Semantic web-based document: editing and browsing in AktiveDoc

This paper presents a tool for supporting sharing and reuse of knowledge in document creation (writing) and use (reading). Semantic Web technologies are used to support the production of ontology based annotations while the document is written. Free text annotations (comments) can be added to integrate the knowledge in the document. In addition the tool uses external services (e.g. a Semantic Web harvester) to propose relevant content to writing user, enabling easy knowledge reuse. Similar facilities are provided for readers when their task does not coincide with the author’s one. The tool is specifically designed for Knowledge Management in organisations. In this paper we present and discuss how Semantic Web technologies are designed and integrated in the system

Successful organizational learning in the management of agricultural research and innovation: The Mexican produce foundations

"Since the 1980s, developing countries' agriculture has become more complex and diversified. In general, the public research and extension institutions in these countries were criticized for not participating in the emergence of the most dynamic agricultural markets. In recent years, many of these institutions have struggled to adapt to the new environment but they could not overcome the hurdles posed by organizational rigidities, strict public regulations, deteriorating human capital, shrinking budgets and a model of science that hampered their integration into dynamic innovation processes. In general, developing countries applied similar agricultural research policies: separation of financing and implementation of research, reductions in direct budgetary allocations to research and extension institutions, elimination or major reduction of public extension, and introduction of competitive grants programs to induce a transformation of research organizations. Strong anecdotal information suggests that these policies had limited impact on the quality and pertinence of research, and on the performance of the public research institutions. Using a different set of instruments, the Mexican Produce Foundations (PF) had major and diverse impacts on the agricultural innovation and research systems. These impacts resulted mostly from activities the PF introduced as they learned to manage funds for research and extension, and to a lesser extent from the activities they were created for, i.e., manage a competitive fund for agricultural research and extension. The PF were able to introduce these activities because they developed strong abilities to learn, including identifying knowledge gaps and defining strategies to fill them. The questions this report seeks to answer are how an organization that manages public funds for research and extension could sustain organizational innovations over extended periods, and how it could learn and adapt to maximize its impact on the agricultural innovation system. Previous studies found that human resources, organizational cultures and governance structures are three of the most important factors influencing institutional change and innovative capabilities. Despite their importance, these factors have been largely neglected in the literature on agricultural research and extension policies. This document analyzes what role these factors played in the Mexican experience." from textAgricultural research, Agricultural innovation, Developing countries,

An Infrastructure for acquiring high quality semantic metadata

Because metadata that underlies semantic web applications is gathered from distributed and heterogeneous data sources, it is important to ensure its quality (i.e., reduce duplicates, spelling errors, ambiguities). However, current infrastructures that acquire and integrate semantic data have only marginally addressed the issue of metadata quality. In this paper we present our metadata acquisition infrastructure, ASDI, which pays special attention to ensuring that high quality metadata is derived. Central to the architecture of ASDI is a erification engine that relies on several semantic web tools to check the quality of the derived data. We tested our prototype in the context of building a semantic web portal for our lab, KMi. An experimental evaluation omparing the automatically extracted data against manual annotations indicates that the verification engine enhances the quality of the extracted semantic metadata

Collaborative semantic web browsing with Magpie

Web browsing is often a collaborative activity. Users involved in a joint information gathering exercise will wish to share knowledge about the web pages visited and the contents found. Magpie is a suite of tools supporting the interpretation of web pages and semantically enriched web browsing. By automatically associating an ontology-based semantic layer to web resources, Magpie allows relevant services to be invoked as well as remotely triggered within a standard web browser. In this paper we describe how Magpie trigger services can provide semantic support to collaborative browsing activities

Osteocondroma lumbar sintomático

Se presenta un caso de osteocondroma solitario espinal localizado en la zona para-articular de la lámina izquierda de L4 y que producía una lumbociática secundaria a la estenosis del receso lateral. El osteocondroma espinal sintomático es una lesión neoplásica benigna poco frecuente y cuyo tratamiento de elección es la extirpación quirúrgica.A case of solitary spinal osteochondroma growing from the left L4 lamina, close to the facet joint, is presented. The tumor produced a stenosis of the left lateral recess and the patient suffered from low-back and sciatic pain. Symptomatic spinal osteochondroma is a rare beningn tumor, surgical removal being the most useful treatment

Magpie: towards a semantic web browser

Web browsing involves two tasks: finding the right web page and then making sense of its content. So far, research has focused on supporting the task of finding web resources through ‘standard’ information retrieval mechanisms, or semantics-enhanced search. Much less attention has been paid to the second problem. In this paper we describe Magpie, a tool which supports the interpretation of web pages. Magpie offers complementary knowledge sources, which a reader can call upon to quickly gain access to any background knowledge relevant to a web resource. Magpie automatically associates an ontologybased semantic layer to web resources, allowing relevant services to be invoked within a standard web browser. Hence, Magpie may be seen as a step towards a semantic web browser. The functionality of Magpie is illustrated using examples of how it has been integrated with our lab’s web resources

Tolerancia al ejercicio submáximo en caninos obesos y braquiocefálicos en gran altura

La prueba de marcha de 6 minutos (PM6M) se realizó para medir la tolerancia al ejercicio submáximo en pacientes con ciertas condiciones de salud y en la que se evalúan parámetros fisiológicos y distancia recorrida. Como parte del examen clínico, se realizó un estudio experimental de tipo transversal incluyendo tres grupos de animales: Grupo 1: braquiocefálicos, Grupo 2: obesos, Grupo 3: controles. Antes de comenzar se midieron las frecuencias cardiaca y respiratoria en cada individuo. Luego caminaron por seis minutos en un recorrido de 30 metros. Al final, los pacientes fueron reevaluados y se estableció la distancia recorrida (grupo 1: 349 +/- 65 m; grupo 2: 341 +/- 96 m; grupo 3: 414 +/- 65 m (p<0.05). Frecuencia cardiaca en reposo: grupo 1: 98 +/- 15 lpm, grupo 3: 84 +/- 11 lpm (p<0.05). No hubo diferencias entre grupos 1 y 2. Frecuencia cardiaca al final del recorrido: grupo 1: 112 +/- 12 lpm, grupo 2: 105 +/- 18 lpm, grupo 3: 88 +/- 11 lpm (p=0.001). Frecuencia respiratoria: no hubo diferencias entre los 3 grupos antes de comenzar la prueba, pero sí al final del recorrido: grupo 1: 50 +/- 11 rpm con incremento de 15 +/- 7.7 rpm al finalizar el recorrido, grupo 2: 54 +/- 11 rpm con incremento de 18 +/- 7 rpm al finalizar el recorrido y grupo 3: 39 +/- 8.2 rpm con incremento de 5.8 +/- 4.4 rpm al finalizar el recorrido (p<0.05 grupo 1 y 2 vs. 3). Braquiocefálicos y obesos no presentaron diferencias en las variables evaluadas y esto sugiere que los sistemas cardiovascular y respiratorio parecen estar sometidos a condiciones fisiopatológicas similares durante el ejercicio. Ello abre una puerta en la investigación sobre los efectos de la obesidad en caninos