Retrieving designs from a sketch using an automated GT coding and classification system

While the retrieval of existing designs to prevent unnecessary duplication of parts is a recognised strategy in the control of design costs the available techniques to achieve this, even in product data management systems, are limited in performance or require large resources. A novel system has been developed based on a new version of an existing coding system (CAMAC) that allows automatic coding of engineering drawings and their subsequent retrieval using a drawing of the desired component as the input. The ability to find designs using a detail drawing rather than textual descriptions is a significant achievement in itself. Previous testing of the system has demonstrated this capability but if a means could be found to find parts from a simple sketch then its practical application would be much more effective. This paper describes the development and testing of such a search capability using a database of over 3000 engineering components.

Stimulating design reuse through automated coding

In designing new product the ability to retrieve drawings of existing components is important if costs are to be controlled by preventing unnecessary duplication if parts. Component coding and classification systems have been used successfully for these purposes but suffer from high operational costs and poor usability arising directly from the manual nature of the coding process itself. A new version of an existing coding system (CAMAC) has been developed to reduce costs by automatically coding engineering drawings. Usability is improved be supporting searches based on a drawing or sketch of the desired component. Test results from a database of several thousand drawings are presented.

Exploring the digital supply chain:implications and models for online software distribution

As a discipline, supply chain management (SCM) has traditionally been primarily concerned with the procurement, processing, movement and sale of physical goods. However an important class of products has emerged - digital products - which cannot be described as physical as they do not obey commonly understood physical laws. They do not possess mass or volume, and they require no energy in their manufacture or distribution. With the Internet, they can be distributed at speeds unimaginable in the physical world, and every copy produced is a 100% perfect duplicate of the original version. Furthermore, the ease with which digital products can be replicated has few analogues in the physical world. This paper assesses the effect of non-physicality on one such product – software – in relation to the practice of SCM. It explores the challenges that arise when managing the software supply chain and how practitioners are addressing these challenges. Using a two-pronged exploratory approach that examines the literature around software management as well as direct interviews with software distribution practitioners, a number of key challenges associated with software supply chains are uncovered, along with responses to these challenges. This paper proposes a new model for software supply chains that takes into account the non-physicality of the product being delivered. Central to this model is the replacement of physical flows with flows of intellectual property, the growing importance of innovation over duplication and the increased centrality of the customer in the entire process. Hybrid physical / digital supply chains are discussed and a framework for practitioners concerned with software supply chains is presented.

Improving the Watermarking Process with Usage of Block Error-Correcting Codes

The emergence of digital imaging and of digital networks has made duplication of original artwork easier. Watermarking techniques, also referred to as digital signature, sign images by introducing changes that are imperceptible to the human eye but easily recoverable by a computer program. Usage of error correcting codes is one of the good choices in order to correct possible errors when extracting the signature. In this paper, we present a scheme of error correction based on a combination of Reed-Solomon codes and another optimal linear code as inner code. We have investigated the strength of the noise that this scheme is steady to for a fixed capacity of the image and various lengths of the signature. Finally, we compare our results with other error correcting techniques that are used in watermarking. We have also created a computer program for image watermarking that uses the newly presented scheme for error correction.

A simple remote sensing based information system for monitoring sites of conservation importance

Monitoring is essential for conservation of sites, but capacity to undertake it in the field is often limited. Data collected by remote sensing has been identified as a partial solution to this problem, and is becoming a feasible option, since increasing quantities of satellite data in particular are becoming available to conservationists. When suitably classified, satellite imagery can be used to delineate land cover types such as forest, and to identify any changes over time. However, the conservation community lacks (a) a simple tool appropriate to the needs for monitoring change in all types of land cover (e.g. not just forest), and (b) an easily accessible information system which allows for simple land cover change analysis and data sharing to reduce duplication of effort. To meet these needs, we developed a web-based information system which allows users to assess land cover dynamics in and around protected areas (or other sites of conservation importance) from multi-temporal medium resolution satellite imagery. The system is based around an open access toolbox that pre-processes and classifies Landsat-type imagery, and then allows users to interactively verify the classification. These data are then open for others to utilize through the online information system. We first explain imagery processing and data accessibility features, and then demonstrate the toolbox and the value of user verification using a case study on Nakuru National Park, Kenya. Monitoring and detection of disturbances can support implementation of effective protection, assist the work of park managers and conservation scientists, and thus contribute to conservation planning, priority assessment and potentially to meeting monitoring needs for Aichi target 11.

Improving caches in consolidated environments

Memory (cache, DRAM, and disk) is in charge of providing data and instructions to a computer's processor. In order to maximize performance, the speeds of the memory and the processor should be equal. However, using memory that always match the speed of the processor is prohibitively expensive. Computer hardware designers have managed to drastically lower the cost of the system with the use of memory caches by sacrificing some performance. A cache is a small piece of fast memory that stores popular data so it can be accessed faster. Modern computers have evolved into a hierarchy of caches, where a memory level is the cache for a larger and slower memory level immediately below it. Thus, by using caches, manufacturers are able to store terabytes of data at the cost of cheapest memory while achieving speeds close to the speed of the fastest one.^ The most important decision about managing a cache is what data to store in it. Failing to make good decisions can lead to performance overheads and over-provisioning. Surprisingly, caches choose data to store based on policies that have not changed in principle for decades. However, computing paradigms have changed radically leading to two noticeably different trends. First, caches are now consolidated across hundreds to even thousands of processes. And second, caching is being employed at new levels of the storage hierarchy due to the availability of high-performance flash-based persistent media. This brings four problems. First, as the workloads sharing a cache increase, it is more likely that they contain duplicated data. Second, consolidation creates contention for caches, and if not managed carefully, it translates to wasted space and sub-optimal performance. Third, as contented caches are shared by more workloads, administrators need to carefully estimate specific per-workload requirements across the entire memory hierarchy in order to meet per-workload performance goals. And finally, current cache write policies are unable to simultaneously provide performance and consistency guarantees for the new levels of the storage hierarchy.^ We addressed these problems by modeling their impact and by proposing solutions for each of them. First, we measured and modeled the amount of duplication at the buffer cache level and contention in real production systems. Second, we created a unified model of workload cache usage under contention to be used by administrators for provisioning, or by process schedulers to decide what processes to run together. Third, we proposed methods for removing cache duplication and to eliminate wasted space because of contention for space. And finally, we proposed a technique to improve the consistency guarantees of write-back caches while preserving their performance benefits.^

Identificação das políticas de incentivo ao desenvolvimento da energia eólica no Rio Grande do Norte (RN)

Energy is a vital resource for social and economic development. In the present scenario, the search for alternative energy sources has become fundamental, especially after the oil crises between 1973 and 1979, the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986 and the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The demand for the development of new alternative energy sources aims to complement existing forms allows to meet the demand for energy consumption with greater security. Brazil, with the guideline of not dirtying the energy matrix by the fossil fuels exploitation and the recent energy crisis caused by the lack of rains, directs energy policies for the development of other renewable energy sources, complementing the hydric. This country is one of the countries that stand out for power generation capacity from the winds in several areas, especially Rio Grande do Norte (RN), which is one of the states with highest installed power and great potential to be explored. In this context arises the purpose of this work to identify the incentive to develop policies of wind energy in Rio Grande do Norte. The study was conducted by a qualitative methodology of data analysis called content analysis, oriented for towards message characteristics, its informational value, the words, arguments and ideas expressed in it, constituting a thematic analysis. To collect the data interviews were conducted with managers of major organizations related to wind energy in Brazil and in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The identification of incentive policies was achieved in three stages: the first seeking incentives policies in national terms, which are applied to all states, the second with the questionnaire application and the third to research and data collection for the development of the installed power of the RN as compared to other states. At the end, the results demonstrated hat in Rio Grande do Norte state there is no incentive policy for the development of wind power set and consolidated, specific actions in order to optimize the bureaucratic issues related to wind farms, especially on environmental issues. The absence of this policy hinders the development of wind energy RN, considering result in reduced competitiveness and performance in recent energy auctions. Among the perceived obstacles include the lack of hand labor sufficient to achieve the reporting and analysis of environmental licenses, the lack of updating the wind Atlas of the state, a shortfall of tax incentives. Added to these difficulties excel barriers in infrastructure and logistics, with the lack of a suitable port for large loads and the need for reform, maintenance and duplication of roads and highways that are still loss-making. It is suggested as future work the relationship of the technology park of energy and the development of wind power in the state, the influence of the technology park to attract businesses and industries in the wind sector to settle in RN and a comparison of incentive policies to development of wind energy in the Brazilian states observing wind development in the same states under study.

Caracterização de resíduos oriundos do beneficiamento do minério de ferro para uso em pavimentação

Mining in Brazil has a key role in economic and social development, contributing directly to improve the lives of the population. However, the mining activity even if done responsibly and with a proper study of waste management to reduce the impact of its effects, may cause harmful damage to the environment. Other forms of pollution are also caused due to mining activity. The visual pollution caused by the waste storage at open sky, in addition to the noise pollution caused by the excessive noise of the machines both in the extraction of ore, as in processing. An alternative way to lessen the environmental impacts caused by mining is the use of waste in layers that will compose the pavements along the highways. Thus, this work sets out to give a proper disposal of the wastes from the processing of iron ore, resulting from the mining activity of the group of mining Mhag Services and Mining S/A, in the mine of Bonito, located in Jucurutu, a town in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The residues of the iron ore were stabilized with a granular soil from the city of Macaiba, also in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, which is being used in the duplication of the BR-304 referring to the entitled passage of Reta Tabajara. The present work was developed in three stages, being the first one divided by the chemical and mineralogical tests, by the tests of physical characterization and by the tests of paving for the residues of the iron ore. The second stage corresponds to the same tests being performed for granular soil. The third stage includes the essays abovementioned for three different mixtures of iron ore waste and granular soil, being they: 15% of iron-ore waste and 85% of granular soil, 25% of iron-ore waste and 75% of granular soil, 50% of iron-ore waste and 50% of granular soil. The technical feasibility of using waste from the iron ore beneficiation was checked, compressed in the intermediate energy and modified for use in base layers, sub-base, reinforcement subgrade and subgrade. The incorporation of the residues originating from the improvement of the iron ore in highways will provide an alternative to the use of aggregate conventionally used in the paving, besides preserving the environment.

Duplicação rápida de prótese total: passo-a-passo

This study presents a simple, fast and low cost technique for fabrication new conventional dentures from the duplication of old prosthesis in use by the patient. Colorless acrylic resin was poured into the moulds obtained by duplication of prosthesis. With the replicas obtained a functional impressions using polyether should be performed and they are stabilized with occlusal registration in acrylic resin. The molds need to be castings and mounted on an semi-adjustable articulator. The artificial teeth are positioned with the assistance of a guide made condensation silicone to reproduce the positioning of the teeth of the old prosthesis and fixed with wax 7. After approval of the teeth on the trial in wax, without adjustment of the planes, the prosthesis may be processed in the laboratory. After occlusal adjustment in the articulator the same can be installed.

Caracterização de genes de reparo de DNA em cana-de-açúcar

Sugarcane is an important culture for Brazil that holds almost half of all worldwide productivity. Plants face many challenges, because of biotic and abiotic stresses presents in the production field, which could prevent plants from reaching their genetic potential. As consequence, those stresses can generate Reactive Oxygen Species – ROS – that can cause damages on DNA. Another consequence of stress is the early-flowering process, which contributes for a reduction on yield. In this context, the aim of this work is to characterize ScMUTM1 and ScMUTM2, two DNA glycosylases belonging to base excision repair pathway; and identify genes potentially related to stress and DNA repair in two sugarcane cultivars with contrasting flowering phenotypes. The characterization of the DNA glycosylases included the construction of vector to over express the recombinant proteins ScMUTM1 and ScMUTM2; they will be used in a near future to purification of these proteins and use in enzymatic assays. It was also made a phylogenetic reconstruction of this gene in plants and analysis of its promoter. With the phylogenetic analysis, it is possible to observe the presence of these genes grouped inside a branch with monocots and another one with dicots. This suggests that the duplication of this gene probably occurred after the separation of these two groups. The analysis of the promotor of MUTM shows of the presence of stress-related regulatory motifs at ScMUTM2 promoter, when compared with ScMUTM1. This may suggests that ScMUTM1 might be suffering sub functionalization process. After the analysis of microarrays data, it is observed an up-regulation from some stress-related genes in one of the conditions analyzed, related to early flowering process.

Caracterização de genes de reparo de DNA em cana-de-açúcar

Sugarcane is an important culture for Brazil that holds almost half of all worldwide productivity. Plants face many challenges, because of biotic and abiotic stresses presents in the production field, which could prevent plants from reaching their genetic potential. As consequence, those stresses can generate Reactive Oxygen Species – ROS – that can cause damages on DNA. Another consequence of stress is the early-flowering process, which contributes for a reduction on yield. In this context, the aim of this work is to characterize ScMUTM1 and ScMUTM2, two DNA glycosylases belonging to base excision repair pathway; and identify genes potentially related to stress and DNA repair in two sugarcane cultivars with contrasting flowering phenotypes. The characterization of the DNA glycosylases included the construction of vector to over express the recombinant proteins ScMUTM1 and ScMUTM2; they will be used in a near future to purification of these proteins and use in enzymatic assays. It was also made a phylogenetic reconstruction of this gene in plants and analysis of its promoter. With the phylogenetic analysis, it is possible to observe the presence of these genes grouped inside a branch with monocots and another one with dicots. This suggests that the duplication of this gene probably occurred after the separation of these two groups. The analysis of the promotor of MUTM shows of the presence of stress-related regulatory motifs at ScMUTM2 promoter, when compared with ScMUTM1. This may suggests that ScMUTM1 might be suffering sub functionalization process. After the analysis of microarrays data, it is observed an up-regulation from some stress-related genes in one of the conditions analyzed, related to early flowering process.

NFAT5 genes are part of the osmotic regulatory system in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Acknowledgements This study was supported by a grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC, BB/H008063/1), UK to DGH and SAM. Funding also came from Research Council Norway for project number 241016 for DGH and EJ. This work was carried out as part of a PhD thesis funded by the Marine Alliance of Science and Technology Scotland (MASTS).

Project scoping for lessons learnt to apply to the Celtic Seas marine sub-region

This report involves a formal scoping exercise to identify lessons from a wide range of previous and current project and initiative experiences at the national, regional seas, European and global levels. An inventory of 77 projects and initiatives that are relevant with regard to the key activities proposed by the Celtic Seas Partnership has been compiled, as well as a short-list of 23 of the most pertinent projects, lessons learnt and contact names. This report has identified a number of synergies and collaborative opportunities from other project and initiatives in the Celtic Seas and beyond. It provides a strong starting point to clarify to stakeholders the uniqueness of the Celtic Seas Partnership project and delivers a sound baseline for the other preparatory actions (A2 Stakeholder Mapping and A3 Baseline Analysis for Marine Strategy Framework Directive Implementation) and the implementation actions. Furthermore, this report helps to avoid duplication of effort during the life-span of the project by highlighting what information pertaining to the Celtic Seas MSFD sub-region already exists.

Formation of sub-7 nm feature size PS-b-P4VP block copolymer structures by solvent vapour process

The nanometer range structure produced by thin films of diblock copolymers makes them a great of interest as templates for the microelectronics industry. We investigated the effect of annealing solvents and/or mixture of the solvents in case of symmetric Poly (styrene-block-4vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP) diblock copolymer to get the desired line patterns. In this paper, we used different molecular weights PS-b-P4VP to demonstrate the scalability of such high χ BCP system which requires precise fine-tuning of interfacial energies achieved by surface treatment and that improves the wetting property, ordering, and minimizes defect densities. Bare Silicon Substrates were also modified with polystyrene brush and ethylene glycol self-assembled monolayer in a simple quick reproducible way. Also, a novel and simple in situ hard mask technique was used to generate sub-7nm Iron oxide nanowires with a high aspect ratio on Silicon substrate, which can be used to develop silicon nanowires post pattern transfer.

Defining the Role of the Histone Methyltransferase, PR-Set7, in Maintaining the Genome Integrity of Drosophila Melanogaster

The complete and faithful duplication of the genome is essential to ensure normal cell division and organismal development. Eukaryotic DNA replication is initiated at multiple sites termed origins of replication that are activated at different time through S phase. The replication timing program is regulated by the S-phase checkpoint, which signals and repairs replicative stress. Eukaryotic DNA is packaged with histones into chromatin, thus DNA-templated processes including replication are modulated by the local chromatin environment such as post-translational modifications (PTMs) of histones.

One such epigenetic mark, methylation of lysine 20 on histone H4 (H4K20), has been linked to chromatin compaction, transcription, DNA repair and DNA replication. H4K20 can be mono-, di- and tri-methylated. Monomethylation of H4K20 (H4K20me1) is mediated by the cell cycle-regulated histone methyltransferase PR-Set7 and subsequent di-/tri- methylation is catalyzed by Suv4-20. Prior studies have shown that PR-Set7 depletion in mammalian cells results in defective S phase progression and the accumulation of DNA damage, which may be partially attributed to defects in origin selection and activation. Meanwhile, overexpression of mammalian PR-Set7 recruits components of pre-Replication Complex (pre-RC) onto chromatin and licenses replication origins for re-replication. However, these studies were limited to only a handful of mammalian origins, and it remains unclear how PR-Set7 impacts the replication program on a genomic scale. Finally, the methylation substrates of PR-Set7 include both histone (H4K20) and non-histone targets, therefore it is necessary to directly test the role of H4K20 methylation in PR-Set7 regulated phenotypes.

I employed genetic, cytological, and genomic approaches to better understand the role of H4K20 methylation in regulating DNA replication and genome stability in Drosophila melanogaster cells. Depletion of Drosophila PR-Set7 by RNAi in cultured Kc167 cells led to an ATR-dependent cell cycle arrest with near 4N DNA content and the accumulation of DNA damage, indicating a defect in completing S phase. The cells were arrested at the second S phase following PR-Set7 downregulation, suggesting that it was an epigenetic effect that coupled to the dilution of histone modification over multiple cell cycles. To directly test the role of H4K20 methylation in regulating genome integrity, I collaborated with the Duronio Lab and observed spontaneous DNA damage on the imaginal wing discs of third instar mutant larvae that had an alanine substitution on H4K20 (H4K20A) thus unable to be methylated, confirming that H4K20 is a bona fide target of PR-Set7 in maintaining genome integrity.

One possible source of DNA damage due to loss of PR-Set7 is reduced origin activity. I used BrdU-seq to profile the genome-wide origin activation pattern. However, I found that deregulation of H4K20 methylation states by manipulating the H4K20 methyltransferases PR-Set7 and Suv4-20 had no impact on origin activation throughout the genome. I then mapped the genomic distribution of DNA damage upon PR-Set7 depletion. Surprisingly, ChIP-seq of the DNA damage marker γ-H2A.v located the DNA damage to late replicating euchromatic regions of the Drosophila genome, and the strength of γ-H2A.v signal was uniformly distributed and spanned the entire late replication domain, implying stochastic replication fork collapse within late replicating regions. Together these data suggest that PR-Set7-mediated monomethylation of H4K20 is critical for maintaining the genomic integrity of late replicating domains, presumably via stabilization of late replicating forks.

In addition to investigating the function of H4K20me, I also used immunofluorescence to characterize the cell cycle regulated chromatin loading of Mcm2-7 complex, the DNA helicase that licenses replication origins, using H4K20me1 level as a proxy for cell cycle stages. In parallel with chromatin spindown data by Powell et al. (Powell et al. 2015), we showed a continuous loading of Mcm2-7 during G1 and a progressive removal from chromatin through S phase.