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.     

Network Externalities,Incumbent’s Competitive Advantage and the Degree of Openness of Software Start-Ups

This paper proposes a formal model that analyzes the degree of openness chosen by start-ups when entering the software industry. In line with the literature, we label as degree of openness the extent to which software start-ups mix open source (OS) and proprietary solutions in the portfolio of software products they offer. We relate the choice of the degree of openness to two key characteristics of the market segments in which software start-ups operate: the strength of the network externalities and the competitive advantage of the incumbent. Specifically, by modelling (price) competition between an incumbent and an entrant in two ways, i.e., the entrant is price-setter or price-taker, we derive the necessary condition(s) in terms of the strength of network externalities for observing the adoption of a business model that comprises the offering of both proprietary and OS solutions by the entrant (i.e., hybrid business model). Then, we highlight that, if a hybrid business model is the choice, the degree of openness chosen in equilibrium increases along with both the strength of the network externalities and the competitive advantage of the incumbent. This result holds indifferently whether the software start-up is modelled as a price-setter or a price-taker. An empirical test run on a sample of European start-ups in the software industry supports these theoretical predictions.     

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.     

Reversible Fragmentation and Self‐Assembling of Nematic Liquid Crystal Droplets on Functionalized Pyroelectric Substrates

Investigation on the behavior of nematic liquid crystals on functionalized polar dielectric crystal substrates is accomplished. Very interesting effects can be observed in maneuvering liquid crystal droplets on the substrate surface, driven by electric fields generated by pyroelectric effect. Reversible drops fragmentation and self‐assembling in different configurations can be achieved. The dynamics of the observed phenomena is studied and the repeatability of the process is full assessed.     

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.     

High eEF1A1 Protein Levels Mark Aggressive Prostate Cancers and the In Vitro Targeting of eEF1A1 Reveals the eEF1A1–actin Complex as a New Potential Target for Therapy

Although the eukaryotic elongation factor eEF1A1 plays a role in various tumours, there is little information on its prognosis/therapeutic value in prostate carcinoma. In high-grade and castration-resistant prostate carcinoma (CRPC), the identification of novel therapeutic markers/targets remains a priority. The expression of eEF1A1 protein was determined in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded prostate cancer and hyperplasia tissue by IHC. The role of eEF1A1 was investigated in a cellular model using a DNA aptamer (GT75) we previously developed. We used the aggressive CRPC cancer PC-3 and non-tumourigenic PZHPV-7 lines. Cytotoxicity was measured by the MTS assay and eEF1A1 protein levels by in-cell Western assays. The mRNA levels of eEF1A1 were measured by qPCR and ddPCR. Higher expression of eEF1A1 was found in Gleason 7–8 compared with 4–6 tissues (Gleason ≥ 7, 87% versus Gleason ≤ 6, 54%; p = 0.033). Patients with a high expression of eEF1A1 had a worse clinical outcome. In PC-3, but not in PZHPV-7, GT75 decreased cell viability and increased autophagy and cell detachment. In PC-3 cells, but not in PZHPV-7, GT75 mainly co-localised with the fraction of eEF1A1 bound to actin. Overexpression of the eEF1A1 protein can identify aggressive forms of prostate cancer. The targeting of eEF1A1 by GT75 impaired cell viability in PC-3 cancer cells but not in PZHPV-7 non-tumourigenic cells, indicating a specific role for the protein in cancer survival. The eEF1A1–actin complexes appear to be critical for the viability of PC-3 cancer cells, suggesting that eEF1A1 may be an attractive target for therapeutic strategies in advanced forms of prostate cancer.     

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.     

A strategic laboratory approach for the performance investigation of geogrids in flexible pavements

Nowadays, the increasing request in terms of road transport makes maintenance and rehabilitation of road infrastructures key tasks for road engineering. In recent years, numerous products/materials have been introduced on the market and can be used in combination or singly in order to extend pavement life and guarantee high performance. Among them, geosynthetics can play different roles in pavement structures, such as draining, reinforcement, filtering, separation, protection, and proofing. This research focuses on the validation of a strategic laboratory approach for the study of the mechanical performance of reinforced systems used in flexible pavements, combining repeated loading cycles in a four-point bending configuration with interlayer shear tests. This method can be used in further research analysis to compare unreinforced and reinforced double-layered systems. The results obtained in this investigation showed that the fiberglass grid used provides a relevant contribution to the performance of the asphalt concrete system studied.