MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL COMPUTER SCIENCE
cod. 12880

Academic year 2008/09
1° year of course - First semester
Professor
Academic discipline
Bioingegneria elettronica e informatica (ING-INF/06)
Field
Formazione interdisciplinare
Type of training activity
Related/supplementary
27 hours
of face-to-face activities
3 credits
hub: -
course unit
in - - -

Integrated course unit module: APPLIED PHYSICS

Learning objectives

Purpose is to provide basic knowledge, terminology, and selected practical skills for appropriate use of computer systems in the context of Veterinary Sciences.

Prerequisites

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Course unit content

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*COURSE INTRODUCTION*<br />
Role of computer-related skills in Veterinary Sciences and Veterinary profession. Talking properly about computers. Distance learning systems. The teaching web portal of the University of Parma.<br />
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*COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE FUNDAMENTALS*<br />
Computer system components. The program-in-memory principle. Von Neumann architecture. Instruction interpretation. Instruction set. Memory hierarchy. Moore's Law, CPU evolution and implications of ICT development. Data representation. Number system and alfanumeric representations.<br />
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*OPERATING SYSTEMS*<br />
Operating systems definition, classifications and functions. Processor management. Main memory management. I/O peripherals managment. File management.<br />
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*SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS*<br />
Algorithms and flow-charts. General architecture of software applications. User interface, business logic, and database roles. Spreadsheets. Open source software and its development model.<br />
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*COMPUTER NETWORKS AND THE WEB*<br />
Introduction to computer networks. Internet: architecture and protocols. Wireless networks. Data transfer. Web navigation. E-mail. Newsgroups. Search engines. Advanced techniques for information search. Tools for bibliographic research, including Google Scholar, Pubmed and Mesh. Bibliographic databases for Veterinary Sciences. Safety and security issues in computer systems.<br />
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*MULTIMEDIA*<br />
Introduction to HTML for designing personal web pages. Managing images, movie clips, and sound files.

Full programme

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Bibliography

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<br />
L. Snyder, “Fluency - Conoscere e usare l'informatica”, Pearson Education, 2006. Translated from "Fluency with Information Technology: Skills, Concepts, and Capabilities", 2nd or 3rd edition, Addison-Wesley, 2006-08.<br />
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Lecture notes are available at the teaching web portal of the University of Parma: http://corsi.unipr.it<br />
Access requires university-provided credentials. Next, select School of Medicine, and finally select this course.

Teaching methods

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Assessment methods and criteria

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Other information

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