A survey of user modelling in social media websites

With the widespread of social media websites in the internet, and the huge number of users participating and generating infinite number of contents in these websites, the need for personalisation increases dramatically to become a necessity. One of the major issues in personalisation is building users’ profiles, which depend on many elements; such as the used data, the application domain they aim to serve, the representation method and the construction methodology. Recently, this area of research has been a focus for many researchers, and hence, the proposed methods are increasing very quickly. This survey aims to discuss the available user modelling techniques for social media websites, and to highlight the weakness and strength of these methods and to provide a vision for future work in user modelling in social media websites.

Setting water quality objectives for the health of freshwater fish

An important responsibility of the Environment Protection Authority, Victoria, is to set objectives for levels of environmental contaminants. To support the development of environmental objectives for water quality, a need has been identified to understand the dual impacts of concentration and duration of a contaminant on biota in freshwater streams. For suspended solids contamination, information reported by Newcombe and Jensen [ North American Journal of Fisheries Management , 16(4):693--727, 1996] study of freshwater fish and the daily suspended solids data from the United States Geological Survey stream monitoring network is utilised. The study group was requested to examine both the utility of the Newcombe and Jensen and the USA data, as well as the formulation of a procedure for use by the Environment Protection Authority Victoria that takes concentration and duration of harmful episodes into account when assessing water quality. The extent to which the impact of a toxic event on fish health could be modelled deterministically was also considered. It was found that concentration and exposure duration were the main compounding factors on the severity of effects of suspended solids on freshwater fish. A protocol for assessing the cumulative effect on fish health and a simple deterministic model, based on the biology of gill harm and recovery, was proposed. References D. W. T. Au, C. A. Pollino, R. S. S Wu, P. K. S. Shin, S. T. F. Lau, and J. Y. M. Tang. Chronic effects of suspended solids on gill structure, osmoregulation, growth, and triiodothyronine in juvenile green grouper epinephelus coioides . Marine Ecology Press Series , 266:255--264, 2004. J.C. Bezdek, S.K. Chuah, and D. Leep. Generalized k-nearest neighbor rules. Fuzzy Sets and Systems , 18:237--26, 1986. E. T. Champagne, K. L. Bett-Garber, A. M. McClung, and C. Bergman. {Sensory characteristics of diverse rice cultivars as influenced by genetic and environmental factors}. Cereal Chem. , {81}:{237--243}, {2004}. S. G. Cheung and P. K. S. Shin. Size effects of suspended particles on gill damage in green-lipped mussel perna viridis. Marine Pollution Bulletin , 51(8--12):801--810, 2005. D. H. Evans. The fish gill: site of action and model for toxic effects of environmental pollutants. Environmental Health Perspectives , 71:44--58, 1987. G. C. Grigg. The failure of oxygen transport in a fish at low levels of ambient oxygen. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. , 29:1253--1257, 1969. G. Holmes, A. Donkin, and I.H. Witten. {Weka: A machine learning workbench}. In Proceedings of the Second Australia and New Zealand Conference on Intelligent Information Systems , volume {24}, pages {357--361}, {Brisbane, Australia}, {1994}. {IEEE Computer Society}. D. D. Macdonald and C. P. Newcombe. Utility of the stress index for predicting suspended sediment effects: response to comments. North American Journal of Fisheries Management , 13:873--876, 1993. C. P. Newcombe. Suspended sediment in aquatic ecosystems: ill effects as a function of concentration and duration of exposure. Technical report, British Columbia Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Habitat Protection branch, Victoria, 1994. C. P. Newcombe and J. O. T. Jensen. Channel suspended sediment and fisheries: A synthesis for quantitative assessment of risk and impact. North American Journal of Fisheries Management , 16(4):693--727, 1996. C. P. Newcombe and D. D. Macdonald. Effects of suspended sediments on aquatic ecosystems. North American Journal of Fisheries Management , 11(1):72--82, 1991. K. Schmidt-Nielsen. Scaling. Why is animal size so important? Cambridge University Press, NY, 1984. J. S. Schwartz, A. Simon, and L. Klimetz. Use of fish functional traits to associate in-stream suspended sediment transport metrics with biological impairment. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment , 179(1--4):347--369, 2011. E. Al Shaw and J. S. Richardson. Direct and indirect effects of sediment pulse duration on stream invertebrate assemb ages and rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) growth and survival. Canadian Journal of Fish and Aquatic Science , 58:2213--2221, 2001. P. Tiwari and H. Hasegawa. {Demand for housing in Tokyo: A discrete choice analysis}. Regional Studies , {38}:{27--42}, {2004}. Y. Tramblay, A. Saint-Hilaire, T. B. M. J. Ouarda, F. Moatar, and B Hecht. Estimation of local extreme suspended sediment concentrations in california rivers. Science of the Total Environment , 408:4221--

Book Review : "The Media Gaze: Representations of Diversities in Canada by Augie Fleras". Vancouver and Toronto: UBC Press, 2011.

The Media Gaze effectively shatters the assumption that Canada, in all its political correctness, is a cultural mosaic free of discrimination and prejudice. While great strides have been made to reduce blatant racism and sexism in Canadian media, Fleras illustrates how discriminatory and oppressive discourses are still very present in news, television, and film.He brings to light the structural, institutional, and practice-oriented means by which the media is systemically biased toward privileging mainstream audiences while misrepresenting minority groups in the public eye...

In pursuit of an architecture realism

The noble idea of studying seminal works to ‘see what we can learn’ has turned in the 1990s into ‘let’s see what we can take’ and in the last decade a more toxic derivative ‘what else can’t we take’. That is my observation as a student of architecture in the 1990s, and as a practitioner in the 2000s. In 2010, the sense that something is ending is clear. The next generation is rising and their gaze has shifted. The idea of classification (as a means of separation) was previously rejected by a generation of Postmodernists; the usefulness of difference declined. It’s there in the presence of plurality in the resulting architecture, a decision to mine history and seize in a willful manner. This is a process of looking back but never forward. It has been a mono-culture of absorption. The mono-culture rejected the pursuit of the realistic. It is a blanket suffocating all practice of architecture in this country from the mercantile to the intellectual. Independent reviews of Australia’s recent contributions to the Venice Architecture Biennales confirm the malaise. The next generation is beginning to reconsider classification as a means of unification. By acknowledging the characteristics of competing forces it is possible to bring them into a state of tension. Seeking a beautiful contrast is a means to a new end. In the political setting, this is described by Noel Pearson as the radical centre[1]. The concept transcends the political and in its most essential form is a cultural phenomenon. It resists the compromised position and suggests that we can look back while looking forward. The radical centre is the only demonstrated opportunity where it is possible to pursue a realistic architecture. A realistic architecture in Australia may be partially resolved by addressing our anxiety of permanence. Farrelly’s built desires[2] and Markham’s ritual demonstrations[3] are two ways into understanding the broader spectrum of permanence. But I think they are downstream of our core problem. Our problem, as architects, is that we are yet to come to terms with this place. Some call it landscape others call it country. Australian cities were laid out on what was mistaken for a blank canvas. On some occasions there was the consideration of the landscape when it presented insurmountable physical obstacles. The architecture since has continued to work on its piece of a constantly blank canvas. Even more ironic is the commercial awards programs that represent a claim within this framework but at best can only establish a dialogue within itself. This is a closed system unable to look forward. It is said that Melbourne is the most European city in the southern hemisphere but what is really being described there is the limitation of a senseless grid. After all, if Dutch landscape informs Dutch architecture why can’t the Australian landscape inform Australian architecture? To do that, we would have to acknowledge our moribund grasp of the meaning of the Australian landscape. Or more precisely what Indigenes call Country[4]. This is a complex notion and there are different ways into it. Country is experienced and understood through the senses and seared into memory. If one begins design at that starting point it is not unreasonable to think we can arrive at an end point that is a counter trajectory to where we have taken ourselves. A recent studio with Masters students confirmed this. Start by finding Country and it would be impossible to end up with a building looking like an Aboriginal man’s face. To date architecture in Australia has overwhelmingly ignored Country on the back of terra nullius. It can’t seem to get past the picturesque. Why is it so hard? The art world came to terms with this challenge, so too did the legal establishment, even the political scene headed into new waters. It would be easy to blame the budgets of commerce or the constraints of program or even the pressure of success. But that is too easy. Those factors are in fact the kind of limitations that opportunities grow out of. The past decade of economic plenty has, for the most part, smothered the idea that our capitals might enable civic settings or an architecture that is able to looks past lot line boundaries in a dignified manner. The denied opportunities of these settings to be prompted by the Country they occupy is criminal. The public realm is arrested in its development because we refuse to accept Country as a spatial condition. What we seem to be able to embrace is literal and symbolic gestures usually taking the form of a trumped up art installations. All talk – no action. To continue to leave the public realm to the stewardship of mercantile interests is like embracing derivative lending after the global financial crisis.Herein rests an argument for why we need a resourced Government Architect’s office operating not as an isolated lobbyist for business but as a steward of the public realm for both the past and the future. New South Wales is the leading model with Queensland close behind. That is not to say both do not have flaws but current calls for their cessation on the grounds of design parity poorly mask commercial self interest. In Queensland, lobbyists are heavily regulated now with an aim to ensure integrity and accountability. In essence, what I am speaking of will not be found in Reconciliation Action Plans that double as business plans, or the mining of Aboriginal culture for the next marketing gimmick, or even discussions around how to make buildings more ‘Aboriginal’. It will come from the next generation who reject the noxious mono-culture of absorption and embrace a counter trajectory to pursue an architecture of realism.

Human vs. machine : identification of bat species from their echolocation calls by humans and by artificial neural networks

Automated remote ultrasound detectors allow large amounts of data on bat presence and activity to be collected. Processing of such data involves identifying bat species from their echolocation calls. Automated species identification has the potential to provide more consistent, predictable, and potentially higher levels of accuracy than identification by humans. In contrast, identification by humans permits flexibility and intelligence in identification, as well as the incorporation of features and patterns that may be difficult to quantify. We compared humans with artificial neural networks (ANNs) in their ability to classify short recordings of bat echolocation calls of variable signal to noise ratios; these sequences are typical of those obtained from remote automated recording systems that are often used in large-scale ecological studies. We presented 45 recordings (1–4 calls) produced by known species of bats to ANNs and to 26 human participants with 1 month to 23 years of experience in acoustic identification of bats. Humans correctly classified 86% of recordings to genus and 56% to species; ANNs correctly identified 92% and 62%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the performance of ANNs and that of humans, but ANNs performed better than about 75% of humans. There was little relationship between the experience of the human participants and their classification rate. However, humans with <1 year of experience performed worse than others. Currently, identification of bat echolocation calls by humans is suitable for ecological research, after careful consideration of biases. However, improvements to ANNs and the data that they are trained on may in future increase their performance to beyond those demonstrated by humans.

Search-phase echolocation calls of the New Zealand lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacina tuberculata) and long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculatus).

This paper describes the search-phase echolocation calls of lesser short-tailed bats (Mystacina tuberculata) and long-tailed bats (Chalinolobus tuberculatus). Calls were recorded from all three subspecies of short-tailed bat and seven populations of long-tailed bat, three in Northland, two in the central North Island, and two in the lower South Island. The calls were recorded in the field and digitised, then three spectral components and one temporal component of the calls were measured. Calls of the lesser short-tailed bat could be loosely classified into subspecies by means of multivariate discriminant function analysis. Similarly, long-tailed bat calls showed regional variation, and discriminant function analysis was able to fit calls to regional groups with a high rate of success. The significance of the results presented is discussed in terms of the conservation of New Zealand bats and the unique ecology of the lesser short-tailed bat.

A method to evaluate the response of the coronary circulation of perfused rat heart to adenosine

Exogenous adenosine causes a monophasic dilation of the coronary vessels in paced, perfused rat heart preparations. Because levels of endogenous adenosine in paced hearts may mask the presence of high potency adenosine receptors, we have developed a method to measure coronary vascular responses in a potassium-arrested heart. Hearts from adult male, Wistar rats were perfused at a constant flow rate of 10 mL/min in the nonrecirculating, Langendorff mode, using Krebs-Henseleit buffer. After 30 min, coronary perfusion pressure was 44 +/- 1 mmHg (mean +/- SEM). Hearts were then perfused with a modified Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing 35 mM potassium. Coronary perfusion pressure increased by 84 +/- 3 mmHg. Adenosine-induced reductions in coronary perfusion pressure were expressed as a percentage of the maximal increase in pressure produced by modified Krebs-Henseleit buffer from the equilibration level. A concentration-response curve for adenosine (n = 6) was biphasic and best described by the presence of two adenosine receptors, with negative log EC50 values of 8.8 +/- 0.3 and 4.3 +/- 0.1, representing 29 +/- 3 and 71 +/- 3%, respectively, of the observed response. Interstitial adenosine sampled by microdialysis during potassium arrest was 25% of the concentration found in paced hearts. Endogenous adenosine in nonarrested hearts may obscure the biphasic response of the coronary vessels to adenosine.

Petrology and textural classification of the Jericho kimberlite, northern Slave Province, Nunavut, Canada

The paper presents data on petrology, bulk rock and mineral compositions, and textural classification of the Middle Jurassic Jericho kimberlite (Slave craton, Canada). The kimberlite was emplaced as three steep-sided pipes in granite that was overlain by limestones and minor soft sediments. The pipes are infilled with hypabyssal and pyroclastic kimberlites and connected to a satellite pipe by a dyke. The Jericho kimberlite is classified as a Group Ia, lacking groundmass tetraferriphlogopite and containing monticellite pseudomorphs. The kimberlite formed, during several consecutive emplacement events of compositionally different batches of kimberlite magma. Core-logging and thin-section observations identified at least two phases of hypabyssal kimberlites and three phases of pyroclastic kimberlites. Hypabyssal kimberlites intruded as a main dyke (HK1) and as late small-volume aphanitic and vesicular dykes. Massive pyroclastic kimberlite (MPK1) predominantly filled the northern and southern lobes of the pipe and formed from magma different from the HK1 magma. The MPK1 magma crystallized Ti-, Fe-, and Cr-rich phlogopite without rims of barian phlogopite, and clinopyroxene and spinel without atoll structures. MPK1 textures, superficially reminiscent of tuffisitic kimberlite, are caused by pervasive contamination by granite xenoliths. The next explosive events filled the central lobe with two varieties of pyroclastic kimberlite: (1) massive and (2) weakly bedded, normally graded pyroclastic kimberlite. The geology of the Jericho pipe differs from the geology of South African or the Prairie kimberlites, but may resemble Lac de Gras pipes, in which deeper erosion removed upper fades of resedimented kimberlites.

Report: The Canadian Best Practices Educational Toolkits: Translating evidence-based stroke recommendations into practical implementation resources

The Canadian Best Practice Recommendations for Stroke Care are intended to reduce variations in stroke care and facilitate closure of the gap between evidence and practice (Lindsay et al., 2010). The publication of best practice recommendations is only the beginning of this process. The guidelines themselves are not sufficient to change practice and increase consistency in care. Therefore, a key objective of the Canadian Stroke Network (CSN) Best Practices Working Group (BPWG) is to encourage and facilitate ongoing professional development and training for health care professionals providing stroke care. This is addressed through a multi-factorial approach to the creation and dissemination of inter-professional implementation tools and resources. The resources developed by CSN span pre-professional education, ongoing professional development, patient education and may be used to inform systems change. With a focus on knowledge translation, several inter-professional point-of-care tools have been developed by the CSN in collaboration with numerous professional organizations and expert volunteers. These resources are used to facilitate awareness, understanding and applications of evidence-based care across stroke care settings. Similar resources are also developed specifically for stroke patients, their families and informal caregivers, and the general public. With each update of the Canadian Best Practice Recommendations for Stroke Care, the BPWG and topic-specific writing groups propose priority areas for ongoing resource development. In 2010, two of these major educational initiatives were undertaken and recently completed—one to support continuing education for health care professionals regarding secondary stroke prevention and the other to educate families, informal caregivers and the public about pediatric stroke. This paper presents an overview of these two resources, and we encourage health care professionals to integrate these into their personal learning plans and tool kits for patients.

Nurses' accountability for stroke quality of care: part one: Review of the literature on nursing-sensitive patient outcomes

Over the past decade, an exciting area of research has emerged that demonstrates strong links between specific nursing care activities and patient outcomes. This body of research has resulted in the identification of a set of "nursing-sensitive outcomes"(NSOs). These NSOs may be interpreted with more meaning when they are linked to evidence-based best practice guidelines, which provide a structured means of ensuring care is consistent among all health care team members, across geographic locations, and across care settings. Uptake of evidence-based best practices at the point of care has been shown to have a measurable positive impact on processes of care and patient outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic, narrative review of the literature regarding the clinical effectiveness of nursing management strategies on stroke patient outcomes sensitive to nursing interventions. Subsequent investigation will explore current applications of nursing-sensitive outcomes to patients with stroke, and identify and validate measurable NSOs within stroke care delivery.

Quality of life and caregiver outcomes following decompressive hemicraniectomy for severe stroke: A narrative literature review

AIMS The aim of this narrative review of the literature was to examine the current state of knowledge regarding the impact of aggressive surgical interventions for severe stroke on patient and caregiver quality of life and caregiver outcomes. BACKGROUND Decompressive hemicraniectomy (DHC) is a surgical therapeutic option for treatment of massive middle cerebral artery infarction (MCA), lobar intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and severe aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Decompressive hemicraniectomy has been shown to be effective in reducing mortality in these three life-threatening conditions. Significant functional impairment is an experience common to many severe stroke survivors worldwide and close relatives experience decision-making difficulty when confronted with making life or death choices related to surgical intervention for severe stroke. DATA SOURCES Academic Search Premier, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline, and PsychInfo. REVIEW METHODS A narrative review methodology was utilized in this review of the literature related to long-term outcomes following decompressive hemicraniectomy for stroke. The key words decompressive hemicraniectomy, severe stroke, middle cerebral artery stroke, subarachnoid hemorrhage, lobar ICH, intracerebral hemorrhage, quality of life, and caregivers, literature review were combined to search the databases. RESULTS Good functional outcomes following DHC for life-threatening stroke have been shown to be associated with younger age and few co-morbid conditions. It was also apparent that quality of life was reduced for many stroke survivors, although not assessed routinely in studies. Caregiver burden has not been systematically studied in this population. CONCLUSION Most patients and caregivers in the studies reviewed agreed with the original decision to undergo DHC and would make the same decision again. However, little is known about quality of life for both patients and caregivers and caregiver burden over the long-term post-surgery. Further research is needed to generate information and interventions for the management of ongoing patient and carer recovery following DHC for severe stroke.

Education in stroke prevention: Efficacy of an educational counselling intervention to increase knowledge in stroke survivors

BACKGROUND Motivational interviewing and stages of change are approaches to increasing knowledge and effecting behavioural change. This study examined the application of this approach on stroke knowledge acquisition and changing individual lifestyle risk factors in an outpatient clinic. METHODS RCT in which 200 participants were allocated to an education-counselling interview (ECI) or a control group. ECI group participants mapped their individual risk factors on a stage of change model and received an appointment to the next group lifestyle class. Participants completed a stroke knowledge questionnaire at baseline (T1), post-appointment, and three months (T3) post-appointment. Passive to active changes in lifestyle behaviour were self-reported at three months. RESULTS There was a statistically significant difference between groups from T1 toT3 in stroke knowledge (p < 0.001). While there was a significant shift from a passive to active stage of change for the overall study sample (p < 0.000), there was no significant difference between groups on the identified risk factors. CONCLUSIONS Although contact with patients in ambulatory clinical settings is limited due to time constraints, it is still possible to improve knowledge and initiate lifestyle changes utilizing motivational interviewing and a stage of change model. Stroke nurses may wish to consider these techniques in their practice setting.

Reliability of point-of-care testing of INR in acute stroke

Background In the emergency department, portable point-of-care testing (POCT) coagulation devices may facilitate stroke patient care by providing rapid International Normalized Ratio (INR) measurement. The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability, validity, and impact on clinical decision-making of a POCT device for INR testing in the setting of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods A total of 150 patients (50 healthy volunteers, 51 anticoagulated patients, 49 AIS patients) were assessed in a tertiary care facility. The INR's were measured using the Roche Coaguchek S and the standard laboratory technique. Results The interclass correlation coefficient and 95% confidence interval between overall POCT device and standard laboratory value INRs was high (0.932 (0.69 - 0.78). In the AIS group alone, the correlation coefficient and 95% CI was also high 0.937 (0.59 - 0.74) and diagnostic accuracy of the POCT device was 94%. Conclusions When used by a trained health professional in the emergency department to assess INR in acute ischemic stroke patients, the CoaguChek S is reliable and provides rapid results. However, as concordance with laboratory INR values decreases with higher INR values, it is recommended that with CoaguChek S INRs in the > 1.5 range, a standard laboratory measurement be used to confirm the results.