Ontologies and the Semantic Web: Problems and Perspectives for LIS Professionals

Many years have passed since Berners-Lee envi- sioned the Web as it should be (1999), but still many information professionals do not know their precise role in its development, especially con- cerning ontologies –considered one of its main elements. Why? May it still be a lack of under- standing between the different academic commu- nities involved (namely, Computer Science, Lin- guistics and Library and Information Science), as reported by Soergel (1999)? The idea behind the Semantic Web is that of several technologies working together to get optimum information re- trieval performance, which is based on proper resource description in a machine-understandable way, by means of metadata and vocabularies (Greenberg, Sutton and Campbell, 2003). This is obviously something that Library and Information Science professionals can do very well, but, are we doing enough? When computer scientists put on stage the ontology paradigm they were asking for semantically richer vocabularies that could support logical inferences in artificial intelligence as a way to improve information retrieval systems. Which direction should vocabulary development take to contribute better to that common goal? The main objective of this paper is twofold: 1) to identify main trends, issues and problems con- cerning ontology research and 2) to identify pos- sible contributions from the Library and Information Science area to the development of ontologies for the semantic web. To do so, our paper has been structured in the following manner. First, the methodology followed in the paper is reported, which is based on a thorough literature review, where main contributions are analysed. Then, the paper presents a discussion of the main trends, issues and problems concerning ontology re- search identified in the literature review. Recom- mendations of possible contributions from the Library and Information Science area to the devel- opment of ontologies for the semantic web are finally presented.

Modelo de competencias en TIC para el personal de una organización del sector eléctrico

La presente investigación pretendió incorporar el uso intensivo de TIC en los procedimientos establecidos y necesarios en los procesos de generación, distribución y control de la energía, lo que se expresa en un manual para el sistema de gestión humana de la organización analizada. La investigación partió de un levantamiento de un estado del arte, continuó con la realización de un análisis de actitudes y aptitudes de los colaboradores, basado en propuestas teóricas y mejores prácticas existentes del medio, y, por último, concluyó con un manual de gestión humana en el que se indican las competencias en los diferentes perfiles de la organización para el uso de TIC y su aplicación, con el propósito de alinearse con las perspectivas y objetivos de la organización analizada al tener como base la perdurabilidad y la competitividad de la misma.

A complexity-based diagnostic on the democratic unity roundtable mud: problems and alternatives (2008-2016)

Este trabajo exploratorio estudia al movimiento político Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD), creada con el fin de oponerse la Gobierno socialista existente en venezuela. La crítica que este documento realiza, parte desde el punto de vista de la Ciencia de la Complejidad. Algunos conceptos clave de sistemas complejos han sido utilizados para explicar el funcionamiento y organización de la MUD, esto con el objetivo de generar un diagnóstico integral de los problemas que enfrenta, y evidenciar las nuevas percepciones sobre comportamientos perjudiciales que el partido tiene actualmente. Con el enfoque de la complejidad se pretende ayudar a comprender mejor el contexto que enmarca al partido y, para, finalmente aportar una serie de soluciones a los problemas de cohesión que presen

Monitoring pasture variability: optical OptRx® crop sensor versus Grassmaster II capacitance probe

Estimation of pasture productivity is an important step for the farmer in terms of planning animal stocking, organizing animal lots, and determining supplementary feeding needs throughout the year. The main objective of this work was to evaluate technologies which have potential for monitoring aspects related to spatial and temporal variability of pasture green and dry matter yield (respectively, GM and DM, in kg/ha) and support to decision making for the farmer. Two types of sensors were evaluated: an active optical sensor(OptRx®, which measures the NDVI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) and a capacitance probe (GrassMaster II which estimates plant mass). The results showed the potential of NDVI for monitoring the evolution of spatial and temporal patterns of vegetative growth of biodiverse pasture. Higher NDVI values were registered as pasture approached its greatest vegetative vigor, with a significant fall in the measured NDVI at the end of Spring, when the pasture began to dry due to the combination of higher temperatures and lower soil moisture content. This index was also effective for identifying different plant species (grasses/legumes) and variability in pasture yield. Furthermore, it was possible to develop calibration equations between the capacitance and the NDVI (R2 = 0.757; p < 0.01), between capacitance and GM (R2 = 0.799; p<0.01), between capacitance and DM (R2 = 0.630; p<0.01), between NDVI and GM (R2=0.745; p < 0.01), and between capacitance and DM (R2=0.524; p<0.01). Finally, a direct relationship was obtained between NDVI and pasture moisture content (PMC, in %) and between capacitance and PMC (respectively, R2 = 0.615; p<0.01 and R2=0.561; p <0.01) in Alentejo dryland farming systems.

Intelligent Sensor Systems for Structural Health Monitoring Applications

The convergence between the recent developments in sensing technologies, data science, signal processing and advanced modelling has fostered a new paradigm to the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of engineered structures, which is the one based on intelligent sensors, i.e., embedded devices capable of stream processing data and/or performing structural inference in a self-contained and near-sensor manner. To efficiently exploit these intelligent sensor units for full-scale structural assessment, a joint effort is required to deal with instrumental aspects related to signal acquisition, conditioning and digitalization, and those pertaining to data management, data analytics and information sharing. In this framework, the main goal of this Thesis is to tackle the multi-faceted nature of the monitoring process, via a full-scale optimization of the hardware and software resources involved by the {SHM} system. The pursuit of this objective has required the investigation of both: i) transversal aspects common to multiple application domains at different abstraction levels (such as knowledge distillation, networking solutions, microsystem {HW} architectures), and ii) the specificities of the monitoring methodologies (vibrations, guided waves, acoustic emission monitoring). The key tools adopted in the proposed monitoring frameworks belong to the embedded signal processing field: namely, graph signal processing, compressed sensing, ARMA System Identification, digital data communication and TinyML.

L'inclusione lavorativa tra accesso e partecipazione

La Convenzione delle Nazioni Unite sui Diritti delle Persone con Disabilità (UNCRPD) riconosce il diritto di tutte le persone al lavoro “gli Stati Parti adottano misure adeguate a garantire alle persone con disabilità, su base di uguaglianza con gli altri, l’accesso all’ambiente fisico, ai trasporti, all’informazione e alla comunicazione, compresi i sistemi e le tecnologie di informazione e comunicazione e ad altre attrezzature e servizi aperti o forniti al pubblico”(United Nation 2016 p.14). Nonostante i progressi (in ambito politico culturale) che si stanno compiendo in ambito internazionale in termini di pari opportunità e di inclusione, le persone in situazione di disabilità continuano a incontrare barriere che limitano la loro partecipazione attiva al mondo del lavoro. A partire da questo scenario, la ricerca si propone di indagare i bisogni (es. di accoglienza, di accesso al contesto fisico e digitale, di partecipazione nella vita dell’azienda ecc.) delle persone con disabilità e di sviluppare una applicazione digitale (web app), rivolta alle imprese, finalizzata a monitorare e a promuovere l'inclusione lavorativa. Ripercorrendo il modello di progettazione del design thinking e valorizzando un processo di ricerca basato su metodi misti (qualitativi e qualitativi) è stato ideato Job inclusion for all; un ambiente digitale fondato sull’adattamento di due strumenti di “metariflessione”: l’Index for inclusion job version e l’employment role mapping. Lo strumento digitale prototipato è stato testato e validato, durante l’ultimo anno di ricerca, da parte di una equipe multidisciplinare internazionale; tale processo ha consentito di raccogliere feedback (rispetto alla rilevanza e alla chiarezza degli item, rispetto ai punti di forza e di debolezza) che hanno consentito di migliorare e implementare la versione finale del prototipo di web app.

On making web accessibility more accessible: strategy and tools for social good

The world currently faces a paradox in terms of accessibility for people with disabilities. While digital technologies hold immense potential to improve their quality of life, the majority of web content still exhibits critical accessibility issues. This PhD thesis addresses this challenge by proposing two interconnected research branches. The first introduces a groundbreaking approach to improving web accessibility by rethinking how it is approached, making it more accessible itself. It involves the development of: 1. AX, a declarative framework of web components that enforces the generation of accessible markup by means of static analysis. 2. An innovative accessibility testing and evaluation methodology, which communicates test results by exploiting concepts that developers are already familiar with (visual rendering and mouse operability) to convey the accessibility of a page. This methodology is implemented through the SAHARIAN browser extension. 3. A11A, a categorized and structured collection of curated accessibility resources aimed at facilitating their intended audiences discover and use them. The second branch focuses on unleashing the full potential of digital technologies to improve accessibility in the physical world. The thesis proposes the SCAMP methodology to make scientific artifacts accessible to blind, visually impaired individuals, and the general public. It enhances the natural characteristics of objects, making them more accessible through interactive, multimodal, and multisensory experiences. Additionally, the prototype of \gls{a11yvt}, a system supporting accessible virtual tours, is presented. It provides blind and visually impaired individuals with features necessary to explore unfamiliar indoor environments, while maintaining universal design principles that makes it suitable for usage by the general public. The thesis extensively discusses the theoretical foundations, design, development, and unique characteristics of these innovative tools. Usability tests with the intended target audiences demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed artifacts, suggesting their potential to significantly improve the current state of accessibility.

Ihwg-μnir: A Miniaturised Near-infrared Gas Sensor Based On Substrate-integrated Hollow Waveguides Coupled To A Micro-nir-spectrophotometer.

A miniaturised gas analyser is described and evaluated based on the use of a substrate-integrated hollow waveguide (iHWG) coupled to a microsized near-infrared spectrophotometer comprising a linear variable filter and an array of InGaAs detectors. This gas sensing system was applied to analyse surrogate samples of natural fuel gas containing methane, ethane, propane and butane, quantified by using multivariate regression models based on partial least square (PLS) algorithms and Savitzky-Golay 1(st) derivative data preprocessing. The external validation of the obtained models reveals root mean square errors of prediction of 0.37, 0.36, 0.67 and 0.37% (v/v), for methane, ethane, propane and butane, respectively. The developed sensing system provides particularly rapid response times upon composition changes of the gaseous sample (approximately 2 s) due the minute volume of the iHWG-based measurement cell. The sensing system developed in this study is fully portable with a hand-held sized analyser footprint, and thus ideally suited for field analysis. Last but not least, the obtained results corroborate the potential of NIR-iHWG analysers for monitoring the quality of natural gas and petrochemical gaseous products.

Iis--integrated Interactome System: A Web-based Platform For The Annotation, Analysis And Visualization Of Protein-metabolite-gene-drug Interactions By Integrating A Variety Of Data Sources And Tools.

High-throughput screening of physical, genetic and chemical-genetic interactions brings important perspectives in the Systems Biology field, as the analysis of these interactions provides new insights into protein/gene function, cellular metabolic variations and the validation of therapeutic targets and drug design. However, such analysis depends on a pipeline connecting different tools that can automatically integrate data from diverse sources and result in a more comprehensive dataset that can be properly interpreted. We describe here the Integrated Interactome System (IIS), an integrative platform with a web-based interface for the annotation, analysis and visualization of the interaction profiles of proteins/genes, metabolites and drugs of interest. IIS works in four connected modules: (i) Submission module, which receives raw data derived from Sanger sequencing (e.g. two-hybrid system); (ii) Search module, which enables the user to search for the processed reads to be assembled into contigs/singlets, or for lists of proteins/genes, metabolites and drugs of interest, and add them to the project; (iii) Annotation module, which assigns annotations from several databases for the contigs/singlets or lists of proteins/genes, generating tables with automatic annotation that can be manually curated; and (iv) Interactome module, which maps the contigs/singlets or the uploaded lists to entries in our integrated database, building networks that gather novel identified interactions, protein and metabolite expression/concentration levels, subcellular localization and computed topological metrics, GO biological processes and KEGG pathways enrichment. This module generates a XGMML file that can be imported into Cytoscape or be visualized directly on the web. We have developed IIS by the integration of diverse databases following the need of appropriate tools for a systematic analysis of physical, genetic and chemical-genetic interactions. IIS was validated with yeast two-hybrid, proteomics and metabolomics datasets, but it is also extendable to other datasets. IIS is freely available online at: http://www.lge.ibi.unicamp.br/lnbio/IIS/.

Infertility Care And The Introduction Of New Reproductive Technologies In Poor Resource Settings.

The overall prevalence of infertility was estimated to be 3.5-16.7% in developing countries and 6.9-9.3% in developed countries. Furthermore, according to reports from some regions of sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence rate is 30-40%. The consequences of infertility and how it affects the lives of women in poor-resource settings, particularly in developing countries, has become an important issue to be discussed in reproductive health. In some societies, the inability to fulfill the desire to have children makes life difficult for the infertile couple. In many regions, infertility is considered a tragedy that affects not only the infertile couple or woman, but the entire family. This is a position paper which encompasses a review of the needs of low-income infertile couples, mainly those living in developing countries, regarding access to infertility care, including ART and initiatives to provide ART at low or affordable cost. Information was gathered from the databases MEDLINE, CENTRAL, POPLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, and ICTRP with the key words: infertility, low income, assisted reproductive technologies, affordable cost, low cost. There are few initiatives geared toward implementing ART procedures at low cost or at least at affordable cost in low-income populations. Nevertheless, from recent studies, possibilities have emerged for new low-cost initiatives that can help millions of couples to achieve the desire of having a biological child. It is necessary for healthcare professionals and policymakers to take into account these new initiatives in order to implement ART in resource-constrained settings.

Pregnancy In Women Undergoing Hemodialysis: Case Series In A Southeast Brazilian Reference Center.

To describe maternal and neonatal outcomes in pregnant women undergoing hemodialysis in a referral center in Brazilian Southeast side. Retrospective and descriptive study, with chart review of all pregnancies undergoing hemodialysis that were followed-up at an outpatient clinic of high- risk prenatal care in Southeast Brazil. Among the 16 women identified, 2 were excluded due to follow-up loss. In 14 women described, hypertension was the most frequent cause of chronic renal failure (half of cases). The majority (71.4%) had performed hemodialysis treatment for more than one year and all of them underwent 5 to 6 hemodialysis sessions per week. Eleven participants had chronic hypertension, 1 of which was also diabetic, and 6 of them were smokers. Regarding pregnancy complications, 1 of the hypertensive women developed malignant hypertension (with fetal growth restriction and preterm delivery at 29 weeks), 2 had acute pulmonary edema and 2 had abruption placenta. The mode of delivery was cesarean section in 9 women (64.3%). All neonates had Apgar score at five minutes above 7. To improve perinatal and maternal outcomes of women undergoing hemodialysis, it is important to ensure multidisciplinary approach in referral center, strict control of serum urea, hemoglobin and maternal blood pressure, as well as close monitoring of fetal well-being and maternal morbidities. Another important strategy is suitable guidance for contraception in these women.

Indications For In Vitro Fertilization At A Public Center For Reproductive Health In Campinas, Brazil.

To assess the sociodemographic profile and gynecologic and obstetric characteristics of women referred to a public reference center in Campinas, Brazil, for in vitro fertilization (IVF). Women referred between April 1, 2008, and October 31, 2009, were eligible for inclusion in a cross-sectional study. Participants were interviewed about sociodemographic characteristics, obstetric and gynecologic history, and etiologic factors resulting in the referral. Preliminary clinical examinations performed elsewhere were evaluated. A total of 176 women were included, of whom 129 (73.3%) presented with tubal factor infertility. Tubal ligation had been performed in 66 (37.5%) women. Overall, 121 (68.8%) women were aged 30 years old or less, 110 (62.5%) had received more than 8 years of schooling, 123 (69.6%) had had infertility for up to 5 years, and 99 (56.3%) did not have any children. Moreover, 25 (14.2%) women had endometriosis and 25 (14.2%) had a male factor issue. A previous ectopic pregnancy was reported for 20 (11.4%) women and pelvic inflammatory disease for 49 (27.8%). Tubal factor infertility was the most common indication for IVF. Preventive measures are required, in addition to policies that ensure access to high-complexity treatments in the public sector.

Acessibilidade dos sítios web dos governos estaduais brasileiros: uma análise quantitativa entre 1996 e 2007

A utilização da web para a disponibilização de informações e serviços de órgãos governamentais para os cidadãos tem se tornado cada vez mais expressiva. Assim, a garantia de que esses conteúdos e serviços possam ser acessíveis a qualquer cidadão é imprescindível, independentemente de necessidades especiais ou de quaisquer outras barreiras. No Brasil, o Decreto-Lei nº5.296/2004 determinou que todos os órgãos governamentais deveriam adaptar seus sítios na web de acordo com critérios de acessibilidade até dezembro de 2005. Com o objetivo de verificar a evolução da acessibilidade ao longo dos anos e como foi o impacto dessa legislação, este artigo analisa a acessibilidade dos sítios dos governos estaduais brasileiros por meio de amostras coletadas entre 1996 e 2007. Foram efetuadas análises por meio de métricas, obtidas por avaliações com ferramentas automáticas. Os resultados indicam que a legislação teve pouco impacto para a melhoria real da acessibilidade dos sítios no período indicado, com uma melhora somente em 2007. Verifica-se que se faz necessário adotar políticas públicas mais efetivas para que as pessoas com necessidades especiais tenham os seus direitos para acesso a informações e aos serviços públicos na web assegurados mais amplamente.

Measuring air pressure with a polymeric gas sensor

In this communication we describe the application of a conductive polymer gas sensor as an air pressure sensor. The device consists of a thin doped poly(4'-hexyloxy-2,5-biphenylene ethylene) (PHBPE) film deposited on an interdigitated metallic electrode. The sensor is cheap, easy to fabricate, lasts for several months, and is suitable for measuring air pressures in the range between 100 and 700 mmHg.

Calibration of the dietary data obtained from the Brazilian center of the Natural History of HPV Infection in Men study: the HIM Study

The objective of this study was to estimate the regressions calibration for the dietary data that were measured using the quantitative food frequency questionnaire (QFFQ) in the Natural History of HPV Infection in Men: the HIM Study in Brazil. A sample of 98 individuals from the HIM study answered one QFFQ and three 24-hour recalls (24HR) at interviews. The calibration was performed using linear regression analysis in which the 24HR was the dependent variable and the QFFQ was the independent variable. Age, body mass index, physical activity, income and schooling were used as adjustment variables in the models. The geometric means between the 24HR and the calibration-corrected QFFQ were statistically equal. The dispersion graphs between the instruments demonstrate increased correlation after making the correction, although there is greater dispersion of the points with worse explanatory power of the models. Identification of the regressions calibration for the dietary data of the HIM study will make it possible to estimate the effect of the diet on HPV infection, corrected for the measurement error of the QFFQ.