Thérèse Libourel

A lineage metadata model for the temporal management of a cadastre application

Nowadays one of the most successful applications of GIS is the management of a land-use cadastre. A lot of corporate GIS databases are in development, they support the legal management and distribution of cadastral maps. However, the management of the propagation of geographical updates toward relevant user databases is still a methodological and technical problem to address in the context of a corporate application. This paper proposes a lineage metadata model that supports the management of geographical changes in the context of a corporate cadastre application. Geographical changes are identified from an analysis of the French cadastre which acts as a case study for the development of our model. The lineage metadata model is based on the application of a filiation tree that permits the management of the evolution of geographical objects and the generation of historical queries. The proposed model is specified and validated with the O/sub 2/ object-oriented database.

Socio-economic and Climate Factors Associated with Dengue Fever Spatial Heterogeneity: A Worked Example in New Caledonia.

Background/Objectives Understanding the factors underlying the spatio-temporal distribution of infectious diseases provides useful information regarding their prevention and control. Dengue fever spatio-temporal patterns result from complex interactions between the virus, the host, and the vector. These interactions can be influenced by environmental conditions. Our objectives were to analyse dengue fever spatial distribution over New Caledonia during epidemic years, to identify some of the main underlying factors, and to predict the spatial evolution of dengue fever under changing climatic conditions, at the 2100 horizon. Methods We used principal component analysis and support vector machines to analyse and model the influence of climate and socio-economic variables on the mean spatial distribution of 24,272 dengue cases reported from 1995 to 2012 in thirty-three communes of New Caledonia. We then modelled and estimated the future evolution of dengue incidence rates using a regional downscaling of future climate projections. Results The spatial distribution of dengue fever cases is highly heterogeneous. The variables most associated with this observed heterogeneity are the mean temperature, the mean number of people per premise, and the mean percentage of unemployed people, a variable highly correlated with peoples way of life. Rainfall does not seem to play an important role in the spatial distribution of dengue cases during epidemics. By the end of the 21st century, if temperature increases by approximately 3°C, mean incidence rates during epidemics could double. Conclusion In New Caledonia, a subtropical insular environment, both temperature and socio-economic conditions are influencing the spatial spread of dengue fever. Extension of this study to other countries worldwide should improve the knowledge about climate influence on dengue burden and about the complex interplay between different factors. This study presents a methodology that can be used as a step by step guide to model dengue spatial heterogeneity in other countries.

CiDHouse: Contextual SemantIc Data WareHouses

Dealing with contextualized data is a key challenge in data warehouses (\(\mathcal{D}\mathcal{W}\)). Nowadays, \(\mathcal{D}\mathcal{W}\) systems are often monocontext. However, in real life applications, \(\mathcal{D}\mathcal{W}\) indicators are shared by many users with different profiles. In this paper, we propose an ontology-based approach for designing multi-contextual \(\mathcal{D}\mathcal{W}\). An ontology formalism incorporating the contextualization concepts is given. We propose to consider the contextualization at the conceptual level. We validate our proposal using a real case study from the medical domain.

Using a semantic approach for a cataloguing service

Environmental applications (support for territorial diagnostics, monitoring of practices, integrated management, etc.) have strengthened the case for efforts in the establishment of sharing and mutualisation infrastructures for georeferenced information Within the framework of these initiatives, our work has led us to design and create a tool for cataloguing resources for environmental applications This tool can be used to catalogue different types of resources (digital maps, vector layers, geographical databases, documents, etc.) by using the ISO 19115 standard, and offers a search engine for these resources The goal of this proposition is to improve the relevance of search engines by relying on semantic knowledge (thematic and spatial) of the concerned domains In the first stage, the proposition consists of helping the user in his search by offering mechanisms to expand on or to filter his query In the second stage, we use the results obtained and the underlying semantics for a global presentation of the results.

Viewpoints Handling in an Object Model with Criterium-Based Classes

Traditional class-based object-oriented data models and programming languages do not allow an object to have several types or to play different roles while keeping the same identity. Therefore, the modeling of persistent evolving entities is a diffcult task. Some specific models and languages exist, but do not support some of the features of traditional OODB models such as inheritance, late binding or common implementation through the notion of class. In this paper, we propose an object model that extends the one proposed by the ODMG while keeping the statical strong type-checking property of the programming language. The model is based on the novel concept of criterium-based class, from which instance objects have an immutable identity and several viewpoints which are accessible through a single interface. The model allows to consider new features such as property sharing and viewpoints merging, unconsidered so far, in a clean and homogeneous way.

A WORKFLOW LANGUAGE FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCES

Scientists in the environmental domains (biology, geographical information, etc.) need to capitalize, distribute and validate their experimentations of varying complexities. The concept of the scientific workflow is increasingly being considered to fulfill this requirement. This article presents the first phase of the establishment of a workflow environment corresponding to the static part, i.e., a meta-model and a language dedicated to the design of process-chain models. We illustrate our proposal with a simple example from the spatial domain and conclude with perspectives that open up with the establishment of a workflow environment.

Mining Epidemiological Dengue Fever Data from Brazil: A Gradual Pattern Based Geographical Information System

Dengue fever is the world’s fastest growing vector-borne disease. Studying such data aims at better understanding the behaviour of this disease to prevent the dengue propagation. For instance, it may be the case that the number of cases of dengue fever in cities depends on many factors, such as climate conditions, density, sanitary conditions. Experts are interested in using geographical information systems in order to visualize knowledge on maps. For this purpose, we propose to build maps based on gradual patterns. Such maps provide a solution for visualizing for instance the cities that follow or not gradual patterns.

Knowledge translation: a case study on pneumonia research and clinical guidelines in a low- income country

BackgroundThe process and effectiveness of knowledge translation (KT) interventions targeting policymakers are rarely reported. In Cambodia, a low-income country (LIC), an intervention aiming to provide evidence-based knowledge on pneumonia to health authorities was developed to help update pediatric and adult national clinical guidelines. Through a case study, we assessed the effectiveness of this KT intervention, with the goal of identifying the barriers to KT and suggest strategies to facilitate KT in similar settings.MethodsAn extensive search for all relevant sources of data documenting the processes of updating adult and pediatric pneumonia guidelines was done. Documents included among others, reports, meeting minutes, and email correspondences. The study was conducted in successive phases: an appraisal of the content of both adult and pediatric pneumonia guidelines; an appraisal of the quality of guidelines by independent experts, using the AGREE-II instrument; a description and modeling of the KT process within the guidelines updating system, using the Unified Modeling Language (UML) tools 2.2; and the listing of the barriers and facilitators to KT we identified during the study.ResultsThe first appraisal showed that the integration of the KT key messages in pediatric and adult guidelines varied with a better efficiency in the pediatric guidelines. The overall AGREE-II quality assessments scored 37% and 44% for adult and pediatric guidelines, respectively. Scores were lowest for the domains of ‘rigor of development’ and ‘editorial independence.’ The UML analysis highlighted that time frames and constraints of the involved stakeholders greatly differed and that there were several missed opportunities to translate on evidence into the adult pneumonia guideline. Seventeen facilitating factors and 18 potential barriers to KT were identified. Main barriers were related to the absence of a clear mandate from the Ministry of Health for the researchers and to a lack of synchronization between knowledge production and policy-making.ConclusionsStudy findings suggest that stakeholders, both researchers and policy makers planning to update clinical guidelines in LIC may need methodological support to overcome the expected barriers.

Conceptual Analysis of Climate Change in the Light of Society-Environment Relationships: Observatories Closer to Both Systems and Societies

This chapter focuses on climate change, including the acuity of both scientific and social issues, which questions the future of humanity. We adopt a systemic reasoning that provides objectivity to the analysis. We represent society-environment relationships, and analyze climate global systemic functioning and its global scale connection to geographical imprints . In this conceptual systemic framework, we position an observatory , which observes, analyses, reports on facts, and enhances democratic processes by providing sound (scientific, accurate, unbiased) information to debate. We note the consistency of systemic and ethical approaches; thereby scientifically strengthening and justifying the latter if this was necessary. They converge on the proposal of a “System World” where humans as one whole would be conscious of the global systemics, responsible and fair players, and aware of the part they can play in climate regulation. The contribution of every single individual adds to the global effort, and acknowledging how they contribute to scaling climate regulation up and down would also promote greater equity and a better shared future.

A Framework to Assist Environmental Information Processing

Scientists of the environmental domains (biology, geographical information, etc.) need to capitalize, distribute and validate their scientific experiments. A multi-function platform will be an adaptable candidate for meeting the challenges. We have designed and implemented the MDweb platform [3] which is nowadays used in various environmental projects. Our main objective is to integrate a workflow environment. In this paper, an introduction to a three-level workflow environment architecture (static, intermediate, dynamic) is presented. We focus on the ”static” level, which concerns the first phase of constructing a business process chain, and discuss around the ”intermediate” level, which covers both the instantiation of a business process chain and the validation, in terms of conformity, of the generated chain.