A Middleware architecture for Unmanned Aircraft Avionics

An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is a non-piloted airplane designed to operate in dangerous and repetitive situations. With the advent of UAV's civil applications, UAVs are emerging as a valid option in commercial scenarios. If it must be economically viable, the same platform should implement avariety of missions with little reconguration time and overhead.This paper presents a middleware-based architecture specially suited to operate as a exible payload and mission controller in a UAV. The system is composed of low-costcomputing devices connected by network. The functionality is divided into reusable services distributed over a number ofnodes with a middleware managing their lifecycle and communication.Some research has been done in this area; yetit is mainly focused on the control domain and in its realtime operation. Our proposal differs in that we address the implementation of adaptable and reconfigurable unmannedmissions in low-cost and low-resources hardware.

The complex SNP and CNV genetic architecture of the increased risk of congenital heart defects in Down syndrome.

Congenital heart defect (CHD) occurs in 40% of Down syndrome (DS) cases. While carrying three copies of chromosome 21 increases the risk for CHD, trisomy 21 itself is not sufficient to cause CHD. Thus, additional genetic variation and/or environmental factors could contribute to the CHD risk. Here we report genomic variations that in concert with trisomy 21, determine the risk for CHD in DS. This case-control GWAS includes 187 DS with CHD (AVSD = 69, ASD = 53, VSD = 65) as cases, and 151 DS without CHD as controls. Chromosome 21-specific association studies revealed rs2832616 and rs1943950 as CHD risk alleles (adjusted genotypic P-values <0.05). These signals were confirmed in a replication cohort of 92 DS-CHD cases and 80 DS-without CHD (nominal P-value 0.0022). Furthermore, CNV analyses using a customized chromosome 21 aCGH of 135K probes in 55 DS-AVSD and 53 DS-without CHD revealed three CNV regions associated with AVSD risk (FDR ≤ 0.05). Two of these regions that are located within the previously identified CHD region on chromosome 21 were further confirmed in a replication study of 49 DS-AVSD and 45 DS- without CHD (FDR ≤ 0.05). One of these CNVs maps near the RIPK4 gene, and the second includes the ZBTB21 (previously ZNF295) gene, highlighting the potential role of these genes in the pathogenesis of CHD in DS. We propose that the genetic architecture of the CHD risk of DS is complex and includes trisomy 21, and SNP and CNV variations in chromosome 21. In addition, a yet-unidentified genetic variation in the rest of the genome may contribute to this complex genetic architecture.

Beyond EA Frameworks: Towards an Understanding of the Adoption of Enterprise Architecture Management

Enterprise architectures (EA) are considered promising approaches to reduce the complexities of growing information technology (IT) environments while keeping pace with an ever-changing business environment. However, the implementation of enterprise architecture management (EAM) has proven difficult in practice. Many EAM initiatives face severe challenges, as demonstrated by the low usage level of enterprise architecture documentation and enterprise architects' lack of authority regarding enforcing EAM standards and principles. These challenges motivate our research. Based on three field studies, we first analyze EAM implementation issues that arise when EAM is started as a dedicated and isolated initiative. Following a design-oriented paradigm, we then suggest a design theory for architecture-driven IT management (ADRIMA) that may guide organizations to successfully implement EAM. This theory summarizes prescriptive knowledge related to embedding EAM practices, artefacts and roles in the existing IT management processes and organization.

Re-usable ASIC integrationverification software architecture

Mikropiirien valmistus- ja suunnittelutekniikoiden kehittyminen mahdollistaa yhä monimutkaisempien mikropiirien valmistamisen. Piirien verifioinnista onkin tullut prosessin aikaa vievin osa,sillä kompleksisuuden kasvaessa kasvaa verifioinnin tarve eksponentiaalisesti. Vaikka erinäisiä strategioita piirien integroinnin verifiointiin on esitetty, mm. verifioinnin jakaminen koko suunnitteluprosessin ajalle, jopa yli puolet koko piirin suunnitteluun ja valmistukseen käytetystä työmäärästä kuluu verifiointiin. Uudelleenkäytettävät komponentit ovat pääosassa piirin suunnittelussa, mutta verifioinnissa uudelleenkäytettävyyttä ei ole otettu kunnolla käyttöön ainakaan verifiointiohjelmistojen osalta. Tämä diplomityö esittelee uudelleenkäytettävän mikropiirien verifiointiohjelmistoarkkitehtuurin, jolla saadaan verifiointitaakkaa vähennettyä poistamalla verifioinnissa käytettävien ohjelmistojen uudelleensuunnittelun ja toteuttamisen tarvetta.

Long duration response to levodopa in advanced Parkinson's disease patients treated with subthalamic deep brain stimulation

Résumé La levodopa (LD) est le traitement antiparkinsonien le plus efficace et le plus répandu. Son effet est composé d'une réponse de courte (quelques heures) et de longue durée (jours à semaines). La persistance de cette dernière dans les phases avancées de la maladie de Parkinson est controversée, et sa mesure directe n'a jamais été faite en raison des risques liés à un sevrage complet de LD. La stimulation du noyau sous-thalamique est un nouveau traitement neurochirurgical de la maladie de Parkinson, indiqué dans les formes avancées, qui permet l'arrêt complet du traitement médicamenteux chez certains patients. Nous avons étudié 30 patients qui ont bénéficié d'une telle stimulation, et les avons évalués avant l'intervention sans médicaments, et à 6 mois postopératoires, sans médicaments et sans stimulation. Chez 19 patients, la médication a pu être complètement arrêtée, alors qu'elle a dû être réintroduite chez les 11 patients restants. Au cours des 6 mois qui ont suivi l'intervention, le parkinsonisme s'est aggravé de façon significative dans le groupe sans LD, et non dans le groupe avec LD. Cette différence d'évolution s'explique par la perte de l'effet à long terme de la LD dans le groupe chez qui ce médicament a pu être arrêté. En comparant cette aggravation à la magnitude de l'effet à court terme, la réponse de longue durée correspond environ à 80 pourcent de la réponse de courte durée, et elle lui est inversement corrélée. Parmi les signes cardinaux de la maladie, la réponse de longue durée affecte surtout la bradycinésie et la rigidité, mais pas le tremblement ni la composante axiale. La comparaison du parkinsonisme avec traitement (stimulation et LD si applicable) ne montre aucune différence d'évolution entre les 2 groupes, suggérant que la stimulation compense tant la réponse de courte que de longue durée. Notre travail montre que la réponse de longue durée à la LD demeure significative chez les patients parkinsoniens après plus de 15 ans d'évolution, et suggère que la stimulation du noyau sous-thalamique compense les réponses de courte et de longue durée. Abstract Background: Long duration response to levodopa is supposed to decrease with Parkinson's disease (PD) progression, but direct observation of this response in advanced PD has never been performed. Objective: To study the long duration response to levodopa in advanced PD patients treated with subthalamic deep-brain stimulation. Design and settings: We studied 30 consecutive PD patients who underwent subthalamic deep-brain stimulation. One group had no antiparkinsonian treatment since surgery (no levodopa), while medical treatment had to be reinitiated in the other group (levodopa). Main outcome measures: motor Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Results: In comparison with preoperative assessment, evaluation six months postoperatively with stimulation turned off for three hours found a worsening of the motor part of UPDRS in the no-levodopa group. This worsening being absent in the levodopa group, it most probably reflected the loss of the long duration response to levodopa in the no-levodopa group. Stimulation turned on, postoperative motor UPDRS in both groups were similar to preoperative on medication scores, suggesting that subthalamic deep-brain stimulation compensated for both the short and long duration responses to levodopa. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the long duration response to levodopa remains significant even in advanced PD, and that subthalamic deep-brain stimulation compensates for both the short and the long duration resposes to levodopa.

Destruction of lymphoid organ architecture and hepatitis caused by CD4 T cells.

Immune responses have the important function of host defense and protection against pathogens. However, the immune response also causes inflammation and host tissue injury, termed immunopathology. For example, hepatitis B and C virus infection in humans cause immunopathological sequel with destruction of liver cells by the host's own immune response. Similarly, after infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) in mice, the adaptive immune response causes liver cell damage, choriomeningitis and destruction of lymphoid organ architecture. The immunopathological sequel during LCMV infection has been attributed to cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells. However, we now show that during LCMV infection CD4(+) T cells selectively induced the destruction of splenic marginal zone and caused liver cell damage with elevated serum alanin-transferase (ALT) levels. The destruction of the splenic marginal zone by CD4(+) T cells included the reduction of marginal zone B cells, marginal zone macrophages and marginal zone metallophilic macrophages. Functionally, this resulted in an impaired production of neutralizing antibodies against LCMV. Furthermore, CD4(+) T cells reduced B cells with an IgM(high)IgD(low) phenotype (transitional stage 1 and 2, marginal zone B cells), whereas other B cell subtypes such as follicular type 1 and 2 and germinal center/memory B cells were not affected. Adoptive transfer of CD4(+) T cells lacking different important effector cytokines and cytolytic pathways such as IFNγ, TNFα, perforin and Fas-FasL interaction did reveal that these cytolytic pathways are redundant in the induction of immunopathological sequel in spleen. In conclusion, our results define an important role of CD4(+) T cells in the induction of immunopathology in liver and spleen. This includes the CD4(+) T cell mediated destruction of the splenic marginal zone with consecutively impaired protective neutralizing antibody responses.

Highly Available Enterprise-level Application Server Architecture

Korkeasaatavuus on olennainen osa nykyaikaisissa, integroiduissa yritysjärjestelmissä. Yritysten kansainvälistyessä tiedon on oltava saatavissa ympärivuorokautisesti, mikä asettaa yhä kovempia vaatimuksia järjestelmän yksittäisten osien saatavuudelle. Kasvava tietojärjestelmäintegraatio puolestaan tekee järjestelmän solmukohdista kriittisiä liiketoiminnan kannalta. Tässä työssä perehdytään hajautettujen järjestelmien ominaisuuksiin ja niiden asettamiin haasteisiin. Esiteltyjä teknologioita ovat muun muassa väliohjelmistot, klusterit ja kuormantasaus. Yrityssovellusten pohjana käytetty Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) -teknologia käsitellään olennaisilta osiltaan. Työssä käytetään sovelluspalvelinalustana BEA WebLogic Server -ohjelmistoa, jonka ominaisuudet käydään läpi hajautuksen kannalta. Työn käytännön osuudessa toteutetaan kahdelle erilaiselle olemassa olevalle yrityssovellukselle korkean saatavuuden sovelluspalvelinympäristö, joissa sovellusten asettamat rajoitukset on otettu huomioon.

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 11 new loci for anthropometric traits and provides insights into genetic architecture.

Approaches exploiting trait distribution extremes may be used to identify loci associated with common traits, but it is unknown whether these loci are generalizable to the broader population. In a genome-wide search for loci associated with the upper versus the lower 5th percentiles of body mass index, height and waist-to-hip ratio, as well as clinical classes of obesity, including up to 263,407 individuals of European ancestry, we identified 4 new loci (IGFBP4, H6PD, RSRC1 and PPP2R2A) influencing height detected in the distribution tails and 7 new loci (HNF4G, RPTOR, GNAT2, MRPS33P4, ADCY9, HS6ST3 and ZZZ3) for clinical classes of obesity. Further, we find a large overlap in genetic structure and the distribution of variants between traits based on extremes and the general population and little etiological heterogeneity between obesity subgroups.

Domestic architecture and social differences in North-Eastern Iberia during the iron age (c.525-200 BC)

This paper is concerned with the organization of societies in north-eastern Iberia (present-day Catalonia) during the Iron Age, using data provided by domestic architecture and settlement organization. I offer an analysis of the social differences detected in the dwellings based on a sample of houses excavated at different types of settlement. Although many Iberian houses had simple layouts and small surface areas, some larger dwellings at the main sites are distinguished by the shape of their ground plans, their surface areas, architectural features, and central locations; these houses are believed to be the residences of the Iberian elite. Such dwellings are not found at all sites and the data suggest that there was a relationship between the category of the settlement (or its function) and the types of dwelling in it.

Deep-hole drilling process, monitoring system and sensors modifications

 In the drilling processes and especially deep-hole drilling process, the monitoring system and having control on mechanical parameters (e.g. Force, Torque,Vibration and Acoustic emission) are essential. The main focus of this thesis work is to study the characteristics of deep-hole drilling process, and optimize the monitoring system for controlling the process. The vibration is considered as a major defect area of the deep-hole drilling process which often leads to breakage of the drill, therefore by vibration analysis and optimizing the workpiecefixture, this area is studied by finite element method and the suggestions are explained. By study on a present monitoring system, and searching on the new sensor products, the modifications and recommendations are suggested for optimize the present monitoring system for excellent performance in deep-hole drilling process research and measurements.

T-Flux implant versus Healon GV in deep sclerectomy.

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy and safety of T-Flux implant versus Healon GV in deep sclerectomy. METHODS: Randomized prospective trial of 23 eyes of 20 patients with medically uncontrolled open angle glaucoma over a period of 24 months, who underwent deep sclerectomy with either Healon GV or T-Flux implant. RESULTS: Mean postoperative intraocular pressure was 13.2 +/- 3.0 mm Hg with T-Flux implant (group 1) and 12.2 +/- 3.5 mm Hg with Healon GV (group 2), with a pressure reduction of 53.0% in group 1 (13.2 mm Hg vs. 28.1 mm Hg) and of 48.1% in group 2 (12.2 mm Hg vs. 23.5 mm Hg). Qualified and complete successes were 100% and 95.4% respectively. Pressures equal to or less than 15 mm Hg were 81.8% in group 1 and 90.9% in group 2 with or without treatment, and 63.6% in group 1 and 81.8% in group 2 without treatment. The number of glaucoma treatments dropped from 2.5 +/- 0.9 to 0.4 +/- 0.7 in group 1 and from 2.2 +/- 1.0 to 0.2 +/- 0.4 in group 2. The goniopuncture rate was 63.6% in group 1 and 36.4% in group 2, with a mean pressure drop of 6.1 +/- 3.9 mm Hg and 3.25 +/- 1.2 mm Hg respectively. Overall, slit-lamp diagnosed surgery-related complications included positive Seidel (13.6%), hyphaema (22.7%), choroidal detachment, and iris incarceration (4.5% each). At 2 years, ultrasound biomicroscopy showed mainly low reflective (40.1%) and flattened (36.4%) blebs. Principally latter ones were associated with the need for adjunctive treatment. A hypoechoic area in the suprachoroidal space was seen in at least 59.1% of eyes at 2 years and was not associated with lower intraocular pressure. CONCLUSION: Deep sclerectomy is an effective and safe surgery. However, longer follow up and larger study groups are required to assess the additional benefit of nonabsorbable implants.