A Full Fingerprint Verification System for a Single-Line Sweep Sensor

This paper presents a full fingerprint verification system. It is composed of a tactile fingerprint sensor, integrated read out and conversion circuits, and dedicated recognition algorithms. The sensor is a single-line sweep mode sensor, e.g., it is made of a single line of sensing elements, thus covering the minimum surface of silicon. Compared with cm² sized touch sensors, it offers a large cost reduction and possibility of easy integration into portable devices. The use of a single line to measure a fingerprint requires the user to sweep its finger along the sensor. This sensing scheme produces fingerprint images with several distortions that needs further image processing to allow efficient fingerprint recognition. This is why we developed and present here specific algorithms to take care of the sensor's specifications. This paper will present measurement results, as well as a performance evaluation of the entire verification system.     

L'observation des processus de groupe: difficultés méthodologiques et perspectives.

Discusses problems involved in collecting data based on observation of small groups. The example of a study of manifestations of cooperation in groups of preschoolers (aged 21–57 mo) is used for illustration. Statistical treatment of observation data and global analysis of data are considered. (English abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Routing and resource optimization in service overlay networks

Service Overlay Networks (SONs) create a virtual topology on top of the Internet and provide end-to-end quality of service guarantees without requiring support by the underlying network.The optimization of the resources utilized by an SON is a fundamental issue for an overlay operator owing to the costs involved and the need to satisfy user requirements. Careful decisions are necessary to provide enough capacity to overlay links, to route traffic, to assign users to access nodes and to deploy overlay nodes.In this paper, we propose two mathematical programming models for the user assignment problem, the traffic routing optimization and the dimensioning of the capacity reserved on overlay links in SONs. The first model minimizes the SON installation cost while providing full access to all users. The second model maximizes the SON profit by selecting which users to serve, based on the expected gain, and taking into consideration budget constraints of the SON operator. Moreover, we extend these models to include the optimization of the number and position of overlay nodes.We provide the optimal solutions of the proposed SON design formulations on a set of realistic-size instances and discuss the effect of different parameters on the characteristics of the planned networks. Numerical results show that the proposed approach is able to solve the problem to the optimum even for large-scale networks.     

Object recognition versus object discrimination: Comparison between human infants and infant monkeys.

Human infants (aged 12–32 mo old) and adults learned a delayed nonmatching-to-sample (DNMS) task and single- and multiple-pair discrimination tasks using nonverbal procedures previously used with monkeys. Infants learned discriminations rapidly and at a young age (12 mo), but they required prolonged training and maturation before learning the DNMS task. Adults learned all tasks rapidly. After learning the DNMS task to criterion, memory performance declined systematically in an inverse relation to age. The dissociation in ability of infants on the DNMS vs discrimination tasks closely resembles the dissociation previously reported with infant monkeys (J. Bachevalier & M. Mishkin, 1984). Results from both infant humans and monkeys support a neurocognitive maturational model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age and sex differences in the effects of selective temporal lobe lesion on the formation of visual discrimination habits in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

Three-month-old infant monkeys with neonatal ablations of either cortical area TE or the amygdala and hippocampus and age-matched normal infants were trained in a concurrent object discrimination task with 24-hr intertrial intervals. Neonatal area TE lesions yielded a transient deficit in visual habit formation, present in the female monkeys only, whereas the same lesions in adult monkeys yielded a severe and long-lasting deficit in both males and females. Although pointing to a greater neural compensation for the early loss as compared with the later loss of cortical area TE, the results also corroborate a recent suggestion (J. Bachevalier et al; see record 1990-03600-001) that, at 3 mo of age, area TE is more fully functional in females than in males. Neither early nor late amygdalohippocampal lesions impaired the ability to form visual discrimination habits, strengthening the proposal that the habit system uses a corticononlimbic circuit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A sweeping mode integrated fingerprint sensor with 256 tactile microbeams

This paper reports recent advances in the development of a tactile fingerprint sensor made by a CMOS compatible front side bulk micromachining technology. This device enables the measurement of a fingerprint by the way of a mechanical scanning principle of the finger roughness. While this sensing principle has shown good results on a first prototype of reduced width, we present here the design, fabrication and test of a new sensor. This sensor contains 256 pressure sensitive microbeams for a total length of 1.28 cm and is fully integrated with analog and mixed signal electronics. In this paper we will detail the general working principle of the tactile fingerprint sensor and the two prototypes that have been manufactured and tested with a special focus on the electronic architecture and the test results of the second prototype.     

High-level expression of a novel epitope of CD59 identifies a subset of CD34+ bone marrow cells highly enriched for pluripotent stem cells

To further define the hierarchy of human hematopoietic progenitor cells, we have attempted to identify antibodies to cell-surface molecules expressed on CD34+ progenitor cell subsets. Herein we describe the utility of a new monoclonal antibody, HCC-1, which binds to a novel epitope of CD59 differentially expressed among CD34+ progenitor cells. HCC-1 subdivides the adult marrow CD34+ population into HCC-1high and HCC-1low/- fractions of approximately equal size. Cobblestone area-forming cells (CAFC) in long-term bone marrow culture were enriched 10-30-fold in CD34+HCC-1high cells compared with CD34+HCC1-low/- cells and two-fold compared with CD34+ cells. When injected into fetal human bone fragments implanted in SCID mice, the CD34+HCC-1high population showed potent engrafting activity leading to the production of myeloid, lymphoid, and erythroid elements, as well as the retention of progenitor cell phenotype. These studies demonstrate that the CD34+HCC-1high population contains primitive pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells. No hematopoietic engrafting activity was detected in the CD34+HCC-1low/- population. Consistent with this finding, simultaneous five-color flow cytometric analysis revealed that HCC-1high cells include virtually all CD34+Thy-1+Lin- cells, a cell population previously characterized as highly enriched for primitive pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells. The ability of CD34+ cells divided into subsets by HCC-1 to produce T cells was assessed by transplantation of sorted cells into human fetal thymus implanted into SCID mice. A higher frequency of thymus-engrafting activity was observed in the CD34+HCC-1high than in the CD34+HCC-1low/- population. Consistent with the limited ability to engraft in the SCID-hu thymus model, the CD34+HCC-1low/- population was shown to contain a low frequency of CD34+CD10+ lymphoid progenitor cells. We conclude that the HCC-1 epitope is expressed at high levels on a subset of CD34+ cells that contain virtually all primitive pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells and that the population of CD59 molecules expressed on CD34+ cells is not homogeneous.     

Soft,Implantable Bioelectronic Interfaces for Translational Research

The convergence of materials science, electronics, and biology, namely bioelectronic interfaces, leads novel and precise communication with biological tissue, particularly with the nervous system. However, the translation of lab-based innovation toward clinical use calls for further advances in materials, manufacturing and characterization paradigms, and design rules. Herein, a translational framework engineered to accelerate the deployment of microfabricated interfaces for translational research is proposed and applied to the soft neurotechnology called electronic dura mater, e-dura. Anatomy, implant function, and surgical procedure guide the system design. A high-yield, silicone-on-silicon wafer process is developed to ensure reproducible characteristics of the electrodes. A biomimetic multimodal platform that replicates surgical insertion in an anatomy-based model applies physiological movement, emulates therapeutic use of the electrodes, and enables advanced validation and rapid optimization in vitro of the implants. Functionality of scaled e-dura is confirmed in nonhuman primates, where epidural neuromodulation of the spinal cord activates selective groups of muscles in the upper limbs with unmet precision. Performance stability is controlled over 6 weeks in vivo. The synergistic steps of design, fabrication, and biomimetic in vitro validation and in vivo evaluation in translational animal models are of general applicability and answer needs in multiple bioelectronic designs and medical technologies.     

élaboration et validation d'un instrument de mesure de la conscience phonologique.

This study describes the steps in developing and validating a French-language instrument to measure phonological awareness. The selected task involves ranking from a list of 4 words presented orally. Ss must choose the word that begins differently than the others. To decrease the mnestic difficulty of the test, illustrations accompany the words. Two pre-experiments using a bank of 20 items led to preparation of a final version of the phonological awareness test, which consists of 10 items. The validity and reliability of this version were assessed using 57 pre-schoolers and 60 kindergartners. In terms of validity and reliability, the psychometric features of the test were deemed satisfactory for the kindergarten students but deficient for the pre-schoolers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)