Systematic methods for the computation of the directional fields and singular points of fingerprints

The first subject of the paper is the estimation of a high resolution directional field of fingerprints. Traditional methods are discussed and a method, based on principal component analysis, is proposed. The method not only computes the direction in any pixel location, but its coherence as well. It is proven that this method provides exactly the same results as the "averaged square-gradient method" that is known from literature. Undoubtedly, the existence of a completely different equivalent solution increases the insight into the problem's nature. The second subject of the paper is singular point detection. A very efficient algorithm is proposed that extracts singular points from the high-resolution directional field. The algorithm is based on the Poincare index and provides a consistent binary decision that is not based on postprocessing steps like applying a threshold on a continuous resemblance measure for singular points. Furthermore, a method is presented to estimate the orientation of the extracted singular points. The accuracy of the methods is illustrated by experiments on a live-scanned fingerprint databas

A Reinforcement Learning Agent for Minutiae Extraction from Fingerprints

In this paper we show that reinforcement learning can be used for minutiae detection in fingerprint matching. Minutiae are characteristic features of fingerprints that determine their uniqueness. Classical approaches use a series of image processing steps for this task, but lack robustness because they are highly sensitive to noise and image quality. We propose a more robust approach, in which an autonomous agent walks around in the fingerprint and learns how to follow ridges in the fingerprint and how to recognize minutiae. The agent is situated in the environment, the fingerprint, and uses reinforcement learning to obtain an optimal policy. Multi-layer perceptrons are used for overcoming the difficulties of the large state space. By choosing the right reward structure and learning environment, the agent is able to learn the task. One of the main difficulties is that the goal states are not easily specified, for they are part of the learning task as well. That is, the recognition of minutiae has to be learned in addition to learning how to walk over the ridges in the fingerprint. Results of successful first experiments are presented

A Correlation-Based Fingerprint Verification System

In this paper, a correlation-based fingerprint verification system is presented. Unlike the traditional minutiae-based systems, this system directly uses the richer gray-scale information of the fingerprints. The correlation-based fingerprint verification system first selects appropriate templates in the primary fingerprint, uses template matching to locate them in the secondary print, and compares the template positions of both fingerprints. Unlike minutiae-based systems, the correlation-based fingerprint verification system is capable of dealing with bad-quality images from which no minutiae can be extracted reliably and with fingerprints that suffer from non-uniform shape distortions. Experiments have shown that the performance of this system at the moment is comparable to the performance of many other fingerprint verification systems

MOD/R : A knowledge assisted approach towards top-down only CMOS VLSI design

MOD/R models all views on the design space in relations. This is achieved by eliminating the package constraints, as are apparent in PCB oriented hardware description languages. Assisted by knowledge engineering it allows for a top-down, mostly hierarchical decomposition, virtually eliminating the need for bottom-up assembly

Widespread tissue hypoxia dysregulates cell and metabolic pathways in SMA

Open Access via the Wiley Jisc Agreement Acknowledgments: SHP, EH‐G, INF, SD’A, and JMC were funded by SMA Europe (SMA UK and Prinses Beatrix Spierfonds). Thanks to Prof Andy Welch for helpful discussions on imaging.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Co-Expression of Wild-Type P2X7R with Gln460Arg Variant Alters Receptor Function

The P2X7 receptor is a member of the P2X family of ligand-gated ion channels. A single-nucleotide polymorphism leading to a glutamine (Gln) by arginine (Arg) substitution at codon 460 of the purinergic P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) has been associated with mood disorders. No change in function (loss or gain) has been described for this SNP so far. Here we show that although the P2X7R-Gln460Arg variant per se is not compromised in its function, co-expression of wild-type P2X7R with P2X7R-Gln460Arg impairs receptor function with respect to calcium influx, channel currents and intracellular signaling in vitro. Moreover, co-immunoprecipitation and FRET studies show that the P2X7R-Gln460Arg variant physically interacts with P2X7R-WT. Specific silencing of either the normal or polymorphic variant rescues the heterozygous loss of function phenotype and restores normal function. The described loss of function due to co-expression, unique for mutations in the P2RX7 gene so far, explains the mechanism by which the P2X7R-Gln460Arg variant affects the normal function of the channel and may represent a mechanism of action for other mutations.Fil: Aprile García, Fernando. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; ArgentinaFil: Metzger, Michael W.. Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry; AlemaniaFil: Paez Pereda, Marcelo. Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry; AlemaniaFil: Stadler, Herbert. Affectis Pharmaceuticals; AlemaniaFil: Acuña, Matias. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; ArgentinaFil: Liberman, Ana Clara. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; ArgentinaFil: Senin, Sergio Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; ArgentinaFil: Gerez, Juan Atilio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; ArgentinaFil: Hoijman, Esteban. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Microscopías Avanzadas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Refojo, Damian. Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry; Alemania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mitkovski, Mišo. Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine; AlemaniaFil: Panhuysen, Markus. Affectis Pharmaceuticals; AlemaniaFil: Stühmer, Walter. Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine; AlemaniaFil: Holsboer, Florian. Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry; Alemania. HMNC Brain Health; AlemaniaFil: Deussing, Jan M.. Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry; AlemaniaFil: Arzt, Eduardo Simon. Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry; Alemania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigación en Biomedicina de Buenos Aires - Instituto Partner de la Sociedad Max Planck; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular; Argentin

Gene discovery in Triatoma infestans

Background: Triatoma infestans is the most relevant vector of Chagas disease in the southern cone of South America. Since its genome has not yet been studied, sequencing of Expressed Sequence Tags ( ESTs) is one of the most powerful tools for efficiently identifying large numbers of expressed genes in this insect vector. Results: In this work, we generated 826 ESTs, resulting in an increase of 47% in the number of ESTs available for T. infestans. These ESTs were assembled in 471 unique sequences, 151 of which represent 136 new genes for the Reduviidae family. Conclusions: Among the putative new genes for the Reduviidae family, we identified and described an interesting subset of genes involved in development and reproduction, which constitute potential targets for insecticide development