A visual tool for building logical data models of websites

Information sources over the WWW contain a large amount of data organized according to different interests and values. Thus, it is important that facilities are there to enable users to extract information of interest in a simple and effective manner. To do this, We propose the Wiccap Data Model, an XML data model that maps Web information sources into commonly perceived logical models, so that information can be extracted automatically according to users' interests. To accelerate the creation of data models, we have implemented a visual tool, called the Mapping Wizard, to facilitate and automate the process of producing Wiccap Data Models. Using the tool, the time required to construct a logical data model for a given website is significantly reduced

Domestication syndrome is investigated by proteomic analysis between cultivated cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) and its wild relatives

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) wild relatives remain a largely untapped potential for genetic improvement. However, the domestication syndrome phenomena from wild species to cultivated cassava remain poorly understood. The analysis of leaf anatomy and photosynthetic activity showed significantly different between cassava cultivars SC205, SC8 and wild relative M. esculenta ssp. Flabellifolia (W14). The dry matter, starch and amylose contents in the storage roots of cassava cultivars were significantly more than that in wild species. In order to further reveal the differences in photosynthesis and starch accumulation of cultivars and wild species, the globally differential proteins between cassava SC205, SC8 and W14 were analyzed using 2-DE in combination with MALDI-TOF tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 175 and 304 proteins in leaves and storage roots were identified, respectively. Of these, 122 and 127 common proteins in leaves and storage roots were detected in SC205, SC8 and W14, respectively. There were 11, 2 and 2 unique proteins in leaves, as well as 58, 9 and 12 unique proteins in storage roots for W14, SC205 and SC8, respectively, indicating proteomic changes in leaves and storage roots between cultivated cassava and its wild relatives. These proteins and their differential regulation across plants of contrasting leaf morphology, leaf anatomy pattern and photosynthetic related parameters and starch content could contribute to the footprinting of cassava domestication syndrome. We conclude that these global protein data would be of great value to detect the key gene groups related to cassava selection in the domestication syndrome phenomena

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Bio-Based Aromatic Epoxy Monomers for Thermoset Materials

The synthesis of polymers from renewable resources is a burning issue that is actively investigated. Polyepoxide networks constitute a major class of thermosetting polymers and are extensively used as coatings, electronic materials, adhesives. Owing to their outstanding mechanical and electrical properties, chemical resistance, adhesion, and minimal shrinkage after curing, they are used in structural applications as well. Most of these thermosets are industrially manufactured from bisphenol A (BPA), a substance that was initially synthesized as a chemical estrogen. The awareness on BPA toxicity combined with the limited availability and volatile cost of fossil resources and the non-recyclability of thermosets implies necessary changes in the field of epoxy networks. Thus, substitution of BPA has witnessed an increasing number of studies both from the academic and industrial sides. This review proposes to give an overview of the reported aromatic multifunctional epoxide building blocks synthesized from biomass or from molecules that could be obtained from transformed biomass. After a reminder of the main glycidylation routes and mechanisms and the recent knowledge on BPA toxicity and legal issues, this review will provide a brief description of the main natural sources of aromatic molecules. The different epoxy prepolymers will then be organized from simple, mono-aromatic di-epoxy, to mono-aromatic poly-epoxy, to di-aromatic di-epoxy compounds, and finally to derivatives possessing numerous aromatic rings and epoxy groups

Synthèse et étude de polybenzimidazoles sulfonés (nouvelles membranes électrolytes pour piles à combustible PEMFC)

Leur fonctionnalisation représente une approche de choix pour le développement de membranes électrolytes alternatives aux polymères perfluorosulfonés de référence, dans les dispositifs électrochimiques fonctionnant à des températures supérieures à 100 C. Parmi les diverses approches pour la fonctionnalisation, l'introduction de groupes sulfoniques dans un squelette PBI est une méthode en voie de développement. Ce travail traîte de la préparation de nouveaux polymères sulfonés et de l'élaboration de nouvelles membranes. Deux voies ont été privilégiées : 1- la sulfonation directe d'un polymère en solution et 2- la polymérisation de monomères sulfonés. La sulfonation directe nécessite un polybenzimidazole soluble en milieu acide. Elle est considérablement favorisée lorsque la chaîne contient des ponts électro-donneurs, qui orientent la substitution électrophile en ortho de ces derniers. L'activation des différents sites de sulfonation est controlée par les conditions expérimentales et en particulier par l'agent de sulfonation. La synthèse de précurseurs sulfonés originaux a conduit à de nouveaux copolymères filmogènes à haute masse moléculaire, sur lesquels les unités hydrophiles et hydrophobes s'enchaînent de façon statistique. Ces deux modes de préparation ont permis d'obtenir des ionomères avec des densités importantes de groupement sulfonique. Les membranes correspondantes sont robustes, stables chimiquement et thermiquement. Les propriétés de conduction (de l'ordre de 10-2 S.cm-1 à 25 C et 100 % HR) des membranes de PBI sulfonés sont suffisamment élevées pour envisager une application comme membrane de pile à combustiblePolybenzimidazoles (PBI) are polymers having excellent chemical stability. Their functionalization is an attractive approach for the development of electrolyte membranes as alternatives to perfluorosulfonated polymers, in electrochemical devices operating at temperatures above 100 C. Among the various ways of functionalization, incorporation of sulfonic groups in a PBI skeleton is a method of choice. This work is focused on the development of novel ion conducting polymers and electrolyte membranes based on sulfonated polybenzimidazoles. Two methods have been used: 1- direct sulfonation in polymer solution and 2- polymerization of sulfonated monomers. Direct sulfonation requires the polybenzimidazole to be soluble in acid medium and is greatly favoured when the PBI chain contains electro-donor links which activate electrophilic attack at the ortho positions. The activation of these different sites of sulfonation is controlled by the reaction conditions and especially by the nature of the sulfonating agent. Polycondensation of novel synthetic sulfonated precursors leads to novel polymers with high molecular weight, in which the hydrophilic and hydrophobic units are randomly organised. Both methods of preparation of sulfonated PBI have allowed ionomers with high densities of sulfonic groups to be obtained. The corresponding membranes are robust and chemically and thermally stable. The conduction properties of the order of 10-2 S.cm-1 at 25 C, 100 % of these sulfonated PBI membranes are sufficiently high to envisage their use as polymer fuel cell membranesMONTPELLIER-BU Sciences (341722106) / SudocSudocFranceF

Novel biobased and food contact epoxy coatings for glass toughening applications

International audienc

Synthesis of novel proton conducting highly sulfonated polybenzimidazoles for PEMFC and the effect of the type of bisphenyl bridge on properties

International audienc