Sample-based XPath Ranking for Web Information Extraction

Web information extraction typically relies on a wrapper, i.e., program code or a configuration that specifies how to extract some information from web pages at a specific website. Manually creating and maintaining wrappers is a cumbersome and error-prone task. It may even be prohibitive as some applications require information extraction from previously unseen websites. This paper approaches the problem of automatic on-the-fly wrapper creation for websites that provide attribute data for objects in a ‘search – search result page – detail page’ setup. The approach is a wrapper induction approach which uses a small and easily obtainable set of sample data for ranking XPaths on their suitability for extracting the wanted attribute data. Experiments show that the automatically generated top-ranked XPaths indeed extract the wanted data. Moreover, it appears that 20 to 25 input samples suffice for finding a suitable XPath for an attribute

Traitor: associating concepts using the world wide web

We use Common Crawl's 25TB data set of web pages to construct a database of associated concepts using Hadoop. The database can be queried through a web application with two query interfaces. A textual interface allows searching for similarities and differences between multiple concepts using a query language similar to set notation, and a graphical interface allows users to visualize similarity relationships of concepts in a force directed graph

VEGF Over-Expression by Engineered BMSC Accelerates Functional Perfusion, Improving Tissue Density and In-Growth in Clinical-Size Osteogenic Grafts

The first choice for reconstruction of clinical-size bone defects consists of autologous bone flaps, which often lack the required mechanical strength and cause significant donor-site morbidity. We have previously developed biological substitutes in a rabbit model by combining bone tissue engineering and flap pre-fabrication. However, spontaneous vascularization was insufficient to ensure progenitor survival in the core of the constructs. Here, we hypothesized that increased angiogenic stimulation within constructs by exogenous VEGF can significantly accelerate early vascularization and tissue in-growth. Bone marrow stromal cells from NZW rabbits (rBMSC) were transduced with a retroviral vector to express rabbit VEGF linked to a truncated version of rabbit CD4 as a cell-surface marker. Autologous cells were seeded in clinical-size 5.5 cm; 3; HA scaffolds wrapped in a panniculus carnosus flap to provide an ample vascular supply, and implanted ectopically. Constructs seeded with VEGF-expressing rBMSC showed significantly increased progenitor survivival, depth of tissue ingrowth and amount of mineralized tissue. Contrast-enhanced MRI after 1 week; in vivo; showed significantly improved tissue perfusion in the inner layer of the grafts compared to controls. Interestingly, grafts containing VEGF-expressing rBMSC displayed a hierarchically organized functional vascular tree, composed of dense capillary networks in the inner layers connected to large-caliber feeding vessels entering the constructs at the periphery. These data constitute proof of principle that providing sustained VEGF signaling, independently of cells experiencing hypoxia, is effective to drive rapid vascularization and increase early perfusion in clinical-size osteogenic grafts, leading to improved tissue formation deeper in the constructs

Strong mechanical driving of a single electron spin

Quantum devices for sensing and computing applications require coherent quantum systems which can be manipulated in a fast and robust way. Such quantum control is typically achieved using external electric or magnetic fields which drive the system's orbital or spin degrees of freedom. However, most of these approaches require complex and unwieldy antenna or gate structures, and with few exceptions are limited to the regime of weak driving. Here, we present a novel approach to strongly and coherently drive a single electron spin in the solid state using internal strain fields in an integrated quantum device. Specifically, we study individual Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) spins embedded in diamond mechanical oscillators and exploit the intrinsic strain coupling between spin and oscillator to strongly drive the spins. As hallmarks of the strong driving regime, we directly observe the energy spectrum of the emerging phonon-dressed states and employ our strong, continuous driving for enhancement of the NV spin coherence time. Our results constitute a first step towards strain-driven, integrated quantum devices and open new perspectives to investigate unexplored regimes of strongly driven multi-level systems and to study exotic spin dynamics in hybrid spin-oscillator devices.We gratefully acknowledge financial support from SNI; NCCR QSIT; SNF grants 200021_143697; and EU FP7 grant 611143 (DIADEMS). AN holds a University Research Fellowship from the Royal Society and acknowledges support from the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from NPG via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nphys341

Eosinophils and Megakaryocytes Support the Early Growth of Murine MOPC315 Myeloma Cells in Their Bone Marrow Niches

Multiple myeloma is a bone marrow plasma cell tumor which is supported by the external growth factors APRIL and IL-6, among others. Recently, we identified eosinophils and megakaryocytes to be functional components of the micro-environmental niches of benign bone marrow plasma cells and to be important local sources of these cytokines. Here, we investigated whether eosinophils and megakaryocytes also support the growth of tumor plasma cells in the MOPC315. BM model for multiple myeloma. As it was shown for benign plasma cells and multiple myeloma cells, IL-6 and APRIL also supported MOPC315. BM cell growth in vitro, IL-5 had no effect. Depletion of eosinophils in vivo by IL-5 blockade led to a reduction of the early myeloma load. Consistent with this, myeloma growth in early stages was retarded in eosinophil-deficient Delta dblGATA-1 mice. Late myeloma stages were unaffected, possibly due to megakaryocytes compensating for the loss of eosinophils, since megakaryocytes were found to be in contact with myeloma cells in vivo and supported myeloma growth in vitro. We conclude that eosinophils and megakaryocytes in the niches for benign bone marrow plasma cells support the growth of malignant plasma cells. Further investigations are required to test whether perturbation of these niches represents a potential strategy for the treatment of multiple myeloma

Founding of the German speaking Network for Rare Bone Diseases NetsOs - through an Initiative of the German Society of Osteology (DGO)

A significant proportion of rare diseases affect the musculoskeletal system. Due to growing disease awareness, increasingly individualized medicine and the availability of new innovative drugs an expanding need for expert knowledge and networking in the field of rare osteological diseases has arisen. In Europe, the European Reference Networks (ERN) were established in 2017 to address these tasks in a patient centered way. In the same year the German Society for Osteology (DGO) started an initiative to synergize and develop existing activities in the field of Rare Bone Diseases in German-speaking countries. As a result, the Network on Rare Osteopathologies (NetsOs) was founded in November 2018 with specialists from a wide range of disciplines from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. NetsOs encompasses both, an expert-network with clinical and scientific experts from Austria, Germany and Switzerland as well as an expert-center based network in Germany. The latter connects clinical centers with special expertise, so-called B-centers, for rare osteological diseases. NetsOs aims to improve and support diagnostic procedures, lifelong care and monitoring for patients who are affected by a rare bone and mineral condition together with the patient associations. Additional focus lies on training and education in the field of rare osteological diseases. In order to achieve these goals, members of the network are involved in clinical care, clinical and basic research and teaching for rare bone and skeletal diseases and are available for consutls for colleagues. Involvement in national, European and international clinical and scientific networking, interaction with centers for rare diseases, scientific societies, ERNs and European registers is established through the involvement of the members of NetsOs in these structures

MOPC315.BM myeloma cells co-localize with megakaryocytes <i>in vivo</i>.

<p>Cryosections of murine bone marrow (femur) from mice with moderate load of eGFP-labelled MOPC315 BM cells. (A) Sections were stained for eosinophils (MBP, red) megakaryocytes (CD41, white). MOPC315 BM cells were identified by eGFP (green). Analysis was performed with a Olympus IX81 confocal microscope using a 20x oil objective and processed with Olympus microscope and Adobe Photoshop software. Left: representative picture from a femur exhibiting intermediate myeloma load. Right: myeloma cells often make direct contact to megakaryocytes. (B) In femurs of three mice a total of 1244 MOPC315.BM myeloma cells were screened for their contacts to MBP+ eosinophils and CD41+ megakaryocytes, respectively. Contacts to CD41+ “particles” which could not clearly morphologically identified as a megakaryocyte were counted separately. Left: Bars show the respective co-localization frequencies for myeloma cells Right: Contact frequencies normalized on the total cell surface areas of megakaryocytes and eosinophils, respectively. Normalized data presented as contacts of one hundred myeloma cell to one square micrometer of the respective niche cell. One experiment was performed. Mean +/− SD are shown (statistics: Mann-Whitney U test; * = P≤0.05).</p