Visual Analytical Approaches to Evaluating Uncertainty and Bias in Crowdsourced Crisis Information

Concerns about verification mean the humanitarian community are reluctant to use information collected during crisis events, even though such information could potentially enhance the response effort. Consequently, a program of research is presented that aims to evaluate the degree to which uncertainty and bias are found in public collections of incident reports gathered during crisis events. These datasets exemplify a class whose members have spatial and temporal attributes, are gathered from heterogeneous sources, and do not have readily available attribution information. An interactive software prototype, and existing software, are applied to a dataset related to the current armed conflict in Libya to identify ‘intrinsic’ characteristics against which uncertainty and bias can be evaluated. Requirements on the prototype are identified, which in time will be expanded into full research objectives

Monomeric PcrA helicase processively unwinds plasmid lengths of DNA in the presence of the initiator protein RepD

The helicase PcrA unwinds DNA during asymmetric replication of plasmids, acting with an initiator protein, in our case RepD. Detailed kinetics of PcrA activity were measured using bulk solution and a single-molecule imaging technique to investigate the oligomeric state of the active helicase complex, its processivity and the mechanism of unwinding. By tethering either DNA or PcrA to a microscope coverslip surface, unwinding of both linear and natural circular plasmid DNA by PcrA/RepD was followed in real-time using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy. Visualization was achieved using a fluorescent single-stranded DNA-binding protein. The single-molecule data show that PcrA, in combination with RepD, can unwind plasmid lengths of DNA in a single run, and that PcrA is active as a monomer. Although the average rate of unwinding was similar in single-molecule and bulk solution assays, the single-molecule experiments revealed a wide distribution of unwinding speeds by different molecules. The average rate of unwinding was several-fold slower than the PcrA translocation rate on single-stranded DNA, suggesting that DNA unwinding may proceed via a partially passive mechanism. However, the fastest dsDNA unwinding rates measured in the single-molecule unwinding assays approached the PcrA translocation speed measured on ssDNA

Playing Reindeer Games: Native Alaskans and the Federal Trust Doctrine

The Reindeer Industry Act of 1937 established a de facto Native Alaskan monopoly in the reindeer industry as a means of subsistence that would allow Native Alaskans to remain self-sufficient and continue to practice their traditional customs. In 1997, the Ninth Circuit held that the Reindeer Act did not preclude nonNatives from owning and selling reindeer, thereby opening the reindeer industry up to non-Natives. The unique Native Alaskan culture of the Seward Peninsula, which depends upon the reindeer industry, is in jeopardy as a result of competition it now faces from non-Natives. The federal government has a fiduciary obligation to protect the cultural welfare of Native Alaskans as a result of the trust relationship that exists between the federal government and Native Americans. The federal government has yet to take action to fulfill that fiduciary obligation to the Native Alaskan reindeer herders of the Seward Peninsula

Characterising Locality Descriptions in Crowdsourced Crisis Information

Humanitarian organisations are reluctant to use information from social media when responding to crises or conflicts, identifying trust and accuracy as principal concerns. However, the Geographic Information Science literature contains significant research into uncertainty, research we draw upon here to characterise locality descriptions in incident reports related to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. We do so using a classification developed to georeference locality descriptions in MaNIS, the Mammal Networked Information System. We found that although there are similarities between the datasets, crowdsourced crisis information presents significant challenges with respect to vagueness, ambiguity and precision (resolution)

Technical writing versus technical writing

Two terms, two job categories, 'technical writer' and 'technical author' are discussed in terms of industrial and business requirements and standards. A distinction between 'technical writing' and technical 'writing' is made. The term 'technical editor' is also considered. Problems inherent in the design of programs to prepare and train students for these jobs are discussed. A closer alliance between industry and academia is suggested as a means of preparing students with competent technical communication skills (especially writing and editing skills) and good technical skills

A Design, Analysis and Evaluation Model to Support the Visualization Designer-User

Existing visualization design and evaluation frameworks rest on a distinction between the designer and the user. However, there is little explicit guidance on design, analysis and evaluation when the designer is the user. A simple solution to this problem is for the researcher (who combines the designer and user roles) to be clear about which activity they are conducting at which point in time. To support the researcher, we propose a design, analysis and evaluation model. This model complements existing visualization design and evaluation frameworks. We have adopted this model in our ongoing research into uncertainty in crowdsourced crisis information

Exploring Road Incident Data with Heat Maps

This research seeks to determine whether heat mapping is an effective technique for the visual exploration of road incident data. Four software prototypes, which adopted map, treemap and spatial treemap layouts, were developed using open source software. Whilst the visualization process described by Fry (2007) informed the development effort, the evaluation methodology was based on the Nested Process Model (Munzner, 2009). The results of two evaluation methods-a design study and the presentation and discussion of results with domain experts-confirm heat mapping's validity and provide requirements for further software development