500 research outputs found
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RIKEN MetaDatabase: A Database Platform for Health Care and Life Sciences as a Microcosm of Linked Open Data Cloud
No full textRecently, the number and heterogeneity of life science datasets published on the Web have increased significantly. However, biomedical scientists face numerous serious difficulties finding, using and publishing useful databases. To address these issues, the authors developed a Resource Description Framework-based database platform, called the RIKEN MetaDatabase (http://metadb.riken.jp), that allows biologists to develop, publish and integrate multiple databases easily. The platform manages the metadata of both research and individual data described using standardised vocabularies and ontologies, and has a simple browser-based graphical user interface to view data including tabular and graphical forms. The platform was released in April 2015, and 113 databases, including mammalian, plant, bioresource and image databases, with 26 ontologies have been published using this platform as of January 2017. This paper describes the technical knowledge obtained through the development and operation of the RIKEN MetaDatabase to accelerate life science data distribution
A Privacy Protection Approach Based on Android Application's Runtime Behavior Monitor and Control
No full textThis article proposes a system that focuses on Android application runtime behavior forensics. Using Linux processes, a dynamic injection and a Java function hook technology, the system is able to manipulate the runtime behavior of applications without modifying the Android framework and the application's source code. Based on this method, a privacy data protection policy that reflects users' intentions is proposed by extracting and recording the privacy data usage in applications. Moreover, an optimized random forest algorithm is proposed to reduce the policy training time. The result shows that the system realizes the functions of application runtime behavior monitor and control. An experiment on 134 widely used applications shows that the basic privacy policy could satisfy the majority of users' privacy intentions
Fetishism and Consumer Value
No full textFetishism is the attribution of value to an object. To understand fetishism, therefore, requires a grasp of the value which is attributed to an object. More dynamically, it points to the need to comprehend the mechanisms—the processes—by which value is attributed to a product. The purpose of this chapter is to offer a new conceptualization of consumer value. The chapter begins by presenting a brief review of the consumer value literature, situated within the broader context of axiology. It then summarizes research which explored the concept of consumer values (plural) in the specific social context of the high-fidelity audio culture—those people for whom high-fidelity audio has been fetishized. The chapter continues by offering and explaining the new conceptualization of consumer value, and suggesting future research directions. Finally, it discusses the new conceptualization of consumer value with respect to consumer culture in general, and to fetishism in particular
Standardization: Towards an Agenda for Research
No full textStandardization research is a fairly new and is a still-evolving field of research, with possibly major practical ramifications. This article presents a summary of the authors' subjective views of the most pressing research topics in the field. These include, among others, standards (e.g. incorporation of ethical issues), the potential impact of standards, the corporate management of standardization and legal issues like Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). In addition, gaps have been identified with a respect to a basic understanding of standardization, suggesting a need for better education in the field
Sustainable Consumerism via Context-Aware Shopping
No full textWe are living in a world of vast information. The means of the Internet allow access to diverse sources of information, with social media and Internet of Things technologies significantly expanding the informational ecosystem. With the use of social media, it is easy for ‘like-minded' people to group up and initiate movements. One way to articulate such movements is via political consumerism. Users group together and boycott or buycott (boost purchases) for certain products with a concrete collective goal in mind. If, however, the collective goal is vague and abstract, as in the case of sustainability, this bottom-up strategy may lose its popularity and attraction. In this paper, we introduce a new concept of how individual consumers can follow their own understanding of sustainability, while at the same time benefiting from collective and participatory actions. We discuss how the means of ICT can be used to develop political consumerism further to transform individual policies into collective statements
Healthcare in the United States: Achieving Fiscal Health in the Marketplace or Delivering a Sustainable Public Good?
No full textHealthcare in the United States is a dynamic mix of public and marketplace solutions to the challenge of achieving the maximum public good for the greatest number of people. Indeed, in the U.S. the healthcare industry generates over $3 trillion in the economy. This creates a uniquely American paradox that is examined here. The basic structure of the U.S. public-private healthcare delivery system is explored. The dynamics of public sector involvement in healthcare delivery is reviewed, with particular emphasis on the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Economic impact, employment indicators, and recent cost estimates of public revenue investment will be considered. Finally, a discussion about the future implications of healthcare for public administration in the 21st century is presented. Eight tables and figures present a visual and detailed explanation to accompany the narrative
Understanding Nonprofit Organizations' Use of Social Networking Sites: An Examination of Management Factors
No full textThis study examined how nonprofit organizations use social networking sites to enhance stakeholder relations and what organizational management factors may contribute to the effective use of social networking sites. Local nonprofit organizations in the Central Florida area were surveyed. The authors found that the strategic use of social networking sites can better foster online connections between nonprofit organizations and their stakeholders. Organizational managerial decisions can have a great impact on how effectively organizations use their social networking sites
Telecom Big Data Based User Offloading Self-Optimisation in Heterogeneous Relay Cellular Systems
No full textThis paper proposes a telecom big data based user offloading self-optimisation (TBDUOS) scheme. Its aim is to assist telecom operators to effectively balancing the load distribution with achieving good service performance and customer management in heterogeneous relay cellular systems. To achieve these objectives, in the cell-level offloaded traffic analysis stage, the optimal offloaded traffic is calculated to minimise the total blocking probability. In the user-level offloading stage, the user portrait is drawn and the K-MEANS algorithm is employed to manage the users clustering in the heavily loaded cell, and finally shifting users to assistant cells. Simulation results show the TBDUOS scheme can effectively reduce the handover failure and call dropping of specific users, especially voice/stream users, high consumption users, high level users. The TBDUOS scheme can also reduce the blocking probability
Food System Resilience and Sustainability in Cambodia
No full textCambodia is witnessing a “Goldilocks moment” in demographic change concurrent with shifts in land use, hydrology, and climate. These trends interact and affect food production, food costs, and food security. Drivers of these trends are typically examined separately with interacting factors considered along disciplinary margins. While science models to explore these interacting effects have been proposed, there remains an applied research gap in integrating these pieces and assessing interdisciplinary opportunities for developing food security solutions. Developed following a request from USAID to elucidate food security conditions in Cambodia, here the authors present their geospatial synthesis of the biophysical and socioeconomic drivers of current food security risk, as well as explore future trends for those conditions. The overall structure shows several interlocking or mutually reinforcing trends in systems that point towards a significant intensification of food insecurity in the near future. They offer an assessment of future targets for food systems innovation
IMPRESS BIM Methodology and Software Tools (iBIMm) for Façade Retrofitting Using Prefabricated Concrete Panels
No full textIMPRESS is a H2020 funded project that has developed prefabricated façade panels to reduce building energy demand. In order to accelerate and optimise the retrofit process, IMPRESS has developed an iterative design methodology (IDM), which incorporates all stages of the design-construct-install-operate process and aims to bring energy efficiency as early as possible in the design process. Three software tools have been developed for this purpose: (1) an online decision support software (DSS), to inform decision-making on which panel type is suitable for the building; (2) an interoperable data exchange server (IDES) to allow exchange of information related to the design, construction, installation and operation of the facade; and (3) an online management platform (OMP) for coordination through all stages. The merger of the design methodology and software tools is called IMPRESS BIM methodology (iBIMm) which enables design teams to make informed decisions based on building information models and provides a platform to monitor its performance during the operation stage