Studio di modelli di illuminazione e texture in ambiente WebGL

Il mondo di Internet ha vissuto un radicale e inarrestabile processo di rinnovamento nel corso dell'ultimo decennio. Nel giro di pochi anni, i siti che popolano il World Wide Web si sono evoluti divenendo vere e proprie applicazioni in grado di fornire un livello di interattività e di coinvolgimento fino ad allora impensabile. Il mondo del Web è mutato, e con esso quello dei browser, i quali assumono sempre più le conformazioni di "sistemi operativi nei sistemi operativi": si sono tramutati in complesse piattaforme di sviluppo in grado di fornire a programmatori e web designer potenti librerie e API relative a qualsiasi ambito, nonché avanzati strumenti di debugging. Numerosi standard che governano l'ecosistema di Internet hanno raggiunto la maturità in questo contesto: fra tutti HTML5, il quale ha arricchito enormemente le potenzialità di un browser introducendo nuovi strumenti orientati alla multimedialità e alla classificazione semantica delle risorse. Altri standard altrettanto importanti hanno visto la luce in questi anni, affermandosi e conquistando, nel giro di pochissimi anni, l'interesse di un'ampia platea di sviluppatori. E' il caso di WebGL, una potente e flessibile libreria grafica derivata dal mondo di OpenGL che ha aperto le porte al rendering di scene tridimensionali all'interno di un qualsiasi browser moderno. WebGL ha rappresentato un punto di svolta abbattendo un'ulteriore barriera tra il mondo del web che vive all'interno di un browser e la dimensione delle applicazioni native che popolano un sistema operativo, consolidando il già affermato concetto di web app che lentamente sta seppellendo l'idea di "sito" così come era stato concepito all'inizio del nuovo millennio. Scopo di questo elaborato è quello di fornire una panoramica delle principali funzionalità offerte dalla libreria WebGL (con una particolare attenzione per il supporto cross browser) e di analizzare le possibilità che essa offre, studiando e implementando i principali modelli di illuminazione e le tecniche di applicazione texture per definire un ambiente tridimensionale esplorabile e il più possibile realistico all'interno della dimensione del web.

Teorie e tecniche della gamification applicate alla vita reale

Gli elementi ludici aiutano a comprendere i bisogni del mondo in cui viviamo e rendono meno noiose quelle attività che normalmente non gratificano in modo sufficiente un individuo; la gamification viene definita come l'utilizzo di elementi di gioco in contesti non di gioco. In questo elaborato viene analizzato come si è evoluto il rapporto tra essere umano e gioco, come si è arrivati a definire la gamification e quali sono le parti atomiche che la compongono. Si analizzano diversi casi di successo in cui è stata implementata la gamification ed infine viene analizzato il mio progetto personale ParcheggioGratuito, in cui applico metodologie di gamification per facilitare il meccanismo di ricerca del parcheggio nella propria città.

Indoor position, localizzazione e tracciamento in ambienti chiusi

Le grandi catene di distribuzione, per sviluppare strategie commerciali sempre più efficaci, sono interessate a comprendere il percorso che ogni cliente effettua all’interno del punto vendita, che reparti visita, il tempo di permanenza in un’area specifica ecc… Quindi è stato necessario trovare un sistema per localizzare e tracciare un cliente all’interno di un ambiente chiuso (indoor position). Prima di tutto ci si è concentrati sulla ricerca e sviluppo di una nuova idea che potesse superare gli ostacoli delle soluzioni attualmente in commercio. Si è pensato di sostituire le tessere punti del punto vendita con delle tessere bluetoothLE e di creare un sistema di posizionamento al chiuso utilizzando la stessa logica di funzionamento del GPS per gli ambienti aperti. Il ricevitore è la tessera BLE posseduta dal cliente e i satelliti sono tre device Android dotati di un’app specifica per rilevare il segnale radio (RSSI) emesso dalla tessera ogni secondo. Le rilevazioni dei tre device Android sono successivamente trasferite all’interno di una web application che si occupa di elaborare i dati tramite il processo di trilaterazione. L’output sono le coordinate x,y di ciascuna tessera in ogni secondo di visita all’interno del punto vendita. Questi dati sono infine utilizzati per mostrare graficamente il percorso effettuato dal cliente, l’orario di ingresso e di uscita e il tempo di permanenza. Riepilogando, il progetto comprende una fase di ricerca e intuizione di una nuova idea, una fase di progettazione per traslare i meccanismi del funzionamento GPS all’utilizzo in un ambiente chiuso, una fase di implementazione dell’app e della web application e infine una fase di sperimentazioni sul campo che si concluderà dopo la laurea con test reali in un supermercato della zona.

Webapp per l'apprendimento della matematica attraverso cruciverba numerico

Nell'ambito di questa tesi è stato sviluppato un gioco per l'apprendimento della matematica rivolto ai ragazzi delle scuole medie. In particolare, è stato realizzato un cruciverba numerico sotto forma di WebApp, ovvero utilizzando tecnologie web.

The importance of ship log data: reconstructing North Atlantic, European and Mediterranean sea level pressure fields back to 1750

Local to regional climate anomalies are to a large extent determined by the state of the atmospheric circulation. The knowledge of large-scale sea level pressure (SLP) variations in former times is therefore crucial when addressing past climate changes across Europe and the Mediterranean. However, currently available SLP reconstructions lack data from the ocean, particularly in the pre-1850 period. Here we present a new statistically-derived 5° × 5° resolved gridded seasonal SLP dataset covering the eastern North Atlantic, Europe and the Mediterranean area (40°W–50°E; 20°N–70°N) back to 1750 using terrestrial instrumental pressure series and marine wind information from ship logbooks. For the period 1750–1850, the new SLP reconstruction provides a more accurate representation of the strength of the winter westerlies as well as the location and variability of the Azores High than currently available multiproxy pressure field reconstructions. These findings strongly support the potential of ship logbooks as an important source to determine past circulation variations especially for the pre-1850 period. This new dataset can be further used for dynamical studies relating large-scale atmospheric circulation to temperature and precipitation variability over the Mediterranean and Eurasia, for the comparison with outputs from GCMs as well as for detection and attribution studies.

Automatic Reduction of Artifacts in EEG-Signals

Electroencephalograms (EEG) are often contaminated with high amplitude artifacts limiting the usability of data. Methods that reduce these artifacts are often restricted to certain types of artifacts, require manual interaction or large training data sets. Within this paper we introduce a novel method, which is able to eliminate many different types of artifacts without manual intervention. The algorithm first decomposes the signal into different sub-band signals in order to isolate different types of artifacts into specific frequency bands. After signal decomposition with principal component analysis (PCA) an adaptive threshold is applied to eliminate components with high variance corresponding to the dominant artifact activity. Our results show that the algorithm is able to significantly reduce artifacts while preserving the EEG activity. Parameters for the algorithm do not have to be identified for every patient individually making the method a good candidate for preprocessing in automatic seizure detection and prediction algorithms.

PROOF OF CONCEPT PROTOTYPE FOR A RAILROAD PEDESTRIAN WARNING SYSTEM USING WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS

Wireless sensor network is an emerging research topic due to its vast and ever-growing applications. Wireless sensor networks are made up of small nodes whose main goal is to monitor, compute and transmit data. The nodes are basically made up of low powered microcontrollers, wireless transceiver chips, sensors to monitor their environment and a power source. The applications of wireless sensor networks range from basic household applications, such as health monitoring, appliance control and security to military application, such as intruder detection. The wide spread application of wireless sensor networks has brought to light many research issues such as battery efficiency, unreliable routing protocols due to node failures, localization issues and security vulnerabilities. This report will describe the hardware development of a fault tolerant routing protocol for railroad pedestrian warning system. The protocol implemented is a peer to peer multi-hop TDMA based protocol for nodes arranged in a linear zigzag chain arrangement. The basic working of the protocol was derived from Wireless Architecture for Hard Real-Time Embedded Networks (WAHREN).

Unanticipated Partial Behavioral Reflection: Adapting Applications at Runtime

Dynamic, unanticipated adaptation of running systems is of interest in a variety of situations, ranging from functional upgrades to on-the-fly debugging or monitoring of critical applications. In this paper we study a particular form of computational reflection, called unanticipated partial behavioral reflection, which is particularly well-suited for unanticipated adaptation of real-world systems. Our proposal combines the dynamicity of unanticipated reflection, i.e. reflection that does not require preparation of the code of any sort, and the selectivity and efficiency of partial behavioral reflection. First, we propose unanticipated partial behavioral reflection which enables the developer to precisely select the required reifications, to flexibly engineer the metalevel and to introduce the meta behavior dynamically. Second, we present a system supporting unanticipated partial behavioral reflection in Squeak Smalltalk, called Geppetto, and illustrate its use with a concrete example of a web application. Benchmarks validate the applicability of our proposal as an extension to the standard reflective abilities of Smalltalk.

J-Quizmaker

Lehrvideos erfreuen sich dank aktueller Entwicklungen im Bereich der Online-Lehre (Videoplattformen, MOOCs) auf der einen Seite und einer riesigen Auswahl sowie einer einfachen Produktion und Distribution auf der anderen Seite großer Beliebtheit bei der Wissensvermittlung. Trotzdem bringen Videos einen entscheidenden Nachteil mit sich, welcher in der Natur des Datenformats liegt. So sind die Suche nach konkreten Sachverhalten in einem Video sowie die semantische Aufbereitung zur automatisierten Verknüpfung mit weiteren spezifischen Inhalten mit hohem Aufwand verbunden. Daher werden die lernerfolg-orientierte Selektion von Lehrsegmenten und ihr Arrangement zur auf Lernprozesse abgestimmten Steuerung gehemmt. Beim Betrachten des Videos werden unter Umständen bereits bekannte Sachverhalte wiederholt bzw. können nur durch aufwendiges manuelles Spulen übersprungen werden. Selbiges Problem besteht auch bei der gezielten Wiederholung von Videoabschnitten. Als Lösung dieses Problems wird eine Webapplikation vorgestellt, welche die semantische Aufbereitung von Videos hin zu adaptiven Lehrinhalten ermöglicht: mittels Integration von Selbsttestaufgaben mit definierten Folgeaktionen können auf Basis des aktuellen Nutzerwissens Videoabschnitte automatisiert übersprungen oder wiederholt und externe Inhalte verlinkt werden. Der präsentierte Ansatz basiert somit auf einer Erweiterung der behavioristischen Lerntheorie der Verzweigten Lehrprogramme nach Crowder, die auf den Lernverlauf angepasste Sequenzen von Lerneinheiten beinhaltet. Gleichzeitig werden mittels regelmäßig eingeschobener Selbsttestaufgaben Motivation sowie Aufmerksamkeit des Lernenden nach Regeln der Programmierten Unterweisung nach Skinner und Verstärkungstheorie gefördert. Durch explizite Auszeichnung zusammengehöriger Abschnitte in Videos können zusätzlich die enthaltenden Informationen maschinenlesbar gestaltet werden, sodass weitere Möglichkeiten zum Auffinden und Verknüpfen von Lerninhalten geschaffen werden.

CHARACTERIZING A NOVEL GENETIC LOCUS ASSOCIATED WITH FAMILIAL CO-OCCURRENCE OF THORACIC AORTIC ANEURYSMS AND INTRACRANIAL ANEURYSMS

The Mendelian inheritance of genetic mutations can lead to adult-onset cardiovascular disease. Several genetic loci have been mapped for the familial form of Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms (TAA), and many causal mutations have been identified for this disease. Intracranial Aneurysms (ICA) also show linkage heterogeneity, but no mutations have been identified causing familial ICA alone. Here, we characterized a large family (TAA288) with an autosomal dominant pattern of inherited aneurysms. It is intriguing that female patients predominantly present with ICA and male patients predominantly with TAA in this family. To identify a causal mutation in this family, a genome-wide linkage analysis was previously performed on nine members of this family using the 50k GenChips Hind array from Affymetrix. This analysis eventually identified a single disease-segregating locus, on chromosome 5p15. We build upon this previous analysis in this study, hypothesizing that a genetic mutation inherited in this locus leads to the sex-specific phenotype of TAA and ICA in this family First we refined the boundaries of the 5p15 disease linked locus down to the genomic coordinates 5p15: 3,424,465- 6,312,925 (GRCh37/hg19 Assembly). This locus was named the TAA288 critical interval. Next, we sequenced candidate genes within the TAA288 critical interval. The selection of genes was simplified by the relatively small number of well-characterized genetic elements within the region. Seeking novel or rare disease-segregating variants, we initially observed a single point alteration in the metalloproteinase gene ADAMTS16 fulfilling this criteria. This variant was later classified as a low-frequency population polymorphism (rs72647757), but we continued to explore the potential role of the ADAMTS16 as the cause of disease in TAA288. We observed that fibroblasts cultured from TAA288 patients consistently upregulated the expression of this gene more strongly compared to matched control fibroblasts when treated with the cytokine TGF-β1, though there was some variation in the exact nature of this expression. We also observed evidence that this protein is expressed at elevated levels in aortic aneurysm tissue from patients with mutations in the gene TGFBR2 and Marfan syndrome, shown by immunohistochemical detection of this protein.

Dangers of ‘Facebook Login’ for Mobile Apps: Is There a Price Tag for Social Information?

Social networks offer horizontal integration for any mobile platform providing app users with a convenient single sign-on point. Nonetheless, there are growing privacy concerns regarding its use. These vulnerabilities trigger alarm among app developers who fight for their user base: While they are happy to act on users’ information collected via social networks, they are not always willing to sacrifice their adoption rate for this goal. So far, understanding of this trade-off has remained ambiguous. To fill this gap, we employ a discrete choice experiment to explore the role of Facebook Login and investigate the impact of accompanying requests for different information items / actions in the mobile app adoption process. We quantify users’ concerns regarding these items in monetary terms. Beyond hands-on insights for providers, our study contributes to the theoretical discourse on the value of privacy in the growing world of Social Media and mobile web.

Growth in Virologically Suppressed HIV Positive Children on Antiretroviral Therapy: Individual and Population-Level References

BACKGROUND Combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppresses viral replication in HIV-infected children. The growth of virologically suppressed children on ART has not been well documented. We aimed to develop dynamic reference curves for weight-for-age z scores (WAZ) and height-for-age z scores (HAZ). RESULTS A total of 4,876 children were followed for 7,407 person-years. Analyses were stratified by baseline z-scores and age, which were the most important predictors of growth response. The youngest children showed the most pronounced increase in weight and height initially but catch-up growth stagnated after 1-2 years. Three years after starting ART, WAZ ranged from -2.2 (95% Prediction interval -5.6 to 0.8) in children with baseline age "5 years and z-score "-3 to 0.0 (-2.7 to 2.4) in children with baseline age "2 years and WAZ "-1. For HAZ the corresponding range was -2.3 (-4.9 to 0.3) in children with baseline age"5 years and z-score "-3 to 0.3 (-3.1 to 3.4) in children with baseline age 2-5 years and HAZ "-1. CONCLUSIONS We have developed an online tool to calculate reference trajectories in fully suppressed children. The web application could help to define 'optimal' growth response and identify children with treatment failure.

Comment on: ‘Screening’ for Breast Cancer: Misguided Research Misinforming Public Policies, by O. S. Miettinen

Our commentary of the article “‘Screening’ for Breast Cancer: Misguided Research Misinforming Public Policies” has two main parts. First we address some of the methodological points raised by Professor Miettinen. Then we review more specific aspects of the Swiss Medical Board statement on mammography screening for early detection of breast cancer.

Polar Nature of Biomimetic Fluorapatite/Gelatin Composites: A Comparison of Bipolar Objects and the Polar State of Natural Tissue

The correspondence of the state of alignment of macromolecules in biomimetic materials and natural tissues is demonstrated by investigating a mechanism of electrical polarity formation: An in vitro grown biomimetic FAp/gelatin composite is investigated for its polar properties by second harmonic (SHGM) and scanning pyroelectric microscopy (SPEM). Hexagonal prismatic seed crystals formed in gelatin gels represent a monodomain polar state, due to aligned mineralized gelatin molecules. Later growth stages, showing dumbbell morphologies, develop into a bipolar state because of surface recognition by gelatin functionality: A reversal of the polar alignment of macromolecules, thus, takes place close to that basal plane of the seed. In natural hard tissues (teeth and bone investigated by SPEM) and the biomimetic FAp/gelatin composite, we find a surprising analogy in view of growth-induced states of polarity: The development of polarity in vivo and in vitro can be explained by a Markov-type mechanism of molecular recognition during the attachment of macromolecules.

Evaluating the surveillance for swine dysentery and progressive atrophic Rhinitis in closed multiplier herds using Scenario tree modelling

Background: The Swiss pig population enjoys a favourable health situation. To further promote this, the Pig Health Service (PHS) conducts a surveillance program in affiliated herds: closed multiplier herds with the highest PHS-health and hygiene status have to be free from swine dysentery and progressive atrophic rhinitis and are clinically examined four times a year, including laboratory testing. Besides, four batches of pigs per year are fattened together with pigs from other herds and checked for typical symptoms (monitored fattening groups (MF)). While costly and laborious, little was known about the effectiveness of the surveillance to detect an infection in a herd. Therefore, the sensitivity of the surveillance for progressive atrophic rhinitis and swine dysentery at herd level was assessed using scenario tree modelling, a method well established at national level. Furthermore, its costs and the time until an infection would be detected were estimated, with the final aim of yielding suggestions how to optimize surveillance. Results: For swine dysentery, the median annual surveillance sensitivity was 96.7 %, mean time to detection 4.4 months, and total annual costs 1022.20 Euro/herd. The median component sensitivity of active sampling was between 62.5 and 77.0 %, that of a MF between 7.2 and 12.7 %. For progressive atrophic rhinitis, the median surveillance sensitivity was 99.4 %, mean time to detection 3.1 months and total annual costs 842.20 Euro. The median component sensitivity of active sampling was 81.7 %, that of a MF between 19.4 and 38.6 %. Conclusions: Results indicate that total sensitivity for both diseases is high, while time to detection could be a risk in herds with frequent pig trade. From all components, active sampling had the highest contribution to the surveillance sensitivity, whereas that of MF was very low. To increase efficiency, active sampling should be intensified (more animals sampled) and MF abandoned. This would significantly improve sensitivity and time to detection at comparable or lower costs. The method of scenario tree modelling proved useful to assess the efficiency of surveillance at herd level. Its versatility allows adjustment to all kinds of surveillance scenarios to optimize sensitivity, time to detection and/or costs.