The contribution of proteomics towards deciphering the enigma of Coxiella burnetii

Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever, is an intracellular bacterium and a potential weapon for bioterrorism. The widespread throughout the world, zoonosis is manifested clinically as a self-limited febrile illness, as pneumonia (acute Q fever) or as a chronic illness with endocarditis being its major complication. The recent Netherlands Q fever outbreak has driven the bacterium from a relatively cryptic, underappreciated, “niche” microorganism on the sideline of bacteriology, to one of possibly great impact on public health. Advances in the study of this microorganism proceeded slowly, primarily due to the, until recently, obligatory intracellular nature of the pathogen that in its virulent phase I must be manipulated under biosafety level-3 conditions. Proteomic studies, in particular, have generated a vast amount of information concerning several aspects of the bacterium such as virulence factors, detection/diagnostic and immunogenic biomarkers, inter-/intraspecies variation, resistance to antibiotics, and secreted effector proteins with significant clinical impact. The phenomenon observed following the genomics era, that of generation and accumulation of huge amount of data that ultimately end up unexploited on several databases, begins to emerge in the proteomics field as well. This review will focus on the advances in the field of C. burnetii proteomics through MS, attempting in parallel to utilize some of the proteomics findings by suggesting future directions for the improvement of Q fever diagnosis and therapy.     

Tackling the Password Problem: Image- and Gesture-Based Alternatives to Alphanumeric Passwords

Abstract

Alphanumeric passwords remain a ubiquitous means of user authentication, yet they are plagued by a fundamental problem: Secure passwords are difficult to create and remember. This paper suggests that image- or gesture-based passwords might strike a better balance between security and usability. It examines two such systems that are currently in widespread commercial use and examines alternative approaches that may offer insights for future improvements. Finally, it considers the possibility that touch-screen gesture passwords may become a viable biometric measure, which may allow them to provide multi-factor gesture-based authentication.     

MTi: A method for user identification for multitouch displays

This paper describes MTi, a biometric method for user identification on multitouch displays. The method is based on features obtained only from the coordinates of the 5 touchpoints of one of the user's hands. This makes MTi applicable to all multitouch displays large enough to accommodate a human hand and detect 5 or more touchpoints without requiring additional hardware and regardless of the display's underlying sensing technology. MTi only requests that the user places his hand on the display with the fingers comfortably stretched apart. A dataset of 34 users was created on which our method reported 94.69% identification accuracy. The method's scalability was tested on a subset of the Bosphorus hand database (100 users, 94.33% identification accuracy) and a usability study was performed.     

Studies on a New Concept of 3D Data Integration about Reaches and Forces of a Disabled Person on a Wheelchair (CAD Methods in Car and Market Ergonomics)

The article presents a new concept of combining the three dimensions (3D) of a person's manipulation space. The data concern information about the reach of the arms and biomechanical data about limiting the load of a disabled person sitting in a wheelchair. Measurement data were acquired empirically, on original measuring station. The data included, respectively, arms' reach (static and dynamic) or, alternatively, measurements of limiting forces. The obtained data were processed into virtual 3D surfaces of arms' reach and forces. These surfaces provide the required graphic model of anthropotechnical and biomechanical data. Developed model was utilized to perform a virtual analysis of the accessibility of a disabled person to technical means: in a market sale space and in the ergonomic analysis into the space of a personal car. The presented method of 3D graphic modeling of anthropometrical and biomechanical data can be universally applied in ergonomic designing of work stations not only for disabled persons. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Adaptive Control of the Electro‐Hydraulic Servo‐System with External Disturbances

The paper deals with the structure of the adaptive control electro‐hydraulic servo‐system (EHSS) with external load disturbances, practical verification of the identification, and control algorithms. The electro‐hydraulic servo system composed of a servo‐cylinder controlled with a servo‐valve is discussed. It is a strongly nonlinear object with parameters changing over time. Adaptive adjuster parameters were determined by means of current identification resulting in the parametric model. Identification was conducted on the basis of measurement of the controlling size and regulated size objects. The identified model of the object was applied to carry out the on‐line synthesis of the proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller. The selected problems connected with obtaining the algorithm of adaptive control are presented. The computer program for implementing the algorithm with numerical simulation and identification of the control physical model object were calculated. The aim of the research was to examine the effectiveness of the adaptive control method in an electro‐hydraulic servo system, both theoretically and experimentally.     

基于灰度阈值法的煤岩界面识别研究

针对煤岩界面识别存在准确性低的问题,以颜色区分度较高的某工作面煤岩图像为例,采用边缘检测法和灰度阈值法分别对该图像进行了煤岩分割处理,结果表明,当煤岩颜色的灰度差别较为明显时,基于灰度阈值法的煤岩界面识别方案具有较高的识别准确性。     

一种基于改进反电动势的模型参考自适应转速辨识方法

构建了感应电动机的数学模型;在分析基于无功功率的模型参考自适应的稳定性的基础上,提出一种基于改进反电动势的模型参考自适应转速辨识的新方法,即重新构造模型参考自适应转速辨识的误差信号,该信号包括反电动势的误差矢量与转子磁链矢量的叉乘和点乘,通过误差信号辨识出电动机的转子转速。试验结果表明,该方法克服了基于反电动势的模型参考自适应在停车制动及发电状态下的不稳定性问题。     

六轴工业机器人的参数辨识方法

机器人末端位姿的精度依赖于各关节几何参数的精度。为了提高机器人的位姿精度,提出了一种简单实用的机器人参数辨识方法。利用D-H 算法建立的机器人运动学方程,得到了末端位姿与各关节参数的关系。为了解决辨识过程中的复杂计算问题,设计了一种采用拆分参数的迭代方法和相应的实验方法,运用激光跟踪仪对位姿进行精确测量,求得实际几何结构参数。实验结果验证了所提出方法的有效性。     

基于Gabor滤波的指纹图像识别研究与实现

采用基于Gabor滤波指纹识别算法进行指纹图像中心点计算、扇形化、归一化、Gabor滤波、特征提取以及比对,并利用Matlab仿真实现该算法.在仿真实验中建立一定数量的指纹库,对该算法进行比对分析.     

基于会话的局域网P2P流量识别方法的研究

随着P2P技术的发展,很多P2P软件采用了新的技术改善局域网用户的传输质量,导致P2P数据传输中出现了新的特征。针对STUN协议,在多元分类的基础上,提出了一种基于会话的P2P流量识别算法。首先介绍了STUN协议建立会话的消息格式,并描述了几种不同类型NAT建立地址映射的过程。算法采用多元组描述会话,建立二叉树结构对收发的数据包依次进行分析,识别P2P会话,最后以哈希表存储会话状态。在Linux环境下,以迅雷为例进行实验,结果表明采用本算法可以很好地识别P2P数据流。