EyeTal – A Fully Eye-Controlled Map Editor

Käesolev magistritöö esitleb täielikult silmade abil juhitavat kaardirakendust EyeTal. Selle rakenduse eesmärgiks on võimaldada füüsiliste puuetega inimestel luua ja muuta ruumiandmeid ning seeläbi siseneda tööturule. Ruumiliste andmete kogumine on manuaalne või poolautomaatne töö, mida tavaliselt tehakse hiire ja klaviatuuri abil. EyeTal võimaldab seda tööd teha kasutades sisendina vaid inimese pilgu liikumist ekraanil. Selline kasutajaliides võib olla alternatiiviks ka puueteta inimestele, kui selle kasutamine on piisavalt mugav. Magistritöö käsitleb probleeme ja väljakutseid, mida sellise uudse kasutajaliidese loomine ja disainimine endas kätkeb. Valminud rakenduse disainilahendusi toetab empiiriline info kasutatavuse testi tulemustest. Kasutatavuse testis osalejad lahendasid ülesandeid, mis imiteerivad süsteemi lõplikku kasutust. Testi tulemusi kasutati süsteemi parendamiseks. Tehtud parenduste valideerimiseks viidi läbi teine, identne kasutatavuse test. Lõputöö tulemustest järeldub, et ruumiandmete loomine ning muutmine vaid silmaliigutuste abil on võimalik. Leitud tulemusi ning tehtud disainiotsuseid saab üldistada ka teistele sarnastele pilgujälgimist kasutavatele süsteemidele.This thesis presents a novel implementation of a fully eye-controlled map editor – EyeTal. The main goal of this application is to provide people with neuromotor disabilities the means to enter the labour market by enabling them to create and modify spatial data. Spatial data collection is a labour intensive work that is generally performed manually or semiautomatically using a mouse and a keyboard. EyeTal allows doing this using eyes as the only input modality. Such a user interface could also provide an alternative for able-bodied users if the solution performs well enough to merit their consideration. The thesis discusses problems and challenges encountered when designing the elaborate user interface for EyeTal. The design ideas are supported by empirical data collected from usability testing where subjects performed various tasks that replicate the actual usage of the map editor. The usability test results were used to improve the system and another test was conducted to validate the improvements. The thesis concludes that it is possible to edit spatial data using eye movements as an only input. The results of this thesis can be generalised for other similar systems and problems

Software development for body tracking system

Virtuaalreaalsus on tehnoloogia, mis võimaldab selle kasutajal kogeda arvutite abil simuleeritud tehiskeskkondi. Peakomplektid nagu Oculus Rift lubavad kasutajal virtuaalses ruumis ringi vaadata, kuvades stereoskoopilist pilti, mis muutub vastavalt kasutaja peaasendile. Käesoleva töö eesmärgiks oli luua tarkvara juhtmevabale kehaasendi jälgimise süsteemile. Sellise süsteemi olemasolu võimaldab luua virtuaalreaalsussüsteeme, kus kasutaja näeb tehismaailmas oma keha ning saab loomulike liigutuste abil sellega interakteeruda Keha asendi tuvastamiseks jälgitakse 11 kehaosa suunda ruumis. Iga jälgitava kehaosa külge saab kasutaja kinnitada juhtmevaba mooduli, mis jälgib oma suunda. Moodul sisaldab kiirendusandurit, güroskoopi ja magnetomeetrit ning kasutab suuna hindamiseks Sebastian Madgwicki suunafiltri algoritmi. Töö käigus valmis tarkvara juhtmevabadele moodulitele, arvutisse infot edastavale koordinaatorseadmele ning arvutile. Lisaks kirjeldatakse töös magnetvälja moonutuste allikaid, nende korrigeerimise võimalusi ning korrigeerimise jaoks loodud tarkvara. Töö tulemusena valmis süsteem, mis jälgib kasutaja kehaasendit ning kuvab selle arvutis oleval inimkeha mudelil. Lisaks valmis tarkvara andurite väljundite graafiliseks esitamiseks ning magnetomeetri kalibreerimiseks. Käesolevaks hetkeks on töö tulemust kasutatud ka virtuaalreaalsussüsteemis, kus kasutaja saab virtuaalreaalsuses näha liikumas enda käsi, jalgu ja keha Oculus Rifti abil (Joonis 4.3 ja Joonis 4.4). Edasi tasub kindlasti uurida, kuidas kasutada jalgade suunainfot nii, et kasutaja oleks võimalus süsteemi abil virtuaalses ruumis ka ringi liikuda

Composition and dynamics of the nucleolinus, a link between the nucleolus and cell division apparatus in surf clam (Spisula) oocytes

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Biological Chemistry 287 (2012): 6702-6713, doi:10.1074/jbc.M111.288506.The nucleolinus is a little-known cellular structure, discovered over 150 years ago (1) and thought by some investigators in the late 19th to mid-20th century to function in the formation of the centrosomes or spindle. A role for the nucleolinus in formation of the cell division apparatus has recently been confirmed in oocytes of the surf clam, Spisula solidissima (2). However, we know so little about the composition and dynamics of this compartment, it is difficult to construct mechanistic hypotheses or even to be sure that prior reports were describing analogous structures in the cells of mammals, amphibians, plants, and other organisms where it was observed. Surf clam oocytes are an attractive model to approach this problem because the nucleolinus is easily visible by light microscopy, making it accessible by laser microsurgery as well as isolation by common cell fractionation techniques. In this report we analyze the macromolecular composition of isolated Spisula nucleolini and examine the relationship of this structure to the nucleolus and cell division apparatus. Analysis of nucleolinar RNA and protein revealed a set of molecules that overlaps with, but is nevertheless distinct from the nucleolus. The proteins identified were primarily ones involved in nucleic acid metabolism and cell cycle regulation. Monoclonal antibodies generated against isolated nucleolini revealed centrosomal forerunners in the oocyte cytoplasm. Finally, induction of damage to the nucleolinus by laser microsurgery altered the trafficking of α- and γ-tubulin after fertilization. These observations strongly support a role for the nucleolinus in cell division and represent our first clues regarding mechanism.This work was supported by a grant from the NIH (GM088503) to M.C.A

The centrosome and spindle as a ribonucleoprotein complex

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Chromosome Research 19 (2011): 367-376, doi:10.1007/s10577-011-9186-7.The presence of nucleic acids in centrosomes and the spindle have been proposed, observed, and reported since the 1950s. Why did the subject remain, perhaps even until today, such a controversial issue? The explanation is manifold, and includes legitimate concern over contamination from other cellular compartments in biochemical preparations. With a typically high background of cytoplasmic ribosomes, even microscopic images of stained intact cells could be difficult to interpret. Also, evidence for RNA and DNA in centrosomes accumulated for approximately 40 years but was interspersed with contradictory studies, primarily regarding the presence of DNA (reviewed in Johnson and Rosenbaum, 1991; Marshall and Rosenbaum, 2000). Perhaps less tangible but still a likely cause for lingering controversy is that the presence of nucleic acids in the spindle or centrosomes will require us to look differently at these structures from a functional, and more to the point, evolutionary standpoint.This work was supported by grants from the NIH (GM088503) and NSF (MCB0843092) to MCA

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types

A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

peer reviewe