Semantic annotation of narrative media objects

This paper addresses the annotation of the narrative features of media objects. Based on a relevant narratological and computational background, we introduce an ontology?Cbased model called Drammar, an annotation schema for the narrative features of media objects based on Drammar and a software tool, Cinematic, for annotating these objects and validating the annotation. Annotated media objects can also be automatically edited into sequences, with the twofold goal of testing the validity of the annotation??through the reconstruction of the baseline sequence??and exploring the possibility of alternative sequences. The software tool encodes both the narrative model and the annotation itself in ontological format, and relies on external ontologies for representing world knowledge and limit the arbitrariness of the annotation. The paper opens the way to the design of a general annotation schema for narrative multimedia with the long?Cterm goal of building large corpora of annotated video material and of bridging the gap between the low?Clevel signal analysis and the high?Clevel semantic representation of the narrative content of the media objects. Finally, the paper illustrates a few projects elaborated with the Drammar annotation and the Cinematic tool, with purposes of artistic research and cross?Cmedia analysis, that provide an empirical validation of the annotation process.     

On arginine-based polyurethane-blends specific to vascular prostheses

Polymer blends based on Tecoflex™ and an experimental aliphatic polyurethane (HMDI-PCL-arginine stands for 4,4 (metylene-biscyclohexyl) isocyanate - poly (ε caprolactone) diol, SPUUR stands for segmented poly(urea)urethanes using amino acid of L-Arginine as chain extender) were obtained by solvent casting, and further studied by fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Their biological performances were assessed in terms of hemocompatibility and Human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) cytotoxicity. Tensile properties of dumbbell specimens were compared to longitudinal and circumferential tensile properties of tubular vascular graft. FTIR showed that as the SPUUR content increased in the blend, absorptions at 2860 cm⁻¹ increased, carbonyl absorptions at 1724 cm⁻¹ broaden and the small peak at 2796 cm⁻¹, typical of Tecoflex™ disappeared. Raman spectroscopy showed that the low intensity carbonyl absorption at 1724 cm⁻¹ also increased with SPUUR content. DSC allowed detection of PCL soft segment melting (T_m = 50°C) in agreement with X-ray reflections at 21.3° and 23.6°, assigned to SPUUR. However, no improvements in thermal stability were detected by TGA by blending. The addition of SPUUR to Tecoflex™ improved hemocompatibility and HUVEC cytotoxicity. The vascular grafts performance showed that 40% SPUUR blends exhibited the highest force in the longitudinal test whereas 50% SPUUR blends showed the highest circumferential force. Pressure burst strength was higher than 1000 mmHg for all blends. Overall, these blends can be used for high caliber vascular grafts.     

Gauging food and nutritional care quality in hospitals

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Food and nutritional care quality must be assessed and scored, so as to improve health institution efficacy. This study aimed to detect and compare actions related to food and nutritional care quality in public and private hospitals. METHODS: Investigation of the Hospital Food and Nutrition Service (HFNS) of 37 hospitals by means of structured interviews assessing two quality control corpora, namely nutritional care quality (NCQ) and hospital food service quality (FSQ). HFNS was also evaluated with respect to human resources per hospital bed and per produced meal. RESULTS: Comparison between public and private institutions revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the number of hospital beds per HFNS staff member (p = 0.02) and per dietitian (p < 0.01). The mean compliance with NCQ criteria in public and private institutions was 51.8% and 41.6%, respectively. The percentage of public and private health institutions in conformity with FSQ criteria was 42.4% and 49.1%, respectively. Most of the actions comprising each corpus, NCQ and FSQ, varied considerably between the two types of institution. NCQ was positively influenced by hospital type (general) and presence of a clinical dietitian. FSQ was affected by institution size: large and medium-sized hospitals were significantly better than small ones. CONCLUSIONS: Food and nutritional care in hospital is still incipient, and actions concerning both nutritional care and food service take place on an irregular basis. It is clear that the design of food and nutritional care in hospital indicators is mandatory, and that guidelines for the development of actions as well as qualification and assessment of nutritional care are urgent.     

Labyrinth 3D. Cultural archetypes for exploring media archives

Since the advent of the World Wide Web, online media archives have changed their audience from a restricted number of professionals and amateurs to the general public. This shift is not without consequences: if, on the one side, it represents an important opportunity for archives to engage in a dialogue with a larger audience, on the other side, it advocates novel forms of access that go beyond the highly specialized models underlying traditional access tools. In this paper, we propose to use 3-D graphics for designing novel tools of exploratory search in cultural heritage archives. Our approach has been deployed as an online virtual environment where the user can navigate the meaning relations over the items in the archive. Targeted at cultural heritage, the application, called Labyrinth 3D, relies on the use of cultural archetypes to inform the conceptualization of the archive and the creation of the virtual environment, with the goal of engaging the user in the exploration of the archive through the creation of personal paths.     

The adsorption of an epoxy acrylate resin on aluminium alloy conversion coatings

A thermodynamic study of the adsorption of an epoxy acrylate resin used for UV-cured coatings on two different anticorrosion pretreatments on aluminium alloys relevant to aerospace industry has been undertaken. Aluminium alloy Al2219 specimens, treated with an inorganic chromate based conversion coating (Alodine 1200S) and an organic titanium based conversion coating (Nabutan STI/310), were immersed in solutions of different concentrations of the resin and adsorption isotherms were determined by assessing the uptake of the adsorbate, as a function of solution concentration, by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). The results show different behaviour for the two substrates, which can be attributed to the organic component of the titanium based coating. In the case of the inorganic conversion coating a clear plateau is achieved at relatively low concentrations and at a lower level of adsorption than for the hybrid coating. The data for both the coatings conform well to the Langmuir model, the organic coating, as well as showing a higher level of adsorption of the resin, also presents oscillatory behaviour at low concentration, which is shown to be complementary to the behaviour of the reactive diluent included with the epoxy acrylate to aid processing. A discussion of this competitive adsorption of the epoxy resin and the diluent on the different substrates is presented, based on considerations of the chemistry of the systems under investigation.     

On the Ontological Status of Plans and Norms

This article describes an ontological model of norms. The basic assumption is that a substantial part of a legal system is grounded on the concept of agency. Since a legal system aims at regulating a society, then its goal can be achieved only by affecting the behaviour of the members of the society. We assume that a society is made up of agents (which can be individuals, institutions, software programs, etc.), that agents have beliefs, goals and preferences, and that they commit to intentions in order to choose a line of behaviour. The role of norms, within a legal system, is to specify how and when the chosen behaviour agrees with the basic principles of the legal system. In this article, we show how a model based on plans can be the basis for the ontological representation of norms, which are expressed as constraints on the possible plans an agent may choose to guide its behaviour. Moreover, the paper describes how the proposed model can be linked to the upper level of a philosophically well-founded ontology (DOLCE); in this way, the model is set in a wider perspective, which opens the way to further developments.     

The canonical processes of a dramatized approach to information presentation

This paper describes the application “Carletto the spider” in terms of the mapping with the canonical processes of media production. “Carletto the spider” is a character-based guide to a historical site and implements the Dramatour approach for the design of drama-based interactive presentations. Dramatization makes presentations more engaging, thus improving the reception of the content by the user. The major technical issue of the approach is the segmentation of the presentation into audiovisual units that are edited on-the-fly in a way that guarantees dramatic continuity while adapting to the user response. We describe the workflow of the application and its mapping to the canonical processes of media production, envisaging possible standardizations for the application portability.     

Fat globule membranes in ewes' milk: The main enzyme activities during lactation

A trial was carried out on seven Massese ewes, from which individual milk samples were taken during lactation. All the enzyme activities investigated (oxidase activity of xanthine oxidoreductase, gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase, alkaline phosphatase and 5′-nucleotidase) were affected by the lactation phase, with the exception of the dehydrogenase activity of xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR). A higher oxidase activity (XO) of XOR was found when the diameter of milk fat globules was smaller. In addition, the absence of XO in colostrum led to the hypothesis that its antibacterial role is independent of its activity. The increase in alkaline phosphatase activity during lactation requires further research to better define the criteria for pasteurised sheep milk.     

Temporal and spatial trends of perfluorinated compounds in ringed seal (Phoca hispida) from Greenland

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and related compounds, have been identified as global pollutants and have shown their bioaccumulation into higher trophic levels in the food chain. PFCs have been found in remote areas far from sources, such as the Arctic. In this study spatial and temporal trends in the concentrations of selected PFCs were measured using archived liver samples of ringed seal (Phoca hispida) from East and West Greenland. The samples were collected in four different years at each location, between 1986 and 2003 in East Greenland and between 1982 and 2003 in West Greenland. PFOS was the major contributor to the burden of PFCs in samples, followed by perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnA). Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA) were also detected in most samples. Perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) and perfluorooctane sulfonamide (PFOSA) were only found sporadically. Perfluorooctanoic acid was not found in detectable concentrations in any sample. Regression analysis of logarithmic transformed PFOS, PFDA, and PFUnA median concentrations indicated a significant temporal trend with increasing concentrations at both locations. A spatial trend in PFOS concentrations (ANOVA, p < 0.0001) was observed between the two sampling locations, with significantly higher concentrations in seals from East Greenland.