Personalized Ranking for Context-Aware Venue Suggestion

Making personalized and context-aware suggestions of venues to the users is very crucial in venue recommendation. These suggestions are often based on matching the venues' features with the users' preferences, which can be collected from previously visited locations. In this paper we present a novel user-modeling approach which relies on a set of scoring functions for making personalized suggestions of venues based on venues content and reviews as well as users context. Our experiments, conducted on the dataset of the TREC Contextual Suggestion Track, prove that our methodology outperforms state-of-the-art approaches by a significant margin.Comment: The 32nd ACM SIGAPP Symposium On Applied Computing (SAC), Marrakech, Morocco, April 4-6, 201

Applying the Principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in the College Classroom

Universities are charged with educating students from diverse backgrounds, including ELL students, nontraditional students, military students, first generation college students, and students with disabilities. In order to meet the wide variety of learning needs and abilities in the college classroom, teachers must find innovative methods for reaching this diverse population of students. One potential solution is Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Through instructional and assessment strategies that address the “why”, how”, and “what” of learning, the UDL approach ensures that all students can learn. The research regarding the concept of using UDL in the college classroom is minimal, but shows promise in meeting the needs of all students and the federal laws focusing on UDL. This article provides faculty with background information on UDL as well as ways to incorporate these strategies into their current courses

Chondrocyte death after drilling and articular screw insertion in a bovine model

SummaryObjectiveIntra-articular screws are used for internal fixation of osteochondral fragments after fracture or osteochondritis dissecans. This causes cartilage injury potentially leading to chondrocyte death. We have visualised/quantified the hole and zone of cell death (ZCD) in cartilage after drilling/insertion of various articular screws.MethodUsing an ex vivo bovine model with transmitted light and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), the holes and ZCD following drilling/insertion of articular screws (cortical screw, headless variable pitch metallic screw, headless variable pitch bioabsorbable screw) were evaluated. In situ chondrocyte death was determined by live/dead cell viability assay. An imaging/quantification protocol was developed to compare hole diameter and ZCD from drilling/insertion of screws into cartilage. The effect of saline irrigation during drilling on the ZCD was also quantified.ResultsScrew insertion created holes in cartilage that were significantly (P ≤ 0.001) less than the diameters of the equipment used. With a 1.5 mm drill, a ZCD of 580.2 ± 124 μm was produced which increased to 637.0 ± 44 μm following insertion of a 2 mm cortical screw although this was not significant (P > 0.05). The ZCD from insertion of the variable pitch headless screws (diam. 3.5 mm) was lower for the metallic compared to the bioabsorbable design (800.9 ± 159 vs 1,236.4 ± 212 μm, respectively; P < 0.01). The ZCD from drilling was reduced ∼50% (P < 0.001) by saline irrigation.ConclusionsCartilage injury during intra-articular screw fixation caused a ZCD around the hole irrespective of screw design. Saline irrigation significantly reduced the ZCD from drilling into cartilage