Enhancing data sovereignty to improve intelligent mobility services in smart cities

Smart cities aim to provide more digitalized, equitable, sustainable, and liveable cities. In smart cities data evolves as an important asset and citizens data in particular is being used to provide data-driven mobility services. Likewise, in smart cities data is produced and used by individuals having no ownership or control over these data thus affecting their security and privacy. Also, actors such as mobility service providers, companies, third parties, etc. often leverage individuals’ data without regarding users’ autonomy. Accordingly, data sovereignty which entails the possibility to govern and keep control over owned data is gaining widespread attention. As a result, stakeholders in the mobility sector need to share data whilst keeping control to manage data access and usage. Although, existing initiatives are promoting sovereign participation using a federated infrastructure. However, achieving an effective governance usage control and access mechanisms can be challenging especially in the transportation sector. It is thus imperative for individuals to have control, ownership, and custody over their data. This has necessitated the notions of data sovereignty. Therefore, this article employs a systematic review to examine how data sovereignty can be achieved for individuals when they use urban mobility services in smart cities by enabling the secure sharing of data by giving control of data over to individuals. Additionally, this article designs a data control scheme that can be applied to realize data sovereign mobility services. Evidence from this study provides technical and non-technical requirements needed in realizing data sovereignty in smart cities.publishedVersio

Leadership as a philosophical attitude - A qualitative study of reflective practice in everyday working life

Purpose – This article explores leadership as a philosophical attitude. The purpose is to get a deeper understanding of leadership in everyday working life. Design/methodology/approach – The article is based on a thematic analysis of 16 qualitative research interviews with leaders of different levels within the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV). Findings – Leadership is not merely a set of skills or a functional role. The study has identified the broader implications of leadership as a philosophical attitude for personal development, motivation and social responsibility; and the relational side of leader’s social mission. Research limitations/implications – The study has examined what the interviewees say; it has not observed what they actually do. Practical implications – Leadership as a philosophical attitude deals with personal dimensions and shows how leaders can adjust their behaviour based on their character traits and the situational demands. Originality/value – This article bridges theory to practice through the empirical application of philosophical attitudes in leadership practice.publishedVersio

Human-Centric Approach to Cyber Threat Identification: The Role of Cognition, Experience, and Education in Decision-Making

This study explores the impact of human factors on cybersecurity, emphasizing how cognitive biases and the blend of knowledge, experience, and education affect cyber threat detection. It reveals that specialized education and experience enhance the ability to identify complex threats. The research, using a gamified questionnaire, assesses decision-making in simulated cyber attacks, highlighting the value of domain expertise in critical tasks like threat identification and response. It suggests further research into confidence and self-efficacy's roles in cybersecurity and underscores the need for focused training to improve detection skills and incident reporting, aiming to bolster cybersecurity defences.publishedVersio

Insights into suggested Responsible AI (RAI) practices in real-world settings: a systematic literature review

AI-enabled systems have significant societal benefits, but only if they are developed, deployed, and used responsibly. We systematically review 45 empirical studies in real-world settings to identify suggested Responsible AI (RAI) practices to ensure that AI-enabled systems uphold stakeholders' legitimate interests and fundamental rights. Our findings highlight eleven areas of suggested RAI practices: harm prevention, accountability, fairness and equity, explainability, AI literacy, privacy and security, human-AI calibration, interdisciplinary stakeholder involvement, value creation, RAI governance, and AI deployment effects. Our findings also show that there are more discussions about how RAI is supposed to be practiced than existing RAI practices. Ad hoc implementation of RAI practices in real-world settings is concerning because almost 80% of the AI-enabled systems reported in the 45 included articles are applied in use cases that can be categorised as high-risk settings, and over half are reported in the deployment phase. Our findings also highlight the crucial role of stakeholders in ensuring RAI. Identifying stakeholders into user, non-user, and primary stakeholders can thus help understand the dynamics of the settings where AI-enabled systems are (to be) deployed and guide the implementation of RAI practices. In conclusion, although there is a consensus that RAI practices are a necessity, their implementation in realworld is still in its early day. The involvement of all relevant stakeholders is irreplaceable in driving and shaping RAI practices. There is a need for more comprehensive and inclusive RAI research to advance RAI practices in real-world settings.publishedVersio

Development and Testing of an IoT Platform with Smart Algorithms for Building Energy Management Systems

Buildings are a major cause of carbon emissions. The building sector is responsible for around 40% of energy consumption and for about 30% of CO2 emissions. Building Energy Management Systems (BEMS) are crucial for enhancing energy efficiency, and energy flexibility, and mitigating the environmental impact of buildings, which account for a significant amount of global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. This study addresses the limitations of traditional BEMS by proposing a cloud-based IoT-BEMS with an intuitive user interface and advanced machine learning algorithms for energy optimization. The system integrates demand-side management techniques, including two main principles, load shifting through demand response and energy efficiency, allowing users to control appliances without requiring technical expertise. The results demonstrate significant energy savings, particularly in water heater optimization, with an average reduction of 24.23% in energy consumption. Additionally, the Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) algorithm used for electric vehicle (EV) charging resulted in an average cost saving of 30.6% by leveraging off-peak electricity rates. The platform’s real-time data processing and user-friendly interface make it a robust solution for residential energy management, effectively balancing energy savings with user comfort. This research underscores the potential of IoT and machine learning in revolutionizing building energy management, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.publishedVersio

Toddlers’ actualization of affordances during free exploration in a varied natural environment

Research indicates that the natural environment offers diverse and challenging play and exploration opportunities that support developmental aspects in children. However, studies on toddlers’ utilization of natural settings are scarce. This study investigates how toddlers use a varied natural environment when allowed to explore freely and was conducted with a mixed methods approach. To capture how the toddlers utilized the natural environment, data were collected through head-mounted GoPro cameras as seven toddlers explored freely. The results demonstrate that toddlers engage in a wide range of activities, including gross motor, loose material, and water activities in the natural environment. There were large variations among the toddlers concerning time spent on different surfaces and exploratory activities, supporting the notion of nature as a child-friendly environment for toddlers. The findings have implications for early childhood and education and care (ECEC) practices, where toddlers should be given ample time and space to explore nature freely, in areas with varied and challenging surfaces and a rich diversity of natural elements and materials to explore.publishedVersio

Upper airway discomfort: a randomized controlled double-blind trial comparing rocuronium and lidocaine spray for intubation

Background. Endotracheal intubation may be performed using deep anesthesia, neuromuscular blocks, or the topical application of anesthetics on the vocal cords. The null hypothesis in this study was that there is no diference in hoarseness one hour after extubation between patients receiving neuromuscular blocks versus lidocaine sprayed on the glottis for endotracheal intubation. Methods. A randomized, controlled, double-blinded study was conducted. A total of 114 patients were included. Group I (n=58) received rocuronium 0.6 mg/kg. Group II (n=56) received lidocaine spray 4 ml (20 mg/ml) on the vocal cords. The primary outcome measure was hoarseness one hour after extubation. Secondary outcomes were hoarseness at 24 and 48 h after extubation, sore throat at 1, 24, and 48 h after extubation, and intubation and extubation conditions. Results. There was no statistically signifcant diference between groups in hoarseness one hour after extubation. At 24 h, Group I had signifcantly more reported hoarseness (27.6%) and observed hoarseness (1.7%) than Group II (12.5% reported) (p=0.03). Group II had a signifcantly sorer throat (21.4%) than Group I (1.7%) (p<0.001) at one hour. Beyond this, there were no diferences between groups. Conclusion. Even though some diferences were observed in hoarseness and sore throat 24 h after extubation, there were few diferences between topical lidocaine spray and the use of neuromuscular blocks before intubation for patient-reported and observed outcomes. Consequently, clinicians should choose an approach based on considerations other than those included in this study, such as the need for muscle relaxation or minimizing the number of laryngoscopies.publishedVersio

The Effect of Stereotypes on Perceived Competence of Indigenous Software Practitioners: A Study of Dress Style in Professional Photos

Context. Potential employers can easily access job candidates’ photos online and attempt to infer a candidate’s ft or alignment based on their dress style. In this context, for candidates from marginalized groups like Indigenous people, traditional clothing holds cultural signifcance as it serves as a lively expression of belonging, participation in ceremonies, and resistance. Objective. This exploratory study aims to empirically demonstrate whether dress manipulation in a picture afects the perceived competence of equally qualifed candidates for a position like a software developer in which this cue should not be crucial. Method. We conducted a quasi-experiment based on a survey. It involved job candidates (photo models) and participants (evaluators) from IT companies located in Ecuador. The analysis was performed by ftting a linear mixed-efects (LME) model based on dress style, gender and race/ethnicity of the candidates as well as evaluators’ gender and experience in hiring. Also, a thematic analysis was conducted. Results. Findings show that dress manipulation hardly infuences the evaluators’ evaluation of candidates’ competence, as no statistically signifcant diferences were found in our sample. Most of the unexplained variance (64.461%) stems from variability in scores across evaluators. Likewise, the thematic analysis revealed notable evaluator discrepancies indicating varying judgments and outcomes that suggest idiosyncrasies, which are not noise or error. Conclusions. This study demonstrates the value of contextual factors - such as gender, race/ethnicity and cultural background— in software engineering studies and calls for valuing individual software developers and their human aspects. Perceived competence extends beyond hiring situations as it can infuence initial trust and cooperative behaviors among software development team members when interacting with unfamiliar collaborators.publishedVersio

Open-Access Publishing in Special Education and Related Fields: Making Scholarship Freely Available to All

Open access to research findings, syntheses of research, and papers providing guidance on implementing research based practices is critical for informing policy and practice in special education and related fields. Yet most published articles are behind paywalls and cannot be accessed freely by many practitioners, policymakers, individuals with disabilities and their families, and other interested parties. In this article, we describe the benefits of open-access publishing for researchers and research consumers, as well as different types of open-access publishing–with a particular focus on self-archiving or green open-access publishing. Self-archiving makes papers freely available, with little time burden and no monetary cost to authors. We provide recommendations for what, where, when, and how to self-archive one’s papers. We conclude by sharing our own experiences with open-access publishing.publishedVersio

Parent satisfaction with pediatric anesthesia - A cross-sectional, multicenter study in Norway.

Background Parental satisfaction with anesthetic care is utilized as a proxy for child satisfaction. The evidence base regarding parent satisfaction with pediatric anesthesia care is limited. The aim of the current study was to assess (1) parent satisfaction with pediatric anesthesia in three hospitals, (2) potential differences across hospitals, and (3) potential associations between parent satisfaction and the child's age, surgical specialty, hospital, whether the parent previously had followed a child to surgery, and relation to the patient. Methods The Norwegian version of the “pediatric anesthesia parent satisfaction survey” questionnaire (NPAPS) was used. Descriptive statistics, Kruskal–Wallis test and linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Results In total, 234 parents responded. Most respondents agreed that their child had received the highest quality care during the surgical experience (96.4%–97.4%). Nearly all respondents agreed that their questions were responded to (94.6%–97.6%), information was understandable (96.4%–97.4%), the amount of information was appropriate (96.4%–97.4%), the child's integrity was respected (94.6%–97.4%), the child was treated respectfully and professionally (96.45%–97.6%), and that personnel paid attention to the parent's concerns (93.8%–94.7%). Respondents disagreed with being explained how the child might feel physically and emotionally after anesthesia (9.5%–10.5%) and also disagreed with being satisfied with the way the child fell asleep and woke up from anesthesia (5.3%–7.1%). No factors were associated with the level of parent satisfaction, and there were few differences between hospitals. Conclusion Even if parents are overall satisfied with anesthesia care, improvement areas regarding the preparation of parents and control of postoperative symptoms were detected.publishedVersio