SYSPOINT: Unit of Measure for IT Infrastructure Project Sizing

What can be done to improve the success rate of IT infrastructure projects? The Standish group considers an IT project successful when it is completed on time and on budget, with all the features and functions originally specified. Thus, time, cost, and scope – the triple constraint of project management is measured for success. The initial project estimation directly results in constructing the baseline for the two success parameters – time and cost. The traditional software estimation models uses lines of code and function points as sizing unit of measure. The IT infrastructure projects are significantly different from software development projects to use the software sizing techniques. This paper defines the concept of size for IT infrastructure projects. Specifically, the project size for IT infrastructure projects are measured in terms of the eight factors (server, workstation, printer, LAN, WAN, handheld, server applications, and client applications), infrastructure related software components, and the complexities defined based on the physical and functional categories of those factors

Computational modelling of agent based path planning and the representation of human wayfinding behaviour within egress models

The focus of this thesis is on wayfinding within buildings from an evacuation/circulation modelling perspective. Majority of the existing evacuation models simplify the process of wayfinding by assigning the shortest path to all agents. This is not a realistic representation of the actual route choices made by people in circulation/evacuation conditions. Wayfinding is a dynamic process and cannot be modelled as a static process by assigning pre-determined routes to the agents. Wayfinding is thus a very important aspect to be modelled accurately within evacuation/circulation models to simulate more realistic human behaviour. The main goal of this thesis is to develop an agent based wayfinding model for the buildingEXODUS evacuation/circulation model. There were four major problems to be solved: spatial representation of the environment, implementation of graph search algorithms to generate choice set of routes for the agents to choose from, determination of factors that influence people‟s wayfinding behaviour and the development/integration of the agent based wayfinding model within the buildingEXODUS evacuation/circulation model. The existing spatial representation technique in buildingEXODUS was modified to best suit the requirement of the wayfinding model. Various graph search algorithms such as A*, Dijkstra and Yen‟s algorithm were studied. Alternate algorithms were developed to quickly generate routes and were compared with the performance of the Yen‟s algorithm. Two surveys were then developed and published on line. A total of 1200 participants from various countries took the survey. The survey results were statistically analysed and was utilised to model the decision making behaviour of the agents in the wayfinding model. An agent based wayfinding model was then developed incorporating features such as: spatial representation in terms of a graph, application of route choice set generating algorithms, agents with their individual attributes using multi criteria decision analysis methods to choose routes and changing routes dynamically on encountering congestion or gaining new exit knowledge. This wayfinding model was then integrated within the buildingEXODUS model. The buildingEXODUS model passes spatial information and agent location to the wayfinding model at the start of the simulation. The wayfinding model applies the graph search algorithms to generate routes and assigns routes (a set of target locations) to the agents. The buildingEXODUS model generates events under certain circumstances: when agents reach a target location, encounter congestion or learn the location of a new exit. The wayfinding model listens to these events and assigns a new route to the agents if an alternate route is more favourable than the initially chosen one. Therefore, there is constant communication between the fine node buildingEXODUS and the coarse node wayfinding models, with the latter being responsible for assigning routes to the agents and the former being responsible for navigating the agents from one target location to the next. Thus, a sophisticated wayfinding model incorporating data from surveys has been developed using C++ and has been integrated into the buildingEXODUS evacuation model. The introduction of the wayfinding model brought about significant changes to the evacuation statistics produced by the buildingEXODUS model. The difference was more significant in buildings where there was more than one path to an exit. The default option of the existing evacuation models is to assign the shortest path to all the agents in the simulation whereas with the wayfinding model, agents choose alternative paths based on other wayfinding criteria as well such as time, number of turns, etc

Wayfinding behavior within buildings - An international survey

A building wayfinding questionnaire study is presented which analyses the importance of a set of wayfinding criteria from a building evacuation perspective. The main path selection criteria tested in this questionnaire are handedness and length of the first leg of the path. The study involved 1166 participants from 36 countries. The results suggest that the handedness, a genetic factor, and the side of the road people drive on, a cultural factor, exert a significant influence on path choice. The results of this study clarify misconceptions existing in urban wayfinding studies regarding the importance of the length of the first leg of a path. Path selection criteria along with their relative rankings are suggested for inclusion in wayfinding algorithms used within evacuation models. It is further suggested that these rankings may be country specific

Senescence Marker Protein 30 (SMP30) Expression in Eukaryotic Cells: Existence of Multiple Species and Membrane Localization

Senescence marker protein (SMP30), also known as regucalcin, is a 34 kDa cytosolic marker protein of aging which plays an important role in intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis, ascorbic acid biosynthesis, oxidative stress, and detoxification of chemical warfare nerve agents. In our goal to investigate the activity of SMP30 for the detoxification of nerve agents, we have produced a recombinant adenovirus expressing human SMP30 as a fusion protein with a hemaglutinin tag (Ad-SMP30-HA). Ad-SMP30-HA transduced the expression of SMP30-HA and two additional forms of SMP30 with molecular sizes ∼28 kDa and 24 kDa in HEK-293A and C3A liver cells in a dose and time-dependent manner. Intravenous administration of Ad-SMP30-HA in mice results in the expression of all the three forms of SMP30 in the liver and diaphragm. LC-MS/MS results confirmed that the lower molecular weight 28 kDa and 24 kDa proteins are related to the 34 kDa SMP30. The 28 kDa and 24 kDa SMP30 forms were also detected in normal rat liver and mice injected with Ad-SMP30-HA suggesting that SMP30 does exist in multiple forms under physiological conditions. Time course experiments in both cell lines suggest that the 28 kDa and 24 kDa SMP30 forms are likely generated from the 34 kDa SMP30. Interestingly, the 28 kDa and 24 kDa SMP30 forms appeared initially in the cytosol and shifted to the particulate fraction. Studies using small molecule inhibitors of proteolytic pathways revealed the potential involvement of β and γ-secretases but not calpains, lysosomal proteases, proteasome and caspases. This is the first report describing the existence of multiple forms of SMP30, their preferential distribution to membranes and their generation through proteolysis possibly mediated by secretase enzymes

The simulation of urban-scale evacuation scenarios: Swinley forest fire

Forest fires are an annual occurrence in many parts of the world causing evacuation of nearby residential areas and industrial facilities. The frequent occurrence of these events deems it necessary to develop appropriate evacuation plans for areas that are susceptible to forest fires. A well-established and well-validated evacuation model, buildingEXODUS, has been extended to model large scale urban/rural evacuations by including the road network and open spaces (e.g. parks, green spaces and town squares)along with buildings. The evacuation simulation results have been coupled with the results of a forest fire spread model and applied to the Swinley forest fire. Four evacuation procedures differing in the routes taken by the pedestrians were simulated and analysed providing key evacuation statistics such as time to reach the assembly location, the distance travelled and congestion experienced by the agents. In addition, the safety margins associated with using each evacuation route are identified. This is the time available between the safe passage of the pedestrians through the route and the route being considered no longer safe for pedestrian use. A key finding of this work is the importance of formulating evacuation procedures in response to wildfires by providing occupants timely evacuation notice and appropriate choice of routes to keep them at a safe distance from the fire even at the cost of taking longer evacuation routes

Plaque Contact Surface Area and Flow Lumen Volume Predict Stroke Risk in Extracranial Carotid Artery Stenosis

The standard indication for intervention in asymptomatic disease is currently percent stenosis in the internal carotid artery as measured by the NASCET method, which remains limited in discriminating power. CT angiography (CTA) is widely used to calculate NASCET stenosis but also offers the opportunity to analyze carotid artery plaques from a morphological perspective that has not been widely utilized. We aim to improve stroke risk stratification of patients with carotid artery stenosis using plaque 3D modeling and image analysis. Patients with CTAs appropriate for 3D reconstruction were identified from an NIH designated stroke center database, and carotid arteries were segmented and analyzed using software algorithms to calculate contact surface area between the plaque and blood flow (CSA), and volume of the flow lumen within the region of the plaque (FLV). These novel parameters factor in the 3D morphometry inherent to each carotid plaque. A total of 134 carotid arteries were analyzed, 33 of which were associated with an ipsilateral stroke. Plaques associated with stroke demonstrated statistically significant increases in average CSA and FLV when compared to those not associated with stroke. When compared to NASCET percent stenosis, CSA and FLV both demonstrated a larger area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) in predicting stroke risk in patients with carotid stenosis. The data presented here demonstrate morphological features of carotid plaques that are independent of NASCET criteria stratification and may present an improved method in assessing stroke risk in patients with carotid artery stenosis

Facial expressions recognition based on dimensionality reduction techniques

Interest in image retrieval has increased in large part due to the rapid growth of the World Wide Web. The traditional text based search and retrieval has its own limitations and hence we move to a facial expressions images are search and retrieval system. In this paper we present a facial expression retrieval system that takes an image as the input query and retrieves images based on image content. Face recognition system is recognizing based on dimensionality reduction derived image features. Facial expressions recognition is the application of computer vision to the image retrieval problem. In this recognition context might refer colours, shapes, textures, or any other information that can be derived from the image itself

HANDHELD MONEY DEPOSIT AND WITHDRAWAL CELL BANKING GADGET

The primary concept of the micro-bank product is the financial institution should employ special persons which are licensed because the business correspondents (BC) to hold a micro-bank machine together. Each Business correspondents will most likely be allotted to a particular handheld guaranteed electronic doorstep banking system machine. The bank’s commensurate huge clientele isn’t inside the urban level however, inside the frequently pretermitted rural areas. The micro-bank technique is always attached to the central banking server using GSM communication. During this paper an assured handheld doorstep banking industry proven to as Micro-bank machine should certainly grant plan to totally free styles in rural areas and remote places for example cities. The micro-bank machine that will get the OTP information will record breaking speed of the feel of this message. Light tasks like acquiring away and off to the ATM and retreating cash cause humans in cities lose their operating hrs. and, consequently, miss a big live in the profit also. The look can also be operated within as well as on the far side within the regular banking hrs. The primary goal within the handheld machine should be to administer banking services like money withdrawals and money deposit while not the individual ever striving having a bank during remote areas wherever a GSM cellular association isn’t possible

Higher Image Retrieval Efficiency Using Color Features

Image retrieval techniques are useful in many image processing applications. Content based image retrieval systems works with whole images and searching is based on comparison of the query. In this paper we present a novel frame work for the color information and achieve higher retrieval efficiency using dominant color feature. An image is partitioned into sub blocks of equal size as a first step. Color of each sub block is extracted by using the RGB color space. A one to one matching scheme is used to compare the query and target images. Minkowski distance is used to retrieving the similar images. The experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of the method

Interferon-producing Cells Fail to Induce Proliferation of Naive T Cells but Can Promote Expansion and T Helper 1 Differentiation of Antigen-experienced Unpolarized T Cells

Interferon-producing cells (IPCs) secrete high levels of type I interferon in response to certain viruses. The lack of lineage markers, the expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II and the capacity to stimulate allogeneic T cells have led these cells to be classified as a subset of dendritic cells (DCs), called plasmacytoid DCs (PDCs). However, the role of IPCs/PDCs in initiating primary immune responses remains elusive. Here we examined the antigen presenting capacity of murine IPCs in antigen specific systems. While CD8α+ and CD11b+ DCs induced logarithmic expansion of naive CD4 and CD8 T cells, without conferring T helper commitment at a first encounter, primary IPCs lacked the ability to stimulate naive T cells. However, when antigen-experienced, nonpolarized T cells expanded by classical DC subsets, were restimulated by IPCs, they proliferated and produced high amounts of IFN-γ. These data indicate that IPCs can effectively stimulate preactivated or memory-type T cells and exert an immune-regulatory role. They also suggest that expansion of naive T cells and acquisition of effector function during antigen-specific T cell responses may involve different antigen-presenting cell (APC) types. Independent and coordinated control of T cell proliferation and differentiation would provide the immune system with greater flexibility in regulating immune responses