Combination of DROOL rules and Protégé knowledge bases in the ONTO-H annotation tool

ONTO-H is a semi-automatic collaborative tool for the semantic annotation of documents, built as a Protégé 3.0 tab plug-in. Among its multiple functionalities aimed at easing the document annotation process, ONTO-H uses a rule-based system to create cascading annotations out from a single drag and drop operation from a part of a document into an already existing concept or instance of the domain ontology being used for annotation. It also gives support to the detection of name conflicts and instance duplications in the creation of the annotations. The rule system runs on top of the open source rule engine DROOLS and is connected to the domain ontology used for annotation by means of an ad-hoc programmed Java proxy

Understanding the potential for marine megafauna entanglement risk from renewable marine energy developments

PublishedThis is the final version of the article. Available from the Scottish National Heritage via the link in this record.Commissioned Report No. 791 Project no: 14635 Contractor: Scottish Association for Marine Science Research Services Ltd and the University of Exeter Year of publication: 2014Scottish Natural Heritag

Multi-target visual search organisation across the lifespan:cancellation task performance in a large and demographically stratified sample of healthy adults

Accurate tests of cognition are vital in (neuro)psychology. Cancellation tasks are popular tests of attention and executive function, in which participants find and 'cancel' targets among distractors. Despite extensive use in neurological patients, it remains unclear whether demographic variables (that vary among patients) affect cancellation performance. Here, we describe performance in 523 healthy participants of a web-based cancellation task. Age, sex, and level of education did not affect cancellation performance in this sample. We provide norm scores for indices of spatial bias, perseverations, revisits, processing speed, and search organisation. Furthermore, a cluster analysis identified four cognitive profiles among participants, characterised by many omissions (N=18), many revisits (N=18), relatively poor search organisation (N=125), and relatively good search organisation (N=362). Thus, patient scores pertaining to search organisation should be interpreted cautiously: Given the large proportion of healthy individuals with poor search organisation, disorganised search in patients might be pre-existing rather than disorder-related

A complementary method for detecting qi vacuity

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Qi vacuity (QV) is defined by traditional Chinese medicine as a loss of energy in the human body. An objective method for detecting QV was not available until recently, however. The automatic reflective diagnosis system (ARDK) is a device that detects human bioenergy through measuring skin conductance at 24 special acupoints on the wrists and ankles.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study used the ARDK to measure skin conductance on 193 patients with QV and 89 sex- and age-matched healthy controls to investigate whether the device is useful in detecting QV. Patients diagnosed with QV have three or more of five symptoms or signs; symptom severity is measured on 5 levels and scored from 0 to 4 points. We compared the difference in the mean ARDK values between patients with QV and healthy controls, and further used linear regression analysis to investigate the correlation between the mean ARDK values and QV scores in patients diagnosed with QV.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean ARDK values in patients with QV (30.2 ± 16.8 μA) are significantly lower than those of healthy controls (37.7 ± 10.8 μA; <it>P </it>< 0.001). A negative correlation was found between the mean ARDK values and QV scores (<it>r </it>coefficient = -0.61; <it>P </it>< 0.001). After adjusting for age, the decreased mean ARDK values in patients with QV showed a significant correlation with the QV scores.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results suggest that the mean ARDK values reflect the severity of QV in patients diagnosed with the disorder. They also suggest that the bioenergy level of the human body can be measured by skin conductance. ARDK is a safe and effective complementary method for detecting and diagnosing QV.</p

A search asymmetry for interocular conflict

When two different images are presented to the two eyes, the percept will alternate between the images (a phenomenon called binocular rivalry). In the present study, we investigate the degree to which such interocular conflict is conspicuous. By using a visual search task, we show that search for interocular conflict is near efficient (15 ms/item) and can lead to a search asymmetry, depending on the contrast in the display. We reconcile our findings with those of Wolfe and Franzel (1988), who reported inefficient search for interocular conflict (26 ms/item) and found no evidence for a search asymmetry. In addition, we provide evidence for the suggestion that differences in search for interocular conflict are contingent on the degree of abnormal fusion of the dissimilar images

Measurement of Receptor-Activated Phosphoinositide Turnover in Rat Brain: Nonequivalence of Inositol Phosphate and CDP-Diacylglycerol Formation

Two methods for the measurement of receptor-activated phosphoinositide turnover were evaluated for their degree of correspondence in slices of rat brain; they involved the Li + -dependent accumulations of either [ 3 H]-inositol-labeled inositol phosphates or [ 3 H]cytidine-labeled CDP-diacylglycerol. In contrast to the expectation that the ratio of these two responses would remain approximately constant, varying degrees of correspondence were obtained. The two extremes are exemplified by carbachol, which elicited large increases in both inositol phosphate and CDP-diacylglycerol labeling, and endothelin, which gave a robust inositol phosphate response with little or no accumulation of 3 H-CDP-diacylglycerol. No instance of the presence of the latter response in the absence of 3 H-inositol phosphate accumulation was observed. Measurement of 3 H-CDP-diacylglycerol accumulation thus may add additional insight into the regulation of phosphoinositide turnover and the complex actions of Li + .Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66135/1/j.1471-4159.1993.tb03258.x.pd

Factors associated with use of breast cancer screening services by women aged ≥ 40 years in Korea: The Third Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005 (KNHANES III)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite evidence that breast cancer screening reduces morbidity and mortality, until recently most women have not undergone regular mammogram examinations in Korea. We aimed to identify factors associated with use of breast cancer screening services.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Health Promotion Knowledge, Attitude and Practice survey (HP-KAP survey) is part of the Third Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005 (KNHANES III), a nationwide health survey in Korea. Of 7,802 individuals who participated in the HP-KAP survey, 4,292 were female. Of these, 2,583 were women aged at least 40 years and without a history of breast cancer; these women were included in this study. Information about breast cancer screening participation was obtained from the responses to questionnaires. The overall rate of regular breast cancer screening was measured. Factors that affect participation in a breast cancer screening program were identified using multiple logistic regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among women aged at least 40 years, 30.4% complied with breast screening recommendations. Age of at least 65 years (adjusted odds ratio, aOR 0.61, 95% CI: 0.42-0.88), education level (no [ref], elementary school [aOR 1.51, 95% CI: 1.06-1.47], middle/high school [aOR 1.99, 95% CI: 1.36-2.92], university/higher [aOR 2.73, 95% CI: 1.71-4.35]), private health insurance (aOR 1.42, 95% CI: 1.71-4.35), attitude towards screening tests (aOR 0.18, 95% CI: 0.14-0.23), self-reported health status of 'fair' (aOR 1.26 95% CI: 1.00-1.58), and smoking (aOR 0.52, 95% CI: 0.35-0.79) were associated with the rate of regular breast cancer screening</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To increase the nationwide breast cancer screening rate, more attention should be given to underrepresented groups, particularly the elderly, those with a low education level, smokers, and those with a negative attitude towards screening tests. These issues highlight the need for a new emphasis in health education, promotional campaigns and public health policy aimed at these underrepresented groups.</p

Regulatory modules function in a non-autonomous manner to control transcription of the mbp gene

Multiple regulatory modules contribute to the complex expression programs realized by many loci. Although long thought of as isolated components, recent studies demonstrate that such regulatory sequences can physically associate with promoters and with each other and may localize to specific sub-nuclear transcription factories. These associations provide a substrate for putative interactions and have led to the suggested existence of a transcriptional interactome. Here, using a controlled strategy of transgenesis, we analyzed the functional consequences of regulatory sequence interaction within the myelin basic protein (mbp) locus. Interactions were revealed through comparisons of the qualitative and quantitative expression programs conferred by an allelic series of 11 different enhancer/inter-enhancer combinations ligated to a common promoter/reporter gene. In a developmentally contextual manner, the regulatory output of all modules changed markedly in the presence of other sequences. Predicted by transgene expression programs, deletion of one such module from the endogenous locus reduced oligodendrocyte expression levels but unexpectedly, also attenuated expression of the overlapping golli transcriptional unit. These observations support a regulatory architecture that extends beyond a combinatorial model to include frequent interactions capable of significantly modulating the functions conferred through regulatory modules in isolation

Eye contact avoidance in crowds: A large wearable eye-tracking study

Eye contact is essential for human interactions. We investigated whether humans are able to avoid eye contact while navigating crowds. At a science festival, we fitted 62 participants with a wearable eye tracker and instructed them to walk a route. Half of the participants were further instructed to avoid eye contact. We report that humans can flexibly allocate their gaze while navigating crowds and avoid eye contact primarily by orienting their head and eyes towards the floor. We discuss implications for crowd navigation and gaze behavior. In addition, we address a number of issues encountered in such field studies with regard to data quality, control of the environment, and participant adherence to instructions. We stress that methodological innovation and scientific progress are strongly interrelated