An OAI-based Digital Library Framework for Biodiversity Information Systems

Biodiversity information systems (BISs) involve all kinds of heterogeneous data, which include ecological and geographical features. However, available information systems offer very limited support for managing such data in an integrated fashion, and integration is often based on geographic coordinates alone. Furthermore, such systems do not fully support image content management (e.g., photos of landscapes or living organisms), a requirement of many BIS end-users. In order to meet their needs, these users - e.g., biologists, environmental experts - often have to alternate between distinct biodiversity and image information systems to combine information extracted from them. This cumbersome operational procedure is forced on users by lack of interoperability among these systems. This hampers the addition of new data sources, as well as cooperation among scientists. The approach provided in this paper to meet these issues is based on taking advantage of advances in Digital Library (DL) innovations to integrate networked collections of heterogeneous data. It focuses on creating the basis for a biodiversity information system under the digital library perspective, combining new techniques of content-based image retrieval and database query processing mechanisms. This approach solves the problem of system switching, and provides users with a flexible platform from which to tailor a BIS to their needs

A Digital Library Framework for Biodiversity Information Systems

Biodiversity information systems (BISs) involve all kinds of heterogeneous data, which include ecological and geographical features. However, available information systems offer very limited support for managing such data in an integrated fashion. Furthermore, such systems do not fully support image content management (e.g., photos of landscapes or living organisms), a requirement of many BIS end-users. In order to meet their needs, these users - e.g., biologists, environmental experts - often have to alternate between distinct biodiversity and image information systems to combine information extracted from them. This cumbersome operational procedure is forced on users by lack of interoperability among these systems. This hampers the addition of new data sources, as well as cooperation among scientists. The approach provided in this paper to meet these issues is based on taking advantage of advances in Digital Library (DL) innovations to integrate networked collections of heterogeneous data. It focuses on creating the basis for a biodiversity information system under the digital library perspective, combining new techniques of content-based image retrieval and database query processing mechanisms. This approach solves the problem of system switching, and provides users with a flexible architecture from which to tailor a BIS to their needs. To illustrate the use of this architecture, it has been instantiated to support the creation of a BIS for fish species in a real application. The goal is to help researchers on ichthyology to identify fish specimen by using search retrieval techniques. Experimental results suggest that this new approach improves the effectiveness of the fish identification process, if compared to the tradition key-based method

Excess weight: Meanings, perceptions and self work among adolescent girls

This paper has the purpose of discussing obesity and excess weight in adolescence resulting from research carried out in a public university program focused on this group. As a result of this research the importance of family and school in the process of slimming down can be emphasized, as much through spheres of support, as through challenging life experiences, especially for adolescent girls: the coexistence of support and family control in the process of weight loss; the girls’ explanation of feelings of shame and failure in the face of their inability to follow dietary rules; the difficulties in meeting goals proposed by the support program on obesity in adolescence and its articulation with the socio-cultural context that circumscribes the practices

Capacidade tecnológica e compartilhamento de informação: efeitos sobre o desempenho ambiental sustentável de empresas industriais

Purpose – To analyze the impact exerted by the technological capability and the influence exercised by information sharing on sustainable environmental performance.Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative research using sample with 148 industrial companies and application of multivariate analysis for verification of hypotheses.Findings – The results indicate that technological capability has a direct and positive impact on environmental performance and information sharing has a significant moderating effect on this impact.Research limitations/implications – The research investigates direct impact and moderation relationships, not extending the analysis to other types of relationships, effects and influences, which may be investigated in future research.Practical implications – The simultaneous influence of technological capability and information sharing on sustainable environmental performance contributes to broadening the set of variables and relationships with potential to boost organizational performance.Social implications – Managers of organizations can improve sustainable performance by building technological capability and encouraging the sharing of knowledge and information by their teams.Originality/value – This study explores simultaneous effects of organizational variables with potential to drive sustainable environmental performance, adding new possibilities for analysis and identification of factors that can interfere with organizational performance.Objetivo – Analisar o impacto exercido pela capacidade tecnológica e a influência exercida pelo compartilhamento de informação sobre o desempenho ambiental sustentável.Design/Metodologia/Abordagem –  Pesquisa quantitativa utilizando amostra com 148 empresas industriais e aplicação de análise multivariada para verificação de hipóteses.Resultados – Os resultados indicam que a capacidade tecnológica exerce impacto direto e positivo sobre o desempenho ambiental e o compartilhamento de informação tem efeito moderador significativo sobre esse impacto.Implicações da pesquisa – A pesquisa investiga relações de impacto direto e de moderação, não ampliando a análise para outros tipos de relações, efeitos e influências, que poderão ser investigados em pesquisas futuras.Implicações práticas – A influência simultânea da capacidade tecnológica e do compartilhamento de informação sobre o desempenho ambiental sustentável contribui para ampliar o conjunto de variáveis e relações com potencial para impulsionar o desempenho organizacional.Implicações sociais – Gestores de organizações podem aprimorar o desempenho sustentável ampliando capacidades tecnológicas e encorajando o compartilhamento de conhecimento e informação por parte de suas equipes.Originalidade/ valor – Este estudo explora efeitos simultâneos de variáveis organizacionais com potencial para impulsionar o desempenho ambiental sustentável, acrescentando novas possibilidades de análise e identificação de fatores que podem interferer no desempenho organizacional

Challenges of the Anthropocene epoch – supporting multi-focus research

International audienceWork on multiscale issues presents countless challenges that have been long attacked by GIScience researchers. Most results either concentrate on modeling or on data structures/database aspects. Solutions go either towards generalization (and/or virtualization of distinct scales) or towards linking entities of interest across scales. However, researchers seldom take into account the fact that multiscale scenarios are increasingly constructed cooperatively, and require distinct perspectives of the world. The combination of multiscale and multiple perspectives per scale constitutes what we call multifocus research. This paper presents our solution to these issues. It builds upon a specific database version model – the multiversion MVBD – which has already been successfully implemented in several geospatial scenarios, being extended here to support multi-focus research

Characterization of older hipertensive registered in the state of sishiperdia paraíba: allowance for health surveillance

Objective: To characterize the profile of hypertensive coverage registered in the Registration and Monitoring of Hypertensive Diabetics System (HIPERDIA Program) in the state of Paraíba, Brazil, between the years 2008-2012, considering their representation as subsidy strategies for surveillance of diseases and health promotion. Method: descriptive study with a quantitative approach. Results: Data demonstrate the similarity of the State of Paraíba to indices of Brazilian epidemiological profile. Conclusion: we stress the need to increase government awareness of indicators and insertion of public policies in relation to injuries that manage hypertension between the aging population in favor of measures aimed at the prevention of functional disability and allow for healthy aging

O BREVE TEMPO DE SER: DUAS VELHICES E ALGUNS FLAGRANTES DE FELICIDADE

Em Estórias abensonhadas, Mia Couto traz para sua narrativa poética uma multiplicidade detipos que, no entanto, assemelham-se na singeleza de um viver. Entre esses tipos, dois velhose suas velhices de contrastes. Este artigo propõe-se a analisar o cotidiano dessas duaspersonagens, protagonistas dos contos “Nas águas do tempo” e “Noventa e três”, buscandoaproximações e, sobretudo, oposições entre ambos, flagrando imagens distintas de felicidade.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: velhice; sociedade; tempo; felicidad

SSM: A Semantic Metasearch Platform for Scientific Data retrieval

Scientific research in all fields has advanced in complexity and in the amount of data generated. The heterogeneity of data repositories, data meaning and their metadata standards makes this problem even more significant. In spite of several proposals to find and retrieve research data from public repositories, there is still need for more comprehensive retrieval solutions. In this article, we specify and develop a mechanism to search for scientific data that takes advantage of metadata records and semantic methods. We present the conception of our architecture and how we have implemented it in a use case in the agriculture domain

EROTISMO VERBAL EM O OUTRO PÉ DA SEREIA: O TECIDO DA SEDUÇÃO

Este artigo tem por objetivo examinar o erotismo presente na linguagem de O outro pé da sereia, de Mia Couto, bem como outros procedimentos transgressores no nível da enunciação do romance. Desse modo, demonstramos que o autor reintegra a subjetividade no corpo literário, bloqueada por anos de guerra, e desconstrói relações de poder.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: erotismo; transgressão; Mia Couto; pode

Eros em Mia Couto: a vez da transgressão

Este artigo tem como objetivo discutir o papel da sexualidade em O outro pé da sereia, de Mia Couto, demonstrando de que modo o autor traz, ficcionalmente, para o texto literário a desconstrução das relações convencionais e cria um tecido narrativo em que a transgressão é uma marca expressiva