Integració d’un sistema de visió per computador a una cèl·lula flexible de transport

L’objectiu d’aquest projecte final de carrera és millorar les prestacions de la cel·la de fabricació actual duent a terme les següents fites: integració d’un sistema de visió artificial a la plataforma. Aquest sistema hade permetre la detecció i anàlisi dels objectes transportats, augmentant les seves possibilitats de manipulació i classificació. Es pretén eliminar la restricció actual que obliga a col•locar les peces en una posició fixa de la safata de transport; control centralitzat del procés a través d’un ordinador. El procés serà operat a través d’un computador industrial, el qual controlarà els diferents sistemes quecomponen la cel·la per tal que duguin a terme les seves funcions de forma coordinada; disseny i implementació d’una API del sistema. Es desenvoluparà la llibreria de control del sistema per tal de facilitar la programació del procés

International analysis of the countries where Brazilian franchise chains operate

This paper aims to demonstrate which external environment factors are involved in the international commitment of Brazilian franchise chains. Our objectives herein are to understand which external country characteristics lead to international franchising operations and to ascertain the influence of such characteristics in the commitment of franchise chains in each country they operate in. The database has 54 Brazilian franchise chains with international operations in 26 countries, which implies in 157 franchises operating abroad. Regarding external environment factors, the independent variables form a group divided into market opportunity and business efficiency – trust and ease to doing business. The result of the three distinct clusters show how the market opportunity and the business efficiency (trust and ease in doing business) work as drivers to the international operation of Brazilian franchises. The paper shows that the franchise chains operating in the USA (cluster 3) have an inferior international commitment in comparison with the franchises which operate in developed countries and in small Latin American countries (cluster 2). It is also possible to notice a large number of franchises that operate in underdeveloped countries from Latin America and Africa (cluster 1) with worse business efficiency due to the advantage of learning how to operate in a country that could have some similarities with Brazil

Effets secondaires meconnus des glucocorticoi'des: prevention et traitement spécifiques requis [Some less well known side effects of glucocorticoids: specific prevention and treatment?]

Steroid treatment is required in many clinical settings and if prolonged can be associated with serious side effects. Certain less well-known side effects may require specific prevention, diagnosis and treatment. The risk of developing hyperglycemia, psychiatric disorders and opportunistic infections associated with immunosuppression is often forgotten. We present herein some evidence on the prevalence, preventive measures and treatment of some of these side effects. Large controlled trials are lacking and do not allow to provide strong recommendations. Nevertheless, we try to provide some suggestions based on a review of the literature.

Suppression of tumor angiogenesis through the inhibition of integrin function and signaling in endothelial cells: which side to target?

Tumor angiogenesis is an essential step in tumor progression and metastasis formation. Suppression of tumor angiogenesis results in the inhibition of tumor growth. Recent evidence indicates that vascular integrins, in particular alpha V beta 3, are important regulators of angiogenesis, including tumor angiogenesis. Integrin alpha V beta 3 antagonists, such as blocking antibodies or peptides, suppress tumor angiogenesis and tumor progression in many preclinical tumor models. The potential therapeutic efficacy of extracellular integrin antagonists in human cancer is currently being tested in clinical trials. Selective disruption of the tumor vasculature by high doses of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), and the antiangiogenic activity of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are associated with the suppression of integrin alpha V beta 3 function and signaling in endothelial cells. Furthermore, expression of isolated integrin cytoplasmic domains disrupts integrin-dependent adhesion, resulting in endothelial cell detachment and apoptosis. These results confirm the critical role of vascular integrins in promoting endothelial cell survival and angiogenesis and suggest that intracellular targeting of integrin function and signaling may be an alternative strategy to extracellular integrin antagonists for the therapeutic inhibition of tumor angiogenesis.

Revealing the dark side of traditional democracies in plurinational societies. The case of Catalonia and the Spanish “Estado de las Autonomías”

In this article, I firstly offer a synthesis of a brief set of analytical elements of the theory of democracy and federalism established in the recent debate which identify a number of flaws in the normative and institutional bases of plurinational democracies. It is necessary to overcome these flaws in order to achieve a true political and constitutional recognition and accommodation of the national pluralism of this kind of liberal democracies (section 1). Secondly, we will focus on the Spanish case of the “Estado de las Autonomías” taking into account the recent reform of the Catalan constitutional law (Estatut d’autonomia 2006) (section 2). A final section makes a number of concluding remarks relating the previously highlighted elements of the theory of democracy and federalism with the analysis of the Catalan case (section 3).

Los títulos de crédito como marco de la obra fílmica. Análisis en Un americano en París, West Side Story y El desprecio

Este trabajo de investigación plantea un paralelismo entre los marcos en pintura y lostítulos de crédito en cine. Se analizan los créditos de tres películas (Un americano en París, West Side Story y El desprecio) según sus características de indicación, frontera, límite, umbral al imaginario y marco de actividad. Las películas a las que acompañan pertenecen, a su vez, a diferentes medios de producción y jerarquía, aspectos tecnológicos, áreas estéticas y estructuras de emisión y recepción. Los tres marcos son, a su vez, marcos-objeto, marcos-límite, marcos-ventana y marcos-espejo. Se leen de manera centrípeta, entre dos mundos y desde fuera del marco. Para ello se parte de una metodología transdisciplinar basada en la hermenéutica, el análisis crítico de los textos audiovisuales, los estudios sobrela imagen y el marco como objeto social.

Comparació de les dues traduccions al català de This Side of Paradise

En aquest treball es fa una anàlisi de This Side of Paradise, de Scott Fitzgerald, enfocada a avaluar les traduccions catalanes. A continuació, es comparen les dues traduccions existents: una de Francesc Parcerisas (Aquest costat del paradís, 1984) i l’altra de Josep Maria Fulquet (En aquest costat del paradís, 2003).

Maternal side-effects after multiple courses of antenatal corticosteroids (MACS): the three-month follow-up of women in the randomized controlled trial of MACS for preterm birth study.

OBJECTIVE: A single course of antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) is associated with a reduction in respiratory distress syndrome and neonatal death. Multiple Courses of Antenatal Corticosteroids Study (MACS), a study involving 1858 women, was a multicentre randomized placebo-controlled trial of multiple courses of ACS, given every 14 days until 33+6 weeks or birth, whichever came first. The primary outcome of the study, a composite of neonatal mortality and morbidity, was similar for the multiple ACS and placebo groups (12.9% vs. 12.5%), but infants exposed to multiple courses of ACS weighed less, were shorter, and had smaller head circumferences. Thus for women who remain at increased risk of preterm birth, multiple courses of ACS (every 14 days) are not recommended. Chronic use of corticosteroids is associated with numerous side effects including weight gain and depression. The aim of this postpartum assessment was to ascertain if multiple courses of ACS were associated with maternal side effects. METHODS: Three months postpartum, women who participated in MACS were asked to complete a structured questionnaire that asked about maternal side effects of corticosteroid use during MACS and included the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Women were also asked to evaluate their study participation. RESULTS: Of the 1858 women randomized, 1712 (92.1%) completed the postpartum questionnaire. There were no significant differences in the risk of maternal side effects between the two groups. Large numbers of women met the criteria for postpartum depression (14.1% in the ACS vs. 16.0% in the placebo group). Most women (94.1%) responded that they would participate in the trial again. CONCLUSION: In pregnancy, corticosteroids are given to women for fetal lung maturation and for the treatment of various maternal diseases. In this international multicentre randomized controlled trial, multiple courses of ACS (every 14 days) were not associated with maternal side effects, and the majority of women responded that they would participate in such a study again.

Flexible Fuel Vehicle Report, 2007

House File 2754 requires by February 1 of each year the Iowa Department of Transportation shall deliver a report to the governor and legislative services agency regarding flexible fuel vehicles registered in Iowa.

Credit lines: The other side of corporate liquidity

In this paper we offer the first large sample evidence on the availability and usage ofcredit lines in U.S. public corporations and use it to re-examine the existing findings oncorporate liquidity. We show that the availability of credit lines is widespread and thataverage undrawn credit is of the same order of magnitude as cash holdings. We test thetrade-off theory of liquidity according to which firms target an optimum level of liquidity,computed as the sum of cash and undrawn credit lines. We provide support for the existenceof a liquidity target, but also show that the reasons why firms hold cash and credit linesare very different. While the precautionary motive explains well cash holdings, the optimumlevel of credit lines appears to be driven by the restrictions imposed by the credit line itself,in terms of stated purpose and covenants. In support to these findings, credit line drawdownsare associated with capital expenditures, acquisitions, and working capital.