scholarly journals Literature-Based Discovery beyond the ABC paradigm: a contrastive approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erwan Moreau ◽  
Orla Hardiman ◽  
Mark Heverin ◽  
Declan O'Sullivan

Literature-Based Discovery (LBD) aims to help researchers to identify relations between concepts which are worthy of further investigation by text-mining the biomedical literature. The vast majority of the LBD research follows the ABC model: a relation (A,C) is a candidate for discovery if there is some intermediate concept B which is related to both A and C. The ABC model has been successful in applications where the search space is strongly constrained, but there is limited evidence about its usefulness when applied in a broader context. Through a case study of 8 recent discoveries related to neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), we show the limitations of the ABC model in an open-ended context. The study emphasizes the impact of the choice of source data and extraction method on the resulting knowledge base: different "views" of the biomedical literature offer different levels of accuracy and coverage. We propose a novel contrastive approach which leverages these differences between "views" in order to target relations between concepts of interest. We explore various parameters and demonstrate the relevance of our approach through quantitative evaluation on the 8 target discoveries. The source data used in this article are publicly available. The different parts of the software used to process the data are published under open-source license and provided with detailed instructions. A prototype of the system is also provided as an online exploration tool.

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 260-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Ondrus ◽  
Avinash Gannamaneni ◽  
Kalle Lyytinen

A multi-sided platform can only succeed if a critical mass of users can join. This is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for a platform's success. However, there is a limited understanding of the factors that contribute to reaching such critical mass. In this study we identify ways to determine the market potential of a platform and to reach critical mass. We particularly enrich past studies by exploring how the openness of a platform influences market potential. We examine openness at three levels – provider, technology, and user level – and ask the question: to what extent can opening (or closing) each level increase or decrease a platform's market potential? The provider level recognizes the strategic involvement of key stakeholders that provide a platform. The technology level is concerned with the interoperability of a platform across different technologies. The user level relates to what extent a platform discriminates different segments of the customer base. On the basis of analytical modeling and theoretical analysis, we formulate four propositions concerning the effects of openness on platforms’ market potential. We illustrate the strength of propositions through a confirmatory case study, which is informed by five theoretically sampled cases. The cases illustrate cogently the effects of opening different levels of a multi-sided platform. In conclusion, we propose a decision model that can assist decision making concerning the opening of a platform to catalyze its growth.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (15) ◽  
pp. 3182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvador García-Ayllón ◽  
Antonio Tomás ◽  
José Luis Ródenas

The analysis of damage in cities after an earthquake to implement mitigation strategies of seismic risk is a complex job that is usually full of uncertainties. Numerous variables affect the final result of the observable damage in a set of buildings in an urban area. The use of methodologies capable of providing global explanations beyond the traditional unidisciplinary approach of disciplines, such as structural analysis, earthquake engineering, geotechnics, or seismology, can be very useful for improving the behavior of our cities against earthquakes. This article presents geostatistical post-earthquake analysis, an innovative approach in this field of research based on GIS spatial statistical tools to evaluate the importance of the different variables after an earthquake that may have caused damage in a city. This new framework will be applied to analyze, from a geostatistical perspective, the damage levels observed in the city of Lorca (Spain) after the earthquake of 2011; a case study where various studies have proposed different measures to mitigate the impact of future earthquakes as a consequence of focusing on different phenomena as the main variable for the damage produced. A bivariate GIS assessment will allow spatial correlation of the problems detected from a statistical point of view (inadequate design of buildings, age of the real estate stock, inefficient urban planning configurations, geological risk, etc.) and the different levels of damage that the technicians who participated in the post-earthquake phase evaluated in the city. The results obtained will allow one to hierarchize the importance of the different detected phenomena to prepare the city better against future earthquakes and to elaborate an improved seismic mitigation strategy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Grazzini ◽  
Sara Fasana ◽  
Marco Zerbinatti ◽  
Giuseppe Lacidogna

The Italian Sacri Monti are heritage sites with some unique characteristics; they are a successful symbiosis between nature and art and are unconfined structures, therefore always being accessible but exposed to atmospheric agents, with many relevant consequences with regard to conservation problems. The paper discusses some aspects related to the application of non-destructive techniques (NDT) for the interpretation of degradation phenomena occurring in stone structural elements. Ultrasonic and impact tests were used to evaluate the structural properties of the stone columns in the Via Crucis portico, within the monumental complex of the Sacro Monte in Ghiffa (Piedmont, Italy), in order to determine their conditions of maintenance and to evaluate the portico static stability. Ultrasonic tests made it possible to obtain the value of the dynamic elastic modulus, which was variable at different points of the columns due to the diversified level of material damage. The impact test, performed with an instrumented hammer in the same points of the ultrasonic test, enables, by comparison, a deeper knowledge of the surface resistance of damaged columns. These results are the first step in a research path that will require further laboratory tests to better calibrate the diagnostic techniques applied to different levels of damage to surface materials.


Author(s):  
Óscar Pastor ◽  
Ana Palacio León ◽  
José Fabián Román Reyes ◽  
Alberto Simón García ◽  
Juan Carlos Rodenas Casamayor

Abstract With advances in genomic sequencing technology, a large amount of data is publicly available for the research community to extract meaningful and reliable associations among risk genes and the mechanisms of disease. However, this exponential growth of data is spread in over thousand heterogeneous repositories, represented in multiple formats and with different levels of quality what hinders the differentiation of clinically valid relationships from those that are less well-sustained and that could lead to wrong diagnosis. This paper presents how conceptual models can play a key role to efficiently manage genomic data. These data must be accessible, informative and reliable enough to extract valuable knowledge in the context of the identification of evidence supporting the relationship between DNA variants and disease. The approach presented in this paper provides a solution that help researchers to organize, store and process information focusing only on the data that are relevant and minimizing the impact that the information overload has in clinical and research contexts. A case-study (epilepsy) is also presented, to demonstrate its application in a real context.


Res Publica ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-101
Author(s):  
Carl Devos

The general question of this theoretical reflection concerns the impact of the multi-level organisation of policy processes for the division of power between collective social actors.  Firstly, We deal with the shrinking of the political capacity in the contemporary era of postfordism and deterritorialisation. In this framework, attention is paid to the ideological significance of governance.Using the concept of 'jumping of scales', We then consider the different consequences of the sui generis European multi-level setting for organised labour and capital, which serves as a case-study for our general proposition. Multi-level governance is looked upon as a new gestalt of scales, which enables some actors and hinders others to build their own jumping strategy between the different levels. The conclusion is that the European multi-level setting is the result of, as well as, the platform for power relations.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Catherine Weismann-Arcache ◽  
Sylvie Tordjman

This paper proposes to analyse the relationships between depression and high intellectual potential through a multidisciplinary and original approach. Based on their respective experience in psychology and child psychiatry, the authors will focus their analysis on creative potential. First, relationships between creativity (literary, artistic, or scientific creativity) and melancholy (“melancholy” comes from the Greek words for “black” (“melas”) and “bile” (“khole”)) will be examined from antiquity to modern times. Aristotle introduced a quantitative factor, asserting that levels of melancholy and black bile are positively correlated; however, under a given threshold of black bile, it can give rise to an exceptional being. Second, the case study of Blaise Pascal (scientific and philosophical creativity associated with major depressive episodes from childhood) will be presented and discussed. This case study sheds light on the paradoxical role of depression in the overinvestment in intellectual and creative spheres as well as on the impact of traumatic events on high intellectual potential. Third, observations will be reported based on a study conducted on 100 children with high intellectual potential (6–12 years old). Finally, based on these different levels of analysis, it appears that heterogeneity of mental functioning in children with high intellectual potential is at the center of the creative process and it has related psychological vulnerability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-46
Author(s):  
Ján Hanušin

The impact of a dispersed settlement on the changes of the land cover (LC) and landscape diversity (LDI) in the years 1950, 1986 and 2016 was analyzed on four spatially different levels: on the level of the whole cadastral area, 60 circular areas – hinterlands of hamlets, 15 circular areas in agricultural land outside hamlets and areas outside circular areas. The primary hypothesis that the landscape with a dispersed settlement is internally differentiated in terms of LC and LDI changes and that a dispersed settlement itself is an important driving force of these changes has been confirmed.


Author(s):  
Tomonori Honda ◽  
Eric Saund ◽  
Ion Matei ◽  
Bill Janssen ◽  
Bhaskar Saha ◽  
...  

To minimize the design cost of a complex system and maximize performance, a design team ideally must be able to quantify reliability and mitigate risk at the earliest phases of the design process, where 80% of the cost is committed. This paper demonstrates the capabilities of a new System Reliability Exploration Tool based on the improved simulation capabilities of a system called Fault-Augmented Modelica Extension (FAME). This novel tool combines concepts from FMEA, traditional Reliability Analysis, and Quality Engineering to identify, gain insight, and quantify the impact of component failure modes through time evolution of a system’s lifecycle. We illustrate how to use the FAME System Reliability Exploration Tool through a vehicle design case study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1508-1524
Author(s):  
Ahmad Rifai ◽  
Koi-Nyen Wong ◽  
Soo-Khoon Goh

The local governments of the Riau Province of Indonesia had been given the mandate to use UED-SP as a microfinance programme to serve the financial needs of the rural poor, to promote rural economic activities and to create employment opportunities. Despite the village-level microfinance programme was able to accomplish rural outreach with financial sustainability (Rifai et al., 2019), there is limited evidence to validate its real impact on the rural MFI participants at three different levels of village development. The findings reveal that microloans appear to have positive impacts on the microfinance participants at the community level, at the level of micro-enterprise and at the household level. The rural MFIs should be targeting this village segment of the rural poor, while the local governments should provide the support to warrant deeper outreach.


Author(s):  
Chris Evans ◽  
Luis Palacios

This study focuses on how Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) can best be used by Brunel University students to enhance their learning. The study considers the impact that different levels of interactivity have on the memory and understanding of the students. In particular, it considers the use of interactive self-assessment questions (ISAQs) as a mechanism to help them learn from an eLearning system. One mechanism that has been employed for over four years is the use of a bespoke multimedia eLearning system available over the Web to first-year undergraduates. A common feature of many eLearning systems is the use of ISAQs to allow students to evaluate their grasp of the material with a view to revisiting it if they feel it necessary. However, ISAQs are time-consuming to develop and implement. This case study considers whether the incorporation of ISAQs has a measurable impact on learning as indicated by their performance in tests.


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