Towards personalization in digital libraries through ontologies

In this paper we describe a browsing and searching personalization system for digital libraries based on the use of ontologies for describing the relationships between all the elements which take part in a digital library scenario of use. The main goal of this project is to help the users of a digital library to improve their experience of use by means of two complementary strategies: first, by maintaining a complete history record of his or her browsing and searching activities, which is part of a navigational user profile which includes preferences and all the aspects related to community involvement; and second, by reusing all the knowledge which has been extracted from previous usage from other users with similar profiles. This can be accomplished in terms of narrowing and focusing the search results and browsing options through the use of a recommendation system which organizes such results in the most appropriate manner, using ontologies and concepts drawn from the semantic web field. The complete integration of the experience of use of a digital library in the learning process is also pursued. Both the usage and information organization can be also exploited to extract useful knowledge from the way users interact with a digital library, knowledge that can be used to improve several design aspects of the library, ranging from internal organization aspects to human factors and user interfaces. Although this project is still on an early development stage, it is possible to identify all the desired functionalities and requirements that are necessary to fully integrate the use of a digital library in an e-learning environment

El nuevo estándar internacional OGC-WMTS. Oportunidades de aplicación y rendimiento versus OGC-WMS

El uso masivo de servicios Web Map Service (WMS) y la sencillez del estándar ha comportado algunos problemas debido a que la mayor parte de implementaciones tratan las peticiones de manera independiente sin aprovechar las respuestas anteriores para despachar las nuevas rápidamente. Algunos fabricantes vieron estas ineficiencias y aparecieron diversas estrategias que discretizan el espacio. En 2007, el Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) inició un estudio para estandarizar y unificar todos estos productos que se concretó, en 2010, en el nuevo estándar Web Map Tile Service (WMTS). El OGC-WMTS describe una geometría de malla regular de teselas para un conjunto de escalas conocidas; introduciendo la capacidad de obtener una tesela de manera compatible con el uso de los mecanismos de caché en Internet. Sin embargo, el WMTS podría no ser adecuado para todas las situaciones. Esta comunicación describe las principales características de WMTS y ahonda en las estrategias para soportar con éxito situaciones como el prerenderizado, los clusters de servidores de balanceo de carga de red y los servicios de mapas frecuentemente actualizados. También se discuten las posibles estrategias de mejora de rendimiento aprovechando los mecanismos de caducidad del HTTP y de notificaciones de actualización de contenido.The massive use of Web Map Service (WMS) and the simplicity of this standard has resulted in some problems due to the fact that most implementations deal with requests independently without taking advantage of previous responses to dispatch the new ones faster. Some manufacturers saw these inefficiencies and various strategies based on a discretized space were applied. In 2007, Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) started a process to standardize and unify all these products that, in 2010, crystallized in the new Web Map Tile Service (WMTS) standard. OGC-WMTS describes a regular grid of tiles geometry for a known set of scales; introducing the ability to get a tile compatible with Internet caching mechanisms. However, WMTS may not be suitable for all situations. This paper describes the main features of WMTS and emphasizing in strategies to successfully withstand conditions such as pre-rendered, network load balanced services clusters and services with frequently updated maps. We also discuss possible strategies for performance improvement by taking advantage of HTTP expiration mechanisms and content update notifications

Geospatial queries on data collection using a common provenance model

Altres ajuts: Xavier Pons is the recipient of an ICREA Academia Excellence in Research Grant (2016-2020)Lineage information is the part of the metadata that describes "what", "when", "who", "how", and "where" geospatial data were generated. If it is well-presented and queryable, lineage becomes very useful information for inferring data quality, tracing error sources and increasing trust in geospatial information. In addition, if the lineage of a collection of datasets can be related and presented together, datasets, process chains, and methodologies can be compared. This paper proposes extending process step lineage descriptions into four explicit levels of abstraction (process run, tool, algorithm and functionality). Including functionalities and algorithm descriptions as a part of lineage provides high-level information that is independent from the details of the software used. Therefore, it is possible to transform lineage metadata that is initially documenting specific processing steps into a reusable workflow that describes a set of operations as a processing chain. This paper presents a system that provides lineage information as a service in a distributed environment. The system is complemented by an integrated provenance web application that is capable of visualizing and querying a provenance graph that is composed by the lineage of a collection of datasets. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 19115 standards family with World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) provenance initiative (W3C PROV) were combined in order to integrate provenance of a collection of datasets. To represent lineage elements, the ISO 19115-2 lineage class names were chosen, because they express the names of the geospatial objects that are involved more precisely. The relationship naming conventions of W3C PROV are used to represent relationships among these elements. The elements and relationships are presented in a queryable graph

Wikipedia gender gap: a scoping review

In this scoping review, we portray an examination of the gender gap on Wikipedia by analyzing scholarly literature from 2007 to 2022. Employing quantitative methods, the study identifies key author characteristics such as gender, disciplines, countries, and institutions. The research reveals a slight majority of female authors, followed by male authors, with limited representation from non-binary authors. Qualitatively, content analysis uncovers two central themes: addressing the contribution gap and incorporating content related to underrepresented genders. Additionally, the study assesses results on the content gap, editing and participation bias, readership imbalances, and strategies to mitigate the gender gap. Furthermore, it explores the repercussions of this gap and categorizes the contributing factors as “the women’s problem,” “the mirror effect,” and “the systemic problem.” Overall, this comprehensive review enhances our comprehension of the Wikipedia gender gap and provides valuable insights into the research landscape in this domain

Enriching e-learning metadata through digital library usage analysis

Purpose: In this paper we propose an evaluation framework for analyzing learning objects usage, with the aim of extracting useful information for improving the quality of the metadata used to describe the learning objects, but also for personalization purposes, including user models and adaptive itineraries. Methodology: We present experimental results from the log usage analysis during one academic semester of two different subjects, 350 students. The experiment looks into raw server log data generated from the interactions of the students with the classroom learning objects, in order to find relevant information that can be used to improve the metadata used for describing both the learning objects and the learning process. Findings: Preliminary studies have been carried out in order to obtain an initial picture of the interactions between learners and the virtual campus, including both services and resources usage. These studies try to establish elationships between user profiles and their information and navigational behavior in the virtual campus, with the aim of promoting personalization and improving the understanding of what learning in virtual environments means. Research limitations: During the formal learning process, students use learning resources from the virtual classroom provided by the academic library, but they also search for information outside the virtual campus. Not all of these usage data are considered in the model we propose. Further research needs to be done in order to get a complete view of the information search behavior of students for improving the users’ profile and creating better personalized services. Practical implications: In this paper we suggest how a selection of fields used in the LOM standard could be used for enriching the description of learning objects, automatically in some cases, from the learning objects usage performed by an academic community. Originality: Ever since the beginnings of libraries, they have been a “quiet storage place”. With the development of digital libraries, they become a meeting place where explicit and implicit recommendations about information sources can be shared among users. Social and learning process interactions, therefore, can be considered another knowledge source

Mid-trimester cervical consistency index and cervical length to predict spontaneous preterm birth in a high-risk population

Background: Short cervical length (CL) has not been shown to be adequate as a single predictor of spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) in high-risk pregnancies. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the mid-trimester cervical consistency index (CCI) to predict sPTB in a cohort of high-risk pregnancies and to compare the results with those obtained with the CL. Study Design: Prospective cohort study including high-risk singleton pregnancies between 19 +0 and 24 +6 weeks. The ratio between the anteroposterior diameter of the uterine cervix at maximum compression and at rest was calculated offline to obtain the CCI. Results: Eighty-two high sPTB risk women were included. CCI (%) was significantly reduced in women who delivered <37 +0 weeks compared with those who delivered at term, while CL was not. The area under the curve (AUC) of the CCI to predict sPTB <37 +0 weeks was 0.73 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61-0.85), being 0.51 (95% CI, 0.35-0.67), p  = 0.03 for CL. The AUC of the CCI to predict sPTB <34 +0 weeks was 0.68 (95% CI, 0.54-0.82), being 0.49 (95% CI, 0.29-0.69), p  = 0.06 for CL. Conclusion: CCI performed better than sonographic CL to predict sPTB. Due to the limited predictive capacity of these two measurements, other tools are still needed to better identify women at increased risk

The role of socio-demographic determinants in the geo-spatial distribution of newly diagnosed HIV infections in small areas of Catalonia (Spain)

Spatial visualization of HIV surveillance data could improve the planning of programs to address the HIV epidemic. The objectives of the study were to describe the characteristics and the spatial distribution of newly diagnosed HIV infection in Catalonia and to identify factors associated with HIV infection rates. Surveillance data from the national registry were presented in the form of descriptive and ring maps and used to study the spatial distribution of new HIV diagnoses in Catalonia (2012-2016) and associated risk factors at the small area level (ABS, acronym for "basic health area" in Catalan). Incident cases were modeled using the following as predictors: type of municipality, prevalence of young men and migrant groups, GBMSM activity indicators, and other variables at the aggregated level. New HIV diagnoses are heterogeneously distributed across Catalonia. The predictors that proved to be significantly associated with a higher rate of new HIV diagnoses were ABS located in the city of Barcelona (IRR, 2.520; P < 0.001), a higher proportion of men aged 15-44 years (IRR, 1.193; P = 0.003), a higher proportion of GBMSM (IRR, 1.230; P = 0.030), a higher proportion of men from Western Europe (IRR, 1.281; P = 0.003), a higher proportion of men from Latin America (IRR, 1.260; P = 0.003), and a higher number of gay locations (IRR, 2.665; P < 0.001). No association was observed between the HIV diagnosis rate and economic deprivation. Ring maps revealed substantial spatial associations for the rate of new HIV diagnoses. New HIV diagnoses are concentrated in ABS located in urban areas. Our results show that, in the case of HIV infection, the socioeconomic deprivation index on which the Catalan government bases its budget allocation policies among the ABS should not be the only criterion used

Syphilis vaccine : challenges, controversies and opportunities

Syphilis is a sexually or vertically (mother to fetus) transmitted disease caused by the infection of Treponema pallidum subspecie pallidum (TPA). The incidence of syphilis has increased over the past years despite the fact that this bacterium is an obligate human pathogen, the infection route is well known, and the disease can be successfully treated with penicillin. As complementary measures to preventive campaigns and early treatment of infected individuals, development of a syphilis vaccine may be crucial for controlling disease spread and/or severity, particularly in countries where the effectiveness of the aforementioned measures is limited. In the last century, several vaccine prototypes have been tested in preclinical studies, mainly in rabbits. While none of them provided protection against infection, some prototypes prevented bacteria from disseminating to distal organs, attenuated lesion development, and accelerated their healing. In spite of these promising results, there is still some controversy regarding the identification of vaccine candidates and the characteristics of a syphilis-protective immune response. In this review, we describe what is known about TPA immune response, and the main mechanisms used by this pathogen to evade it. Moreover, we emphasize the importance of integrating this knowledge, in conjunction with the characterization of outer membrane proteins (OMPs), to expedite the development of a syphilis vaccine that can protect against TPA infection