Knowledge Enhanced Notes (KEN)

To aid the creation and through-life support of large complex engineering products, organisations are placing a greater emphasis on constructing complete and accurate records of design activities. Current documentary approaches are not sufficient to capture activities and decisions in their entirety and can lead to organisations revisiting and in some cases reworking design decisions in order to understand previous design episodes. This paper presents an overview of the challenges in creating accurate, re-usable records of synchronous design activities, enhancing the through-life support of engineering products, followed by the development of an information capture software system to address these challenges. The main objectives for the development of the Knowledge Enhanced Notes system are described followed by the techniques chosen to address the objectives, and finally a description of a use-case for the system. Whilst the focus of the KEN System was to aid the creation and through-life support of large complex engineering products through constructing complete and accurate records of design activities, the system is entirely generic in its application to synchronous activities

When images work faster than words: The integration of content-based image retrieval with the Northumbria Watermark Archive

Information on the manufacture, history, provenance, identification, care and conservation of paper-based artwork/objects is disparate and not always readily available. The Northumbria Watermark Archive will incorporate such material into a database, which will be made freely available on the Internet providing an invaluable resource for conservation, research and education. The efficiency of a database is highly dependant on its search mechanism. Text based mechanisms are frequently ineffective when a range of descriptive terminologies might be used i.e. when describing images or translating from foreign languages. In such cases a Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) system can be more effective. Watermarks provide paper with unique visual identification characteristics and have been used to provide a point of entry to the archive that is more efficient and effective than a text based search mechanism. The research carried out has the potential to be applied to any numerically large collection of images with distinctive features of colour, shape or texture i.e. coins, architectural features, picture frame profiles, hallmarks, Japanese artists stamps etc. Although the establishment of an electronic archive incorporating a CBIR system can undoubtedly improve access to large collections of images and related data, the development is rarely trouble free. This paper discusses some of the issues that must be considered i.e. collaboration between disciplines; project management; copying and digitising objects; content based image retrieval; the Northumbria Watermark Archive; the use of standardised terminology within a database as well as copyright issues

Some Considerations about Modern Database Machines

Optimizing the two computing resources of any computing system - time and space - has al-ways been one of the priority objectives of any database. A current and effective solution in this respect is the computer database. Optimizing computer applications by means of database machines has been a steady preoccupation of researchers since the late seventies. Several information technologies have revolutionized the present information framework. Out of these, those which have brought a major contribution to the optimization of the databases are: efficient handling of large volumes of data (Data Warehouse, Data Mining, OLAP – On Line Analytical Processing), the improvement of DBMS – Database Management Systems facilities through the integration of the new technologies, the dramatic increase in computing power and the efficient use of it (computer networks, massive parallel computing, Grid Computing and so on). All these information technologies, and others, have favored the resumption of the research on database machines and the obtaining in the last few years of some very good practical results, as far as the optimization of the computing resources is concerned.Database Optimization, Database Machines, Data Warehouse, OLAP – On Line Analytical Processing, OLTP – On Line Transaction Processing, Parallel Processing

Intuitivno pretraživanje baze slike kao potpora označavanju slika

Image annotation is typically performed manually since automatic image annotation approaches have not matured yet to be used in practice. Consequently, image annotation is a labour intensive and time consuming task. In this paper, we show how an image browsing system can be employed to support efficient and effective (manual) annotation of image databases. In contrast to other approaches, which typically present images in a linear fashion, we employ a visualisation where images are arranged by mutual visual similarity. Since in this arrangement similar images are close to each other, they can easily be selected and annotated together. Organisation on a grid layout prevents image overlap and thus contributes to a clear presentation. Large image databases are handled through a hierarchical data structure where each image in the visualisation can correspond to a cluster of images that can be expanded by the user. Experimental results indicate that annotation can be performed faster on our proposed system.Označavanje slika obično se obavlja ručno jer automatski pristupi još nisu dovoljno kvalitetni kako bi se koristili u praksi. Zbog toga je označavanje slika u bazi vremenski zahtjevno. U ovom radu pokazat ćemo kako se sustav za pregled slika u bazi može koristiti kao učinkovita potpora ručnom označavanju slika. Za razliku od drugih pristupa, koji prikazuju slike u linearnom poretku, korištena je vizualizacija u kojoj su slike složene po međusobnoj sličnosti. Budući da su na taj način slične slike međusobno blizu jedna drugoj, lako ih je selektirati i zajednički označiti. Slike su organizirane u mrežni prikaz radi sprječavanja preklapanja i jasnije prezentacije. Velike baze podataka organizirane su u hijerarhijsku strukturu gdje svaka slika u pojedinoj vizualizaciji može pripadati skupu slika čiji prikaz korisnik po želji može proširivati. Rezultati provedenih eksperimenata pokazuju da se označavanje slika pomoću predloženog sustava može obavljati brže nego na uobičajeni način

Monitoring Community Health Using a Web-Based GIS Application

Monitoring and assessing health problem trends require health specialists to access high quality information in order to identify and prioritize problems, develop and evaluate policies and actions, organize the delivery of clinical health services, guide research and development, and contribute to the development of standards and guidelines. This enables public health planning, management, and monitoring. HARC is a non-profit organization in the Coachella Valley, collecting a wealth of data and information; but it lacked an effective or efficient approach to communicate the information with its clients. Their data were contained in a 700-page report on health indicators and disparities in Coachella Valley. Presenting data in a user-friendly format through the developed application made it easier for people to locate data for specific populations and to produce clear and easy-to-understand maps. HARC will also be able to increase awareness of the health problems faced by communities in Coachella Valley. HARC and its clients will use the application to view, query, print, and share information on health indicators, behavior, and disparities in the Coachella Valley

Holistic engineering design : a combined synchronous and asynchronous approach

To aid the creation and through-life support of large, complex engineering products, organizations are placing a greater emphasis on constructing complete and accurate records of design activities. Current documentary approaches are not sufficient to capture activities and decisions in their entirety and can lead to organizations revisiting and in some cases reworking design decisions in order to understand previous design episodes. Design activities are undertaken in a variety of modes; many of which are dichotomous, and thus each require separate documentary mechanisms to capture information in an efficient manner. It is possible to identify the modes of learning and transaction to describe whether an activity is aimed at increasing a level of understanding or whether it involves manipulating information to achieve a tangible task. The dichotomy of interest in this paper is that of synchronous and asynchronous working, where engineers may work alternately as part of a group or as individuals and where different forms of record are necessary to adequately capture the processes and rationale employed in each mode. This paper introduces complimentary approaches to achieving richer representations of design activities performed synchronously and asynchronously, and through the undertaking of a design based case study, highlights the benefit of each approach. The resulting records serve to provide a more complete depiction of activities undertaken, and provide positive direction for future co-development of the approaches

BioIMAX : a Web2.0 approach to visual data mining in bioimage data

Loyek C. BioIMAX : a Web2.0 approach to visual data mining in bioimage data. Bielefeld: Universität Bielefeld; 2012

Possibilities of quality enhancement in higher education by intensive use of information technology

Quality of higher education is a multi-dimensional concept. It lies in effectiveness of transmitting knowledge and skill; the authenticity, content, coverage and depth of information; availability of reading/teaching materials; help in removing obstacles to learning; applicability of knowledge in solving the real life problems; fruitfulness of knowledge in personal and social domains; convergence of content and variety of knowledge over space (countries and regions) and different sections of the people; cost-effectiveness and administrative efficiency. Information technology has progressed very fast in the last three decades; it has produced equipments at affordable cost and it has now made their wider application feasible. This technology has made search, gathering, dissemination, storing, retrieval, transmission and reception of knowledge easier, cheaper and faster. Side by side, a vast virtual library vying with the library in prints has emerged and continues growing rapidly. One may hold that the e-libraries are the libraries of tomorrow when the libraries in prints will be the antiques or the archival objects of the past. This paper discusses in details how information technology can be applied to enhance the quality of higher education at affordable cost. It also discusses the major obstacles to optimal utilization of information technology and measures to remove them.Information Technology; Quality in Higher Education; e-library; e-book; e-journal