Class Conditional Nearest Neighbor for Large Margin Instance Selection

This paper presents a relational framework for studying properties of labeled data points related to proximity and labeling information in order to improve the performance of the 1NN rule. Specifically, the class conditional nearest neighbor (ccnn) relation over pairs of points in a labeled training set is introduced. For a given class label c, this relation associates to each point a its nearest neighbor computed among only those points with class label c (excluded a). A characterization of ccnn in terms of two graphs is given. These graphs are used for defining a novel scoring function over instances by means of an information-theoretic divergence measure applied to the degree distributions of these graphs. The scoring function is employed to develop an effective large margin instance selection method, which is empirically demonstrated to improve storage and accuracy performance of the 1NN rule on artificial and real-life data sets.     

Influence of the cultivar on the organic acid and sugar composition of potatoes

BACKGROUND: Citric, malic, tartaric, oxalic, ascorbic, aconitic and fumaric acids, and sucrose, fructose and glucose, were determined in ten potato cultivars (Azucena negra, Bonita, Bonita negra, Borralla, Colorada de baga, Mora, Negra, Palmera lagarteada, Peluca blanca and Terrenta) from the Canary Islands in order to differentiate them. The influence of the production zone was also considered. RESULTS: Citric acid and sucrose were the most abundant organic acid and sugar, respectively. There were significant differences in all the analysed sugars and organic acids between the potato cultivars, except for oxalic and malic acids. Differences associated with the production zone were found in the contents of organic acids for some cultivars. Linear discriminant analysis is a useful tool to differentiate the potato samples according to the cultivar and the zone of production. CONCLUSIONS: Seven organic acids (citric, oxalic, malic, tartaric, aconitic, fumaric, and ascorbic acids) were identified and quantified in potatoes. The main sugars (sucrose, glucose and fructose) were also determined. The genetic information of the cultivars determines marked differences in sugars and organic acid contents among the analysed potato cultivars. The soil and climatic conditions affect the organic acid and sugar contents of some potato cultivars. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

Change in the Physicochemical Properties of Nanocrystalline Powder Based on ZrO2 in the Presence of a Mineralizing Agent

The change in physicochemical properties of nanocrystalline powder of the composition ZrO₂ ― 3 mole% Y₂O₃ in the presence of aluminum fluoride is studied. The starting powder is prepared by a complex method including elements of hydrothermal synthesis and sol-gel technology. It is established that these conditions expand the temperature limits for the existence of ZrO₂ monoclinic solid solution. Transformation is connected with adsorption of fluorine at the ZrO₂ surface, diffusion in the solid phase, and a reduction in anion vacancy concentration.

     

Simplified microenvironments and reduced cell culture size influence the cell differentiation outcome in cellular microarrays

Cellular microarrays present a promising tool for multiplex evaluation of the signalling effect of substrate-immobilized factors on cellular differentiation. In this paper, we compare the early myoblast-to-osteoblast cell commitment steps in response to a growth factor stimulus using standard well plate differentiation assays or cellular microarrays. Our results show that restraints on the cell culture size, inherent to cellular microarrays, impair the differentiation outcome. Also, while cells growing on spots with immobilised BMP-2 are early biased towards the osteoblast fate, longer periods of cell culturing in the microarrays result in cell proliferation and blockage of osteoblast differentiation. The results presented here raise concerns about the efficiency of cell differentiation when the cell culture dimensions are reduced to a simplified microspot environment. Also, these results suggest that further efforts should be devoted to increasing the complexity of the microspots composition, aiming to replace signalling cues missing in this system.     

Architects and non-architects: differences in perception of property design

This study is an analysis of the perceptions of experts and non-experts in the building industry concerning a series of real estate promotions in the city of Valencia (Spain). Differential semantics were used to obtain a set of 7 dimensions or affective responses which users employ to assess real estate offerings. Two global evaluations were obtained, differentiating between purchase for residential or investment purposes. The fieldwork was done on a sample of 160 individuals (80 architects and 80 non-architects) who were asked to give their opinion on physical stimuli which included information from real estate promotion advertising brochures. Linear regression was used to estimate 4 predictive models to estimate overall customer assessment of a given offering based on an evaluation of different dimensions or affective responses. The results show different responses in both groups and for the two global assessment variables. Differential semantics appears to be a good instrument for measuring the subjective component of consumers’ emotional states. It is an emotional design technique which provides information on the emotions an object generates by capturing the affective meaning the user attaches to it.     

Sn2P2S6 films for memory devices with nondestructive readout

The polarization switching processes of ferroelectric polycrystalline Sn₂P₂S₆ films on Al substrates were studied. The effect of full reverse spontaneous switching after the influence of a repolarizing pulse on the prepoled sample was investigated. This opens the way for making the ferroelectric memory devices with rapid nondestructive readout.     

SPECTRAL METHODS FOR HISTORICAL PAPER ANALYSIS: COMPOSITION AND AGE APPROXIMATION

The research has been focusing on some connection between the chemical composition of the papers obtained by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and the nature of the fillers, determined by energy dispersion X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectroscopy. The present paper corroborates the FTIR and EDXRF results obtained for some historical papers from books of the XIX-th and XX-th centuries, from private collections. These analytical results allowed a first approximation of technological paper composition and of the age determination of the samples. This analytical method can elaborate some properly methods for paper documents preservation, taking into account the aging and degradation processes of the historical paper.     

Training of panellists for the sensory control of bottled natural mineral water in connection with water chemical properties

As bottled mineral water market is increasing in the world (especially in emergent and developed countries), the development of a simple protocol to train a panel to evaluate sensory properties would be a useful tool for natural drinking water industry. A sensory protocol was developed to evaluate bottled natural mineral water (17 still and 10 carbonated trademarks). The tasting questionnaire included 13 attributes for still water plus overall impression and they were sorted by: colour hues, transparency and brightness, odour/aroma and taste/flavour/texture and 2 more for carbonated waters (bubbles and effervescence). The training lasted two months with, at least, 10 sessions, was adequate to evaluate bottled natural mineral water. To confirm the efficiency of the sensory training procedure two sensory groups formed the whole panel. One trained panel (6 persons) and one professional panel (6 sommeliers) and both participated simultaneously in the water tasting evaluation of 3 sample lots. Similar average scores obtained from trained and professional judges, with the same water trademarks, confirmed the usefulness of the training protocol. The differences obtained for trained panel in the first lot confirm the necessity to train always before a sensory procedure. A sensory water wheel is proposed to guide the training in bottled mineral water used for drinking, in connection with their chemical mineral content.     

Cross-informant symptoms from CBCL, TRF, and YSR: Trait and method variance in a normative sample of Russian youths.

A large community-based sample of Russian youths (n = 841, age M = 13.17 years, SD = 2.51) was assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist (mothers and fathers separately), Teacher's Report Form, and Youth Self-Report. The multiple indicator-version of the correlated trait-correlated method minus one, or CT-C(M ? 1), model was applied to analyze (a) the convergent and divergent validity of these instruments in Russia, (b) the degree of trait-specificity of rater biases, and (c) potential predictors of rater-specific effects. As expected, based on the published results from different countries and in different languages, the convergent validity of the instruments was rather high between mother and father reports, but rather low for parent, teacher, and self-reports. For self- and teacher reports, rater-specific effects were related to age and gender of the children for some traits. These results, once again, attest to the importance of incorporating information from multiple observers when psychopathological traits are evaluated in children and adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)