UIS BW. Umweltinformationssystem Baden-Württemberg. F+E-Vorhaben MAF-UIS. Moderne anwendungsorientierte Forschung und Entwicklung für Umweltinformationssysteme. Phase I 2011/12. (KIT Scientific Reports ; 7616)

Das F+E-Vorhaben MAF-UIS des Ministeriums für Umwelt, Klima und Energiewirtschaft Baden-Württemberg setzt auf eine breite Kooperation mit Partnern aus Verwaltung, Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft zum gemeinsamen Ausbau der behördlichen Umweltinformationssysteme. Aktuelle Herausforderungen liegen im Bereich der mobilen Endgeräte und im gesellschaftspolitischen Bereich die Forderung nach mehr Transparenz und Stärkung einer "Wissensgesellschaft" im Zusammenhang mit der Open-Data-Bewegung

Towards the Design of a WAP-based Environmental Information Service

Cellular phones have almost replaced conventional telephones for public use in Western European countries. Modern WAP enhanced phones or smart phones offer mobile access to the internet, anytime and anyplace. This technique therefore appears to be very attractive for transferring up-to-date information about the environmental situation to the public, i.e. air and water quality measurements or weather conditions as well as forecasted values of these processes. The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is the key technology in this respect. According to the upcoming importance of mobile internet access the WAP technology has great potentials to play an important role in the design of modern information services which are user centered. Because of upcoming environmental laws in Europe the citizen will gain the right to access the environmental information collected and stored by the public authorities. But due to size and resolution of the displays used in the actual versions of the cellular phones it is not sufficient to transfer the concepts and architectures known from internet information systems to WAP-based systems. It is rather necessary to develop special concepts for the design of WAPbased services, with a special focus on the appropriate structuring and presentation of environmental data. This paper gives an overview of the main problems WAP system designer had actually to deal with and shows concepts how to solve them. At the end of the paper we present two mobile environmental information services, which were realized on the basis of the presented concepts

Toothbrushing: to the best of one’s abilities is possibly not good enough

Abstract Background Weaknesses in toothbrushing performance can be seen when young adults are instructed to perform habitual toothbrushing. Nothing is known about toothbrushing behavior when instructed to perform to the best abilities. The present study analyzes such behavior and compares it to habitual behavior. Methods A random sample of N = 98 young adults born in 1995 was examined in 2014/2015.They were asked to perform oral hygiene to the best of their abilities in front of a camera. Videos were analyzed regarding details of brushing behavior. A quality index was developed which describes the extent of the neglect of brushing on palatinal and vestibular surfaces. Data were compared to those of an earlier study of young adults (born in 1992, examined in 2011, N = 101) who were asked to perform oral hygiene as they habitually do. Results The 1995 cohort (best abilities) brushed their teeth significantly longer than the 1992 cohort (habitual brushing). This was due to significant longer brushing at vestibular and occlusal surfaces. Neglect of palatinal surfaces was similar in both cohorts. Groups did not differ regarding brushing movements. 40% of the brushing time on lateral surfaces was spent with scrubbing movements despite opposing advice in common oral hygiene instructions. Conclusions Toothbrushing to the best of one’s abilities might still not be good enough. Young adults apparently lack a reasonable concept of what is meant by high quality toothbrushing. More efforts should thus be undertaken to explain them (and adults) this concept

Towards a Universal Search in Environmental Information Systems

Part 3: Environmental Information Systems and Services – Infrastructures and PlatformsInternational audienceFull-text search functions in environmental portals make a large amount of environmental data accessible. Many data sources, however, are not suited for indexing by search machines or the data themselves are not suited for access by full-text search. A possibility to make such data of the “dark web” accessible consists in addressing the data sources in the environmental portal directly. The procedure presented here starts with a formal description of data sources (e.g. from the point of view of the portal, these are the target systems). Based on this description, a special component of full-text search, the so-called search broker, can extend and detail a search query, such that all necessary parameters (if possible) are compiled to address these systems and to guide the user directly to the data desired. The presentation component of the environmental portal is responsible for the adequate compilation and display of these data, the so-called result mash-up

Tooth brushing performance in adolescents as compared to the best-practice demonstrated in group prophylaxis programs: an observational study

Background: Research indicates that adolescents may have difficulties to adopt the tooth brushing recommendations delivered in prophylaxis programs. However, it is not clear whether these difficulties are seen amongst the entire age range of adolescence (10-19 years) or only occur at certain developmental stages of the adolescence. The present study analyzes the tooth brushing performance of adolescents and compares it to the best-practice of tooth brushing demonstrated during prophylaxis programs. Methods: A random sample of N = 66 adolescents, comprising 10-year-olds (n = 42) and 15-year-olds (n = 24), were asked to perform oral hygiene to the best of their abilities in front of a tablet camera. Videos were analyzed for tooth brushing duration, location, and brushing movements, and the difference between the actual and expected behavior was tested for consistency using repeated measures ANOVAs and Student's t-tests. For the direct comparison across different age groups, already available data from 12- and 18-year-olds were reanalyzed. Results: The average brushing time (mean +/- SD) of the 10-year-olds and 15-year-olds was 195.8 s (74.6 s) and 196.1 s (75.8 s), respectively. Regardless of age, the adolescents distributed their brushing time unevenly across the inner, outer and occlusal surfaces. The inner surfaces in particular were neglected to a considerable extent, as no age group spent more than 15.8% of the total brushing time on them. Furthermore, all age groups showed a high proportion of horizontal movements on the inner and outer surfaces, regardless of the movements instructed for the respective surfaces. Conclusion: Even if adolescents brush to the best of their abilities, they neglect or skip one or many of the tooth surfaces. The reasons for the lack of compliance to tooth brushing instructions are discussed in light of the methods used in prophylaxis programs and the influence of parents

Good role models? Tooth brushing capabilities of parents: a video observation study

Background: Research in adolescents reveals that they are not capable to remove dental plaque effectively. Inconsistent application of brushing techniques and neglect of certain areas while brushing are very common. As parents play a major role in the oral health education, the present study aimed to examine and describe the tooth brushing performance of the parents of adolescents. Methods: Parents of adolescents (N = 66) were asked to perform oral hygiene to the best of their capabilities in front of a video camera and dental plaque was recorded before and afterwards. Papillary bleeding was also assessed. Results: The tooth contact time (i.e. net brushing duration) averaged 155 s +/- 58 s. Gingival margins showed persistent plaque at 68% +/- 14% of the sections assessed. Papillary bleeding was found at 52% +/- 18% of the papillae. Parents brushed inner surfaces lesser than the outer surfaces (41 s +/- 24 s vs. 73 s +/- 33 s) and 29% of the parents completely missed the inner surfaces of at least one sextant. On the outer surfaces parents predominantly applied circular movements (66% +/- 25% of brushing time). Vertical brushing prevailed on the inner surfaces (52% +/- 30%). However, horizontal scrubbing was also very common (46% +/- 31%). Conclusions: Parents' tooth brushing performance was neither effective in terms of plaque removal nor did they fully comply with tooth brushing recommendations such as considering all inner surfaces when brushing or application of other than horizontal movements to lateral surfaces. Regarding oral hygiene, parents should not only be a good role model in terms of timing, frequency and duration of tooth brushing but should also be able to demonstrate how to brush teeth completely and effectively. The current research indicates that they might lack the latter skill