Web page enhancement on desktop and mobile browsers

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, February 2013."February 2013." Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-165).The Web is a convenient platform to deliver information, but reading web pages is not as easy as it was in 1990s. This thesis focuses on investigating techniques to enhance web pages on desktop and mobile browsers for two specific populations: non-native English readers and mobile users. There are three issues addressed in this thesis: web page readability, web page skimmability and continuous reading support on mobile devices. On today's primarily English-language Web, non-native readers encounter some problems, even if they have some fluency in English. This thesis focuses on content presentation and proposes a new transformation method, Jenga Format, to enhance web page readability. A user study with 30 non-native users showed that Jenga transformation not only improved reading comprehension, but also made the web page reading easier. On the other hand, readability research has found that average reading times for non-native readers has remained the same or even worse. This thesis studies this issue and proposes Froggy GX (Generation neXt) to improve reading under time constraints. A user study with 20 non-native users showed that Froggy GX not only enhanced reading comprehension under time constraints, but also provided higher user satisfaction than reading unaided. When using the Web on mobile devices, the reading situation becomes challenging. Even worse, context switches, such as from walking to sitting, static standing, or hands-free situations like driving, happen in reading in on-the-go situations, but this scenario was not adequately addressed in previous studies. This thesis investigates this scenario and proposes a new mobile browser, Read4Me, to support continuous reading on a mobile device. A user study with 10 mobile users showed that auto-switching not only provided significantly fewer dangerous encounters than visual-reading, but also provided the best reading experience.by Chen-Hsiang Yu.Ph.D

River sands/urban spaces : Changsha in modern Chinese history

textThis work is a modern history of Changsha, the capital city of Hunan province, from the late nineteenth to mid twentieth centuries. The story begins by discussing a battle that occurred in the city during the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), a civil war that erupted in China during the mid nineteenth century. The events of this battle, but especially its memorialization in local temples in the years following the rebellion, established a local identity of resistance to Christianity and western imperialism. By the 1890’s this culture of resistance contributed to a series of riots that erupted in south China, related to the distribution of anti-Christian tracts and placards from publishing houses in Changsha. During these years a local gentry named Ye Dehui (1864-1927) emerged as a prominent businessman, grain merchant, and community leader. When a massive urban riot erupted in April 1910, Ye and other gentry were accused of withholding grain from starving peasants and other disgruntled locals. At the end of the same decade, in 1919 the Treaty of Versailles ended the war in Europe but awarded German owned territory in north China to Japan. Students and activists erupted in protest in cities throughout China, especially in Changsha. The climate of urban activism that emerged by the 1920’s inaugurated an age of civic identity in the city. Activists embraced certain ideas associated with western modernity—such as Marxism—in order to overcome western imperialism. Among the voices of dissent were young activists such as Mao Zedong (1893-1976). Students from foreign missionary schools even joined the protests. This new generation of activists published articles in the local press and other journals denouncing the West’s influence not only in Changsha, but also in communities throughout China. I also discuss the history of women in Changsha, most notably the experiences of an activist named Zhu Tierong (1915-2009). During World War II she worked with the local chapter of the YMCA to care for refugees. The war also brought intense carnage to Changsha, as much of the city was destroyed by a fire in 1938.Histor

Annual report on research activities 2010-2011

https://commons.ln.edu.hk/research_annual_report/1009/thumbnail.jp

The Political Participation of Taiwan's Labor: Public Perception and Legitimation

Many countries have undergone political transitions since the third wave of democratization began in the 1970s. Political regimes across the world have, consequently, faced questions regarding their legitimacy. Taiwan underwent its third transition of political power in 2016. In the course of this international wave of democratization, what role has Taiwanese labor played? Under what conditions could political participation by Taiwanese labor take place? It is usually believed that institutionalization and regulation is a key part of democratization in political transitions. It is believed that citizens' ability for civic participation increases in the course of a democratic transition. One should expect workers to have greater means of political participation, as reflected in institutionalization and regulation. It is thought that Taiwan's democratic transition has been under way for over thirty years. Significant economic growth has been seen during this period, as seen in the statistics. But if we divide up the population into members of management and workers, we can see that structurally, the majority of the population consists of workers, whether this is defined as workers who maintain subsistence living or in terms of political participation. The results of growth in the national economy have not trickled down to them. This is a contradiction that has happened in the cause of gradual democratization. Embedded democracy theory provides one explanation for this. In the process of democratization, a country must have open and transparent elections with rule of law, civil rights, horizontal accountability, and pursue external and internal embeddedness. If elections are simply held for the sake of maintaining political legitimacy, without means of social participation in elections or a system of separation of powers, that country has not truly advanced to the stage of rule of law. The institutionalization of democracy may cover up a lack of civil participation, even if externally, this appears to be a high degree of institutionalized legal regulation. An institutionalized democracy may yet be a defective democracy or a defunct democracy. Workers are a significant part of society. Moreover, industrial relations are a basis for economic participation. Under the current national system, on the one hand, the political system derived from the legal system has been institutionalized. On the other hand, the culture and habits of the social system have also become standardized and regulated. Under the regulation of both, we can examine what role that workers play. The following dissertation draws on strategic and conflictive groups' theory (SKoG) in order to analyze the roles played by social units in the labor relations system in Taiwan. The changes undergone by these social units in the course of historical changes will be analyzed in terms of embedded democracy theory. This will reveal the mutually interactive relations of the current historical outlook. Our conclusion reveals that in Taiwan, workers' mutually interactive relation with the closure of physical and human geography, the "island closure", has developed under an institutionalized democracy. But whether during the authoritarian period, in the course of democratic transition, or during Taiwan's democratic consolidation, workers have faced limitations as well as shifts in political participation. Workers have not had their demands met. Many have been forced to compromise by political elites, leading to a strengthening of internal and exterior embeddedness. This phenomenon has reduced the possibilities for workers to participate in politics. This exclusion of workers from institutionalization and legalization raises concerns regarding Taiwan's democratization, leading to an inability to have equal relations between workers and capital

Die Personennamen und Titel der mittelmongolischen Dokumente : Eine lexikalische Untersuchung

The present research is an investigation into the corpus of personal names and titles that are found in sources from the Middle Mongolian period, that is the time from the 13th to the beginning of the 15th century. The entry for every name or title has been divided into three parts: occurence(s) of a given name in Middle Mongolian sources (primary sources), etymology, and occurence(s) in sources other than Middle Mongolian (secondary sources). Culturally and lingistically the corpus can be divided into six sub-groups: Mongolian, Turkic (Old, Middle and Modern), Arabo-Persian (Islamic), Indo-Iranian and Tibetan (Buddhist), as well as Chinese. Among these, the largest group is formed by Mongolian and Turkic, followed by Chinese (mostly titles), Indo-Iranian, Arabo-Persian and Tibetan. With regard to the primary and secondary occurences the research is based mainly on primary sources including text-publications and dictionaries. Every name or title is documented as completely as possible within a Central Asian framework. However, due to the divergency of the sources available as well as diachronical importance, each sub-group has been dealt with slightly differently, but consistently. The corpus of investigated names and titles gives a fairly correct picture of the multi-ethnical composition of the Mongolian world-empire. It also shows the foreign influences on Mongolian names and titles, being in this respect a mirror of the influences that are visible in other parts of the Middle Mongolian culture too. Furthermore, the investigated corpus reflects the transitory stage of the 13th to 15th century in Central Asian history, and includes thus material from the past (Indo-Iranian, Old and Middle Turkic), and material that points to the future (Arabo-Persian, Tibetan, Modern Turkic).Väitöskirjan lähdepohjana ovat keskimongolilaiset dokumentit eli kaikki mongolien suurvallan aikana 1300-1400 -luvuilla laaditut asiakirjat. Ne ovat monenlaisia ja peräisin laajalta alueelta Kiinasta Eurooppaan sisältäen aineistoa eri kirjoitusjärjestelmillä. Tärkeimmät niistä ovat Mongolien salainen historia, sino-uiguurilaiset ja hPagspa-inskriptiot sekä Ming-kauden alussa kiinalaisilla kirjoitusmerkeillä kirjoitetut dokumentit, joiden tarkoituksena oli opettaa kiinalaisille mongolin kieltä. Pieni osa koostuu matkailijoiden, mm. Marco Polon, Carpinin ja Rubrukin keskimongolin kuvauksista sekä arabialaisella kirjoituksella laadituista sanalistoista. Nekin ovat tärkeitä, koska niissä kuvataan silloista puhekieltä, joka eroaa hPagspa-kirjoituksella kirjoitetusta puhekielestä ja lähestyy puhuttua nykymongolia. Väitöskirjassani olen tutkinnut mongolien vanhaa henkilönnimijärjestelmää sananmuodostusopin ja semantiikan näkökulmasta sekä niiden suhdetta nimien kaltaisten arvonimien hierarkiaan. Sen lisäksi olen pyrkinyt analysoimaan nimet etymologisesti. Korpus koostuu noin 1500 nimestä ja arvonimestä. Materiaalissa esiintyvä nimistö voidaan jakaa kahteen ryhmään: mongolien itsensä käyttämät nimet sekä mongolien palveluksessa olleiden ulkomaalaisten nimet. Väitöskirjassani käsittelen molempia ryhmiä. Sen lisäksi korpus voidaan jakaa kielen ja kulttuurin puolesta kuuteen eri ryhmään, joita olen kutsunut nimillä mongolilainen, turkkilainen, arabo-persialainen, indo-iranilainen, tiibettiläinen ja kiinalainen ryhmä. Näiden joukossa turko-mongolilainen on suurin, seuraavaksi tulee kiinalainen ryhmä, ja sitten arabo-persialainen, tiibettiläinen, ja indo-iranilainen, joka on pienin ryhmä. Tutkittu korpus kuvastaa hyvin mongolien suurvallan valtakunnan monikansallista koostumusta, joka on nähtävissä myös muualla kielen ja kulttuurien alalla

Memory contested, locality transformed : representing Japanese colonial 'heritage' in Taiwan

This study aims to provide an insight in the underlying fabric of colonial remains in Taiwan. Heritage became a prevailing phenomenon during the formation of modern nation-states. The image of Japan as an advanced modernized nation is rooted within Taiwan and is represented by heritage activities associated with Japanese colonial sites. The case of Japanese colonial heritage in Taiwan shows similarities and differences to the situation of colonial sites within the postcolonial metropole/colony power unbalance.9789400601093 (eisbn)Dissertati

A conceptual framework for integrating the home into patient-centered healthcare processes: Analysis, solution strategies and realization using health enabling technologies

Assistierende Gesundheitstechnologien (AGT) und technische Assistenzsysteme, auch ohne Medizinbezug, können das altersunabhängige Bedürfnis nach komfortablem und sicherem Wohnen in Wohlbefinden gewinnbringend adressieren. Die Einbindung der Wohnung in dieser gesamtheitlichen Perspektive ist nicht beschrieben und die Akteure der entsprechenden Professionen können, aufgrund fehlenden Wissens über sozio-technische Potentiale der Wohnung, im Aufbau von Versorgungsszenarien nicht auf ihre Fähigkeiten zurückgreifen. Ziel der Dissertation ist es, einen Rahmen aus Methoden, Lösungsstrategien und einem exemplarischen Integrationsszenario zur Einbindung der Wohnung in medizinische Versorgungsprozesse zu geben und dabei insbesondere ihre Funktion als neuartigen Gesundheitsstandort zu betrachten. Auf Basis eines sozi-technischen Rollenmetamodells wurden insgesamt elf Rollen herausgearbeitet. Die Wohnung als Messinstrument, Datenspeicher, Informationsquelle, Entscheidungsunterstützungssystem, Diagnostisches Instrument, Therapeut und Aktor, Sozialer Integrator, Präventionsinstrument, Pflegesystem, Gesundheitsmanager und Forschungssystem. Die Rollenhandlungen lassen sich aus den sechs Realisierungsprojekten in die Wirkungsfelder Komfort & Sicherheit, umfassende Pflege und erweiterte medizinische Versorgung mit den Methoden Infrastruktur, Dienstleistung und Netzwerk einteilen, eingefasst von den Prinzipien Öffentlichkeit, Nachhaltigkeit und Wissenschaft. Diese drei Dimensionen bilden das Rahmenkonzept für die "Modellstadtinitiative Braunschweig: Vision Wohnen 2031" als exemplarisches Integrationsszenario und Strategiedokument. Die Instanziierung zeigt, die Wohnung gibt Raum, handelt und verbindet. Sie schafft Beziehungen zwischen ärztlichen, pflegerischen und sozialen Akteuren inter- und multidisziplinärer Versorgungsprozesse mit dem Ziel eines mehrdimensionalen, ganzheitlichen Wohlbefindens. Sie ist transprofessionaler Akteur und Handlungsraum über die medizinische Domäne hinaus zur synergetischen Erfüllung von Zielen anderer Gewerke, wie der Energieoptimierung oder dem Gebäudeschutz.Health-enabling Technologies (HET) and assistive devices, even without medical purpose, can profitably address age-independent well-being in terms of comfortable, safe and healthy living. The integration of homes in this holistic perspective is not described and the actors of the corresponding professions cannot utilize the homes' abilities in the development of care scenarios due to a lack of knowledge about socio-technical potentials of homes. Objective of this dissertation is to provide a framework of methods, strategies and an exemplary integration scenario for integration of the home into healthcare processes and, in particular, to consider its function as a novel healthcare location. Based on a socio-technical role metamodel, a total of eleven roles were identified from six healthcare process models. The home as measuring instrument, data store, information source, decision support system, diagnostic instrument, therapist and actuator, social integrator, prevention system, nursing system, carepath manager and research system. The role actvities can be divided from the six implementation projects into the three application domains comfort & safety, comprehensive care and extended medical care, using the methods infrastructure, service and network, framed by three principles openness, sustainability and science. These three dimensions form the conceptual framework for the "Modellstadtinitiative Braunschweig: Vision Wohnen 2031" as exemplary integration scenario and strategy document. The instantiation shows, that the home gives space, takes action and connects. It creates relationships between medical, nursing and social actors in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary care processes with the aim of multidimensional, holistic well-being. It is a transprofessional actor and room for action beyond the healthcare domain to synergistically fulfill goals of other domains, such as energy optimization or building protection

Memory contested, locality transformed : representing Japanese colonial 'heritage' in Taiwan

In the search for a Taiwanese identity rooted in the land of Taiwan the Japanese colonial past plays an ambiguous role. The Japanese colonial sites became a constituent part of the new identity and cultural narrative of Taiwan in the 1990s and 2000s, when a memory boom was experienced in Taiwan representing new politics both cultural and economic which differed from the previous political periods of Japanese and postwar KMT (Kuomintang; Chinese Nationalist Party) rule. Min-Chin Chiang presents the extreme complexity of sharing the Japanese colonial past in postcolonial Taiwanese society. In this book she examines possibilities of decolonization through community-based heritage activities. Problems and ambiguity stemming from the tentative transformation from colonialism to locality help to trigger further thinking or warn against the ideological trap of taking mutuality in ‘sharing’ the past for granted. Hence, decolonization does not necessarily mean ‘removing colonial material traces’. Preserving colonial sites through recognising the contested nature, actively exploring and engaging controversial voices, insisting with finding out historical depth of every memory version attached to the site, and transforming structural inequality with persistent locality building would better contribute to trigger a decolonizing process. This is the significance of the colonial sites as ‘heritage’ for the postcolonial society.FdA – Publicaties niet-programma gebonde

Positive or Preventive?

This book adresses an important issue in historical demography - the differences between reproduction in low pressure and high pressure demographic regimes. The existence of such differences was first noted in 1789 by Thomas Malthus when he contrasted the low pressure European regimes with the high pressure regimes found in the less civilized parts of the world, most notably China and Japan. This contrast, long taken as fundamental by historical demographers, has recently been challenged by authors who argue that it should be discarded as Malthusian mythology. The papers included here evaluate the received and revisionist views by comparing reproduction in a high pressure regime - Taiwan during the Japanese occupation - and a low pressure regime - the Netherlands in the years 1830-1920. The papers examine the impact of infant mortality, social class, ethnic identity, illegitimacy, form of marriage, and rural vs. urban settings. Reality or mythology?, that is the question