A Smalltalk-based extension to traditional Geographic Information Systems

The Dynamic Environmental Effects Model{copyright} (DEEM), under development at Argonne National Laboratory, is a fully object-based modeling software system that supports distributed, dynamic representation of the interlinked processes and behavior of the earth`s surface and near-surface environment, at variable scales of resolution and aggregation. Many of these real world objects are not stored in a format conducive to efficient GIS usage. Their dynamic nature, complexity and number of possible DEEM entity classes precluded efficient integration with traditional GIS technologies due to the loosely coupled nature of their data representations. To address these shortcomings, an intelligent object-oriented GIS engine (OOGIS) was developed. This engine provides not only a spatially optimized object representation, but also direct linkages to the underlying object, its data and behaviors

Tris(ethane-1,2-diamine-κ2 N,N′)nickel(II) diiodide

The title compound, [Ni(C2H8N2)3]I2, crystallizes with an [Ni(en)3 2+] cation (en is ethane-1,2-diamine) and two iodide ions in the asymmetric unit. Two of the en ligands surrrounding the Ni2+ ion have disordered C atoms, while the third exhibits extensive weak N—H⋯I inter­actions with the two iodide ions that extend throughout the crystalline lattice, producing an infinite network along (011)

Modeling the efficient access of full-text information

The title of this paper describes a research goal set by many offices within US DOE. This paper reviews efficient full-text searching techniques being developed to better understand and meet this goal. Classical computer human interaction (CHI) approaches provided by commercial information retrieval (IR) engines fail to contextualize information in ways that facilitate timely decision making. Use of advanced CHI techniques (eg, visualization) in combination with deductive database technology augment the weaknesses found in presentation capabilities of IR engines and are discussed. Various techniques employed in a Web-based prototype system currently under development are presented

A Prompt to the Web: The Media and Health Information Seeking Behaviour

UNLABELLED: OBJECTIVE, DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: The objective was to investigate media influence on consumers' health related behaviours. A cross-sectional survey of randomly selected adults (18+ years) residing in the Hunter Region of New South Wales Australia was conducted. The sample was selected using a combination of the white pages and random digit dialling. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The proportions of respondents who recalled seeing or hearing about conditions or treatments in the media over the 12 months prior to interview (August 2009-August 2010) and their subsequent health related behaviour. RESULTS: Although most survey participants reported seeking health information from their doctors, around two-thirds of survey participants (551, 68.8%) recalled hearing, seeing or reading about one or more medical conditions (total = 1097 instances) in the mainstream media over the past 12 months. Almost 40% of respondents (307, 38.4%) stated that they had looked for more information about a condition as a result of hearing about it in the media, and most used the internet (269, 87.4%). More than a quarter of respondents (215, 26.9%) indicated that they had asked their doctor about a condition they had heard about in the media. Around half of those who asked their doctor (109, 50.6%) reported that their inquiry resulted in them receiving treatment, of whom almost half (53, 48.3%) reported being prescribed a medicine. CONCLUSION: The survey results show that consumers become aware of medicines through traditional media and then to learn more often turn to the internet where quality of information may be poor

Health information seeking on the Internet: a double divide? Results from a representative survey in the Paris metropolitan area, France, 2005–2006

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Internet is a major source of information for professionals and the general public, especially in the field of health. However, despite ever-increasing connection rates, a digital divide persists in the industrialised countries. The objective of this study was to assess the determinants involved in: 1) having or not having Internet access; and 2) using or not using the Internet to obtain health information.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional survey of a representative random sample was conducted in the Paris metropolitan area, France, in the fall of 2005 (n = 3023).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Close to 70% of the adult population had Internet access, and 49% of Internet users had previously searched for medical information. Economic and social disparities observed in online health information seeking are reinforced by the economic and social disparities in Internet access, hence a double divide. While individuals who reported having a recent health problem were less likely to have Internet access (odds ratio (OR): 0.72, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.53–0.98), it is they who, when they have Internet access, are the most likely to search for health information (OR = 1.44, 95% CI = 1.11–1.87).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In the French context of universal health insurance, access to the Internet varies according to social and socioeconomic status and health status, and its use for health information seeking varies also with health beliefs, but not to health insurance coverage or health-care utilisation. Certain economic and social inequalities seem to impact cumulatively on Internet access and on the use of the Internet for health information seeking. It is not obvious that the Internet is a special information tool for primary prevention in people who are the furthest removed from health concerns. However, the Internet appears to be a useful complement for secondary prevention, especially for better understanding health problems or enhancing therapeutic compliance.</p

The academic–vocational divide in three Nordic countries : implications for social class and gender

In this study we examine how the academic–vocational divide is manifested today in Finland, Iceland and Sweden in the division between vocationally (VET) and academicallyoriented programmes at the upper-secondary school level. The paper is based on a critical re-analysis of results from previous studies; in it we investigate the implications of this divide for class and gender inequalities. The theoretical lens used for the synthesis is based on Bernstein´s theory of pedagogic codes. In the re-analysis we draw on previous studies of policy, curriculum and educational praxis as well as official statistics. The main conclusions are that contemporary policy and curriculum trends in all three countries are dominated by a neo-liberal discourse stressing principles such as “market relevance” and employability. This trend strengthens the academic–vocational divide, mainly through an organisation of knowledge in VET that separates it from more general and theoretical elements. This trend also seems to affect VET students’ transitions in terms of reduced access to higher education, particularly in male-dominated programmes. We also identify low expectations for VET students, manifested through choice of textbooks and tasks, organisation of teacher teams and the advice of career counsellors.Peer reviewe

Fit for the job? : How corporeal expectations shape physical education teachers’ understandings of content, pedagogy, and the purposes of physical education

Background: People often expect physical education teachers to look fit and athletic, to do lots of physical activity, and to eat well. While ample research exists on physical education teachers’ bodies, relatively few scholars have investigated how physical educators relate corporeal expectations to broader ideas about subject content, pedagogy, and the purposes of the school subject. Aim: The specific aim of the paper is to identify the assumptions about content, pedagogy, and educational purposes that teachers make when they talk about a perceived need for physical educators to look fit and athletic. Method: To frame our work theoretically, we draw from a Swedish didaktik of physical education tradition and employ Bakhtin’s concept of speech genres, and Wertsch’s concept of privileging. Our empirical material consists of transcripts generated from 6 focus group and 6 individual interviews (24 teachers in total, average age of 40 years, average teaching experience 11 years). Findings: Data suggest that when teachers use an ‘athletic-looking teacher as healthy role model’ speech genre, they tend to privilege: (1) a particular version of health as subject content that involves not being too overweight and maintaining physical functionality in sports. This content is based on biomedical conceptions of health which foreground exercise, eating and weight, and a pathogenic reduction of risk; (2) particular pedagogies in PE that put the teacher at the centre of the pedagogical situation, and; (3) a certain educational purpose in PE, which is to educate citizens for healthy lives through participation in sport. With respect to this purpose, increasing body weight enters the genre as a potential obstacle for educational success. Discussion: The findings raise questions concerning appropriate curricular content and its relation to teacher identities. They suggest that learning possibilities may be missed when certain content, pedagogies, and outcomes are privileged. The findings also indicate how wider voices are implicated in the speech genre. Conclusion: The paper is concluded with reflections on the possibility for change regarding expectations of physical education teachers’ bodies and pedagogies

Reachability Analysis with State-Compatible Automata

Abstract. Regular tree languages are a popular device for reachability analysis over term rewrite systems, with many applications like analysis of cryptographic protocols, or confluence and termination analysis. At the heart of this approach lies tree automata completion, first introduced by Genet for left-linear rewrite systems. Korp and Middeldorp introduced so-called quasi-deterministic automata to extend the technique to non-left-linear systems. In this paper, we introduce the simpler notion of state-compatible automata, which are slightly more general than quasi-deterministic, compatible automata. This notion also allows us to decide whether a regular tree language is closed under rewriting, a problem which was not known to be decidable before. Several of our results have been formalized in the theorem prover Is-abelle/HOL. This allows to certify automatically generated non-confluence and termination proofs that are using tree automata techniques.

Well-definedness of streams by termination

Contains fulltext : 75552.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)RTA 2009, 28 juni 200