Geography

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 Geography;  query;  wordnet;  

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Abstract: Socioeconomic and health-related data at the county level are now available through the Community Health Status Indicators (CHSI) database. These data are useful for assessing the health of communities and regions. Users of the CHSI data can access online reports and an online mapping application for visualizing patterns in various community-related measures. It also is possible to download these data to conduct local analyses. This paper describes a spatial analysis of poverty in the United States at the county level for 2000. Spatial statistical techniques in a geographic information system were used to quantify significant spatial patterns, such as concentrated poverty rates and spatial outliers. The analysis revealed significant and stark patterns of poverty. A distinctive north–south demarcation of low versus high poverty concentrations was found, along with isolated pockets of high and low poverty within areas in which the predominant poverty rates were opposite. This pattern can be described as following a continental poverty divide. These insights can be useful in explicating the underlying processes involved in forming such spatial patterns that result in concentrated wealth and poverty. The spatial analytic techniques are broadly applicable to socioeconomic and health-related data and can provide important information about the spatial structure of datasets, which is important for choosing appropriate analysis methods.

 Geography;  USA;  health;  inequality;  poverty;  

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Abstract: BACKGROUND:Scientific publications play an important role in the scientific process providing a key linkage between knowledge production and use. Scientific publishing activity worldwide over the past decades shows that most countries in Africa have low levels of publication. We sought to examine trends and contribution of different Africa subregions and individual countries as it is represented by the articles indexed by PubMed between 1996 and 2005. RESULTS:Research production in Africa is highly skewed; South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria make up a striking 60% of the total number of articles indexed by PubMed between 1996 and 2005. When adjusted for population size, smaller countries, such as The Gambia, Gabon and Botswana were more productive than Nigeria and Kenya. The Gambia and Eritrea had better records when the total production was adjusted for gross domestic product. The contribution of Africa to global research production was persistently low through the period studied. CONCLUSIONS:In this study, we found that most populous and rich countries (such as South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria) have correspondingly higher research production; but smaller countries can be productive. We noted continuous increases and reassuring trends in the production of research articles from all African subregions during the period 1996 - 2005. However, contribution of Africa to global research production was limited.

 Geography;  africa;  publishing;  

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Abstract: This paper describes selected earlier approaches to graphically relating events to each other and to time; some new combinations are also suggested. These are then combined into a unified prototyping environment for visualization and navigation of electronic health records. Google Earth (GE) is used for handling display and interaction of clinical information stored using openEHR data structures and archetypes. The strength of the approach comes from GEs sophisticated handling of detail levels, from coarse overviews to fine-grained details that has been combined with linear, polar and region-based views of clinical events related to time. The system should be easy to learn since all the visualization styles can use the same navigation.The structured and multifaceted approach to handling time that is possible with archetyped openEHR data lends itself well to visualizing and integration with openEHR components is provided in the environment.

 Geography;  Visualization;  health;  infovis;  

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Abstract: The statistic known as Moran’s I is widely used to test for the presence of spatial dependence in observations taken on a lattice. Under the null hypothesis that the data are independent and identically distributed normal random variates, the distribution of Moran’s I is known, and hypothesis tests based on this statistic have been shown in the literature to have various optimality properties. Given its simplicity, Moran’s I is also frequently used outside of the formal hypothesis-testing setting in exploratory analyses of spatially referenced data; however, its limitations are not very well understood. To illustrate these limitations, we show that, for data generated according to the spatial autoregressive (SAR) model, Moran’s I is only a good estimator of the SAR model’s spatialdependence parameter when the parameter is close to 0. In this research, we develop an alternative closed-form measure of spatial autocorrelation, which we call APLE, because it is an approximate profile-likelihood estimator (APLE) of the SAR model’s spatialdependence parameter. We show that APLE can be used as a test statistic for, and an estimator of, the strength of spatial autocorrelation. We include both theoretical and simulation-based motivations (including comparison with the maximum-likelihood estimator), for using APLE as an estimator. In conjunction, we propose the APLE scatterplot, an exploratory graphical tool that is analogous to the Moran scatterplot, and we demonstrate that the APLE scatterplot is a better visual tool for assessing the strength of spatial autocorrelation in the data than the Moran scatterplot. In addition, Monte Carlo tests based on both APLE and Moran’s I are introduced and compared. Finally, we include an analysis of the well-known Mercer and Hall wheat-yield data to illustrate the difference between APLE and Moran’s I when they are used in exploratory spatial data analysis.

 Geography;  spatial analysis;  Geocomputation;  

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Abstract: Sorry no abstract available for this article

 Geography;  analysis;  Geocomputation;  statistical;  

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Abstract: Many social phenomena have a spatio-temporal dimension and involve dynamic decisions made by individuals. In the past, researchers have often turned to geographic information systems (GIS) to model these interactions. Although GIS provide a powerful tool for examining the spatial aspects of these interactions, they are unable to model the dynamic, individual-level interactions across time and space. In an attempt to address these issues, some researchers have begun to use simulation models. But these models rely on artificial landscapes that do not take into account the environment in which humans move and interact. This research presents the methodology for ‘situating’ simulation through the use of a new modeling tool, Agent Analyst, which integrates agent-based modeling (ABM) and GIS. Three versions of a model of street robbery are presented to illustrate the importance of using ‘real’ data to inform agent activity spaces and movement. The successful implementation of this model demonstrates that: (1) agents can move along existing street networks; (2) land use patterns can be used to realistically distribute agent’s homes and activities across a city; and (3) the incidence and pattern of street robberies is significantly different when ‘real’ data are used.

 spatiotemporal;  Geography;  simulation;  modeling;  

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Abstract: Understanding how people use online maps allows data acquisition teams to concentrate their efforts on the portions of the map that are most seen by users. Online maps represent vast databases, and so it is insufficient to simply look at a list of the most-accessed URLs. Hotmap takes advantage of the design of a mapping systems imagery pyramid to superpose a heatmap of the log files over the original maps. Users behavior within the system can be observed and interpreted. This paper discusses the imagery acquisition task that motivated Hotmap, and presents several examples of information that Hotmap makes visible. we discuss the design choices behind Hotmap, including logarithmic color schemes; low-saturation background images; and tuning images to explore both infrequently-viewed and frequently-viewed spaces.

 GIS;  Geography;  Visualization;  maps;  infovis;  web20;  geospatial;  vast;  social navigation;  geographical visualization;  heatmap;  server log analysis;  online mapping systems;  

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Abstract: GeoTime and nSpace are innovative visual analytic tools that enable investigation and understanding of complex, ambiguous situations. nSpace is a system of systems supporting the whole analytic workflow. GeoTime provides insight into events and behaviors in time and space. Junior analysts used the analytic capabilities these tools supported to investigate the 2006 VAST contest data set and produce an intelligence assessment report. This article describes how these tools created an analytical environment that enabled two novice analysts to examine the scenario, discover patterns, trace connections, assess evidence, visually represent meaningful hypotheses with associated evidence, track progress, collaborate with others, and produce a final report.

 spatiotemporal;  Geography;  infovis;  vast;  

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Abstract: Introduction Social, cultural, and economic environments are associated with high rates of disease incidence and mortality in poor Appalachian regions of the United States. Although many historical studies suggest that aspects of Appalachian culture (e.g., fatalism, patriarchy) include values and beliefs that may put Appalachians at risk for poor health, other cultural aspects may be protective (e.g., strong social ties). Few recent studies have explored regional cultural issues qualitatively. The purpose of this study was to examine social and cultural factors that may be associated with health and illness in an Appalachian region. Methods Ten focus groups were conducted in southern West Virginia and included five groups of men and five groups of women. Cultural norms associated with residents of rural Appalachia, such as faith, family values, and patriarchy, were examined. Results Both men and women in the focus groups have a sense of place, strong family ties, and a strong spiritual belief or faith in God. Patriarchy as a cultural value was not a strong factor. Conclusion There are limits to how qualitative data may be used, but findings from this study help increase understanding of the social and cultural environments of people living in rural Appalachia and how these environments may affect health.

 Geography;  USA;  health;  inequality;  poverty;  appalachia;  

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 Geography;  health;  inequality;  poverty;  appalachia;  

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Abstract: Sorry no abstract available for this article

 ontology;  Geography;  

Abstract: Multiple representation of geographic information occurs when a real-world entity is represented more than once in the same or different databases. This occurs frequently in practice, and it invariably results in the occurrence of inconsistencies among the different representations of the same entity. In this paper, we propose an approach to the modeling of multiple represented entities, which is based on the relationships among the entities and their representations. Central to our approach is the Multiple Representation Schema Language that, by intuitive and declarative means, is used to specify rules that match objects representing the same entity, maintain consistency among these representations, and restore consistency if necessary. The rules configure a Multiple Representation Management System, the aim of which is to manage multiple representations over a number of autonomous federated databases. We present a graphical and a lexical binding to the schema language. The graphical binding is built on an extension to the Unified Modeling Language and the Object Constraint Language. We demonstrate that it is possible to implement the constructs of the schema language in the object-relational model of a commercial RDBMS.

 Geography;  spatial representation;  time representation;  events;  multirepresentation;  

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 Geography;  algorithm;  analysis;  geocoding;  gazetteer;  

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Abstract: Information systems that support scientific collaboration often facilitate the sharing of tangible resources, such as data files, as a proxy for sharing the knowledge embedded in or emerging from those resources. Current computational aids to science work thus do little to support knowledge-based inquiry; the human knowledge that creates meaning out of analyses is often only recorded when work reaches publication--or worse, left unrecorded altogether--for lack of an abstract model for scientific concepts that can capture knowledge as it is created and used. In this research, concepts rather than datasets are treated as the primitive elements of scientific inquiry. A model for scientific concepts is developed that incorporates representation of (1) the situated processes of science work, (2) the social construction of knowledge, and (3) the emergence and evolution of understanding over time. In this model, knowledge is the result of collaboration, negotiation, and manipulation by teams of researchers. Capturing the situations in which knowledge is created and used helps these collaborators discover areas of agreement and discord, while allowing individual inquirers to maintain different perspectives on the same information. The capture of provenance information allows historical trails of reasoning to be reconstructed, revealing the process by which knowledge is adopted, revised, and reused in a community. This work leverages advancement in the areas of cyberinfrastructure and the Semantic Web to produce a proof-of-concept system, called Codex, based on this situated knowledge model. Codex supports visualization of knowledge structures and inference across those structures. The proof-of-concept is deployed in two collaborative application contexts, human-environment interaction and geoscience. These use cases demonstrate the viability of Codex to support distributed teams of learners and researchers by encouraging greater appreciation for shared understanding.

 Geography;  situated knowledge;  Computer science;  

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 Geography;  Visualization;  

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 Geography;  Visualization;  analysis;  interaction;  

Abstract: How will the Internet and related digital technology affect the tendency for innovation activity to cluster geographically? This article argues that innovation has characteristics that make it unique from other types of economic activities. At a fundamental level, innovation is a non-routine social process that involves the creative deployment of knowledge. By examining the individual, the social and the geographic dimensions of innovation, the article concludes that while the Internet, while offering advantages in access to information, will not disrupt the geographic advantages associated with concentrations of resources, face-to-face interactions and serendipity or chance occurrences.

 Geography;   Digital revolution;  

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Abstract: Due to the recent growth of the World Wide Web, numerous spatio-temporal applications can obtain their required information from web sources. In this demonstration we show The WorldInfo Assistant, an application that extracts and integrates spatial, temporal and other information about different regions of the world from different web sources and databases. This application also provides integration of different vector data with the satellite images of different regions of the world. Finally,...

 spatiotemporal;  Geography;  agents;  knowledge-discovery;  data-mining;  web;  

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Abstract: The Internet is a hospitable medium for distance learning. Some geography educators fear that distance education confronts the discipline with a moral dilemma, however. One, in particular, acknowledges some of the advantages of distance learning, but contends that it cannot convey the sense of place that is 'the essence of what it means to be a geographer'. This paper is concerned with the morality of distance learning. In particular, it considers educators' obligations to deliver quality education, and to make it as widely accessible as possible. The paper stresses that the key distinction between distance learning and traditional resident instruction is not the mode of delivery, nor is it the distances in time and space that separate students and teachers. Rather, it is that distance learners are a qualitatively different, older population, with different educational needs from traditional on-campus undergraduates and graduate students. The paper argues that geography educators have a moral obligation to serve lifelong learners, an obligation that should take precedence over our allegiance to conventional notions about what constitutes the essence of our field

 Geography;   eLearning;  

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Abstract: Despite the plethora of teaching materials that are available on the Internet to enhance geography higher education, few assessments of the effectiveness of these materials exist. This symposium collects papers that provide guidelines for using the Internet effectively for teaching geography. Students must learn how to use the Internet effectively to promote learning; instructors need to learn how to use the Internet effectively to promote good practice in higher education; instructors need to learn how to use the Internet effectively to enhance learning; and higher educators need to learn how to use the Internet effectively not only in traditional classroom settings, but in new, non-traditional settings such as those used for distance learning. These papers provide some assessment of these various aspects of using the Internet for teaching geography in higher education.

 Geography;  eLearning;  

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Abstract: When McLuhan and Fiore (1967) boldly declared that “the medium is the message,” they were calling our attention to the subtle and complex roles of the medium in shaping our thoughts and behaviors. Today, people seem to be unable to discuss anything without mentioning the Internet-the latest electronic medium for communication. The Internet’s explosive growth during the past five years has raised numerous issues regarding fundamental geographic concepts such as space, place, and time (Adams and Warf 1997, Brunn 1998). As more geography departments offer virtual field trips, on-line courses, and even on-line degree programs, the Internet is also changing the way we teach geography (0 Tuathail and McCormack 1998). Similar to previous technical advances, the current episode has generated both enormous enthusiasm and serious concerns (Hiltz 1994, Talbott 1995, Rochlin 1996, Tapscott 1998). This special issue addresses conceptual, cognitive, and pedagogic issues in the age of the Internet, and this introduction situates the current transformation and its implications for geography and geographic education in a broader historical and conceptual context. We hope to provoke geographers to think beyond technical issues and stimulate further discussion about how the Internet will transform traditional geographic concepts and how cognitive and pedagogical theories can be incorporated into the e-merging virtual geography department.

 Geography;  eLearning;  education;  

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Abstract: This article critically explores how the relations between information technologies and space and place are being conceptualized in a broad swathe of recent writings and discourses on the geographies of cyberspace' and information technologies. After analysing the powerful role of spatial and territorial metaphors in anchoring current discourses about information technologies and society, the article goes on to identify three broad, dominating perspectives. These I label the perspective of substitution and transcendence' (dominated by technological Utopianists), the co-evolution' perspective (drawing from political economy and cultural studies) and the recombination' perspective (derived from recent work in actor-network theory). The discussion turns to each in turn, extracting the geographical dimensions and implications of each. The article concludes by considering the implications of the discussion for spatial treatments of societytechnology relations and for broader debates about the nature of space and place.

 Geography;  Digital Revolution;  

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Abstract: The potential of geographical information science (GIScience)1 to attract new students to geography has not been fully realized. Faculty attitudes about the role of GIScience in the geography curriculum, along with logistic constraints imposed by the conventional model of laboratory instruction, conspire to limit enrolment. Attitudes are changing, however, and alternative instructional models exist. This essay presents the rationale for an instructional delivery model designed to accommodate large enrolments in both resident and distance versions of an introductory GIScience course. The course-a social-science general education introduction to geographic information-emphasizes students' understanding of, and ability to articulate, the unique properties of geographic information and the social contexts in which it is produced and used. The alternative model divides laboratories into two components: discussion sessions that foster collaborative learning in small groups of students, and computer-based activities developed specifically for independent student use on personal computers ('homeware'). It is argued that the alternative model not only overcomes logistic constraints on enrolment, but is desirable on pedagogical grounds as well.

 Geography;   eLearning;  

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 Geography;  Hartshorne;   Tradition;  

Abstract: As practitioners of an integrative discipline, geographers may experience difficulty keeping abreast of current literature in several interest areas simultaneously. The problem is exacerbated by a high level of error in many citation lists, much of which may be attributable to manual transcription of references. Sophisticated bibliographic software packages available for microcomputers can help researchers maintain up-to-date, relatively error-free bibliographies. These tools are also effective for teaching the basics of on-line searching. The utility of such software is illustrated in a discussion of an inexpensive personal bibliographic package with capabilities in three broad areas: information management, data acquisition, and printing formatted reference lists.

 Geography;  bibliography manager;  

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Abstract: We describe a major effort by the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA) to develop teaching materials in support of courses in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The project is motivated by the current high level of demand for GIS professionals and by the need to distinguish between software training on the one hand, and education in the intellectual and conceptual basis of GIS on the other. The teaching materials were assembled from contributions by many GIS educators and tested in a number of institutions worldwide. The activities described in this article were followed by an evaluation programme during 1989-90 and culminated in the release of a revised version in the summer of 1990.

 Geography;  education;  

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 Geography;  education;  

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Abstract: This paper explores the possibilities of visualizing document similarities and differences in both spatial and topical domains. Building on previous studies of geographical information retrieval and textual information retrieval (IR) systems, we report on the development of an information browsing tool, GeoVIBE. The system consists of two types of browsing windows, GeoView and VibeView, that work in coordination for visual navigation in the document space. GeoView imposes a geographical order...

 Geography;  Visualization;  library;  digital;  

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