Usability engineering for GIS: learning from a screenshot

In this paper, the focus is on the concept of Usability Engineering for GIS – a set of techniques and methods that are especially suitable for evaluating the usability of GIS applications – which can be deployed as part of the development process. To demonstrate how the framework of Usability Engineering for GIS can be used in reality, a screenshot study is described. Users were asked to provide a screenshot of their GIS during their working day. The study shows how a simple technique can help in understanding the way GIS is used in situ

A comparison analysis of ble-based algorithms for localization in industrial environments

Proximity beacons are small, low-power devices capable of transmitting information at a limited distance via Bluetooth low energy protocol. These beacons are typically used to broadcast small amounts of location-dependent data (e.g., advertisements) or to detect nearby objects. However, researchers have shown that beacons can also be used for indoor localization converting the received signal strength indication (RSSI) to distance information. In this work, we study the effectiveness of proximity beacons for accurately locating objects within a manufacturing plant by performing extensive experiments in a real industrial environment. To this purpose, we compare localization algorithms based either on trilateration or environment fingerprinting combined with a machine-learning based regressor (k-nearest neighbors, support-vector machines, or multi-layer perceptron). Each algorithm is analyzed in two different types of industrial environments. For each environment, various configurations are explored, where a configuration is characterized by the number of beacons per square meter and the density of fingerprint points. In addition, the fingerprinting approach is based on a preliminary site characterization; it may lead to location errors in the presence of environment variations (e.g., movements of large objects). For this reason, the robustness of fingerprinting algorithms against such variations is also assessed. Our results show that fingerprint solutions outperform trilateration, showing also a good resilience to environmental variations. Given the similar error obtained by all three fingerprint approaches, we conclude that k-NN is the preferable algorithm due to its simple deployment and low number of hyper-parameters

Life cycle assessment (LCA) of end-of-life dairy products (EoL-DPs) valorization via anaerobic co-digestion with agro-industrial wastes for biogas production

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to assess the environmental impacts of End-of-Life Dairy Products (EoL-DPs) management via their co-treatment with agro-industrial wastes (AgW) in a centralized biogas facility located in Cyprus using a gate-to-gate LCA approach. Two different scenarios were examined under the framework of this project. In the first one, co-treatment of EoL-DPs with various AgW (in a 20/80, w/w, ratio) was evaluated in a one-stage mesophilic anaerobic digestion (AD) process. In the second scenario, the same amount of EoL-DPs were acidified before methanogenesis with AgW in order to improve biogas production. RESULTS: Prior acidification of EoL-DPs showed a better environmental performance compared to the results obtained upon direct co-digestion in a mesophilic digester, having a total impact of 52.44 Pt against 57.13 Pt respectively. Biogas production upon acidification, and therefore energy yield, was higher reaching up to 22.88 m3 CH4/ton of feed (229.25 kWh/ton of feed), compared to 17.45 m3 CH4/on of feed (174.85 kWh/ton of feed) for the case where no pretreatment was performed. CONCLUSIONS: The acidification of EoL-DPs enhanced the environmental performance of the process by reducing its impact by 8.2% (in Pt equivalents). The energy consumption of the biogas plant mixing equipment was identified as the process hotspot. However, further analysis of the environmental performance of the proposed process is required by extending the system’s boundaries towards a Cradle-to-Grave approach

The experience of brace treatment in children/adolescents with scoliosis

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic scoliosis is a chronic illness with several different braces used for its treatment. Brace treatment during childhood/adolescence can produce stress. There are studies supporting that it can decrease body-image perception while other studies support that it has no such effect. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of brace treatment in children/adolescents with scoliosis. The aim was to investigate which feelings are created by the bracing experience in children/adolescents with scoliosis and what are the children/adolescents' with scoliosis opinions of the support provided to them by health-care professionals and by their families. METHODS: We conducted interviews with the help of a semi-structured interview guide in order to address the topic of the experience of brace treatment. A convenient sample of twelve children and adolescents with scoliosis was selected from patients attending follow-up appointments at the Outpatient Scoliosis Clinics of two Greek hospitals. The data was analysed using the method of content analysis. RESULTS: Patients in the sample were 10–16 years old and they were mainly females (71%). Almost all of the participants reported having to deal with stress, denial, fear, anger, and shame. They were satisfied with the information they received regarding their condition and therapy. However, the information was not accompanied by support from the health care professionals. They reported that they were receiving support mainly from their families, friends, and classmates. CONCLUSION: The present study is contributing to the development of a better understanding of significant issues related to the experience of bracing therapy. It is clear that scoliosis children/adolescents have to be provided with support during the long period of bracing. It is apparent that those children/adolescents have unmet needs for care and health professionals and policy makers should try to find a way to address those needs

Languages in contact, cultures in contact: Verbal and iconic visual signs in mother tongue and culture as mediators in teaching english as a foreign language

Interlingual translation, intersemiotic translation, and mediation seem to be the main means by which students who are learning English as a foreign language in Greece connect the learning of English as a foreign language and Greek as a mother tongue. This research probes into the teaching of English in Greek state schools and more specifically the teaching of English, as a foreign language, in the first year of junior high school. The research attempts to evaluate the authors’ choices of visual iconic messages that promote the Greek culture and language, the students’ mother tongue, as a means of mediation— mostly through interlingual translation—to familiarize them with the target language and culture, namely, the English language and culture. The fact that the visual iconic and verbal signs under scrutiny are all derived from a textbook published by the Greek Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs gives more significance to the specific signs (thus legitimizing them). © 2017 by Semiosis Research Center at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies. All rights reserved

Towards the enhancement of the learning process with different types of case based activities

The use of authentic problems in the form of Cases in a variety of leaching activities is a well established method aiming to foster the development of problem solving skills. Although a large number of case based educational systems are available, none of them supports all the different types of case based activities. In this paper we present an empirical study, conducted in order to establish the design of a web-based educational environment, referred to as CASTLE, aiming to support the creation and elaboration of Case activities of all types

The experience of brace treatment in children/adolescents with scoliosis

Background: Idiopathic scoliosis is a chronic illness with several different braces used for its treatment. Brace treatment during childhood/adolescence can produce stress. There are studies supporting that it can decrease body-image perception while other studies support that it has no such effect. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of brace treatment in children/adolescents with scoliosis. The aim was to investigate which feelings are created by the bracing experience in children/adolescents with scoliosis and what are the children/ adolescents' with scoliosis opinions of the support provided to them by health-care professionals and by their families. Methods: We conducted interviews with the help of a semi-structured interview guide in order to address the topic of the experience of brace treatment. A convenient sample of twelve children and adolescents with scoliosis was selected from patients attending follow-up appointments at the Outpatient Scoliosis Clinics of two Greek hospitals. The data was analysed using the method of content analysis. Results: Patients in the sample were 10-16 years old and they were mainly females (71%). Almost all of the participants reported having to deal with stress, denial, fear, anger, and shame. They were satisfied with the information they received regarding their condition and therapy. However, the information was not accompanied by support from the health care professionals. They reported that they were receiving support mainly from their families, friends, and classmates. Conclusion: The present study is contributing to the development of a better understanding of significant issues related to the experience of bracing therapy. It is clear that scoliosis children/adolescents have to be provided with support during the long period of bracing. It is apparent that those children/adolescents have unmet needs for care and health professionals and policy makers should try to find a way to address those needs. © 2006 Sapountzi-Krepia et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd