Beschreibung von web-basierten Informationssystemen mittels RDF-Metadaten

RDF ist die technologische Grundlage des sich in Entwicklung befindlichen Semantic Web. RDF wird durch das World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) entwickelt. Das Semantic Web soll es ermöglichen, Daten derart auszutauschen, dass deren Bedeutung/Semantik (engl. semantic) automatisiert interpretiert werden kann. Web-Anwendungen des Semantic Web sollen mittels der ausgetauschten Daten 'Schlussfolgerungen ziehen' (engl. inferencing) bzw. 'Überlegungen' (engl. reasoning) anstellen können, um so z.B. als intelligente Agenten stellvertretend für einen Benutzer agieren zu können. Zum Aufbau des Semantic Web sind neue Technologien notwendig, die nicht nur syntaktische, sondern auch semantische Interoperabilität ermöglichen sollen. Syntaktische Interoperabilität kann durch den Einsatz von XML erreicht werden. Die RDF-Spezifikationen wurden entworfen, um durch den Einsatz von XML die Semantik von Daten auf interoperable Art zu spezifizieren: '... one of the goals of RDF is to make it possible to specify semantics for data based on XML in a standardized, interoperable manner'. Es gibt bisher jedoch noch keine Einigung darüber, inwieweit RDF diese Anforderung erfüllt. Eine wesentliche Fragestellung der vorliegenden Arbeit ist, ob RDF 'semantische Interoperabilität' ermöglicht (und damit eine geeignete technologische Grundlage für das Semantic Web ist). Diese Frage kann bedingt positiv beantwortet werden. Die zu erfüllende Bedingung ist eine Formalisierung der durch die RDF-Spezifikationen intendierten Semantik. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird eine Formalisierung der RDF-Semantik in Prädikatenlogik erster Ordnung vorgeschlagen. Ausgehend von dieser formalen Grundlage wird eine Implementierung der RDF-Semantik in Prolog entwickelt und erläutert. Weitere Fragestellung der Arbeit ist, ob sich RDF zur formalen Beschreibung der Inhalte, Strukturen und Zusammenhänge der Bestandteile einer Web-Anwendung und davon ausgehend für das Web-Engineering einsetzen lässt. Zur Beantwortung dieser Frage werden Anforderungen aufgestellt, die ein derartiges Beschreibungsmodell erfüllen soll. Es wird nachgewiesen, dass der im Rahmen dieser Arbeit entwickelte XWMF-Ansatz diese Anforderungen erfüllt. Die praktische Einsetzbarkeit des Ansatzes wird durch die Entwicklung einer Beispielanwendung gezeigt. Weiter wird XRDF, ein zu RDF alternativer Ansatz entwickelt und erläutert. Die RDF-Syntax ist nicht durch einen XML-Validator überprüfbar und es gibt keine eindeutige und standardisierte Abbildung der RDF-Syntax in das RDF-Datenmodell und vice versa. XRDF ist ein Datenmodell und eine validierbare XML-Syntax zur Repräsentation von Beschreibungsmodellen. Das XRDF-Datenmodell ist in das RDF-Datenmodell abbildbar. Eine eindeutige Abbildung der XRDF-Syntax in das XRDF-Datenmodell (und damit auch in das RDF-Datenmodell) ist bei diesem Ansatz gegeben. Insofern ist XRDF zu RDF kompatibel

CONTROL OF LEG STIFFNESS AND ITS EFFECT ON MECHANICAL ENERGETIC

INTRODUCTION: In normal daily activity as in sports, humans adjust their physical behavior depending on the ground surface characteristics (Farley et al., 1998; Ferris, Liang & Farley, 1999) by being able to vary their performance (Arampatzis, 1999; Sanders, 1993). A difference in surface stiffness leads to a change in leg stiffness (Farley et al., 1998; Ferris, Liang & Farley, 1999). There are published results on relationships between joint stiffness and oxygen consumption (Dalleau et al., 1998; Heise & Martin, 1993). From this research, it can be concluded that leg stiffness influences athletic performance. The relationship between leg stiffness and performance during explosive movements on a sprung surface has not been reported in the literature to date. Leg Stiffness can be influenced by stride frequency while running (Farley & Gonzalez, 1996) or hopping frequency when bouncing in place (Farley & Morgenroth, 1999). These findings support the idea that it is possible to control leg stiffness by manipulating ground contact times and to consider its effects on mechanical energetic processes during drop jumps on a sprung surface. The purpose of this study is two-fold: a. Examinations of the effect of verbal instructions, given to the subjects for the control of lower -extremity stiffness. b. Assessment of the effect of the leg stiffness on mechanical energetic processes during drop jumps on a sprung surface

Women’s experiences of wearing therapeutic footwear in three European countries

Background: Therapeutic footwear is recommended for those people with severe foot problems associated withrheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, it is known that many do not wear them. Although previous European studieshave recommended service and footwear design improvements, it is not known if services have improved or if thisfootwear meets the personal needs of people with RA. As an earlier study found that this footwear has moreimpact on women than males, this study explores women’s experiences of the process of being provided with itand wearing it. No previous work has compared women’s experiences of this footwear in different countries,therefore this study aimed to explore the potential differences between the UK, the Netherlands and Spain.Method: Women with RA and experience of wearing therapeutic footwear were purposively recruited. Ten womenwith RA were interviewed in each of the three countries. An interpretive phenomenological approach (IPA) wasadopted during data collection and analysis. Conversational style interviews were used to collect the data.Results: Six themes were identified: feet being visibly different because of RA; the referring practitioners’ approachto the patient; the dispensing practitioners’ approach to the patient; the footwear being visible as different toothers; footwear influencing social participation; and the women’s wishes for improved footwear services. Despitetheir nationality, these women revealed that therapeutic footwear invokes emotions of sadness, shame and angerand that it is often the final and symbolic marker of the effects of RA on self perception and their changed lives.This results in severe restriction of important activities, particularly those involving social participation. However,where a patient focussed approach was used, particularly by the practitioners in Spain and the Netherlands, theacceptance of this footwear was much more evident and there was less wastage as a result of the footwear beingprescribed and then not worn. In the UK, the women were more likely to passively accept the footwear with theonly choice being to reject it once it had been provided. All the women were vocal about what would improvetheir experiences and this centred on the consultation with both the referring practitioner and the practitioner thatprovides the footwear.Conclusion: This unique study, carried out in three countries has revealed emotive and personal accounts of whatit is like to have an item of clothing replaced with an ‘intervention’. The participant’s experience of theirconsultations with practitioners has revealed the tension between the practitioners’ requirements and the women’s‘social’ needs. Practitioners need greater understanding of the social and emotional consequences of usingtherapeutic footwear as an intervention

Women’s experiences of wearing therapeutic footwear in three European countries

Background: Therapeutic footwear is recommended for those people with severe foot problems associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, it is known that many do not wear them. Although previous European studies have recommended service and footwear design improvements, it is not known if services have improved or if this footwear meets the personal needs of people with RA. As an earlier study found that this footwear has more impact on women than males, this study explores women’s experiences of the process of being provided with it and wearing it. No previous work has compared women’s experiences of this footwear in different countries, therefore this study aimed to explore the potential differences between the UK, the Netherlands and Spain. Method: Women with RA and experience of wearing therapeutic footwear were purposively recruited. Ten women with RA were interviewed in each of the three countries. An interpretive phenomenological approach (IPA) was adopted during data collection and analysis. Conversational style interviews were used to collect the data. Results: Six themes were identified: feet being visibly different because of RA; the referring practitioners’ approach to the patient; the dispensing practitioners’ approach to the patient; the footwear being visible as different to others; footwear influencing social participation; and the women’s wishes for improved footwear services. Despite their nationality, these women revealed that therapeutic footwear invokes emotions of sadness, shame and anger and that it is often the final and symbolic marker of the effects of RA on self perception and their changed lives. This results in severe restriction of important activities, particularly those involving social participation. However, where a patient focussed approach was used, particularly by the practitioners in Spain and the Netherlands, the acceptance of this footwear was much more evident and there was less wastage as a result of the footwear being prescribed and then not worn. In the UK, the women were more likely to passively accept the footwear with the only choice being to reject it once it had been provided. All the women were vocal about what would improve their experiences and this centred on the consultation with both the referring practitioner and the practitioner that provides the footwear. Conclusion: This unique study, carried out in three countries has revealed emotive and personal accounts of what it is like to have an item of clothing replaced with an ‘intervention’. The participant’s experience of their consultations with practitioners has revealed the tension between the practitioners’ requirements and the women’s ‘social’ needs. Practitioners need greater understanding of the social and emotional consequences of using therapeutic footwear as an intervention

Ross River Virus Disease Reemergence, Fiji, 2003–2004

We report 2 clinically characteristic and serologically positive cases of Ross River virus infection in Canadian tourists who visited Fiji in late 2003 and early 2004. This report suggests that Ross River virus is once again circulating in Fiji, where it apparently disappeared after causing an epidemic in 1979 to 1980

Phasic-to-tonic shift in trunk muscle activity relative to walking during low-impact weight bearing exercise

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of an exercise device, designed to improve the function of lumbopelvic muscles via low-impact weight-bearing exercise, on electromyographic (EMG) activity of lumbopelvic, including abdominal muscles. Surface EMG activity was collected from lumbar multifidus (LM), erector spinae (ES), internal oblique (IO), external oblique (EO) and rectus abdominis (RA) during overground walking (OW) and exercise device (EX) conditions. During walking, most muscles showed peaks in activity which were not seen during EX. Spinal extensors (LM, ES) were more active in EX. Internal oblique and RA were less active in EX. In EX, LM and ES were active for longer than during OW. Conversely, EO and RA were active for a shorter duration in EX than OW. The exercise device showed a phasic-to-tonic shift in activation of both local and global lumbopelvic muscles and promoted increased activation of spinal extensors in relation to walking. These features could make the exercise device a useful rehabilitative tool for populations with lumbopelvic muscle atrophy and dysfunction, including those recovering from deconditioning due to long-term bed rest and microgravity in astronauts

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac