Variable neighbourhood search for the minimum labelling Steiner tree problem

We present a study on heuristic solution approaches to the minimum labelling Steiner tree problem, an NP-hard graph problem related to the minimum labelling spanning tree problem. Given an undirected labelled connected graph, the aim is to find a spanning tree covering a given subset of nodes of the graph, whose edges have the smallest number of distinct labels. Such a model may be used to represent many real world problems in telecommunications and multimodal transportation networks. Several metaheuristics are proposed and evaluated. The approaches are compared to the widely adopted Pilot Method and it is shown that the Variable Neighbourhood Search that we propose is the most effective metaheuristic for the problem, obtaining high quality solutions in short computational running time

Heuristics based on greedy randomized adaptive search and variable neighbourhood search for the minimum labelling spanning tree problem

This paper studies heuristics for the minimum labelling spanning tree (MLST) problem. The purpose is to find a spanning tree using edges that are as similar as possible. Given an undirected labelled connected graph, the minimum labelling spanning tree problem seeks a spanning tree whose edges have the smallest number of distinct labels. This problem has been shown to be NP-complete. A Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) and different versions of Variable Neighbourhood Search (VNS) are proposed. They are compared with other algorithms recommended in the literature: the Modified Genetic Algorithm and the Pilot Method. Nonparametric statistical tests show that the heuristics based on GRASP and VNS outperform the other algorithms tested. Furthermore, a comparison with the results provided by an exact approach shows that we may quickly obtain optimal or near-optimal solutions with the proposed heuristics

Mesenchymal stem cells and their use as cell replacement therapy and disease modelling tool.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from adult somatic tissues may differentiate in vitro and in vivo into multiple mesodermal tissues including bone, cartilage, adipose tissue, tendon, ligament or even muscle. MSCs preferentially home to damaged tissues where they exert their therapeutic potential. A striking feature of the MSCs is their low inherent immunogenicity as they induce little, if any, proliferation of allogeneic lymphocytes and antigen-presenting cells. Instead, MSCs appear to be immunosuppressive in vitro. Their multilineage differentiation potential coupled to their immuno-privileged properties is being exploited worldwide for both autologous and allogeneic cell replacement strategies. Here, we introduce the readers to the biology of MSCs and the mechanisms underlying immune tolerance. We then outline potential cell replacement strategies and clinical applications based on the MSCs immunological properties. Ongoing clinical trials for graft-versus-host-disease, haematopoietic recovery after co-transplantation of MSCs along with haematopoietic stem cells and tissue repair are discussed. Finally, we review the emerging area based on the use of MSCs as a target cell subset for either spontaneous or induced neoplastic transformation and, for modelling non-haematological mesenchymal cancers such as sarcomas

Mappings for the Semantic Web

Mappings usually relate two similar knowledge aware resources. Mapping examples abound in thesauri, databases, and ontologies. Additionally, mapping systems can relate two different knowledge resources, such as databases and ontologies. All these mappings are operationally different and are sometimes named differently— for example, correspondences, semantic bridges, transformations, semantic relations, functions, conversions, and domain-method relation

Semantic mappings: out of ontology world limits

Mappings usually relate two similar knowledge representations. Thus, we can find many examples of mappings amid thesauri, databases, ontologies (domain ontologies, top-level and domain ontologies, PSM (Problem Solving Method) and domain ontologies, linguistic and domain ontologies); additionally, we can frequently find systems with mappings that relate two different knowledge representations, for instance, databases and ontologies. All these mappings are operationally different ,and are also named differently (mappings, correspondences, semantic bridges, transformations, semantic relations, functions, conversions, domain-PSM relations), but is there a single definition for these concepts? Can we find common characteristics? This paper analyzes the existing definitions and representation of the term “mapping” (and related terms) in the ontology world and its semantic neighborhood and proposes a new definition and representation of “mapping” for the Semantic Web field

Core higher-order session processes: tractable equivalences and relative expressiveness

This work proposes tractable bisimulations for the higher-order - calculus with session primitives (HO ) and o ers a complete study of the expressivity of its most significant subcalculi. First we develop three typed bisimulations, which are shown to coincide with contextual equivalence. These characterisations demonstrate that observing as inputs only a specific finite set of higher-order values (which inhabit session types) su ces to reason about HO processes. Next, we identify HO, a minimal, second-order subcalculus of HO in which higher-order applications/abstractions, name-passing, and recursion are absent. We show that HO can encode HO extended with higher-order applications and abstractions and that a first-order session -calculus can encode HO . Both encodings are fully abstract. We also prove that the session -calculus with passing of shared names cannot be encoded into HO without shared names. We show that HO , HO, and are equally expressive; the expressivity of HO enables e ective reasoning about typed equivalences for higher-order processes

Distributional extensions of Carollia castanea and Micronycteris minuta from Guatemala, Central America

Field expeditions in 2011 that inventoried the terrestrial vertebrate fauna of two wildlife protected areas in the tropical Caribbean of Guatemala have produced the first confirmed records of two bats for the country: the white-bellied big-eared bat, Micronycteris (Schizonycteris) minuta (Gervais 1856) and the Chesnut short-tailed bat Carollia castanea H. Allen, 1890, both of neotropical distribution and with their current northern limit at Lancetilla, Honduras. The record of M. minuta at Sierra de Caral, Guatemala extends the range of this species 137 km to the west, and the record of C. castanea at Cerro San Gil extends its range 147 km to the west

An unbiased genetic screen reveals the polygenic nature of the influenza virus anti-interferon response.

Influenza A viruses counteract the cellular innate immune response at several steps, including blocking RIG I-dependent activation of interferon (IFN) transcription, interferon (IFN)-dependent upregulation of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs), and the activity of various ISG products; the multifunctional NS1 protein is responsible for most of these activities. To determine the importance of other viral genes in the interplay between the virus and the host IFN response, we characterized populations and selected mutants of wild-type viruses selected by passage through non-IFN-responsive cells. We reasoned that, by allowing replication to occur in the absence of the selection pressure exerted by IFN, the virus could mutate at positions that would normally be restricted and could thus find new optimal sequence solutions. Deep sequencing of selected virus populations and individual virus mutants indicated that nonsynonymous mutations occurred at many phylogenetically conserved positions in nearly all virus genes. Most individual mutants selected for further characterization induced IFN and ISGs and were unable to counteract the effects of exogenous IFN, yet only one contained a mutation in NS1. The relevance of these mutations for the virus phenotype was verified by reverse genetics. Of note, several virus mutants expressing intact NS1 proteins exhibited alterations in the M1/M2 proteins and accumulated large amounts of deleted genomic RNAs but nonetheless replicated to high titers. This suggests that the overproduction of IFN inducers by these viruses can override NS1-mediated IFN modulation. Altogether, the results suggest that influenza viruses replicating in IFN-competent cells have tuned their complete genomes to evade the cellular innate immune system and that serial replication in non-IFN-responsive cells allows the virus to relax from these constraints and find a new genome consensus within its sequence space. IMPORTANCE In natural virus infections, the production of interferons leads to an antiviral state in cells that effectively limits virus replication. The interferon response places considerable selection pressure on viruses, and they have evolved a variety of ways to evade it. Although the influenza virus NS1 protein is a powerful interferon antagonist, the contributions of other viral genes to interferon evasion have not been well characterized. Here, we examined the effects of alleviating the selection pressure exerted by interferon by serially passaging influenza viruses in cells unable to respond to interferon. Viruses that grew to high titers had mutations at many normally conserved positions in nearly all genes and were not restricted to the NS1 gene. Our results demonstrate that influenza viruses have fine-tuned their entire genomes to evade the interferon response, and by removing interferon-mediated constraints, viruses can mutate at genome positions normally restricted by the interferon response

Surveys as cultural artefacts : applying the international self-report delinquency study to Latin American adolescents

Survey instruments are often watermarked with the language, thought patterns, experience and expectations of their designers’ cultural world. This creates some evident challenges when using surveys in international research projects (for example, in finding equivalent terms in translation), but also some less evident ones deriving from potentially hidden local variations in social experience, values and cognition. Using examples from the International Self-Report Delinquency Study, this article identifies several potential challenges to measurement that arise when an instrument designed with the youth of industrialized democracies in mind is presented to adolescents in a Latin American country (Venezuela). Some strategies for addressing these challenges are outlined

OEGMerge: a case-based model for merging ontologies

No long ago ontology merging was a necessary activity, however, the current methods used in ontology merging present neither detailed cases nor an accurate formalization. For validating these methods, it is convenient to have a case list as complete as possible. In this paper we present the OEGMerge model, developed from the OEG (Ontological Engineering Group at UPM) experience, which describes precisely the merging casuistic and the actions to carry out in each case. In this first approach, the model covers only the taxonomy of concepts, attributes and relations