and their differentiated counterparts. Mitochondrial phenotyping of lean and obese ASCs was performed. TBX15 loss- and gain-of-function experiments were carried out and western blotting and electron microscopy studies of mitochondria were performed in white AT biopsies from lean and obese individuals. Results: We found that DNA methylation in adipocyte precursors is significantly modified by the obese environment, and adipogenesis, inflammation, and immunosuppression were the most affected pathways. Also, we identified TBX15 as one of the most differentially hypomethylated genes in obese ASCs, and genetic experiments revealed that TBX15 is a regulator of mitochondrial mass in obese adipocytes. Accordingly, morphological analysis of AT from obese subjects showed an alteration of the mitochondrial network, with changes in mitochondrial shape and number. Conclusions: We identified a DNA methylation signature in adipocyte precursors associated with obesity, which has a significant impact on the metabolic phenotype of mature adipocytes

A simple and versatile microfluidic device for efficient biomacromolecule crystallization and structural analysis by serial crystallography

Determining optimal conditions for the production of well diffracting crystals is a key step in every biocrystallography project. Here, a microfluidic device is described that enables the production of crystals by counter-diffusion and their direct on-chip analysis by serial crystallography at room temperature. Nine ‘nonmodel’ and diverse biomacromolecules, including seven soluble proteins, a membrane protein and an RNA duplex, were crystallized and treated on-chip with a variety of standard techniques including micro-seeding, crystal soaking with ligands and crystal detection by fluorescence. Furthermore, the crystal structures of four proteins and an RNA were determined based on serial data collected on four synchrotron beamlines, demonstrating the general applicability of this multipurpose chip conceptThe following funding is acknowledged: Agence Nationale de la Recherche (contract No. ANR-11-LABX- 0057_MITOCROSS to Claude Sauter, Bernard Lorber; contract No. ANR-10-LABX-0036_NETRN to Claude Sauter, Bernard Lorber; contract No. ANR-13-BS07-0007-01 to Eric Girard, Sylvain Engilberge); Ministère des Affaires Etrangères (contract No. PROCOPE Hubert Curien to Claude Sauter, Mario Mörl); Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (contract No. Mo 634/10-1 to Mario Mörl, Heike Betat); Université de Strasbourg [grant No. Initiative d’excellence (IDEX) to Claude Sauter, Raphaël de Wijn]; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (grant No. MRCT- 2012_PTI_UPR9002 to Claude Sauter)