Switch access to technology - A comprehensive Guide.

When most of us use a computer we use the standard interface of a keyboard and mouse. However, what do you do if you cannot use a keyboard or mouse? A number of alternative access systems exist, for example: alternative keyboards, tracker balls, touchscreens, head pointers etc. But for some people these devices are also an impossibility, and this is where switches 'kick in'. The main subject of this document is the switch user. For completeness we have include a brief mention of other input devices, which may be grouped together as 'alternative access systems'.We aim to: - Encourage developers to include switch access into their products - Standardise practice and terminology. This document explains some of the issues involved for people with severe physical difficulties who access computers and other electronic devices with switches. It details the ways in which switch users interact with computer programs and other technology designed to be directly accessible to them. The document includes some precise definitions of terms. It also attempts to survey the whole range of issues associated with switch use. As such it should be useful to professionals working or entering the field, those software developers considering switch users for the first time and also for those already developing in this area

Private developers and splintered ecological security in north Jakarta: producing difference in Singapore

Jakarta, Indonesia, has gained much attention in recent years owing to its vulnerability to tidal flooding, its fragmented water supply, and unsustainable practices of groundwater extraction. In this paper, I ask: how does Jakarta’s water crisis shape the feasibility, profitability, success, or failure of property development? How does the real estate industry understand, and respond to this crisis? To answer these questions, I draw on in-depth interviews with consultants and bureaucrats, as well as an analysis of secondary sources relating to water and property to present two preliminary findings from research conducted thus far. First, property buyers (investors and end users) and private developers appear to understand and evaluate environmental and financial risk very differently. Second, while state efforts to secure water supply and flood protection for the urban majority have been hampered for various political, economic, and financial reasons, private developers have the capacity to insulate their developments from environmental (and therefore financial) risk and promise ecological security to property buyers. In examining developers’ responses to the water crisis, this paper provides insights into “splintering ecological security”, which is actively created in tandem with acts of financial and environmental speculation, with implications for residents well beyond the walls of these bounded enclaves

The Potential and Perils of Financializing Climate Risk Governance:Insights for Urban Policymakers

In this roundtable discussion, Savannah Cox speaks with three experts about the financialization of climate risk governance: Kelly Hereid, a climate scientist at Liberty Mutual, Madison Condon, an associate professor at Boston Uni- versity School of Law, and Emma Colven, a lecturer in risk, environment, and society at King’s College London. In this conversation that ranges from Miami to Jakarta, Savannah, Kelly, Madison, and Emma discuss the legal, political, and technical chal- lenges relating to financialized climate risk governance: on one hand, the rise of insurance companies and rating agencies as de facto “risk assessors” and, on the other hand, the proliferation of for-profit climate risk analytics, an emerging field of practice at the intersection of climate models and asset-level decision-making. The conversation examines the relevance of these developments for policymakers in the urban climate adaptation space and highlights their collective concerns about the challenges associated with integrating climate risk analytics into urban govern- ance and decision-making. More specifically, they discuss issues concerning the accuracy and accessibility of climate risk information and how both may shape how urban adaptation plays out

Topical ascorbic acid on photoaged skin. Clinical, topographical and ultrastructural evaluation: double-blind study vs. placebo.

peer reviewedaudience: researcherVitamin C is known for its antioxidant potential and activity in the collagen biosynthetic pathway. Photoprotective properties of topically applied vitamin C have also been demonstrated, placing this molecule as a potential candidate for use in the prevention and treatment of skin ageing. A topically applied cream containing 5% vitamin C and its excipient were tested on healthy female volunteers presenting with photoaged skin on their low-neck and arms in view to evaluate efficacy and safety of such treatment. A double-blind, randomized trial was performed over a 6-month period, comparing the action of the vitamin C cream vs. excipient on photoaged skin. Clinical assessments included evaluation at the beginning and after 3 and 6 months of daily treatment. They were performed by the investigator and compared with the volunteer self assessment. Skin relief parameters were determined on silicone rubber replicas performed at the same time-points. Cutaneous biopsies were obtained at the end of the trial and investigated using immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. Clinical examination by a dermatologist as well as self-assessment by the volunteers disclosed a significant improvement, in terms of the 'global score', on the vitamin C-treated side compared with the control. A highly significant increase in the density of skin microrelief and a decrease of the deep furrows were demonstrated. Ultrastructural evidence of the elastic tissue repair was also obtained and well corroborated the favorable results of the clinical and skin surface examinations. Topical application of 5% vitamin C cream was an effective and well-tolerated treatment. It led to a clinically apparent improvement of the photodamaged skin and induced modifications of skin relief and ultrastructure, suggesting a positive influence of topical vitamin C on parameters characteristic for sun-induced skin ageing

Centering work: toward more 'social' accounts of urban climate finance

In recent years, high-profile financial actors have developed a dizzyingarray of services and devices that promise to help cities devise ‘solutions’ to climate change. But what must happen for private finance to stand at the centre of urban climate solutionism, as these actors claim it does? This intervention suggests that placing private finance at the core of urban climate action requires a lot of work, which we refer to as centering work: the significant technical, political, and material efforts involved in making urban climate action—as a problem space, a set of technical competencies, or an emerging market—amenable to private finance intervention. Drawing on the interdisciplinary field of the Social Studies of Finance, we trace centering work through the case of the World Bank’s City Creditworthiness Initiative, and its implications for how urban officials understand, and act on, resilience around the world. We also discuss the value of centering work for future scholarship on urban climate governance and urban studies more broadly. On the one hand, following centering work enables researchers to observe how and why some urban climate pathways emerge to the exclusion of others. On the other hand, tracing centering work helps researchers to develop accounts of the politics of urban climate finance that are attuned to change

Börsintroduktioner: post festum - Går det att förutspå hur börsintroduktioner kommer att prestera?

Title: IPO’s: a post festum - Can post-IPO stock performance be predicted? Seminar date: January 14th, 2016 Course: FEKH89, Degree Project in Corporate Finance, Undergraduate level, Business Administration, 15 ECTS Authors: Simon Bengtsson, Julia Colven, Jonathan Karlsson, Alexander Vitols Advisor: Göran Andersson Key words: Initial Public Offerings, Company age, Private equity, Founder, Insider ownership Purpose: The study attempts to investigate the long-term performance of post-IPO stocks on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange, relative to a total return index. Furthermore, the study will evaluate to which degree four non-financial factors can be used to predict long-term performance. The goal is to use the results of this study to guide and improve investors’ decision-making process regarding IPO-prospectuses. Methodology: The secondary data has been analyzed using a quantitative, deductive approach. Theoretical perspectives: The study draws from previous research on the predictability of the chosen factors in terms of relative performance, in addition to previous studies on post IPO stock performance in Sweden and Globally. Empirical foundation: The three-year total return of 55 IPO’s between the years 2000-2011 is compared to the OMXSBGI-index. The data is collected from the website of Nasdaq, Capital IQ and Finansinspektionen (Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority). The IPO prospectus was used as the source of data on the non-financial factors for each observed company. Conclusions: The observed companies have underperformed the chosen index as a group, with a few individual exceptions. Of the chosen factors, only the age of the company at the time of the IPO has shown a statistically relevant correlation with long-term performance.Examensarbetets titel: Börsintroduktioner: post festum - Går det att förutspå hur börsintroduktioner kommer att prestera? Seminariedatum: 2016-01-14 Ämne/kurs: FEKH89, Examensarbete i finansiering på kandidatnivå, 15 högskolepoäng Författare: Simon Bengtsson, Julia Colven, Jonathan Karlsson, Alexander Vitols Handledare: Göran Andersson Nyckelord: Börsintroduktioner, Bolagets ålder, Private equity, Grundare, Insiderägande Syfte: Studien ämnar undersöka hur börsintroduktioner på Nasdaq Stockholm har presterat långsiktigt jämfört med relevant index. Därtill ska studien utröna vilken inverkan icke finansiella faktorer haft på börsintroduktionernas långsiktiga utveckling. Målsättningen är att utifrån information i prospekt ge investerare bättre förutsättningar vid investeringsbeslut beträffande börsnoteringar. Metod: Vid analys av sekundärdata har författarna använt sig av en kvantitativ metod med en deduktiv ansats. Teoretiska perspektiv: Studien tar avstamp i tidigare forskning kring de utvalda variablernas påverkan på aktieavkastning, samt tidigare undersökningar kring avkastning på nynoterade bolag i Sverige och globalt. Empiri: Treårsvkastningen för 55 börsnoteringar under tidsperioden 2000-2011 jämförs mot relevant index, OMXSBGI. Data är hämtad från Nasdaq’s hemsida, Capital IQ samt Finansinspektionen. Via bolagens noteringsprospekt har data kring variablerna inhämtats. Resultat: Bolagen i urvalet har generellt underpresterat valt jämförelseindex. Av de undersökta variablerna påvisas ett positivt signifikant samband mellan bolagets ålder och avkastning. Övriga variabler ger inget statistiskt signifikant resultat

The Potential and Perils of Financializing Climate Risk Governance: Insights for Urban Policymakers

In this roundtable discussion, Savannah Cox speaks with three experts about the financialization of climate risk governance: Kelly Hereid, a climate scientist at Liberty Mutual, Madison Condon, an associate professor at Boston University School of Law, and Emma Colven, a lecturer in risk, environment, and society at King’s College London. In this conversation that ranges from Miami to Jakarta, Savannah, Kelly, Madison, and Emma discuss the legal, political, and technical challenges relating to financialized climate risk governance: on one hand, the rise of insurance companies and rating agencies as de facto “risk assessors” and, on the other hand, the proliferation of for-profit climate risk analytics, an emerging field of practice at the intersection of climate models and asset-level decision-making. The conversation examines the relevance of these developments for policymakers in the urban climate adaptation space and highlights their collective concerns about the challenges associated with integrating climate risk analytics into urban governance and decision-making. More specifically, they discuss issues concerning the accuracy and accessibility of climate risk information and how both may shape how urban adaptation plays out

Practice Models and Challenges in Teledermatology: A Study of Collective Experiences from Teledermatologists

Despite increasing practice of teledermatology in the U.S., teledermatology practice models and real-world challenges are rarely studied.The primary objective was to examine teledermatology practice models and shared challenges among teledermatologists in California, focusing on practice operations, reimbursement considerations, barriers to sustainability, and incentives. We conducted in-depth interviews with teledermatologists that practiced store-and-forward or live-interactive teledermatology from January 1, 2007 through March 30, 2011 in California.Seventeen teledermatologists from academia, private practice, health maintenance organizations, and county settings participated in the study. Among them, 76% practiced store-and-forward only, 6% practiced live-interactive only, and 18% practiced both modalities. Only 29% received structured training in teledermatology. The average number of years practicing teledermatology was 4.29 years (SD±2.81). Approximately 47% of teledermatologists served at least one Federally Qualified Health Center. Over 75% of patients seen via teledermatology were at or below 200% federal poverty level and usually lived in rural regions without dermatologist access. Practice challenges were identified in the following areas. Teledermatologists faced delays in reimbursements and non-reimbursement of teledermatology services. The primary reason for operational inefficiency was poor image quality and/or inadequate history. Costly and inefficient software platforms and lack of communication with referring providers also presented barriers.Teledermatology enables underserved populations to access specialty care. Improvements in reimbursement mechanisms, efficient technology platforms, communication with referring providers, and teledermatology training are necessary to support sustainable practices