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Socio-technical HCI for ethical value exchange: lessons from India
Get PDFEthical value exchange is moving to the forefront of the global challenges that HCI will have to address in the coming years. We argue that applying a context-sensitive, socio-technical approach to HCI can help meet this challenge. The background is that the life of marginalized people in contemporary society is challenging and uncertain. The marginalized can face health and cognitive issues as well as a lack of stability in social structures such as family, work and social inclusion. Three questions are of concern when innovating together with people ‘at the margins’: how can we describe users without stereotyping badly, what socio-technical HCI methods fit the local context, and how to make the design sustainable in the face of current planetary challenges (e.g., climate change)? We discuss a socio-technical HCI approach called human work interaction design (HWID) to meet the challenges of designing for ethical value exchange where value extraction is not dominated by one party but equally shared across all stakeholders. We introduce an ongoing case of a digital service to support fishers in Alibaug, India. As a multidisciplinary team of researchers we evaluate the socio-technical infrastructure surrounding a mobile app to support sustainable fishing. This is done through the lens of HWID by highlighting inwardly and outwardly socio-technical relations between human work and interaction design. We conclude by highlighting the value of a context sensitive, ethical socio-technical framework for HCI
Multilayer perceptron neural network-based QoS-aware, content-aware and device-Aware QoE prediction model: a proposed prediction model for medical ultrasound streaming over small cell networks
Get PDFThis paper presents a QoS-aware, content-aware and device-aware non-intrusive medical QoE (m-QoE) prediction model over small cell networks. The proposed prediction model utilises a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) neural network to predict m-QoE. It also acts as a platform to maintain and optimise the acceptable diagnostic quality through a device-aware adaptive video streaming mechanism. The proposed model is trained for an unseen dataset of input variables such as QoS, content features, and display device characteristics, to produce an output value in the form of m-QoE (i.e. MOS). The efficiency of the proposed model is validated through subjective tests carried by medical experts. The prediction accuracy obtained via the correlation coefficient and Root Mean-Square-Error (RMSE) indicates that the proposed model succeeds in measuring m-QoE closer to the visual perception of the medical experts. Furthermore, we have addressed the following two main research questions: (1) How significant is ultrasound video content type in determining m-QoE? and (2) How much of a role does the screen size and device resolution play in medical experts’ diagnostic experience? The former is answered through the content classification of ultrasound video sequences based on their spatio-temporal features, by including these features in the proposed prediction model, and validating their significance through medical experts’ subjective ratings. The latter is answered by conducting a novel subjective experiment of the ultrasound video sequences across multiple devices
Cache space efficient caching scheme for content-centric mobile ad hoc networks
Get PDFContent-centric mobile ad hoc networks (CCMAN) have been demonstrated as a potential complementary to multimedia content dissemination in future wireless networks. In-network caching is one of the key techniques in CCMAN, which can significantly reduce the network traffic load and improve the content retrieval performance. However, the challenges for caching in CCMAN are that all the wireless nodes can act as users and routers simultaneously, and the caching capability of each wireless node is limited by the cache size. So caching strategies should improve not only the caching performance but also the cache space efficiency. In this paper, we study the cache space efficient caching (CSEC) in CCMAN. First, the theoretical performance of caching in CCMAN is analyzed, the cache utility is defined and derived. Then, a CSEC scheme is proposed to improve the efficiency of cache space utilization in CCMAN. Accordingly, the analytical performance of the proposed CSEC in terms of the cache utility of CCMAN is given. The network performance of the proposed CSEC is evaluated by simulation. Simulation results show that the proposed CSEC can achieve optimal performance on cache utility, which can provide a tradeoff between the cache hit ratio performance and occupied cache space
Employees as advertisers: on the effects of internal advertising using a flexible online brand center platform
Get PDFThe purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between attitude construct variables and internal advertising construct variables, brand awareness and brand knowledge, and to explore the effectiveness of a flexible online brand center platform for internal employee communication.
The data consisted of fourteen interviews with 32 employees as participants divided into 5 focus groups based on their job category at the University of Aveiro. The qualitative data derived from the discussion was transformed into quantitative data, counting the number of references associated with each variable. The relationship between attitude construct variables (i.e., organizational commitment and identification) with the internal brand advertising variables (i.e., brand knowledge and brand awareness), were found to be statistically significant. Furthermore, each of these attitude construct variables and internal brand advertising variables were also found to be statistically significant in their association with the variable measuring willingness to participate in the online brand center platform. Also, it was observed that sex and job category variables influences the attitude construct variables.
The study confirms the previous marketing findings regarding the theoretical explanation of brand integration among employees. The relationship between identification and organizational commitment and the relationship between brand awareness and brand knowledge observed in previous studies were confirmed. Future research may investigate the possible causes of higher identification in teaching staff compared to non-teaching staff, as well as the differences in the psychological variables for men and women. Managerial implications suggest that online brand center may be effective in internal advertising to employees and in turn employees can become advertisers of brands to potential consumers
‘It’s like... it’s me’: exploring the lived experience of clothing attachment during wear
Get PDFClothing and its intimate proximity to the body and self have been widely explored, and yet there is little psychological research that explores the experience of wearing items of clothing imbued with personal meanings, memories and emotions. This novel study explores the experience of actively worn items of attachment clothing from a psychological perspective. Method: due to a dearth of literature within this area, a qualitative methodology was employed. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used as the focus was to explore details of participants’ experience. A homogenous sample of five participants was used. Participants were asked to wear to the interview a garment that they felt emotionally attached to and was still in use. Semi-structured interviews were used, allowing for flexibility, thus ensuring the elicitation of rich data. Results: findings demonstrated that clothing attachment is a multifaceted and rich phenomenon. The garments were appropriated and imbued with a symbolic resonance that participants accessed through wearing the attachment garment. Conclusion: results link to and extend previous literature on possession attachment and provide nuanced findings that could impact areas within both fashion literature and psychology literature
Adapting Pagnol and Provence
Get PDFThis chapter examines Marcel Pagnol’s L’eau des collines and its film adaptations Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources (Dir. Claude Berri, 1986). Methodologically, its principal innovation in revisiting these films is an engagement with theories from the critical literature of Travel and Tourism Studies to elucidate the desire of readers and viewers to visit places associated with cherished texts. The films’ role in the subsequent explosion of tourist interest and second-home ownership in Provence is discussed in terms of the proposed concept of ‘adaptation tourism’, and the sometimes fraught relationship between incomers and locals is framed as analogous to the key themes of Pagnol’s story. Combining tourism-oriented analyses with ideas drawn from critiques of heritage film, Provence is examined as a ‘cultural landscape’, its meanings constructed in part by books and screen texts and its ownership – both literal and interpretive – contested across fault-lines of belonging
Mitigating cyber supply chain risks in cyber physical systems organizational landscape
Get PDFCyber supply chain (CSC) provide an organization with the ability to align its business processes, information flows and data structures with other organization. However, the increase interdependencies have brought about inherent, threats, risks, attacks and vulnerabilities that adversaries maybe able to exploit when not properly mitigated. Additionally, every cyberattack on each organization increases the probability of the risk cascading to others. The CSC risk has increased exponentially due to uncertainties surrounding cyberattacks and the cyber threat landscape. Recent CSC threats have been disruptive and impacting on the smooth flow of delivery of products and services. CSC risk has been observed as one of the areas that impact greatly and causes budget overruns. The aim of this paper is to mitigate CSC risks in an organizational landscape. In particular, the paper identifies supply inbound and outbound chain threat landscape using a risk breakdown structure. Further, weassess the risk to gather cyber threat intelligence. Furthermore, we use the probability distribution method to determine the CSC risks and analyze the risk probabilities and likelihood of risk cascading impact. Our results show that CSC risk can be neutralized using probability distribution methods to detect and mitigate the risks and their impact levels
Safeguards for Public-Private Partnership Assets in Nigeria: Lessons from South Africa
No full textCountries around the world are adopting the public-private partnership model of procurement in order to bridge infrastructure gaps and to tap from private sector capital and expertise given the involvement of private sector funding in public-private partnership arrangements, the safety of investors’ assets is fundamental in order to attract both domestic and foreign investors to the public infrastructure market. This article examines the framework for the administration of the public-private partnership model in Nigeria with a view to determining how the law protects investors’ assets. The framework in South Africa is also examined for comparative insight. The central argument in the article is that a reliable framework that aims to ensure successful completion and management of projects in Nigeria can be achieved by taking a cue from the South African model. The article concludes with recommendations
Exploring the determinants of global life expectancy in an ecological perspective
Get PDFObjective: This study is designed to understand the impacts of demographic events, socioeconomic differentials, health factors’ availability, and environmental reasons which influence life expectancy (LE) globally. Methods: Data of 183 countries were taken from the United Nations agencies. The predicted variable was LE, and the determinants were demographic events, socioeconomic factors, health-related factors, and environmental issues. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and backward multiple regression analysis were used to reach the research objectives. Results: The lowest LEs are found in the African countries; and LE is found significantly associated (p<0.05) with a wide range of demographic, socioeconomic, health, and environmental factors. The necessity of full coverage of immunization, higher income, and improved sanitation are more expected to raise LE. However, LE may be increased by way of decrease fertility, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevalence, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Conclusions: The LE is influenced by different demographic, socioeconomic, health, and environmental factors. Country-level and global efforts should be taken to raise LE throughout the reduction of HIV infection, births, and CO2 emissions. The policy-makers should focus on the advancing reproductive decisions, increasing immunization coverage, and upturning improved sanitation usage
The inhibitory effect of chlorogenic acid on lipid oxidation of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) during chilled storage
Get PDFGrass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idellus) is a kind of freshwater fish which is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and easily exposed to lipid oxidation during refrigeration. The effect of chlorogenic acid (CGA) on lipid oxidation, protein oxidation, enzymatic activities, and color stability of grass carp muscle during chilled storage was investigated. The lipid oxidation was inhibited by CGA, as evidenced by lower thiobarbituric acid values, peroxide values, carbonyl valence, less free fatty acid content, and higher amount of unsaturated fatty acid compared to the control group. CGA also had a positive effect on the whiteness value and the stability of protein oxidation of fish samples. In addition, the inhibitory study of CGA on endogenous lipase and lipoxygenase activities of fish muscle can help to partly illustrate the mechanism that retains its freshness effect. The results indicate that CGA is a novel natural additive which can be used to inhibit lipid and protein oxidation and be applied in the storage of aquatic products or some similar fields