2,944 research outputs found
A note on utilising binary features as ligand descriptors
No full textMussa and Mitchell thank the BBSRC for funding this research through grant BB/I00596X/1. Mitchell thanks the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) for financial support.It is common in cheminformatics to represent the properties of a ligand as a string of 1’s and 0’s, with the intention of elucidating, inter alia, the relationship between the chemical structure of a ligand and its bioactivity. In this commentary we note that, where relevant but non-redundant features are binary, they inevitably lead to a classifier capable of capturing only a linear relationship between structural features and activity. If, instead, we were to use relevant but non-redundant real-valued features, the resulting predictive model would be capable of describing a non-linear structure-activity relationship. Hence, we suggest that real-valued features, where available, are to be preferred in this scenario.Peer reviewe
O Enigma de Qaf, de Alberto Mussa: A Heterodoxa Reinvenção da Tradução na Ficção Brasileira Contemporânea
No full textThis article analyses the representation of the translator and the process of translation in the novel The Riddle of Qaf (2004), by the Brazilian author Alberto Mussa. The novel is based on the work carried out by the author to translate The Suspended Odes (2006), created in the 6th century by the best Bedouin poets. Thus, the aim of the article is to understand how the protagonist of the novel, also called Mussa, undertakes a creative translation of one of the poems. The work will be analysed from different perspectives: the importance of migrant literature, the growing centrality of the translator in fiction, the study of motifs related to translation in contemporary literature and the blurring of the boundaries between authorship and translation.O artigo analisa a representação do tradutor e da tradução no romance O enigma de Qaf (2004), do escritor brasileiro Alberto Mussa. A obra inspira-se no trabalho realizado pelo autor para traduzir os Poemas suspensos (2006), criados no século vi por alguns dos maiores poetas beduínos. Assim, o objetivo do artigo é compreender o modo como, a partir de uma certa escrita do eu, a personagem de Mussa realiza uma tradução criativa de um dos poemas no romance. A obra será analisada a partir de diversas perspetivas: a importância da literatura migrante, a crescente centralidade do tradutor na ficção, o estudo dos motivos ligados àtradução na literatura contemporânea ou a indefinição da fronteira entre autoria e tradução
Verifying the fully “Laplacianised” posterior Naïve Bayesian approach and more
No full textMussa and Glen would like to thank Unilever for financial support, whereas Mussa and Mitchell thank the BBSRC for funding this research through grant BB/I00596X/1. Mitchell thanks the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) for financial support.Background In a recent paper, Mussa, Mitchell and Glen (MMG) have mathematically demonstrated that the “Laplacian Corrected Modified Naïve Bayes” (LCMNB) algorithm can be viewed as a variant of the so-called Standard Naïve Bayes (SNB) scheme, whereby the role played by absence of compound features in classifying/assigning the compound to its appropriate class is ignored. MMG have also proffered guidelines regarding the conditions under which this omission may hold. Utilising three data sets, the present paper examines the validity of these guidelines in practice. The paper also extends MMG’s work and introduces a new version of the SNB classifier: “Tapered Naïve Bayes” (TNB). TNB does not discard the role of absence of a feature out of hand, nor does it fully consider its role. Hence, TNB encapsulates both SNB and LCMNB. Results LCMNB, SNB and TNB performed differently on classifying 4,658, 5,031 and 1,149 ligands (all chosen from the ChEMBL Database) distributed over 31 enzymes, 23 membrane receptors, and one ion-channel, four transporters and one transcription factor as their target proteins. When the number of features utilised was equal to or smaller than the “optimal” number of features for a given data set, SNB classifiers systematically gave better classification results than those yielded by LCMNB classifiers. The opposite was true when the number of features employed was markedly larger than the “optimal” number of features for this data set. Nonetheless, these LCMNB performances were worse than the classification performance achieved by SNB when the “optimal” number of features for the data set was utilised. TNB classifiers systematically outperformed both SNB and LCMNB classifiers. Conclusions The classification results obtained in this study concur with the mathematical based guidelines given in MMG’s paper—that is, ignoring the role of absence of a feature out of hand does not necessarily improve classification performance of the SNB approach; if anything, it could make the performance of the SNB method worse. The results obtained also lend support to the rationale, on which the TNB algorithm rests: handled judiciously, taking into account absence of features can enhance (not impair) the discriminatory classification power of the SNB approach.Peer reviewe
Stakeholder salience and accounting practices in Tanzanian NGOs
No full textAbstract: Purpose – This paper seeks to investigate the influence of stakeholders on accountability relationships and the development of accounting practices and processes within two Tanzanian non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Design/methodology/approach – Stakeholder analysis is employed to evaluate the positions of stakeholder groups in terms of Mitchell et al.'s attributes of power, legitimacy and urgency. Data analysis was undertaken using a grounded theory approach. Findings – The research found that overseas donors were the stakeholders with the highest salience as a result of which they significantly influenced accountability relationships and accounting processes and practices within NGOs. Despite the often proclaimed NGOs' objective of improving welfare of beneficiary groups there appeared to be little accountability by NGOs to beneficiaries. Differences in the accounting functions in the NGOs were explained by the influence of dominant stakeholders, the credibility of the organisation and its managers and the varied ways through which the organisations negotiated and accounted for funding. Moreover, accounting was virtually unemployed in internal decision-making processes indicating that it was largely a tool for satisfying claims of the highly salient stakeholders. Research limitations/implications – This paper makes a contribution to the literatures of both stakeholder theory and NGO accounting. From the grounded theory analysis it is suggested that the stakeholder framework of Mitchell et al. could be usefully extended in the three areas of power asymmetries of definitive stakeholders, stakeholder salience asymmetries across organisational phenomena and asymmetries across time. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the empirical accounting literature by seeking a deeper understanding of how and why accounting and accountability relationships develop within NGOs. It sheds light on a type of organisation that has not been extensively studied in the public sector management literature. <br/
Adaptation to visual feedback delay in a redundant motor task.
No full textThe goal of this study was to examine the reorganization of hand movements during adaptation to delayed visual feedback in a novel and redundant environment. In most natural behaviors, the brain must learn to invert a many-to-one map from high-dimensional joint movements and muscle forces to a low-dimensional goal. This spatial "inverse map" is learned by associating motor commands to their low-dimensional consequences. How is this map affected by the presence of temporal delays? A delay presents the brain with a new set of kinematic data, and, because of redundancy, the brain may use these data to form a new inverse map. We consider two possible responses to a novel visuomotor delay. In one case, the brain updates the previously learned spatial map, building a new association between motor commands and visual feedback of their effects. In the alternative case, the brain preserves the original map and learns to compensate the delay by a temporal shift of the motor commands. To test these alternative possibilities, we developed a virtual reality game in which subjects controlled the two-dimensional coordinates of a cursor by continuous hand gestures. Two groups of subjects tracked a target along predictable paths by wearing an instrumented data glove that recorded finger motions. The 19-dimensional glove signals controlled a cursor on a 2-dimensional computer display. The experiment was performed on 2 consecutive days. On the 1st day, subjects practiced tracking movements without delay. On the 2nd day, the test group performed the same task with a delay of 300 ms between the glove signals and the cursor display, whereas the control group continued practicing the non-delayed trials. We found evidence that to compensate for the delay, the test group relied on the coordination patterns established during the baseline, e. g., their hand-to-cursor inverse map was robust to the delay perturbation, which was counteracted by an anticipation of the motor command
The Body-Machine Interface: A new perspective on an old theme
No full textBody-machine interfaces establish a way to interact with a variety of devices, allowing their users to extend the limits of their performance. Recent advances in this field, ranging from computer interfaces to bionic limbs, have had important consequences for people with movement disorders. The authors provide an overview of the basic concepts underlying the body-machine interface with special emphasis on their use for rehabilitation and for operating assistive devices. They outline the steps involved in building such an interface and highlight the critical role of body-machine interfaces in addressing theoretical issues in motor control as well as their utility in movement rehabilitation
Cognitive, Social, and Emotional-Behavioral Outcomes in Children and Adolescents With Beckwith–Wiedemann Syndrome
No full textAlthough Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome spectrum (BWSp) is not usually associated with intellectual disability, recent evidences calls for further investigation of cognitive development and academic skills in children with BWSp. Moreover, research has documented social difficulties and emotional-behavioral problems associated with BWSp. Nevertheless, a full characterization of socio-emotional development in BWSp is still lacking. In the current study, cognitive and socio-emotional development was assessed in 29 children with BWSp aged 5–18 years, using a test of nonverbal intelligence, a neuropsychological battery covering multiple domains, academic skills tests, and questionnaires evaluating autistic traits and emotional-behavioral problems. As expected, most participants showed adequate performance in cognitive tests. However, the findings also highlighted greater difficulties in language than visuospatial processing, strengths in social perception, as well as slowness in reading and mental calculation. The assessment of emotional-behavioral difficulties indicated a prevalent phenotype characterized by increased anxiety, low self-esteem, social withdrawal and a tendency to control externalizing reactions, but no associations with autistic traits, cognitive outcomes, and the clinical score proposed by the recent Consensus statement. Increased social perception and internalization problems likely result from coping strategies with social and care-related stress. Overall, the findings of this study inform clinical management and genetic counseling for children and adolescents with BWSp
CALCULATING STATES UP TO DISSOCIATION STATES USING PDVR3D
No full textReferences: [1] J. Tennyson, J.R. Henderson, N.F.Fulton, Computer.Phys.Comm.,86 (1995) 175-196. [2] H.Y. Mussa, J. Tennyson, C.J. Noble and R.J. Allan. Computer.Phys.Comm., 108 (1998) 29-37. [3] A.J.C. Varandas, J.Chem.Phys., 105 (1996) 9. [4] T.-S. Ho, T. Hollebeck, H. Rabitz., L.B. Harding, G. Schatz, J.Chem.Phys., 105 (1996) 10472. [5] R. Prosmiti, O.L. Polyansky and J. Tennyson, Chem. Phys. Lett., 273 (1997) 107-114.Author Institution: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College LondonEven small chemically bound molecules have or more bound states. Calculations of this size represent a grand challenge to conventional computers. We have parallelized DVR based program suite DVR3D(1) to give PDVR3D(2). The PDVR3D suite runs on the Cray T3D/T3E at Edinburgh University(U.K.), the IBM SP2 at Daresbury(U.K.) and on the Cray T3E at CINECA (Italy). As a first application of PDVR3D, we are studying the water molecule using two newly available global potentials due to Varandas(3) and Ho and Rabitz(4). We have calculated the ro-vibrational levels of water up to dissociation limits for both potentials. Studies of bound and quasibound ro-vibrational states of , using a realistic global potential(5), are also being performed
A simple device to secure ventricular assist device driveline and prevent exit-site infection
No full textObjectives: Driveline infections are one of the most common and important complications in patients with left ventricular assist device (LVAD). One of the causes favouring the development of this complication is the traumatism of the exit site, which occurs in response to movement of the driveline. In this work, we present a simple and feasible method to immobilize the driveline at the level of the exit site. Methods: From April 2013 until November 2013, 6 patients underwent implantation of HeartWare LVAD (HVAD) for an end-stage heart failure. When the patient has begun to mobilize after the implantation of the device, we have combined the use of two components with the aim of securing the driveline to the patient's skin: a StatLock system and a silicone suture. Results: No case of local traumatism and no case of local infection at the driveline were observed during the follow-up. No patient reported pain or swelling at the driveline exit site. All patients were satisfied with their quality-of-life and they do not report any limitations in their daily activities. Conclusions: One of the major long-term complications in patients with LVAD is the development of infections of the exit site of the driveline. The trauma of this skin region promotes the onset and maintenance of an inflammatory process and local infectious. Avoiding excessive mobilization of the driveline is likely to reduce the incidence of infections of the exit site and improve the quality-of-life. © The Author 2013
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