Design and implementation of a multi-modal biometric system for company access control

This paper is about the design, implementation, and deployment of a multi-modal biometric system to grant access to a company structure and to internal zones in the company itself. Face and iris have been chosen as biometric traits. Face is feasible for non-intrusive checking with a minimum cooperation from the subject, while iris supports very accurate recognition procedure at a higher grade of invasivity. The recognition of the face trait is based on the Local Binary Patterns histograms, and the Daughman\u2019s method is implemented for the analysis of the iris data. The recognition process may require either the acquisition of the user\u2019s face only or the serial acquisition of both the user\u2019s face and iris, depending on the confidence level of the decision with respect to the set of security levels and requirements, stated in a formal way in the Service Level Agreement at a negotiation phase. The quality of the decision depends on the setting of proper different thresholds in the decision modules for the two biometric traits. Any time the quality of the decision is not good enough, the system activates proper rules, which ask for new acquisitions (and decisions), possibly with different threshold values, resulting in a system not with a fixed and predefined behaviour, but one which complies with the actual acquisition context. Rules are formalized as deduction rules and grouped together to represent \u201cresponse behaviors\u201d according to the previous analysis. Therefore, there are different possible working flows, since the actual response of the recognition process depends on the output of the decision making modules that compose the system. Finally, the deployment phase is described, together with the results from the testing, based on the AT&T Face Database and the UBIRIS database

Non-Invasive Investigation of Human Foot Muscles Function

Appropriate functioning of the human foot is fundamental for good quality of life. The intrinsic foot muscles (IFM) are a crucial component of the foot, but their natural behaviour and contribution to good foot health is currently poorly understood. Recording muscle activation from IFM has been attempted with invasive techniques, but these generally only allow assessment of one muscle at a time and are not much used in many clinical populations (e.g. children, patients with peripheral neuropathy or on blood thinning medication). Here a novel application of multi-channel surface electromyography (sEMG) electrodes is presented to non-invasively, record sEMG and quantify activation patterns of IFMs from across the plantar region of the foot. sEMG (13×5 array), kinematics and force plate data were recorded from 30 healthy adult volunteers who completed six postural balance tasks (e.g. bipedal stance, one-foot stance, two-foot tip-toe). Linear (amplitude based) and non-linear (entropy based) methodologies were used to evaluate the physiological features of the sEMG, the patterns of activation, the association with whole body and foot biomechanics and the neuromuscular drive to the IFM. EMG signals features (amplitude and frequency) were shown to be in the physiological ranges reported in the literature (Basmajian and De Luca, 1985), with spatially clustered patterns of high activation corresponding to the Flexor digitorum brevis muscle. IFMs responded differently based on the direction of postural sway, with greater activations associated with sways in the mediolateral direction. Entropy based, non-linear analysis revealed that neuromuscular drive to IFM depends on the balance demand of the postural task, with greater drive evident for more challenging tasks (i.e. standing on tiptoe). Combining non-invasive measures of IFM activation and entropy based assessment of temporal organisation (or structure) of EMG signal variability is therefore revealing of IFM function and will enable a more detailed assessment of IFM function across healthy and clinical populations

The Technological Imaginaries Of Social Movements: The Discursive Dimension Of Communication Technology And The Fight For Social Justice

This dissertation examines how social movements envision technology in a political way. Building on constructivist, cultural theories of social movements, literature from media history, and insights from Science and Technology Studies, I offer a discursive approach to technology, based on the notion of “technological imaginaries”: sets of practice-based beliefs, individual and collective, implicit and explicit, about the role of technology in social life and social change. First, I identify a current dominant technological imaginary, arising from Silicon Valley, which is based on the equation of digital technologies with freedom and democracy, the reliance on technologies for the solution of social problems, and an alignment with neoliberalism. I then examine how three contemporary leftist social movements – the Hungarian internet tax protests of 2014, the Italian occupied social center LUMe, and the American Philly Socialists – construct their own technological imaginaries in response to Silicon Valley’s. I explore these three cases through semi-structured interviews and visual focus groups, an innovative method based on a collective drawing task. I propose a typology of social movements’ technological imaginaries, based on how they respond to Silicon Valley’s dominant imaginary. Imaginaries of appropriation, such as that of the Hungarian internet tax protests, accept both the dominant technological imaginary and the technologies of Silicon Valley. Imaginaries of negotiation, such as those of LUMe and the Philly Socialists, reject the dominant imaginary, but allow for the use of Silicon Valley’s technologies. Imaginaries of challenge reject both the imaginary and the technologies of Silicon Valley. I also argue that appropriation, negotiation, and challenge are shaped by three political factors: the ideology of the social movement, the political context, and the presence of other prominent technological imaginaries. I suggest that movements’ different technological imaginaries point to the existence of multiple, situated, political internets: even if activists all use the same digital technologies, these technologies hold different political meanings for them. This dissertation thus contributes to the literature by reconceptualizing the relationship between technology and social movements, providing a framework and an empirical qualitative approach to account for how movements are already imagining and experiencing technologies as political

The stereotyper and the chameleon: the effects of stereotype use on perceivers' mimicry

Interpersonal dynamics may play a crucial role in the perpetuation of stereotypes. In an experimental study, participants interacted with a confederate who provided either stereotype-consistent or stereotype-inconsistent descriptions about the elderly. Based on the assumption that mimicry represents a social glue that fosters interpersonal liking and affiliation, we assessed the extent to which participants mimicked the nonverbal behaviors of the confederate as a function of the stereotypicality of the descriptions. Results showed that nonconscious mimicry was more likely when the speaker relied on stereotypes rather than on stereotype-inconsistent information. In Study 2 the effect was replicated in relation to national stereotypes. This finding indicates that stereotypers are faced with subtle nonverbal cues from the audience that can retroactively reinforce their behaviors and thus make stereotype dismissal so difficult to be achieved

On Bio-Deterioration of Solar Reflective Materials: An Innovative Experimental Procedure to Accelerate the Ageing Process of Surfaces

Solar reflective materials are one of the most efficient solution to the urban heat island effect, according to which temperatures, in urban areas are significantly higher than those in the surrounding rural areas. Solar reflective materials (SRM) are characterized by the ability to reflect solar radiation in the whole wavelength spectrum remaining cooler under the sun. The importance of radiative properties focused the attention more on SRM subjected to aging processes instead of the new products. According to this, several standards are, nowadays, available to investigate natural (ASTM G7, ANSI CRRC/S100) and accelerated (ASTM D7897) aging. Unfortunately, these standards do not take into account the presence and the growth of microorganisms such as algae and cyanobacteria, which can be responsible not only for the decrease of radiative properties against time, but also for the decay of physical and chemical properties of SRM themselves. This study outlines an experimental procedure to accelerate natural bio-deterioration of building materials through a laboratory test. Two types of SRM have been involved, studying their thermal properties before and after the bio-deterioration accelerated treatment. The methodology involves the use of a Temporary Immersion System (TIS bioreactor), which is based on the temporized soaking of materials samples with a liquid growth medium inoculated by selected species of algae or cyanobacteria. The system promotes a homogeneous contact between the materials surfaces and these microorganisms blowing sterilized air into the medium inside the bioreactor chamber. Within three weeks into TIS bioreactor, materials samples have shown large areas of biofilm deposition on themselves. The experimental procedure, hence, confirms the capability of the system to optimize environment conditions where the growth of microorganism and their interactions with materials results accelerated. Very high attention is given to the aim to make the procedure repeatable. For this proposal, all the variable factors are minimized, maintaining constant the environmental condition and working on sterility in order to do not contaminate or alter the growth inside the bioreactor

A structure-function analysis in patients with prekallikrein deficiency.

To investigate the structure-function relation in prekallikrein (PK) deficiency. PK is one of the proteins of the contact phase of blood coagulation which at the present time is the object of a revival of interest.All patients with PK deficiency who had been investigated by molecular biology techniques are the object of the present investigation. Details of patients were obtained from personal files and a time-unlimited PubMed search. Only cases with a molecular-biology-based diagnosis were included.Twelve families were included. The total number of missense mutation was 10, together with 3 stop codons and 2 insertions. These mutations involved mainly exons 11 and 14. There were eight proved homozygotes and three compound heterozygotes. In one instance, homozygosity was probable but not proved. In nine cases, the defect was Type I, whereas it was Type II in the remaining three. No bleeding manifestations were present in 11 of the 12 probands. One proband had epistaxis, but she had hypertension. Altogether, four patients had hypertension and one of them had also two myocardial infarctions.Despite the paucity of cases, it was established that the majority of mutations involved the catalytic domain. It is auspicable that future reports of patients with this disorder should include molecular studies. This would certainly contribute to the understanding of the contact phase of blood coagulation

Vitamin K-Dependent Coagulation Factors That May be Responsible for Both Bleeding and Thrombosis (FII, FVII, and FIX)

Vitamin K-dependent clotting factors are commonly divided into prohemorrhagic (FII, FVII, FIX, and FX) and antithrombotic (protein C and protein S). Furthermore, another protein (protein Z) does not seem strictly correlated with blood clotting. As a consequence of this assumption, vitamin K-dependent defects were considered as hemorrhagic or thrombotic disorders. Recent clinical observations, and especially, recent advances in molecular biology investigations, have demonstrated that this was incorrect. In 2009, it was demonstrated that the mutation Arg338Leu in exon 8 of FIX was associated with the appearance of a thrombophilic state and venous thrombosis. The defect was characterized by a 10-fold increased activity in FIX activity, while FIX antigen was only slightly increased (FIX Padua). On the other hand, it was noted on clinical grounds that the thrombosis, mainly venous, was present in about 2% to 3% of patients with FVII deficiency. It was subsequently demonstrated that 2 mutations in FVII, namely, Arg304Gln and Ala294Val, were particularly affected. Both these mutations are type 2 defects, namely, they show low activity but normal or near-normal FVII antigen. More recently, in 2011-2012, it was noted that prothrombin defects due to mutations of Arg596 to Leu, Gln, or Trp in exon 15 cause the appearance of a dysprothrombinemia that shows no bleeding tendency but instead a prothrombotic state with venous thrombosis. On the contrary, no abnormality of protein C or protein S has been shown to be associated with bleeding rather than with thrombosis. These studies have considerably widened the spectrum and significance of blood coagulation studies

Bleeding manifestations in heterozygotes with congenital FVII deficiency: a comparison with unaffected family members during a long observation period.

To determine whether heterozygotes with FVII deficiency have a bleeding tendency or not.Eighty-four patients (OK) heterozygous for FVII deficiency, at the onset of the study, were paired with unaffected family members and followed for a long period of time (mean 22.6 years) for the occurrence of bleeding. Diagnosis of heterozygosis had to be based on family studies, clotting, immunological assays and genetic analysis.The mean FVII activity level was 0.51 IU/dl (range 35-65) and 94 IU/dl (range 88-118) in the heterozygotes and in the normal counterparts, respectively. Documented bleeding manifestations occurred in eight heterozygotes and in seven normal subjects. Statistical analysis of the difference was not significant. Bleeding manifestations were easy bruising, bleeding after tooth extractions, menorrhagia, epistaxis with no difference among the two groups. There was no strict correlation between bleeding and FVII activity levels.The study indicates that heterozygotes for FVII deficiency show rare bleeding manifestations which are also present in the unaffected family members with normal FVII levels. This indicates that Factor VII activity levels played no role in the occurrence of the bleeding symptoms. Furthermore, FVII levels of around 0.40 IU/dl are capable of assuring a normal hemostasis

Congenital prothrombin defects: they are not only associated with bleeding but also with thrombosis: a new classification is needed.

Congenital prothrombin deficiency is one of the rarest clotting disorders. It is commonly subdivided in Type I defects or cases of 'true' prothrombin deficiency characterized by a concomitant decrease in FII activity and antigen and in Type II or dysprothrombinemias, in which FII activity is low but FII antigen is normal or near normal. A bleeding tendency, often a severe one, is the hallmark of the two-defects even though the bleeding is usually less severe in the Type 2 defects or dysprothrombinemias.An extensive search of published cases of prothrombin deficiency was carried out in Pubmed and Scopus. The search started in 2012, after the publication of the first family with dysprothrombinemia and venous thrombosis. A few additional families were found.Recent studies have demonstrated that the Type 2 defects are heterogeneous. Several heterozygous mutations involving the Arg596 residue of exon 14 have been demonstrated not be associated with a bleeding tendency but, surprisingly, with venous thromboses. Mutations in close areas of prothrombin have failed to show the same pattern.These observations have required a reclassification of prothrombin defects. To the Type I and Type II defects, a Type III has to be added characterized by the absence of bleeding and the presence of venous thrombosis. It is not clear yet if this special variant of Type II defect is limited to the Arg596 mutations or if other residues may be involved

An EEG-fMRI Study on the Termination of Generalized Spike-And-Wave Discharges in Absence Epilepsy

INTRODUCTION: Different studies have investigated by means of EEG-fMRI coregistration the brain networks related to generalized spike-and-wave discharges (GSWD) in patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE). These studies revealed a widespread GSWD-related neural network that involves the thalamus and regions of the default mode network. In this study we investigated which brain regions are critically involved in the termination of absence seizures (AS) in a group of IGE patients. METHODS: Eighteen patients (6 male; mean age 25 years) with AS were included in the EEG-fMRI study. Functional data were acquired at 3T with continuous simultaneous video-EEG recording. Event-related analysis was performed with SPM8 software, using the following regressors: (1) GSWD onset and duration; (2) GSWD offset. Data were analyzed at single-subject and at group level with a second level random effect analysis. RESULTS: A mean of 17 events for patient was recorded (mean duration of 4.2 sec). Group-level analysis related to GSWD onset respect to rest confirmed previous findings revealing thalamic activation and a precuneus/posterior cingulate deactivation. At GSWD termination we observed a decrease in BOLD signal over the bilateral dorsolateral frontal cortex respect to the baseline (and respect to GSWD onset). The contrast GSWD offset versus onset showed a BOLD signal increase over the precuneus-posterior cingulate region bilaterally. Parametric correlations between electro-clinical variables and BOLD signal at GSWD offset did not reveal significant effects. CONCLUSION: The role of the decreased neural activity of lateral prefrontal cortex at GSWD termination deserve future investigations to ascertain if it has a role in promoting the discharge offset, as well as in the determination of the cognitive deficits often present in patients with AS. The increased BOLD signal at precuneal/posterior cingulate cortex might reflect the recovery of neural activity in regions that are "suspended" during spike and waves activity, as previously hypothesized