A personal Web page tailoring toolkit for mobile devices

[[abstract]]It is common to browse web pages via mobile devices. However, most of the web pages were designed for desktop computers equipped with big screens. When browsing on mobile devices, a user has to scroll up and down to find the information they want because of the limited screen size. Some commercial products reformat web pages. However, the result pages still contain irrelevant information. We propose a system to personalize users' mobile web pages. A user can determine which blocks in a web page should be retained. The sequence of these blocks can also be altered according to individual preferences. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Every Cloud Has a Push Data Lining: Incorporating Cloud Services in a Context-Aware Application

We investigated context-awareness by utilising multiple sources of context in a mobile device setting. In our experiment we developed a system consisting of a mobile client, running on the Android platform, integrated with a cloud-based service. These components were integrated using pushmessaging technology.One of the key featureswas the automatic adaptation of smartphones in accordance with implicit user needs. The novelty of our approach consists in the use of multiple sources of context input to the system, which included the use of calendar data and web based user configuration tool, as well as that of an external, cloud-based, configuration file storing user interface preferences which, pushed at log-on time irrespective of access device, frees the user from having to manually configure its interface.The systemwas evaluated via two rounds of user evaluations (n = 50 users), the feedback of which was generally positive and demonstrated the viability of using cloud-based services to provide an enhanced context-aware user experience

Improving e-therapy for mood disorders among lesbians and gay men

Introduction This toolkit provides the first comprehensive set of guidelines for tailoring mood-disorder e-therapies to the needs of same-sex attracted people. It gives developers of e-therapies a set of practical recommendations for adjusting e-therapies to more effectively accommodate lesbians and gay men. These recommendations are supported by in-depth research that was designed specifically to inform this toolkit. Summaries of this research are provided in the toolkit and detailed findings are available in published research articles. This toolkit also provides information on the mental health-related challenges that are often faced by same-sex attracted people and links readers to key resources and organisations for further information. Checklists and other tools are included as aids for developers to assess the inclusiveness and relevance of e-therapies to lesbians and gay men. In short, this toolkit contains an extensive set of tools and explains why and how they could be implemented

Digital communities: context for leading learning into the future?

In 2011, a robust, on-campus, three-element Community of Practice model consisting of growing community, sharing of practice and building domain knowledge was piloted in a digital learning environment. An interim evaluation of the pilot study revealed that the three-element framework, when used in a digital environment, required a fourth element. This element, which appears to happen incidentally in the face-to-face context, is that of reflecting, reporting and revising. This paper outlines the extension of the pilot study to the national tertiary education context in order to explore the implications for the design, leadership roles, and selection of appropriate technologies to support and sustain digital communities using the four-element model

A model and architecture for situation determination

Automatically determining the situation of an ad-hoc group of people and devices within a smart environment is a significant challenge in pervasive computing systems. Current approaches often rely on an environment expert to correlate the situations that occur with the available sensor data, while other machine learning based approaches require long training periods before the system can be used. Furthermore, situations are commonly recognised at a low-level of granularity, which limits the scope of situation-aware applications. This paper presents a novel approach to situation determination that attempts to overcome these issues by providing a reusable library of general situation specifications that can be easily extended to create new specific situations, and immediately deployed without the need of an environment expert. A proposed architecture of an accompanying situation determination middleware is provided, as well as an analysis of a prototype implementation

Cloud computing and context-awareness: A study of the adapted user experience

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Today, mobile technology is part of everyday life and activities and the mobile ecosystems are blossoming, with smartphones and tablets being the major growth drivers. The mobile phones are no longer just another device, we rely on their capabilities in work and in private. We look to our mobile phones for timely and updated information and we rely on this being provided any time of any day at any place. Nevertheless, no matter how much you trust and love your mobile phone the quality of the information and the user experience is directly associated with the sources and presentation of information. In this perspective, our activities, interactions and preferences help shape the quality of service, content and products we use. Context-aware systems use such information about end-users as input mechanisms for producing applications based on mobile, location, social, cloud and customized content services. This represents new possibilities for extracting aggregated user-centric information and includes novel sources for context-aware applications. Accordingly, a Design Research based approach has been taken to further investigate the creation, presentation and tailoring of user-centric information. Through user evaluated experiments findings show how multi-dimensional context-aware information can be used to create adaptive solutions tailoring the user experience to the users’ needs. Research findings in this work; highlight possible architectures for integration of cloud computing services in a heterogeneous mobile environment in future context-aware solutions. When it comes to combining context-aware results from local computations with those of cloud based services, the results provide findings that give users tailored and adapted experiences based on the collective efforts of the two

Domino: exploring mobile collaborative software adaptation

Social Proximity Applications (SPAs) are a promising new area for ubicomp software that exploits the everyday changes in the proximity of mobile users. While a number of applications facilitate simple file sharing between co–present users, this paper explores opportunities for recommending and sharing software between users. We describe an architecture that allows the recommendation of new system components from systems with similar histories of use. Software components and usage histories are exchanged between mobile users who are in proximity with each other. We apply this architecture in a mobile strategy game in which players adapt and upgrade their game using components from other players, progressing through the game through sharing tools and history. More broadly, we discuss the general application of this technique as well as the security and privacy challenges to such an approach

Development of a digital toolkit to improve quality of life of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this manuscript is to detail development and initial usability testing of an e-toolkit designed to provide skills and knowledge around self-management behaviors for individuals living with systemic lupus erythematosus. METHODS: Researchers worked with a steering committee of patients and providers to (1) develop a clickable prototype of an e-toolkit and (2) conduct alpha (individuals not affiliated with an academic clinic as patient or provider) and beta (individual patients with systemic lupus erythematosus as well as members of the clinic healthcare team and individuals who work in patient advocacy organizations) usability testing through semistructured interviews. RESULTS: During the review of the e-toolkit, the feedback provided by participants in both alpha and beta groups centered on two overarching themes: (1) improving user interface and materials and (2) integration of information and supports between toolkit and clinical personnel. CONCLUSION: Digital approaches that are tailored to individual symptom variation and integrated with a clinical system have the opportunity to enhance ongoing clinical care. These findings support movement toward integrated, team-based care models, tailored digital resources, and use of expanded virtual interaction options to ensure on-going engagement between healthcare providers and systemic lupus erythematosus patients

A web-based platform promoting family communication and cascade genetic testing for families with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (DIALOGUE study)

The overall aim of this dissertation is to develop an eHealth intervention to promote family communication and cascade genetic testing among families concerned with Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) syndrome. Within this context an international, multi-centre scientific project entitled "DIALOGUE" was designed that aims to develop (Phase A), and test the feasibility (Phase B) of an intervention within various genetic clinics across Switzerland and South Korea. This dissertation describes only the Phase A, the adaptation of an intervention, a web-based platform designed for families with HBOC to share genetic test results, including usability testing in a sample from Switzerland. Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to the current field of hereditary cancer and cascade genetic testing, including the current state of eHealth technologies in science. The chapter also includes a short introduction to the prototype developed in the U.S.—as well as a description of the DIALOGUE study. In addition, the chapter summarises the main conceptual models, i.e. the Ottawa Decision Support Framework (ODSF) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework. These models are commonly implemented in the development and evaluation of complex interventions. The rational of this dissertation is guided by all of these elements. Chapter 2 provides a detailed description of the dissertation’s specific aims, including the three studies conducted. The articles presented in Chapter 3 describe the methodology and findings of the dissertation. Study I comprises a systematic literature review of previous studies, with a particular focus on HBOC and Lynch syndromes. The literature review identified and synthesised evidence from psychoeducational interventions designed to facilitate family communication of genetic testing results and/or cancer predisposition and to promote cascade genetic testing. A meta-analysis was also conducted to assess intervention efficacy in relation to these two research aims. Our findings highlight the need to develop new interventions and approaches to family communication and cascade testing for cancer susceptibility. Study II describes the state-of-the-art text mining techniques used to detect and classify valuable information from interviews with study participants concerning determinants of open intrafamilial communication regarding genetic cancer risk. This study had two major aims: 1) to quantify openness of communication about HBOC cancer risk, and 2) to examine the role of sentiment in predicting openness of communication. Our findings showed that the overall expressed sentiment was associated with the communication of genetic risk among HBOC families. This analysis identified additional factors that affect openness to communicate genetic risk. These were defined as “high-risk” factors and integrated into the design and development of the intervention. Study III describes the development of the intervention, a web-based platform designed for families with HBOC to share genetic test results. The platform was developed in line with the quality criteria set by the MRC framework. Being web-based, the platform could be accessed via a laptop, smartphone or tablet. Usability testing was applied to evaluate the prototype intervention which received high ratings on a satisfaction scale. Chapter 4 synthesises and discusses the key findings of all the studies presented in the previous chapter, and addresses study limitations and implications for future research