Modelado, simulación y control digital de autogiros

Este proyecto consiste en diseñar el algoritmo de control de un autogiro no tripulado. Su aplicación principal es llevar a cabo tareas rutinarias o peligrosas para el piloto como, por ejemplo, extinción de incendios, evaluación de riesgo químico o vigilancia de lugares de acceso restringido. Se realiza un estudio del movimiento del vehículo para obtener su modelo dinámico. A partir de las ecuaciones que describen su movimiento, se realiza una simulación numérica del vehículo. Se incorpora el controlador diseñado y se evalúa su funcionamiento. Finalmente, se implementa el sistema en un microcontrolador.

Buccal mucosa graft for laryngotracheal reconstruction in severe laryngeal stenosis.

OBJECTIVE: An operative technique is described as a salvage treatment for severe subglottic and supraglottic laryngeal stenosis. In addition to expansion of the laryngeal framework with an anterior cartilage graft, as used in a classical laryngotracheal reconstruction, the scar tissue obliterating the airway lumen is excised and a mucosal graft is placed to reconstruct the inner lining of the airway. The graft is harvested from buccal mucosa. METHODS: The operative technique is outlined. Three cases, 2 paediatric and one adult, with complete or near complete laryngeal stenosis are presented where this operative technique was employed. In all patients several surgeries had been performed previously which were unsuccessful. RESULTS: In all 3 patients a patent airway was achieved with decannulation of the tracheostomy in the 2 paediatric patients. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with severe subglottic or supraglottic airway stenosis where other surgeries have failed, excision of endoluminal scar tissue and placement of a buccal mucosal graft, in addition to conventional laryngotracheal reconstruction, is a promising technique. In revision cases of subglottic stenosis cricotracheal resection might not be an option because of scarring from previous surgeries. This operation is an alternative, which allows an increase in the airway lumen by excising the scar tissue then re-lining the exposed internal lumen. The buccal mucosa reduces granulation formation and re-stenosis.

Transfer entropy reconstruction and labeling of neuronal connections from simulated calcium imaging

Neuronal dynamics are fundamentally constrained by the underlying structural network architecture, yet much of the details of this synaptic connectivity are still unknown even in neuronal cultures in vitro. Here we extend a previous approach based on information theory, the Generalized Transfer Entropy, to the reconstruction of connectivity of simulated neuronal networks of both excitatory and inhibitory neurons. We show that, due to the model-free nature of the developed measure, both kinds of connections can be reliably inferred if the average firing rate between synchronous burst events exceeds a small minimum frequency. Furthermore, we suggest, based on systematic simulations, that even lower spontaneous inter-burst rates could be raised to meet the requirements of our reconstruction algorithm by applying a weak spatially homogeneous stimulation to the entire network. By combining multiple recordings of the same in silico network before and after pharmacologically blocking inhibitory synaptic transmission, we show then how it becomes possible to infer with high confidence the excitatory or inhibitory nature of each individual neuron.

In silico pathway reconstruction: Iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Background: Current advances in genomics, proteomics and other areas of molecular biology make the identification and reconstruction of novel pathways an emerging area of great interest. One such class of pathways is involved in the biogenesis of Iron-Sulfur Clusters (ISC). Results: Our goal is the development of a new approach based on the use and combination of mathematical, theoretical and computational methods to identify the topology of a target network. In this approach, mathematical models play a central role for the evaluation of the alternative network structures that arise from literature data-mining, phylogenetic profiling, structural methods, and human curation. As a test case, we reconstruct the topology of the reaction and regulatory network for the mitochondrial ISC biogenesis pathway in S. cerevisiae. Predictions regarding how proteins act in ISC biogenesis are validated by comparison with published experimental results. For example, the predicted role of Arh1 and Yah1 and some of the interactions we predict for Grx5 both matches experimental evidence. A putative role for frataxin in directly regulating mitochondrial iron import is discarded from our analysis, which agrees with also published experimental results. Additionally, we propose a number of experiments for testing other predictions and further improve the identification of the network structure. Conclusion: We propose and apply an iterative in silico procedure for predictive reconstruction of the network topology of metabolic pathways. The procedure combines structural bioinformatics tools and mathematical modeling techniques that allow the reconstruction of biochemical networks. Using the Iron Sulfur cluster biogenesis in S. cerevisiae as a test case we indicate how this procedure can be used to analyze and validate the network model against experimental results. Critical evaluation of the obtained results through this procedure allows devising new wet lab experiments to confirm its predictions or provide alternative explanations for further improving the models.

La situación de la venta de contenidos on line en España: un estudio del lector de prensa digital

Actualmente es una realidad la dificultad del cobro por servicios on line. Sobre todo si estos servicios son de carácter generalista y se reproducen en muchos sitios web. Las actuales iniciativas de algunos periódicos para cobrar no tienen todavía el suficiente valor añadido para que los usuarios paguen. Muchas veces el tráfico que pierden, y por lo tanto los ingresos de publicidad on line que dejan de ingresar, representan una mayor cantidad económica que el dinero que les suponen las nuevas suscripciones. En el presente trabajo se pretende estudiar el comportamiento de los lectores de diarios on line, identificando cuales son los principales elementos que este tipo de lectores valoran para posteriormente realizar una buena estrategia de contenidos de pago.

Guia de contingut digital accessible

La guia de contingut digital accessible està dissenyada per donar informació pas a pas sobre com estructurar, formatar i escriure un document realitzat amb Microsoft Word, OpenOffice Writer o Microsoft PowerPoint perquè siguin accessibles. Es descriu com transformar aquests documents a format PDF i mantenir, alhora, les seves propietats d’accessibilitat. També es descriuen aspectes d’accessibilitat que cal tenir en compte a l’hora d’introduir contingut web mitjançant les Sakai i OpenCMS.

A web ontologies framework for digital rights management

In order to improve the management of copyright in the Internet, known as Digital Rights Management, there is the need for a shared language for copyright representation. Current approaches are based on purely syntactic solutions, i.e. a grammar that defines a rights expression language. These languages are difficult to put into practise due to the lack of explicit semantics that facilitate its implementation. Moreover, they are simple from the legal point of view because they are intended just to model the usage licenses granted by content providers to end-users. Thus, they ignore the copyright framework that lies behind and the whole value chain from creators to end-users. Our proposal is to use a semantic approach based on semantic web ontologies. We detail the development of a copyright ontology in order to put this approach into practice. It models the copyright core concepts for creation, rights and the basic kinds of actions that operate on content. Altogether, it allows building a copyright framework for the complete value chain. The set of actions operating on content are our smaller building blocks in order to cope with the complexity of copyright value chains and statements and, at the same time, guarantee a high level of interoperability and evolvability. The resulting copyright modelling framework is flexible and complete enough to model many copyright scenarios, not just those related to the economic exploitation of content. The ontology also includes moral rights, so it is possible to model this kind of situations as it is shown in the included example model for a withdrawal scenario. Finally, the ontology design and the selection of tools result in a straightforward implementation. Description Logic reasoners are used for license checking and retrieval. Rights are modelled as classes of actions, action patterns are modelled also as classes and the same is done for concrete actions. Then, to check if some right or license grants an action is reduced to check for class subsumption, which is a direct functionality of these reasoners.

Análise da imagem digital para estimativa da área foliar em plantas de laranja "Pêra"

Objetivou-se, com o trabalho, avaliar dois métodos de estimativa da área foliar, em plantas de laranja "Pêra", pela análise da imagem digital obtida com scanner e câmera fotográfica digital. Para determinar a área das folhas, um grupo de discos foi colocado sobre um leitor de scanner, sendo que a imagem obtida foi armazenada. Os mesmos grupos de discos foram fixados sobre cartolina branca e fotografados com câmera fotográfica digital. As imagens obtidas da câmera fotográfica e do scanner foram processadas utilizando ferramentas de um editor de imagem que permite a contagem de pixels de determinada cor, no caso verde. Para a comparação dos métodos, os discos foram submetidos a integrador óptico de área foliar modelo LICOR-3100, utilizando os mesmos agrupamentos. Foram coletadas 20 folhas (cinco em cada quadrante da planta) por parcela de um experimento para comparação de fertilizantes comerciais e doses de zinco, aplicados via foliar, em plantas de sete anos de idade. O experimento foi composto de sete tratamentos e quatro repetições, num total de 28 parcelas. Os dois métodos apresentaram alta correlação com a área estimada pelo integrador óptico de área, considerado como método de referência. O método da análise da imagem obtida com câmera fotográfica, na resolução de 5.0 megapixel, foi mais precisa quando comparada à área estimada pelo integrador óptico de área.

Biblio-MetReS: A bibliometric network reconstruction application and server

Background: Reconstruction of genes and/or protein networks from automated analysis of the literature is one of the current targets of text mining in biomedical research. Some user-friendly tools already perform this analysis on precompiled databases of abstracts of scientific papers. Other tools allow expert users to elaborate and analyze the full content of a corpus of scientific documents. However, to our knowledge, no user friendly tool that simultaneously analyzes the latest set of scientific documents available on line and reconstructs the set of genes referenced in those documents is available. Results: This article presents such a tool, Biblio-MetReS, and compares its functioning and results to those of other user-friendly applications (iHOP, STRING) that are widely used. Under similar conditions, Biblio-MetReS creates networks that are comparable to those of other user friendly tools. Furthermore, analysis of full text documents provides more complete reconstructions than those that result from using only the abstract of the document. Conclusions: Literature-based automated network reconstruction is still far from providing complete reconstructions of molecular networks. However, its value as an auxiliary tool is high and it will increase as standards for reporting biological entities and relationships become more widely accepted and enforced. Biblio- MetReS is an application that can be downloaded from http://metres.udl.cat/. It provides an easy to use environment for researchers to reconstruct their networks of interest from an always up to date set of scientific documents.

Reduction of respiratory motion artifacts for free-breathing whole-heart coronary MRA by weighted iterative reconstruction.

PURPOSE: To combine weighted iterative reconstruction with self-navigated free-breathing coronary magnetic resonance angiography for retrospective reduction of respiratory motion artifacts. METHODS: One-dimensional self-navigation was improved for robust respiratory motion detection and the consistency of the acquired data was estimated on the detected motion. Based on the data consistency, the data fidelity term of iterative reconstruction was weighted to reduce the effects of respiratory motion. In vivo experiments were performed in 14 healthy volunteers and the resulting image quality of the proposed method was compared to a navigator-gated reference in terms of acquisition time, vessel length, and sharpness. RESULT: Although the sampling pattern of the proposed method contained 60% more samples with respect to the reference, the scan efficiency was improved from 39.5 ± 10.1% to 55.1 ± 9.1%. The improved self-navigation showed a high correlation to the standard navigator signal and the described weighting efficiently reduced respiratory motion artifacts. Overall, the average image quality of the proposed method was comparable to the navigator-gated reference. CONCLUSION: Self-navigated coronary magnetic resonance angiography was successfully combined with weighted iterative reconstruction to reduce the total acquisition time and efficiently suppress respiratory motion artifacts. The simplicity of the experimental setup and the promising image quality are encouraging toward future clinical evaluation. Magn Reson Med 73:1885-1895, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Guia de contingut digital accessible: vídeo

La guia consta d’un conjunt de documents en format pdf i d’una web (http://www.videoaccessible.udl.cat) que es complementen per donar pautes, recomanacions i exemples necessaris per poder mostrar informació en format vídeo digital accessible per a les persones amb diferents discapacitats.

Surgical reconstruction of TMJ

Certain situations and pathological processes that arise with temporomandibular joint destruction can only be resolved with surgical reconstructive procedures in order to attempt a functional and anatomical rehabilitation of this joint. Many of these situations can be surgically treated with the patient's own autologous tissues. However, in some patients reconstruction is complex and the use of autologous tissues is unadvisable whereas reconstruction utilizing alloplastic materials may be an appropriate alternative. The following report describes 4 clinical cases in which autologous grafts or Christensen joint prosthesis are employed in temporomandibular joint reconstruction

Estudi digital per a guitarra

El treball de fi de carrera "Estudi digital per a guitarra" fa una anàlisi d'un tipus de programari dedicat a la música, i més concretament a l'instrument de la guitarra. En ell s'analitzen programes per gravar àudio, editors de partitures, estudis d'àudio digital, efectes, emuladors, etc., tot muntat sobre un sistema GNU/Linux.

Televisión digital: aspectos generales

Análisis sobre la televisión digital, sus ventajas e inconvenientes. La Recomendación 601 del CCIRR (conversión analógica-digital). Cronología de los acontecimientos más interesantes ocurridos entre 1862 a 1988 que contribuyeron al desarrollo e implantación de la televisión.

Lake-level and salinity reconstruction from diatom analyses in Quillagua Formation (Late Neogene, Central Andean Forearc, Northern Chile)

A sedimentary and micropaleontological study of the Quillagua Formation provides a detailed paleohydrological reconstruction of the lacustrine system which occupied the present-day hyperarid Quillagua-Llamara fore-arc Basin (Northern Chile) from lattermost Miocene to Early Pliocene times.