Retrieving and semantically integrating heterogeneous data from the Web

Building Finder uses semantic Web technologies to integrate different data types from various online data sources. The application's use of the RDF and RDF data query language makes it usable by computer agents as well as human users. An agent would send a query, expressed in terms of its preferred ontology (schema), to a system that would then find and integrate the relevant data from multiple sources and return it using the agent's ontology. We discuss about retrieving and semantically integrating heterogeneous data from the Web.     

[6]-Gingerol-loaded cellulose acetate electrospun fibers as a topical carrier for controlled release

[6]-Gingerol (6 % w/v)-loaded cellulose acetate (12 % w/v CA; MW ~ 3 × 10⁴ g/mol) fibers (375 ± 107 nm) were prepared by electrospinning at 7.5 kV. ATR-FTIR spectra indicated that the mixture was miscible at this composition. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed that [6]-gingerol was uniformly dispersed in the CA matrix and interrupted the hydrogen bond formation among the CA chains. Controlled release study showed that ~97 % of the loaded [6]-gingerol could be released from the loaded fibers to the acetate buffer solution at 37 °C, whereas only ~74 % of it could be done from the corresponding films. About 92 % of [6]-gingerol in the fibers was dramatically released within 4 h. Release was mainly governed by a diffusion-controlled mechanism. The radical scavenging assay showed antioxidant activity of the loaded fibers. The in vitro cytotoxicity test revealed that the viability of L-929 mouse fibroblast cells to the loaded fibers was ~65 %.     

Design of an optimal BER monitoring scheme for preventive maintenance of an ATM network

In today's telecommunication networks it is well known that unexpected failures in the physical links may cause significant loss or interruption of services. It is desirable if the deterioration of links can be recognized early and maintenance is carried out before failure occurs. Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks have recently received much attention and are considered to be the prime universal networks of the future. Unfortunately, there has been very little research in the areas of preventive maintenance and performance monitoring of the ATM network. In this paper we propose a preventive maintenance monitoring scheme for an ATM network where a performance index called the bit error rate (BER) index of each service of the ATM network is continuously monitored. The BER index of each path in the ATM network is assumed to be slowly deteriorating and is modelled as a Brownian motion process with positive drift. If any of the BER indices exceeds its action limit or threshold, a repair process is initiated. The optimal action limit is derived by minimizing the modified long-run average maintenance cost. We found that the optimal action limit depends strongly on the multiservice characteristics of the ATM network and on the network topology, which relates to the virtual path (VP) bandwidth management and routing protocol used. To obtain the optimal action limit, an optimization model for VP bandwidth management is set up and the multidimensional Erlang loss model is used to determine the path selecting probabilities. Some numerical examples are given to illustrate the proposed model and the optimization results. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reversible Control of Radius and Morphology of Fluorene‐Azobenzene Copolymer Nanowires by Light Exposure

The preparation of photoresponsive polymer nanowires comprising photochromic azobenzene (Azo) and π‐conjugated fluorene (FO) units is reported. Well‐defined and uniform nanowires of the copolymer (PFOAzo) were successfully fabricated by the single particle nanofabrication technique after optimizing the FO:Azo ratio and the development conditions. Azo units in the PFOAzo nanowires underwent reversible trans–cis–trans isomerization upon exposure to ultraviolet or visible light, leading to changes in the radius (between ca. 6 and 8 nm) and morphology (straight or wavy) of the nanowires. The oligo(alkylfluorene) units in the backbone are found to profit the crosslinking efficiency upon high‐energy ion beam irradiation, and more importantly, provide sufficient flexibility to allow reversible photoswitching. This demonstration of the photoluminescence, semiconducting, and mechanical properties of the PFOAzo nanowires is an important advance in the evolution of electro‐mechanical nanomaterials.