We present a new method for viewpoint independent gait biometrics. The system relies on a single camera, does not require camera calibration, and works with a wide range of camera views. This is achieved by a formulation where the gait is self-calibrating. These properties make the proposed method particularly suitable for identification by gait, where the advantages of completely unobtrusiveness, remoteness, and covertness of the biometric system preclude the availability of camera information and specific walking directions. The approach has been assessed for feature extraction and recognition capabilities on the SOTON gait database and then evaluated on a multiview database to establish recognition capability with respect to view invariance. Moreover, tests on the multiview CASIA-B database, composed of more than 2270 video sequences with 65 different subjects walking freely along different walking directions, have been performed. The obtained results show that human identification by gait can be achieved without any knowledge of internal or external camera parameters with a mean correct classification rate of 73.6% across all views using purely dynamic gait features. The performance of the proposed method is particularly encouraging for application in surveillance scenarios.

Bluetongue (BT) is still present in Europe and the introduction of new serotypes from endemic areas in the African continent is a possible threat. Culicoides imicola remains one of the most relevant BT vectors in Spain and research on the environmental determinants driving its life cycle is key to preventing and controlling BT. Our aim was to improve our understanding of the biotic and abiotic determinants of C. imicola by modelling its present abundance, studying the spatial pattern of predicted abundance in relation to BT outbreaks, and investigating how the predicted current distribution and abundance patterns might change under future (2011–2040) scenarios of climate change according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. C. imicola abundance data from the bluetongue national surveillance programme were modelled with spatial, topoclimatic, host and soil factors. The influence of these factors was further assessed by variation partitioning procedures. The predicted abundance of C. imicola was also projected to a future period. Variation partitioning demonstrated that the pure effect of host and topoclimate factors explained a high percentage (>80%) of the variation. The pure effect of soil followed in importance in explaining the abundance of C. imicola. A close link was confirmed between C. imicola abundance and BT outbreaks. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to consider wild and domestic hosts in predictive modelling for an arthropod vector. The main findings regarding the near future show that there is no evidence to suggest that there will be an important increase in the distribution range of C. imicola; this contrasts with an expected increase in abundance in the areas where it is already present in mainland Spain. What may be expected regarding the future scenario for orbiviruses in mainland Spain, is that higher predicted C. imicola abundance may significantly change the rate of transmission of orbiviruses.

Ten years have gone by since the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus was recorded for the first time in Spain. In this paper, all relevant published information about this vector in Spain for the period 2004–2014 is reviewed. The known distribution for 2014 is provided, including all historical records (published and unpublished data) and the results from samplings of the last year. The consequences on public health about the presence of the Asian tiger mosquito in Spain are also highlighted. Further, legal aspects and control plans related to the management and diseases transmitted by this invasive vector species are also discussed.