A multiplatform Java wrapper for the BioAPI framework

We present a solution for the development of multiplatform and web-oriented Java applications for biometric authentication based on the BioAPI framework. Our proposal is a single Java Native Interface wrapper that is compatible with the BioAPI instantiations of Windows and Linux/Unix operating systems. Following a study of existing wrappers, we extended the open-source Linux/Unix wrapper to include Windows support. In order to show the utility of this multiplatform Java wrapper, we discuss some of its possible uses and present a real-life application.     

Very-High Radix CORDIC Rotation Based on Selection by Rounding

A very-high radix algorithm and implementation for CORDIC rotation in circular and hyperbolic coordinates is presented. The selection function consists of rounding the residual. It is shown that this assures convergence from the second iteration on. For the first iteration, the selection is done by table, using a lower radix than for the remaining iterations. The compensation of the variable scale factor is done by computing the logarithm of the scale factor and performing the compensation by an exponential. Estimations of the delay for 32-bit and 64-bit precision show a substantial speed up when compared to low radix implementations. The proposed algorithm is also compared with previously proposed very-high radix ones, and significant advantages are identified.     

Effectiveness of personalized written feedback through a mail intervention for smoking cessation: A randomized-controlled trial in Spanish smokers.

This study evaluated the effects of written feedback adapted to a self-help mail intervention. The efficacy of the standard mail intervention treatment was 37% at the end of treatment, 22% at the 3-month follow-up, 19% at the 6-month follow-up, and 13% at the 12-month follow-up. In contrast, the standard mail program combined with personalized written feedback resulted in an efficacy of 51% at the end of treatment, 37% at the 3-month follow-up, 32% at the 6-month follow-up, and 27% at the 12-month follow-up. Both groups were significantly different from the control group at the end of treatment (0%), at the 3-month follow-up (1%), and at the 6-month follow-up (1%). There was a significant reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked daily among continuing smokers under both experimental conditions. The authors conclude that written feedback substantially increases abstinence rates when it is applied following similar guidelines to those used in clinical settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

CORDIC-Based Computation of ArcCos

CORDIC-based algorithms to compute cos and are proposed. The implementation requires a standard CORDIC module plus a module to compute the direction of rotation, this being the same hardware required for the extended CORDIC vectoring, recently proposed by the authors [T. Lang and E. Antelo, IEEE Transactions on Computers, vol. 47, no. 7, 1998, pp. 736–749.]. Although these functions can be obtained as a special case of this extended vectoring, the specific algorithm we propose here presents two significant improvements: (1) it uses the same datapath width as the standard CORDIC, even when t has 2n bits (to achieve a granularity of 2^–n for the whole range). In contrast, the extended vectoring unit requires about 2n bits. (2) no repetitions of iterations are needed (the extended vectoring needs some repetitions). The proposed algorithm is compatible with the extended vectoring and, in contrast with previous implementations, the number of iterations and the delay of each iteration are the same as for the conventional CORDIC algorithm.     

Effects of Aging and Hypercholesterolemia on Oxidative Stress and DNA Damage in Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cells in Apolipoprotein E-deficient Mice

Recent evidence from apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE^−/−) mice shows that aging and atherosclerosis are closely associated with increased oxidative stress and DNA damage in some cells and tissues. However, bone marrow cells, which are physiologically involved in tissue repair have not yet been investigated. In the present study, we evaluated the influence of aging and hypercholesterolemia on oxidative stress, DNA damage and apoptosis in bone marrow cells from young and aged apoE^−/− mice compared with age-matched wild-type C57BL/6 (C57) mice, using the comet assay and flow cytometry. The production of both superoxide and hydrogen peroxide in bone marrow cells was higher in young apoE^−/− mice than in age-matched C57 mice, and reactive oxygen species were increased in aged C57 and apoE^−/− mice. Similar results were observed when we analyzed the DNA damage and apoptosis. Our data showed that both aging and hypercholesterolemia induce the increased production of oxidative stress and consequently DNA damage and apoptosis in bone marrow cells. This study is the first to demonstrate a functionality decrease of the bone marrow, which is a fundamental extra-arterial source of the cells involved in vascular injury repair.     

Implementation of the Exponential Function in a Floating-Point Unit

In this work we present an implementation of the exponential function in double precision, in a unit that supports IEEE floating-point arithmetic. As existing proposals, the implementation is based on the use of a floating-point multiplier and additional hardware. We decompose the computation into three subexponentials. The first and third subexponentials are computed in a conventional way (table look-up and polynomial approximation). The second subexponential is computed based on a transformation of the slow radix-2 digit-recurrence algorithm into a fast computation by using the multiplier and additional hardware. We present a design process that permits the selection of the most convenient trade-off between hardware complexity and latency. We discuss the algorithm, the implementation, and perform a rough comparison with three proposed designs. Our estimations indicate that the implementation proposed in this work presents better trade-off between hardware complexity and latency than the compared designs.     

An open framework for distributed biometric authentication in a web environment

Large-scale deployment of biometric systems for web-based services has to tackle technological issues related to security, interoperability and accuracy, and social issues related to privacy protection and biometric acquisition process acceptance. The variety of biometric traits, capturing devices, targeted populations and working scenarios makes the development of a universal solution for all-purpose deployment quite a difficult task. This paper describes the design, implementation and applicability of an open framework for distributed biometric authentication oriented to access-control in web environment. The open principle makes this framework a novel and practical development tool for testing and integrating biometric algorithms and devices from third parties. Special attention has been paid to security and interoperability standards to ease concurrent integration and testing of biometric trait matchers developed by different laboratories or companies. Finally, in order to demonstrate the versatility and usability of the framework, we describe the construction process for a distributed multibiometric database acquisition tool based on this framework.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of a single telephone contact as an adjunct to a self-help intervention for smoking cessation in a randomized controlled trial.

This study evaluated the effects of including a single brief prequit telephone counseling session in a self-help program for smoking cessation conducted through the mail, by comparison with the effects of the self-help program alone. Volunteer participants from northwestern Spain (N = 228) were randomly assigned to one of two groups: (a) the self-help-only group (n = 110, mean age = 37.4 years, pretreatment cigarette consumption = 26.5 cigarettes/day) or (b) the telephone-support group (n = 118, mean age = 36.8 years, pretreatment cigarette consumption = 27.7 cigarettes/day). Using a conservative data analysis method (missing data considered as treatment failures), we found that the point-prevalence abstinence rate was significantly higher in the telephone-support group than in the self-help-only group at the end of treatment (44.9% vs. 21.8%) and at the 3-month follow-up (39.0% vs. 26.4%). Likewise, sustained abstinence was significantly higher in the telephone-support group at the 3-month follow-up (33.9% vs. 13.6%), the 6-month follow-up (25.4% vs. 12.7%), and the 12-month follow-up (21.2% vs. 9.1%). The results of this randomized controlled trial indicate that both treatments are an effective aid for smoking cessation, and that a single brief telephone call before the quit date is a low-cost and effective procedure for improving abstinence rates in a mailed self-help program.