Self “Sensor”Ship: An Interdisciplinary Investigation of the Persuasiveness, Social Implications, and Ethical Design of Self-Sensoring Prescriptive Applications

This dissertation research investigates the social implications of computing artifacts that make use of sensor driven self-quantification to implicitly or explicitly direct user behaviors. These technologies are referred to here as self-sensoring prescriptive applications (SSPA’s). This genre of technological application has a strong presence in healthcare as a means to monitor health, modify behavior, improve health outcomes, and reduce medical costs. However, the commercial sector is quickly adopting SSPA’s as a means to monitor and/or modify consumer behaviors as well (Swan, 2013). These wearable devices typically monitor factors such as movement, heartrate, and respiration; ostensibly to guide the users to better or more informed choices about their physical fitness (Lee & Drake, 2013; Swan, 2012b). However, applications that claim to use biosensor data to assist in mood maintenance and control are entering the market (Bolluyt, 2015), and applications to aid in decision making about consumer products are on the horizon as well (Swan, 2012b). Interestingly, there is little existing research that investigates the direct impact biosensor data have on decision making, nor on the risks, benefits, or regulation of such technologies. The research presented here is inspired by a number of separate but related gaps in existing literature about the social implications of SSPA’s. First, how SSPA’s impact individual and group decision making and attitude formation within non-medicalcare domains (e.g. will a message about what product to buy be more persuasive if it claims to have based the recommendation on your biometric information?). Second, how the design and designers of SSPA’s shape social behaviors and third, how these factors are or are not being considered in future design and public policy decisions

George M. Low Trophy: NASA's quality and excellence award

NASA's major goal is the preservation of America's position as a leader in the aerospace industry. To maintain that status, it is crucial that the products and services we depend upon from NASA contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers meet the highest quality standards to ensure the space program's success. The George M. Low Trophy: NASA's Quality and Excellence Award is the result of NASA's desire to encourage continuous improvement and Total Quality Management (TQM) in the aerospace industry and is awarded to members of NASA's contractor community that have demonstrated sustained excellence, customer orientation, and outstanding achievements in a Total Quality Management (TQM) environment. The purpose in presenting this award is to increase public awareness of the importance of quality and productivity to the nation's aerospace industry and the nation's leadership position overall; encourage domestic business to continuously pursue efforts that enhance quality and increase productivity which will strengthen the nation's competitiveness in the international arena; and provide a forum for sharing the successful techniques and strategies used by applicants with other American organizations. Awards to Rockwell International and Marotta Scientific Controls, Inc. are announced and discussed

Hedging the exchange rate risk in international portfolio diversification : currency forwards versus currency options

As past research suggest, currency exposure risk is a main source of overall risk of international diversified portfolios. Thus, controlling the currency risk is an important instrument for controlling and improving investment performance of international investments. This study examines the effectiveness of controlling the currency risk for international diversified mixed asset portfolios via different hedge tools. Several hedging strategies, using currency forwards and currency options, were evaluated and compared with each other. Therefore, the stock and bond markets of the, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and the U.S, in the time period of January 1985 till December 2002, are considered. This is done form the point of view of a German investor. Due to highly skewed return distributions of options, the application of the traditional mean-variance framework for portfolio optimization is doubtful when options are considered. To account for this problem, a mean-LPM model is employed. Currency trends are also taken into account to check for the general dependence of time trends of currency movements and the relative potential gains of risk controlling strategies

1994 - Managing Water for Drought, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Institute for Water Resources

The purpose of the report was to explain the procedure for cooperative federal-state drought preparedness studies, to indicate how the studies related to the longstanding principles and guidance for federal water resources investigations, and to indicate the means of implementing conclusions arrived at in any given region. This 1994 report, developed during a four-year National Study of Water Management, summarizes the method of improving water management during drought. The method was tested and refined in four field studies in different parts of the country, in which teams of water managers and users worked together to reduce drought impacts. In each case, the situations were complex, involving may different uses of water. Because state and local responsibilities were involved, a joint cooperative approach between state and federal agencies was necessary to provide satisfactory answers.https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_usa_2_f/1000/thumbnail.jp

Feasibility study on the microeconomic impact of enforcement of competition policies on innovation: final report

Following seminal contributions from two of the giants of 20th century economics, Schumpeter and Arrow, the relationship between competition and innovation has long been hotly debated, but the general consensus is that competition, whether for the market or in the market, is an important stimulus to innovation. This provides an important additional justification for competition policy, beyond the static purely price-based perspective. Remarkably however, we know relatively little about how specific competition policy interventions have impacted on firms’ innovation activities. So whilst the impact evaluation literature has made important strides in recent decades in assessing the static gains which have been driven by anti-trust and merger control, there have only been very few studies evaluating the impacts of individual policy decisions in this area. The main objective of this study is to explore whether, and how far, such impact evaluation exercises are feasible for competition and innovation. For this reason DG COMP commissioned a team of academics led by Peter Ormosi at the Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, to review the existing literature, and to propose a rigorous analytical and methodological framework which can be used to evaluate cases. As an illustration of this framework in action, the study provides a pilot evaluation of the Seagate/Samsung and Western Digital/Hitachi mergers. The findings of this case study prove to be interesting in their own right – shedding some new light on these important mergers. But far more important for present purposes, it establishes that the methodology is viable, albeit with important lessons to be learnt. The objective of this study was to offer a detailed literature review, develop a methodological framework, collect data on three different areas (R&D spending, patents, and product characteristics), and analyse it. Our task was to identify what is feasible, what we can learn in terms of the applied methodology, and also to provide preliminary results on how innovation was affected by the 2012 consolidation of the HDD market

Data envelopment analysis as a benchmarking application for humanitarian organizations

Humanitarian aid organizations are under tremendous pressure and competition for donor funds to sustain their operations. However, donor contribution levels have remained relatively stagnant over the past five years and are unlikely to grow in the foreseeable future. Additionally, donor policies and mandates have added pressure on humanitarian aid organizations to comply with new and more complex requirements. Many humanitarian aid organizations work in some of the most challenging areas of the world, where conflict, famine, environmental, economic, and cultural challenges are prevalent. Given all these factors, a novel form of performance and efficiency measurement is needed to evaluate the performance of humanitarian aid organizations. This study addressed the possible use of Data Envelopment Analysis that measures the efficiency of an organization’s country programs. Limited funding from donors, competition, and the humanitarian imperative to reach people in need requires humanitarian aid organizations to become better and more effective stewards of donor contributions. This study used a mixed-methods approach to compare and evaluate the efficiency of the country portfolios of a humanitarian aid organization using DEA. The DEA models used are CRS and VRS using an output orientation. This study used an explanatory sequential design. First, a quantitative approach using DEA was employed to compare the efficiency of an organization’s country portfolios. Second, a qualitative effort consisted of a focus group of DEA researchers who have performed DEA on humanitarian aid programs. The focus group addressed the views, perspectives, and issues of conducting DEA within the humanitarian sector. The DEA study was conducted in three phases. A sample of 19 country portfolios was used in this study. The results showed that 10% of the countries were efficient in the aggregate under a CRS model, and 20% using a VRS model. The focus group provided insights and perceptions of DEA from a practical perspective. These were categorized from technical requirements and communications with a client. The challenge in the humanitarian sector is that DEA is not a well known methodology. An explanation is often required on what DEA can do for an organization and its limitations. Additionally, an explanation was often needed for a client to understand how decision making units (DMUs), variables, and DEA techniques can be used to support a humanitarian aid organization

INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE

Globalization, privatization and scientific advancements pose new challenges and opportunities for the development of Indian agriculture. The emerging paradigm shifts focus to creation and application of new knowledge for agricultural development and global competitiveness. To facilitate this shift and realize greater economic efficiency, a new set of responsive institutions should emerge. This volume discusses the direction of institutional change in Indian agriculture. The roles of the state, markets and collective actions are examined for evolving the knowledge-intensive agriculture. The contributed papers from a number of leading researchers cover the institutions for R&D, land and water resources, credit, marketing, trade and agro-processing.Industrial Organization, International Development,

As A Matter De Facto: State Capacity Dynamics And Their Role In Shaping Sovereignty For Unrecognized States

What explains de facto states that do not pursue statehood? Why do we see examples of unrecognized states pushing for reintegration after a period of time? Why do some de facto states seem content with the status quo? Previous examination of de facto state strategies highlighted the role that the international system plays in granting independence. For the most part, de facto states, by default secessionist movements who have sundered from the parent state, are unlikely to be granted independence by the very system which holds a taboo against secession. The exceptions to this came after a long time of sustained campaigning, in addition to gross human rights violations. Current explanations for de facto states still in limbo hedge on other states playing the most important role. These explanations are incomplete. For de facto states that have signaled their desire for reintegration or the states, it is useful to examine not only internal dynamics within the unrecognized state, but also the de facto state – parent state dynamic. In this dissertation, I analyze the role that relative state capacity plays in shaping preferences for de facto states, whether that be for reintegration, status quo, or independence. My dissertation contributes to the burgeoning literature on de facto statehood in a variety of ways. First, I contribute by challenging the idea that unrecognized states automatically prefer independence. My case studies point to a variety of preferences that exist along the spectrum of de facto states. Northern Cyprus shows an example of an established de facto state that pushed for reintegration with the very parent state that assured it did not have a role in the international system. The case of Taiwan displays an example of an economic powerhouse that treads the line of status quo acceptance, and the role that their state capacity relative to the parent state plays in that. Finally, Somaliland is a case of a de facto state preferring independence, despite having no patron state and an uphill climb to establish adequate state building. Second, I present a theoretical framework that incorporates state capacity of the de facto state and the parent state. Specifically, I lay out that the balance of state capacity between both parties shapes preferences for either reintegration, status quo, or independence. Furthermore, state capacity is dissected down into three constituent parts: military capacity, economic capacity, and administrative capacity. I directly compare the military, economic, and administrative capacity of each de facto-parent state dyad, using numerous indicators. By systematically comparing the state capacity of de facto states and parent states, my dissertation offers an additional and necessary examination into de facto states and their outlook towards their sovereignty

Backcasting energy futures using industrial ecology

Backcasting has been widely used for developing energy futures. This paper explores the potential for using industrial ecology to guide the development of energy futures within a backcasting framework. Building on the backcasting work of Robinson [1], a seven step method is presented to embed industrial ecology principles within the development and assessment of future scenarios and transition paths toward them. The approach is applied to the case of backcasting regional energy futures in the Latrobe Valley, near Melbourne, Australia. This region has substantial brown coal deposits which are currently mined and used in coal-fired power stations to generate electricity. Bounded by a sustainability vision for the region in a carbon-constrained world, regional industrial ecologies in 2050 were backcast around three themes: bio-industries and renewables (no coal usage); electricity from coal with carbon capture and storage (low to high coal usage); and coal to products such as hydrogen, ammonia, diesel, methanol, plastics and char (demonstrating medium to high overall coal use relative to current levels). Potential environmental, technological, socio-political and economic impacts of each scenario across various life cycle stages were characterised. Results offer a platform for regional policy development to underpin deliberation on a preferred future by the community, industry and other stakeholders. Industrial ecology principles were found to be useful in backcasting for creatively articulating alternative futures featuring industrial symbiosis. However, enabling the approach to guide implementation of sustainable transition pathways requires further development and would benefit from integration within the Strategic Sustainable Development framework of Robèrt et al. [2]. © 2010 Elsevier Inc

As a Matter De Facto: State Capacity Dynamics and Their Role in Shaping Sovereignty for Unrecognized States

What explains de facto states that do not pursue statehood? Why do we see examples of unrecognized states pushing for reintegration after a period of time? Why do some de facto states seem content with the status quo? Previous examination of de facto state strategies highlighted the role that the international system plays in granting independence. For the most part, de facto states, by default secessionist movements who have sundered from the parent state, are unlikely to be granted independence by the very system which holds a taboo against secession. The exceptions to this came after a long time of sustained campaigning, in addition to gross human rights violations. Current explanations for de facto states still in limbo hedge on other states playing the most important role. These explanations are incomplete. For de facto states that have signaled their desire for reintegration or the states, it is useful to examine not only internal dynamics within the unrecognized state, but also the de facto state – parent state dynamic. In this dissertation, I analyze the role that relative state capacity plays in shaping preferences for de facto states, whether that be for reintegration, status quo, or independence. My dissertation contributes to the burgeoning literature on de facto statehood in a variety of ways. First, I contribute by challenging the idea that unrecognized states automatically prefer independence. My case studies point to a variety of preferences that exist along the spectrum of de facto states. Northern Cyprus shows an example of an established de facto state that pushed for reintegration with the very parent state that assured it did not have a role in the international system. The case of Taiwan displays an example of an economic powerhouse that treads the line of status quo acceptance, and the role that their state capacity relative to the parent state plays in that. Finally, Somaliland is a case of a de facto state preferring independence, despite having no patron state and an uphill climb to establish adequate state building. Second, I present a theoretical framework that incorporates state capacity of the de facto state and the parent state. Specifically, I lay out that the balance of state capacity between both parties shapes preferences for either reintegration, status quo, or independence. Furthermore, state capacity is dissected down into three constituent parts: military capacity, economic capacity, and administrative capacity. I directly compare the military, economic, and administrative capacity of each de facto-parent state dyad, using numerous indicators. By systematically comparing the state capacity of de facto states and parent states, my dissertation offers an additional and necessary examination into de facto states and their outlook towards their sovereignty