ChronoView: Visualization Technique for Many Temporal Data

Abstract-This paper presents a method of visualizing data that contains temporal information, such as a human's behavior and the time at which it occurs. A feature of the data is that each event may have one or more time-stamps. By analyzing this kind of data, we are able to find some behavioral patterns and obtain knowledge applicable to many fields, such as marketing research and security. We develop ChronoView, a visualization technique to support the analysis of data with temporal information. ChronoView represents an event with a set of time-stamps as a position inside a circle, similar to the dial of an analog clock. By representing each event as a position on a two-dimensional plane, we can simultaneously visualize many events and easily compare their occurrence patterns. We implement a tool based on ChronoView, which is enriched with additional functions and overcomes the drawbacks of the original system. A use case involving tweet data from Twitter illustrates the use and practicality of ChronoView

Embryonic stem cells reduce liver fibrosis in CCl4-treated mice

We transplanted undifferentiated embryonic stem (ES) cells into the spleens of carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-treated mice to determine their effects on liver fibrosis. Carbon tetrachloride at 0.5 ml/kg of body weight was injected intraperitoneally into C57BL/6 mice twice weekly for up to 20 weeks. Four weeks after the first injection, the mice were divided into two groups and those in group 1 received 1 × 105 ES cells genetically labelled with enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the spleens, while group 2 mice received 0.1 ml of phosphate-buffered saline. In group 1, GFP-immunopositive cells were retained and found in areas of fibrosis in the liver, and reduced liver fibrosis was observed as compared with group 2. Secondary transplantation of ES cells at 12 weeks after the initial transplantation enhanced the reduction in liver fibrosis. No teratoma formation or uncontrolled growth of ES cells in organs, including the liver and spleen, was observed in any of the mice. In the livers of group 1 mice, metalloproteinase 9-immunopositive cells derived from ES cells as well as those from the recipient were observed. These cells were also found to be immunopositive for the hepatoblast marker Delta-like (DlK-1), a member of the DlK-1 family of transmembrane proteins. These results suggest that ES-based cell therapy is potentially useful for liver fibrosis treatment and that reduction in CCl4-induced liver fibrosis by transplantation of ES cells may be related closely to the emergence of metalloproteinase-producing hepatoblast-like cells

An efficient experimental strategy for mouse embryonic stem cell differentiation and separation of a cytokeratin-19-positive population of insulin-producing cells

Embryonic stem cells are a potential source for insulin‐producing cells, but existing differentiation protocols are of limited efficiency. Here, the aim has been to develop a new one, which drives development of embryonic stem cells towards insulin producing cells rather than to neuronal cell types, and to combine this with a strategy for their separation from insulin‐negative cells.Fil: Naujok, O.. Institute of Clinical Biochemistry; AlemaniaFil: Francini, Flavio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Endocrinología Experimental y Aplicada. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas. Centro de Endocrinología Experimental y Aplicada; Argentina. Institute of Clinical Biochemistry; AlemaniaFil: Jörns, A.. Hannover Medical School; Alemania. Institute of Clinical Biochemistry; AlemaniaFil: Lenzen, S.. Institute of Clinical Biochemistry; Alemani

Community participation in bureaucratic organizations: Principles and strategies

The present paper points out that there are tasks that primary groups perform better than bureaucracies and those that bureaucracies perform better than primary groups. Both types of tasks are very interdependent so that sometimes primary group tasks must be performed within the boundaries of the bureaucratic organization. The argument is made that when primary groups intervene in bureaucracies, they can do so directly in non-expert tasks without lowering the effectiveness of the bureaucratic organization. When they intervene in expert aspects, they should do so indirectly through an expert advocate. However, in all intervention the primary group must take into account that its structure is contradictory to that of the bureaucracy and, therefore, it must keep as much distance as possible—consistent with its ability to intervene. From this analysis we derive a series of hypotheses suggesting when the community might ideally use the bureaucracy's own experts, when the community must hire its own experts, when the community should use mass media, strikes, indigenous workers, etc. It is suggested that the multitudinous possibilities for linkages can all be derived from a few basic underlying dimensions of the situation. Cet article montre qu'il existe certaines tâches que les groupes primaires accomplissent mieux que les bureaucraties, et certaines autres qu'accomplissent mieux les bureaucraties. Les deux sortes de tâches sont interdépendentes; donc parfois les tâches des groupes primaires doivent s'accomplir parmi les organisations bureaucratiques. Les auteurs soutiennent que les groupes primaires peuvent intervenir dans les bureaucraties en complétant les tâches non-expertes sans réduire l'efficacité de l'organisation bureaucratique. Quands ils participent à certains sujets experts, ils devraient se munir d'un agent expert. Mais dans toute intervention le groupe primaire doit se rendre compte que sa structure contredit celle de la bureaucratie et que, par conséquent, il doit se tenir autant à distance que possible par rapport à sa compétence d'intervention. De cette analyse proviennent des hypothèses qui indiquent quand une communauté peut se servir le mieux du personnel expert d'une bureaucratie, quand la communauté doit engager des experts, quand la communauté doit se servir des mass média, des grèves, des ouvriers indigènes, etc. Les nombreuses possibilités de liaisons proviennent toutes de quelques dimensions fondamentales de la situation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42934/1/10780_2005_Article_BF02214879.pd