1,720,968 research outputs found
A Distributed Participatory Design Research Protocol for Co-designing with Children
No full textIn this paper, we outline a Distributed Participatory Design (DPD) research protocol. The protocol is presented through the lens of the World’s Largest DPD Project with children, a hypothetical project in which children address the issue of climate change. The DPD research protocol is based on the protocol template recommended by WHO’s Research Ethics Review Committee (ERC) and on the data from two conference workshops with a total of 45 participants. The contribution of this paper is two-fold: 1) an initial version of a generic DPD research protocol; 2) an exemplification of how to appropriate this protocol for a specific project. We expect this protocol will be iteratively refined and will serve as inspiration for future research practices in Child-Computer Interaction (CCI)
ADHD and Technology Research – Investigated by Neurodivergent Readers
Get PDFTechnology research for neurodivergent conditions is largely shaped by research aims which privilege neuro-normative outcomes. As such, there is an epistemic imbalance in meaning making about these technologies. We conducted a critical literature review of technologies designed for people with ADHD, focusing on how ADHD is framed, the research aims and approaches, the role of people with ADHD within the research process, and the types of systems being developed within Computing and HCI. Our analysis and review is conducted explicitly from an insider perspective, bringing our perspectives as neurodivergent researchers to the topic of technologies in the context of ADHD. We found that 1) technologies are largely used to ‘mitigate’ the experiences of ADHD which are perceived as disruptive to neurotypical standards of behaviour; 2) little HCI research in the area invites this population to co-construct the technologies or to leverage neurodivergent experiences in the construction of research aims; and 3) participant resistance to deficit frames can be read within the researchers’ own accounts of participant actions. We discuss the implications of this status quo for disabled people and technology researchers alike, and close with a set of recommendations for future work in this area
AI beyond Deus ex Machina:Reimagining Intelligence in Future Cities with Urban Experts
No full textThe current mechanisms that drive the development of AI technologies are widely criticized for being tech-oriented and market-ledinstead of stemming from societal challenges. In Human-Centered AI discourses, and more broadly in Human-Computer Interactionresearch, initiatives have been proposed to engage experts from various domains of social science in determining how AI should reachour societies, predominantly through informing the adoption policies. Our contribution, however, seeks a more essential role for socialsciences, namely to introduce discursive standpoints around what we need AI to be. With a focus on the domain of urbanism, thespecific goal has been to elicit – from interviews with 16 urban experts – the imaginaries of how AI can and should impact futurecities. Drawing on the social science literature, we present how the notion of "imaginary" has essentially framed this research and howit could reveal an alternative vision of non-human intelligent actors in future cities
Growing Roots: Connecting Elderly through Virtual Nature Spaces
No full textThis dataset contains all data from the Growing Roots Project, a create health project funded by ZonMW. Within this folder you find raw data aquired in the Growing Roots project. - DataLaboratoryExperiment.sav is the SPSS file with the raw data of the Laboratory Experiment which is published: van Houwelingen-Snippe, J., van Rompay, T. J., de Jong, M. D., & Ben Allouch, S. (2020). Does digital nature enhance social aspirations? An experimental study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(4), 1454. - DataQuantitativeStudyMTurk55+.sav is the SPSS file with the raw data of the survey study for adults aged 55 years or older. The article written on this data has been accepted for publication in Journal of Ageing & Society. - DataSurveyStudyCovid19.sav is the SPSS file with the raw data of the survey study that has been conducted during the first lockdown of Covid 19 and has been published: van Houwelingen-Snippe, J., van Rompay, T. J., & Ben Allouch, S. (2020). Feeling connected after experiencing digital nature: A survey study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(18), 6879. - Interview study 2021 transcripts Dutch.rar contains all anonymized transcripts of the interview study that has been conducted in 2021 amongst older adults. - QuantitativeDataInterviewStudy2021.sav contains all raw quantitative data collected during the interview study in 2021. - Transcripts Focus Groups.rar contains all anonymized transcripts of the focus groups. The article written on this data has been accepted for publication in Journal of Ageing & Society
Modelling the Influence of Regional Identity on Human Migration
Get PDFHuman migration involves the relocation of individuals, households or moving groups between geographical locations. Aggregate spatial patterns of movement reflect complex interactions among motivations (such as distance, identity, economic opportunities, etc.) that influence migration behaviour and determine destination choice. Gravity models and radiation models are often used to study different types of migration at various spatial scales. In this paper, we propose that human migration models can be improved by embedding regional identities into the model. We modify the existing human migration gravity model by adding an identity parameter based on three different sets of Dutch identity regions. Through analysis of the Dutch internal migration data between 1996 and 2016, we show that adding the identity parameter has a significant effect on the distance distribution. We find that individuals are more likely to move towards municipalities located within the same identity region. We test the impact of regional identity by comparing randomly spatially clustered and optimised identity regions to show that the effects we attribute to regional identity could not be attributed due to chance. Finally, our finding shows that cultural identity should be taken into account and has broad implications on the practice of modelling human migration patterns at large. We find that people living in Dutch municipalities are 3.89 times as likely to move to a municipality when it is located within the same historic identity region. Including these identity regions in the migration model decreases the deviation of the model by 10.7%
Systems Biology and Health Systems Complexity
No full textSystems biology addresses interactions in biological systems at different scales of biological organization, from the molecular to the cellular, organ, organism, societal, and ecosystem levels. This chapter expands on the concept of systems biology, explores its implications for individual patients through a description of the work of Dr. Leroy Hood and his colleagues at the Institute for Systems Biology. It presents the broader social implications through a review of the efforts of Dr. Peter M. A. Sloot and his colleagues at the Health Systems Complexity Program in Singapore. The chapter considers criticisms of the systems approach and the implications for the Digital Patient. Mathematical simulations associated with systems biology and integrative physiological modeling is primarily used in hypothesis testing and experimental design; however, mathematical simulations and integrative models could also be utilized more fully in medical and health professions education
HIV Decision Support: From Molecule to Man
Get PDFpeer reviewedHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is recognized to be one of the most destructive pandemics in recorded history. Effective highly active antiretroviral therapy and the availability of genetic screening of patient virus data have led to sustained viral suppression and higher life expectancy in patients who have been infected with HIV. The sheer complexity of the disease stems from the multiscale and highly dynamic nature of the system under study. The complete cascade from genome, proteome, metabolome and physiome to health forms a multidimensional system that crosses many orders of magnitude in temporal and spatial scales. Understanding, quantifying and handling this complexity is one of the biggest challenges of our time, which requires a highly multidisciplinary approach. In order to supply researchers with an interactive framework and to provide the medical professional with appropriate tools and information for making a balanced and reliable clinical decision, we have developed 'ViroLab', a collaborative decision-support system (http://www.virolab.org/). ViroLab contains computational models that cover various spatial and temporal scales from atomic-level interactions in nanoseconds up to sociological interactions on the epidemiological level, spanning years of disease progression. ViroLab allows for personalized drug ranking. It is on trial in six hospitals and various virology and epidemiology laboratories across Europe
Understanding the complex dynamics of stock markets through cellular automata
No full textWe present a cellular automaton CA model for simulating the complex dynamics of stock markets. Within this model, a stock market is represented by a two-dimensional lattice, of which each vertex stands for a trader. According to typical trading behavior in real stock markets, agents of only two types are adopted: fundamentalists and imitators. Our CA model is based on local interactions, adopting simple rules for representing the behavior of traders and a simple rule for price updating. This model can reproduce, in a simple and robust manner, the main characteristics observed in empirical financial time series. Heavy-tailed return distributions due to large price variations can be generated through the imitating behavior of agents. In contrast to other microscopic simulation MS models, our results suggest that it is not necessary to assume a certain network topology in which agents group together, e.g., a random graph or a percolation network. That is, long-range interactions can emerge from local interactions. Volatility clustering, which also leads to heavy tails, seems to be related to the combined effect of a fast and a slow process: the evolution of the influence of news and the evolution of agents’ activity, respectively. In a general sense, these causes of heavy tails and volatility clustering appear to be common among some notable MS models that can confirm the main characteristics of financial markets.Published versio
Identifying potential survival strategies of HIV-1 through virus-host protein interaction networks
Get PDFBackground: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has launched the HIV-1 Human Protein Interaction Database in an effort to catalogue all published interactions between HIV-1 and human proteins. In order to systematically investigate these interactions functionally and dynamically, we have constructed an HIV-1 human protein interaction network. This network was analyzed for important proteins and processes that are specific for the HIV life-cycle. In order to expose viral strategies, network motif analysis was carried out showing reoccurring patterns in virus-host dynamics.Results: Our analyses show that human proteins interacting with HIV form a densely connected and central sub-network within the total human protein interaction network. The evaluation of this sub-network for connectivity and centrality resulted in a set of proteins essential for the HIV life-cycle. Remarkably, we were able to associate proteins involved in RNA polymerase II transcription with hubs and proteasome formation with bottlenecks. Inferred network motifs show significant over-representation of positive and negative feedback patterns between virus and host. Strikingly, such patterns have never been reported in combined virus-host systems.Conclusions: HIV infection results in a reprioritization of cellular processes reflected by an increase in the relative importance of transcriptional machinery and proteasome formation. We conclude that during the evolution of HIV, some patterns of interaction have been selected for resulting in a system where virus proteins preferably interact with central human proteins for direct control and with proteasomal proteins for indirect control over the cellular processes. Finally, the patterns described by network motifs illustrate how virus and host interact with one another
The Bacteriostatic Activity of 2-Phenylethanol Derivatives Correlates with Membrane Binding Affinity
Get PDFThe hydrophobic tails of aliphatic primary alcohols do insert into the hydrophobic core of a lipid bilayer. Thereby, they disrupt hydrophobic interactions between the lipid molecules, resulting in a decreased lipid order, i.e., an increased membrane fluidity. While aromatic alcohols, such as 2-phenylethanol, also insert into lipid bilayers and disturb the membrane organization, the impact of aromatic alcohols on the structure of biological membranes, as well as the potential physiological implication of membrane incorporation has only been studied to a limited extent. Although diverse targets are discussed to be causing the bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity of 2-phenylethanol, it is clear that 2-phenylethanol severely affects the structure of biomembranes, which has been linked to its bacteriostatic activity. Yet, in fungi some 2-phenylethanol derivatives are also produced, some of which appear to also have bacteriostatic activities. We showed that the 2-phenylethanol derivatives phenylacetic acid, phenyllactic acid, and methyl phenylacetate, but not Tyrosol, were fully incorporated into model membranes and affected the membrane organization. Furthermore, we observed that the propensity of the herein-analyzed molecules to partition into biomembranes positively correlated with their respective bacteriostatic activity, which clearly linked the bacteriotoxic activity of the substances to biomembranes.</p
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