This thesis deals with developing of image processing algorithm for robots controlled by informations taken from visual system. Core of the used system constitutes low-budget platform Raspberry Pi. Before the development of algorithm there is a series of test for image processing which discovers possibilities of used platform. Problem solution is divided to several parts. Limited performance frequently leads to individual problem solving. Afterall is shown sensitivity and performance analysis of developed solution.

Thesis (MScMedSc)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a cardiac repolarization disorder affecting every 1:2000-1:3000 individuals. This disease is characterized by a prolonged QT interval on the surface electrocardiogram (ECG) of patients. Symptoms of LQTS range from dizziness and syncope to more severe symptoms such as seizures and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Clinical features of LQTS are a result of the precipitations of Torsades de Pointes, which is a polymorphic form of ventricular tachycardia. A number of genetic forms of LQTS have been identified with more than 700 mutations in 12 different genes leading to disease pathogenesis. However it has been estimated that approximately 25% of patients with compelling LQTS have no mutations within the known LQT genes. This proves to be problematic since treatment regimens depend on the genetic diagnosis of affected individuals. Of the known mutated genes, KCNE2 is associated with LQT6. KCNE2 encodes the beta-subunit of potassium ion channel proteins. These proteins contain cytoplasmic C-terminal domains in which many mutations have been identified. We hypothesize that genes encoding KCNE2-interacting proteins might be identified as disease-causing or modifying genes. The present study aimed to use yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) methodology to screen a pre-transformed cardiac cDNA library in order to identify putative interactors of the C-terminal of KCNE2. Through specific selection methods the number of KCNE2 ligands was reduced from 296 to 83. These interactors were sequenced and 14 were identified as putative interacting proteins. False positive ligands were excluded based on their function and subcellular location. Ultimately three strong candidate ligands were selected for further analysis: Alpha-B crystallin (CRYAB), Filamin C (FLNC) and voltage-dependent anion-selective channel protein 1 (VDAC1). Three-dimensional (3D) co-localization and co-immunoprecipitation were used to verify these proposed interactions and succeeded in doing so. The genes encoding verified interactors will be screened in our SA panel of LQT patients, to potentially identify novel LQT causative or modifying genes. Furthermore, the interactions verified in the present study may shed some light on the mechanism of pathogenesis of LQT causative mutations in KCNE2. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Lang QT-sindroom (LQTS) is 'n hart her-polariserende siekte wat elke 1:2000-1:3000 individue affekteer. Hierdie siekte word gekenmerk deur 'n lang QT-interval op die oppervlak elektrokardiogram (EKG) van pasiënte. Simptome van LQTS wissel van duiseligheid en floutes tot meer ernstige simptome soos stuiptrekkings of aanvalle en skielike kardiale dood (SKD). Kliniese kenmerke van LQTS is 'n gevolg van die neerslag van Torsades de Pointes; 'n polimorfiese vorm van ventrikulêre tagikardie. Verskeie genetiese vorms van LQTS is geïdentifiseer met meer as 700 mutasies in 12 verskillende gene wat lei tot siekte patogenese. Dit is ergter beraam dat ongeveer 25% van pasiënte met dwingende LQTS geen mutasies in die bekend LQT gene besit nie. Dit is problematies aangesien siekte behandeling af hang van die genetiese diagnose van geaffekteerde individue. Een van die bekende gemuteerde gene is KCNE2 wat verband hou met LQT6. KCNE2 kodeer die beta-subeenheid van kalium ioonkanaal proteïene. Hierdie proteïene bevat sitoplasmiese C-terminale waarin baie mutasies alreeds geïdentifiseer is. Ons veronderstel dat gene wat proteïene kodeer wat met KCNE2 interaksie toon, geïdentifiseer kan word as siekte veroorsaakende of wysigings gene. Die huidige studie het die gis twee-hibried metode gebruik om 'n vooraf-getransformeerde hart cDNS biblioteek te sif om vermeende protein interaksies van die C-terminaal van KCNE2 te identifiseer. Deur middel van seleksie metodes is die aantal KCNE2 ligande verminder van 296 tot 83. Die identiteit van die proteïene is bekend gemaak deur volgorderbepaling waarna 14 geïdentifiseer is as proteïene wat moontlik interaksie kan toon met KCNE2. Vals positiewe ligande is uitgesluit op grond van hul funksie en subsellulêre lokasering. Drie kandidaat ligande is gekies vir verdere analise: Alfa-B crystallin (CRYAB), Filamin C (FLNC) en spanning-afhanklike anioon-selektiewe kanaal proteïen 1 (VDAC1). Drie-dimensionele (3D) mede-lokalisering en mede-immunopresipitasie tegnieke is gebruik om hierdie voorgestelde interaksies te verifieer en het geslaag om dit te doen. Die gene wat geverifieerde proteïene kodeer, sal gekeur word in ons Suid-Afrikaanse paneel van LQT pasiënte om sodoende potensieel nuwe LQT veroorsakende of wysigings gene te identifiseer. Verder kan die geverifieer interaksies in die huidige studie lig werp op die meganisme van die ontstaan van LQT veroorsakende mutasies in KCNE2. / Harry Crossley Foundation (South Africa) / Stellenbosch University / South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research / Stella and Paul Loewenstein Charitable and Educational Trust

<p>Boomer is a machine that is developed and produced by Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB, which is used for underground mining and tunneling. It is a blast-hole drilling rig equipped with drills that are attached to the arms, called booms, which the rig holds. The machine is controlled and monitored by Atlas Copco’s Rig Control System (RCS), which consists of a number of intelligent units connected in a CAN-net. When developing software for the RCS, a simulator that makes it possible to run the software on an ordinary desktop PC is used. The problem is that there is no intuitive way to see how the booms are oriented, while positioning. Therefore it is desirable to have a 3D visualization of the rig, with focus on the booms, which can be used alongside the simulator to get immediate feedback about the movements of the booms. This report describes the process of developing an application that handles communication with the simulator and the 3D visualization.</p> / <p>Boomer är en maskin som utvecklas och produceras av Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB. Maskinen används vid gruvbrytning och tunnelkonstruktion. Boomer är en spränghålsborrigg som är utrustad med borrar vilka är monterade på riggens armar, kallade bommar. En Boomer övervakas och kontrolleras av Atlas Copcos kontrollsystem, RCS, som är ett system bestående av intelligenta enheter sammankopplade i ett CAN-nät. Vid utveckling av mjukvara till RCS används en simulator som gör det möjligt att köra mjukvaran på en vanlig PC. Problemet är att det inte finns något intuitivt sätt att se hur bommarna är riktade medans de blir positionerade. Därför är det önskvärt med en 3D visualisering av borriggen, med fokus på dess boomar, som kan användas tillsammans med simulatorn för att ge en direkt återkoppling av boomarnas förflyttning. Denna rapport beskriver utvecklingsprocessen för en applikation som hanterar kommunikationen med simulatorn och 3D visualiseringen.</p>

Το OpenRSM (Open Remote System Management) είναι ένα εργαλείο ανοιχτού κώδικα για την απομακρυσμένη διαχείριση συστημάτων και δικτυακών συσκευών. Πρόκειται για ένα ολοκληρωμένο σύστημα που συνδυάζει και σε ορισμένες περιπτώσεις επεκτείνει έναν αριθμό εργαλείων ανοιχτού κώδικα παρέχοντας ένα κοινό περιβάλλον εργασίας με σκοπό την αποτελεσματική εκτέλεση λειτουργιών όπως: Ανακάλυψη περιουσιακών στοιχείων (Inventory), Εγκατάσταση και απεγκατάσταση λογισμικού (Deployment), Απομακρυσμένος έλεγχος σταθμών εργασίας (Remote Control), Εκτέλεση εντολών κελύφους (Command Execution). Το σύστημα μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί και να υλοποιήσει οποιαδήποτε διαδικασία διαχείρισης συστημάτων και δικτύου. Έχει διερευνηθεί η χρήση του στα έξης: Διαχείριση ασύρματων access points, Ολοκλήρωση με συστήματα Grid και διαμοιρασμού υπολογιστικών πόρων. Το OpenRSM αποτελείται από μια κεντρική κονσόλα ελέγχου και διαχείρισης (Manager), έναν εξυπηρετητή διαχείρισης (Server) ο οποίος υλοποιεί την λογική εξυπηρετητή που ολοκληρώνει, προγραμματίζει, αποθηκεύει και εκτελεί τις διαχειριστικές λειτουργίες και τους πράκτορες (agents) οι οποίοι εγκαθίσταται στους διαχειριζόμενους σταθμούς και τους καθιστούν διαχειρίσιμους. Κατά την αρχική ανάπτυξη του OpenRSM επιλέχθηκε ως τεχνολογία υλοποίησης η γλώσσα προγραμματισμού Borland Delphi. Το αποτέλεσμα της συγκεκριμένης σχεδιαστικής επιλογής ήταν τα λειτουργικά τμήματα (Agent, Manager, Server) του OpenRSM να μπορούν να εγκατασταθούν μόνο σε υπολογιστές που διαθέτουν λειτουργικό σύστημα Microsoft Windows. Ο συγκεκριμένος περιορισμός σε συνδυασμό με την αυξανόμενη τα τελευταία χρόνια χρήση λειτουργικών συστημάτων που βασίζονται στον πυρήνα Linux από όλο και μεγαλύτερες ομάδες χρηστών οδήγησε στην ανάγκη επανασχεδιασμού του OpenRSM και στην εκ νέου υλοποίηση του. Βασικός σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας αποτελεί ο επανασχεδιασμός του OpenRSM ώστε να παρέχει επιπλέον λειτουργίες και κυρίως η εκ νέου υλοποίηση του χρησιμοποιώντας ως τεχνολογία το Qt framework. Τελικός στόχος είναι η δημιουργία ενός ολοκληρωμένου συστήματος για την αποτελεσματική διαχείριση απομακρυσμένων συστημάτων που θα μπορεί να εγκατασταθεί σε όλα τα βασικά λειτουργικά συστήματα. Για τον σκοπό αυτό θα μελετηθεί η υπάρχουσα αρχιτεκτονική και θα προταθούν μια σειρά από βελτιώσεις/επεκτάσεις οι οποίες θα προσφέρουν στο σύστημα ένα σημαντικό αριθμό από νέες λειτουργίες. Οι πιο σημαντικές από αυτές είναι η ολοκλήρωση του λειτουργικού συστήματος TinyOS με το OpenRSM για την παρακολούθηση των ασύρματων δικτύων αισθητήρων (WSN) που βασίζονται σε αυτό, η δυνατότητα εγκατάστασης ενημερώσεων των εφαρμογών που έχουν εγκατασταθεί στους διαχειριζόμενους σταθμούς και η ολοκλήρωση του λογισμικού BOINC με το OpenRSM. Επιπλέον, εξετάζουμε ζητήματα που αφορούν την ενίσχυση των μηχανισμών ασφαλείας στην επικοινωνία των λειτουργικών τμημάτων του OpenRSM, καθώς και την ανάπτυξη λειτουργιών για το χρονοπρογραμματισμό των διαφόρων εργασιών και την ενεργειακή απόδοση των υπό-διαχείριση μηχανημάτων. / OpenRSM is a tool for remote management of workstations. It extends and integrates high-value open source projects in order to provide an integrated management platform. The goal has been to build a remote systems and network management platform capable to facilitate daily tasks. The system is designed to be fully functional yet simple, unlike most commercial management systems. OpenRSM is designed to offer: Inventory and assets management: information retrieval about installed assets, Software delivery: management of installed software. Supports user-interactive and silent installations/uninstallation among other, Remote procedure call: sending executable commands to stations, Remote Control, Wireless access points management, Integration with EGEE Grid technologies. The main components of OpenRSM are the server, the agent and the user console. The console accepts input from users and conveys it to the server in the form of task objects. The server is responsible for the coordination of the subsystems and task dispatch. The agent is a passive component on managed stations that accepts commands from the server and executes them. Borland Delphi programming language was initially used for the development of the OpenRSM system. The result of this design choice was the operating components (Agent, Manager, Server) of OpenRSM to be installed only on computers which run the operating system Microsoft Windows. This particular restriction in combination with the increase in the use of Linux-based operating systems led to the re-design of OpenRSM. The main purpose of this work is the development of OpenRSM using the Qt framework and the elaboration in functionality. The main goal has been to develop of a system capable to manage remote stations in a platform-independent manner. For this purpose, a study of the existing architecture is essential in order to propose a series of improvements which will provide the system with a significant number of new features. The most important of these features is the monitoring and management of wireless sensor networks, the ability to install updates for applications which are installed on the managed stations and the integration of open-source software platform BOINC with OpenRSM. As a result of this integration, OpenRSM would provide the operation of deploying BOINC software client and managing BOINC system into managed workstations. Moreover, we consider issues which are related to strengthening the security mechanisms in the communication between OpenRSM components and the development of new operations for scheduling jobs and for energy-efficiency of managed stations.

Detta projekt har utförts på Saab Dynamics. Projektets syfte var att utveckla en applikation, TBFO, för att rapportera information om hur missilen GLSDB ska slå till ett mål. TBFO är ämnat för att användas i närheten av målet och information skickas till planeringssystemet GLSDB MPS. Applikationen byggdes runt 3D-motorn Vricon och är anpassat för lättast möjliga användning med pekskärm. Huvuddelen av arbetet berörde utveckling av gränssnitt för pekskärm och utveckling av systemets applikationsprotokoll. Denna rapport redogör för framtagning av systemet samt de verktyg och metoder som användes. Rapporten fördjupar sig inom utveckling av applikationer anpassade för pekskärm. Slutsatsen som kan dras från resultatet av detta projekt är att idén om systemet som utvecklats är användbart för processen att planera angrepp med GLSDB MPS. / This project has been carried out at Saab Dynamics. The project's purpose was to develop an application, TBFO, for reporting information containing how the missile GLSDB would strike a target. TBFO is intended to be used in the proximity of the target and information is sent to the planning system GLSDB MPS. The application was built around the 3D engine from Vricon and is developed to fit for use of touch devices. The main part of the work concerns the development of user interface for touch input and the system’s application protocol. This report describes the processes of developing the system, including what tools and methods that have been used during development. The report also provides an in-depth look at processes used when developing applications for touch devices. The conclusion from the results of this project is that the idea of the described system is useful for the process of planning an assault with GLSDB MPS.

En utilisant la méthode de génétique inverse, la mutation causale d'un bloc de conduction cardiaque familial a été localisée sur le bras long du chromosome 19 en 13.3 dans une grande famille libanaise. Après avoir testé 12 gènes candidats, nous avons trouvé 3 mutations différentes dans trois familles indépendantes de bloc de conduction cardiaque isolé. Les conséquences des 3 mutations ont été explorées par des études électrophysiologiques. Il s'agit dans les 3 cas d'un gain de fonction. Puis, une cohorte de 248 patients atteints de syndrome de Brugada a été étudiée. Onze mutations du gène TRPM4 ont été trouvées chez 20 patients. Les conséquences électrophysiologiques des mutations étaient diverses. Ensuite, des cohortes de patients atteints de syndrome du QT long, de fibrillation auriculaire ou de cardiomyopathie dilaté ont été étudiées. Nous avons également trouvé des mutations ou des variants prédisposants du gène TRPM4 chez ces patients. Une étude électrophysiologique doit être réalisée pour comprendre le rôle de TRPM4 dans ces autres pathologies. Enfin, notre étude immunohistochimique a démontré que TRPM4 est fortement exprimé dans le système de conduction cardiaque mais aussi plus faiblement dans les cardiomyocytes auriculaires et ventriculaires communs. Ce travail a permis d'impliquer pour la première fois le gène TRPM4 dans des maladies humaines. Ce travail donne les bases pour comprendre le rôle du canal TRPM4 dans le fonctionnement cardiaque. C'est le préalable nécessaire avant de pouvoir développer de nouvelles thérapeutiques dans le futur / By using reverse genetics, the causal mutation of a familial cardiac conduction block was localized to the long arm of chromosome 19 in 13.3. After screening 12 candidate genes, we found 3 different mutations in three independent families with isolated cardiac conduction block. The consequences of these 3 mutations were explored by electrophysiological studies. In all 3 mutations it was a gain of function. Then, a cohort of 248 patients with a Brugada syndrome was studied. Eleven mutations were found in the TRPM4 gene in 20 patients. The electrophysiological consequences of these mutations were diverse. Then, cohorts of patients with long QT syndrome, atrial fibrillation, and dilated cardiomyopathy were studied. We found also mutations or predisposing variants in these patients. An electrophysiology study should be conducted to understand the role of TRPM4 in these other pathologies. Finally, our immunohistochemical study showed that TRPM4 is highly expressed in the cardiac conduction system but also although with less intensity in common auricular and ventricular cardiomyocytes. This work implied for the first time the TRPM4 gene in human diseases. This work provides the basis to understand the role of the TRPM4 channel in cardiac function. This is a prerequisite to be able to develop novel therapies in the future

Objectives: The inverse relationship between QT interval variability (QTV) and T wave amplitude potentially confounds QT variability assessment. We quantified the influence of the T wave amplitude on QTV in a comprehensive dataset and devised a correction formula. Methods: Three ECG datasets of healthy subjects were analyzed to model the relationship between T wave amplitude and QTV. To derive a generally valid correction formula, linear regression analysis was used. The proposed correction formula was applied to patients enrolled in the Evaluation of Defibrillator in Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy Treatment Evaluation trial (DEFINITE) to assess the prognostic significance of QTV for all-cause mortality in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. Results: A strong inverse relationship between T wave amplitude and QTV was demonstrated, both in healthy subjects (R2 = 0.68, p < 0.001) and DEFINITE patients (R2 = 0.20, p < 0.001). Applying the T wave amplitude correction to QTV achieved 2.5-times better group discrimination between patients enrolled in the DEFINITE study and healthy subjects. Kaplan-Meier estimator analysis showed that T wave amplitude corrected QTVi is inversely related to survival (p < 0.01) and a significant predictor of all-cause mortality. Conclusion: We have proposed a simple correction formula for improved QTV assessment. Using this correction, predictive value of QTV for all-cause mortality in patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy has been demonstrated.

As software systems become increasingly larger and more complex, the need to make them easily maintained increases, as large systems are expected to last for many years. It has been estimated that system maintenance is a large part of many IT-departments’ software develop­ment costs. In order to design a complex system to be maintainable it is necessary to introduce structure, often as models in the form of a system architecture and a system design. As development of complex large-scale systems progresses over time, the models may need to be reconstructed. Perhaps because development may have diverted from the initial plan, or because changes had to be made during implementation. This thesis presents a reconstructed documentation of a complex large-scale system, as well as suggestions for how to improve the existing design based on identified needs and insufficiencies. The work was performed primarily using a qualitative manual code review approach of the source code, and the proposal was generated iteratively. The proposed design was evaluated and it was concluded that it does address the needs and insufficiencies, and that it can be realistically implemented.

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