Evolution of an intricate J-protein network driving protein disaggregation in eukaryotes.

Science.gov (United States)

Nillegoda, Nadinath B; Stank, Antonia; Malinverni, Duccio; Alberts, Niels; Szlachcic, Anna; Barducci, Alessandro; De Los Rios, Paolo; Wade, Rebecca C; Bukau, Bernd

2017-05-15

Hsp70 participates in a broad spectrum of protein folding processes extending from nascent chain folding to protein disaggregation. This versatility in function is achieved through a diverse family of J-protein cochaperones that select substrates for Hsp70. Substrate selection is further tuned by transient complexation between different classes of J-proteins, which expands the range of protein aggregates targeted by metazoan Hsp70 for disaggregation. We assessed the prevalence and evolutionary conservation of J-protein complexation and cooperation in disaggregation. We find the emergence of a eukaryote-specific signature for interclass complexation of canonical J-proteins. Consistently, complexes exist in yeast and human cells, but not in bacteria, and correlate with cooperative action in disaggregation in vitro. Signature alterations exclude some J-proteins from networking, which ensures correct J-protein pairing, functional network integrity and J-protein specialization. This fundamental change in J-protein biology during the prokaryote-to-eukaryote transition allows for increased fine-tuning and broadening of Hsp70 function in eukaryotes.

Localization of SDGs through Disaggregation of KPIs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manohar Patole

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The United Nation’s Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs pick up where the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs left off. The SDGs set forth a formidable task for the global community and international sustainable development over the next 15 years. Learning from the successes and failures of the MDGs, government officials, development experts, and many other groups understood that localization is necessary to accomplish the SDGs but how and what to localize remain as questions to be answered. The UN Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goals (UN IAEG-SDGs sought to answer these questions through development of metadata behind the 17 goals, 169 associated targets and corresponding indicators of the SDGs. Data management is key to understanding how and what to localize, but, to do it properly, the data and metadata needs to be properly disaggregated. This paper reviews the utilization of disaggregation analysis for localization and demonstrates the process of identifying opportunities for subnational interventions to achieve multiple targets and indicators through the formation of new integrated key performance indicators. A case study on SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation is used to elucidate these points. The examples presented here are only illustrative—future research and the development of an analytical framework for localization and disaggregation of the SDGs would be a valuable tool for national and local governments, implementing partners and other interested parties.

An economic analysis of disaggregation of space assets: Application to GPS

Science.gov (United States)

Hastings, Daniel E.; La Tour, Paul A.

2017-05-01

New ideas, technologies and architectural concepts are emerging with the potential to reshape the space enterprise. One of those new architectural concepts is the idea that rather than aggregating payloads onto large very high performance buses, space architectures should be disaggregated with smaller numbers of payloads (as small as one) per bus and the space capabilities spread across a correspondingly larger number of systems. The primary rationale is increased survivability and resilience. The concept of disaggregation is examined from an acquisition cost perspective. A mixed system dynamics and trade space exploration model is developed to look at long-term trends in the space acquisition business. The model is used to examine the question of how different disaggregated GPS architectures compare in cost to the well-known current GPS architecture. A generation-over-generation examination of policy choices is made possible through the application of soft systems modeling of experience and learning effects. The assumptions that are allowed to vary are: design lives, production quantities, non-recurring engineering and time between generations. The model shows that there is always a premium in the first generation to be paid to disaggregate the GPS payloads. However, it is possible to construct survivable architectures where the premium after two generations is relatively low.

Spatial Disaggregation of Areal Rainfall Using Two Different Artificial Neural Networks Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sungwon Kim

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study is to develop artificial neural network (ANN models, including multilayer perceptron (MLP and Kohonen self-organizing feature map (KSOFM, for spatial disaggregation of areal rainfall in the Wi-stream catchment, an International Hydrological Program (IHP representative catchment, in South Korea. A three-layer MLP model, using three training algorithms, was used to estimate areal rainfall. The Levenberg–Marquardt training algorithm was found to be more sensitive to the number of hidden nodes than were the conjugate gradient and quickprop training algorithms using the MLP model. Results showed that the networks structures of 11-5-1 (conjugate gradient and quickprop and 11-3-1 (Levenberg-Marquardt were the best for estimating areal rainfall using the MLP model. The networks structures of 1-5-11 (conjugate gradient and quickprop and 1-3-11 (Levenberg–Marquardt, which are the inverse networks for estimating areal rainfall using the best MLP model, were identified for spatial disaggregation of areal rainfall using the MLP model. The KSOFM model was compared with the MLP model for spatial disaggregation of areal rainfall. The MLP and KSOFM models could disaggregate areal rainfall into individual point rainfall with spatial concepts.

Aggregating and Disaggregating Flexibility Objects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siksnys, Laurynas; Valsomatzis, Emmanouil; Hose, Katja

2015-01-01

In many scientific and commercial domains we encounter flexibility objects, i.e., objects with explicit flexibilities in a time and an amount dimension (e.g., energy or product amount). Applications of flexibility objects require novel and efficient techniques capable of handling large amounts...... and aiming at energy balancing during aggregation. In more detail, this paper considers the complete life cycle of flex-objects: aggregation, disaggregation, associated requirements, efficient incremental computation, and balance aggregation techniques. Extensive experiments based on real-world data from...

Disaggregation of sectors in Social Accounting Matrices using a customized Wolsky method

OpenAIRE

BARRERA-LOZANO Margarita; MAINAR CAUSAPÉ ALFREDO; VALLÉS FERRER José

2014-01-01

The aim of this work is to enable the implementation of disaggregation processes for specific and homogeneous sectors in Social Accounting Matrices (SAMs), while taking into account the difficulties in data collection from these types of sectors. The method proposed is based on the Wolsky technique, customized for the disaggregation of Social Accounting Matrices, within the current-facilities framework. The Spanish Social Accounting Matrix for 2008 is used as a benchmark for the analysis, and...

Disaggregated energy consumption and GDP in Taiwan: A threshold co-integration analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, J.-L.; Lin, C.-H.

2008-01-01

Energy consumption growth is much higher than economic growth for Taiwan in recent years, worsening its energy efficiency. This paper provides a solid explanation by examining the equilibrium relationship between GDP and disaggregated energy consumption under a non-linear framework. The threshold co-integration test developed with asymmetric dynamic adjusting processes proposed by Hansen and Seo [Hansen, B.E., Seo, B., 2002. Testing for two-regime threshold cointegration in vector error-correction models. Journal of Econometrics 110, 293-318.] is applied. Non-linear co-integrations between GDP and disaggregated energy consumptions are confirmed except for oil consumption. The two-regime vector error-correction models (VECM) show that the adjustment process of energy consumption toward equilibrium is highly persistent when an appropriately threshold is reached. There is mean-reverting behavior when the threshold is reached, making aggregate and disaggregated energy consumptions grow faster than GDP in Taiwan

Geographic distribution of hospital beds throughout China: a county-level econometric analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Jay; Shallcross, David

2016-11-08

Geographical distribution of healthcare resources is an important dimension of healthcare access. Little work has been published on healthcare resource allocation patterns in China, despite public equity concerns. Using national data from 2043 counties, this paper investigates the geographic distribution of hospital beds at the county level in China. We performed Gini coefficient analysis to measure inequalities and ordinary least squares regression with fixed provincial effects and additional spatial specifications to assess key determinants. We found that provinces in west China have the least equitable resource distribution. We also found that the distribution of hospital beds is highly spatially clustered. Finally, we found that both county-level savings and government revenue show a strong positive relationship with county level hospital bed density. We argue for more widespread use of disaggregated, geographical data in health policy-making in China to support the rational allocation of healthcare resources, thus promoting efficiency and equity.

Disaggregate energy consumption and industrial production in South Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ziramba, Emmanuel

2009-01-01

This paper tries to assess the relationship between disaggregate energy consumption and industrial output in South Africa by undertaking a cointegration analysis using annual data from 1980 to 2005. We also investigate the causal relationships between the various disaggregate forms of energy consumption and industrial production. Our results imply that industrial production and employment are long-run forcing variables for electricity consumption. Applying the [Toda, H.Y., Yamamoto, T., 1995. Statistical inference in vector autoregressions with possibly integrated processes. Journal of Econometrics 66, 225-250] technique to Granger-causality, we find bi-directional causality between oil consumption and industrial production. For the other forms of energy consumption, there is evidence in support of the energy neutrality hypothesis. There is also evidence of causality between employment and electricity consumption as well as coal consumption causing employment.

Disaggregating Qualitative Data from Asian American College Students in Campus Racial Climate Research and Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Museus, Samuel D.; Truong, Kimberly A.

2009-01-01

This article highlights the utility of disaggregating qualitative research and assessment data on Asian American college students. Given the complexity of and diversity within the Asian American population, scholars have begun to underscore the importance of disaggregating data in the empirical examination of Asian Americans, but most of those…

Disaggregate energy consumption and industrial production in South Africa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ziramba, Emmanuel [Department of Economics, University of South Africa, P.O Box 392, UNISA 0003 (South Africa)

2009-06-15

This paper tries to assess the relationship between disaggregate energy consumption and industrial output in South Africa by undertaking a cointegration analysis using annual data from 1980 to 2005. We also investigate the causal relationships between the various disaggregate forms of energy consumption and industrial production. Our results imply that industrial production and employment are long-run forcing variables for electricity consumption. Applying the [Toda, H.Y., Yamamoto, T., 1995. Statistical inference in vector autoregressions with possibly integrated processes. Journal of Econometrics 66, 225-250] technique to Granger-causality, we find bi-directional causality between oil consumption and industrial production. For the other forms of energy consumption, there is evidence in support of the energy neutrality hypothesis. There is also evidence of causality between employment and electricity consumption as well as coal consumption causing employment. (author)

Context-Based Energy Disaggregation in Smart Homes

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Francesca Paradiso

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we address the problem of energy conservation and optimization in residential environments by providing users with useful information to solicit a change in consumption behavior. Taking care to highly limit the costs of installation and management, our work proposes a Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM approach, which consists of disaggregating the whole-house power consumption into the individual portions associated to each device. State of the art NILM algorithms need monitoring data sampled at high frequency, thus requiring high costs for data collection and management. In this paper, we propose an NILM approach that relaxes the requirements on monitoring data since it uses total active power measurements gathered at low frequency (about 1 Hz. The proposed approach is based on the use of Factorial Hidden Markov Models (FHMM in conjunction with context information related to the user presence in the house and the hourly utilization of appliances. Through a set of tests, we investigated how the use of these additional context-awareness features could improve disaggregation results with respect to the basic FHMM algorithm. The tests have been performed by using Tracebase, an open dataset made of data gathered from real home environments.

Is disaggregation the holy grail of energy efficiency? The case of electricity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carrie Armel, K.; Gupta, Abhay; Shrimali, Gireesh; Albert, Adrian

2013-01-01

This paper aims to address two timely energy problems. First, significant low-cost energy reductions can be made in the residential and commercial sectors, but these savings have not been achievable to date. Second, billions of dollars are being spent to install smart meters, yet the energy saving and financial benefits of this infrastructure – without careful consideration of the human element – will not reach its full potential. We believe that we can address these problems by strategically marrying them, using disaggregation. Disaggregation refers to a set of statistical approaches for extracting end-use and/or appliance level data from an aggregate, or whole-building, energy signal. In this paper, we explain how appliance level data affords numerous benefits, and why using the algorithms in conjunction with smart meters is the most cost-effective and scalable solution for getting this data. We review disaggregation algorithms and their requirements, and evaluate the extent to which smart meters can meet those requirements. Research, technology, and policy recommendations are also outlined. - Highlights: ► Appliance energy use data can produce many consumer, industry, and policy benefits. ► Disaggregating smart meter data is the most cost-effective and scalable solution. ► We review algorithm requirements, and ability of smart meters to meet those. ► Current technology identifies ∼10 appliances; minor upgrades could identify more. ► Research, technology, and policy recommendations for moving forward are outlined.

A rank-based approach for correcting systematic biases in spatial disaggregation of coarse-scale climate simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Nahar, Jannatun; Johnson, Fiona; Sharma, Ashish

2017-07-01

Use of General Circulation Model (GCM) precipitation and evapotranspiration sequences for hydrologic modelling can result in unrealistic simulations due to the coarse scales at which GCMs operate and the systematic biases they contain. The Bias Correction Spatial Disaggregation (BCSD) method is a popular statistical downscaling and bias correction method developed to address this issue. The advantage of BCSD is its ability to reduce biases in the distribution of precipitation totals at the GCM scale and then introduce more realistic variability at finer scales than simpler spatial interpolation schemes. Although BCSD corrects biases at the GCM scale before disaggregation; at finer spatial scales biases are re-introduced by the assumptions made in the spatial disaggregation process. Our study focuses on this limitation of BCSD and proposes a rank-based approach that aims to reduce the spatial disaggregation bias especially for both low and high precipitation extremes. BCSD requires the specification of a multiplicative bias correction anomaly field that represents the ratio of the fine scale precipitation to the disaggregated precipitation. It is shown that there is significant temporal variation in the anomalies, which is masked when a mean anomaly field is used. This can be improved by modelling the anomalies in rank-space. Results from the application of the rank-BCSD procedure improve the match between the distributions of observed and downscaled precipitation at the fine scale compared to the original BCSD approach. Further improvements in the distribution are identified when a scaling correction to preserve mass in the disaggregation process is implemented. An assessment of the approach using a single GCM over Australia shows clear advantages especially in the simulation of particularly low and high downscaled precipitation amounts.

Probabilistic disaggregation of a spatial portfolio of exposure for natural hazard risk assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Custer, Rocco; Nishijima, Kazuyoshi

2018-01-01

In natural hazard risk assessment situations are encountered where information on the portfolio of exposure is only available in a spatially aggregated form, hindering a precise risk assessment. Recourse might be found in the spatial disaggregation of the portfolio of exposure to the resolution...... of a portfolio of buildings in two communes in Switzerland and the results are compared to sample observations. The relevance of probabilistic disaggregation uncertainty in natural hazard risk assessment is illustrated with the example of a simple flood risk assessment....

Long-run relationship between sectoral productivity and energy consumption in Malaysia: An aggregated and disaggregated viewpoint

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahman, Md Saifur; Junsheng, Ha; Shahari, Farihana; Aslam, Mohamed; Masud, Muhammad Mehedi; Banna, Hasanul; Liya, Ma

2015-01-01

This paper investigates the causal relationship between energy consumption and economic productivity in Malaysia at both aggregated and disaggregated levels. The investigation utilises total and sectoral (industrial and manufacturing) productivity growth during the 1971–2012 period using the modified Granger causality test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto [1] within a multivariate framework. The economy of Malaysia was found to be energy dependent at aggregated and disaggregated levels of national and sectoral economic growth. However, at disaggregate level, inefficient energy use is particularly identified with electricity and coal consumption patterns and their Granger caused negative effects upon GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and manufacturing growth. These findings suggest that policies should focus more on improving energy efficiency and energy saving. Furthermore, since emissions are found to have a close relationship to economic output at national and sectoral levels green technologies are of a highest necessity. - Highlights: • At aggregate level, energy consumption significantly influences GDP (Gross Domestic Product). • At disaggregate level, electricity & coal consumption does not help output growth. • Mineral and waste are found to positively Granger cause GDP. • The results reveal strong interactions between emissions and economic growth

Disaggregating Assessment to Close the Loop and Improve Student Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Rawls, Janita; Hammons, Stacy

2015-01-01

This study examined student learning outcomes for accelerated degree students as compared to conventional undergraduate students, disaggregated by class levels, to develop strategies for then closing the loop with assessment. Using the National Survey of Student Engagement, critical thinking and oral and written communication outcomes were…

GIS aided spatial disaggregation of emission inventories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orthofer, R.; Loibl, W.

1995-10-01

We have applied our method to produce detailed NMVOC and NO x emission density maps for Austria. While theoretical average emission densities for the whole country would be only 5 t NMVOC and 2.5 t NO x per km 2 , the actual emission densities range from zero in the many uninhabited areas up to more than 3,000 t/km 2 along major highways. In Austria, small scale disaggregation is necessary particularly for the differentiated topography and population patterns in alpine valleys. (author)

New Insight into the Finance-Energy Nexus: Disaggregated Evidence from Turkish Sectors

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Mert Topcu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Seeing that reshaped energy economics literature has adopted some new variables in energy demand function, the number of papers looking into the relationship between financial development and energy consumption at the aggregate level has been increasing over the last few years. This paper, however, proposes a new framework using disaggregated data and investigates the nexus between financial development and sectoral energy consumption in Turkey. To this end, panel time series regression and causality techniques are adopted over the period 1989–2011. Empirical results confirm that financial development does have a significant impact on energy consumption, even with disaggregated data. It is also proved that the magnitude of financial development is larger in energy-intensive industries than in less energy-intensive ones.

Carbon emissions, energy consumption and economic growth: An aggregate and disaggregate analysis of the Indian economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, Ashfaq; Zhao, Yuhuan; Shahbaz, Muhammad; Bano, Sadia; Zhang, Zhonghua; Wang, Song; Liu, Ya

2016-01-01

This study investigates the long and short run relationships among carbon emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in India at the aggregated and disaggregated levels during 1971–2014. The autoregressive distributed lag model is employed for the cointegration analyses and the vector error correction model is applied to determine the direction of causality between variables. Results show that a long run cointegration relationship exists and that the environmental Kuznets curve is validated at the aggregated and disaggregated levels. Furthermore, energy (total energy, gas, oil, electricity and coal) consumption has a positive relationship with carbon emissions and a feedback effect exists between economic growth and carbon emissions. Thus, energy-efficient technologies should be used in domestic production to mitigate carbon emissions at the aggregated and disaggregated levels. The present study provides policy makers with new directions in drafting comprehensive policies with lasting impacts on the economy, energy consumption and environment towards sustainable development. - Highlights: •Relationships among carbon emissions, energy consumption and economic growth are investigated. •The EKC exists at aggregated and disaggregated levels for India. •All energy resources have positive effects on carbon emissions. •Gas energy consumption is less polluting than other energy sources in India.

Spatial and temporal disaggregation of transport-related carbon dioxide emissions in Bogota - Colombia

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez-Gonzalez, L. A.; Jimenez Pizarro, R.; Néstor Y. Rojas, N. Y.

2011-12-01

As a result of rapid urbanization during the last 60 years, 75% of the Colombian population now lives in cities. Urban areas are net sources of greenhouse gases (GHG) and contribute significantly to national GHG emission inventories. The development of scientifically-sound GHG mitigation strategies require accurate GHG source and sink estimations. Disaggregated inventories are effective mitigation decision-making tools. The disaggregation process renders detailed information on the distribution of emissions by transport mode, and the resulting a priori emissions map allows for optimal definition of sites for GHG flux monitoring, either by eddy covariance or inverse modeling techniques. Fossil fuel use in transportation is a major source of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Bogota. We present estimates of CO2 emissions from road traffic in Bogota using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reference method, and a spatial and temporal disaggregation method. Aggregated CO2 emissions from mobile sources were estimated from monthly and annual fossil fuel (gasoline, diesel and compressed natural gas - CNG) consumption statistics, and estimations of bio-ethanol and bio-diesel use. Although bio-fuel CO2 emissions are considered balanced over annual (or multi-annual) agricultural cycles, we included them since CO2 generated by their combustion would be measurable by a net flux monitoring system. For the disaggregation methodology, we used information on Bogota's road network classification, mean travel speed and trip length for each vehicle category and road type. The CO2 emission factors were taken from recent in-road measurements for gasoline- and CNG-powered vehicles and also estimated from COPERT IV. We estimated emission factors for diesel from surveys on average trip length and fuel consumption. Using IPCC's reference method, we estimate Bogota's total transport-related CO2 emissions for 2008 (reference year) at 4.8 Tg CO2. The disaggregation method estimation is

A rainfall disaggregation scheme for sub-hourly time scales: Coupling a Bartlett-Lewis based model with adjusting procedures

Science.gov (United States)

Kossieris, Panagiotis; Makropoulos, Christos; Onof, Christian; Koutsoyiannis, Demetris

2018-01-01

Many hydrological applications, such as flood studies, require the use of long rainfall data at fine time scales varying from daily down to 1 min time step. However, in the real world there is limited availability of data at sub-hourly scales. To cope with this issue, stochastic disaggregation techniques are typically employed to produce possible, statistically consistent, rainfall events that aggregate up to the field data collected at coarser scales. A methodology for the stochastic disaggregation of rainfall at fine time scales was recently introduced, combining the Bartlett-Lewis process to generate rainfall events along with adjusting procedures to modify the lower-level variables (i.e., hourly) so as to be consistent with the higher-level one (i.e., daily). In the present paper, we extend the aforementioned scheme, initially designed and tested for the disaggregation of daily rainfall into hourly depths, for any sub-hourly time scale. In addition, we take advantage of the recent developments in Poisson-cluster processes incorporating in the methodology a Bartlett-Lewis model variant that introduces dependence between cell intensity and duration in order to capture the variability of rainfall at sub-hourly time scales. The disaggregation scheme is implemented in an R package, named HyetosMinute, to support disaggregation from daily down to 1-min time scale. The applicability of the methodology was assessed on a 5-min rainfall records collected in Bochum, Germany, comparing the performance of the above mentioned model variant against the original Bartlett-Lewis process (non-random with 5 parameters). The analysis shows that the disaggregation process reproduces adequately the most important statistical characteristics of rainfall at wide range of time scales, while the introduction of the model with dependent intensity-duration results in a better performance in terms of skewness, rainfall extremes and dry proportions.

Statistical Models for Disaggregation and Reaggregation of Natural Gas Consumption Data

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Brabec, Marek; Konár, Ondřej; Malý, Marek; Kasanický, Ivan; Pelikán, Emil

2015-01-01

Roč. 42, č. 5 (2015), s. 921-937 ISSN 0266-4763 Institutional support: RVO:67985807 Keywords : natural gas consumption * semiparametric model * standardized load profiles * aggregation * disaggregation * 62P30 Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics , Operational Research Impact factor: 0.419, year: 2015

Daily disaggregation of simulated monthly flows using different rainfall datasets in southern Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D.A. Hughes

2015-09-01

New hydrological insights for the region: There are substantial regional differences in the success of the monthly hydrological model, which inevitably affects the success of the daily disaggregation results. There are also regional differences in the success of using global rainfall data sets (Climatic Research Unit (CRU datasets for monthly, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration African Rainfall Climatology, version 2 (ARC2 satellite data for daily. The overall conclusion is that the disaggregation method presents a parsimonious approach to generating daily flow simulations from existing monthly simulations and that these daily flows are likely to be useful for some purposes (e.g. water quality modelling, but less so for others (e.g. peak flow analysis.

Disaggregation of small, cohesive rubble pile asteroids due to YORP

Science.gov (United States)

Scheeres, D. J.

2018-04-01

The implication of small amounts of cohesion within relatively small rubble pile asteroids is investigated with regard to their evolution under the persistent presence of the YORP effect. We find that below a characteristic size, which is a function of cohesive strength, density and other properties, rubble pile asteroids can enter a "disaggregation phase" in which they are subject to repeated fissions after which the formation of a stabilizing binary system is not possible. Once this threshold is passed rubble pile asteroids may be disaggregated into their constituent components within a finite time span. These constituent components will have their own spin limits - albeit potentially at a much higher spin rate due to the greater strength of a monolithic body. The implications of this prediction are discussed and include modification of size distributions, prevalence of monolithic bodies among meteoroids and the lifetime of small rubble pile bodies in the solar system. The theory is then used to place constraints on the strength of binary asteroids characterized as a function of their type.

An Iterative Load Disaggregation Approach Based on Appliance Consumption Pattern

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huijuan Wang

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM, monitoring single-appliance consumption level by decomposing the aggregated energy consumption, is a novel and economic technology that is beneficial to energy utilities and energy demand management strategies development. Hardware costs of high-frequency sampling and algorithm’s computational complexity hampered NILM large-scale application. However, low sampling data shows poor performance in event detection when multiple appliances are simultaneously turned on. In this paper, we contribute an iterative disaggregation approach that is based on appliance consumption pattern (ILDACP. Our approach combined Fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm, which provide an initial appliance operating status, and sub-sequence searching Dynamic Time Warping, which retrieves single energy consumption based on the typical power consumption pattern. Results show that the proposed approach is effective to accurately disaggregate power consumption, and is suitable for the situation where different appliances are simultaneously operated. Also, the approach has lower computational complexity than Hidden Markov Model method and it is easy to implement in the household without installing special equipment.

HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plans of Sub-Saharan African countries: an analysis for gender equality and sex-disaggregated HIV targets.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherwood, Jennifer; Sharp, Alana; Cooper, Bergen; Roose-Snyder, Beirne; Blumenthal, Susan

2017-12-01

National Strategic Plans (NSPs) for HIV/AIDS are country planning documents that set priorities for programmes and services, including a set of targets to quantify progress toward national and international goals. The inclusion of sex-disaggregated targets and targets to combat gender inequality is important given the high disease burden among young women and adolescent girls in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet no comprehensive gender-focused analysis of NSP targets has been performed. This analysis quantitatively evaluates national HIV targets, included in NSPs from eighteen Sub-Saharan African countries, for sex-disaggregation. Additionally, NSP targets aimed at reducing gender-based inequality in health outcomes are compiled and inductively coded to report common themes. On average, in the eighteen countries included in this analysis, 31% of NSP targets include sex-disaggregation (range 0-92%). Three countries disaggregated a majority (>50%) of their targets by sex. Sex-disaggregation in data reporting was more common for targets related to the early phases of the HIV care continuum: 83% of countries included any sex-disaggregated targets for HIV prevention, 56% for testing and linkage to care, 22% for improving antiretroviral treatment coverage, and 11% for retention in treatment. The most common target to reduce gender inequality was to prevent gender-based violence (present in 50% of countries). Other commonly incorporated target areas related to improving women's access to family planning, human and legal rights, and decision-making power. The inclusion of sex-disaggregated targets in national planning is vital to ensure that programmes make progress for all population groups. Improving the availability and quality of indicators to measure gender inequality, as well as evaluating programme outcomes by sex, is critical to tracking this progress. This analysis reveals an urgent need to set specific and separate targets for men and women in order to achieve an equitable

HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plans of Sub-Saharan African countries: an analysis for gender equality and sex-disaggregated HIV targets

Science.gov (United States)

Sherwood, Jennifer; Sharp, Alana; Cooper, Bergen; Roose-Snyder, Beirne; Blumenthal, Susan

2017-01-01

Abstract National Strategic Plans (NSPs) for HIV/AIDS are country planning documents that set priorities for programmes and services, including a set of targets to quantify progress toward national and international goals. The inclusion of sex-disaggregated targets and targets to combat gender inequality is important given the high disease burden among young women and adolescent girls in Sub-Saharan Africa, yet no comprehensive gender-focused analysis of NSP targets has been performed. This analysis quantitatively evaluates national HIV targets, included in NSPs from eighteen Sub-Saharan African countries, for sex-disaggregation. Additionally, NSP targets aimed at reducing gender-based inequality in health outcomes are compiled and inductively coded to report common themes. On average, in the eighteen countries included in this analysis, 31% of NSP targets include sex-disaggregation (range 0–92%). Three countries disaggregated a majority (>50%) of their targets by sex. Sex-disaggregation in data reporting was more common for targets related to the early phases of the HIV care continuum: 83% of countries included any sex-disaggregated targets for HIV prevention, 56% for testing and linkage to care, 22% for improving antiretroviral treatment coverage, and 11% for retention in treatment. The most common target to reduce gender inequality was to prevent gender-based violence (present in 50% of countries). Other commonly incorporated target areas related to improving women’s access to family planning, human and legal rights, and decision-making power. The inclusion of sex-disaggregated targets in national planning is vital to ensure that programmes make progress for all population groups. Improving the availability and quality of indicators to measure gender inequality, as well as evaluating programme outcomes by sex, is critical to tracking this progress. This analysis reveals an urgent need to set specific and separate targets for men and women in order to achieve

A Replication of ``Using self-esteem to disaggregate psychopathy, narcissism, and aggression (2013''

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Durand, Guillaume

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The present study is a replication of Falkenbach, Howe, and Falki (2013. Using self-esteem to disaggregate psychopathy, narcissism, and aggression. Personality and Individual Differences, 54(7, 815-820.

Equity in health care financing in Palestine: the value-added of the disaggregate approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Abu-Zaineh, Mohammad; Mataria, Awad; Luchini, Stéphane; Moatti, Jean-Paul

2008-06-01

This paper analyzes the redistributive effect and progressivity associated with the current health care financing schemes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, using data from the first Palestinian Household Health Expenditure Survey conducted in 2004. The paper goes beyond the commonly used "aggregate summary index approach" to apply a more detailed "disaggregate approach". Such an approach is borrowed from the general economic literature on taxation, and examines redistributive and vertical effects over specific parts of the income distribution, using the dominance criterion. In addition, the paper employs a bootstrap method to test for the statistical significance of the inequality measures. While both the aggregate and disaggregate approaches confirm the pro-rich and regressive character of out-of-pocket payments, the aggregate approach does not ascertain the potential progressive feature of any of the available insurance schemes. The disaggregate approach, however, significantly reveals a progressive aspect, for over half of the population, of the government health insurance scheme, and demonstrates that the regressivity of the out-of-pocket payments is most pronounced among the worst-off classes of the population. Recommendations are advanced to improve the performance of the government insurance schemes to enhance its capacity in limiting inequalities in health care financing in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Disaggregating Orders of Water Scarcity - The Politics of Nexus in the Wami-Ruvu River Basin, Tanzania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Mdee

2017-02-01

Full Text Available This article considers the dilemma of managing competing uses of surface water in ways that respond to social, ecological and economic needs. Current approaches to managing competing water use, such as Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM and the concept of the water-energy-food nexus do not adequately disaggregate the political nature of water allocations. This is analysed using Mehta’s (2014 framework on orders of scarcity to disaggregate narratives of water scarcity in two ethnographic case studies in the WamiRuvu River Basin in Tanzania: one of a mountain river that provides water to urban Morogoro, and another of a large donor-supported irrigation scheme on the Wami River. These case studies allow us to explore different interfaces in the food-water-energy nexus. The article makes two points: that disaggregating water scarcity is essential for analysing the nexus; and that current institutional frameworks (such as IWRM mask the political nature of the nexus, and therefore do not provide an adequate platform for adjudicating the interfaces of competing water use.

Disaggregation of collective dose-a worked example based on future discharges from the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing site, UK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, S R; Lambers, B; Stevens, A

2004-01-01

Collective dose has long been advocated as an important measure of the detriment associated with practices that involve the use of radioactivity. Application of collective dose in the context of worker protection is relatively straightforward, whereas its application in the context of discharges to the environment can yield radically different conclusions depending upon the population groups and integration times that are considered. The computer program PC-CREAM98 has been used to provide an indicative disaggregation into individual dose bands of the collective dose due to potential future radioactive discharges from the nuclear fuel reprocessing site at Sellafield in the UK. Two alternative discharge scenarios are considered, which represent a 'stop reprocessing early, minimum discharge' scenario and a 'reprocessing beyond current contracts' scenario. For aerial discharges, collective dose at individual effective dose rates exceeding 0.015 μSv y -1 is only incurred within the UK, and at effective dose rates exceeding 1.5 μSv y -1 is only incurred within about 20 km of Sellafield. The geographical distribution of collective dose from liquid discharges is harder to assess, but it appears that collective dose incurred outside the UK is at levels of individual effective dose rate below 1.5 μSv y -1 , with the majority being incurred at rates of 0.002 μSv y -1 or less. In multi-attribute utility analyses, the view taken on the radiological detriment to be attributed to the two discharge scenarios will depend critically on the weight or monetary value ascribed to collective doses incurred within the differing bands of individual dose rate

Modelling OAIS Compliance for Disaggregated Preservation Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gareth Knight

2007-07-01

Full Text Available The reference model for the Open Archival Information System (OAIS is well established in the research community as a method of modelling the functions of a digital repository and as a basis in which to frame digital curation and preservation issues. In reference to the 5th anniversary review of the OAIS, it is timely to consider how it may be interpreted by an institutional repository. The paper examines methods of sharing essential functions and requirements of an OAIS between two or more institutions, outlining the practical considerations of outsourcing. It also details the approach taken by the SHERPA DP Project to introduce a disaggregated service model for institutional repositories that wish to implement preservation services.

Disaggregating radar-derived rainfall measurements in East Azarbaijan, Iran, using a spatial random-cascade model

Science.gov (United States)

Fouladi Osgouei, Hojjatollah; Zarghami, Mahdi; Ashouri, Hamed

2017-07-01

The availability of spatial, high-resolution rainfall data is one of the most essential needs in the study of water resources. These data are extremely valuable in providing flood awareness for dense urban and industrial areas. The first part of this paper applies an optimization-based method to the calibration of radar data based on ground rainfall gauges. Then, the climatological Z-R relationship for the Sahand radar, located in the East Azarbaijan province of Iran, with the help of three adjacent rainfall stations, is obtained. The new climatological Z-R relationship with a power-law form shows acceptable statistical performance, making it suitable for radar-rainfall estimation by the Sahand radar outputs. The second part of the study develops a new heterogeneous random-cascade model for spatially disaggregating the rainfall data resulting from the power-law model. This model is applied to the radar-rainfall image data to disaggregate rainfall data with coverage area of 512 × 512 km2 to a resolution of 32 × 32 km2. Results show that the proposed model has a good ability to disaggregate rainfall data, which may lead to improvement in precipitation forecasting, and ultimately better water-resources management in this arid region, including Urmia Lake.

The Behaviour of Disaggregated Public Expenditures and Income in Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Tang, Chor-Foon; Lau, Evan

2011-01-01

The present study attempts to re-investigate the behaviour of disaggregated public expenditures data and national income for Malaysia. This study covers the sample period of annual data from 1960 to 2007. The Bartlett-corrected trace tests proposed by Johansen (2002) were used to ascertain the presence of long run equilibrium relationship between public expenditures and national income. The results show one cointegrating vector for each specification of public expenditures. The relatively new...

Technological shape and size: A disaggregated perspective on sectoral innovation systems in renewable electrification pathways

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Ulrich Elmer; Gregersen, Cecilia; Lema, Rasmus

2018-01-01

important analytical implications because the disaggregated perspective allows us to identify trajectories that cut across conventionally defined core technologies. This is important for ongoing discussions of electrification pathways in developing countries. We conclude the paper by distilling......The sectoral innovation system perspective has been developed as an analytical framework to analyse and understand innovation dynamics within and across various sectors. Most of the research conducted on sectoral innovation systems has focused on an aggregate-level analysis of entire sectors....... This paper argues that a disaggregated (sub-sectoral) focus is more suited to policy-oriented work on the development and diffusion of renewable energy, particularly in countries with rapidly developing energy systems and open technology choices. It focuses on size, distinguishing between small-scale (mini...

Soil map disaggregation improved by soil-landscape relationships, area-proportional sampling and random forest implementation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møller, Anders Bjørn; Malone, Brendan P.; Odgers, Nathan

implementation generally improved the algorithm’s ability to predict the correct soil class. The implementation of soil-landscape relationships and area-proportional sampling generally increased the calculation time, while the random forest implementation reduced the calculation time. In the most successful......Detailed soil information is often needed to support agricultural practices, environmental protection and policy decisions. Several digital approaches can be used to map soil properties based on field observations. When soil observations are sparse or missing, an alternative approach...... is to disaggregate existing conventional soil maps. At present, the DSMART algorithm represents the most sophisticated approach for disaggregating conventional soil maps (Odgers et al., 2014). The algorithm relies on classification trees trained from resampled points, which are assigned classes according...

Amyloid formation and disaggregation of α-synuclein and its tandem repeat (α-TR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bae, Song Yi; Kim, Seulgi; Hwang, Heejin; Kim, Hyun-Kyung; Yoon, Hyun C.; Kim, Jae Ho; Lee, SangYoon; Kim, T. Doohun

2010-01-01

Research highlights: → Formation of the α-synuclein amyloid fibrils by [BIMbF 3 Im]. → Disaggregation of amyloid fibrils by epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and baicalein. → Amyloid formation of α-synuclein tandem repeat (α-TR). -- Abstract: The aggregation of α-synuclein is clearly related to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. Therefore, detailed understanding of the mechanism of fibril formation is highly valuable for the development of clinical treatment and also of the diagnostic tools. Here, we have investigated the interaction of α-synuclein with ionic liquids by using several biochemical techniques including Thioflavin T assays and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Our data shows a rapid formation of α-synuclein amyloid fibrils was stimulated by 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [BIMbF 3 Im], and these fibrils could be disaggregated by polyphenols such as epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and baicalein. Furthermore, the effect of [BIMbF 3 Im] on the α-synuclein tandem repeat (α-TR) in the aggregation process was studied.

Load Disaggregation via Pattern Recognition: A Feasibility Study of a Novel Method in Residential Building

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Younghoon Kwak

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In response to the need to improve energy-saving processes in older buildings, especially residential ones, this paper describes the potential of a novel method of disaggregating loads in light of the load patterns of household appliances determined in residential buildings. Experiments were designed to be applicable to general residential buildings and four types of commonly used appliances were selected to verify the method. The method assumes that loads are disaggregated and measured by a single primary meter. Following the metering of household appliances and an analysis of the usage patterns of each type, values of electric current were entered into a Hidden Markov Model (HMM to formulate predictions. Thereafter, the HMM repeatedly performed to output the predicted data close to the measured data, while errors between predicted and the measured data were evaluated to determine whether they met tolerance. When the method was examined for 4 days, matching rates in accordance with the load disaggregation outcomes of the household appliances (i.e., laptop, refrigerator, TV, and microwave were 0.994, 0.992, 0.982, and 0.988, respectively. The proposed method can provide insights into how and where within such buildings energy is consumed. As a result, effective and systematic energy saving measures can be derived even in buildings in which monitoring sensors and measurement equipment are not installed.

Development of a Disaggregation Framework toward the Estimation of Subdaily Reference Evapotranspiration: 2- Estimation of Subdaily Reference Evapotranspiration Using Disaggregated Weather Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Parchami Araghi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Subdaily estimates of reference evapotranspiration (ET o are needed in many applications such as dynamic agro-hydrological modeling. However, in many regions, the lack of subdaily weather data availability has hampered the efforts to quantify the subdaily ET o. In the first presented paper, a physically based framework was developed to desegregate daily weather data needed for estimation of subdaily reference ET o, including air temperature, wind speed, dew point, actual vapour pressure, relative humidity, and solar radiation. The main purpose of this study was to estimate the subdaily ETo using disaggregated daily data derived from developed disaggregation framework in the first presented paper. Materials and Methods: Subdaily ET o estimates were made, using ASCE and FAO-56 Penman–Monteith models (ASCE-PM and FAO56-PM, respectively and subdaily weather data derived from the developed daily-to-subdaily weather data disaggregation framework. To this end, long-term daily weather data got from Abadan (59 years and Ahvaz (50 years synoptic weather stations were collected. Sensitivity analysis of Penman–Monteith model to the different meteorological variables (including, daily air temperature, wind speed at 2 m height, actual vapor pressure, and solar radiation was carried out, using partial derivatives of Penman–Monteith equation. The capability of the two models for retrieving the daily ETo was evaluated, using root mean square error RMSE (mm, the mean error ME (mm, the mean absolute error ME (mm, Pearson correlation coefficient r (-, and Nash–Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficient EF (-. Different contributions to the overall error were decomposed using a regression-based method. Results and Discussion: The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that the daily air temperature and the actual vapor pressure are the most significant meteorological variables, which affect the ETo estimates. In contrast, low sensitivity

Validating CDIAC's population-based approach to the disaggregation of within-country CO2 emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cushman, R.M.; Beauchamp, J.J.; Brenkert, A.L.

1998-01-01

The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center produces and distributes a data base of CO 2 emissions from fossil-fuel combustion and cement production, expressed as global, regional, and national estimates. CDIAC also produces a companion data base, expressed on a one-degree latitude-longitude grid. To do this gridding, emissions within each country are spatially disaggregated according to the distribution of population within that country. Previously, the lack of within-country emissions data prevented a validation of this approach. But emissions inventories are now becoming available for most US states. An analysis of these inventories confirms that population distribution explains most, but not all, of the variance in the distribution of CO 2 emissions within the US. Additional sources of variance (coal production, non-carbon energy sources, and interstate electricity transfers) are explored, with the hope that the spatial disaggregation of emissions can be improved

Converged photonic data storage and switch platform for exascale disaggregated data centers

Science.gov (United States)

Pitwon, R.; Wang, K.; Worrall, A.

2017-02-01

We report on a converged optically enabled Ethernet storage, switch and compute platform, which could support future disaggregated data center architectures. The platform includes optically enabled Ethernet switch controllers, an advanced electro-optical midplane and optically interchangeable generic end node devices. We demonstrate system level performance using optically enabled Ethernet disk drives and micro-servers across optical links of varied lengths.

Integration properties of disaggregated solar, geothermal and biomass energy consumption in the U.S

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Apergis, Nicholas; Tsoumas, Chris

2011-01-01

This paper investigates the integration properties of disaggregated solar, geothermal and biomass energy consumption in the U.S. The analysis is performed for the 1989-2009 period and covers all sectors which use these types of energy, i.e., transportation, residence, industrial, electric power and commercial. The results suggest that there are differences in the order of integration depending on both the type of energy and the sector involved. Moreover, the inclusion of structural breaks traced from the regulatory changes for these energy types seem to affect the order of integration for each series. - Highlights: → Increasing importance of renewable energy sources. → Integration properties of solar, geothermal and biomass energy consumption in the U.S. → The results show differences in the order of integration depending on the type of energy. → Structural breaks traced for these energy types affect the order of integration. → The order of integration is less than 1, so energy conservation policies are transitory.

At the crossroads: Geography, gender and occupational sector in employment-related geographical mobility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Haan

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In Canada, patterns of employment-related geographical mobility (E-RGM are becoming more complex and nuanced, with implications for employers, workers, and their families. This article introduces the concept of E-RGM, and argues that because mobility is a pervasive aspect of working lives in Canada, it deserves more systematic and extensive research. To date, most studies of labour mobility have focused on permanent relocation or short-distance daily commuting. We argue for more research that disaggregates the socio-economic characteristics of those engaged in E-RGM and untangles its complexity. Using the 2006 Canadian confidential master file to create a statistical portrait of E-RGM reveals considerable variation among the Canadian working population, particularly those engaging in more extensive work journeys.

Navigating between Disaggregating Nation States and Entrenching Processes of Globalisation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jacobsen, Michael

2007-01-01

on the international community for its economic survival this dependency on the global has as a consequence that it rolls back aspects of national sovereignty thus opening up the national hinterland for further international influences. These developments initiate a process of disaggregating state and nation, meaning...... that a gradual disarticulation of the relationship between state and nation produces new societal spaces, which are contested by non-statist interest groups and transnational more or less deterritorialised ethnic affiliated groups and networks. The argument forwarded in this article is that the ethnic Chinese...

The Disaggregation of Value-Added Test Scores to Assess Learning Outcomes in Economics Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Walstad, William B.; Wagner, Jamie

2016-01-01

This study disaggregates posttest, pretest, and value-added or difference scores in economics into four types of economic learning: positive, retained, negative, and zero. The types are derived from patterns of student responses to individual items on a multiple-choice test. The micro and macro data from the "Test of Understanding in College…

How sex- and age-disaggregated data and gender and generational analyses can improve humanitarian response.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazurana, Dyan; Benelli, Prisca; Walker, Peter

2013-07-01

Humanitarian aid remains largely driven by anecdote rather than by evidence. The contemporary humanitarian system has significant weaknesses with regard to data collection, analysis, and action at all stages of response to crises involving armed conflict or natural disaster. This paper argues that humanitarian actors can best determine and respond to vulnerabilities and needs if they use sex- and age-disaggregated data (SADD) and gender and generational analyses to help shape their assessments of crises-affected populations. Through case studies, the paper shows how gaps in information on sex and age limit the effectiveness of humanitarian response in all phases of a crisis. The case studies serve to show how proper collection, use, and analysis of SADD enable operational agencies to deliver assistance more effectively and efficiently. The evidence suggests that the employment of SADD and gender and generational analyses assists in saving lives and livelihoods in a crisis. © 2013 The Author(s). Journal compilation © Overseas Development Institute, 2013.

Disaggregated Energy Consumption and Sectoral Outputs in Thailand: ARDL Bound Testing Approach

OpenAIRE

Thurai Murugan Nathan; Venus Khim-Sen Liew; Wing-Keung Wong

2016-01-01

From an economic perspective, energy-output relationship studies have become increasingly popular in recent times, partly fuelled by a need to understand the effect of energy on production outputs rather than overall GDP. This study dealt with disaggregated energy consumption and outputs of some major economic sectors in Thailand. ARDL bound testing approach was employed to examine the co-integration relationship. The Granger causality test of the aforementioned ARDL framework was done to inv...

Employment in Disequilibrium: a Disaggregated Approach on a Panel of French Firms

OpenAIRE

Brigitte Dormont

1989-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to understand disequilibrium phenomena at a disaggregated level. By using data on French firms, we carry out the estimation of labor demand model with two regimes, which correspond to the Keynesian and classical hypotheses. The results enable us to characterize classical firms as being particularly good performers: they have more rapid growth, younger productive plant and higher productivity gains and profitability. Classical firms stand out, with respect to their...

The Long-Run Macroeconomic Effects of Aid and Disaggregated Aid in Ethiopia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gebregziabher, Fiseha Haile

2014-01-01

positively, whereas it is negatively associated with government consumption. Our results concerning the impacts of disaggregated aid stand in stark contrast to earlier work. Bilateral aid increases investment and GDP and is negatively associated with government consumption, whereas multilateral aid is only...... positively associated with imports. Grants contribute to GDP, investment and imports, whereas loans affect none of the variables. Finally, there is evidence to suggest that multilateral aid and loans have been disbursed in a procyclical fashion...

Development of an Asset Value Map for Disaster Risk Assessment in China by Spatial Disaggregation Using Ancillary Remote Sensing Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jidong; Li, Ying; Li, Ning; Shi, Peijun

2018-01-01

The extent of economic losses due to a natural hazard and disaster depends largely on the spatial distribution of asset values in relation to the hazard intensity distribution within the affected area. Given that statistical data on asset value are collected by administrative units in China, generating spatially explicit asset exposure maps remains a key challenge for rapid postdisaster economic loss assessment. The goal of this study is to introduce a top-down (or downscaling) approach to disaggregate administrative-unit level asset value to grid-cell level. To do so, finding the highly correlated "surrogate" indicators is the key. A combination of three data sets-nighttime light grid, LandScan population grid, and road density grid, is used as ancillary asset density distribution information for spatializing the asset value. As a result, a high spatial resolution asset value map of China for 2015 is generated. The spatial data set contains aggregated economic value at risk at 30 arc-second spatial resolution. Accuracy of the spatial disaggregation reflects redistribution errors introduced by the disaggregation process as well as errors from the original ancillary data sets. The overall accuracy of the results proves to be promising. The example of using the developed disaggregated asset value map in exposure assessment of watersheds demonstrates that the data set offers immense analytical flexibility for overlay analysis according to the hazard extent. This product will help current efforts to analyze spatial characteristics of exposure and to uncover the contributions of both physical and social drivers of natural hazard and disaster across space and time. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Determining the disaggregated economic value of irrigation water in the Musi sub-basin in India

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hellegers, P.J.G.J.; Davidson, B.

2010-01-01

In this paper the residual method is used to determine the disaggregated economic value of irrigation water used in agriculture across crops, zones and seasons. This method relies on the belief that the value of a good (its price by its quantity) is equal to the summation of the quantity of each

The Economic Impact of Higher Education Institutions in Ireland: Evidence from Disaggregated Input-Output Tables

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qiantao; Larkin, Charles; Lucey, Brian M.

2017-01-01

While there has been a long history of modelling the economic impact of higher education institutions (HEIs), little research has been undertaken in the context of Ireland. This paper provides, for the first time, a disaggregated input-output table for Ireland's higher education sector. The picture painted overall is a higher education sector that…

A theoretically consistent stochastic cascade for temporal disaggregation of intermittent rainfall

Science.gov (United States)

Lombardo, F.; Volpi, E.; Koutsoyiannis, D.; Serinaldi, F.

2017-06-01

Generating fine-scale time series of intermittent rainfall that are fully consistent with any given coarse-scale totals is a key and open issue in many hydrological problems. We propose a stationary disaggregation method that simulates rainfall time series with given dependence structure, wet/dry probability, and marginal distribution at a target finer (lower-level) time scale, preserving full consistency with variables at a parent coarser (higher-level) time scale. We account for the intermittent character of rainfall at fine time scales by merging a discrete stochastic representation of intermittency and a continuous one of rainfall depths. This approach yields a unique and parsimonious mathematical framework providing general analytical formulations of mean, variance, and autocorrelation function (ACF) for a mixed-type stochastic process in terms of mean, variance, and ACFs of both continuous and discrete components, respectively. To achieve the full consistency between variables at finer and coarser time scales in terms of marginal distribution and coarse-scale totals, the generated lower-level series are adjusted according to a procedure that does not affect the stochastic structure implied by the original model. To assess model performance, we study rainfall process as intermittent with both independent and dependent occurrences, where dependence is quantified by the probability that two consecutive time intervals are dry. In either case, we provide analytical formulations of main statistics of our mixed-type disaggregation model and show their clear accordance with Monte Carlo simulations. An application to rainfall time series from real world is shown as a proof of concept.

Improving the Communication Pattern in Matrix-Vector Operations for Large Scale-Free Graphs by Disaggregation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuhlemann, Verena [Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA (United States); Vassilevski, Panayot S. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

2013-10-28

Matrix-vector multiplication is the key operation in any Krylov-subspace iteration method. We are interested in Krylov methods applied to problems associated with the graph Laplacian arising from large scale-free graphs. Furthermore, computations with graphs of this type on parallel distributed-memory computers are challenging. This is due to the fact that scale-free graphs have a degree distribution that follows a power law, and currently available graph partitioners are not efficient for such an irregular degree distribution. The lack of a good partitioning leads to excessive interprocessor communication requirements during every matrix-vector product. Here, we present an approach to alleviate this problem based on embedding the original irregular graph into a more regular one by disaggregating (splitting up) vertices in the original graph. The matrix-vector operations for the original graph are performed via a factored triple matrix-vector product involving the embedding graph. And even though the latter graph is larger, we are able to decrease the communication requirements considerably and improve the performance of the matrix-vector product.

Disaggregate energy consumption and industrial output in the United States

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ewing, Bradley T.; Sari, Ramazan; Soytas, Ugur

2007-01-01

This paper investigates the effect of disaggregate energy consumption on industrial output in the United States. Most of the related research utilizes aggregate data which may not indicate the relative strength or explanatory power of various energy inputs on output. We use monthly data and employ the generalized variance decomposition approach to assess the relative impacts of energy and employment on real output. Our results suggest that unexpected shocks to coal, natural gas and fossil fuel energy sources have the highest impacts on the variation of output, while several renewable sources exhibit considerable explanatory power as well. However, none of the energy sources explain more of the forecast error variance of industrial output than employment

Spatial accuracy of a simplified disaggregation method for traffic emissions applied in seven mid-sized Chilean cities

Science.gov (United States)

Ossés de Eicker, Margarita; Zah, Rainer; Triviño, Rubén; Hurni, Hans

The spatial accuracy of top-down traffic emission inventory maps obtained with a simplified disaggregation method based on street density was assessed in seven mid-sized Chilean cities. Each top-down emission inventory map was compared against a reference, namely a more accurate bottom-up emission inventory map from the same study area. The comparison was carried out using a combination of numerical indicators and visual interpretation. Statistically significant differences were found between the seven cities with regard to the spatial accuracy of their top-down emission inventory maps. In compact cities with a simple street network and a single center, a good accuracy of the spatial distribution of emissions was achieved with correlation values>0.8 with respect to the bottom-up emission inventory of reference. In contrast, the simplified disaggregation method is not suitable for complex cities consisting of interconnected nuclei, resulting in correlation valuessituation to get an overview on the spatial distribution of the emissions generated by traffic activities.

Geographic profiling survey : a preliminary examination of geographic profilers' views and experiences

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Emeno, Karla; Bennell, Craig; Snook, Brent; Taylor, Paul Jonathon

Geographic profiling (GP) is an investigative technique that involves predicting a serial offender?s home location (or some other anchor point) based on where he or she committed a crime. Although the use of GP in police investigations appears to be on the rise, little is known about the procedure

POVERTY AND CALORIE DEPRIVATION ACROSS SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUPS IN RURAL INDIA: A DISAGGREGATED ANALYSIS

OpenAIRE

Gupta, Abha; Mishra, Deepak K.

2013-01-01

This paper examines the linkages between calorie deprivation and poverty in rural India at a disaggregated level. It aims to explore the trends and pattern in levels of nutrient intake across social and economic groups. A spatial analysis at the state and NSS-region level unravels the spatial distribution of calorie deprivation in rural India. The gap between incidence of poverty and calorie deprivation has also been investigated. The paper also estimates the factors influencing calorie depri...

Spatial and temporal disaggregation of anthropogenic CO2 emissions from the City of Cape Town

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alecia Nickless

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the methodology used to spatially and temporally disaggregate carbon dioxide emission estimates for the City of Cape Town, to be used for a city-scale atmospheric inversion estimating carbon dioxide fluxes. Fossil fuel emissions were broken down into emissions from road transport, domestic emissions, industrial emissions, and airport and harbour emissions. Using spatially explicit information on vehicle counts, and an hourly scaling factor, vehicle emissions estimates were obtained for the city. Domestic emissions from fossil fuel burning were estimated from household fuel usage information and spatially disaggregated population data from the 2011 national census. Fuel usage data were used to derive industrial emissions from listed activities, which included emissions from power generation, and these were distributed spatially according to the source point locations. The emissions from the Cape Town harbour and the international airport were determined from vessel and aircraft count data, respectively. For each emission type, error estimates were determined through error propagation techniques. The total fossil fuel emission field for the city was obtained by summing the spatial layers for each emission type, accumulated for the period of interest. These results will be used in a city-scale inversion study, and this method implemented in the future for a national atmospheric inversion study.

Disaggregating measurement uncertainty from population variability and Bayesian treatment of uncensored results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strom, Daniel J.; Joyce, Kevin E.; Maclellan, Jay A.; Watson, David J.; Lynch, Timothy P.; Antonio, Cheryl L.; Birchall, Alan; Anderson, Kevin K.; Zharov, Peter

2012-01-01

In making low-level radioactivity measurements of populations, it is commonly observed that a substantial portion of net results are negative. Furthermore, the observed variance of the measurement results arises from a combination of measurement uncertainty and population variability. This paper presents a method for disaggregating measurement uncertainty from population variability to produce a probability density function (PDF) of possibly true results. To do this, simple, justifiable, and reasonable assumptions are made about the relationship of the measurements to the measurands (the 'true values'). The measurements are assumed to be unbiased, that is, that their average value is the average of the measurands. Using traditional estimates of each measurement's uncertainty to disaggregate population variability from measurement uncertainty, a PDF of measurands for the population is produced. Then, using Bayes's theorem, the same assumptions, and all the data from the population of individuals, a prior PDF is computed for each individual's measurand. These PDFs are non-negative, and their average is equal to the average of the measurement results for the population. The uncertainty in these Bayesian posterior PDFs is all Berkson with no remaining classical component. The methods are applied to baseline bioassay data from the Hanford site. The data include 90Sr urinalysis measurements on 128 people, 137Cs in vivo measurements on 5,337 people, and 239Pu urinalysis measurements on 3,270 people. The method produces excellent results for the 90Sr and 137Cs measurements, since there are nonzero concentrations of these global fallout radionuclides in people who have not been occupationally exposed. The method does not work for the 239Pu measurements in non-occupationally exposed people because the population average is essentially zero.

NIR-Red Spectra-Based Disaggregation of SMAP Soil Moisture to 250 m Resolution Based on SMAPEx-4/5 in Southeastern Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nengcheng Chen

2017-01-01

Full Text Available To meet the demand of regional hydrological and agricultural applications, a new method named near infrared-red (NIR-red spectra-based disaggregation (NRSD was proposed to perform a disaggregation of Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP products from 36 km to 250 m resolution. The NRSD combined proposed normalized soil moisture index (NSMI with SMAP data to obtain 250 m resolution soil moisture mapping. The experiment was conducted in southeastern Australia during SMAP Experiments (SMAPEx 4/5 and validated with the in situ SMAPEx network. Results showed that NRSD performed a decent downscaling (root-mean-square error (RMSE = 0.04 m3/m3 and 0.12 m3/m3 during SMAPEx-4 and SMAPEx-5, respectively. Based on the validation, it was found that the proposed NSMI was a new alternative indicator for denoting the heterogeneity of soil moisture at sub-kilometer scales. Attributed to the excellent performance of the NSMI, NRSD has a higher overall accuracy, finer spatial representation within SMAP pixels and wider applicable scope on usability tests for land cover, vegetation density and drought condition than the disaggregation based on physical and theoretical scale change (DISPATCH has at 250 m resolution. This revealed that the NRSD method is expected to provide soil moisture mapping at 250-resolution for large-scale hydrological and agricultural studies.

Characteristics and Performance of Existing Load Disaggregation Technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mayhorn, Ebony T. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Sullivan, Greg P. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Butner, Ryan S. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Hao, He [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Baechler, Michael C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2015-04-10

Non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) or non-intrusive appliance load monitoring (NIALM) is an analytic approach to disaggregate building loads based on a single metering point. This advanced load monitoring and disaggregation technique has the potential to provide an alternative solution to high-priced traditional sub-metering and enable innovative approaches for energy conservation, energy efficiency, and demand response. However, since the inception of the concept in the 1980’s, evaluations of these technologies have focused on reporting performance accuracy without investigating sources of inaccuracies or fully understanding and articulating the meaning of the metrics used to quantify performance. As a result, the market for, as well as, advances in these technologies have been slowly maturing.To improve the market for these NILM technologies, there has to be confidence that the deployment will lead to benefits. In reality, every end-user and application that this technology may enable does not require the highest levels of performance accuracy to produce benefits. Also, there are other important characteristics that need to be considered, which may affect the appeal of NILM products to certain market targets (i.e. residential and commercial building consumers) and the suitability for particular applications. These characteristics include the following: 1) ease of use, the level of expertise/bandwidth required to properly use the product; 2) ease of installation, the level of expertise required to install along with hardware needs that impact product cost; and 3) ability to inform decisions and actions, whether the energy outputs received by end-users (e.g. third party applications, residential users, building operators, etc.) empower decisions and actions to be taken at time frames required for certain applications. Therefore, stakeholders, researchers, and other interested parties should be kept abreast of the evolving capabilities, uses, and characteristics

Flexible hydrological modeling - Disaggregation from lumped catchment scale to higher spatial resolutions

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Quoc Quan; Willems, Patrick; Pannemans, Bart; Blanckaert, Joris; Pereira, Fernando; Nossent, Jiri; Cauwenberghs, Kris; Vansteenkiste, Thomas

2015-04-01

Based on an international literature review on model structures of existing rainfall-runoff and hydrological models, a generalized model structure is proposed. It consists of different types of meteorological components, storage components, splitting components and routing components. They can be spatially organized in a lumped way, or on a grid, spatially interlinked by source-to-sink or grid-to-grid (cell-to-cell) routing. The grid size of the model can be chosen depending on the application. The user can select/change the spatial resolution depending on the needs and/or the evaluation of the accuracy of the model results, or use different spatial resolutions in parallel for different applications. Major research questions addressed during the study are: How can we assure consistent results of the model at any spatial detail? How can we avoid strong or sudden changes in model parameters and corresponding simulation results, when one moves from one level of spatial detail to another? How can we limit the problem of overparameterization/equifinality when we move from the lumped model to the spatially distributed model? The proposed approach is a step-wise one, where first the lumped conceptual model is calibrated using a systematic, data-based approach, followed by a disaggregation step where the lumped parameters are disaggregated based on spatial catchment characteristics (topography, land use, soil characteristics). In this way, disaggregation can be done down to any spatial scale, and consistently among scales. Only few additional calibration parameters are introduced to scale the absolute spatial differences in model parameters, but keeping the relative differences as obtained from the spatial catchment characteristics. After calibration of the spatial model, the accuracies of the lumped and spatial models were compared for peak, low and cumulative runoff total and sub-flows (at downstream and internal gauging stations). For the distributed models, additional

Energy consumption and economic growth: Evidence from China at both aggregated and disaggregated levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan Jiahai; Kang Jiangang; Zhao Changhong; Hu Zhaoguang

2008-01-01

Using a neo-classical aggregate production model where capital, labor and energy are treated as separate inputs, this paper tests for the existence and direction of causality between output growth and energy use in China at both aggregated total energy and disaggregated levels as coal, oil and electricity consumption. Using the Johansen cointegration technique, the empirical findings indicate that there exists long-run cointegration among output, labor, capital and energy use in China at both aggregated and all three disaggregated levels. Then using a VEC specification, the short-run dynamics of the interested variables are tested, indicating that there exists Granger causality running from electricity and oil consumption to GDP, but does not exist Granger causality running from coal and total energy consumption to GDP. On the other hand, short-run Granger causality exists from GDP to total energy, coal and oil consumption, but does not exist from GDP to electricity consumption. We thus propose policy suggestions to solve the energy and sustainable development dilemma in China as: enhancing energy supply security and guaranteeing energy supply, especially in the short run to provide adequate electric power supply and set up national strategic oil reserve; enhancing energy efficiency to save energy; diversifying energy sources, energetically exploiting renewable energy and drawing out corresponding policies and measures; and finally in the long run, transforming development pattern and cut reliance on resource- and energy-dependent industries

ESTIMATION OF COB-DOUGLAS AND TRANSLOG PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS WITH CAPITAL AND GENDER DISAGGREGATED LABOR INPUTS IN THE USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gertrude Sebunya Muwanga

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This is an empirical investigation of the homogeneity of gender disaggregated labor using the Douglas, single/multi-factor translog production functions; and labor productivity functions for the USA.   The results based on the single factor translog model, indicated that: an increase in the capita/female labor ratio increases aggregate output; male labor is more productive than female labor, which is more productive than capital; a simultaneous increase in quantity allocated and productivity of the leads to an increase in output; female labor productivity has grown slower than male labor productivity; it much easier to substitute male labor for capital compared to female labor; and the three inputs are neither perfect substitutes nor perfect complements. As a consequence, male and female labor are not homogenous inputs. Efforts to investigate the factors influencing gender disaggregated labor productivity; and designing policies to achieve gender parity in numbers/productivity in the labor force and increasing the ease of substitutability between male labor and female labor are required.

Specific effect of the linear charge density of the acid polysaccharide on thermal aggregation/ disaggregation processes in complex carrageenan/lysozyme systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Antonov, Y.; Zhuravleva, I.; Cardinaels, R.M.; Moldenaers, P.

2017-01-01

We study thermal aggregation and disaggregation processes in complex carrageenan/lysozyme systems with a different linear charge density of the sulphated polysaccharide. To this end, we determine the temperature dependency of the turbidity and the intensity size distribution functions in complex

Disaggregated regulation in network sections: The normative and positive theory; Disaggregierte Regulierung in Netzsektoren: Normative und positive Theorie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knieps, G. [Inst. fuer Verkehrswissenschaft und Regionalpolitik, Albert-Ludwigs-Univ. Freiburg i.B. (Germany)

2007-09-15

The article deals with the interaction of normative and positive theorie of regulation. Those parts of the network which need regulation could be localised and regulated with the help of the normative theory of the monopolistic bottlenecks. Using the positive theory, the basic elements of a mandate for regulation in the sense of the disaggregated economy of regulation are derived.

Disaggregation of MODIS surface temperature over an agricultural area using a time series of Formosat-2 images

OpenAIRE

Merlin, O.; Duchemin, Benoit; Hagolle, O.; Jacob, Frédéric; Coudert, B.; Chehbouni, Abdelghani; Dedieu, G.; Garatuza, J.; Kerr, Yann

2010-01-01

No of Pages 13; International audience; The temporal frequency of the thermal data provided by current spaceborne high-resolution imagery systems is inadequate for agricultural applications. As an alternative to the lack of high-resolution observations, kilometric thermal data can be disaggregated using a green (photosynthetically active) vegetation index e.g. NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) collected at high resolution. Nevertheless, this approach is only valid in the condition...

Disaggregated seismic hazard and the elastic input energy spectrum: An approach to design earthquake selection

Science.gov (United States)

Chapman, Martin Colby

1998-12-01

The design earthquake selection problem is fundamentally probabilistic. Disaggregation of a probabilistic model of the seismic hazard offers a rational and objective approach that can identify the most likely earthquake scenario(s) contributing to hazard. An ensemble of time series can be selected on the basis of the modal earthquakes derived from the disaggregation. This gives a useful time-domain realization of the seismic hazard, to the extent that a single motion parameter captures the important time-domain characteristics. A possible limitation to this approach arises because most currently available motion prediction models for peak ground motion or oscillator response are essentially independent of duration, and modal events derived using the peak motions for the analysis may not represent the optimal characterization of the hazard. The elastic input energy spectrum is an alternative to the elastic response spectrum for these types of analyses. The input energy combines the elements of amplitude and duration into a single parameter description of the ground motion that can be readily incorporated into standard probabilistic seismic hazard analysis methodology. This use of the elastic input energy spectrum is examined. Regression analysis is performed using strong motion data from Western North America and consistent data processing procedures for both the absolute input energy equivalent velocity, (Vsbea), and the elastic pseudo-relative velocity response (PSV) in the frequency range 0.5 to 10 Hz. The results show that the two parameters can be successfully fit with identical functional forms. The dependence of Vsbea and PSV upon (NEHRP) site classification is virtually identical. The variance of Vsbea is uniformly less than that of PSV, indicating that Vsbea can be predicted with slightly less uncertainty as a function of magnitude, distance and site classification. The effects of site class are important at frequencies less than a few Hertz. The regression

The National Geographic Names Data Base: Phase II instructions

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, Donald J.; Payne, Roger L.

1987-01-01

The Geographic Names Information System is a computer-based information system developed to meet major national needs by providing information for named entities in the United States, its territories, and outlying areas. The National Geographic Names Data Base, a component of the Geographic Names Information System, currently contains most names and associated information recorded on the 1:24,000-scale (or largest scale available) topographic maps of the U.S. Geological Survey. The work involved in this initial compilation of names shown on the topographic-map series, and the development and editing of the National Geographic Names Data Base, is referred to as Phase I. Optimal use and effectiveness of an automated names system require that the names of features

Differential Targeting of Hsp70 Heat Shock Proteins HSPA6 and HSPA1A with Components of a Protein Disaggregation/Refolding Machine in Differentiated Human Neuronal Cells following Thermal Stress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian R. Brown

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Heat shock proteins (Hsps co-operate in multi-protein machines that counter protein misfolding and aggregation and involve DNAJ (Hsp40, HSPA (Hsp70, and HSPH (Hsp105α. The HSPA family is a multigene family composed of inducible and constitutively expressed members. Inducible HSPA6 (Hsp70B' is found in the human genome but not in the genomes of mouse and rat. To advance knowledge of this little studied HSPA member, the targeting of HSPA6 to stress-sensitive neuronal sites with components of a disaggregation/refolding machine was investigated following thermal stress. HSPA6 targeted the periphery of nuclear speckles (perispeckles that have been characterized as sites of transcription. However, HSPA6 did not co-localize at perispeckles with DNAJB1 (Hsp40-1 or HSPH1 (Hsp105α. At 3 h after heat shock, HSPA6 co-localized with these members of the disaggregation/refolding machine at the granular component (GC of the nucleolus. Inducible HSPA1A (Hsp70-1 and constitutively expressed HSPA8 (Hsc70 co-localized at nuclear speckles with components of the machine immediately after heat shock, and at the GC layer of the nucleolus at 1 h with DNAJA1 and BAG-1. These results suggest that HSPA6 exhibits targeting features that are not apparent for HSPA1A and HSPA8.

A disaggregate model to predict the intercity travel demand

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Damodaran, S.

1988-01-01

This study was directed towards developing disaggregate models to predict the intercity travel demand in Canada. A conceptual framework for the intercity travel behavior was proposed; under this framework, a nested multinomial model structure that combined mode choice and trip generation was developed. The CTS (Canadian Travel Survey) data base was used for testing the structure and to determine the viability of using this data base for intercity travel-demand prediction. Mode-choice and trip-generation models were calibrated for four modes (auto, bus, rail and air) for both business and non-business trips. The models were linked through the inclusive value variable, also referred to as the long sum of the denominator in the literature. Results of the study indicated that the structure used in this study could be applied for intercity travel-demand modeling. However, some limitations of the data base were identified. It is believed that, with some modifications, the CTS data could be used for predicting intercity travel demand. Future research can identify the factors affecting intercity travel behavior, which will facilitate collection of useful data for intercity travel prediction and policy analysis.

Energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth in Saudi Arabia: An aggregate and disaggregate analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alkhathlan, Khalid; Javid, Muhammad

2013-01-01

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship among economic growth, carbon emissions and energy consumption at the aggregate and disaggregate levels. For the aggregate energy consumption model, we use total energy consumption per capita and CO 2 emissions per capita based on the total energy consumption. For the disaggregate analysis, we used oil, gas and electricity consumption models along with their respective CO 2 emissions. The long-term income elasticities of carbon emissions in three of the four models are positive and higher than their estimated short-term income elasticities. These results suggest that carbon emissions increase with the increase in per capita income which supports the belief that there is a monotonically increasing relationship between per capita carbon emissions and per capita income for the aggregate model and for the oil and electricity consumption models. The long- and short-term income elasticities of carbon emissions are negative for the gas consumption model. This result indicates that if the Saudi Arabian economy switched from oil to gas consumption, then an increase in per capita income would reduce carbon emissions. The results also suggest that electricity is less polluting than other sources of energy. - Highlights: • Carbon emissions increase with the increase in per capita income in Saudi Arabia. • The income elasticity of CO 2 is negative for the gas consumption model. • The income elasticity of CO 2 is positive for the oil consumption model. • The results suggest that electricity is less polluting than oil and gas

The influence of energy consumption of China on its real GDP from aggregated and disaggregated viewpoints

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Wei; Yang, Shuyun

2013-01-01

This paper investigated the causal relationship between energy consumption and gross domestic product (GDP) in China at both aggregated and disaggregated levels during the period of 1978–2009 by using a modified version of the Granger (1969) causality test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) within a multivariate framework. The empirical results suggested the existence of a negative bi-directional Granger causality running from aggregated energy consumption to real GDP. At disaggregated level of energy consumption, the results were complicated. For coal, empirical findings suggested that there was a negative bi-directional Granger causality running from coal consumption to real GDP. However, for oil and gas, empirical findings suggested a positive bi-directional Granger causality running from oil as well as gas consumption to real GDP. Though these results supported the feedback hypothesis, the negative relationship might be attributed to the growing economy production shifting towards less energy intensive sectors and excessive energy consumption in relatively unproductive sectors. The results indicated that policies with reducing aggregated energy consumption and promoting energy conservation may boost China's economic growth. - Highlights: ► A negative bi-directional Granger causality runs from energy consumption to real GDP. ► The same result runs from coal consumption to real GDP, but oil and gas it does not. ► The results partly derive from excessive energy consumption in unproductive sectors. ► Reducing aggregated energy consumption probably promotes the development of China's economy

A biodiversity indicators dashboard: addressing challenges to monitoring progress towards the Aichi biodiversity targets using disaggregated global data.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Xuemei; Smyth, Regan L; Young, Bruce E; Brooks, Thomas M; Sánchez de Lozada, Alexandra; Bubb, Philip; Butchart, Stuart H M; Larsen, Frank W; Hamilton, Healy; Hansen, Matthew C; Turner, Will R

2014-01-01

Recognizing the imperiled status of biodiversity and its benefit to human well-being, the world's governments committed in 2010 to take effective and urgent action to halt biodiversity loss through the Convention on Biological Diversity's "Aichi Targets". These targets, and many conservation programs, require monitoring to assess progress toward specific goals. However, comprehensive and easily understood information on biodiversity trends at appropriate spatial scales is often not available to the policy makers, managers, and scientists who require it. We surveyed conservation stakeholders in three geographically diverse regions of critical biodiversity concern (the Tropical Andes, the African Great Lakes, and the Greater Mekong) and found high demand for biodiversity indicator information but uneven availability. To begin to address this need, we present a biodiversity "dashboard"--a visualization of biodiversity indicators designed to enable tracking of biodiversity and conservation performance data in a clear, user-friendly format. This builds on previous, more conceptual, indicator work to create an operationalized online interface communicating multiple indicators at multiple spatial scales. We structured this dashboard around the Pressure-State-Response-Benefit framework, selecting four indicators to measure pressure on biodiversity (deforestation rate), state of species (Red List Index), conservation response (protection of key biodiversity areas), and benefits to human populations (freshwater provision). Disaggregating global data, we present dashboard maps and graphics for the three regions surveyed and their component countries. These visualizations provide charts showing regional and national trends and lay the foundation for a web-enabled, interactive biodiversity indicators dashboard. This new tool can help track progress toward the Aichi Targets, support national monitoring and reporting, and inform outcome-based policy-making for the protection of

A biodiversity indicators dashboard: addressing challenges to monitoring progress towards the Aichi biodiversity targets using disaggregated global data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuemei Han

Full Text Available Recognizing the imperiled status of biodiversity and its benefit to human well-being, the world's governments committed in 2010 to take effective and urgent action to halt biodiversity loss through the Convention on Biological Diversity's "Aichi Targets". These targets, and many conservation programs, require monitoring to assess progress toward specific goals. However, comprehensive and easily understood information on biodiversity trends at appropriate spatial scales is often not available to the policy makers, managers, and scientists who require it. We surveyed conservation stakeholders in three geographically diverse regions of critical biodiversity concern (the Tropical Andes, the African Great Lakes, and the Greater Mekong and found high demand for biodiversity indicator information but uneven availability. To begin to address this need, we present a biodiversity "dashboard"--a visualization of biodiversity indicators designed to enable tracking of biodiversity and conservation performance data in a clear, user-friendly format. This builds on previous, more conceptual, indicator work to create an operationalized online interface communicating multiple indicators at multiple spatial scales. We structured this dashboard around the Pressure-State-Response-Benefit framework, selecting four indicators to measure pressure on biodiversity (deforestation rate, state of species (Red List Index, conservation response (protection of key biodiversity areas, and benefits to human populations (freshwater provision. Disaggregating global data, we present dashboard maps and graphics for the three regions surveyed and their component countries. These visualizations provide charts showing regional and national trends and lay the foundation for a web-enabled, interactive biodiversity indicators dashboard. This new tool can help track progress toward the Aichi Targets, support national monitoring and reporting, and inform outcome-based policy-making for the

A Biodiversity Indicators Dashboard: Addressing Challenges to Monitoring Progress towards the Aichi Biodiversity Targets Using Disaggregated Global Data

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Xuemei; Smyth, Regan L.; Young, Bruce E.; Brooks, Thomas M.; Sánchez de Lozada, Alexandra; Bubb, Philip; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Larsen, Frank W.; Hamilton, Healy; Hansen, Matthew C.; Turner, Will R.

2014-01-01

Recognizing the imperiled status of biodiversity and its benefit to human well-being, the world's governments committed in 2010 to take effective and urgent action to halt biodiversity loss through the Convention on Biological Diversity's “Aichi Targets”. These targets, and many conservation programs, require monitoring to assess progress toward specific goals. However, comprehensive and easily understood information on biodiversity trends at appropriate spatial scales is often not available to the policy makers, managers, and scientists who require it. We surveyed conservation stakeholders in three geographically diverse regions of critical biodiversity concern (the Tropical Andes, the African Great Lakes, and the Greater Mekong) and found high demand for biodiversity indicator information but uneven availability. To begin to address this need, we present a biodiversity “dashboard” – a visualization of biodiversity indicators designed to enable tracking of biodiversity and conservation performance data in a clear, user-friendly format. This builds on previous, more conceptual, indicator work to create an operationalized online interface communicating multiple indicators at multiple spatial scales. We structured this dashboard around the Pressure-State-Response-Benefit framework, selecting four indicators to measure pressure on biodiversity (deforestation rate), state of species (Red List Index), conservation response (protection of key biodiversity areas), and benefits to human populations (freshwater provision). Disaggregating global data, we present dashboard maps and graphics for the three regions surveyed and their component countries. These visualizations provide charts showing regional and national trends and lay the foundation for a web-enabled, interactive biodiversity indicators dashboard. This new tool can help track progress toward the Aichi Targets, support national monitoring and reporting, and inform outcome-based policy-making for the

Foreign labor and regional labor markets: aggregate and disaggregate impact on growth and wages in Danish regions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, Torben Dall; Jensen, Peter Sandholt

2013-01-01

non-negative effects on the job opportunities for Danish workers in regional labor markets, whereas the evidence of a regional wage growth effect is mixed. We also present disaggregated results focusing on regional heterogeneity of business structures, skill levels and backgrounds of foreign labor....... The results are interpreted within a specific Danish labor market context and the associated regional outcomes. This adds to previous findings and emphasizes the importance of labor market institutions for the effect of foreign labor on regional employment growth....

The use of continuous functions for a top-down temporal disaggregation of emission inventories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalchmayr, M.; Orthofer, R.

1997-11-01

This report is a documentation of a presentation at the International Speciality Conference 'The Emission Inventory: Planning for the Future', October 28-30, 1997 in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA. The Conference was organized by the Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Emission data with high temporal resolution are necessary to analyze the relationship between emissions and their impacts. In many countries, however, emission inventories refer only to the annual countrywide emission sums, because underlying data (traffic, energy, industry statistics) are available for statistically relevant territorial units and for longer time periods only. This paper describes a method for the temporal disaggregation of yearly emission sums through application of continuous functions which simulate emission generating activities. The temporal patterns of the activities are derived through overlay of annual, weekly and diurnal variation functions which are based on statistical data of the relevant activities. If applied to annual emission data, these combined functions describe the dynamic patterns of emissions over year. The main advantage of the continuous functions method is that temporal emission patterns can be smoothed throughout one year, thus eliminating some of the major drawbacks from the traditional standardized fixed quota system. For handling in models, the continuous functions and their parameters can be directly included and the emission quota calculated directly for a certain hour of the year. The usefulness of the method is demonstrated with NMVOC emission data for Austria. Temporally disaggregated emission data can be used as input for ozone models as well as for visualization and animation of the emission dynamics. The analysis of the temporal dynamics of emission source strengths, e.g. during critical hours for ozone generation in summer, allows the implementation of efficient emission reduction

Assessing a disaggregated energy input: using confidence intervals around translog elasticity estimates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hisnanick, J.J.; Kyer, B.L.

1995-01-01

The role of energy in the production of manufacturing output has been debated extensively in the literature, particularly its relationship with capital and labor. In an attempt to provide some clarification in this debate, a two-step methodology was used. First under the assumption of a five-factor production function specification, we distinguished between electric and non-electric energy and assessed each component's relationship with capital and labor. Second, we calculated both the Allen and price elasticities and constructed 95% confidence intervals around these values. Our approach led to the following conclusions: that the disaggregation of the energy input into electric and non-electric energy is justified; that capital and electric energy and capital and non-electric energy are substitutes, while labor and electric energy and labor and non-electric energy are complements in production; and that capital and energy are substitutes, while labor and energy are complements. (author)

Research and implementation of geographic information service mode in digital home

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, B.; Liu, K.; Gan, Y.; Zhong, M.

2014-04-01

Accompanying infrastructure improvements and networking technology innovation, the development of digital home service industry has gotten more and more attention. However, the digital home service levels have not sufficiently met rising demand from users. Therefore, it is urgent to propose and develop new service modes for the digital home. Geographic information services can provide various spatial information services such as map search, spatial information query. It has become an inevitable trend to implement geographic information services in the digital home. This paper proposes three new geographic information services modes for the digital home after sufficient requirement analysis: pushed information service mode, interactive information service mode, personalized information service mode. The key technologies to implement geographic information services on digital televisions are studied, involving digital television middleware technology, network transmission technology and visualization technology. According to the service modes' characteristics mentioned above, a service system in the digital home is established to implement geographic information services on the basis of digital television. The implementation of geographic information services in the digital home not only enriches the digital home services content, but also promotes geographic information from specialization to public popularity.

Geographic Names

Data.gov (United States)

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, provides...

Geographic Media Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Lukinbeal, Chris

2014-01-01

While the use of media permeates geographic research and pedagogic practice, the underlying literacies that link geography and media remain uncharted. This article argues that geographic media literacy incorporates visual literacy, information technology literacy, information literacy, and media literacy. Geographic media literacy is the ability…

The Geographical Distribution of Leadership in Globalized Clinical Trials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoekman, J.; Frenken, K.; de Zeeuw, D.; Lambers-Heerspink, H.J.

2012-01-01

Background: Pharmaceutical trials are mainly initiated by sponsors and investigators in the United States, Western Europe and Japan. However, more and more patients are enrolled in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. The involvement of patients in new geographical settings raises

Prediction of kharif rice yield at Kharagpur using disaggregated extended range rainfall forecasts

Science.gov (United States)

Dhekale, B. S.; Nageswararao, M. M.; Nair, Archana; Mohanty, U. C.; Swain, D. K.; Singh, K. K.; Arunbabu, T.

2017-08-01

The Extended Range Forecasts System (ERFS) has been generating monthly and seasonal forecasts on real-time basis throughout the year over India since 2009. India is one of the major rice producer and consumer in South Asia; more than 50% of the Indian population depends on rice as staple food. Rice is mainly grown in kharif season, which contributed 84% of the total annual rice production of the country. Rice cultivation in India is rainfed, which depends largely on rains, so reliability of the rainfall forecast plays a crucial role for planning the kharif rice crop. In the present study, an attempt has been made to test the reliability of seasonal and sub-seasonal ERFS summer monsoon rainfall forecasts for kharif rice yield predictions at Kharagpur, West Bengal by using CERES-Rice (DSSATv4.5) model. These ERFS forecasts are produced as monthly and seasonal mean values and are converted into daily sequences with stochastic weather generators for use with crop growth models. The daily sequences are generated from ERFS seasonal (June-September) and sub-seasonal (July-September, August-September, and September) summer monsoon (June to September) rainfall forecasts which are considered as input in CERES-rice crop simulation model for the crop yield prediction for hindcast (1985-2008) and real-time mode (2009-2015). The yield simulated using India Meteorological Department (IMD) observed daily rainfall data is considered as baseline yield for evaluating the performance of predicted yields using the ERFS forecasts. The findings revealed that the stochastic disaggregation can be used to disaggregate the monthly/seasonal ERFS forecasts into daily sequences. The year to year variability in rice yield at Kharagpur is efficiently predicted by using the ERFS forecast products in hindcast as well as real time, and significant enhancement in the prediction skill is noticed with advancement in the season due to incorporation of observed weather data which reduces uncertainty of

Changes in Food Intake in Australia: Comparing the 1995 and 2011 National Nutrition Survey Results Disaggregated into Basic Foods.

Science.gov (United States)

Ridoutt, Bradley; Baird, Danielle; Bastiaans, Kathryn; Hendrie, Gilly; Riley, Malcolm; Sanguansri, Peerasak; Syrette, Julie; Noakes, Manny

2016-05-25

As nations seek to address obesity and diet-related chronic disease, understanding shifts in food intake over time is an imperative. However, quantifying intake of basic foods is not straightforward because of the diversity of raw and cooked wholefoods, processed foods and mixed dishes actually consumed. In this study, data from the Australian national nutrition surveys of 1995 and 2011, each involving more than 12,000 individuals and covering more than 4500 separate foods, were coherently disaggregated into basic foods, with cooking and processing factors applied where necessary. Although Australians are generally not eating in a manner consistent with national dietary guidelines, there have been several positive changes. Australians are eating more whole fruit, a greater diversity of vegetables, more beans, peas and pulses, less refined sugar, and they have increased their preference for brown and wholegrain cereals. Adult Australians have also increased their intake of nuts and seeds. Fruit juice consumption markedly declined, especially for younger Australians. Cocoa consumption increased and shifts in dairy product intake were mixed, reflecting one of several important differences between age and gender cohorts. This study sets the context for more detailed research at the level of specific foods to understand individual and household differences.

Changes in Food Intake in Australia: Comparing the 1995 and 2011 National Nutrition Survey Results Disaggregated into Basic Foods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bradley Ridoutt

2016-05-01

Full Text Available As nations seek to address obesity and diet-related chronic disease, understanding shifts in food intake over time is an imperative. However, quantifying intake of basic foods is not straightforward because of the diversity of raw and cooked wholefoods, processed foods and mixed dishes actually consumed. In this study, data from the Australian national nutrition surveys of 1995 and 2011, each involving more than 12,000 individuals and covering more than 4500 separate foods, were coherently disaggregated into basic foods, with cooking and processing factors applied where necessary. Although Australians are generally not eating in a manner consistent with national dietary guidelines, there have been several positive changes. Australians are eating more whole fruit, a greater diversity of vegetables, more beans, peas and pulses, less refined sugar, and they have increased their preference for brown and wholegrain cereals. Adult Australians have also increased their intake of nuts and seeds. Fruit juice consumption markedly declined, especially for younger Australians. Cocoa consumption increased and shifts in dairy product intake were mixed, reflecting one of several important differences between age and gender cohorts. This study sets the context for more detailed research at the level of specific foods to understand individual and household differences.

Epidemiologic trends and geographic patterns of fatal opioid intoxications in Connecticut, USA: 1997-2007.

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Traci C; Grau, Lauretta E; Carver, H Wayne; Kinzly, Mark; Heimer, Robert

2011-06-01

The leading cause of injury death among adults in Connecticut (CT), USA is drug poisonings. We analyzed the epidemiology and geographic distribution of opioid-involved accidental drug-involved intoxication deaths ("overdoses") in CT over an 11-year period. We reviewed data from 1997 to 2007 on all adult accidental/undetermined drug intoxication deaths in CT that were referred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). Regression analyses were conducted to uncover risk factors for fatal opioid-involved intoxications and to compare heroin- to prescription opioid- and methadone-involved deaths. Death locations were mapped to visualize differences in the geographic patterns of overdose by opioid type. Of the 2900 qualifying deaths, 2231 (77%) involved opioids. Trends over time revealed increases in total opioid-related deaths although heroin-related deaths remained constant. Methadone, oxycodone and fentanyl, the most frequently cited prescription opioids, exhibited significant increases in opioid deaths. Prescription opioid-only deaths were more likely to involve other medications (e.g., benzodiazepines) and to have occurred among residents of a suburban or small town location, compared to heroin-involved or methadone-involved deaths. Heroin-only deaths tended to occur among non-Whites, were more likely to involve alcohol or cocaine and to occur in public locations and large cities. The epidemiology of fatal opioid overdose in CT exhibits distinct longitudinal, risk factor, and geographic differences by opioid type. Each of these trends has implications for public health and prevention efforts. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Epidemiologic trends and geographic patterns of fatal opioid intoxications in Connecticut, USA: 1997 – 2007

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Traci C.; Grau, Lauretta E.; Carver, H. Wayne; Kinzly, Mark; Heimer, Robert

2010-01-01

Background The leading cause of injury death among adults in Connecticut (CT), USA is drug poisonings. We analyzed the epidemiology and geographic distribution of opioid-involved accidental drug-involved intoxication deaths (“overdoses”) in CT over an 11-year period. Methods We reviewed data from 1997 to 2007 on all adult accidental/undetermined drug intoxication deaths in CT that were referred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). Regression analyses were conducted to uncover risk factors for fatal opioid-involved intoxications and to compare heroin- to prescription opioid- and methadone-involved deaths. Death locations were mapped to visualize differences in the geographic patterns of overdose by opioid type. Results Of the 2900 qualifying deaths, 2231 (77%) involved opioids. Trends over time revealed increases in total opioid-related deaths although heroin-related deaths remained constant. Methadone, oxycodone and fentanyl, the most frequently cited prescription opioids, exhibited significant increases in opioid deaths. Prescription opioid-only deaths were more likely to involve other medications (e.g., benzodiazepines) and to have occurred among residents of a suburban or small town location, compared to heroin-involved or methadone-involved deaths. Heroin-only deaths tended to occur among non-Whites, were more likely to involve alcohol or cocaine and to occur in public locations and large cities. Conclusions The epidemiology of fatal opioid overdose in CT exhibits distinct longitudinal, risk factor, and geographic differences by opioid type. Each of these trends has implications for public health and prevention efforts. PMID:21131140

SOLID WASTE: PRESENCE AND THREATIN GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE

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Clesley Maria Tavares do Nascimento

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article deals with the trajectory of the solid waste in different historical periods, configuring them as a constructive element of geographical space. The intention to bring the theme from the timeline perspective, is marked out in the conviction of the inseparability of the categories of space and time and its importance in understanding a geographical phenomenon. The methodological support of this research relied on the documentary type of research involving literature, consultation of secondary sources such as books, academic journals, dissertations and theses on the subject. The results presented and discussed in this paper indicated that the production of waste is adjacent to historical time, reflects societies and techniques that generated them, and is a permanent part of the dialectical process of spatial formation.

Geographic profiling and animal foraging.

Science.gov (United States)

Le Comber, Steven C; Nicholls, Barry; Rossmo, D Kim; Racey, Paul A

2006-05-21

Geographic profiling was originally developed as a statistical tool for use in criminal cases, particularly those involving serial killers and rapists. It is designed to help police forces prioritize lists of suspects by using the location of crime scenes to identify the areas in which the criminal is most likely to live. Two important concepts are the buffer zone (criminals are less likely to commit crimes in the immediate vicinity of their home) and distance decay (criminals commit fewer crimes as the distance from their home increases). In this study, we show how the techniques of geographic profiling may be applied to animal data, using as an example foraging patterns in two sympatric colonies of pipistrelle bats, Pipistrellus pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus, in the northeast of Scotland. We show that if model variables are fitted to known roost locations, these variables may be used as numerical descriptors of foraging patterns. We go on to show that these variables can be used to differentiate patterns of foraging in these two species.

Silicon Photonics towards Disaggregation of Resources in Data Centers

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Miltiadis Moralis-Pegios

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we demonstrate two subsystems based on Silicon Photonics, towards meeting the network requirements imposed by disaggregation of resources in Data Centers. The first one utilizes a 4 × 4 Silicon photonics switching matrix, employing Mach Zehnder Interferometers (MZIs with Electro-Optical phase shifters, directly controlled by a high speed Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA board for the successful implementation of a Bloom-Filter (BF-label forwarding scheme. The FPGA is responsible for extracting the BF-label from the incoming optical packets, carrying out the BF-based forwarding function, determining the appropriate switching state and generating the corresponding control signals towards conveying incoming packets to the desired output port of the matrix. The BF-label based packet forwarding scheme allows rapid reconfiguration of the optical switch, while at the same time reduces the memory requirements of the node’s lookup table. Successful operation for 10 Gb/s data packets is reported for a 1 × 4 routing layout. The second subsystem utilizes three integrated spiral waveguides, with record-high 2.6 ns/mm2, delay versus footprint efficiency, along with two Semiconductor Optical Amplifier Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (SOA-MZI wavelength converters, to construct a variable optical buffer and a Time Slot Interchange module. Error-free on-chip variable delay buffering from 6.5 ns up to 17.2 ns and successful timeslot interchanging for 10 Gb/s optical packets are presented.

The importance of disaggregated freight flow forecasts to inform transport infrastructure investments

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Jan H. Havenga

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This article presents the results of a comprehensive disaggregated commodity flow model for South Africa. The wealth of data available enables a segmented analysis of future freight transportation demand in order to assist with the prioritisation of transportation investments, the development of transport policy and the growth of the logistics service provider industry. In 2011, economic demand for commodities in South Africa’s competitive surface-freight transport market amounted to 622 million tons and is predicted to increase to 1834m tons by 2041, which is a compound annual growth rate of 3.67%. Fifty percent of corridor freight constitutes break bulk; intermodal solutions are therefore critical in South Africa. Scenario analysis indicates that 80%of corridor break-bulk tons can by serviced by four intermodal facilities – in Gauteng, Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. This would allow for the development of an investment planning hierarchy, enable industry targeting (through commodity visibility, ensure capacity development ahead of demand and lower the cost of logistics in South Africa.

Assessing gendered roles in water decision-making in semi-arid regions through sex-disaggregated water data with UNESCO-WWAP gender toolkit

Science.gov (United States)

Miletto, Michela; Greco, Francesca; Belfiore, Elena

2017-04-01

Global climate change is expected to exacerbate current and future stresses on water resources from population growth and land use, and increase the frequency and severity of droughts and floods. Women are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change than men not only because they constitute the majority of the world's poor but also because they are more dependent for their livelihood on natural resources that are threatened by climate change. In addition, social, economic and political barriers often limit their coping capacity. Women play a key role in the provision, management and safeguarding of water, nonetheless, gender inequality in water management framework persists around the globe. Sharp data are essential to inform decisions and support effective policies. Disaggregating water data by sex is crucial to analyse gendered roles in the water realm and inform gender sensitive water policies in light of the global commitments to gender equality of Agenda 2030. In view of this scenario, WWAP has created an innovative toolkit for sex-disaggregated water data collection, as a result of a participatory work of more than 35 experts, part of the WWAP Working Group on Sex-Disaggregated Indicators (http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/water/wwap/water-and-gender/un-wwap-working-group-on-gender-disaggregated-indicators/#c1430774). The WWAP toolkit contains four tools: the methodology (Seager J. WWAP UNESCO, 2015), set of key indicators, the guideline (Pangare V.,WWAP UNESCO, 2015) and a questionnaire for field survey. WWAP key gender-sensitive indicators address water resources management, aspects of water quality and agricultural uses, water resources governance and management, and investigate unaccounted labour in according to gender and age. Managing water resources is key for climate adaptation. Women are particularly sensitive to water quality and the health of water-dependent ecosystems, often source of food and job opportunities

Disaggregation of SMOS soil moisture over West Africa using the Temperature and Vegetation Dryness Index based on SEVIRI land surface parameters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tagesson, T.; Horion, S.; Nieto, H.

2018-01-01

the Temperature and Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) that served as SM proxy within the disaggregation process. West Africa (3 N, 26 W; 28 N, 26 E) was selected as a case study as it presents both an important North-South climate gradient and a diverse range of ecosystem types. The main challenge was to set up...... resolution of SMOS SM, with potential application for local drought/flood monitoring of importance for the livelihood of the population of West Africa....

Socially just publishing: implications for geographers and their journals

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Simon Batterbury

2017-12-01

Full Text Available There have been a range of protests against the high journal subscription costs, and author processing charges (APCs levied for publishing in the more prestigious and commercially run journals that are favoured by geographers. But open protests across the sector like the ‘Academic Spring’ of 2012, and challenges to commercial copyright agreements, have been fragmented and less than successful. I renew the argument for ‘socially just’ publishing in geography. For geographers this is not limited to choosing alternative publication venues. It also involves a considerable effort by senior faculty members that are assessing hiring and promotion cases, to read and assess scholarship independently of its place of publication, and to reward the efforts of colleagues that offer their work as a public good. Criteria other than the citation index and prestige of a journal need to be foregrounded. Geographers can also be publishers, and I offer my experience editing the free online Journal of Political Ecology.

International Regional Patterns of R&D Networks Involving Low Tech SMEs

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Aurora A.C. Teixeira

2013-03-01

Full Text Available A large number of studies have emphasized the spatial proximity of economic activity and its relation to the spatiality of knowledge creation in various types of connections. Far less attention has been paid to the understanding of the determinants of ‘cultural’ and geographical proximity in international R&D cooperation projects involving SMEs and the role of the quality of the Regional Innovation System (RIS. Using a database of completed European Cooperative Research projects, we conclude that: 1 technologically more complex projects are more likely to involve ‘culturally’ and geographically distant partners; 2 RIS related variables determine ‘cultural’ proximity but not geographical proximity; 3 at first sight surprisingly, international cooperation projects involving the 1st promoters of innovation-led regions (high patent propensity and high human capital levels are culturally more distant.

Value of time determination for the city of Alexandria based on a disaggregate binary mode choice model

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Mounir Mahmoud Moghazy Abdel-Aal

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In the travel demand modeling field, mode choice is the most important decision that affects the resulted road congestion. The behavioral nature of the disaggregate models and the associated advantages of such models over aggregate models have led to their extensive use. This paper proposes a framework to determine the value of time (VoT for the city of Alexandria through calibrating a disaggregate linear-in parameter utility-based binary logit mode choice model of the city. The mode attributes (travel time and travel cost along with traveler attributes (car ownership and income were selected as the utility attributes of the basic model formulation which included 5 models. Three additional alternative utility formulations based on the transformation of the mode attributes including relative travel cost (cost divided by income and log (travel time and the combination of the two transformations together were introduced. The parameter estimation procedure was based on the likelihood maximization technique and was performed in EXCEL. Out of 20 models estimated, only 2 models are considered successful in terms of the parameters estimates correct signs and the magnitude of their significance (t-statistics value. The determination of the VoT serves also in the model validation. The best two models estimated the value of time at LE 11.30/hr and LE 14.50/hr with a relative error of +3.7% and +33.0%, respectively, of the hourly salary of LE 10.9/hr. The proposed two models prove to be sensitive to trip time and income levels as factors affecting the choice mechanism. The sensitivity analysis was performed and proved the model with higher relative error is marginally more robust. Keywords: Transportation modeling, Binary mode choice, Parameter estimation, Value of time, Likelihood maximization, Sensitivity analysis

Time-Series Analysis of Continuously Monitored Blood Glucose: The Impacts of Geographic and Daily Lifestyle Factors

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Sean T. Doherty

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Type 2 diabetes is known to be associated with environmental, behavioral, and lifestyle factors. However, the actual impacts of these factors on blood glucose (BG variation throughout the day have remained relatively unexplored. Continuous blood glucose monitors combined with human activity tracking technologies afford new opportunities for exploration in a naturalistic setting. Data from a study of 40 patients with diabetes is utilized in this paper, including continuously monitored BG, food/medicine intake, and patient activity/location tracked using global positioning systems over a 4-day period. Standard linear regression and more disaggregated time-series analysis using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA are used to explore patient BG variation throughout the day and over space. The ARIMA models revealed a wide variety of BG correlating factors related to specific activity types, locations (especially those far from home, and travel modes, although the impacts were highly personal. Traditional variables related to food intake and medications were less often significant. Overall, the time-series analysis revealed considerable patient-by-patient variation in the effects of geographic and daily lifestyle factors. We would suggest that maps of BG spatial variation or an interactive messaging system could provide new tools to engage patients and highlight potential risk factors.

The Effect of Geographic Units of Analysis on Measuring Geographic Variation in Medical Services Utilization

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Agnus M. Kim

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the effect of geographic units of analysis on measuring geographic variation in medical services utilization. For this purpose, we compared geographic variations in the rates of eight major procedures in administrative units (districts and new areal units organized based on the actual health care use of the population in Korea. Methods: To compare geographic variation in geographic units of analysis, we calculated the age–sex standardized rates of eight major procedures (coronary artery bypass graft surgery, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, surgery after hip fracture, knee-replacement surgery, caesarean section, hysterectomy, computed tomography scan, and magnetic resonance imaging scan from the National Health Insurance database in Korea for the 2013 period. Using the coefficient of variation, the extremal quotient, and the systematic component of variation, we measured geographic variation for these eight procedures in districts and new areal units. Results: Compared with districts, new areal units showed a reduction in geographic variation. Extremal quotients and inter-decile ratios for the eight procedures were lower in new areal units. While the coefficient of variation was lower for most procedures in new areal units, the pattern of change of the systematic component of variation between districts and new areal units differed among procedures. Conclusions: Geographic variation in medical service utilization could vary according to the geographic unit of analysis. To determine how geographic characteristics such as population size and number of geographic units affect geographic variation, further studies are needed.

Analysis of aggregation and disaggregation effects for grid-based hydrological models and the development of improved precipitation disaggregation procedures for GCMs

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H. S. Wheater

1999-01-01

Full Text Available Appropriate representation of hydrological processes within atmospheric General Circulation Models (GCMs is important with respect to internal model dynamics (e.g. surface feedback effects on atmospheric fluxes, continental runoff production and to simulation of terrestrial impacts of climate change. However, at the scale of a GCM grid-square, several methodological problems arise. Spatial disaggregation of grid-square average climatological parameters is required in particular to produce appropriate point intensities from average precipitation. Conversely, aggregation of land surface heterogeneity is necessary for grid-scale or catchment scale application. The performance of grid-based hydrological models is evaluated for two large (104km2 UK catchments. Simple schemes, using sub-grid average of individual land use at 40 km scale and with no calibration, perform well at the annual time-scale and, with the addition of a (calibrated routing component, at the daily and monthly time-scale. Decoupling of hillslope and channel routing does not necessarily improve performance or identifiability. Scale dependence is investigated through application of distribution functions for rainfall and soil moisture at 100 km scale. The results depend on climate, but show interdependence of the representation of sub-grid rainfall and soil moisture distribution. Rainfall distribution is analysed directly using radar rainfall data from the UK and the Arkansas Red River, USA. Among other properties, the scale dependence of spatial coverage upon radar pixel resolution and GCM grid-scale, as well as the serial correlation of coverages are investigated. This leads to a revised methodology for GCM application, as a simple extension of current procedures. A new location-based approach using an image processing technique is then presented, to allow for the preservation of the spatial memory of the process.

Commercial demand for energy: a disaggregated approach. [Model validation for 1970-1975; forecasting to 2000

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jackson, J.R.; Cohn, S.; Cope, J.; Johnson, W.S.

1978-04-01

This report describes the structure and forecasting accuracy of a disaggregated model of commercial energy use recently developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The model forecasts annual commercial energy use by ten building types, five end uses, and four fuel types. Both economic (utilization rate, fuel choice, capital-energy substitution) and technological factors (equipment efficiency, thermal characteristics of buildings) are explicitly represented in the model. Model parameters are derived from engineering and econometric analysis. The model is then validated by simulating commercial energy use over the 1970--1975 time period. The model performs well both with respect to size of forecast error and ability to predict turning points. The model is then used to evaluate the energy-use implications of national commercial buildings standards based on the ASHRAE 90-75 recommendations. 10 figs., 12 tables, 14 refs.

Geographical information systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Möller, Bernd

2004-01-01

The chapter gives an introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with particular focus on their application within environmental management.......The chapter gives an introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with particular focus on their application within environmental management....

Geographic Ontologies, Gazetteers and Multilingualism

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Robert Laurini

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Different languages imply different visions of space, so that terminologies are different in geographic ontologies. In addition to their geometric shapes, geographic features have names, sometimes different in diverse languages. In addition, the role of gazetteers, as dictionaries of place names (toponyms, is to maintain relations between place names and location. The scope of geographic information retrieval is to search for geographic information not against a database, but against the whole Internet: but the Internet stores information in different languages, and it is of paramount importance not to remain stuck to a unique language. In this paper, our first step is to clarify the links between geographic objects as computer representations of geographic features, ontologies and gazetteers designed in various languages. Then, we propose some inference rules for matching not only types, but also relations in geographic ontologies with the assistance of gazetteers.

Analyzing the environmental impact of transportation in reengineered supply chains: a case study from a leather upholstery company

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yazan, Devrim Murat; Yazan, Devrim; Petruzzelli, Antonio Messeni; Albino, Vito

2011-01-01

This paper examines the impact of process disaggregation and specialization on the environmental performance of the supply chain of a leather upholstery company. An enterprise input–output model that relates geographical information with production processes and transportation routes is developed.

Exploratory mapping of commuter flows in England and Wales

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick; Hovgesen, Henrik Harder; Lassen, Claus

2005-01-01

The availability of representative and disaggregate interaction data allows for a new range of “realistic” analysis with geographical information systems and spatial statistics. The paper uses the origin-destination commute data published from Census 2001 to analyse interaction patterns generally...

Elements in nucleotide sensing and hydrolysis of the AAA+ disaggregation machine ClpB: a structure-based mechanistic dissection of a molecular motor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zeymer, Cathleen, E-mail: cathleen.zeymer@mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de; Barends, Thomas R. M.; Werbeck, Nicolas D.; Schlichting, Ilme; Reinstein, Jochen, E-mail: cathleen.zeymer@mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de [Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Jahnstrasse 29, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany)

2014-02-01

High-resolution crystal structures together with mutational analysis and transient kinetics experiments were utilized to understand nucleotide sensing and the regulation of the ATPase cycle in an AAA+ molecular motor. ATPases of the AAA+ superfamily are large oligomeric molecular machines that remodel their substrates by converting the energy from ATP hydrolysis into mechanical force. This study focuses on the molecular chaperone ClpB, the bacterial homologue of Hsp104, which reactivates aggregated proteins under cellular stress conditions. Based on high-resolution crystal structures in different nucleotide states, mutational analysis and nucleotide-binding kinetics experiments, the ATPase cycle of the C-terminal nucleotide-binding domain (NBD2), one of the motor subunits of this AAA+ disaggregation machine, is dissected mechanistically. The results provide insights into nucleotide sensing, explaining how the conserved sensor 2 motif contributes to the discrimination between ADP and ATP binding. Furthermore, the role of a conserved active-site arginine (Arg621), which controls binding of the essential Mg{sup 2+} ion, is described. Finally, a hypothesis is presented as to how the ATPase activity is regulated by a conformational switch that involves the essential Walker A lysine. In the proposed model, an unusual side-chain conformation of this highly conserved residue stabilizes a catalytically inactive state, thereby avoiding unnecessary ATP hydrolysis.

Elements in nucleotide sensing and hydrolysis of the AAA+ disaggregation machine ClpB: a structure-based mechanistic dissection of a molecular motor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeymer, Cathleen; Barends, Thomas R. M.; Werbeck, Nicolas D.; Schlichting, Ilme; Reinstein, Jochen

2014-01-01

High-resolution crystal structures together with mutational analysis and transient kinetics experiments were utilized to understand nucleotide sensing and the regulation of the ATPase cycle in an AAA+ molecular motor. ATPases of the AAA+ superfamily are large oligomeric molecular machines that remodel their substrates by converting the energy from ATP hydrolysis into mechanical force. This study focuses on the molecular chaperone ClpB, the bacterial homologue of Hsp104, which reactivates aggregated proteins under cellular stress conditions. Based on high-resolution crystal structures in different nucleotide states, mutational analysis and nucleotide-binding kinetics experiments, the ATPase cycle of the C-terminal nucleotide-binding domain (NBD2), one of the motor subunits of this AAA+ disaggregation machine, is dissected mechanistically. The results provide insights into nucleotide sensing, explaining how the conserved sensor 2 motif contributes to the discrimination between ADP and ATP binding. Furthermore, the role of a conserved active-site arginine (Arg621), which controls binding of the essential Mg 2+ ion, is described. Finally, a hypothesis is presented as to how the ATPase activity is regulated by a conformational switch that involves the essential Walker A lysine. In the proposed model, an unusual side-chain conformation of this highly conserved residue stabilizes a catalytically inactive state, thereby avoiding unnecessary ATP hydrolysis

Analysis of Fuel Cell Markets in Japan and the US: Experience Curve Development and Cost Reduction Disaggregation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wei, Max [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Smith, Sarah J. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Sohn, Michael D. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2016-07-15

Fuel cells are both a longstanding and emerging technology for stationary and transportation applications, and their future use will likely be critical for the deep decarbonization of global energy systems. As we look into future applications, a key challenge for policy-makers and technology market forecasters who seek to track and/or accelerate their market adoption is the ability to forecast market costs of the fuel cells as technology innovations are incorporated into market products. Specifically, there is a need to estimate technology learning rates, which are rates of cost reduction versus production volume. Unfortunately, no literature exists for forecasting future learning rates for fuel cells. In this paper, we look retrospectively to estimate learning rates for two fuel cell deployment programs: (1) the micro-combined heat and power (CHP) program in Japan, and (2) the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) in California. These two examples have a relatively broad set of historical market data and thus provide an informative and international comparison of distinct fuel cell technologies and government deployment programs. We develop a generalized procedure for disaggregating experience-curve cost-reductions in order to disaggregate the Japanese fuel cell micro-CHP market into its constituent components, and we derive and present a range of learning rates that may explain observed market trends. Finally, we explore the differences in the technology development ecosystem and market conditions that may have contributed to the observed differences in cost reduction and draw policy observations for the market adoption of future fuel cell technologies. The scientific and policy contributions of this paper are the first comparative experience curve analysis of past fuel cell technologies in two distinct markets, and the first quantitative comparison of a detailed cost model of fuel cell systems with actual market data. The resulting approach is applicable to

GEOGRAPHIC NAMES INFORMATION SYSTEM (GNIS) ...

Science.gov (United States)

The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN), contains information about physical and cultural geographic features in the United States and associated areas, both current and historical, but not including roads and highways. The database also contains geographic names in Antarctica. The database holds the Federally recognized name of each feature and defines the location of the feature by state, county, USGS topographic map, and geographic coordinates. Other feature attributes include names or spellings other than the official name, feature designations, feature class, historical and descriptive information, and for some categories of features the geometric boundaries. The database assigns a unique feature identifier, a random number, that is a key for accessing, integrating, or reconciling GNIS data with other data sets. The GNIS is our Nation's official repository of domestic geographic feature names information.

Volunteered Geographic Information in Wikipedia

Science.gov (United States)

Hardy, Darren

2010-01-01

Volunteered geographic information (VGI) refers to the geographic subset of online user-generated content. Through Geobrowsers and online mapping services, which use geovisualization and Web technologies to share and produce VGI, a global digital commons of geographic information has emerged. A notable example is Wikipedia, an online collaborative…

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) for Lousiana, Geographic NAD83, USGS (2007) [GNIS_LA_USGS_2007

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

A Novel Magnetic Actuation Scheme to Disaggregate Nanoparticles and Enhance Passage across the Blood–Brain Barrier

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Ali Kafash Hoshiar

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The blood–brain barrier (BBB hinders drug delivery to the brain. Despite various efforts to develop preprogramed actuation schemes for magnetic drug delivery, the unmodeled aggregation phenomenon limits drug delivery performance. This paper proposes a novel scheme with an aggregation model for a feed-forward magnetic actuation design. A simulation platform for aggregated particle delivery is developed and an actuation scheme is proposed to deliver aggregated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs using a discontinuous asymmetrical magnetic actuation. The experimental results with a Y-shaped channel indicated the success of the proposed scheme in steering and disaggregation. The delivery performance of the developed scheme was examined using a realistic, three-dimensional (3D vessel simulation. Furthermore, the proposed scheme enhanced the transport and uptake of MNPs across the BBB in mice. The scheme presented here facilitates the passage of particles across the BBB to the brain using an electromagnetic actuation scheme.

Changes at the National Geographic Society

Science.gov (United States)

Schwille, Kathleen

2016-01-01

For more than 125 years, National Geographic has explored the planet, unlocking its secrets and sharing them with the world. For almost thirty of those years, National Geographic has been committed to K-12 educators and geographic education through its Network of Alliances. As National Geographic begins a new chapter, they remain committed to the…

Conceptual Model of Dynamic Geographic Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martínez-Rosales Miguel Alejandro

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In geographic environments, there are many and different types of geographic entities such as automobiles, trees, persons, buildings, storms, hurricanes, etc. These entities can be classified into two groups: geographic objects and geographic phenomena. By its nature, a geographic environment is dynamic, thus, it’s static modeling is not sufficient. Considering the dynamics of geographic environment, a new type of geographic entity called event is introduced. The primary target is a modeling of geographic environment as an event sequence, because in this case the semantic relations are much richer than in the case of static modeling. In this work, the conceptualization of this model is proposed. It is based on the idea to process each entity apart instead of processing the environment as a whole. After that, the so called history of each entity and its spatial relations to other entities are defined to describe the whole environment. The main goal is to model systems at a conceptual level that make use of spatial and temporal information, so that later it can serve as the semantic engine for such systems.

Fissured and geographic tongue in Williams-Beuren syndrome

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Neeta Sharma

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Williams-Beuren Syndrome (WBS is a rare, most often sporadic, genetic disease caused by a chromosomal microdeletion at locus 7q11.23 involving 28 genes. It is characterized by congenital heart defects, neonatal hypercalcemia, skeletal and renal abnormalities, cognitive disorder, social personality disorder, and dysmorphic facies. A number of clinical findings has been reported, but none of the studies evaluated this syndrome considering oral cavity. We here report a fissured and geographic tongue in association with WBS.

Geographical National Condition and Complex System

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WANG Jiayao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The significance of studying the complex system of geographical national conditions lies in rationally expressing the complex relationships of the “resources-environment-ecology-economy-society” system. Aiming to the problems faced by the statistical analysis of geographical national conditions, including the disunity of research contents, the inconsistency of range, the uncertainty of goals, etc.the present paper conducted a range of discussions from the perspectives of concept, theory and method, and designed some solutions based on the complex system theory and coordination degree analysis methods.By analyzing the concepts of geographical national conditions, geographical national conditions survey and geographical national conditions statistical analysis, as well as investigating the relationships between theirs, the statistical contents and the analytical range of geographical national conditions are clarified and defined. This investigation also clarifies the goals of the statistical analysis by analyzing the basic characteristics of the geographical national conditions and the complex system, and the consistency between the analysis of the degree of coordination and statistical analyses. It outlines their goals, proposes a concept for the complex system of geographical national conditions, and it describes the concept. The complex system theory provides new theoretical guidance for the statistical analysis of geographical national conditions. The degree of coordination offers new approaches on how to undertake the analysis based on the measurement method and decision-making analysis scheme upon which the complex system of geographical national conditions is based. It analyzes the overall trend via the degree of coordination of the complex system on a macro level, and it determines the direction of remediation on a micro level based on the degree of coordination among various subsystems and of single systems. These results establish

Hyperforin prevents beta-amyloid neurotoxicity and spatial memory impairments by disaggregation of Alzheimer's amyloid-beta-deposits.

Science.gov (United States)

Dinamarca, M C; Cerpa, W; Garrido, J; Hancke, J L; Inestrosa, N C

2006-11-01

The major protein constituent of amyloid deposits in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta). In the present work, we have determined the effect of hyperforin an acylphloroglucinol compound isolated from Hypericum perforatum (St John's Wort), on Abeta-induced spatial memory impairments and on Abeta neurotoxicity. We report here that hyperforin: (1) decreases amyloid deposit formation in rats injected with amyloid fibrils in the hippocampus; (2) decreases the neuropathological changes and behavioral impairments in a rat model of amyloidosis; (3) prevents Abeta-induced neurotoxicity in hippocampal neurons both from amyloid fibrils and Abeta oligomers, avoiding the increase in reactive oxidative species associated with amyloid toxicity. Both effects could be explained by the capacity of hyperforin to disaggregate amyloid deposits in a dose and time-dependent manner and to decrease Abeta aggregation and amyloid formation. Altogether these evidences suggest that hyperforin may be useful to decrease amyloid burden and toxicity in AD patients, and may be a putative therapeutic agent to fight the disease.

Convergence of in-Country Prices for the Turkish Economy : A Panel Data Search for the PPP Hypothesis Using Sub-Regional Disaggregated Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mustafa METE

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper tries to examine that in-country prices from the Turkish economy can be specified as a stationary relationship giving support to the long-run purchasing power parity in economics theory. For this purpose, a sub-regional categorization of the economy is considered over the investigation period of 2005-2012, and, following Esaka (2003, the study uses a panel estimation framework consisting of 12 disaggregated consumer price indices to search for whether the relative prices of goods between sub-regions of the Turkish economy can be represented by stationary time series properties.

Rule-guided human classification of Volunteered Geographic Information

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Ahmed Loai; Falomir, Zoe; Schmid, Falko; Freksa, Christian

2017-05-01

During the last decade, web technologies and location sensing devices have evolved generating a form of crowdsourcing known as Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). VGI acted as a platform of spatial data collection, in particular, when a group of public participants are involved in collaborative mapping activities: they work together to collect, share, and use information about geographic features. VGI exploits participants' local knowledge to produce rich data sources. However, the resulting data inherits problematic data classification. In VGI projects, the challenges of data classification are due to the following: (i) data is likely prone to subjective classification, (ii) remote contributions and flexible contribution mechanisms in most projects, and (iii) the uncertainty of spatial data and non-strict definitions of geographic features. These factors lead to various forms of problematic classification: inconsistent, incomplete, and imprecise data classification. This research addresses classification appropriateness. Whether the classification of an entity is appropriate or inappropriate is related to quantitative and/or qualitative observations. Small differences between observations may be not recognizable particularly for non-expert participants. Hence, in this paper, the problem is tackled by developing a rule-guided classification approach. This approach exploits data mining techniques of Association Classification (AC) to extract descriptive (qualitative) rules of specific geographic features. The rules are extracted based on the investigation of qualitative topological relations between target features and their context. Afterwards, the extracted rules are used to develop a recommendation system able to guide participants to the most appropriate classification. The approach proposes two scenarios to guide participants towards enhancing the quality of data classification. An empirical study is conducted to investigate the classification of grass

Micro- and macro-geographic scale effect on the molecular imprint of selection and adaptation in Norway spruce.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marta Scalfi

Full Text Available Forest tree species of temperate and boreal regions have undergone a long history of demographic changes and evolutionary adaptations. The main objective of this study was to detect signals of selection in Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst, at different sampling-scales and to investigate, accounting for population structure, the effect of environment on species genetic diversity. A total of 384 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs representing 290 genes were genotyped at two geographic scales: across 12 populations distributed along two altitudinal-transects in the Alps (micro-geographic scale, and across 27 populations belonging to the range of Norway spruce in central and south-east Europe (macro-geographic scale. At the macrogeographic scale, principal component analysis combined with Bayesian clustering revealed three major clusters, corresponding to the main areas of southern spruce occurrence, i.e. the Alps, Carpathians, and Hercynia. The populations along the altitudinal transects were not differentiated. To assess the role of selection in structuring genetic variation, we applied a Bayesian and coalescent-based F(ST-outlier method and tested for correlations between allele frequencies and climatic variables using regression analyses. At the macro-geographic scale, the F(ST-outlier methods detected together 11 F(ST-outliers. Six outliers were detected when the same analyses were carried out taking into account the genetic structure. Regression analyses with population structure correction resulted in the identification of two (micro-geographic scale and 38 SNPs (macro-geographic scale significantly correlated with temperature and/or precipitation. Six of these loci overlapped with F(ST-outliers, among them two loci encoding an enzyme involved in riboflavin biosynthesis and a sucrose synthase. The results of this study indicate a strong relationship between genetic and environmental variation at both geographic scales. It also

Micro- and macro-geographic scale effect on the molecular imprint of selection and adaptation in Norway spruce.

Science.gov (United States)

Scalfi, Marta; Mosca, Elena; Di Pierro, Erica Adele; Troggio, Michela; Vendramin, Giovanni Giuseppe; Sperisen, Christoph; La Porta, Nicola; Neale, David B

2014-01-01

Forest tree species of temperate and boreal regions have undergone a long history of demographic changes and evolutionary adaptations. The main objective of this study was to detect signals of selection in Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst), at different sampling-scales and to investigate, accounting for population structure, the effect of environment on species genetic diversity. A total of 384 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) representing 290 genes were genotyped at two geographic scales: across 12 populations distributed along two altitudinal-transects in the Alps (micro-geographic scale), and across 27 populations belonging to the range of Norway spruce in central and south-east Europe (macro-geographic scale). At the macrogeographic scale, principal component analysis combined with Bayesian clustering revealed three major clusters, corresponding to the main areas of southern spruce occurrence, i.e. the Alps, Carpathians, and Hercynia. The populations along the altitudinal transects were not differentiated. To assess the role of selection in structuring genetic variation, we applied a Bayesian and coalescent-based F(ST)-outlier method and tested for correlations between allele frequencies and climatic variables using regression analyses. At the macro-geographic scale, the F(ST)-outlier methods detected together 11 F(ST)-outliers. Six outliers were detected when the same analyses were carried out taking into account the genetic structure. Regression analyses with population structure correction resulted in the identification of two (micro-geographic scale) and 38 SNPs (macro-geographic scale) significantly correlated with temperature and/or precipitation. Six of these loci overlapped with F(ST)-outliers, among them two loci encoding an enzyme involved in riboflavin biosynthesis and a sucrose synthase. The results of this study indicate a strong relationship between genetic and environmental variation at both geographic scales. It also suggests that an

A DISAGGREGATED MEASURES APPROACH OF POVERTY STATUS OF FARMING HOUSEHOLDS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grace Oluwabukunmi Akinsola

2016-12-01

Full Text Available In a bid to strengthen the agricultural sector in Nigeria, the Kwara State Government invited thirteen Zimbabwean farmers to participate in agricultural production in Kwara State in 2004. The main objective of this study therefore was to examine the effect of the activities of these foreign farmers on local farmers’ poverty status. A questionnaire was administered on the heads of farming households. A total of 240 respondents were used for the study, which was comprised of 120 contact and 120 non-contact heads of farming households. The analytical tools employed included descriptive statistics and the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke method. The result indicated that the non-contact farming households are poorer than the contact farming households. Using the disaggregated poverty profile, poverty is most severe among the age group of above 60 years. The intensity of poverty is also higher among the married group than the singles. Based on the education level, poverty seems to be most severe among those without any formal education. It is therefore recommended that a minimum of secondary school education should be encouraged among the farming households to prevent higher incidence of poverty in the study area.

Geographical distribution of centenarians in Colombia: an analysis of three databases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Rosselli

2017-07-01

Conclusions: Although the results are consistent with the number and geographical distribution of centenarians, some errors may be found in the date of birth stated in the records, which is the basis for estimating age in the three sources. Other factors potentially involved in the results may be physical activity, family and community support, low stress and healthy diet in these regions.

Disaggregating and mapping crop statistics using hypertemporal remote sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, M. R.; de Bie, C. A. J. M.; van Keulen, H.; Smaling, E. M. A.; Real, R.

2010-02-01

Governments compile their agricultural statistics in tabular form by administrative area, which gives no clue to the exact locations where specific crops are actually grown. Such data are poorly suited for early warning and assessment of crop production. 10-Daily satellite image time series of Andalucia, Spain, acquired since 1998 by the SPOT Vegetation Instrument in combination with reported crop area statistics were used to produce the required crop maps. Firstly, the 10-daily (1998-2006) 1-km resolution SPOT-Vegetation NDVI-images were used to stratify the study area in 45 map units through an iterative unsupervised classification process. Each unit represents an NDVI-profile showing changes in vegetation greenness over time which is assumed to relate to the types of land cover and land use present. Secondly, the areas of NDVI-units and the reported cropped areas by municipality were used to disaggregate the crop statistics. Adjusted R-squares were 98.8% for rainfed wheat, 97.5% for rainfed sunflower, and 76.5% for barley. Relating statistical data on areas cropped by municipality with the NDVI-based unit map showed that the selected crops were significantly related to specific NDVI-based map units. Other NDVI-profiles did not relate to the studied crops and represented other types of land use or land cover. The results were validated by using primary field data. These data were collected by the Spanish government from 2001 to 2005 through grid sampling within agricultural areas; each grid (block) contains three 700 m × 700 m segments. The validation showed 68%, 31% and 23% variability explained (adjusted R-squares) between the three produced maps and the thousands of segment data. Mainly variability within the delineated NDVI-units caused relatively low values; the units are internally heterogeneous. Variability between units is properly captured. The maps must accordingly be considered "small scale maps". These maps can be used to monitor crop performance of

5 CFR 536.303 - Geographic conversion.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... after geographic conversion is the employee's existing payable rate of basic pay in effect immediately before the action. (b) Geographic conversion when a retained rate employee's official worksite is changed... 5 Administrative Personnel 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Geographic conversion. 536.303 Section...

The Oklahoma Geographic Information Retrieval System

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchard, W. A.

1982-01-01

The Oklahoma Geographic Information Retrieval System (OGIRS) is a highly interactive data entry, storage, manipulation, and display software system for use with geographically referenced data. Although originally developed for a project concerned with coal strip mine reclamation, OGIRS is capable of handling any geographically referenced data for a variety of natural resource management applications. A special effort has been made to integrate remotely sensed data into the information system. The timeliness and synoptic coverage of satellite data are particularly useful attributes for inclusion into the geographic information system.

Framework for Virtual Cognitive Experiment in Virtual Geographic Environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fan Zhang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Virtual Geographic Environment Cognition is the attempt to understand the human cognition of surface features, geographic processes, and human behaviour, as well as their relationships in the real world. From the perspective of human cognition behaviour analysis and simulation, previous work in Virtual Geographic Environments (VGEs has focused mostly on representing and simulating the real world to create an ‘interpretive’ virtual world and improve an individual’s active cognition. In terms of reactive cognition, building a user ‘evaluative’ environment in a complex virtual experiment is a necessary yet challenging task. This paper discusses the outlook of VGEs and proposes a framework for virtual cognitive experiments. The framework not only employs immersive virtual environment technology to create a realistic virtual world but also involves a responsive mechanism to record the user’s cognitive activities during the experiment. Based on the framework, this paper presents two potential implementation methods: first, training a deep learning model with several hundred thousand street view images scored by online volunteers, with further analysis of which visual factors produce a sense of safety for the individual, and second, creating an immersive virtual environment and Electroencephalogram (EEG-based experimental paradigm to both record and analyse the brain activity of a user and explore what type of virtual environment is more suitable and comfortable. Finally, we present some preliminary findings based on the first method.

Composing Models of Geographic Physical Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Hofer, Barbara; Frank, Andrew U.

Processes are central for geographic information science; yet geographic information systems (GIS) lack capabilities to represent process related information. A prerequisite to including processes in GIS software is a general method to describe geographic processes independently of application disciplines. This paper presents such a method, namely a process description language. The vocabulary of the process description language is derived formally from mathematical models. Physical processes in geography can be described in two equivalent languages: partial differential equations or partial difference equations, where the latter can be shown graphically and used as a method for application specialists to enter their process models. The vocabulary of the process description language comprises components for describing the general behavior of prototypical geographic physical processes. These process components can be composed by basic models of geographic physical processes, which is shown by means of an example.

Louisiana State Soil Geographic, General Soil Map, Geographic NAD83, NWRC (1998) [statsgo_soils_NWRC_1998

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This data set contains vector line map information. The vector data contain selected base categories of geographic features, and characteristics of these features,...

Spatially disaggregated population estimates in the absence of national population and housing census data

Science.gov (United States)

Wardrop, N. A.; Jochem, W. C.; Bird, T. J.; Chamberlain, H. R.; Clarke, D.; Kerr, D.; Bengtsson, L.; Juran, S.; Seaman, V.; Tatem, A. J.

2018-01-01

Population numbers at local levels are fundamental data for many applications, including the delivery and planning of services, election preparation, and response to disasters. In resource-poor settings, recent and reliable demographic data at subnational scales can often be lacking. National population and housing census data can be outdated, inaccurate, or missing key groups or areas, while registry data are generally lacking or incomplete. Moreover, at local scales accurate boundary data are often limited, and high rates of migration and urban growth make existing data quickly outdated. Here we review past and ongoing work aimed at producing spatially disaggregated local-scale population estimates, and discuss how new technologies are now enabling robust and cost-effective solutions. Recent advances in the availability of detailed satellite imagery, geopositioning tools for field surveys, statistical methods, and computational power are enabling the development and application of approaches that can estimate population distributions at fine spatial scales across entire countries in the absence of census data. We outline the potential of such approaches as well as their limitations, emphasizing the political and operational hurdles for acceptance and sustainable implementation of new approaches, and the continued importance of traditional sources of national statistical data. PMID:29555739

Determinants of Dentists' Geographic Distribution.

Science.gov (United States)

Beazoglou, Tryfon J.; And Others

1992-01-01

A model for explaining the geographic distribution of dentists' practice locations is presented and applied to particular market areas in Connecticut. Results show geographic distribution is significantly related to a few key variables, including demography, disposable income, and housing prices. Implications for helping students make practice…

An initial assessment of a SMAP soil moisture disaggregation scheme using TIR surface evaporation data over the continental United States

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Vikalp; Ellenburg, W. Lee; Griffin, Robert E.; Mecikalski, John R.; Cruise, James F.; Hain, Christopher R.; Anderson, Martha C.

2018-06-01

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission is dedicated toward global soil moisture mapping. Typically, an L-band microwave radiometer has spatial resolution on the order of 36-40 km, which is too coarse for many specific hydro-meteorological and agricultural applications. With the failure of the SMAP active radar within three months of becoming operational, an intermediate (9-km) and finer (3-km) scale soil moisture product solely from the SMAP mission is no longer possible. Therefore, the focus of this study is a disaggregation of the 36-km resolution SMAP passive-only surface soil moisture (SSM) using the Soil Evaporative Efficiency (SEE) approach to spatial scales of 3-km and 9-km. The SEE was computed using thermal-infrared (TIR) estimation of surface evaporation over Continental U.S. (CONUS). The disaggregation results were compared with the 3 months of SMAP-Active (SMAP-A) and Active/Passive (AP) products, while comparisons with SMAP-Enhanced (SMAP-E), SMAP-Passive (SMAP-P), as well as with more than 180 Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN) stations across CONUS were performed for a 19 month period. At the 9-km spatial scale, the TIR-Downscaled data correlated strongly with the SMAP-E SSM both spatially (r = 0.90) and temporally (r = 0.87). In comparison with SCAN observations, overall correlations of 0.49 and 0.47; bias of -0.022 and -0.019 and unbiased RMSD of 0.105 and 0.100 were found for SMAP-E and TIR-Downscaled SSM across the Continental U.S., respectively. At 3-km scale, TIR-Downscaled and SMAP-A had a mean temporal correlation of only 0.27. In terms of gain statistics, the highest percentage of SCAN sites with positive gains (>55%) was observed with the TIR-Downscaled SSM at 9-km. Overall, the TIR-based downscaled SSM showed strong correspondence with SMAP-E; compared to SCAN, and overall both SMAP-E and TIR-Downscaled performed similarly, however, gain statistics show that TIR-Downscaled SSM slightly outperformed SMAP-E.

[Use of indicators of geographical accessibility to primary health care centers in addressing inequities].

Science.gov (United States)

De Pietri, Diana; Dietrich, Patricia; Mayo, Patricia; Carcagno, Alejandro; de Titto, Ernesto

2013-12-01

Characterize geographical indicators in relation to their usefulness in measuring regional inequities, identify and describe areas according to their degree of geographical accessibility to primary health care centers (PHCCs), and detect populations at risk from the perspective of access to primary care. Analysis of spatial accessibility using geographic information systems (GIS) involved three aspects: population without medical coverage, distribution of PHCCs, and the public transportation network connecting them. The development of indicators of demand (real, potential, and differential) and analysis of territorial factors affecting population mobility enabled the characterization of PHCCs with regard to their environment, thereby contributing to local and regional analysis and to the detection of different zones according to regional connectivity levels. Indicators developed in a GIS environment were very useful in analyzing accessibility to PHCCs by vulnerable populations. Zoning the region helped identify inequities by differentiating areas of unmet demand and fragmentation of spatial connectivity between PHCCs and public transportation.

Conditions for the Occurrence of Slaking and Other Disaggregation Processes under Rainfall

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frédéric Darboux

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Under rainfall conditions, aggregates may suffer breakdown by different mechanisms. Slaking is a very efficient breakdown mechanism. However, its occurrence under rainfall conditions has not been demonstrated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of slaking under rain. Two soils with silt loam (SL and clay loam (CL textures were analyzed. Two classes of aggregates were utilized: 1–3 mm and 3–5 mm. The aggregates were submitted to stability tests and to high intensity (90 mm·h−1 and low intensity (28 mm·h−1 rainfalls, and different kinetic energy impacts (large and small raindrops using a rainfall simulator. The fragment size distributions were determined both after the stability tests and rainfall simulations, with the calculation of the mean weighted diameter (MWD. After the stability tests the SL presented smaller MWDs for all stability tests when compared to the CL. In both soils the lowest MWD was obtained using the fast wetting test, showing they were sensitive to slaking. For both soils and the two aggregate classes evaluated, the MWDs were recorded from the early beginning of the rainfall event under the four rainfall conditions. The occurrence of slaking in the evaluated soils was not verified under the simulated rainfall conditions studied. The early disaggregation was strongly related to the cumulative kinetic energy, advocating for the occurrence of mechanical breakdown. Because slaking requires a very high wetting rate on initially dry aggregates, it seems unlikely to occur under field conditions, except perhaps for furrow irrigation.

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Structures

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

The evolution of cooperation on geographical networks

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yixiao; Wang, Yi; Sheng, Jichuan

2017-11-01

We study evolutionary public goods game on geographical networks, i.e., complex networks which are located on a geographical plane. The geographical feature effects in two ways: In one way, the geographically-induced network structure influences the overall evolutionary dynamics, and, in the other way, the geographical length of an edge influences the cost when the two players at the two ends interact. For the latter effect, we design a new cost function of cooperators, which simply assumes that the longer the distance between two players, the higher cost the cooperator(s) of them have to pay. In this study, network substrates are generated by a previous spatial network model with a cost-benefit parameter controlling the network topology. Our simulations show that the greatest promotion of cooperation is achieved in the intermediate regime of the parameter, in which empirical estimates of various railway networks fall. Further, we investigate how the distribution of edges' geographical costs influences the evolutionary dynamics and consider three patterns of the distribution: an approximately-equal distribution, a diverse distribution, and a polarized distribution. For normal geographical networks which are generated using intermediate values of the cost-benefit parameter, a diverse distribution hinders the evolution of cooperation, whereas a polarized distribution lowers the threshold value of the amplification factor for cooperation in public goods game. These results are helpful for understanding the evolution of cooperation on real-world geographical networks.

Geographical differences in food allergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartra, Joan; García-Moral, Alba; Enrique, Ernesto

2016-06-01

Food allergy represents a health problem worldwide and leads to life-threatening reactions and even impairs quality of life. Epidemiological data during the past decades is very heterogeneous because of the use of different diagnostic procedures, and most studies have only been performed in specific geographical areas. The aim of this article is to review the available data on the geographical distribution of food allergies at the food source and molecular level and to link food allergy patterns to the aeroallergen influence in each area. Systematic reviews, meta-analysis, studies performed within the EuroPrevall Project and EAACI position papers regarding food allergy were analysed. The prevalence of food allergy sensitization differs between geographical areas, probably as a consequence of differences among populations, their habits and the influence of the cross-reactivity of aeroallergens and other sources of allergens. Geographical differences in food allergy are clearly evident at the allergenic molecular level, which seems to be directly influenced by the aeroallergens of each region and associated with specific clinical patterns.

Introductory comments on the USGS geographic applications program

Science.gov (United States)

Gerlach, A. C.

1970-01-01

The third phase of remote sensing technologies and potentials applied to the operations of the U.S. Geological Survey is introduced. Remote sensing data with multidisciplinary spatial data from traditional sources is combined with geographic theory and techniques of environmental modeling. These combined imputs are subject to four sequential activities that involve: (1) thermatic mapping of land use and environmental factors; (2) the dynamics of change detection; (3) environmental surveillance to identify sudden changes and general trends; and (4) preparation of statistical model and analytical reports. Geography program functions, products, clients, and goals are presented in graphical form, along with aircraft photo missions, geography test sites, and FY-70.

A Practical Methodology for Disaggregating the Drivers of Drug Costs Using Administrative Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Lungu, Elena R; Manti, Orlando J; Levine, Mitchell A H; Clark, Douglas A; Potashnik, Tanya M; McKinley, Carol I

2017-09-01

Prescription drug expenditures represent a significant component of health care costs in Canada, with estimates of $28.8 billion spent in 2014. Identifying the major cost drivers and the effect they have on prescription drug expenditures allows policy makers and researchers to interpret current cost pressures and anticipate future expenditure levels. To identify the major drivers of prescription drug costs and to develop a methodology to disaggregate the impact of each of the individual drivers. The methodology proposed in this study uses the Laspeyres approach for cost decomposition. This approach isolates the effect of the change in a specific factor (e.g., price) by holding the other factor(s) (e.g., quantity) constant at the base-period value. The Laspeyres approach is expanded to a multi-factorial framework to isolate and quantify several factors that drive prescription drug cost. Three broad categories of effects are considered: volume, price and drug-mix effects. For each category, important sub-effects are quantified. This study presents a new and comprehensive methodology for decomposing the change in prescription drug costs over time including step-by-step demonstrations of how the formulas were derived. This methodology has practical applications for health policy decision makers and can aid researchers in conducting cost driver analyses. The methodology can be adjusted depending on the purpose and analytical depth of the research and data availability. © 2017 Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology. All rights reserved.

Third Sector Involvement in Public Education: The Israeli Case

Science.gov (United States)

Berkovich, Izhak; Foldes, Vincent Jonathan

2012-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to address the involvement of third sector organizations in state public education in Israel, with emphasis on the decision-making processes affecting the geographic distribution of service provision. Design/methodology/approach: A collective case study approach was used to investigate non-governmental…

Ten Projects to Involve Your Students Directly in French.

Science.gov (United States)

van Lent, Peter C.

1981-01-01

Proposes 10 activities to provide French classes of all levels with a broad spectrum of language projects involving direct and active use of French including students polling each other, skits based on television commercials, geographical "show and tell," cooking French dishes, writing a monthly newspaper, and field trips. (BK)

Representations built from a true geographic database

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bodum, Lars

2005-01-01

the whole world in 3d and with a spatial reference given by geographic coordinates. Built on top of this is a customised viewer, based on the Xith(Java) scenegraph. The viewer reads the objects directly from the database and solves the question about Level-Of-Detail on buildings, orientation in relation...... a representation based on geographic and geospatial principles. The system GRIFINOR, developed at 3DGI, Aalborg University, DK, is capable of creating this object-orientation and furthermore does this on top of a true Geographic database. A true Geographic database can be characterized as a database that can cover...

Workload management and geographic disorientation in aviation incidents: A review of the ASRS data base

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Henry P.; Tham, Mingpo; Wickens, Christopher D.

1993-01-01

NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) incident reports are reviewed in two related areas: pilots' failures to appropriately manage tasks, and breakdowns in geographic orientation. Examination of 51 relevant reports on task management breakdowns revealed that altitude busts and inappropriate runway usee were the most frequently reported consequences. Task management breakdowns appeared to occur at all levels of expertise, and prominent causal factors were related to breakdowns in crew communications, over-involvement with the flight management system and, for small (general aviation) aircraft, preoccupation with weather. Analysis of the 83 cases of geographic disorientation suggested that these too occurred at all levels of pilot experience. With regard to causal factors, a majority was related to poor cockpit resource management, in which inattention led to a loss of geographic awareness. Other leading causes were related to poor weather and poor decision making. The potential of the ASRS database for contributing to research and design issues is addressed.

25 CFR 571.10 - Geographical location.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 25 Indians 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Geographical location. 571.10 Section 571.10 Indians NATIONAL INDIAN GAMING COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS MONITORING AND INVESTIGATIONS Subpoenas and Depositions § 571.10 Geographical location. The attendance of...

Socioeconomic Development Inequalities among Geographic Units ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Socio-economic development inequality among geographic units is a phenomenon common in both the developed and developing countries. Regional inequality may result in dissension among geographic units of the same state due to the imbalance in socio-economic development. This study examines the inequality ...

Development Trends of Cartography and Geographic Information Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WANG Jiayao

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Aimed at the problems of cartography and geographic information engineering and increasing demands of national and military infomationization construction, the paper proposes six hotspots on the research of cartography and geographic information engineering for the future on the foundation of analyzing the development track of cartology, which are heterogeneous geospatial data assimilation, transferring from emphasizing geography infor-mation gaining to user-oriented geographic information deep processing, web or grid geographic information service. intelligent spatial data generalization. integration of GIS and VGE. cartography and geographic information engineering theory system with multi-mode(Map,.GlS..VGE spatial-temporal integrated cognition as the core. And discusses the necessity ,existing groundwork and research contents on studying these hotspots.

Using Metadata to Build Geographic Information Sharing Environment on Internet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-hong Sun

1999-12-01

Full Text Available Internet provides a convenient environment to share geographic information. Web GIS (Geographic Information System even provides users a direct access environment to geographic databases through Internet. However, the complexity of geographic data makes it difficult for users to understand the real content and the limitation of geographic information. In some cases, users may misuse the geographic data and make wrong decisions. Meanwhile, geographic data are distributed across various government agencies, academic institutes, and private organizations, which make it even more difficult for users to fully understand the content of these complex data. To overcome these difficulties, this research uses metadata as a guiding mechanism for users to fully understand the content and the limitation of geographic data. We introduce three metadata standards commonly used for geographic data and metadata authoring tools available in the US. We also review the current development of geographic metadata standard in Taiwan. Two metadata authoring tools are developed in this research, which will enable users to build their own geographic metadata easily.[Article content in Chinese

Geographic variation in the advertisement calls of Hyla eximia and its possible explanations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodríguez-Tejeda, Ruth E; Méndez-Cárdenas, María Guadalupe; Islas-Villanueva, Valentina; Macías Garcia, Constantino

2014-01-01

Populations of species occupying large geographic ranges are often phenotypically diverse as a consequence of variation in selective pressures and drift. This applies to attributes involved in mate choice, particularly when both geographic range and breeding biology overlap between related species. This condition may lead to interference of mating signals, which would in turn promote reproductive character displacement (RCD). We investigated whether variation in the advertisement call of the mountain treefrog (Hyla eximia) is linked to geographic distribution with respect to major Mexican river basins (Panuco, Lerma, Balsas and Magdalena), or to coexistence with its sister (the canyon treefrog, Hyla arenicolor) or another related species (the dwarf treefrog, Tlalocohyla smithii). We also evaluated whether call divergence across the main river basins could be linked to genetic structure. We found that the multidimensional acoustic space of calls from two basins where H. eximia currently interacts with T. smithii, was different from the acoustic space of calls from H. eximia elsewhere. Individuals from these two basins were also distinguishable from the rest by both the phylogeny inferred from mitochondrial sequences, and the genetic structure inferred from nuclear markers. The discordant divergence of H. eximia advertisement calls in the two separate basins where its geographic range overlaps that of T. smithii can be interpreted as the result of two independent events of RCD, presumably as a consequence of acoustic interference in the breeding choruses, although more data are required to evaluate this possibility.

Geographic variation in the advertisement calls of Hyla eximia and its possible explanations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruth E. Rodríguez-Tejeda

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Populations of species occupying large geographic ranges are often phenotypically diverse as a consequence of variation in selective pressures and drift. This applies to attributes involved in mate choice, particularly when both geographic range and breeding biology overlap between related species. This condition may lead to interference of mating signals, which would in turn promote reproductive character displacement (RCD. We investigated whether variation in the advertisement call of the mountain treefrog (Hyla eximia is linked to geographic distribution with respect to major Mexican river basins (Panuco, Lerma, Balsas and Magdalena, or to coexistence with its sister (the canyon treefrog, Hyla arenicolor or another related species (the dwarf treefrog, Tlalocohyla smithii. We also evaluated whether call divergence across the main river basins could be linked to genetic structure. We found that the multidimensional acoustic space of calls from two basins where H. eximia currently interacts with T. smithii, was different from the acoustic space of calls from H. eximia elsewhere. Individuals from these two basins were also distinguishable from the rest by both the phylogeny inferred from mitochondrial sequences, and the genetic structure inferred from nuclear markers. The discordant divergence of H. eximia advertisement calls in the two separate basins where its geographic range overlaps that of T. smithii can be interpreted as the result of two independent events of RCD, presumably as a consequence of acoustic interference in the breeding choruses, although more data are required to evaluate this possibility.

Geographical Simulation and Optimization System (GeoSOS and Its Application in the Analysis of Geographic National Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LI Xia

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Since the Chinese first survey on geographic national conditions has completed, an urgent need is to analyze these geographical data, such as mining of spatial distribution patterns, land use transition rules, development trends. The analysis is crucial for extracting the knowledge from these big data about geographic national conditions. The remote sensing interpretation data and land use/cover data generated by these geographic national conditions monitoring projects are the basic data sources for a variety of research and applications in terms of land use change detection, urban dynamic analysis, and urban/land use planning. The information can be used for assisting in the coordination of land resource use and decision making for urban and rural development, ecological environment protection and other issues that depends on spatial intelligent decisions. We proposed the theoretical framework of geographical simulation and optimization system (GeoSOS, which coupled geographic process simulation/prediction and spatial optimization, provides powerful theoretical support and practical tools for above researches. This paper develops the extension of GeoSOS software-GeoSOS for ArcGIS, which is an ArcGIS Add-In runs on ArcGIS platform for facilitating the above analyses. We take the urban expansion and ecological protection research in rapid urbanization area as an example, use the software to tackle a series of urbanization issues in the study area. The simulation results show that the predicted land development intensity of Guangdong Province will exceed the constraint index in 2020 according to the national development plan. However, the urbanization expansion based on the constraints of land development intensity and ecological protection can satisfy these constraints, and obtain a more compact landscape pattern. The analysis has shown that GeoSOS can be a useful tool for assisting in the analysis of geographic national conditions information

Design Research of TIANDITU (Map Worl)-Based Geographic Information System for Travelling Service

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, J.; Zhang, H.; Wang, C.

2014-04-01

TIANDITU (Map World) is the public version of the National Platform for Common Geospatial Information Service, and the travelling channel is TIANDITU-based geographic information platform for travelling service. With the development of tourism, traditional ways for providing travelling information cannot meet the needs of travelers. As such, the travelling channel of TIANDITU focuses on providing travel information abundantly and precisely, which integrated the geographic information data of TIANDITU Version 2.0 and the authoritative information resources from China National Tourism Administration. Furthermore, spatial positioning, category and information query of various travelling information were offered for the public in the travelling channel. This research mainly involves three important parts: the system design, key technologies of the system design and application examples. Firstly, this paper introduced the design of TIANDITU-based geographic information system for travelling service, and the general and database design were described in detail. The designs for general, database and travelling service above should consider lots of factors which illustrated in the paper in order to guarantee the efficient service. The process of system construction, the content of geographic information for travelling and system functions of geographic information for travelling are also proposed via diagram in this part. Then several key technologies were discussed, including the travelling information integration for main node and among nodes, general architecture design and management system for travelling channel, web portals and system interface. From the perspective of main technologies, this part describes how TIANDITU travelling channel can realize various functions and reach the requirements from different users. Finally, three application examples about travelling information query were listed shortly. The functions and search results are shown clearly in this

Geographic Literacy and Moral Formation among University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Bascom, Jonathan

2011-01-01

This study extends analysis of geographic literacy further by examining the relationship of geographic knowledge with the primary goal of geographic educators--cultivation of cultural understanding and moral sensitivity for global citizenry. The main aim is to examine contributors to moral formation during the university years based on a survey…

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Transportation Features

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Historical Features

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Admin Features

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Hydrography Lines

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Cultural Features

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Landform Features

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Hydrography Points

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Community Features

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Antarctica Features

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Remote sensing research in geographic education: An alternative view

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, H.; Cary, T. K.; Goward, S. N.

1981-01-01

It is noted that within many geography departments remote sensing is viewed as a mere technique a student should learn in order to carry out true geographic research. This view inhibits both students and faculty from investigation of remotely sensed data as a new source of geographic knowledge that may alter our understanding of the Earth. The tendency is for geographers to accept these new data and analysis techniques from engineers and mathematicians without questioning the accompanying premises. This black-box approach hinders geographic applications of the new remotely sensed data and limits the geographer's contribution to further development of remote sensing observation systems. It is suggested that geographers contribute to the development of remote sensing through pursuit of basic research. This research can be encouraged, particularly among students, by demonstrating the links between geographic theory and remotely sensed observations, encouraging a healthy skepticism concerning the current understanding of these data.

The Relationship between Parental Involvement and Student Achievement in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Durand, Felix

2014-01-01

Although many studies have been conducted on the relationship between parental involvement and student achievement, the effect of parental involvement in the U.S. Virgin Islands had not been substantiated empirically. It should not be assumed that research conducted in the United States or other geographic areas will necessarily apply to the…

Personality Homophily and Geographic Distance in Facebook.

Science.gov (United States)

Noë, Nyala; Whitaker, Roger M; Allen, Stuart M

2018-05-24

Personality homophily remains an understudied aspect of social networks, with the traditional focus concerning sociodemographic variables as the basis for assortativity, rather than psychological dispositions. We consider the effect of personality homophily on one of the biggest constraints to human social networks: geographic distance. We use the Big five model of personality to make predictions for each of the five facets: Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Using a network of 313,669 Facebook users, we investigate the difference in geographic distance between homophilous pairs, in which both users scored similarly on a particular facet, and mixed pairs. In accordance with our hypotheses, we find that pairs of open and conscientious users are geographically further apart than mixed pairs. Pairs of extraverts, on the other hand, tend to be geographically closer together. We find mixed results for the Neuroticism facet, and no significant effects for the Agreeableness facet. The results are discussed in the context of personality homophily and the impact of geographic distance on social connections.

Surveying and Mapping Geographical Information from the Perspective of Geography

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LÜ Guonian

2017-10-01

Full Text Available It briefly reviewed the history of geographic information content development since the existence of geographic information system. It pointed out that the current definition of geographic information is always the extension from the "spatial+ attributes" basic mapping framework of geographic information. It is increasingly difficult to adapt to the analysis and application of spatial-temporal big data. From the perspective of geography research subject and content, it summarized systematically that the content and extension of the "geographic information" that geography needs. It put forward that a six-element expression model of geographic information, including spatial location, semantic description, attribute characteristics, geometric form, evolution process, and objects relationship.Under the guidance of the laws of geography, for geographical phenomenon of spatial distribution, temporal pattern and evolution process, the interaction mechanism of the integrated expression, system analysis and efficient management, it designed that a unified GIS data model which is expressed by six basic elements, a new GIS data structure driven by geographical rules and interaction, and key technologies of unstructured spatio-temporal data organization and storage. It provided that a theoretical basis and technical support for the shift from the surveying and mapping geographic information to the scientific geographic information, and it can help improving the organization, management, analysis and expression ability of the GIS of the geographical laws such as geographical pattern, evolution process, and interaction between elements.

Geographic specificity and positionality of public input in transportation: a rural transportation planning case from Central Texas

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Greg P. Griffin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Current transportation planning processes often incorporate public input, but the types of engagement techniques can affect the ability of practitioners to meaningfully include local ideas. This study incorporates literature integrating communicative rationality with participatory mapping, supported by a case study focusing on two public engagement techniques. A transportation planning process in Central Texas is evaluated in terms of the geographic specificity and positionality of comments received from open-ended responses on a questionnaire and a facilitated mapping session, and reviews this input for relevance to developing a transportation plan. Although all input received from the public can be valuable in the process, location-based comments may be more actionable by transportation planners. Participants’ perceived roles likely affect their level of engagement, which planners can facilitate to maximize the quality of involvement. Planners are advised to understand the positionality of project stakeholders and professionals, designing involvement methods considering geographic specificity appropriate for each project.

Thematic cartography as a geographical application

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Drago Perko

2002-12-01

Full Text Available A thematic map may be a geographical application (tool in itself or the basis for some other geographical work. The development of Slovene thematic cartography accelerated considerably following the independence of the country in 1991. From the viewpoint of content and technology, its greatest achievements are the Geographical Atlas of Slovenia and the National Atlas of Slovenia, which are outstanding achievements at the international level and of great significance for the promotion of Slovenia and Slovene geography and cartography. However, this rapid development has been accompanied by numerous problems, for example, the ignoring of various Slovene and international conventions for the preparation of maps including United Nations resolutions, Slovene and international (SIST ISO, and copyright laws.

Joint Service Common Operating Environment (COE) Common Geographic Information System functional requirements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meitzler, W.D.

1992-06-01

In the context of this document and COE, the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are decision support systems involving the integration of spatially referenced data in a problem solving environment. They are digital computer systems for capturing, processing, managing, displaying, modeling, and analyzing geographically referenced spatial data which are described by attribute data and location. The ability to perform spatial analysis and the ability to combine two or more data sets to create new spatial information differentiates a GIS from other computer mapping systems. While the CCGIS allows for data editing and input, its primary purpose is not to prepare data, but rather to manipulate, analyte, and clarify it. The CCGIS defined herein provides GIS services and resources including the spatial and map related functionality common to all subsystems contained within the COE suite of C4I systems. The CCGIS, which is an integral component of the COE concept, relies on the other COE standard components to provide the definition for other support computing services required.

National Geographic Education. An Interview with Gilbert M. Grosvenor, President and Chairman of the Board, National Geographic Society.

Science.gov (United States)

Jumper, Sidney R.

1991-01-01

Presents an interview with Gilbert Grosvenor, president and chairman of the board of the National Geographic Society. Examines student and public ignorance about geography. Describes the Society's Geography Education Project, Geographic Alliance Project, and Education Foundation. Includes Grosvenor's call for greater emphasis on geography in…

Geographical differences in the prevalence of hypospadias in Finland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aho, Martti Olavi; Koivisto, Anna-Maija; Juhani Tammela, Teuvo Leo; Auvinen, Anssi-Pekka

2003-01-01

Hypospadias is one of the most common congenital anomalies but the etiology is not fully understood. There seem to be genetic, endocrinological, and environmental factors involved. Great geographical variation in the prevalence of hypospadias has been reported both between and within countries. We studied the determinants of geographical variation in the prevalence of hypospadias in Finland. All patients treated for hypospadias in 1970-1996 before the age of 9 years among boys born in 1970-1986 were identified in the national hospital discharge registry. Prevalence of hypospadias was calculated for each of the 355 municipalities in Finland. Demographic data were obtained from Statistics Finland. Association of the explanatory factors with prevalence of hypospadias was assessed using Poisson regression methods. The prevalence of operated hypospadias varied between provinces and between university hospital districts, from a ratio of 0.65 to a ratio of 1.01. An association between the prevalence of hypospadias and the remoteness from the closest city was observed. There was no association with level of education, social class, or occupation. The observed differences in the prevalence of operated hypospadias in Finland may have several explanations. Different levels of ascertainment and both genetic and environmental factors can not be ruled out

Cartography and Geographic Information Science in Current Contents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nedjeljko Frančula

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The Cartography and Geographic Information Science (CaGIS journal was published as The American Cartographer from 1974 to 1989, after that as Cartography and Geographic Information System, and since then has been published with its current name. It is published by the Cartography and Geographic Information Society, a member of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.

Blood trace metals in a sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis geographical cluster.

Science.gov (United States)

De Benedetti, Stefano; Lucchini, Giorgio; Del Bò, Cristian; Deon, Valeria; Marocchi, Alessandro; Penco, Silvana; Lunetta, Christian; Gianazza, Elisabetta; Bonomi, Francesco; Iametti, Stefania

2017-06-01

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disorder with unknown etiology, in which genetic and environmental factors interplay to determine the onset and the course of the disease. Exposure to toxic metals has been proposed to be involved in the etiology of the disease either through a direct damage or by promoting oxidative stress. In this study we evaluated the concentration of a panel of metals in serum and whole blood of a small group of sporadic patients, all living in a defined geographical area, for which acid mine drainage has been reported. ALS prevalence in this area is higher than in the rest of Italy. Results were analyzed with software based on artificial neural networks. High concentrations of metals (in particular Se, Mn and Al) were associated with the disease group. Arsenic serum concentration resulted lower in ALS patients, but it positively correlated with disease duration. Comet assay was performed to evaluate endogenous DNA damage that resulted not different between patients and controls. Up to now only few studies considered geographically well-defined clusters of ALS patients. Common geographical origin among patients and controls gave us the chance to perform metallomic investigations under comparable conditions of environmental exposure. Elaboration of these data with software based on machine learning processes has the potential to be extremely useful to gain a comprehensive view of the complex interactions eventually leading to disease, even in a small number of subjects.

Competitiveness in the Southern Euro Area; France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain

OpenAIRE

Bogdan Lissovolik; Julio Escolano; Stefania Fabrizio; Werner Schule; Herman Z Bennett; Stephen Tokarick; Yuan Xiao; Marialuz Moreno Badia; Eva Gutierrez; Iryna V. Ivaschenko

2008-01-01

This collection of studies analyzes developments in nonprice external competitiveness of France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. While France, Italy, and Portugal have experienced substantial export market share losses, Greece and Spain performed relatively well. Export market share losses appear associated with rigidities in resource allocation (sectoral, geographical, technological) relative to peers and lower productivity gains in high value-added sectors. Disaggregated analysis of goo...

What Are We Really Afraid Of? The Practitioner View of the Terrorist Threat in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

2005-03-01

like intelligence gathering and courier work • 80% single • Familiarity with home ground. Thus terrorists come from both rural and urban areas • 66...codes also help disaggregate intra- - 114 - state regions by identifying urban areas from suburban and rural . Finally, through geographic mapping...National Laboratory for Tourism and eCommerce (NLTEC), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 2002. Self-Selection Biases in the Internet

Airports Geographic Information System -

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — The Airports Geographic Information System maintains the airport and aeronautical data required to meet the demands of the Next Generation National Airspace System....

Hierarchical spatial organization of geographical networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Travencolo, Bruno A N; Costa, Luciano da F

2008-01-01

In this work, we propose a hierarchical extension of the polygonality index as the means to characterize geographical planar networks. By considering successive neighborhoods around each node, it is possible to obtain more complete information about the spatial order of the network at progressive spatial scales. The potential of the methodology is illustrated with respect to synthetic and real geographical networks

Multiple sclerosis: a geographical hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Carlyle, I P

1997-12-01

Multiple sclerosis remains a rare neurological disease of unknown aetiology, with a unique distribution, both geographically and historically. Rare in equatorial regions, it becomes increasingly common in higher latitudes; historically, it was first clinically recognized in the early nineteenth century. A hypothesis, based on geographical reasoning, is here proposed: that the disease is the result of a specific vitamin deficiency. Different individuals suffer the deficiency in separate and often unique ways. Evidence to support the hypothesis exists in cultural considerations, in the global distribution of the disease, and in its historical prevalence.

Coloring geographical threshold graphs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bradonjic, Milan [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Percus, Allon [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Muller, Tobias [EINDHOVEN UNIV. OF TECH

2008-01-01

We propose a coloring algorithm for sparse random graphs generated by the geographical threshold graph (GTG) model, a generalization of random geometric graphs (RGG). In a GTG, nodes are distributed in a Euclidean space, and edges are assigned according to a threshold function involving the distance between nodes as well as randomly chosen node weights. The motivation for analyzing this model is that many real networks (e.g., wireless networks, the Internet, etc.) need to be studied by using a 'richer' stochastic model (which in this case includes both a distance between nodes and weights on the nodes). Here, we analyze the GTG coloring algorithm together with the graph's clique number, showing formally that in spite of the differences in structure between GTG and RGG, the asymptotic behavior of the chromatic number is identical: {chi}1n 1n n / 1n n (1 + {omicron}(1)). Finally, we consider the leading corrections to this expression, again using the coloring algorithm and clique number to provide bounds on the chromatic number. We show that the gap between the lower and upper bound is within C 1n n / (1n 1n n){sup 2}, and specify the constant C.

Dynamic management of geographic data in a virtual environment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jense, G.J.; Donkers, K.

1996-01-01

In order to achieve true 3D user interaction with geographic information, an interface between a virtual environment system and a geographic information system has been designed and implemented. This VE/GIS interface is based on a loose coupling of the underlying geographic database and the virtual

The morphing of geographical features by Fourier transformation.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jingzhong; Liu, Pengcheng; Yu, Wenhao; Cheng, Xiaoqiang

2018-01-01

This paper presents a morphing model of vector geographical data based on Fourier transformation. This model involves three main steps. They are conversion from vector data to Fourier series, generation of intermediate function by combination of the two Fourier series concerning a large scale and a small scale, and reverse conversion from combination function to vector data. By mirror processing, the model can also be used for morphing of linear features. Experimental results show that this method is sensitive to scale variations and it can be used for vector map features' continuous scale transformation. The efficiency of this model is linearly related to the point number of shape boundary and the interceptive value n of Fourier expansion. The effect of morphing by Fourier transformation is plausible and the efficiency of the algorithm is acceptable.

Geographic information systems, remote sensing, and spatial analysis activities in Texas, 2002-07

Science.gov (United States)

Pearson, D.K.; Gary, R.H.; Wilson, Z.D.

2007-01-01

Geographic information system (GIS) technology has become an important tool for scientific investigation, resource management, and environmental planning. A GIS is a computer-aided system capable of collecting, storing, analyzing, and displaying spatially referenced digital data. GIS technology is particularly useful when analyzing a wide variety of spatial data such as with remote sensing and spatial analysis. Remote sensing involves collecting remotely sensed data, such as satellite imagery, aerial photography, or radar images, and analyzing the data to gather information or investigate trends about the environment or the Earth's surface. Spatial analysis combines remotely sensed, thematic, statistical, quantitative, and geographical data through overlay, modeling, and other analytical techniques to investigate specific research questions. It is the combination of data formats and analysis techniques that has made GIS an essential tool in scientific investigations. This document presents information about the technical capabilities and project activities of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Texas Water Science Center (TWSC) GIS Workgroup from 2002 through 2007.

A disaggregated analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve for industrial CO_2 emissions in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Yuan; Zhang, Chen; Lu, Aitong; Li, Li; He, Yanmin; ToJo, Junji; Zhu, Xiaodong

2017-01-01

Highlights: • The existence of EKC hypothesis for industrial carbon emissions is tested for China. • A semi-parametric panel regression is used along with the STIRPAT model. • The validity of the EKC hypothesis varies across industry sectors. • The EKC relation to income exists in the electricity and heat production sector. • The EKC relation to urbanization exists in the manufacturing sector. - Abstract: The present study concentrates on a Chinese context and attempts to explicitly examine the impacts of economic growth and urbanization on various industrial carbon emissions through investigation of the existence of an environmental Kuznets curve. Within the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology framework, this is the first attempt to simultaneously explore the income/urbanization and disaggregated industrial carbon dioxide emissions nexus, using panel data together with semi-parametric panel fixed effects regression. Our dataset is referred to a provincial panel of China spanning the period 2000–2013. With this information, we find evidence in support of an inverted U-shaped curve relationship between economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions in the electricity and heat production sector, but a similar inference only for urbanization and those emissions in the manufacturing sector. The heterogeneity in the EKC relationship across industry sectors implies that there is urgent need to design more specific policies related to carbon emissions reduction for various industry sectors. Also, these findings contribute to advancing the emerging literature on the development-pollution nexus.

Kornati Islands on Old Geographic Maps and Charts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josip Faričić

2005-09-01

Full Text Available Based on the analysis of cartographic sources, the paper analyses the historical and geographical development of the Kornati islands, the largest group of Croatian islands. The old maps were used first of all as the means of geographic research that, being necessarily correlated to the simultaneous historical written sources and modern topographic and maritime maps, make the basis for creating a research platform for relevant scientific results to be achieved. On the basis of the old maps it is possible, among other things to anticipate that the Kornati islands used to have great geotraffic significance on the eastern Adriatic sailing route. According to the development of geographic concepts and cartographic methods, the geographic vision of the Kornati islands has been gradually clarified ever since the 16th century. The chart from the Carta di cabotaggio del Mare Adriatico edition published by the Military and Geographic Institute from Milan (1822-1824 presents the turning point with the first complete and mostly precise presentation of the Kornati islands group on the basis of hydrographic and topographic field measurements.

Comparison of immunization strategies in geographical networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Bing; Aihara, Kazuyuki [Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan)] [ERATO Aihara Complexity Modelling Project, JST, Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8505 (Japan); Kim, Beom Jun, E-mail: beomjun@skku.ed [BK21 Physics Research Division and Department of Energy Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of)] [Department of Computational Biology, School of Computer Science and Communication, Royal Institute of Technology, 100 44 Stockholm (Sweden)

2009-10-12

The epidemic spread and immunizations in geographically embedded scale-free (SF) and Watts-Strogatz (WS) networks are numerically investigated. We make a realistic assumption that it takes time which we call the detection time, for a vertex to be identified as infected, and implement two different immunization strategies: one is based on connection neighbors (CN) of the infected vertex with the exact information of the network structure utilized and the other is based on spatial neighbors (SN) with only geographical distances taken into account. We find that the decrease of the detection time is crucial for a successful immunization in general. Simulation results show that for both SF networks and WS networks, the SN strategy always performs better than the CN strategy, especially for more heterogeneous SF networks at long detection time. The observation is verified by checking the number of the infected nodes being immunized. We found that in geographical space, the distance preferences in the network construction process and the geographically decaying infection rate are key factors that make the SN immunization strategy outperforms the CN strategy. It indicates that even in the absence of the full knowledge of network connectivity we can still stop the epidemic spread efficiently only by using geographical information as in the SN strategy, which may have potential applications for preventing the real epidemic spread.

Comparison of immunization strategies in geographical networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Bing; Aihara, Kazuyuki; Kim, Beom Jun

2009-01-01

The epidemic spread and immunizations in geographically embedded scale-free (SF) and Watts-Strogatz (WS) networks are numerically investigated. We make a realistic assumption that it takes time which we call the detection time, for a vertex to be identified as infected, and implement two different immunization strategies: one is based on connection neighbors (CN) of the infected vertex with the exact information of the network structure utilized and the other is based on spatial neighbors (SN) with only geographical distances taken into account. We find that the decrease of the detection time is crucial for a successful immunization in general. Simulation results show that for both SF networks and WS networks, the SN strategy always performs better than the CN strategy, especially for more heterogeneous SF networks at long detection time. The observation is verified by checking the number of the infected nodes being immunized. We found that in geographical space, the distance preferences in the network construction process and the geographically decaying infection rate are key factors that make the SN immunization strategy outperforms the CN strategy. It indicates that even in the absence of the full knowledge of network connectivity we can still stop the epidemic spread efficiently only by using geographical information as in the SN strategy, which may have potential applications for preventing the real epidemic spread.

a Conceptual Framework for Virtual Geographic Environments Knowledge Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

You, Lan; Lin, Hui

2016-06-01

VGE geographic knowledge refers to the abstract and repeatable geo-information which is related to the geo-science problem, geographical phenomena and geographical laws supported by VGE. That includes expert experiences, evolution rule, simulation processes and prediction results in VGE. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for VGE knowledge engineering in order to effectively manage and use geographic knowledge in VGE. Our approach relies on previous well established theories on knowledge engineering and VGE. The main contribution of this report is following: (1) The concepts of VGE knowledge and VGE knowledge engineering which are defined clearly; (2) features about VGE knowledge different with common knowledge; (3) geographic knowledge evolution process that help users rapidly acquire knowledge in VGE; and (4) a conceptual framework for VGE knowledge engineering providing the supporting methodologies system for building an intelligent VGE. This conceptual framework systematically describes the related VGE knowledge theories and key technologies. That will promote the rapid transformation from geodata to geographic knowledge, and furtherly reduce the gap between the data explosion and knowledge absence.

Future Prospects for Geographical Education in Slovenia

Science.gov (United States)

Resnic Planinc, Tatjana

2011-01-01

This paper deals with future prospects for geographical education in Slovenia, with special emphasis on the development and aims of the didactics of geography. The author discusses the past development of geographical curricula and of competencies of geography teachers, and the education of future teachers of the subject in Slovenia. Her ideas are…

Disaggregating Within- and Between-Person Effects of Social Identification on Subjective and Endocrinological Stress Reactions in a Real-Life Stress Situation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ketturat, Charlene; Frisch, Johanna U; Ullrich, Johannes; Häusser, Jan A; van Dick, Rolf; Mojzisch, Andreas

2016-02-01

Several experimental and cross-sectional studies have established the stress-buffering effect of social identification, yet few longitudinal studies have been conducted within this area of research. This study is the first to make use of a multilevel approach to disaggregate between- and within-person effects of social identification on subjective and endocrinological stress reactions. Specifically, we conducted a study with 85 prospective students during their 1-day aptitude test for a university sports program. Ad hoc groups were formed, in which students completed several tests in various disciplines together. At four points in time, salivary cortisol, subjective strain, and identification with their group were measured. Results of multilevel analyses show a significant within-person effect of social identification: The more students identified with their group, the less stress they experienced and the lower their cortisol response was. Between-person effects were not significant. Advantages of using multilevel approaches within this field of research are discussed. © 2015 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Generalisation of geographic information cartographic modelling and applications

CERN Document Server

Mackaness, William A; Sarjakoski, L Tiina

2011-01-01

Theoretical and Applied Solutions in Multi Scale MappingUsers have come to expect instant access to up-to-date geographical information, with global coverage--presented at widely varying levels of detail, as digital and paper products; customisable data that can readily combined with other geographic information. These requirements present an immense challenge to those supporting the delivery of such services (National Mapping Agencies (NMA), Government Departments, and private business. Generalisation of Geographic Information: Cartographic Modelling and Applications provides detailed review

Effective environmental factors on geographical distribution of traffic accidents on pedestrians, downtown Tehran city.

Science.gov (United States)

Moradi, Ali; Soori, Hamid; Kavousi, Amir; Eshghabadi, Farshid; Nematollahi, Shahrzad; Zeini, Salahdien

2017-01-01

In most countries, occurrence of traffic causalities is high in pedestrians. The aim of this study is to geographically analyze the traffic casualties in pedestrians in downtown Tehran city. The study population consisted of traffic injury accidents in pedestrians occurred during 2015 in Tehran city. Data were extracted from offices of traffic police and municipality. For analysis of environmental factors and site of accidents, ordinary least square regression models and geographically weighted regression were used. Fitness and performance of models were checked using the Akaike information criteria, Bayesian information criteria, deviance, and adjusted R 2 . Totally, 514 accidents were included in this study. Of them, site of accidents was arterial streets in 370 (71.9%) cases, collector streets in 133 cases (25.2%), and highways in 11 cases (2.1%). Geographical units of traffic accidents in pedestrians had statistically significant relationship with a number of bus stations, number of crossroads, and recreational areas. Distribution of injury traffic accidents in pedestrians is different in downtown Tehran city. Neighborhoods close to markets are considered as most dangerous neighborhoods for injury traffic accidents. Different environmental factors are involved in determining the distribution of these accidents. The health of pedestrians in Tehran city can be improved by proper traffic management, control of environmental factors, and educational programs.

Geographical point cloud modelling with the 3D medial axis transform

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Peters, R.Y.

2018-01-01

A geographical point cloud is a detailed three-dimensional representation of the geometry of our geographic environment.
Using geographical point cloud modelling, we are able to extract valuable information from geographical point clouds that can be used for applications in asset management,

GNIS: Geographic Names Information Systems - All features (2013)

Data.gov (United States)

Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Supporting Geographic Investigations and Visualizations and Engaging Students as Citizen Scientists

Science.gov (United States)

Takaki, E.

2011-12-01

Historically, citizen science projects have had to provide their own technical infrastructure to handle the data they collect. National Geographic Education Programs (funded by the National Science Foundation) has developed a free (or low cost for large projects) online data visualization and analysis tool called FieldScope, which is available to any person or group doing studies that involve geographically dispersed data. FieldScope can house and scaffold the analysis of authentic environmental data as well as augment it with other helpful layers such as precipitation, population density, water quality parameters, etc. During the session, participants will come to understand the basics of GIS, the history of FieldScope, and its unique educational features. We will spend the majority of the time exploring specific tools for analyzing authentic data, the different types of layers that make FieldScope powerful in its educational and research capacities, and examining various questions that can be addressed in a classroom or citizen science setting. We'll conclude the hands-on portion by sharing what was learned and how they were able to make meaning from the myriad of ways that data can be displayed.

Annual mileage, driving violations, and accident involvement in relation to drivers' sex, age, and level of education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lourens, PF; Vissers, JAMM; Jessurun, M

The paper presents results of some analyses on a Dutch database that contains disaggregated data on both the traffic system input variables of the driver population (characteristics of drivers, including their annual mileage) and the output variables of the driver population in terms of habitual

Training for Internationalization through Domestic Geographical Dispersion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Santangelo, Grazia D.; Stucchi, Tamara

Traditionally created to deal with the unfriendly domestic environment, business groups (BGs) are increasingly internationalizing. However, how BGs can reconcile their strictly domestic orientation with an international dimension still remains an open question. Drawing on arguments from...... organizational learning, we seek to solve this puzzle in relation to the internationalization of Indian BGs. In particular, we argue that in heterogeneous domestic emerging markets BG’s geographical dispersion across sub-national states provides training for internationalization. To internationalize successfully......, BGs need to develop the capability of managing geographically dispersed units in institutional heterogeneous contexts. Domestic geographical dispersion would indeed help the BG dealing with different regulations, customers and infrastructures. However, there is less scope for such training as BGs...

USGS Geographic Names (GNIS) Overlay Map Service from The National Map - National Geospatial Data Asset (NGDA) Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — USGS developed The National Map (TNM) Gazetteer as the Federal and national standard (ANSI INCITS 446-2008) for geographic nomenclature based on the Geographic Names...

[Geographic data for Neotropical bats (Chiroptera)].

Science.gov (United States)

Noguera-Urbano, Elkin A; Escalante, Tania

2014-03-01

The global effort to digitize biodiversity occurrence data from collections, museums and other institutions has stimulated the development of important tools to improve the knowledge and conservation of biodiversity. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) enables and opens access to biodiversity data of 321 million of records, from 379 host institutions. Neotropical bats are a highly diverse and specialized group, and the geographic information about them is increasing since few years ago, but there are a few reports about this topic. The aim of this study was to analyze the number of digital records in GBIF of Neotropical bats with distribution in 21 American countries, evaluating their nomenclatural and geographical consistence at scale of country. Moreover, we evaluated the gaps of information on 1 degrees latitude x 1 degrees longitude grids cells. There were over 1/2 million records, but 58% of them have no latitude and longitude data; and 52% full fit nomenclatural and geographic evaluation. We estimated that there are no records in 54% of the analyzed area; the principal gaps are in biodiversity hotspots like the Colombian and Brazilian Amazonia and Southern Venezuela. In conclusion, our study suggests that available data on GBIF have nomenclatural and geographic biases. GBIF data represent partially the bat species richness and the main gaps in information are in South America.

Geospatial Analysis of Drug Poisoning Deaths Involving Heroin in the USA, 2000-2014.

Science.gov (United States)

Stewart, Kathleen; Cao, Yanjia; Hsu, Margaret H; Artigiani, Eleanor; Wish, Eric

2017-08-01

We investigate the geographic patterns of drug poisoning deaths involving heroin by county for the USA from 2000 to 2014. The county-level patterns of mortality are examined with respect to age-adjusted rates of death for different classes of urbanization and racial and ethnic groups, while rates based on raw counts of drug poisoning deaths involving heroin are estimated for different age groups and by gender. To account for possible underestimations in these rates due to small areas or small numbers, spatial empirical Baye's estimation techniques have been used to smooth the rates of death and alleviate underestimation when analyzing spatial patterns for these different groups. The geographic pattern of poisoning deaths involving heroin has shifted from the west coast of the USA in the year 2000 to New England, the Mid-Atlantic region, and the Great Lakes and central Ohio Valley by 2014. The evolution over space and time of clusters of drug poisoning deaths involving heroin is confirmed through the SaTScan analysis. For this period, White males were found to be the most impacted population group overall; however, Blacks and Hispanics are highly impacted in counties where significant populations of these two groups reside. Our results show that while 35-54-year-olds were the most highly impacted age group by county from 2000 to 2010, by 2014, the trend had changed with an increasing number of counties experiencing higher death rates for individuals 25-34 years. The percentage of counties across the USA classified as large metro with deaths involving heroin is estimated to have decreased from approximately 73% in 2010 to just fewer than 56% in 2014, with a shift to small metro and non-metro counties. Understanding the geographic variations in impact on different population groups in the USA has become particularly necessary in light of the extreme increase in the use and misuse of street drugs including heroin and the subsequent rise in opioid-related deaths in the

On the mixing time of geographical threshold graphs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bradonjic, Milan [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2009-01-01

In this paper, we study the mixing time of random graphs generated by the geographical threshold graph (GTG) model, a generalization of random geometric graphs (RGG). In a GTG, nodes are distributed in a Euclidean space, and edges are assigned according to a threshold function involving the distance between nodes as well as randomly chosen node weights. The motivation for analyzing this model is that many real networks (e.g., wireless networks, the Internet, etc.) need to be studied by using a 'richer' stochastic model (which in this case includes both a distance between nodes and weights on the nodes). We specifically study the mixing times of random walks on 2-dimensional GTGs near the connectivity threshold. We provide a set of criteria on the distribution of vertex weights that guarantees that the mixing time is {Theta}(n log n).

Representation of geographic terrain surface using global indexing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kolar, Jan

2004-01-01

. Unlike cartographic maps, 3D models can capture the geometry of geographic features without flattening the environment, without cartographic projection?can avoid geometric distortion. More interestingly, however, 3D models can be composed into a single model spanning the whole world; it can be navigated...... visually in order to access information and data in the same geometric space as we navigate ourselves in our real environment.   This article attempts to narrow down the overhead of problems in visualization of 3D geographic information and intends to identify fundamental issues common to other systems......A global 3D geographic model a feasible solution for its visualization and management remains a challenging vision. The existence of a reusable platform would provide an unprecedented potential for development of applications related to geography and facilitate comprehension of geographic data...

Geographical data structures supporting regional analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edwards, R.G.; Durfee, R.C.

1978-01-01

In recent years the computer has become a valuable aid in solving regional environmental problems. Over a hundred different geographic information systems have been developed to digitize, store, analyze, and display spatially distributed data. One important aspect of these systems is the data structure (e.g. grids, polygons, segments) used to model the environment being studied. This paper presents eight common geographic data structures and their use in studies of coal resources, power plant siting, population distributions, LANDSAT imagery analysis, and landuse analysis

Evolution of research in health geographics through the International Journal of Health Geographics (2002-2015).

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez, Sandra; Laperrière, Vincent; Borderon, Marion; Padilla, Cindy; Maignant, Gilles; Oliveau, Sébastien

2016-01-20

Health geographics is a fast-developing research area. Subjects broached in scientific literature are most varied, ranging from vectorial diseases to access to healthcare, with a recent revival of themes such as the implication of health in the Smart City, or a predominantly individual-centered approach. Far beyond standard meta-analyses, the present study deliberately adopts the standpoint of questioning space in its foundations, through various authors of the International Journal of Health Geographics, a highly influential journal in that field. The idea is to find space as the common denominator in this specialized literature, as well as its relation to spatial analysis, without for all that trying to tend towards exhaustive approaches. 660 articles have being published in the journal since launch, but 359 articles were selected based on the presence of the word "Space" in either the title, or the abstract or the text over 13 years of the journal's existence. From that database, a lexical analysis (tag cloud) reveals the perception of space in literature, and shows how approaches are evolving, thus underlining that the scope of health geographics is far from narrowing.

The Usability of Online Geographic Virtual Reality for Urban Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, S.; Moore, A. B.

2013-08-01

Virtual reality (VR) technology is starting to become widely and freely available (for example the online OpenSimulator tool), with potential for use in 3D urban planning and design tasks but still needing rigorous assessment to establish this. A previous study consulted with a small group of urban professionals, who concluded in a satisfaction usability test that online VR had potential value as a usable 3D communication and remote marketing tool but acknowledged that visual quality and geographic accuracy were obstacles to overcome. This research takes the investigation a significant step further to also examine the usability aspects of efficiency (how quickly tasks are completed) and effectiveness (how successfully tasks are completed), relating to OpenSimulator in an urban planning situation. The comparative study pits a three-dimensional VR model (with increased graphic fidelity and geographic content to address the feedback of the previous study) of a subdivision design (in a Dunedin suburb) against 3D models built with GIS (ArcGIS) and CAD (BricsCAD) tools, two types of software environment well established in urban professional practice. Urban professionals participated in the study by attempting to perform timed tasks correctly in each of the environments before being asked questions about the technologies involved and their perceived importance to their professional work. The results reinforce the positive feedback for VR of the previous study, with the graphical and geographic data issues being somewhat addressed (though participants stressed the need for accurate and precise object and terrain modification capabilities in VR). Ease-ofuse and associated fastest task completion speed were significant positive outcomes to emerge from the comparison with GIS and CAD, pointing to a strong future for VR in an urban planning context.

Silent (painless) thyroiditis. Evidence of a geographic variation in frequency

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vitug, A.C.; Goldman, J.M.

1985-03-01

Recent reports suggest that 14% to 23% of thyrotoxic patients have silent (painless) thyroiditis, a newly described syndrome characterized by transient thyrotoxicosis with a low radioactive iodine uptake. A three-year review at a Brooklyn (NY) hospital showed only one definite and three possible cases of silent thyroiditis among 86 thyrotoxic patients. At most, 4% to 5% of thyrotoxic patients had silent thyroiditis. The authors suggest a geographic variation in this syndrome. Most cases and the largest series are from Japan and the Great Lakes area of North America. The latter may be related to increased iodine intake over many years in a previously endemic area of hypoiodidism and goiter, although other local factors may also be involved.

Silent (painless) thyroiditis. Evidence of a geographic variation in frequency

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vitug, A.C.; Goldman, J.M.

1985-01-01

Recent reports suggest that 14% to 23% of thyrotoxic patients have silent (painless) thyroiditis, a newly described syndrome characterized by transient thyrotoxicosis with a low radioactive iodine uptake. A three-year review at a Brooklyn (NY) hospital showed only one definite and three possible cases of silent thyroiditis among 86 thyrotoxic patients. At most, 4% to 5% of thyrotoxic patients had silent thyroiditis. The authors suggest a geographic variation in this syndrome. Most cases and the largest series are from Japan and the Great Lakes area of North America. The latter may be related to increased iodine intake over many years in a previously endemic area of hypoiodidism and goiter, although other local factors may also be involved

Geographical Clusters of Rape in the United States: 2000-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, Raid; Nabors, Nicole S.; Nelson, Arlene M.; Saqlain, Murshid; Kulldorff, Martin

2016-01-01

Background While rape is a very serious crime and public health problem, no spatial mapping has been attempted for rape on the national scale. This paper addresses the three research questions: (1) Are reported rape cases randomly distributed across the USA, after being adjusted for population density and age, or are there geographical clusters of reported rape cases? (2) Are the geographical clusters of reported rapes still present after adjusting for differences in poverty levels? (3) Are there geographical clusters where the proportion of reported rape cases that lead to an arrest is exceptionally low or exceptionally high? Methods We studied the geographical variation of reported rape events (2003-2012) and rape arrests (2000-2012) in the 48 contiguous states of the USA. The disease Surveillance software SaTScan™ with its spatial scan statistic is used to evaluate the spatial variation in rapes. The spatial scan statistic has been widely used as a geographical surveillance tool for diseases, and we used it to identify geographical areas with clusters of reported rape and clusters of arrest rates for rape. Results The spatial scan statistic was used to identify geographical areas with exceptionally high rates of reported rape. The analyses were adjusted for age, and in secondary analyses, for both age and poverty level. We also identified geographical areas with either a low or a high proportion of reported rapes leading to an arrest. Conclusions We have identified geographical areas with exceptionally high (low) rates of reported rape. The geographical problem areas identified are prime candidates for more intensive preventive counseling and criminal prosecution efforts by public health, social service, and law enforcement agencies Geographical clusters of high rates of reported rape are prime areas in need of expanded implementation of preventive measures, such as changing attitudes in our society toward rape crimes, in addition to having the criminal

The geographic distribution patterns of HIV-, HCV- and co-infections among drug users in a national methadone maintenance treatment program in Southwest China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yi-Biao; Liang, Song; Wang, Qi-Xing; Gong, Yu-Han; Nie, Shi-Jiao; Nan, Lei; Yang, Ai-Hui; Liao, Qiang; Song, Xiu-Xia; Jiang, Qing-Wu

2014-03-10

HIV-, HCV- and HIV/HCV co-infections among drug users have become a rapidly emerging global public health problem. In order to constrain the dual epidemics of HIV/AIDS and drug use, China has adopted a methadone maintenance treatment program (MMTP) since 2004. Studies of the geographic heterogeneity of HIV and HCV infections at a local scale are sparse, which has critical implications for future MMTP implementation and health policies covering both HIV and HCV prevention among drug users in China. This study aimed to characterize geographic patterns of HIV and HCV prevalence at the township level among drug users in a Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest of China. Data on demographic and clinical characteristics of all clients in the 11 MMTP clinics of the Yi Autonomous Prefecture from March 2004 to December 2012 were collected. A GIS-based geographic analysis involving geographic autocorrelation analysis and geographic scan statistics were employed to identify the geographic distribution pattern of HIV-, HCV- and co-infections among drug users. A total of 6690 MMTP clients was analyzed. The prevalence of HIV-, HCV- and co-infections were 25.2%, 30.8%, and 10.9% respectively. There were significant global and local geographic autocorrelations for HIV-, HCV-, and co-infection. The Moran's I was 0.3015, 0.3449, and 0.3155, respectively (P geographic autocorrelation analysis and the geographic scan statistical analysis showed that HIV-, HCV-, and co-infections in the prefecture exhibited significant geographic clustering at the township level. The geographic distribution pattern of each infection group was different. HIV-, HCV-, and co-infections among drug users in the Yi Autonomous Prefecture all exhibited substantial geographic heterogeneity at the township level. The geographic distribution patterns of the three groups were different. These findings imply that it may be necessary to inform or invent site-specific intervention strategies to better devote currently

Health status and geographic mobility among semi-nomadic pastoralists in Mongolia.

Science.gov (United States)

Mocellin, Jérome; Foggin, Peter

2008-06-01

This paper sets out to examine the impact on health of a key aspect of the semi-nomadic lifestyle, namely geographic mobility. The relevant literature suggests that seasonal migrations of pastoralists tend to increase the risk of a poor health. Highlighted in this paper is an inverse association between spatial mobility and health status among the herders of rural Mongolia. Two types of mobility are involved in this process. For households, seasonal migration has a significant influence on health. At the level of individuals, however, there is another kind of mobility: that of travelling to meet personal needs. At both of these levels, statistically significant impacts on health were observed.

The geographical distribution of leadership in globalized clinical trials.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jarno Hoekman

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Pharmaceutical trials are mainly initiated by sponsors and investigators in the United States, Western Europe and Japan. However, more and more patients are enrolled in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. The involvement of patients in new geographical settings raises questions about scientific and ethical integrity, especially when experience with those settings is lacking at the level of trial management. We therefore studied to what extent the geographical shift in patient enrolment is anticipated in the composition of trial management teams using the author nationalities on the primary outcome publication as an indicator of leadership. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a cohort-study among 1,445 registered trials in www.clinicaltrials.gov that could be matched with a primary outcome publication using clinical trial registry numbers listed in publications. The name of the sponsor and the enrolment countries were extracted from all registrations. The author-addresses of all authors were extracted from the publications. We searched the author-address of all publications to determine whether enrolment countries and sponsors listed on registrations also appeared on a matched publication. Of all sponsors, 80.1% were listed with an author-address on the publication. Of all enrolment countries, 50.3% appeared with an author-address on the publication. The listing of enrolment countries was especially low for industry-funded trials (39.9% as compared to government (90.4% and not-for-profit funding (93.7%. We found that listing of enrolment countries in industry-funded trials was higher for traditional research locations such as the United States (98.2% and Japan (72.0% as compared to nontraditional research locations such as Poland (27.3% and Mexico (14.1%. CONCLUSIONS: Despite patient enrolment efforts, the involvement of researchers from nontraditional locations in trial management as measured by their contribution to

The geographical distribution of leadership in globalized clinical trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoekman, Jarno; Frenken, Koen; de Zeeuw, Dick; Heerspink, Hiddo Lambers

2012-01-01

Pharmaceutical trials are mainly initiated by sponsors and investigators in the United States, Western Europe and Japan. However, more and more patients are enrolled in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. The involvement of patients in new geographical settings raises questions about scientific and ethical integrity, especially when experience with those settings is lacking at the level of trial management. We therefore studied to what extent the geographical shift in patient enrolment is anticipated in the composition of trial management teams using the author nationalities on the primary outcome publication as an indicator of leadership. We conducted a cohort-study among 1,445 registered trials in www.clinicaltrials.gov that could be matched with a primary outcome publication using clinical trial registry numbers listed in publications. The name of the sponsor and the enrolment countries were extracted from all registrations. The author-addresses of all authors were extracted from the publications. We searched the author-address of all publications to determine whether enrolment countries and sponsors listed on registrations also appeared on a matched publication. Of all sponsors, 80.1% were listed with an author-address on the publication. Of all enrolment countries, 50.3% appeared with an author-address on the publication. The listing of enrolment countries was especially low for industry-funded trials (39.9%) as compared to government (90.4%) and not-for-profit funding (93.7%). We found that listing of enrolment countries in industry-funded trials was higher for traditional research locations such as the United States (98.2%) and Japan (72.0%) as compared to nontraditional research locations such as Poland (27.3%) and Mexico (14.1%). Despite patient enrolment efforts, the involvement of researchers from nontraditional locations in trial management as measured by their contribution to manuscript writing is modest. This division of labor has

Geographic Video 3d Data Model And Retrieval

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Z.; Cui, C.; Kong, Y.; Wu, H.

2014-04-01

Geographic video includes both spatial and temporal geographic features acquired through ground-based or non-ground-based cameras. With the popularity of video capture devices such as smartphones, the volume of user-generated geographic video clips has grown significantly and the trend of this growth is quickly accelerating. Such a massive and increasing volume poses a major challenge to efficient video management and query. Most of the today's video management and query techniques are based on signal level content extraction. They are not able to fully utilize the geographic information of the videos. This paper aimed to introduce a geographic video 3D data model based on spatial information. The main idea of the model is to utilize the location, trajectory and azimuth information acquired by sensors such as GPS receivers and 3D electronic compasses in conjunction with video contents. The raw spatial information is synthesized to point, line, polygon and solid according to the camcorder parameters such as focal length and angle of view. With the video segment and video frame, we defined the three categories geometry object using the geometry model of OGC Simple Features Specification for SQL. We can query video through computing the spatial relation between query objects and three categories geometry object such as VFLocation, VSTrajectory, VSFOView and VFFovCone etc. We designed the query methods using the structured query language (SQL) in detail. The experiment indicate that the model is a multiple objective, integration, loosely coupled, flexible and extensible data model for the management of geographic stereo video.

Geographical Tatoos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valéria Cazetta

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The article deals with maps tattooed on bodies. My interest in studying the corporeality is inserted in a broader project entitled Geographies and (in Bodies. There is several published research on tattoos, but none in particular about tattooed maps. However some of these works interested me because they present important discussions in contemporary about body modification that helped me locate the body modifications most within the culture than on the nature. At this time, I looked at pictures of geographical tattoos available in several sites of the internet.

Kidnapping in Taiwan: the significance of geographic proximity, improvisation, and fluidity.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Shu-Lung; Wu, Bohsiu; Huang, Shih-Long

2007-06-01

Kidnapping had been rare in Taiwan until recently. Several high-profile cases in the late 1990s, victimizing both Taiwanese citizens and foreigners, startled the island state. This study is the first systematic examination of the social dynamics involved in kidnapping. Data came from court cases, questionnaires, and in-depth interviews from incarcerated inmates. Results showed that kidnappers' financial crises and friendships with ringleaders were two primary motives. Most kidnapping cases involved a small number of offenders who form an ad hoc kidnapping group. Victims were not randomly chosen and share a geographic tie with the offenders. The process of kidnapping is idiosyncratic in nature, as most kidnappers improvised their plans. The negotiation phase in kidnapping is done hastily, and the amount of ransom is often a compromised result of offenders' needs, victim's family's financial status, timing, and the offenders' perception of risks. Ways to prevent kidnapping are also discussed in this article.

Effects of temperature and precipitation variability on the risk of violence in sub-Saharan Africa, 1980–2012

OpenAIRE

O’Loughlin, John; Linke, Andrew M.; Witmer, Frank D. W.

2014-01-01

A robust debate about the effects of climate change on conflict occurrences has attained wide public and policy attention, with sub-Saharan Africa generally viewed as most susceptible to increased conflict risk. Using a new disaggregated dataset of violence and climate anomaly measures (temperature and precipitation variations from normal) for sub-Saharan Africa 1980–2012, we consider political, economic, and geographic factors, not only climate metrics, in assessing the chances of increased ...

Multiple pathways to gender-sensitive budget support in the education sector: Analysing the effectiveness of sex-disaggregated indicators in performance assessment frameworks and gender working groups in (education) budget support to Sub-Saharan Africa countries

OpenAIRE

Holvoet, Nathalie; Inberg, Liesbeth

2013-01-01

In order to correct for the initial gender blindness of the Paris Declaration and related aid modalities as general and sector budget support, it has been proposed to integrate a gender dimension into budget support entry points. This paper studies the effectiveness of (joint) gender working groups and the integration of sex-disaggregated indicators and targets in performance assessment frameworks in the context of education sector budget support delivered to a sample of 17 Sub-Saharan Africa...

Geographic variation in gorilla limb bones.

Science.gov (United States)

Jabbour, Rebecca S; Pearman, Tessa L

2016-06-01

Gorilla systematics has received increased attention over recent decades from primatologists, conservationists, and paleontologists. Studies of geographic variation in DNA, skulls, and teeth have led to new taxonomic proposals, such as recognition of two gorilla species, Gorilla gorilla (western gorilla) and Gorilla beringei (eastern gorilla). Postcranial differences between mountain gorillas (G. beringei beringei) and western lowland gorillas (G. g. gorilla) have a long history of study, but differences between the limb bones of the eastern and western species have not yet been examined with an emphasis on geographic variation within each species. In addition, proposals for recognition of the Cross River gorilla as Gorilla gorilla diehli and gorillas from Tshiaberimu and Kahuzi as G. b. rex-pymaeorum have not been evaluated in the context of geographic variation in the forelimb and hindlimb skeletons. Forty-three linear measurements were collected from limb bones of 266 adult gorillas representing populations of G. b. beringei, Gorilla beringei graueri, G. g. gorilla, and G. g. diehli in order to investigate geographic diversity. Skeletal elements included the humerus, radius, third metacarpal, third proximal hand phalanx, femur, tibia, calcaneus, first metatarsal, third metatarsal, and third proximal foot phalanx. Comparisons of means and principal components analyses clearly differentiate eastern and western gorillas, indicating that eastern gorillas have absolutely and relatively smaller hands and feet, among other differences. Gorilla subspecies and populations cluster consistently by species, although G. g. diehli may be similar to the eastern gorillas in having small hands and feet. The subspecies of G. beringei are distinguished less strongly and by different variables than the two gorilla species. Populations of G. b. graueri are variable, and Kahuzi and Tshiaberimu specimens do not cluster together. Results support the possible influence of

Geographically Weighted Logistic Regression Applied to Credit Scoring Models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Henrique Melo Albuquerque

Full Text Available Abstract This study used real data from a Brazilian financial institution on transactions involving Consumer Direct Credit (CDC, granted to clients residing in the Distrito Federal (DF, to construct credit scoring models via Logistic Regression and Geographically Weighted Logistic Regression (GWLR techniques. The aims were: to verify whether the factors that influence credit risk differ according to the borrower’s geographic location; to compare the set of models estimated via GWLR with the global model estimated via Logistic Regression, in terms of predictive power and financial losses for the institution; and to verify the viability of using the GWLR technique to develop credit scoring models. The metrics used to compare the models developed via the two techniques were the AICc informational criterion, the accuracy of the models, the percentage of false positives, the sum of the value of false positive debt, and the expected monetary value of portfolio default compared with the monetary value of defaults observed. The models estimated for each region in the DF were distinct in their variables and coefficients (parameters, with it being concluded that credit risk was influenced differently in each region in the study. The Logistic Regression and GWLR methodologies presented very close results, in terms of predictive power and financial losses for the institution, and the study demonstrated viability in using the GWLR technique to develop credit scoring models for the target population in the study.

Modeling of photochemical air pollution in the Barcelona area with highly disaggregated anthropogenic and biogenic emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toll, I.; Baldasano, J.M.

2000-01-01

The city of Barcelona and its surrounding area, located in the western Mediterranean basin, can reach high levels of O 3 in spring and summertime. To study the origin of this photochemical pollution, a numerical modeling approach was adopted and the episode that took place between 3 and 5 August 1990 was chosen. The main meteorological mesoscale flows were reproduced with the meteorological non-hydrostatic mesoscale model MEMO for 5 August 1990, when weak pressure synoptic conditions took place. The emissions inventory was calculated with the EIM-LEM model, giving highly disaggregated anthropogenic and biogenic emissions in the zone studied, an 80 x 80 km 2 area around the city of Barcelona. Major sources of VOC were road traffic (51%) and vegetation (34%), while NO x were mostly emitted by road traffic (88%). However, emissions from some industrial stacks can be locally important and higher than those from road traffic. Photochemical simulation with the MARS model revealed that the combination of mesoscale wind flows and the above-mentioned local emissions is crucial in the production and transport of O 3 in the area. On the other hand, the geostrophic wind also played an important role in advecting the air masses away from the places O 3 had been generated. The model simulations were also evaluated by comparing meteorological measurements from nine surface stations and concentration measurements from five surface stations, and the results proved to be fairly satisfactory. (author)

LEGAL INSTRUMENT FOR PROTECTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION PRODUCT IN INDONESIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Almusawir Nansa

2013-07-01

Full Text Available As an archipelago country, Indonesia comprises of a large territory where every region is capable of producing distinctive and characterized products due to its geographical, social, and cultural factors, in addition to its higher quality compared to imported products. In the market, goods with distinct characterization as a result of various geographical locations of production regions is known as Geographical Indication Products. Geographical Indication defines as a characterization that indicates the origin of a product, which includes several influencing factors such as geographical factor, natural factor, human factor or the combination of both factors which eventually contribute to establish a certain distinction and quality upon a product. Several geographical indicated products in Indonesia are widely known to have excellent reputation on the market, namely Delinese tobacco, Temanggung tobacco, Ciancur rice, Muntok white pepper, Lampung black pepper, Kerinci cinnamon, Cilembu cassava, Bandanese nutmeg, Proboliggo sweet mango, Balinese Kintamani coffee, Kalosi coffee, Papuan matoa, etc. Those are several richness of goods from certain regions in Indonesia widely known for their characterization. Characterization of goods are resulted by variation of geographic locations of producing regions in Indonesia. These goods possess high quality and high economic value. Consequently, certain instruments are required to provide protection upon the regions producing those goods against the act of counterfeiting.

Interoperability of Geographic Information: A Communication Process –Based Prototype

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean Brodeur

2005-04-01

Full Text Available Since 1990, municipal, state/provincial, and federal governments have developed numerous geographic databases over the years to fulfill organizations' specific needs. As such, same real world topographic phenomena have been abstracted differently, for instance vegetation (surface, trees (surface, wooded area (line, wooded area (point and line, milieu boisé (surface, zone boisée (unknown geometry. Today, information about these geographic phenomena is accessible on the Internet from Web infrastructures specially developed to simplify their access. Early in the nineties, the development of interoperability of geographic information has been undertaken to solve syntactic, structural, and semantic heterogeneities as well as spatial and temporal heterogeneities to facilitate sharing and integration of such data. Recently, we have proposed a new conceptual framework for interoperability of geographic information based on the human communication process, cognitive science, and ontology, and introduced geosemantic proximity, a reasoning methodology to qualify dynamically the semantic similarity between geographic abstractions. This framework could be of interest to other disciplines. This paper presents the details of our framework for interoperability of geographic information as well as a prototype.

The significant surface-water connectivity of "geographically isolated wetlands"

Science.gov (United States)

Calhoun, Aram J.K.; Mushet, David M.; Alexander, Laurie C.; DeKeyser, Edward S.; Fowler, Laurie; Lane, Charles R.; Lang, Megan W.; Rains, Mark C.; Richter, Stephen; Walls, Susan

2017-01-01

We evaluated the current literature, coupled with our collective research expertise, on surface-water connectivity of wetlands considered to be “geographically isolated” (sensu Tiner Wetlands 23:494–516, 2003a) to critically assess the scientific foundation of grouping wetlands based on the singular condition of being surrounded by uplands. The most recent research on wetlands considered to be “geographically isolated” shows the difficulties in grouping an ecological resource that does not reliably indicate lack of surface water connectivity in order to meet legal, regulatory, or scientific needs. Additionally, the practice of identifying “geographically isolated wetlands” based on distance from a stream can result in gross overestimates of the number of wetlands lacking ecologically important surface-water connections. Our findings do not support use of the overly simplistic label of “geographically isolated wetlands”. Wetlands surrounded by uplands vary in function and surface-water connections based on wetland landscape setting, context, climate, and geographic region and should be evaluated as such. We found that the “geographically isolated” grouping does not reflect our understanding of the hydrologic variability of these wetlands and hence does not benefit conservation of the Nation’s diverse wetland resources. Therefore, we strongly discourage use of categorizations that provide overly simplistic views of surface-water connectivity of wetlands fully embedded in upland landscapes.

Geographic Differences in the Earnings of Economics Majors

Science.gov (United States)

Winters, John V.; Xu, Weineng

2014-01-01

Economics has been shown to be a relatively high-earning college major, but geographic differences in earnings have been largely overlooked. The authors of this article use the American Community Survey to examine geographic differences in both absolute earnings and relative earnings for economics majors. They find that there are substantial…

Geographic disparity in kidney transplantation under KAS.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Sheng; Massie, Allan B; Luo, Xun; Ruck, Jessica M; Chow, Eric K H; Bowring, Mary G; Bae, Sunjae; Segev, Dorry L; Gentry, Sommer E

2017-12-12

The Kidney Allocation System fundamentally altered kidney allocation, causing a substantial increase in regional and national sharing that we hypothesized might impact geographic disparities. We measured geographic disparity in deceased donor kidney transplant (DDKT) rate under KAS (6/1/2015-12/1/2016), and compared that with pre-KAS (6/1/2013-12/3/2014). We modeled DSA-level DDKT rates with multilevel Poisson regression, adjusting for allocation factors under KAS. Using the model we calculated a novel, improved metric of geographic disparity: the median incidence rate ratio (MIRR) of transplant rate, a measure of DSA-level variation that accounts for patient casemix and is robust to outlier values. Under KAS, MIRR was 1.75 1.81 1.86 for adults, meaning that similar candidates across different DSAs have a median 1.81-fold difference in DDKT rate. The impact of geography was greater than the impact of factors emphasized by KAS: having an EPTS score ≤20% was associated with a 1.40-fold increase (IRR =  1.35 1.40 1.45 , P geographic disparities with KAS (P = .3). Despite extensive changes to kidney allocation under KAS, geography remains a primary determinant of access to DDKT. © 2017 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

Formal Ontologies and Uncertainty. In Geographical Knowledge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matteo Caglioni

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Formal ontologies have proved to be a very useful tool to manage interoperability among data, systems and knowledge. In this paper we will show how formal ontologies can evolve from a crisp, deterministic framework (ontologies of hard knowledge to new probabilistic, fuzzy or possibilistic frameworks (ontologies of soft knowledge. This can considerably enlarge the application potential of formal ontologies in geographic analysis and planning, where soft knowledge is intrinsically linked to the complexity of the phenomena under study.  The paper briefly presents these new uncertainty-based formal ontologies. It then highlights how ontologies are formal tools to define both concepts and relations among concepts. An example from the domain of urban geography finally shows how the cause-to-effect relation between household preferences and urban sprawl can be encoded within a crisp, a probabilistic and a possibilistic ontology, respectively. The ontology formalism will also determine the kind of reasoning that can be developed from available knowledge. Uncertain ontologies can be seen as the preliminary phase of more complex uncertainty-based models. The advantages of moving to uncertainty-based models is evident: whether it is in the analysis of geographic space or in decision support for planning, reasoning on geographic space is almost always reasoning with uncertain knowledge of geographic phenomena.

Relationships between physical-geographical factors and soil degradation on agricultural land.

Science.gov (United States)

Bednář, Marek; Šarapatka, Bořivoj

2018-07-01

It is a well-known fact that soil degradation is dramatically increasing and currently threatens agricultural soils all around the world. The objective of this study was to reveal the possible connection between soil degradation and seven physical-geographical factors - slope steepness, altitude, elevation differences, rainfall, temperature, soil texture and solar radiation - in the form of threshold values (if these exist), where soil degradation begins and ends. The analysis involved the whole area of the Czech Republic which consists of 13,027 cadasters (78,866 km 2 ). The greatest total degradation threat occurs in areas with slope steepness >7 degrees, average annual temperature 10.54, altitude >766 m a.s.l. Similarly, the results for water erosion, wind erosion, soil compaction, loss of organic matter, acidification and heavy metal contamination were processed. The results enable us to identify the relationships of different levels of threats which could consequently be used in various ways - for classification of threatened areas, for more effective implementation of anti-degradation measures, or purely for a better understanding of the role of physical geographical factors in soil degradation in the Czech Republic, and thus could increase the chances of reducing vulnerability to land degradation not only in the Czech Republic. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Geographical Gradients in Argentinean Terrestrial Mammal Species Richness and Their Environmental Correlates

Science.gov (United States)

Márquez, Ana L.; Real, Raimundo; Kin, Marta S.; Guerrero, José Carlos; Galván, Betina; Barbosa, A. Márcia; Olivero, Jesús; Palomo, L. Javier; Vargas, J. Mario; Justo, Enrique

2012-01-01

We analysed the main geographical trends of terrestrial mammal species richness (SR) in Argentina, assessing how broad-scale environmental variation (defined by climatic and topographic variables) and the spatial form of the country (defined by spatial filters based on spatial eigenvector mapping (SEVM)) influence the kinds and the numbers of mammal species along these geographical trends. We also evaluated if there are pure geographical trends not accounted for by the environmental or spatial factors. The environmental variables and spatial filters that simultaneously correlated with the geographical variables and SR were considered potential causes of the geographic trends. We performed partial correlations between SR and the geographical variables, maintaining the selected explanatory variables statistically constant, to determine if SR was fully explained by them or if a significant residual geographic pattern remained. All groups and subgroups presented a latitudinal gradient not attributable to the spatial form of the country. Most of these trends were not explained by climate. We used a variation partitioning procedure to quantify the pure geographic trend (PGT) that remained unaccounted for. The PGT was larger for latitudinal than for longitudinal gradients. This suggests that historical or purely geographical causes may also be relevant drivers of these geographical gradients in mammal diversity. PMID:23028254

Geographical Gradients in Argentinean Terrestrial Mammal Species Richness and Their Environmental Correlates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana L. Márquez

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We analysed the main geographical trends of terrestrial mammal species richness (SR in Argentina, assessing how broad-scale environmental variation (defined by climatic and topographic variables and the spatial form of the country (defined by spatial filters based on spatial eigenvector mapping (SEVM influence the kinds and the numbers of mammal species along these geographical trends. We also evaluated if there are pure geographical trends not accounted for by the environmental or spatial factors. The environmental variables and spatial filters that simultaneously correlated with the geographical variables and SR were considered potential causes of the geographic trends. We performed partial correlations between SR and the geographical variables, maintaining the selected explanatory variables statistically constant, to determine if SR was fully explained by them or if a significant residual geographic pattern remained. All groups and subgroups presented a latitudinal gradient not attributable to the spatial form of the country. Most of these trends were not explained by climate. We used a variation partitioning procedure to quantify the pure geographic trend (PGT that remained unaccounted for. The PGT was larger for latitudinal than for longitudinal gradients. This suggests that historical or purely geographical causes may also be relevant drivers of these geographical gradients in mammal diversity.

SCHOOL LINGUISTIC CREATIVITY BASED ON SCIENTIFIC GEOGRAPHICAL TEXTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VIORICA BLÎNDĂ

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The analysis and observation of the natural environment and of the social and economic one, observing phenomena, objects, beings, and geographical events are at the basis of producing geographical scientific texts. The symbols of iconotexts and cartotexts are another source of inspiration for linguistic interpretation. The linguistic creations that we selected for our study are the scientific analysis, the commentary, the characterization, the parallel, the synthesis, epitomizing and abstracting, the scientific communication, the essay, and the scientific description. The representations on maps, photos, graphics and profiles are translated into verbal or written expression in order to render geographical scientific information from diagrams and images through diverse discursive procedures. Through school linguistic creations, teachers develop their students’ observation spirit, in a written and oral form, their geographical thinking through metaphors, they develop and stimulate their students’ imagination and fantasy, their cognitive, reflexive and affective sensitivity, their abilities to express themselves, to present and argument in a scientific way according to different criteria (sufficiency, demonstrative reasoning, lineal reasoning, pros and cons, giving examples, inferential deduction through using truth tables, etc.. Trough description, students give names and define geographical objects and beings (plants, animals, and people according to their form and aspect, they explain toponyms and appellatives, they classify and make hierarchies, they define their identity through processes of differentiation, emblematizing, personification, location in time and space.

NEPR Geographic Zone Map 2015

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This geographic zone map was created by interpreting satellite and aerial imagery, seafloor topography (bathymetry model), and the new NEPR Benthic Habitat Map...

CYBERNETICS AND GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION: CYBERNETICS OF LEARNING AND LEARNING OF CYBERNETICS

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M. R. Arpentieva

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Modern geographical education implies a broad implementation of innovative technologies, allowing students to fully and deeply understand the subject and methods of professional activity, and effectively and productively act upon this understanding. Therefore, in the work of modern geographer computer and media technologies occupy a significant place, and geographic education occupies an important place in learning cybernetic disciplines: computer technologies act as an important condition for obtaining high quality professional education, as well as an important tool of professional activity of modern specialist-geographer. The article is devoted to comparing three modern approaches to the study and optimization of training Cybernetics and programming in the framework of geographical education: an approach devoted to the study of “learning styles”; the metacognitive approach to learning computer science and programming; and intersubjective, evergetic or actually cybernetic, approach. It describes their advantages and limitations in the context of geographical education, as well as the internal unity as different forms of study of productivity and conditions of the dialogical interaction between teacher and student in the context of obtaining high-quality geographical education.

Distance costs and the degree of inter-partner involvement in international relational-based technology alliances

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Kranenburg, H.L.; Hagedoorn, J.; Lorenz-Orlean, S.

2014-01-01

This research studies the effect of specific institutional and distance cost issues, in particular the protection of intellectual property rights and geographic distance, on the preference of companies for different governance modalities in terms of the degree of their involvement in international

47 CFR 22.911 - Cellular geographic service area.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Cellular Geographic Service Area (CGSA) of a cellular system is the geographic area considered by the FCC... application for modification of the CGSA using FCC Form 601, a depiction of what the carrier believes the CGSA... location and the locus of points where the predicted or measured median field strength finally drops to 32...

Ecoscapes: Geographical Patternings of Relations

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Aimar Ventsel

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Book review of the publication Ecoscapes: Geographical Patternings of Relations. Edited by Gary Backhaus and John Murungi. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Oxford, Lexington Books, 2006, xxxiii+241 pp.

Ecoscapes: Geographical Patternings of Relations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aimar Ventsel

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Book review of the publication Ecoscapes: Geographical Patternings of Relations. Edited by Gary Backhaus and John Murungi. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Oxford, Lexington Books, 2006, xxxiii+241 pp.

Storytelling in Interactive 3D Geographic Visualization Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthias Thöny

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The objective of interactive geographic maps is to provide geographic information to a large audience in a captivating and intuitive way. Storytelling helps to create exciting experiences and to explain complex or otherwise hidden relationships of geospatial data. Furthermore, interactive 3D applications offer a wide range of attractive elements for advanced visual story creation and offer the possibility to convey the same story in many different ways. In this paper, we discuss and analyze storytelling techniques in 3D geographic visualizations so that authors and developers working with geospatial data can use these techniques to conceptualize their visualization and interaction design. Finally, we outline two examples which apply the given concepts.

Democratic Legitimacy, International Institutions and Cosmopolitan Disaggregation

OpenAIRE

Álvarez, David

2016-01-01

The paper explores Thomas Christiano’s conception of international legitimacy. It argues that his account fails to fully appreciate the instrumental constraints that international legitimacy imposes on national democracies. His model of Fair Voluntary Association articulates the transmission of political legitimacy through a double aggregation of political consent. First, it “pools” its authority from the foundational cosmopolitan claims of individuals involved in a deeply i...

A programmable Si-photonic node for SDN-enabled Bloom filter forwarding in disaggregated data centers

Science.gov (United States)

Moralis-Pegios, M.; Terzenidis, N.; Vagionas, C.; Pitris, S.; Chatzianagnostou, E.; Brimont, A.; Zanzi, A.; Sanchis, P.; Marti, J.; Kraft, J.; Rochracher, K.; Dorrestein, S.; Bogdan, M.; Tekin, T.; Syrivelis, D.; Tassiulas, L.; Miliou, A.; Pleros, N.; Vyrsokinos, K.

2017-02-01

Programmable switching nodes supporting Software-Defined Networking (SDN) over optical interconnecting technologies arise as a key enabling technology for future disaggregated Data Center (DC) environments. The SDNenabling roadmap of intra-DC optical solutions is already a reality for rack-to-rack interconnects, with recent research reporting on interesting applications of programmable silicon photonic switching fabrics addressing board-to-board and even on-board applications. In this perspective, simplified information addressing schemes like Bloom filter (BF)-based labels emerge as a highly promising solution for ensuring rapid switch reconfiguration, following quickly the changes enforced in network size, network topology or even in content location. The benefits of BF-based forwarding have been so far successfully demonstrated in the Information-Centric Network (ICN) paradigm, while theoretical studies have also revealed the energy consumption and speed advantages when applied in DCs. In this paper we present for the first time a programmable 4x4 Silicon Photonic switch that supports SDN through the use of BF-labeled router ports. Our scheme significantly simplifies packet forwarding as it negates the need for large forwarding tables, allowing for its remote control through modifications in the assigned BF labels. We demonstrate 1x4 switch operation controlling the Si-Pho switch by a Stratix V FPGA module, which is responsible for processing the packet ID and correlating its destination with the appropriate BF-labeled outgoing port. DAC- and amplifier-less control of the carrier-injection Si-Pho switches is demonstrated, revealing successful switching of 10Gb/s data packets with BF-based forwarding information changes taking place at a time-scale that equals the duration of four consecutive packets.

Random-growth urban model with geographical fitness

Science.gov (United States)

Kii, Masanobu; Akimoto, Keigo; Doi, Kenji

2012-12-01

This paper formulates a random-growth urban model with a notion of geographical fitness. Using techniques of complex-network theory, we study our system as a type of preferential-attachment model with fitness, and we analyze its macro behavior to clarify the properties of the city-size distributions it predicts. First, restricting the geographical fitness to take positive values and using a continuum approach, we show that the city-size distributions predicted by our model asymptotically approach Pareto distributions with coefficients greater than unity. Then, allowing the geographical fitness to take negative values, we perform local coefficient analysis to show that the predicted city-size distributions can deviate from Pareto distributions, as is often observed in actual city-size distributions. As a result, the model we propose can generate a generic class of city-size distributions, including but not limited to Pareto distributions. For applications to city-population projections, our simple model requires randomness only when new cities are created, not during their subsequent growth. This property leads to smooth trajectories of city population growth, in contrast to other models using Gibrat’s law. In addition, a discrete form of our dynamical equations can be used to estimate past city populations based on present-day data; this fact allows quantitative assessment of the performance of our model. Further study is needed to determine appropriate formulas for the geographical fitness.

Role of satellite remote sensing in the geographic information economics in France

Science.gov (United States)

Denégre, Jean

In national and international economics, geographic information plays a role which is generally acknowledged to be important but which is however, difficult to assess quantitatively, its applications being rather miscellaneous and indirect. Computer graphics and telecommunications increae that importance still more and justify many investments and research into new cartographic forms. As part of its responsibility for participating in the promotion of those developments, by taking into account needs expressed by public or private users, the National Council for Geographic Information (C.N.I.G.) has undertaken a general evaluation of the economic and social utility of geographic information in France. The study involves an estimation of the cost of production and research activities, which are probably about 0.1% of the Cross National Product—similar to many other countries. It also devised a method of estimating "cost/advantage" ratios applicable to these "intangible" benefits. Within that framework, remote sensing emphasizes particular aspects related both to the increase of economic performances in cartographic production and to the advent of new products and new ways of utilization. A review of some significant sectors shows effective earnings of about 10-20%, or even 50% or 100% of the costs, and these are doubtless much greater for the efficacy in the exploitation of products. Finally, many applications, entirely new result from extensions in various fields which would have been impossible without remote sensing: here the "cost advantage" ratio cannot even be compared with previous processes. Studies were undertaken in parallel for defining different types of products derived from satellite imagery, as well as those domains where development effort is required in order to make new advances.

GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION MEDIATIZATION AND MEDIASECURITY ISSUES

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M. R. Arpentieva

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the interaction of legal and moral development of media technologies in the context of geographical education. The article summarizes the experience of the theoretical analysis of mediatization in geographic education, the legal and moral aspects of the disorders and ways of their prevention and correction in the process of educational interaction between teacher and student, between student and teacher, mediated mediatechnologies. It is noted that geographical education in the modern world is education, which is closely associated with the use of media technologies. In other types of education the role of media technologies in improving the quality of education is less obvious, in the field of teaching and learning geography, it speaks very clearly. Therefore, the problems associated with its mediatization, are very important and their solution is particularly compelling. These issues are primarily associated with actively flowing social, economic, political and ideological crisis in many communities and countries of the Earth. Many of them as in the “mirror” are reflected in the sphere of high technologies, including media technologies. The article provides guidance and direction to the correction of violations at the individual and social levels.

Ontology for cell-based geographic information

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Bin; Huang, Lina; Lu, Xinhai

2009-10-01

Inter-operability is a key notion in geographic information science (GIS) for the sharing of geographic information (GI). That requires a seamless translation among different information sources. Ontology is enrolled in GI discovery to settle the semantic conflicts for its natural language appearance and logical hierarchy structure, which are considered to be able to provide better context for both human understanding and machine cognition in describing the location and relationships in the geographic world. However, for the current, most studies on field ontology are deduced from philosophical theme and not applicable for the raster expression in GIS-which is a kind of field-like phenomenon but does not physically coincide to the general concept of philosophical field (mostly comes from the physics concepts). That's why we specifically discuss the cell-based GI ontology in this paper. The discussion starts at the investigation of the physical characteristics of cell-based raster GI. Then, a unified cell-based GI ontology framework for the recognition of the raster objects is introduced, from which a conceptual interface for the connection of the human epistemology and the computer world so called "endurant-occurrant window" is developed for the better raster GI discovery and sharing.

Knowledge-based geographic information systems (KBGIS): New analytic and data management tools

Science.gov (United States)

Albert, T.M.

1988-01-01

In its simplest form, a geographic information system (GIS) may be viewed as a data base management system in which most of the data are spatially indexed, and upon which sets of procedures operate to answer queries about spatial entities represented in the data base. Utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques can enhance greatly the capabilities of a GIS, particularly in handling very large, diverse data bases involved in the earth sciences. A KBGIS has been developed by the U.S. Geological Survey which incorporates AI techniques such as learning, expert systems, new data representation, and more. The system, which will be developed further and applied, is a prototype of the next generation of GIS's, an intelligent GIS, as well as an example of a general-purpose intelligent data handling system. The paper provides a description of KBGIS and its application, as well as the AI techniques involved. ?? 1988 International Association for Mathematical Geology.

SCHOOL LINGUISTIC CREATIVITY BASED ON SCIENTIFIC GEOGRAPHICAL TEXTS

OpenAIRE

VIORICA BLÎNDĂ

2012-01-01

The analysis and observation of the natural environment and of the social and economic one, observing phenomena, objects, beings, and geographical events are at the basis of producing geographical scientific texts. The symbols of iconotexts and cartotexts are another source of inspiration for linguistic interpretation. The linguistic creations that we selected for our study are the scientific analysis, the commentary, the characteriz...

Re-Thinking the Two-Body Problem: The Segregation of Women into Geographically-Dispersed Occupations

Science.gov (United States)

Benson, Alan

2014-01-01

Empirical research on the family cites the tendency for couples to relocate for husbands’ careers as evidence against the gender-neutrality of household economic decisions. For these studies, occupational segregation is a concern because occupations are not random by sex and mobility is not random by occupation. I find the tendency for households to relocate for husbands’ careers is better-explained by the segregation of women into geographically-dispersed occupations rather than by the direct prioritization of men’s careers. Among never-married workers, women relocate for work less-often than men and the gender effect disappears after accounting for occupational segregation. While most two-earner families feature husbands in geographically-clustered jobs involving frequent relocation for work, families are no-less-likely to relocate for work when it belongs to the wife. I conclude future research in household mobility should treat occupational segregation occurring prior to marriage rather than gender bias within married couples as the primary explanation for the prioritization of husbands’ careers in household mobility decisions. PMID:25189156

Louisiana Parishes, Geographic NAD83, USGS (1998) [parishes_USGS_1998

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This data set contains vector line map information. The vector data contain selected base categories of geographic features, and characteristics of these features,...

Louisiana Geology, Geographic NAD83, NWRC (1998) [geology_NWRC_1998

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This data set contains vector line map information. The vector data contain selected base categories of geographic features, and characteristics of these features,...

Geographic Knowledge Extraction and Semantic Similarity in OpenStreetMap

OpenAIRE

Ballatore, Andrea; Bertolotto, Michela; Wilson, David C.

2012-01-01

In recent years, a web phenomenon known as Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) has produced large crowdsourced geographic data sets. OpenStreetMap (OSM), the leading VGI project, aims at building an open-content world map through user contributions. OSM semantics consists of a set of properties (called 'tags') describing geographic classes, whose usage is defined by project contributors on a dedicated Wiki website. Because of its simple and open semantic structure, the OSM approach often...

Geographic variation in health insurance benefit in Qianjiang District, China

OpenAIRE

Ye, Ting; Wu, Yue; Zhang, Liang

2017-01-01

Background: Health insurance coverage is of great importance; yet, it is unclear whether there is some geographic variation in health insurance benefit for urban and rural patients covered by a same basic health insurance, especially in China.Objective: To identify the potential geographic variation in health insurance benefit and its possible socioeconomic and geographical factors at the town level.Methods: All the beneficiaries underthe health insurance who had the in-hospital experience in...

Development of the OCRWM transportation geographic information system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peck, M. III; McGuinn, E.J.; Osborne, J.W.

1995-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) is responsible for disposing of the nation's high-level radioactive waste. Current plans call for OCRWM to ship commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from 77 individual reactor sites to a central facility for disposal. The Transportation Geographic Information System (TGIS) is a valuable tool in planning for the SNF shipments and communicating with the public regarding the shipments. The TGIS consists of a geographic information system (GIS) combined with a set of databases that provide data on specific geographic areas, transportation networks, and point locations. Planning activities may include analyzing possible routing options or criteria, highlighting route-specific attributes such as the location of culturally sensitive areas, providing route-specific data such as accident statistics, determining the affected population density along a route to support risk assessment activities, or providing emergency response information such as responder locations and hospitals along the proposed routes. The TGIS is a useful communication tool in helping to address the public's concern over how the shipments will be managed, particularly in the area of route selection by providing graphic portrayals of potential routes in their true geographic contexts

Geographic mobility of Danish dual-erner couples

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Filges, Trine

2010-01-01

We analyze the relationship between geographical residence and job mobility for Danish dual-earner couples. We estimate the probability of moving residence and changing job, taking the interdependence between the events into account. The results point to the importance of addressing the interrela......We analyze the relationship between geographical residence and job mobility for Danish dual-earner couples. We estimate the probability of moving residence and changing job, taking the interdependence between the events into account. The results point to the importance of addressing...

L-band brightness temperature disaggregation for use with S-band and C-band radiometer data for WCOM

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, P.; Shi, J.; Zhao, T.; Cosh, M. H.; Bindlish, R.

2017-12-01

There are two passive microwave sensors onboard the Water Cycle Observation Mission (WCOM), which includes a synthetic aperture radiometer operating at L-S-C bands and a scanning microwave radiometer operating from C- to W-bands. It provides a unique opportunity to disaggregate L-band brightness temperature (soil moisture) with S-band C-bands radiometer data. In this study, passive-only downscaling methodologies are developed and evaluated. Based on the radiative transfer modeling, it was found that the TBs (brightness temperature) between the L-band and S-band exhibit a linear relationship, and there is an exponential relationship between L-band and C-band. We carried out the downscaling results by two methods: (1) downscaling with L-S-C band passive measurements with the same incidence angle from payload IMI; (2) downscaling with L-C band passive measurements with different incidence angle from payloads IMI and PMI. The downscaling method with L-S bands with the same incident angle was first evaluated using SMEX02 data. The RMSE are 2.69 K and 1.52 K for H and V polarization respectively. The downscaling method with L-C bands is developed with different incident angles using SMEX03 data. The RMSE are 2.97 K and 2.68 K for H and V polarization respectively. These results showed that high-resolution L-band brightness temperature and soil moisture products could be generated from the future WCOM passive-only observations.

Estimating the accuracy of geographical imputation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boscoe Francis P

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To reduce the number of non-geocoded cases researchers and organizations sometimes include cases geocoded to postal code centroids along with cases geocoded with the greater precision of a full street address. Some analysts then use the postal code to assign information to the cases from finer-level geographies such as a census tract. Assignment is commonly completed using either a postal centroid or by a geographical imputation method which assigns a location by using both the demographic characteristics of the case and the population characteristics of the postal delivery area. To date no systematic evaluation of geographical imputation methods ("geo-imputation" has been completed. The objective of this study was to determine the accuracy of census tract assignment using geo-imputation. Methods Using a large dataset of breast, prostate and colorectal cancer cases reported to the New Jersey Cancer Registry, we determined how often cases were assigned to the correct census tract using alternate strategies of demographic based geo-imputation, and using assignments obtained from postal code centroids. Assignment accuracy was measured by comparing the tract assigned with the tract originally identified from the full street address. Results Assigning cases to census tracts using the race/ethnicity population distribution within a postal code resulted in more correctly assigned cases than when using postal code centroids. The addition of age characteristics increased the match rates even further. Match rates were highly dependent on both the geographic distribution of race/ethnicity groups and population density. Conclusion Geo-imputation appears to offer some advantages and no serious drawbacks as compared with the alternative of assigning cases to census tracts based on postal code centroids. For a specific analysis, researchers will still need to consider the potential impact of geocoding quality on their results and evaluate

Developing Trainee Teacher Practice with Geographical Information Systems (GIS)

Science.gov (United States)

Walshe, Nicola

2017-01-01

There is general agreement that geographical information systems (GIS) have a place within the geography classroom; they offer the potential to support geographical learning, exploring real-world problems through student-centred learning, and developing spatial thinking. Despite this, teachers often avoid engaging with GIS and research suggests…

ROMANIA: GEOGRAPHICAL AND GEOPOLITICAL POSITION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ciprian Beniamin Benea

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The paper intends to bring to the reader’s attention the importance of understanding the role education plays in creating a good geopolitical position for a state which has a good geographical position, and which is well endowed in natural resources. The case of Romania is the main focus of the paper. There is presented a peculiar strange situation of a country (Romania which is very well located from geographical point of view but which is incapable to exploit its natural endowments and special location. One reason for this situation is the fact that most people living in present Romania belong to a category named in this paper ‘individuals’. Individuals are not aware of their country’s geography and history, let alone its possible future development possibilities. They do not know the role their country could play, and living in an atomized society, they choose emigration as the easiest way to escape harsh social and economic environment. Contrary to this attitude is that of a citizen, a man conscious about his country’s potential, and which is dedicated to work hardly together with his fellows in order to promote national interests in a peaceful manner. Even there was found remnants of an ancient city close to present day Romanian territory – proves of well endowed environment – moral and psychological factors have contributed after 1990 in an crucial manner to push Romania from its civilization path back to the archaic spirit, from active urban spirit to rural mentality. In such a situation it is not uncommon for a nation to lose its means for projecting power, which could promote the value and the importance of a geographical position – transportation; rural mentality has nothing to do with modern transportation as they are technical tools with geopolitical essence for controlling space. It is a well known fact that transportation and geopolitics are closely interrelated. Furthermore, social dissolution in post communist

The Influence of Technology on Geographic Cognition and Tourism Experience

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tussyadiah, Iis; Zach, Florian

2011-01-01

Tourists today have access to retrieve voluminous geographic information about destinations while travelling as various context-aware geographic technologies have become increasingly ubiquitous. These technologies are suggested to aid tourists in the process of destination consumption to gain...... meaningful tourism experiences. This study found that people using different types of technologies for everyday routine perceive that these technologies help them with spatial inference to acquire geographic information; making sense of direction and orientation, and interacting with and within places....... Further, within the travel context, geographic technology was found to influence the dimensions of sensory, affective and social experience, as well as the cognitive and bodily experience. The type of technology used for travel was also found to be a significant predictor of the sensory, affective...

Comparison of IGRT Registration Strategies for Optimal Coverage of Primary Lung Tumors and Involved Nodes Based on Multiple Four-Dimensional CT Scans Obtained Throughout the Radiotherapy Course

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohammed, Nasiruddin; Kestin, Larry; Grills, Inga; Shah, Chirag; Glide-Hurst, Carri; Yan, Di; Ionascu, Dan

2012-01-01

Purpose: To investigate the impact of primary tumor and involved lymph node (LN) geometry (centroid, shape, volume) on internal target volume (ITV) throughout treatment for locally advanced non–small cell lung cancer using weekly four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT). Methods and Materials: Eleven patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer were treated using image-guided radiotherapy with acquisition of weekly 10-Phase 4DCTs (n = 51). Initial ITV was based on planning 4DCT. Master-ITV incorporated target geometry across the entire treatment (all 4DCTs). Geographic miss was defined as the % Master-ITV positioned outside of the initial planning ITV after registration is complete. Registration strategies considered were bony (B), primary tumor soft tissue alone (T), and registration based on primary tumor and involved LNs (T L N). Results: The % geographic miss for the primary tumor, mediastinal, and hilar lymph nodes based on each registration strategy were (1) B: 30%, 30%, 30%; (2) T: 21%, 40%, 36%; and (3) T L N: 26%, 26%, 27%. Mean geographic expansions to encompass 100% of the primary tumor and involved LNs were 1.2 ± 0.7 cm and 0.8 ± 0.3 cm, respectively, for B and T L N. Primary and involved LN expansions were 0.7 ± 0.5 cm and 1.1 ± 0.5 cm for T. Conclusion: T is best for solitary targets. When treatments include primary tumor and LNs, B and T L N provide more comprehensive geographic coverage. We have identified high % geographic miss when considering multiple registration strategies. The dosimetric implications are the subject of future study.

Comparison of IGRT Registration Strategies for Optimal Coverage of Primary Lung Tumors and Involved Nodes Based on Multiple Four-Dimensional CT Scans Obtained Throughout the Radiotherapy Course

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mohammed, Nasiruddin; Kestin, Larry; Grills, Inga; Shah, Chirag; Glide-Hurst, Carri; Yan, Di [Department of Radiation Oncology, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI (United States); Ionascu, Dan, E-mail: Dan.ionascu@beaumont.edu [Department of Radiation Oncology, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI (United States)

2012-03-15

Purpose: To investigate the impact of primary tumor and involved lymph node (LN) geometry (centroid, shape, volume) on internal target volume (ITV) throughout treatment for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer using weekly four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT). Methods and Materials: Eleven patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer were treated using image-guided radiotherapy with acquisition of weekly 10-Phase 4DCTs (n = 51). Initial ITV was based on planning 4DCT. Master-ITV incorporated target geometry across the entire treatment (all 4DCTs). Geographic miss was defined as the % Master-ITV positioned outside of the initial planning ITV after registration is complete. Registration strategies considered were bony (B), primary tumor soft tissue alone (T), and registration based on primary tumor and involved LNs (T{sub L}N). Results: The % geographic miss for the primary tumor, mediastinal, and hilar lymph nodes based on each registration strategy were (1) B: 30%, 30%, 30%; (2) T: 21%, 40%, 36%; and (3) T{sub L}N: 26%, 26%, 27%. Mean geographic expansions to encompass 100% of the primary tumor and involved LNs were 1.2 {+-} 0.7 cm and 0.8 {+-} 0.3 cm, respectively, for B and T{sub L}N. Primary and involved LN expansions were 0.7 {+-} 0.5 cm and 1.1 {+-} 0.5 cm for T. Conclusion: T is best for solitary targets. When treatments include primary tumor and LNs, B and T{sub L}N provide more comprehensive geographic coverage. We have identified high % geographic miss when considering multiple registration strategies. The dosimetric implications are the subject of future study.

SilvaCarbon: Volunteered Geographical Information and Effective Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, M.

2011-12-01

Significant amounts of efforts have been taken into monitoring forest and terrestrial carbon by many countries in recent years. As the rapid increase of methodologies and resources, international collaboration is critical now for enhancing capacity of managing and sharing the ongoing research efficiently worldwide. Moreover, much broader citizen participants with or without expert training have been involved in. Fortunately, the emergence of Web2.0, social networking, and geopositioning technology make such wide-range collaboration and participation on geospatial science research possible. The concept of Volunteer Geographical Information (VGI) coined by Michael F. Goodchild enables the ability to contribute georeferenced and disseminated scientific resource and to exchange information over the web. With this in mind, SilvaCarbon, applying the above technologies, is a project conducted by U.S. federal agencies as a U.S. contribution to the Forest Carbon Tracking task of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observation. Clearly, all research activities must rely on geographic data. And because of the observational objectives of Forest Carbon Tracking task, data sharing is a main objective of the project needed to be addressed. Data can be captured directly, contributed by secondary sources, or obtained from historical archive for the past period. Each VGI participant becomes a sensor with the ability to collect and share data. A given phenomenon can be always described more sufficient by data from multiple sources than captured individually. And data sharing can also satisfy the desire to avoid data duplication. Another purpose of Silvacarbon is to describe the activity states of involved countries, communities and individual participants and to help communicating. With the assistant of the other social networking like Facebook and Twitter, VGI participants are given an access to broadcast states of their research or activities. They also can plan travels and trades

Geographical Mobility of Danish Dual-Earner Couples

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Deding, Mette; Filges, Trine

In this paper, we analyse the empirical relationship between geographical residence mobility and geographical job mobility for Danish dual-earner couples. Based on register data from Statistics Denmark from 1999 and 2000, we estimate three probabilities, taking the interdependence between...... the work region matters for the determination of the residence region. Furthermore, although the model stresses the importance of looking at both spouses, we do not find marked differences between the men and the women. Thus, our results do not indicate that one spouse is more important than the other...

Geographically isolated wetlands: Rethinking a misnomer

Science.gov (United States)

Mushet, David M.; Calhoun, Aram J.K.; Alexander, Laurie C.; Cohen, Matthew J.; DeKeyser, Edward S.; Fowler, Laurie G.; Lane, Charles R.; Lang, Megan W.; Rains, Mark C.; Walls, Susan

2015-01-01

We explore the category “geographically isolated wetlands” (GIWs; i.e., wetlands completely surrounded by uplands at the local scale) as used in the wetland sciences. As currently used, the GIW category (1) hampers scientific efforts by obscuring important hydrological and ecological differences among multiple wetland functional types, (2) aggregates wetlands in a manner not reflective of regulatory and management information needs, (3) implies wetlands so described are in some way “isolated,” an often incorrect implication, (4) is inconsistent with more broadly used and accepted concepts of “geographic isolation,” and (5) has injected unnecessary confusion into scientific investigations and discussions. Instead, we suggest other wetland classification systems offer more informative alternatives. For example, hydrogeomorphic (HGM) classes based on well-established scientific definitions account for wetland functional diversity thereby facilitating explorations into questions of connectivity without an a priori designation of “isolation.” Additionally, an HGM-type approach could be used in combination with terms reflective of current regulatory or policymaking needs. For those rare cases in which the condition of being surrounded by uplands is the relevant distinguishing characteristic, use of terminology that does not unnecessarily imply isolation (e.g., “upland embedded wetlands”) would help alleviate much confusion caused by the “geographically isolated wetlands” misnomer.

The geographical distribution of tremellaceous fungi in Poland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Władysław Wojewoda

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The geographical distribution of the Polish tremellaceous fungi is discussed in this paper. The list of localities and the maps of the distribution of 60 Polish species (45 of Tremellales, 13 of Auriculariales and 2 of Septobasidiales are given. The author distinguishes several geographical elements, and describes the vertical distribution of these fungi. This paper is a supplement to "Fungi (Mycota", vol. 8, Polish Flora (Wojewoda 1977.

Angiostrongylus spp. in the Americas: geographical and chronological distribution of definitive hosts versus disease reports.

Science.gov (United States)

Valente, Romina; Robles, Maria Del Rosario; Navone, Graciela T; Diaz, Julia I

2018-03-01

Angiostrongyliasis is an infection caused by nematode worms of the genus Angiostrongylus. The adult worms inhabit the pulmonary arteries, heart, bronchioles of the lung, or mesenteric arteries of the caecum of definitive host. Of a total of 23 species of Angiostrongylus cited worldwide, only nine were registered in the American Continent. Two species, A. cantonensis and A. costaricensis, are considered zoonoses when the larvae accidentally parasitise man. In the present study, geographical and chronological distribution of definitive hosts of Angiostrongylus in the Americas is analysed in order to observe their relationship with disease reports. Moreover, the role of different definitive hosts as sentinels and dispersers of infective stages is discussed. The study area includes the Americas. First records of Angiostrongylus spp. in definitive or accidental hosts were compiled from the literature. Data were included in tables and figures and were matched to geographic information systems (GIS). Most geographical records of Angiostrongylus spp. both for definitive and accidental hosts belong to tropical areas, mainly equatorial zone. In relation to those species of human health importance, as A. cantonensis and A. costaricensis, most disease cases indicate a coincidence between the finding of definitive host and disease record. However, in some geographic site there are gaps between report of definitive host and disease record. In many areas, human populations have invaded natural environments and their socioeconomic conditions do not allow adequate medical care. Consequently, many cases for angiostrongyliasis could have gone unreported or unrecognised throughout history and in the nowadays. Moreover, the population expansion and the climatic changes invite to make broader and more complete range of observation on the species that involve possible epidemiological risks. This paper integrates and shows the current distribution of Angiostrongylus species in America

Angiostrongylus spp. in the Americas: geographical and chronological distribution of definitive hosts versus disease reports

Science.gov (United States)

Valente, Romina; Robles, Maria del Rosario; Navone, Graciela T; Diaz, Julia I

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND Angiostrongyliasis is an infection caused by nematode worms of the genus Angiostrongylus. The adult worms inhabit the pulmonary arteries, heart, bronchioles of the lung, or mesenteric arteries of the caecum of definitive host. Of a total of 23 species of Angiostrongylus cited worldwide, only nine were registered in the American Continent. Two species, A. cantonensis and A. costaricensis, are considered zoonoses when the larvae accidentally parasitise man. OBJECTIVES In the present study, geographical and chronological distribution of definitive hosts of Angiostrongylus in the Americas is analysed in order to observe their relationship with disease reports. Moreover, the role of different definitive hosts as sentinels and dispersers of infective stages is discussed. METHODS The study area includes the Americas. First records of Angiostrongylus spp. in definitive or accidental hosts were compiled from the literature. Data were included in tables and figures and were matched to geographic information systems (GIS). FINDINGS Most geographical records of Angiostrongylus spp. both for definitive and accidental hosts belong to tropical areas, mainly equatorial zone. In relation to those species of human health importance, as A. cantonensis and A. costaricensis, most disease cases indicate a coincidence between the finding of definitive host and disease record. However, in some geographic site there are gaps between report of definitive host and disease record. In many areas, human populations have invaded natural environments and their socioeconomic conditions do not allow adequate medical care. MAIN CONCLUSIONS Consequently, many cases for angiostrongyliasis could have gone unreported or unrecognised throughout history and in the nowadays. Moreover, the population expansion and the climatic changes invite to make broader and more complete range of observation on the species that involve possible epidemiological risks. This paper integrates and shows the

The geographic accessibility of pharmacies in Nova Scotia.

Science.gov (United States)

Law, Michael R; Heard, Deborah; Fisher, Judith; Douillard, Jay; Muzika, Greg; Sketris, Ingrid S

2013-01-01

Geographic proximity is an important component of access to primary care and the pharmaceutical services of community pharmacies. Variations in access to primary care have been found between rural and urban areas in Canadian and international jurisdictions. We studied access to community pharmacies in the province of Nova Scotia. We used information on the locations of 297 community pharmacies operating in Nova Scotia in June 2011. Population estimates at the census block level and network analysis were used to study the number of Nova Scotia residents living within 800 m (walking) and 2 km and 5 km (driving) distances of a pharmacy. We then simulated the impact of pharmacy closures on geographic access in urban and rural areas. We found that 40.3% of Nova Scotia residents lived within walking distance of a pharmacy; 62.6% and 78.8% lived within 2 km and 5 km, respectively. Differences between urban and rural areas were pronounced: 99.2% of urban residents lived within 5 km of a pharmacy compared with 53.3% of rural residents. Simulated pharmacy closures had a greater impact on geographic access to community pharmacies in rural areas than urban areas. The majority of Nova Scotia residents lived within walking or short driving distance of at least 1 community pharmacy. While overall geographic access appears to be lower than in the province of Ontario, the difference appears to be largely driven by the higher proportion of rural dwellers in Nova Scotia. Further studies should examine how geographic proximity to pharmacies influences patients' access to traditional and specialized pharmacy services, as well as health outcomes and adherence to therapy. Can Pharm J 2013;146:39-46.

application of geographic information system (gis) in industrial land ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DEPHILIHS

Land capability index mapping using Geographic Information System (GIS) principles was used for this study. The study was undertaken using Arc View ... Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is one of the best approaches for this type of ..... western segments and to a small extent the east. Some of the available lands are ...

Fast, Inclusive Searches for Geographic Names Using Digraphs

Science.gov (United States)

Donato, David I.

2008-01-01

An algorithm specifies how to quickly identify names that approximately match any specified name when searching a list or database of geographic names. Based on comparisons of the digraphs (ordered letter pairs) contained in geographic names, this algorithmic technique identifies approximately matching names by applying an artificial but useful measure of name similarity. A digraph index enables computer name searches that are carried out using this technique to be fast enough for deployment in a Web application. This technique, which is a member of the class of n-gram algorithms, is related to, but distinct from, the soundex, PHONIX, and metaphone phonetic algorithms. Despite this technique's tendency to return some counterintuitive approximate matches, it is an effective aid for fast, inclusive searches for geographic names when the exact name sought, or its correct spelling, is unknown.

Causal relations among events and states in dynamic geographical phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Zhaoqiang; Feng, Xuezhi; Xuan, Wenling; Chen, Xiuwan

2007-06-01

There is only a static state of the real world to be recorded in conventional geographical information systems. However, there is not only static information but also dynamic information in geographical phenomena. So that how to record the dynamic information and reveal the relations among dynamic information is an important issue in a spatio-temporal information system. From an ontological perspective, we can initially divide the spatio-temporal entities in the world into continuants and occurrents. Continuant entities endure through some extended (although possibly very short) interval of time (e.g., houses, roads, cities, and real-estate). Occurrent entities happen and are then gone (e.g., a house repair job, road construction project, urban expansion, real-estate transition). From an information system perspective, continuants and occurrents that have a unique identity in the system are referred to as objects and events, respectively. And the change is represented implicitly by static snapshots in current spatial temporal information systems. In the previous models, the objects can be considered as the fundamental components of the system, and the change is modeled by considering time-varying attributes of these objects. In the spatio-temporal database, the temporal information that is either interval or instant is involved and the underlying data structures and indexes for temporal are considerable investigated. However, there is the absence of explicit ways of considering events, which affect the attributes of objects or the state. So the research issue of this paper focuses on how to model events in conceptual models of dynamic geographical phenomena and how to represent the causal relations among events and the objects or states. Firstly, the paper reviews the conceptual modeling in a temporal GIS by researchers. Secondly, this paper discusses the spatio-temporal entities: objects and events. Thirdly, this paper investigates the causal relations amongst

Medicare Geographic Variation - Public Use File

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Medicare Geographic Variation Public Use File provides the ability to view demographic, utilization and quality indicators at the state level (including...

Geographic Analysis of Neurosurgery Workforce in Korea

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hye Ran; Park, Sukh Que; Kim, Jae Hyun; Hwang, Jae Chan; Lee, Gwang Soo; Chang, Jae-Chil

2018-01-01

Objective In respect of the health and safety of the public, universal access to health care is an issue of the greatest importance. The geographic distribution of doctors is one of the important factors contributing to access to health care. The aim of this study is to assess the imbalances in the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons across Korea. Methods Population data was obtained from the National Statistical Office. We classified geographic groups into 7 metropolitan cities, 78 non-metropolitan cities, and 77 rural areas. The number of doctors and neurosurgeons per 100000 populations in each county unit was calculated using the total number of doctors and neurosurgeons at the country level from 2009 to 2015. The density levels of neurosurgeon and doctor were calculated and depicted in maps. Results Between 2009 and 2015, the number of neurosurgeons increased from 2002 to 2557, and the ratio of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations increased from 4.02 to 4.96. The number of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations was highest in metropolitan cities and lowest in rural areas from 2009 to 2015. A comparison of the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons in 2009 and 2015 showed an increase in the regional gap. The neurosurgeon density was affected by country unit characteristics (p=0.000). Conclusion Distribution of neurosurgeons throughout Korea is uneven. Neurosurgeons are being increasingly concentrated in a limited number of metropolitan cities. This phenomenon will need to be accounted when planning for a supply of neurosurgeons, allocation of resources and manpower, and the provision of regional neurosurgical services. PMID:29354242

Geographic Analysis of Neurosurgery Workforce in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hye Ran; Park, Sukh Que; Kim, Jae Hyun; Hwang, Jae Chan; Lee, Gwang Soo; Chang, Jae-Chil

2018-01-01

In respect of the health and safety of the public, universal access to health care is an issue of the greatest importance. The geographic distribution of doctors is one of the important factors contributing to access to health care. The aim of this study is to assess the imbalances in the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons across Korea. Population data was obtained from the National Statistical Office. We classified geographic groups into 7 metropolitan cities, 78 non-metropolitan cities, and 77 rural areas. The number of doctors and neurosurgeons per 100000 populations in each county unit was calculated using the total number of doctors and neurosurgeons at the country level from 2009 to 2015. The density levels of neurosurgeon and doctor were calculated and depicted in maps. Between 2009 and 2015, the number of neurosurgeons increased from 2002 to 2557, and the ratio of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations increased from 4.02 to 4.96. The number of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations was highest in metropolitan cities and lowest in rural areas from 2009 to 2015. A comparison of the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons in 2009 and 2015 showed an increase in the regional gap. The neurosurgeon density was affected by country unit characteristics ( p =0.000). Distribution of neurosurgeons throughout Korea is uneven. Neurosurgeons are being increasingly concentrated in a limited number of metropolitan cities. This phenomenon will need to be accounted when planning for a supply of neurosurgeons, allocation of resources and manpower, and the provision of regional neurosurgical services.

Educational Geographers and Applied Geography.

Science.gov (United States)

Frazier, John W.

1979-01-01

Describes the development of applied geography programs and restructuring of curricula with an emphasis on new technique and methodology courses, though retaining the liberal arts role. Educational geographers can help the programs to succeed through curriculum analysis, auditing, advising students, and liaison with other geography sources. (CK)

Core-size regulated aggregation/disaggregation of citrate-coated gold nanoparticles (5-50 nm) and dissolved organic matter: Extinction, emission, and scattering evidence

Science.gov (United States)

Esfahani, Milad Rabbani; Pallem, Vasanta L.; Stretz, Holly A.; Wells, Martha J. M.

2018-01-01

Knowledge of the interactions between gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) is significant in the development of detection devices for environmental sensing, studies of environmental fate and transport, and advances in antifouling water treatment membranes. The specific objective of this research was to spectroscopically investigate the fundamental interactions between citrate-stabilized gold nanoparticles (CT-GNPs) and DOM. Studies indicated that 30 and 50 nm diameter GNPs promoted disaggregation of the DOM. This result-disaggregation of an environmentally important polyelectrolyte-will be quite useful regarding antifouling properties in water treatment and water-based sensing applications. Furthermore, resonance Rayleigh scattering results showed significant enhancement in the UV range which can be useful to characterize DOM and can be exploited as an analytical tool to better sense and improve our comprehension of nanomaterial interactions with environmental systems. CT-GNPs having core size diameters of 5, 10, 30, and 50 nm were studied in the absence and presence of added DOM at 2 and 8 ppm at low ionic strength and near neutral pH (6.0-6.5) approximating surface water conditions. Interactions were monitored by cross-interpretation among ultraviolet (UV)-visible extinction spectroscopy, excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy (emission and Rayleigh scattering), and dynamic light scattering (DLS). This comprehensive combination of spectroscopic analyses lends new insights into the antifouling behavior of GNPs. The CT-GNP-5 and -10 controls emitted light and aggregated. In contrast, the CT-GNP-30 and CT-GNP-50 controls scattered light intensely, but did not aggregate and did not emit light. The presence of any CT-GNP did not affect the extinction spectra of DOM, and the presence of DOM did not affect the extinction spectra of the CT-GNPs. The emission spectra (visible range) differed only slightly between calculated and actual

Communicating Geographical Risks in Crisis Management: The Need for Research.

Science.gov (United States)

French, Simon; Argyris, Nikolaos; Haywood, Stephanie M; Hort, Matthew C; Smith, Jim Q

2017-10-23

In any crisis, there is a great deal of uncertainty, often geographical uncertainty or, more precisely, spatiotemporal uncertainty. Examples include the spread of contamination from an industrial accident, drifting volcanic ash, and the path of a hurricane. Estimating spatiotemporal probabilities is usually a difficult task, but that is not our primary concern. Rather, we ask how analysts can communicate spatiotemporal uncertainty to those handling the crisis. We comment on the somewhat limited literature on the representation of spatial uncertainty on maps. We note that many cognitive issues arise and that the potential for confusion is high. We note that in the early stages of handling a crisis, the uncertainties involved may be deep, i.e., difficult or impossible to quantify in the time available. In such circumstance, we suggest the idea of presenting multiple scenarios. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Scrotal tongue and geographic tongue: polygenic and associated traits.

Science.gov (United States)

Eidelman, E; Chosack, A; Cohen, T

1976-11-01

The familial nature of scrotal and geographic tongue was investigated in parents and siblings of 156 probands having these conditions. The prevalence in parents and siblings was significantly higher than that in the control populations. The prevalence in sibilings from families in which at least one parent was also affected was significantly higher than that in siblings from families in which neither parent was affected. The prevalence of scrotal tongue alone in siblins was similar irrespective of the condition in the proband. The prevalence of geographic tongue alone was highest in siblins of probands having only geographic tongue. A polygenic mode of inheritance with some genes common to both conditions is suggested.

Marc Antrop - a revolutionary transdisciplinary scientist or a traditional geographer?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Jesper

2009-01-01

practicians. Tree main problems have faced IALE since the very beginning: to ensure landscape science collaboration (1) between east and west, (2) between disciplines across the boundaries of nature science, social science and humanities, and (3) between academic disciplines and professionals...... for the enthusiastic radical way Marc is working in international networks and activities. He might have done it, just simply because he is a traditional geographer. With his heart beating for the regional geographic synthesis, despite all trends and fashions of many ‘geographers' trying to move this discipline...

Geographic Mobility and Social Inequality among Peruvian University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Ryan; Cuenca, Ricardo; Blanco Ramirez, Gerardo; Aragón, Jorge

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore geographic mobility among university students in Peru and to understand how mobility patterns differ by region and by demographic indicators of inequality. The ways that students may be able to move geographically in order to access quality higher education within the educational system can be a driver of…

Not All Large Customers are Made Alike: Disaggregating Response to Default-Service Day-Ahead Market Pricing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hopper, Nicole; Goldman, Charles; Neenan, Bernie

2006-01-01

For decades, policymakers and program designers have gone on the assumption that large customers, particularly industrial facilities, are the best candidates for realtime pricing (RTP). This assumption is based partly on practical considerations (large customers can provide potentially large load reductions) but also on the premise that businesses focused on production cost minimization are most likely to participate and respond to opportunities for bill savings. Yet few studies have examined the actual price response of large industrial and commercial customers in a disaggregated fashion, nor have factors such as the impacts of demand response (DR) enabling technologies, simultaneous emergency DR program participation and price response barriers been fully elucidated. This second-phase case study of Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (NMPC)'s large customer RTP tariff addresses these information needs. The results demonstrate the extreme diversity of large customers' response to hourly varying prices. While two-thirds exhibit some price response, about 20 percent of customers provide 75-80 percent of the aggregate load reductions. Manufacturing customers are most price-responsive as a group, followed by government/education customers, while other sectors are largely unresponsive. However, individual customer response varies widely. Currently, enabling technologies do not appear to enhance hourly price response; customers report using them for other purposes. The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO)'s emergency DR programs enhance price response, in part by signaling to customers that day-ahead prices are high. In sum, large customers do currently provide moderate price response, but there is significant room for improvement through targeted programs that help customers develop and implement automated load-response strategies

47 CFR 64.1801 - Geographic rate averaging and rate integration.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Geographic rate averaging and rate integration. 64.1801 Section 64.1801 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON CARRIER SERVICES (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS RULES RELATING TO COMMON CARRIERS Geographic Rate Averaging and...

Human papillomavirus vaccine initiation in Asian Indians and Asian subpopulations: a case for examining disaggregated data in public health research.

Science.gov (United States)

Budhwani, H; De, P

2017-12-01

Vaccine disparities research often focuses on differences between the five main racial and ethnic classifications, ignoring heterogeneity of subpopulations. Considering this knowledge gap, we examined human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine initiation in Asian Indians and Asian subpopulations. National Health Interview Survey data (2008-2013), collected by the National Center for Health Statistics, were analyzed. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted on adults aged 18-26 years (n = 20,040). Asian Indians had high income, education, and health insurance coverage, all positive predictors of preventative health engagement and vaccine uptake. However, we find that Asian Indians had comparatively lower rates of HPV vaccine initiation (odds ratio = 0.41; 95% confidence interval = 0.207-0.832), and foreign-born Asian Indians had the lowest rate HPV vaccination of all subpopulations (2.3%). Findings substantiate the need for research on disaggregated data rather than evaluating vaccination behaviors solely across standard racial and ethnic categories. We identified two populations that were initiating HPV vaccine at abysmal levels: foreign-born persons and Asian Indians. Development of culturally appropriate messaging has the potential to improve these initiation rates and improve population health. Copyright © 2017 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Geographic Variation in Medicare Spending Dashboard

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Geographic Variation Dashboards present Medicare fee-for-service per-capita spending at the state and county level in an interactive format. We calculated the...

Geographic Skills: A Case Study of Students in the United Arab Emirates

Science.gov (United States)

Alhosani, Naeema Mohamed Dawood; Yagoub, M. M.

2015-01-01

The worldwide technology boom has created an information revolution. Consequently, a large number of people who previously had limited access to geographic data can now use Internet-based geographic information for a number of diverse purposes. The average person has access to geographic information for tourism, shopping, business, and even route…

U Plant Geographic Zone Cleanup Prototype

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romine, L.D.; Leary, K.D.; Lackey, M.B.; Robertson, J.R.

2006-01-01

The U Plant geographic zone (UPZ) occupies 0.83 square kilometers on the Hanford Site Central Plateau (200 Area). It encompasses the U Plant canyon (221-U Facility), ancillary facilities that supported the canyon, soil waste sites, and underground pipelines. The UPZ cleanup initiative coordinates the cleanup of the major facilities, ancillary facilities, waste sites, and contaminated pipelines (collectively identified as 'cleanup items') within the geographic zone. The UPZ was selected as a geographic cleanup zone prototype for resolving regulatory, technical, and stakeholder issues and demonstrating cleanup methods for several reasons: most of the area is inactive, sufficient characterization information is available to support decisions, cleanup of the high-risk waste sites will help protect the groundwater, and the zone contains a representative cross-section of the types of cleanup actions that will be required in other geographic zones. The UPZ cleanup demonstrates the first of 22 integrated zone cleanup actions on the Hanford Site Central Plateau to address threats to groundwater, the environment, and human health. The UPZ contains more than 100 individual cleanup items. Cleanup actions in the zone will be undertaken using multiple regulatory processes and decision documents. Cleanup actions will include building demolition, waste site and pipeline excavation, and the construction of multiple, large engineered barriers. In some cases, different cleanup actions may be taken at item locations that are immediately adjacent to each other. The cleanup planning and field activities for each cleanup item must be undertaken in a coordinated and cohesive manner to ensure effective execution of the UPZ cleanup initiative. The UPZ zone cleanup implementation plan (ZCIP) [1] was developed to address the need for a fundamental integration tool for UPZ cleanup. As UPZ cleanup planning and implementation moves forward, the ZCIP is intended to be a living document that will

Spatial and temporal disaggregation of the on-road vehicle emission inventory in a medium-sized Andean city. Comparison of GIS-based top-down methodologies

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez, C. D.; González, C. M.; Osses, M.; Aristizábal, B. H.

2018-04-01

Emission data is an essential tool for understanding environmental problems associated with sources and dynamics of air pollutants in urban environments, especially those emitted from vehicular sources. There is a lack of knowledge about the estimation of air pollutant emissions and particularly its spatial and temporal distribution in South America, mainly in medium-sized cities with population less than one million inhabitants. This work performed the spatial and temporal disaggregation of the on-road vehicle emission inventory (EI) in the medium-sized Andean city of Manizales, Colombia, with a spatial resolution of 1 km × 1 km and a temporal resolution of 1 h. A reported top-down methodology, based on the analysis of traffic flow levels and road network distribution, was applied. Results obtained allowed the identification of several hotspots of emission at the downtown zone and the residential and commercial area of Manizales. Downtown exhibited the highest percentage contribution of emissions normalized by its total area, with values equal to 6% and 5% of total CO and PM10 emissions per km2 respectively. These indexes were higher than those obtained in residential-commercial area with values of 2%/km2 for both pollutants. Temporal distribution showed strong relationship with driving patterns at rush hours, as well as an important influence of passenger cars and motorcycles in emissions of CO both at downtown and residential-commercial areas, and the impact of public transport in PM10 emissions in the residential-commercial zone. Considering that detailed information about traffic counts and road network distribution is not always available in medium-sized cities, this work compares other simplified top-down methods for spatially assessing the on-road vehicle EI. Results suggested that simplified methods could underestimate the spatial allocation of downtown emissions, a zone dominated by high traffic of vehicles. The comparison between simplified methods

Integrative real-time geographic visualization of energy resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sorokine, A.; Shankar, M.; Stovall, J.; Bhaduri, B.; King, T.; Fernandez, S.; Datar, N.; Omitaomu, O.

2009-01-01

'Full text:' Several models forecast that climatic changes will increase the frequency of disastrous events like droughts, hurricanes, and snow storms. Responding to these events and also to power outages caused by system errors such as the 2003 North American blackout require an interconnect-wide real-time monitoring system for various energy resources. Such a system should be capable of providing situational awareness to its users in the government and energy utilities by dynamically visualizing the status of the elements of the energy grid infrastructure and supply chain in geographic contexts. We demonstrate an approach that relies on Google Earth and similar standard-based platforms as client-side geographic viewers with a data-dependent server component. The users of the system can view status information in spatial and temporal contexts. These data can be integrated with a wide range of geographic sources including all standard Google Earth layers and a large number of energy and environmental data feeds. In addition, we show a real-time spatio-temporal data sharing capability across the users of the system, novel methods for visualizing dynamic network data, and a fine-grain access to very large multi-resolution geographic datasets for faster delivery of the data. The system can be extended to integrate contingency analysis results and other grid models to assess recovery and repair scenarios in the case of major disruption. (author)

Protection of Geographical Indication and Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Chinese Food Product Resources

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

SUN Zhi-guo; WANG Shu-ting; XIONG Wan-zhen; HUANG Li-min

2012-01-01

The geographical Indications intellectual property and intangible cultural heritage are the general focus of attention of the world today. In the Chinese food product resources, there are 44 kinds of national geographical indication products, 41 national geographical indication trademarks, 9 kinds of national and 212 kinds of provincial-level intangible cultural heritage. This article introduces the geographical indication protection and geographical indication trademark registration of the Chinese food products, the protection of intangible cultural heritage of traditional craftsmanship; discusses the countermeasures for the protection of geographical indication intellectual property and intangible cultural heritage; finally puts forth several recommendations.

Geographic Analysis of the Radiation Oncology Workforce

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aneja, Sanjay [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Cancer Outcomes, Policy, and Effectiveness Research Center at Yale, New Haven, CT (United States); Smith, Benjamin D. [University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Gross, Cary P. [Cancer Outcomes, Policy, and Effectiveness Research Center at Yale, New Haven, CT (United States); Department of General Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Wilson, Lynn D. [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Haffty, Bruce G. [Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ (United States); Roberts, Kenneth [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Yu, James B., E-mail: james.b.yu@yale.edu [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Cancer Outcomes, Policy, and Effectiveness Research Center at Yale, New Haven, CT (United States)

2012-04-01

Purpose: To evaluate trends in the geographic distribution of the radiation oncology (RO) workforce. Methods and Materials: We used the 1995 and 2007 versions of the Area Resource File to map the ratio of RO to the population aged 65 years or older (ROR) within different health service areas (HSA) within the United States. We used regression analysis to find associations between population variables and 2007 ROR. We calculated Gini coefficients for ROR to assess the evenness of RO distribution and compared that with primary care physicians and total physicians. Results: There was a 24% increase in the RO workforce from 1995 to 2007. The overall growth in the RO workforce was less than that of primary care or the overall physician workforce. The mean ROR among HSAs increased by more than one radiation oncologist per 100,000 people aged 65 years or older, from 5.08 per 100,000 to 6.16 per 100,000. However, there remained consistent geographic variability concerning RO distribution, specifically affecting the non-metropolitan HSAs. Regression analysis found higher ROR in HSAs that possessed higher education (p = 0.001), higher income (p < 0.001), lower unemployment rates (p < 0.001), and higher minority population (p = 0.022). Gini coefficients showed RO distribution less even than for both primary care physicians and total physicians (0.326 compared with 0.196 and 0.292, respectively). Conclusions: Despite a modest growth in the RO workforce, there exists persistent geographic maldistribution of radiation oncologists allocated along socioeconomic and racial lines. To solve problems surrounding the RO workforce, issues concerning both gross numbers and geographic distribution must be addressed.

Geographic Analysis of the Radiation Oncology Workforce

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aneja, Sanjay; Smith, Benjamin D.; Gross, Cary P.; Wilson, Lynn D.; Haffty, Bruce G.; Roberts, Kenneth; Yu, James B.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate trends in the geographic distribution of the radiation oncology (RO) workforce. Methods and Materials: We used the 1995 and 2007 versions of the Area Resource File to map the ratio of RO to the population aged 65 years or older (ROR) within different health service areas (HSA) within the United States. We used regression analysis to find associations between population variables and 2007 ROR. We calculated Gini coefficients for ROR to assess the evenness of RO distribution and compared that with primary care physicians and total physicians. Results: There was a 24% increase in the RO workforce from 1995 to 2007. The overall growth in the RO workforce was less than that of primary care or the overall physician workforce. The mean ROR among HSAs increased by more than one radiation oncologist per 100,000 people aged 65 years or older, from 5.08 per 100,000 to 6.16 per 100,000. However, there remained consistent geographic variability concerning RO distribution, specifically affecting the non-metropolitan HSAs. Regression analysis found higher ROR in HSAs that possessed higher education (p = 0.001), higher income (p < 0.001), lower unemployment rates (p < 0.001), and higher minority population (p = 0.022). Gini coefficients showed RO distribution less even than for both primary care physicians and total physicians (0.326 compared with 0.196 and 0.292, respectively). Conclusions: Despite a modest growth in the RO workforce, there exists persistent geographic maldistribution of radiation oncologists allocated along socioeconomic and racial lines. To solve problems surrounding the RO workforce, issues concerning both gross numbers and geographic distribution must be addressed.

Different Factors of Llap as a Geographic Region

OpenAIRE

, F. Isufi; , S. Halimi; , F. Humolli

2011-01-01

In this work attempts were made to express in the best possible manner the factors which differentiate the Llap as geographic region. The Llap Region is located in the north-east of Kosovo. Within the ethnic geography, the Llap area is having peripheric position, but within the Balkan Penninsula it is having a central position, while along Llap goes the Highway which connects Kosovo and Serbia. The Llap region has important natural conditions; such as very good geographic position, running an...

Veterans Affairs Geographic Distribution of Expenditures FY09 by Congressional District

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — The Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) is an annual report that shows estimated VA expenditures for major programmatic areas by geographic area (state,...

Veterans Affairs Geographic Distribution of Expenditures FY08 by Congressional District

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — The Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) is an annual report that shows estimated VA expenditures for major programmatic areas by geographic area (state,...

Estimation of future levels and changes in profitability: The effect of the relative position of the firm in its industry and the operating-financing disaggregation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Borja Amor-Tapia

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we examine how the relative position of a firm's Return on Equity (ROE in industries affects the predictability of the next-year ROE levels, and the ROE changes from year to year. Using Nissim and Penman breakdown into operating and financing drivers, the significant role of the industry factor is established, although changes in signs suggest subtle non-linear relations in the drivers. Our study avoids problems originating from negative signs by analyzing sorts and by making new regressions with disaggregated second-order drivers by signs. This way, our results provide evidence of some different patterns in the influence of the first-level drivers of ROE (the operating factor and the financing factor, and the second-level drivers (profit margin, asset turnover, leverage and return spread on future profitability, depending on the industry spread. The results on the role of contextual factors to improve the estimation of future profitability remain consistent for small and large firms, although adding some nuances.

Geographic information systems, remote sensing, and spatial analysis activities in Texas, 2008-09

Science.gov (United States)

,

2009-01-01

Geographic information system (GIS) technology has become an important tool for scientific investigation, resource management, and environmental planning. A GIS is a computer-aided system capable of collecting, storing, analyzing, and displaying spatially referenced digital data. GIS technology is useful for analyzing a wide variety of spatial data. Remote sensing involves collecting remotely sensed data, such as satellite imagery, aerial photography, or radar images, and analyzing the data to gather information or investigate trends about the environment or the Earth's surface. Spatial analysis combines remotely sensed, thematic, statistical, quantitative, and geographical data through overlay, modeling, and other analytical techniques to investigate specific research questions. It is the combination of data formats and analysis techniques that has made GIS an essential tool in scientific investigations. This fact sheet presents information about the technical capabilities and project activities of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Texas Water Science Center (TWSC) GIS Workgroup during 2008 and 2009. After a summary of GIS Workgroup capabilities, brief descriptions of activities by project at the local and national levels are presented. Projects are grouped by the fiscal year (October-September 2008 or 2009) the project ends and include overviews, project images, and Internet links to additional project information and related publications or articles.

Teaching Introductory GIS Programming to Geographers Using an Open Source Python Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Etherington, Thomas R.

2016-01-01

Computer programming is not commonly taught to geographers as a part of geographic information system (GIS) courses, but the advent of NeoGeography, big data and open GIS means that programming skills are becoming more important. To encourage the teaching of programming to geographers, this paper outlines a course based around a series of…

αA crystallin may protect against geographic atrophy-meta-analysis of cataract vs. cataract surgery for geographic atrophy and experimental studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Zhou

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Cataract and geographic atrophy (GA, also called advanced "dry" age-related macular degeneration are the two major causes of visual impairment in the developed world. The association between cataract surgery and the development of GA was controversial in previous studies. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We performed a meta-analysis by pooling the current evidence in literature and found that cataract is associated with an increased risk of geographic atrophy with a summary odds ratio (OR of 3.75 (95% CI: 95% CI: 1.84-7.62. However, cataract surgery is not associated with the risk of geographic atrophy (polled OR=3.23, 95% CI: 0.63-16.47. Further experiments were performed to analyze how the αA-crystallin, the major component of the lens, influences the development of GA in a mouse model. We found that theαA-crystallin mRNA and protein expression increased after oxidative stress induced by NaIO(3 in immunohistochemistry of retinal section and western blot of posterior eyecups. Both functional and histopathological evidence confirmed that GA is more severe in αA-crystallin knockout mice compared to wild-type mice. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, αA-crystallin may protect against geographic atrophy. This study provides a better understanding of the relationship between cataract, cataract surgery, and GA.

Tanzanian food origins and protected geographical indications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

John, Innocensia Festo; Egelyng, Henrik; Lokina, Azack

2016-01-01

As the world's population is constantly growing, food security will remain on the policy Agenda, particularly in Africa. At the same time, global food systems experience a new wave focusing on local foods and food sovereignty featuring high quality food products of verifiable geographical origin...... of food origin products in Tanzania that have potential for GI certification. The hypothesis was that there are origin products in Tanzania whose unique characteristics are linked to the area of production. Geographical indications can be useful policy instruments contributing to food security...... the diversity of supply of natural and unique quality products and so contribute to enhanced food security....

Place Branding – Geographical Approach. Case Study: Waterloo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius-Cristian Neacşu

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This study represents an exploratory analysis of the evolution of the place branding concept, with an important focus on the geographical perspective. How has this notion, a newcomer into the geographers' analysis, changed over time and what role does it have in the decision making process of intervening into the way a certain place is organised or as an instrument of economic revival and territorial development? At least from the perspective of Romanian geographical literature, the originality and novelty of this study is obvious. An element of the originality of this research is the attempt of redefining the concept of place branding so that it is more meaningful from the perspective of spatial analyses. The reason for which Waterloo was chosen as a case study is multi-dimensional: the case studies so far have mainly focused on large cities (urban branding instead of place branding and this site has all the theoretical elements to create a stand-alone brand.

Principles of logic and the use of digital geographic information systems

Science.gov (United States)

Robinove, Charles Joseph

1986-01-01

Digital geographic information systems allow many different types of data to be spatially and statistically analyzed. Logical operations can be performed on individual or multiple data planes by algorithms that can be implemented in computer systems. Users and creators of the systems should fully understand these operations. This paper describes the relationships of layers and features in geographic data bases and the principles of logic that can be applied by geographic information systems and suggests that a thorough knowledge of the data that are entered into a geographic data base and of the logical operations will produce results that are most satisfactory to the user. Methods of spatial analysis are reduced to their primitive logical operations and explained to further such understanding.

Design and Establishment of Quality Model of Fundamental Geographic Information Database

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, W.; Zhang, J.; Zhao, Y.; Zhang, P.; Dang, Y.; Zhao, T.

2018-04-01

In order to make the quality evaluation for the Fundamental Geographic Information Databases(FGIDB) more comprehensive, objective and accurate, this paper studies and establishes a quality model of FGIDB, which formed by the standardization of database construction and quality control, the conformity of data set quality and the functionality of database management system, and also designs the overall principles, contents and methods of the quality evaluation for FGIDB, providing the basis and reference for carry out quality control and quality evaluation for FGIDB. This paper designs the quality elements, evaluation items and properties of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database gradually based on the quality model framework. Connected organically, these quality elements and evaluation items constitute the quality model of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database. This model is the foundation for the quality demand stipulation and quality evaluation of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database, and is of great significance on the quality assurance in the design and development stage, the demand formulation in the testing evaluation stage, and the standard system construction for quality evaluation technology of the Fundamental Geographic Information Database.

China's Mission in Surveying, Mapping and Geographic Information during Global Governance

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, D.; Xue, C.; Chen, X.

2018-04-01

In the new era, it is proposed that China should be transformed from a participant and a cooperator into a designer, an impeller and a leader, continue taking an effect of responsible great power, increase public product supply, perfect a global governance system and contribute to China's wisdom and China's schemes during global governance, thus surveying and mapping geographic information takes on great mission. On the one hand, we have to timely grasp global geographic information data resources to provide an important scientific data support for China's wisdom and China's schemes. On the other hand, we have to provide surveying and mapping geographic information infrastructure construction and public products for developing countries, support location services within a global territorial scope, and realize the smoothness of talent flow, material flow and information flow between China and countries in the world. Meanwhile, external assistance and international communication and cooperation of surveying and mapping geographic information are also enhanced, and popularization and application of a geographic information technology in underdeveloped countries and regions are promoted.

[Current progress in food geographical origin traceability by near infrared spectroscopy technology].

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Dong-Hong; Wang, Xi-Chang; Liu, Li-Ping; Liu, Yuan

2011-04-01

The geographical origin traceability of food, an important part of traceability system, is effective in protecting the quality and safety of foodstuffs. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR), which is a powerful technique for geographical origin traceability, has attracted extensive attention by scientists due to its speediness, non-pollution and simple operation. This paper presents the advantages and disadvantages of techniques that have been used for food geographical origin traceability. The basic principles of NIR and its applications in different food geographical origin traceability are presented too. Furthermore, problems in applications are analyzed and the future development trends are discussed.

A review of geographic variation and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications in prescription drug use research.

Science.gov (United States)

Wangia, Victoria; Shireman, Theresa I

2013-01-01

While understanding geography's role in healthcare has been an area of research for over 40 years, the application of geography-based analyses to prescription medication use is limited. The body of literature was reviewed to assess the current state of such studies to demonstrate the scale and scope of projects in order to highlight potential research opportunities. To review systematically how researchers have applied geography-based analyses to medication use data. Empiric, English language research articles were identified through PubMed and bibliographies. Original research articles were independently reviewed as to the medications or classes studied, data sources, measures of medication exposure, geographic units of analysis, geospatial measures, and statistical approaches. From 145 publications matching key search terms, forty publications met the inclusion criteria. Cardiovascular and psychotropic classes accounted for the largest proportion of studies. Prescription drug claims were the primary source, and medication exposure was frequently captured as period prevalence. Medication exposure was documented across a variety of geopolitical units such as countries, provinces, regions, states, and postal codes. Most results were descriptive and formal statistical modeling capitalizing on geospatial techniques was rare. Despite the extensive research on small area variation analysis in healthcare, there are a limited number of studies that have examined geographic variation in medication use. Clearly, there is opportunity to collaborate with geographers and GIS professionals to harness the power of GIS technologies and to strengthen future medication studies by applying more robust geospatial statistical methods. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Issues Surrounding the Use of Virtual Reality in Geographic Education

Science.gov (United States)

Lisichenko, Richard

2015-01-01

As with all classroom innovations intended to improve geographic education, the adoption of virtual reality (VR) poses issues for consideration prior to endorsing its use. Of these, effectiveness, implementation, and safe use need to be addressed. Traditionally, sense of place, geographic knowledge, and firsthand experiences provided by field…

Geographic Education--Where Have We Failed?

Science.gov (United States)

Gritzner, Charles F.

1981-01-01

Discusses geography's rather low status and relatively poor public image in the United States and some of the consequences. Among the world's educated industrial nations, the United States ranks among the least literate in a geographical sense. (RM)

Geographical information systems and computer cartography

CERN Document Server

Jones, Chris B

2014-01-01

A concise text presenting the fundamental concepts in Geographical Information Systems (GIS), emphasising an understanding of techniques in management, analysis and graphic display of spatial information. Divided into five parts - the first part reviews the development and application of GIS, followed by a summary of the characteristics and representation of geographical information. It concludes with an overview of the functions provided by typical GIS systems. Part Two introduces co-ordinate systems and map projections, describes methods for digitising map data and gives an overview of remote sensing. Part Three deals with data storage and database management, as well as specialised techniques for accessing spatial data. Spatial modelling and analytical techniques for decision making form the subject of Part Four, while the final part is concerned with graphical representation, emphasising issues of graphics technology, cartographic design and map generalisation.

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) - USGS National Map Downloadable Data Collection

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is the Federal standard for geographic nomenclature. The U.S. Geological Survey developed the GNIS for the U.S. Board...

Non-professional user`s understanding of Geographic Information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arleth, Mette

2003-01-01

of digital media, including online access to a variety of GI-based services; maps, online Geographic information systems, interactive 3D models etc. However, can we expect that a citizen, who has no relevant professional basis for understanding the concept geographic information, be able to use GI......-based online services and comprehend the information contents? Using the Gi-based online services qualitatively in the participatory process obviously requires knowledge of the non-professional user`s understanding and use of GI. This paper discusses the needs for research into this field as well as relevant...

Combining Land Capability Evaluation, Geographic Information ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Combining Land Capability Evaluation, Geographic Information Systems, AnD Indigenous Technologies for Soil Conservation in Northern Ethiopia. ... Land capability and land use status were established following the procedures of a modified treatment-oriented capability classification using GIS. The case study ...

Disaggregate demand for conventional and alternative fuelled vehicles in the Census Metropolitan Area of Hamilton, Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Potoglou, Dimitrios

The focus of this thesis is twofold. First, it offers insight on how households' car-ownership behaviour is affected by urban form and availability of local-transit at the place of residence, after controlling for socio-economic and demographic characteristics. Second, it addresses the importance of vehicle attributes, household and individual characteristics as well as economic incentives and urban form to potential demand for alternative fuelled vehicles. Data for the empirical analyses of the aforementioned research activities were obtained through an innovative Internet survey, which is also documented in this thesis, conducted in the Census Metropolitan Area of Hamilton. The survey included a retrospective questionnaire of households' number and type of vehicles and a stated choices experiment for assessing the potential demand for alternative fuelled vehicles. Established approaches and emerging trends in automobile demand modelling identified early on in this thesis suggest a disaggregate approach and specifically, the estimation of discrete choice models both for explaining car ownership and vehicle-type choice behaviour. It is shown that mixed and diverse land uses as well as short distances between home and work are likely to decrease the probability of households to own a large number of cars. Regarding the demand for alternative fuelled vehicles, while vehicle attributes are particularly important, incentives such as free parking and access to high occupancy vehicle lanes will not influence the choice of hybrids or alternative fuelled vehicles. An improved understating of households' behaviour regarding the number of cars as well as the factors and trade-offs for choosing cleaner vehicles can be used to inform policy designed to reduce car ownership levels and encourage adoption of cleaner vehicle technologies in urban areas. Finally, the Internet survey sets the ground for further research on implementation and evaluation of this data collection method.

The added value of stochastic spatial disaggregation for short-term rainfall forecasts currently available in Canada

Science.gov (United States)

Gagnon, Patrick; Rousseau, Alain N.; Charron, Dominique; Fortin, Vincent; Audet, René

2017-11-01

Several businesses and industries rely on rainfall forecasts to support their day-to-day operations. To deal with the uncertainty associated with rainfall forecast, some meteorological organisations have developed products, such as ensemble forecasts. However, due to the intensive computational requirements of ensemble forecasts, the spatial resolution remains coarse. For example, Environment and Climate Change Canada's (ECCC) Global Ensemble Prediction System (GEPS) data is freely available on a 1-degree grid (about 100 km), while those of the so-called High Resolution Deterministic Prediction System (HRDPS) are available on a 2.5-km grid (about 40 times finer). Potential users are then left with the option of using either a high-resolution rainfall forecast without uncertainty estimation and/or an ensemble with a spectrum of plausible rainfall values, but at a coarser spatial scale. The objective of this study was to evaluate the added value of coupling the Gibbs Sampling Disaggregation Model (GSDM) with ECCC products to provide accurate, precise and consistent rainfall estimates at a fine spatial resolution (10-km) within a forecast framework (6-h). For 30, 6-h, rainfall events occurring within a 40,000-km2 area (Québec, Canada), results show that, using 100-km aggregated reference rainfall depths as input, statistics of the rainfall fields generated by GSDM were close to those of the 10-km reference field. However, in forecast mode, GSDM outcomes inherit of the ECCC forecast biases, resulting in a poor performance when GEPS data were used as input, mainly due to the inherent rainfall depth distribution of the latter product. Better performance was achieved when the Regional Deterministic Prediction System (RDPS), available on a 10-km grid and aggregated at 100-km, was used as input to GSDM. Nevertheless, most of the analyzed ensemble forecasts were weakly consistent. Some areas of improvement are identified herein.

Identification of geographical origin of sesame seeds by near infrared spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Y.K.; Cho, R.K.

1998-01-01

Geographical origin of the Korean, Chinese and Japanese sesame seeds were identified very high accuracy by NIR spectroscopy. The NIR instrument of filter type showed the same accuracy of the monochromator scanning type to identify the geographical origin of the sesame seeds. in case of adulteration between the Korean and Chinese sesame seeds, the ratio of addition could be determined about 10% error level. The reason of identification of geographical origin by NIR spectroscopy, it was supposed to the difference of oil cake substance

Geographical assemblages of European raptors and owls

Science.gov (United States)

López-López, Pascual; Benavent-Corai, José; García-Ripollés, Clara

2008-09-01

In this work we look for geographical structure patterns in European raptors (Order: Falconiformes) and owls (Order: Strigiformes). For this purpose we have conducted our research using freely available tools such as statistical software and databases. To perform the study, presence-absence data for the European raptors and owl species (Class Aves) were downloaded from the BirdLife International website. Using the freely available "pvclust" R-package, we applied similarity Jaccard index and cluster analysis in order to delineate biogeographical relationships for European countries. According to the cluster of similarity, we found that Europe is structured into two main geographical assemblages. The larger length branch separated two main groups: one containing Iceland, Greenland and the countries of central, northern and northwestern Europe, and the other group including the countries of eastern, southern and southwestern Europe. Both groups are divided into two main subgroups. According to our results, the European raptors and owls could be considered structured into four meta-communities well delimited by suture zones defined by Remington (1968) [Remington, C.L., 1968. Suture-zones of hybrid interaction between recently joined biotas. Evol. Biol. 2, 321-428]. Climatic oscillations during the Quaternary Ice Ages could explain at least in part the modern geographical distribution of the group.

International Voluntary Health Networks (IVHNs). A social-geographical framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Reid, Benet; Laurie, Nina; Smith, Matt Baillie

2018-03-01

Trans-national medicine, historically associated with colonial politics, is now central to discourses of global health and development, thrust into mainstream media by catastrophic events (earthquakes, disease epidemics), and enshrined in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Volunteer human-resource is an important contributor to international health-development work. International Voluntary Health Networks (IVHNs, that connect richer and poorer countries through healthcare) are situated at a meeting-point between geographies and sociologies of health. More fully developed social-geographic understandings will illuminate this area, currently dominated by instrumental health-professional perspectives. The challenge we address is to produce a geographically and sociologically-robust conceptual framework that appropriately recognises IVHNs' potentials for valuable impacts, while also unlocking spaces of constructive critique. We examine the importance of the social in health geography, and geographical potentials in health sociology (focusing on professional knowledge construction, inequality and capital, and power), to highlight the mutual interests of these two fields in relation to IVHNs. We propose some socio-geographical theories of IVHNs that do not naturalise inequality, that understand health as a form of capital, prioritise explorations of power and ethical practice, and acknowledge the more-than-human properties of place. This sets an agenda for theoretically-supported empirical work on IVHNs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Geographic Method for High Resolution Spatial Heat Planning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Steffen

2014-01-01

more detailed modelling that takes the geographic placement of buildings and the differences among DH systems into account. In the present article, a method for assessing the costs of DH expansions has been developed. The method was applied in a geographic information system (GIS) model that consists...... are considering distribution costs based on the geographic properties of each area and assessing transmission costs based on an iterative process that examines expansion potentials gradually. The GIS model is only applicable to a Danish context, but the method itself can be applied to other countries....... of three parts and assesses the costs of heat production, distribution, and transmission. The model was also applied to an actual case in order to show how it can be used. The model shows many improvements in the method for the assessment of distribution costs and transmission costs. Most notable...

Relationship between Air Pollution and Weather Conditions under Complicated Geographical conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Q.; Jiang, P.; Li, M.

2017-12-01

Air pollution is one of the most serious issues all over the world, especially in megacities with constrained geographical conditions for air pollution diffusion. However, the dynamic mechanism of air pollution diffusion under complicated geographical conditions is still be confused. Researches to explore relationship between air pollution and weather conditions from the perspective of local atmospheric circulations can contribute more to solve such problem. We selected three megacities (Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou) under different geographical condition (mountain-plain transition region, coastal alluvial plain and coastal hilly terrain) to explore the relationship between air pollution and weather conditions. RDA (Redundancy analysis) model was used to analyze how the local atmospheric circulation acts on the air pollutant diffusion. The results show that there was a positive correlation between the concentration of air pollutants and air pressure, while temperature, precipitation and wind speed have negative correlations with the concentration of air pollutants. Furthermore, geographical conditions, such as topographic relief, have significant effects on the direction, path and intensity of local atmospheric circulation. As a consequence, air pollutants diffusion modes in different cities under various geographical conditions are diverse from each other.

Geographic pathology of Helicobacter pylori gastritis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Liu, Yi; Ponsioen, Cyriel I. J.; Xiao, Shu-Dong; Tytgat, Guido N. J.; ten Kate, Fiebo J. W.

2005-01-01

Background and aim. Helicobacter pylori is etiologically associated with gastritis and gastric cancer. There are significant geographical differences between the clinical manifestation of H. pylori infections. The aim of this study was to compare gastric mucosal histology in relation to age among H.

Feature selection and recognition from nonspecific volatile profiles for discrimination of apple juices according to variety and geographical origin.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Jing; Yue, Tianli; Yuan, Yahong

2012-10-01

Apple juice is a complex mixture of volatile and nonvolatile components. To develop discrimination models on the basis of the volatile composition for an efficient classification of apple juices according to apple variety and geographical origin, chromatography volatile profiles of 50 apple juice samples belonging to 6 varieties and from 5 counties of Shaanxi (China) were obtained by headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography. The volatile profiles were processed as continuous and nonspecific signals through multivariate analysis techniques. Different preprocessing methods were applied to raw chromatographic data. The blind chemometric analysis of the preprocessed chromatographic profiles was carried out. Stepwise linear discriminant analysis (SLDA) revealed satisfactory discriminations of apple juices according to variety and geographical origin, provided respectively 100% and 89.8% success rate in terms of prediction ability. Finally, the discriminant volatile compounds selected by SLDA were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The proposed strategy was able to verify the variety and geographical origin of apple juices involving only a reduced number of discriminate retention times selected by the stepwise procedure. This result encourages the similar procedures to be considered in quality control of apple juices. This work presented a method for an efficient discrimination of apple juices according to apple variety and geographical origin using HS-SPME-GC-MS together with chemometric tools. Discrimination models developed could help to achieve greater control over the quality of the juice and to detect possible adulteration of the product. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

Geographic resolution issues in RAM transportation risk analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mills G, Scott; Neuhauser, Sieglinde

2000-01-01

Over the years that radioactive material (RAM) transportation risk estimates have been calculated using the RADTRAN code, demand for improved geographic resolution of route characteristics, especially density of population neighboring route segments, has led to code improvements that provide more specific route definition. With the advent of geographic information systems (GISs), the achievable resolution of route characteristics is theoretically very high. The authors have compiled population-density data in 1-kilometer increments for routes extending over hundreds of kilometers without impractical expenditures of time. Achievable resolution of analysis is limited, however, by the resolution of available data. U.S. Census data typically have 1-km or better resolution within densely-populated portions of metropolitan areas but census blocks are much larger in rural areas. Geographic resolution of accident-rate data, especially for heavy/combination trucks, are typically tabulated on a statewide basis. These practical realities cause one to ask what level(s) of resolution may be necessary for meaningful risk analysis of transportation actions on a state or interstate scale

08471 Report -- Geographic Privacy-Aware Knowledge Discovery and Delivery

OpenAIRE

Kuijpers, Bart; Pedreschi, Dino; Saygin, Yucel; Spaccapietra, Stefano

2009-01-01

The Dagstuhl-Seminar on Geographic Privacy-Aware Knowledge Discovery and Delivery was held during 16 - 21 November, 2008, with 37 participants registered from various countries from Europe, as well as other parts of the world such as United States, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil. Issues in the newly emerging area of geographic knowledge discovery with a privacy perspective were discussed in a week to consolidate some of the research questions. The Dagstuhl program included...

Crime Mapping and Geographical Information Systems in Crime Analysis

OpenAIRE

Dağlar, Murat; Argun, Uğur

2016-01-01

As essential apparatus in crime analysis, crime mapping and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are being progressively more accepted by police agencies. Development in technology and the accessibility of geographic data sources make it feasible for police departments to use GIS and crime mapping. GIS and crime mapping can be utilized as devices to discover reasons contributing to crime, and hence let law enforcement agencies proactively take action against the crime problems before they b...

Geographical constraints to range-based attacks on links in complex networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gong Baihua; Liu Jun; Huang Liang; Yang Kongqing; Yang Lei

2008-01-01

In this paper, we studied range-based attacks on links in geographically constrained scale-free networks and found that there is a continuous switching of roles of short- and long-range attacks on links when tuning the geographical constraint strength. Our results demonstrate that the geography has a significant impact on the network efficiency and security; thus one can adjust the geographical structure to optimize the robustness and the efficiency of the networks. We introduce a measurement of the impact of links on the efficiency of the network, and an effective attacking strategy is suggested

Research on a Method of Geographical Information Service Load Balancing

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Heyuan; Li, Yongxing; Xue, Zhiyong; Feng, Tao

2018-05-01

With the development of geographical information service technologies, how to achieve the intelligent scheduling and high concurrent access of geographical information service resources based on load balancing is a focal point of current study. This paper presents an algorithm of dynamic load balancing. In the algorithm, types of geographical information service are matched with the corresponding server group, then the RED algorithm is combined with the method of double threshold effectively to judge the load state of serve node, finally the service is scheduled based on weighted probabilistic in a certain period. At the last, an experiment system is built based on cluster server, which proves the effectiveness of the method presented in this paper.

Disaggregation of remotely sensed soil moisture under all sky condition using machine learning approach in Northeast Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, S.; Kim, H.; Choi, M.; Kim, K.

2016-12-01

Estimating spatiotemporal variation of soil moisture is crucial to hydrological applications such as flood, drought, and near real-time climate forecasting. Recent advances in space-based passive microwave measurements allow the frequent monitoring of the surface soil moisture at a global scale and downscaling approaches have been applied to improve the spatial resolution of passive microwave products available at local scale applications. However, most downscaling methods using optical and thermal dataset, are valid only in cloud-free conditions; thus renewed downscaling method under all sky condition is necessary for the establishment of spatiotemporal continuity of datasets at fine resolution. In present study Support Vector Machine (SVM) technique was utilized to downscale a satellite-based soil moisture retrievals. The 0.1 and 0.25-degree resolution of daily Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM) L3 soil moisture datasets from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) were disaggregated over Northeast Asia in 2015. Optically derived estimates of surface temperature (LST), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and its cloud products were obtained from MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for the purpose of downscaling soil moisture in finer resolution under all sky condition. Furthermore, a comparison analysis between in situ and downscaled soil moisture products was also conducted for quantitatively assessing its accuracy. Results showed that downscaled soil moisture under all sky condition not only preserves the quality of AMSR2 LPRM soil moisture at 1km resolution, but also attains higher spatial data coverage. From this research we expect that time continuous monitoring of soil moisture at fine scale regardless of weather conditions would be available.

Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Parents' Involvement in Homework: Practices and Perceptions from Eight Johannesburg Public Primary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Ndebele, Misheck

2015-01-01

This paper examines socio-economic factors influencing parental involvement in homework at the Foundation Phase in eight Johannesburg public primary schools. The research was conducted among over 600 parents from schools in different geographical and socio-economic areas such as the inner city, suburban and township. Two primary schools were…

Fungi identify the geographic origin of dust samples.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neal S Grantham

Full Text Available There is a long history of archaeologists and forensic scientists using pollen found in a dust sample to identify its geographic origin or history. Such palynological approaches have important limitations as they require time-consuming identification of pollen grains, a priori knowledge of plant species distributions, and a sufficient diversity of pollen types to permit spatial or temporal identification. We demonstrate an alternative approach based on DNA sequencing analyses of the fungal diversity found in dust samples. Using nearly 1,000 dust samples collected from across the continental U.S., our analyses identify up to 40,000 fungal taxa from these samples, many of which exhibit a high degree of geographic endemism. We develop a statistical learning algorithm via discriminant analysis that exploits this geographic endemicity in the fungal diversity to correctly identify samples to within a few hundred kilometers of their geographic origin with high probability. In addition, our statistical approach provides a measure of certainty for each prediction, in contrast with current palynology methods that are almost always based on expert opinion and devoid of statistical inference. Fungal taxa found in dust samples can therefore be used to identify the origin of that dust and, more importantly, we can quantify our degree of certainty that a sample originated in a particular place. This work opens up a new approach to forensic biology that could be used by scientists to identify the origin of dust or soil samples found on objects, clothing, or archaeological artifacts.

Geographic differences in overweight and obesity prevalence in Peruvian children, 2010-2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Roman, J Smith; Urrunaga-Pastor, Diego; Avilez, Jose L; Helguero-Santin, Luis M; Malaga, German

2018-03-14

Childhood obesity is emerging as a major public health problem worldwide. To date, most studies of obesity and overweight in Peru are focused on adults, with few of them involving children, a population at a critical stage of development. The trend in overweight and obesity prevalence in Peruvian children under the age of five has not yet been determined. Thus, the objective of the present study is to evaluate the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity between 2010 and 2015 in children under the age of five, stratified by geographical areas in Peru. Data were obtained from the Nutritional Status Information System of Peru. The total number of children evaluated was 14,155,914. For the Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the program Geo Da 1.8® was used to ascertain the spatial distribution of prevalence rates and was mapped for children under five. To assess the degree of spatial dependence, exploratory spatial data analysis was performed using the Moran's I statistic and was assessed with the Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) analysis to identify geographic concentrations of high and low of obesity and overweight levels. Between 2010 and 2015, the national prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity ranged from 6.2%- 6.8% and 1.5%-2.7%, respectively. The highest prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity was found in 2014 and 2013, respectively. During these years, we observed that obesity decreased, but overweight remained stable. The highest prevalence of overweight and obesity was found in the departments located on the coast. Significant positive spatial autocorrelation was found for both overweight and obesity. The departments with the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity were concentrated in Lima, Callao, Ica, Moquegua and Tacna. The lowest were found in Loreto, Cusco and San Martin. The decrease in obesity and the stabilisation of overweight are positive results for the Peruvian childhood. However, in comparison

Short circuit: Disaggregation of adrenocorticotropic hormone and cortisol levels in HIV-positive, methamphetamine-using men who have sex with men.

Science.gov (United States)

Carrico, Adam W; Rodriguez, Violeta J; Jones, Deborah L; Kumar, Mahendra

2018-01-01

This study examined if methamphetamine use alone (METH + HIV-) and methamphetamine use in combination with HIV (METH + HIV+) were associated with hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation as well as insulin resistance relative to a nonmethamphetamine-using, HIV-negative comparison group (METH-HIV-). Using an intact groups design, serum levels of HPA axis hormones in 46 METH + HIV- and 127 METH + HIV+ men who have sex with men (MSM) were compared to 136 METH-HIV- men. There were no group differences in prevailing adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) or cortisol levels, but the association between ACTH and cortisol was moderated by METH + HIV+ group (β = -0.19, p < .05). Compared to METH-HIV- men, METH + HIV+ MSM displayed 10% higher log 10 cortisol levels per standard deviation lower ACTH. Both groups of methamphetamine-using MSM had lower insulin resistance and greater syndemic burden (i.e., sleep disturbance, severe depression, childhood trauma, and polysubstance use disorder) compared to METH-HIV- men. However, the disaggregated functional relationship between ACTH and cortisol in METH + HIV+ MSM was independent of these factors. Further research is needed to characterize the bio-behavioral pathways that explain dysregulated HPA axis functioning in HIV-positive, methamphetamine-using MSM. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Geographic distribution of wild potato species

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hijmans, R.J.; Spooner, D.M.

2001-01-01

The geographic distribution of wild potatoes (Solanaceae sect. Petota) was analyzed using a database of 6073 georeferenced observations. Wild potatoes occur in 16 countries, but 88% of the observations are from Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico, and Peru. Most species are rare and narrowly endemic: for 77

Ontology-based geographic data set integration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Uitermark, H.T.J.A.; Uitermark, Harry T.; Oosterom, Peter J.M.; Mars, Nicolaas; Molenaar, Martien; Molenaar, M.

1999-01-01

In order to develop a system to propagate updates we investigate the semantic and spatial relationships between independently produced geographic data sets of the same region (data set integration). The goal of this system is to reduce operator intervention in update operations between corresponding

The Data Reliability of Volunteered Geographic Information with Using Traffic Accident Data

Science.gov (United States)

Sevinç, H. K.; Karaş, I. R.

2017-11-01

The development of mobile technologies is important in the lives of humans. Mobile devices constitute a great part of the daily lives of people. It has come to such a point that when people first wake up, they check their smart phones for the first thing. Users may share their positions with the GNSS sensors in mobile devices or they can add information about their positions in mobile applications. Users contribute to Geographical Information System with this sharing. These users consist of native (citizens) living in that geographical position not of the CBS specialists. Creating, collecting, sharing and disseminating the geographical data provided by voluntary individuals constitute the Volunteered Geographic Information System. The data in the Volunteered Geographic Information System are received from amateur users. "How reliable will the data received from amateur users instead of specialists of the field be in scientific terms?" In this study, the reliability between the data received from the voluntary users through Volunteered Geographic Information System and real data is investigated. The real data consist of the traffic accident coordinates. The data that will be received from users will be received through the speed values in the relevant coordinates and the marking of the users for possible accident points on the map.

Modeling the geographical studies with GeoGebra-software

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionica Soare

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The problem of mathematical modeling in geography is one of the most important strategies in order to establish the evolution and the prevision of geographical phenomena. Models must have a simplified structure, to reflect essential components and must be selective, structured, and suggestive and approximate the reality. Models could be static or dynamic, developed in a theoretical, symbolic, conceptual or mental way, mathematically modeled. The present paper is focused on the virtual model which uses GeoGebra software, free and available at www.geogebra.org, in order to establish new methods of geographical analysis in a dynamic, didactic way.

Hybrid male sterility in Mimulus (Phrymaceae) is associated with a geographically restricted mitochondrial rearrangement.

Science.gov (United States)

Case, Andrea L; Willis, John H

2008-05-01

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) and nuclear fertility restoration (Rf) involves intergenomic coevolution. Although male-sterile phenotypes are rarely expressed in natural populations of angiosperms, CMS genes are thought to be common. The evolutionary dynamics of CMS/Rf systems are poorly understood, leaving gaps in our understanding of mechanisms and consequences of cytonuclear interactions. We characterized the molecular basis and geographic distribution of a CMS gene in Mimulus guttatus. We used outcrossing M. guttatus (with CMS and Rf) to self-fertilizing M. nasutus (lacking CMS and Rf) to generate hybrids segregating for CMS. Mitochondrial transcripts containing an essential gene (nad6) were perfectly associated with male sterility. The CMS mitotype was completely absent in M. nasutus, present in all genotypes collected from the original collection site, but in only two individuals from 34 other M. guttatus populations. This pattern suggests that the CMS likely originated at a single locality, spread to fixation within the population, but has not spread to other populations, indicating possible ecological or genetic constraints on dispersal of this CMS mitotype between populations. Extreme localization may be characteristic of CMS in hermaphroditic species, in contrast to geographically widespread mitotypes commonly found in gynodioecious species, and could directly contribute to hybrid incompatibilities in nature.

Smallpox virus plaque phenotypes: genetic, geographical and case fatality relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, Victoria A; Karem, Kevin L; Smith, Scott K; Hughes, Christine M; Damon, Inger K

2009-04-01

Smallpox (infection with Orthopoxvirus variola) remains a feared illness more than 25 years after its eradication. Historically, case-fatality rates (CFRs) varied between outbreaks (<1 to approximately 40 %), the reasons for which are incompletely understood. The extracellular enveloped virus (EEV) form of orthopoxvirus progeny is hypothesized to disseminate infection. Investigations with the closely related Orthopoxvirus vaccinia have associated increased comet formation (EEV production) with increased mouse mortality (pathogenicity). Other vaccinia virus genetic manipulations which affect EEV production inconsistently support this association. However, antisera against vaccinia virus envelope protect mice from lethal challenge, further supporting a critical role for EEV in pathogenicity. Here, we show that the increased comet formation phenotypes of a diverse collection of variola viruses associate with strain phylogeny and geographical origin, but not with increased outbreak-related CFRs; within clades, there may be an association of plaque size with CFR. The mechanisms for variola virus pathogenicity probably involves multiple host and pathogen factors.

GNIS: Geographic Names Information Systems - All features

Data.gov (United States)

Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) actively seeks data from and partnerships with Government agencies at all levels and other interested organizations....

Geographical variation in dementia: systematic review with meta-analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Russ, Tom C; Batty, G David; Hearnshaw, Gena F; Fenton, Candida; Starr, John M

2012-01-01

Background Geographical variation in dementia prevalence and incidence may indicate important socio-environmental contributions to dementia aetiology. However, previous comparisons have been hampered by combining studies with different methodologies. This review systematically collates and synthesizes studies examining geographical variation in the prevalence and incidence of dementia based on comparisons of studies using identical methodologies. Methods Papers were identified by a comprehensive electronic search of relevant databases, scrutinising the reference sections of identified publications, contacting experts in the field and re-examining papers already known to us. Identified articles were independently reviewed against inclusion/exclusion criteria and considered according to geographical scale. Rural/urban comparisons were meta-analysed. Results Twelve thousand five hundred and eighty records were reviewed and 51 articles were included. Dementia prevalence and incidence varies at a number of scales from the national down to small areas, including some evidence of an effect of rural living [prevalence odds ratio (OR) = 1.11, 90% confidence interval (CI) 0.79–1.57; incidence OR = 1.20, 90% CI 0.84–1.71]. However, this association of rurality was stronger for Alzheimer disease, particularly when early life rural living was captured (prevalence OR = 2.22, 90% CI 1.19–4.16; incidence OR = 1.64, 90% CI 1.08–2.50). Conclusions There is evidence of geographical variation in rates of dementia in affluent countries at a variety of geographical scales. Rural living is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer disease, and there is a suggestion that early life rural living further increases this risk. However, the fact that few studies have been conducted in resource-poor countries limits conclusions. PMID:22798662

Natural Scales in Geographical Patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Menezes, Telmo; Roth, Camille

2017-04-01

Human mobility is known to be distributed across several orders of magnitude of physical distances, which makes it generally difficult to endogenously find or define typical and meaningful scales. Relevant analyses, from movements to geographical partitions, seem to be relative to some ad-hoc scale, or no scale at all. Relying on geotagged data collected from photo-sharing social media, we apply community detection to movement networks constrained by increasing percentiles of the distance distribution. Using a simple parameter-free discontinuity detection algorithm, we discover clear phase transitions in the community partition space. The detection of these phases constitutes the first objective method of characterising endogenous, natural scales of human movement. Our study covers nine regions, ranging from cities to countries of various sizes and a transnational area. For all regions, the number of natural scales is remarkably low (2 or 3). Further, our results hint at scale-related behaviours rather than scale-related users. The partitions of the natural scales allow us to draw discrete multi-scale geographical boundaries, potentially capable of providing key insights in fields such as epidemiology or cultural contagion where the introduction of spatial boundaries is pivotal.

Veterans Affairs Geographic Distribution of Expenditures FY07 by State and County

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — The Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) is an annual report that shows estimated VA expenditures for major programmatic areas by geographic area (state,...

Veterans Affairs Geographic Distribution of Expenditures FY08 by State and County

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Veterans Affairs — The Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) is an annual report that shows estimated VA expenditures for major programmatic areas by geographic area (state,...

Exploring the potentials of volunteered geographic Information as a source for spatial data acquisition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ariffin, Izyana; Solemon, Badariah; Anwar, Rina Md; Din, Marina Md; Azmi, Nor Nashrah

2014-01-01

The advancement of technologies nowadays enables participation by nonprofessionals, known as volunteers to participate in producing, sharing and consuming geographic information. Such information, termed as volunteered geographic Information (VGI) has created a new approach of gathering geographic information. This paper discusses the traditional way of acquiring geographic information and potentials of VGI as an information source in GIS applications. We also review four commonly cited applications which rely on volunteers for their geographic information based on five criteria; the geometry type available in the applications, availability of user profile, average number of attributes used in the applications, data type of the information (raster or vector) and the domain the application belongs to. This review serves as a preliminarv study in designing a GIS application used for asset management which aims at exploiting volunteers to produce geographic information related to assets

Public Perception on Disaster Management Using Volunteered Geographic Information (vgi): Case of Uae

Science.gov (United States)

Yagoub, M. M.

2015-10-01

The number of smart phones that are supported by location facility like Global Positioning System (GPS), Camera and connected to the internet has increased sharply in UAE during the last five years. This increase offers a chance to capitalize on using these devices as resources for data collection, therefore reducing cost. In many cases specific events may happen in areas or at time where there may be no governmental departments to collect such unrepeated events. The current research will showcase various studies that had been conducted on Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) debating various aspects such as accuracy, legal issues, and privacy. This research will also integrate Geographic Information System (GIS), VGI, social media tools, data mining, and mobile technology to design a conceptual framework for promoting public participation in UAE. The data gathered through survey will be helpful in correlating various aspects of VGI. Since there are diverse views about these aspects, policy makers are left undecided in many countries about how to deal with VGI. The assessment of the UAE case will contribute to the age-long debate by examining the willingness of the public to participate. The result will show the public perception to be as sensors for data collection. Additionally, the potential of citizen involvement in the risk and disaster management process by providing voluntary data collected for VGI applications will also be explored in the paper.

Teaching Geographic Field Methods Using Paleoecology

Science.gov (United States)

Walsh, Megan K.

2014-01-01

Field-based undergraduate geography courses provide numerous pedagogical benefits including an opportunity for students to acquire employable skills in an applied context. This article presents one unique approach to teaching geographic field methods using paleoecological research. The goals of this course are to teach students key geographic…

Effects of geographical extent on the determinants of woody plant diversity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Zhiheng; Rahbek, Carsten; Fang, Jingyun

2012-01-01

the quantitative effects of geographical extent are rarely tested. Here, using distribution maps of 11,405 woody species found in China and associated environmental data to the domain, we investigated the influence of geographical extent on the determinants of species richness patterns. Our results revealed...

Influence of the geographical curriculum on competences of geography teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatjana Resnik Planinc

2007-12-01

Full Text Available The paper analyses the influence of geographical curriculum on competences of geography teacher. It is focused on complex and symbiotic relation between curriculum and achieved and recommended competences of geography teacher and their importance for geographical education. The competences should therefore be derived from the theories, concerning values, knowledge, curriculum and whole educational process, which underpin good pedagogical practice.

Geographical conceptualization of quality of life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murgaš František

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The conceptualization of quality of life in terms of geography is based on two assumptions. The first assumption is that the quality of life consists of two dimensions: subjective and objective. The subjective is known as ‘well-being’, while the objective is the proposed term ‘quality of place’. The second assumption is based on the recognition that quality of life is always a spatial dimension. The concept of quality of life is closely linked with the concept of a good life; geographers enriched this concept by using the term ‘good place’ as a place in which the conditions are created for a good life. The quality of life for individuals in terms of a good place overlaps with the quality of life in society, namely the societal quality of life. The geographical conceptualisation of quality of life is applied to settlements within the city of Liberec.

Geographical imbalances and divides in the scientific production of climate change knowledge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pasgaard, Maya; Dalsgaard, Bo; Maruyama, Pietro K.

2015-01-01

Studies on scientific production of climate change knowledge show a geographical bias against the developing and more vulnerable regions of the world. If there is limited knowledge exchange between regions, this may deepen global knowledge divides and, thus, potentially hamper adaptive capacities....... Consequently, there is a need to further understand this bias, and, particularly, link it with the exchange of knowledge across borders. We use a world-wide geographical distribution of author affiliations in > 15,000 scientific climate change publications to show that (1) research production mainly takes...... are determined mainly by geographical proximity, common climates, and similar political and economic characteristics. This indicates that political-economic, social and educational-scientific initiatives targeted to enhance local research production and collaborations across geographical-climate module borders...

An introduction to geographic information systems as applied to a groundwater remediation program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hammock, J.K.; Lorenz, R.

1989-01-01

While the attention to environmental issues has grown over the past several years, so has the focus on groundwater protection. Addressing the task of groundwater remediation often involves a large-scale program with numerous wells and enormous amounts of data. This data must be manipulated and analyzed in an efficient manner for the remediation program to be truly effective. Geographic Information System's (GIS) have proven to be an extremely effective tool in handling and interpreting this type of groundwater information. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the audience to GIS technology, describe how it is being used at the Savannah River Site (SRS) to handle groundwater data and demonstrate how it may be used in the corporate Westinghouse environment

A Geographical Heuristic Routing Protocol for VANETs

Science.gov (United States)

Urquiza-Aguiar, Luis; Tripp-Barba, Carolina; Aguilar Igartua, Mónica

2016-01-01

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) leverage the communication system of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Recently, Delay-Tolerant Network (DTN) routing protocols have increased their popularity among the research community for being used in non-safety VANET applications and services like traffic reporting. Vehicular DTN protocols use geographical and local information to make forwarding decisions. However, current proposals only consider the selection of the best candidate based on a local-search. In this paper, we propose a generic Geographical Heuristic Routing (GHR) protocol that can be applied to any DTN geographical routing protocol that makes forwarding decisions hop by hop. GHR includes in its operation adaptations simulated annealing and Tabu-search meta-heuristics, which have largely been used to improve local-search results in discrete optimization. We include a complete performance evaluation of GHR in a multi-hop VANET simulation scenario for a reporting service. Our study analyzes all of the meaningful configurations of GHR and offers a statistical analysis of our findings by means of MANOVA tests. Our results indicate that the use of a Tabu list contributes to improving the packet delivery ratio by around 5% to 10%. Moreover, if Tabu is used, then the simulated annealing routing strategy gets a better performance than the selection of the best node used with carry and forwarding (default operation). PMID:27669254

The Use of Lead Isotope and Rare Earth Element Geochemistry for Forensic Geographic Provenancing

Science.gov (United States)

Carey, A.; Darrah, T.; Harrold, Z.; Prutsman-Pfeiffer, J.; Poreda, R.

2008-12-01

Lead isotope and rare earth element composition of modern human bones are analyzed to explore their utility for geographical provenancing. DNA analysis is the standard for identification of individuals. DNA analysis requires a DNA match for comparison. Thus, DNA analysis is of limited use in cases involving unknown remains. Trace elements are incorporated into bones and teeth during biomineralization, recording the characteristics of an individual's geochemical environment. Teeth form during adolescence, recording the geochemical environment of an individual's youth. Bones remodel throughout an individual's lifetime. Bones consist of two types of bone tissue (cortical and trabecular) that remodel at different rates, recording the geochemical environment at the time of biomineralization. Cortical bone tissue, forming the outer surface of bones, is dense, hard tissue that remodels in 25-30 yrs. Conversely, trabecular bone tissue, the inner cavity of bones, is low density, porous and remodels in 2-5 years. Thus, analyzing teeth and both bone tissues allows for the development of a geographical time line capable of tracking immigration patterns through time instead of only an individual's youth. Geochemical isotopic techniques (Sr, O, C, N) have been used for geographical provenancing in physical anthropology. The isotopic values of Sr, C, O, N are predominantly a function of soil compositions in areas where food is grown or water is consumed. Application of these provenancing techniques has become difficult as an individual's diet may reflect the isotopic composition of foods obtained at the local grocer as opposed to local soil compositions. Thus, we explore the use of REEs and Pb isotopes for geographical provenancing. Pb and REEs are likely more reliable indicators of modern geographical location as their composition are high in bio-available sources such as local soils, atmospheric aerosols, and dust as opposed to Sr, C, O, N that are controlled by food and

Geographical patterns of the standing and active human gut microbiome in health and IBD.

Science.gov (United States)

Rehman, Ateequr; Rausch, Philipp; Wang, Jun; Skieceviciene, Jurgita; Kiudelis, Gediminas; Bhagalia, Ketan; Amarapurkar, Deepak; Kupcinskas, Limas; Schreiber, Stefan; Rosenstiel, Philip; Baines, John F; Ott, Stephan

2016-02-01

A global increase of IBD has been reported, especially in countries that previously had low incidence rates. Also, the knowledge of the human gut microbiome is steadily increasing, however, limited information regarding its variation on a global scale is available. In the light of the microbial involvement in IBDs, we aimed to (1) identify shared and distinct IBD-associated mucosal microbiota patterns from different geographical regions including Europe (Germany, Lithuania) and South Asia (India) and (2) determine whether profiling based on 16S rRNA transcripts provides additional resolution, both of which may hold important clinical relevance. In this study, we analyse a set of 89 mucosal biopsies sampled from individuals of German, Lithuanian and Indian origins, using bacterial community profiling of a roughly equal number of healthy controls, patients with Crohn's disease and UC from each location, and analyse 16S rDNA and rRNA as proxies for standing and active microbial community structure, respectively. We find pronounced population-specific as well as general disease patterns in the major phyla and patterns of diversity, which differ between the standing and active communities. The geographical origin of samples dominates the patterns of β diversity with locally restricted disease clusters and more pronounced effects in the active microbial communities. However, two genera belonging to the Clostridium leptum subgroup, Faecalibacteria and Papillibacter, display consistent patterns with respect to disease status and may thus serve as reliable 'microbiomarkers'. These analyses reveal important interactions of patients' geographical origin and disease in the interpretation of disease-associated changes in microbial communities and highlight the added value of analysing communities on both the 16S rRNA gene (DNA) and transcript (RNA) level. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go

Geographical cost-supply analysis forest biomass for distributed generation in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Möller, Bernd

2004-01-01

The article presents a study which uses geographical information system (GIS) to perform cost-supply analysis of wood chips resources for energy production.......The article presents a study which uses geographical information system (GIS) to perform cost-supply analysis of wood chips resources for energy production....

48 CFR 1852.244-70 - Geographic participation in the aerospace program.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... the aerospace program. 1852.244-70 Section 1852.244-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System NATIONAL... Provisions and Clauses 1852.244-70 Geographic participation in the aerospace program. As prescribed in 1844.204-70, insert the following clause: Geographic Participation in the Aerospace Program (APR 1985) (a...

Using a 'value-added' approach for contextual design of geographic information.

Science.gov (United States)

May, Andrew J

2013-11-01

The aim of this article is to demonstrate how a 'value-added' approach can be used for user-centred design of geographic information. An information science perspective was used, with value being the difference in outcomes arising from alternative information sets. Sixteen drivers navigated a complex, unfamiliar urban route, using visual and verbal instructions representing the distance-to-turn and junction layout information presented by typical satellite navigation systems. Data measuring driving errors, navigation errors and driver confidence were collected throughout the trial. The results show how driver performance varied considerably according to the geographic context at specific locations, and that there are specific opportunities to add value with enhanced geographical information. The conclusions are that a value-added approach facilitates a more explicit focus on 'desired' (and feasible) levels of end user performance with different information sets, and is a potentially effective approach to user-centred design of geographic information. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Geometric algorithms for delineating geographic regions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reinbacher, I.

2006-01-01

Everyone of us is used to geographical regions like the south of Utrecht, the dutch Randstad, or the mountainous areas of Austria. Some of these regions have crisp, fixed boundaries like Utrecht or Austria. Others, like the dutch Randstad and the Austrian mountains, have no such boundaries and are

PEDIATRIC FITNESS: SECULAR TRENDS AND GEOGRAPHIC VARIABILITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grant R. Tomkinson

2007-06-01

Full Text Available DESCRIPTION This book describes and discusses children's physical capacity in terms of aerobic and anaerobic power generation according to secular trends and geographic variability. PURPOSE To discuss the controversial issue of whether present day's children and adolescents are fitter than their equals of the past and whether they are fitter if they live in the more prosperous countries. AUDIENCE Pediatricians, medical practitioners, physical educators, exercise and/or sport scientists, exercise physiologists, personal trainers and graduate students in relevant fields will find this book helpful when dealing with contemporary trends and geographic variability in pediatric fitness. FEATURES The volume starts by examining the general picture on children fitness by the editors. The individual chapter's authors discuses the data gathered since the late 1950s on secular trends and geographic changeability in aerobic and anaerobic pediatric fitness performances of children and adolescents from 23 countries in Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. There are chapters proposing that there is proof that there has been a world-wide decline in pediatric aerobic performance in recent decades, relative stability in anaerobic performance, and that the best performing children come from northern and central Europe. In final chapters possible causes to that end are considered, including whether weakening in aerobic performance are the result of distributional or widespread declines, and whether increases in obesity alone can explain the failure in aerobic performance. ASSESSMENT The editors have assembled a volume of Medicine and Sports Science that is necessary and essential reading for all who are interested in understanding and improving the fitness of children. The readers will find useful information in this book on secular trends and geographic variability in pediatric fitness. I believe, the book will serve as a first

The Importance of Geographical Indications in Regional Tourism Development: The Case of Çanakkale

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Şefik Okan Mercan

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Many products unique to Turkey, the origins of which are recognized with the name of region. Turkey, its geographical location and climatic zone having three different soil structure and cultural heritage and human capital due to a rich variety of geographical product has the potential. Features of geographical environment revealed  this product wealth, this product also requires the protection of geographical indications through. In this study, in Çanakkale who have registered geographical indication products, to examine the importance of the development of regional tourism and how these products can be assessed on a tourism product relevant institutions/organizations are intended to be of the opinion. According to the findings, the general opinion of Canakkale geographical indication products are properly and effectively with the regional tourism promotion and marketing work done in the development of a tool is that it will undertake the task. 

Energy prediction using spatiotemporal pattern networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Zhanhong; Liu, Chao; Akintayo, Adedotun; Henze, Gregor P.; Sarkar, Soumik

2017-11-01

This paper presents a novel data-driven technique based on the spatiotemporal pattern network (STPN) for energy/power prediction for complex dynamical systems. Built on symbolic dynamical filtering, the STPN framework is used to capture not only the individual system characteristics but also the pair-wise causal dependencies among different sub-systems. To quantify causal dependencies, a mutual information based metric is presented and an energy prediction approach is subsequently proposed based on the STPN framework. To validate the proposed scheme, two case studies are presented, one involving wind turbine power prediction (supply side energy) using the Western Wind Integration data set generated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for identifying spatiotemporal characteristics, and the other, residential electric energy disaggregation (demand side energy) using the Building America 2010 data set from NREL for exploring temporal features. In the energy disaggregation context, convex programming techniques beyond the STPN framework are developed and applied to achieve improved disaggregation performance.

The GeoGraph 3D Computational Laboratory

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Dibble, Catherine; Feldman, Philip G

2003-01-01

.... Even recent progress in social network modeling has not yet offered us any capability to model dynamic processes among mobile agents who interact at all scales on small-world and scale-free geographic networks...

Urethroplasty: a geographic disparity in care.

Science.gov (United States)

Burks, Frank N; Salmon, Scott A; Smith, Aaron C; Santucci, Richard A

2012-06-01

Urethroplasty is the gold standard for urethral strictures but its geographic prevalence throughout the United States is unknown. We analyzed where and how often urethroplasty was being performed in the United States compared to other treatment modalities for urethral stricture. De-identified case logs from the American Board of Urology were collected from certifying/recertifying urologists from 2004 to 2009. Results were categorized by ZIP codes to determine the geographic distribution. Case logs from 3,877 urologists (2,533 recertifying and 1,344 certifying) were reviewed including 1,836 urethroplasties, 13,080 urethrotomies and 19,564 urethral dilations. The proportion of urethroplasty varied widely among states (range 0% to 17%). The ratio of urethroplasty-to-urethrotomy/dilation also varied widely from state to state, but overall 1 urethroplasty was performed for every 17 urethrotomies or dilations performed. Certifying urologists were 3 times as likely to perform urethroplasty as recertifying urologists (12% vs 4%, respectively, pUrethroplasties were performed more commonly in states with residency programs (mean 5% vs 3%). Some states reported no urethroplasties during the observation period (Vermont, North Dakota, South Dakota, Maine and West Virginia). To our knowledge this is the first report on the geographic distribution of urethroplasty for urethral stricture disease. There are large variations in the rates of urethroplasty performed throughout the United States, indicating a disparity of care, especially for those regions in which few or no urethroplasties were reported. This disparity may decrease with time as younger certifying urologists are performing 3 times as many urethroplasties as older recertifying urologists. Copyright © 2012 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Dinosaurs reveal the geographical signature of an evolutionary radiation.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Donovan, Ciara; Meade, Andrew; Venditti, Chris

2018-03-01

Dinosaurs dominated terrestrial ecosystems across the globe for over 100 million years and provide a classic example of an evolutionary radiation. However, little is known about how these animals radiated geographically to become globally distributed. Here, we use a biogeographical model to reconstruct the dinosaurs' ancestral locations, revealing the spatial mechanisms that underpinned this 170-million-year-long radiation. We find that dinosaurs spread rapidly initially, followed by a significant continuous and gradual reduction in their speed of movement towards the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary (66 million years ago). This suggests that the predominant mode of dinosaur speciation changed through time with speciation originally largely driven by geographical isolation-when dinosaurs speciated more, they moved further. This was gradually replaced by increasing levels of sympatric speciation (species taking advantage of ecological opportunities within their existing environment) as terrestrial space became a limiting factor. Our results uncover the geographical signature of an evolutionary radiation.

Geographic analysis of road accident severity index in Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Iyanda, Ayodeji E

2018-05-28

Before 2030, deaths from road traffic accidents (RTAs) will surpass cerebrovascular disease, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. Yet, there is little knowledge on the geographic distribution of RTA severity in Nigeria. Accident Severity Index is the proportion of deaths that result from a road accident. This study analysed the geographic pattern of RTA severity based on the data retrieved from Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). The study predicted a two-year data from a historic road accident data using exponential smoothing technique. To determine spatial autocorrelation, global and local indicators of spatial association were implemented in a geographic information system. Results show significant clusters of high RTA severity among states in the northeast and the northwest of Nigeria. Hence, the findings are discussed from two perspectives: Road traffic law compliance and poor emergency response. Conclusion, the severity of RTA is high in the northern states of Nigeria, hence, RTA remains a public health concern.

Improving Geography Learning in the Schools: Efforts by the National Geographic Society.

Science.gov (United States)

Dulli, Robert E.

1994-01-01

Contends that the National Geographic Society's Geography Education Program continues to work on improving geography instruction and learning. Outlines future activities of the National Geographic Society including urban outreach and technology training. (CFR)

Similarity of trajectories taking into account geographic context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maike Buchin

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The movements of animals, people, and vehicles are embedded in a geographic context. This context influences the movement and may cause the formation of certain behavioral responses. Thus, it is essential to include context parameters in the study of movement and the development of movement pattern analytics. Advances in sensor technologies and positioning devices provide valuable data not only of moving agents but also of the circumstances embedding the movement in space and time. Developing knowledge discovery methods to investigate the relation between movement and its surrounding context is a major challenge in movement analysis today. In this paper we show how to integrate geographic context into the similarity analysis of movement data. For this, we discuss models for geographic context of movement data. Based on this we develop simple but efficient context-aware similarity measures for movement trajectories, which combine a spatial and a contextual distance. These are based on well-known similarity measures for trajectories, such as the Hausdorff, Fréchet, or equal time distance. We validate our approach by applying these measures to movement data of hurricanes and albatross.

Sirenomelia in Argentina: Prevalence, geographic clusters and temporal trends analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Groisman, Boris; Liascovich, Rosa; Gili, Juan Antonio; Barbero, Pablo; Bidondo, María Paz

2016-07-01

Sirenomelia is a severe malformation of the lower body characterized by a single medial lower limb and a variable combination of visceral abnormalities. Given that Sirenomelia is a very rare birth defect, epidemiological studies are scarce. The aim of this study is to evaluate prevalence, geographic clusters and time trends of sirenomelia in Argentina, using data from the National Network of Congenital Anomalies of Argentina (RENAC) from November 2009 until December 2014. This is a descriptive study using data from the RENAC, a hospital-based surveillance system for newborns affected with major morphological congenital anomalies. We calculated sirenomelia prevalence throughout the period, searched for geographical clusters, and evaluated time trends. The prevalence of confirmed cases of sirenomelia throughout the period was 2.35 per 100,000 births. Cluster analysis showed no statistically significant geographical aggregates. Time-trends analysis showed that the prevalence was higher in years 2009 to 2010. The observed prevalence was higher than the observed in previous epidemiological studies in other geographic regions. We observed a likely real increase in the initial period of our study. We used strict diagnostic criteria, excluding cases that only had clinical diagnosis of sirenomelia. Therefore, real prevalence could be even higher. This study did not show any geographic clusters. Because etiology of sirenomelia has not yet been established, studies of epidemiological features of this defect may contribute to define its causes. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 106:604-611, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Formation and distribution of international tourism flows in geographical space

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleksandr Korol

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Properties of geographical space that are of key importance for international tourism, as length and discreteness, are analyzed in the article. Length makes tourists cover distances, whereas discreteness manifests itself in spatial heterogeneity. Tourism in conditions of homogeneous space is vain. That is, heterogeneity brings sense to travels as well as determines their direction. So, the effect of geographical space’s length and spatial heterogeneity on formation and distribution of tourism flows is assessed, international tourism’s geographical essence is disclosed also. Apperception of geographical space in usual environment and its effect on tourist’s original motives are described. Following the bases of behaviorism, the tourism original motives, in particular those for migration, comfort, contrast and aesthetics are substantiated. The motive for migration is a kind of “pushing” tourists outside their usual environment. To stop all fears that may cause anxiety in destination, the latter should guarantee satisfaction of those human needs which A. Maslow refers to as basic needs. The necessity to satisfy these needs forms in tourists the motive for comfort. Closely located destinations in neighboring countries can be of little difference form usual environment. Driven by the motive for contrast, tourists aspire to visit places that totally differ from their usual environment, and contrast (are exotic to it. Thus, the motive for contrast seemingly “pulls” the tourists up to certain (exotic destinations. Finally, following the considered spatial specificities of land surface and tourist-driving original motives, a conceptual model of formation and distribution of international tourism flows in geographical space is developed.

U.S.-Mexico Border Geographic Information System

Science.gov (United States)

Parcher, Jean W.

2008-01-01

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the development of extensive geodatabases have become invaluable tools for addressing a variety of contemporary societal issues and for making predictions about the future. The United States-Mexico Geographic Information System (USMX-GIS) is based on fundamental datasets that are produced and/or approved by the national geography agencies of each country, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica Y Geografia (INEGI) of Mexico, and the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC). The data are available at various scales to allow both regional and local analysis. The USGS and the INEGI have an extensive history of collaboration for transboundary mapping including exchanging digital technology and developing methods for harmonizing seamless national level geospatial datasets for binational environmental monitoring, urban growth analysis, and other scientific applications.

Frequency of damage by external explosion hazards based on geographical information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, Guenter; Camarinopoulos, Alexis; Theodora, Karali; Camarinopoulos, Leonidas; Schubert, B.

2013-01-01

External explosions can significantly contribute to risk of damage for industrial plants. External explosions may origin from other plants in the neighbourhood, which store and operate with explosive substances, or from transport of such substances on road, rail, or water. If deflagration is involved, ignition will not necessarily occur at the place of the accident, but a cloud of a combustible gas-air mixture may develop, which will ignite at some distance depending on wind velocity. A probabilistic model has been developed to calculate frequencies of damage based on numerical integration or on Monte Carlo simulation. Geographical information systems provide map material for sites, roads, rail and rivers on a computer. Data has been collected and applied for a nuclear power plant in Germany as an example. The method, however, can be used for any type of plant subject to external explosion hazards. (orig.)

Frequency of damage by external explosion hazards based on geographical information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becker, Guenter [Risa Sicherheitsanalysen GmbH, Berlin-Charlottenburg (Germany); Camarinopoulos, Alexis; Theodora, Karali [Environment Reliability and Risk Analysis (ERRA), Athens (Greece); Camarinopoulos, Leonidas [Piraeus Univ. (Greece); Schubert, B. [VENE, Hamburg (Germany)

2013-05-15

External explosions can significantly contribute to risk of damage for industrial plants. External explosions may origin from other plants in the neighbourhood, which store and operate with explosive substances, or from transport of such substances on road, rail, or water. If deflagration is involved, ignition will not necessarily occur at the place of the accident, but a cloud of a combustible gas-air mixture may develop, which will ignite at some distance depending on wind velocity. A probabilistic model has been developed to calculate frequencies of damage based on numerical integration or on Monte Carlo simulation. Geographical information systems provide map material for sites, roads, rail and rivers on a computer. Data has been collected and applied for a nuclear power plant in Germany as an example. The method, however, can be used for any type of plant subject to external explosion hazards. (orig.)

Mithra and the Arrangement of Geographical Lists in the Achaemenid and Sasanid Inscriptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

nazanin tamari

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The division of the world is one of the issues that began with the social life of human in all over the world and still continues. The oldest division has mythical and legendary aspects that shows the geographical knowledge or religious and ethnic beliefs of their predecessors. Various geographical divisions can be seen in the ancient Iranians tradition. Each of these divisions follow the specific arrangement of listing the geographical areas, which discussed in this paper. The arrangement of geographical areas in Achaemenid and Sasanin inscriptions and in the Mihr Ya&scaront, the oldest of Avesta, are the same. Because of this similarity can’t be accidental, in this paper the cause of the similarities has been investigated. The arrangement of geographical areas in two lists ( inscriptions and Mihr Ya&scaront shows clockwise (sunwise fashion, that investigated in religious view in this study. Due to the Mithra’s influence on cultural and religious context of the ancient Iranians, for the first time in present paper investigated the role of this god and his influence on the writing the geographical lists in the Achaemenid and Sasanin inscriptions.

A primer of GIS fundamental geographic and cartographic concepts

CERN Document Server

Harvey, Francis

2015-01-01

This accessible text prepares students to understand and work with geographic information systems (GIS), offering a detailed introduction to essential theories, concepts, and skills. The book is organized in four modular parts that can be used in any sequence in entry-level and more specialized courses. Basic cartographic principles are integrated with up-to-date discussions of GIS technologies and applications. Coverage includes everything from what geographic information is to its many uses and societal implications. Practical examples and exercises invite readers to explore the choices invo

Geographic segmentation of users and its use in advertising

OpenAIRE

Dolenc, Blaž

2015-01-01

In modern web advertising the goal is not only deliver an ad to a broad number of customers, but to target particular customers who are more likely to be interested in content. If the user location is known, we can estimate click on ad based on previous visitors. The company Zemanta recognized the need for geographic audience segmentation, and they have invited students to solve their challenge. The goal was geographic segmentation of web pages visitors based on the ZIP code they come from a...

The Geographic Information Grid System Based on Mobile Agent

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2006-01-01

We analyze the deficiencies of current application systems, and discuss the key requirements of distributed Geographic Information service (GIS). We construct the distributed GIS on grid platform. Considering the flexibility and efficiency, we integrate the mobile agent technology into the system. We propose a new prototype system, the Geographic Information Grid System (GIGS) based on mobile agent. This system has flexible services and high performance, and improves the sharing of distributed resources. The service strategy of the system and the examples are also presented.

Cultural and economic determinants of geographical mortality patterns in The Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mackenbach, J. P.; Kunst, A. E.; Looman, C. W.

1991-01-01

STUDY OBJECTIVE--The geographical pattern of mortality in The Netherlands is dominated by an area of relatively high mortality in the southern part of the country. The aim was to analyse the background of this geographical mortality pattern in the early 1980s, and its evolution over time since the

The research on data organization technology in the highway geographic information system

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Zhihui; Wu, Fang; Zeng, Yuhuai

2008-10-01

Data are the basis of GIS. It has direct impact on the efficiency and function of a Highway Geographic Information System (HGIS), because of the characteristics of data model and data organization of the traffic geographic information system such as spatial property, multi-path network, linearity. This paper discussed the data property of HGIS, studied and presented the HGIS spatial data on multi-source and model. Also, it described and verified highway geographical feature of special subject data's linearity, dynamic and multiple-path network property in HGIS.

Frequency of damage by external hazards based on geographical information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Becker, G. [RISA Sicherheitsanalysen GmbH, Berlin (Germany); Camarinopoulos, A.; Karali, T. [ERRA, Athens (Greece); Camarinopoulos, L. [Piraeus Univ. (Greece); Schubert, B. [VENE, Hamburg (Germany)

2013-07-01

External explosions can significantly contribute to risk of damage for industrial plants. External explosions may origin from other plants in the neighborhood, which store and operate with explosive substances, or from transport of such substances on road, rail, or water. In all cases, some accident is a necessary condition for a hazard. Another probabilistic element is the probability of ignition. If transport causes the explosion, the location of the accident will influence the consequences. If deflagration is involved, ignition will not necessarily occur at the place of the accident, but a cloud of a combustible gas-air mixture may develop, which will ignite at some distance depending on wind velocity. In order to avoid unnecessarily pessimistic approaches, geographical information can be used in addition to local weather statistics. Geographical information systems provide map material for sites, roads, rail and rivers on a computer. This information can be used to find frequencies of damage based on numerical integration or on Monte Carlo simulation. A probabilistic model has been developed. It is based on: - A joint probability density function for wind direction and wind speed, which has been estimated from local weather statistics, - Frequency of hazards for neighboring plants and various types of traffic, - Statistics on the amounts and types of explosive materials, - The model has been implemented using one numerical integrations method and two variants of Monte Carlo method. Data has been collected and applied for a nuclear power plant in Northern Germany as an example. The method, however, can be used for any type of plant subject to external explosion hazards. In its present form, it makes use of design criteria specific for nuclear power plants, but these could be replaced by different criteria. (orig.)

Frequency of damage by external hazards based on geographical information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Becker, G.; Camarinopoulos, A.; Karali, T.; Camarinopoulos, L.; Schubert, B.

2013-01-01

External explosions can significantly contribute to risk of damage for industrial plants. External explosions may origin from other plants in the neighborhood, which store and operate with explosive substances, or from transport of such substances on road, rail, or water. In all cases, some accident is a necessary condition for a hazard. Another probabilistic element is the probability of ignition. If transport causes the explosion, the location of the accident will influence the consequences. If deflagration is involved, ignition will not necessarily occur at the place of the accident, but a cloud of a combustible gas-air mixture may develop, which will ignite at some distance depending on wind velocity. In order to avoid unnecessarily pessimistic approaches, geographical information can be used in addition to local weather statistics. Geographical information systems provide map material for sites, roads, rail and rivers on a computer. This information can be used to find frequencies of damage based on numerical integration or on Monte Carlo simulation. A probabilistic model has been developed. It is based on: - A joint probability density function for wind direction and wind speed, which has been estimated from local weather statistics, - Frequency of hazards for neighboring plants and various types of traffic, - Statistics on the amounts and types of explosive materials, - The model has been implemented using one numerical integrations method and two variants of Monte Carlo method. Data has been collected and applied for a nuclear power plant in Northern Germany as an example. The method, however, can be used for any type of plant subject to external explosion hazards. In its present form, it makes use of design criteria specific for nuclear power plants, but these could be replaced by different criteria. (orig.)

Using Educational Tourism in Geographical Education

Science.gov (United States)

Prakapiene, Dalia; Olberkyte, Loreta

2013-01-01

The article analyses and defines the concept of educational tourism, presents the structure of the concept and looks into the opportunities for using educational tourism in geographical education. In order to reveal such opportunities a research was carried out in the Lithuanian national and regional parks using the qualitative method of content…

Geographic Variations in Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Among Asian American Subgroups, 2003-2011.

Science.gov (United States)

Pu, Jia; Hastings, Katherine G; Boothroyd, Derek; Jose, Powell O; Chung, Sukyung; Shah, Janki B; Cullen, Mark R; Palaniappan, Latha P; Rehkopf, David H

2017-07-12

There are well-documented geographical differences in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality for non-Hispanic whites. However, it remains unknown whether similar geographical variation in CVD mortality exists for Asian American subgroups. This study aims to examine geographical differences in CVD mortality among Asian American subgroups living in the United States and whether they are consistent with geographical differences observed among non-Hispanic whites. Using US death records from 2003 to 2011 (n=3 897 040 CVD deaths), age-adjusted CVD mortality rates per 100 000 population and age-adjusted mortality rate ratios were calculated for the 6 largest Asian American subgroups (Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese) and compared with non-Hispanic whites. There were consistently lower mortality rates for all Asian American subgroups compared with non-Hispanic whites across divisions for CVD mortality and ischemic heart disease mortality. However, cerebrovascular disease mortality demonstrated substantial geographical differences by Asian American subgroup. There were a number of regional divisions where certain Asian American subgroups (Filipino and Japanese men, Korean and Vietnamese men and women) possessed no mortality advantage compared with non-Hispanic whites. The most striking geographical variation was with Filipino men (age-adjusted mortality rate ratio=1.18; 95% CI, 1.14-1.24) and Japanese men (age-adjusted mortality rate ratio=1.05; 95% CI: 1.00-1.11) in the Pacific division who had significantly higher cerebrovascular mortality than non-Hispanic whites. There was substantial geographical variation in Asian American subgroup mortality for cerebrovascular disease when compared with non-Hispanic whites. It deserves increased attention to prioritize prevention and treatment in the Pacific division where approximately 80% of Filipinos CVD deaths and 90% of Japanese CVD deaths occur in the United States. © 2017 The Authors

A coregionalization model can assist specification of Geographically Weighted Poisson Regression: Application to an ecological study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ribeiro, Manuel Castro; Sousa, António Jorge; Pereira, Maria João

2016-05-01

The geographical distribution of health outcomes is influenced by socio-economic and environmental factors operating on different spatial scales. Geographical variations in relationships can be revealed with semi-parametric Geographically Weighted Poisson Regression (sGWPR), a model that can combine both geographically varying and geographically constant parameters. To decide whether a parameter should vary geographically, two models are compared: one in which all parameters are allowed to vary geographically and one in which all except the parameter being evaluated are allowed to vary geographically. The model with the lower corrected Akaike Information Criterion (AICc) is selected. Delivering model selection exclusively according to the AICc might hide important details in spatial variations of associations. We propose assisting the decision by using a Linear Model of Coregionalization (LMC). Here we show how LMC can refine sGWPR on ecological associations between socio-economic and environmental variables and low birth weight outcomes in the west-north-central region of Portugal. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

OUTDOOR EDUCATION AND GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ANDREA GUARAN

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on the reflection on the relationship between values and methodological principles of Outdoor Education and spatial and geographical education perspectives, especially in pre-school and primary school, which relates to the age between 3 and 10 years. Outdoor Education is an educational practice that is already rooted in the philosophical thought of the 16th and the 17th centuries, from John Locke to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and in the pedagogical thought, in particular Friedrich Fröbel, and it has now a quite stable tradition in Northern Europe countries. In Italy, however, there are still few experiences and they usually do not have a systematic and structural modality, but rather a temporarily and experimentally outdoor organization. In the first part, this paper focuses on the reasons that justify a particular attention to educational paths that favour outdoors activities, providing also a definition of outdoor education and highlighting its values. It is also essential to understand that educational programs in open spaces, such as a forest or simply the schoolyard, surely offers the possibility to learn geographical situations. Therefore, the question that arises is how to finalize the best stimulus that the spatial location guarantees for the acquisition of knowledge, skills and abilities about space and geography.

IMPROVEMENT OF THE F-PERCEPTORY APPROACH THROUGH MANAGEMENT OF FUZZY COMPLEX GEOGRAPHIC OBJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Khalfi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In the real world, data is imperfect and in various ways such as imprecision, vagueness, uncertainty, ambiguity and inconsistency. For geographic data, the fuzzy aspect is mainly manifested in time, space and the function of objects and is due to a lack of precision. Therefore, the researchers in the domain emphasize the importance of modeling data structures in GIS but also their lack of adaptation to fuzzy data. The F-Perceptory approachh manages the modeling of imperfect geographic information with UML. This management is essential to maintain faithfulness to reality and to better guide the user in his decision-making. However, this approach does not manage fuzzy complex geographic objects. The latter presents a multiple object with similar or different geographic shapes. So, in this paper, we propose to improve the F-Perceptory approach by proposing to handle fuzzy complex geographic objects modeling. In a second step, we propose its transformation to the UML modeling.

The measure of success: geographic isolation promotes diversification in Pachydactylus geckos.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinicke, Matthew P; Jackman, Todd R; Bauer, Aaron M

2017-01-11

Geckos of the genus Pachydactylus and their close relatives comprise the most species-rich clade of lizards in sub-Saharan Africa. Many explanations have been offered to explain species richness patterns of clades. In the Pachydactylus group, one possible explanation is a history of diversification via geographic isolation. If geographic isolation has played a key role in facilitating diversification, then we expect species in more species-rich subclades to have smaller ranges than species in less diverse subclades. We also expect traits promoting geographic isolation to be correlated with small geographic ranges. In order to test these expectations, we performed phylogenetic analyses and tested for correlations among body size, habitat choice, range sizes, and diversification rates in the Pachydactylus group. Both body size and habitat use are inferred to have shifted multiple times across the phylogeny of the Pachydactylus group, with large size and generalist habitat use being ancestral for the group. Geographic range size is correlated with both of these traits. Small-bodied species have more restricted ranges than large-bodied species, and rock-dwelling species have more restricted ranges than either terrestrial or generalist species. Rock-dwelling and small body size are also associated with higher rates of diversification, and subclades retaining ancestral conditions for these traits are less species rich than subclades in which shifts to small body size and rocky habitat use have occurred. The phylogeny also illustrates inadequacies of the current taxonomy of the group. The results are consistent with a model in which lineages more likely to become geographically isolated diversify to a greater extent, although some patterns also resemble those expected of an adaptive radiation in which ecological divergence acts as a driver of speciation. Therefore, the Pachydactylus group may represent an intermediate between clades in which radiation is adaptive versus

Identification Of Geographical Origin Of Coffee Before And After Roasting By Electronic Noses

Science.gov (United States)

Sberveglieri, V.; Concina, I.; Falasconi, M.; Ongo, E.; Pulvirenti, A.; Fava, P.

2011-09-01

Geographical origin traceability of food is a relevant issue for both producers' business protection and customers' rights safeguard. Differentiation of coffees on the basis of geographical origin is still a challenging issue, though possible by means of chemical techniques [1]. Between the most widely consumed beverage, coffee is a valuable one, with an aroma constituted by hundreds of volatiles [2]. Since the final global volatile composition is also determined by the cultivation climatic conditions, Electronic Noses (ENs) could be interesting candidates for distinguishing the geographical provenience by exploiting differences in chemical volatile profile. The present investigation is directed toward the characterization of green and roasted coffees samples according to their geographical origin.

DEVELOPMENT OF A GEOGRAPHIC VISUALIZATION AND COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS (GVCS) FOR MONITORING REMOTE VEHICLES

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

COLEMAN, P.; DUNCAN, M.; DURFEE, R.C.; GOELTZ, R; HARRISON, G.; HODGSON, M.E.; KOOK, M.; MCCLAIN, S.

1998-03-30

The purpose of this project is to integrate a variety of geographic information systems capabilities and telecommunication technologies for potential use in geographic network and visualization applications. The specific technical goals of the project were to design, develop, and simulate the components of an audio/visual geographic communications system to aid future real-time monitoring, mapping and managing of transport vehicles. The system components of this feasibility study are collectively referred to as a Geographic Visualization and Communications System (GVCS). State-of-the-art techniques will be used and developed to allow both the vehicle operator and network manager to monitor the location and surrounding environment of a transport vehicle during shipment.

Interspecific geographic range size-body size relationship and the diversification dynamics of Neotropical furnariid birds.

Science.gov (United States)

Inostroza-Michael, Oscar; Hernández, Cristián E; Rodríguez-Serrano, Enrique; Avaria-Llautureo, Jorge; Rivadeneira, Marcelo M

2018-05-01

Among the earliest macroecological patterns documented, is the range and body size relationship, characterized by a minimum geographic range size imposed by the species' body size. This boundary for the geographic range size increases linearly with body size and has been proposed to have implications in lineages evolution and conservation. Nevertheless, the macroevolutionary processes involved in the origin of this boundary and its consequences on lineage diversification have been poorly explored. We evaluate the macroevolutionary consequences of the difference (hereafter the distance) between the observed and the minimum range sizes required by the species' body size, to untangle its role on the diversification of a Neotropical species-rich bird clade using trait-dependent diversification models. We show that speciation rate is a positive hump-shaped function of the distance to the lower boundary. The species with highest and lowest distances to minimum range size had lower speciation rates, while species close to medium distances values had the highest speciation rates. Further, our results suggest that the distance to the minimum range size is a macroevolutionary constraint that affects the diversification process responsible for the origin of this macroecological pattern in a more complex way than previously envisioned. © 2018 The Author(s). Evolution © 2018 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

How Well Do Americans Know Geography? "National Geographic" Editor Discusses Meaning for Schools (Interview).

Science.gov (United States)

Koerner, Thomas

1987-01-01

Gilbert Grosvenor, editor of "National Geographic," is interviewed about the importance of geography for Americans. He claims our lack of geographic knowledge impedes our ability to act and compete in the world market as a world power and points out that geographic ignorance extends to people employed at high levels of government. (MD)

The geosystems of complex geographical atlases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jovanović Jasmina

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Complex geographical atlases represent geosystems of different hierarchical rank, complexity and diversity, scale and connection. They represent a set of large number of different pieces of information about geospace. Also, they contain systematized, correlative and in the apparent form represented pieces of information about space. The degree of information revealed in the atlas is precisely explained by its content structure and the form of presentation. The quality of atlas depends on the method of visualization of data and the quality of geodata. Cartographic visualization represents cognitive process. The analysis converts geospatial data into knowledge. A complex geographical atlas represents information complex of spatial - temporal coordinated database on geosystems of different complexity and territorial scope. Each geographical atlas defines a concrete geosystem. Systemic organization (structural and contextual determines its complexity and concreteness. In complex atlases, the attributes of geosystems are modeled and pieces of information are given in systematized, graphically unique form. The atlas can be considered as a database. In composing a database, semantic analysis of data is important. The result of semantic modeling is expressed in structuring of data information, in emphasizing logic connections between phenomena and processes and in defining their classes according to the degree of similarity. Accordingly, the efficiency of research of needed pieces of information in the process of the database use is enabled. An atlas map has a special power to integrate sets of geodata and present information contents in user - friendly and understandable visual and tactile way using its visual ability. Composing an atlas by systemic cartography requires the pieces of information on concrete - defined geosystems of different hierarchical level, the application of scientific methods and making of adequate number of analytical, synthetic

Geographic thougth in Latin America: A retrospective and general balance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Sergio Urquijo Torres

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper we report results of a thorough contemporary historiographic revision of published geographic research and geography research departments and centers in Latin America. The main focus was on the recognition of transnational subjects and global processes and patterns. We argue that this type of retrospective analyses allows the understanding of the what and the what for of Latin America (LAG Geography. First we describe the current situation of LAG as a social science. Second, we explain the nature of LA social processes that, in the 90s, triggered geographic change and subsequent theoretical reflection on this change in LAG and in other related social sciences. To this end, we describe how the major traditions in geographic research have influenced LAG thinking. To conclude, we suggest the major achievements that we think characterize the current situation of LAG.

AN ENCODING METHOD FOR COMPRESSING GEOGRAPHICAL COORDINATES IN 3D SPACE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Qian

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper proposed an encoding method for compressing geographical coordinates in 3D space. By the way of reducing the length of geographical coordinates, it helps to lessen the storage size of geometry information. In addition, the encoding algorithm subdivides the whole space according to octree rules, which enables progressive transmission and loading. Three main steps are included in this method: (1 subdividing the whole 3D geographic space based on octree structure, (2 resampling all the vertices in 3D models, (3 encoding the coordinates of vertices with a combination of Cube Index Code (CIC and Geometry Code. A series of geographical 3D models were applied to evaluate the encoding method. The results showed that this method reduced the storage size of most test data by 90 % or even more under the condition of a speed of encoding and decoding. In conclusion, this method achieved a remarkable compression rate in vertex bit size with a steerable precision loss. It shall be of positive meaning to the web 3d map storing and transmission.

Geographic information system planning and monitoring best ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Poor urbanization policies, inefficient planning and monitoring technologies are evident. The consequences include some of the worst types of environmental hazards. Best urbanization practices require integrated planning approaches that result in environmental conservation. Geographic Information systems (GIS) provide ...

IL FENOMENO VOLUNTEERED GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flavio Lupia

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The contribution addresses the phenomenon of Voluntereed Geographic Informationexplaining these new and burgeoning sources of information offers multidisciplinary scientists an unprecedented opportunity to conduct research on a variety of topics at multiple spatial and temporal scales. In particular the contribution refers to two COST Actions which have been recently activated on the subject which areparticularly relevant for the growing of the European scientific community.

Limitations of Data on Cell Phone Involvement in Collisions: A Case Study of California

OpenAIRE

Griswold, Julia B. Corresponding author; Grembek, Offer

2014-01-01

With the increasing prevalence of mobile technology and high-profile crashes bringing attention to distracted driving, data on cell phone involvement in collisions is critical for understanding the extent of the problem, examining the effectiveness of policies, and developing interventions to improve safety. Some limitations of existing data have been previously identified, but this paper examines the specific case of California’s collision data. Temporal, geographic, and jurisdictional tre...

Geographic Variation and Factors Associated with Female Genital Mutilation among Reproductive Age Women in Ethiopia: A National Population Based Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Setegn, Tesfaye; Lakew, Yihunie; Deribe, Kebede

2016-01-01

's support of FGM continuation. FGM prevalence and geographic clustering showed variation across regions in Ethiopia. Individual, economic, socio-demographic, religious and cultural factors played major roles in the existing practice and continuation of FGM. The significant geographic clustering of FGM was observed across regions in Ethiopia. Therefore, targeted and integrated interventions involving religious leaders in high FGM prevalence spot clusters and addressing the socio-economic and geographic inequalities are recommended to eliminate FGM.

Usability of geographic information -- factors identified from qualitative analysis of task-focused user interviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Harding, Jenny

2013-11-01

Understanding user needs for geographic information and the factors which influence the usability of such information in diverse user contexts is an essential part of user centred development of information products. There is relatively little existing research focused on the design and usability of information products in general. This paper presents a research approach based on semi structured interviews with people working with geographic information on a day to day basis, to establish a reference base of qualitative data on user needs for geographic information with respect to context of use. From this reference data nine key categories of geographic information usability are identified and discussed in the context of limited existing research concerned with geographic information usability. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

WebGeoOlap: Multidimensional geographic data visualization for web environments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SILVA, R. O. L.

2008-06-01

Full Text Available As the web is continuously maturing platform, a growing number of technology is leading Geographic Information Systems (GIS and Analytical (OLAP closer to being developed for the web environment. The great challenge of this work is to integrate these technologies, OLAP and GIS, in a single application, using Ajax, so that the user can perform the analysis of analytical data and view data geographic in the map, using Google Maps.

Historical Shoreline for Louisiana, Geographic NAD83, NOAA (2001) [shoreline_la_NOAA_1986

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — These data were automated to provide a suitable geographic information system (GIS) data layer depicting the historical shoreline for Louisiana. These data are...

Execution Management Solutions for Geographically Distributed Simulations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berg, T.W. van den; Jansen, H.G.M.; Jansen, R.E.J.; Prins, L.M.

2009-01-01

Managing the initialization, execution control and monitoring of HLA federates is not always straightforward, especially for a geographically distributed time managed federation. Issues include pre and post run-time data distribution and run-time data collection; starting, stopping and monitoring

Geographical information modelling for land resource survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruin, de S.

2000-01-01

The increasing popularity of geographical information systems (GIS) has at least three major implications for land resources survey. Firstly, GIS allows alternative and richer representation of spatial phenomena than is possible with the traditional paper map. Secondly, digital technology has

The influence of the Bible geographic objects peculiarities on the concept of the spatiotemporal geoinformation system

Science.gov (United States)

Linsebarth, A.; Moscicka, A.

2010-01-01

The article describes the infl uence of the Bible geographic object peculiarities on the spatiotemporal geoinformation system of the Bible events. In the proposed concept of this system the special attention was concentrated to the Bible geographic objects and interrelations between the names of these objects and their location in the geospace. In the Bible, both in the Old and New Testament, there are hundreds of geographical names, but the selection of these names from the Bible text is not so easy. The same names are applied for the persons and geographic objects. The next problem which arises is the classification of the geographical object, because in several cases the same name is used for the towns, mountains, hills, valleys etc. Also very serious problem is related to the time-changes of the names. The interrelation between the object name and its location is also complicated. The geographic object of this same name is located in various places which should be properly correlated with the Bible text. Above mentioned peculiarities of Bible geographic objects infl uenced the concept of the proposed system which consists of three databases: reference, geographic object, and subject/thematic. The crucial component of this system is proper architecture of the geographic object database. In the paper very detailed description of this database is presented. The interrelation between the databases allows to the Bible readers to connect the Bible text with the geography of the terrain on which the Bible events occurred and additionally to have access to the other geographical and historical information related to the geographic objects.

Geographic variation in the relationship between body mass index and the built environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Adachi-Mejia, Anna M; Lee, Chanam; Lee, Chunkuen; Carlos, Heather A; Saelens, Brian E; Berke, Ethan M; Doescher, Mark P

2017-07-01

Studies examining associations between weight status and neighborhood built environment (BE) have shown inconsistent results and have generally focused on urban settings. However, many Americans do not live in metropolitan areas and BE impacts may be different outside of metropolitan areas. We sought to examine whether the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and neighborhood BE exists and varies by geographic region across small towns in the United States. We conducted telephone surveys with 2156 adults and geographic information systems data in nine towns located within three geographic regions (Northeast, Texas, Washington) in 2011 and 2012. Multiple regression models examined the relationship between individual BMI and BE measures. Most physical activity variables were significantly associated with lower BMI in all geographic regions. We saw variation across geographic region in the relationship between characteristics of the BE variables and BMI. Some perceived and objectively-measured characteristics of the BE were significantly associated with adult BMI, but significant relationships varied by geographic region. For example, in the Northeast, perceived attractiveness of the neighborhood as a reason for why they chose to live there was associated with lower BMI; in Texas, the perceived presence of a fast food restaurant was negatively associated with BMI; in Washington, perceived presence of trees along the streets was associated with lower BMI. Our findings suggest that regional variation plays a role in the relationship between adult BMI and BE characteristics in small towns. Regardless of geographic location, interventions should encourage utilitarian walking and other forms of physical activity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Geographical variation in the prevalence of sensitization to common aeroallergens in adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Newson, R B; van Ree, R; Forsberg, B

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Geographical variation in the prevalence of sensitization to aeroallergens may reflect differences in exposure to risk factors such as having older siblings, being raised on a farm or other unidentified exposures. OBJECTIVE: We wanted to measure geographical variation in skin prick te...

Development and Validation of the Collaborative Parent Involvement Scale for Youths with Type 1 Diabetes

OpenAIRE

Nansel, Tonja R.; Rovner, Alisha J.; Haynie, Denise; Iannotti, Ronald J.; Simons-Morton, Bruce; Wysocki, Timothy; Anderson, Barbara; Weissberg-Benchell, Jill; Laffel, Lori

2008-01-01

Objective To develop and test a youth-report measure of collaborative parent involvement in type 1 diabetes management. Methods Initial item development and testing were conducted with 81 youths; scale refinement and validation were conducted with 122 youths from four geographic regions. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's α, and factor analyses were conducted to select items comprising the scale. Correlations with parenting style and parent diabetes responsibility were examined. Multiple regr...

Geographically Modified PageRank Algorithms: Identifying the Spatial Concentration of Human Movement in a Geospatial Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Wei-Chien-Benny; Wen, Tzai-Hung

2015-01-01

A network approach, which simplifies geographic settings as a form of nodes and links, emphasizes the connectivity and relationships of spatial features. Topological networks of spatial features are used to explore geographical connectivity and structures. The PageRank algorithm, a network metric, is often used to help identify important locations where people or automobiles concentrate in the geographical literature. However, geographic considerations, including proximity and location attractiveness, are ignored in most network metrics. The objective of the present study is to propose two geographically modified PageRank algorithms-Distance-Decay PageRank (DDPR) and Geographical PageRank (GPR)-that incorporate geographic considerations into PageRank algorithms to identify the spatial concentration of human movement in a geospatial network. Our findings indicate that in both intercity and within-city settings the proposed algorithms more effectively capture the spatial locations where people reside than traditional commonly-used network metrics. In comparing location attractiveness and distance decay, we conclude that the concentration of human movement is largely determined by the distance decay. This implies that geographic proximity remains a key factor in human mobility.

PUBLIC PERCEPTION ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT USING VOLUNTEERED GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION (VGI: CASE OF UAE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. M. Yagoub

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The number of smart phones that are supported by location facility like Global Positioning System (GPS, Camera and connected to the internet has increased sharply in UAE during the last five years. This increase offers a chance to capitalize on using these devices as resources for data collection, therefore reducing cost. In many cases specific events may happen in areas or at time where there may be no governmental departments to collect such unrepeated events. The current research will showcase various studies that had been conducted on Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI debating various aspects such as accuracy, legal issues, and privacy. This research will also integrate Geographic Information System (GIS, VGI, social media tools, data mining, and mobile technology to design a conceptual framework for promoting public participation in UAE. The data gathered through survey will be helpful in correlating various aspects of VGI. Since there are diverse views about these aspects, policy makers are left undecided in many countries about how to deal with VGI. The assessment of the UAE case will contribute to the age-long debate by examining the willingness of the public to participate. The result will show the public perception to be as sensors for data collection. Additionally, the potential of citizen involvement in the risk and disaster management process by providing voluntary data collected for VGI applications will also be explored in the paper.

The Geographic Extent of Global Supply Chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Machikita, Tomohiro; Ueki, Yasushi

2012-01-01

We study the extent to which inter-firm relationships are locally concentrated and what determines firm differences in geographic proximity to domestic or foreign suppliers and customers. From micro-data on selfreported customer and supplier data of firms in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, ...

Public Use Airports, Geographic WGS84, BTS (2006) [public_use_airports_BTS_2006

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — The Public Use Airports database is a geographic point database of aircraft landing facilities in the United States and U.S. Territories. Attribute data is provided...

OGC Geographic Information Service Deductive Semantic Reasoning Based on Description Vocabularies Reduction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIAO Lizhi

2015-09-01

Full Text Available As geographic information interoperability and sharing developing, more and more interoperable OGC (open geospatial consortium Web services (OWS are generated and published through the internet. These services can facilitate the integration of different scientific applications by searching, finding, and utilizing the large number of scientific data and Web services. However, these services are widely dispersed and hard to be found and utilized with executive semantic retrieval. This is especially true when considering the weak semantic description of geographic information service data. Focusing on semantic retrieval and reasoning of the distributed OWS resources, a deductive and semantic reasoning method is proposed to describe and search relevant OWS resources. Specifically, ①description words are extracted from OWS metadata file to generate GISe ontology-database and instance-database based on geographic ontology according to basic geographic elements category, ②a description words reduction model is put forward to implement knowledge reduction on GISe instance-database based on rough set theory and generate optimized instances database, ③utilizing GISe ontology-database and optimized instance-database to implement semantic inference and reasoning of geographic searching objects is used as an example to demonstrate the efficiency, feasibility and recall ration of the proposed description-word-based reduction model.

Extending the Intermediate Data Structure (IDS for longitudinal historical databases to include geographic data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Finn Hedefalk

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The Intermediate Data Structure (IDS is a standardised database structure for longitudinal historical databases. Such a common structure facilitates data sharing and comparative research. In this study, we propose an extended version of IDS, named IDS-Geo, that also includes geographic data. The geographic data that will be stored in IDS-Geo are primarily buildings and/or property units, and the purpose of these geographic data is mainly to link individuals to places in space. When we want to assign such detailed spatial locations to individuals (in times before there were any detailed house addresses available, we often have to create tailored geographic datasets. In those cases, there are benefits of storing geographic data in the same structure as the demographic data. Moreover, we propose the export of data from IDS-Geo using an eXtensible Markup Language (XML Schema. IDS-Geo is implemented in a case study using historical property units, for the period 1804 to 1913, stored in a geographically extended version of the Scanian Economic Demographic Database (SEDD. To fit into the IDS-Geo data structure, we included an object lifeline representation of all of the property units (based on the snapshot time representation of single historical maps and poll-tax registers. The case study verifies that the IDS-Geo model is capable of handling geographic data that can be linked to demographic data.

A Systems Perspective on Volunteered Geographic Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victoria Fast

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Volunteered geographic information (VGI is geographic information collected by way of crowdsourcing. However, the distinction between VGI as an information product and the processes that create VGI is blurred. Clearly, the environment that influences the creation of VGI is different than the information product itself, yet most literature treats them as one and the same. Thus, this research is motivated by the need to formalize and standardize the systems that support the creation of VGI. To this end, we propose a conceptual framework for VGI systems, the main components of which—project, participants, and technical infrastructure—form an environment conducive to the creation of VGI. Drawing on examples from OpenStreetMap, Ushahidi, and RinkWatch, we illustrate the pragmatic relevance of these components. Applying a system perspective to VGI allows us to better understand the components and functionality needed to effectively create VGI.

A geographical analysis of the Swedish wood fuel market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roos, Anders; Bohlin, Folke; Hektor, Bo; Hillring, Bengt; Parikka, Matti

2000-01-01

The geographical variation in Swedish wood fuel market characteristics for the district heating sector has been studied using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and cross-sectional Tobit analysis. The results indicate that local availability and competition for wood fuels influence the wood fuel consumption at inland heating plants. The factors affecting the decision to use wood fuel at heating plants close to seaports, however, were not captured by the model, suggesting that coastal location reduces dependency on the local wood fuel market. The effects of changes in local wood fuel availability on wood fuel use by an inland heating plant are presented and discussed

Key Techniques for Dynamic Updating of National Fundamental Geographic Information Database

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WANG Donghua

2015-07-01

Full Text Available One of the most important missions of fundamental surveying and mapping work is to keep the fundamental geographic information fresh. In this respect, National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation has launched the project of dynamic updating of national fundamental geographic information database since 2012, which aims to update 1:50 000, 1:250 000 and 1:1 000 000 national fundamental geographic information database continuously and quickly, by updating and publishing once a year. This paper introduces the general technical thinking of dynamic updating, states main technical methods, such as dynamic updating of fundamental database, linkage updating of derived databases, and multi-tense database management and service and so on, and finally introduces main technical characteristics and engineering applications.

Epidemiology of hip fracture: Worldwide geographic variation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dinesh K Dhanwal

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Osteoporosis is a major health problem, especially in elderly populations, and is associated with fragility fractures at the hip, spine, and wrist. Hip fracture contributes to both morbidity and mortality in the elderly. The demographics of world populations are set to change, with more elderly living in developing countries, and it has been estimated that by 2050 half of hip fractures will occur in Asia. This review conducted using the PubMed database describes the incidence of hip fracture in different regions of the world and discusses the possible causes of this wide geographic variation. The analysis of data from different studies show a wide geographic variation across the world, with higher hip fracture incidence reported from industrialized countries as compared to developing countries. The highest hip fracture rates are seen in North Europe and the US and lowest in Latin America and Africa. Asian countries such as Kuwait, Iran, China, and Hong Kong show intermediate hip fracture rates. There is also a north-south gradient seen in European studies, and more fractures are seen in the north of the US than in the south. The factors responsible of this variation are population demographics (with more elderly living in countries with higher incidence rates and the influence of ethnicity, latitude, and environmental factors. The understanding of this changing geographic variation will help policy makers to develop strategies to reduce the burden of hip fractures in developing countries such as India, which will face the brunt of this problem over the coming decades.

40 CFR 51.25 - What geographic area must my state's inventory cover?

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Emissions Reporting Requirements Specific Reporting Requirements § 51.25 What geographic area must my state... 40 Protection of Environment 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What geographic area must my state's inventory cover? 51.25 Section 51.25 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED...

The use of social networking sites for relationship maintenance in long-distance and geographically close romantic relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Billedo, Cherrie Joy; Kerkhof, Peter; Finkenauer, Catrin

2015-03-01

Social networking sites (SNS) play an increasingly important role in maintaining geographically close romantic relationships (GCRR). However, knowledge about SNS use in long-distance romantic relationships (LDRR) is still lacking. The present study examined the relative importance of SNS in maintaining LDRR compared to GCRR, particularly with regard to the use of SNS to express involvement (via relational maintenance behaviors) and to gauge a partner's involvement (via partner surveillance and jealousy) in the relationship. An online survey was conducted among predominantly young adult Facebook users who were in a romantic relationship (N=272). Results showed that participants who were in a LDRR reported higher levels of relational maintenance behaviors through SNS than participants who were in a GCRR. Also, as compared to participants who were in a GCRR, participants who were in a LDRR used SNS more for partner surveillance and experienced higher levels of SNS jealousy.

Correlation between genetic and geographic structure in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lao, Oscar; Lu, Timothy T; Nothnagel, Michael

2008-01-01

geographic but narrow genomic coverage [1, 2], or vice versa [3-6]. We therefore investigated Affymetrix GeneChip 500K genotype data from 2,514 individuals belonging to 23 different subpopulations, widely spread over Europe. Although we found only a low level of genetic differentiation between subpopulations......, the existing differences were characterized by a strong continent-wide correlation between geographic and genetic distance. Furthermore, mean heterozygosity was larger, and mean linkage disequilibrium smaller, in southern as compared to northern Europe. Both parameters clearly showed a clinal distribution...... Europe. By including the widely used CEPH from Utah (CEU) samples into our analysis, we could show that these individuals represent northern and western Europeans reasonably well, thereby confirming their assumed regional ancestry....

Mountain names in the geographical dictionary of Camagüey Province, environmental studies, and environmental education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfonso, L. F.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The research contributes to the project intended to provide the province of Camagüey with a geographical dictionary, a reference book for economic entities and academic institutions. The article is aimed at standardizing the use of geographical names in education and scientific research in Camagüey. Several methods of geographical research were used, cartographic methods, observing geographic objects in place and field research included. The findings were assessed by means of consulting experts on the topic and computer data processing. The methodology employed follows the guidelines of the national group of advisors for geographical names and the group of advisor of Camagüey province. The most widely used geographical names in the regions were listed in the dictionary.

Density-Based Clustering with Geographical Background Constraints Using a Semantic Expression Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingyun Du

2016-05-01

Full Text Available A semantics-based method for density-based clustering with constraints imposed by geographical background knowledge is proposed. In this paper, we apply an ontological approach to the DBSCAN (Density-Based Geospatial Clustering of Applications with Noise algorithm in the form of knowledge representation for constraint clustering. When used in the process of clustering geographic information, semantic reasoning based on a defined ontology and its relationships is primarily intended to overcome the lack of knowledge of the relevant geospatial data. Better constraints on the geographical knowledge yield more reasonable clustering results. This article uses an ontology to describe the four types of semantic constraints for geographical backgrounds: “No Constraints”, “Constraints”, “Cannot-Link Constraints”, and “Must-Link Constraints”. This paper also reports the implementation of a prototype clustering program. Based on the proposed approach, DBSCAN can be applied with both obstacle and non-obstacle constraints as a semi-supervised clustering algorithm and the clustering results are displayed on a digital map.

PlanetLab Europe as Geographically-Distributed Testbed for Software Development and Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan Komosny

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we analyse the use of PlanetLab Europe for development and evaluation of geographically-oriented Internet services. PlanetLab is a global research network with the main purpose to support development of new Internet services and protocols. PlanetLab is divided into several branches; one of them is PlanetLab Europe. PlanetLab Europe consists of about 350 nodes at 150 geographically different sites. The nodes are accessible by remote login, and the users can run their software on the nodes. In the paper, we study the PlanetLab's properties that are significant for its use as a geographically distributed testbed. This includes node position accuracy, services availability and stability. We find a considerable number of location inaccuracies and a number of services that cannot be considered as reliable. Based on the results we propose a simple approach to nodes selection in testbeds for geographically-oriented Internet services development and evaluation.

Universally Primed-PCR indicates geographical variation of Peronospora farinosa ex. Chenopodium quinoa.

Science.gov (United States)

Danielsen, Solveig; Lübeck, Mette

2010-02-01

In the Andean region of South America downy mildew, caused by Peronospora farinosa, is the most important disease of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa). Peronospora farinosa, a highly polyphyletic species, occurs on quinoa and wild relatives on all continents. However, very little is known about the geographic diversity of the pathogen. As the interest in quinoa as a novel crop is increasing worldwide, geographical differences in the population structure of the downy mildew pathogen must be taken into consideration in order to design appropriate control strategies under a variety of circumstances. As a step towards understanding the geographic diversity of P. farinosa from quinoa, 40 downy mildew isolates from the Andean highlands and Denmark were characterized using universally primed PCR (UP-PCR). Eight UP-PCR primers were tested. A combined analysis of markers separated the Danish and Andean isolates in two distinct clusters. This study raises new questions about the origin and spread of P. farinosa on quinoa, its geographic diversity and host specificity.

Geographic variation in health insurance benefits in Qianjiang District, China: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yue; Zhang, Liang; Liu, Xuejiao; Ye, Ting; Wang, Yongfei

2018-02-05

Health insurance contributes to reducing the economic burden of disease and improving access to healthcare. In 2016, the Chinese government announced the integration of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) and Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) to reduce system segmentation. Nevertheless, it was unclear whether there would be any geographic variation in health insurance benefits if the two types of insurance were integrated. The aim of this study was to identify the potential geographic variation in health insurance benefits and the related contributing factors. This cross-sectional study was carried out in Qianjiang District, where the NCMS and URBMI were integrated into Urban and Rural Resident Basic Medical Insurance Scheme (URRBMI) in 2010. All beneficiaries under the URRBMI were hospitalized at least once in 2013, totaling 445,254 persons and 65,877 person-times, were included in this study. Town-level data on health insurance benefits, healthcare utilization, and socioeconomic and geographical characteristics were collected through health insurance system, self-report questionnaires, and the 2014 Statistical Yearbook of Qianjiang District. A simplified Theil index at town level was calculated to measure geographic variation in health insurance benefits. Colored maps were created to visualize the variation in geographic distribution of benefits. The effects of healthcare utilization and socioeconomic and geographical characteristics on geographic variation in health insurance benefits were estimated with a multiple linear regression analysis. Different Theil index values were calculated for different towns, and the Theil index values for compensation by person-times and amount were 2.5028 and 1.8394 in primary healthcare institutions and 1.1466 and 0.9204 in secondary healthcare institutions. Healthcare-seeking behavior and economic factors were positively associated with health insurance benefits in compensation by person-times significantly

Improving and disaggregating N_2O emission factors for ruminant excreta on temperate pasture soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krol, D.J.; Carolan, R.; Minet, E.; McGeough, K.L.; Watson, C.J.; Forrestal, P.J.; Lanigan, G.J.; Richards, K.G.

2016-01-01

Cattle excreta deposited on grazed grasslands are a major source of the greenhouse gas (GHG) nitrous oxide (N_2O). Currently, many countries use the IPCC default emission factor (EF) of 2% to estimate excreta-derived N_2O emissions. However, emissions can vary greatly depending on the type of excreta (dung or urine), soil type and timing of application. Therefore three experiments were conducted to quantify excreta-derived N_2O emissions and their associated EFs, and to assess the effect of soil type, season of application and type of excreta on the magnitude of losses. Cattle dung, urine and artificial urine treatments were applied in spring, summer and autumn to three temperate grassland sites with varying soil and weather conditions. Nitrous oxide emissions were measured from the three experiments over 12 months to generate annual N_2O emission factors. The EFs from urine treated soil was greater (0.30–4.81% for real urine and 0.13–3.82% for synthetic urine) when compared with dung (− 0.02–1.48%) treatments. Nitrous oxide emissions were driven by environmental conditions and could be predicted by rainfall and temperature before, and soil moisture deficit after application; highlighting the potential for a decision support tool to reduce N_2O emissions by modifying grazing management based on these parameters. Emission factors varied seasonally with the highest EFs in autumn and were also dependent on soil type, with the lowest EFs observed from well-drained and the highest from imperfectly drained soil. The EFs averaged 0.31 and 1.18% for cattle dung and urine, respectively, both of which were considerably lower than the IPCC default value of 2%. These results support both lowering and disaggregating EFs by excreta type. - Highlights: • N_2O emissions were measured from cattle excreta applied to pasture. • N_2O was universally higher from urine compared with dung. • N_2O was driven by rainfall, temperature and soil moisture deficit. • Emission

Europeans among themselves: Geographical and linguistic stereotypes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mamadouh, V.D.; Dąbrowska, A.; Pisarek, W.; Stickel, G.

2017-01-01

Stereotypes can be studied from the perspective of political geography and critical geopolitics as part of geographical imaginations, in other words those geopolitical representations that help us make sense of the world around us. They necessarily frame our perception of ongoing events, and inform

Geography and Geographical Information Science: Interdisciplinary Integrators

Science.gov (United States)

Ellul, Claire

2015-01-01

To understand how Geography and Geographical Information Science (GIS) can contribute to Interdisciplinary Research (IDR), it is relevant to articulate the differences between the different types of such research. "Multidisciplinary" researchers work in a "parallel play" mode, completing work in their disciplinary work streams…

Geographical Determinants of Kaprije and Kakan Islands and Adjacent Islets, Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Damir Magaš

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The islands of Kaprije (6.97 km2 and Kakan (3.12 km2 are part of Šibenik islands, situated in the South Croatian (Dalmatian archipelago. The paper deals with their natural-geographical basis in function of past development and potential one, within the framework of the project on small Croatian islands. Besides analysing their size and extent, the authors emphasize the importance of their geographical position, geologic composition and structure, geomorphologic, climatic, pedological, hydrogeographical and biogeographical characteristics. The importance of their carbonate structure, mediterranean climatic conditions, lack of water and importance of their autochthonous vegetation are analysed in the same function. Population, building of settlements and weekend houses, as well as land use on the islands mostly depend on their natural-geographic resources. The recent possibilities of development are also based on them. Depopulation and deagrarisation impact the landscape of the island, especially the settled island of Kaprije, which is being radically changed. Strong connection between the town of Šibenik and Kaprije Island, which essentially influenced historical-geographical development of the island, also effects the contemporary development, especially through a strong gravitational influence of Šibenik.

Geographic variation in chin shape challenges the universal facial attractiveness hypothesis.

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Zaneta M Thayer

Full Text Available The universal facial attractiveness (UFA hypothesis proposes that some facial features are universally preferred because they are reliable signals of mate quality. The primary evidence for this hypothesis comes from cross-cultural studies of perceived attractiveness. However, these studies do not directly address patterns of morphological variation at the population level. An unanswered question is therefore: Are universally preferred facial phenotypes geographically invariant, as the UFA hypothesis implies? The purpose of our study is to evaluate this often overlooked aspect of the UFA hypothesis by examining patterns of geographic variation in chin shape. We collected symphyseal outlines from 180 recent human mandibles (90 male, 90 female representing nine geographic regions. Elliptical Fourier functions analysis was used to quantify chin shape, and principle components analysis was used to compute shape descriptors. In contrast to the expectations of the UFA hypothesis, we found significant geographic differences in male and female chin shape. These findings are consistent with region-specific sexual selection and/or random genetic drift, but not universal sexual selection. We recommend that future studies of facial attractiveness take into consideration patterns of morphological variation within and between diverse human populations.

Geographically Modified PageRank Algorithms: Identifying the Spatial Concentration of Human Movement in a Geospatial Network.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei-Chien-Benny Chin

Full Text Available A network approach, which simplifies geographic settings as a form of nodes and links, emphasizes the connectivity and relationships of spatial features. Topological networks of spatial features are used to explore geographical connectivity and structures. The PageRank algorithm, a network metric, is often used to help identify important locations where people or automobiles concentrate in the geographical literature. However, geographic considerations, including proximity and location attractiveness, are ignored in most network metrics. The objective of the present study is to propose two geographically modified PageRank algorithms-Distance-Decay PageRank (DDPR and Geographical PageRank (GPR-that incorporate geographic considerations into PageRank algorithms to identify the spatial concentration of human movement in a geospatial network. Our findings indicate that in both intercity and within-city settings the proposed algorithms more effectively capture the spatial locations where people reside than traditional commonly-used network metrics. In comparing location attractiveness and distance decay, we conclude that the concentration of human movement is largely determined by the distance decay. This implies that geographic proximity remains a key factor in human mobility.

Structured prediction for urban scene semantic segmentation with geographic contex

OpenAIRE

Volpi Michele; Ferrari Vittorio

2015-01-01

In this work we address the problem of semantic segmentation of urban remote sensing images into land cover maps. We propose to tackle this task by learning the geographic context of classes and use it to favor or discourage certain spatial configuration of label assignments. For this reason, we learn from training data two spatial priors enforcing different key aspects of the geographical space: local co-occurrence and relative location of land cover classes. We propose to embed these geogra...

The New Trends for Librarians in Management of Geographic Information

OpenAIRE

Vardakosta, Ifigenia; Kapidakis, Sarantos

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the tools (e.g. CSDGM – FGDC, Gazetteers) used for the subject description and organization, of materials (maps, aerial photos, geospatial data, remote sense images etc) related to the geographic information in today's hybrid library environment. Furthermore we aim to identify changes (e.g. RDA) and determine the new forms (e.g. Linked Data) that have arisen in the management and use of geographic information in order to further enrich access to digital...

Social-geographical essence and content of the competitiveness of the region

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Diana Gryniuk

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The current stage of market transformations in Ukraine requires the changing of existing stereotypes and management. Expecting for administrative reform and economic regionalization of the state requires detailed attention to the scientific concept of "competitiveness of the region." Being economical in nature this concept requires social and geographical understanding. The paper traced the content and nature of the economic competitiveness of the region in social and geographical interpretation. Author presents the fragments of research model components of regional competitiveness. The effective influence of socio-geographical laws, patterns, factors and competitive advantages that determine the strategic potential of the region is figured on. The importance of individual studies of functional subsystems, industrial, social, recreation and tourism, natural resources, administrative and management, investment and innovation under the influence of social transformation is noted. Based on scientific generalizations, the author's definition of region competitiveness was suggested. It is defined by the author as an integrated concept that reveals the state, the process and the outcome of the territory as a socio-economic system. The basis of regional competitiveness is the potential of the territory able to function effectively on the basis of competition (social and geographical advantages. The main goal here should be improvement of the region population quality of life. The work reveals the contribution of individual schools and social geographers’ studies to the development of regional competitiveness. The importance of further development of the theory and methodology of social and geographical research competitiveness of the region is stressed.

Natural selection drives the fine-scale divergence of a coevolutionary arms race involving a long-mouthed weevil and its obligate host plant

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Toju Hirokazu

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background One of the major recent advances in evolutionary biology is the recognition that evolutionary interactions between species are substantially differentiated among geographic populations. To date, several authors have revealed natural selection pressures mediating the geographically-divergent processes of coevolution. How local, then, is the geographic structuring of natural selection in coevolutionary systems? Results I examined the spatial scale of a "geographic selection mosaic," focusing on a system involving a seed-predatory insect, the camellia weevil (Curculio camelliae, and its host plant, the Japanese camellia (Camellia japonica. In this system, female weevils excavate camellia fruits with their extremely-long mouthparts to lay eggs into seeds, while camellia seeds are protected by thick pericarps. Quantitative evaluation of natural selection demonstrated that thicker camellia pericarps are significantly favored in some, but not all, populations within a small island (Yakushima Island, Japan; diameter ca. 30 km. At the extreme, camellia populations separated by only several kilometers were subject to different selection pressures. Interestingly, in a population with the thickest pericarps, camellia individuals with intermediate pericarp thickness had relatively high fitness when the potential costs of producing thick pericarps were considered. Also importantly, some parameters of the weevil - camellia interaction such as the severity of seed infestation showed clines along temperature, suggesting the effects of climate on the fine-scale geographic differentiation of the coevolutionary processes. Conclusion These results show that natural selection can drive the geographic differentiation of interspecific interactions at surprisingly small spatial scales. Future studies should reveal the evolutionary/ecological outcomes of the "fine scale geographic mosaics" in biological communities.

Energy gradients and the geographic distribution of local ant diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaspari, Michael; Ward, Philip S; Yuan, May

2004-08-01

Geographical diversity gradients, even among local communities, can ultimately arise from geographical differences in speciation and extinction rates. We evaluated three models--energy-speciation, energy-abundance, and area--that predict how geographic trends in net diversification rates generate trends in diversity. We sampled 96 litter ant communities from four provinces: Australia, Madagascar, North America, and South America. The energy-speciation hypothesis best predicted ant species richness by accurately predicting the slope of the temperature diversity curve, and accounting for most of the variation in diversity. The communities showed a strong latitudinal gradient in species richness as well as inter-province differences in diversity. The former vanished in the temperature-diversity residuals, suggesting that the latitudinal gradient arises primarily from higher diversification rates in the tropics. However, inter-province differences in diversity persisted in those residuals--South American communities remained more diverse than those in North America and Australia even after the effects of temperature were removed.

The United States Board on Geographic Names: Standardization or regulation?

Science.gov (United States)

Payne, R.L.

2000-01-01

The United States Board on Geographic Names was created in 1890 to standardize the use of geographic names on federal maps and documents, and was established in its present form in 1947 by public law. The Board is responsible for geographic name usage and application throughout the federal government and its members must approve a name change or new name before it can be applied to federal maps and publications. To accomplish its mission, the Board has developed principles, policies, and procedures for use in the standardization process. The Board is also responsible legally for the promulgation of standardized names, whether or not these names have ever been controversial, and today this is accomplished by the universal availability of electronic databases for domestic and foreign names. This paper examines the development of Board policies and the implementation of these policies to achieve standardization with a view to relating these policies and activities to questions of standardization or regulation. ?? 2000 by The American Name Society.

Appellations of geographical origin as a generator of national competitiveness

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Jovićević-Simin Marina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The protection of appellations of geographical origin worldwide, through the Lisbon Agreement mainly refers to agricultural and food products and the leading countries in the number of registrations of appellations of origin are: France, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Italy etc. By the product structure 85% of registrations of appellations of origin in the world refer to the four major categories of food products such as: wine (61.5%, spirits (9.5%, agricultural products (8.4% and cheese (8.5%. Considering that the protection of appellations of geographical origin in Serbia is mainly related to agricultural and food products, and the fact that we have 52 domestic and only 3 internationally protected appellations of origin, these could be used as a powerful tool to support the growth of competitiveness in agriculture of certain regions as well as of the entire country. Appellations of geographical origin have a collective ownership and represent a kind of national resource.

Physical-geographical landscape of the tourist circuit Chilpancingo-Azul, Guerrero State, Mexico

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Julio C. Carbajal Monroy

2011-02-01

Full Text Available This work deals with the delimitation of physical-geographical landscapes of the territory of the Tourist Circuit Chilpancingo Azul, at Guerrero's State central region, from geo-ecological conception for the physical-geographical synthetic classification of territorial units. This approach obtained territorial units and its hierarchical classification using a taxonomic system of localities, neighborhoods and boroughs (smallest categories. Taking into account the 1:100 000 scale different geographical units were determined: 3 localities, 31 neighborhoods and 177 boroughs. The characterization of these territorial units include lithologic constitution, geomorphological conditions (morphogenesis and morphometrics and spatial distribution of major types of soils and vegetation and land uses in the territory.

Modelling the geographic distribution of wind power and the impact on transmission needs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østergaard, Poul Alberg

2003-01-01

Through energy systems modelling, transmission systems modelling and geographical modelling, the article examines the sensitivity of the response of the transmission system to the geographic distributions of wind power and in particular the sensitivity of the results to the accuracy...... of the distributed modelled. The results show that accuracy of the geographic modelling while important for the analysis of specific single transmission lines is not important for the analysis of the general response of the transmission system. The analyses thus corroborate previous analyses that demonstrated...

Geographic Access to Cancer Care and Mortality Among Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Tai, Eric; Hallisey, Elaine; Peipins, Lucy A; Flanagan, Barry; Lunsford, Natasha Buchanan; Wilt, Grete; Graham, Shannon

2018-02-01

Adolescents with cancer have had less improvement in survival than other populations in the United States. This may be due, in part, to adolescents not receiving treatment at Children's Oncology Group (COG) institutions, which have been shown to increase survival for some cancers. The objective of this ecologic study was to examine geographic distance to COG institutions and adolescent cancer mortality. We calculated cancer mortality among adolescents and sociodemographic and healthcare access factors in four geographic zones at selected distances surrounding COG facilities: Zone A (area within 10 miles of any COG institution), Zones B and C (concentric rings with distances from a COG institution of >10-25 miles and >25-50 miles, respectively), and Zone D (area outside of 50 miles). The adolescent cancer death rate was highest in Zone A at 3.21 deaths/100,000, followed by Zone B at 3.05 deaths/100,000, Zone C at 2.94 deaths/100,000, and Zone D at 2.88 deaths/100,000. The United States-wide death rate for whites without Hispanic ethnicity, blacks without Hispanic ethnicity, and persons with Hispanic ethnicity was 2.96 deaths/100,000, 3.10 deaths/100,000, and 3.26 deaths/100,000, respectively. Zone A had high levels of poverty (15%), no health insurance coverage (16%), and no vehicle access (16%). Geographic access to COG institutions, as measured by distance alone, played no evident role in death rate differences across zones. Among adolescents, socioeconomic factors, such as poverty and health insurance coverage, may have a greater impact on cancer mortality than geographic distance to COG institution.

Differentiation of chocolates according to the cocoa's geographical origin using chemometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Cambrai, Amandine; Marcic, Christophe; Morville, Stéphane; Sae Houer, Pierre; Bindler, Françoise; Marchioni, Eric

2010-02-10

The determination of the geographical origin of cocoa used to produce chocolate has been assessed through the analysis of the volatile compounds of chocolate samples. The analysis of the volatile content and their statistical processing by multivariate analyses tended to form independent groups for both Africa and Madagascar, even if some of the chocolate samples analyzed appeared in a mixed zone together with those from America. This analysis also allowed a clear separation between Caribbean chocolates and those from other origins. Height compounds (such as linalool or (E,E)-2,4-decadienal) characteristic of chocolate's different geographical origins were also identified. The method described in this work (hydrodistillation, GC analysis, and statistic treatment) may improve the control of the geographical origin of chocolate during its long production process.

FDI spillovers at different levels of industrial and spatial aggregation: Evidence from the electricity sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Del Bo, Chiara F.

2013-01-01

The European electricity sector has undergone significant reforms in recent years, in the direction of market opening, integration and privatization. National and regional markets are now characterized by the presence of domestic and foreign firms, both privately and publicly owned. Did foreign entry induce positive productivity spillovers to domestic firms in the electricity sector, both at the aggregate and disaggregated level, while also controlling for domestic firms' ownership? This paper examines this issue by focusing on regional foreign direct investment (FDI) spillovers in the aggregated electricity sector and in the disaggregated sub-sectors of generation and distribution. The results show the importance of industry aggregation in determining the existence and sign of regional FDI spillovers for domestic firms. FDI spillovers are then calculated based on a purely geographic scale, by considering the distance between each firm's city of location and firms in neighboring cities. The importance and sign of FDI spillovers is different with respect to the analysis based on regional administrative boundaries, suggesting that spatial aggregation, along with industrial aggregation, is relevant in accounting for productivity spillover effects of foreign presence in the EU electricity sector. - Highlights: • Has the post-reform entry of foreign firms in the EU electricity sector induced spillover effects? • Spatial and industrial disaggregation are important when evaluating foreign direct investment (FDI) spillovers. • Positive horizontal spillovers are found only in the distribution segment of the industry. • Vertical spillovers in generation are negative; positive in distribution. • Spillover intensity in distribution decreasing with distance; regional dimension relevant in generation

Geographic Clusters of Basal Cell Carcinoma in a Northern California Health Plan Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, G Thomas; Kulldorff, Martin; Asgari, Maryam M

2016-11-01

Rates of skin cancer, including basal cell carcinoma (BCC), the most common cancer, have been increasing over the past 3 decades. A better understanding of geographic clustering of BCCs can help target screening and prevention efforts. Present a methodology to identify spatial clusters of BCC and identify such clusters in a northern California population. This retrospective study used a BCC registry to determine rates of BCC by census block group, and used spatial scan statistics to identify statistically significant geographic clusters of BCCs, adjusting for age, sex, and socioeconomic status. The study population consisted of white, non-Hispanic members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California during years 2011 and 2012. Statistically significant geographic clusters of BCC as determined by spatial scan statistics. Spatial analysis of 28 408 individuals who received a diagnosis of at least 1 BCC in 2011 or 2012 revealed distinct geographic areas with elevated BCC rates. Among the 14 counties studied, BCC incidence ranged from 661 to 1598 per 100 000 person-years. After adjustment for age, sex, and neighborhood socioeconomic status, a pattern of 5 discrete geographic clusters emerged, with a relative risk ranging from 1.12 (95% CI, 1.03-1.21; P = .006) for a cluster in eastern Sonoma and northern Napa Counties to 1.40 (95% CI, 1.15-1.71; P Costa and west San Joaquin Counties, compared with persons residing outside that cluster. In this study of a northern California population, we identified several geographic clusters with modestly elevated incidence of BCC. Knowledge of geographic clusters can help inform future research on the underlying etiology of the clustering including factors related to the environment, health care access, or other characteristics of the resident population, and can help target screening efforts to areas of highest yield.

[Differentiation of geographic biovariants of smallpox virus by PCR].

Science.gov (United States)

Babkin, I V; Babkina, I N

2010-01-01

Comparative analysis of amino acid and nucleotides sequences of ORFs located in extended segments of the terminal variable regions in variola virus genome detected a promising locus for viral genotyping according to the geographic origin. This is ORF O1L of VARV. The primers were calculated for synthesis of this ORF fragment by PCR, which makes it possible to distinguish South America-Western Africa genotype from other VARV strains. Subsequent RFLP analysis reliably differentiated Asian strains from African strains (except Western Africa isolates). This method has been tested using 16 VARV strains from various geographic regions. The developed approach is simple, fast and reliable.

Characteristics of the socio-geographical factors in the Drina-Velika Morava strategic direction zone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dejan Radivoj Inđić

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the assessment of the operational – geographic features of the Drina–Velikamorava strategic direction. Due to the scope of the article, a variant of the assessment of the strategic direction is presented through its socio–geographic factors, while the mathematical–geographical and physical–geographic factors, as well as the operating lines of action are not discussed. Within the socio–geographic factors, the characteristics of the population, economy and communication networks are considered. The geographic area of the direction is nationally compact and provides war mobilization of units with no particular strain. The transportation network is not fully developed which makes combat operations difficult to attackers and facilitates them for the deffenders.. There are significant technical and technological potentials in the direction of the zone, but they are not evenly distributed. After the consideration of the complex socio – geographical factors, it is  concluded that the shown strategic direction enables, without any special restrictions, a successful execution of combat operations in the long run.   Introduction The Drina–Velikamorava strategic direction of action consists of two operational lines: Semberija–Šumadija and Glasinac–Zapadnamorava. This paper presents a variant of a complex evaluation of the socio–geographic factors in the area of strategic direction. Within the socio–geographic factors in the strategic direction, the characteristics of the population, economy and communication networks are discussed.   Characteristics of the population and settlements In the geographic strategic direction, there is about 30% of the population of the Republic of Serbia. The highest population density is in major cities (Belgrade, Novi Sad, Šabac, Čačak, etc.. The space is nationally compact, and over 95% of the population are Serbs. In terms of building methods,there are the following types of

Natural enemies drive geographic variation in plant defenses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zuest, Tobias; Heichinger, Christian; Grossniklaus, Ueli

2012-01-01

Plants defend themselves against attack by natural enemies, and these defenses vary widely across populations. However, whether communities of natural enemies are a sufficiently potent force to maintain polymorphisms in defensive traits is largely unknown. Here, we exploit the genetic resources...... of Arabidopsis thaliana, coupled with 39 years of field data on aphid abundance, to (i) demonstrate that geographic patterns in a polymorphic defense locus (GS-ELONG) are strongly correlated with changes in the relative abundance of two specialist aphids; and (ii) demonstrate differential selection by the two...... aphids on GS-ELONG, using a multigeneration selection experiment. We thereby show a causal link between variation in abundance of the two specialist aphids and the geographic pattern at GS-ELONG, which highlights the potency of natural enemies as selective forces....

Geographic Information Systems and Web Page Development

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, Justin

2004-01-01

The Facilities Engineering and Architectural Branch is responsible for the design and maintenance of buildings, laboratories, and civil structures. In order to improve efficiency and quality, the FEAB has dedicated itself to establishing a data infrastructure based on Geographic Information Systems, GIS. The value of GIS was explained in an article dating back to 1980 entitled "Need for a Multipurpose Cadastre" which stated, "There is a critical need for a better land-information system in the United States to improve land-conveyance procedures, furnish a basis for equitable taxation, and provide much-needed information for resource management and environmental planning." Scientists and engineers both point to GIS as the solution. What is GIS? According to most text books, Geographic Information Systems is a class of software that stores, manages, and analyzes mapable features on, above, or below the surface of the earth. GIS software is basically database management software to the management of spatial data and information. Simply put, Geographic Information Systems manage, analyze, chart, graph, and map spatial information. GIS can be broken down into two main categories, urban GIS and natural resource GIS. Further still, natural resource GIS can be broken down into six sub-categories, agriculture, forestry, wildlife, catchment management, archaeology, and geology/mining. Agriculture GIS has several applications, such as agricultural capability analysis, land conservation, market analysis, or whole farming planning. Forestry GIs can be used for timber assessment and management, harvest scheduling and planning, environmental impact assessment, and pest management. GIS when used in wildlife applications enables the user to assess and manage habitats, identify and track endangered and rare species, and monitor impact assessment.

Ensuring Confidentiality of Geocoded Health Data: Assessing Geographic Masking Strategies for Individual-Level Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Zandbergen, Paul A

2014-01-01

Public health datasets increasingly use geographic identifiers such as an individual's address. Geocoding these addresses often provides new insights since it becomes possible to examine spatial patterns and associations. Address information is typically considered confidential and is therefore not released or shared with others. Publishing maps with the locations of individuals, however, may also breach confidentiality since addresses and associated identities can be discovered through reverse geocoding. One commonly used technique to protect confidentiality when releasing individual-level geocoded data is geographic masking. This typically consists of applying a certain amount of random perturbation in a systematic manner to reduce the risk of reidentification. A number of geographic masking techniques have been developed as well as methods to quantity the risk of reidentification associated with a particular masking method. This paper presents a review of the current state-of-the-art in geographic masking, summarizing the various methods and their strengths and weaknesses. Despite recent progress, no universally accepted or endorsed geographic masking technique has emerged. Researchers on the other hand are publishing maps using geographic masking of confidential locations. Any researcher publishing such maps is advised to become familiar with the different masking techniques available and their associated reidentification risks.

Ensuring Confidentiality of Geocoded Health Data: Assessing Geographic Masking Strategies for Individual-Level Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul A. Zandbergen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Public health datasets increasingly use geographic identifiers such as an individual’s address. Geocoding these addresses often provides new insights since it becomes possible to examine spatial patterns and associations. Address information is typically considered confidential and is therefore not released or shared with others. Publishing maps with the locations of individuals, however, may also breach confidentiality since addresses and associated identities can be discovered through reverse geocoding. One commonly used technique to protect confidentiality when releasing individual-level geocoded data is geographic masking. This typically consists of applying a certain amount of random perturbation in a systematic manner to reduce the risk of reidentification. A number of geographic masking techniques have been developed as well as methods to quantity the risk of reidentification associated with a particular masking method. This paper presents a review of the current state-of-the-art in geographic masking, summarizing the various methods and their strengths and weaknesses. Despite recent progress, no universally accepted or endorsed geographic masking technique has emerged. Researchers on the other hand are publishing maps using geographic masking of confidential locations. Any researcher publishing such maps is advised to become familiar with the different masking techniques available and their associated reidentification risks.

Phylogenetic patterns of geographical and ecological diversification in the subgenus Drosophila.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramiro Morales-Hojas

Full Text Available Colonisation of new geographic regions and/or of new ecological resources can result in rapid species diversification into the new ecological niches available. Members of the subgenus Drosophila are distributed across the globe and show a large diversity of ecological niches. Furthermore, taxonomic classification of Drosophila includes the rank radiation, which refers to closely related species groups. Nevertheless, it has never been tested if these taxonomic radiations correspond to evolutionary radiations. Here we present a study of the patterns of diversification of Drosophila to test for increased diversification rates in relation to the geographic and ecological diversification processes. For this, we have estimated and dated a phylogeny of 218 species belonging to the major species groups of the subgenus. The obtained phylogenies are largely consistent with previous studies and indicate that the major groups appeared during the Oligocene/Miocene transition or early Miocene, characterized by a trend of climate warming with brief periods of glaciation. Ancestral reconstruction of geographic ranges and ecological resource use suggest at least two dispersals to the Neotropics from the ancestral Asiatic tropical disribution, and several transitions to specialized ecological resource use (mycophagous and cactophilic. Colonisation of new geographic regions and/or of new ecological resources can result in rapid species diversification into the new ecological niches available. However, diversification analyses show no significant support for adaptive radiations as a result of geographic dispersal or ecological resource shift. Also, cactophily has not resulted in an increase in the diversification rate of the repleta and related groups. It is thus concluded that the taxonomic radiations do not correspond to adaptive radiations.

Phylogenetic patterns of geographical and ecological diversification in the subgenus Drosophila.

Science.gov (United States)

Morales-Hojas, Ramiro; Vieira, Jorge

2012-01-01

Colonisation of new geographic regions and/or of new ecological resources can result in rapid species diversification into the new ecological niches available. Members of the subgenus Drosophila are distributed across the globe and show a large diversity of ecological niches. Furthermore, taxonomic classification of Drosophila includes the rank radiation, which refers to closely related species groups. Nevertheless, it has never been tested if these taxonomic radiations correspond to evolutionary radiations. Here we present a study of the patterns of diversification of Drosophila to test for increased diversification rates in relation to the geographic and ecological diversification processes. For this, we have estimated and dated a phylogeny of 218 species belonging to the major species groups of the subgenus. The obtained phylogenies are largely consistent with previous studies and indicate that the major groups appeared during the Oligocene/Miocene transition or early Miocene, characterized by a trend of climate warming with brief periods of glaciation. Ancestral reconstruction of geographic ranges and ecological resource use suggest at least two dispersals to the Neotropics from the ancestral Asiatic tropical disribution, and several transitions to specialized ecological resource use (mycophagous and cactophilic). Colonisation of new geographic regions and/or of new ecological resources can result in rapid species diversification into the new ecological niches available. However, diversification analyses show no significant support for adaptive radiations as a result of geographic dispersal or ecological resource shift. Also, cactophily has not resulted in an increase in the diversification rate of the repleta and related groups. It is thus concluded that the taxonomic radiations do not correspond to adaptive radiations.

Quality Inspection and Analysis of Three-Dimensional Geographic Information Model Based on Oblique Photogrammetry

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, S.; Yan, Q.; Xu, Y.; Bai, J.

2018-04-01

In order to promote the construction of digital geo-spatial framework in China and accelerate the construction of informatization mapping system, three-dimensional geographic information model emerged. The three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology has higher accuracy, shorter period and lower cost than traditional methods, and can more directly reflect the elevation, position and appearance of the features. At this stage, the technology of producing three-dimensional geographic information models based on oblique photogrammetry technology is rapidly developing. The market demand and model results have been emerged in a large amount, and the related quality inspection needs are also getting larger and larger. Through the study of relevant literature, it is found that there are a lot of researches on the basic principles and technical characteristics of this technology, and relatively few studies on quality inspection and analysis. On the basis of summarizing the basic principle and technical characteristics of oblique photogrammetry technology, this paper introduces the inspection contents and inspection methods of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology. Combined with the actual inspection work, this paper summarizes the quality problems of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology, analyzes the causes of the problems and puts forward the quality control measures. It provides technical guidance for the quality inspection of three-dimensional geographic information model data products based on oblique photogrammetry technology in China and provides technical support for the vigorous development of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology.

QUALITY INSPECTION AND ANALYSIS OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION MODEL BASED ON OBLIQUE PHOTOGRAMMETRY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Dong

2018-04-01

Full Text Available In order to promote the construction of digital geo-spatial framework in China and accelerate the construction of informatization mapping system, three-dimensional geographic information model emerged. The three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology has higher accuracy, shorter period and lower cost than traditional methods, and can more directly reflect the elevation, position and appearance of the features. At this stage, the technology of producing three-dimensional geographic information models based on oblique photogrammetry technology is rapidly developing. The market demand and model results have been emerged in a large amount, and the related quality inspection needs are also getting larger and larger. Through the study of relevant literature, it is found that there are a lot of researches on the basic principles and technical characteristics of this technology, and relatively few studies on quality inspection and analysis. On the basis of summarizing the basic principle and technical characteristics of oblique photogrammetry technology, this paper introduces the inspection contents and inspection methods of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology. Combined with the actual inspection work, this paper summarizes the quality problems of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology, analyzes the causes of the problems and puts forward the quality control measures. It provides technical guidance for the quality inspection of three-dimensional geographic information model data products based on oblique photogrammetry technology in China and provides technical support for the vigorous development of three-dimensional geographic information model based on oblique photogrammetry technology.

Impacts of Scale on Geographic Analysis of Health Data: An Example of Obesity Prevalence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jay Lee

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically in recent decades. It is an important public health issue as it causes many other chronic health conditions, such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and type II diabetics. Obesity affects life expectancy and even the quality of lives. Eventually, it increases social costs in many ways due to increasing costs of health care and workplace absenteeism. Using the spatial patterns of obesity prevalence as an example; we show how different geographic units can reveal different degrees of detail in results of analysis. We used both census tracts and census block groups as units of geographic analysis. In addition; to reveal how different geographic scales may impact on the analytic results; we applied geographically weighted regression to model the relationships between obesity rates (dependent variable and three independent variables; including education attainment; unemployment rates; and median family income. Though not including an exhaustive list of explanatory variables; this regression model provides an example for revealing the impacts of geographic scales on analysis of health data. With obesity data based on reported heights and weights on driver’s licenses in Summit County, Ohio, we demonstrated that geographically weighted regression reveals varying spatial trends between dependent and independent variables that conventional regression models such as ordinary least squares regression cannot. Most importantly, analyses carried out with different geographic scales do show very different results. With these findings, we suggest that, while possible, smaller geographic units be used to allow better understanding of the studies phenomena.

Modelling grid losses and the geographic distribution of electricity generation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østergaard, Poul Alberg

2005-01-01

In Denmark more than 40% of the electricity consumption is covered by geographically scattered electricity sources namely wind power and local CHP (cogeneration of heat and power) plants. This causes problems in regard to load balancing and possible grid overloads. The potential grid problems...... and methods for solving these are analysed in this article on the basis of energy systems analyses, geographic distribution of consumption and production and grid load-flow analyses. It is concluded that by introducing scattered load balancing using local CHP plants actively and using interruptible loads...

[A spatially explicit analysis of traffic accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists in Berlin].

Science.gov (United States)

Lakes, Tobia

2017-12-01

In many German cities and counties, sustainable mobility concepts that strengthen pedestrian and cyclist traffic are promoted. From the perspectives of urban development, traffic planning and public healthcare, a spatially differentiated analysis of traffic accident data is decisive. 1) The identification of spatial and temporal patterns of the distribution of accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians, 2) the identification of hotspots and exploration of possible underlying causes and 3) the critical discussion of benefits and challenges of the results and the derivation of conclusions. Spatio-temporal distributions of data from accident statistics in Berlin involving pedestrians and cyclists from 2011 to 2015 were analysed with geographic information systems (GIS). While the total number of accidents remains relatively stable for pedestrian and cyclist accidents, the spatial distribution analysis shows, however, that there are significant spatial clusters (hotspots) of traffic accidents with a strong concentration in the inner city area. In a critical discussion, the benefits of geographic concepts are identified, such as spatially explicit health data (in this case traffic accident data), the importance of the integration of other data sources for the evaluation of the health impact of areas (traffic accident statistics of the police), and the possibilities and limitations of spatial-temporal data analysis (spatial point-density analyses) for the derivation of decision-supported recommendations and for the evaluation of policy measures of health prevention and of health-relevant urban development.

Plio-Pleistocene climate change and geographic heterogeneity in plant diversity-environment relationships

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svenning, J.-C.; Normand, Signe; Skov, Flemming

2009-01-01

Plio-Pleistocene climate change may have induced geographic heterogeneity in plant species richness-environment relationships in Europe due to greater in situ species survival and speciation rates in southern Europe. We formulate distinct hypotheses on how Plio-Pleistocene climate change may have...... affected richness-topographic heterogeneity and richness-water-energy availability relationships, causing steeper relationships in southern Europe. We investigated these hypotheses using data from Atlas Florae Europaeae on the distribution of 3069 species and geographically weighted regression (GWR). Our...... analyses showed that plant species richness generally increased with topographic heterogeneity (ln-transformed altitudinal range) and actual evapotranspiration (AET). We also found evidence for strong geographic heterogeneity in the species richness-environment relationship, with a greater increase...

The National Geographic Society's Teaching Geography Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Bockenhauer, Mark H.

1993-01-01

Contends that the National Geographic Society's Teaching Geography Project is an inservice teacher education success story. Describes the origins, objectives, and development of the project. Summarizes the impact of the project and contends that its success is the result of the workshop format and guided practice in instructional strategies. (CFR)

Groundwater quality mapping using geographic information system ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Spatial variations in ground water quality in the corporation area of Gulbarga City located in the northern part of Karnataka State, India, have been studied using geographic information system (GIS) technique. GIS, a tool which is used for storing, analyzing and displaying spatial data is also used for investigating ground ...

77 FR 69899 - Public Conference on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Transportation Safety

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-21

... NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD Public Conference on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in... Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in transportation safety on December 4-5, 2012. GIS is a rapidly... visualization of data. The meeting will bring researchers and practitioners in transportation safety and GIS...

Geographic Variation and Factors Associated with Female Genital Mutilation among Reproductive Age Women in Ethiopia: A National Population Based Survey.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tesfaye Setegn

of women's support of FGM continuation. FGM prevalence and geographic clustering showed variation across regions in Ethiopia.Individual, economic, socio-demographic, religious and cultural factors played major roles in the existing practice and continuation of FGM. The significant geographic clustering of FGM was observed across regions in Ethiopia. Therefore, targeted and integrated interventions involving religious leaders in high FGM prevalence spot clusters and addressing the socio-economic and geographic inequalities are recommended to eliminate FGM.

The adoption of Thinking Through Geography strategies and their impact on teaching geographical reasoning in Dutch secondary schools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hooghuis, F.; van der Schee, J.; van der Velde, M.; Imants, J.; Volman, M.

2014-01-01

The development of geographical reasoning is essential in geographical education. Strategies developed by the English Thinking Through Geography group (TTG) offer a promising approach to promote geographical reasoning. In the last decade, the TTG approach has become a regular element in geographical

The adoption of Thinking Through Geography Strategies and their impact on teaching geographical reasoning in Dutch secondary schools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hooghuis, F.; van der Schee, J.A.; van der Velde, M.; Imants, J.; Volman, M.

2014-01-01

The development of geographical reasoning is essential in geographical education. Strategies developed by the English Thinking Through Geography group (TTG) offer a promising approach to promote geographical reasoning. In the last decade, the TTG approach has become a regular element in geographical

The adoption of Thinking Through Geography Strategies and their impact on teaching geographical reasoning in Dutch secondary schools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hooghuis, Fer; van der Schee, Joop; van der Velde, Martin; Imants, Jeroen; Volman, Monique

The development of geographical reasoning is essential in geographical education. Strategies developed by the English Thinking Through Geography group (TTG) offer a promising approach to promote geographical reasoning. In the last decade, the TTG approach has become a regular element in geographical

Influence of agroclimatic parameters on phenolic and volatile compounds of Chilean virgin olive oils and characterization based on geographical origin, cultivar and ripening stage.

Science.gov (United States)

Romero, Nalda; Saavedra, Jorge; Tapia, Francisco; Sepúlveda, Betsabet; Aparicio, Ramón

2016-01-30

This study involved two commercial orchards located in Limarí Valley and Molina from two important Chilean production zones of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). The investigation evaluated the effects of climate, soil composition, agricultural practices (fertilization and irrigation) and variety (considering two harvests) on the compounds responsible for the flavor of EVOO (volatiles and phenols) and how these compounds can explain the differences in chemical profiles by geographical origin, cultivar and fruit ripeness stage. Varieties from the Limarí Valley presented the highest content of phenolic compounds. A significant relationship (P Chilean regions have much more influence than cultivars on the concentration of sensory quality compounds. Difference in latitude between orchards increases the importance of the geographical origin on the virgin olive oil chemical composition while full irrigation decreases the impact of the cultivar. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Determinants of caesarean section in Lebanon: geographical differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Carayol, Marion; Zein, Ali; Ghosn, Nada; Du Mazaubrun, Christiane; Breart, Gérard

2008-03-01

This study, based on the Lebanese National Perinatal Survey which included 5231 women, examined the relations between the caesarean section (CS) rate and the characteristics of mothers, children, antenatal care and maternity units in two geographical zones of Lebanon (Beirut-Mount Lebanon and the rest of the country) and then looked at geographical variations. This analysis concerned 3846 women with singleton pregnancies and livebirths at low risk of CS, after exclusion of women with a previous CS, non-cephalic fetal presentations, or delivery before 37 weeks' gestation. The principal end point was caesarean delivery. The relations between the factors studied and CS were estimated by odds ratios (OR), both crude and adjusted, using logistic regression. The rate of CS was higher in the Beirut-Mount Lebanon zone than elsewhere (13.4% vs. 7.6%). After adjustment, several factors remained associated with caesarean delivery in each zone. Common factors were primiparity, gestational age > or = 41 weeks and antenatal hospitalisation. Factors identified only in the Beirut-Mount Lebanon zone were obstetric history and insurance coverage, whereas for the other zones we only found major risk factors for obstetric disease: maternal age > or = 35 years, number of antenatal consultations > or = 4 and birthweight Lebanon (OR = 1.80 [95% CI 1.09, 2.95]). In conclusion, the CS rates in Lebanon were high, with geographical differences that were associated with access to care and with obstetric practices.

Satellite and gauge rainfall merging using geographically weighted regression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Q. Hu

2015-05-01

Full Text Available A residual-based rainfall merging scheme using geographically weighted regression (GWR has been proposed. This method is capable of simultaneously blending various satellite rainfall data with gauge measurements and could describe the non-stationary influences of geographical and terrain factors on rainfall spatial distribution. Using this new method, an experimental study on merging daily rainfall from the Climate Prediction Center Morphing dataset (CMOROH and gauge measurements was conducted for the Ganjiang River basin, in Southeast China. We investigated the capability of the merging scheme for daily rainfall estimation under different gauge density. Results showed that under the condition of sparse gauge density the merging rainfall scheme is remarkably superior to the interpolation using just gauge data.

PC-based visualization of geographically referenced environmental data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Galagan, C.; Howlett, E. Brown, A.J.

1992-01-01

Geographical information system (GIS) technology provides sophisticated data handling tools for use in oil spill response and contingency planning. ASAMAP is a software that employs a state-of-the-art graphical user interface to collect and display geographically referenced data on a personal computer. The program is easy to learn and simple to operate, facilitating data collection and visualization in an inexpensive decision support system suitable for oil spill response or any application requiring special data handling. The software can operate on a laptop computer for convenient use in the field and is mouse-driven, using buttons and screen icons to manipulate data interactively on color maps on the screen. During response to an oil spill, ASAMAP provides enhanced data capture and visualization, facilitating faster assimilation of information and a more efficient decision making process. 8 refs., 1 fig

The geographical mobility of recently graduated medical doctors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Drejer, Ina; Holm, Jacob Rubæk; Petersen, Karin Dam

specialize to become general practitioners (GPs). Access to medical services is included among the services important for ensuring the basics in a welfare society. The analysis is limited to general practitioners (GPs), although access to other types of medical professionals is also an important aspect......University graduates are not evenly distributed geographically, and attraction and retention of university graduates is high on the agenda in many regional development strategies. In this paper we study the geographical mobility of a particular type of university graduates: medical doctors who...... of local access to medical services. We have chosen GPs because they – except in cases of emergency – are the main entrance to medical services in Denmark. We study how different factors may influence where GPs choose to set up medical practice. We pay particular attention to the importance of local...

Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates Program (EDGE): Locale Boundaries User's Manual. NCES 2016-012

Science.gov (United States)

Geverdt, Douglas E.

2015-01-01

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) program develops geographic data to help policymakers, program administrators, and the public understand relationships between educational institutions and the communities they serve. One of the commonly used geographic data items is the NCES…

The Adoption of "Thinking through Geography" Strategies and Their Impact on Teaching Geographical Reasoning in Dutch Secondary Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Hooghuis, Fer; van der Schee, Joop; van der Velde, Martin; Imants, Jeroen; Volman, Monique

2014-01-01

The development of geographical reasoning is essential in geographical education. Strategies developed by the English "Thinking Through Geography" group (TTG) offer a promising approach to promote geographical reasoning. In the last decade, the TTG approach has become a regular element in geographical education in several countries.…

Better access to microcredits: does geographical proximity matter?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Alimukhamedova, Nargiza

-, 2013/2014 Winter (2014), s. 24-25 Institutional support: PRVOUK-P23 Keywords : microcredits * geographical proximity Subject RIV: AH - Economics http://www.e-mfp.eu/sites/ default /files/resources/2014/02/e-MFP_Winter2013-2014_Newsletter%20.pdf

Globalization of R&D: Leveraging Offshoring for Innovative Capability and Organizational Flexibility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

D. Moitra (Deependra)

2008-01-01

textabstractWithin the realm of globalization of R&D, offshoring is a relatively recent and still emerging phenomenon. Rooted in the notion of comparative advantage, offshoring of R&D involves disaggregation and global distribution of the firm’s R&D value chain activities to leverage innovation

A Sub-category Disaggregated Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory for the Bogota Region, Colombia

Science.gov (United States)

Pulido-Guio, A. D.; Rojas, A. M.; Ossma, L. J.; Jimenez-Pizarro, R.

2012-12-01

Several international organizations, such as UNDP and UNEP, have recently recognized the importance of empowering sub-national decision levels on climatic governance according to the subsidiarity principle. Regional and municipal authorities are directly responsible for land use management and for regulating economic sectors that emit greenhouse gases (GHG) and are vulnerable to climate change. Sub-national authorities are also closer to the population, which make them better suited for educating the public and for achieving commitment among stakeholders. This investigation was developed within the frame of the Regional Integrated Program on Climate Change for the Cundinamarca-Bogota Region (PRICC), an initiative aimed at incorporating the climate dimension into the regional and local decision making. The region composed by Bogota and its nearest, semi-rural area of influence (Province of Cundinamarca) is the most important population and economic center of Colombia. Our investigation serves two purposes: a) to establish methodologies for estimating regional GHG emissions appropriate to the Colombian context, and b) to disaggregate GHG emissions by economic sector as a mitigation decision-making tool. GHG emissions were calculated using IPCC 1996 - Tier 1 methodologies, as there are no regional- or country-specific emission factors available for Colombia. Top-Down (TD) methodologies, based on national and regional energy use intensity, per capita consumption and fertilizer use, were developed and applied to estimate activities for following categories: fuel use in industrial, commercial and residential sectors (excepting NG and LPG), use of ozone depleting substances (ODS) and substitutes, and fertilizer use (for total emissions of agricultural soils). The emissions from the remaining 22 categories were calculated using Bottom-Up (BU) methodologies given the availability of regional information. The total GHG emissions in the Cundinamarca-Bogota Region on 2008 are

76 FR 28121 - Culturally Significant Objects Imported for Exhibition Determinations: “National Geographic...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-13

... Determinations: ``National Geographic Treasures of the Earth'' SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the following... objects to be included in the exhibition ``National Geographic Treasures of the Earth'' imported from... exceed six years from June 11, 2011), is in the national interest. The Museum understands that...

Geographic differences in allele frequencies of susceptibility SNPs for cardiovascular disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kullo Iftikhar J

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We hypothesized that the frequencies of risk alleles of SNPs mediating susceptibility to cardiovascular diseases differ among populations of varying geographic origin and that population-specific selection has operated on some of these variants. Methods From the database of genome-wide association studies (GWAS, we selected 36 cardiovascular phenotypes including coronary heart disease, hypertension, and stroke, as well as related quantitative traits (eg, body mass index and plasma lipid levels. We identified 292 SNPs in 270 genes associated with a disease or trait at P -8. As part of the Human Genome-Diversity Project (HGDP, 158 (54.1% of these SNPs have been genotyped in 938 individuals belonging to 52 populations from seven geographic areas. A measure of population differentiation, FST, was calculated to quantify differences in risk allele frequencies (RAFs among populations and geographic areas. Results Large differences in RAFs were noted in populations of Africa, East Asia, America and Oceania, when compared with other geographic regions. The mean global FST (0.1042 for 158 SNPs among the populations was not significantly higher than the mean global FST of 158 autosomal SNPs randomly sampled from the HGDP database. Significantly higher global FST (P FST of 2036 putatively neutral SNPs. For four of these SNPs, additional evidence of selection was noted based on the integrated Haplotype Score. Conclusion Large differences in RAFs for a set of common SNPs that influence risk of cardiovascular disease were noted between the major world populations. Pairwise comparisons revealed RAF differences for at least eight SNPs that might be due to population-specific selection or demographic factors. These findings are relevant to a better understanding of geographic variation in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease.

Measuring Geographic Distribution of Economic Activity in Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Measuring Geographic Distribution of Economic Activity in Nigeria Using Gross Domestic Product. ... and environmental factors in planning. There is need for adequate understanding of spatial pattern and centrographic analysis of economic activity to support evidence based economic and regional development policies.

2010 Census Blocks with Geographic Codes Southwestern PA

Data.gov (United States)

Allegheny County / City of Pittsburgh / Western PA Regional Data Center — This file can be used as a tool to append geographic codes to geocoded point data. The file was developed by Pitt's Center for Social and Urban Research and...

Using geographic information system (GIS) to determine waste ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

lyndon

could be used as waste transfer stations in relation to location of landfill sites using Geographic. Information ... Coast, bounded to the east by the Ga East Municipal Assembly, to the west by the .... Solid Waste and the Hierarchy in Solid Waste.

Deactivation and Decommissioning Planning and Analysis with Geographic Information Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bollinger, James S.; Koffman, Larry D.; Austin, William E.

2008-01-01

From the mid-1950's through the 1980's, the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site produced nuclear materials for the weapons stockpile, for medical and industrial applications, and for space exploration. Although SRS has a continuing defense-related mission, the overall site mission is now oriented toward environmental restoration and management of legacy chemical and nuclear waste. With the change in mission, SRS no longer has a need for much of the infrastructure developed to support the weapons program. This excess infrastructure, which includes over 1000 facilities, will be decommissioned and demolished over the forthcoming years. Dis-positioning facilities for decommissioning and deactivation requires significant resources to determine hazards, structure type, and a rough-order-of-magnitude estimate for the decommissioning and demolition cost. Geographic information systems (GIS) technology was used to help manage the process of dis-positioning infrastructure and for reporting the future status of impacted facilities. Several thousand facilities of various ages and conditions are present at SRS. Many of these facilities, built to support previous defense-related missions, now represent a potential hazard and cost for maintenance and surveillance. To reduce costs and the hazards associated with this excess infrastructure, SRS has developed an ambitious plan to decommission and demolish unneeded facilities in a systematic fashion. GIS technology was used to assist development of this plan by: providing locational information for remote facilities, identifying the location of known waste units adjacent to buildings slated for demolition, and for providing a powerful visual representation of the impact of the overall plan. Several steps were required for the development of the infrastructure GIS model. The first step involved creating an accurate and current GIS representation of the infrastructure data. This data is maintained in a Computer Aided Design

Review of Current Geographic Information Systems Technology for TxDOT Pavement Management Information System

Science.gov (United States)

1998-05-01

A geographic information system (GIS) is a tool for effectively managing and analyzing tremendous amounts of geographic information. It employs the essential principle of geography to organize in formation and express relationships between real-world...

uCollaborator: Framework for STEM Project Collaboration among Geographically-Dispersed Student/Faculty Teams

Science.gov (United States)

Fiore, Stephen M.; Rodriguez, Walter E.; Carstens, Deborah S.

2012-01-01

This paper presents a framework for facilitating communication among STEM project teams that are geographically dispersed in synchronous or asynchronous online courses. The framework has been developed to: (a) improve how engineering and technology students and faculty work with collocated and geographically-dispersed teams; and (b) to connect the…

Putting fossils on the map: Applying a geographical information system to heritage resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Merrill van der Walt

2015-11-01

Full Text Available A geographical information system (GIS database was compiled of Permo-Triassic tetrapod fossils from the Karoo Supergoup in South African museum collections. This database is the first of its kind and has great time applicability for understanding tetrapod biodiversity change though time more than 200 million years ago. Because the museum catalogues all differed in recorded information and were not compliant with field capture requirements, this information had to be standardised to a format that could be utilised for archival and research application. Our paper focuses on the processes involved in building the GIS project, capturing metadata on fossil collections and formulating future best practices. The result is a multi-layered GIS database of the tetrapod fossil record of the Beaufort Group of South Africa for use as an accurate research tool in palaeo- and geoscience research with applications for ecology, ecosystems, stratigraphy and basin development.

Using Educational Tourism in Geographical Education

OpenAIRE

PRAKAPIENĖ, Dalia; OLBERKYTĖ, Loreta

2014-01-01

The article analyses and defines the concept of educational tourism, presents the structure of the concept and looks into the opportunities for using educational tourism in geographical education. In order to reveal such opportunities a research was carried out in the Lithuanian national and regional parks using the qualitative method of content analysis and the quantitative method of questionnaire survey. The authors of the research identified the educational excursion activities conducted i...