Magpie: towards a semantic web browser

Web browsing involves two tasks: finding the right web page and then making sense of its content. So far, research has focused on supporting the task of finding web resources through ‘standard’ information retrieval mechanisms, or semantics-enhanced search. Much less attention has been paid to the second problem. In this paper we describe Magpie, a tool which supports the interpretation of web pages. Magpie offers complementary knowledge sources, which a reader can call upon to quickly gain access to any background knowledge relevant to a web resource. Magpie automatically associates an ontologybased semantic layer to web resources, allowing relevant services to be invoked within a standard web browser. Hence, Magpie may be seen as a step towards a semantic web browser. The functionality of Magpie is illustrated using examples of how it has been integrated with our lab’s web resources

The multilevel trigger system of the DIRAC experiment

The multilevel trigger system of the DIRAC experiment at CERN is presented. It includes a fast first level trigger as well as various trigger processors to select events with a pair of pions having a low relative momentum typical of the physical process under study. One of these processors employs the drift chamber data, another one is based on a neural network algorithm and the others use various hit-map detector correlations. Two versions of the trigger system used at different stages of the experiment are described. The complete system reduces the event rate by a factor of 1000, with efficiency $\geq$95% of detecting the events in the relative momentum range of interest.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure

Chiral Dynamics of Deeply Bound Pionic Atoms

We present and discuss a systematic calculation, based on two-loop chiral perturbation theory, of the pion-nuclear s-wave optical potential. A proper treatment of the explicit energy dependence of the off-shell pion self-energy together with (electromagnetic) gauge invariance of the Klein-Gordon equation turns out to be crucial. Accurate data for the binding energies and widths of the 1s and 2p levels in pionic ^{205}Pb and ^{207}Pb are well reproduced, and the notorious "missing repulsion" in the pion-nuclear s-wave optical potential is accounted for. The connection with the in-medium change of the pion decay constant is clarified.Comment: preprint ECT*-02-16, 4 pages, 3 figure

Audio Resynthesis on the Dancefloor: A Music Structural Approach

This technical report improves and extends existing methods in the research area of audio resynthesis and retargeting and extends its usage scopes. The existing approach analyzes a musical piece for possible cut points that allow the resynthesis of a novel soundtrack by lining up the source segments according to specified rules. For the improvement of matching harmonic and rhythmic structures during cut points search, beat tracking is used as core component of this work. Segment rearrangement is improved by employing faster and better suited algorithms

FLOOR PLANS IN CITYGML

This paper (1) discusses the modelling of floor plans in CityGML; (2) proposes a delineation of multiple variants of indoor LoD0 in line with the current proposal for CityGML 3.0; (3) demonstrates a method to generate CityGML datasets with included floor plans; and (4) explores their usability. The use of an Application Domain Extension (ADE) is being proposed in order to preserve potentially useful information found within detailed building information models (BIM), specifically Industry Foundation Class (IFC), that cannot be stored in CityGML natively. Our work follows the current developments of CityGML 3.0, and based on the discussions in the CityGML Standards Working Group (SWG) it showcases one of the first datasets consistent with the ongoing development of CityGML 3.0 and one that follows the proposals for a new LOD concept and new interior features

Analysis of Array-CGH Data Using the R and Bioconductor Software Suite

Background. Array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH) is an emerging high-resolution and high-throughput molecular genetic technique that allows genome-wide screening for chromosome alterations. DNA copy number alterations (CNAs) are a hallmark of somatic mutations in tumor genomes and congenital abnormalities that lead to diseases such as mental retardation. However, accurate identification of amplified or deleted regions requires a sequence of different computational analysis steps of the microarray data. Results. We have developed a user-friendly and versatile tool for the normalization, visualization, breakpoint detection, and comparative analysis of array-CGH data which allows the accurate and sensitive detection of CNAs. Conclusion. The implemented option for the determination of minimal altered regions (MARs) from a series of tumor samples is a step forward in the identification of new tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes

The FLASHForward Facility at DESY

The FLASHForward project at DESY is a pioneering plasma-wakefield acceleration experiment that aims to produce, in a few centimetres of ionised hydrogen, beams with energy of order GeV that are of quality sufficient to be used in a free-electron laser. The plasma wave will be driven by high-current density electron beams from the FLASH linear accelerator and will explore both external and internal witness-beam injection techniques. The plasma is created by ionising a gas in a gas cell with a multi-TW laser system, which can also be used to provide optical diagnostics of the plasma and electron beams due to the <30 fs synchronisation between the laser and the driving electron beam. The operation parameters of the experiment are discussed, as well as the scientific program.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

Using gene expression data to identify certain gastro-intestinal diseases

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel diseases, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are considered to be of autoimmune origin, but the etiology of irritable bowel syndrome remains elusive. Furthermore, classifying patients into irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel diseases can be difficult without invasive testing and holds important treatment implications. Our aim was to assess the ability of gene expression profiling in blood to differentiate among these subject groups. METHODS: Transcript levels of a total of 45 genes in blood were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We applied three separate analytic approaches; one utilized a scoring system derived from combinations of ratios of expression levels of two genes and two different support vector machines. RESULTS: All methods discriminated different subject cohorts, irritable bowel syndrome from control, inflammatory bowel disease from control, irritable bowel syndrome from inflammatory bowel disease, and ulcerative colitis from Crohn’s disease, with high degrees of sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest these approaches may provide clinically useful prediction of the presence of these gastro-intestinal diseases and syndromes