Adapting An Existing Example-Based Machine Translation (EBMT) System For New Language Pairs Based On An Optimized Bilingual Knowledge Bank (BKB).

Sourcing for large amount of text and translating them are some of the challenges in building an Example-Based Machine Translation (EBMT) system. These big amounts of translated texts are annotated into the S-SSTC format to cover an extensive vocabulary and sentence structures. However, the Bilingual Knowledge Bank (BKB), which is a collection of the S-SSTCs, will normally contain redundancy. Hence, the idea of an optimized BKB is born. An optimized BKB (redundancy reduced; is smaller in size but is as equally extensive in term of its sentence structure coverage compared to an un-optimized BKB. Therefore, an optimized BKB enhances the performance of the EBMT. In this paper, we introduce the idea of an optimized BKB and propose it to be re-used to effectively construct new BKBs in order to adapt an existing EBMT for new language pairs

The implementation of construction cost index (CCI) in Malaysia

Cost performance is an important criterion in construction industry to determine a project success. In order to enhance the construction cost estimation and cost performance, Construction Cost Index (CCD is introduced. CCI serves as a business cycle measurement in budget preparation, cost modelling and cost forecasting in construction projects lifecycle. Although CCI has been introduced by Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) over a decade however the cost performances for construction projects in Malaysia are still remain unsatisfactory. Therefore, this study aims at examining the causal relationship of CCI implementation success factors to address the effectiveness of CCI in Malaysian construction industry. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), ANOVA and T-Test are conducted to examine the factors of implementation of CCI in relation to CCI components. It is found that economic condition and reliability and validity of CCI are the major success criteria in implementing CCI. Also, it is discovered that Malaysian construction industry is ready to adopt CCI to improve the cost estimating performance

Regulation of Muscle Microcirculation in Health and Diabetes

Insulin increases microvascular perfusion and substrate exchange surface area in muscle, which is pivotal for hormone action and substrate exchange, by activating insulin signaling cascade in the endothelial cells to produce nitric oxide. This action of insulin is closely coupled with its metabolic action and type 2 diabetes is associated with both metabolic and microvascular insulin resistance. Muscle microvascular perfusion/volume can be assessed by 1-methylxanthine metabolism, contrast-enhanced ultrasound and positron emission tomography. In addition to insulin, several factors have been shown to recruit muscle microvasculature, including exercise or muscle contraction, mixed meals, glucagon-like peptide 1 and angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) blocker. On the other hand, factors that cause metabolic insulin resistance, such as inflammatory cytokines, free fatty acids, and selective activation of the AT1R, are capable of causing microvascular insulin resistance. Therapies targeting microvascular insulin resistance may help prevent or control diabetes and decrease the associated cardiovascular morbidity and mortality

Gene Co-expression Analysis to Characterize Genes Related to Marbling Trait in Hanwoo (Korean) Cattle

Marbling (intramuscular fat) is an important trait that affects meat quality and is a casual factor determining the price of beef in the Korean beef market. It is a complex trait and has many biological pathways related to muscle and fat. There is a need to identify functional modules or genes related to marbling traits and investigate their relationships through a weighted gene co-expression network analysis based on the system level. Therefore, we investigated the co-expression relationships of genes related to the ‘marbling score’ trait and systemically analyzed the network topology in Hanwoo (Korean cattle). As a result, we determined 3 modules (gene groups) that showed statistically significant results for marbling score. In particular, one module (denoted as red) has a statistically significant result for marbling score (p = 0.008) and intramuscular fat (p = 0.02) and water capacity (p = 0.006). From functional enrichment and relationship analysis of the red module, the pathway hub genes (IL6, CHRNE, RB1, INHBA and NPPA) have a direct interaction relationship and share the biological functions related to fat or muscle, such as adipogenesis or muscle growth. This is the first gene network study with m.logissimus in Hanwoo to observe co-expression patterns in divergent marbling phenotypes. It may provide insights into the functional mechanisms of the marbling trait

The transcriptomic blueprint of molt in rooster using various tissues from Ginkkoridak (Korean long-tailed chicken)

Background Annual molt is a critical stage in the life cycle of birds. Although the most extensively documented aspects of molt are the renewing of plumage and the remodeling of the reproductive tract in laying hens, in chicken, molt deeply affects various tissues and physiological functions. However, with exception of the reproductive tract, the effect of molt on gene expression across the tissues known to be affected by molt has to date never been investigated. The present study aimed to decipher the transcriptomic effects of molt in Ginkkoridak, a Korean long-tailed chicken. Messenger RNA data available across 24 types of tissue samples (9 males) and a combination of mRNA and miRNA data on 10 males and 10 females blood were used. Results The impact of molt on gene expression and gene transcript usage appeared to vary substantially across tissues types in terms of histological entities or physiological functions particularly related to nervous system. Blood was the tissue most affected by molt in terms of differentially expressed genes in both sexes, closely followed by meninges, bone marrow and heart. The effect of molt in blood appeared to differ between males and females, with a more than fivefold difference in the number of down-regulated genes between both sexes. The blueprint of molt in roosters appeared to be specific to tissues or group of tissues, with relatively few genes replicating extensively across tissues, excepted for the spliceosome genes (U1, U4) and the ribosomal proteins (RPL21, RPL23). By integrating miRNA and mRNA data, when chickens molt, potential roles of miRNA were discovered such as regulation of neurogenesis, regulation of immunity and development of various organs. Furthermore, reliable candidate biomarkers of molt were found, which are related to cell dynamics, nervous system or immunity, processes or functions that have been shown to be extensively modulated in response to molt. Conclusions Our results provide a comprehensive description at the scale of the whole organism deciphering the effects of molt on the transcriptome in chicken. Also, the conclusion of this study can be used as a valuable resource in transcriptome analyses of chicken in the future and provide new insights related to molt.This work was funded by Population genomics of Korean long-tailed fowl the Program for Agriculture Science and Technology Development (Project No. PJ0133402) of the Rural Development Administration (RDA). The funding body had a role in sample collection

Multi-factor service design: identification and consideration of multiple factors of the service in its design process

Service design is a multidisciplinary area that helps innovate services by bringing new ideas to customers through a design-thinking approach. Services are affected by multiple factors, which should be considered in designing services. In this paper, we propose the multi-factor service design (MFSD) method, which helps consider the multi-factor nature of service in the service design process. The MFSD method has been developed through and used in five service design studies with industry and government. The method addresses the multi-factor nature of service for systematic service design by providing the following guidelines: (1) identify key factors that affect the customer value creation of the service in question (in short, value creation factors), (2) define the design space of the service based on the value creation factors, and (3) design services and represent them based on the factors. We provide real stories and examples from the five service design studies to illustrate the MFSD method and demonstrate its utility. This study will contribute to the design of modern complex services that are affected by varied factors

Case report: Investigation of genetic mutations in a case of schistosomus reflexus in a Holstein dairy cattle fetus in Korea

Schistosomus reflexus (SR) is one of the most common congenital anomalies found in cases of cattle dystocia; this disorder occurs mostly in cattle. Congenital anomalies such as SR are caused by various genetic and environmental factors, but no specific cause has been elucidated for SR. This study reports a case of SR in a Holstein dairy cattle fetus with congenital anomalies in Korea. Grossly, a distinct spine curvature was observed between the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, accompanied by a consequential malformation from the sacrum to the occipital bone. Furthermore, the thoracic and abdominal organs were exposed. In computed tomography (CT) images, mild and severe kyphoscoliosis was observed in T1~11 and L1~6, respectively. Additionally, vertebral dysplasia was observed in S1~5 and Cd 1~5. To pinpoint the causal genes and mutations, we leveraged a custom 50K Hanwoo SNP-Chip and the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Animals (OMIA) database. As a result, we identified a nonsense mutation in apoptotic protease activating factor 1 (APAF1) within HH1 that was associated with a decrease in conception rate and an increase in abortion in Holstein dairy cattle. The genotype of the SR case was A/A, and most of the 1,142 normal Holstein dairy cattle tested as a control group had the genotype G/G. In addition, the A/A genotype did not exist in the control group. Based on the pathological, genetic, and radiological findings, the congenital abnormalities observed were diagnosed as SR

Ubiquitous Containerized Cargo Monitoring System Development based on Wireless Sensor Network Technology

Due to globalization, global trade is strongly growing nowadays. The use of containers has significantly increased and bringing the change on the shape of the world economy. Thus, monitoring every single container is a big challenge for port industries. Furthermore, rapid development in embedded computing systems has led to the emergence of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technology which enabled us to envision the intelligent containers. This represents the next evolutionary development in logistics industry to increase the efficiency, productivity, security of containerized cargo shipping. In this paper, we present a comprehensive containerized cargo monitoring system based on WSNs. We incorporated tilt/motion sensor to improve the network convergence time of container networks. Moreover, we periodically switch the nodes into sleeping mode to save energy and extend the lifetime of the network. Based on the technical implementation on a real container vessel, we strongly believed that our design which employed WSN technology is viable to be implemented in container logistics to improve port services and provide safe transport of containerized cargo