SVIQUEL: A Spacial Visual Query and Exploration Language

Abstract The need to analyze and query spatial data is becoming increasingly important with the advent of applications such as Geographic Information Systems Image Databases and Remote Sensing The focus of our research is to support spatial data analysis by developing a direct manipulation environment to visually query as well as browse spatial data and to review the visual results for trend analysis In this paper we present a visual query language SVIQUELE which allows us to specify the relative spatial position both topology and directionE between objects using direct manipulation This query language builds upon the notion of dynamic query lters and signi cantly extends them to support integrated querying of both topological and directional types of spatial data In order to facilitate continuous querying as required by a direct manipulation environment we designed an integrated neighborhood model for both kinds of spatial relationships topology and directionE Our spatial query palette SVIQUEL allows us to query over any of the continuous sets of neighboring values SVIQUEL is complimented by a Spatial Query Disambiguation diagram SQUADE which gives qualitative visual representations of the quantitative query This increases the utility of the system for spatial browsing of data with no particular query in mind Mapping functions between the quantitative SVIQUEL and the qualitative SQUAD have been developed The resulting tight coupling between SVIQUEL and SQUAD allows the users to work with either qualitative query speci cations or at a quantitative level of detail depending on his particular needs as well as to freely switch between the two while working in a continuous data exploration mod

Cues from Doctor: Role of Media in Reinforcing Life Changing Interventions

Lack of patient motivation to change health behaviors creates a barrier to curb chronic diseases such as diabetes. This study empirically investigates the influence of perception of educational benefits and self awareness of the disease on life changing interventions, and the complementary effect of media intensity on the relationship between self awareness and life changing interventions. Using an archival survey data of 78 patients that were imparted diabetes management education programs, we find that media intensity complements the influence of self awareness on life changing modalities, along with the direct effects of perceived educational benefits and self awareness on life changing intervention and patient satisfaction. The results of this study indicate the implications that a richer media enabled by information technology can play a significant role to influence the process of chronic disease management

An Investigation of the Impact of Open Source Software Support on its Market Share

Open source software (OSS) support creates major barriers to increases in its market share. Drawing on the relationship marketing theory, we develop and empirically test a model to examine the influence of OSS support on OSS market share. Using a survey data of 151 IT professionals working in the US, we find that OSS support positively influences its market share. It also indirectly influences OSS market share through OSS investment decision and need based use for OSS. The results of this study indicate that OSS support plays a central role in improving popularity of OSS. The study informs managers on developing strategies to market OSS based on support and costs

Range Performance Modelling of Thermal Imaging System based on Single Parameter Characterised by Ambient Temperature and Relative Humidity

Range performance of a thermal imaging system is characterised by the prevailing atmospheric condition present at that time. There are two dominant parameters that limit the range performance of any thermal imaging systems i.e. ambient temperature and relative humidity. In the present work, comparative study of acquisition range performance of thermal imaging system operating in LWIR and MWIR spectral bands has been presented as a function of absolute humidity (AH) which is responsible for attenuation of IR radiation due to water vapour molecules present in path length. Presentation of acquisition range as function of AH leads to a single range performance table/graph for thermal imaging system under consideration for predefined visibility (V), target size, ambient temperature (T), target to background temperature difference (ΔT) and relative humidity (RH). This table/graph can be used to predict detection, recognition and identification ranges for any set of combination of air temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH). The approach presented in this paper is versatile and has been illustrated through comparative performance analysis of LWIR and MWIR thermal imaging systems based on 640X512 staring focal plane array (FPA) having identical design parameters in terms of resolution (IFOV). It has been shown that MWIR performance is superior to LWIR beyond a crossover value of AH(T) even though MRTD of MWIR sensor is inferior to that of LWIR sensor at all spatial frequencies. Study has been carried out both for clear atmosphere and hazy conditions

Performance Improvement of Electro Optic Search and Track System for Maritime Surveillance

Surveillance of maritime domain is absolutely vital to ensure an appropriate response against any adverse situation relating to maritime safety or security. Electro-optic search and track (EOST) system plays a vital role by providing independent search and track of potential targets in marine environment. EOST provides real-time images of objects with details, required to neutralise threats. At long range, detection and tracking capability of EOST degrades due to uncertainty in target signatures under cluttered scenario. Image quality can be improved by using suitable sensors and enhancement using the target/background signature knowledge. Robust tracking of object can be achieved by optimising the performance parameters of tracker. In the present work, improvement in the performance of EOST subsystems such as sensor, video processor and video tracker are discussed. To improve EOST performance in terms of detection and tracking, sensor selection criterion and various real time image processing techniques and their selection criteria for maritime applications have been also discussed. Resultant improvement in the quality of image recorded under marine environment has been presented

Real Time Non uniformity Correction Algorithm and Implementation in Reconfigurable Architecture for Infra red Imaging Systems

 In modern electro-optical systems, infra-red (IR) imaging system is an essential sensor used for day and night surveillance. In recent years, advancements in IR sensor technology resulted the detectors having smaller pitch, better thermal sensitivity with large format like 640.512, 1024.768 and 1280.1024. Large format IR detectors enables realisation of high resolution compact thermal imager having wide field-of view coverage. However, the performance of these infrared imaging systems gets limited by non uniformity produced by sensing element, which is temporal in nature and present in spatial domain. This non uniformity results the fixed pattern noise, which arises due to variation in gain and offset components of the each pixel of the sensor even when exposed to a uniform scene. This fixed pattern noise limits the temperature resolution capability of the IR imaging system thereby causing the degradation in system performance. Therefore, it is necessary to correct the non-uniformities in real time. In this paper, non uniformity correction algorithm and its implementation in reconfigurable architectures have been presented and results on real time data have been described

Media Reinforcement for Psychological Empowerment in Chronic Disease Management

Although information technology (IT) is often argued to have the potential to enable greater patient participation in healthcare delivery, how IT empowers patients to take charge of their own health is a less explored area. This study explores how IT-enabled communication plays a significant role in shaping the patients’ psychological empowerment for managing a chronic disease—diabetes. Psychological empowerment reflects a patient’s cognitive response and motivation to manage the disease. Two dimensions of psychological empowerment relevant in the context of chronic disease management (e.g., meaning as manifested through perceived education benefits and self-awareness to enable self-efficacy for effective management) are suggested to have positive effects on life changing interventions and patient satisfaction. We argue that the medium of communication between the patients and providers influences the psychological empowerment. Media reinforcement is, thus, hypothesized to impact the relationship between self-awareness and life changing interventions. The conceptual model is tested using archival data collected from a survey of seventy-eight patients that were involved in diabetes management education programs. The results indicate that rich media enabled by IT can play a significant role in patient empowerment, and influence the outcome of chronic disease management

Frequency of peripheral neuropathy in pre diabetics in sub Himalayan region: a cross sectional observational study

Background: Peripheral neuropathy in pre diabetics has been studied in various studies till now. Many are in support and many against. No data was available in any study using all three criteria i.e. impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance and HbA1C. Aim was to study the frequency of peripheral neuropathy in pre diabetics in a tertiary health care centre in sub Himalayan region.Methods: A 50 patients of prediabetes were enrolled for this study; preformed proforma was used to collect the information, data on examination and investigations. Then these patients were subjected to nerve conduction studies.Results: Out of total 50 pre diabetic patients 9(18%) were diagnosed having peripheral neuropathy. Maximum number of pre diabetic patients were (26) in the age group 46-55 years with mean age of 44.49 years ±7.01 (S.D.). 28 (56%) were males with a female to male ratio of 1:1.27. 20% patients had complaint of polyuria, 12% presented with polydipsia, 14% of total pre diabetic patients had paresthesia on history. 6% patients had impaired vibration and position sense on clinical examination. Out of total 9 patients having evidence of Peripheral Neuropathy 6 (66.66%) were meeting all three criteria for Prediabetes while 8 (88.88%) had IFG, 7 patients had IGT. 42% of the patients were fulfilling the criteria of metabolic syndrome. 28 had raised TGs and out of them 5 (17.8%) had peripheral neuropathy. Out of 24 obese patients, 4 (16.6%) had peripheral neuropathy. Out of 9 patients with peripheral neuropathy 66.66% patients were considered to be suffering with peripheral neuropathy on the basis of sensory symptoms and 33.33% were considered on the basis of impaired vibration and position sense on examination, one patient diagnosed on the basis of nerve conduction studies. 38% were in high risk group of developing T2DM in future as per Indian diabetes risk score. Mean compound motor action potential (CMAP) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) were less in patients with peripheral neuropathy in comparison to patients without peripheral neuropathy.Conclusions: Peripheral neuropathy can occur in prediabetes though it is difficult to confirm it. Most common is small fiber neuropathy which can be diagnosed on the basis of history and examination. But by diagnosing it early in the course of prediabetes, morbidity and mortality secondary to neuropathy can be prevented

Direct-Manipulation Spatial Exploration Using SVIQUEL

This paper represents the first effort to apply direct-manipulation (VIS) techniques to spatial data exploration providing mechanisms for visually querying as well as browsing spatial data and for reviewing the visual results for trend discovery. We present a visual query language (SVIQUEL) which allows us to specify the relative spatial position (both topology and direction) between objects using direct manipulation of spatial query filters. The SVIQUEL sliders (S-sliders) are complimented by an Active-Picture-for-Querying (APIQ) providing qualitative visual representations of the quantitative query specified by the S-sliders. This increases the utility of the system for spatial browsing and spatial trend discovery with no particular query in mind. The tight coupling between the quantitative S-sliders and qualitative APIQ allows the users to work either qualitatively or quantitatively depending on his/her particular needs and freely switch between the two while working in a continuous..