Location-based search engines tasks and capabilities: A comparative study

Location-based web searching is one of the popular tasks expected from the search engines. A location-based query consists of a topic and a reference location. Unlike general web search, in location-based search it is expected to find and rank documents which are not only related to the query topic but also geographically related to the location which the query is associated with. There are several issues for developing effective geographic search engines and so far, no global location-based search engine has been reported. Location ambiguity, lack of geographic information on web pages, language-based and country-dependent addressing styles, and multiple locations related to a single web resource are notable difficulties. Search engine companies have started to develop and offer location-based services. However, they are still geographically limited and have not become as successful and popular as general search engines. This paper reviews the architecture and tasks of location-based search engines and compares the capabilities, functionalities and coverage of the current geographic search engines with a user-oriented approach. Copyrigh

Information-seeking behaviour of physicists and astronomers: an interdisciplinary study.

The study of information-seeking behaviour of scientists has been one of the main concerns of librarians and information scientists since mid twentieth century and yet we need to improve our understanding of their information behaviour in order to maximise the efficiency of information services provided. This thesis studies the information-seeking behaviour of physicists and astronomers with an intradisciplinary approach in order to look at similarities and dissimilarities among the subfields within physics and astronomy. The study also looks at the information-seeking behaviour of people with different academic status and investigates the information-seeking activities of physicists and astronomers in different stages of research projects with the focus of the thesis being research related information-seeking behaviour. Moreover, the research investigates reading behaviour and publishing patterns of physicists and astronomers. The study is a mixed-methods study that uses both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The population of the study included the staff and PhD students in the Department of Physics and Astronomy of University College London. Fifty-six face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted, an online questionnaire survey of 114 respondents (out of 242 sample, 47% response rate) was carried out and 88 information-event cards were completed by participants. The findings of the study showed that although some similarities exist in information-seeking behaviour of people in the different subfields of physics and astronomy, each subfield has its own characteristics. Variations were found with regard to different aspects of information-seeking behaviour including the reliance on e-print archives and journal articles, methods used for keeping up-to-date and methods used for identifying articles. The study showed the importance of human information sources and informal communication in the information-seeking behaviour of physicists and astronomers and highlighted the need for and the value of looking at narrower subject communities within disciplines for a deeper understanding of the information behaviour of scientists

A log analysis study of 10 years of ebook consumption in academic library collections

Even though libraries have been offering eBooks for more than a decade, very little is known about eBook access and consumption in academic library collections. This paper addresses this gap with a log analysis study of eBook access at the library of the University of Waikato. This in-depth analysis covers a period spanning 10 years of eBook use at this university. We draw conclusions about the use of eBooks at this institution and compare the results with other published studies of eBook usage at tertiary institutes

Highly Efficient Generation of Transgenically Augmented CAR NK Cells Overexpressing CXCR4

Natural killer (NK) cells are a noteworthy lymphocyte subset in cancer adoptive cell therapy. NK cells initiate innate immune responses against infections and malignancies with natural cytotoxicity, which is independent of foreign antigen recognition. Based on these substantive features, genetically modifying NK cells is among the prime goals in immunotherapy but is currently difficult to achieve. Recently, we reported a fully human CAR19 construct (huCAR19) with remarkable function in gene-modified T-cells. Here, we show efficient and stable gene delivery of huCAR19 to primary human NK cells using lentiviral vectors with transduction efficiencies comparable to those achieved with NK cell lines. These huCAR19 NK cells display specific and potent cytotoxic activity against target cells. To improve homing of NK cells to the bone marrow, we augmented huCAR19 NK cells with the human CXCR4 gene, resulting in transgenically augmented CAR NK cells (TRACKs). Compared to conventional CAR NK cells, TRACKs exhibit enhanced migration capacity in response to recombinant SDF-1 or bone marrow stromal cells while retaining functional and cytolytic activity against target cells. Based on these promising findings, TRACKs may become a novel candidate for immunotherapeutic strategies in clinical applications. © Copyright © 2020 Jamali, Hadjati, Madjd, Mirzaei, Thalheimer, Agarwal, Bonig, Ullrich and Hartmann

Health information and communication system for emergency management in a developing country, Iran

Disasters are fortunately rare occurrences. However, accurate and timely information and communication are vital to adequately prepare individual health organizations for such events. The current article investigates the health related communication and information systems for emergency management in Iran. A mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology was used in this study. A sample of 230 health service managers was surveyed using a questionnaire and 65 semi-structured interviews were also conducted with public health and therapeutic affairs managers who were responsible for emergency management. A range of problems were identified including fragmentation of information, lack of local databases, lack of clear information strategy and lack of a formal system for logging disaster related information at regional or local level. Recommendations were made for improving the national emergency management information and communication system. The findings have implications for health organizations in developing and developed countries especially in the Middle East. Creating disaster related information databases, creating protocols and standards, setting an information strategy, training staff and hosting a center for information system in the Ministry of Health to centrally manage and share the data could improve the current information system. © 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

A cooperative pathway for water activation using a bimetallic Pt0-CuI system

A mixture of the platinum(0) complex [Pt(PtBu3)2] and tetrakis(acetonitrile)copper(i) hexafluorophosphate in acetone activated a water molecule and gave the hydride platinum(ii) complex [PtH(CH3CN)(PtBu3)2]PF6, 1, and the hydroxide Cu(i) species. The crystal structure of complex 1 was determined by X-ray crystallography, indicating a distorted square planar geometry around the platinum center. Although three possible mechanisms are proposed for this transformation, monitoring of the reaction using NMR spectroscopy at low temperature reveals that a cooperative pathway involving formation of a Pt0-CuI dative bond complex is the most probable pathway. The hydride platinum complex 1 is stable in acidic and neutral conditions but undergoes intramolecular C-H activation in the presence of pyridine. Monitoring of the reaction using 1H and 31P NMR spectroscopy shows that a cyclometalation reaction of one of the phosphine ligands is followed by displacement of a second phosphine ligand by pyridine to give the cyclometalated platinum(ii) complex, [Pt(\u3ba2PC-PtBu2CMe2CH2)(py)2], 4. The structure of 4 in solution and solid state phases was determined using NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography, respectively