Shedding light on a living lab: the CLEF NEWSREEL open recommendation platform

In the CLEF NEWSREEL lab, participants are invited to evaluate news recommendation techniques in real-time by providing news recommendations to actual users that visit commercial news portals to satisfy their information needs. A central role within this lab is the communication between participants and the users. This is enabled by The Open Recommendation Platform (ORP), a web-based platform which distributes users' impressions of news articles to the participants and returns their recommendations to the readers. In this demo, we illustrate the platform and show how requests are handled to provide relevant news articles in real-time

Annotation Search: the FAST Way

Περιέχει το πλήρες κείμενοThis paper discusses how annotations can be exploited to develop information access and retrieval algorithms that take them into account. The paper proposes a general framework for developing such algorithms that specifically deals with the problem of accessing and retrieving topical information from annotations and annotated documents

Managing the Knowledge Creation Process of Large-Scale Evaluation Campaigns

Περιέχει το πλήρες κείμενοThis paper discusses the evolution of large-scale evaluation campaigns and the corresponding evaluation infrastructures needed to carry them out. We present the next challenges for these initiatives and show how digital library systems can play a relevant role in supporting the research conducted in these fora by acting as virtual research environments

ATPase activity of thylakoid membranes in CTAB-hexanol-octane low water system

AbstractThylakoid membranes transferred into a low water system composed of n-octane, the cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and 1-hexanol as cosurfactant, displayed protein- and substrate-dependent ATPase activities for more than 60 min. This activity was enhanced 7–10-fold and 3–4-fold with 28%-vol. of methanol and 21%-vol of tert-butanol present in the polar phase, respectively, in a fashion reminiscent of what occurs in aqueous media. Approximately 25% and 10% of control and methanol-enhanced ATPase activities found in buffer were detected in the low water system, respectively, and both activities showed a pronounced dependency on the amount of water present (between 2.5 and 15% of water (v/v)). 1H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR) studies revealed that the bound/free water ratio (a) increased with decreasing concentration of water in the reverse micellar phase and (b) slightly increased in the presence of methanol. The results altogether suggest that the amount and physical state of water significantly contribute to determine the ATPase activity in the low water system

Copyright and the Use of Images as Biodiversity Data [Forum paper]

Taxonomy is the discipline responsible for charting the world’s organismic diversity, understanding ancestor/descendant relationships, and organizing all species according to a unified taxonomic classification system. Taxonomists document the attributes (characters) of organisms, with emphasis on those can be used to distinguish species from each other. Character information is compiled in the scientific literature as text, tables, and images. The information is presented according to conventions that vary among taxonomic domains; such conventions facilitate comparison among similar species, even when descriptions are published by different authors. There is considerable uncertainty within the taxonomic community as to how to re-use images that were included in taxonomic publications, especially in regard to whether copyright applies. This article deals with the principles and application of copyright law, database protection, and protection against unfair competition, as applied to images. We conclude that copyright does not apply to most images in taxonomic literature because they are presented in a standardized way and lack the individuality that is required to qualify as ‘copyrightable works’. There are exceptions, such as wildlife photographs, drawings and artwork produced in a distinctive individual form and intended for other than comparative purposes (such as visual art). Further exceptions may apply to collections of images that qualify as a database in the sense of European database protection law. In a few European countries, there is legal protection for photographs that do not qualify as works in the usual sense of copyright. It follows that most images found in taxonomic literature can be re-used for research or many other purposes without seeking permission, regardless of any copyright declaration. In observance of ethical and scholarly standards, re-users are expected to cite the author and original source of any image that they use

Emissions from dryer vents during use of fragranced and fragrance-free laundry products

Fragranced laundry products emit a range of volatile organic compounds, including hazardous air pollutants. Exposure to fragranced emissions from laundry products has been associated with adverse health effects such as asthma attacks and migraine headaches. Little is known about volatile emissions from clothes dryer vents and the effectiveness of strategies to reduce concentrations and risks. This study investigates volatile emissions from six residential dryer vents, with a focus on d-limonene. It analyses and compares concentrations of d-limonene during use of fragranced and fragrance-free laundry products, as well as changes in switching from fragranced to fragrance-free products. In households using fragranced laundry detergent, the highest concentration of d-limonene from a dryer vent was 118g/m(3) (mean 33.34g/m(3)). By contrast, in households using only fragrance-free detergent, the highest concentration of d-limonene from a dryer vent was 0.26g/m(3) (mean 0.25g/m(3)). After households using fragranced detergent switched to using fragrance-free detergent, the concentrations of d-limonene in dryer vent emissions were reduced by up to 99.7% (mean 79.1%). This simple strategy of switching to fragrance-free products significantly and almost completely eliminated d-limonene emissions. Results from this study demonstrate that changing from fragranced to fragrance-free products can be a straightforward and effective approach to reduce ambient air pollution and potential health risks

Impact on monthly migraine days of discontinuing anti-CGRP antibodies after one year of treatment - a real-life cohort study.

OBJECTIVE This study aims to analyse the effect of the discontinuation of anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide antibodies on monthly migraine days after 12 treatment months. BACKGROUND Anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide antibodies have been a game changer in migraine prophylaxis. However, high treatment costs warrant reducing treatment duration to the essential minimum. METHODS We collected data of patients with migraine who had received anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide antibodies and had received treatment for 12 months. RESULTS We included 52 patients. The average number of monthly migraine days was 16 ± 7 days at baseline, 6 ± 6 in the third, and 5 ± 4 in the 12th treatment month. After treatment interruption, the number of monthly migraine days was 6 ± 4 days in the first month, 9 ± 4 days in the second, and 11 ± 5 days in the third month. Most patients (88.9%) restarted treatment. CONCLUSION Only little of the therapeutic effect of anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide antibodies outlasts their pharmacological effect. After treatment interruption, migraine frequency rose in most patients, and prophylaxis was required again in most cases.Limiting treatment to benefitting patients and confirming the need for prophylaxis periodically is reasonable. However, our data does not support the need for prescheduled treatment discontinuation after 12 months and a fixed duration of the treatment interruption of 3 months