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Cinematic volume rendering solutions for the advanced exploration of medical images
No full textMedical visualization, commonly used in clinical routine for exploring
cardiac data, is based on traditional techniques including multiplanar
reformations, maximum intensity projection, and volume rendering that
rely on basic lighting models. Conversely, cinematic volume rendering
(CVR), grounded in physically-based rendering, has the capacity to
generate volumetric images with superior depth and shape perception. In
clinical settings, several commercial stand-alone CVR software tools are
available. Nevertheless, their prohibitive costs pose challenges for
smaller institutions and individual researchers. Furthermore, these tools
operate as ‘black-box’ systems and encounter installation obstacles. This
thesis endeavors to tackle these challenges by implementing CVR
solutions, encompassing both stand-alone and web-based approaches,
collaboratively developed with clinical experts, thereby laying the
groundwork for accessible CVR solutions. Additionally, the thesis
undertook the most comprehensive benchmarking of CVR solutions in the
literature, evaluating the advantages and limitations of five different
software tools. The results obtained demonstrate the exceptional
performance of the developed stand-alone CVR solution and the costeffective
web-based alternative.La visualización médica, comúnmente utilizada en la rutina clínica para
explorar datos cardíacos, se basa en técnicas tradicionales que incluyen
reformas multiplanares, proyección de máxima intensidad y
representación de volumen que se basan en modelos de iluminación
básicos. Por el contrario, la representación cinematográfica de volumen
(CVR), basada en la representación física, tiene la capacidad de generar
imágenes volumétricas con una percepción superior de profundidad y
forma. En entornos clínicos, se encuentran disponibles varias
herramientas comerciales de software CVR independientes. Sin embargo,
sus costos prohibitivos plantean desafíos para las instituciones más
pequeñas y los investigadores individuales. Además, estas herramientas
funcionan como sistemas de "caja negra" y encuentran obstáculos en la
instalación. Esta tesis se esfuerza por abordar estos desafíos mediante la
implementación de soluciones CVR, que abarcan enfoques tanto
independientes como basados en la web, desarrollados en colaboración
con expertos clínicos, sentando así las bases para soluciones CVR
accesibles. Además, la tesis llevó a cabo la evaluación comparativa más
completa de soluciones CVR en la literatura, evaluando las ventajas y
limitaciones de cinco herramientas de software diferentes. Los resultados
obtenidos demuestran el rendimiento excepcional de la solución CVR
independiente desarrollada y la alternativa rentable basada en web.La visualització mèdica, que s'utilitza habitualment en la rutina clínica per
explorar dades cardíaques, es basa en tècniques tradicionals que
inclouen reformes multiplanars, projecció d'intensitat màxima i
representació de volum que es basen en models d'il·luminació bàsics. Per
contra, la renderització cinematogràfica de volum (CVR), basada en la
renderització basada en la física, té la capacitat de generar imatges
volumèriques amb una profunditat i una percepció de forma superiors. En
entorns clínics, hi ha disponibles diverses eines comercials de programari
CVR autònomes. No obstant això, els seus costos prohibitius plantegen
reptes per a les institucions més petites i els investigadors individuals. A
més, aquestes eines funcionen com a sistemes de "caixa negra" i es
troben amb obstacles d'instal·lació. Aquesta tesi tracta d'afrontar aquests
reptes mitjançant la implementació de solucions CVR, que abasten tant
enfocaments autònoms com basats en web, desenvolupats en
col·laboració amb experts clínics, establint així les bases per a solucions
CVR accessibles. A més, la tesi va dur a terme el benchmarking més
complet de solucions CVR de la literatura, avaluant els avantatges i
limitacions de cinc eines de programari diferents. Els resultats obtinguts
demostren el rendiment excepcional de la solució CVR autònoma
desenvolupada i l'alternativa rendible basada en web.Programa de Doctorat en Tecnologies de la Informació i les Comunicacion
Culture & personality: five expert visions
No full textResearch on culture and personality has greatly enhanced personality science by bringing attention to the bidirectional processes by which socio-cultural factors shape personality and individuals in turn shape their social environments to fit and express their personalities. This review showcases the unique perspectives and topical contributions of five different sets of experts, who examine these issues from different standpoints and answer different questions. Specifically, these contributions focus on (1) the usefulness of anthropology-based distributive models of culture, (2) how culture and personality make-up each other, (3) the cultural and ecological basis of wellbeing, (4) how individual personality expressions relate to culture, and (5) the multicultural mind and self. These advances put personality psychology at the center of important current social science debates about the dynamic interplay between macro-level factors and individual variables, and how individuals can best manage cultural diversity and globalization
Intertemporal pass-through
No full textForward-looking pricing is at the core of modern macroeconomics, yet a gap remains between its theoretical foundations and their empirical validation. To bridge this gap, we study intertemporal pass-through (iPT): the sensitivity of firms’ desired prices to changes in their expected future marginal costs, a micro building block of foresight in aggregate inflation. On the empirical side, we obtain direct iPT estimates by combining UK firm-level survey data with idiosyncratic news shocks from a natural experiment: the March 2019 announcement of a future tariff schedule in the event of a ”No-Deal” Brexit. We find iPT to be largest among firms with the lowest frequency of price adjustment and those expecting the cost shock to arrive earlier. In addition, iPT is smaller among firms with state-dependent pricing and for larger shocks. On the theory side, we derive iPT in a model with heterogeneous adjustment frequencies and perceived shock horizons, formally reconciling our empirical findings on the drivers of iPT differences. We also use our setup to assess the general equilibrium consequences of iPT heterogeneity. In particular, we show that the sensitivity of aggregate inflation to changes in future costs is convex in non-adjustment frequencies and perceived shock horizons. As a result, iPT heterogeneity amplifies the degree of forward-lookingness of macroeconomic aggregates. Thus, announcements of future policies have contemporaneous effects, and heterogeneity in pricing decisions increase their magnitude
Framing justification: on razian protected reasons, criminal defences, and judicial framing
No full textTreball de Fi de Grau en Dret. Curs 2024-2025Tutor: Josep Joan MoresoThis dissertation explores the conceptual relationship between Joseph Raz’s theory of legal norms as protected reasons and the role of justificatory defences in criminal law, with particular reference to the Spanish legal system. According to Raz, legal norms are both (1) first-order reasons to behave as the norm prescribes and (2) second-order exclusionary reasons that preclude acting on certain competing first-order reasons by excluding them. Crucially , Raz acknowledges that this exclusionary scope is not absolute and may be defeated. Justificatory defences can be understood as such defeaters: they operate as second-order reasons that restrict, and thus cancel, the exclusionary scope of criminal prohibitions. Applying a justificatory defence in a specific case– that is, determining the exclusionary scope of the criminal prohibition in that specific case – requires judges to turn to the underlying reasons that justify the existence of the criminal prohibition in the first place. Inevitably, this involves weighing first-order reasons, which stands in tension with Raz’s pre-emption thesis. The Frame Problem – particularly its Generalized Relevance formulation – provides a helpful lens for understanding this
Disclosure of belief-dependent preferences in a trust game
No full textData de publicació electrònica: 07-04-2025Experimental evidence suggests that agents in social dilemmas have belief-dependent, other-regarding preferences. But in experimental games such preferences cannot be common knowledge, because subjects play with anonymous co-players. We address this issue theoretically and experimentally in the context of a Trust Game, assuming that the trustee's choice may be affected by a combination of guilt aversion and intention-based reciprocity. We recover trustees' belief-dependent preferences from their answers to a structured questionnaire. In the main treatment, the answers are disclosed and made common knowledge within each matched pair, while in the control treatment there is no disclosure. Our main auxiliary assumption is that such disclosure approximately implements a psychological game with complete information. To organize the data, we classify subjects according to their elicited preferences, and test predictions for the two treatments using both rationalizability and equilibrium. We find that, while preferences are heterogeneous, guilt aversion is the prevalent psychological motivation, and that behavior and elicited beliefs move in the direction predicted by the theory.Attanasi gratefully acknowledges financial support by the ERC (Grant DU283953), "Attractivité" IDEX2013 (University of Strasbourg), the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) under Grant ANR-18-E26-0018 (Project GRICRIS), the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research under Grant PRIN 2022 n. 20229LRAHK (funded by the European Union - Next Generation EU, Mission 4 Component 1, CUP B53D23012680006), the Sapienza University under Ateneo Grants 2023 for project n. RG123188B4CEE028, and the D34Health through the PNC-Spoke3 program research project "Wearable technologies, sensors, and biomarkers for care through digital twin approaches", under Grant B53C22006120001. P. Battigalli gratefully acknowledges the financial support by the ERC (Grant 324219). R. Nagel gratefully acknowledges financial support by FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia de Innovación (Agencia Estatal de Investigación) through Grant ECO2008-01768, ECO2011-25295, PID2021-125538NB-I00 and through the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centers of Excellence in R&D (Barcelona School of Economics CEX2019-000915-S)
Pasar o pagar: ¿prefieren los jóvenes un Instagram sin anuncios?
No full textEn 2023, los usuarios europeos de Instagram tuvieron que decidir entre suscribirse para evitar anuncios o permitir el uso de sus datos para recibir publicidad. Este estudio examina cómo la Generación Z se enfrenta a la publicidad personalizada y cuales son sus preocupaciones respecto a la privacidad de sus datos en el contexto del nuevo modelo de suscripción de Instagram. Para ello se llevó a cabo una encuesta en línea a 479 jóvenes de 14 a 24 años que reveló que solo el 12,5% estaría dispuesto a pagar una suscripción. A pesar de considerar que la publicidad es abrumadora, que les supone una distracción y que perciben un riesgo considerable para la protección de datos en el uso de redes sociales ni la saturación publicitaria ni las preocupaciones de privacidad parecen influir en su disposición a pagar. Estos hallazgos refuerzan la teoría de la paradoja de la privacidad y destacan la necesidad de nuevos enfoques para abordar las inquietudes sobre privacidad de los más jóvenes
Mammalian protein glycosylation--structure versus function
No full textCarbohydrates fulfil many common as well as extremely important functions in nature. They show a variety of molecular displays--e.g., free mono-, oligo-, and polysaccharides, glycolipids, proteoglycans, glycoproteins, etc.--with particular roles and localizations in living organisms. Structure-specific peculiarities are so many and diverse that it becomes virtually impossible to cover them all from an analytical perspective. Hence this manuscript, focused on mammalian glycosylation, rather than a complete list of analytical descriptors or recognized functions for carbohydrate structures, comprehensively reviews three central issues in current glycoscience, namely (i) structural analysis of glycoprotein glycans, covering both classical and novel approaches for teasing out the structural puzzle as well as potential pitfalls of these processes; (ii) an overview of functions attributed to carbohydrates, covering from monosaccharide to complex, well-defined epitopes and full glycans, including post-glycosylational modifications, and (iii) recent technical advances allowing structural identification of glycoprotein glycans with simultaneous assignation of biological functions
Development of new insecticide technologies against urban pests based on biomolecules
No full textThis industrial thesis provides insights into the development of new insecticide technologies against the cockroach Blattella germanica. We have focused this work on the design of an oral insecticide using RNA interference (RNAi) methodology, as an alternative to synthetic chemical insecticides. We first evaluated essential genes in B. germanica by injection, and then selected one of them as the best candidate for RNAi oral delivery experiments. We also studied the function of this candidate gene in B. germanica oogenesis. For oral delivery experiments, we used nanomaterials to preserve the stability of the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) as it passes through the insect gut. Results in RNAi oral delivery showed no insect mortality but oviposition was compromised in certain cases. We identified the potential barriers that limit RNAi efficiency in oral experiments, reinforcing the importance of their understanding for the successful development of oral RNAi-based insecticides. Additionally, we propose antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) as alternative nucleic acid-based molecules to manage B. germanica pest.Aquesta tesi industrial aporta coneixement sobre el desenvolupament de noves tecnologies insecticides contra la panerola Blattella germanica. Hem centrat aquest treball en el disseny d'un insecticida oral mitjançant la metodologia d'interferència d’ARN (ARNi) com a alternativa als insecticides químics sintètics. Primer de tot, hem estudiat per injecció els gens essencials en B. germanica i després hem seleccionat un d'ells com el millor candidat per als experiments d’administració oral d’ARNi. També hem estudiat la funció d'aquest gen candidat en l'oogènesi de B. germanica. Per als experiments d’administració oral, hem utilitzat nanomaterials per preservar l'estabilitat de la doble cadena de RNA (dsRNA) mentre passa pel digestiu de l'insecte. En els resultats d’administració oral d'ARNi no es va observar mortalitat en els insectes, però l’oviposició es va veure compromesa en alguns casos. Hem identificat les barreres potencials que limiten l'eficiència de l'ARNi en experiments orals, fet que reforça la importància de la seva comprensió per a l’exitós desenvolupament d'insecticides orals basats en ARNi. A més, proposem els oligonucleòtids antisentit (ASOs), molècules basades en àcids nucleics, com alternativa per controlar la plaga de B. germanica.Programa de Doctorat en Biomedicin
The offense of illicit enrichment in Spain
No full textThis paper is related to the research project PID2020-115863GB-I00/MICIN/AEI funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation