The Photosynthesiser - A methodology for mapping environmental conditions, pivotal to the speed of photosynthesis in plants, through sonification.

Traditionally, the close inspection of data requires visual guidance in the form of displays depicting numeric or graphical representations over time. Sonification offers a way to convey this data through auditory means, relinquishing the need for constant display monitoring. To enable horticulturists to continue to move and work around their environment a proposed sonification mapping system for the key environmental conditions, vital for optimum levels of photosynthesis, has been developed. The outcome of this research was to provide a monitoring system that was both musical and meaningful with regards to data fluctuations and most importantly, could be interpreted by a wide demographic of listeners. A literature review provides an underpinning to both the scientific and artistic merits of sonification whilst a practice-based model was used to develop appropriate musical timbres, offering a natural instrumentation through physical modelling synthesis. Key questions around which musical factors can be used to trigger specific emotions and which of these emotions do we associate with an environment that offers a higher rate or low rate of photosynthesis for plants are explored. Through literary research as well as the deployment and analysis of surveys, a list of musical parameters was identified and a mapping framework designed. To analyse the success of the design, an audio installation was constructed within grounds at the Eden Project. The environmental data of both biomes, tropical and Mediterranean, were sonified into two musical streams and visitors surveyed through quantitative and qualitative methods in an experiment to see if they could correctly associate the music to the biome. The results provided 90% accuracy in the correct identification. It is theorised through this research that the mapping framework designed can be used in the sonification of climate conditions and communicate key traits within each environment

Grid-based semantic integration of heterogeneous data resources: Implementation on a HealthGrid

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University.The semantic integration of geographically distributed and heterogeneous data resources still remains a key challenge in Grid infrastructures. Today's mainstream Grid technologies hold the promise to meet this challenge in a systematic manner, making data applications more scalable and manageable. The thesis conducts a thorough investigation of the problem, the state of the art, and the related technologies, and proposes an Architecture for Semantic Integration of Data Sources (ASIDS) addressing the semantic heterogeneity issue. It defines a simple mechanism for the interoperability of heterogeneous data sources in order to extract or discover information regardless of their different semantics. The constituent technologies of this architecture include Globus Toolkit (GT4) and OGSA-DAI (Open Grid Service Architecture Data Integration and Access) alongside other web services technologies such as XML (Extensive Markup Language). To show this, the ASIDS architecture was implemented and tested in a realistic setting by building an exemplar application prototype on a HealthGrid (pilot implementation). The study followed an empirical research methodology and was informed by extensive literature surveys and a critical analysis of the relevant technologies and their synergies. The two literature reviews, together with the analysis of the technology background, have provided a good overview of the current Grid and HealthGrid landscape, produced some valuable taxonomies, explored new paths by integrating technologies, and more importantly illuminated the problem and guided the research process towards a promising solution. Yet the primary contribution of this research is an approach that uses contemporary Grid technologies for integrating heterogeneous data resources that have semantically different. data fields (attributes). It has been practically demonstrated (using a prototype HealthGrid) that discovery in semantically integrated distributed data sources can be feasible by using mainstream Grid technologies, which have been shown to have some Significant advantages over non-Grid based approaches

Crowds

What exactly is a crowd? How do crowds differ from other large gatherings of people? And how do they transform emotions, politics, or faith? In Crowds, contributors draw on their experiences and expertise to reflect on their encounters with crowds. Each chapter examines a particular crowd or conception of crowdedness to provide an analysis of how, when, where—and with whom—crowds form in different contexts, as well as their purpose and the practical effect the experience has on both the participants and their environment. The wide selection of case studies ranges from the crowds that form every year during the Hajj, to New Year celebrations in China, commuters on the Delhi metro, public prayer in Nigeria, online mobs in Bangladesh, and the crowds that have emerged during protest movements in Thailand and Syria. Crowds makes a key contribution to establishing an anthropological theory of crowds and will be an essential read for both students and researchers

A dramaturgy of intermediality: composing with integrative design

The thesis investigates and develops a compositional system on intermediality in theatre and performance as a dramaturgical practice through integrative design. The position of the visual/sonic media in theatre and performance has been altered by the digitalisation and networking of media technologies, which enables enhanced dynamic variables in the intermedial processes. The emergent intermediality sites are made accessible by developments in media technologies and form part of broader changes towards a mediatised society: a simultaneous shift in cultural contexts, theatre practice and audience perception. The practice-led research is situated within a postdramatic context and develops a system of compositional perspectives and procedures to enhance the knowledge of a dramaturgy on intermediality. The intermediality forms seem to re-situate the actual/virtual relations in theatre and re-construct the processes of theatricalisation in the composition of the stage narrative. The integration of media and performers produces a compositional environment of semiosis, where the theatre becomes a site of narration, and the designed integration in-between medialities emerges as intermediality sites in the performance event. A selection of performances and theatre directors is identified, who each in distinct ways integrate mediating technologies as a core element in their compositional design. These directors and performances constitute a source of reflection on compositional strategies from the perspective of practice, and enable comparative discussions on dramaturgical design and the consistency of intermediality sites. The practice-led research realised a series of prototyping processes situated in performance laboratories in 2004-5. The laboratories staged investigations into the relation between integrative design procedures and parameters for composition of intermediality sites, particularly the relative presence in-between the actual and the virtual, and the relative duration and distance in-between timeness and placeness. The integration of performer activities and media operations into dramaturgical structures were developed as a design process of identifying the mapping and experiencing the landscape through iterative prototyping. The developed compositional concepts and strategies were realised in the prototype performance Still I Know Who I Am, performed October 2006. This final research performance was a full-scale professional production, which explored the developed dramaturgical designs through creative practice. The performance was realised as a public event, and composed of a series of scenes, each presenting a specific composite of the developed integrative design strategies, and generating a particular intermediality site. The research processes in the performance laboratories and the prototype performance developed on characteristics, parameters and procedures of compositional strategies, investigating the viability of a dramaturgy of intermediality through integrative design. The practice undertaken constitutes raw material from which the concepts are drawn and underpins the premises for the theoretical reflections

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Crowds

What exactly is a crowd? How do crowds differ from other large gatherings of people? And how do they transform emotions, politics, or faith? In Crowds, contributors draw on their experiences and expertise to reflect on their encounters with crowds. Each chapter examines a particular crowd or conception of crowdedness to provide an analysis of how, when, where—and with whom—crowds form in different contexts, as well as their purpose and the practical effect the experience has on both the participants and their environment. The wide selection of case studies ranges from the crowds that form every year during the Hajj, to New Year celebrations in China, commuters on the Delhi metro, public prayer in Nigeria, online mobs in Bangladesh, and the crowds that have emerged during protest movements in Thailand and Syria. Crowds makes a key contribution to establishing an anthropological theory of crowds and will be an essential read for both students and researchers

Crowds

What exactly is a crowd? How do crowds differ from other large gatherings of people? And how do they transform emotions, politics, or faith? In Crowds, contributors draw on their experiences and expertise to reflect on their encounters with crowds. Each chapter examines a particular crowd or conception of crowdedness to provide an analysis of how, when, where—and with whom—crowds form in different contexts, as well as their purpose and the practical effect the experience has on both the participants and their environment. The wide selection of case studies ranges from the crowds that form every year during the Hajj, to New Year celebrations in China, commuters on the Delhi metro, public prayer in Nigeria, online mobs in Bangladesh, and the crowds that have emerged during protest movements in Thailand and Syria. Crowds makes a key contribution to establishing an anthropological theory of crowds and will be an essential read for both students and researchers

An office design and employee stress : an office design that reduces employee’s stress and increases employee productivity

We live in times when office space is playing a key role in company and employees' life. Employees productivity is a fundamental element of any businesses' success nowadays. A competitive global environment determines this phenomenon. Workers productivity can be remarkably reduced by high level of stress and poor quality of interior. Both stress and bad working conditions have an influence on employees’ well-being. In addition, they can result in pain and health problems, which as a result can reduce the willingness to work. The main aim of this study was to explore interior design techniques, which can reduce employees’ stress and at the same time increase their productivity. For this purpose, an action-research project was made. The project is composed of a design proposal for an interior design company in Poland. The design solution is based on Biopfilic Design with some elements of Activity Based Working. Biophlic design is a trend in interior design that emphasizes contact with nature. By using this design techniques (plants introduction, sunlight, nice window view for the greenery), it is possible to make workers feel better and at the same time to make them more creative and productive. The role of the Activity Based Working assumption is to match the workplace to the needs of employee. The private and open space, creative room, meeting room, dining room, gym, sauna are designed according to Activity Based Working. Common space is designed to increase collaboration among employee and to reduce the work stress. Ergonomic furniture and introduction of plants are the elements which increase productivity and protect health of both employees and customers. To understand the space and employees’ needs better a questionnaire was made. Using primary data, taking into consideration employees' answers and employers expectations a functional layout was designed. Before doing a design, many books and articles were read to understand an office design subject well. The best office design examples, which came into existence in Poland, were studied and carefully analyzed. Getting acquainted with office projects designed by the best architects was a necessary study which inspired me to continue a design work for Kolanko Company. Two-storey building with specious stockroom was built in Chwaszczyno in Poland. The new building of the company is dedicated to individual customer and architects who want to collaborate with Kolanko Company. New headquarters of Kolanko company may help clients enjoy a better service. Thanks to the showroom clients will be able to see a product before the purchase which makes their choice more conscious. An installation, products exhibitions can facilitate the client’s choice as well as inspire them. The modern office is a mix of twenty years of experience with new technologies in interior design area. The main purpose of new office is to provide the best condition for employee’s well-being and client’s service. There are many studies, which present the influence of office design on workers’ stress and productivity. Poor design can dramatically reduce employee productivity and may contribute to many health problems. There are some design techniques, which can improve work, information flow in an office and well-being of employees. In the project of Kolanko headquarters, office furniture, textures, colors and light, were carefully selected to ensure better working conditions. There are some elements called positive distraction in the project (gym, sauna, dinning area, creative room) that have an impact on reducing stress during work. Plants and the window view have possitive influence on state of being and people's creativit

Challenges in Cybersecurity and Privacy - the European Research Landscape

Cybersecurity and Privacy issues are becoming an important barrier for a trusted and dependable global digital society development. Cyber-criminals are continuously shifting their cyber-attacks specially against cyber-physical systems and IoT, since they present additional vulnerabilities due to their constrained capabilities, their unattended nature and the usage of potential untrustworthiness components. Likewise, identity-theft, fraud, personal data leakages, and other related cyber-crimes are continuously evolving, causing important damages and privacy problems for European citizens in both virtual and physical scenarios. In this context, new holistic approaches, methodologies, techniques and tools are needed to cope with those issues, and mitigate cyberattacks, by employing novel cyber-situational awareness frameworks, risk analysis and modeling, threat intelligent systems, cyber-threat information sharing methods, advanced big-data analysis techniques as well as exploiting the benefits from latest technologies such as SDN/NFV and Cloud systems. In addition, novel privacy-preserving techniques, and crypto-privacy mechanisms, identity and eID management systems, trust services, and recommendations are needed to protect citizens’ privacy while keeping usability levels. The European Commission is addressing the challenge through different means, including the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program, thereby financing innovative projects that can cope with the increasing cyberthreat landscape. This book introduces several cybersecurity and privacy research challenges and how they are being addressed in the scope of 15 European research projects. Each chapter is dedicated to a different funded European Research project, which aims to cope with digital security and privacy aspects, risks, threats and cybersecurity issues from a different perspective. Each chapter includes the project’s overviews and objectives, the particular challenges they are covering, research achievements on security and privacy, as well as the techniques, outcomes, and evaluations accomplished in the scope of the EU project. The book is the result of a collaborative effort among relative ongoing European Research projects in the field of privacy and security as well as related cybersecurity fields, and it is intended to explain how these projects meet the main cybersecurity and privacy challenges faced in Europe. Namely, the EU projects analyzed in the book are: ANASTACIA, SAINT, YAKSHA, FORTIKA, CYBECO, SISSDEN, CIPSEC, CS-AWARE. RED-Alert, Truessec.eu. ARIES, LIGHTest, CREDENTIAL, FutureTrust, LEPS. Challenges in Cybersecurity and Privacy - the European Research Landscape is ideal for personnel in computer/communication industries as well as academic staff and master/research students in computer science and communications networks interested in learning about cyber-security and privacy aspects