Search

Next generation sequencing technologies have noticeably improved in the last decade. Time and cost of whole genome sequencing are important challenges that must be reduced, opening unprecedented opportunities to various research and development areas. The alignment or mapping of small reads produced by sequencing machines to reference genomes of billions of nucleotides is a fundamental task in this sequencing process. It is computationally highly demanding and has become the bottleneck of the DNA analysis process. This paper proposes hardware acceleration based on FPGA of the Myers bit-parallelized algorithm, appropriately modified to be used in the extend stage of DNA alignment tools. The proposed design can be employed in conjunction with software functions, as it constitutes an extremely fast heterogeneous DNA alignment system. The implementation results show a speedup of up to 1 1 0 × relative to a sequential implementation only in software. In addition, due to the limited use of FPGA resources and the modular design, multiple modules can be used to completely populate the chip, further increasing the computing speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given its characteristics, augmented reality (AR) is presented as an alternative resource in a virtual learning environment (VLE) by providing virtual elements in the real world, which can facilitate learning. This article aims to describe the development of a mobile application with guided AR under the fundamentals of User-Centered Design (UCD) in order to be integrated into a VLE. The development strategy consisted of using the UCD and in its phases making use of tools such as: surveys for the collection of information, Quality Function Deployment to identify and prioritize requirements, AR technology for prototyping and finally usability tests to identify design problems. As a result, it was possible to demonstrate the viability of this procedure in the development of interfaces of this type, considering that the resources that contextualize the needs and tastes of its users can provide better facilities and motivation within their learning. The case study studied is that of English for primary school children, which allowed verifying that this detailed framework can be replicated to other areas of interest and allow teachers to integrate AR applications in face-to-face or online learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing worldwide energy demand requires the design and construction of increasingly efficient generation systems. In satisfying this need, control schemes play an essential role. Having a system that allows experimental evaluation of their performance is key. In the case of wind energy, one possible control strategy is pitch regulation, which is used in variable pitch wind turbine systems. This paper presents the results of the design and construction of a testing bench for carrying out the experimental evaluation of control strategies for pitch regulated small wind turbines. Rotor operation and pitch regulation were ascertained through wind tunnel testing. Rotors start moving with winds of 3.5 m/s. PI and fuzzy controllers were implemented and tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]