39 research outputs found
CITIDEL Collection Building
The aim of this study is to facilitate the goals of the Computing and Information Technology Interactive Digital Educational Library (CITIDEL) by increasing the number of collections available to it. This study will help in achieving this goal by focusing on four diverse collections
Information Storage and Retrieval of Composite Documents: A User Oriented Model of a Computer Message System
This paper outlines a new model of computer message systems based on a useroriented
rather than a communications perspective. Most network users spend their
time working with various types of 'composite documents' such as mail messages,
news, reports, or entries in directories of names. They perform operations that are
aided by a logically centralized but physically distributed world-wide information
storage and retrieval system. Their concerns should be with creating, filing, submitting,
searching, and retrieving documents, not with routing or transmission matters.
Computer networks are rapidly proliferating. Their number and size are increasing,
and interconnection is commonplace. High vol~ime applications like mail and
news transmission are well established in offices, large corporations, and governmentally
supported internets. Computer conferencing and directory assistance services are
continuing to evoive. Standards for message formats, transmission protocols, and
name/address directories have been recommended by DARPA, NBS, and CCI'IT.
Research in document modeling, distributing databases, and retrieving text
objects is being adapted to improve the functionality of computer message systems.
Advanced techniques for text analysis, automatic indexing, query construction,
description of comprehensive interest profiles, and retrospective or current awareness
retrieval can simplify and improve the effectiveness of user agent software. Initial
experimentation has shown the value of recognizing the structure of composite documents.
Current work with the CSNET name server database, and with a collection of
messages extracted from AIList digests distributed over the DARPA Internet, indicates
that the proposed model accomodates mail, news, and directory assistance.
Other work with book passage retrieval suggests that large files can be processed too.
It is hoped that integration of these services, along with conferencing and database
handling, will occur, as a new network for the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology
is proposed and eventually implemented
SimFusion: A Unified Similarity Measurement Algorithm for Multi-Type Interrelated Web Objects
In this paper, we use a Unified Relationship Matrix (URM) to represent a set of heterogeneous web objects (e.g., web pages, queries) and their interrelationships (e.g., hyperlink, user click-through relationships). We claim that iterative computations over the URM can help overcome the data sparseness problem (a common situation in the Web) and detect latent relationships among heterogeneous web objects, thus, can improve the quality of various information applications that require the combination of information from heterogeneous sources. To support our claim, we further propose a unified similarity-calculating algorithm, the SimFusion algorithm. By iteratively computing over the URM, the SimFusion algorithm can effectively integrate relationships from heterogeneous sources when measuring the similarity of two web objects. Experiments based on a real search engine query log and a large real web page collection demonstrate that the SimFusion algorithm can significantly improve similarity measurement of web objects over both traditional content based similarity-calculating algorithms and the cutting edge SimRank algorithm
Animal-related factors associated with moderate-to-severe diarrhea in children younger than five years in western Kenya: A matched case-control study
Background Diarrheal disease remains among the leading causes of global mortality in children younger than 5 years. Exposure to domestic animals may be a risk factor for diarrheal disease. The objectives of this study were to identify animal-related exposures associated with cases of moderate-to-severe diarrhea (MSD) in children in rural western Kenya, and to identify the major zoonotic enteric pathogens present in domestic animals residing in the homesteads of case and control children. Methodology/Principal findings We characterized animal-related exposures in a subset of case and control children (n = 73 pairs matched on age, sex and location) with reported animal presence at home enrolled in the Global Enteric Multicenter Study in western Kenya, and analysed these for an association with MSD. We identified potentially zoonotic enteric pathogens in pooled fecal specimens collected from domestic animals resident at children’s homesteads. Variables that were associated with decreased risk of MSD were washing hands after animal contact (matched odds ratio [MOR] = 0.2; 95% CI 0.08–0.7), and presence of adult sheep that were not confined in a pen overnight (MOR = 0.1; 0.02–0.5). Variables that were associated with increased risk of MSD were increasing number of sheep owned (MOR = 1.2; 1.0–1.5), frequent observation of fresh rodent excreta (feces/urine) outside the house (MOR = 7.5; 1.5–37.2), and participation of the child in providing water to chickens (MOR = 3.8; 1.2–12.2). Of 691 pooled specimens collected from 2,174 domestic animals, 159 pools (23%) tested positive for one or more potentially zoonotic enteric pathogens (Campylobacter jejuni, C. coli, non-typhoidal Salmonella, diarrheagenic E. coli, Giardia, Cryptosporidium, or rotavirus). We did not find any association between the presence of particular pathogens in household animals, and MSD in children. Conclusions and significance Public health agencies should continue to promote frequent hand washing, including after animal contact, to reduce the risk of MSD. Future studies should address specific causal relations of MSD with sheep and chicken husbandry practices, and with the presence of rodents
Streams, Structures, Spaces, Scenarios, Societies (5S): A Formal Model for Digital Libraries
Digital libraries (DLs) are complex information systems and therefore demand formal foundations lest development efforts diverge and interoperability suffers. In this paper, we propose the fundamental abstractions of Streams, Structures, Spaces, Scenarios, and Societies (5S), which contribute to define digital libraries rigorously and usefully. Streams are sequences of abstract items used to describe static and dynamic content. Structures can be defined as labeled directed graphs, which impose organization. Spaces are sets of abstract items and operations on those sets that obey certain rules. Scenarios consist of sequences of events or actions that modify states of a computation in order to accomplish a functional requirement. Societies comprehend entities and the relationships between and among them. Together these abstractions relate and unify concepts, among others, of digital objects, metadata, collections, and services required to formalize and elucidate “digital libraries”. The applicability, versatility and unifying power of the theory is demonstrated through its use in three distinct applications: building and interpretation of a DL taxonomy, analysis of case studies of digital libraries, and utilization as a formal basis for a DL description language