Predmetom diplomovej práce je skúmanie možností realizácie univerzálneho meracieho zariadenia v sieti LTE. Sú popísané základy M2M komunikácie a trendy v IoT. Cieľom práce je nájsť optimálny hardvérový základ, na ktorom následne bude možné konfigurovať LTE modem a získať údaje o stave a kvalite pripojenia k sieti. Následne bude vykonaná séria testov za účelom zmerania parametrov siete a výsledky budú spracované k prezentácii na webovom serveri vo forme grafov.

This thesis examines a development process of a sample tube sorting machine, meant to serve in the university’s scientific workplace. This thesis follows an existing basic motion system. The thesis describes the function of the pneumatic components and their connection to the circuit necessary for carrying and placing the sample tubes. An important part of the thesis deals with designing the connection of a control unit, based on the Arduino and Raspbery Pi platforms. Such connection design consists of connecting the unit to the pneumatical sensors, switches and also the programming of the particular movement functions. Another part covers the ideas of potentional future development of the sorting machine.

Motivet bakom examensarbetet är att skapa ett kameraövervakningssystem, ämnadför att filma och fotografera fiskgjuseföräldrarna, när de är vid deras avkommor ifiskgjusebon. Inspelningarna och bilderna ska användas för att studera fiskgjuseför-äldrarnas beteende vid deras avkommor. Litteraturstudien visar att fiskgjusen skaparsina bon på höga plattkronade tallar. Dessutom att människors närvaro vid fiskgjuse-bona har en negativ påverkan, då fiskgjuseungar minskar i antal. Likväl har forskareskapat kameraövervakning ämnad för att filma fågelbo. Kameraövervakningssyste-met kommer att medföra att människors närvaro minimeras vid fiskgjuseboet. Nu-förtiden används generellt Raspberry Pi, vilket är en dator byggd på ett litetkretskort. Raspberry Pi kan anslutas med en kamera och lagra inspelningar på SD-minneskortet. Dessutom går det att ansluta diverse sensorer, installera diversemjukvaror och programmeras. Metoden för studien är att skriva koder för att skapa program som göra att Rasp-berry Pi startar inspelningar och tar foton. Dessa program skrivs i Python, biblioteksom Open CV och COCO datablad används. Studien omfattar en konstruktion av ett kameraövervakningssystem, med ett Rasp-berry Pi, högkvalitets kamera, infrarödsensor, ljudsensor och program för att ta fo-ton och starta filmningen. Filmerna sparas på SD-minneskortet. Kameraövervak-ningssystemet strömkälla blir en power bank. Resultatet blev ett program som tar ett foto när sensorerna detektera antingen infra-röd strålning eller ljud eller förändringar i pixlar från kamerabilden. Fotot analyserasav programmet för att se om det är några fåglar på fotot. I programmet går det attställa in hur många fåglar som ska vara med på bilden för att den ska starta inspelningoch spara fotot. Sedan gjordes ett program som hela tiden känner av om det finnsfåglar på kamerabilden. När önskvärda antal fåglar är med på kamerabilden, börjarkameran spela in och tar sedan ett foto. / The motive behind the thesis is to create a camera surveillance system, intended forfilming and photographing the osprey parents, when they are with their offspring, inthe osprey nest. The recordings and pictures will be used to study the osprey par-ents' behavior, nearby their offspring. The literature study shows that ospreys createtheir nests on tall, flat-crowned pines. In addition, the presence of humans near os-prey nests has a negative impact, as osprey chicks decrease in number. Nevertheless,researchers have created camera surveillance intended for filming bird nests. Thecamera surveillance system will minimize human presence at the osprey nest. Now-adays, the Raspberry Pi is used, which is a computer built on a small circuit board.The Raspberry Pi can be connected with a camera and store recordings on the SDmemory card. In addition, it is possible to connect various sensors, install varioussoftware and program. The method of the study is to write codes to create programs that make the Rasp-berry Pi start recording and taking photos. These programs are written in Python,libraries such as Open CV and COCO datasheets are used. The study includes the design of a camera surveillance system, with a Raspberry Pi,a high-quality camera, an infrared sensor, a sound sensor, a program for taking pho-tos and to start filming. The recordings and photos are saved on the SD memorycard. The camera surveillance system is powered by a power bank. The result was a program that takes a photo when the sensors detect either infraredradiation or sound or changes in pixels from the camera image. The photo is ana-lyzed by the program to see if there are any birds in the photo. In the program it ispossible to set how many birds should be in the picture for it to start recording andsave the photo. Then a program was made that continuously detects if there arebirds in the camera image. When the required number of birds is in the camera im-age, the camera starts recording and then takes a photo.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / It is known that 33% of traffic accidents worldwide are caused by drunk driving or drowsiness [1] [2], so a drowsiness level detection system that integrates image processing was developed with the use of Raspberry Pi3 with the OpenCV library; and sensors such as MQ-3 that measures the percentage of alcohol and the S9 sensor that measures the heart rate. In addition, it has an alert system and as an interface for the visualization of the data measured by the sensors a touch screen. With the image processing technique, facial expressions are analyzed, while physiological behaviors such as heart rate and alcohol percentage are measured with the sensors. In image test training you get an accuracy of x in a response time of x seconds. On the other hand, the evaluation of the operation of the sensors in 90% effective. So the method developed is effective and feasible. / Revisión por pares

Mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPK), such as ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK and phosphatidylinositol-3 phosphate kinase (PI-3K) play a major role in the development of cardiac hypertrophy. Recently, we have shown their crucial role in the regulation of the myocardial function through their effects on crucial ion channels. It is the focus of this study to resolve the interaction between these pathways and its implication on the function of the normal and hypertrophied cardiomyocytes. To that end, we created arteriovenous fistula in the adult rat that developed volume-overload eccentric cardiac hypertrophy over a 3-week period. We measured the relative activity of ERK1/2, p38 MAPKs and Akt through western blot analysis and assessed the functional density of the outward rectifier potassium current (IK) using the patch-clamp technique. The results showed a mutual negative autoregulation between ERK1/2 and p38 in normal cardiomyocytes, which disappears during cardiac hypertrophy. In addition, PI-3K seems to assume a greater role in mediating IGF-1 effects on the MAPKs during cardiac hypertrophy. This was also relevant to IK functional density which was reduced by activation of both MAPKs and Akt by angiotensin II (ANG II) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), respectively; however, this reduction was reversed by inhibition of PI-3K alone in hypertrophied myocytes but not in normal ones. This raises an important implication relative to the role of IGF-1-dependent activation of PI-3K, which may translate into a differential prognostic for cardiac hypertrophy among ethnic groups. This is true in African Americans, having higher circulating IGF-1 levels, and especially true for the athletes among them.

Äldre personer utgör en ökande del av samhällets population. I det allt mer digitala samhället blir teknisk kompetens nära ett måste för att ha förutsättningarna att hänga med. Allt mer komplexa apparater för att utföra något som tidigare kändes enkelt riskerar att utöka klyftan mellan den digitala och den analoga användaren. Cirka 40% av de äldre använder inte sig av internet idag, varav en fjärdedel på grund av att det uppfattas som för krångligt. I studien undersöker vi i vilken mån ett video-kommunikationsverktyg i form av en Raspberry Pi prototyp kan underlätta kommunikation för äldre personer, både med eller utan tidigare teknisk erfarenhet. Vi jämför några befintliga videosamtalsprogram för att välja det som lämpar sig bäst på en Raspberry Pi, utifrån prestanda och enkelhet att använda. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer undersöker vi huruvida verktyget möter de äldres behov, hur respondenterna håller kontakt med sin omgivning, samt hur deras tekniska erfarenhet ser ut. Resultaten av studien tyder på att utveckling av äldreanpassade system bör ha två grupper i åtanke, de som har tidigare datorvana och de som saknar detta. Utvecklingen utifrån enkelhet att använda skedde på en kostnad av funktionalitet. Detta ledde till att prototypen endast kunde möta behoven hos de utan datorvana, då de med tidigare datorvana kände behov av utökad funktionalitet. / Older people are an increasing part of the population of society. In the increasingly digital society, technical competence becomes close to a must in order to keep up. Increasingly complex devices to perform something that previously felt easy risks expanding the gap between the digital and the analog user. Approximately 40% of older people do not use the internet today, of which a quarter because it is perceived as too complicated. In the study, we investigate to what extent a video communication prototype developed for a Raspberry Pi can easen communication for elderly, both with or without prior technical experience. We compare existing video calling software to choose one that best suits a Raspberry Pi, based on performance and ease of use. Through qualitative interviews, we investigate whether the prototype meets the needs of the elderly, how the respondents maintain social contact, and the extent of their technical experience. The results of the study shows that development of systems for use of elderly should consider two different groups, those that have prior experience of computers and those who do not. The development of the prototype was based solely on simplicity of use, which was achieved at a cost of its functionality. This led to the prototype only being able to meet the needs of those who had no prior experience of computers, since more advanced users felt a need for broader functionality.

Shigella are bacteria that are responsible for millions of infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths every year. The emergence of antibiotic resistant Shigella adds to the potentially devastating effect that these bacteria can have on human health. Shigella flexneri utilize specialized molecular machinery called the Type III secretion system to infect humans and cause disease. Research of this machinery promises to provide the knowledge, tools, and direction for the development of new avenues to combat shigellosis. This dissertation presents studies of two Shigella proteins, invasion plasmid antigens C and D (IpaC and IpaD). These proteins are part of a syringe and needle like protein structure that allows Shigella to secrete proteins directly into the host that hijack host cells to benefit support Shigella infections. IpaC and IpaD are part of a protein tip complex that is directly involved in these Shigella-host (e.g. human) interactions. We have advanced the biochemical tools for the in vitro study of IpaC by utilizing a new way to isolate it. This purification methodology allowed us to look at one of IpaC’s main roles, to interact with the host cell membranes. We examined IpaC’s role and tried to identify the parts of IpaC responsible for some specific interactions. We found that the parts of IpaC we believed were responsible were not but that the composition of the membrane IpaC is interacting with is more important than we previously believed. Finally, we examined a rare part of IpaD structure to determine its role. We determined that this rare feature is required for IpaD to sense Shigella’s host environment and prepare the bacteria to infect, making a promising target for anti-infective treatments against Shigella infections. Our findings advance the understanding of key molecular mechanisms that are required for Shigella virulence. We expect that our findings will aid future researchers as the pursuit for new treatments for shigellosis continues.

No description available.

In this study, two new Multi-Objective Optimization (MOO) techniques are developed. The two new techniques, the Objective-Based Gradient Algorithm (OBGA) and the Principal Component Grid Algorithm (PCGA), were developed with the goals of improving the accuracy and efficiency of the Pareto domain approximation relative to current MOO techniques. Both methods were compared to current MOO techniques using several test problems. It was found that both the OBGA and PCGA systematically produced a more accurate Pareto domain than current MOO techniques used for comparison, for all problems studied. The OBGA requires less computation time than the current MOO methods for relatively simple problems whereas for more complex objective functions, the computation time was larger. On the other hand, the efficiency of the PCGA was higher than the current MOO techniques for all problems tested. The new techniques were also applied to complex chemical engineering problems. The OBGA was applied to an industrial reactor producing ethylene oxide from ethylene. The optimization varied four of the reactor input parameters, and the selectivity, productivity and a safety factor related to the presence of oxygen in the reactor were maximized. From the optimization results, recommendations were made based on the ideal reactor operating conditions, and the control of key reactor parameters. The PCGA was applied to a PI controller model to develop new tuning methods based on the Pareto domain. The developed controller tuning methods were compared to several previously developed controller correlations. It was found that all previously developed controller correlations showed equal or worse performance than that based on the Pareto domain. The tuning methods were applied to a fourth order process and a process with a disturbance, and demonstrated excellent performance.

Two indole-based squaraine dyes bonded to two pyrenyl groups through vinyl- and ethynyl- linkers were synthesized with the aim of enhancing the intramolecular charge transfer interaction in addition to improving their optical properties. The absorption and emission properties of these derivatives were determined in order to gain an insight into the intensity of this type of interaction, their aggregation behavior and compare them with results obtained through quantum chemical calculations. Both compounds presented high photochemical stability in THF, and the linear spectroscopic characterization revealed high extinction coefficients, large fluorescence quantum yields and relatively low tendency of forming excimers in several solvents. The nonlinear spectroscopic study revealed two-photon absorption cross section maxima greater than 10,000 GM (1 GM = 1 × 10-50 cm4 s/photon), which are improved values in comparison with the indole-based squaraine core. The experimental results were compared with time-dependent DFT calculations. These observations propose a new trend in the formulation of highly absorbing organic molecules containing pyrenyl groups for the development of new materials with Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) applications. Moreover, this work contributes to the study of intramolecular charge transfer interaction and its tailoring for the improvement of the linear and nonlinear optical properties.