HbbTV-compliant Platform for Hybrid Media Delivery and Synchronization on Single- and Multi-Device Scenarios

[EN] The combination of broadcast and broadband (hybrid) technologies for delivering TV related media contents can bring fascinating opportunities. It is motivated by the large amount and diversity of media contents, together with the ubiquity and multiple connectivity capabilities of modern consumption devices. This paper presents an end-to-end platform for the preparation, delivery, and synchronized consumption of related hybrid (broadcast/broadband) media contents on a single device and/or on multiple close-by devices (i.e., a multi-device scenario). It is compatible with the latest version of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) standard (version 2.0.1). Additionally, it provides adaptive and efficient solutions for key issues not specified in that standard, but that are necessary to successfully deploy hybrid and multidevice media services. Moreover, apart from MPEG-DASH and HTML5, which are the broadband technologies adopted by HbbTV, the platform also provides support for using HTTP Live Streaming and Real-time Transport Protocol and its companion RTP Control Protocol broadband technologies. The presented platform can provide support for many hybrid media services. In this paper, in order to evaluate it, the use case of multi-device and multi-view TV service has been selected. The results of both objective and subjective assessments have been very satisfactory, in terms of performance (stability, smooth playout, delays, and sync accuracy), usability of the platform, usefulness of its functionalities, and the awaken interest in these kinds of platforms.This work was supported in part by the "Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional" and in part by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through R&D&I Support Program under Grant TEC2013-45492-R.Boronat, F.; Marfil-Reguero, D.; Montagud, M.; Pastor Castillo, FJ. (2017). HbbTV-compliant Platform for Hybrid Media Delivery and Synchronization on Single- and Multi-Device Scenarios. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting. 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBC.2017.2781124S12

From Version 1.0 to Version 2.0:A Brief History of the Web

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A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems 2016

This report has been released by Grants Managers Network (GMN) and Technology Affinity Group (TAG), with research conducted by Idealware. The report compares 29 grants management systems across 174 requirements criteria, looks at what each system does, and compares the strengths and weaknesses of each system available to grantmakers. The report looks at how they stack up against high-level categories and details the functionality of each system against specific criteria important to the grant-making community

An Introduction to a Meta-meta-search Engine

Imagine that all the information in the entire world written in every known language, and every graphic image, video clip, or photograph copied digitally was available at your fingertips. This vast amount of data could then be reduced to digital data packets and stored in miniscule form on computer hard drives that are all connected by several other centrally located larger machines, called servers. However, searching for data in a vast system of inter-connected computers is virtually impossible using human faculties and is a far more intricate process than perusing book titles using the library\u27s Dewey Decimal System. In order to find five or six pieces of information out of a global network of servers, individuals can explore the advantages of meta-search engines, which understand the language of each computer on the network and can quickly access global databases to respond to user inquiries, based on certain keywords or phrases. The advantages of meta-search engines are that they are able to talk to other search engines, which contain relevant data. The language that they speak is HTML, or hypertext markup language, a set of electronic codes that enables computers to read, translate, transmit, and store data accessible to the entire world. Every Web page is written in HTML using meta tags, which are directives to client computers describing the kind of document stored. By reading meta tags, search engines are able to electronically skim through vast databases to select data that match a user\u27s inquiry. However, the existing meta-search engines are still facing issues in providing accurate results that match user queries due to the extremely fast growth and the complexity of information that is stored in the Web server. This thesis proposes a new algorithm that will re-rank the Web search results from some of the best existing meta-search engines. This algorithm can be implemented to form a meta-meta-search engine. As a result, the new search engine will have the capability of listing a more reliable rank list with higher accuracy in comparison to the existing search engines and meta-search engines

A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems

This in-depth report has been expanded to look at the features and processes used by 28 grants management systems to help private foundations accept and review applications and track grants throughout their life cycles. This report compares the strengths and weaknesses of these different grants management packages to see how they stack up against 19 high-level categories and details the functionality of each against more than 180 specific criteria. For the first time, this edition also includes survey data collected from nonprofit and foundation staff members who use these systems regarding their experience with the training, support, and implementation services offered by the vendors.The grants management software marketplace has never had a better set of options to support efficient and effective grantmaking, and we designed this report to help grantmakers understand how all these options compare.Download the report for free from any of the three partners websites: Idealware.org (www.idealware.org), GMNetwork.org (www.gmnetwork.org), or TagTech.org (www.tagtech.org)This edition reviews the following systems: Altum Easygrants, Altum proposalCENTRAL, Bromelkamp Akoya.net, Bromelkamp First Pearl, Closerware GrantMaker, Cybergrants, DonationXchange, Dulles Technology Partners WebGrants, Foundant Grant Lifecyle Manager, FluidReview, FusionLabs GE/Spectrum, Good Done Great Grant Management System, GrantStream GrantRight, JK Group EasyMatch, MicroEdge GIFTS, MicroEdge GIFTS Alta, MicroEdge, GIFTS Online, MOSAIC GEMS, NPower FoundationConnect, Oceanpeak Inc., Common Grant Application, PhilanTech PhilanTrack, PowerOFFICE Software Systems Inc.PowerOffice, SmartSimple GMS360°, Solpath Fluxx, Versaic Grants, WESTAF GrantsOnline, Wizehive, and ZoomGrants

ASSESSMENT OF RISK SCORES FOR THE PREDICTION AND DETECTION OF TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS IN CLINICAL SETTINGS

Health and sociological indicators confirm that life expectancy is increasing, and so, the years that patients have to live with chronic diseases and co-morbidities. Type 2 Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases, specially linked to overweight and ages over sixty. As a metabolic disease, Type 2 Diabetes affects multiple organs by causing damage in blood vessels and nervous system at micro and macro scale. Mortality of subjects with diabetes is three times higher than the mortality for subjects with other chronic diseases. On the one hand, the management of diabetes is focused on the maintenance of the blood glucose levels under a threshold by the prescription of anti-diabetic drugs and a combination of healthy food habits and moderate physical activity. Recent studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of new strategies to delay and even prevent the onset of Type 2 Diabetes by a combination of active and healthy lifestyle on cohorts of mid to high risk subjects. On the other hand, prospective research has been driven on large groups of population to build risk scores which aim to obtain a rule for the classification of patients according to the odds for developing the disease. Currently there are more than two hundred models and risk scores for doing this, but a few have been properly evaluated in external groups and, to date, none of them has been tested on a population based study. The research study presented in this doctoral thesis strives to use externally validated risk scores for the prediction and detection of Type 2 Diabetes on a population data base in Hospital La Fe (Valencia, Spain). The study hypothesis is that the integration of existing prediction and detection risk scores on Electronic Health Records increases the early-detection of high risk cases. To evaluate this hypothesis three studies on the clinical, user and technology dimensions have been driven to evaluate the extent to which the models and the hospital is ready to exploit such models to identify high risk groups and drive efficient preventive strategies. The findings presented in this thesis suggest that Electronic Health Records are not prepared to massively feed risk models. Some of the evaluated models have shown a good classification performance, which accompanied to the well-acceptance of web-based tools and the acceptable technical performance of the information and communication technology system, suggests that after some work these models can effectively drive a new paradigm of active screening for Type 2 Diabetes.Los indicadores de salud y sociológicos confirman que la esperanza de vida está aumentando, y por lo tanto, los años que los pacientes tienen que vivir con enfermedades crónicas y comorbilidades. Diabetes tipo 2 es una de las enfermedades crónicas más comunes, especialmente relacionadas con el sobrepeso y edades superiores a los sesenta años. Como enfermedad metabólica, la diabetes tipo 2 afecta a múltiples órganos causando daño en los vasos sanguíneos y el sistema nervioso a escala micro y macro. La mortalidad de sujetos con diabetes es tres veces mayor que la mortalidad de sujetos con otras enfermedades crónicas. Por un lado, la estrategia de manejo se centra en el mantenimiento de los niveles de glucosa en sangre bajo un umbral mediante la prescripción de fármacos antidiabéticos y una combinación de hábitos alimentarios saludables y actividad física moderada. Estudios recientes han demostrado la eficacia de nuevas estrategias para retrasar e incluso prevenir la aparición de la diabetes tipo 2 mediante una combinación de estilo de vida activo y saludable en cohortes de sujetos de riesgo medio a alto. Por otro lado, la investigación prospectiva se ha dirigido a grupos de la población para construir modelos de riesgo que pretenden obtener una regla para la clasificación de las personas según las probabilidades de desarrollar la enfermedad. Actualmente hay más de doscientos modelos de riesgo para hacer esta identificación, no obstante la inmensa mayoría no han sido debidamente evaluados en grupos externos y, hasta la fecha, ninguno de ellos ha sido probado en un estudio poblacional. El estudio de investigación presentado en esta tesis doctoral pretende utilizar modelos riesgo validados externamente para la predicción y detección de la Diabetes Tipo 2 en una base de datos poblacional del Hospital La Fe de Valencia (España). La hipótesis del estudio es que la integración de los modelos de riesgo de predicción y detección existentes la práctica clínica aumenta la detección temprana de casos de alto riesgo. Para evaluar esta hipótesis, se han realizado tres estudios sobre las dimensiones clínicas, del usuario y de la tecnología para evaluar hasta qué punto los modelos y el hospital están dispuestos a explotar dichos modelos para identificar grupos de alto riesgo y conducir estrategias preventivas eficaces. Los hallazgos presentados en esta tesis sugieren que los registros de salud electrónicos no están preparados para alimentar masivamente modelos de riesgo. Algunos de los modelos evaluados han demostrado un buen desempeño de clasificación, lo que acompañó a la buena aceptación de herramientas basadas en la web y el desempeño técnico aceptable del sistema de tecnología de información y comunicación, sugiere que después de algún trabajo estos modelos pueden conducir un nuevo paradigma de la detección activa de la Diabetes Tipo 2.Els indicadors sociològics i de salut confirmen un augment en l'esperança de vida, i per tant, dels anys que les persones han de viure amb malalties cròniques i comorbiditats. la diabetis de tipus 2 és una de les malalties cròniques més comunes, especialment relacionades amb l'excés de pes i edats superiors als seixanta anys. Com a malaltia metabòlica, la diabetis de tipus 2 afecta múltiples òrgans causant dany als vasos sanguinis i el sistema nerviós a escala micro i macro. La mortalitat de subjectes amb diabetis és tres vegades superior a la mortalitat de subjectes amb altres malalties cròniques. D'una banda, l'estratègia de maneig se centra en el manteniment dels nivells de glucosa en sang sota un llindar mitjançant la prescripció de fàrmacs antidiabètics i una combinació d'hàbits alimentaris saludables i activitat física moderada. Estudis recents han demostrat l'eficàcia de noves estratègies per a retardar i fins i tot prevenir l'aparició de la diabetis de tipus 2 mitjançant una combinació d'estil de vida actiu i saludable en cohorts de subjectes de risc mitjà a alt. D'altra banda, la investigació prospectiva s'ha dirigit a grups específics de la població per construir models de risc que pretenen obtenir una regla per a la classificació de les persones segons les probabilitats de desenvolupar la malaltia. Actualment hi ha més de dos-cents models de risc per fer aquesta identificació, però la immensa majoria no han estat degudament avaluats en grups externs i, fins ara, cap d'ells ha estat provat en un estudi poblacional. L'estudi d'investigació presentat en aquesta tesi doctoral utilitza models de risc validats externament per a la predicció i detecció de diabetis de tipus 2 en una base de dades poblacional de l'Hospital La Fe de València (Espanya). La hipòtesi de l'estudi és que la integració dels models de risc de predicció i detecció existents la pràctica clínica augmenta la detecció de casos d'alt risc. Per avaluar aquesta hipòtesi, s'han realitzat tres estudis sobre les dimensions clíniques, de l'usuari i de la tecnologia per avaluar fins a quin punt els models i l'hospital estan disposats a explotar aquests models per identificar grups d'alt risc i conduir estratègies preventives. Les troballes presentades sugereixen que els registres de salut electrònics no estan preparats per alimentar massivament models de risc. Alguns dels models avaluats han demostrat una bona classificació, el que va acompanyar a la bona acceptació d'eines basades en el web i el rendiment tècnic acceptable del sistema de tecnologia d'informació i comunicacions implementat. La conclusió es que encara es necesari treball per que aquests models poden conduir un nou paradigma de la detecció activa de la diabetis de tipus 2.Martínez Millana, A. (2017). ASSESSMENT OF RISK SCORES FOR THE PREDICTION AND DETECTION OF TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS IN CLINICAL SETTINGS [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/86209TESI

Social defense mechanisms : tools for reclaiming our personal space

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 67).In contemporary Western society, electronic devices are becoming so prevalent that many people find themselves surrounded by technologies they find frustrating or annoying. The electronics industry has little incentive to address this complaint; I designed two counter-technologies to help people defend their personal space from unwanted electronic intrusion. Both devices were designed and prototyped with reference to the culture-jamming "Design Noir" philosophy. The first is a pair of glasses that darken whenever a television is in view. The second is low- power RF jammer capable of preventing cell phones or similarly intrusive wireless devices from operating within a user's personal space. By building functional prototypes that reflect equal consideration of technical and social issues, I identify three attributes of Noir products: Personal empowerment, participation in a critical discourse, and subversion.by Limor Fried.M.Eng

Cloud computing and adult literacy: How cloud computing can sustain the promise of adult learning

Adult literacy in Canada consists of a patchwork of large and small adult education providers: many of them are autonomous community societies, some are school boards, and others are community college based, as well as a range of independent community-based groups. Funding for adult literacy comes from several pockets: from different provincial and/or federal government departments and from charitable organizations. Much of the federal funding is short term in response to shifting government priorities. Indeed, Crooks et al. [1] suggest that the ongoing funding search, with the attendant application and reporting activities, detracts from the ability to provide more effectively planned and sustainable adult education programs. A major challenge for adult literacy providers is that while their client base has significant human and economic potential, low-literacy adults are not perceived as large contributors to the economy, and thus, much of the funding is intermittent—from project to project.Alpha Adult Literacy Ontari

Privacy on the Web: Analysing Online Advertising Networks

Το θέμα της διπλωματικής αφορά ζητήματα ιδιωτικότητας στο Διαδίκτυο, με έμφαση την ιχνηλάτηση χρηστών για το σκοπό στοχευμένων διαφημίσεων. Θα μελετηθούν οι τεχνολογίες που χρησιμοποιούνται σε αυτήν την κατεύθυνση, και θα αξιολογηθεί η τρέχουσα κατάσταση υπό το πρίσμα του σχετικού νομικού πλαισίου, που είναι ο Γενικός Κανονισμός Προστασίας Δεδομένων(GDPR- 2016/679) της ΕΕ, αλλά και η e-Privacy οδηγία. Πιο συγκεκριμένα αναλύονται οι προσπάθειες των διαφημιστικών δικτύων, ώστε να λαμβάνουν όσο το δυνατόν περισσότερες προσωπικές πληροφορίες από τους χρήστες, οι οποίες χρησιμοποιούνται κυρίως για εμπορικούς σκοπούς, οι οποίες ωστόσο μπορεί και να υπερβαίνουν τη στοχευμένη διαφήμιση. Υπάρχει μια εκτεταμένη ανάλυση σχετικά με την υποδομή, τις αλληλεπιδράσεις μεταξύ των στοιχείων και τις τεχνολογίες που επιτρέπουν την προβολή διαφημίσεων και την ανταλλαγή προσωπικών δεδομένων. Τέλος, αναλύονται ορισμένες πιθανές λύσεις σχετικά με την παρακολούθηση των χρηστών, έπειτα από την κατάργηση των third party data λόγω των αυστηρών μέτρων σχετικά με τη συλλογή προσωπικών δεδομένων, που εφαρμόζει η ΕΕ.This thesis mainly focuses on the big picture of the current stage of user data collection and protection and at the same time discuss scientific solutions that aim at protecting web users from numerous privacy threats which are caused by the online advertising industry. There is an extensive analysis about the infrastructure, the interactions among the elements, and the technologies enabling the delivery of ads and the use of personal data. The paper provides scientific details in order the reader to understand the present advertising ecosystem, and the privacy risks users are exposed to. There is a detailed discussion about the measures taken by European Union with a single purpose, to put in order the chaos that exists in the global system of interconnected computer networks called Internet. Except of the analysis of the GDPR, there is an investigation about the trackers that use our data while we access any domain and the results are provided precisely. Finally, there is a part, where some possible solutions of tracking users are discussed, after the fade of third party data due to the strict measures regarding users data collection, announced by the EU