BiOSS: A system for biomedical ontology selection

In biomedical informatics, ontologies are considered a key technology for annotating, retrieving and sharing the huge volume of publicly available data. Due to the increasing amount, complexity and variety of existing biomedical ontologies, choosing the ones to be used in a semantic annotation problem or to design a specific application is a difficult task. As a consequence, the design of approaches and tools addressed to facilitate the selection of biomedical ontologies is becoming a priority. In this paper we present BiOSS, a novel system for the selection of biomedical ontologies. BiOSS evaluates the adequacy of an ontology to a given domain according to three different criteria: (1) the extent to which the ontology covers the domain; (2) the semantic richness of the ontology in the domain; (3) the popularity of the ontology in the biomedical community. BiOSS has been applied to 5 representative problems of ontology selection. It also has been compared to existing methods and tools. Results are promising and show the usefulness of BiOSS to solve real-world ontology selection problems. BiOSS is openly available both as a web tool and a web service.     

CRUDi framework proposal: financial industry application

The alignment of information systems with the business goals of an organisation, although a topic of great importance, is not always properly valued or taken into consideration. In general, managers have different opinions to chief information officers (CIOs) in relation to IS, especially with regard to their importance and value to the business and also in terms of investment needs. Here, we discuss and study new approaches to methods and tools for assessing the relative importance of each information system to business, focusing on the financial sector including banks and insurance companies. We suggest the introduction of new key indicators for better decision support and to identify investment priorities, and present results regarding the relative importance of each process to support the business strategy. The primary goal for the inherent research project is to analyse the main problems and difficulties encountered by IS and IT managers, featuring different players and how they relate. The main contributions of this work are the CRUDi framework as a tool to improve alignment between business and IS strategies and the CRUDi survey and its results qualifying the financial sector's opinion regarding the relative importance of processes and investments.     

Nickel Activation for Hydrogenolysis Reaction on USY Zeolite

The effects of the SAR (14 and 38) and of the methodology of introduction of nickel (wetness impregnation and ion exchange) on catalyst activation were investigated in Ni/USY model catalysts submitted to two activation treatments: reduction (A) and reduction/calcination/reduction, successively (B). the catalysts prepared by wetness impregnation, a marked increase in the catalytic activity after treatment B was observed. On the basis of the catalyst efficiency toward ethane hydrogenolysis, the lower SAR catalyst presents a threefold higher activity. On the contrary, the catalysts prepared by ion exchange, as well as a model catalyst prepared by wetness impregnation over a USY exhaustively exchanged with nickel ions, do not present measurable increasing of the catalytic activity under the same activation conditions. Monitoring the catalyst activation by EXAFS indicates the formation of nickel clusters in the impregnated catalysts after activation treatment B, which should be responsible for the high catalytic activity. However, TEM images reveal a bimodal particle size distribution, with large (ca. 20 nm) and small nickel particles. Temperature-programmed reduction performed under the same conditions of catalyst activation suggests that only the small nickel particles are activated under the experimental conditions adopted in this work.     

Update on the pharmacology of Spirulina (Arthrospira), an unconventional food

Spirulina (Arthrospira), a filamentous, unicellular alga, is a cyanobacterium grown in certain countries as food for human and animal consumption. It is also used to derive additives in pharmaceuticals and foods. This alga is a rich source of proteins, vitamins, amino acids, minerals, and other nutrients. Its main use, therefore, is as a food supplement. Over the last few years, however, it has been found to have many additional pharmacological properties. Thus, it has been experimentally proven, in vivo and in vitro that it is effective to treat certain allergies, anemia, cancer, hepatotoxicity, viral and cardiovascular diseases, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, immunodeficiency, and inflammatory processes, among others. Several of these activities are attributed to Spirulina itself or to some of its components including fatty acids omega-3 or omega-6, beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, phycocyanin, phenol compounds, and a recently isolated complex, Ca-Spirulan (Ca-SP). This paper aims to update and critically review the results published over the last few years with regards to these properties. The conclusion is that even if this cyanobacterium has been one of the most extensively studied from the chemical, pharmacological and toxicological points of view, it is still necessary to expand the research in order to have more consistent data for its possible use in human beings.     

Synthesis and Polymerization of Cationic bis(cyclopentadienyliron)arene Complexes Containing Arylazo Dyes

The synthesis of the title complexes was achieved via the reaction of -p-dichlorobenzene- -cyclopentadienyliron cations with 4,4′-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)valeric acid to produce the diiron complexes which were then reacted with a number of arylazo dyes to give cationic bis(cyclopentadienyliron)arene complexes containing the arylazo dyes. These iron-containing monomers were subsequently polymerized via nucleophilic aromatic substitution using 1,8-octanedithiol, 4,4′-thiobisbenzenethiol, or bisphenol A to produce the desired coloured cationic organoiron polymers. The weight – average molecular weights were estimated to range from 11,800 to 31,600. UV–vis studies conducted in dimethylformamide (DMF) showed that the metallated polymers exhibited of 412–491 nm. Addition of HCl to the polymer solution caused a bathochromic shift into the range of 515–530 nm. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that the iron moieties were cleaved between 205 and 248 °C while the polyether/thioether backbone degraded between 380 and 613 °C. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that the polymers exhibited glass transition temperatures (Tg) ranging from 106 to 184°C.This paper is dedicated to Professor Richard J. Puddephatt in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the field of metal-containing polymers.     

OpenCOPI: middleware integration for Ubiquitous Computing

In this paper, we present OpenCOPI (Open COntext Platform Integration), a Service-Oriented Architecture-based middleware platform that supports the integration of services provided by distinct sources, ranging from services offered by simple systems to more complex services provided by context-provision middleware. OpenCOPI offers selection and composition mechanisms to, respectively, select and compose services provided by different sources, considering applications of both Quality of Service and Quality of Context requirements. It also offers an adaptation mechanism that enables to adapt the application execution due to service failures, service quality fluctuation and user mobility. OpenCOPI allows the definition of applications in a higher abstraction level by the specification of a semantic workflow that contains abstract activities. This paper illustrates the use of OpenCOPI in an application from the Gas & Oil Industry and it also shows the evaluation of the main mechanisms of OpenCOPI: the service selection, composition, adaptation and workflow execution.     

Lithium disilicate glass produced at high pressure: Characterization of structural,thermal and mechanical properties

In this work, high-density lithium disilicate (LS₂) vitreous systems were produced by melting and quenching under high pressure (7.7 GPa) following two distinct experimental routes. In the first case, LS₂ glass was remelted at 7.7 GPa and 1600°C and, then, quenched. In the second case, a stoichiometric mixture of precursor oxides (Li₂O and SiO₂) was melted at 1600°C and 7.7 GPa before quenching. A reference LS₂ glass sample was produced at atmospheric pressure using conventional melting and quenching procedure. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, differential thermal analysis, and instrumented ultramicro hardness measurements. X-ray diffraction confirmed that all samples were amorphous and thermal analysis suggests that different glassy structures were produced depending on the route of synthesis. Hardness and elastic modulus of the glasses produced under high pressure were higher than those of the reference glass, reflecting the irreversible densification effect induced by the high-pressure processing.     

Evaluation of the removal of n-butanol vapor by the poly(lactic acid)-zeolite-TiO2 composite and formation of by-products

The use of polymeric films incorporated with zeolite-TiO₂ composites associated with UV radiation can be an alternative in the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) through the adsorption and photodegradation processes. This study produced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) films incorporated with 13× zeolite, TiO₂, and 13×-TiO₂ zeolite composite to remove n-butanol and evaluate the by-products generated in the process. The results showed that 13× zeolite and TiO₂ added individually or as a composite to PLA, gave the polymer matrix a significant increase in the removal capacity of n-butanol. The best performance was presented by the zeolite-TiO₂, composite, confirming a synergistic effect. However, the formation of CO and CO₂ exceeded the expected values, with the verification that the polymeric matrix underwent photodegradation action by TiO₂. The polymeric film only containing zeolite is the most suitable for the removal of VOCs, as it did not present degradation of the PLA, generating a lower concentration of by-products.