Towards a journalist-based news recommendation system: The Wesomender approach

The present paper introduces a context-aware recommendation system for journalists to enable the identification of similar topics across different sources. More specifically a journalist-based recommendation system that can be automatically configured is presented to exploit news according to expert preferences. News contextual features are also taken into account due to the their special nature: time, current user interests, location or existing trends are combined with traditional recommendation techniques to provide an adaptive framework that deals with heterogeneous data providing an enhanced collaborative filtering system. Since the Wesomender approach is able to generate context-aware recommendations in the journalism field, a quantitative evaluation with the aim of comparing Wesomender results with the expectations of a team of experts is also performed to show that a context-aware adaptive recommendation engine can fulfil the needs of journalists daily work when retrieving timely and primary information is required.     

The roles of textural images in improving land-cover classification in the Brazilian Amazon

Texture has long been recognized as valuable in improving land-cover classification, but how data from different sensors with varying spatial resolutions affect the selection of textural images is poorly understood. This research examines textural images from the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), ALOS (Advanced Land Observing Satellite) PALSAR (Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar), the SPOT (Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre) high-resolution geometric (HRG) instrument, and the QuickBird satellite, which have pixel sizes of 30, 12.5, 10/5, and 0.6 m, respectively, for land-cover classification in the Brazilian Amazon. GLCM (grey-level co-occurrence matrix)-based texture measures with various sizes of moving windows are used to extract textural images from the aforementioned sensor data. An index based on standard deviations and correlation coefficients is used to identify the best texture combination following separability analysis of land-cover types based on training sample plots. A maximum likelihood classifier is used to conduct the land-cover classification, and the results are evaluated using field survey data. This research shows the importance of textural images in improving land-cover classification, and the importance becomes more significant as the pixel size improved. It is also shown that texture is especially important in the case of the ALOS PALSAR and QuickBird data. Overall, textural images have less capability in distinguishing land-cover types than spectral signatures, especially for Landsat TM imagery, but incorporation of textures into radiometric data is valuable for improving land-cover classification. The classification accuracy can be improved by 5.2–13.4% as the pixel size changes from 30 to 0.6 m.     

Past and present technocratic solutions to teaching literacy: implications for New Zealand primary teachers and literacy programmes

The late 1990s have seen a resurgence of the arguments for a skills-focused literacy instruction programme. This article explores the New Zealand-based public and professional debates surrounding the promotion of a technocratic approach to literacy instruction during the 1940s and 1950s, and the reoccurrence of the reading debate in late 1990s. In the early stages of both literacy crises, the professional competency of education officials and primary teachers was attacked by business interests and their political allies. The aftermath of the earlier crisis highlights the failure of this mechanistic and 'culture neutral' view of literacy instruction to cater for Maori children. The outcomes of the earlier debate signals a need avoid a similar conclusion to the current debate by adopting a broader approach to literacy instruction in the new millennium if language and literacy instruction programmes are to cater for complex cultural contexts, and the changing technological environments     

Hydroelastic optimization of a keel fin of a sailing boat: a multidisciplinary robust formulation for ship design

The paper presents a formulation for multidisciplinary design optimization of vessels, subject to uncertain operating conditions. The formulation couples the multidisciplinary design analysis with the Bayesian approach to decision problems affected by uncertainty. In the present context, the design specifications are no longer given in terms of a single operating design point, but in terms of probability density function of the operating scenario. The optimal configuration is that which maximizes the performance expectation over the uncertain parameters variation. In this sense, the optimal solution is “robust” within the stochastic scenario assumed. Theoretical and numerical issues are addressed and numerical results in the hydroelastic optimization of a keel fin of a sailing yacht are presented.     

Visual Zero: A persistent and interactive object-oriented programming environment

In this article, an ongoing research project held in the Computer Science department of the University of Vigo is described. Its main objective is to develop an interactive object-oriented environment, serving as a vehicle for learning object-oriented programming. It currently consists of a virtual machine, an assembler, compilers for two high-level programming languages, and an educational visual programming environment. Its main characteristics are (a) the support of prototype-based object orientation, which is a model of object orientation that actually wraps the class-based model; (b) the support for object persistence, which simplifies all input/output issues to the minimum, and (c) the availability of a new visual programming environment is an invaluable help. We the authors think that the combination of all of these possibilities, will lead to an interesting, useful tool that would be recommended for object-oriented teaching. The whole system has been successfully employed in a number of different courses, allowing students to concentrate on objects and their relationships from the very beginning, and thus helping them to achieve a high degree of knowledge about the object-oriented programming paradigm.     

Isotropic Image Analysis for Improving CBR Forecasting

A novel hybrid forecasting Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) system is presented in this interdisciplinary study in which an isotropic buffer operator is applied for case-based creation. Commonly used as an image analysis technique by commercial Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the buffer operator in this particular system calculates the area of an oil slick for prediction and visualization tasks. The use of the buffer operator improves the quality of the data used by the system and in consequence the quality of the results obtained. The system generates predictions by using historical data on oil-slick formation following a spill.     

Engineering studies for the installation of an axi-symmetric metallic divertor in Tore Supra

Tore Supra (TS) has been designed to operate using technologies that allow long plasma operation (a few minutes), by means of superconducting magnets and actively-cooled high heat flux plasma facing components (PFCs). Actively cooled tungsten PFC will be used in the baffle area of the first ITER divertor. In order to validate such a technology fully (industrial manufacturing, operation with long plasma duration), the implementation of a tungsten axi-symmetric divertor in the tokamak Tore Supra has been studied [1]. With this second major upgrade, Tore Supra should be able to address the problematic of long plasma discharges with a metallic divertor.The proposed divertor is made up of two stainless steel casings containing a copper coil winding located at the top and bottom area of the vacuum vessel. These casings are firmly maintained by connection beams and protected by PFC. This paper describes the mechanical design of this major component and its integration in TS, the associated electromagnetic and thermomechanical analysis, the manufacturing issues and finally the integration of ITER representative PFCs.