Identification of new epidemiological molecular markers by comparative proteomics of serogroup A meningococcal isolates from three pandemic waves

We previously described the first reference map for the proteome of one strain of serogroup A Neisseria meningitidis (MenA), a major cause of epidemic meningitis in humans. As a preliminary finding, in that work we noted that 2‐DE protein maps of closely related MenA isolates from different epidemics spreads could be easily compared to detect minor differences and that 2‐DE phenotypes attributable to the well‐known epidemiological marker tbpB agreed with the genoclouds model of MenA epidemiological variation during pandemic waves. We explored here the possibility that an extended comparative study of 2‐DE maps of isolates representative of the nine genoclouds described by Achtman and collaborators could be used to discriminate between strains otherwise undistinguishable. We showed the example of 14 proteins with different 2‐DE spot patterns in different genoclouds that could be considered as putative tracers for alike‐strains discrimination. We introduce the novel concept that comparative proteomics can be useful in identifying new epidemiological markers for N. meningitidis.     

一种利用ABR业务保证多媒体传输基本质量的方法

在ATM网络中利用可用比特率(ABR)业务支持多媒体传输具有流量管理上的优势.该文提出了利用可用比特率(ABR)业务保证多媒体通讯基本服务质量的机制,并给出相应的支持算法.     

Measurement of oocyte temporal maturation process by means of a simple optical micro-system

We present a simple optical micro-system used to measure the transmission spectra of oocytes in order to qualify their maturation stage. Two applications of the device are possible: (i) the evaluation of the maturation stages of oocytes, and (ii) the development of a fertilization indicator. For the first application, GV, MI and MII oocytes were also analysed. Transmission spectra allow the 3 maturation stages to be identified but cannot be used to estimate the maturity of an unknown oocyte. Oocytes are subject to continuous development. This is why spectral separation of the 3 maturation stages cannot be made although they can be visually identified. However, the visual observation remains biologist-dependent. We therefore investigated the temporal maturation evolution of the oocytes in terms of transmission spectra and probability analysis. Results show that oocytes to be fertilized should not only be chosen in the MII stage, but also at the right time during the MII stage. This particular aspect requires further investigation. However, spectral measurements could be used as a technique for monitoring the maturation evolution of the oocytes. Fertilized oocytes exhibiting fertilization abnormalities were also tested. The device proved to be an efficient fertilization indicator.     

融合描述文档结构和参引特征的Web 服务发现

首先分析研究Web服务描述文档(WSDL文档)的两大特征——结构特征和参引特征,然后根据各个特征对Web服务功能语义描述的影响,提出相应的Web服务表示模型——多向量表示模型.区别于通用文本表示模型,该模型能够显式地表示Web服务描述文档的本质特征.其中,结构特征语义表现在多向量空间的划分上,参引特征语义映射到子向量模型中特征权重的计算上.提出了基于多向量模型的Web服务相似度计算方法,并实现了基于该模型的Web服务发现原型系统.最后,在真实Web服务描述文档集合上构造了一个具有不完全相关性判断且涵盖了1576个WSDL文档的Web服务发现测试集,并在该测试集上进行了基于多向量模型的Web服务发现实验评估.实验结果表明,基于多向量模型的Web服务发现方法的检索效果比基于简单文本向量空间模型发现方法的检索效果在95%的置信度下有了显著提高.     

扩展OSPF协议实现VPN拓扑自动发现的方法

随着IP数据通信技术的不断发展和新技术的涌现,许多设备制造商提出基于运营商网络的VPN解决方案,然而这种解决方案却增加了网络管理的复杂性,它使得运营商的PE设备需要了解其支持的每个VPN的全部路由信息,因此一个可运营的VPN解决方案必须引入VPN成员站点自动发现的机制。本文提供了一种通过扩展OSPF协议来传递网络中的VPN信息并完成拓扑学习的方法和实现。通过本文提供的方法,不仅可以快速、准确的完成VPN的拓扑学习,还可以快速、准确的获得VPN拓扑结构的动态变化。     

Discovery of functional protein groups by clustering community links and integration of ontological knowledge

In this paper we cluster data from protein networks and integrate the results with chemical databases and ontologies to investigate functional links between related disease states. It is well know that certain genes participate in more than one function and if they are defective are likely to be responsible for several health problems. Furthermore, genes tend to cooperate in associated networks or cascades often with ’crosstalk’ between networks which can subtly alter cellular functions. Understanding the complexity and role of the various cell functions and mechanisms requires the use of computational models to make inferences and link together the interplay between genes, proteins and chemical interactions. A deeper understanding of the mechanisms of diseases will eventually be of benefit for the development new and improved therapies. The particular disease state we investigate in this work is cystinosis which is characterized by the widespread deposition of the amino acid cystine in cells due to a defect in cystine transport. In cystinosis, cystine accumulates in the lysosomes and eventually forms crystals throughout the body causing problems in the kidneys and the eyes. The defect is caused by a mutation in the CTNS gene and this forms the starting point for our investigation.     

Determination of meat quality by texture analysis

We describe a method of determining meat quality using the concepts of “marbling score” and texture analysis. The marbling score is a measure of the distribution density of fat in the rib-eye region. In this system, we consider the marbling of meat as a texture pattern. We use a gray level cooccurrence matrix as a texture feature and make standard texture–feature vectors for each grade using it. The grade of an unevaluated image is determined by comparing the texture–feature vector of this unevaluated image with the standard texture–feature vectors. Experimental results show that the system is effective.     

Discovery of potent inhibitor for matrix metalloproteinase-9 by pharmacophore based modeling and dynamics simulation studies

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is an attractive target for anticancer therapy. In the present study ligand based pharmacophore modeling was performed to elucidate the structural elements for a diverse class of MMP-9 inhibitors. The pharmacophore model was validated through Güner-Henry (GH) scoring method. The final pharmacophore model consisted of three hydrogen bond acceptors (HBA), and two ring aromatic regions (RA). This model was utilized to screen the natural compound database to seek novel compounds as MMP-9 inhibitors. The identified hits were validated using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies. Finally, one compound named Hinokiflavone from Juniperus communis had high binding free energy of −26.54 kJ/mol compared with the known inhibitors of MMP-9. Cytotoxicity for hinokiflavone was evaluated by MTT assay. Inhibition of MMP-9 in the presence of hinokiflavone was detected by gelatin zymography and gelatinolytic inhibition assay. Results revealed that the natural compounds derived based on the developed pharmacophore model would be useful for further design and development of MMP-9 inhibitors.     

The evaluation of hospital service quality by fuzzy MCDM

This study applies the Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) to evaluate the service quality of some Turkish hospitals. In general the service quality has abstract properties, which mean that using the previously known measurement approach is insufficient. It is for this reason that the fuzzy set theory is adopted as a research template. In Istanbul, Turkey, there are four B class hospitals classed as private hospitals that are covered by the Social Security Institution (SSI) and for which we propose to represent the service performance measurement using triangular fuzzy numbers. In this study, importance weights of performance criteria are found with AHP. Then, the Multiple Criteria Decision Making methods TOPSIS and Yager's min-max approach are applied to find and rank the crisp performance values. In a second step, an aggregation of performance criteria with OWA and Compensatory AND operators are looked at instead of the TOPSIS method and min-max approach. Thereby numerical applications are supplied by the four methods and the obtained results are compared.     

A comparative study on subjective feeling of engine acceleration sound by automobile types

To achieve marketing success, automobile companies are constantly striving to develop design elements that can create effective experiences for customers and establish their brand identity. Among the various design elements, engine sound is an important feature, which has been widely studied to understand the subjective feeling of the sound quality. This study aims to identify the representative affective variables of engine acceleration sound based on different vehicle types, and analyze their relation with psychoacoustic parameters. Affective adjectives were collected from previous researches and used to evaluate the engine acceleration sounds of different vehicle types, including 14 sedan cars and 10 sports cars, which were selected for the experiment. The third gear wide open throttle sounds of each automobile were recorded and evaluated by 36 adults. To quantify the representative affective variables, four psychoacoustic parameters namely loudness, sharpness, roughness, and tonality were utilized. The results showed there are two representative affective variables namely “comfort” and “sportiness”, which are significantly different across the vehicle types. The regression models for the affective variables showed distinct differences in the vehicle types. Furthermore, the results showed that the subjective feelings for engine acceleration sound depends on the vehicle type. The results of this research can be used to develop engine acceleration sounds that optimize subjective feelings for various vehicle types.     

Assessing the visual quality of sanitary ware by fuzzy logic

Quality control systems focus on maintaining standards in manufactured products. To improve the homogeneity of batches received by final users and to detect manufacturing defaults, a visual control stage is integrated into production line before the packing operation. At this stage, the products are inspected, mostly by human eye, for their obvious external defects; e.g., chips, cracks, scratches, holes and pitting, lumps, spots, notches, and glazing. This task is often referred to as visual inspection which is important to categorize the final products into quality-constant batches. Prototypes are of invaluable help while inspecting the visual attributes of products. Visual quality of products is assessed with respect to these standard units and some quality ratings are made there on the results. However, assessing visual quality is somewhat an ambiguous and troublesome work. Therefore, it will be helpful to utilize a decision making technique, such as fuzzy logic, to facilitate and improve the process. This paper addresses first to the significance of visual inspection and assessment of visual quality of industrial products, and second, gives a unique application of visual quality assessment of vitreous china ceramic sanitary wares by using fuzzy logic method.     

Adolescents' response to parental Facebook friend requests: The comparative influence of privacy management,parent-child relational quality,attitude and peer influence

Smartphones greatly reduce parents' ability to monitor their children's online activities. A recommended surveillance technique is to ‘friend’ adolescents on social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook. However, adolescents use these sites to experiment with adjusting their self-image based on friends' feedback, so is it possible for them to simultaneously satisfy the very different expectations of both peers and parents? This study explores adolescents' attitudes to parental presence on Facebook using Communications Privacy Management theory (Petronio, 2002) as the theoretical framework to investigate the relative influence of privacy management, relational quality and peer pressure. The study was conducted among 262 secondary school children living at home and recruited via their schools. Results showed that while privacy management and peer influence were significantly related to adolescent attitudes to parental presence on Facebook, only attitude to parental presence on Facebook and parental-adolescent relational quality predicted friendship status. A picture emerged of adolescents very much in control of their SNS privacy who were largely indifferent to parents on Facebook. There was however, a sizable, peer-influenced minority, opposed to parental presence, for whom friendship may be counter-productive. While this study uncovered many unique associations relating to adolescent-parental Facebook friendship, further qualitative research is recommended to provide a deeper understanding of this complex subject.