MHCPred : a server for quantitative prediction of peptide-MHC binding

Accurate T-cell epitope prediction is a principal objective of computational vaccinology. As a service to the immunology and vaccinology communities at large, we have implemented, as a server on the World Wide Web, a partial least squares-base multivariate statistical approach to the quantitative prediction of peptide binding to major histocom-patibility complexes (MHC), the key checkpoint on the antigen presentation pathway within adaptive,cellular immunity. MHCPred implements robust statistical models for both Class I alleles (HLA-A*0101, HLA-A*0201, HLA-A*0202, HLA-A*0203,HLA-A*0206, HLA-A*0301, HLA-A*1101, HLA-A*3301, HLA-A*6801, HLA-A*6802 and HLA-B*3501) and Class II alleles (HLA-DRB*0401, HLA-DRB*0401and HLA-DRB* 0701).

Special Features of Musical Education in Distant Learning (Training of Intonation Thinking)

The problem of using modern technologies in distant learning of intonation thinking is described in this article. An importance of intonation learning for musician students and the possibilities, provided by World Wide Web and multimedia technologies are the main point of this article.

Computer Democracy - Our Next Step in Europe

After about a quarter of a century of enlightened development and ongoing preparatory technological, scientific and political activities we are arrived at the realization period of the idea. The two major technological vehicles of progress are the World Wide Web, the most democratic international forum of information exchange and the advent of public key cryptography as a combined philosophical and practical device of individual integrity and collective responsibility.

Telehealth Approach for Glaucoma Progression Monitoring

This paper presents a Web-Centric [3] extension to a previously developed glaucoma expert system that will provide access for doctors and patients from any part of the world. Once implemented, this telehealth solution will publish the services of the Glaucoma Expert System on the World Wide Web, allowing patients and doctors to interact with it from their own homes. This web-extension will also allow the expert system itself to be proactive and to send diagnosis alerts to the registered user or doctor and the patient, informing each one of any emergencies, therefore allowing them to take immediate actions. The existing Glaucoma Expert System uses fuzzy logic learning algorithms applied on historical patient data to update and improve its diagnosis rules set. This process, collectively called the learning process, would benefit greatly from a web-based framework that could provide services like patient data transfer and web- based distribution of updated rules [1].

One Approach to Knowledge Mapping for International Student Portal

* The work is partly supported by RFFI grant 08-07-00062-a

A computational approach to measuring the correlation between expertise and social media influence for celebrities on microblogs

Social media influence analysis, sometimes also called authority detection, aims to rank users based on their influence scores in social media. Existing approaches of social influence analysis usually focus on how to develop effective algorithms to quantize users’ influence scores. They rarely consider a person’s expertise levels which are arguably important to influence measures. In this paper, we propose a computational approach to measuring the correlation between expertise and social media influence, and we take a new perspective to understand social media influence by incorporating expertise into influence analysis. We carefully constructed a large dataset of 13,684 Chinese celebrities from Sina Weibo (literally ”Sina microblogging”). We found that there is a strong correlation between expertise levels and social media influence scores. Our analysis gave a good explanation of the phenomenon of “top across-domain influencers”. In addition, different expertise levels showed influence variation patterns: e.g., (1) high-expertise celebrities have stronger influence on the “audience” in their expertise domains; (2) expertise seems to be more important than relevance and participation for social media influence; (3) the audiences of top expertise celebrities are more likely to forward tweets on topics outside the expertise domains from high-expertise celebrities.

Ranked search on data graphs

Graph-structured databases are widely prevalent, and the problem of effective search and retrieval from such graphs has been receiving much attention recently. For example, the Web can be naturally viewed as a graph. Likewise, a relational database can be viewed as a graph where tuples are modeled as vertices connected via foreign-key relationships. Keyword search querying has emerged as one of the most effective paradigms for information discovery, especially over HTML documents in the World Wide Web. One of the key advantages of keyword search querying is its simplicity—users do not have to learn a complex query language, and can issue queries without any prior knowledge about the structure of the underlying data. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop techniques for user-friendly, high quality and efficient searching of graph structured databases. Several ranked search methods on data graphs have been studied in the recent years. Given a top-k keyword search query on a graph and some ranking criteria, a keyword proximity search finds the top-k answers where each answer is a substructure of the graph containing all query keywords, which illustrates the relationship between the keyword present in the graph. We applied keyword proximity search on the web and the page graph of web documents to find top-k answers that satisfy user’s information need and increase user satisfaction. Another effective ranking mechanism applied on data graphs is the authority flow based ranking mechanism. Given a top- k keyword search query on a graph, an authority-flow based search finds the top-k answers where each answer is a node in the graph ranked according to its relevance and importance to the query. We developed techniques that improved the authority flow based search on data graphs by creating a framework to explain and reformulate them taking in to consideration user preferences and feedback. We also applied the proposed graph search techniques for Information Discovery over biological databases. Our algorithms were experimentally evaluated for performance and quality. The quality of our method was compared to current approaches by using user surveys.

A practical system for hands-off computer interaction based on electromyogram (EMG)/eye gaze tracking (EGT)

Effective interaction with personal computers is a basic requirement for many of the functions that are performed in our daily lives. With the rapid emergence of the Internet and the World Wide Web, computers have become one of the premier means of communication in our society. Unfortunately, these advances have not become equally accessible to physically handicapped individuals. In reality, a significant number of individuals with severe motor disabilities, due to a variety of causes such as Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Amyothrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), etc., may not be able to utilize the computer mouse as a vital input device for computer interaction. The purpose of this research was to further develop and improve an existing alternative input device for computer cursor control to be used by individuals with severe motor disabilities. This thesis describes the development and the underlying principle for a practical hands-off human-computer interface based on Electromyogram (EMG) signals and Eye Gaze Tracking (EGT) technology compatible with the Microsoft Windows operating system (OS). Results of the software developed in this thesis show a significant improvement in the performance and usability of the EMG/EGT cursor control HCI.

Learning Mechanisms for Information Filtering Agents

Postprint

Cartografia da Arte

O presente trabalho apresenta as bases teórico-conceituais que fundamentam o processo de construção de um objeto gráfico de comunicação sobre o mercado de arte na contemporaneidade e apresenta o desenvolvimento de sua concretização, assim como seu produto final. Trata-se da elaboração de uma ferramenta de gestão cultural com características cartográficas: A Cartografia do Sistema de Arte na Contemporaneidade – CA, é um objeto de comunicação teórico-imagético sobre o mercado de arte que tem como objetivo comunicar - de forma sintética e sinérgica, rápida, intuitiva e totalizadora - a complexidade desse sistema de arte. O método utilizado para seu desenvolvimento envolveu pesquisa bibliográfica sobre bases teóricas nas áreas de gestão, filosofia, design e comunicação (dentre outras). Envolveu também a elaboração de uma análise sobre os elementos recolhidos, os modos de operação e o estabelecimento de nexos dentro do mercado contemporâneo das artes; além da elaboração de estudos prévios e diretrizes para a construção do objeto comunicacional: Por fim, incluiu o acompanhamento e concretização do projeto em parceria com uma profissional do design. Como produto, foi desenvolvida a CA, um objeto impresso que representa graficamente a estrutura e o funcionamento do sistema. Durante a execução do projeto, identificou-se a possibilidade de construir uma complementação para detalhamento do conteúdo da CA e disponibilizá-lo ao público interessado no sistema do mercado de arte na contemporaneidade, em formato eletrônico, na world wide web, para o qual o mapa direciona seus leitores. Concluiu-se que este é um campo aberto a novos estudos, inovações e empreendimentos e continua-se a acreditar, principalmente agora que adquiriu materialidade, que a CA possa ser útil a estudantes, ao público, aos profissionais das artes e da gestão cultural que desejam conhecer o funcionamento do mercado de arte contemporâneo.

CultuRAM: agenda cultural da Região Autónoma da Madeira

A Região Autónoma da Madeira é uma região turística com uma oferta cultural intensa e diversificada, que é dinamizada por um considerável número de entidades. A necessidade de gerir toda essa oferta torna-se cada vez mais premente. Com esta necessidade surge o conceito de agenda cultural única, um mecanismo que congregue toda a atividade cultural desenvolvida na região. O projeto Agenda Cultural da Região Autónoma da Madeira, designado por CultuRAM, consiste numa aplicação web direcionada às entidades regionais que desenvolvam atividades no domínio da cultura. Essas entidades podem ser públicas ou privadas que estejam ligadas à promoção e divulgação de eventos culturais. Esta plataforma de gestão e divulgação de conteúdos tem por principal objetivo a centralização da gestão e divulgação da atividade cultural desenvolvida na região, posicionando-se como uma agenda cultural única. Com esta ferramenta pretende-se criar as condições necessárias aos diversos intervenientes, de modo a assegurar uma melhor oferta cultural, tanto aos residentes, como aos turistas que nos visitam. Este relatório descreve e documenta os métodos de investigação e fases de desenvolvimento do projeto, com enfase na referência e fundamentação dos modelos e tecnologias utilizadas.

Wi-share: partilha de configurações wi-fi

A popularidade dos dispositivos móveis tem vindo a aumentar significativamente nos últimos anos e, com isso, surge a necessidade de aceder à Internet nos smartphones e tablets, quer para fins laborais quer para lazer. Devido às limitações de tráfego nas redes móveis, como 3G ou 4G, as pessoas procuram conectar-se aos pontos de acesso nas suas proximidades para poupar tráfego móvel. Os pontos de acesso também são uma outra forma de se conseguir conectar à Internet no estrangeiro, mesmo quando não se tem disponível um plano de dados móveis. As soluções existentes, que visam conectar os seus utilizadores à Internet através de pontos de acesso, requerem o pagamento de uma taxa elevada ou violam a privacidade das redes Wi-Fi ao permitir que todos os utilizadores se consigam conectar sem a devida autorização dos proprietários e que consumam tráfego e largura de banda sem quaisquer restrições. Com este trabalho pretende-se permitir que os proprietários das redes possam limitar os recursos de quem acede às suas redes (tráfego, largura de banda e/ou número de utilizadores conectados) usando apenas uma aplicação Android para fazer todo o controlo de acesso e limitação de recursos. Além de limitar os recursos pretende-se possibilitar a interoperabilidade entre pontos de acesso de diferentes plataformas para permitir que utilizadores de diferentes operadores de telecomunicações possam partilhar as suas redes mutuamente. Para se atingir estes objetivos foi desenvolvido um sistema composto por uma aplicação Android e um servidor web. O teste da solução foi feito através de testes com utilizadores, identificando-se que os participantes partilharam maioritariamente as suas próprias redes. A maioria dos utilizadores optou por partilhar as suas redes de forma pública (com todos os utilizadores) e limitar o número de utilizadores conectados para salvaguardar o desempenho da sua ligação. Com este trabalho, consegue-se concluir que é possível incentivar os utilizadores a partilhar as suas redes caso estejam presentes mecanismos que consigam manter a privacidade da rede e que lhes consigam dar controlo sobre a partilha.

Vector Graphics: From PostScript and Flash to SVG

The XML-based specification for Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), sponsored by the World Wide Web consortium, allows for compact and descriptive vector graphics for the Web. SVG s domain of discourse is that of graphic primitives whose optional attributes express line thickness, fill patterns, text size and so on. These primitives have very different properties from those of traditional document components (e.g. sections, paragraphs etc.) that XML is normally called upon to express. This paper describes a set of three tools for creating SVG, either from first principles or via the conversion of existing formats. The ab initio generation of SVG is effected from a server-side CGI script, using a PERL library of drawing functions; later sections highlight the problems of converting Adobe PostScript and Macromedia s Shockwave format (SWF) into SVG.

Navigating a corpus of journal papers using Handles

For some years now the Internet and World Wide Web communities have envisaged moving to a next generation of Web technologies by promoting a globally unique, and persistent, identifier for identifying and locating many forms of published objects . These identifiers are called Universal Resource Names (URNs) and they hold out the prospect of being able to refer to an object by what it is (signified by its URN), rather than by where it is (the current URL technology). One early implementation of URN ideas is the Unicode-based Handle technology, developed at CNRI in Reston Virginia. The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a specific URN naming convention proposed just over 5 years ago and is now administered by the International DOI organisation, founded by a consortium of publishers and based in Washington DC. The DOI is being promoted for managing electronic content and for intellectual rights management of it, either using the published work itself, or, increasingly via metadata descriptors for the work in question. This paper describes the use of the CNRI handle parser to navigate a corpus of papers for the Electronic Publishing journal. These papers are in PDF format and based on our server in Nottingham. For each paper in the corpus a metadata descriptor is prepared for every citation appearing in the References section. The important factor is that the underlying handle is resolved locally in the first instance. In some cases (e.g. cross-citations within the corpus itself and links to known resources elsewhere) the handle can be handed over to CNRI for further resolution. This work shows the encouraging prospect of being able to use persistent URNs not only for intellectual property negotiations but also for search and discovery. In the test domain of this experiment every single resource, referred to within a given paper, can be resolved, at least to the level of metadata about the referred object. If the Web were to become more fully URN aware then a vast directed graph of linked resources could be accessed, via persistent names. Moreover, if these names delivered embedded metadata when resolved, the way would be open for a new generation of vastly more accurate and intelligent Web search engines.

Separable Hyperstructure and Delayed Link Binding

As the amount of material on the World Wide Web continues to grow, users are discovering that the Web's embedded, hard-coded, links are difficult to maintain and update. Hyperlinks need a degree of abstraction in the way they are specified together with a sound underlying document structure and the property of separability from the documents they are linking. The case is made by studying the advantages of program/data separation in computer system architectures and also by re-examining some selected hypermedia systems that have already implemented separability. The prospects for introducing more abstract links into future versions of HTML and PDF, via emerging standards such as XPath, XPointer XLink and URN, are briefly discussed.