Algorithms for Recollection of Search Terms Based on the Wikipedia Category Structure

The common user interface for a search engine consists of a text field where the user can enter queries consisting of one or more keywords. Keyword query based search engines work well when the users have a clear vision what they are looking for and are capable of articulating their query using the same terms as indexed. For our multimedia database containing 202,868 items with text descriptions, we supplement such a search engine with a category-based interface whose category structure is tailored to the content of the database. This facilitates browsing and offers the users the possibility to look for named entities, even if they forgot their names. We demonstrate that this approach allows users who fail to recollect the name of named entities to retrieve data with little effort. In all our experiments, it takes 1 query on a category and on average 2.49 clicks, compared to 5.68 queries on the database’s traditional text search engine for a 68.3% success probability or 6.01 queries when the user also turns to Google, for a 97.1% success probability

CROEQS: Contemporaneous Role Ontology-based Expanded Query Search: implementation and evaluation

Searching annotated items in multimedia databases becomes increasingly important. The traditional approach is to build a search engine based on textual metadata. However, in manually annotated multimedia databases, the conceptual level of what is searched for might differ from the high-levelness of the annotations of the items. To address this problem, we present CROEQS, a semantically enhanced search engine. It allows the user to query the annotated persons not only on their name, but also on their roles at the time the multimedia item was broadcast. We also present the ontology used to expand such queries: it allows us to semantically represent the domain knowledge on people fulfilling a role during a temporal interval in general, and politicians holding a political office specifically. The evaluation results show that query expansion using data retrieved from an ontology considerably filters the result set, although there is a performance penalty

PCR detection of Burkholderia multivorans in water and soil samples

Background: Although semi-selective growth media have been developed for the isolation of Burkholderia cepacia complex bacteria from the environment, thus far Burkholderia multivorans has rarely been isolated from such samples. Because environmental B. multivorans isolates mainly originate from water samples, we hypothesized that water rather than soil is its most likely environmental niche. The aim of the present study was to assess the occurrence of B. multivorans in water samples from Flanders (Belgium) using a fast, culture-independent PCR assay. Results: A nested PCR approach was used to achieve high sensitivity, and specificity was confirmed by sequencing the resulting amplicons. B. multivorans was detected in 11 % of the water samples (n = 112) and 92 % of the soil samples (n = 25) tested. The percentage of false positives was higher for water samples compared to soil samples, showing that the presently available B. multivorans recA primers lack specificity when applied to the analysis of water samples. Conclusions: The results of the present study demonstrate that B. multivorans DNA is commonly present in soil samples and to a lesser extent in water samples in Flanders (Belgium)

Jonas plutôt que Okan ? Discrimination ethnique à l’égard des jeunes diplômés en Flandre

Ce numéro de Regards économiques présente les résultats d’une étude visant à déterminer si les employeurs flamands traitent de manière égale les candidatures à l’emploi des jeunes diplômés aux noms à consonance turque et à consonance flamande. La méthodologie de l’étude consiste à répondre à des offres d’emploi réelles par l’envoi de candidatures fictives dont la seule différence majeure est le nom du candidat. Cette étude fournit des preuves expérimentales d’une inégalité de traitement sur le marché du travail en Flandre. Les jeunes diplômés aux noms à consonance turque ont moins de chance d’être invités à un entretien d’embauche que les jeunes diplômés aux noms à consonance flamande, en particulier s’ils sont peu qualifiés et candidats à des postes pour lesquels il n’existe pas de pénurie de main-d’oeuvre

Recovering from conflict: an analysis of food production in Burundi

This paper deals with the devastating food insecurity in two densely populated provinces in the north of Burundi as a result of overpopulation and low production capacity in the aftermath of conflict. We compare data that was collected in the Ngozi and Muyinga Province in 2007 with data of households interviewed on the same hills in 1996. Households live from subsistence farming, erratic surplus sales, sales of coffee and banana and occasional off- and non-farm work. We find that not only did production levels decrease but also total factor productivity (Malmquist indices calculated with DEA approach) dropped in 83% of the hills between 1996 and 2007.food security, post-conflict, Central Africa, Burundi, subsistence farming, poverty trap, International Development,

PCR detection of Burkholderia multivorans in water and soil samples

Background: Although semi-selective growth media have been developed for the isolation of Burkholderia cepacia complex bacteria from the environment, thus far Burkholderia multivorans has rarely been isolated from such samples. Because environmental B. multivorans isolates mainly originate from water samples, we hypothesized that water rather than soil is its most likely environmental niche. The aim of the present study was to assess the occurrence of B. multivorans in water samples from Flanders (Belgium) using a fast, culture-independent PCR assay. Results: A nested PCR approach was used to achieve high sensitivity, and specificity was confirmed by sequencing the resulting amplicons. B. multivorans was detected in 11 % of the water samples (n = 112) and 92 % of the soil samples (n = 25) tested. The percentage of false positives was higher for water samples compared to soil samples, showing that the presently available B. multivorans recA primers lack specificity when applied to the analysis of water samples. Conclusions: The results of the present study demonstrate that B. multivorans DNA is commonly present in soil samples and to a lesser extent in water samples in Flanders (Belgium)