Standards Based Approaches for Cross-Domain Data Integration

The term "geohazards" provides a label for a common way of looking at the relationships between the state of a phenomenon, its geographical context and the impacts it may have. This way of thinking applies equally to hazards such as floods, landslides, severe weather, biological agents etc. Each of these domains must be modeled separately according to the way it behaves, but there are common problems, and in the case of geohazards, need for common views of the potential impacts and linkages. A common approach allows us to integrate data, or simply be the enabler by allowing us to share tools and methodologies. Agreement on the commonality means "standards" - and mechanisms and governance of these standards. This paper proposes an outline of the set of standards required to achieve cross-domain data integration, and the governance arrangements required to achieve this. In particular, it proposes a potential mechanism for INSPIRE and other Spatial Data Infrastructures to achieve cross-domain harmonisation of data standard specifications through a simple generic geographic contextualisation framework that removes the need for complex cross-domain interdependencies in data models

Developing Feature Types and Related Catalogues for the Marine Community - Lessons from the MOTIIVE project.

MOTIIVE (Marine Overlays on Topography for annex II Valuation and Exploitation) is a project funded as a Specific Support Action (SSA) under the European Commission Framework Programme 6 (FP6) Aeronautics and Space Programme. The project started in September 2005 and finished in October 2007. The objective of MOTIIVE was to examine the methodology and cost benefit of using non-proprietary data standards. Specifically it considered the harmonisation requirements between the INSPIRE data component ‘elevation’ (terrestrial, bathymetric and coastal) and INSPIRE marine thematic data for ‘sea regions’, ‘oceanic spatial features’ and ‘coastal zone management areas’. This was examined in context of the requirements for interoperable information systems as required to realise the objectives of GMES for ‘global services’. The work draws particular conclusions on the realisation of Feature Types (ISO 19109) and Feature Type Catalogues (ISO 19110) in this respect. More information on MOTIIVE can be found at www.motiive.net

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

A generic framework for value management of environment data in the context of integrated coastal zone management

Many issues and factors exist that prevent the full value of environmental data being realised. Despite a number of initiatives world wide aimed at promoting wider data exchange and improved data access, there is still concern that the exploitation of valuable environmental data assets is limited. This has not only hampered effective environmental management, but also restricted the development of a commercial value-added processing market that could stimulate the development of innovative data products. The development of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is one area where the issue of maximising the value derived from environmental data has been brought clearly into focus. Despite the embryonic stage of direct research associated with data value management, several discipline areas have conducted work that addresses many of the issues related to improving the amount of value that can be derived from environmental data. These studies have considered issues such as; the economics of data supply, data management techniques and frameworks for data inter-change. This paper considers these issues and techniques and aims to integrate them in the context of a common framework for value analysis of environmental data. The purpose of the framework is to provide a platform for the factors that make environmental data valuable and for subsequently developing the full data value to be realised on current and future projects. Using the situation in ICZM as an example, this paper's aim is to show how factors associated with data management contribute towards improving data value. The framework takes a step back from specifics and seeks to show how technologies and policies are positioned in the overall picture of improving data value. By adopting this approach, the framework is generic and can be used by any size of organisation