Low-cost irradiance sensors for irradiation assessments inside tree canopies.

The solar irradiation that a crop receives is directly related to the physical and biological processes that affect the crop. However, the assessment of solar irradiation poses certain problems when it must be measured through fruit inside the canopy of a tree. In such cases, it is necessary to check many test points, which usually requires an expensive data acquisition system. The use of conventional irradiance sensors increases the cost of the experiment, making them unsuitable. Nevertheless, it is still possible to perform a precise irradiance test with a reduced price by using low-cost sensors based on the photovoltaic effect. The aim of this work is to develop a low-cost sensor that permits the measurement of the irradiance inside the tree canopy. Two different technologies of solar cells were analyzed for their use in the measurement of solar irradiation levels inside tree canopies. Two data acquisition system setups were also tested and compared. Experiments were performed in Ademuz (Valencia, Spain) in September 2011 and September 2012 to check the validity of low-cost sensors based on solar cells and their associated data acquisition systems. The observed difference between solar irradiation at high and low positions was of 18.5% ± 2.58% at a 95% confidence interval. Large differences were observed between the operations of the two tested sensors. In the case of a-Si cells based mini-modules, an effect of partial shadowing was detected due to the larger size of the devices, the use of individual c-Si cells is recommended over a-Si cells based mini-modules.

HDTourist: exploring urban data on Android

The Web of Data currently comprises ? 62 billion triples from more than 2,000 different datasets covering many fields of knowledge3. This volume of structured Linked Data can be seen as a particular case of Big Data, referred to as Big Semantic Data [4]. Obviously, powerful computational configurations are tradi- tionally required to deal with the scalability problems arising to Big Semantic Data. It is not surprising that this ?data revolution? has competed in parallel with the growth of mobile computing. Smartphones and tablets are massively used at the expense of traditional computers but, to date, mobile devices have more limited computation resources. Therefore, one question that we may ask ourselves would be: can (potentially large) semantic datasets be consumed natively on mobile devices? Currently, only a few mobile apps (e.g., [1, 9, 2, 8]) make use of semantic data that they store in the mobile devices, while many others access existing SPARQL endpoints or Linked Data directly. Two main reasons can be considered for this fact. On the one hand, in spite of some initial approaches [6, 3], there are no well-established triplestores for mobile devices. This is an important limitation because any po- tential app must assume both RDF storage and SPARQL resolution. On the other hand, the particular features of these devices (little storage space, less computational power or more limited bandwidths) limit the adoption of seman- tic data for different uses and purposes. This paper introduces our HDTourist mobile application prototype. It con- sumes urban data from DBpedia4 to help tourists visiting a foreign city. Although it is a simple app, its functionality allows illustrating how semantic data can be stored and queried with limited resources. Our prototype is implemented for An- droid, but its foundations, explained in Section 2, can be deployed in any other platform. The app is described in Section 3, and Section 4 concludes about our current achievements and devises the future work.

A IMPLANTAÇÃO DE INCUBADORAS DE EMPRESAS: ESTUDO DE CASO DE UMA CIDADE DO INTERIOR PAULISTA

A pesquisa trata do estudo da implantação de uma incubadora de empresas no município de Santana de Parnaíba em 2005. Duas perguntas estruturaram a investigação: Quais fatores ou indicadores econômicos e sociais, conforme previsto no Programa Nacional de Apoio à Implantação de Incubadoras de Empresas, se evidenciaram como viabilizadores, ou não, para a escolha do tipo de incubadora implantada no município? A incubadora de Santana de Parnaíba configurou-se ou não como espaço articulado de desenvolvimento econômico e social? Essas questões norteadoras determinaram o objetivo geral do estudo e os objetivos específicos, quais foram: investigar se houve ou não a aplicação do Estudo de Viabilidade Técnica e Econômica/SEBRAE; levantar o perfil socioeconômico do empreendedor local e, identificar o perfil das empresas graduadas quanto à geração de postos de trabalho. Para atender aos objetivos optou-se pela realização de pesquisa qualitativa de caráter exploratório e descritivo. A estratégia da observação participante foi seguida a partir da consulta aos diários de campo e às fontes primárias e secundárias, com a leitura e consulta de documentos e registros da implantação nos arquivos da FIESP. Como parte da estratégia de coleta de dados foi aplicado, junto ao universo da pesquisa, empreendedores e coordenador executivo do Programa de Incubadoras da FIESP, roteiro semiestruturado de questões. As informações foram analisadas mediante a técnica de análise de conteúdo, seguindo a metodologia do Estudo de Caso. Serviu de motivo condutor a constatação de que a notável evolução de tecnologias propiciada pelo sistema capitalista, o avanço dos processos produtivos e o aumento da produtividade nas grandes corporações ocorreram e continuam ocorrendo em ritmo sensivelmente superior à dinâmica de capacitação e qualificação da mão de obra em países em desenvolvimento, o que faz crescer o desemprego e a informalidade. A recente crise americana, em 2008, configura a oportunidade para melhor compreensão do conceito de incubadoras de empresas e demais empreendimentos solidários. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que todos os empreendedores receberam informações de marketing e finanças. O apoio de consultorias especializadas, a participação em feiras e o desenvolvimento do plano de negó cios ao longo da incubação contemplaram as expectativas dos empreendimentos de tecnologia difundida. A pesquisa indica que, nos empreendimentos de base tecnológica, a incubadora não concretizou apoio efetivo às demandas por novos processos e novos produtos. Disso decorreu o atendimento deficitário às metas de geração de emprego na localidade pelas três empresas de base tecnológica instaladas na incubadora. Os resultados indicam que, apesar da significativa quantidade de documentos de conteúdo normativo que tratam da prevenção de insucessos de políticas públicas de apoio à implantação de incubadoras e ao empreendedorismo, não foi possível constatar indícios de articulação entre desenvolvimento econômico e desenvolvimento social nem de Estudo de Viabilidade Técnica e Econômica precedendo a implantação da incubadora no município estudado.(AU)

A IMPLANTAÇÃO DE INCUBADORAS DE EMPRESAS: ESTUDO DE CASO DE UMA CIDADE DO INTERIOR PAULISTA

A pesquisa trata do estudo da implantação de uma incubadora de empresas no município de Santana de Parnaíba em 2005. Duas perguntas estruturaram a investigação: Quais fatores ou indicadores econômicos e sociais, conforme previsto no Programa Nacional de Apoio à Implantação de Incubadoras de Empresas, se evidenciaram como viabilizadores, ou não, para a escolha do tipo de incubadora implantada no município? A incubadora de Santana de Parnaíba configurou-se ou não como espaço articulado de desenvolvimento econômico e social? Essas questões norteadoras determinaram o objetivo geral do estudo e os objetivos específicos, quais foram: investigar se houve ou não a aplicação do Estudo de Viabilidade Técnica e Econômica/SEBRAE; levantar o perfil socioeconômico do empreendedor local e, identificar o perfil das empresas graduadas quanto à geração de postos de trabalho. Para atender aos objetivos optou-se pela realização de pesquisa qualitativa de caráter exploratório e descritivo. A estratégia da observação participante foi seguida a partir da consulta aos diários de campo e às fontes primárias e secundárias, com a leitura e consulta de documentos e registros da implantação nos arquivos da FIESP. Como parte da estratégia de coleta de dados foi aplicado, junto ao universo da pesquisa, empreendedores e coordenador executivo do Programa de Incubadoras da FIESP, roteiro semiestruturado de questões. As informações foram analisadas mediante a técnica de análise de conteúdo, seguindo a metodologia do Estudo de Caso. Serviu de motivo condutor a constatação de que a notável evolução de tecnologias propiciada pelo sistema capitalista, o avanço dos processos produtivos e o aumento da produtividade nas grandes corporações ocorreram e continuam ocorrendo em ritmo sensivelmente superior à dinâmica de capacitação e qualificação da mão de obra em países em desenvolvimento, o que faz crescer o desemprego e a informalidade. A recente crise americana, em 2008, configura a oportunidade para melhor compreensão do conceito de incubadoras de empresas e demais empreendimentos solidários. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que todos os empreendedores receberam informações de marketing e finanças. O apoio de consultorias especializadas, a participação em feiras e o desenvolvimento do plano de negó cios ao longo da incubação contemplaram as expectativas dos empreendimentos de tecnologia difundida. A pesquisa indica que, nos empreendimentos de base tecnológica, a incubadora não concretizou apoio efetivo às demandas por novos processos e novos produtos. Disso decorreu o atendimento deficitário às metas de geração de emprego na localidade pelas três empresas de base tecnológica instaladas na incubadora. Os resultados indicam que, apesar da significativa quantidade de documentos de conteúdo normativo que tratam da prevenção de insucessos de políticas públicas de apoio à implantação de incubadoras e ao empreendedorismo, não foi possível constatar indícios de articulação entre desenvolvimento econômico e desenvolvimento social nem de Estudo de Viabilidade Técnica e Econômica precedendo a implantação da incubadora no município estudado.(AU)

Towards a reverse engineering approach for guiding user in applying data mining

Comunicación presentada en las XVI Jornadas de Ingeniería del Software y Bases de Datos, JISBD 2011, A Coruña, 5-7 septiembre 2011.

A IMPLANTAÇÃO DE INCUBADORAS DE EMPRESAS: ESTUDO DE CASO DE UMA CIDADE DO INTERIOR PAULISTA

A pesquisa trata do estudo da implantação de uma incubadora de empresas no município de Santana de Parnaíba em 2005. Duas perguntas estruturaram a investigação: Quais fatores ou indicadores econômicos e sociais, conforme previsto no Programa Nacional de Apoio à Implantação de Incubadoras de Empresas, se evidenciaram como viabilizadores, ou não, para a escolha do tipo de incubadora implantada no município? A incubadora de Santana de Parnaíba configurou-se ou não como espaço articulado de desenvolvimento econômico e social? Essas questões norteadoras determinaram o objetivo geral do estudo e os objetivos específicos, quais foram: investigar se houve ou não a aplicação do Estudo de Viabilidade Técnica e Econômica/SEBRAE; levantar o perfil socioeconômico do empreendedor local e, identificar o perfil das empresas graduadas quanto à geração de postos de trabalho. Para atender aos objetivos optou-se pela realização de pesquisa qualitativa de caráter exploratório e descritivo. A estratégia da observação participante foi seguida a partir da consulta aos diários de campo e às fontes primárias e secundárias, com a leitura e consulta de documentos e registros da implantação nos arquivos da FIESP. Como parte da estratégia de coleta de dados foi aplicado, junto ao universo da pesquisa, empreendedores e coordenador executivo do Programa de Incubadoras da FIESP, roteiro semiestruturado de questões. As informações foram analisadas mediante a técnica de análise de conteúdo, seguindo a metodologia do Estudo de Caso. Serviu de motivo condutor a constatação de que a notável evolução de tecnologias propiciada pelo sistema capitalista, o avanço dos processos produtivos e o aumento da produtividade nas grandes corporações ocorreram e continuam ocorrendo em ritmo sensivelmente superior à dinâmica de capacitação e qualificação da mão de obra em países em desenvolvimento, o que faz crescer o desemprego e a informalidade. A recente crise americana, em 2008, configura a oportunidade para melhor compreensão do conceito de incubadoras de empresas e demais empreendimentos solidários. Os resultados da pesquisa indicam que todos os empreendedores receberam informações de marketing e finanças. O apoio de consultorias especializadas, a participação em feiras e o desenvolvimento do plano de negó cios ao longo da incubação contemplaram as expectativas dos empreendimentos de tecnologia difundida. A pesquisa indica que, nos empreendimentos de base tecnológica, a incubadora não concretizou apoio efetivo às demandas por novos processos e novos produtos. Disso decorreu o atendimento deficitário às metas de geração de emprego na localidade pelas três empresas de base tecnológica instaladas na incubadora. Os resultados indicam que, apesar da significativa quantidade de documentos de conteúdo normativo que tratam da prevenção de insucessos de políticas públicas de apoio à implantação de incubadoras e ao empreendedorismo, não foi possível constatar indícios de articulação entre desenvolvimento econômico e desenvolvimento social nem de Estudo de Viabilidade Técnica e Econômica precedendo a implantação da incubadora no município estudado.(AU)

Training Bayesian networks for image segmentation

We are concerned with the problem of image segmentation in which each pixel is assigned to one of a predefined finite number of classes. In Bayesian image analysis, this requires fusing together local predictions for the class labels with a prior model of segmentations. Markov Random Fields (MRFs) have been used to incorporate some of this prior knowledge, but this not entirely satisfactory as inference in MRFs is NP-hard. The multiscale quadtree model of Bouman and Shapiro (1994) is an attractive alternative, as this is a tree-structured belief network in which inference can be carried out in linear time (Pearl 1988). It is an hierarchical model where the bottom-level nodes are pixels, and higher levels correspond to downsampled versions of the image. The conditional-probability tables (CPTs) in the belief network encode the knowledge of how the levels interact. In this paper we discuss two methods of learning the CPTs given training data, using (a) maximum likelihood and the EM algorithm and (b) emphconditional maximum likelihood (CML). Segmentations obtained using networks trained by CML show a statistically-significant improvement in performance on synthetic images. We also demonstrate the methods on a real-world outdoor-scene segmentation task.

Digital business reporting standards:mapping the battle in France

Government agencies use information technology extensively to collect business data for regulatory purposes. Data communication standards form part of the infrastructure with which businesses must conform to survive. We examine the development of, and emerging competition between, two open business reporting data standards adopted by government bodies in France; EDIFACT (incumbent) and XBRL (challenger). The research explores whether an incumbent may be displaced in a setting in which the contention is unresolved. We apply Latour’s (1992) translation map to trace the enrolments and detours in the battle. We find that regulators play an important role as allies in the development of the standards. The antecedent networks in which the standards are located embed strong beliefs that become barriers to collaboration and fuel the battle. One of the key differentiating attitudes is whether speed is more important than legitimacy. The failure of collaboration encourages competition. The newness of XBRL’s technology just as regulators need to respond to an economic crisis and its adoption by French regulators not using EDIFACT create an opportunity for the challenger to make significant network gains over the longer term. ANT also highlights the importance of the preservation of key components of EDIFACT in ebXML.

The System of Quality Prediction on the Basis of a Fuzzy Data and Psychography of the Experts

The system of development unstable processes prediction is given. It is based on a decision-tree method. The processing technique of the expert information is offered. It is indispensable for constructing and processing by a decision-tree method. In particular data is set in the fuzzy form. The original search algorithms of optimal paths of development of the forecast process are described. This one is oriented to processing of trees of large dimension with vector estimations of arcs.

A Geospatial Database of Tree Islands within the Mustang Corner Fire Incident of 2008

Fire, which affects community structure and composition at all trophic levels, is an integral component of the Everglades ecosystem (Wade et al. 1980; Lockwood et al. 2003). Without fire, the Everglades as we know it today would be a much different place. This is particularly true for the short-hydroperiod marl prairies that predominate on the eastern and western flanks of Shark River Slough, Everglades National Park (Figure 1). In general, fire in a tropical or sub-tropical grassland community favors the dominance of C4 grasses over C3 species (Roscoe et al. 2000; Briggs et al. 2005). Within this pyrogenic graminoid community also, periodic natural fires, together with suitable hydrologic regime, maintain and advance the dominance of C4 vs C3 graminoids (Sah et al. 2008), and suppress the encroachment of woody stems (Hanan et al. 2009; Hanan et al. unpublished manuscript) originating from the tree islands that, in places, dominate the landscape within this community. However, fires, under drought conditions and elevated fuel loads, can spread quickly throughout the landscape, oxidizing organic soils, both in the prairie and in the tree islands, and, in the process, lead to shifts in vegetation composition. This is particularly true when a fire immediately precedes a flood event (Herndon et al. 1991; Lodge 2005; Sah et al. 2010), or if so much soil is consumed during the fire that the hydrologic regime is permanently altered as a result of a decrease in elevation (Zaffke 1983).

Tree characteristics, biomass and vegetation cover near Abisko Research Station in 1997 and 2010

This study was conducted in the Swedish sub-Arctic, near Abisko, in order to assess the direction and scale of possible vegetation changes in the alpine-birch forest ecotone. We have re-surveyed shrub, tree and vegetation data at 549 plots grouped into 61 clusters. The plots were originally surveyed in 1997 and re-surveyed in 2010. Our study is unique for the area as we have quantitatively estimated a 19% increase in tree biomass mainly within the existing birch forest. We also found significant increases in the cover of two vegetation types - "birch forest-heath with mosses" and "meadow with low herbs", while the cover of snowbed vegetation decreased significantly. The vegetation changes might be caused by climate, herbivory and past human impact but irrespective of the causes, the observed transition of the vegetation will have substantial effects on the mountain ecosystems.

The influence of habitat heterogeneity on patterns of connectivity among rabbit populations in southern Queensland

Patterns of connectivity among local populations influence the dynamics of regional systems, but most ecological models have concentrated on explaining the effect of connectivity on local population structure using dynamic processes covering short spatial and temporal scales. In this study, a model was developed in an extended spatial system to examine the hypothesis that long term connectivity levels among local populations are influenced by the spatial distribution of resources and other habitat factors. The habitat heterogeneity model was applied to local wild rabbit populations in the semi-arid Mitchell region of southern central Queensland (the Eastern system). Species' specific population parameters which were appropriate for the rabbit in this region were used. The model predicted a wide range of long term connectivity levels among sites, ranging from the extreme isolation of some sites to relatively high interaction probabilities for others. The validity of model assumptions was assessed by regressing model output against independent population genetic data, and explained over 80% of the variation in the highly structured genetic data set. Furthermore, the model was robust, explaining a significant proportion of the variation in the genetic data over a wide range of parameters. The performance of the habitat heterogeneity model was further assessed by simulating the widely reported recent range expansion of the wild rabbit into the Mitchell region from the adjacent, panmictic Western rabbit population system. The model explained well the independently determined genetic characteristics of the Eastern system at different hierarchic levels, from site specific differences (for example, fixation of a single allele in the population at one site), to differences between population systems (absence of an allele in the Eastern system which is present in all Western system sites). The model therefore explained the past and long term processes which have led to the formation and maintenance of the highly structured Eastern rabbit population system. Most animals exhibit sex biased dispersal which may influence long term connectivity levels among local populations, and thus the dynamics of regional systems. When appropriate sex specific dispersal characteristics were used, the habitat heterogeneity model predicted substantially different interaction patterns between female-only and combined male and female dispersal scenarios. In the latter case, model output was validated using data from a bi-parentally inherited genetic marker. Again, the model explained over 80% of the variation in the genetic data. The fact that such a large proportion of variability is explained in two genetic data sets provides very good evidence that habitat heterogeneity influences long term connectivity levels among local rabbit populations in the Mitchell region for both males and females. The habitat heterogeneity model thus provides a powerful approach for understanding the large scale processes that shape regional population systems in general. Therefore the model has the potential to be useful as a tool to aid in the management of those systems, whether it be for pest management or conservation purposes.

Colorectal cancer survivors’ exercise experiences and preferences : qualitative findings from an exercise rehabilitation programme immediately after chemotherapy

Little is known about cancer survivors’ experiences with and preferences for exercise programmes offered during rehabilitation (immediately after cancer treatment). This study documented colorectal cancer survivors’ experiences in an exercise rehabilitation programme and their preferences for programme content and delivery. At the completion of 12-weeks of supervised exercise, 10 participants took part in one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Data from these interviews were coded, and themes were identified using qualitative software. Key findings were that most participants experienced improvements in treatment symptoms, including reduced fatigue and increased energy and confidence to do activities of daily living. They also reported that interactions with the exercise trainer and a flexible programme delivery were important aspects of the intervention. Most participants reported that they preferred having a choice of exercise, starting to exercise within a month after completing treatment, having supervision and maintaining a one-on-one format. Frustrations included scheduling conflicts and a lack of a transition out of the programme. The findings indicate that colorectal cancers experience benefits from exercise offered immediately after treatment and prefer individual attention from exercise staff. They further indicate directions for the implementation of future exercise programmes with this population.

The use of ZIP and CART to model cryptosporidiosis in relation to climatic variables

This research assesses the potential impact of weekly weather variability on the incidence of cryptosporidiosis disease using time series zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) and classification and regression tree (CART) models. Data on weather variables, notified cryptosporidiosis cases and population size in Brisbane were supplied by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland Department of Health, and Australian Bureau of Statistics, respectively. Both time series ZIP and CART models show a clear association between weather variables (maximum temperature, relative humidity, rainfall and wind speed) and cryptosporidiosis disease. The time series CART models indicated that, when weekly maximum temperature exceeded 31°C and relative humidity was less than 63%, the relative risk of cryptosporidiosis rose by 13.64 (expected morbidity: 39.4; 95% confidence interval: 30.9–47.9). These findings may have applications as a decision support tool in planning disease control and risk management programs for cryptosporidiosis disease.