Spectators’ aesthetic experiences of sound and movement in dance performance

In this paper we present a study of spectators’ aesthetic experiences of sound and movement in live dance performance. A multidisciplinary team comprising a choreographer, neuroscientists and qualitative researchers investigated the effects of different sound scores on dance spectators. What would be the impact of auditory stimulation on kinesthetic experience and/or aesthetic appreciation of the dance? What would be the effect of removing music altogether, so that spectators watched dance while hearing only the performers’ breathing and footfalls? We investigated audience experience through qualitative research, using post-performance focus groups, while a separately conducted functional brain imaging (fMRI) study measured the synchrony in brain activity across spectators when they watched dance with sound or breathing only. When audiences watched dance accompanied by music the fMRI data revealed evidence of greater intersubject synchronisation in a brain region consistent with complex auditory processing. The audience research found that some spectators derived pleasure from finding convergences between two complex stimuli (dance and music). The removal of music and the resulting audibility of the performers’ breathing had a significant impact on spectators’ aesthetic experience. The fMRI analysis showed increased synchronisation among observers, suggesting greater influence of the body when interpreting the dance stimuli. The audience research found evidence of similar corporeally focused experience. The paper discusses possible connections between the findings of our different approaches, and considers the implications of this study for interdisciplinary research collaborations between arts and sciences

Analysis and design of individual information systems to support health behavior change

As a wide-ranging socio-technical transformation, the digitalization has significantly influenced the world, bringing opportunities and challenges to our lives. Despite numerous benefits like the possibility to stay connected with people around the world, the increasing dispersion and use of digital technologies and media (DTM) pose risks to individuals’ well-being and health. Rising demands emerging from the digital world have been linked to digital stress, that is, stress directly or indirectly resulting from DTM (Ayyagari et al. 2011; Ragu-Nathan et al. 2008; Tarafdar et al. 2019; Weil and Rosen 1997), potentially intensifying individuals’ overall exposure to stress. Individuals experiencing this adverse consequence of digitalization are at elevated risk of developing severe mental health impairments (Alhassan et al. 2018; Haidt and Allen 2020; Scott et al. 2017), which is why various scholars emphasize that research should place a stronger focus on analyzing and shaping the role of the individual in a digital world, pursuing instrumental as well as humanistic objectives (Ameen et al. 2021; Baskerville 2011b). Information Systems (IS) research has long placed emphasis on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in organizations, viewing an information system as the socio-technical system that emerges from individuals’ interaction with DTM in organizations. However, socio-technical information systems, as the essence of the IS discipline (Lee 2004; Sarker et al. 2019), are also present in different social contexts from private life. Acknowledging the increasing private use of DTM, such as smartphones and social networks, IS scholars have recently intensified their efforts to understand the human factor of IS (Avison and Fitzgerald 1991; Turel et al. 2021). A framework recently proposed by Matt et al. (2019) suggests three research angles: analyzing individuals’ behavior associated with their DTM use, analyzing what consequences arise from their DTM use behavior, and designing new technologies that promote positive or mitigate negative effects of individuals’ DTM use. Various recent studies suggest that individuals’ behavior seems to be an important lever influencing the outcomes of their DTM use (Salo et al. 2017; Salo et al. 2020; Weinstein et al. 2016). Therefore, this dissertation aims to contribute to IS research targeting the facilitation of a healthy DTM use behavior. It explores the use behavior, consequences, and design of DTM for individuals' use with the objective to deliver humanistic value by increasing individuals' health through supporting a behavior change related to their DTM use. The dissertation combines behavioral science and design science perspectives and applies pluralistic methodological approaches from qualitative (e.g., interviews, prototyping) and quantitative research (e.g., survey research, field studies), including mixed-methods approaches mixing both. Following the framework from Matt et al. (2019), the dissertation takes three perspectives therein: analyzing individuals’ behavior, analyzing individuals’ responses to consequences of DTM use, and designing information systems assisting DTM users. First, the dissertation presents new descriptive knowledge on individuals’ behavior related to their use of DTM. Specifically, it investigates how individuals behave when interacting with DTM, why they behave the way they do, and how their behavior can be influenced. Today, a variety of digital workplace technologies offer employees different ways of pursuing their goals or performing their tasks (Köffer 2015). As a result, individuals exhibit different behaviors when interacting with these technologies. The dissertation analyzes what interactional roles DTM users can take at the digital workplace and what may influence their behavior. It uses a mixed-methods approach and combines a quantitative study building on trace data from a popular digital workplace suite and qualitative interviews with users of this digital workplace suite. The empirical analysis yields eight user roles that advance the understanding of users’ behavior at the digital workplace and first insights into what factors may influence this behavior. A second study adds another perspective and investigates how habitual behavior can be changed by means of DTM design elements. Real-time feedback has been discussed as a promising way to do so (Schibuola et al. 2016; Weinmann et al. 2016). In a field experiment, employees working at the digital workplace are provided with an external display that presents real-time feedback on their office’s indoor environmental quality. The experiment examines if and to what extent the feedback influences their ventilation behavior to understand the effect of feedback as a means of influencing individuals’ behavior. The results suggest that real-time feedback can effectively alter individuals’ behavior, yet the feedback’s effectiveness reduces over time, possibly as a result of habituation to the feedback. Second, the dissertation presents new descriptive and prescriptive knowledge on individuals’ ways to mitigate adverse consequences arising from the digitalization of individuals. A frequently discussed consequence that digitalization has on individuals is digital stress. Although research efforts strive to determine what measures individuals can take to effectively cope with digital stress (Salo et al. 2017; Salo et al. 2020; Weinert 2018), further understanding of individuals’ coping behavior is needed (Weinert 2018). A group at high risk of suffering from the adverse effects of digital stress is adolescents because they grow up using DTM daily and are still developing their identity, acquiring mental strength, and adopting essential social skills. To facilitate a healthy DTM use, the dissertation explores what strategies adolescents use to cope with the demands of their DTM use. Combining a qualitative and a quantitative study, it presents 30 coping responses used by adolescents, develops five factors underlying adolescents’ activation of coping responses, and identifies gender- and age-related differences in their coping behavior. Third, the dissertation presents new prescriptive knowledge on the design of individual information systems supporting individuals in understanding and mitigating their perceived stress. Facilitated by the sensing capabilities of modern mobile devices, it explores the design and development of mobile systems that assess stress and support individuals in coping with stress by initiating a change of stress-related behavior. Since there is currently limited understanding of how to develop such systems, this dissertation explores various facets of their design and development. As a first step, it presents the development of a prototype aiming for life-integrated stress assessment, that is, the mobile sensor-based assessment of an individual’s stress without interfering with their daily routines. Data collected with the prototype yields a stress model relating sensor data to individuals’ perception of stress. To deliver a more generalized perspective on mobile stress assessment, the dissertation further presents a literature- and experience-based design theory comprising a design blueprint, design requirements, design principles, design features, and a discussion of potentially required trade-offs. Mobile stress assessment may be used for the development of mobile coping assistants. Aiming to assist individuals in effectively coping with stress and preventing future stress, a mobile coping assistant should recommend adequate coping strategies to the stressed individual in real-time or execute targeted actions within a defined scope of action automatically. While the implementation of a mobile coping assistant is yet up to future research, the dissertation presents an abstract design and algorithm for selecting appropriate coping strategies. To sum up, this dissertation contributes new knowledge on the digitalization of individuals to the IS knowledge bases, expanding both descriptive and prescriptive knowledge. Through the combination of diverse methodological approaches, it delivers knowledge on individuals’ behavior when using DTM, on the mitigation of consequences that may arise from individuals’ use of DTM, and on the design of individual information systems with the goal of facilitating a behavior change, specifically, regarding individuals’ coping with stress. Overall, the research contained in this dissertation may promote the development of digital assistants that support individuals’ in adopting a healthy DTM use behavior and thereby contribute to shaping a socio-technical environment that creates more benefit than harm for all individuals

Renewable energy policy and wind energy development in Germany

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Sexually transmitted infections: progress and challenges since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)

AbstractBackgroundDespite being recognized as an important challenge at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), sexually transmitted ınfections (STIs) other than HIV are one of the most neglected dimensions of sexual and reproductive health. STIs, often undiagnosed and untreated, have especially harmful consequences for women and their neonates.Progress since ICPDDuring the last two decades, substantial knowledge and experience have accumulated in behavior change programming during the global response to the HIV epidemic which can also be used for prevention of STIs. There has been progress in development and implementation of vaccines against certain STIs such as hepatitis B and the human papilloma virus. Development of a rapid, point-of-care test for syphilis has opened the door to control this infection.ChallengesThe estimated annual incidence of non-HIV STIs has increased by nearly 50% during the period 1995–2008. The growth in STIs has been aggrevated by a combination of factors: lack of accurate, inexpensive diagnostic tests, particularly for chlamydia and gonorrhea; lack of investment to strengthen health systems that can deliver services for diagnosis and management of STIs; absence of surveillance and reporting systems in the majority of countries; political, socioeconomic and cultural barriers that limit recognition of STIs as an important public health problem; and failure to implement policies that are known to work.RecommendationsGovernments, donors and the international community should give higher priority to preventing STIs and HIV; fully implementing behavior change interventions that are known to work; ensuring access of young people to information and services; investing in development of inexpensive technologies for STI diagnosis,treatment and vaccines; and strengthening STI surveillance, including of microbial resistance

都市の持続可能性に向けた旅行行動と知的移動データ統合に関する包括的研究

過去数十年にわたり世界中で都市の持続可能性がトレンドとなり研究対象となっている．人々は，非効率な天然資源の消費や社会経済活動による環境破壊など，地球環境に有害な活動を行い，これには都市計画や交通計画を始め，多くの分野が密接に関係している．現在では，これらを解決する新技術の開発や応用が広範囲な研究分野で日々取り組まれている．本研究では観光に関する問題を，交通と都市の研究の観点からさまざまなビックデータを使用し，持続可能な都市開発を目標とした具体的な解決策を示した．本研究では都市や地域の持続可能性に資するデータの活用方法として，Wi-Fiパケットセンサーを使用した旅行者にとって魅力的な観光目的地マネジメントに関する研究，およびETCプローブデータを使用した旅行時間の信頼性の観測における天候の影響に関する分析を組み合わせて示した．本論文では，都市の移動性の認知に対して以下に示す3つの研究から，特徴的な結果と有効な分析手法を確立した．1）Wi-Fiパッケージセンシング調査を使用した，広域観光エリアでの周遊パターンのマイニングベースの関連法則の調査，2）Wi-Fi追跡データでの大規模な観光地の持続可能な開発に向けた魅力的な目的地の抽出，3）ETC2.0プローブデータを使用して，様々な道路タイプを考慮した旅行の信頼性に対する降雪の影響の評価．以上の研究から，複数視点の考察を積み重ね，包括的な評価と提案を行い，いくつかの重要な結果が得られた．この論文の貢献は，より良い社会への問題解決への糸口となり，今後の政策立案者にとって有意義な内容となるだろう．According to sustainability, the trend is spreading out around the world for past decades. There are many area subjects involved, such as city planning, transportation planning, and so on, because people realized human activities harmful to the environment by consuming natural resources with less efficiency process or damage environment by social and economic movements. Currently, emerging technologies considered for the proactive procedure in extensive study areas regarding new technology application and knowledge based. In term of transport and urban study, including tourism concerns, we used intelligent data from deferent sources to be demonstrating the possible solutions which involve sustainable urban development concept. In this study, as a method of utilizing data that contributes to the sustainability of cities and regions, consideration of attractive destination management for tourists by using wireless probe data, and the weather impact on travel time reliability observation by using electronic toll collection probe data, it represented as combination experiments throughout comprehensive study. This dissertation addressed three contribution studies to the composed acknowledgment of urban mobility, and it obtained the intelligent data and specific method of research-based. It consists of; 1) an association rule mining-based exploration of travel patterns in wide tourism areas using a Wi-Fi package sensing survey, 2) Attractive destinations mining towards massive tourism area sustainable development on Wi-Fi tracking data, and 3) Assessment of the impact of snowfall on travel reliability considering different road types using ETC2.0 probe data. Hence, a stack of varying viewpoints researches provided a comprehensive review and suggestion throughout significant results. The contribution of this dissertation could be an advantage substance for strategy and policies planner to recognize alternative solutions leading to a better society.室蘭工業大学 (Muroran Institute of Technology)博士（工学

ENABLING FIRMS IN THE MARCHE REGION TO UNDERSTAND BLOCKCHAIN FOR SUPPLY CHAIN TRACEABILITY THROUGH A TRIPLE HELIX APPROACH.

La presente Tesi esplora come le imprese, particolarmente le PMI, situate nella regione Marche, possono sfruttare le potenzialità offerte dalla tecnologia blockchain per accrescere la propria competitività. Originariamente concepita per permettere transazioni di valore diretto tra pari senza intermediari, la blockchain è stata proposta per applicazioni oltre l'ambito delle criptovalute per la registrazione di dati in modo immutabile e trasparente. La promessa che sottende l'uso della blockchain è quella di superare la mancanza di fiducia che permea diversi settori, abolendo la necessità di fiducia interpersonale e di intermediari fidati. Particolarmente rilevante è il suo impiego nelle catene di fornitura, dove promette di garantire trasparenza nella tracciabilità dei prodotti, anche per quelli del Made in Italy. Considerando l'importanza che le imprese del Made in Italy rivestono per l'economia marchigiana, questa Tesi si focalizza sulle potenzialità della blockchain nella tracciabilità delle catene di fornitura di tali prodotti. Nonostante i molti benefici teorici discussi nella letteratura accademica, l'implementazione della blockchain per la tracciabilità si scontra con due sfide principali. Primo, l'accuratezza dei dati inseriti da fonti esterne, che può richiedere relazioni di fiducia preesistenti e il coinvolgimento di intermediari per la verifica dei dati, reintroducendo paradossalmente la necessità di fiducia e di intermediari che la blockchain mira a eliminare. Secondo, la scalabilità limitata ostacola la memorizzazione di grandi quantità di dati sulle blockchain. Le soluzioni proposte per affrontare la bassa scalabilità, come la memorizzazione off-chain e le blockchain di tipo permissioned, potenzialmente compromettono i principi di decentralizzazione e sicurezza che sono i fondamenti della blockchain. Una scarsità di studi empirici lascia spazio allo scetticismo riguardo la reale capacità della blockchain di eliminare la necessità di fiducia e intermediari nelle catene di fornitura. Vista la scarsità di studi empirici che attestino l'efficacia della blockchain per la tracciabilità, questa Tesi adotta un approccio esplorativo e qualitativo, basato su interviste e sondaggi, per raccogliere evidenze concrete sull'uso della blockchain da parte delle imprese Made in Italy e comprenderne le opportunità e le sfide. Dai risultati emerge che la blockchain per la tracciabilità è adottata dalle imprese del Made in Italy come strumento di marketing business-to-consumer, nonostante il rischio di perdita di dati con la memorizzazione off-chain e l’utilizzo di blockchain pubbliche di terza generazione che impiegano algoritmi di consenso che aumentano la scalabilità a spese di decentralizzazione e sicurezza. Inoltre, nel comprendere e adottare la blockchain per la tracciabilità, le imprese del Made in Italy si affidano quasi completamente a consulenti e fornitori di servizi blockchain, che potrebbero avere un conflitto di interessi nel promuovere la blockchain in una maniera che non tiene conto delle sue limitazioni. La mancanza di accesso diretto ai dati di performance della blockchain rende difficile per gli adottanti valutare la convenienza del servizio blockchain che utilizzano. Infine, l'assenza di quadri giuridici chiari pone ulteriori rischi per le imprese. Al fine di promuovere una comprensione più profonda, critica, e scevra da conflitti di interesse, delle implicazioni della blockchain per la tracciabilità, la Tesi avanza la proposta di un modello di Tripla Elica per la Regione Marche che incoraggi collaborazioni tra il mondo accademico, il settore industriale e le istituzioni governative, facilitate da intermediari dell'innovazione. Questo approccio enfatizza la necessità di decisioni informate, quadri giuridici chiari e collaborazioni strategiche per un'adozione consapevole della blockchain. Per quanto riguarda le implicazioni gestionali, le PMI della regione Marche dovrebbero adottare un approccio prudente verso la blockchain a causa dell'attuale assenza di prove conclusive sui benefici e sui costi di questa tecnologia. È inoltre consigliabile che queste aziende diano priorità alla digitalizzazione delle proprie catene di fornitura utilizzando tecnologie consolidate prima di prendere in considerazione l'adozione della blockchain. In aggiunta, si suggerisce di ricercare informazioni imparziali sulla blockchain, di valutare attentamente i compromessi insiti nel trilemma della blockchain, di assicurarsi di avere accesso diretto ai dati di performance del servizio blockchain utilizzato e di comprendere le implicazioni legali dell'uso di tale tecnologia. Le implicazioni a livello di politiche pubbliche evidenziano la necessità di ambienti normativi capaci di adattarsi per sostenere la sperimentazione con la blockchain e gli sforzi collaborativi, nonché l'importanza di iniziative educative volte a migliorare la comprensione della blockchain. Le direzioni per la ricerca futura includono la necessità di studi interdisciplinari che confrontino la blockchain con le soluzioni di tracciabilità esistenti, esplorino l'impatto degli aspetti giuridici e testino in modo rigoroso le preferenze dei consumatori per prodotti tracciati con blockchain assicurandosi che i partecipanti ai sondaggi ed esperimenti ricevano una descrizione equilibrata delle potenzialità e delle limitazioni di questa tecnologia

Arms tracing: perspectives on control, traffic and use of illegal weapons in Colombia

The publication reports on an extensive research endeavour to screen small arms stockpiles that were seized from illicit non-state actors in Colombia in the course of the past 5 years. It determines the proportion of these arms that are of European Union origin and reconstructs these arms flows 'upstream', so as to assess whether and to what extent these arms have been subject to unauthorized re-exports by states that obtained the arms legally from European Union member states

Leaming Visual Appearance: Perception, Modeling and Editing.

La apariencia visual determina como entendemos un objecto o imagen, y, por tanto, es un aspecto fundamental en la creación de contenido digital. Es un término general, englobando otros como la apariencia de los materiales, definida como la impresión que tenemos de un material, y la cual supone una interacción física entre luz y materia, y como nuestro sistema visual es capaz de percibirla. Sin embargo, modelar computacionalmente el comportamiento de nuestro sistema visual es una tarea difícil, entre otros motivos porque no existe una teoría definitiva y unificada sobre la percepción visual humana. Además, aunque hemos desarrollado algoritmos capaces de modelar fehacientemente la interacción entre luz y materia, existe una desconexión entre los parámetros físicos que usan estos algoritmos, y los parámetros perceptuales que el sistema visual humano entiende. Esto hace que manipular estas representaciones físicas, y sus interacciones, sea una tarea tediosa y costosa, incluso para usuarios expertos. Esta tesis busca mejorar nuestra comprensión de la percepción de la apariencia de materiales y usar dicho conocimiento para mejorar los algoritmos existentes para la generación de contenido visual. Específicamente, la tesis tiene contribuciones en tres áreas: proponiendo nuevos modelos computacionales para medir la similitud de apariencia; investigando la interacción entre iluminación y geometría; y desarrollando aplicaciones intuitivas para la manipulación de apariencia, en concreto, para el re-iluminado de humanos y para editar la apariencia de materiales.Una primera parte de la tesis explora métodos para medir la similaridad de apariencia. Ser capaces de medir cómo de similares son dos materiales, o imágenes, es un problema clásico en campos de la computación visual como visión por computador o informática gráfica. Abordamos primero el problema de similaridad en la apariencia de materiales. Proponemos un método basado en deep learning que combina imágenes con juicios subjetivos sobre la similitud de materiales, recogidos mediante estudios de usuario. Por otro lado, se explora el problema de la similaridad entre iconos. En este segundo caso, se hace uso de redes neuronales siamesas, y el estilo y la identidad que dan los artistas juega un papel clave en dicha medida de similaridad. La segunda parte avanza en la comprensión de cómo los factores de confusión (confounding factors) afectan a nuestra percepción de la apariencia de los materiales. Dos factores de confusión claves son la geometría de los objetos y la iluminación de la escena. Comenzamos investigando el efecto de dichos factores a la hora de reconocer los materiales a través de diversos experimentos y estudios estadísticos. También investigamos el efecto del movimiento del objeto en la percepción de la apariencia de materiales.En la tercera parte exploramos aplicaciones intuitivas para la manipulación de la apariencia visual. Primero, abordamos el problema de la re-iluminación de humanos. Proponemos una nueva formulación del problema, y basándonos en ella, se diseña y entrena un modelo basado en redes neuronales profundas para re-iluminar una escena. Por último, abordamos el problema de la edición intuitiva de materiales. Para ello, recopilamos juicios humanos sobre la percepción de diferentes atributos y presentamos un modelo, basado en redes neuronales profundas, capaz de editar materiales de forma realista simplemente variando el valor de los atributos recogidos.<br /

Big Data and Urban Planning in Pakistan: A Case Study of The Urban Unit

This Major Paper presents research on the use of big data for urban planning and smart cities in the global South. It does so through a case study of the use of data at the Urban Unit in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Based on a series of interviews and extended literature review, I trace the evolution of a science of cities and the growth of urban informatics and smart cities. I then define big data and discuss its related opportunities and limitations. The bulk of this Paper consists of a case study of the Urban Unit and research findings regarding the use of data in planning in Pakistan. A number of challenges to the use of data are identified, classified into challenges regarding data access and reliability, data literacy, and institutional challenges. A major finding is that the practice of urban planning in Pakistan is quite limited in a number of ways. The final chapter shares recommendations from interviewees and reflections on research findings, focusing on the politics of data. The paper ends by discussing future research directions