A robust web personal name information extraction system

Personal information extraction, which extracts the persons in question and their related information (such as biographical information and occupation) from web, is an important component to construct social network (a kind of semantic web). For this practical task, two important issues are to be discussed: personal named entity ambiguity and the extraction of personal information for a specific person. For personal named entity ambiguity, which is a common phenomenon in the fast growing web resource, we propose a robust system which extracts lightweight features with a totally unsupervised approach from broad resources. The experiments show that these lightweight features not only improve the performances, but also increase the robustness of a disambiguation system. To extract the information of the focus person, an integrated system is introduced, which is able to effectively re-use and combine current well-developed tools for web data, and at the same time, to identify the expression properties of web data. We show that our flexible extraction system achieves state-of-the-art performances, especially the high precision, which is very important for real applications.     

The impact of governance structure on firm performance: An application to the German water distribution sector

This paper investigates the impact of governance structure on firm performance (i.e., retail prices) using a database of 765 German water suppliers. Controlling for scale economies as well as technical and structural characteristics, we find that private sector participation is accompanied with higher retail prices. Furthermore, Eastern states on average feature higher prices mirroring significant investments during the past two decades as well as network over-dimension. Assuming that managers make strategic decisions (e.g., governance form) not randomly but rather decide based on expectations of how their choices affect future performance, we test for this self-selection applying a two-stage model.     

Measuring factors affecting grip strength in a Taiwan Chinese population and a comparison with consolidated norms

We inquire whether assessment of an individual's upper limb function may be improved by using specific regional norms rather than consolidated global norms. Grip strengths were measured in a sample of 482 adults across Taiwan, and compared with consolidated norms. To ensure comparable conditions, our procedures were those recommended by the American Society of Hand Therapists (ASHT). Overall the mean grip strength of our sample was significantly (male 25%, female 27%) lower than consolidated norms derived from largely Caucasian populations. We investigated variables that might relate to this divergence. Results of ANOVA and stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that gender, age and palm length were effective predictors in grip strength. A regression equation was derived. When other variables were matched, palm length appeared an important discriminating factor. Further anthropometric and socio-economic factors also need investigation. Specific regional norms should provide more accuracy for ergonomists and health workers assessing an individual's upper limb function, and may avoid errors in appraisal. This paper suggests grip strength values for Taiwan.     

Combined Use of Local and Global Hydro Meteorological Data with Hydrological Models for Water Resources Management in the Magdalena - Cauca Macro Basin – Colombia

Water Resources Management - Reanalysis and earth observation data have enormous potential to support water resources management, particularly in river basins where data availability is poor or...     

Judicial Application of Daubert to Psychological Syndrome and Profile Evidence: A Research Note.

The authors present previously unreported results from a nationwide survey (N=325) of state trial judges (S. I. Gatowski et al., 2001) that was conducted pre-Kumho. The authors report how the 1993 Daubert guidelines were applied to psychological syndrome and profile evidence, and the impact of the decision on the admissibility of such evidence. They found that judges' views of and experience with psychological testimony varied widely and that most judges neither understood nor applied the more technical Daubert guidelines, such as falsifiability and error rate, when assessing psychological evidence. Overall, the findings suggest that Daubert's impact on the admissibility of psychological syndrome and profile testimony is negligible and that most judges are more comfortable with pre-Daubert standards when this type of testimony is proffered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Flexible Bytecode for Linking in .NET

Dynamic linking in modern execution environments like .NET is considerably more sophisticated than in the days of C shared libraries on UNIX. One aspect of this sophistication is that .NET assemblies embed type information about dynamically linked resources.This type information implicitly represents compile-time assumptions about the resources available at run-time. However, the resources available at run-time may differ from those available at compile-time. For example, the execution environment on a mobile phone might provide fewer, simpler classes than on a desktop PC. As bytecode cannot adapt to its execution environment, component reuse is restricted and development costs are increased.We have designed and implemented a “flexible” dynamic linking scheme that binds bytecode as late as possible to the assemblies and classes available in a .NET execution environment. We describe the scheme's integration with the .NET linking infrastructure, review important design decisions and report on experiences with the “Rotor” shared source version of .NET.     

基于广义哈密顿系统理论的汽轮调速器分散无源控制

提出了一种预置功角反馈的方法，推导出多机系统汽轮机调速系统的广义受控哈密顿系统模型，进而在哈密顿结构的基础上进行无源化控制器的设计。控制策略的所有变量都是本地可量测的，只与本机组的状态量有关，与其他机组的状态量和输电网络的参数无关，因而具有分散性。4机系统仿真结果表明，该控制规律可以提高电力系统的暂态稳定性和动态性能。     

Multigene Profiling of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTCs) for Prognostic Assessment in Treatment-Naïve Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer (mHSPC)

The substantial biological heterogeneity of metastatic prostate cancer has hindered the development of personalized therapeutic approaches. Therefore, it is difficult to predict the course of metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC), with some men remaining on first-line androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for several years while others progress more rapidly. Improving our ability to risk-stratify patients would allow for the optimization of systemic therapies and support the development of stratified prospective clinical trials focused on patients likely to have the greatest potential benefit. Here, we applied a liquid biopsy approach to identify clinically relevant, blood-based prognostic biomarkers in patients with mHSPC. Gene expression indicating the presence of CTCs was greater in CHAARTED high-volume (HV) patients (52% CTC_high) than in low-volume (LV) patients (23% CTC_high; * p = 0.03). HV disease (p = 0.005, q = 0.033) and CTC presence at baseline prior to treatment initiation (p = 0.008, q = 0.033) were found to be independently associated with the risk of nonresponse at 7 months. The pooled gene expression from CTCs of pre-ADT samples found AR, DSG2, KLK3, MDK, and PCA3 as genes predictive of nonresponse. These observations support the utility of liquid biomarker approaches to identify patients with poor initial response. This approach could facilitate more precise treatment intensification in the highest risk patients.     

Inhibition effects and induction of apoptosis of flavonoids on the prostate cancer cell line PC-3 in vitro

Myricetin and myricitrin are naturally occurring flavonoids have been suggested to play a role in inhibition of proliferation and transformation of carcinogenic cell. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms of their activity have not yet to be revealed. The aim of the present study was to clarify the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis cell on the prostate cancer induced by myricetin, myricitrin, quercetin and quercitrin. The MTT assay confirmed that myricetin had the strongest inhibitory effect on human prostate cancer cell line PC-3, myricitrin was second, and quercitrin was the weakest. A noticeable synergistic effect was observed with the inhibition of cell proliferation when myricetin was used in combination with myricitrin. In the concentration range of 37.5–300 μmol/L, the inhibitory effects of these flavonoids were enhanced with increasing dose and treatment time. The acridine orange analysis and annexin V–FITC/PI double-staining results confirmed that myricetin and myricitrin were effective in inducing PC-3 cell apoptosis. The results showed that myricetin was more effective than myricitrin in inducing cell apoptosis. The apoptosis rate increased with increasing flavonoid concentration in a dose dependent manner. A synergistic effect was observed on the apoptosis rate when myricetin was used in combination with myricitrin.     

The effects of probiotics in lactose intolerance: A systematic review

Over 60 percent of the human population has a reduced ability to digest lactose due to low levels of lactase enzyme activity. Probiotics are live bacteria or yeast that supplements the gastrointestinal flora. Studies have shown that probiotics exhibit various health beneficial properties such as improvement of intestinal health, enhancement of the immune responses, and reduction of serum cholesterol. Accumulating evidence has shown that probiotic bacteria in fermented and unfermented milk products can be used to alleviate the clinical symptoms of lactose intolerance (LI). In this systematic review, the effectiveness of probiotics in the treatment of LI was evaluated using 15 randomized double-blind studies. Eight probiotic strains with the greatest number of proven benefits were studied. Results showed varying degrees of efficacy but an overall positive relationship between probiotics and lactose intolerance.