Integration of linked open data in case-based reasoning systems

This paper discusses the opportunities of integrating Linked Open Data (LOD) resources into Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) systems. Upon the application domain travel medicine, we will exemplify how LOD can be used to fill three out of four knowledge containers a CBR system is based on. The paper also presents the applied techniques for the realization and demonstrates the performance gain of knowledge acquisition by the use of LOD

Knowledge modelling with the open source tool myCBR

Building knowledge intensive Case-Based Reasoning applications requires tools that support this on-going process between domain experts and knowledge engineers. In this paper we will introduce how the open source tool myCBR 3 allows for flexible knowledge elicitation and formalisation form CBR and non CBR experts. We detail on myCBR 3 's versatile approach to similarity modelling and will give an overview of the Knowledge Engineering workbench, providing the tools for the modelling process. We underline our presentation with three case studies of knowledge modelling for technical diagnosis and recommendation systems using myCBR 3

Deriving case base vocabulary from web community data

This paper presents and approach for knowledge extraction for Case-Based Reasoning systems. The recent development of the WWW, especially the Web 2.0, shows that many successful applications are web based. Moreover, the Web 2.0 offers many experiences and our approach uses those experiences to fill the knowledge containers. We are especially focusing on vocabulary knowledge and are using forum posts to create domain-dependent taxonomies that can be directly used in Case-Based Reasoning systems. This paper introduces the applied knowledge extraction process based on the KDD process and explains its application on a web forum for travelers

Adapting Columbus Operations and Providing a Basis for Future Endeavours

On 15th December 2015, Timothy Peake – the 4th ESA astronaut in 20 months – headed into orbit for a 6-month stay on the ISS. The British astronaut's "Principia" mission holds many interesting tasks, not only for Tim Peake himself (he performed an EVA on 15th January 2016) but also for the teams on the ground. One of the most exciting activities was the second session of the Airway Monitoring experiment, which again included an experiment run in the US airlock under coordination of the Columbus Control Centre (Col-CC). Besides that, there were many other experiments, such as EML, PK4, DOSIS and Meteron, and also the transition to new NASA tools (e.g. WebAD) was done in this period. Since the establishment of ESA's new setup in July 2015, Col-CC has been working together with all its partners to define the new interfaces, exploit new possibilities, and define in detail the tasks for the operations teams. Besides the ongoing work to monitor and command Columbus, support the ESA experiments on the ISS, as well as supporting the ESA astronaut himself, Col-CC is looking forward towards potential future tasks and challenges. Based on many years of experience in human space flight, an initial study was launched to investigate some of the challenges of human space flight activities beyond Earth orbit. One of these challenges is the delay of communication transmissions experienced over long distances. Until now, all our human space flight operations have been based on (near) real-time communications to monitor and control the spacecraft. This paper describes the results of our study investigating the necessary changes to current operations in the case of long-distance communications. Example procedures are assessed on their reliance on real-time communications and thus how current operations would be impacted by transmission delays. Methods are proposed to make the procedures tolerant to delays, and enable operations to use these procedures for deep space missions

The homeodomain transcription factor Orthopedia is involved in development of the Drosophila hindgut

Background The Drosophila hindgut is commonly used model for studying various aspects of organogenesis like primordium establishment, further specification, patterning, and morphogenesis. During embryonic development of Drosophila, many transcriptional activators are involved in the formation of the hindgut. The transcription factor Orthopedia (Otp), a member of the 57B homeobox gene cluster, is expressed in the hindgut and nervous system of developing Drosophila embryos, but due to the lack of mutants no functional analysis has been conducted yet. Results We show that two different otp transcripts, a hindgut-specific and a nervous system-specific form, are present in the Drosophila embryo. Using an Otp antibody, a detailed expression analysis during hindgut development was carried out. Otp was not only expressed in the embryonic hindgut, but also in the larval and adult hindgut. To analyse the function of otp, we generated the mutant otp allele otpGT by ends-out gene targeting. In addition, we isolated two EMS-induced otp alleles in a genetic screen for mutants of the 57B region. All three otp alleles showed embryonic lethality with a severe hindgut phenotype. Anal pads were reduced and the large intestine was completely missing. This phenotype is due to apoptosis in the hindgut primordium and the developing hindgut. Conclusion Our data suggest that Otp is another important factor for hindgut development of Drosophila. As a downstream factor of byn Otp is most likely present only in differentiated hindgut cells during all stages of development rather than in stem cells

Effect of flosulide, a selective cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitor, on passive Heymann nephritis in the rat

Effect of flosulide, a selective cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitor, on passive Heymann nephritis in the rat.BackgroundNonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) induce an inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX), an enzyme that makes prostaglandins. Two isoforms of COX exist: COX-1 represents the constitutively expressed enzyme, whereas COX-2 is the inducible isoform. This study investigated the role of COX-2 in the inflammatory processes of the kidneys of rats with passive Heymann nephritis (PHN), and focused of the effect of a selective COX-2 inhibitor, flosulide. COX-2–selective inhibitors are thought to represent potent anti-inflammatory agents without major renal side effects.MethodsPHN was induced by injecting heterologous Fx1A antiserum into female Wistar rats. Two treatment groups, each consisting of 12 rats with PHN, received either 3 or 9 mg of flosulide/kg body wt/day and were compared with untreated controls. After four weeks, the generation of thromboxane B2 (TxB2) and 6-keto-PGF1α were determined in renal tissue and in urine. COX-2 protein expression was investigated by Western blotting using a selective antibody.ResultsRats with PHN exhibited a marked proteinuria of 71 ± 8 mg/24 hr as compared with 2.0 ± 0.3 mg/24 hr in healthy controls (P < 0.01). Treatment with flosulide reduced the proteinuria to 26.1 ± 9 mg/24 hr at 3 mg flosulide/kg body wt/day and 35.5 ± 6 mg/24 hr at 9 mg/kg body wt/day, which was equivalent to a reduction of proteinuria by a maximum of 65% (P < 0.05). This was accompanied by an increase in glomerular TxB2 from 3073 ± 355 to 5255 ± 1041 pg/mg glomerular protein and 6-keto-PGF1α from 1702 ± 161 to 2724 ± 770 pg/mg glomerular protein in rats with PHN. COX-2 protein expression was also highly elevated in comparison to healthy controls. Low-dose flosulide treatment had no effect on COX protein expression and renal prostaglandin formation. High-dose flosulide treatment reduced renal prostaglandin production and caused a marked decline in COX-1 and COX-2 protein expression. Urine prostanoid excretion remained unchanged in all therapeutic groups. There was a small though significant reduction in renal creatinine clearance from 0.86 ml ± 0.2/min in untreated controls to 0.6 ml ± 0.1/min in flosulide-treated rats with PHN (P < 0.01) after four weeks.ConclusionsUnder the influence of flosulide, a highly COX-2–selective inhibitor, we observed an antiproteinuric drug effect. The inflammation in PHN induced COX-2 protein expression that was not affected by low-dose flosulide. COX-1 and COX-2 protein expression was affected by high-dose flosulide, which therefore might lose its selectivity. High-dose flosulide induced a decrease in glomerular prostanoid production possibly because of COX-1 inhibition. Our results suggest that the therapeutic use of flosulide in proteinuria seems advantageous and deserves further studies because the basal prostaglandin levels remain unchanged in the low-dose–treated group, indicating that the compensatory capacity of prostaglandin production, which is essential for the regulation of renal hemodynamics, is maintained

SEASALTexp - an explanation-aware architecture for extracting and case-based processing of experiences from internet communities

This paper briefly describes SEASALTexp, an extension of the application-independent SEASALT architecture (Sharing Experience using an Agent-based explanation-aware System Architecture LayouT), which offers knowledge acquisition from Internet communities, knowledge modularisation, and agent-based knowledge maintenance complemented with agent-based explanation facilities

Catalytic asymmetric synthesis of the alkaloid (+)-myrtine

A new protocol for the asymmetric synthesis of trans-2,6-disubstituted-4-piperidones has been developed using a catalytic enantioselective conjugate addition reaction in combination with a diastereoselective lithiation–substitution sequence; an efficient synthesis of (+)-myrtine has been achieved via this route.

Der Arbeitsmarkt 1992 und 1993 in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

In dem Beitrag wird gezeigt, wie sich der Arbeitsmarkt in West- und Ostdeutschland 1992 entwickelt hat, mit welcher Arbeitskräftenachfrage, welchem Arbeitskräfteangebot und welcher Arbeitsmarktbilanz 1993 gerechnet werden kann und inwiefern arbeitsmarktpolitische Maßnahmen der Bundesanstalt für Arbeit entlastend wirken. Im Anhang wird die Entwicklung der Erwerbstätigkeit nach Wirtschaftsabteilungen in Ost- und Westdeutschland sowie die Beschäftigungssituation im öffentlichen Dienst der neuen Bundesländer beschrieben. (IAB)Arbeitsmarktentwicklung, Beschäftigungsentwicklung, Arbeitslosigkeit, Arbeitskräfteangebot, Arbeitskräftenachfrage, Arbeitsmarktpolitik, Wirtschaftszweige, öffentlicher Dienst, Arbeitsvolumen, Arbeitsproduktivität, Erwerbspersonenpotenzial, Westdeutschland, Ostdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Electric Vehicle Fleet Integration in the Danish EDISON Project:A Virtual Power Plant on the Island of Bornholm

The Danish EDISON project has been launched to investigate how a large fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) can be integrated in a way that supports the electric grid while benefitting both the individual car owners and society as a whole through reductions in CO 2 emissions. The consortium partners include energy companies, technology suppliers and research laboratories and institutes. The aim is to perform a thorough investigation of the challenges and opportunities of EVs and then to deliver a technical platform that can be demonstrated on the Danish island of Bornholm. To reach this goal, a vast amount of research is done in various areas of EV technology by the partners. This paper will focus on the ICT-based distributed software integration, which plays a major role for the success of EDISON. Key solution technologies and standards that will accommodate communication and optimize the coordination of EVs will be described as well as the simulation work that will help to reach the goals of the project