bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor is a key mediator in experimental osteoarthritis pain and disease development
Authors: Cook Andrew D , Pobjoy Jarrad , Steidl Stefan , Dürr Manuela , Braine Emma L , Turner Amanda L , Lacey Derek C , Hamilton John A
Published: September 2012

Introduction

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) has been shown to be important in the development of inflammatory models of rheumatoid arthritis and there is encouraging data that its blockade may have clinical relevance in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The aims of the current study were to determine whether GM-CSF may also be important for disease and pain development in a model of osteoarthritis.

Methods

The role of GM-CSF was investigated using the collagenase-induced instability model of osteoarthritis. We studied both GM-CSF-/- mice and wild-type (C57BL/6) mice treated prophylactically or therapeutically with a monoclonal antibody to GM-CSF. Disease development (both early and late) was evaluated by histology and knee pain development was measured by assessment of weight distribution.

Results

In the absence of GM-CSF, there was less synovitis and matrix metalloproteinase-mediated neoepitope expression at week 2 post disease induction, and less cartilage damage at week 6. GM-CSF was absolutely required for pain development. Therapeutic neutralization of GM-CSF not only abolished the pain within 3 days but also led to significantly reduced cartilage damage.

Conclusions

GM-CSF is key to the development of experimental osteoarthritis and its associated pain. Importantly, GM-CSF neutralization by a therapeutic monoclonal antibody-based protocol rapidly and completely abolished existing arthritic pain and suppressed the degree of arthritis development. Our results suggest that it would be worth exploring the importance of GM-CSF for pain and disease in other osteoarthritis models and perhaps clinically for this form of arthritis.
Cooperative and antagonistic roles for Irx3 and Irx5 in cardiac morphogenesis and postnatal physiology
Authors: Gaborit Nathalie , Sakuma Rui , Wylie John N. , Kim Kyoung-Han , Zhang Shan-Shan , Hui Chi-Chung , Bruneau Benoit G.
Published: September 2012

The Iroquois homeobox (Irx) homeodomain transcription factors are important for several aspects of embryonic development. In the developing heart, individual Irx genes are important for certain postnatal cardiac functions, including cardiac repolarization (Irx5) and rapid ventricular conduction (Irx3). Irx genes are expressed in dynamic and partially overlapping patterns in the developing heart. Here we show in mice that Irx3 and Irx5 have redundant function in the endocardium to regulate atrioventricular canal morphogenesis and outflow tract formation. Our data suggest that direct transcriptional repression of Bmp10 by Irx3 and Irx5 in the endocardium is required for ventricular septation. A postnatal deletion of Irx3 and Irx5 in the myocardium leads to prolongation of atrioventricular conduction, due in part to activation of expression of the Na+ channel protein Nav1.5. Surprisingly, combined postnatal loss of Irx3 and Irx5 results in a restoration of the repolarization gradient that is altered in Irx5 mutant hearts, suggesting that postnatal Irx3 activity can be repressed by Irx5. Our results have uncovered complex genetic interactions between Irx3 and Irx5 in embryonic cardiac development and postnatal physiology.
Klf4 is required for germ-layer differentiation and body axis patterning duringXenopusembryogenesis
Authors: Cao Qing , Zhang Xuena , Lu Lei , Yang Linan , Gao Jimin , Gao Yan , Ma Haihua , Cao Ying
Published: September 2012

Klf4 is a transcription factor of the family of Kruppel-like factors and plays important roles in stem cell biology; however, its function during embryogenesis is unknown. Here, we report the characterization of a Klf4 homologue in Xenopus laevis during embryogenesis. Klf4 is transcribed both maternally and zygotically and the transcript is ubiquitous in embryos during germ-layer formation. Klf4 promotes endoderm differentiation in both Nodal/Activin-dependent and -independent manners. Moreover, Klf4 regulates anteroposterior body axis patterning via activation of a subset of genes in the Spemann organizer, such as Noggin, Dkk1 and Cerberus, which encode Nodal, Wnt and BMP antagonists. Loss of Klf4 function leads to the failure of germ-layer differentiation, the loss of responsiveness of early embryonic cells to inducing signals, e.g. Nodal/Activin, and the loss of transcription of genes involved in axis patterning. We conclude that Klf4 is required for germ-layer differentiation and body axis patterning by means of rendering early embryonic cells competent to differentiation signals.
Acidentes de trabalho fatais e a qualidade das informações de seus registros em Uberaba, em Minas Gerais e no Brasil, 1997 a 2006
Authors: Iwamoto Helena Hemiko , Camargo Fernanda Carolina de , Tavares Laureni Conceição , Miranzi Sybelle de Souza Castro
Published: September 2012

RESUMO OBJETIVO: caracterizar os acidentes de trabalho fatais e analisar a qualidade das informações de seus registros. MÉTODO: estudo ecológico com análise descritiva dos óbitos por acidentes de trabalho no Brasil, em Minas Gerais e no município de Uberaba, no período de 1997 a 2006. Utilizou-se como fonte de dados as informações do Sistema de Informações sobre Mortalidade (SIM), do Ministério da Saúde, e o Sistema Único de Benefícios (SUB), do Ministério da Previdência e Assistência Social. RESULTADOS: as causas mais comuns de acidentes de trabalho fatais estão relacionadas com os acidentes de trajeto e atingem principalmente homens da faixa etária entre 25 e 44 anos. Constatou-se um elevado percentual de informação ignorada no campo direcionado à identificação da relação do óbito com o acidente de trabalho, alcançando, no período, média de 82,9% em nível nacional, de 84,5% no estadual e de 79,6% no municipal. Quanto à qualidade das informações do SIM, segundo os critérios propostos pela Comissão Econômica para a América Latina e o Caribe, é considerada muito ruim para informar sobre acidentes de trabalho, sendo um fator limitante para o planejamento de ações no campo da saúde do trabalhador a partir desta fonte de dados. CONCLUSÃO: são necessárias, portanto, formas mais eficazes de registro das informações relacionadas aos acidentes de trabalho fatais.
Acidentes com material biológico relacionados ao trabalho: análise de uma abordagem institucional
Authors: Silva Ana Isabel Dias da , Machado Jorge Mesquita Huet , Santos Elizabeth Gloria Oliveira Barbosa , Maria Helena Palucci Marziale
Published: September 2012

RESUMO OBJETIVO: analisar o perfil de relatórios, instrumentos de registros e fluxos de tratamento, notificações, acompanhamentos, profilaxias e encaminhamentos devidos a acidentes causados por material perfurocortante em trabalhadores de saúde em uma instituição de saúde pública. Métodos: a coleta de dados usou um questionário semiestruturado aplicado aos profissionais responsáveis pelos registros de acidentes e avaliou os formulários utilizados em três setores da instituição de estudo. RESULTADOS: foram analisados 134 registros de acidentes biológicos. Quando comparamos os registros da instituição com os 50 registrados no mesmo período pelo banco de dados da Secretaria Municipal de Saúde do Rio de Janeiro, apenas 11 casos foram concordantes. Também identificamos falta de padronização nos formulários utilizados, fluxos diferentes e falta de registros de investigações dos casos, além de ausência de acompanhamento do desfecho dos acidentes. CONCLUSÃO: constataram-se subnotificação e discordância entre as fontes. Um formulário de registro para acidentes biológicos foi elaborado para informações de notificação e investigações, bem como criado um programa para monitorar acidentes causados por material perfurocortante, visando melhorar a vigilância de saúde dos trabalhadores da instituição.
Prenatal, Perinatal, Early Life, and Sociodemographic Factors Underlying Racial Differences in the Likelihood of High Body Mass Index in Early Childhood
Authors: Weden Margaret M , Brownell Peter , Rendall Michael S.
Published: September 2012

Objectives. We investigated early childhood disparities in high body mass index (BMI) between Black and White US children.

Methods. We compared differences in Black and White children’s prevalence of sociodemographic, prenatal, perinatal, and early life risk and protective factors; fit logistic regression models predicting high BMI (≥ 95th percentile) at age 4 to 5 years to 2 nationally representative samples followed from birth; and performed separate and pooled-survey estimations of these models.

Results. After adjustment for sample design–related variables, models predicting high BMI in the 2 samples were statistically indistinguishable. In the pooled-survey models, Black children's odds of high BMI were 59% higher than White children's (odds ratio [OR] = 1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI]= 1.32, 1.92). Sociodemographic predictors reduced the racial disparity to 46% (OR = 1.46; 95% CI = 1.17, 1.81). Prenatal, perinatal, and early life predictors reduced the disparity to nonsignificance (OR = 1.18; 95% CI = 0.93, 1.49). Maternal prepregnancy obesity and short-duration or no breastfeeding were among predictors for which racial differences in children’s exposures most disadvantaged Black children.

Conclusions. Racial disparities in early childhood high BMI were largely explained by potentially modifiable risk and protective factors.
Ethical Concerns in Tobacco Control Nonsmoker and “Nonnicotine” Hiring Policies: The Implications of Employment Restrictions for Tobacco Control
Authors: Voigt Kristin
Published: September 2012

Smoking has been restricted in workplaces for some time. A number of organizations with health promotion or tobacco control goals have taken the further step of implementing employment restrictions. These restrictions apply to smokers and, in some cases, to anyone testing positive on cotinine tests, which also capture users of nicotine-replacement therapy and those exposed to secondhand smoke.

Such policies are defended as closely related to broader antismoking goals: first, only nonsmokers can be role models and advocates for tobacco control; second, nonsmoker and “nonnicotine” hiring policies help denormalize tobacco use, thus advancing a central aspect of tobacco control.

However, these arguments are problematic: not only can hiring restrictions come into conflict with broader antismoking goals, but they also raise significant problems of their own.
Accuracy and Importance of Projections From a Dynamic Simulation Model of Smoking Prevalence in the United States
Authors: Warner Kenneth E. , Méndez David
Published: September 2012

We compared projections from a dynamic model of US adult smoking prevalence with official estimates of prevalence from the National Health Interview Survey. Ten years after they were made, the model projections closely fit the National Health Interview Survey estimates for 2005 and 2010. We conclude that a verified model of adult smoking prevalence can assist governmental authorities in establishing aspirational but feasible targets for tobacco control. By extension, carefully crafted models can help in goal setting in multiple areas of public health.
Type A Behavior Pattern and Coronary Heart Disease: Philip Morris’s “Crown Jewel”
Authors: Petticrew Mark P. , Lee Kelley , McKee Martin
Published: September 2012

The type A behavior pattern (TABP) was described in the 1950s by cardiologists Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman, who argued that TABP was an important risk factor for coronary heart disease. This theory was supported by positive findings from the Western Collaborative Group Study and the Framingham Study.

We analyzed tobacco industry documents to show that the tobacco industry was a major funder of TABP research, with selected results used to counter concerns regarding tobacco and health. Our findings also help explain inconsistencies in the findings of epidemiological studies of TABP, in particular the phenomenon of initially promising results followed by negative findings.

Our analysis suggests that these “decline effects” are partly explained by tobacco industry involvement in TABP research.
Innovative Primary Care Training: The Cambridge Health Alliance Oral Physician Program
Authors: Giddon Donald B. , Seymour Brittany Anne , Swann Brian , Anderson Nina K. , Jayaratne Yasas S. N. , Outlaw Jason , Kalenderian Elsbeth
Published: September 2012

We evaluated the Oral Physician Program, a dental residency sponsored by Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and the Cambridge Health Alliance that offers an innovative model for training dentists to provide limited primary care. The didactic and clinical experiences increased residents' medical knowledge and interviewing skills, and faculty assessments supported their role as oral physicians. Oral physicians could increase patients'—especially patients from underserved groups—access to integrated oral and primary care services.
Integration of Primary Health Care and Public Health During a Public Health Emergency
Authors: Wynn Aaron , Moore Kieran M.
Published: September 2012

We have provided a detailed evaluation of how collaboration between an Ontario public health unit and its primary care providers facilitated an optimal response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Family health teams (integrated, interdisciplinary teams that provide a range of care options) provided flu assessment centers, with public health as a partner providing infection control advice, funding, coordination, antiviral medication, clinical care guidelines, supplemental nurse staffing, and arrangement of communication strategies with the public.

The family health team structure offers a new capacity for timely, coordinated, and comprehensive response to public health emergencies, in partnership with public health, and provides a promising new direction for healthcare organization.
Repeated Episodes of Heroin Cause Enduring Alterations of Circadian Activity in Protracted Abstinence
Authors: Stinus Luis , Cador Martine , Caille Stephanie
Published: September 2012

Opiate withdrawal is followed by a protracted abstinence syndrome consisting of craving and physiological changes. However, few studies have been dedicated to both the characterization and understanding of these long-term alterations in post-dependent subjects. The aim of the present study was to develop an opiate dependence model, which induces long-lasting behavioral changes in abstinent rats. Here, we first compared the effects of several protocols for the induction of opiate dependence (morphine pellets, repeated morphine or heroin injections) on the subsequent response to heroin challenges (0.25 mg/kg) at different time points during abstinence (3, 6, 9 and 18 weeks). In a second set of experiments, rats were exposed to increasing doses of heroin and subsequently monitored for general circadian activity up to 20 weeks of abstinence. Results show that heroin injections rather than the other methods of opiate administration have long-term consequences on rats’ sensitivity to heroin with its psychostimulant effects persisting up to 18 weeks of abstinence. Moreover, intermittent episodes of heroin dependence rather than a single exposure produce enduring alteration of the basal circadian activity both upon heroin cessation and protracted abstinence. Altogether, these findings suggest that the induction of heroin dependence through intermittent increasing heroin injections is the optimal method to model long-term behavioral alterations during protracted abstinence in rats. This animal model would be useful in further characterizing long-lasting changes in post-dependent subjects to help understand the prolonged vulnerability to relapse.
Biomimetic Strategies for Bone Repair and Regeneration
Authors: Raucci Maria G. , Guarino Vincenzo , Ambrosio Luigi
Published: September 2012

The osseointegration rate of implants is related to their composition and surface roughness. Implant roughness favors both bone anchoring and biomechanical stability. Osteoconductive calcium phosphate (Ca-P) coatings promote bone healing and apposition, leading to the rapid biological fixation of implants. It has been clearly shown in many publications that Ca-P coating accelerates bone formation around the implant. This review discusses two main routes for the manufacturing of polymer-based osteoconductive scaffolds for tissue engineering, namely the incorporation of bioceramic particles in the scaffold and the coating of a scaffold with a thin layer of apatite through a biomimetic process.
Operational Automatic Remote Sensing Image Understanding Systems: Beyond Geographic Object-Based and Object-Oriented Image Analysis (GEOBIA/GEOOIA). Part 2: Novel system Architecture, Information/Knowledge Representation, Algorithm Design and Implementation
Authors: Baraldi Andrea , Boschetti Luigi
Published: September 2012

According to literature and despite their commercial success, state-of-the-art two-stage non-iterative geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) systems and three-stage iterative geographic object-oriented image analysis (GEOOIA) systems, where GEOOIA/GEOBIA, remain affected by a lack of productivity, general consensus and research. To outperform the Quality Indexes of Operativeness (OQIs) of existing GEOBIA/GEOOIA systems in compliance with the Quality Assurance Framework for Earth Observation (QA4EO) guidelines, this methodological work is split into two parts. Based on an original multi-disciplinary Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis of the GEOBIA/GEOOIA approaches, the first part of this work promotes a shift of learning paradigm in the pre-attentive vision first stage of a remote sensing (RS) image understanding system (RS-IUS), from sub-symbolic statistical model-based (inductive) image segmentation to symbolic physical model-based (deductive) image preliminary classification capable of accomplishing image sub-symbolic segmentation and image symbolic pre-classification simultaneously. In the present second part of this work, a novel hybrid (combined deductive and inductive) RS-IUS architecture featuring a symbolic deductive pre-attentive vision first stage is proposed and discussed in terms of: (a) computational theory (system design), (b) information/knowledge representation, (c) algorithm design and (d) implementation. As proof-of-concept of symbolic physical model-based pre-attentive vision first stage, the spectral knowledge-based, operational, near real-time, multi-sensor, multi-resolution, application-independent Satellite Image Automatic Mapper™ (SIAM™) is selected from existing literature. To the best of these authors’ knowledge, this is the first time a symbolic syntactic inference system, like SIAM™, is made available to the RS community for operational use in a RS-IUS pre-attentive vision first stage, to accomplish multi-scale image segmentation and multi-granularity image pre-classification simultaneously, automatically and in near real-time.
The distribution of allelic and genotypic frequencies of N-Acetyltransferase-2 variants in an Argentine population
Authors: Chamorro Julián Gabriel , Castagnino Jorge P , Musella Rosa M , Frias Ana , Aranda Federico Manuel , De Larrañaga Gabriela Fernanda
Published: September 2012

Introduction: Arylamine N-acetyltransferase-2 (NAT-2) is a key human enzyme in drug detoxification and elimination. Mutations in NAT-2 affect the activity of anti-tuberculosis drugs and result in three different phenotypes: rapid (RA), intermediate (IA) and slow acetylators (SA). Methodology: The allelic, genotypic and phenotypic frequencies of NAT-2 were studied in 185 patients from Buenos Aires by restriction fragment length polymorphism. Results: The following allele frequencies were obtained: *4 = 29.9%, *5 = 37.0, *6 = 25.6%, *7 = 8% and *14 = 1.3%. With regard to the phenotype, we observed that 53.6% of the population was SA, 35.7% was IA and 10.7% was RA. Conclusion: A high prevalence of SA might have an impact on anti-TB drug-induced hepatotoxicity.
JIDC and Latin America
Authors: Rodriguez-Morales Alfonso J. , Rubino Salvatore
Published: September 2012

This item has no abstract. Follow the links below to access the full text.
Circulation et connexité mondiale des savoirs
Authors: Arellano Hernández Antonio , Arvanitis Rigas , Vinck Dominique
Published: September 2012

Les auteurs montrent comment la recherche scientifique et technologique en Amérique latine s’est institutionnalisée et a suscité questions et débats de politique scientifique. Cette évolution est devenue un objet d'études. Ainsi, le texte décrit l'émergence et le développement des études sociales sur la science en Amérique latine depuis les années 1950 avec l’élaboration d'une pensée latino-américaine originale sur les sciences et les technologies (PLACTS), la formation des premiers groupes de recherche des études sociales sur la science et la technologie (STS) travaillant sur des disciplines scientifiques et produisant des diagnostics sur l'état des sciences, puis l'institutionnalisation de ces études STS et la consolidation de groupes de recherche donnant lieu à de nouvelles approches portant sur les conditions du développement scientifique dans un contexte périphérique, l'utilité sociale et locale des connaissances scientifiques et technologiques, les processus de re-signification des connaissances établies, la création de nouvelles relations entre recherche-industrie et l'émergence de politiques de recherche. Enfin, le texte montre comment les chercheurs latino-américains s'interrogent aujourd'hui sur les articulations entre savoirs locaux et mondialisés, entre activités et politiques locales et réseaux mondiaux, sur le rôle des connaissances technologiques en Amérique latine dans un monde globalisé, ce qui soulève un questionnement réflexif sur le rôle de la recherche produite par les STS dans les sociétés latino-américaines.
Location-Based Performance Tuning in Mobile Sensor Networks
Authors: Zadorozhny Vladimir I.
Published: September 2012

The author of this chapter considers the location-based approach for performance tuning that significantly facilitates the challenge of utilizing Mobile Sensor Networks. The authors introduce mobile nodes that can be deployed in conjunction with stationary sensor nodes to perform mission critical surveillance and monitoring tasks. It details the past advances in this field and discusses other approaches to this challenge.
Coupling GPS and GIS
Authors: Meenar Mahbubur R. , Sorrentino John A. , Yesmin Sharmin
Published: September 2012

Since the 1990s, the integration of GPS and GIS has become more and more popular and an industry standard in the GIS community worldwide. The increasing availability and affordability of mobile GIS and GPS, along with greater data accuracy and interoperability, will only ensure steady growth of this practice in the future. This chapter provides a brief background of GPS technology and its use in GIS, and then elaborates on the integration techniques of both technologies within their limitations. It also highlights data processing, transfer, and maintenance issues and future trends of this integration.
A Review of Geospatial Information Technology for Natural Disaster Management in Developing Countries
Authors: Herold Sam , Sawada Michael C.
Published: September 2012

Disasters are deadly and destructive events, particularly in developing countries where economic, social, political and cultural factors increase natural hazard vulnerability. The recent devastation of the Haiti earthquake on January 12th, 2010 was a prime example of the human toll a natural disaster can take in developing regions of the world. There is an imminent need to improve natural disaster management capacity in developing countries to reduce disaster impacts. Given that disasters are spatial phenomenon, the application of geospatial information technology (GIT) is essential to the natural disaster management process. However, in developing countries there are numerous barriers to the effective use of GIT, especially at the local level, including limited financial and human resources and a lack of critical spatial data required to support GIT use to improve disaster management related decision making processes. The results of a thorough literature review suggests that currently available free and open source GIT (FOS GIT) offers great potential to overcome some of these barriers. Thus, disaster management practitioners in developing countries could harness this potential in an attempt to reduce hazard vulnerability and improve disaster management capacity. The use of FOS GIT significantly reduces software costs and can help build local level GIT knowledge/technical skills that are required for successful GIT implementation.
Semantic Interoperability of Geospatial Services
Authors: Sikder Iftikhar U. , Misra Santosh
Published: September 2012

This article proposes a multi-agent based framework that allows multiple data sources and models to be semantically integrated for spatial modeling in business processing. The paper reviews the feasibility of ontology-based spatial resource integration options to combine the core spatial reasoning with domain-specific application models. We propose an ontology-based framework for semantic level communication of spatial objects and application models. We then introduce a multi-agent system, ontology-based spatial information and resource integration services (OSIRIS), to semantically interoperate complex spatial services and integrate them in a meaningful composition. The advantage of using multi-agent collaboration in OSIRIS is that it obviates the need for end-user analysts to be able to decompose a problem domain to subproblems or to map different models according to what they actually mean. We also illustrate a multi-agent interaction scenario for collaborative modeling of spatial applications using the proposed custom feature of OSIRIS.
Semantic Annotation of Geospatial RESTful Services Using External Resources
Authors: Saquicela Victor , Vilches-Blázquez Luis. M. , Corcho Oscar
Published: September 2012

RESTful services are increasingly gaining traction over Web Services (WS-*). As with WS-* services, their semantic annotation can provide benefits in tasks related to their discovery, composition, and mediation. In this chapter, the authors present an approach to automate the semantic annotation of geospatial RESTful services using a cross-domain ontology like DBpedia, domain ontologies like GeoNames, and additional external resources (suggestion and synonym services). They use combinations of these resources to discover meanings for each of the parameters of the geospatial RESTful services and perform semantic annotations of them.
A Package-Based Architecture for Customized GIS
Authors: Pazos Andrés , Poveda José , Gould Michael
Published: September 2012

In this chapter we present a package-based component architecture for the specific deployment and maintenance of public sector applications, specifically corporate Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The three-tier architecture defines a group of server-side packages, a kernel and external packages, that are dynamically requested and assembled at execution time according to the needs of individual users to produce on demand customized GIS applications. An intermediate middleware layer handles user authentication and version control. In order to demonstrate the proposed architecture, a practical prototype has been implemented using Java WebStart. This prototype demonstrates the creation of several GIS client applications, with increasing levels of functionality, and based on free software packages.
Biometric Authentication in Broadband Networks for Location-Based Services
Authors: Thomopoulos Stelios C.A. , Argyreas Nikolaos
Published: September 2012

Broadband communication networks have begun to spread rapidly over fixed networks, with wireless networks following at close distance. The excess capacity allows the offering of broadband services at competitive rates. Location-based services (LBS) over wireless broadband networks are becoming mainstream in an emerging ambient intelligence society. For LBS over broadband and, in particular, peer-to-peer networks, such as ad hoc networks, unambiguous user authentication is of paramount importance to user trust and safety, thus ultimately to the success of such service. Biometric authentication is an approach to providing irrefutable identity verification of a user, thus providing the highest level of security. This chapter addresses some of the issues associated with the use of biometric ID for user and apparatus authentication over broadband wireless networks (e.g., GPRS, UMTS, WiFi, LANs) and narrow band local networks (e.g., bluetooth, Zigbee, PANs, BANs).
Multi Depot Probabilistic Vehicle Routing Problems with a Time Window
Authors: Samanta Sutapa , Jha Manoj K.
Published: September 2012

Vehicle Routing Problems (VRPs) are prevalent in all large pick up and delivery logistics systems and are critical to city logistics operations. Of notable significance are three key extensions to classical VRPs: (1) multi-depot scenario; (2) probabilistic demand; and (3) time-window constraints, which are considered simultaneously with VRPs in this paper. The issue then becomes a Multi Depot Probabilistic Vehicle Routing Problem with a Time Window (MDPVRPTW). The underlying complexities of MDPVRPTW are analyzed and a heuristic approach is presented to solve the problem. Genetic algorithms (GAs) are found to be capable of providing an efficient solution to the so-called MDPVRPTW. Within the GAs, two modification operators namely, crossover and mutation, are designed specially to solve the MDPVRPTW. Three numerical examples with 14, 25, and 51 nodes are presented to test the efficiency of the algorithm as the problem size grows. The proposed algorithms perform satisfactorily and the limiting case solutions are in agreement with the constraints. Additional work is needed to test the robustness and efficiency of the algorithms as the problem size grows.
Assessing the Success of an Industrial Cluster
Authors: Reid Neil , Smith Bruce W.
Published: September 2012

Industrial clusters have received considerable attention as a regional development strategy. While their efficacy has been debated by academics, clusters have become popular among practitioners. Despite clusters’ acceptance, there have been few attempts to measure their success or their impact on constituent firms. This paper outlines and discusses the metrics developed to evaluate the success of the northwest Ohio greenhouse cluster. The cluster was launched in 2004 to help the industry become more competitive though collaborative problem solving. In identifying success metrics, the authors were cognizant of the fact that they had to reflect the cluster’s objectives and goals. Thus metrics that measured the impact of branding and marketing efforts, reducing energy costs, and increasing collaboration among cluster stakeholders were developed. The work reported in this paper is only the beginning phases of a longer-term, on-going effort to track the progress and success of the northwest Ohio greenhouse cluster.
The RiskCity Training Package on Multi-Hazard Risk Assessment
Authors: van Westen Cees , Woldai Tsehaie
Published: September 2012

As part of the capacity-building activities of the United Nations University – ITC School on Disaster Geo-Information Management (UNU-ITC DGIM) the International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) has developed a training package on the application of GIS for multi-hazard risk assessment. The package, called RiskCity comprises a complete suite of exercise descriptions, together with GIS data and presentation materials on the various steps required to collect and analyze relevant spatial data for hazard, vulnerability and risk assessment in an urban environment. The package has been developed in collaboration with several partner organizations on different continents, and is used as the basis for a series of courses. Currently it is available as a distance education course.
Sharing Environmental Data through GEOSS
Authors: Giuliani Gregory , Ray Nicolas , Schwarzer Stefan , De Bono Andrea , Peduzzi Pascal , Dao Hy , Van Woerden Jaap , Witt Ron , Beniston Martin , Lehmann Anthony
Published: September 2012

Understanding the complexity of earth-system processes is crucial to convey improved information on the environment to decision-makers and the general public. Addressing this need by sharing environmental data is challenging because it requires a common agreed framework that allows easy and seamless integration of data from different sources. In this regard, the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) portends major benefits through various sharing mechanisms and by giving access to services that could be linked together to process and generate new understandable knowledge and information. Various United Nations projects could greatly benefit from the GEOSS approach.
Agriculture and Conservation in the Natura 2000 Network
Authors: Ioja Cristian , Rozylowicz Laurentiu , Patroescu Maria , Nita Mihai , Onose Diana
Published: September 2012

The Natura 2000 network represents a new approach in the sustainable spatial planning promoted at the European Union level. Agricultural landscapes comprise 28.6% of the surface area of the Natura 2000 sites, many of which have significant conservation values. Plant and animal species, and approximately 30% of the natural habitats of community interest are directly influenced by the presence of certain agricultural activities. This chapter presents a GIS analysis of the European Union Natura 2000 ecological network: spatial distribution of Natura 2000 sites in EU-27, dynamic agricultural surfaces in Natura 2000 sites, and GIS tools in managing process. GIS techniques must represent the tool by which the efficiency of this ecological network is monitored, as it must be permanently nourished with important financial resources.
Learning Geospatial Concepts as Part of a Non-Formal Education Robotics Experience
Authors: Adamchuk Viacheslav , Barker Bradley S. , Nugent Gwen , Grandgenett Neal , Patent-Nygren Megan , Lutz Collin , Morgan Kathy
Published: September 2012

In the increasingly modern and technological world, it has become common to use global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as Global Positioning System (GPS), receivers, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in everyday life. GPS-equipped mobile devices and various Web services help users worldwide to determine their locations in real-time and to explore unfamiliar land areas using virtual tools. From the beginning, geospatial technologies have been driven by the need to make efficient use of natural resources. More recently, GPS-equipped autonomous vehicles and aircraft have been under development to facilitate technological processes, such as agricultural operations, transportation, or scouting, with limited or virtual human control. As outdoor robotics relies upon a number of principles related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), using such an instructional context for non-formal education has been promising. As a result, the Geospatial and Robotics Technologies for the 21st Century program discussed in this chapter integrates educational robotics and GPS/GIS technologies to provide educational experiences through summer camps, 4-H clubs, and afterschool programs. The project’s impact was assessed in terms of: a) youth learning of computer programming, mathematics, geospatial and engineering/robotics concepts as well as b) youth attitudes and motivation towards STEM-related disciplines. An increase in robotics, GPS, and GIS learning questionnaire scores and a stronger self-efficacy in relevant STEM areas have been found through a set of project-related assessment instruments.
Harnessing Nigeria’s Investment in Satellite Technology for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security
Authors: Opeyemi Zubair A. , Akinyede J. O.
Published: September 2012

This paper examines the relevance of satellite technology in promoting and sustaining agricultural development and food security in Africa and Nigeria in particular. Some of the common problems facing agricultural development in Nigeria and Africa as a whole are discussed. The authors justify the relevance of Nigeria’s investment in satellite technology for improving agricultural production in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. The paper also presents selected applications of NigeriaSat-1 in sustainable agriculture and food security as embarked on by the government of Nigeria through the National Space Research and Development Agency. Policy recommendations were made to further boost agricultural production and food security in Africa and particularly Nigeria.
Rapid Evaluation of Arid Lands (REAL)
Authors: Dugas Daniel P. , DeMers Michael N. , Greenlee Janet C. , Whitford Walter G. , Klimaszewski-Patterson Anna
Published: September 2012

Management of desert grasslands requires rapid, low technology, coarse assessment methods that provide a triage-like prioritization for the manager. Such approaches necessitate the ability to quickly and effectively identify coarse-scale plant communities that provide guidance for this prioritization. Complex, computer intensive digital image classification of Landsat TM data, while marginally successful, requires time, equipment, and expertise not always available in such environments. This study identifies landform boundaries in the Armendaris Ranch, New Mexico by visual inspection of Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper imagery and topographic maps using traditional photoreconnaissance techniques. Employing predetermined hierarchical landform classifications, it was possible to map plant communities using ecological relationships that exist between the general physiographic and vegetation settings in the area and representative geomorphic landform-mapping units. The authors’ field work verified the plant community map using a random walk approach and visual inspection. This synthetic expert opinion-based approach proved successful and is repeatable in other arid rangeland settings.
Logistics for the Garbage Collection through the use of Ant Colony Algorithms
Authors: Gallegos Julio Cesar Ponce , Aguilera Fatima Sayuri Quezada , Aguilar José Alberto Hernandez , Villalón Christian José Correa
Published: September 2012

The contribution of this chapter is to present an approach to explain the Ant Colony System applied on the Waste Collection Problem, because waste management is moving up to the concern over health and environmental impacts. These algorithms are a framework for decision makers in order to analyze and simulate various spatial waste management problems. In the last decade, metaheuristics have become increasingly popular for effectively confronting difficult combinatorial optimization problems. In the present work, an individual metaheuristic Ant Colony System (ACS) algorithm is introduced, implemented and discussed for the identification of optimal routes in the case Solid Waste collection. This algorithm is applied to a waste collection and transport system, obtaining recollection routes with the less total distance with respect to the actual route utilized and to the solution obtained by a previously developed approach.
Monitoring, Analyzing and Understanding the Dynamics of Complex Processes
Authors: Buurma J.S.
Published: September 2012

This chapter describes the methodology and the outcomes of an analysis of the public debate on pesticide risk reduction in The Netherlands in the period 1995-2008. The objective of the chapter is to get transition management on the research agenda of scientists and professionals in the discipline of informatics. The challenge for this discipline is to design societal Information Systems next to existing agricultural, environmental, and geographic Information Systems. Societal Information Systems could help action researchers and policymakers to better understand and eventually intervene in transition processes in agriculture. Content analysis is the corner stone of the methodology. The analysis revealed the existence of two social systems: the general public focusing on pesticides, and the agricultural community focusing on crop protection. Application of a dramaturgic approach revealed the key moments and the key actors in the debate, and also revealed the discourses of the key actors, respectively challenging and defending the existing institutions.
Geo-Informatics for Land Use and Biodiversity Studies
Authors: Joshi P. K. , Priyanka Neena
Published: September 2012

The dynamics of land use/land cover (LU/LC) is a manifestation of the cyclic correlation among the kind and magnitude of causes, impacts, responses and resulting ecological processes of the ecosystem. Thus, the holistic understanding of the complex mechanisms that control LU/LC requires synergetic adoption of measurement approaches, addressing issues, and identifying drivers of change and state of art technologies for mitigation measures. As the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of the LU/LC increases, its impact on biodiversity becomes even more difficult to anticipate. Thus, in order to understand the spatio-temporal dynamics of change in landscape and its relationship to biodiversity, it is necessary to reliably identify and quantify the indicators of change. In addition, it is also important to have better understanding of the technologies and techniques that serve as complimentary tool for land mitigation and conservation planning. Against this background, the chapter aims to synthesize LU/LC studies worldwide and their impacts on biodiversity. This chapter explores identification and analysis of key natural, socio-economic and regulatory drivers for LU/LC. Finally, it attempts to collate some LU/LC studies involving usage of geospatial tools, such as satellite remote sensing, Geographic Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), and integrative tools, besides conventional approaches that could assist decision makers, land managers, stakeholders and researchers in better management and formulation of conservation strategies based on scientific grounds.
Virtual Neighborhoods and E-Government
Authors: Moody Rebecca , de Kool Dennis , Bekkers Victor
Published: September 2012

In this chapter the potential of GIS oriented neighborhood websites in the Netherlands will be researched. This new way of location based e-government will be analyzed by conducting four case studies in which neighborhood websites hold a central position. Relevant questions include to what degree these websites improve service delivery on the side of the government and to what degree the position of citizens is strengthened and whether they are pleased with the website and with the results. Attention will be paid to critical factors for success when designing the website but also while implementing the website and when the website is running. This will be done in terms of service delivery, closing of the gap between government and citizens and the strength of the position of citizens. Finally, we will answer the question on how GIS oriented neighborhood websites can be implemented so they have the highest potential by citizen satisfaction.
Intelligent Freight Transportation System
Authors: Stefansson Gunnar
Published: September 2012

The purpose of this chapter is to identify the necessary components of Intelligent Freight Transportation System (IFTS) and analyze the potential effects on transport operations performances in all the three pillars of sustainability, namely the economics, environmental and social impacts. In order to achieve this objective, a literature study was conducted, looking for relevant up-to-date literature within the fields of transportation, logistics, and information and communication technology (ICT) and environmental impacts of freight transportation. In addition, two separate rounds of empirical studies were made. From literature, as well as from part of the empirical data collection, a requirement analysis was done to understand issues and problems in transport operations that can be addressed with more sophisticated information and communication systems. The second round of empirical data collection was done to identify potential solutions of the identified issues. Finally an analysis was made to understand the functionalities of possible IFTS solutions. Many effects were found that can contribute to increased performance of transport operations including automatic item identification, safety and security prevention, real-time navigation, traffic situation notification and carbon footprint registration.
Visualizing Plant Community Change Using Historical Records
Authors: Brister Evelyn , Hane Elizabeth , Korfmacher Karl
Published: September 2012

Ecological data from land surveys from 1811 for the 100,000-acre Connecticut Tract in western New York were transcribed and then analyzed using ArcGIS and IDRISI GIS software. The surveys contained both witness tree data and line descriptions, which were analyzed for species composition and community type. Results illustrate that many changes have occurred in species composition. Possible causes of these changes to the mature forests may include introduced pests and diseases or anthropogenic land-use change. Comparisons to the National Wetlands Inventory Database reveal that while some of the wetlands that were present in 1811 still exist today, particularly in the Byron-Bergen Swamp and in the wetlands along the Lake Ontario shoreline, other original wetlands have been lost while new wetlands have replaced some upland forests. This study helps elucidate past causes of temporal and spatial variability, and it provides a reference point for land managers who need to understand the effects of land-use history for ongoing restoration efforts.
Building Industrial Clusters in Latin America
Authors: Scheel Carlos , Pineda Leonardo
Published: September 2012

Analysis of more than 20 projects for clustering small and medium enterprises and supporting organizations in different Latin American countries has uncovered a number of barriers, activities, structures, strategies, policies and procedures that impact competitiveness. These factors mean that there are different appropriate industrial cluster and industrial business models appropriate for the social, economic, and business conditions of the Latin American region. It is difficult to transfer successful practices from industrialized countries to developing regions with a light adaptation, because it is impossible to have “clustering readiness” when resources are scarce, regional and industrial conditions are hostile, and associated capabilities of the participants of clustering are poor or nonexistent. These conclusions are supported by applying a methodology designed by the authors to identify global opportunities and formulate viable cluster structures, capable of converting isolated scarce resources in difficult situations, into world-class regional value propositions.
The Standards War between ODF and OOXML
Authors: Egyedi Tineke M. , Koppenhol Aad
Published: September 2012

A strong belief exists that competition between de facto standards stimulates innovation and benefits consumers because it drives down the costs of products. The tenability of this belief, and its preconditions and limits, has been widely scrutinized. However, little has been written about competition between negotiated, de jure (i.e., committee) standards. Are competing de jure standards a good thing? Blind (2008) equals de jure to de facto standards and concludes that competition between de jure standards increases social welfare. In this paper we argue that it is important to distinguish between de jure and de facto standards; therefore, that Blind’s basic assumption is incorrect. We illustrate our argument with the same example as Blind, that is, the standards war between the document formats of ODF and OOXML. In our view, the implications of condoning—and even encouraging—competition between de jure standards will have far-reaching consequences for public IT-procurement. It will hinder innovation and counteract supplier-independent information exchange between government and citizens.