Communication System For Firefighters

Currently firefighters use two-way radios to communicate on the job, and they are forced to write reports based on their memory because there is not an easy way to record the communications between two-way radios. Firefighters need a system to automatically document what happened while they were responding to a call. To save them a significant amount of time when creating reports, our solution is to implement an application that allows firefighters to take pictures, record video and communicate in real time with their team of on-site responders. The proposed system will use a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) hosted on the fire truck itself to act as an access point (AP) to which the firefighters can connect. This AP will also save communication between firefighters to a local storage location. Upon return to the fire station, the AP will route all of the information stored locally to a larger database. For now, Wi-Fi will be our communication medium, with a prediction that our technology can eventually be extended to include radio signal

Design Spaces in Visual Analytics Based on Goals: Analytical Behaviour, Exploratory Investigation, Information Design & Perceptual Tasks

This paper considers a number of perspectives on design spaces in visual analytics and proposes a new set of four design spaces, based on user goals. Three of the user goals are derived from the literature and are categorised under the terms exploratory investigation, perceptual tasks, and information design. The fourth goal is categorised as analytical behaviour; a recently defined term referring to the study of decision-making facilitated by visual analytics. This paper contributes to the literature on decision-making in visual analytics with a survey of real-world applications within the analytical behaviour design space and by providing a new perspective on design spaces. Central to our analysis is the introduction of decision concepts and theories from economics into a visual analytics context. Given the recent interest in decision-making we wanted to understand the emerging topic of analytical behaviour as a design space and found it necessary to look at more than just decision-making to make a valuable contribution. The result is an initial framework suitable for use in the analysis or design of analytical behaviour applications

Remote Characterization of Dominant Wavelengths From Surface Folding on Lava Flows Using Lidar and Discrete Fourier Transform Analyses

Surface folding is common in lava flows of all compositions and is believed to be due to changes in viscosity and flow velocity between the cooling crust and the more fluid flow interior. However, our understanding of the relationship between surface folding and flow rheology is incomplete. In this study we analyze digital terrain models of eight lava flows ranging in composition from basaltic andesite to rhyolite using a discrete Fourier transform analysis to quantitatively determine dominant surface fold wavelengths. Our discrete Fourier transform analyses show that each lava flow has multiple fold generations and that dominant wavelengths are more closely related to calculated effective viscosity than to lava composition. At our Oregon sites, average dominant wavelengths generally increase with viscosity (r2=0.68), and the correlation improves (r2=0.87) when expanded by including previously measured fold wavelengths and viscosities from the global database. However, there are a few exceptions to this positive trend where a few lava flows have lower or higher than expected dominant fold wavelengths, which we infer are due to secondary factors such as differences in eruption conditions (eruption rate, temperature, etc.). Additionally, over a 5 order of magnitude range in viscosity, there is significant overlap between the ranges of fold wavelengths, particularly from 10 to 20m, for lavas from basaltic andesite to rhyolite, making it difficult to determine a numeric correlation between surface folds and lava rheology that would allow remote characterization of lava

Healthcare improvement as planned system change or complex responsive processes? A longitudinal case study in general practice

Background: Interest in how to implement evidence-based practices into routine health care has never been greater. Primary care faces challenges in managing the increasing burden of chronic disease in an ageing population. Reliable prescriptions for translating knowledge into practice, however, remain elusive, despite intense research and publication activity. This study seeks to explore this dilemma in general practice by challenging the current way of thinking about healthcare improvement and asking what can be learned by looking at change through a complexity lens. Methods. This paper reports the local level of an embedded case study of organisational change for better chronic illness care over more than a decade. We used interviews, document review and direct observation to explore how improved chronic illness care developed in one practice. This formed a critical case to compare, using pattern matching logic, to the common prescription for local implementation of best evidence and a rival explanation drawn from complexity sciences interpreted through modern sociology and psychology. Results: The practice changed continuously over more than a decade to deliver better chronic illness care in line with research findings and policy initiatives - re-designing care processes, developing community linkages, supporting patient self-management, using guidelines and clinical information systems, and integrating nurses into the practice team. None of these improvements was designed and implemented according to an explicit plan in response to a documented gap in chronic disease care. The process that led to high quality chronic illness care exhibited clear complexity elements of co-evolution, non-linearity, self-organisation, emergence and edge of chaos dynamics in a network of agents and relationships where a stable yet evolving way of organizing emerged from local level communicative interaction, power relating and values based choices. Conclusions: The current discourse of implementation science as planned system change did not match organisational reality in this critical case of improvement in general practice. Complexity concepts translated in human terms as complex responsive processes of relating fit the pattern of change more accurately. They do not provide just another fashionable blueprint for change but inform how researchers, policymakers and providers participate in improving healthcare. 2013 Booth et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Identifying sites at risk from illicit metal detecting: from CRAVED to HOPPER

© 2018 Louise Grove, Adam Daubney and Alasdair Booth. Published with license by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Archaeological sites are at risk from acquisitive crime: this paper focuses in particular on illicit metal detecting. The effects of theft in this context are not merely financial, but have devastating impact on our knowledge and understanding of the site. Even where items are later recovered, we lose the vital clues about the precise context of an object. We therefore need to reduce the risk of theft occurring in the first place. This paper draws on case studies from England and presents a new methodology to assess which archaeological sites may be at risk from illicit metal detecting: ‘HOPPER’ identifies the characteristics of sites likely to be targeted by offenders looking for antiquities. In brief: History (a history of finds at the site); Open (the site has physical public access, and/or is documented in the public domain); Protection (protected status can act as a beacon for offenders); Publicity (site is known about or receiving new attention); Evasion (there are known ways to escape apprehension); and Repeat victimisation (The site has been a target before). The impact of HOPPER will be its use in the field to develop a pragmatic risk assessment applicable both in a local and international context