Any computer vision application development starts off by acquiring images and data, then preprocessing and pattern recognition steps to perform a task. When the acquired images are highly imbalanced ...and not adequate, the desired task may not be achievable. Unfortunately, the occurrence of imbalance problems in acquired image datasets in certain complex real-world problems such as anomaly detection, emotion recognition, medical image analysis, fraud detection, metallic surface defect detection, disaster prediction, etc., are inevitable. The performance of computer vision algorithms can significantly deteriorate when the training dataset is imbalanced. In recent years, Generative Adversarial Neural Networks (GANs) have gained immense attention by researchers across a variety of application domains due to their capability to model complex real-world image data. It is particularly important that GANs can not only be used to generate synthetic images, but also its fascinating adversarial learning idea showed good potential in restoring balance in imbalanced datasets.
In this paper, we examine the most recent developments of GANs based techniques for addressing imbalance problems in image data. The real-world challenges and implementations of synthetic image generation based on GANs are extensively covered in this survey. Our survey first introduces various imbalance problems in computer vision tasks and its existing solutions, and then examines key concepts such as deep generative image models and GANs. After that, we propose a taxonomy to summarize GANs based techniques for addressing imbalance problems in computer vision tasks into three major categories: 1. Image level imbalances in classification, 2. object level imbalances in object detection and 3. pixel level imbalances in segmentation tasks. We elaborate the imbalance problems of each group, and provide GANs based solutions in each group. Readers will understand how GANs based techniques can handle the problem of imbalances and boost performance of the computer vision algorithms.
The rise of open access (OA) publishing has been followed by the expansion of the Article Publishing Charges (APC) that moves the financial burden of scholarly journal publishing from libraries and ...readers to authors. We introduce the results of an international randomly selected sampled survey (N = 3,422) that explores attitudes towards this pay‐to‐publish or Gold OA model among scholars. We test the predictor role of age, professional position, discipline, and income‐level country in this regard. We found that APCs are perceived more as a global threat to Science than a deterrent to personal professional careers. Academics in low and lower‐middle income level countries hold the most unfavourable opinions about the APC system. The less experimental disciplines held more negative perceptions of APC compared to STEM and the Life Sciences. Age and access to external funding stood as negative predictors of refusal to pay to publish. Commitment to OA self‐archiving predicted the negative global perception of the APC. We conclude that access to external research funds influences the acceptance and the particular perception of the pay to publish model, remarking the economic dimension of the problem and warning about issues in the inequality between centre and periphery.
Different studies have emphasized the influence of resin canal traits in the susceptibility of pine trees to the pine wood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Resin canals can facilitate the ...PWN migration through the stem and are involved in the accumulation of volatile terpenes in the xylem in response to the pathogen, inducing tracheid embolisms. In this work, we conducted a PWN inoculation experiment under greenhouse conditions to investigate the anatomical traits of constitutive resin canals among seven Pinus species with different degrees of susceptibility to the PWN: P. canariensis, P. halepensis, P. pinea and P. taeda were grouped into a ‘low-susceptible group’, and P. pinaster, P. radiata, and P. sylvestris were grouped into a ‘high-susceptible group’. The high-susceptible group presented higher xylem radial growth, wider constitutive canals in the cortex, lower frequency of constitutive canals in the cortex, and smaller constitutive canals in the xylem than the low-susceptible group. The size of constitutive cortical canals was positively related to the number of seedlings colonized by the PWN, suggesting that wider canals facilitated migration. The inoculation of the PWN increased the frequency and diminished the mean area of canals in the xylem, and the high-susceptible group showed more frequency of induced xylem canals than the low-susceptible group. Additionally, the high-susceptible group presented larger radial growths in the xylem than the low-susceptible group. These results suggest a role of resin canal traits on Pinus spp. susceptibility to the PWN. Nevertheless, the high interspecific variability found in these traits within each susceptibility group evidences the importance of other factors in the susceptibility to the PWN.
The health crisis of the last 3 years has revealed the weaknesses of the child and family support system based on the professional use of digital resources in social agencies. This study addresses ...three aims: to examine the level of professional digital competence; to analyze the user profiles in a variety of digital resources; and to test the impact of level of competences and user profiles on four aspects: professional practice, family satisfaction with the services, child and family wellbeing, and family autonomy in the exercise of the parenting role.
Participants were 148 practitioners from social agencies who voluntarily responded to an online survey with 47 questions.
Results showed that professionals perceive themselves as more competent in areas of information / data management and communication / collaboration than in the creation of digital content, security measures, and technical problem solving. Websites, email, and instant messaging were the sources more frequently used and with higher satisfaction, than structured programs, social networks and multimedia content. Variability in the user profiles showed three clusters: Cluster 1
(
= 13), Cluster 2
(
= 75) and Cluster 3
(
= 60). Participants in Cluster 2 compared to those in the other clusters were the most proficient on their digital competences and acknowledge the positive impact of digital resources on their professional practice and the psychological and social wellbeing of families. This study points the need for improvement in professionals' digital competences in some of the measured areas and the user profile of digital resources since both provide benefits on professional practice and family autonomy and wellbeing.
This paper analyzes the effect of access and egress time to transport terminals over the spatial competiveness of the high-speed train (HST) in the Madrid-Barcelona (Spain) corridor, one of the ...densest airline domestic markets in the world. Applying spatial data from 2010 provided by a geographical information system (GIS) to a mode choice model estimated with sample travelers in this corridor, the present study examines whether and how the level-of-service of transport terminals spatially affects the competitiveness or modal distribution of HST and air transport in the provinces of Madrid and Barcelona; and, in particular, the degree of competitiveness that can be accrued by the access time provided by private car and transit in different market segments, especially mandatory and leisure trips. In a number of urban zones near train stations and airports, terminal accessibility clearly favors one transport mode in comparison to the other. Improving terminal accessibility via private car or public transit not only affects the relative access to terminals, but also represents a key strategy for readjusting the market shares of the competing modes in the corridor.
This paper proposes a methodology to measure spatial spillovers of transport infrastructure investment and to monetize them by distributing the costs of the infrastructures envisaged according to the ...regional distribution of the potential accessibility benefits. We use a transport master plan (the Spanish “Plan Estratégico de Infraestructuras y Transporte” 2005–2020, PEIT) as a case study for applying our methodology. In order to calculate and map regional spillovers, economic potential values are computed using network routines in a Geographic Information System (GIS) by comparing two scenarios: firstly, the scenario PEIT 2020; and secondly the scenario which includes the improvements envisaged for the year 2020 in all the regions except the region whose spillover effects are being analyzed. The differences between these two scenarios represent the potential spatial spillover effects of this region on the rest of the regions. This procedure is repeated for each of the Spanish regions in order to calculate a matrix of inter-regional spillovers in economic potential units. In a second step, this matrix is monetized by distributing the costs of the investment in infrastructures envisaged in the region according to the regional distribution of the economic potential benefits. This inter-regional matrix of investments flows characterizes the “inner”, “export”, and “import” values of each of the regional road investments. Subtracting from the direct investment the exports to other regions and adding the imports from other regions, an estimation of the
real investment of the plan in each region taking into account all the spillover effects is obtained. This value can be compared with the
direct investment in the region, analyzing whether one region has more or less
direct investment than
real. The proposed methodology makes it transparent which regions benefit more from national transport investment irrespective of where the investment occurs. The spillover matrix can be a valid instrument, especially in federal states or in the case of transnational projects, in the field of regional economics because it offers very useful information for both planners and policy makers.
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•Biorefinery approach: bioactive compounds extraction and anaerobic digestion.•High concentration of valuable compounds is extracted from different berry extrudates.•High methane ...production is attained from anaerobic digestion of remaining biomass.•The proposed biorefinery approach offers higher benefits than just anaerobic digestion.
This study proposes a biorefinery approach system to treat two berry extrudates generated by the berry-tasted products industry. The berry extrudates studied were strawberry extrudate (SE1 and SE2) and raspberry extrudate (RE), both of them processed in the same industrial plant. The proposed biorefinery approach consists in the extraction of bioactive compounds after hydrothermal pre-treatment followed by anaerobic digestion of the remaining biomass after extraction. A high concentration of valuable phenolic compounds was extracted from each extrudate through the absorption-desorption processes, i.e. 876, 392 and 2402 mg of gallic acid equivalents/kg extrudate in SE1, SE2 and RE, respectively. Anaerobic digestion of the remaining biomass after extraction led to high methane production, between 371 and 503 mL CH4/g VS. The economical evaluation showed that the proposed biorefinery approach would offer higher benefits than just anaerobic digestion of the untreated extrudate, although this last option would be economically feasible as well.
IntroductionKnowing the factors associated with HIV transmission is necessary in order to design preventive programmes tailored to the epidemiological situation in each region and population.AimOur ...objective was to study the sociodemographic, clinical and behavioural characteristics of men who have sex with men (MSM) who were newly diagnosed with HIV infection.MethodsWe carried out an observational, descriptive, study on all MSM newly diagnosed with HIV infection in one clinic for sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV clinic in Madrid between 2014 and 2019. Information on sociodemographic, clinical, and behavioural characteristics of participants per year of diagnosis was collected.ResultsWe detected a total of 1,398 people with HIV infection, 253 of whom were recent seroconverters (rSCV) with a median duration of documented seroconversion of 6 months. From the total, 97.9% infections were sexually transmitted and 2.1% involved injected drugs, i.e. slam practices. The average age was 32.9 years (range: 15.6-74.9), 51.8% were Spanish and 40% Latin American. These diagnoses decreased in Spanish people and increased in Latin Americans during the study period. Of the rSCV, 73.9% had condomless sex under the influence of drugs and 28.9% participated in chemsex sessions. Apps were used by 92.6% rSCV for sexual encounters and 70.4% of them attributed HIV transmission to their use.ConclusionsCombination of HIV prevention strategies, as pre-exposure prophylaxis, should be reinforced among young MSM, especially those born in Latin America, those who use drugs for sex, and those who use apps in search of sexual contacts.
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is a heterogeneous condition with nonspecific symptoms. We aimed to report its management by paediatric gastroenterologists in Spain.
A descriptive study ...by means of a survey sent to 184 active members of the Spanish Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (SEGHNP).
148 responses (80.4%) were received. For patients without predisposing condition, 31.1% employ antibiotics followed by probiotics; 33.1% antibiotherapy concomitant with probiotics; 24.3% only antibiotics and 10.8% only probiotics. 73.8% of participants usually establish the diagnosis through clinical parameters and 90% check the therapeutic response only by clinical data.
There is high variability in the management of SIBO among paediatric population in our country.
La medición y control de la actividad universitaria es cada vez más relevante y condiciona la imagen institucional. La proliferación de rankings internacionales así lo evidencia. El objetivo de esta ...investigación es analizar las acciones de apoyo que las universidades en España ofrecen a la comunidad científica para alcanzar la excelencia investigadora, categorizarlas y comparar, después, si existe una correlación entre estos servicios internos y la posición de las universidades españolas en el ranking SIR, con base en resultados externos. La metodología se fundamenta en el análisis de contenido. Los resultados obtenidos evidencian cierta similitud, aunque hay casos discordantes que permiten inferir que la actividad investigadora responde a iniciativas individuales y encuentra sinergias a partir del trabajo colaborativo entre diferentes instituciones. Además, se perciben niveles más elevados de fomento de la investigación en el caso de las universidades públicas.
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