A new splitting-based displacement prediction approach for location-based services

In location-based services (LBSs), the service is provided based on the users' locations through location determination and mobility realization. Several location prediction models have been proposed to enhance and increase the relevance of the information retrieved by users of mobile information systems, but none of them studied the relationship between accuracy rate of prediction and the performance of the model in terms of consuming resources and constraints of mobile devices. Most of the current location prediction research is focused on generalized location models, where the geographic extent is divided into regular-shape cells. These models are not suitable for certain LBSs where the objectives are to compute and present on-road services. One such technique is the Prediction Location Model (PLM), which deals with inner cell structure. The PLM technique suffers from memory usage and poor accuracy. The main goal of this paper is to propose a new path prediction technique for Location-Based Services. The new approach is competitive and more efficient compared to PLM regarding measurements such as accuracy rate of location prediction and memory usage

Which pill when: Medicine packaging that aids compliance in taking prescribed drugs

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the industry partner in this project, was concerned about the problemof non-compliance in taking drugs. It prompted them to initiate this study into the means bywhich compliance could be integrated into medicine packaging. Many compliance aids havebeen introduced on the market but the problem of non-compliance persists. At an annualcost is estimated at £60 billion worldwide. Mawle undertook the first year of the study andwas joined by McGinley for the second and final year of the work during which the usernetwork was expanded further to include, among others, medical professionals. At the outsetof the study, existing compliance solutions were analysed. The exploratory design studieswhich followed generated a range of off-pack memory aids. A user group of 12 people wasformed and their usage patterns observed. These provided key insights into common patternsof user behaviour. As part of the study, the compliance problem was ‘deconstructed’, andthree design proposals emerged: the Access Pack, which included an access aid as an intrinsicpart of the packaging; the Moving Pack, incorporating a diary and a special detachablebox to support discreet use of packaging when on the move; and the Remind Pack, witha collection of prompts that can be placed around the house as personal reminders. Theseformed the centrepiece of a special compliance kit produced at the end of the project. Itprovided design guidance on the issue to GlaxoSmithKline’s in-house design teams. The casestudy demonstrates how in-depth research into long-standing problems can open up hithertounexplored integral, low-tech solutions to provide high-value solutions

Alexa Can't Let Anything Go

University of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156323/1/Alexa_Gordon_BFA__Thesis_.pd

Homo Datumicus : correcting the market for identity data

Effective digital identity systems offer great economic and civic potential. However, unlocking this potential requires dealing with social, behavioural, and structural challenges to efficient market formation. We propose that a marketplace for identity data can be more efficiently formed with an infrastructure that provides a more adequate representation of individuals online. This paper therefore introduces the ontological concept of Homo Datumicus: individuals as data subjects transformed by HAT Microservers, with the axiomatic computational capabilities to transact with their own data at scale. Adoption of this paradigm would lower the social risks of identity orientation, enable privacy preserving transactions by default and mitigate the risks of power imbalances in digital identity systems and markets

Overseas Property: An Answer to the Pensions Crisis

Two centuries ago the founding father of rigorous economic analysis, David Ricardo, argued that land is unique type of asset, subject to forces quite different from those determining other prices; and he sought to show that these forces make land a uniquely good long-term investment. In life, he even practised what he preached, using the profits that he had accumulated as a London banker to buy a large estate in Norfolk. In modern economic, Ricardo has often been deride for his theory. The theory of ‘efficient markets’ tells them that the underlying returns on all kinds of assets, adjusted for risk, will tend to equate; so land is just one asset amongst many. But most modern English men and women, inexpert in economics, seem to be closet Ricardians in their behaviour, believing that money tied up in ‘bricks and mortar’ is especially secure and profitable. And they too practise what they preach, regarding property investment as the best way of providing for their old age. Thus in the past decade growing numbers of people on quite modest incomes have purchased second properties within Britain , using the rental income to cover the mortgage payments; and even greater numbers have purchased houses for their own use which are far larger than they would otherwise want or require, believing that they can provide for their retirement by ‘trading down’. In addition, perhaps two or three millions – the exact number is unknown – have bought properties abroad, not only as holiday homes, but as long-term investments. This paper will argue that Ricardo and his present-day disciples are right. More particularly, it will propose that overseas property offers one answer – and perhaps the only answer – to the crisis that now confronts UK pensions. The first part will analyze the underlying causes of the pensions crisis, pointing to five paradoxes in which retirement saving is trapped. The second part will show how overseas property offers an escape from these paradoxes. The final part will describe a particular way in which the current law relating to pensions can be used to facilitate such an escape

Daughters of Depression : A Critical-Hermeneutic Phenomenological Examination of Adult Black Women’s Experiences with Strong Black Woman’s Role When Mothered by Women with Perceived Depression

Black American women are experiencing chronic depression at alarming rates. Major racial/sex disparities in disease prevalence indicates Black American women are at increased risk for depression onset due to exposure to poverty and traumatic life events. With the rise of single, female-headed households, children are at increased risk for exposure to maternal mental illness which is defined as an adverse childhood experience impacting their development through adulthood. Black American mothers have the additional burden of racially socializing all children to learn how to manage systematic racist structures embedded in American society, yet daughters require the additional socialization for gender biases. This study sought to examine how living with a mother perceived as depressed impacted the transmission of culturally-specific coping strategies to daughters concerning the challenges with being Black and female. Using critical Hermeneutic phenomenology, qualitative data included in-depth interviews to assess the lived childhood experiences of adult Black American women mothered by women with perceived depression and their adult Strong Black Woman beliefs and behaviors. Identified themes included: The making of strong Black girls, Mothers’ strength lessons and alternative versions with Othermothers, Identifying and challenging learned coping strategies, Defining and redefining their mothers’ version of Strong Black Woman’s role in adulthood, and Mother as a woman. Implications from this study provide context to the intergenerational transmission of psychopathology, gendered strength socialization processes, and the importance of familial and community support for Black American mother/daughter dyads

An Opportunity Not To Be Missed: Vaccination as an Entry Point for Hygiene Promotion and Diarrhoeal Disease Reduction in Nepal

This report aims to ascertain whether or not vaccination programmes offer a useful entry point for hygiene promotion and to define options for piloting and scaling up of a hygiene promotion intervention in Nepal