Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Geographical IT'

Location plays an ever increasing role in modern web-based applications. Many of these applications leverage off-the-shelf search engine technology to provide interactive access to large collections of data. Unfortunately, these commodity search engines do not provide special support for location-based indexing and retrieval. Many applications overcome this constraint by applying geographic bounding boxes in conjunction with range queries. We propose an alternative technique based on geographic identifiers and suggest it will yield faster query evaluation and provide higher search precision. Our experiment compared the two approaches by executing thousands of unique queries on a dataset with 1.8 million records. Based on the quantitative results obtained, our technique yielded drastic performance improvements in both query execution time and precision.

Simulating geographic phenomena in a realistic and plausible way requires real-world entities to be abstracted based on the dynamic physical characteristics they exhibit, and treated as individuals in a simulation domain. These processes cannot be adequately supported by the traditional spatial model based on cellular-space such as Cellular Automata (CA). Although this approach has received a great attention as a most favoured technique for simulating the geographic phenomena from different aspects, the need for a generic spatial model to overcome the limitations encountered in such an approach has been raised. This applies particularly to the way real-world entities are represented in a simulation domain regarding their physical characteristics and temporal aspects. In this thesis, a new computational approach for a spatial model suitable for simulating geographic phenomena is presented: the vector agents model. The vector agent is goal-oriented, adaptable, physically defined by an Euclidean geometry and able to change its own geometric characteristics while interacting with other agents in its neighbourhood using a set of rules. The agent is modelled with sensor, state, and strategies. The successful implementation of the model�s architecture allows the representation of the physical characteristics of real-world entities and to observe their complex and dynamic behaviour in a simulation domain. Vector agents have developed out of a need to create a systematic basis for the geometric components of Geographic Automata Systems (GAS), as outlined by Torrens and Benenson (2005). A generic vector agents model was built, then tested and validated from different aspects, from which results demonstrated the model�s efficiency. It is confirmed that vector agents are flexible in producing different complex shapes and patterns for recreating real geographic phenomena through the generic use of three algorithms of geometric manipulation: midpoint displacement by using the relaxed Brownian Motion (fractal-like) algorithm, edge displacement and vertex displacement. The effectiveness of this was initially ascertained visually. A simple heuristic to govern shape growth rate and complexity was derived based on the interplay of the three algorithms. There was a further abstract model comparison against the cellular-agents environment, with the result that vector agents have the ability to emerge patterns similar to what can be produced by cellular-agents with the advantage of representing entities as individuals with their own attributes with realistic geometric boundaries. On the other hand, the city as a complex geographic phenomenon was used as a specific domain for validating the model with a real-world system. The results of the urban land use simulations (driven by simple rules based on three classical urban theories) confirmed that: (a) the model is flexible enough to incorporate various external rules based on real-world systems and (b) the model has a sufficient capability in emerging a variety of patterns under several environments close to actual patterns. The agent environment also proved to be an effective way of easily combining the rules associated with each urban theory (different agents behaved according to different theories). Finally, limitations raised through the development of this work are addressed leading to outline possible extensions of both model computation and the domain of applications.

This thesis is about the mobilities of geographical knowledge in the material form of lantern-slides and the forces exerted on these by technological and human factors. Owing to its concern with matter, human- and non-human, and its circulation, the thesis addresses the physics of geographical knowledge. The chapters below investigate the Royal Geographical Society’s (RGS) ongoing tradition of telling stories of science and exploration through words, objects and pictures in the final quarter of the nineteenth century and as geography professionalized and geographical science developed. These processes occurred within the context of a plethora of technological innovations, including the combination of the older medium of the magic lantern and photographic lantern-slides, integral to a wide range of entertainment, scientific and educational performances across Britain. In 1886 the RGS began to engage with the magic lantern. Via this technology and the interactive lecture performances in which it featured, I argue that the Society embraced the medium of photography, thereby engendering transformations in methods of knowledge making and to the RGS collections. I study how these transformations influenced the discipline of Geography as it was re-established at the University of Oxford in 1887. I demonstrate the evolution of the RGS’s Evening, Technical and Young Persons’ lectures, their contingent lantern-slide practices and, consequently, how these moulded, and were moulded by, the RGS Fellowship between c. 1885 and 1924. The chapters below explore how these innovations in visual technologies and practices arose, how they circulated knowledge and their effect on geographies of geographical knowledge making. By harnessing the lantern the RGS attracted an expanding and diversifying audience demographic. The thesis demonstrates the interactive nature of RGS lantern-slide lectures and audiences' important role in shaping the Society’s practices and geographical knowledge. The chapters below argue that it was via the use of the lantern that geography was disseminated to new places. The thesis therefore brings additional perspectives and dimensions to understandings of the circulation of geographical knowledge.

This project is organised around the response to a single Thesis Question; If a product bears the place name "X" but does not in fact originate there, when does and when should this contravene principles of intellectual property law? Effectively, when does and when should this branch of the law prohibit the use of 'Californian Champagne'? Responses to this question have emerged over the course of a century of contentious international debates concerning the protection of Geographical Indications (GIs). The project first seeks to locate historical responses to this question within their broader context. The principal set of responses is provided by the law of unfair competition, with its prohibition of conduct which either misleads consumers or results In the misappropriation goodwill.

The essays offered here originated in a series of conference papers presented over the years at various professional meetings. In the time elapsed since the first of them was offered at the meeting ofthe UNESCO Commission on the History of Geographical Thought (1988), new important works on Swahili history and language have appeared which demonstrate a variety of productive approaches to the problems of Swahili cultural and ethnic history In a publication such as the Swahili Forum it may be appropriate to recognize the steps made, to acknowledge the advances achieved, and to identify the needs remaining John Middleton`s (1992) well-received book presents a thorough and authmitative analysis of the social, economic, and spatial structures which evolved in the international setting of the East African coast Jarnes de Vere Alien`s posthumously published study (1992) pursues the questions of historic identity of the Swahili and of the political styles developed in the process of interaction of Arab-Islamic and African elements of coastal culture The special role of Islam in the formation and dynamics of Swahili city-states` elites has been analyzed slightly earlier by Randall L Pouwels (1987) Pouwels also has addressed coastal historiography in a series of articles some of which are cited in the following essays The fundamental study of the Swahili language by Derek Nurse and Thomas Hinnebusch (1993) revises and elaborates the possibilities of relating the chronology of the development of Swahili to the history of the Bantu-speaking coastal societies, raised in the earlier works singly or jointly by Derek Nurse and Thomas Spear New editions of Swahili texts make available, sometimes for the first time, to African and Western scholars alike, the synchronic nanatives indispensable for historical accuracy of our interpretations (Omar & Frankl 1990, I olmacheva 1993)

Efforts to control and eradicate infectious disease have concentrated on the provision of childhood vaccination. Unfortunately, the uptake of childhood vaccination continues to vary and infectious diseases continue to cause differential morbidity and mortality. Limited research has assessed the factors that underlie the uptake of vaccination. The present research undertakes an analysis of the patterns and determinants of vaccination uptake within the Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Health Authority, located in the south of England. In so doing, the research employs different analytical approaches, from the traditional ecological analysis through descriptive mapping and multivariate regression, to the innovative multi-level analyses. The ecological analysis shows a distinct geography to the uptake of vaccination which reflects characteristics of socioeconomic deprivation. Further analysis through multilevel modelling, emphasizes two influences on the uptake of vaccination. First, parental characteristics, which affect their role as decision maker and their ability to overcome certain time-space constraints to attend. Second, the ways in which the service is provided, including the influence of the health professional as adviser and provider of vaccination and the initiatives employed to improve uptake. These findings have implications for the future provision of childhood vaccination. Specifically, the research provides the opportunity to identify and target children unlikely to complete their vaccination schedule and the need to improve and standardise health professional knowledge and advice to parents.

The analysis of the geographical variation of disease has been part of the subject of epidemiology since its beginnings. However, it has not been the subject of much statistical research until the late 1980s when it became computationally feasible to examine the spatial structure. In thesis three problems of geographical epidemiology are examined, namely: 1. A simulation study which examines how different models used for disease mapping perform under various 'true' relative risk surfaces. 2. A new model for disease mapping is proposed which is based on the spatial variation being split into two different types of autocorrelation. These different types of spatial autocorrelation can be used in order not to over smooth any rural/urban divide which might exist in the dataset. 3. A new model is proposed for the examination of clustering in the spatio-temporal domain. Although a number of different tests exist for the detection of clustering in spatio-temporal domain, to date, very little has been done on the modelling of the clustering.

This thesis explores the historical evolution of the nature of the link between a product and its place of origin in the European sui generis systems of GI protection, with a specific focus on the EU Regulation 1151/2012 on Geographical Indications for the protection of agricultural products and foodstuffs. It concludes that this link has substantively changed, since the 1930s, when some early forms of sui generis GI systems were introduced in southern Europe, especially in France and Italy. While these regimes were based exclusively on the concept of terroir, a cipher for the physical link between a product and a place, an empirical analysis carried out in the present work reveals that, today, the history of the product and of its method of production is, statistically, the predominant linking factor. Furthermore, the research shows that the historical link is almost always mentioned in the specifications of EU GI products, when protected both by Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) or Protected Geographical Indications (PGI), which are the two quality schemes provided by EU Law. In particular, the terroir element, which characterises PDOs, also appears frequently in PGI specifications, where it should be superfluous, thus suggesting that the differences between these two quality schemes are unclear. Finally, the emergence of the historical element confirms that GIs can contribute to the protection of products that are linked to a geographical area not by physical and environmental factors, but by the socio-cultural traditions of a specific place. Although history can constitute a valid product/link, however, it must be used with caution, as it can be mystified and reconstructed in an arbitrary and unfounded way. This is dangerous, because it can turn GIs into a mere marketing tool, thus damaging the origin function that distinguishes them from the broad family of quality labels.

The essays offered here originated in a series of conference papers presented over the years at various professional meetings. In the time elapsed since the first of them was offered at the meeting ofthe UNESCO Commission on the History of Geographical Thought (1988), new important works on Swahili history and language have appeared which demonstrate a variety of productive approaches to the problems of Swahili cultural and ethnic history In a publication such as the Swahili Forum it may be appropriate to recognize the steps made, to acknowledge the advances achieved, and to identify the needs remaining John Middleton`s (1992) well-received book presents a thorough and authmitative analysis of the social, economic, and spatial structures which evolved in the international setting of the East African coast Jarnes de Vere Alien`s posthumously published study (1992) pursues the questions of historic identity of the Swahili and of the political styles developed in the process of interaction of Arab-Islamic and African elements of coastal culture The special role of Islam in the formation and dynamics of Swahili city-states` elites has been analyzed slightly earlier by Randall L Pouwels (1987) Pouwels also has addressed coastal historiography in a series of articles some of which are cited in the following essays The fundamental study of the Swahili language by Derek Nurse and Thomas Hinnebusch (1993) revises and elaborates the possibilities of relating the chronology of the development of Swahili to the history of the Bantu-speaking coastal societies, raised in the earlier works singly or jointly by Derek Nurse and Thomas Spear New editions of Swahili texts make available, sometimes for the first time, to African and Western scholars alike, the synchronic nanatives indispensable for historical accuracy of our interpretations (Omar & Frankl 1990, I olmacheva 1993)

The rate of insect development (phenology) is strongly associated with temperature. Within the biological literature, phenologies are estimated largely on the basis of sparsely located point meterological data. The significance of incorporating a geographical dimension was explored in two application areas where phenologies are used, pest risk assessment (PRA) and integrated pest management (IPM). Colorado beetle (leptinotarsa decemlineata) and codling moth (Cydia pomonella) were used as representative non-indigenous and indigenous test organisms. To ensure relevance to both pest risk assessment and integrated pest management applications, phenology models were run using daily meterological data throughout England and Wales. Interpolation was chosen as an efficient means to create spatial temperature 'surfaces' from distributed daily maximum and minimum temperature data observed at a subset of 174 meteorological stations. Because insect pests are known to be highly sensitive to temperature, considerable attention was paid to minimising the errors generated as part of this process relative to that in previous applied agricultural studies. Comparisons between the commonly used trend surface and inverse distance weighting methods of interpolation were made with partial thin plate splines and ordinary kriging. Unlike earlier work, automatic parameter selection was used to calibrate all the interpolation techniques and care was taken to ensure the comparability of estimated temperature values. Error in estimates by all methods was reduced using a number of guiding topo-climate and land cover covariates. The most favourable estimates of maximum and minimum temperatures throughout the country and over the annual cycle were partial thin plate splines, with daily average r.m.s. accuracies computed using jack-knife cross-validation of 0.8°C and 1.13°C respectively. Partial thin plate splines were also found to be more computationally efficient than both inverse distance weighting and de-trended ordinary kriging. This use of jack-knife cross-validation was assessed using a fully independent data set of a further 100 data points, and was found to be statistically comparable. Providing the interaction between phenology models and sequences of geographically relevant temperature data at this daily step and national coverage necessitated the construction of tailor made research software for the project. The coupled temperature interpolation/phenology modelling system was used to provide a range of outputs to explore the accuracy of predicted phenologies over space and time.

The primary objective of this thesis is to determine how Uganda can optimally benefit from geographical indications. This objective is achieved by focusing on the current negotiations at the World Trade Organization concerning geographical indications. The main issues in contention are the extension of a higher level of protection to other products, besides wines and spirits, and the establishment of a multilateral register for wines and spirits. In the discussion of these issues, each proposal is examined in light of Uganda's interests. The thesis also focuses on how geographical indications can be turned into development tools at the national level. It considers Uganda's legislation, the Geographical Indications Act 8 of 2013, and highlights the provisions that might deter the establishment of a successful geographical indications system in the country. The thesis then identifies other factors that Uganda must address in order for geographical indications to become development tools. It is concluded that in order to establish a successful geographical indications system, Uganda needs to continue its support for the Modalities Proposal in the international negotiations. Furthermore, at the national level, there are various factors that must be addressed, beyond the law, before geographical indications can become development tools, and these include the formation of producer organisations, marketing strategies and the sensitisation of stakeholders.

BSE was discovered in Canada in 2003. Research on the impacts of BSE indicates that cattle producers suffered significant economic losses, and that these may have reverberated into local communities, where industries connected to cattle production have sustained secondary impacts. Also, the desirability of different forms of agriculture may have shifted as a result of BSE. This study addresses the impacts of BSE in Alberta from a geographical perspective, examining the cattle industry, community economic structure, and regional agricultural economies. The spatial organization and structure of the cattle herd has changed as a result of BSE. Little evidence of a ripple effect was found in the geography of community economic structure. Spatial changes in regional agricultural economies may be tied to changes in the cattle industry resulting from BSE, but do not indicate significant agricultural restructuring. This study places limits on the spatial and economic impacts of BSE in Alberta.
x, 171 leaves ; maps ; 29 cm

Aquesta tesi està formada per dues parts relacionades amb l'estudi de la salut d'una regió geogràfica dividida en un conjunt de zones (àrees petites). La primera part es basa en un estudi amb informació de salut agregada per cadascuna de les àrees que formen la regió d'estudi. En concret, es tracta d'una aplicació de mapes de salut (disease mapping), que utilitza mètodes Bayesians empírics per generar un Atles de mortalitat en àrees petites de Catalunya en el període 1984-1998. La segona part utilitza una nova perspectiva basada en la integració de les dades agregades i individuals de salut per cadascuna de les zones que formen la regió d'estudi, mitjançant equacions d'estimació (estimating equations). Aquesta nova perspectiva és una extensió de la regressió geogràfica.
L'elaboració de la primera part d'aquesta tesi està justificada per diferents raons. En primer lloc, els atles de salut i en general els mapes d'indicadors de salut, ens han mostrat la seva gran utilitat per identificar les localitzacions geogràfiques de les malalties, formular hipòtesis sobre les causes de la malaltia i monitoritzar intervencions en salut pública. En segon lloc, els atles de mortalitat en àrees petites presenten la distribució del risc relatiu per les causes de mortalitat més importants utilitzant mapes amb un alt nivell de resolució geogràfica.
El primer objectiu d'aquesta tesi va ser construir un atles de mortalitat en 289 àrees petites (municipis o municipis agregats) de la Comunitat Autònoma de Catalunya i 66 àrees bàsiques de salut de la ciutat de Barcelona (l'àrea petita analitzada amb una major població) per al període 1984-1998. Per obtenir els indicadors de salut en àrees petites s'han utilitzat mètodes Bayesians. Aquests mapes presenten, en un format de doble pàgina, els riscs relatius ajustats per edat, les àrees significatives d'alt i baix risc, el risc relatiu de la ciutat de Barcelona respecte a Catalunya i internament respecte a Barcelona, el risc relatiu per grups d'edat (0-64 i 65) i addicionalment l'evolució temporal del risc relatiu en cada àrea resumida en un únic mapa. En concret, per estudiar l'evolució del risc relatiu de mortalitat s'inclou: 1) l'evolució del risc relatiu en el període d'estudi de cada àrea comparada amb la tendència global de Catalunya i 2) l'evolució absoluta del risc relatiu a cada àrea. Segons el nostre coneixement, aquesta és la primera vegada que aquests dos tipus d'informació es combinen en un únic mapa. A més, aquest és el primer Atles que presenta informació sobre la distribució geogràfica de zones que formen àrees petites de gran població, com ciutats d'un país, i inclou l'esperança de vida obtinguda amb mètodes Bayesians empírics.
La segona part d'aquesta tesi és útil per estudis epidemiològics on s'inclouen variables d'exposició i confusió que poden tenir diferents fonts de variabilitat (variabilitat dins les poblacions i entre les poblacions). Específicament, els anàlisis individuals que valoren la relació entre la malaltia i l'exposició dins d'una població són útils quan l'exposició presenta variabilitat dins la població. Quan aquesta variabilitat és limitada, la força dels anàlisis individuals es debilita. En aquesta situació, un anàlisis de dades agregades de la malaltia entre poblacions, amb una mostra de dades individuals d'exposició, pot ser eficaç en l'estimació de l'efecte d'exposició si aquest presenta gran variabilitat entre poblacions. No obstant, encara que es pugui conèixer quina de les dues variacions domina en la variable d'exposició, es poden considerar conjuntament variables d'exposició i/o confusió amb diferents tipus de variació. El segon objectiu d'aquesta tesi va ser considerar una nova perspectiva, combinació dels anàlisis de dades individuals i agregades, basat en equacions d'estimació (perspectiva population-based estimating equation (PBEE)). En funció de la variabilitat que domina en la exposició, la anàlisis proposada pren força de la perspectiva basada en dades individuals i agrades de salut, per estimar els efectes d'exposició. Es van realitzar estudis de simulació en diferents escenaris per a mostrar el poder de la perspectiva proposada en l'estimació dels efectes d'exposició d'interès.
Finalment, esperem que els mètodes i els diferents aspectes utilitzats en aquesta tesi puguin ser d'utilitat per a aquells investigadors que vulguin millorar l'estudi de la salut a l'espai i temps.
Esta tesis esta formada por dos partes relacionadas con el estudio de la salud en una región geográfica dividida en un conjunto de zonas (áreas pequeñas). La primera parte considera un estudio con información de salud agregada para cada una de las áreas que forman la región analizada. En concreto, se trata de una aplicación de mapas de salud (disease mapping), consistente en el uso de métodos Bayesianos empíricos para generar un Atlas de mortalidad en áreas pequeñas de Cataluña en el periodo 1984-1998. La segunda parte considera un nuevo enfoque que realiza una integración de los datos agregados e individuales de salud para cada una de las zonas que forman la región en estudio, mediante ecuaciones de estimación (estimating equations). Se considera que este nuevo enfoque es una extensión de la regresión geográfica.
La elaboración de la primera parte de esta tesis esta justificada por diferentes razones. Primero, los atlas de salud y en general los mapas de indicadores de salud, han mostrado su gran utilidad para identificar localizaciones geográficas de las enfermedades, formular hipótesis sobre las causas de la enfermedad y monitorizar intervenciones en salud pública. En segundo lugar, los atlas de mortalidad en áreas pequeñas presentan la distribución del riesgo relativo para las causas de mortalidad más importantes usando mapas con un alto nivel de resolución geográfica.
El primer objetivo de esta tesis fue construir un atlas de mortalidad en 289 áreas pequeñas (municipios o municipios agregados) de la Comunidad Autónoma de Cataluña y 66 áreas básicas de salud de la ciudad de Barcelona (el área pequeña analizada con mayor población) para el periodo 1984-1998. Para obtener los indicadores de salud en las áreas pequeñas se han aplicado métodos Bayesianos. Estos mapas presentan, en un formato de página doble, los riesgos relativos ajustados por edad, las áreas significativas de alto y bajo riesgo, el riesgo relativo de la ciudad de Barcelona con respecto a Cataluña e internamente con respecto a Barcelona, el riesgo relativo por grupos de edad (0-64 y 65) y adicionalmente la evolución temporal del riesgo relativo en cada área resumida en un único mapa. En concreto, para estudiar la evolución del riesgo relativo de mortalidad se incluye: 1) la evolución del riesgo relativo en el periodo de estudio de cada área comparada con la tendencia global de Cataluña y 2) la evolución absoluta del riesgo relativo en cada área. Según nuestro conocimiento, esta es la primera vez que ambos tipos de información se combinan en un único mapa. Además, este es el primer Atlas que presenta información sobre la distribución geográfica de zonas que forman áreas pequeñas de gran población, como ciudades de un país, e incluye la esperanza de vida obtenida mediante métodos Bayesianos empíricos.
La segunda parte de esta tesis es útil en estudios epidemiológicos donde se incluyen variables de exposición y confusión que pueden tener diferentes fuentes de variabilidad (variabilidad dentro de las poblaciones y entre poblaciones). Específicamente, los análisis individuales que valoran la relación entre enfermedad y exposición dentro de una población son útiles cuando la exposición presenta variabilidad dentro de la población. Cuando dicha variabilidad es limitada el poder de los análisis individuales se reduce. En esta situación, un análisis de datos agregados de enfermedad entre poblaciones, con una muestra de datos individuales de exposición, puede ser eficaz en la estimación del efecto de exposición si este presenta gran variabilidad entre poblaciones. No obstante, aunque se pueda conocer cual de las dos variaciones domina en la variable de exposición, se pueden considerar conjuntamente variables de exposición y/o confusión con diferentes tipos de variación. El segundo objetivo de esta tesis fue considerar un nuevo enfoque, combinación de los análisis de datos individuales y agregados, basado en ecuaciones de estimación (enfoque population-based estimating equation (PBEE)). Dependiendo de la variabilidad que domina en dicha exposición, el análisis propuesto toma fuerza de los enfoques basados en datos individuales y agregados de salud, para estimar los efectos de exposición. Estudios de simulación bajo diferentes escenarios fueron realizados para mostrar el poder del enfoque propuesto en la estimación de los efectos de exposición de interés.
Finalmente, esperamos que los métodos y diferentes aspectos empleados en esta tesis puedan ser de utilidad para aquellos investigadores que quieran mejorar el estudio de la salud en el espacio y en el tiempo.
This thesis consists of two related parts based on the study of health in a geographical region divided in a set of zones (small areas). The first part considers studies based on health information aggregated for each area into which the region under study has been divided. Specifically, it is a disease mapping application, based on generation of an Atlas of mortality in small areas of Catalonia over the period 1984-1998, using empirical Bayes methods. The second part considers an innovative approach, based on an integration of aggregated and individual health data in each of the zones of the region under study, using an estimating equation approach. Specifically, we consider this new approach as an extension of geographical regression.
The elaboration of the first part of this thesis is justified for different reasons. First, health atlases and the mapping of health indicators in general, has demonstrated its great utility in identifying geographical localizations of health problems, in formulation of hypotheses about disease causes, and in monitoring public health interventions. Second, most atlases of mortality at the small area level present patterns of relative mortality risk for the most important causes of death using maps with a high level of geographical resolution. The first goal of this thesis was to construct a mortality Atlas involving a decomposition of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia into 289 small areas (municipalities or aggregates thereof) and 66 primary health areas of Barcelona city (being a small area but with a large population) for the period 1984-1998. For Catalonia as a whole, these maps presented, using a double-page format, the age adjusted relative risk, significantly high and low relative risk areas, relative risk in Barcelona City with respect to Catalonia and internally with respect to Barcelona, relative risk by age group (0-64 and 65) and additionally the relative risk evolution over time in each area summarized in an single map, using spatial and temporal information modeled through Bayesian methods. Specifically, the atlas uses a strategy to include both: 1) relative risk evolution throughout the study period of each area compared to the average trend for all Catalonia and 2) the absolute relative risk evolution of each area. To our knowledge, this is the first time that both types of information have been combined in a single map. In addition, this is the first Atlas that presents information about geographical patterns in zones within small areas having a large population such as the cities of a country and includes life expectancy obtained with an empirical Bayes approach.
The second part of this thesis can be useful in epidemiological studies where we include exposure and confounding variables that may have different sources of within and between-population variability. Specifically, analyses of individual disease-exposure data within a population are useful when exposure of interest varies sufficiently within the population. When the within-population variance of exposure is limited power of the individual-data analysis within a population is reduced. In such situations, aggregated-data analyses of disease data across populations, with a sample of individual exposure data from populations, can be powerful in estimating the exposure effect if between-population variation of exposure is large. However, although we may have knowledge of which variations dominate in each variable, exposure and/or confounding variables with different types of variation can be considered jointly. The second goal of this thesis was to consider a new analytical framework that is a combination of the individual- and aggregated-data analyses, based on an estimating equation approach ("population-based estimating equation" (PBEE) approach). The proposed analysis utilizes strengths from individual and aggregated health data approaches in the estimation of the exposure effect of interest, depending on which of the exposure variations (within- vs. between-population) dominates. Simulation studies under different scenarios were performed to show the strengths of the proposed approach in the estimation of the exposure effects of interest.
Finally, we hope that some of the methods and topics employed may be of use to researchers who want to improve the study of health in space and time.

S’ha procedit a la identificació morfològica i molecular de fongs ascomicets aillats a partir de mostres de sòl de diferents regions geogràfiques. En determinats casos, es va realitzar un estudi sobre la filogenia de diferents grups d’interès taxonòmic. S’han obtingut un total de 18 nous tàxons per a la ciència, dels quals deu, ja s’han publicat en revistes indexades. Els nous gèneres proposats són: Aphanoascella, Medusitheca, Naviculispora, Emmonsiellopsis i Rinaldiella, i les noves espècies són: Aphanoascella galapagosensis, Aspergillus posadasensis, Auxarthron longisporum, Corynascus fumimontanus, Diplogelasinospora moalensis, Emmonsiellopsis coralliformis, Emmonsiellopsis terrestris, Leiothecium cristatum, Medusitheca citrispora, Navicularispora terrestre, Pseudoneurospora canariensis, Rinaldiella pentagonospora i Thelebolus nanus. A més, mitjançant l’estudi morfològic i l’ús d’eines moleculars, alguns gèneres han sigut revisats, com es el cas de Myceliophthora, gènere d’ interès biotecnològic, i que s’ha restringit a la espècie tipo, segregant-se en dos nous gèneres termofílics i restablint-se el gènere Corynascus. S’ha portat a terme una revisió de l’ordre Melanosporales. Aquest ordre, important per al control biològic degut al seu hiperparasitisme, ha estat poc estudiat a nivell molecular degut a la dificultat d’aconseguir cultius vius i seqüencies fiables dels seus membres. Gràcies al present estudi, el gènere més rellevant d’aquest ordre, Melanospora, queda redefinit, Microthecium restablert, i es proposen tres nous gèneres. Per últim, també s’han estudiat les famílies Ajellomycetaceae i Lasiosphaeriaceae, per clarificar les relacions filogenètiques entre els seus membres.
Se ha procedido a la identificación morfológica y molecular de hongos ascomicetos aislados a partir de muestras de suelo de diferentes regiones geográficas. En determinados casos, se realizó un estudio sobre la filogenia de diferentes grupos de interés taxonómico. Se han obtenido un total de 18 nuevos taxones para la ciencia, de los cuales diez, ya se han publicado en revistes indexadas. Los nuevos géneros propuestos son: Aphanoascella, Medusitheca, Naviculispora, Emmonsiellopsis y Rinaldiella, y las nuevas especies son: Aphanoascella galapagosensis, Aspergillus posadasensis, Auxarthron longisporum, Corynascus fumimontanus, Diplogelasinospora moalensis, Emmonsiellopsis coralliformis, Emmonsiellopsis terrestris, Leiothecium cristatum, Medusitheca citrispora, Navicularispora terrestre, Pseudoneurospora canariensis, Rinaldiella pentagonospora y Thelebolus nanus. Además, mediante el estudio morfológico y el uso de técnicas moleculares, algunos géneros han sido revisados, como es el caso de Myceliophthora, género de interés biotecnológico, y que se ha restringido a la especie tipo, segregándose en dos nuevos géneros termofílicos y restableciéndose el género Corynascus. También, se ha llevado a cabo una revisión del orden Melanosporales. Este orden, importante para el control biológico debido a su hiperparasitismo, ha estado poco estudiado a nivel molecular debido a la dificultad de obtener cultivos vivos y secuencias fiables de sus miembros. Gracias al presente estudio, el género más relevante de este orden, Melanospora, queda redefinido, Microthecium restablecido, y se proponen tres nuevos géneros. Por último, también se ha estudiado las familias Ajellomycetaceae y Lasiosphaeriaceae, para clarificar las relaciones filogenéticas entre sus miembros.
We have performed the morphological and molecular identification of ascomycetes isolated from soil samples from different geographical regions. In some cases, phylogenetic studies of different taxonomic groups of interest were performed. We have obtained a total of 18 new taxa for science, of which ten have already been published in indexed journals. The proposed new genera are: Aphanoascella, Medusitheca, Naviculispora, Emmonsiellopsis and Rinaldiella, and the new species are: Aphanoascella galapagosensis, Aspergillus posadasensis, Auxarthron longisporum, Corynascus fumimontanus, Diplogelasinospora moalensis, Emmonsiellopsis coralliformis, Emmonsiellopsis terrestris, Leiothecium cristatum, Medusitheca citrispora, Navicularispora terrestre, Pseudoneurospora canariensis, Rinaldiella pentagonospora and Thelebolus nanus. Furthermore, based on morphological and molecular studies, some genera have been reviewed, as Myceliophthora, genus of biotechnological interest, which has been restricted to the type species, being the other species segregated in two new thermophilic genera and reestablishing the genus Corynascus. Also, a review of the order Melanosporales has been performed. This order, which is important for biological control because of its hyperparasitism, has been poorly molecularly studied due to the difficulty in obtaining living cultures and reliable sequences of its members. Thanks to this study, the most important genus of this order, Melanospora, has been redefined, Microthecium reestablished, and three new genera proposed. Finally, the families Lasiosphaeriaceae and Ajellomycetaceae have been studied in order to clarify the phylogenetic relationships among their members.

Abstract

This is a study of peoples interpretations of what they consider are unexplainable experiences, the geographical effects of it and the connection between the interpretations and effects. The phenomenon itself is not studied. The study is conducted in Sweden in the county of Värmland by a student, in Human Geography at Karlstads University. An inductive way to work, a behaviour ideology and qualitative method have been used to answer the questions. Data have been collected by a “structured open ended” interview technique. Seven people have been interviewed. No general conclusions are drawn because the low amount interviews. Similarities and differences on the other hand are showed.

There have been many changes in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology which are beneficial for analysis and visualisation of Geographical Information (GI) but these have failed to be applied to non GIS users. The development of a computer based working environment for using GI within generic decision-making situations is a necessity if more use is to be made of GI by non GIS specialists. Problems are outlined for the incorporation of GI into existing systems : GIS and Spatial Decision Support Systems (SDSS). Issues of usability, integration of software/information and functionality have slowed the wider acceptance of GIS. 'These issues have lead to the development of a conceptual functional model of a Geographical Operating Environment (GOE). The GOE is proposed as a solution to the use of GI within a generic computer based decision-making environment for non GIS users. The GOE integrates the use of GI and non GI to allow the user to view and analyse information within a decision-making context. A series of prototypes have been developed and tested, mostly in conjunction with commercial organisations. The research has shown that there is much benefit in facilitating access to GI and non GI by decision-makers and that alternate strategies can be visualised and analysed. However, there are still problems for the mainstream use of GI within generic decision-making using existing computer systems from both a technological and sociological perspective. Decision-makers would benefit from the .additional analytical and visualisation techniques that can be applied to GI through the use of a GI based working environment such as the GOE.

Economics
Ph.D.
This dissertation presents an extension of the warlord competition models found in Skaperdas (2002) and Konrad and Skaperdas (2012). I consider two non-parasitic warlords located on a line. Each warlord allocates resources for the extraction of natural resources, the production of goods and services, and conflict with the opposing warlord. Within the symmetric rates of seizure model, I use three different forms of the contest success function, a primary tool in the conflict theory literature, in my analysis. I show that the warlord closer to the point of conflict will invest less into the hiring of warriors and more into the production of goods and services, yet wins a larger proportion of total goods and services produced within the economy. Under certain conditions, the placement of the point of conflict at the midpoint between the two warlords maximizes the total resources toward war and minimizes total production. Under the asymmetric rates of seizure model, I find that the warlord closer to the point of conflict invests more in warfare and less in production; that is, results that counter what is found in the symmetric model.
Temple University--Theses

Social capital, as conceptualised to date, has looked at the composition of social networks and the socio-economic outcomes they produce, with very little reference to context, space, place, agency, or power. This thesis contributes to our understanding of social capital by looking systemically at the socio-spatial context in which networks emerge, and how social capital is exercised through mediating relationships with the objective of understanding how these processes are enabled or constrained in practice. Jane Jacobs approach to observing real-world, city processes from the ground up is applied to a case-study of creative practitioners working in the Stoke-on-Trent area from 2007-2011. Research methods were designed to elicit narratives from participants using a mapping exercise as a way to enact the everyday practices of the participants. These enactments were filmed as participants performed/narrated the story of their network. The narratives collected show that when social capital is conceptualised as an effect of dynamic social networks, rather than a static fund of potential resources, the processes by which individuals and groups win, lose or maintain advantage are uncovered. Exercised social capital has its own spatialities and modalities which place us nearer to, or further away from our goals. This thesis contributes both a novel framework and methods for analysing the exercise of social capital in a real world context which furthers our understanding of the co-constitution of space and society.

Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Geography
John Harrington, Jr.
Geographers, as part of their work as scholars and academics, continually “do” geography. Geography is practiced as research when tools, perspectives, and techniques are applied to problems or areas of study, exploring, understanding, and building geographical information. Geography is practiced as a social discipline when geographers interact with those around them, sharing geographical knowledge through writing, publishing, presenting, teaching, and discussion so others can read, listen, and engage. In doing geography – continuously practicing research and engaging in the documentation and communication of geographical knowledge – geographers also actively continuously construct the history of geography. These incidences, slides, and pages of knowledges are the foundation and structure of geography as a practiced discipline. Research explored the historiographies of geographical knowledges in presidential addresses of the Association of American Geographers, thematic conceptualizations of the subfield of cultural geography, and representation of women across editions of introductory human geography textbooks through content analysis and spatial. Conclusions strongly support the contention that geographic knowledges and the nature of geographic thought actively evolve as contemporary scholars practice their profession. By paying attention to these constructive processes and understanding their interactive role in it, geographers are better informed of the history of their specialty and their direct and vested role in the enterprise.

DAMOS is an online annotated database (MySql) of all published texts of Mycenaean, the earliest attested Greek dialect. The texts are annotated for epigraphical and linguistic features (morphology, syntax, semantics) and provided with a rich set of metadata, which also include chronological and geographical data. Genre (administrative accounts) and physical features (brevity and often fragmentary state) of the Mycenaean texts, and especially their script (Linear B), not well suited for rendering the Greek language, pose challenges to the interpretation of the texts, which often result in multiple possible values of the data at all levels – epigraphical, linguistic, metadata. These may often be organized in competing sets of values, which form coherent different overarching hypotheses on e.g. the grammar of the language or the dating of an archive. These competing values need, thus, to be stored and meaningfully organized in the database. The presentation focuses on how chronological and geographical data (both about the texts and contained in the texts) and their often multiple possible values are dealt with in the arrangement of the database structure of DAMOS.

The thesis identifies a lack of research in the general subject area of sports geography and in particular Scottish sports geography. A new conceptual framework for the analysis of the geography of sport is developed from an extensive review of the literature. This framework is then used to illustrate three case studies of the sports landscape in Scotland at three geographical scales. Case study one considers a national sport and traces curling, from its origin to the international Olympic sport it is today, through time and the geographical concepts of space, place, and environment. The sport of curling is shown to be a distinctively Scottish despite influences of modernisation and internationalisation. At the regional scale, case study two identifies two key sporting attributes. Recent survey data are used to highlight regional variations in sports club membership and volunteering in sport. For example the highest rate of sports volunteering in the population is found in the north of Scotland, while the biggest contribution to the sport volunteer workforce comes from large urban towns nearer the central belt. Finally case study three examines a local sportscape. Factors relating to the local population and to the individuals within the sportscape are combined to propose a model for the analysis of sports places. Each case study has added to the knowledge of sports geography in Scotland, however the real benefit of the thesis is to the overall understanding of sports geographical analysis. A new conceptual framework has been developed for the geographical analysis of sport and this has been applied to three case studies to illustrate its efficacy. This is a first Geography of Sport in Scotland.

Augmented Reality is today one of the most popular upcoming technologies most commonly known for its use within games and advertising. The technology is also used in other less known fields such as task support, navigation and sightseeing but still has additional usages to be discovered. This thesis investigates how Augmented Reality can be used to improve locating city services such as public toilets by visualizing data with the technology instead of more traditional 2D means. To establish a basis on how known Augmented Reality is compared to other visualization methods, a quantitative form was set up and answered by 105 persons. A qualitative study was also conducted that included an experiment with ten users, they were interviewed separately and their answers were recorded when they interacted with the Augmented Reality prototype using a think-aloud approach. The experiment was set up to gain more in-depth knowledge about how users experience using an Augmented Reality product to find nearby objects. The experiment was designed based on information content, functionality and performance, presentation and interaction. The experiment ended with a semistructured interview to gather additional results from what the users had experienced during the interaction with the prototype. The participants of the experiment were people that had used a smartphone before and were selected to create diversity for the study based on gender, age and occupation. The results were negative based on the prototype performance but positive towards a functional product according to both the quantitative and qualitative interview results. The conclusion formed was therefore that Augmented Reality has potential to replace conventional 2D means of finding nearby city services but not in its current state.
Augmented Reality är idag en av de mest populära och uppkommande teknikerna och mest känt för dess användning inom spel och annonsering. Teknologin används också inom andramindre kända områden som uppgift support, navigation och sightseeing men har fortfarande flera användningsområden som inte blivit upptäckta. Den här uppsatsen kommer att undersöka hur Augmented Reality kan användas för att förbättra lokalisering av närliggande stadstjänster som offentliga toaletter genom att visualisera det i Augmented Reality istället för traditionella 2D-tekniker. För att etablera hur väl känt Augmented Reality är jämfört med mer kända visualiseringsmetoder utformades ett kvantitativt formulär som besvarades av 105 personer. En kvalitativ studie var också utför som innehöll ett experiment med tio deltagare som intervjuades individuellt. Deras svar spelades medan de fick interagera med en Augmented Reality prototyp och utföra en think-aloud metod. Experimentet var designat baserat på informationsinnehåll, funktionalitet och prestanda, presentation och interaktion. Experimentet avslutades med en semistrukturell intervju för att samla ytterligare resultat från vad användarna upplevde under interaktionen med prototypen. Experimentets deltagare baserades på användare som använt en smartphone förut och var utvalda för att skapa mångfald baserat på kön, ålder och sysselsättning. Resultaten var negativa baserat på prototypens prestation men positiva mot en mer funktionell produkt enligt både de kvantitativa och kvalitativa intervjuresultaten. Slutsatsen är därav att Augmented Reality har potential till att ersätta traditionella 2D-tekniker för att hitta närliggande stadstjänster men inte i sitt nuvarande stadie.

This thesis focuses on regional strategic networks (RSNs). RSNs are used as a tool for regional development with a view to strengthening regional relationship-development and networking by forming regional groups of actors. The thesis aims to clarify the nature of RSNs and the value of geographical proximity in both theoretical and practical terms. Theories regarding effects of geographical proximity, regional agglomerations and networks are presented, and their possible application to RSNs is analyzed. Furthermore, findings from two case studies are reported.

In the RSN study, the generally most highly valued outcome was the development of new relationships among the participants. Such relationships allowed for mutual learning and information exchange and also meant that for several participants the firms’ horizons were extended and their positions changed. Furthermore, internal marketing of training opportunities, in combination with financial subsidies, attracted several participants who attended training programmes on subjects that they would not otherwise have spent so much time on. However, few firms could state concrete results in terms of new business exchange or cooperative projects. The impact of structural factors on RSN outcomes is therefore discussed, in particular the impact of the membership composition of an RSN. Furthermore, important RSN-evaluation challenges are highlighted.

The second study demonstrated that most R&D done by firms is characterized either by incremental, gradual technology development and low importance of geographical proximity to customers, suppliers and academic research organizations or by fast, step-wise technology development and high importance of geographical proximity to customers, suppliers and academic research organizations.

The topic of this thesis revolves around the organization of geographical information in permanent memory. Our premise is that a recognized and fully documented direct access storage technique called Multidimensional Paging or Multipaging would provide a well balanced storing structure for this category of data. Since multipaging uses a multidimensional perspective on the information to allocate it to pages in secondary storage then spatial data, which is fundamentally multidimensional by nature, would surely offer a suitable profile.
First, we attempt to evaluate the efficiency of multipaging on static files and to suggest possible modifications to the standard algorithm to better serve spatial data.
Our solution to this problem consists in compressing the pages that overflow. Because geographical information is often a representation of occurences of Nature, we hypothesize that Fractal Geometry, which serves to formalize a mathematical description of such elements, could provide the theoretical background to derive an efficient fractal-based compression algorithm. An appreciable improvement is obtained by compressing the pages of the multipaged administrative regions data that exceed their capacity: $ alpha=0.7272$ and $ pi=1.0$.
The outcome of these experiments led us to elaborate a mixed system based on two relatively different approaches: multipaging and fractal-based data compression. The first part consisted in the implementation of the standard static multipaging algorithm using a relational database management system named Relix. The other approach was developed using the C programming language to accommodate some particularities of the multipaged spatial data. The preliminary results were encouraging and allowed us to establish the parameters for a more formal implementation. Also, it brought out the limits of the compression method in view of the intended usage of the data. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Most of transportation networks interacts with other to support our modern society way of life. The proper performance of interdependent networks depends on the normal operation of the networks that are interconnected. The aim of this thesis is to measure and analyze the robustness of different interdependent networks models under large-scale failures and, in particular, to consider interdependent networks where at least one of the networks is a telecommunication network. Both, the effects of different network models and the dynamic process of failure propagation between networks are considered. New interconnection strategies are proposed to improve the robustness of the interconnected networks by analyzing the vulnerability of networks to failures and targeted attacks. Moreover, an enhanced region-based interconnection model is proposed by considering a limit to the number of interlinks between the interconnected nodes.
La mayoría de redes de transporte interactúan con otras para para soportar el modo de vida de la sociedad moderna. En las redes interdependientes, el correcto funcionamiento depende de la operación normal de las redes que están interconectadas. El objetivo de esta tesis es medir y analizar la robustez de diferentes modelos de redes interdependientes bajo fallas de gran escala y, en particular, considerar redes interdependientes donde al menos una de las redes es una red de telecomunicaciones. Los efectos de diferentes modelos de red y procesos dinámicos de propagación de fallos entre redes son considerados. Nuevas estrategias de interconexión son propuestas para mejorar la robustez de las redes interconectadas mediante el análisis de la vulnerabilidad de las redes a fallas y ataques dirigidos. Además, se propone un modelo mejorado para la interconexión basada en regiones considerando un límite para el número de enlaces de interconexión entre las redes interconectadas

Paper I: Reprinted from An agenda for democratising cartographic visualisation by Jan Ketil Rød, Ferjan Ormelingand Corné van Elzakker from Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift - Norwegian Journal of Geography, wwwtanf.no/ngeog, 2001, 55, 38-41, by permission of Taylor & Francis AS.

The prevalence of obesity in adolescence has tripled over the last 30 years in the western world and the 'obesogenic environment' is implicated as one of the factors which may have contributed to the epidemic. Fast food has been shown to be calorie dense, high in salt and saturated fat and low in micronutrients. This thesis aims to explore the association between fast food accessibility, fast food consumption and obesity in the United Kingdom. Data from participants of a UK birth cohort (ALSPAC) were used for the majority of these analyses. A weighted accessibility score of the number of fast food outlets within a 1km network buffer of the participant's residence at age 13 was used as the main measure of access to fast food. Cross sectional and longitudinal data analyses were undertaken using several statistical methods. The structural equation modelling analyses showed that the teenagers who ate at fast food restaurants consumed more unhealthy foods and were more likely to have higher BMISOS than teenagers who did not eat frequently at fast food restaurants. The teenagers who were exposed to more takeaway foods at home ate more frequently at fast food restaurants and eating at fast food restaurants was also associated with lower intakes of vegetables and raw fruit in this cohort. In the longitudinal analyses the consumption of fast food at age 13 was associated with higher BMISOS, higher body fat percent and increased the likelihood of being obese at age 15. The relationship between access to fast food outlets and the consumption of fast food varied over space with some areas having a positive association (increased access more likely to consume fast food) whilst another area had a negative association (increased access less likely to consume fast food). This evidence could be used to encourage improvement in the nutritional content of fast food within the UK but targeted, rather than blanket, restrictions on the location of fast food outlets may be beneficial in reducing fast food consumption.

Disclosure control methods are used to protect the confidentiality of individuals and households in aggregate census data. With growth in computational power, the disclosure control problem has been rapidly transformed. Increased analytical power has stimulated user demand for more detailed information for smaller geographic areas and to customized geographical boundaries. However, the possibility of allowing census users to create their own aggregates from census microdata, and for small areas, can lead to problems of disclosure by differencing. Traditionally, methods of statistical disclosure control have been aspatial in nature. This thesis describes a new framework of geographical perturbation methods designed to deal with the spatial nature of disclosure risk. The research offers several new contributions, specifically; . (1) Aframework of new geographical perturbation methods is defined, based on creating uncertainty around geographical location. Zone-independent methods are designed for protection in a flexibletabulation scenario'and to account for the spatial dimension of risk. • (2) Techniques for implementation of t~ese methods are tested on a synthetic census dataset which· show comparable risk-utility outcomes to RRS (an existing method used for the US and UK Censuses). The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed methods are discussed with regard to ease of implementation and flexibility of parameter values. (3) One of these new methods; LOS, is then explored in more detail showing a significant improvement over RRS in terms of the risk-utility outcome. Risk reduction is illustrated in a geographical differencing scenario and distortion to utility explored in a spatial context of typical census users' analyses.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Geodemographics has been used extensively as a decision-support tool in both the business sector and the market survey environment in the United States, the United Kingdom and numerous other countries. This has however not been the case in South Africa, partly because of the expense involved in capturing current and complete customer information. As an alternative to capturing all the required customer information, geodemographics has frequently made use of government census data to supplement the organisation-specific data. However, even the census data has its shortcomings. This research has explored a method for building an organisation-specific database using a combination of government census data and organisation-specific data. The organisation-specific data was captured using a questionnaire that was targeted to a specific group of people. The information obtained from the questionnaire and which overlapped with specific census data variables was then used to update the relevant census variables. Cluster analysis was subsequently conducted on the census data in order to identify enumerator areas within the Western Province that had demographic and economic characteristics similar to those of the surveyed areas. Once the appropriate enumerator areas had been identified, the organisation-specific information from the survey was extrapolated to these new areas outside of the surveyed areas. The methodology used in this research provides a process that allows organisations to build a unique geodatabase by making use of the good qualities of both the census data and user-specific data. The resulting geodatabase is one that contains current and pertinent information while also providing complete spatial coverage.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geodemografie word op groot skaal gebruik as n hulpmiddel vir die ondersteuning van besluitneming in die sakesektor en die markopname-omgewing in die Verenigde State, die Verenigde Koninkryk en talle ander lande. Dit is egter nie in Suid-Afrika die geval nie, deels as gevolg van die onkoste verbonde aan vaslegging van die jongste en volledige kliente-inligting. As n altematief vir die vaslegging van al die vereiste kliente-inligting maak geodemografie dikwels gebruik van sensusdata om data eie aan n organisasie aan te vul. Selfs sensusdata het egter tekortkominge. Hierdie navorsing het n metode ondersoek vir die opbou van n databasis eie aan n organisasie deur gebruik te maak van n kombinasie van sensusdata en data eie aan n organisasie. Die data eie aan ri organisasie is vasgele deur gebruik te maak van ri vraelys vir n spesifieke teikengroep. Die inligting wat uit die vraelys verkry is en wat met die spesifieke sensusdataveranderlikes ooreengestem het, is toe gebruik om die relevante sensusveranderlikes by te werk. Skakelingsanalise is daama op die sensusdata uitgevoer ten einde opnemerareas in die Westelike Provinsie te identifiseer wat soortgelyke demografiese en ekonomiese kenmerke gehad het as die areas waarin die vraelysopname gemaak is. Nadat die geskikte opnemerareas gei'dentifiseer is, is die inligting eie aan die organisasie uit die opname geekstrapoleer na hierdie nuwe areas buite die areas waar die opname gemaak is. Die metodologie wat in hierdie navorsing gebruik is, verskaf n metodologie wat organisasies in staat stel om n unieke geodatabasis op te bou deur gebruik te maak van die goeie eienskappe van beide die sensusdata en die data eie aan die gebruiker. Die geodatabasis wat hieruit voortspruit, is een wat die jongste en verbandhoudende inligting bevat en volledige ruimtelike dekking bied.

Models that are used for predicting species' potential distributions are important tools that have found applications in a number of areas of applied ecology. The majority of these models can be classified as correlative, as they rely on strong, often indirect, links between species distribution records and environmental predictor variables to make predictions. Correlative models are an alternative to more complex mechanistic models that attempt to simulate the mechanisms considered to underlie the observed correlations with environmental attributes. This study explores the influence of the type and quality of the data used to calibrate correlative models. In terms of data type, the most popular techniques in use are group discrimination techniques, those that use both presence and absence locality data to make predictions. However, for many organisms absence data are either not available or are considered to be unreliable. As the available range of profile techniques (those using presence only data) appeared to be limited, new profile techniques were investigated and evaluated. A new profile modelling technique based on fuzzy classification (the Fuzzy Envelope Model) was developed and implemented. A second profile technique based on Principal Components Analysis was implemented and evaluated. Based on quantitative model evaluation tests, both of these techniques performed well and show considerable promise. In terms of data quality, the effects on model performance of false absence records, the number of locality records (sample size) and the proportion of localities representing species presence (prevalence) in samples were investigated for logistic regression distribution models. Sample size and prevalence both had a significant effect on model performance. False absence records had a significant influence on model performance, which was affected by sample size. A quantitative comparison of the performance of selected profile models and group discrimination modelling techniques suggests that different techniques may be more successful for predicting distributions for particular species or types of organism than others. The results also suggest that several different model design! sample size combinations are capable of making predictions that will on average not differ significantly in performance for a particular species. A further quantitative comparison among modelling techniques suggests that correlative techniques can perform as well as simple mechanistic techniques for predicting potential distributions.

Bibliography: pages 85-87.
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) often do not meet the expectations of users and management, raising questions and doubts as to their overall success and effectiveness. To date the majority of GIS research has focused on technical issues, and management research has approached GIS effectiveness from a purely cost benefit perspective. This study adopts a holistic, multi-perspective approach to the issue of GIS effectiveness, identifying measures of effectiveness related to the fields of Information Systems (IS), Management Information Systems (MIS) and GIS. It applies these measures using the case study methodology in a small South African local authority, the Ceres Municipality.

Through an analysis of the 1970 British Birth Cohort Study, this thesis explores the intersections between food, class, space, and the life course. I show that different class groups consume different foods, and argue that this provides evidence for an ongoing homology between class and cultural consumption. The broad divide I uncover is between indulgent eating patterns on the part of working classes, and ascetic consumption patterns on the part of the middle classes. I show how, over the period from 1986 to 2000, a new post-Fordist pattern of consumption has developed (the ‘Ascetic plus’ eating pattern) amongst the cohort under investigation. I am also able to demonstrate that socialization in childhood, as well as cultural capital, appear to retain important roles in structuring eating patterns, but that the importance of socialization seems to vary depending on the trajectory of individuals’ life courses. Upwardly socially and geographically mobile people are the individuals who are most likely to adhere to the new post-Fordist eating pattern and because of this, I argue that these groups may the most able to break away from the structural moorings of class based consumption. I propose that this finding could be explained with reference to unequal distribution of reserves of reflexivity – these particular ‘mobile’ segments of the middle class may have greater access to individualized forms of identity.

This thesis presents a novel approach to the problem of handling vagueness in ontologies of geographical information. Ontologies are formal representations of a set of concepts and the relationships that hold between those concepts. They have been proposed as a method of representing geographical information logically, but existing limitations in ontology languages and approaches fail to handle aspects of the geographical domain adequately, such as vagueness. The technique introduced in this thesis does not seek to remove or ignore the inherent vagueness when reasoning about geographic features, but rather seeks to incorporate it into decisions made about features during this process. By improving themanner in which vagueness is handled in geographical information systems, we improve the usability and the functionality of such systems, and move towards a more natural method of interaction. A comparison of the principal vague reasoning approaches is presented, to show how there is not at present a universal approach that handles all forms of vagueness. Rather, there exist different forms of vagueness as well as different required outcomes of vague reasoning, which means we should instead consider the problem at hand and determine the most appropriate approach accordingly. The technique for handling vagueness proposed here is to provide a systemfor grounding an ontology upon a geographic dataset. This data is assumed to take the form of a set of 2-dimensional polygons, each of which may be associated with one or more labels describing the type of region that polygon represents and the attributes associated with it. By grounding the ontology onto the data, an explicit link is made between the ontology and the data. Thus, vagueness within the definitions at the ontology level can be handled within the context of the dataset used; “large” can be defined in terms of what it means to be “large” in this dataset. Further, I developed a system that allows querying of the data and returns features through spatial reasoning. This allows the extraction

This thesis concerns object oriented modelling and automatic generalisation of geographic information. The focus however is not on traditional paper maps, but on screen maps that are automatically generated from a geographical database. Object oriented modelling is used to design screen maps that are equipped with methods that automatically extracts information from a geographical database, generalises the information and displays it on a screen. The thesis consists of three parts: a theoretical background, an object oriented model that incorporates automatic generalisation of geographic information and a case study where parts of the model have been implemented.

An object oriented model is an abstraction of reality for a certain purpose. The theoretical background describes different aspects that have impact on how an object oriented model shall be designed for automatic generalisation. The following topics are described: category theory, the human ability to recognise visual patterns, previous work in automatic cartographic generalisation, and object oriented modelling.

A view is here defined to consist of several static levels, or maps, defined at different resolutions. As the user zooms the level that is appropriate for the particular resolution is shown. An object class belongs to one and only one level and has a certain symbolisation. The automatic creation of new objects in a level is discussed as well as the relation between objects in different levels. To preserve topological relations between objects in a level a network structure is formed between all linear objects in a level and objects that might cause conflicts are modelled using dependencies.

The model is designed for a set of typical geographical object classes such as road, railroad, lake, river, stream, building, built-up area etc. The model is designed to handle information in a scale-range from 1:10 000 to 1:100 000. The model has been implemented for a subset of these classes and tested for an area covering approximatley 60 km².