Designer cell signal processing circuits for biotechnology

Microorganisms are able to respond effectively to diverse signals from their environment and internal metabolism owing to their inherent sophisticated information processing capacity. A central aim of synthetic biology is to control and reprogramme the signal processing pathways within living cells so as to realise repurposed, beneficial applications ranging from disease diagnosis and environmental sensing to chemical bioproduction. To date most examples of synthetic biological signal processing have been built based on digital information flow, though analogue computing is being developed to cope with more complex operations and larger sets of variables. Great progress has been made in expanding the categories of characterised biological components that can be used for cellular signal manipulation, thereby allowing synthetic biologists to more rationally programme increasingly complex behaviours into living cells. Here we present a current overview of the components and strategies that exist for designer cell signal processing and decision making, discuss how these have been implemented in prototype systems for therapeutic, environmental, and industrial biotechnological applications, and examine emerging challenges in this promising field

SciTech News Volume 71, No. 1 (2017)

Columns and Reports From the Editor 3 Division News Science-Technology Division 5 Chemistry Division 8 Engineering Division Aerospace Section of the Engineering Division 9 Architecture, Building Engineering, Construction and Design Section of the Engineering Division 11 Reviews Sci-Tech Book News Reviews 12 Advertisements IEEE

An M-QAM Signal Modulation Recognition Algorithm in AWGN Channel

Computing the distinct features from input data, before the classification, is a part of complexity to the methods of Automatic Modulation Classification (AMC) which deals with modulation classification was a pattern recognition problem. Although the algorithms that focus on MultiLevel Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (M-QAM) which underneath different channel scenarios was well detailed. A search of the literature revealed indicates that few studies were done on the classification of high order M-QAM modulation schemes like128-QAM, 256-QAM, 512-QAM and1024-QAM. This work is focusing on the investigation of the powerful capability of the natural logarithmic properties and the possibility of extracting Higher-Order Cumulant's (HOC) features from input data received raw. The HOC signals were extracted under Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel with four effective parameters which were defined to distinguished the types of modulation from the set; 4-QAM~1024-QAM. This approach makes the recognizer more intelligent and improves the success rate of classification. From simulation results, which was achieved under statistical models for noisy channels, manifest that recognized algorithm executes was recognizing in M-QAM, furthermore, most results were promising and showed that the logarithmic classifier works well over both AWGN and different fading channels, as well as it can achieve a reliable recognition rate even at a lower signal-to-noise ratio (less than zero), it can be considered as an Integrated Automatic Modulation Classification (AMC) system in order to identify high order of M-QAM signals that applied a unique logarithmic classifier, to represents higher versatility, hence it has a superior performance via all previous works in automatic modulation identification systemComment: 18 page

Airborne LiDAR for DEM generation: some critical issues

Airborne LiDAR is one of the most effective and reliable means of terrain data collection. Using LiDAR data for DEM generation is becoming a standard practice in spatial related areas. However, the effective processing of the raw LiDAR data and the generation of an efficient and high-quality DEM remain big challenges. This paper reviews the recent advances of airborne LiDAR systems and the use of LiDAR data for DEM generation, with special focus on LiDAR data filters, interpolation methods, DEM resolution, and LiDAR data reduction. Separating LiDAR points into ground and non-ground is the most critical and difficult step for DEM generation from LiDAR data. Commonly used and most recently developed LiDAR filtering methods are presented. Interpolation methods and choices of suitable interpolator and DEM resolution for LiDAR DEM generation are discussed in detail. In order to reduce the data redundancy and increase the efficiency in terms of storage and manipulation, LiDAR data reduction is required in the process of DEM generation. Feature specific elements such as breaklines contribute significantly to DEM quality. Therefore, data reduction should be conducted in such a way that critical elements are kept while less important elements are removed. Given the highdensity characteristic of LiDAR data, breaklines can be directly extracted from LiDAR data. Extraction of breaklines and integration of the breaklines into DEM generation are presented

Predictive biometrics: A review and analysis of predicting personal characteristics from biometric data

Interest in the exploitation of soft biometrics information has continued to develop over the last decade or so. In comparison with traditional biometrics, which focuses principally on person identification, the idea of soft biometrics processing is to study the utilisation of more general information regarding a system user, which is not necessarily unique. There are increasing indications that this type of data will have great value in providing complementary information for user authentication. However, the authors have also seen a growing interest in broadening the predictive capabilities of biometric data, encompassing both easily definable characteristics such as subject age and, most recently, `higher level' characteristics such as emotional or mental states. This study will present a selective review of the predictive capabilities, in the widest sense, of biometric data processing, providing an analysis of the key issues still adequately to be addressed if this concept of predictive biometrics is to be fully exploited in the future