201 research outputs found
Spatiotemporal dynamics of urban health: Physiological data driven strategies for enhancing urban health and wellbeing
Full text linkUniversity of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building.The starting point for this research was the emergence of physiological data as a source of information that can help us understand how our interactions with the urban environment affect the human body. There is significant potential in extending existing methods for physiological data analysis in the urban domain in a way that maximises the benefits at the individual and the city scale. Physiological data could be used to identify the least stressful route, but there is currently a lack of research on their incorporation in pathfinding studies. The area of prediction of physiological responses during outdoor walking has also been understudied.
This study aims to address these issues by designing a methodology for collection and analysis of physiological data in the urban space. The methodology incorporates three components: (1) the collection and analysis of physiological data at an individual level, (2) the hotspot analysis of physiological responses at a city scale, and (3) the utilisation of the collected data in models for prediction of physiological responses, and pathfinding methods for the identification of the least stressful route. The methods and algorithms for each component of the methodology are calibrated using data collected in Sydney from experiments organised by the author, and publicly available data from a previous study conducted in Zürich.
The study acts as a pilot project that will pave the way towards large-scale experiments in this area. Its main contribution is that it supports the construction of tools for individuals who want to understand how different routes might affect their physiological responses, and have a calm experience while walking in the urban environment. It can also help researchers identify which parts of the city are associated with an increased intensity of physiological responses, possibly indicating increased stress levels. The construction of a theoretical and conceptual framework supporting the construction of the methodology also enriches current research on the links between urban environment, activity and physiological responses. Other methodological and practical contributions include the development of methods for analysing how movement may influence physiological responses as a physical stressor, and their incorporation in the designed methodology; also, the development of methods for identifying physical and psychological stressors from contextual data, based on freely available OpenStreetMap and Point of Interest data, as an alternative to image-based analysis which was used in previous studies
Structural and dynamic properties of translocase motor SecA:
No full textSecA is a large, 204 kDa, homodimeric, helicase-like protein that is a key component of the bacteria protein secretion machinery. SecA, being a motor protein, couples the translocation of polypeptide segments across or into biological membranes with the expenditure of metabolic energy extracted from ATP hydrolysis. SecA adopts a compact conformation in the cytoplasm but switches to a relaxed one when is engaged to translocation at the membrane. Specific interaction of SecA with SecYEG induces large conformational changes to both partners that result in the stimulation of SecA’s ATPase activity and trigger the opening of the channel.
We use a combination of NMR spectroscopy, Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) and biochemical techniques to characterize E. coli SecA along the protein secretion pathway. Recent advances in isotope labeling and NMR methodology (methyl-TROSY) enabled the NMR study of SecA.
We found that the nucleotide binding cleft of SecA exists in a metastable state that undergoes a disorder-order transition upon nucleotide binding. Our data show that SecA uses a novel mechanism wherein conserved regions lining the cleft undergo cycles of disorder-order transitions while switching among functional catalytic states. The structural relation of SecA to helicases suggests that these proteins may utilize similar mechanisms to convert the ATP binding/hydrolysis energy to mechanical work.
Our data reveal that C domain undergoes cycles of detachment and rebinding to the motor that are linked with the ATPase activation of SecA. When the contacts with the C domain are loosened, SecA becomes activated and this process is probably facilitated by the membrane. Moreover, allosteric communication between the preprotein binding and the motor domain of SecA is regulated by nucleotide and signal peptide binding. Finally, we found that the extreme C terminus of SecY (C6 loop) contacts both the motor and the C domain of SecA and we identified important residues from the loop C6 that mediate this interaction.
In summary, our studies revealed the intimate relation between flexibility and catalytic efficiency in SecA as well the allosteric communication among the domains.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-144)by Dimitra Keramisano
Geolinguistic spaces and the geopolitics of organization studies: movements across centers and peripheries: European group for organisational studies colloquium
No full textAcademic knowledge production and evaluation has been studied as a phenomenon situated across global and (semi)peripheral contexts (Lillis and Curry, 2010; Bennett, 2014). The metaphor of scales draws attention to the study of academic discourses as practices that develop across vertical, hierarchically organized layers (Blommaert, 2010). In this paper, we draw on 3 sub-corpora of organization studies journal articles, with each journal occupying a different position in the impact factor continuum. Building on the work of Lillis and Curry (2010), we study networked activities as social capital in the global academic economy. In our analysis we first examine the epistemological profile of organisation studies, as reflected in differentially ranked journals located in European contexts. We then explore the complex configuration of spaces/localities within and around which the production of knowledge takes place, by examining networks of author affiliations in relation to the identified sites in the empirical papers included in the corpus. Finally, we examine how constructions of the ‘local’ and the ‘global’ relate to the themes foregrounded in the aims and scope of each journal and we explore how discourses of the ‘local’ and the ‘global’ relate to key concepts in the field of organization studies, including institutions, alternatives and resistance, as well as power and gender
Socio-cultural factors and their role in determining altruism and other social behaviours
No full textThis study comparatively explores 8-10 year old children’s predisposition to altruism in Greece and G. Britain. The research objective is to dissect and compare children’s tendency to express altruistic behaviour on a par with emotion recognition and expression of empathy in the two countries under study. The relationship between these prosocial variables with socio-cultural factors, such as traditional values, family roles, parental views on altruistic behaviour and emotional proximity or distance between family members was examined. Children’s prosocial behaviour was studied by utilising the method of stories. Social and cultural parameters were investigated by using a composite questionnaire for parents, consisting of the Personality/Desirable Personality Traits questionnaire, the Family Values questionnaire, the Family Roles questionnaire and Bogardus’s Social Distance Scale. Factor analysis was conducted for each subscale of the composite questionnaire and factor equivalence using Tucker φ was subsequently evaluated before comparatively analysing each subscale for the two countries. Findings demonstrate that children in Greece express empathy to a higher extent than their British counterparts. In addition, Greek children seem to have a greater tendency to altruistic behaviour than British children. The correlation between children’s prosocial attributes and each socio-cultural parameter in each country is discussed with reference to previous research and established theory.Η παρούσα διατριβή διερευνά την αλτρουιστική προδιάθεση παιδιών ηλικίας 8-10 ετών σε δύο διαφορετικά κοινωνικο-πολιτισμικά περιβάλλοντα, την Ελλάδα και τη Μ. Βρετανία. Σκοπός της διδακτορικής διατριβής είναι να μελετηθούν η πρόθεση των παιδιών να εκδηλώσουν αλτρουιστική συμπεριφορά και ενσυναίσθηση καθώς και η ικανότητά τους να αναγνωριζουν συναισθήματα. Διερευνάται, επίσης, η σχέση των παραπάνω μεταβλητών με κοινωνικο-πολιτισμικές μεταβλητές, όπως είναι οι παραδοσιακές οικογενειακές αξίες, οι οικογενειακές λειτουργίες και η συναισθηματική εγγύτητα των μελών μέσα στην οικογένεια. Οι θετικά προσανατολισμένες κοινωνικές συμπεριφορές των παιδιών μελετήθηκαν με τη βοήθεια της μεθόδου των ιστοριών, ενώ οι ανωτέρω κοινωνικές παράμετροι μελετήθηκαν με τη χρήση ενός σύνθετου ερωτηματολογίου που αποτελείται από τα εξής: ερωτηματολόγιο προσωπικότητας – επιθυμητή συμπεριφορά, ερωτηματολόγιο παραδοσιακών οικογενειακών αξιών, ερωτηματολόγιο οικογενειακών ρόλων και λειτουργιών και ερωτηματολόγιο συναισθηματικής εγγύτητας. Ελέγχθηκε η δομική ισοτιμίαπαραγοντικών δομών των μεταβλητών κάθε υποκλίμακας του ερωτηματολογίου στα δύο πολιτισμικά δείγματα και οι στατιστικές αναλύσεις σύγκρισης πραγματοποιήθηκαν σε όσες μεταβλητές παρουσίασαν δομική ισοτιμία. Τα ευρήματα που προκύπτουν δείχνουν ότι τα παιδιά στην Ελλάδα δείχνουν σε υψηλότερο βαθμό ενσυναίσθηση και πρόθεση να εκδηλώσουν αλτρουιστική συμπεριφορά συγκριτικά με τα παιδιά στη Μ. Βρετανία. Οι συσχετίσεις που προέκυψαν ανάμεσα στις εν λόγω προθέσεις των παιδιών και στους επιμέρους κοινωνικο-πολιτισμικούς παράγοντες του σύνθετου ερωτηματολογίου των γονέων αποτελούν τη βάση της συζήτησης, όπου επιχειρείται συναγωγή συμπερασμάτων και η ερμηνεία τους με βάση τις υπάρχουσες θεωρίες
Context-and Movement-Aware Analysis of Physiological Responses in The Urban Environment Using Wearable Sensors
No full textUnderstanding the way that the urban environment affects the human body is important for the advancement of urban health and wellbeing. Wearable technologies can be used to collect data related to physiological responses, such as electrodermal activity (EDA). However, it is difficult to interpret data collected in the wild without contextual information. Previous studies in the urban domain have also ignored the effect of exercise as a stressor. This study emphasizes the possible effects of movement on physiological responses during outdoor walking, and presents a methodology for analyzing physiological responses based on activity data and freely available contextual data from OpenStreetMap. The methodology is applied to analyze the physiological responses of walkers while navigating an outdoor route in Sydney, Australia. Statistical analysis is conducted to identify the effect of selected urban features and movement on physiological responses. The results suggest that the duration and intensity of activity, as well as the density of mixed-use affect physiological responses significantly.</p
Towards a multi-scalar framework for smart healthcare
No full text© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of emerging technologies in the promotion of health and well-being at the urban, domestic and bodily scale, through the systematic examination of technologies such as physical sensing systems and physiological data monitoring, that are currently explored as drivers for achieving sustainable healthcare within a multi-scalar approach. Design/methodology/approach: A comprehensive study of the various technologies associated with smart healthcare is provided, first investigating smart cities, physical sensing systems and geospatial data as potential enablers of public health. Then the discourse shifts towards exploring Smart Home technologies for healthcare, first reviewing strategies of enhancing the home environment with multisensory components, and then discussing the emergence of physiological monitoring devices and their interconnection with the domestic and urban environment. Findings: While the implementation of Internet of Things, physical sensing systems and geospatial analytics in extracting and analyzing the multiple information layers of the urban, the domestic and the bodily environment, has been widely explored, there is little consideration on the transition from the domestic to the urban level, and while within each of the different scales, the need for a multi-componential approach is addressed, there is minimal effort towards its materialization. Originality/value: The major contribution of this study therefore lies in laying the ground for further research towards a multi-scalar relational approach that views smart healthcare as a trajectory, binding the bodily, to the domestic and the urban fabric
The right to childhoods : critical perspectives on rights, difference and knowledge in a transient world
No full textThis book offers an engaging study that analyses contemporary childhood by examining new lines of argument about diversity, disability and difference. The author critiques the key issues that affect both adults' and children's quality of life, including market-driven values, poverty and civic disengagement.In this fascinating study, Dimitra Hartas analyses contemporary childhood. She discusses the plurality inherent in childhood and the cultural, ideological, social and biological forces that shape children's experience of growing up in the 21st century. She engages with new lines of argument about diversity, disability and difference, and critiques the big issues that affect both adults' and children's quality of life such as market-driven values, poverty and civic disengagement.Hartas uncovers evidence of how the right to childhood is being violated in both the developed and developing world and how our consumerist culture is shaping children's lives in ways that are not always understood, and advocates the right to childhoods. She concludes by discussing the implications of her findings for both policy and practice in early childhood education, and examines pedagogies that are responsive to ethics, diversity and difference
Social robotics and human computer interaction for promoting wellbeing in the contemporary city
No full text© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018. Within today’s environment of relentless urban growth, socio-technical approaches towards enhancing wellbeing within the urban have started gathering momentum. Situated in this context, the research paper presents an approach to actively instigate physiological and psychological behavioral change within people for promoting wellbeing via context aware augmentation of physical environments. This involves harnessing a trans-disciplinary approach wherein, the domains of data sciences, HCI, embedded robotics, computational simulation and user-centric interaction design merge in order to promote real-time responsive augmentation (physical, ambient, social and structural) of the built environment. The paper elaborates upon two projects: RoboZoo and FLUID, both built and tested in The Netherlands, representing two different scales; Small scale: object/product scale, which operate within urban open public space and Large scale: indoor public installation
- …
