Impact of Face Image Quality Estimation on Presentation Attack Detection

Non-referential face image quality assessment methods have gained popularity as a pre-filtering step on face recognition systems. In most of them, the quality score is usually designed with face matching in mind. However, a small amount of work has been done on measuring their impact and usefulness on Presentation Attack Detection (PAD). In this paper, we study the effect of quality assessment methods on filtering bona fide and attack samples, their impact on PAD systems, and how the performance of such systems is improved when training on a filtered (by quality) dataset. On a Vision Transformer PAD algorithm, a reduction of 20% of the training dataset by removing lower quality samples allowed us to improve the BPCER by 3% in a cross-dataset test

Vitamin D deficiency among children and adolescents living in sunny South Texas

Background: Exposure to sunlight is essential to produce Vitamin D (ViD). Recent studies suggest obesity is associated with low ViD concentration. Living in South Texas with 220 sunny days a year should be enough to maintain adequate ViD levels. We aimed to analyze ViD levels and obesity in children and adolescents. Methods: We included 1239 pediatric (1.5 to 18.8 years old) participants (primary care clinic from Laredo) with registered CDC percentiles of BMI (pBMI) and serum concentrations of ViD (Atellica™). Data are described as median (p25, p75), Loess correlation between pBMI and ViD, ANCOVA to adjust by age, sex, and pBMI. We used the program Stata v16.1. The size of effects is expressed as Cohen-d and eta squared (eta2). Results: The median age was 12.5 (9.5, 15.1) years, pBMI was 94 (80, 98), 49% females (n=611). The pBMI showed small differences by sex (M 82.1±24 vs M 84.5±23, Cohen-d 0.14, p,0.001). The Loess showed an inverse relationship between pBMI with a rapid drop of ViD from p90. The ANCOVA coefficients were negative for sex (b=- 0.32 for females p=0.007, eta2=0.03) and pBMI (b=-0.001, p=0.025, eta2=0.15) on ViD concentration. Conclusion: We conclude obesity and female are related to low concentration VitD in sunny Laredo. Perhaps participants with more pBMI have less outdoor physical activity and increased sequester of ViD from adipose tissue. Future research should analyze the effect of these findings on adulthood morbidity

Psoriatic Animal Models Developed for the Study of the Disease

Psoriasis is a skin disease mainly developed in humans, although it is also seen in monkeys and dogs. Animal models with psoriasis-like lesions have been a key factor for its understanding. Xenotransplants of human psoriatic skin in immunodeficient mice were the first approach for the association of immunologic problems with the development of psoriasis and have been also useful for the evaluation on new therapeutic agents. Imiquimod-induced murine psoriasis is nowadays one of the most used animal models to study this disease, perhaps because healthy wild-type mice are used, which means that it is an affordable model, easy to generate, and, more importantly, resembles the inflammatory, angiogenic and hyperproliferative characteristics of human psoriasis. Several transgenic (over-expressing VEGF, Tie2, TGFβ, STAT3, IL-36, PPARβ/γ) and knockout (lacking IκBα, JunB, IFNR-2, IL-36RA, CD18, IKK2) mice have been useful for the association of specific molecules for the development of psoriasis. Other approach has been the use of both transgenic/knockout mice and imiquimod treatment, where the importance of βTrCP, IκBζ, IL-35 and Tnip1 for the development of psoriasis was found. In this chapter, some of these animal models are discussed

Hoja verde ó fé de erratas , que á las erratas del folleto titulado Noticia de los acontecimientos que tubieron lugar en la Villa de Santa Cruz de Tenerife ... los dias 9 y siguientes de agosto de 1836 en que fue proclamada la constitucion politica de la Monarquia Española decretada en 1812, debe añadirse para la mejor inteligencia y aclaración de aquellos sucesos, que un autor desconocido censuras tachando à la par, que la de otras personas, la comportacion del coronel de Artilleria D. José Juan de Tapia Ruano gobernador militar accidental de la Plaza en algunos de aquellos dias, dada al público por el citado Gefe en defensa propia y sin ningun otro objeto

Colofó

UHPLC-MS Phenolic Fingerprinting, Aorta Endothelium Relaxation Effect, Antioxidant, and Enzyme Inhibition Activities of Azara dentata Ruiz & Pav Berries

Azara dentata Ruiz & Pav. is a small Chilean native plant from Patagonia, a producer of small white reddish berries. For the first time, the proximal analysis of the fruits, phenolic fingerprinting, the antioxidant activity, and the enzymatic inhibition and relaxation effects in rat aorta induced by the ethanolic extract of these fruits were investigated. The proximal composition and the mineral (Ca: 2434 ± 40 mg/kg; Mg: 702 ± 13 mg/kg; Fe: 117.1 ± 1.6 mg/kg; Zn: 16.1 ± 0.4 mg/kg) and heavy metal (As: 121 ± 11 µg/kg; Cd: 152 ± 5 µg/kg; Hg: 7.7 ± 1.3 µg/kg; Pb 294 ± 4 µg/kg) contents were analyzed. Anthocyanins, flavonoids, phenolic acids, and coumarins were identified using UHPLC-PDA-QTOF-MS. The ethanolic extracts showed a total phenolic content of 23.50 ± 0.93 mg GAE/g extract. In addition, the antioxidant activity was assessed using both DPPH and TEAC (28.64 ± 1.87 and 34.72 ± 2.33 mg Trolox/g of dry fruit, respectively), FRAP (25.32 ± 0.23 mg Trolox equivalent/g dry fruit), and ORAC (64.95 ± 1.23 mg Trolox equivalents/g dry fruit). The inhibition of enzymatic activities (acetylcholinesterase IC50: 2.87 + 0.23 µg extract/mL, butyrylcholinesterase IC50: 6.73 + 0.07 µg extract/mL, amylase IC50: 5.6 ± 0.0 µg extract/mL, lipase IC50: 30.8 ± 0.0 µg extract/mL, and tyrosinase IC50: 9.25 ± 0.15 µg extract/mL) was also assessed. The extract showed 50–60% relaxation in rat aorta (intact), mediated thorough the release of endothelial nitric oxide. Our results suggest that A. dentata is a good source of compounds with the capacity to inhibit important enzymes, can be hypotensive, and can thus have good potentiality as supplements in the amelioration of neurodegenerative diseases and could also have potential to be used to develop new functional foods. The study highlights the benefits of these neglected small fruits and could boost their consumption.Fil: Cuesta Ramos, Lucia. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: Palacios, Javier. Universidad Arturo Prat (unap);Fil: Barrientos, Ruth E.. Universidad Austral de Chile; ChileFil: Gómez Pelaytay, Jessica Belén. Universidad Nacional de San Juan; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Castagnini, Juan Manuel. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: Barba, Francisco J.. Universidad de Valencia; EspañaFil: Tapia, Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Paredes, Adrián. Universidad de Antofagasta (uantof);Fil: Cifuentes, Fredi. Universidad de Antofagasta (uantof);Fil: Simirgiotis, Mario J.. Universidad Austral de Chile; Chil

Conducting clinical trials in persons with Down syndrome : summary from the NIH INCLUDE Down syndrome clinical trials readiness working group

The recent National Institute of Health (NIH) INCLUDE (INvestigation of Co-occurring conditions across the Lifespan to Understand Down syndromE) initiative has bolstered capacity for the current increase in clinical trials involving individuals with Down syndrome (DS). This new NIH funding mechanism offers new opportunities to expand and develop novel approaches in engaging and effectively enrolling a broader representation of clinical trials participants addressing current medical issues faced by individuals with DS. To address this opportunity, the NIH assembled leading clinicians, scientists, and representatives of advocacy groups to review existing methods and to identify those areas where new approaches are needed to engage and prepare DS populations for participation in clinical trial research. This paper summarizes the results of the Clinical Trial Readiness Working Group that was part of the INCLUDE Project Workshop: Planning a Virtual Down Syndrome Cohort Across the Lifespan Workshop held virtually September 23 and 24, 2019

Sistema Multiagente para la Gestión y Monitorización de Rutas de Vigilancia.

En este artículo se presenta un sistema para la gestión y monitorización de rutas de vigilancia para el personal de seguridad en el sector de la construcción. Diversos conceptos, derivados de la Inteligencia Ambiental, se han tenido en cuenta para el diseño del sistema, obteniendo información del contexto para planificar y monitorizar las rutas de vigilancia de forma automática y en tiempo de ejecución. El sistema se compone de agentes con capacidades de razonamiento y planificación, así como de un conjunto de tecnologías que permiten a los usuarios una interacción con el sistema y el entorno de forma sencilla, natural e intuitiva

Mesenchymal Stromal Cell-Based Therapies as Promising Treatments for Muscle Regeneration After Snakebite Envenoming

Snakebite envenoming is a global neglected disease with an incidence of up to 2.7 million new cases every year. Although antivenoms are so-far the most effective treatment to reverse the acute systemic effects induced by snakebite envenoming, they have a limited therapeutic potential, being unable to completely neutralize the local venom effects. Local damage, such as dermonecrosis and myonecrosis, can lead to permanent sequelae with physical, social, and psychological implications. The strong inflammatory process induced by snake venoms is associated with poor tissue regeneration, in particular the lack of or reduced skeletal muscle regeneration. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs)-based therapies have shown both anti-inflammatory and pro-regenerative properties. We postulate that using allogeneic MSCs or their cell-free products can induce skeletal muscle regeneration in snakebite victims, improving all the three steps of the skeletal muscle regeneration process, mainly by anti-inflammatory activity, paracrine effects, neovascularization induction, and inhibition of tissue damage, instrumental for microenvironment remodeling and regeneration. Since snakebite envenoming occurs mainly in areas with poor healthcare, we enlist the principles and potential of MSCs-based therapies and discuss regulatory issues, good manufacturing practices, transportation, storage, and related-procedures that could allow the administration of these therapies, looking forward to a safe and cost-effective treatment for a so far unsolved and neglected health problem.The authors are supported by the University Pablo de Olavide (Sevilla), the University Miguel Hernández (Elche, Alicante), National University Toribio Rodriguez de Mendoza (Chachapoyas, Peru) Grants: Contrato N° 09-2019-FONDECYT-BM-INC.INV to JRT, JDRF 2-SRA-2019-837-S-B and AVI-GVA COVID-19-68 to BS, Fundación Andaluza de I+D and Al-Andalus Biopharma Project (FAID-2018-1). The authors CC-O, CG-D, and TCSA were supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil (CNPq) (Process: 406163/2018-9), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brazil - CAPES (Program COFECUB Process: 88881.191812/2018-01) and by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brazil (FAPEMIG)