This research focuses on developing selective FRET peptidyl metal ion sensors as a portable and less costly alterative to traditional atomic spectrometric techniques. Initially, a selective sensor for Cu²⁺ was developed that consisted of glycine and aspartic acid residues and the FRET pair tryptophan (donor) and dansyl (acceptor). Aspartic acid's affinity for hard acid metals and Cu²⁺'s preference for square planar coordination was used as the basis of design. Although the sensor was designed to utilize the signal enhancement capabilities of FRET, quenching of both fluorophores occurred and proved to be the most sensitive means of quantifying Cu²⁺ binding. Nonetheless, the sensor provided a selective and sensitive response to Cu²⁺ at pH 7.0. Another FRET peptide metal ion sensor was designed with the help of a biological starting point, the mercury binding protein MerP. A sensitive FRET enhancement or "turn on" response was observed for Hg²⁺, as well as Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺ and Ag²⁺ in pH 7.0 solution. While a selective response for only Hg²⁺ was the ultimate goal of this study, this sensor is still an improvement over current systems which utilize a quenching mechanism for Hg²⁺ detection. While the previous studies investigated these sensors in aqueous solutions, the end goal was to devise a sensor based on an immobilized peptide chelator with FRET capabilities. To this end, immobilized, fluorophore labeled peptide studies were then conducted on Tentagel resin using a visible region FRET pair. A flow injection fluorescence analysis system using the immobilized fluorophore labeled peptide as the ion exchange material was also designed, allowing for the efficient analysis of fluorescence solutions. In addition to the work conducted with FRET sensors, studies were also conducted using magnetic [gamma]-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles with PLCys immobilized onto the surface. The [gamma]-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles are ideal supports since they can be magnetically collected and have a very large surface area to mass ratio. Finally, a method was developed to quantitatively screen metals bound to single Tentagel beads with immobilized peptides using ETV-ICP-MS. This method is an improvement over existing methods because it is nondestructive and simultaneously provides the absolute content of all metals bound.

This thesis proposes nonlinear system identification techniques for the mathematical modeling of the human smooth pursuit system (SPS) with application to motor symptom quantification in Parkinson's disease (PD). The SPS refers to the complex neuromuscular system in humans that governs the smooth pursuit eye movements (SPEM). Insight into the SPS and its operation is of importance in a wide and steadily expanding array of application areas and research fields. The ultimate purpose of the work in this thesis is to attain a deeper understanding and quantification of the SPS dynamics and thus facilitate the continued development of novel commercial products and medical devices. The main contribution of this thesis is in the derivation and evaluation of several techniques for SPS characterization. While attempts to mathematically model the SPS have been made in the literature before, several key aspects of the problem have been previously overlooked.This work is the first one to devise dynamical models intended for extended-time experiments and also to consider systematic visual stimuli design in the context of SPS modeling. The result is a handful of parametric mathematical models outperforming current State-of-the-Art models in terms of prediction accuracy for rich input signals. As a complement to the parametric dynamical models, a non-parametric technique involving the construction of individual statistical models pertaining to specific gaze trajectories is suggested. Both the parametric and non-parametric models are demonstrated to successfully distinguish between individuals or groups of individuals based on eye movements.Furthermore, a novel approach to Wiener system identification using Volterra series is proposed and analyzed. It is exploited to confirm that the SPS in healthy individuals is indeed nonlinear, but that the nonlinearity of the system is significantly stronger in PD subjects. The nonlinearity in healthy individuals appears to be well-modeled by a static output function, whereas the nonlinear behavior introduced to the SPS by PD is dynamical.

M. Tech. Business Information Systems / Vehicle crime rate is increasing in many countries, particularly, in the developing countries. This includes theft and physical damages. These crimes are of major concern to individuals and organizations (such insurance companies). The crime rate on vehicles has impact on the country's economy. A more accurate identification processes and methods can help prevent crime, fraud, essential resources and reliable for access control. In the world today, car theft seems to grow every day and one of the best possible solution is to put in place high and accurate authorization and authentication method. The study investigated how Fingerprint Biometric Technology could be deployed in Motor vehicles to enhance the security features. This include investigation on the factors which influence and impact technology adoption. Factors influencing the deployment of Fingerprint Biometric Technology were identified from the findings and a Framework was developed. The primary aim of the Framework is to guide the adoption and use of Fingerprint Biometric Technology for an improved and enhanced security systems in Motor vehicles.

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

published_or_final_version / Medical Sciences / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

Views of giftedness have evolved from unilateral notions to multilateral conceptions. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological validity of the three-mathematical minds model (M3) developed by the author. The M3 is based on multilateral conceptions of giftedness to identify mathematically gifted students. Teachings of Poincare and Polya about mathematical ability as well as the theory of successful intelligence proposed by Sternberg (1997) provided the initial framework in the development of the M3. A secondary purpose was to examine the psychological validity of the three-level cognitive complexity model (C3) developed by the author. The C3 is based on studies about expertise to differentiate among gifted, above-average and average-below-average students at three levels.The author developed a test of mathematical ability based on the M3 and C3 with the collaboration of mathematicians. The test was administered to 291 middle school students from four different schools. The reliability analysis indicated that the M3 had a .72 coefficient as a consistency of scores. Exploratory factor analysis yielded three separate components explaining 55% of the total variance. The convergent validity analysis showed that the M3 had medium to high-medium correlations with teachers' ratings of students' mathematical ability (r = .45) and students' ratings of their own ability (r = .36) and their liking of mathematics (r = .35). Item-subtest-total score correlations ranged from low to high. Some M3 items were found to be homogenous measuring only one aspect of mathematical ability, such as creative mathematical ability, whereas some items were found to be good measures of more than one facet of mathematical ability.The C3 accounted for 41% of variance in item difficulty (R square = .408, p < .001). Item difficulty ranged from .02 to .93 with a mean of .29. The analysis of the discrimination power of the three levels of the C3 revealed that level-two and level-three problems differentiated significantly among three ability levels, but level-one problems did not differentiate between gifted and above average students. The findings provide partial evidence for the psychological validity of both the M3 and C3 for the identification of mathematically gifted students.

Semiconductor manufacturers must ensure that chips conform to their specifications before they are shipped to customers. This is achieved by testing various parameters of a chip to determine whether it is defective or not. Separating defective chips from fault-free ones is relatively straightforward for functional or other Boolean tests that produce a go/no-go type of result. However, making this distinction is extremely challenging for parametric tests. Owing to continuous distributions of parameters, any pass/fail threshold results in yield loss and/or test escapes. The continuous advances in process technology, increased process variations and inaccurate fault models all make this even worse. The pass/fail thresholds for such tests are usually set using prior experience or by a combination of visual inspection and engineering judgment. Many chips have parameters that exceed certain thresholds but pass Boolean tests. Owing to the imperfect nature of tests, to determine whether these chips (called "outliers") are indeed defective is nontrivial. To avoid wasted investment in packaging or further testing it is important to screen defective chips early in a test flow. Moreover, if seemingly strange behavior of outlier chips can be explained with the help of certain process parameters or by correlating additional test data, such chips can be retained in the test flow before they are proved to be fatally flawed. In this research, we investigate several methods to identify true outliers (defective chips, or chips that lead to functional failure) from apparent outliers (seemingly defective, but fault-free chips). The outlier identification methods in this research primarily rely on wafer-level spatial correlation, but also use additional test parameters. These methods are evaluated and validated using industrial test data. The potential of these methods to reduce burn-in is discussed.

The employment of person identification patterns in e. facilities The aim of this work is to examine the importance of person identification in e. facilities, i.e. to find out how the persons can be identified and advantages for both identified person and the supplier of facilities. To reach the goal these tasks were raised: - to describe the conceptions and peculiarities of information society and person identification; - to describe the e. government, e. facilities and their peculiarities; - to analyse the person identification models and the level of identification in e. facilities; - to investigate the level of person identification in the most popular e. facilities in Lithuania. Object of the work: the models of person identification. Methods of investigation used in the work: - analysis of scientific literature,- the concepts and theories of information society, e. government and e. facilities were examined. The review of the results achieved by scientific investigation of other authors has been done. The analysis was carried out with reference to information found in books, monographs, conference theses and the net; - the review of documents and laws,- various documents and laws proposed by European Commission, European Parliament and the Republic of Lithuania have been examined. Public e. facilities nowadays are one of the most important parts of government strategies in many countries. Very often government envisages the benefit moving from ordinary public... [to full text]

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an emerging area under ubiquitous computing. RFID benefits include multiple read/write, longer read range and no requirement for line of sight. Due to security and privacy issues, RFID is not as popular as it should be. Tag cloning is one of the biggest threats to RFID systems. Easy access to RFID tags allows an attacker to replicate the tags and insert duplicate tags into the system. An RFID tag cloning attack can lead to access control or financial frauds in areas like supply chain management and government issued IDs. In this thesis, a cloning prevention protocol is proposed. It uses light weight functions such as Pseudo Random Number Generator (PRNG) and compare function. A 3-way handshake with a secret key, frequency hopping mechanism and dynamic fake ID makes this protocol a secure authentication mechanism.

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