•How temperature and KOH concentration influence on the carotenoids extraction.•How different polarity solvents influence on the recovery.•To establish a standard method for all microalgae is not ...possible.
Microalgae are an interesting source of natural pigments that have valuable applications. However, further research is necessary to develop processes that allow us to achieve high levels of carotenoid recovery while avoiding degradation. This work presents a comprehensive study on the recovery of carotenoids from several microalgae genera, optimizing carotenoid extraction using alkaline saponification at various temperatures and KOH concentrations. Results show that I. galbana requires a temperature of 60 °C and <10% KOH, N. gaditana and K. veneficum require 60 °C and no saponification, P. reticulatum requires 40 °C and 10% KOH, T. suecica and H. pluvialis require 25 °C and 40% KOH while C. sp. and S. almeriensis require 80 °C and 40% KOH. The influence of the solvent on carotenoid recovery was also studied. In general terms, an ethanol:hexane:water (77:17:6 v/v/v) mixture results in good yields.
•Multi-step extraction processes for carotenoids, fatty acids and APDs were assessed.•Each step was optimized for dinoflagellates using previously reported methodologies.•Total recoveries were 97% ...for carotenoids, 80% for fatty acids and 100% for APDs.
Sustainable dinoflagellate microalgae-based bioprocess designed to produce secondary metabolites (SMs) with interesting bioactivities are attracting increasing attention. However, dinoflagellates also produce other valuable bioproducts (e.g polyunsaturated fatty acids, carotenoids, etc.) that could be recovered and should therefore be taken into account in the bioprocess. In this study, biomass of the marine dinoflagellate microalga Amphidinium carterae was used to assess and optimise three different methods in order to obtain three families of high-value biochemical compounds present in the biomass. The existing processes encompassed a multi-step extraction process for carotenoids, fatty acids and APDs individually and are optimized for the integral valorization of raw A. carterae biomass, with SMs being the primary target compounds. Total process recovery yields were 97% for carotenoids, 80% for total fatty acids and 100% for an extract rich in APDs (not purified).
Changes in the distribution of the demersal fish species have been identified in north-European Atlantic waters. The consequence of these changes has been a northward shift of the distribution limits ...and changes in richness. In this study a notable increase in demersal fish species richness per sampling station was detected in the southern Bay of Biscay. This rise was due to an increase in frequency of occurrence and abundance of the majority of fish species in the area (53% from the total species). A fisheries relate explanation was discarded because the mismatch between the changes in the fishing effort and the augment in frequency of occurrence and abundance. On the contrary, these changes are in agreement with expected response under the increasing temperature of the sea observed over the last three decades, associated to global warming. These changes were positively correlated with an increase in temperature of intermediate waters in the study area. In addition, some of these species showed a notable western displacements of the Centre of Gravity in the study area, which would be expected if temperate water species would be favoured by an increase in water temperature. Our results are consistent with studies in the North Sea, where many of these species showing widened distribution limits towards north. The analysis of the results shows that the studied ecosystem, the Bay of Biscay is under a meridionalization process. On the other hand, only one tropicalization event (Lepidotrigla dieuzeidei), was recorded, maybe due to the conservative restrictions applied in species selection.
•There is an increase in spatial–temporal fish richness in the studied ecosystem.•It has been tested an increase of FO and abundance of the 53% of the fish species.•Global warming seems to be responsible of the observed changes in fish community.•Meridionalization is the process that better explain the observed changes.
Milk-derived bioactive peptides with a single activity (e.g., antioxidant, immunomodulatory, or antimicrobial) have been previously well documented; however, few studies describe multifunctional ...bioactive peptides, which may be preferred over single-activity peptides, as they can simultaneously trigger, modulate, or inhibit multiple physiological pathways. Hence, the aim of this study was to assess the anti-inflammatory, antihemolytic, antioxidant, antimutagenic, and antimicrobial activities of crude extracts (CE) and peptide fractions (<3 and 3–10 kDa) obtained from fermented milks with specific Lactobacillus plantarum strains. Overall, CE showed higher activity than both peptide fractions (<3 and 3–10 kDa) in most of the activities assessed. Furthermore, activity of <3 kDa was generally higher, or at least equal, to the 3 to 10 kDa peptide fractions. In particular, L. plantarum 55 crude extract or their fractions showed the higher anti-inflammatory (723.68–1,759.43μg/mL of diclofenac sodium equivalents), antihemolytic (36.65–74.45% of inhibition), and antioxidant activity 282.8–362.3µmol of Trolox (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) equivalents. These results provide valuable evidence of multifunctional role of peptides derived of fermented milk by the action of specific L. plantarum strains. Thus, they may be considered for the development of biotechnological products to be used to reduce the risk of disease or to enhance a certain physiological function.
Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients have an increasing risk of both hemorrhagic and thrombotic complications. However, the competing risks of two of these life-threatening ...complications in these complex patients have still not been well defined. We retrospectively analyzed data from 431 allogeneic transplantation recipients to identify the incidence, risk factors and mortality due to thrombosis and bleeding. Significant clinical bleeding was more frequent than symptomatic thrombosis. The cumulative incidence of a bleeding episode was 30.2% at 14 years. The cumulative incidence of a venous or arterial thrombosis at 14 years was 11.8% and 4.1%, respectively. The analysis of competing factors for venous thrombosis revealed extensive chronic graft-versus-host disease to be the only independent prognostic risk factor. By contrast, six factors were associated with an increased risk of bleeding; advanced disease, ablative conditioning regimen, umbilical cord blood transplantation, anticoagulation, acute III-IV graft-versus-host disease, and transplant-associated microangiopathy. The development of thrombosis did not significantly affect overall survival (P=0.856). However, significant clinical bleeding was associated with inferior survival (P<0.001). In allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, significant clinical bleeding is more common than thrombotic complications and affects survival.
Nowadays, due to the great uncontrolled content posted daily on the Web, there has also been a huge increase in the dissemination of hate speech worldwide. Social media, blogs and community forums ...are examples where people are freely allowed to communicate. However, freedom of expression is not always respectful since offensive or insulting language is sometimes used. Social media companies often rely on users and content moderators to report on this type of content. Nevertheless, due to the large amount of content generated every day on the Web, automatic systems based on Natural Language Processing techniques are required for identifying abusive language online. To date, most of the systems developed to combat this problem are mainly focused on English content, but this issue is a worldwide concern and therefore other languages such as Spanish are involved. In this paper, we address the task of Spanish hate speech identification on social media and provide a deeper understanding of the capabilities of new techniques based on machine learning. In particular, we compare the performance of Deep Learning methods with recently pre-trained language models based on Transfer Learning as well as with traditional machine learning models. Our main contribution is the achievement of promising results in Spanish by applying multilingual and monolingual pre-trained language models such as BERT, XLM and BETO.
•Addressing hate speech detection on social media for Spanish.•Comparing the performance of Deep Learning and Machine Learning models.•Evaluating recent pre-trained language models based on Transformer mechanism.•Comparing pre-trained multilingual and monolingual models available for Spanish.•Conducting an error analysis in order to understand the difficulty of the task.
Abstract
This paper reports the latest developments for the photogrammetric open‐source tool called
GRAPHOS
(inte
GRA
ted
PHO
togrammetric Suite).
GRAPHOS
includes some recent innovations in the ...image‐based 3D reconstruction pipeline, from automatic feature detection/description and network orientation to dense image matching and quality control.
GRAPHOS
also has a strong educational component beyond its automated processing functions, reinforced with tutorials and didactic explanations about algorithms and performance. The paper highlights recent developments carried out at different levels: graphical user interface (
GUI
), didactic simulators for image processing, photogrammetric processing with weight parameters, dataset creation and system evaluation.
Résumé
La photogrammétrie est actuellement confrontée à des défis et des changements liés principalement à l'automatisation, au traitement et à la variété des applications. Cet article présente un outil photogrammétrique à source ouverte appelé
GRAPHOS
(inte
GRA
ted
PHO
togrammetric Suite) destiné à la communauté scientifique pour la restitution 3D dans des applications rapprochées. Il englobe des algorithmes photogrammétriques et de vision par ordinateur avec les objectifs suivants: (i) accroître l'automatisation, permettant d'obtenir des nuages denses de points 3D grâce à une interface conviviale; (ii) accroître la flexibilité en travaillant avec tout type d'image, de scénario et de caméra; (iii) améliorer la qualité, garantissant une haute précision et une haute résolution; (iv) préserver la fiabilité photogrammétrique et la répétabilité. Enfin et ce n'est pas le moins important,
GRAPHOS
dispose également d'une composante éducative qui va au‐delà des solutions les plus courantes pour le traitement d'images et la génération de nuages de points 3D, et renforcée par des simulations et des explications didactiques sur les algorithmes et leur fonctionnement. Les développements ont été réalisés à différents niveaux: réalisation d'interface utilisateur graphique (
GUI
), simulateurs didactiques pour le traitement d'images, traitement photogrammétrique avec paramètres avancés, création d'un jeu de données public et contrôle de la qualité des résultats.
Zusammenfassung
Die Photogrammetrie steht derzeit vor einigen Herausforderungen und Veränderungen, die sich hauptsächlich auf Automatisierung, ubiquitäre Verarbeitung und vielfältige Anwendungen beziehen. Durch dieses Papier wurde ein photogrammetrisches Open‐Source‐Tool namens
GRAPHOS
(inte
GRA
ted PHOtogrammetric Suite) entwickelt, um die bildbasierte Verarbeitung von 2D‐ zu 3D‐Daten in Nahbereichsanwendungen für die Scientific Community zu öffnen. Es umfasst robuste photogrammetrische und Computer‐Vision‐Algorithmen mit den folgenden Zielen: (i) Erhöhung der Automatisierung, so dass dichte 3D‐Punktwolken durch eine freundliche und einfach zu bedienende Benutzeroberfläche erhalten werden; (ii) Erhöhung der Flexibilität, um mit jeglichen Arten von Bildern, Szenarien und Kameras arbeiten zu können; (iii) Verbesserung der Qualität und Gewährleistung hoher Genauigkeit und Auflösung; (iv) Sicherstellung der photogrammetrische Zuverlässigkeit und Wiederholbarkeit. Nicht zuletzt hat
GRAPHOS
auch eine pädagogische Komponente jenseits der gängigsten Black‐Box‐Lösungen für die 3D‐Bildverarbeitung und Punktwolkenerzeugung, verstärkt mit einigen Simulatoren und didaktischen Erklärungen zu Algorithmen und deren Performance. Die Entwicklungen wurden auf verschiedenen Ebenen durchgeführt: grafische Benutzeroberfläche (
GUI
), didaktische Simulatoren für die Bildverarbeitung, photogrammetrische Verarbeitung mit Gewichtsparametern, Erstellung von Datensätzen und Systemauswertung.
Resumen
Este artículo presenta los últimos desarrollos de la herramienta fotogramétrica de código abierto llamada
GRAPHOS
(inte
GRA
ted
PHO
togrammetric Suite).
GRAPHOS
incluye algunas innovaciones recientes en el proceso de generación 3D basada en imágenes, desde los detectores/descriptores de características automáticos y la orientación de la red fotogramétrica a herramientas de correspondencia densa y de control de calidad.
GRAPHOS
tiene también un componente educativo que va más allá de las soluciones habituales para el procesamiento automático, reforzado con tutoriales y explicaciones didácticas sobre los algoritmos y su funcionamiento. Se destacan los desarrollos llevados a cabo en diferentes niveles: interfaz gráfico de usuario (
GUI
), simuladores didácticos para el procesamiento de imágenes, procesamiento fotogramétrico con parámetros avanzados, creación de un conjunto de datos y evaluación de los resultados.
摘要
本文描述了一个名为
GRAPHOS
(嵌入式摄影测量组件) 的开源摄影测量工具的最新进展。
GRAPHOS
包含了基于影像进行三维重建的若干技术革新, 如自动特征提取与特征描述、影像网络定向、密集匹配、以及质量控制。除了其自动化的处理功能外,
GRAPHOS
还具备强大的教学功能, 包括辅导材料、算法与性能的细致解释等。本文着重描述了其各个层面的最新发展: 包括图形用户界面、用于图像处理的教学仿真器、具有权重参数的摄影测量处理, 数据集创建和系统评估。
IntroductionDay-night changes in several molecules are studied as biomarkers of circadian rhytms (Morera-Fumero, A. L. et al. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 2017; 75 ...207-212). Circadian rhythmicity of the pituitary-thyroid axis has been proven in healthy individuals, with a Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) peak in serum around midnight and peaks during day hours (Bellastella, G. et al. Life 2021; 11(5), 426). A recent meta-analysis has reported differences in serum TSH levels between first-episode psychosis and multiple-episode schizophrenia (Misiak, B. et al. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 2021; 111, 110402). However, studies assessing quantitative circadian variations on TSH serum in schizophrenic patients are scant.ObjectivesComparing serum TSH levels at two different times of the day (12:00 and 24:00 hours) and the differences between the acute (hospital admission) and recovered phase (hospital discharge) of the disease.MethodsFourteen male patients (age 26,8±9,3 years) with the diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia psychosis according to the DSM-IV partake in the study. Patients were admitted to the University Hospital of the Canary Islands psychiatric room because of acute relapse. Blood samples were taken in the first 24 h of admission and at 24 h. before discharge. All patients gave written consent to participate in the research study. Serum TSH was determined by ELISA methods. Paired sample t-tests were performed between TSH serum levels at admission and discharge at 12:00 and 24:00 hours. Statistical analyses were performed using IBM® SPSS® Statistics 25 software for MAC (IBM Corporation 1989, 2017).ResultsThere were statistical differences between the 12:00 h and the 24:00 h of the TSH serum levels at admission (12:00: 145,856±156,961vs. 00:00: 192,006± 122,757, p = 0.04); TSH discharge, (12:00: 134,483±72,882vs 00:00: 244,214±148,697, p = 0.002). There were no statistical differences between the 12:00 TSH levels at admission and discharge (145,856±156,961 vs. 134,483± 72,882, p = 0.66). The 24:00 h comparison of TSH levels neither elicited significant results (admission: 192,006±122,757 vs. discharge: 244,214± 148,697, p = 0.15).ConclusionsSchizophrenic patients undergo TSH serum changes in a circadian pattern during the acute and stable phases of the disease; nevertheless, they experience smaller deviations during the acute phase. Higher levels of TSH were observed around midnight, as it happens in healthy individuals, with higher peaks during the stable phase compared to the acute one.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared
One of the main limitations in the application of stable isotopes to marine trophic ecology is obtaining a reliable baseline upon which to calculate isotopic enrichment. Isotopic baselines are ...variable in space and time, influenced by several environmental factors such as terrestrial runoff, oceanic currents or primary production, and thus, investigating their patterns of variability is essential to gain confidence in the estimates of trophic position based on isotopic signatures. We here propose a multispecies and multitrophic approach to study baseline isoscapes for nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon (δ13C), which we test on the demersal community of the Northwestern Iberian Peninsula. Using a set of 372 isotopic data of 11 demersal fish species sampled during autumn, we modelled the spatial variability of the isotopic baseline (for δ15N and δ13C separately) by removing the biological effect of species identity and individual length. Using the residuals of these models, which represent the isotopic baseline anomalies, we investigated the effect of environmental variables in driving the observed spatial patterns. Our results identify clear and consistent spatial patterns for the δ13C isotopic baseline. This isoscape achieved the lowest values in the westernmost part of the study area (Galician coast) increasing towards the east (Cantabrian Sea). This spatial pattern was mostly driven by primary production and organic matter in the sediment, reflecting the influence of upwelling intensity in the δ13C isotopic baseline over the study area. Baseline isotopic anomalies of δ15N, on the other hand, did not show clear spatial patterns, suggesting that for this isotopic baseline spatial patterns at the regional scale might not be as consistent. Our study brings forward the potential of multispecies isotopic data for approximating the environmental isotopic baselines for the whole ecosystem.
We report the results of a study on the learnability of haptic icons used as alerts or notifications in smartphones. The aim was to explore the feasibility of using haptic icons to create assistive ...technologies for people with visual impairments. We compared the performance and satisfaction of users with different visual capacities (visually impaired vs. sighted) and using different learning processes (with or without a reinforcement learning stage). The reinforcement learning stage improves the recognition rate in both types of users, although the improvement obtained by the visually impaired users is even better as their recognition rates become very similar to those obtained by the sighted users. Finally, it was observed that the better recognized haptic icons are those assigned to the most employed applications by the user.
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