SocialLink: exploiting graph embeddings to link DBpedia entities to Twitter profiles

SocialLink is a project designed to match social media profiles on Twitter to corresponding entities in DBpedia. Built to bridge the vibrant Twitter social media world and the Linked Open Data cloud, SocialLink enables knowledge transfer between the two, both assisting Semantic Web practitioners in better harvesting the vast amounts of information available on Twitter and allowing leveraging of DBpedia data for social media analysis tasks. In this paper, we further extend the original SocialLink approach by exploiting graph-based features based on both DBpedia and Twitter, represented as graph embeddings learned from vast amounts of unlabeled data. The introduction of such new features required to redesign our deep neural network-based candidate selection algorithm and, as a result, we experimentally demonstrate a significant improvement of the performances of SocialLink

Pseudomonas aeruginosa displays an epidemic population structure.

peer reviewedBacteria can have population structures ranging from the fully sexual to the highly clonal. Despite numerous studies, the population structure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is still somewhat contentious. We used a polyphasic approach in order to shed new light on this issue. A data set consisting of three outer membrane (lipo)protein gene sequences (oprI, oprL and oprD), a DNA-based fingerprint (amplified fragment length polymorphism), serotype and pyoverdine type of 73 P. aeruginosa clinical and environmental isolates, collected across the world, was analysed using biological data analysis software. We observed a clear mosaicism in the results, non-congruence between results of different typing methods and a microscale mosaic structure in the oprD gene. Hence, in this network, we also observed some clonal complexes characterized by an almost identical data set. The most recent clones exhibited serotypes O1, 6, 11 and 12. No obvious correlation was observed between these dominant clones and habitat or, with the exception of some recent clones, geographical origin. Our results are consistent with, and even clarify, some seemingly contradictory results in earlier epidemiological studies. Therefore, we suggest an epidemic population structure for P. aeruginosa, comparable with that of Neisseria meningitidis, a superficially clonal structure with frequent recombinations, in which occasionally highly successful epidemic clones arise

A review on the eco-epidemiology and clinical management of human granulocytic anaplasmosis and its agent in Europe

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is the agent of tick-borne fever, equine, canine and human granulocytic anaplasmosis. The common route of A. phagocytophilum transmission is through a tick bite, the main vector in Europe being Ixodes ricinus. Despite the apparently ubiquitous presence of the pathogen A. phagocytophilum in ticks and various wild and domestic animals from Europe, up to date published clinical cases of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) remain rare compared to the worldwide status. It is unclear if this reflects the epidemiological dynamics of the human infection in Europe or if the disease is underdiagnosed or underreported. Epidemiologic studies in Europe have suggested an increased occupational risk of infection for forestry workers, hunters, veterinarians, and farmers with a tick-bite history and living in endemic areas. Although the overall genetic diversity of A. phagocytophilum in Europe is higher than in the USA, the strains responsible for the human infections are related on both continents. However, the study of the genetic variability and assessment of the difference of pathogenicity and infectivity between strains to various hosts has been insufficiently explored to date. Most of the European HGA cases presented as a mild infection, common clinical signs being pyrexia, headache, myalgia and arthralgia. The diagnosis of HGA in the USA was recommended to be based on clinical signs and the patient’s history and later confirmed using specialized laboratory tests. However, in Europe since the majority of cases are presenting as mild infection, laboratory tests may be performed before the treatment in order to avoid antibiotic overuse. The drug of choice for HGA is doxycycline and because of potential for serious complication the treatment should be instituted on clinical suspicion alone