A Configurable Matchmaking Framework for Electronic Marketplaces

E-marketplaces constitute a major enabler of B2B and B2C e-commerce activities. This paper proposes a framework for one of the central activities of e-marketplaces: matchmaking of trading intentions lodged by market participants. The framework identifies a core set of concepts and functions that are common to all types of marketplaces and can serve as the basis for describing the distinct styles of matchmaking employed within various market mechanisms. A prototype implementation of the framework based on Web services technology is presented, illustrating its ability to be dynamically configured to meet specific market needs and its potential to serve as a foundation for more fully fledged e-marketplace frameworks

RDF Modelling and SPARQL Processing of SQL Abstract Syntax Trees

International audienceMost enterprise systems rely on relational databases, and therefore SQL queries, to populate dynamic documents such as business intelligence reports, dashboards or spreadsheets. These queries represent metadata about the documents, thus they can feed information retrieval systems such as recommender systems or search engines. In this paper we propose to automatically annotate documents with structured representations of their SQL queries expressed with RDF graphs. We show that SPARQL is a natural language to query these SQL queries, i.e. to perform meta-querying, and discuss challenges that arise from this approach

Développement et implémentation parallèle de méthodes d'interaction de configurations sélectionnées

Cette thèse, ayant pour thème les algorithmes de la chimie quantique, s'inscrit dans le cade du changement de paradigme observé depuis une douzaines d'années, dans lequel les méthodes de calcul séquentielles se doivent d'être progressivement remplacées par des méthodes parallèles. En effet, l'augmentation de la fréquences des processeurs se heurtant à des barrières physiques difficilement franchissables, l'augmentation de la puissance de calcul se fait par l'augmentation du nombre d'unités de calcul. Toutefois, là où une augmentation de la fréquence conduisait mécaniquement à une exécution plus rapide d'un code, l'augmentation du nombre de cœurs peut se heurter à des barrières algorithmiques, qui peuvent nécessiter une adaptation ou un changement d'algorithme. Parmi les méthodes développées afin de contourner ce problème, on trouve en particulier celles de type Monte-Carlo (stochastiques), qui sont intrinsèquement "embarrassingly parallel", c'est à dire qu'elles sont par construction constituées d'une multitudes de tâches indépendantes, et de ce fait particulièrement adaptées aux architectures massivement parallèles. Elles ont également l'avantage, dans de nombreux cas, d'être capables de produire un résultat approché pour une fraction du coût calculatoire de l'équivalent déterministe exacte. Lors de cette thèse, des implémentations massivement parallèles de certains algorithmes déterministes de chimie quantique ont été réalisées. Il s'agit des algorithmes suivants : CIPSI, diagonalisation de Davidson, calcul de la perturbation au second ordre, shifted-Bk, et Coupled Cluster Multi Références. Pour certains, une composante stochastique a été introduite en vue d'améliorer leur efficacité. Toutes ces méthodes ont été implémentées sur un modèle de tâches distribuées en TCP, où un processus central distribue des tâches par le réseau et collecte les résultats. En d'autres termes, des nœuds esclaves peuvent être ajoutés au cours du calcul depuis n'importe quelle machine accessible depuis internet. L'efficacité parallèle des algorithmes implémentés dans cette thèse a été étudiée, et le programme a pu donner lieu à de nombreuses applications, notamment pour permettre d'obtenir des énergies de références pour des systèmes moléculaires difficiles.This thesis, whose topic is quantum chemistry algorithms, is made in the context of the change in paradigm that has been going on for the last decade, in which the usual sequential algorithms are progressively replaced by parallel equivalents. Indeed, the increase in processors' frequency is challenged by physical barriers, so increase in computational power is achieved through increasing the number of cores. However, where an increase of frequency mechanically leads to a faster execution of a code, an increase in number of cores may be challenged by algorithmic barriers, which may require adapting of even changing the algorithm. Among methods developed to circumvent this issue, we find in particular Monte-Carlo methods (stochastic methods), which are intrinsically "embarrassingly parallel", meaning they are by design composed of a large number of independent tasks, and thus, particularly well-adapted to massively parallel architectures. In addition, they often are able to yield an approximate result for just a fraction of the cost of the equivalent deterministic, exact computation. During this thesis, massively parallel implementations of some deterministic quantum chemistry algorithms were realized. Those methods are: CIPSI, Davidson diagonalization, computation of second-order perturbation, shifted-Bk, Multi-Reference Coupled-Cluster. For some of these, a stochastic aspect was introduced in order to improve their efficiency. All of them were implemented on a distributed task model, with a central process distributing tasks and collecting results. In other words, slave nodes can be added during the computation from any location reachable through Internet. The efficiency for the implemented algorithms has been studied, and the code could give way to numerous applications, in particular to obtain reference energies for difficult molecular systems

Operational Pipeline for Large-scale 3D Reconstruction of Buildings from Satellite Images

International audienceAutomatic 3D reconstruction of urban scenes from stereo pairs of satellite images remains a popular yet challenging research topic, driven by numerous applications such as telecommunications and defense. The quality of reconstruction results depends particularly on the quality of the available stereo pair. In this paper, we propose an operational pipeline for large-scale 3D reconstruction of buildings from stereo satellite images. The proposed chain uses U-net to extract contour polygons of buildings, and the combination of optimization and computational geometry techniques to reconstruct a digital terrain model and a digital height model, and to correctly estimate the position of building footprints. The pipeline has proven to be efficient for 3D building reconstruction , even if the close-to-nadir image is not available

Lipid Metabolism at the Nexus of Diet and Tumor Microenvironment

Obesity is a leading contributing factor to cancer development worldwide. Epidemiological evidence suggests that diet affects cancer risk and also substantially alters therapeutic outcome. Therefore, studying the impact of diet in the development and treatment of cancer should be a clinical priority. In this Review, we set out the evidence supporting the role of lipid metabolism in shaping the tumor microenvironment (TME) and cancer cell phenotype. We will discuss how dietary lipids can impact phenotype thereby affecting disease trajectory and treatment response. Finally, we will posit potential strategies on how this knowledge can be exploited to increase treatment efficacy and patient survival.B.P. is supported by a grant from Barts Charity and Cancer Research UK core funding (Core award C16420/A18066). A.S. is supported by grants from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Cancer Aid

Expression of carbonic anhydrase IX suggests poor outcome in rectal cancer

The aim of the study is to assess the value of carbonic anhydrase isozyme IX (CA IX) expression as a predictor of disease-free survival (DFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) in rectal cancer treated by preoperative radio- or chemoradiotherapy or surgery only. Archival tumour samples from 166 patients were analysed for CA IX expression by three different evaluations: positive/negative, proportion of positivity and staining intensity. The results of immunohistochemical analysis were confirmed by demonstrating CA IX protein in western blotting analysis. Forty-four percent of the operative samples were CA IX positive, of these 34% had weak and 66% moderate/strong staining intensity. In univariate survival analysis, intensity of CA IX expression was a predictor of DFS (P=0.003) and DSS (P=0.034), both being markedly longer in tumours with negative or weakly positive staining. In multivariate Cox model, number of metastatic lymph nodes and CA IX intensity were the only independent predictors of DFS. Carbonic anhydrase isozyme IX intensity was the only independent predictor of DSS, with HR=9.2 for dying of disease with moderate-intense CA IX expression as compared with CA IX-negative/weak cases. Negative/weak CA IX staining intensity is an independent predictor of longer DFS and DSS in rectal cancer

A voting approach to identify a small number of highly predictive genes using multiple classifiers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Microarray gene expression profiling has provided extensive datasets that can describe characteristics of cancer patients. An important challenge for this type of data is the discovery of gene sets which can be used as the basis of developing a clinical predictor for cancer. It is desirable that such gene sets be compact, give accurate predictions across many classifiers, be biologically relevant and have good biological process coverage.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By using a new type of multiple classifier voting approach, we have identified gene sets that can predict breast cancer prognosis accurately, for a range of classification algorithms. Unlike a wrapper approach, our method is not specialised towards a single classification technique. Experimental analysis demonstrates higher prediction accuracies for our sets of genes compared to previous work in the area. Moreover, our sets of genes are generally more compact than those previously proposed. Taking a biological viewpoint, from the literature, most of the genes in our sets are known to be strongly related to cancer.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We show that it is possible to obtain superior classification accuracy with our approach and obtain a compact gene set that is also biologically relevant and has good coverage of different biological processes.</p

Hypoxia increases the metastatic ability of breast cancer cells via upregulation of CXCR4

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chemokine SDF1α and its unique receptor CXCR4 have been implicated in organ-specific metastases of many cancers including breast cancer. Hypoxia is a common feature of solid tumors and is associated with their malignant phenotype. We hypothesized that hypoxia would upregulate CXCR4 expression and lead to increased chemotactic responsiveness to its specific ligand SDF1α.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231, MCF7 and 4T1 were subjected to 48 hrs of hypoxia or normoxia. Cell surface receptor expression was evaluated using flow cytometry. An extracellular matrix invasion assay and microporous migration assay was used to assess chemotactic response and metastatic ability.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CXCR4 surface expression was significantly increased in the two human breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MCF7, following exposure to hypoxia. This upregulation of CXCR4 cell surface expression corresponded to a significant increase in migration and invasion in response to SDF1-α <it>in vitro</it>. The increase in metastatic potential of both the normoxic and the hypoxic treated breast cancer cell lines was attenuated by neutralization of CXCR4 with a CXCR4 neutralizing mAb, MAB172 or a CXCR4 antagonist, AMD3100, showing the relationship between CXCR4 overexpression and increased chemotactic responsiveness.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>CXCR4 expression can be modulated by the tissue microenvironment such as hypoxia. Upregulation of CXCR4 is associated with increased migratory and invasive potential and this effect can be abrogated by CXCR4 inhibition. Chemokine receptor CXCR4 is a potential therapeutic target in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer.</p

Cytoplasmic location of factor-inhibiting hypoxia-inducible factor is associated with an enhanced hypoxic response and a shorter survival in invasive breast cancer

INTRODUCTION: Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha levels in invasive breast carcinoma have been shown to be an adverse prognostic indicator. Cellular HIF-1alpha activity is regulated by factor-inhibiting hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (FIH-1). In hypoxia, FIH-1 hydroxylation of Asn803 within the C-terminal transactivation domain does not occur and HIF-1alpha forms a fully active transcriptional complex. The present study investigates the role of FIH-1 in invasive breast carcinoma and its correlation with hypoxia. METHODS: Microarrayed tissue cores from 295 invasive carcinomas were stained for FIH-1, for HIF-1alpha and for carbonic anhydrase 9. FIH-1 expression was correlated with standard clinicopathological parameters and with the expression of the surrogate hypoxic markers HIF-1alpha and carbonic anhydrase 9. RESULTS: FIH-1 was positive in 239/295 (81%) tumours, 42/295 (14%) exclusively in the nucleus and 54/295 (18%) exclusively in the cytoplasm. Exclusive nuclear FIH-1 expression was significantly inversely associated with tumour grade (P = 0.02) and risk of recurrence (P = 0.04), whereas exclusive cytoplasmic FIH-1 was significantly positively associated with tumour grade (P = 0.004) and carbonic anhydrase 9 expression (P = 0.02). Patients with tumours that excluded FIH-1 from the nucleus had a significantly shorter survival compared with those with exclusive nuclear expression (P = 0.02). Cytoplasmic FIH-1 expression was also an independent poor prognostic factor for disease-free survival. CONCLUSION: FIH-1 is widely expressed in invasive breast carcinoma. As with other HIF regulators, its association between cellular compartmentalization and the hypoxic response and survival suggests that tumour regulation of FIH-1 is an additional important mechanism for HIF pathway activation