Empathy Design in Skills Assessment tool for Recovery and Rehabilitation

Empathy has become a major concern in the modern world where most of the services are digitized as information is primarily shared from behind the screen. In the healthcare sector, patient and healthcare provider’s interaction is among the most powerful and emotional experiences any of us can encounter. Healthcare providers try to adopt different strategies to empathize with the patient, but the digital technology creates a bridge between patients and caregivers. The prevalent challenge and opportunity for the healthcare system is closing the gap between humans by facilitating emotional connection with the help of technology. In this research, we present empathy as a vital skill for healthcare workers, for designers as well as for people suffering from substance use disorder and going through recovery and rehabilitation. We try to identify processes on how designers can better empathize with the users by following Kouprie and Vissier’s framework on empathy design. The objective is to identify how the process of empathy design is used not just to understand the users, but during design and while communicating the findings with the stakeholders. The empirical work carried out in this thesis is aimed to enhance the user experience of existing skills assessment application, LivingSkills. LivingSkills has been developed as a skills assessment and monitoring tool, where patients can plan their own recovery by developing the skills they need with the help of healthcare personnel or caregiver. The tool helps to understand the patient’s and caregiver's journey throughout a system – understand the patient’s journey to recovery, visualize their skill level and find out ways to provide better skills coaching service. User experience of the LivingSkills tool was evaluated at SiltaValmennus (rehabilitative coaching service / recovery home) to improve the condition of residents who were serving the last term of their sentences in prison and were going through drug recovery and rehabilitation program. UX evaluation questionnaires such as AttrakDiff and user satisfaction questionnaire along with multiple rounds of semi-structured interviews were conducted with various stakeholder groups in order to uncover user needs and problematic areas during application use. We implemented the applicable solutions by closely following ISO 9201-210 human-centred design process. We assessed how the perception towards the application changed before and after the empathic redesign approach. We then evaluated overall experience of the application with users (n=7) with the help of AttrakDiff, user satisfaction questionnaire and series of semi-structured interviews with the stakeholder group including residents (n=4) and staff members (n=3), iterating the design whenever necessary. We found that the LivingSkills application was viewed as a positive tool for skills training among the residents as well as staff members at the recovery home. There were multiple areas of opportunities within the application such as giving patient’s access to their own record, improving visual designs, using responsive layout and humanizing the interaction dialog by using faces and carefully selecting texts to facilitate the empathic exchange of information. The findings were prioritized and implemented based on user needs, importance and effort required to implement the solution within the research timeline. We found out that the user experience has improved but the difference in perception was not statistically significant among the residents and healthcare workers We have suggested some extension of product features with the possibility to integrate existing healthcare procedure implemented by the organization. We found out that the application is oriented towards healthcare providers to enable residents to get the help they need for better outcomes. Asking questions, providing opportunities for feedback, listening, and taking notes are intended features of the application itself which demonstrate empathy to the patients, showing them that their voices are being heard through the use of LivingSkills application

Macro and micro-morphological characteristics of Plantago seeds and its implication for species identification

Seed morphology of five species of Plantago (P. psyllium, P.ovata, P. lanceolata, P. major and P. arenaria) was examined under scanning electron microscope. Macro- and micro-morphological characters, including seed shape, colour, size, shape of cavity, surface ornamentation and epidermal cell shape are presented.  Marked difference among the species noted with respect of considered traits and a key for the identification of the investigated taxa based on seed characters is provided. Â

Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Spinacea oleracea grown in distillery effluent irrigated soil

The aim of the present study was to estimate the accumulation of heavy metals in Spinacea oleracea plant grown in Distillery Effluent (DE) irrigated soil. The results revealed that there was an increase in the metal contents Fe (+2.39%), Zn (+14.27%), Ni (+70.45%), Cd (+34.15%)and Cr (+20.46%) of soil irrigated with DE. In case of S. oleracea grown in the DE irrigated soil, it was observed that there was maximum concentration of Fe (353.24±7.94 mg/kg) and Zn (78.95±7.59 mg/kg) in leaves and that of Cr (54.19±8.39 mg/kg), Cd (7.73±1.41 mg/kg) and Ni (66.47±3.65 mg/kg) in root. The value of Bio-concentration factor (BCF) was found maximum for Cr (2.00) in comparison to other metals in the S. oleracea irrigated with DE. The value of Transfer factor (TF) was found maximum for Zn (TF- 1.51) for the soil irrigated with DE in comparison to soil irrigated with Bore well water (BWW). The DE can be a source of contamination to the soil as some toxic metals may also be transferred to roots and then to leaves in S. oleracea. The practice of continuous irrigation of agricultural land by DE may increase the risk of metal contamination in growing food crops to cause human health risks

Optimized Blockchain Model for Internet of Things based Healthcare Applications

There continues to be a recent push to taking the cryptocurrency based ledger system known as Blockchain and applying its techniques to non-financial applications. One of the main areas for application remains Internet of Things (IoT) as we see many areas of improvement as we move into an age of smart cities. In this paper, we examine an initial look at applying the key aspects of Blockchain to a health application network where patients health data can be used to create alerts important to authenticated healthcare providers in a secure and private manner. This paper also presents the benefits and also practical obstacles of the blockchain-based security approaches in IoT.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1806.00555 by other author

Differential Cryptanalysis in ARX Ciphers with specific applications to LEA

In this paper we focus on differential cryptanalysis dedicated to a particular class of cryptographic algorithms, namely ARX ciphers. We propose a new algorithm inspired by the Nested Monte-Carlo Search algorithm to find a differential path in ARX ciphers. We apply our algorithm to a round reduced variant of the block cipher LEA. We use the concept of a partial difference distribution table (pDDT) in our algorithm to reduce the search space. This methodology reduced the search space of the algorithm by using only those differentials whose probabilities are greater than or equal to pre-defined threshold. Using this concept we removed many differentials which are not valid or whose probabilities are very low. By doing this we decreased the time of finding a differential path by our nested algorithm due to a smaller search space. This partial difference distribution table also made our nested algorithm suitable for bigger block size ARX ciphers. Finding long differential characteristics is one of the hardest problems where we have seen other algorithms take many hours or days to find differential characteristics in ARX ciphers. Our algorithm finds the differential characteristics in just a few minutes with a very simple framework. We report the differential path for up to 9 rounds in LEA. To construct differential characteristics for a large number of rounds, we divide long characteristics into short ones, by constructing a large characteristic from two short characteristics. Instead of starting from the first round, we start from the middle and run experiments in forward as well as in the reverse direction. Using this method we improved our results and report the differential path for up to 12 rounds. Overall, the best property of our algorithm is that it has potential to provide state-of-the-art results but within a simpler framework as well as less time. Our algorithm is also very interesting for future aspect of research, as it could be applied to other ARX ciphers with a very easy going framework

A game theoretic analysis of resource mining in blockchain

Blockchain and cryptocurrency are a hot topic in today’s digital world. In this paper, we create a game theoretic model in continuous time. We consider a dynamic game model of the bitcoin market, where miners or players use mining systems to mine bitcoin by investing electricity into the mining system. Although this work is motivated by BTC, the work presented can be applicable to other mining systems similar to BTC. We propose three concepts of dynamic game theoretic solutions to the model: Social optimum, Nash equilibrium and myopic Nash equilibrium. Using the model that a player represents a single “miner” or a “mining pool”, we develop novel and interesting results for the cryptocurrency world

Cultivation of Ginger in Sikkim under an Organic System

Ginger is grown extensively throughout India due to its high value and ginger is used for wide range of purposes like in confectionery, traditional medicine for stomach ache, food additives and pickles. The major ginger-producing states include Kerala, Assam, Gujarat, Orissa, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. It is one of the main cash crops in Himalayan state of Sikkim. In Northeast India, especially in Sikkim, ginger serves as a source of income for small and marginal farmers. It is cultivated in a varying degree of altitude, but the elevation of 1500 above msl is found to be more suitable. Ginger is a tropical plant, and warm, humid climate is the most ideal for ginger cultivation; it grows best in rich soil and shady places. Sikkim has its own indigenous cultivars of ginger, and the prominent varieties that are being cultivated in Sikkim are Bhaise, Gorubathane, Majhaule, Tange, Patle and Jorethang. November to January after 8–9 months of sowing is the optimum time for harvesting ginger; however, this follows the market demand dynamics in Sikkim. Under organic conditions, farmers normally get a yield of 90–100 q/ha depending on ginger cultivation practices. Progressive farmers by adopting improved method of ginger cultivation get on an average of Rs. 150,000 per hectare (benefit-cost ratio varied from 3.50 to 3.80)

Studies on the ambient air quality status in the Industrial belt of Kashipur, Uttarakhand, India

Industrial activity in Kashipur area, Uttarakhand give rise in to significant level of pollutants in the atmosphere, which affect the quality of life in the industrial area. In the present study, air quality status has been monitored using the AAQSM procedure in the industrial area of Kashipur, Uttarakhand, India. During course of study 24 h average criteria pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, respirable suspended particulate matter and suspended particulate matter for 2011 at ten air quality monitoring stations were measured. All the ten air quality monitoring stations has been analysed against NAAQS for particulate matters (SPM & RMP), SO2 and NOx concentrations for monitoring period of 2011. Results of monitoring reflect that ambient air quality of all the stations are under prescribed limits. The study concluded that some area need immediate attention for its proper management to maintain ambient air quality further it is suggested that maintenance of unpaved roads is of utmost importance

Studies of surfacewater quality of the Kashipur, Uttarakhand, India

Pollution of water bodies is one of the areas of major concern to environmentalists. Water quality is an index of health and well being of a society. Industrialisation, urbanisation and modern agriculture practices have direct impact on water resources. These factors influence the water resources quantitatively and qualitatively. The study area selected were the Bahella river, Mahadev stream and Kosi river basin of Kashipur, Uttarakhand, India. The Bahellariver, Mahadev and Kosi river water is an important source of potable water supply for Kashipur as well as adjointed areas of the U S Nagar district for all purposes.The physico-chemical parameters like temperature, pH, turbidity, total hardness, alkalinity, BOD, COD, chloride, nitrate and phosphate and fluoride content in water of Bahella river, Mahadev stream and Kosi river were studied to ascertain the drinking and domestic as well as irrigation water supply in Kashipur area. In this present study water quality of Bahellariver, Mahadev stream and Kosi river is taken into account and Khokartalwater is found to be severely polluted with reference to these analyzed parameters