Video capture and editing as a tool for the storage, distribution, and illustration of morphological characters of nematodes.

Morphological identification and detailed observation of nematodes usually requires permanent slides, but these are never truly permanent and often prevent the same specimens to be used for other purposes. To efficiently record the morphology of nematodes in a format that allows easy archiving, editing, and distribution, we have assembled two micrographic video capture and editing (VCE) configurations. These assemblies allow production of short video clips that mimic multifocal observation of nematode specimens through a light microscope. Images so obtained can be used for training, management, and online access of “virtual voucher specimens” in taxonomic collections, routine screening of fixed or unfixed specimens, recording of ephemeral staining patterns, or recording of freshly dissected internal organs prior to their decomposition. We provide an overview of the components and operation of both of our systems and evaluate their efficiency and image quality. We conclude that VCE is a highly versatile approach that is likely to become widely used in nematology research and teachin

An Effective Development and Analysis of a Mobile Robot

This paper deals with the design of a battery operated Mobile Robot and development of various modes of its control. The Mobile Robot can be operated in three different modes, namely Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF), Radio Frequency (RF) and ZigBee thereby enabling a multi- dimensional control system. The Mobile Robot is a single seated carrier. It can also be used to transport substantial amount of physical load for short distances. It is a prototype of a multi-use robot having a wide range of applicability according to the requirement after suitable modifications. Thus it can be easily applied inside a hospital to carry patients, as a wheel chair for physically challenged people, to carry goods in large shopping malls, as golf cars, can also be used for industrial purposes with adequate modifications. It can also be used as cleaning machine at railway stations, airports, museums, large halls. It uses a DC power source and not any conventional energy sources. Hence it is ecofriendly and this Mobile Robot can be termed as an advancing step in the field of battery operated vehicles

Eesti elektrooniline ID-kaart ja selle turvaväljakutsed

Eesti elektrooniline isikutunnistust (ID-kaart) on üle 18 aasta pakkunud turvalist elektroonilist identiteeti Eesti kodanikele. Avaliku võtme krüptograafia ja kaardile talletatud privaatvõti võimaldavad ID-kaardi omanikel juurde pääseda e-teenustele, anda juriidilist jõudu omavaid digiallkirju ning elektrooniliselt hääletada. Käesolevas töös uuritakse põhjalikult Eesti ID-kaarti ning sellega seotud turvaväljakutseid. Me kirjeldame Eesti ID-kaarti ja selle ökosüsteemi, seotud osapooli ja protsesse, ID-kaardi elektroonilist baasfunktsionaalsust, seotud tehnilisi ja juriidilisi kontseptsioone ning muid seotud küsimusi. Me tutvustame kõiki kasutatud kiipkaardiplatforme ja nende abil väljastatud isikutunnistuste tüüpe. Iga platformi kohta esitame me detailse analüüsi kasutatava asümmeetrilise krüptograafia funktsionaalsusest ning kirjeldame ja analüüsime ID-kaardi kauguuendamise lahendusi. Lisaks esitame me süstemaatilise uurimuse ID-kaardiga seotud turvaintsidentidest ning muudest sarnastest probleemidest läbi aastate. Me kirjeldame probleemide tehnilist olemust, kasutatud leevendusmeetmeid ning kajastust ajakirjanduses. Käesoleva uurimustöö käigus avastati mitmeid varem teadmata olevaid turvaprobleeme ning teavitati nendest seotud osapooli. Käesolev töö põhineb avalikult kättesaadaval dokumentatsioonil, kogutud ID-kaartide sertifikaatide andmebaasil, ajakirjandusel,otsesuhtlusel seotud osapooltega ning töö autori analüüsil ja eksperimentidel.For more than 18 years, the Estonian electronic identity card (ID card) has provided a secure electronic identity for Estonian residents. The public-key cryptography and private keys stored on the card enable Estonian ID card holders to access e-services, give legally binding digital signatures and even cast an i-vote in national elections. This work provides a comprehensive study on the Estonian ID card and its security challenges. We introduce the Estonian ID card and its ecosystem by describing the involved parties and processes, the core electronic functionality of the ID card, related technical and legal concepts, and the related issues. We describe the ID card smart card chip platforms used over the years and the identity document types that have been issued using these platforms. We present a detailed analysis of the asymmetric cryptography functionality provided by each ID card platform and present a description and security analysis of the ID card remote update solutions that have been provided for each ID card platform. As yet another contribution of this work, we present a systematic study of security incidents and similar issues the Estonian ID card has experienced over the years. We describe the technical nature of the issue, mitigation measures applied and the reflections on the media. In the course of this research, several previously unknown security issues were discovered and reported to the involved parties. The research has been based on publicly available documentation, collection of ID card certificates in circulation, information reflected in media, information from the involved parties, and our own analysis and experiments performed in the field.https://www.ester.ee/record=b541416

Simulador para análise de desempenho de políticas de gerenciamento de servidores web cache

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Computação.Os servidores Cache Web são utilizados como alternativa nas empresas em que grande parte dos usuários requisitam as mesmas informações em um determinado período de tempo. Normalmente, mantêm-se uma cópia local dos objetos requisitados neste servidor, para que nas próximas requisições deste mesmo objeto, não haja a necessidade de requisitá-lo novamente. Com o aumento das requisições, aumenta o número de novos objetos a serem armazenados. A medida em que o espaço em disco for diminuindo, há a necessidade de implementar neste servidor, políticas de substituição de arquivos que mantenham a organização e manutenção do cache. De acordo com a política escolhida haverá uma maior ou menor quantidade de arquivos encontrados em requisições futuras. Neste trabalho é desenvolvido um simulador Web Cache, que a partir de log's gerados por uma empresa específica, determina-se a melhor política de substituição de arquivos a ser implantada neste local. Neste protótipo foi implementado três políticas: SIZE, LRU e LFU, que são as políticas mais utilizadas nestes servidores

Computergestützte Visualisierung eines human-embryonalen Gehirns

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde das 3-D-Modell des Gehirns eines frühen humanen Embryos angefertigt, des Weiteren eine 3-D-Software entwickelt, die es erlaubt, das Modell in Echtzeit manipulierbar darzustellen und es schließlich vollwertig stereoskopisch betrachten zu können. Diese Software wird Studierenden auf dem Server des Leibniz-Rechenzentrums zur Verfügung gestellt. Damit können sie am eigenen Rechner virtuelle 3-D-Modelle, die am Lehrstuhl III der Anatomischen Anstalt erarbeitet und bereit gestellt werden, plastisch (auch stereoskopisch) studieren. So besteht in Zukunft die Möglichkeit, die embryonale Entwicklung mit zeitgemäßen Methoden leicht verständlich zu veranschaulichen. Dem 3-D-Modell diente als Quellmaterial eine Schnittserie aus 574 Schichten eines menschlichen Embryos im Carnegie-Stadium 18. Die Schichten wurden über ein Mikroskop digitalisiert und am Computer wieder räumlich zueinander ausgerichtet. Um die ursprünglichen anatomischen Verhältnisse trotz der verzerrten Schnitte mit dem kommerziell verfügbaren Programm AmiraDev 3.0 möglichst korrekt herzustellen, wurde dieser elementare aber komplizierte Schritt durch selbst entwickelte Techniken unterstützt und sichtbar verbessert. Im so entstandenen Bilderstapel wurde das Gehirn markiert und dann zum virtuellen Modell trianguliert. Die hier entwickelte 3-D-Software erlaubt es, das willkürlich drehbare 3-D-Modell sowie andere Rekonstruktionen am Rechner anzuzeigen. Eine frei wählbare Schnittebene und die Transparenzfunktion geben Aufschluss über den inneren Aufbau des 3-D-Modells, z. B. über das Ventrikelsystem. In der Programmiersprache C++ wurden hocheffiziente, handoptimierte Bibliotheken für lineare Algebra und Computergrafik entwickelt, die eine ruckfreie Betrachtung ermöglichen. Im Hinblick auf Effizienz, Erweiterbarkeit und Fehlervermeidung wurde auf ein wohl überlegtes Software-Design mit sicherer Semantik Wert gelegt. Auch wenn ein virtuelles 3-D-Modell bereits einen besseren räumlichen Eindruck als eine plane Abbildung verschafft, kommt eine echte Tiefenwirkung erst durch stereoskopische Darstellung zustande. Diese wurde lege artis als asymmetrische perspektivische Projektion so implementiert, dass sie unkompliziert auf Tastendruck genutzt werden kann. Die ausgereifte Software beherrscht das Anaglyphenverfahren (Rot-Grün-Brille) genauso wie auch aufwendigere Projektionsverfahren. Die Arbeit stellt darüber hinaus in kurzer Form die für die Programmentwicklung relevanten mathematischen Grundlagen dar. Ferner wird ein Überblick über die im Internet verfügbaren, teils kommerziell vertriebenen Datensätze – speziell zur Embryologie – gegeben und das selbst entwickelte Darstellungsmodell mit seinen Vorteilen und den (selbst auferlegten) Beschränkungen in dieses Bezugssystem eingeordnet

Durchflußzytometrische Detektion von Adrenocorticotropem Hormon in humanen Leukozytenpopulationen unter leistungsphysiologischen Kulturbedingungen

In Analogie zur systemischen Streßreaktion beschreibt die zelluläre Leistungsphysiologie Anpassungsmechanismen gegenüber belastenden Umweltfaktoren im mikroskopischen Maßstab. Neuropeptide aus Proopiomelanocortin, die in lokalen Leukozyten-Netzwerken synthetisiert werden und Signale übermitteln, bilden die Achse Hypothalamus-Hypophyse-Nebenniere innerhalb dieser zellulären Mikromilieus ab. In den hier beschriebenen Untersuchungen wurden kommerziell erhältliche monoklonale Antikörper und sekundäre Immunfluoreszenz für die spezifische durchflußzytometrische Detektion von Adrenocorticotropem Hormon (ACTH) in stimulierten humanen Leukozyten eingesetzt. Die Einflüsse einschlägiger Induktoren auf die Höhe der ACTH-Expression konnten mit Hilfe der mittleren relativen Fluoreszenzintensität bewertet werden. Durchflußzytometrische Charakteristika der zellulären Mikromorphologie bestätigten in Kombination mit einer Immunphänotypisierung, daß humane Lymphozyten und Monozyten des peripheren Blutes in Anpassungsreaktionen innerhalb leistungsphysiologischer Zellkulturmodelle eingebunden sind. Aus den Untersuchungen ergaben sich Hinweise auf Optimierungsstrategien für die Probengewinnung, die Zellkultur und die leistungsphysiologische Leukozytenstimulation. Die Methodik kann in Richtung auf quantitative Studien mit direkter Immunfluoreszenz fortentwickelt werden und grundlegende Beiträge zum Verständnis des Zusammenspiels von Hormonen, Cytokinen und anderen Signalmolekülen in der Regulation funktioneller zellbiologischer Prozesse, wie Proliferation, Apoptose, zellulärer und humoraler Abwehr, leisten. Anwendungsmöglichkeiten sind in-vitro- und ex-vivo-Studien zu protektiven Wirkungen bzw. dem gesundheitsbezogenen Risikopotential von bioaktiven Lebensmittelinhaltsstoffen und Supplementen sowie immuntoxikologische Untersuchungen von Kontaminanten und Rückständen.Modelling main aspects of the systemic stress reaction, cellular performance physiology describes coping with environmental challenge in microscale. Pro-opiomelanocortin- derived neuropeptides, synthesized and recognized in lokal leukocyte networks, project the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis into cellular microenvironments. In the present study, comercially available monoclonal antibodies and secondary immunofluorescence were used to flow cytometrically detect adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in stimulated human leukocytes. The effects of inducers, previously described in scientific literature, on the amount of ACTH synthesized was assessed by calculating the mean fluorescence intensity. Flow cytometric characteristics of cellular micromorphology in combination with immunophenotyping proved that human lymphocytes and monocytes from peripheral blood are involved in adaptive physiological reactions. The results also helped to propose how to optimize blood sampling, cell culture and leukocyte stimulation. Direct fluorochrome labelling of antibodies may broaden this approach towards quantification. Thus, flow cytometry may further contribute substantially to understanding the interplay mediated by hormones, cytokines and other signal molecules in functional aspects, such as proliferation, apoptosis, cellular and humoral defense. In vitro and ex vivo studies on the health effects of food constituents, the beneficial and adverse potentials of bioactive compounds in food and supplements, or immunotoxicological investigations on contaminations and toxic residues are perspectives of application of the method

Különös tekintettel az e-learning és távoktatás széleskörű értelmezésére

Különös tekintettel az e-learning és távoktatás széleskörű értelmezéséreB

Flexible Packaging Methodologies for Rapid Deployment of Customisable Component-based Digital Libraries

Software engineering is a discipline concerned with manufacturing or developing software. Software plays a pivotal role in everyday life, an absence of which will be devastating to a number of governmental, recreational and financial activities, amongst many others. One of the latest branches of software engineering, component-based software engineering, is concerned with the development of software systems using already existing components which speculatively will ensure rapid and inexpensive software development processes. Parallel with the advances in software engineering, the field of digital libraries — a field dealing with Web-based access to and management of structured digital content — has adopted this development model from software engineering to shift focus from developing and using traditionally monolithic software systems to developing and using more flexible component-oriented software systems. Since componentised development approaches are relatively recent, other areas such as packaging and managing component-based software systems still remain unattended to. This dissertation presents research on techniques and methodologies for packaging customisable component-based digital libraries such that deployment is rapid and flexibility is not compromised. Although the reference point of this research was that of component-based digital library systems, it is believed that this research can be generalised across the family of Web-based component-based software systems. An outcome of this research was a prototype packaging system consisting of a pair of tools: a package builder tool and a package installer tool. This packaging system was developed to model the ideas and methodologies that were identified as important to the processes of packaging and installing component-based digital library systems. These tools consequently underwent a user evaluation study whereby they were evaluated for understandability, usability and usefulness to the processes of packaging and installing component-based digital libraries. A key contribution of this research was identifying requirements for a generic component packaging framework. For a component to be seen as ”fit-to-package”, it must posses the following at the very least: the component must be configurable automatically; the component must have a formal description of its dependency software; there must be formal descriptions that describe individual components as well as systems composed of components; and there must be a way whereby installation questions are formally encoded such that components are able to correctly receive configuration information. In totality, this research has shown that component-oriented software development approaches can benefit from an infrastructure which allows for component-based software systems to be composed, distributed and installed effortlessly