Light list.

"CG-162".

Light list.

Title varies slightly.

Light list.

"CG-159".

Sailing directions (enroute), Strait of Malacca and Sumatera /

Includes index.

Light list.

Subtitle varies slightly.

Light list.

Mode of access: Internet.

Light list.

Mode of access: Internet.

Hierarchical dirichlet process for tracking complex topical structure evolution and its application to autism research literature

In this paper we describe a novel framework for the discovery of the topical content of a data corpus, and the tracking of its complex structural changes across the temporal dimension. In contrast to previous work our model does not impose a prior on the rate at which documents are added to the corpus nor does it adopt the Markovian assumption which overly restricts the type of changes that the model can capture. Our key technical contribution is a framework based on (i) discretization of time into epochs, (ii) epoch-wise topic discovery using a hierarchical Dirichlet process-based model, and (iii) a temporal similarity graph which allows for the modelling of complex topic changes: emergence and disappearance, evolution, splitting and merging. The power of the proposed framework is demonstrated on the medical literature corpus concerned with the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) - an increasingly important research subject of significant social and healthcare importance. In addition to the collected ASD literature corpus which we made freely available, our contributions also include two free online tools we built as aids to ASD researchers. These can be used for semantically meaningful navigation and searching, as well as knowledge discovery from this large and rapidly growing corpus of literature.

Resilient Navigation through Probabilistic Modality Reconfiguration

This paper proposes an approach to achieve resilient navigation for indoor mobile robots. Resilient navigation seeks to mitigate the impact of control, localisation, or map errors on the safety of the platform while enforcing the robot’s ability to achieve its goal. We show that resilience to unpredictable errors can be achieved by combining the benefits of independent and complementary algorithmic approaches to navigation, or modalities, each tuned to a particular type of environment or situation. In this paper, the modalities comprise a path planning method and a reactive motion strategy. While the robot navigates, a Hidden Markov Model continually estimates the most appropriate modality based on two types of information: context (information known a priori) and monitoring (evaluating unpredictable aspects of the current situation). The robot then uses the recommended modality, switching between one and another dynamically. Experimental validation with a SegwayRMP- based platform in an office environment shows that our approach enables failure mitigation while maintaining the safety of the platform. The robot is shown to reach its goal in the presence of: 1) unpredicted control errors, 2) unexpected map errors and 3) a large injected localisation fault.

As diferentes facetas no tratamento do HIV/AIDS: uma análise de representações sociais de enfermeiros

O presente estudo tem como objetivo apreender e analisar as representações sociais do tratamento do HIV/AIDS para enfermeiros atuantes em um hospital de referência, localizado do município do Rio de Janeiro. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo com abordagem qualitativa, que utilizou como referencial teórico-metodológico a teoria das representações sociais. Os sujeitos do estudo foram 20 enfermeiros que atuam em um hospital público universitário da cidade do Rio de Janeiro. A coleta de dados deu-se por meio de entrevista semi-estruturada. Para análise dos depoimentos obtidos através das entrevistas utilizou-se a técnica de análise de conteúdo temática, proposta por Bardin (1977). Após a análise, emergiram nove categorias: O tratamento medicamentoso e os determinantes de sua adesão; O tratamento clínico e físico; Ações psico-espirituais enquanto parte do tratamento; A abordagem terapêutica social na busca da qualidade de vida; Ações educativas preventivas e terapêuticas; A dinâmica familiar envolvida no tratamento; O cuidado psicossocial no diagnóstico e suas repercussões; O relacionamento interpessoal como parte do tratamento; Sentimentos do profissional que cuida. A representação social do tratamento prestado ao portador do HIV/AIDS, identificada no presente estudo, foi construída a partir das novas necessidades apresentadas por estes pacientes, diante do caráter de cronicidade do HIV/AIDS. Observa-se que as representações sociais apreendidas apontam para uma concepção de tratamento dentro de uma perspectiva holística, e não apenas focada na doença e no corpo, apontando para o tratamento enquanto atendimento das necessidades humanas essenciais e não apenas garantia de sobrevivência.

Shortening the decision distance: Selecting decision aids for improved technology investment performance

Deciding which technology to invest in is a recurring issue for technology managers, and the ability to successfully identify the right technology can be a make or break decision for a company. The effects of globalisation have made this issue even more imperative. Not only do companies have to be competitive by global standards but increasingly they have to source technological capabilities from overseas as well. Technology managers already have a variety of decision aids to draw upon, including valuation tools, for example DCF and real options; decision trees; and technology roadmapping. However little theory exists on when, where, why or even how to best apply particular decision aids. Rather than developing further techniques, this paper reviews the relevance and limitations of existing techniques. This is drawn from an on going research project which seeks to support technology managers in selecting and applying existing decision aids and potentially in the design of future decision aids. It is intended that through improving the selection of decision aids, decision performance can be increased, leading to more effective allocation of resources and hence competitive advantage. (c) 2006 PICMET.

Predicting solar disturbance effects on navigation systems

A variety of operational systems are vulnerable to disruption by solar disturbances brought to the Earth by the solar wind. Of particular importance to navigation systems are energetic charged particles which can generate temporary malfunctions and permanent damage in satellites. Modern spacecraft technology may prove to be particularly at risk during the next maximum of the solar cycle. In addition, the associated ionospheric disturbances cause phase shifts of transionospheric and ionosphere-reflected signals, giving positioning errors and loss of signal for GPS and Loran-C positioning systems and for over-the-horizon radars. We now have sufficient understanding of the solar wind, and how it interacts with the Earth's magnetic field, to predict statistically the likely effects on operational systems over the next solar cycle. We also have a number of advanced ways of detecting and tracking these disturbances through space but we cannot, as yet, provide accurate forecasts of individual disturbances that could be used to protect satellites and to correct errors. In addition, we have recently discovered long-term changes in the Sun, which mean that the number and severity of the disturbances to operational systems are increasing.

A usability instrument for evaluating websites-navigation elements

Many small businesses websites have become an important advertising medium. However little consideration is given to how these websites might be made more effective. Many factors impact on website effectiveness, including navigation. Research here describes a usability instrument developed for evaluating small business websites and uses navigation as an example of its application. The research found that the quality of navigation does have an impact on ease-of-use of a site, user's emotional response and frustration levels and a user's intention to return to that website. The research also established the statistically significant elements that contribute to navigation.

SME myths: if we put up a website customers will come to us-why usability is important

Many businesses use their Websites primarily as an alternative marketing strategy. How a business’s image, via a Website, is presented to potential customers is therefore important. There are many factors that will influence the effectiveness of a Website, two critical factors are how easily users are able to navigate and how easy the site is to use. The research reported here examined these two factors on users’ responses to small and medium-sized business Websites. The research found that the quality of navigation and how easy a site is to use does have an impact, how much information is read, the importance of the graphical components, a user's emotional response to a Website, users’ frustration and the user’s intention to return to that Website. The research established the statistically significant elements that contribute to navigation and ease-of-use, and describes the design and successful application of a usability evaluation instrument.

The impact of AIDS on income and human capital

This paper studies the impact of HIV/AIDS on per capita income and education. It explores two channels from HIV/AIDS to income that have not been sufficiently stressed by the literature: the reduction of the incentives to study due to shorter expected longevity and the reduction of productivity of experienced workers. In the model individuals live for three periods, may get infected in the second period and with some probability die of Aids before reaching the third period of their life. Parents care for the welfare of the future generations so that they will maximize lifetime utility of their dynasty. The simulations predict that the most affected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa will be in the future, on average, thirty percent poorer than they would be without AIDS. Schooling will decline in some cases by forty percent. These figures are dramatically reduced with widespread medical treatment, as it increases the survival probability and productivity of infected individuals.