3,269 research outputs found

    Mobile heritage practices. Implications for scholarly research, user experience design, and evaluation methods using mobile apps.

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    Mobile heritage apps have become one of the most popular means for audience engagement and curation of museum collections and heritage contexts. This raises practical and ethical questions for both researchers and practitioners, such as: what kind of audience engagement can be built using mobile apps? what are the current approaches? how can audience engagement with these experience be evaluated? how can those experiences be made more resilient, and in turn sustainable? In this thesis I explore experience design scholarships together with personal professional insights to analyse digital heritage practices with a view to accelerating thinking about and critique of mobile apps in particular. As a result, the chapters that follow here look at the evolution of digital heritage practices, examining the cultural, societal, and technological contexts in which mobile heritage apps are developed by the creative media industry, the academic institutions, and how these forces are shaping the user experience design methods. Drawing from studies in digital (critical) heritage, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and design thinking, this thesis provides a critical analysis of the development and use of mobile practices for the heritage. Furthermore, through an empirical and embedded approach to research, the thesis also presents auto-ethnographic case studies in order to show evidence that mobile experiences conceptualised by more organic design approaches, can result in more resilient and sustainable heritage practices. By doing so, this thesis encourages a renewed understanding of the pivotal role of these practices in the broader sociocultural, political and environmental changes.AHRC REAC

    Proceedings of the 10th International congress on architectural technology (ICAT 2024): architectural technology transformation.

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    The profession of architectural technology is influential in the transformation of the built environment regionally, nationally, and internationally. The congress provides a platform for industry, educators, researchers, and the next generation of built environment students and professionals to showcase where their influence is transforming the built environment through novel ideas, businesses, leadership, innovation, digital transformation, research and development, and sustainable forward-thinking technological and construction assembly design

    Multidisciplinary perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and the law

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    This open access book presents an interdisciplinary, multi-authored, edited collection of chapters on Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) and the Law. AI technology has come to play a central role in the modern data economy. Through a combination of increased computing power, the growing availability of data and the advancement of algorithms, AI has now become an umbrella term for some of the most transformational technological breakthroughs of this age. The importance of AI stems from both the opportunities that it offers and the challenges that it entails. While AI applications hold the promise of economic growth and efficiency gains, they also create significant risks and uncertainty. The potential and perils of AI have thus come to dominate modern discussions of technology and ethics – and although AI was initially allowed to largely develop without guidelines or rules, few would deny that the law is set to play a fundamental role in shaping the future of AI. As the debate over AI is far from over, the need for rigorous analysis has never been greater. This book thus brings together contributors from different fields and backgrounds to explore how the law might provide answers to some of the most pressing questions raised by AI. An outcome of the Católica Research Centre for the Future of Law and its interdisciplinary working group on Law and Artificial Intelligence, it includes contributions by leading scholars in the fields of technology, ethics and the law.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

    Effects of municipal smoke-free ordinances on secondhand smoke exposure in the Republic of Korea

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    ObjectiveTo reduce premature deaths due to secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure among non-smokers, the Republic of Korea (ROK) adopted changes to the National Health Promotion Act, which allowed local governments to enact municipal ordinances to strengthen their authority to designate smoke-free areas and levy penalty fines. In this study, we examined national trends in SHS exposure after the introduction of these municipal ordinances at the city level in 2010.MethodsWe used interrupted time series analysis to assess whether the trends of SHS exposure in the workplace and at home, and the primary cigarette smoking rate changed following the policy adjustment in the national legislation in ROK. Population-standardized data for selected variables were retrieved from a nationally representative survey dataset and used to study the policy action’s effectiveness.ResultsFollowing the change in the legislation, SHS exposure in the workplace reversed course from an increasing (18% per year) trend prior to the introduction of these smoke-free ordinances to a decreasing (−10% per year) trend after adoption and enforcement of these laws (β2 = 0.18, p-value = 0.07; β3 = −0.10, p-value = 0.02). SHS exposure at home (β2 = 0.10, p-value = 0.09; β3 = −0.03, p-value = 0.14) and the primary cigarette smoking rate (β2 = 0.03, p-value = 0.10; β3 = 0.008, p-value = 0.15) showed no significant changes in the sampled period. Although analyses stratified by sex showed that the allowance of municipal ordinances resulted in reduced SHS exposure in the workplace for both males and females, they did not affect the primary cigarette smoking rate as much, especially among females.ConclusionStrengthening the role of local governments by giving them the authority to enact and enforce penalties on SHS exposure violation helped ROK to reduce SHS exposure in the workplace. However, smoking behaviors and related activities seemed to shift to less restrictive areas such as on the streets and in apartment hallways, negating some of the effects due to these ordinances. Future studies should investigate how smoke-free policies beyond public places can further reduce the SHS exposure in ROK

    Review of Path Selection Algorithms with Link Quality and Critical Switch Aware for Heterogeneous Traffic in SDN

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    Software Defined Networking (SDN) introduced network management flexibility that eludes traditional network architecture. Nevertheless, the pervasive demand for various cloud computing services with different levels of Quality of Service requirements in our contemporary world made network service provisioning challenging. One of these challenges is path selection (PS) for routing heterogeneous traffic with end-to-end quality of service support specific to each traffic class. The challenge had gotten the research community\u27s attention to the extent that many PSAs were proposed. However, a gap still exists that calls for further study. This paper reviews the existing PSA and the Baseline Shortest Path Algorithms (BSPA) upon which many relevant PSA(s) are built to help identify these gaps. The paper categorizes the PSAs into four, based on their path selection criteria, (1) PSAs that use static or dynamic link quality to guide PSD, (2) PSAs that consider the criticality of switch in terms of an update operation, FlowTable limitation or port capacity to guide PSD, (3) PSAs that consider flow variabilities to guide PSD and (4) The PSAs that use ML optimization in their PSD. We then reviewed and compared the techniques\u27 design in each category against the identified SDN PSA design objectives, solution approach, BSPA, and validation approaches. Finally, the paper recommends directions for further research

    Quality of experience and access network traffic management of HTTP adaptive video streaming

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    The thesis focuses on Quality of Experience (QoE) of HTTP adaptive video streaming (HAS) and traffic management in access networks to improve the QoE of HAS. First, the QoE impact of adaptation parameters and time on layer was investigated with subjective crowdsourcing studies. The results were used to compute a QoE-optimal adaptation strategy for given video and network conditions. This allows video service providers to develop and benchmark improved adaptation logics for HAS. Furthermore, the thesis investigated concepts to monitor video QoE on application and network layer, which can be used by network providers in the QoE-aware traffic management cycle. Moreover, an analytic and simulative performance evaluation of QoE-aware traffic management on a bottleneck link was conducted. Finally, the thesis investigated socially-aware traffic management for HAS via Wi-Fi offloading of mobile HAS flows. A model for the distribution of public Wi-Fi hotspots and a platform for socially-aware traffic management on private home routers was presented. A simulative performance evaluation investigated the impact of Wi-Fi offloading on the QoE and energy consumption of mobile HAS.Die Doktorarbeit beschäftigt sich mit Quality of Experience (QoE) – der subjektiv empfundenen Dienstgüte – von adaptivem HTTP Videostreaming (HAS) und mit Verkehrsmanagement, das in Zugangsnetzwerken eingesetzt werden kann, um die QoE des adaptiven Videostreamings zu verbessern. Zuerst wurde der Einfluss von Adaptionsparameters und der Zeit pro Qualitätsstufe auf die QoE von adaptivem Videostreaming mittels subjektiver Crowdsourcingstudien untersucht. Die Ergebnisse wurden benutzt, um die QoE-optimale Adaptionsstrategie für gegebene Videos und Netzwerkbedingungen zu berechnen. Dies ermöglicht Dienstanbietern von Videostreaming verbesserte Adaptionsstrategien für adaptives Videostreaming zu entwerfen und zu benchmarken. Weiterhin untersuchte die Arbeit Konzepte zum Überwachen von QoE von Videostreaming in der Applikation und im Netzwerk, die von Netzwerkbetreibern im Kreislauf des QoE-bewussten Verkehrsmanagements eingesetzt werden können. Außerdem wurde eine analytische und simulative Leistungsbewertung von QoE-bewusstem Verkehrsmanagement auf einer Engpassverbindung durchgeführt. Schließlich untersuchte diese Arbeit sozialbewusstes Verkehrsmanagement für adaptives Videostreaming mittels WLAN Offloading, also dem Auslagern von mobilen Videoflüssen über WLAN Netzwerke. Es wurde ein Modell für die Verteilung von öffentlichen WLAN Zugangspunkte und eine Plattform für sozialbewusstes Verkehrsmanagement auf privaten, häuslichen WLAN Routern vorgestellt. Abschließend untersuchte eine simulative Leistungsbewertung den Einfluss von WLAN Offloading auf die QoE und den Energieverbrauch von mobilem adaptivem Videostreaming

    Stress detection in lifelog data for improved personalized lifelog retrieval system

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    Stress can be categorized into acute and chronic types, with acute stress having short-term positive effects in managing hazardous situations, while chronic stress can adversely impact mental health. In a biological context, stress elicits a physiological response indicative of the fight-or-flight mechanism, accompanied by measurable changes in physiological signals such as blood volume pulse (BVP), galvanic skin response (GSR), and skin temperature (TEMP). While clinical-grade devices have traditionally been used to measure these signals, recent advancements in sensor technology enable their capture using consumer-grade wearable devices, providing opportunities for research in acute stress detection. Despite these advancements, there has been limited focus on utilizing low-resolution data obtained from sensor technology for early stress detection and evaluating stress detection models under real-world conditions. Moreover, the potential of physiological signals to infer mental stress information remains largely unexplored in lifelog retrieval systems. This thesis addresses these gaps through empirical investigations and explores the potential of utilizing physiological signals for stress detection and their integration within the state-of-the-art (SOTA) lifelog retrieval system. The main contributions of this thesis are as follows. Firstly, statistical analyses are conducted to investigate the feasibility of using low-resolution data for stress detection and emphasize the superiority of subject-dependent models over subject-independent models, thereby proposing the optimal approach to training stress detection models with low-resolution data. Secondly, longitudinal stress lifelog data is collected to evaluate stress detection models in real-world settings. It is proposed that training lifelog models on physiological signals in real-world settings is crucial to avoid detection inaccuracies caused by differences between laboratory and free-living conditions. Finally, a state-of-the-art lifelog interactive retrieval system called \lifeseeker is developed, incorporating the stress-moment filter function. Experimental results demonstrate that integrating this function improves the overall performance of the system in both interactive and non-interactive modes. In summary, this thesis contributes to the understanding of stress detection applied in real-world settings and showcases the potential of integrating stress information for enhancing personalized lifelog retrieval system performance

    GREEN INVESTMENT OPTIONS IN FERRY, RO-RO AND RO-PAX INDUSTRY - From theory to practice

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    An increased focus on sustainability issues and climate change from customers as well as the whole society, jointly with more restrictive regulatory requirements, are triggering shipping lines to progressively adopt green strategies, aiming at reducing emissions and pursuing higher (energy) efficiency standards (Pallis and Vaggelas, 2019). In the shipping sector, the Ferry segment expresses global fleet of about 15,400 ships with a total gross tonnage (GT) exceeding 31 million, and globally transports about 4.27 billion passengers per year and 373 million vehicles; furthermore, it has a contribution on world GDP of 60 billion dollars and allows the employment of more than 1 million people (Interferry, 2019). Because of the importance of the traffic volumes handled both in terms of passengers and cargoes, as well as due to the related impacts originating from business operations, the Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax industry is challenged to implement green strategies (Chang and Danao, 2007). Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) paradigms and related theoretical constructs are expected to reshape future goals, strategies and implantation trajectories of major Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax companies and improve firm performance (Lun et al., 2015). This PhD thesis scrutinizes green strategies and related investment options which are expected to allow Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax group owners, operating European-flagged vessels, to reach sustainability goals without negatively affecting their economic/financial performance. The document proposes a conceptual framework that addresses the most promising green investment options which Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax companies can exploit for making the business more sustainable, reducing environmental impacts and improving energy and material efficiency during day-by-day operations. Using insights from a systematic literature review conducted in the first sections of this PhD thesis, the most relevant green solutions widely investigated at academic level are examined and discussed for the purpose of this PhD thesis. After an exhaustive description of the state of the art and the state of the play regarding green investment options in Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax industry, this PhD thesis proposes an analysis of the most effective green strategies and practices concretely developed and planned in the industry. Empirical evidence shows that the most promising investment options relate to ship propulsion systems, such as the adoption of hydrogen and fuel cells (Trillos et al., 2021), alternative fuels (Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil, Ultra Low Sulphur Fuel Oil and Liquefied Natural Gas), efficiency systems for auxiliary engines and ship design solutions. As confirmed by outcomes gathered in our final empirical dataset, i.e., the “green” sample, among the different solutions analysed, the most adopted green investment options by European companies operating in Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax industry are: a) the refitting of bulbous bow, aimed at the implementation of the current design of the hull to increase the overall hydrodynamics of the ship; b) the installation of onboard batteries as a source of energy for ship propulsion; c) the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as alternative fuel for the ship propulsion, that contributes to a 100% reduction in sulphur oxides emissions, 80-85% of nitrogen oxides emissions, 95% of particular matter emissions and 20-30% of carbon dioxide emissions compared to HFO/MDO (Burel et al., 2013). The empirical analysis above mentioned is performed on 1,680 Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax ships with flag from European Countries, with data gathered through IHS Maritime & Trade that holds the largest maritime ships database in the world, further integrated with data and information collected from several technical sources (e.g., news press, sustainability report and press release of European companies). Variables investigates within IHS Maritime & Trade regard the type of main and auxiliary engines and fuel type, hull materials, bulbous bow and other technologies and equipment aimed at mitigating the pollution and reducing harmful emissions. The outcomes shed light on the viability and feasibility of some green investments options by shipping companies operating in Ferry, Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax industry at European level. To deal with this limited result, due to the lack of comprehensive dataset capable to scrutinize the diverse green solutions implemented on board European-flagged vessels, it was decided to develop an original and detailed dataset, capable to provide additional information concerning the approaches, decisions and strategies adopted by each group owners and related future trends about the adoption of green strategies in the sector. Through the examination of different sources (e.g., news press, specialised journals, communications by the companies on their corporate website, academic papers, etc.), information related to innovative technical solutions and cutting-edge technologies for mitigating the pollution and reducing harmful emissions have been extracted for each ship of the database, i.e., the “overall” or “extended” sample. In this way, it has been possible to provide an exhaustive overview of the heterogeneous green solutions, equipment and components installed on board of ships that are part of the “green” sample and the related source, to allow the evaluation and examination from the point of view of the institutionalism of the source. In this way it was possible to focus on top ten best performer group owners of the “green” sample, to analyse the managerial and governance behaviours and attitudes implemented by them and to deepen in brief case histories the main strategies adopted by them

    30th European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2023)

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    This is the abstract book of 30th European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2023

    Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management

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    This book is a reprint of the Special Issue 'Tradition and Innovation in Construction Project Management' that was published in the journal Buildings
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