Challenges in the development of effective systems for Professional Legal Search

The key objective of an information retrieval (IR) system is to identify and return to the user content relevant or useful in addressing the information need which required them to use the system. The development and evaluation of IR systems relies on the availability of suitable datasets or test collections. These typically consist of a target document collection, example search queries representative of those that users of the system to be developed, are expected to enter, and relevance data indicating which documents in the collection are relevant to the information needed as expressed in each query. Public research in IR has focused on popular content, e.g. news corpora or web content, for which average users can pose queries expressing information needs and judge the relevance of retrieved documents. This is not the case for professional search applications, for example legal, medical, financial search where domain experts are required for these tasks. We describe our experiences from the development of a professional legal IR application employing semantic search technologies. Our activities indicate the vital need for close interaction between the professionals for which the application is being developed and the IR researchers throughout the development life cycle of the search system. Such engagement is vital in order for the IR researchers to understand the working practices of the professional searchers, the specifications of their information needs and the domain in which they are searching, and to study how they engage and interact with information. A key reason to seek to understand these topics so deeply is to facilitate meaningful evaluation of the effectiveness of IR technologies as components in the system being developed

Garvicins AG1 and AG2 : two novel class IId bacteriocins of lactococcus garvieae Lg-Granada

Funding: This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, grant number RTI2018-098530-B-I00. The APC was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, grant number RTI2018-098530-B-I00.Lactococcus garvieae causes infectious diseases in animals and is considered an emerging zoonotic pathogen involved in human clinical conditions. In silico analysis of plasmid pLG50 of L. garvieae Lg-Granada, an isolate from a patient with endocarditis, revealed the presence of two gene clusters (orf 46–47 and orf 48–49), each one encoding a novel putative bacteriocin, i.e., garvicin AG1 (GarAG1; orf 46) and garvicin AG2 (GarAG2; orf 48), and their corresponding immunity proteins (orf 47 and orf 49). The chemically synthesised bacteriocins GarAG1 and GarAG2 presented inhibitory activity against pathogenic L. garvieae strains, with AG2 also being active against Listeria monocytogenes, Listeria ivanovii and Enterococcus faecalis. Genetic organisation, amino acid sequences and antimicrobial activities of GarAG1 and GarAG2 indicate that they belong to linear non-pediocin-like one-peptide class IId bacteriocins. Gram-positive bacteria that were sensitive to GarAG2 were also able to ferment mannose, suggesting that this bacteriocin could use the mannose phosphotransferase transport system (Man-PTS) involved in mannose uptake as a receptor in sensitive strains. Intriguingly, GarAG1 and GarAG2 were highly active against their own host, L. garvieae Lg-Granada, which could be envisaged as a new strategy to combat pathogens via their own weapons.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

6. Peces amazónicos y cambio climático

Con el 15% de todos los peces de agua dulce descritos en el mundo, la cuenca amazónica es el sistema de agua dulce más biodiverso del planeta. Hoy en día, los factores principales de degradación de los ecosistemas de agua dulce en la región amazónica son la rápida expansión de las infraestructuras y actividades económicas. Estas perturbaciones provocan importantes efectos negativos en las comunidades de peces y podrían verse amplificados por los impactos del cambio climático. Las pérdidas de hábitat originados por el cambio climático no deberían tener efectos sobre las tasas de extinción de la especies. Sin embargo, el estrés térmico y la limitación de oxígeno podrían provocar extinciones locales de ciertas especies y producir cambios progresivos en la estructura y composición de las comunidades actuales de peces. Las especies tolerantes al aumento de temperatura, como el Paiche, se expandirán mientras que las especies sensibles a este aumento se reducirán. Cabe destacar que hoy en día las acciones de conservación deben enfocarse en la reducción de los efectos de las amenazas antropogénicas en curso.Avec 15% de tous les poissons d'eau douce décrits dans le monde, le bassin amazonien est le système d'eau douce présentant la plus grande biodiversité de la planète. Aujourd'hui, les principaux facteurs de dégradation des écosystèmes d'eau douce dans la région amazonienne sont l'expansion rapide des infrastructures et les activités économiques. Ces perturbations provoquent d'importants effets négatifs sur les communautés de poissons et pourraient être amplifiés par les impacts du changement climatique. La perte d'habitat due au changement climatique ne devrait avoir aucun effet sur les taux d'extinction des espèces. Cependant, le stress lié à la température et la limitation de l'oxygène pourraient provoquer l'extinction locale de certaines espèces et produire des changements progressifs dans la structure et la composition des communautés actuelles de poissons. Les populations d'espèces tolérantes à l'augmentation de température, comme le Paiche, augmenteront, tandis que les populations d'espèces sensibles à cette augmentation diminueront. Il est important de noter que, à l'heure actuelle, les actions de conservation doivent se concentrer sur la réduction des effets des menaces anthropiques en cours.With 15% of all described freshwater fish in the world, the Amazon basin is the most biodiverse freshwater System of the planet. Nowadays, the main factors of degradation of freshwater ecosystems in the Amazon region are the rapid expansion of infrastructure and economic activities. These disturbances cause negative effects on fish communities and could be amplified by the impacts of climate change. Loss of habitat due to climate change should have no effect on rates of species extinction. However, thermal stress and oxygen limitation could cause local extinctions of certain species and produce Progressive changes in the structure and composition of existing fish communities. Tolerant species to temperature increase -as the Paiche- should expand, while sensitive species should be reduced. It is noteworthy that conservation actions should focus on reducing the effects of anthropogenic threats in progress

Centrality dependence of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}} = 2.76 TeV

The inclusive transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) distributions of primary charged particles are measured in the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta|<0.8$ as a function of event centrality in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}=2.76$ TeV with ALICE at the LHC. The data are presented in the $p_{\rm T}$ range $0.15<p_{\rm T}<50$ GeV/$c$ for nine centrality intervals from 70-80% to 0-5%. The Pb-Pb spectra are presented in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm{AA}}$ using a pp reference spectrum measured at the same collision energy. We observe that the suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ particles strongly depends on event centrality. In central collisions (0-5%) the yield is most suppressed with $R_{\rm{AA}}\approx0.13$ at $p_{\rm T}=6$-7 GeV/$c$. Above $p_{\rm T}=7$ GeV/$c$, there is a significant rise in the nuclear modification factor, which reaches $R_{\rm{AA}} \approx0.4$ for $p_{\rm T}>30$ GeV/$c$. In peripheral collisions (70-80%), the suppression is weaker with $R_{\rm{AA}} \approx 0.7$ almost independently of $p_{\rm T}$. The measured nuclear modification factors are compared to other measurements and model calculations.Comment: 17 pages, 4 captioned figures, 2 tables, authors from page 12, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/284

Anisotropic flow of charged hadrons, pions and (anti-)protons measured at high transverse momentum in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76 TeV

The elliptic, $v_2$, triangular, $v_3$, and quadrangular, $v_4$, azimuthal anisotropic flow coefficients are measured for unidentified charged particles, pions and (anti-)protons in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Results obtained with the event plane and four-particle cumulant methods are reported for the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta|<0.8$ at different collision centralities and as a function of transverse momentum, $p_{\rm T}$, out to $p_{\rm T}=20$ GeV/$c$. The observed non-zero elliptic and triangular flow depends only weakly on transverse momentum for $p_{\rm T}>8$ GeV/$c$. The small $p_{\rm T}$ dependence of the difference between elliptic flow results obtained from the event plane and four-particle cumulant methods suggests a common origin of flow fluctuations up to $p_{\rm T}=8$ GeV/$c$. The magnitude of the (anti-)proton elliptic and triangular flow is larger than that of pions out to at least $p_{\rm T}=8$ GeV/$c$ indicating that the particle type dependence persists out to high $p_{\rm T}$.Comment: 16 pages, 5 captioned figures, authors from page 11, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/186

Measurement of charm production at central rapidity in proton-proton collisions at s=2.76\sqrt{s} = 2.76 TeV

The $p_{\rm T}$-differential production cross sections of the prompt (B feed-down subtracted) charmed mesons D$^0$, D$^+$, and D$^{*+}$ in the rapidity range $|y|<0.5$, and for transverse momentum $1< p_{\rm T} <12$ GeV/$c$, were measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76$ TeV with the ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis exploited the hadronic decays D$^0 \rightarrow$K$\pi$, D$^+ \rightarrow$K$\pi\pi$, D$^{*+} \rightarrow$D$^0\pi$, and their charge conjugates, and was performed on a $L_{\rm int} = 1.1$ nb$^{-1}$ event sample collected in 2011 with a minimum-bias trigger. The total charm production cross section at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76$ TeV and at 7 TeV was evaluated by extrapolating to the full phase space the $p_{\rm T}$-differential production cross sections at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76$ TeV and our previous measurements at $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV. The results were compared to existing measurements and to perturbative-QCD calculations. The fraction of cdbar D mesons produced in a vector state was also determined.Comment: 20 pages, 5 captioned figures, 4 tables, authors from page 15, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/307

Particle-yield modification in jet-like azimuthal di-hadron correlations in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The yield of charged particles associated with high-$p_{\rm T}$ trigger particles ($8 < p_{\rm T} < 15$ GeV/$c$) is measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV relative to proton-proton collisions at the same energy. The conditional per-trigger yields are extracted from the narrow jet-like correlation peaks in azimuthal di-hadron correlations. In the 5% most central collisions, we observe that the yield of associated charged particles with transverse momenta $p_{\rm T}> 3$ GeV/$c$ on the away-side drops to about 60% of that observed in pp collisions, while on the near-side a moderate enhancement of 20-30% is found.Comment: 15 pages, 2 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 10, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/350

Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than those measured at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 12, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/388

Suppression of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of primary charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV have been measured by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC. The data are presented for central and peripheral collisions, corresponding to 0-5% and 70-80% of the hadronic Pb-Pb cross section. The measured charged particle spectra in $|\eta|<0.8$ and $0.3 < p_T < 20$ GeV/$c$ are compared to the expectation in pp collisions at the same $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$, scaled by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions. The comparison is expressed in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$. The result indicates only weak medium effects ($R_{\rm AA} \approx$ 0.7) in peripheral collisions. In central collisions, $R_{\rm AA}$ reaches a minimum of about 0.14 at $p_{\rm T}=6$-7GeV/$c$ and increases significantly at larger $p_{\rm T}$. The measured suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ particles is stronger than that observed at lower collision energies, indicating that a very dense medium is formed in central Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages, 5 captioned figures, 3 tables, authors from page 10, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/98

Strange particle production in proton-proton collisions at s=0.9\sqrt{s}=0.9 TeV with ALICE at the LHC

The production of mesons containing strange quarks (K$^0_s$, $\phi$) and both singly and doubly strange baryons ($\Lambda$, Anti-$\Lambda$, and $\Xi$+Anti-$\Xi$) are measured at central rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 0.9 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The results are obtained from the analysis of about 250 k minimum bias events recorded in 2009. Measurements of yields (dN/dy) and transverse momentum spectra at central rapidities for inelastic pp collisions are presented. For mesons, we report yields () of 0.184 $\pm$ 0.002 stat. $\pm$ 0.006 syst. for K$^0_s$ and 0.021 $\pm$ 0.004 stat. $\pm$ 0.003 syst. for $\phi$. For baryons, we find = 0.048 $\pm$ 0.001 stat. $\pm$ 0.004 syst. for $\Lambda$, 0.047 $\pm$ 0.002 stat. $\pm$ 0.005 syst. for Anti-$\Lambda$ and 0.0101 $\pm$ 0.0020 stat. $\pm$ 0.0009 syst. for $\Xi$+Anti-$\Xi$. The results are also compared with predictions for identified particle spectra from QCD-inspired models and provide a baseline for comparisons with both future pp measurements at higher energies and heavy-ion collisions.Comment: 33 pages, 21 captioned figures, 10 tables, authors from page 28, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/387