Use of scenario evaluation in preparation for deployment of a collaborative system for knowledge transfer - the case of KiMERA

This paper presented an approach for the evaluation of a collaborative system, after the completion of system development and software testing but before its deployment. Scenario and collaborative episodes were designed and data collected from users role-playing. This was found to be a useful step in refining the user training, in setting the right level of user expectation when the system started to roll-out to real users and in providing feedback to the development team

Exact algorithms to minimize interference in wireless sensor networks

AbstractFinding a low-interference connected topology is a fundamental problem in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The problem of reducing interference through adjusting the nodes’ transmission radii in a connected network is one of the most well-known open algorithmic problems in wireless sensor network optimization. In this paper, we study minimization of the average interference and the maximum interference for the highway model, where all the nodes are arbitrarily distributed on a line. First, we prove that there is always an optimal topology with minimum interference that is planar. Then, two exact algorithms are proposed. The first one is an exact algorithm to minimize the average interference in polynomial time, O(n3Δ), where n is the number of nodes and Δ is the maximum node degree. The second one is an exact algorithm to minimize the maximum interference in sub-exponential time, O(n3ΔO(k)), where k=O(Δ) is the minimum maximum interference. All the optimal topologies constructed are planar

Analysis of telephone network traffic based on a complex user network

The traffic in telephone networks is analyzed in this paper. Unlike the classical traffic analysis where call blockings are due to the limited channel capacity, we consider here a more realistic cause for call blockings which is due to the way in which users are networked in a real-life human society. Furthermore, two kinds of user network, namely, the fully-connected user network and the scale-free network, are employed to model the way in which telephone users are connected. We show that the blocking probability is generally higher in the case of the scale-free user network, and that the carried traffic intensity is practically limited not only by the network capacity but also by the property of the user network.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, accepted for Physica

Формування політичних інститутів в країнах Центральної Азії в умовах незалежності

Останні досягнення і соціально-економічні успіхи країн Центральної Азії, що отримали незалежність з розпадом СРСР ґрунтуються на багатьох чинниках, серед яких, у першу чергу, проведення ефективних економічних реформ, становлення середнього класу і формування зрілого суспільства

Genetic partitioning of interleukin-6 signalling in mice dissociates Stat3 from Smad3-mediated lung fibrosis

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal disease that is unresponsive to current therapies and characterized by excessive collagen deposition and subsequent fibrosis. While inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-6, are elevated in IPF, the molecular mechanisms that underlie this disease are incompletely understood, although the development of fibrosis is believed to depend on canonical transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signalling. We examined bleomycin-induced inflammation and fibrosis in mice carrying a mutation in the shared IL-6 family receptor gp130. Using genetic complementation, we directly correlate the extent of IL-6-mediated, excessive Stat3 activity with inflammatory infiltrates in the lung and the severity of fibrosis in corresponding gp130757F mice. The extent of fibrosis was attenuated in B lymphocyte-deficient gp130757F;µMT−/− compound mutant mice, but fibrosis still occurred in their Smad3−/− counterparts consistent with the capacity of excessive Stat3 activity to induce collagen 1α1 gene transcription independently of canonical TGF-β/Smad3 signalling. These findings are of therapeutic relevance, since we confirmed abundant STAT3 activation in fibrotic lungs from IPF patients and showed that genetic reduction of Stat3 protected mice from bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis

(An)Isotropic models in scalar and scalar-tensor cosmologies

We study how the constants $G$ and $\Lambda$ may vary in different theoretical models (general relativity with a perfect fluid, scalar cosmological models (\textquotedblleft quintessence\textquotedblright) with and without interacting scalar and matter fields and a scalar-tensor model with a dynamical $\Lambda$) in order to explain some observational results. We apply the program outlined in section II to study three different geometries which generalize the FRW ones, which are Bianchi \textrm{V}, \textrm{VII}$_{0}$ and \textrm{IX}, under the self-similarity hypothesis. We put special emphasis on calculating exact power-law solutions which allow us to compare the different models. In all the studied cases we arrive to the conclusion that the solutions are isotropic and noninflationary while the cosmological constant behaves as a positive decreasing time function (in agreement with the current observations) and the gravitational constant behaves as a growing time function

Sarcocystis nesbitti causes acute, relapsing febrile myositis with a high attack rate: Description of a large outbreak of muscular sarcocystosis in Pangkor Island, Malaysia, 2012

Background: From the 17th to 19th January 2012, a group of 92 college students and teachers attended a retreat in a hotel located on Pangkor Island, off the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Following the onset of symptoms in many participants who presented to our institute, an investigation was undertaken which ultimately identified Sarcocystis nesbitti as the cause of this outbreak. Methodology/Principal Findings: All retreat participants were identified, and clinical and epidemiological information was obtained via clinical review and self-reported answers to a structured questionnaire. Laboratory, imaging and muscle biopsy results were evaluated and possible sources of exposure, in particular water supply, were investigated. At an average of 9-11 days upon return from the retreat, 89 (97) of the participants became ill. A vast majority of 94 had fever with 57 of these persons experiencing relapsing fever. Myalgia was present in 91 of patients. Facial swelling from myositis of jaw muscles occurred in 9 (10) patients. The median duration of symptoms was 17 days (IQR 7 to 30 days; range 3 to 112). Out of 4 muscle biopsies, sarcocysts were identified in 3. S. nesbitti was identified by PCR in 3 of the 4 biopsies including one biopsy without observed sarcocyst. Non-Malaysians had a median duration of symptoms longer than that of Malaysians (27.5 days vs. 14 days, p = 0.001) and were more likely to experience moderate or severe myalgia compared to mild myalgia (83.3 vs. 40.0, p = 0.002). Conclusions/Significance: The similarity of the symptoms and clustered time of onset suggests that all affected persons had muscular sarcocystosis. This is the largest human outbreak of sarcocystosis ever reported, with the specific Sarcocystis species identified. The largely non-specific clinical features of this illness suggest that S. nesbitti may be an under diagnosed infection in the tropics

Measure representation and multifractal analysis of complete genomes

This paper introduces the notion of measure representation of DNA sequences. Spectral analysis and multifractal analysis are then performed on the measure representations of a large number of complete genomes. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the multifractal property of the measure representation and the classification of bacteria. From the measure representations and the values of the $D_{q}$ spectra and related $C_{q}$ curves, it is concluded that these complete genomes are not random sequences. In fact, spectral analyses performed indicate that these measure representations considered as time series, exhibit strong long-range correlation. For substrings with length K=8, the $D_{q}$ spectra of all organisms studied are multifractal-like and sufficiently smooth for the $C_{q}$ curves to be meaningful. The $C_{q}$ curves of all bacteria resemble a classical phase transition at a critical point. But the 'analogous' phase transitions of chromosomes of non-bacteria organisms are different. Apart from Chromosome 1 of {\it C. elegans}, they exhibit the shape of double-peaked specific heat function.Comment: 12 pages with 9 figures and 1 tabl