Multifunction LED Lighting System Combining Tunable Spectrum and Data Communication

A comparison of two different lighting systems combining tunable illumination, visible light communications (VLC) and sensing capabilities. The first method is based on light emitting diodes (LED) as light source and multifunction smart sensors and the second one with LEDs and micro-spectrometer to be included in the transceiver and/or receiver. Both systems are intended for future lighting sensor networks that combine standardized optical communications according the standard IEEE802.15.7 and sensing (illuminance, proximity, colour, and spectrum detection) for indoor envirIn this project a novel portable Visible Light Communication (VLC) system comprising an inexpensive and easy to fabricate multi-channel transmitter (Tx) and a receiver (Rx) have been developed. The light engine is designed to support up to three different LED channels while illuminating an indoor space changing the spectrum according to human circadian rhythms or any other desires. The Tx module architecture contains a programmable microcontroller and a constant current LED driver to manage the data to be transmitted. The Rx module allows the detection of optical signals, decoding and recovering the complete information with a circuit containing three stages: transimpedance amplifier, serializer and deserializer stages, controlled by a microcontroller unit. The VLC link has been tested in a laboratory environment with natural illumination to operate for distances up to 8 meters (at 700 kbps), data rates up to 4.50 Mbps (at 2 meters), and angles up to 75º (at 700 kbps and 2 meters). Under these conditions the flickering effect is completely removed

Stress Granules in the Viral Replication Cycle

As intracellular parasites, viruses require a host cell in order to replicate. However, they face a series of cellular responses against infection. One of these responses is the activation of the double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-activated protein kinase R (PKR). PKR phosphorylates the α subunit of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2α), which in turn results in global protein synthesis inhibition and formation of stress granules (SGs). Recent studies have shown that SGs can interfere with the replicative cycle of certain viruses. This review addresses how viruses have evolved different control strategies at the SG level to ensure an efficient replication cycle during the cellular stress response triggered by the viral infection

Diseño e implementación de un dispositivo de estiramiento cutáneo orientado a prótesis mioeléctricas transradiales que proporcione información propioceptiva

La búsqueda de la mejor estrategia y/o mecanismo para transmitir la información sensorial a usuarios de prótesis mioeléctricas es un tema de interés por parte de la comunidad científica debido a que las mismas son rechazadas por la ineficiencia o nulidad de dispositivos hápticos. Así pues, siendo la propiocepción parte de la retroalimentación sensorial perdida, el presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo el diseño e implementación de un dispositivo háptico de estiramiento cutáneo longitudinal orientado a prótesis mioeléctricas transradiales que proporcione información propioceptiva. El diseño mecánico propuesto se desarrolla considerando la norma alemana VDI 2206 y una evaluación técnico-económica basada en la norma VDI 2225. Asimismo, se evalúa la relación a establecerse entre el actuador y el sensor de flexión para evitar el “efecto de aumento”. Más aún, se realiza la evaluación de dos diferentes métodos de fijación a la piel (neopreno y cinta adhesiva de doble cara) a través de dos encuestas cuantitativas subjetivas en base al experimento de la caja de espejo. En cuanto a los resultados con respecto al diseño mecánico, se establece la confiabilidad del mismo dados los parámetros mecánicos obtenidos tras el análisis de elementos finitos. Por otro lado, se establece el empleo del mapeo lineal para relacionar el sensor y el actuador del dispositivo al permitir la distribución correcta de los datos. Finalmente, los resultados de la evaluación del método de fijación a la piel revelan que no existen diferencias estadísticamente significativas al proporcionar información propioceptiva (p = 0.213); análogamente, se destaca la viabilidad de la espuma de neopreno como método de fijación. En síntesis, el diseño planteado puede reducir el rechazo de las prótesis mioeléctricas a través del método de modalidad emparejada expuesto y, dado el diseño planteado, el empleo de la espuma de neopreno se presenta como una solución más viable dada su naturaleza no adhesiva.Campus Lima Centr

Use of a new enrichment nanosorbent for speciation of mercury by FI-CV-ICP-MS

Mercury is one of the most toxic environmental pollutants and its effects on human and ecosystem health are well known. All mercury species are toxic, with organic mercury compounds generally being more toxic than inorganic species. Chromatography techniques (GC, HPLC) coupled to element specific detectors, are able to separate mercury species in order to elucidate mercury transformation and transport processes where the determination of all mercury species is desirable. However, in practice, especially in sampling campaigns for sea water analysis where a large number of samples are collected over a longer period of time, a combination of methods is usually applied to accurately determine the most toxic mercury species. These include non-chromatographic methods based on the different chemical and/or physical behavior of the mercury species. These non-chromatographic methods can be less time consuming, more cost effective and available, and present competitive limits of detection. Especially when mercury could vapor (CV) generation technique is employed, which reduces salt effect on the analytical signal and improve the sensibility. Among non-chromatographic methods, solid phase extraction and microextraction (SPE and SPME) which is becoming increasingly popular for sample preparation in organic analysis, found its way to speciation analysis of organometals. SPE/SPME is the most popular sample preconcentration method for its simplicity, high enrichment factor, low or no consumption of organic solvents and feasibly to be automated. On the other hand, the exploration of new materials, especially nanometer sized materials, as the support phase is another active research area in SPE/SPME for mercury determination. The use of nanoparticles leads to higher extraction capacity/efficiency and rapid dynamics of extraction originated from the higher surface area to volume ratio and short diffusion route. In this work, a new enrichment nanosorbent functionalized with 1,5 bis (2-pyridyl) methylene thiocarbohidrazide was synthesized and characterized. From the study of its adsorption capacity toward metal ions, Hg2+ was observed to be one of the most retained 173.1 µmol g-1 at pH 5. Thus, a flow injection solid phase extraction and cold vapor generation method for its determination and speciation based on the use of this new chelating nanosorbent was optimized. The method developed has showed to be useful for the automatic pre-concentration and sequential speciation of mercury and methylmercury in environmental and biological samples. The system was based on chelating retention of the analytes onto a mini-column filled with the new nanosorbent and their sequential elution by using two different eluents, 0.2 % HCl for CH3Hg+ and 0.1 % thiourea in 0.5 % HCl for Hg2+. The determination was performed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Under the optimum conditions and 120 s preconcentration time, the enrichment factors were 4.7 and 11.0; the detection limits (3σ) were 0.002 and 0.004 µg L-1; the determination limits (10σ) were 0.011 and 0.024 µg L-1; and the precisions (calculated for 10 replicate determinations at a 2 µg L-1 standard of both species) were 2.8 and 2.6 % (RSD); for CH3Hg+ and Hg2+, respectively. Linear calibration graphs were obtained for both species from the determination limits to at least 70 µg L-1. For the quality control of the analytical performance and the validation of the newly developed method, the analysis of two certified samples, LGC 6016 estuarine water and SRM 2976 mussel tissue were addressed. The results showed good agreement with the certified values. The method was successfully applied to the speciation of mercury in sea-water samples collected in the Málaga Bay.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

La motivación como herramienta de la dirección en el Centro Regional de Adiestramiento Canino Guayaquil en el área Antinarcóticos

This work is gathering information on the motivation of both staff police and canines of the Canine Regional Training Center "CRAC" highly specialized unit that evaluates policies and action plans against drug trafficking, basing their work on: planning, research, teaching, assessment and education. In addition to a collection of information about surveys were conducted to determine the effect of motivation for staff there are some kinds of motivations as merit, courses, trainings, appointments, commissions, grade and positive aspect; instead on the dogs: dogs with and without high, training, best breed for training and other courses. In conclusion was obtained that: motivation is a key pillar in the drive to encourage staff, should increase motivation in the unit through new strategies and policies, statistically to be considered for a higher motivation is better to have higher education; motivation in dogs causes great influence on impulses after that perform the desired activity, the most used for public safety in Ecuador race are the pastors for their physical condition and genetic, female dogs have a better predisposition for motivation and therefore are better in trainability. As we recommendations that should motivate staff having more than one year in CRAC looking mechanisms for motivation be for everyone, encouraging staff to specialize to have an advanced degree, future studies comparing with other countries in our region.El presente trabajo es la recopilación de información sobre la motivación tanto del personal policial como de los canes del Centro Regional de Adiestramiento canino “CRAC”. El CRAC es una unidad altamente especializada que evalúa políticas y planes de acción en contra del narcotráfico, basando su trabajo en: planificación, investigación, enseñanza, evaluación y educación. Además de una recopilación de información sobre el tema se realizaron encuestas para determinar el efecto de la motivación, con respecto al personal hay algunos tipos de motivaciones como: el mérito, los cursos, las capacitaciones, los nombramientos, las comisiones, el grado y el aspecto positivo; en cambio en los canes: canes con y sin alta, entrenamiento, mejor raza para entrenar y otros cursos. Como conclusiones se obtuvo que: la motivación es un pilar fundamental en la unidad para incentivar al personal. Se debería incrementar la motivación en la unidad por medio de nuevas estrategias y políticas. Estadísticamente para ser tomados en cuenta para una mayor motivación es mejor contar con estudios superiores. La motivación en los canes causa gran influencia en sus impulsos logrando que realice la actividad deseada, la raza más utilizada para la seguridad pública en el Ecuador son los pastores por su condición física y su genética, los canes hembras presentan una mejor predisposición para la motivación y por ende son mejores en la entrenabilidad. Como recomendaciones tenemos que se debería motivar al personal que tiene más de un año en el CRAC buscando mecanismos para que la motivación sea para todos, incentivar al personal a que se especialice para tener un título superior, realizar estudios futuros comparando con otros países de nuestra región

Detection of Additional Members of the 2003 EL61 Family via Infrared Spectroscopy

We have acquired near-infrared spectra of Kuiper belt objects 2003 UZ117, 2005 CB79 and 2004 SB60 with NIRC on the Keck I Telescope. These objects are dynamically close to the core of the 2003 EL61 collisional family and were suggested to be potential fragments of this collision by Ragozzine and Brown (2007). We find that the spectra of 2003 UZ117 and 2005 CB79 both show the characteristic strong water ice absorption features seen exclusively on 2003 EL61, its largest satellite, and the six other known collisional fragments. In contrast, we find that the near infrared spectrum of 2004 SB60 is essentially featureless with a fraction of water ice of less than 5%. We discuss the implications of the discovery of these additional family members for understanding the formation and evolution of this collisional family in the outer solar system.Comment: 9 Pages, 2 figure

Sistema de inyección de combustible common rail y detección de averías en los motores MAN 7L48/60CR

El sistema common rail es un sistema de inyección de combustible a presión constante presente en los motores principales a bordo del buque Volcán del Teide, perteneciente a la compañía Naviera Armas, en el que llevé a cabo mis prácticas como alumno de máquinas. Estos días de embarque me alentaron a realizar este proyecto llevando a cabo el estudio de las averías propias del sistema de inyección de estos motores, ya que eran las que se presentaban con mayor frecuencia en todos los motores. Éstas se debían al desgaste de los componentes por las horas de funcionamiento, al combustible empleado, así como a las altas presiones de funcionamiento a las que estaban sometidas. Es por ello que, un adecuado estudio del sistema, al igual que un correcto mantenimiento y un histórico de las averías, permiten la anticipación ante cualquier avería posible evitando así una indisponibilidad del motor. Así como una básica comparativa entre motores cuyos sistemas de inyección presentan distintos principios de funcionamiento; por un lado, se encuentran los motores con sistema de inyección common rail, mientras que por otro lado se encuentran los sistemas bomba-inyector, determinando así sus ventajas y desventajas.The common rail system is a constant pressure fuel injection system which is present in the main engines on board the Volcán del Teide ship, belonging to the company Naviera Armas, in which I carried out my internship as a machine cadet. These days of boarding I was encouraged to perform this project by doing the study of the common failures of these injection system motors, because these were the failures occurred frequently in all motors. It was due to the wear and tear of the components by the operating hours, the fuel used, as well as the high operating pressures to which they are subjected. This is why, a proper study of the system, as well as a correct maintenance and an historical records of the failures, allow the anticipation of any possible failure thus avoiding an unavailability of the engine. As well as a basic comparison between engines whose injection systems have different operating principles; on the one hand, there are engines with common rail injection system. And on the other hand, there are pump-injector systems, thus determining its advantages and disadvantages

Rediseño CIS-CRM Sport City

Proyecto de Graduación (Bachillerato en Ingeniería en Computación) Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Escuela de Computación, 2006.Este documento consiste en el informe final de práctica de especialidad que se llevó a cabo en la empresa CIS-Solutions. La información presente en este documento tendrá el fin de ubicarnos en el contexto de la empresa y en el contexto del proyecto, sin profundizar en detalles propios de la empresa en cuanto a mercadeo, clientes, documentación técnica. El documento mostrará los objetos, tablas, pantallas y propiedades u otras características consideradas lo suficientemente genéricas de tal manera que no perjudicaría a la empresa en un futuro. La empresa esta dedicada a realizar proyectos en las áreas de: CRM, Lealtad, Mobile, ERP y Telefonía Voz IP. La práctica de especialidad donde se desarrollo la aplicación Web para Sport City está en la línea de proyectos CRM. Con este proyecto se espera dar un impulso a las áreas de: mercadeo, ventas y CRM (Manejo de la Relación con el consumidor), Ya que la finalidad de que dicha aplicación es que la empresa mejore la relación con sus socios y prospectos (futuros socios). A continuación un listado de los puntos más importantes que conforman el documento: Un contexto de la empresa, una descripción del problema, análisis de los riesgos, objetivos, alcances del proyecto. Estos documentos fueron presentados en el primer informe de práctica de especialidad. Del segundo informe de práctica encontraremos una breve descripción de las herramientas, técnicas que se utilizaron para la construcción de la aplicación Web. También el documento mostrará los principales objetos que conforman la capa de negocio, interfaces de usuarios y las tablas de la base de datos que permiten el almacenamiento de los datos.CIS-Solution

MultiPARTES: Multicore Virtualization for Mixed-Criticality Systems

Modern embedded applications typically integrate a multitude of functionalities with potentially different criticality levels into a single system. Without appropriate preconditions, the integration of mixed-criticality subsystems can lead to a significant and potentially unacceptable increase of engineering and certification costs. A promising solution is to incorporate mechanisms that establish multiple partitions with strict temporal and spatial separation between the individual partitions. In this approach, subsystems with different levels of criticality can be placed in different partitions and can be verified and validated in isolation. The MultiPARTES FP7 project aims at supporting mixed- criticality integration for embedded systems based on virtualization techniques for heterogeneous multicore processors. A major outcome of the project is the MultiPARTES XtratuM, an open source hypervisor designed as a generic virtualization layer for heterogeneous multicore. MultiPARTES evaluates the developed technology through selected use cases from the offshore wind power, space, visual surveillance, and automotive domains. The impact of MultiPARTES on the targeted domains will be also discussed. In a number of ongoing research initiatives (e.g., RECOMP, ARAMIS, MultiPARTES, CERTAINTY) mixed-criticality integration is considered in multicore processors. Key challenges are the combination of software virtualization and hardware segregation and the extension of partitioning mechanisms to jointly address significant non-functional requirements (e.g., time, energy and power budgets, adaptivity, reliability, safety, security, volume, weight, etc.) along with development and certification methodology