Sistemas de adquisición de datos basados en la plataforma Arduino : aplicaciones a Matlab, Simulink y Android

En este Proyecto se desarrolla un sistema de adquisición de datos de bajo coste con el doble objetivo de que por un lado sea muy sencillo de usar para un destino educativo y, por otro lado, de que se pueda conectar mediante la arquitectura cliente-servidor a otros dispositivos de forma inalámbrica o cableada para realizar el control. En el sistema prima la interfaz microcontrolador-cliente, de forma que busca de forma intensiva diferentes caminos para conectar ambos, bien a través del ordenador o dispositivo móvil. Además de toda la investigación y el desarrollo del sistema tanto en la parte hardware, que ha consistido en el acondicionamiento de la señal obtenida de los sensores y proporcionada a los actuadores, del cual se ha llevado a cabo su implantación física haciendo uso de microcontroladores (Arduino MEGA y Arduino UNO) y módulos de expansión de comunicaciones (Ethernet Shield); como de la parte software, mediante el lenguaje de programación de la plataforma, muy similar a C, y Simulink, para implementar los sistemas de control. También se han desarrollado pruebas para validar el sistema. Al final se propone, resuelve y prueba un ejercicio práctico de laboratorio. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________This Project develops a low cost Data Acquisition System with the double goal that would be easy to use for learners and easy to connect through several systems. The system highlights the microcontroller-client interface, so propose several ways to connect both, through a computer or a mobile device. Also it develops on one hand the hardware interface that consist of signal conditioning, from sensors and to actuators, physical implementation using Arduino microcontrollers and shields. On the other hand the mobile interface is developed and several tests are done to verify the whole system. Finally a practice exercise is proposed, solved and tested.Ingeniería Industria

Degradation of transmission range in VANETs caused by interference

Reliability is one of the key requirements for inter-vehicle communication in order to improve safety in road traffic. This paper describes the difficulties of inter-vehicle communication. We focus on an analysis of the state-of-the art MAC protocol draft IEEE P802.11p and its limitations in high load situations. For our analysis we consider a particular safety scenario: An emergency vehicle is approaching a traffic jam. In a simulation experiment, we highlight that severe packet loss can occur. The reliable transmission range can be reduced by up to 90%. The main reason for this degradation is interference caused by transmissions of other vehicles within the traffic jam. In the study, we focus on the vehicle at the very end of the traffic jam. There, we measure the number of packets per second that are successfully received from the emergency vehicle. The key observation is that only a small fraction of the warning lead time remains which will also reduce the time for the driver to react on this information on an approaching emergency vehicle

Retrievable hydrogels for ovarian follicle transplantation and oocyte collection

Cancer survivorship rates have drastically increased due to improved efficacy of oncologic treatments. Consequently, clinical concerns have shifted from solely focusing on survival to quality of life, with fertility preservation as an important consideration. Among fertility preservation strategies for female patients, ovarian tissue cryopreservation and subsequent reimplantation has been the only clinical option available to cancer survivors with cryopreserved tissue. However, follicle atresia after transplantation and risk of reintroducing malignant cells have prevented this procedure from becoming widely adopted in clinics. Herein, we investigated the encapsulation of ovarian follicles in alginate hydrogels that isolate the graft from the host, yet allows for maturation after transplantation at a heterotopic (i.e., subcutaneous) site, a process we termed in vivo follicle maturation. Survival of multiple follicle populations was confirmed via histology, with the notable development of the antral follicles. Collected oocytes (63%) exhibited polar body extrusion and were fertilized by intracytoplasmic sperm injection and standard in vitro fertilization procedures. Successfully fertilized oocytes developed to the pronucleus (14%), two‐cell (36%), and four‐cell (7%) stages. Furthermore, ovarian follicles cotransplanted with metastatic breast cancer cells within the hydrogels allowed for retrieval of the follicles, and no mice developed tumors after removal of the implant, confirming that the hydrogel prevented seeding of disease within the host. Collectively, these findings demonstrate a viable option for safe use of potentially cancer‐laden ovarian donor tissue for in vivo follicle maturation within a retrievable hydrogel and subsequent oocyte collection. Ultimately, this technology may provide novel options to preserve fertility for young female patients with cancer.The authors present an alginate hydrogel as a retrievable technology to mature ovarian follicles subcutaneously and to prevent escape and subsequent metastasis of cancer cells. Early stage follicles were transplanted within hydrogels, matured in vivo, and oocytes subsequently collected. Fertilized oocytes progressed to the 2‐cell and 4‐cell embryo stages. These findings demonstrate retrievable hydrogels as a novel approach to mature follicles and obtain fertilizable oocytes, but also to alleviate concerns related to re‐seeding disease from cryopreserved auto‐transplanted ovarian tissue.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145292/1/bit26721_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145292/2/bit26721.pd

Liver-Specific Expression of Transcriptionally Active SREBP-1c Is Associated with Fatty Liver and Increased Visceral Fat Mass

The pathogenesis of fatty liver is not understood in detail, but lipid overflow as well as de novo lipogenesis (DNL) seem to be the key points of hepatocyte accumulation of lipids. One key transcription factor in DNL is sterol regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP)-1c. We generated mice with liver-specific over-expression of mature human SREBP-1c under control of the albumin promoter and a liver-specific enhancer (alb-SREBP-1c) to analyze systemic perturbations caused by this distinct alteration. SREBP-1c targets specific genes and causes key enzymes in DNL and lipid metabolism to be up-regulated. The alb-SREBP-1c mice developed hepatic lipid accumulation featuring a fatty liver by the age of 24 weeks under normocaloric nutrition. On a molecular level, clinical parameters and lipid-profiles varied according to the fatty liver phenotype. The desaturation index was increased compared to wild type mice. In liver, fatty acids (FA) were increased by 50% (p<0.01) and lipid composition was shifted to mono unsaturated FA, whereas lipid profile in adipose tissue or serum was not altered. Serum analyses revealed a ∼2-fold (p<0.01) increase in triglycerides and free fatty acids, and a ∼3-fold (p<0.01) increase in insulin levels, indicating insulin resistance; however, no significant cytokine profile alterations have been determined. Interestingly and unexpectedly, mice also developed adipositas with considerably increased visceral adipose tissue, although calorie intake was not different compared to control mice. In conclusion, the alb-SREBP-1c mouse model allowed the elucidation of the systemic impact of SREBP-1c as a central regulator of lipid metabolism in vivo and also demonstrated that the liver is a more active player in metabolic diseases such as visceral obesity and insulin resistance

Functional characterization of CKX7 and cytokinin-regulated transcription factor genes in Arabidopsis thaliana

Das Pflanzenhormon Cytokinin beeinflusst auf vielfältige Weise das Wachstum und die Entwicklung von Pflanzen. Cytokininoxidase/-dehydrogenase Enzyme (CKX) bauen Cytokinine irreversibel ab. Die CKX Gene von Arabidopsis werden differentiell in der Pflanze exprimiert und die CKX Enzyme kommen in verschiedenen subzellulären Kompartimenten vor. Verschiedene Substratspezifitäten der Enzyme und unterschiedliche phänotypischen Auswirkungen einer Überexpression der einzelnen CKX Gene in Pflanzen weisen darauf hin, dass die Cytokininpools verschiedener Kompartimente anscheinend unterschiedlich reguliert werden und möglicherweise einzelne Cytokinintypen spezifische Prozesse unterschiedlich beeinflussen. In dieser Promotionsarbeit wurde CKX7 funktionell charakterisiert. Durch die Expression von CKX7 unter Kontrolle des starken, konstitutiv aktiven 35S Promotors in Arabidopsis und Tabak wurde gezeigt, dass CKX7 ein funktionelles cytokininabbauendes Enzym ist. Die Analyse der subzellulären Lokalisation zeigte, dass CKX7 als einziges Mitglied der CKX Familie zytoplasmatisch lokalisiert ist. Die Überexpression von CKX7 führte nur zu einer geringfügigen Veränderung des Sprosswachstums. Durch CKX7 abgebaute Cytokininmetabolite oder der Ort ihres Abbaus haben demnach keine große Bedeutung für das Sprosswachstum. Die Expression von CKX7 beschränkte sich auf das Leitgewebe im Keimlingsstadium sowie spezifische Domänen des weiblichen Gametophyten. Das Wurzelwachstum CKX7 überexprimierender Keimlinge war im Gegensatz dazu stark reduziert. Die Primärwurzel war extrem kurz, unverzweigt und wies strukturelle Defekte im radiären Aufbau auf. Die Wurzelmeristemaktivität war stark reduziert. Das Leitgewebe war vollständig zu Protoxylem differenziert, sodass kein Metaxylem und kein Phloem gebildet wurden. Dieser Defekt ist von Mutanten mit starker Reduktion der Cytokininsignaltransduktion in den vaskulären Initialen der embryonalen Wurzel bekannt, zum Beispiel von der AHK4/CRE1 Mutante wooden leg (wol). Die jeweils durch Ausschalten von AHP6 und AHK4/CRE1 bewirkte Komplementationen des Wurzelphänotyps zeigte, dass in CKX7 überexprimierenden Keimlingen die Cytokininsignaltransduktion vermutlich stark reduziert ist. Das Auftreten eines wol ähnlichen Wurzelphänotyps ist möglicherweise die Folge einer den Signalweg negativ regulierenden Phosphatase-Aktivität von AHK4/CRE1. Da in anderen cytokinindefizienten Keimlingen, die CKX1 oder CKX2 überexprimieren, dieser wol ähnliche Wurzelphänotyp nicht auftritt, sind spezifische, durch CKX7 abgebaute Cytokininmetabolite wahrscheinlich in den vaskulären Initialen besonders wichtig oder stellen die Mehrheit in diesen Zellen dar. Potenzielle, besonders wichtige Cytokininmetabolite sind cZ, cZ9G und iP9G, welche in CKX7 überexprimierenden Keimlingen sehr stark reduziert waren. Zusammenfassend hat die funktionelle Analyse von CKX7 neue Hinweise auf die Bedeutung der subzellulären Kompartimentierung von Cytokininen und auf die mögliche Bedeutung der Wirkung spezifischer Cytokininmetabolite während der Wurzelentwicklung geliefert. Der zweite Schwerpunkt lag in dieser Arbeit auf der Identifizierung cytokininregulierter Transkriptionsfaktoren und der Untersuchung einer möglichen Beteiligung dieser an der Vermittlung cytokininregulierter Wachstums- und Entwicklungsprozesse in der Pflanze. Dreizehn in einem Microarray-Experiment im Vorfeld identifizierte cytokininregulierte Gene für Transkriptionsfaktoren wurden untersucht und ihre Regulation durch Cytokinin mittels unabhängiger Methoden größtenteils bestätigt. In einer loss-of-function Analyse wurden für sieben der Gene T-DNA Insertionsmutanten isoliert. Vier durch Cytokinin positiv regulierte Gene wurden zusätzlich in einer gain-of-function Analyse untersucht, indem transgene Pflanzen, die diese Gene unter der Kontrolle des 35S Promotors exprimieren, hergestellt und analysiert wurden. Die phänotypischen Veränderungen der T-DNA Insertionsmutanten waren von geringem Ausmaß und betrafen ausschließlich das Wurzelwachstum oder den Chlorophyllgehalt. Eine Beteiligung von HSFA2, MYB60 und HAT3 an der cytokininvermittelten Lateralwurzelbildung ist anzunehmen. MYB48 spielt vermutlich eine Rolle beim cytokininregulierten Primärwurzellängenwachstum. Von HAT3 ist zudem eine Beteiligung an der cytokininregulierten Unterdrückung der dunkel-induzierten Seneszenz wahrscheinlich. Die phänotypischen Veränderungen der Pflanzen, welche einzelne Transkriptionsfaktorgene überexprimieren, betrafen sowohl das Wurzel- als auch das Sprosswachstum. GATA22 spielt eine Rolle während der Wurzelentwicklung, die im Falle der Lateralwurzelbildung zudem cytokininabhängig ist. Die Bildung von Chlorophyll in der Primärwurzel als Folge der ektopischen Expression von GATA22 weist darauf hin, dass GATA22 eine Rolle bei der Chloroplastenentwicklung spielt. Weiterhin wurde eine Hypothese aufgestellt, nach der Cytokinin die Schattenvermeidungsreaktion durch eine Regulation von HAT4 beeinflusst. HAT22 reguliert das Primärwurzelwachstum positiv, den Chlorophyllgehalt negativ und fördert die natürliche Seneszenz. Veränderungen der Cytokininsensitivität der einzelnen untersuchten Prozesse deuten darauf hin, dass HAT22 die Cytokininwirkung vermutlich sowohl im Licht und im Dunkeln als auch im Spross und in der Wurzel gegensätzlich vermittelt. bHLH64 wurde als negativer Regulator der Lateralwurzelbildung und des Chlorophyllgehaltes identifiziert. Eine cytokininabhängige Veränderung dieser Prozesse in bHLH64 überexprimierenden Pflanzen konnte jedoch nicht eindeutig ermittelt werden. Der pleiotrope Phänotyp der stark exprimierenden Linie 35S:bHLH64-88 gab Anlass zur Vermutung, dass in dieser Linie durch die ektopische Expression von bHLH64 auch Veränderungen des Licht- und des Gibberellinsignalweges verursacht wurden. Für eine abschließende Beurteilung der funktionellen Relevanz der untersuchten cytokininregulierten Gene für Transkriptionsfaktoren sind weitere Experimente notwendig.The plant hormone cytokinin influences many different aspects of plant growth and development. Cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase enzymes are cytokinin degrading enzymes. CKX genes in Arabidopsis are differentially regulated and the enzymes are localized to different subcellular compartments. The differences of the substrate specificities of individual CKX enzymes and of the phenotypic consequences of an overexpression of the individual CKX genes indicated that cytokinin pools in different compartments are differentially regulated and that different cytokinin metabolites possibly influence specific developmental processes in the plant. In this work, the CKX7 gene was functionally characterized. By expressing CKX7 under the control of the strong, constitutively active 35S promotor in Arabidopsis and tobacco it was shown that CKX7 is a functional cytokinin degrading enzyme. Analysis of the subcellular localisation revealed that CKX7 is the only enzyme of the family located in the cytosol. Plants overexpressing CKX7 did not show dramatic phenotypic changes in shoot growth indicating that cytokinin metabolites which are degraded by CKX7 and the place of their degradation are less important for the shoot growth. Supporting this assumption, CKX7 expression was detected only in the vasculature of young seedlings and in specific domains of the female gametophyte. Surprisingly, the root growth of CKX7 overexpressing seedlings was strongly reduced. The primary root was extremely short, unbranched and displayed structural defects in the radial pattern. The root meristem activity was strongly reduced. The vascular tissues were completely differentiated to protoxylem. No metaxylem and phloem were formed. These defects in vascular tissue development were previously described in mutants with severe reduction in cytokinin signalling in the vascular initials of the embryonic root; e.g. the AHK4/CRE1 mutant wooden leg (wol). Loss of AHK4/CRE1 or AHP6 function led to partial complementation of the severe root phenotype of CKX7 overexpressing seedlings. This indicated that cytokinin signalling was strongly reduced in the vascular initials of CKX7 overexpressing seedlings possibly due to a strong phosphatase activity of AHK4/CRE1 which negatively regulates cytokinin signaling in those cells. Other CKX overexpressing seedlings do not display a wol-like root phenotype. Therefore it was hypothesised that specific cytokinin metabolites degraded by CKX7 are important during the development of the vascular tissues from the initials and that these metabolites are eventually predominant in those cells. Based on their strong and specific reduction in CKX7 overexpressing seedlings cZ, cZ9G and iP9G were identified as putative important cytokinin metabolites. In summary, the functional characterization of CKX7 gave new indications to a relevance of the subcellular localisation of cytokinins and a possible relevance for the function of specific cytokinin metabolites in root development. The main focus of the second part of this work was the identification of cytokinin regulated transcription factor genes and their functional analysis concerning an involvement of these factors in cytokinin regulated growth and developmental processes. Thirteen cytokinin regulated genes identified by an initial microarray experiment were chosen for the analysis and their regulation by cytokinin was confirmed by independent methods in most cases. In a loss-of-function approach, knockout mutants for seven of these genes were isolated. Four genes, positively regulated by cytokinin were also analyzed in a gain-of-function approach by expressing them under the control of the strong constitutively active 35S promotor and by phenotypic characterization of the resulting transgenic plants. The obtained phenotypic changes in the T-DNA insertion mutants were relatively weak and the most prominent changes were detected for the root growth and for the chlorophyll content. For HSFA2, MYB60 and HAT3 a role in mediating cytokinin effects on lateral root development can be assumed. Furthermore MYB48 seems to influence cytokinin-mediated primary root growth. Additionally, it was demonstrated that HAT3 might be important for the regulation of the chlorophyll content and the cytokinin-mediated suppression of dark-induced leaf senescence. The phenotypic alterations of plants overexpressing single transcription factor genes included changes in the root development as well as the shoot growth. GATA22 might play a negative role during root development, and this regulatory function is cytokinin-dependent at least in lateral root formation. The formation of chlorophyll in the primary root as a consequence of the ectopic GATA22 expression points to a role of GATA22 in chloroplast development. Furthermore a hypothesis was proposed, in which cytokinin influences the shade avoidance response via regulation of HAT4. It was shown that HAT22 positively regulates the primary root growth, negatively regulates the chlorophyll content and accelerates the natural senescence of leaves. HAT22 overexpressing plants displayed changes in cytokinin sensitivity in the analyzed processes, and it was proposed that HAT22 differentially mediates cytokinin responses in light and dark as well as in the shoot and root. For bHLH64 a role during lateral root development and for the regulation of the chlorophyll content was proposed. Because no bhlh64 loss-of-function mutant is currently available and both overexpressing lines showed partial opposite reactions towards cytokinin, the involvement of bHLH64 during cytokinin- mediated growth and developmental processes remains unclear. However the pleiotropic phenotype of plants with a strong ectopic bHLH64 expression indicated that light and gibberellin signalling pathways are also affected in these plants. For a final conclusion about the functional relevance of the analyzed transcription factor genes for the mediation of cytokinin effects additional experiments are necessary

CAD-SE: Discovering CAD models on the web

In this demo paper, we present “CAD-SE” a search engine for CAD models in the domain of room planning. Many furniture manufacturers offer 3D CAD models for their products in various formats on their websites. Those models are used by architects and interior designers. Getting such models, however, is cumbersome as there is no common interface for the fast retrieval of CAD-files, e.g., using the product name, nor is there a central archive of such files. Project CAD-SE solves this problem by offering a search engine that is capable of understanding manufacturers pages, and linking product description sites with download sites for CAD files in various formats

The MICO broker: An orchestration framework for linked data extractors

This paper describes the MICO broker, a management and orchestration framework for Linked Data extractors. It outlines the initial version of the broker, illustrates the key challenges and requirements for extractor orchestration in the MICO project, and provides an improved MICO broker design and implementation that addresses these key challenges. The paper describes the interaction with the Linked Data approach applied in MICO for this purpose, especially regarding the broker data model, semi-automatic workflow creation and workflow execution

In-house preparation of hydrogels for batch affinity purification of glutathione <it>S</it>-transferase tagged recombinant proteins

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many branches of biomedical research find use for pure recombinant proteins for direct application or to study other molecules and pathways. Glutathione affinity purification is commonly used to isolate and purify glutathione S-transferase (GST)-tagged fusion proteins from total cellular proteins in lysates. Although GST affinity materials are commercially available as glutathione immobilized on beaded agarose resins, few simple options for in-house production of those systems exist. Herein, we describe a novel method for the purification of GST-tagged recombinant proteins.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Glutathione was conjugated to low molecular weight poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) via thiol-ene “click” chemistry. With our in-house prepared PEGDA:glutathione (PEGDA:GSH) homogenates, we were able to purify a glutathione S-transferase (GST) green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion protein (GST-GFP) from the soluble fraction of <it>E. coli</it> lysate. Further, microspheres were formed from the PEGDA:GSH hydrogels and improved protein binding to a level comparable to purchased GSH-agarose beads.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>GSH containing polymers might find use as in-house methods of protein purification. They exhibited similar ability to purify GST tagged proteins as purchased GSH agarose beads.</p