Developments in getting GIS technologies into classrooms

The paper maps progress in the adoption of GIS in secondary education over more than 15 years, As it explores the incentives and impediments in the adoption of GlS in secondary schools, it notes the rich technology base in North America, and benefits of national geography curriculum and support structures in Britain

Integrating public datasets using linked data: challenges and design principles

The world is moving from a state where there is paucity of data to one of surfeit. These data, and datasets, are normally in different datastores and of different formats. Connecting these datasets together will increase their value and help discover interesting relationships amongst them. This paper describes our experience of using Linked Data to inter-operate these different datasets, the challenges we faced, and the solutions we devised. The paper concludes with apposite design principles for using linked data to inter-operate disparate datasets

A cohort study of influences, health outcomes and costs of patients' health-seeking behaviour for minor ailments from primary and emergency care settings

To compare health-related and cost-related outcomes of consultations for symptoms suggestive of minor ailments in emergency departments (EDs), general practices and community pharmacies

Soil geohazard mapping for improved asset management of UK local roads

Unclassified roads comprise 60% of the road network in the United Kingdom (UK). The resilience of this locally important network is declining. It is considered by the Institution of Civil Engineers to be “at risk” and is ranked 26th in the world. Many factors contribute to the degradation and ultimate failure of particular road sections. However, several UK local authorities have identified that in drought conditions, road sections founded upon shrink–swell susceptible clay soils undergo significant deterioration compared with sections on non-susceptible soils. This arises from the local road network having little, if any, structural foundations. Consequently, droughts in East Anglia have resulted in millions of pounds of damage, leading authorities to seek emergency governmental funding. This paper assesses the use of soil-related geohazard assessments in providing soil-informed maintenance strategies for the asset management of the locally important road network of the UK. A case study draws upon the UK administrative county of Lincolnshire, where road assessment data have been analysed against mapped clay-subsidence risk. This reveals a statistically significant relationship between road condition and susceptible clay soils. Furthermore, incorporation of UKCP09 future climate projections within the geohazard models has highlighted roads likely to be at future risk of clay-related subsidence

A European Approach to the Establishment of Data Spaces

Within a context defined by the rapid increase in the availability of data, combined with the complexity of data sources, infrastructures, technologies and actors involved in data sharing flows, the European Union (EU) is devising approaches that can reap the benefits of data-driven innovation. The policy vision defined in the European strategy for data [1] back in 2020 aims to make the EU a leader in today’s data-driven society through an improved use of data across actors and sectors with the ultimate goal of making better decisions in business and the public sector. This is to be achieved in practice by using a set of interdependent legal instruments (see Figure 1), most notably the following: (i) the Data Governance Act [2], creating processes and structures to facilitate voluntary data sharing by companies, individuals and the public sector; (ii) the Data Act [3], establishing rules and conditions for a fairer access to and reuse of data from industry, including Internet of Things (IoT); and (iii) the upcoming Act on high-value datasets, complementing the Open Data Directive [4] with a list of technical requirements and datasets that public sector bodies are required to publish in machine-readable format, for free, and under open licenses. In addition, the European strategy for data foresees the establishment of a common European data space by combining sector-specific data spaces in domains such as agriculture, mobility, finance and environment. This data space will act as a European single market for data and create value by incentivising digital innovation at scale

SURF: A Distributed Channel Selection Strategy for Data Dissemination in Multi-Hop Cognitive Radio Networks

In this paper, we propose an intelligent and distributed channel selection strategy for efficient data dissemination in multi-hop cognitive radio network. Our strategy, SURF, classifies the available channels and uses them efficiently to increase data dissemination reliability in multi-hop cognitive radio networks. The classification is done on the basis of primary radio unoccupancy and of the number of cognitive radio neighbors using the channels. Through extensive NS-2 simulations, we study the performance of SURF compared to three related approaches. Simulation results confirm that our approach is effective in selecting the best channels for efficient communication (in terms of less primary radio interference) and for highest dissemination reachability in multi-hop cognitive radio networks

Development of geoprocessing applications for the Pantanal using automated compositions of web services.

This paper presents an approach to develop geo-processing applications for the Pantanal region using automated compositions of geographic Web Services. The procedure for the automatic construction of these compositions is based on rules of geo-data quality requirements which indicate the conditions for geo-data use by a geo-processing functionality. These rules can be defined to describe geospatial characteristics to select suitable geo-processing services for use in the Pantanal region. Therefore this approach produces more robust and reliable service compositions, generating better quality geo-data when compared with other composition approaches.Número especial

Application-based COVID-19 micro-mobility solution for safe and smart navigation in pandemics

Short distance travel and commute being inevitable, safe route planning in pandemics for micro-mobility, i.e., cycling and walking, is extremely important for the safety of oneself and others. Hence, we propose an application-based solution using COVID-19 occurrence data and a multi-criteria route planning technique for cyclists and pedestrians. This study aims at objectively determining the routes based on various criteria on COVID-19 safety of a given route while keeping the user away from potential COVID-19 transmission spots. The vulnerable spots include places such as a hospital or medical zones, contained residential areas, and roads with a high connectivity and influx of people. The proposed algorithm returns a multi-criteria route modeled on COVID-19-modified parameters of micro-mobility and betweenness centrality considering COVID-19 avoidance as well as the shortest available safe route for user ease and shortened time of outside environment exposure. We verified our routing algorithm in a part of Delhi, India, by visualizing containment zones and medical establishments. The results with COVID-19 data analysis and route planning suggest a safer route in the context of the coronavirus outbreak as compared to normal navigation and on average route extension is within 8%–12%. Moreover, for further advancement and post-COVID-19 era, we discuss the need for adding open data policy and the spatial system architecture for data usage, as a part of a pandemic strategy. The study contributes new micro-mobility parameters adapted for COVID-19 and policy guidelines based on aggregated contact tracing data analysis maintaining privacy, security, and anonymity

FY 1998 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act Compliance Monitoring Report

This report was superseded by an amended FY 1998 compliance monitoring report prepared by Eric W. Weatherby, Juvenile Probabation Officer IV, Alaska Division of Juvenile Justice, July 2001.The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) mandates removal of status offenders and nonoffenders from secure detention and correctional facilities, sight and sound separation of juveniles and adults, and removal of juveniles from adult jails and lockups. In Alaska, 3 instances of status offenders held in secure detention were recorded in FY 1998, compared with 485 violations in the baseline year of CY 1976. 2 separation violations were recorded in FY 1998, representing a 99.8% reduction from the CY 1976 baseline of 824 violations. 57 jail removal violations were projected (52 (actual), representing an 93% reduction from the CY 1980 baseline.Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Family and Youth ServicesA. General Information / B. Removal of Status Offenders and Nonoffenders from Secure Detention and Correctional Facilities / C. Full Compliance Request / D. Progress Made in Achieving Removal of Status Offenders and Nonoffenders from Secure Detention and Correctional Facilities / E. Separation of Juveniles and Adults / F. Removal of Juveniles from Adult Jails and Lockups / G. De Minimis Request: Substantive / APPENDICES / I. Method of Analysis / II. Fiscal Year 1998 Violations by Offense Type and Location / III. Common Offense Acronym