Websites for booklovers as meeting places

Purpose – The study aims to report on a research project that analyzed social websites for booklovers. These sites represent a service that is promising for public libraries in their efforts to find new ways in promoting reading and literature. At the same time the growth of such sites is another example of how technological developments challenge librarianship. Many of these sites are established and run independently from the library field. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reports from a research comparing two such websites – the Norwegian Bokelskere.no and the Hungarian Moly.hu. A questionnaire was published on the two websites in mid September 2010. It was accessible for approximately 20 days. A total of 777 users filled in and returned the questionnaire. Findings – As the typical user of Moly/Bokelskere is a young, ethnic Hungarian or Norwegian, well educated, female from the bigger cities the complexity and pluralism of society is not reflected in the websites in the same way as it is in physical libraries. They are not heavy library users, and they have a relatively low trust concerning libraries in comparison with other sources of information. The sites are mainly used as information sources and not as places where one can meet with others. Although the social dimension of reading appears, it is related mainly to the family or friends and not to strangers. Research limitations/implications – It would be inaccurate to claim that the study gives a comprehensive overview on social sites for booklovers. The relatively high number of respondents from the two analyzed websites provides an extensive, but not comprehensive, sample. Self-recruitment of respondents might cause biases compared with a randomly drawn sample. Practical implications – The study on which the paper is based is a part of the PLACE project, which aims at exploring the role of public libraries as meeting places. The study generates knowledge on the potential and role of virtual meeting places that is relevant for public libraries in their efforts to adapt to a new reality. Social implications – The study generates knowledge that can be of importance for developing libraries and library policies in relation to digital meeting places. Originality/value – There are few studies analyzing literary websites for booklovers and the study contributes in developing a new research field in library and information science

Intergenerációs társadalmi mobilitás és könyvtárhasználat

Libraries interpret their roles within the society as institutions that contribute to creating equal opportunities to people with different social and economic background. The library system provides equal access to information assets to all regardless of social status and the amount of former cumulated cultural capital. In 2017 and 2019 the Municipal Library of Budapest conducted a national representative survey under the umbrella of My library project. Data proved that the rate of library users is heavily overrepresented among people having higher educational background. It suggests that the library system can fulfil its social responsibility only on a very limited level. The paper analyses the relation to library services of people with different educational background based on the data of above mentioned surveys. On what level the library is able to contribute to the equal access information among children of parents having lower educational background? The ones having more educated parents are more likely becoming library users according to 2017 and 2019 national representative data? On what level it is depending on the parents’ relation to library services and what level it is due to other external factors?A könyvtár magát hagyományosan olyan intézményrendszernek tekinti, amely hozzájárul a különböző státuszú, vagyoni helyzetű csoportok esélyegyenlőségének megteremtéséhez. Mindenkinek hozzáférést kínál az információs javakhoz, azoknak is, akik társadalmi helyzetük, vagy addig felhalmozott kulturális tőkéjük okán szűkölködnek abban. A 2017-ben és 2019-ben Az én könyvtáram projekt keretében, országos reprezentatív mintán elvégzett kutatások igazolták, hogy a felsőfokú végzettségűek körében magasan felülreprezentáltak a könyvtárhasználók. Ez azt sugallja, hogy a könyvtár a szociális funkciójának csak igen korlátozott mértékben képes eleget tenni. A tanulmány arra keresi a választ, hogy a könyvtárhasználathoz való viszony hogyan alakul több generációt átívelően, közvetve pedig hozzájárul-e ahhoz, hogy az alacsonyabb végzettségű felnőttek gyerekei képesek legyenek nagyobb szeletét élvezni az információs javakhoz való hozzáférés adta előnyöknek. A 2017-es és 2019-es országos olvasáskutatás adatai alapján a szülők iskolai végzettségének függvényében vizsgálom a gyermekek könyvtárakhoz való viszonyulásának alakulását. A felsőfokú végzettségű szülők gyerekei nagyobb arányban válnak-e könyvtárhasználókká? Mennyiben tudható be mindez a szülők könyvtárhoz való viszonyának és mennyiben külső tényezők függvénye

Deep Interference Mitigation and Denoising of Real-World FMCW Radar Signals

Radar sensors are crucial for environment perception of driver assistance systems as well as autonomous cars. Key performance factors are a fine range resolution and the possibility to directly measure velocity. With a rising number of radar sensors and the so far unregulated automotive radar frequency band, mutual interference is inevitable and must be dealt with. Sensors must be capable of detecting, or even mitigating the harmful effects of interference, which include a decreased detection sensitivity. In this paper, we evaluate a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN)-based approach for interference mitigation on real-world radar measurements. We combine real measurements with simulated interference in order to create input-output data suitable for training the model. We analyze the performance to model complexity relation on simulated and measurement data, based on an extensive parameter search. Further, a finite sample size performance comparison shows the effectiveness of the model trained on either simulated or real data as well as for transfer learning. A comparative performance analysis with the state of the art emphasizes the potential of CNN-based models for interference mitigation and denoising of real-world measurements, also considering resource constraints of the hardware.Comment: 2020 IEEE International Radar Conference (RADAR

Relevance of CYP2C9 Function in Valproate Therapy

Genetic polymorphisms of drug metabolizing enzymes can substantially modify the pharmacokinetics of a drug and eventually its efficacy or toxicity; however, inferring a patient's drug metabolizing capacity merely from his or her genotype can lead to false prediction. Non-genetic host factors (age, sex, disease states) and environmental factors (nutrition, co-medication) can transiently alter the enzyme expression and activities resulting in genotype-phenotype mismatch. Although valproic acid is a well-tolerated anticonvulsant, pediatric patients are particularly vulnerable to valproate injury that can be partly attributed to the age-related differences in metabolic pathways. CYP2C9 mediated oxidation of valproate, which is the minor metabolic pathway in adults, appears to become the principal route in children. Genetic and non-genetic variations in CYP2C9 activity can result in significant inter- and intra-individual differences in valproate pharmacokinetics and valproate induced adverse reactions. The loss-of-function alleles, CYP2C9*2 or CYP2C9*3, display significant reduction in valproate metabolism in children; furthermore, low CYP2C9 expression in patients with CYP2C9*1/*1 genotype also leads to a decrease in valproate metabolizing capacity. Due to phenoconversion, the homozygous wild genotype, expected to be translated to CYP2C9 enzyme with normal activity, is transiently switched into poor (or extensive) metabolizer phenotype. Novel strategy for valproate therapy adjusted to CYP2C9-status (CYP2C9 genotype and CYP2C9 expression) is strongly recommended in childhood. The early knowledge of pediatric patients' CYP2C9-status facilitates the optimization of valproate dosing which contributes to the avoidance of misdosing induced adverse reactions, such as abnormal blood levels of ammonia and alkaline phosphatase, and improves the safety of children's anticonvulsant therapy. 

Soils of the European Union

This report make a detailed summary of the soil resources of the EU. Contents: Acknowledgements 2 1. Introduction 3 2. Materials and methods 4 2.1 Soil Geographical Database of Eurasia at scale 1:1,000,000 (SGDBE) 4 2.2 Nomenclature of soil types 6 2.3 Map legend and representation 6 3. Soils of the European Union: an overview 8 4. Spatial distribution of the major soils in the European Union 11 4.1 Acrisols 11 4.2 Albeluvisols 13 4.3 Andosols 15 4.4 Anthrosols 17 4.5 Arenosols 19 4.6 Calcisols 21 4.7 Cambisols 23 4.8 Chernozems 25 4.9 Fluvisols 27 4.10 Gleysols 29 4.11 Gypsisols 31 4.12 Histosols 33 4.13 Kastanozems 35 4.14 Leptosols 37 4.15 Luvisols 39 4.16 Phaeozems 41 4.17 Planosol 43 4.18 Podzols 45 4.19 Regosols 47 4.20 Solonchaks 49 4.21 Solonetz 51 4.22 Umbrisols 53 4.23 Vertisols 55 5. Concluding remarks 57 References 58 Appendix 1. 59 Appendix 2. 62JRC.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

OPTIMIZATION OF DECOMPRESSIVE CRANIECTOMY BASED ON FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATIONS

Decompressive Craniectomy (DC) is a neurosurgical procedure which is often applied to decrease the intracranial pressure (ICP), even if its optimal execution in terms of the size and location of the skull opening is not known. The current research focuses on DC from a biomechanical perspective. A finite element (FE) modelling strategy is applied where patient-specific head models are developed. These numerical models are used to perform virtual experiments where DC is simulated several times with skull openings having different size and location. During the simulations ICP, stress and strain distributions in the brain tissue are monitored in the function of the skull opening details. In the knowledge of these objective functions suggestions could be made regarding the applied optimization procedure which can lead to the identification of optimal DC scenarios in the future

Haptoglobin Polymorphism: A Novel Genetic Risk Factor for Celiac Disease Development and Its Clinical Manifestations

Background: Haptoglobin (Hp) α-chain alleles 1 and 2 account for 3 phenotypes that may influence the course of inflammatory diseases via biologically important differences in their antioxidant, scavenging, and immunomodulatory properties. Hp1-1 genotype results in the production of small dimeric, Hp2-1 linear, and Hp2-2 cyclic polymeric haptoglobin molecules. We investigated the haptoglobin polymorphism in patients with celiac disease and its possible association to the presenting symptoms. Methods: We studied 712 unrelated, biopsy-proven Hungarian celiac patients (357 children, 355 adults; severe malabsorption 32.9%, minor gastrointestinal symptoms 22.8%, iron deficiency anemia 9.4%, dermatitis herpetiformis 15.6%, silent disease 7.2%, other 12.1%) and 384 healthy subjects. We determined haptoglobin phenotypes by gel electrophoresis and assigned corresponding genotypes. Results: Hp2-1 was associated with a significant risk for celiac disease (P = 0.0006, odds ratio [OR] 1.54, 95% CI 1.20–1.98; prevalence 56.9% in patients vs 46.1% in controls). It was also overrepresented among patients with mild symptoms (69.2%) or silent disease (72.5%). Hp2-2 was less frequent in patients than in controls (P = 0.0023), but patients having this phenotype were at an increased risk for severe malabsorption (OR 2.21, 95% CI 1.60–3.07) and accounted for 45.3% of all malabsorption cases. Celiac and dermatitis herpetiformis patients showed similar haptoglobin phenotype distributions. Conclusions: The haptoglobin polymorphism is associated with susceptibility to celiac disease and its clinical presentations. The predominant genotype in the celiac population was Hp2-1, but Hp2-2 predisposed to a more severe clinical course. The phenotype-dependent effect of haptoglobin may result from the molecule’s structural and functional properties

Heritable Differences in Catecholamine Signaling Modulate Susceptibility to Trauma and Response to Methylphenidate Treatment: Relevance for PTSD

Alterations in cortical catecholamine signaling pathways can modulate acute and enduring responses to trauma. Heritable variation in catecholamine signaling is produced by a common functional polymorphism in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), with Val carriers exhibiting greater degradation of catecholamines than Met carriers. Furthermore, it has recently been suggested that drugs enhancing cortical catecholamine signaling may be a new therapeutic approach for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients. We hypothesized that heritable differences in catecholamine signaling regulate the behavioral response to trauma, and that methylphenidate (MPD), a drug that preferentially blocks catecholamine reuptake in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), exerts COMT-dependent effects on trauma-induced behaviors. We first examined the contribution of the functional mutation COMTval158met to modulate enduring behavioral responses to predator stress in a unique “humanized” COMTval158met mouse line. Animals were exposed to a predator (cat) for 10 min and enduring avoidance behaviors were examined in the open field, light-dark box, and “trauma-reminder” tests 1–2 weeks later. Second, we examined the efficacy of chronic methylphenidate to reverse predator stress effects and if these effects were modulated by COMTval158met genotype. Mice were exposed to predator stress and began treatment with either saline or methylphenidate (3 mg/kg/day) 1 week after stress until the end of the testing [avoidance behaviors, working memory, and social preference (SP)]. In males, predator stress and COMTval158met had an additive effect on enduring anxiety-like behavior, with Val stressed mice showing the strongest avoidance behavior after stress compared to Met carriers. No effect of COMT genotype was observed in females. Therefore methylphenidate effects were investigated only in males. Chronic methylphenidate treatment reversed the stress-induced avoidance behavior and increased social investigation independently of genotype. Methylphenidate effects on working memory, however, were genotype-dependent, decreasing working memory in non-stressed Met carriers, and improving stress-induced working memory deficit in Val carriers. These results suggest that heritable variance in catecholamine signaling modulates the avoidance response to an acute trauma. This work supports recent human findings that methylphenidate might be a therapeutic alternative for PTSD patients and suggests that methylphenidate effects on anxiety (generalized avoidance, social withdrawal) vs. cognitive (working memory) symptoms may be modulated through COMT-independent and dependent mechanisms, respectively

Dealing with the effects of sensor displacement in wearable activity recognition

Most wearable activity recognition systems assume a predefined sensor deployment that remains unchanged during runtime. However, this assumption does not reflect real-life conditions. During the normal use of such systems, users may place the sensors in a position different from the predefined sensor placement. Also, sensors may move from their original location to a different one, due to a loose attachment. Activity recognition systems trained on activity patterns characteristic of a given sensor deployment may likely fail due to sensor displacements. In this work, we innovatively explore the effects of sensor displacement induced by both the intentional misplacement of sensors and self-placement by the user. The effects of sensor displacement are analyzed for standard activity recognition techniques, as well as for an alternate robust sensor fusion method proposed in a previous work. While classical recognition models show little tolerance to sensor displacement, the proposed method is proven to have notable capabilities to assimilate the changes introduced in the sensor position due to self-placement and provides considerable improvements for large misplacements.This work was supported by the High Performance Computing (HPC)-Europa2 project funded by the European Commission-DG Research in the Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement No. 228398 and by the EU Marie Curie Network iCareNet under grant No. 264738. This work was also supported by the Spanish Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CICYT) Project SAF2010-20558, Junta de Andalucia Project P09-TIC-175476 and the FPU Spanish grant, AP2009-2244