Young people and the evaluation of information on the World Wide Web: Principles, practice and beliefs

A recurrent theme in LIS literature is the tendency of young people not to evaluate rigorously the information with which they come into contact. Although many information literacy models stress the need to take a critical approach, the reality of behaviour is often very different. Recent research conducted in an English high school has explored the importance that teenagers attach to ten particular evaluative criteria. 149 youngsters contributed data via an online questionnaire. Participants felt that information on the Web should be current/topical, free from spelling and grammatical errors and easily verifiable elsewhere but authorship was much less of a priority to them. The findings are likely to be of special relevance to information literacy teachers who are defining priorities for their own programmes

Fisher Information inequalities and the Central Limit Theorem

We give conditions for an O(1/n) rate of convergence of Fisher information and relative entropy in the Central Limit Theorem. We use the theory of projections in L2 spaces and Poincare inequalities, to provide a better understanding of the decrease in Fisher information implied by results of Barron and Brown. We show that if the standardized Fisher information ever becomes finite then it converges to zero.Comment: 19 page

The Impact of Visual Impairments on Mobility Performance in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Background and Purpose: Falls are a major concern for elderly adults and can have a significant impact on overall health and well-being. Declines in vision with aging may be related to the development of fear of falling (FOF) and impaired mobility. It is possible that impaired vision due to common eye diseases can increase the FOF avoidance behavior and affect mobility function in this population. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation among visual impairment, mobility performance, and FOF avoidance behavior in older adults. Methods: Inclusion criteria for eligible participants were: 50 years of age and older, able to walk 50 m without assistance, and able to understand simple instructions related to the assessments. A total of 455 participants from local community adult activity centers (males=152, females=303; age=73.1±7.7 years, range=51-97 years) participated. Physical mobility was assessed using an instrumented Timed Up-and-Go test. Visual acuity (VA) was tested using a standard Snellen chart. Avoidance behavior was assessed using the Fear of Falling Avoidance Behavior Questionnaire (FFABQ). Participants’ general health and presence of eye diseases (age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma) was assessed using a survey of medical history. A two-way ANOVA was used to investigate effect of VA and avoidance behavior on TUG performance. An additional two-way ANOVA test was used to investigate the effect of self-reported eye disease and avoidance behavior on TUG performance. Results and Discussion: There was a statistically significant difference between avoiders and non avoiders’ TUG score (avoiders=12.45±5.85 sec, non-avoiders 8.29±3.48, p\u3c0.001). The VA has no significant effect on TUG time (no impairment= 8.69 ± 3.49 sec, mild impairment= 9.42 ± 5.05 sec, moderate impairment= 8.11 ± 2.08 sec, severe impairment= 9.45 ± 2.68 sec, p=0.791). There is no significant VA group by avoider group interaction (p=0.66). There was also a statistically significant difference in TUG scores between participants with and without eye disease (eye disease=9.37±5.08, no eye disease=8.29±2.80, p=0.004). There is no significant eye disease by avoider group interaction (p=0.144). iv Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the presence of one or more self-reported eye diseases and higher FOF avoidance behavior were both associated with decreased mobility. Contrary to the initial hypothesis of the present study, there was no relation between VA and mobility, nor VA and FOF avoidance behavior. It is important for clinicians to inquire about the presence of eye diseases and administer the FFABQ to older adults in order to identify risk factors related to decline in physical mobility. Presently, the continued use of the Snellen chart to assess for VA as a part of fall risk assessment may be inadequate. Future studies should focus on developing a more comprehensive clinical assessment of vision that expands beyond visual acuity for the geriatric population

Tax expenditures: the case of occupational pensions

There are many areas of the tax system in which substantial concessions are made, or appear to be made, to certain forms of activity. Such concessions, or reliefs, can cost the government money in just the same way as direct public expenditure programmes. The recognition of this fact is important, but we argue in this paper that measuring the revenue forgone as a result of a given tax treatment is not straightforward. In some cases the figures published are easily and frequently misinterpreted, or may be flawed in themselves.

RFID in the supply chain: lessons from European early adopters

Purpose Radio frequency identification (RFID) is increasingly being presented as a technology with the potential to improve supply chain performance, but empirical evidence from early adopters is sparse. This paper aims to rectify this scarcity and contribute to a more informed discussion in and between academic and practitioner communities. Design/Methodology/Approach The paper is based on a conceptual model of factors influencing the success of adoption efforts. It then reports the results of a survey of 612 European supply chain managers, focusing on the 128 respondents who have begun RFID trials. Findings A significant influence on operational deployment is the presence of mandates from key customers requiring the technology’s use. Customer mandates also impact the anticipated benefits of a faster sales cycle and of enhanced systems integration, though the relationships are complex. By contrast, greater cost reduction benefits are anticipated in two industries where mandates are less common – industrial goods and logistics. Perceived organizational innovativeness positively impacts anticipated ROI from RFID. Companies adopting a ‘slap and ship’ approach are less likely to anticipate pricing benefits than those integrating RFID into enterprise systems Research Limitations/Implications The limitations of the paper include the limited sample size of early adopters. In addition, qualitative research is needed into RFID supply chain applications and into different approaches to IS integration of RFID, to inform future survey work. Practical Implications This paper informs supply chain managers and senior decision makers who are examining the potential of RFID technology. It offers guidance on what issues to look for when adopting this technology, approaches to take and the benefits that might be accrued. Originality/Valuer This paper offers a major contribution to understanding the current status of the adoption of RFID in European supply chains. This understanding is put in the context of the wider literatures on supply chain management and the adoption of information systems and te

Multiple object tracking using a neural cost function

This paper presents a new approach to the tracking of multiple objects in CCTV surveillance using a combination of simple neural cost functions based on Self-Organizing Maps, and a greedy assignment algorithm. Using a reference standard data set and an exhaustive search algorithm for benchmarking, we show that the cost function plays the most significant role in realizing high levels of performance. The neural cost function’s context-sensitive treatment of appearance, change of appearance and trajectory yield better tracking than a simple, explicitly designed cost function. The algorithm matches 98.8% of objects to within 15 pixels

The Casson invariant and the word metric on the Torelli group

We bound the value of the Casson invariant of any integral homology 3-sphere $M$ by a constant times the distance-squared to the identity, measured in any word metric on the Torelli group \T, of the element of \T associated to any Heegaard splitting of $M$. We construct examples which show this bound is asymptotically sharp.Comment: 5 pages, minor corrections; to appear in C. R. Math. Acad. Sci. Pari

New Voters Will Influence Outcome in New Hampshire Primary

In this data snapshot, authors Kenneth Johnson, Dante Scala, and Andrew Smith discuss factors going into New Hampshire\u27s 2020 Primary that could influence the outcome