Report on the first Twente Data Management Workshop on XML Databases and Information Retrieval

The Database Group of the University of Twente initiated a new series of workshops called Twente Data Management workshops (TDM), starting with one on XML Databases and Information Retrieval which took place on 21 June 2004 at the University of Twente. We have set ourselves two goals for the workshop series: i) To provide a forum to share original ideas as well as research results on data management problems; ii) To bring together researchers from the database community and researchers from related research fields

The Simplest Evaluation Measures for XML Information Retrieval that Could Possibly Work

This paper reviews several evaluation measures developed for evaluating XML information retrieval (IR) systems. We argue that these measures, some of which are currently in use by the INitiative for the Evaluation of XML Retrieval (INEX), are complicated, hard to understand, and hard to explain to users of XML IR systems. To show the value of keeping things simple, we report alternative evaluation results of official evaluation runs submitted to INEX 2004 using simple metrics, and show its value for INEX

On Region Algebras, XML Databases, and Information Retrieval

This paper describes some new ideas on developing a logical algebra for databases that manage textual data and support information retrieval functionality. We describe a first prototype of such a system

Exploiting Query Structure and Document Structure to Improve Document Retrieval Effectiveness

In this paper we present a systematic analysis of document retrieval using unstructured and structured queries within the score region algebra (SRA) structured retrieval framework. The behavior of di®erent retrieval models, namely Boolean, tf.idf, GPX, language models, and Okapi, is tested using the transparent SRA framework in our three-level structured retrieval system called TIJAH. The retrieval models are implemented along four elementary retrieval aspects: element and term selection, element score computation, score combination, and score propagation. The analysis is performed on a numerous experiments evaluated on TREC and CLEF collections, using manually generated unstructured and structured queries. Unstructured queries range from the short title queries to long title + description + narrative queries. For generating structured queries we exploit the knowledge of the document structure and the content used to semantically describe or classify documents. We show that such structured information can be utilized in retrieval engines to give more precise answers to user queries then when using unstructured queries

Atención en un centro de parto según las recomendaciones de la Organización Mundial de la Salud

Centros de parto constituem modelo que\ud adota tecnologia apropriada na assistência\ud à parturiente. O objetivo foi caracterizar\ud a assistência intraparto em um centro de\ud parto extra-hospitalar quanto às práticas\ud recomendadas pela Organização Mundial\ud da Saúde (OMS). Estudo descritivo sobre\ud 1.079 partos assistidos de 2006 a 2009 na\ud Casa do Parto de Sapopemba, São Paulo,\ud Brasil. Os resultados mostraram ausculta\ud intermitente (média=7 controles); posição\ud materna no expulsivo semissentada\ud (82,3%), lateral (16,0%), outras (1,7%);\ud aceitação da dieta (95,6%); acompanhante\ud (93,3%); até três exames vaginais (85,4%);\ud banho de aspersão (84,0%), deambulação\ud (68,0%), massagem (60,1%), exercícios\ud com bola suíça (51,7%); amniotomia\ud (53,4%); ocitocina na dilatação (31,0%),\ud banho de imersão (29,3%), ocitocina no\ud expulsivo (25,8%) e episiotomia (14,1%).\ud Concluiu-se que os profissionais do centro\ud de parto utilizam práticas recomendadas\ud pela OMS, contudo existem práticas cujo\ud uso pode ser reduzido, tais como amniotomia,\ud administração de ocitocina, episiotomia\ud e posição semissentada no expulsivoBirth centers are maternal care models\ud that use appropriate technology when\ud providing care to birthing women. This\ud descriptive study aimed to characterize intrapartum\ud care in a freestanding birth center,\ud in light of the practices recommended\ud by the World Health Organization (WHO),\ud with 1,079 assisted births from 2006 to\ud 2009 in the Sapopemba Birth Center, São\ud Paulo, Brazil. Results included the use of\ud intermittent auscultation (mean=7 controls);\ud maternal positions during delivery:\ud semi-sitting (82.3%), side-lying (16.0%),\ud other positions (1.7%), oral intake (95.6%);\ud companionship (93.3%); exposure to up\ud to three vaginal examinations (85.4%),\ud shower bathing (84.0%), walking (68.0%),\ud massage (60.1%), exercising with a Swiss\ud ball (51.7%); amniotomy (53.4%), oxytocin\ud use during the first (31.0%) and second\ud stages of labor (25.8%), bath immersion\ud (29.3%) and episiotomy (14.1%). In this\ud birth center, care providers used practices\ud recommended by the WHO, although\ud some practices might have been applied\ud less frequentlyCentros de parto constituyen un modelo\ud que adopta la tecnología apropiada en la\ud atención a la parturienta. El objetivo fue caracterizar\ud la atención intraparto en un centro\ud de parto extra-hospitalario en relación a las\ud prácticas recomendadas por la Organización\ud Mundial de la Salud (OMS). Estudio descriptivo\ud sobre 1.079 partos atendidos del 2006 al\ud 2009 en la Casa de Parto de Sapopemba, São\ud Paulo, Brasil. Los resultados mostraron: auscultación\ud intermitente (media=7 controles);\ud posición materna en el expulsivo - semisentada\ud (82,3%), lateral (16,0%), otras (1,7%);\ud aceptación de dieta (95,6%); acompañante\ud (93,3%); hasta tres exámenes vaginales\ud (85,4%); baño en ducha (84,0%), deambulación\ud (68,0%), masaje (60,1%), ejercicios con\ud pelota suiza (51,7%); amniotomía (53,4%);\ud oxitocina durante la dilatación (31,0%), baño\ud de inmersión (29,3%), oxitocina durante el\ud expulsivo (25,8%) y episiotomía (14,1%). Se\ud concluyó que los profesionales del centro de\ud parto utilizan prácticas recomendadas por\ud la OMS, pero existen algunas prácticas cuyo\ud uso puede reducirse, tales como la amniotomía,\ud administración de oxitocina, episiotomía\ud y posición semisentada en el período\ud expulsivoCNPqPIBIC 115521/2008-

In vitro interactions of Alternaria mycotoxins, an emerging class of food contaminants, with the gut microbiota: a bidirectional relationship

The human gut microbiota plays an important role in the maintenance of human health. Factors able to modify its composition might predispose the host to the development of pathologies. Among the various xenobiotics introduced through the diet, Alternaria mycotoxins are speculated to represent a threat for human health. However, limited data are currently available about the bidirectional relation between gut microbiota and Alternaria mycotoxins. In the present work, we investigated the in vitro effects of different concentrations of a complex extract of Alternaria mycotoxins (CE; containing eleven mycotoxins; e.g. 0.153 µM alternariol and 2.3 µM altersetin, at the maximum CE concentration tested) on human gut bacterial strains, as well as the ability of the latter to metabolize or adsorb these compounds. Results from the minimum inhibitory concentration assay showed the scarce ability of CE to inhibit the growth of the tested strains. However, the growth kinetics of most of the strains were negatively affected by exposure to the various CE concentrations, mainly at the highest dose (50 µg/mL). The CE was also found to antagonize the formation of biofilms, already at concentrations of 0.5 µg/mL. LC–MS/MS data analysis of the mycotoxin concentrations found in bacterial pellets and supernatants after 24 h incubation showed the ability of bacterial strains to adsorb some Alternaria mycotoxins, especially the key toxins alternariol, alternariol monomethyl ether, and altersetin. The tendency of these mycotoxins to accumulate within bacterial pellets, especially in those of Gram-negative strains, was found to be directly related to their lipophilicity