Delivering light-weight online geographic information analysis using ArcIMS

As of July 9, 2002, more than 300 websites, which provide automated mapping and facilities management over the internet, are registered in the ESRI Internet Map Server (IMS) user registry [1]. But it won’t be an exaggeration to assume that this is only a tiny fraction of the actual number of IMS sold and used over the world. In fact, realising the potential scope and issues of this new form of geographic information delivery, the International Cartographic Association has formed a Commission dedicated to Maps and the Internet [2]. The IMS software has also kept pace with the growing demand and progress in technology. IMS has evolved from the simple HTML image maps to sophisticated servelet-driven mapping services. During this period, a very significant event happened with the arrival of ArcIMS. With the ArcIMS the use of IMS changed from merely an interactive visualisation and query of the spatial databases to a platform for sharing remote spatial databases. In other words, the ArcIMS made the scale of operation of IMS global. While the accessibility and usability of the IMS have certainly increased in the past 5- 6 years, the functionalities provided by IMS however remained fairly static. A widely felt but unreported criticism of IMS has been that the lack of a broader range of spatial analysis functions (except the usual buffering) in the off-the-shelf IMS installation. Therefore a couple of eyebrows always tend to rise if the word “Internet GIS” is used for IMS. Oddly enough, the ArcIMS 3.x and the older versions carry this limitation as well. Essentially, IMS suffer from the limitation for not being able to allow simultaneous update and dynamic manipulation of the thematic content of the online maps. For example, in the case of ArcIMS while there are provisions for complex scale-dependent rendering, it is not easily possible to manipulate (for example add layers or delete layers) the crucial axl file of a mapping service on the fly. The recent launch of ArcIMS 4 promises to bridge this gap by allowing an enhanced integration with the ArcGIS. The aim of this article is to propose a generic framework, which makes the link between an IMS and a standard GIS, to provide geographic analysis in online maps. We will take the example of such a framework developed for ArcIMS

Bridging the divide in language and approach between pedagogy and programming: the case of IMS Learning Design

Even though the IMS Learning Design (IMS LD) specification has offered a way for expressing multiple-learner scenarios, the language thus provided is far from the language, teaching practitioners use. To bridge this divide, we have developed IMS LD authoring software that translates from the learning designer perspective to the technical perspective. To aid adequate software developments, an analysis was performed to identify uses of level B properties in expert units of learning. In a second analysis, which is described in this paper, these uses were matched with demands of typical pedagogical methods. Some restrictions of the IMS LD specification are pointed out in this regard. As an outcome of the analyses, interfaces employing pedagogical language were integrated in the IMS LD authoring software in order to provide teaching practitioners access to level B functionalities despite their highly technical nature

Analysis of model Titan atmospheric components using ion mobility spectrometry

The Gas Chromatograph-Ion Mobility Spectrometer (GC-IMS) was proposed as an analytical technique for the analysis of Titan's atmosphere during the Cassini Mission. The IMS is an atmospheric pressure, chemical detector that produces an identifying spectrum of each chemical species measured. When the IMS is combined with a GC as a GC-IMS, the GC is used to separate the sample into its individual components, or perhaps small groups of components. The IMS is then used to detect, quantify, and identify each sample component. Conventional IMS detection and identification of sample components depends upon a source of energetic radiation, such as beta radiation, which ionizes the atmospheric pressure host gas. This primary ionization initiates a sequence of ion-molecule reactions leading to the formation of sufficiently energetic positive or negative ions, which in turn ionize most constituents in the sample. In conventional IMS, this reaction sequence is dominated by the water cluster ion. However, many of the light hydrocarbons expected in Titan's atmosphere cannot be analyzed by IMS using this mechanism at the concentrations expected. Research at NASA Ames and PCP Inc., has demonstrated IMS analysis of expected Titan atmospheric components, including saturated aliphatic hydrocarbons, using two alternate sample ionizations mechanisms. The sensitivity of the IMS to hydrocarbons such as propane and butane was increased by several orders of magnitude. Both ultra dry (waterless) IMS sample ionization and metastable ionization were successfully used to analyze a model Titan atmospheric gas mixture

Authoring courses with rich adaptive sequencing for IMS learning design

This paper describes the process of translating an adaptive sequencing strategy designed using Sequencing Graphs to the semantics of IMS Learning Design. The relevance of this contribution is twofold. First, it combines the expressive power and flexibility of Sequencing Graphs, and the interoperability capabilities of IMS. Second, it shows some important limitations of IMS specifications (focusing on Learning Design) for the sequencing of learning activities

An improvement of isochronous mass spectrometry: Velocity measurements using two time-of-flight detectors

Isochronous mass spectrometry (IMS) in storage rings is a powerful tool for mass measurements of exotic nuclei with very short half-lives down to several tens of microseconds, using a multicomponent secondary beam separated in-flight without cooling. However, the inevitable momentum spread of secondary ions limits the precision of nuclear masses determined by using IMS. Therefore, the momentum measurement in addition to the revolution period of stored ions is crucial to reduce the influence of the momentum spread on the standard deviation of the revolution period, which would lead to a much improved mass resolving power of IMS. One of the proposals to upgrade IMS is that the velocity of secondary ions could be directly measured by using two time-of-flight (double TOF) detectors installed in a straight section of a storage ring. In this paper, we outline the principle of IMS with double TOF detectors and the method to correct the momentum spread of stored ions.Comment: Accepted by Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research,

Orphan proteins of unknown function in the mitochondrial intermembrane space proteome: new pathways and metabolic cross-talk

The mitochondrial intermembrane space (IMS) is involved in protein transport, lipid homeostasis and metal ion exchange, while further acting in signalling pathways such as apoptosis. Regulation of these processes involves protein modifications, as well as stress-induced import or release of proteins and other signalling molecules. Even though the IMS is the smallest sub-compartment of mitochondria, its redox state seems to be tightly regulated. However, the way in which this compartment participates in the cross-talk between the multiple organelles and the cytosol is far from understood. Here we focus on newly identified IMS proteins that may represent future challenges in mitochondrial research. We present an overview of the import pathways, the recently discovered new components of the IMS proteome and how these relate to key aspects of cell signalling and progress made in stem cell and cancer research

Interactivity within IMS Learning Design and Question and Test Interoperability

We examine the integration of IMS Question and Test Interoperability (QTI) and IMS Learning Design (LD) in implementations of E-learning from both pedagogical and technological points of view. We propose the use of interactivity as a parameter to evaluate the quality of assessment and E-learning, and assess various cases of individual and group study for their interactivity, ease of coding, flexibility, and reusability. We conclude that presenting assessments using IMS QTI provides flexibility and reusability within an IMS LD Unit Of Learning (UOL) for individual study. For group study, however, the use of QTI items may involve coding difficulties if group members need to wait for their feedback until all students have attempted a question, and QTI items may not be able to be used at all if the QTI services are implemented within a service-oriented architecture

Dietary patterns and non-communicable disease risk in Indian adults : secondary analysis of Indian Migration Study data

Acknowledgements The authors thank the IMS study team members and field staff involved in the generation and processing of IMS data. Financial support: This study forms part of the Sustainable and Healthy Diets in India (SAHDI) project supported by the Wellcome Trust ‘Our Planet, Our Health’ programme (grant number 103932). The Wellcome Trust had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article. The IMS was funded by Wellcome Trust (grant number GR070797MF). L.A.’s PhD studentship is funded by the Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research on Agriculture and Health (LCIRAH).Peer reviewedPublisher PD