Efficient Diversification of Web Search Results

In this paper we analyze the efficiency of various search results diversification methods. While efficacy of diversification approaches has been deeply investigated in the past, response time and scalability issues have been rarely addressed. A unified framework for studying performance and feasibility of result diversification solutions is thus proposed. First we define a new methodology for detecting when, and how, query results need to be diversified. To this purpose, we rely on the concept of "query refinement" to estimate the probability of a query to be ambiguous. Then, relying on this novel ambiguity detection method, we deploy and compare on a standard test set, three different diversification methods: IASelect, xQuAD, and OptSelect. While the first two are recent state-of-the-art proposals, the latter is an original algorithm introduced in this paper. We evaluate both the efficiency and the effectiveness of our approach against its competitors by using the standard TREC Web diversification track testbed. Results shown that OptSelect is able to run two orders of magnitude faster than the two other state-of-the-art approaches and to obtain comparable figures in diversification effectiveness.Comment: VLDB201

Beyond the immune suppression: the immunotherapy in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common cancer in men.Aswell in many other human cancers, inflammation and immune suppression have an important role in their development.We briefly describe the host components that interact with the tumor to generate an immune suppressive environment involved in PCa promotion and progression.Different tools provide to overcome the mechanisms of immunosuppression including vaccines and immune checkpoint blockades. With regard to this, we report results of most recent clinical trials investigating immunotherapy in metastatic PCa (Sipuleucel-T, ipilimumab, tasquinimod, Prostvac-VF, and GVAX) and provide possible future perspectives combining the immunotherapy to the traditional therapie

Treatment timing and multidisciplinary approach in Apert syndrome

Apert syndrome is a rare congenital disorder characterized by craniosynostosis, midface hypoplasia and symmetric syndactyly of hands and feet. Abnormalities associated with Apert syndrome include premature fusion of coronal sutures system (coronal sutures and less frequently lambdoid suture) resulting in brachiturricephalic dismorphism and impaired skull base growth. After this brief explanation it is clear that these anatomical abnormalities may have a negative impact on the ability to perform essential functions. Due to the complexity of the syndrome a multidisciplinary (respiratory, cerebral, maxillo-mandibular, dental, ophthalmic and orthopaedic) approach is necessary in treating the psychological, aesthetic and functional issues. The aim of this paper is to analyse the different functional issues and surgical methods trying to enhance results through a treatment plan which includes different specialities involved in Apert syndrome treatment. Reduced intellectual capacity is associated to the high number of general anaesthesia the small patients are subject to. Therefore the diagnostic and therapeutic treatment plan in these patients has established integrated and tailored surgical procedures based on the patients’ age in order to reduce the number of general anaesthesia, thus simplifying therapy for both Apert patients and their family members

Interactions with Open Source Software: a Pilot Study on End Users' Perception

Monograph's chapter

Las colecciones de palinología y paleobotánica del laboratorio de palinoestratigrafía y paleobotánica del Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción (CICYTTP), Entre Ríos, Argentina

El Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y de Transferencia a la Tecnología y a la Producción (CICYTTP, Anexo I, figura 1A) es un Instituto dependiente de CONICET creado en 1995 con la finalidad de ocupar un lugar protagónico y relevante en temas referidos a las Ciencias Naturales en la provincia de Entre Ríos. Tiene como objetivos principales consolidar y desarrollar investigación científica dentro de las áreas del conocimiento Ciencias Biológicas y Ciencias de La Tierra, del Agua y de la Atmósfera, y optimizar las acciones de transferencia de tecnología de investigadores, becarios y técnicos que trabajan en distintas especialidades. Se desarrolla investigación básica y aplicada abarcando las siguientes disciplinas: Actuopalinología, Agrometeorología, Botánica, Ecología vegetal, Geología, Herpetología, Neuroetología Ecológica, Ornitología, Paleopalinología, Paleobotánica, Paleontología de vertebrados, sensores remotos y sistemas de información geográfica, Variabilidad climática y cambio climático. Así como también, contribuir a la formación de recursos humanos y realizar tareas de asesoramiento y/o transferencia de tecnología. Los investigadores de algunas de dichas disciplinas tienen a su cargo el desarrollo y cuidado de colecciones de distintos grupos de organismos actuales y fósiles (plantas, palinomorfos, fitolitos, invertebrados, vertebrados), las que se encuadran en la Ley Nacional No. 25.743 de Protección del Patrimonio Arqueológico y Paleontológico y su correspondiente Ley Provincial Nº 9686. Ambas tienen por objeto la preservación y protección de materiales fósiles y bienes culturales y su aprovechamiento científico y cultural en el ámbito de la Provincia de Entre Ríos.Fil: Di Pasquo Lartigue, Maria. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; ArgentinaFil: Silvestri, Leonardo José. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; Argentin

Novità e tendenze nel quadro normativo della finanza dei comuni: entrate tributarie e patto di stabilità

In the first part of the paper we present and discuss the new legislation, on both local taxes and the Internal Stability Pact, enacted in Italy between September 2006 and December 2007. The most important aspects concern: the “thawing” of the income surtax levied by local government; the introduction of “dynamic” allocation of funding from the personal income tax (Irpef) to guarantee municipalities an automatic source of income, and an earmarked tax to finance local investments; new rules on property rates (Ici) mainly intended to reduce taxation on the principal family home; the legalisation of the use of property development dues for financing current expenditure; the temporary halt to the switch from waste disposal tax (Tarsu) to charges for the same service (Tia); the new rules included in the Internal Stability Pact, passed as part of the 2007 Budget and partially relaxed by the 2008 Budget, which first and foremost replace expenditure with deficit as the main indicator of municipalities’ financial rectitude. In the second part we analyse the principles of the bill on fiscal federalism proposed by the Council of Ministers in August 2007, and discuss its expected effects on the financing of municipalities. We mainly refer to the problems of financial coordination between the different levels of government, and the fiscal autonomy of municipalities. We focus in particular on the problems involved in financing the national standard levels of service set for social and health services and long term-care, which are the responsibility of central government but are actually delivered by regional and local authorities.local taxation; intergovernmental financial coordination; fiscal federalism

Thermal remote sensing of sea surface temperature

Sea surface temperature has been an important application of remote sensing from space for three decades. This chapter first describes well-established methods that have delivered valuable routine observations of sea surface temperature for meteorology and oceanography. Increasingly demanding requirements, often related to climate science, have highlighted some limitations of these ap-proaches. Practitioners have had to revisit techniques of estimation, of characterising uncertainty, and of validating observations—and even to reconsider the meaning(s) of “sea surface temperature”. The current understanding of these issues is reviewed, drawing attention to ongoing questions. Lastly, the prospect for thermal remote sens-ing of sea surface temperature over coming years is discussed

Users' Perception of the Quality of Open Source e-learning Platforms: the case of Moodle

Uninvited Submission

Plant Cellular and Molecular Biotechnology: Following Mariotti's Steps

This review is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Domenico Mariotti, who significantly contributed to establishing the Italian research community in Agricultural Genetics and carried out the first experiments of Agrobacterium-mediated plant genetic transformation and regeneration in Italy during the 1980s. Following his scientific interests as guiding principles, this review summarizes the recent advances obtained in plant biotechnology and fundamental research aiming to: (i) Exploit in vitro plant cell and tissue cultures to induce genetic variability and to produce useful metabolites; (ii) gain new insights into the biochemical function of Agrobacterium rhizogenes rol genes and their application to metabolite production, fruit tree transformation, and reverse genetics; (iii) improve genetic transformation in legume species, most of them recalcitrant to regeneration; (iv) untangle the potential of KNOTTED1-like homeobox (KNOX) transcription factors in plant morphogenesis as key regulators of hormonal homeostasis; and (v) elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the transition from juvenility to the adult phase in Prunus tree species