Providing Public Value through Data Sharing: Understanding Critical Factors of Food Traceability for Local Farms and Institutional Buyers

Many of the datasets that could contribute to solutions for current public problems are proprietary and reside outside of government agencies. Accelerating data sharing and collaboration between those who hold valuable data and those able to deliver solutions is key to generating public value from private data. There is still a limited body of literature, however, that addresses data sharing and collaboration between private and public organizations. Using a case study of food traceability from local farms to institutions, this paper contributes to this emerging field by identifying challenges and incentives in data sharing among different types of organizations. In particular, our goal is to study how small farms and institutional buyers can be incentivized to share their data in a way that contributes to food safety, public health, and other societal goals. Our findings demonstrate that initiatives which can show the benefits of having a whole-chain food traceability system, have clear policies and regulations, and opportunities for participation in training activities are key incentives

Public Libraries’ Perceptions of Future Collaborations for the Development of Smart Cities and Communities: Understanding Influential Factors

Recently, the concept of smart city has been adopted by many communities as a strategy to find alternative solutions to increasingly complex social, economic, and environmental issues. Different local actors, including public libraries, are already playing an important role in developing smart cities and communities either by themselves or in collaboration with other organizations. However, most public libraries are not currently collaborating for smart community development. Therefore, this paper analyzes the factors that influence public libraries’ perceptions about future collaborations in developing smart cities and communities as well as their potential benefits. The results show that consequential incentives, the nature of the task, preexisting relationships, an agreement on initial aims, and a collaborative and supportive leader all have a significant positive impact on the extent, effectiveness, and benefits of public libraries’ future collaborations to develop smart cities and communities

Public Libraries as Anchor Institutions in Smart Communities: Current Practices and Future Development

Local governments around the world are exploring different strategies to become smarter: more efficient, sustainable, and highly interconnected. However, many actors outside government need to be involved too. For instance, public libraries have the potential to play a very important role in the development of smart and connected communities, due to their strong legitimacy in the eyes of citizens and the types of services and programs they are already providing, which in many cases go well beyond what could be considered traditional library services. This paper analyzes innovative practices in public libraries and argue that they already show the potential of public libraries to become catalysts for smart and connected communities. Together, these innovations represent an opportunity for governments and communities to engage and a new way to think about public libraries as very important actors in smart community initiatives

Understanding Drivers and Challenges of Multi-actor Collaborations at the Local Level

In a world increasingly characterized by complexity and ambiguity, problem solving is often achieved through collaboration among multiple actors in multi-level settings, involving national, state, and local agencies. Yet, our knowledge is limited in terms of the drivers and challenges of collaborations that require both inter-organizational collaboration and collaboration with citizens. Using a case study of the development of a mobile app for emergency preparedness and response, this study explores key drivers and challenges of multi-actor collaboration at the local level. Our results show that local leadership and direct communication are key drivers for both inter-organizational collaboration and collaboration with citizens and that political dynamics are a challenge regarding inter-organizational collaboration. The two types of collaboration become distinct and independent processes while they complement each other to achieve the purpose and goals shared among different actors

Surgical clavicle reconstruction after aneurysmal bone cyst resection in a child: A simple method

The clavicle is an infrequent location for primary tumors in general, and aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) of the clavicle is particularly rare. The challenge of the functional and esthetic result in the treatment of these lesions in the pediatric population is high when considering the reconstruction of critical bone defects. In this article, we present the case of a seven -year -old boy with an ABC in the middle third of the clavicle, treated by resection and reconstruction with free autograft of the fibula stabilized by using an intramedullary titanium nail. We offer a description of the used technique, considerations about treatment options in children, and a follow-up of more than two -and -a -half years

Multi-Frame Rate Plane Wave Contrast-Enhance Ultrasound Imaging for Tumour Vasculature Imaging and Perfusion Quantification

A multi-frame rate plane wave imaging strategy is developed to simultaneously image tumor vasculature and quantify tumor perfusion. Customised imaging sequences interleaving a short but high frame rate (HFR) plane wave imaging sequence with a long but low frame rate imaging (LFR) sequence were implemented using a programmable ultrasound research platform. The results from a spatio-temporal coherence processing technique of ours demonstrated a significant improvement in the SNR and vasculature contrast when compared with the existing ultrafast Power Doppler (PD) using the same data. Initial perfusion quantification using LFR imaging was also demonstrated. Mean time intensity curve and some parametric measures were generated. Combining both structural and functional perfusion imaging using the multiframe rate sequences, a better evaluation of the tumour angiogenesis can be assessed

Does Co-Creation Affect the Adoption of IT-Enabled Solutions? The Case of a Mobile Application for Emergency Preparedness

Co-creation has been increasingly advocated by both scholars and practitioners in the public sector to enable the development of information technologies driven by citizens’ needs. Despite other potential advantages, it is not clear whether co-creation actually influences the adoption of IT-enabled solutions. The current knowledge about the effects of co-creation processes in the public sector is especially limited in non-urban environments. Based on a case study of the development of a mobile app for emergency preparedness and response in a rural town, the results of this study show that citizens play an important role in co-creation by identifying unique challenges for using the app. Local leadership plays a key role in the recruiting of participants, while professionals’ facilitation and openness are key during the co-designing of the app. Overall, the co-creation process increased citizens’ perceived ease of use and facilitated their adoption of the app

The kinematics of the quadrupolar nebula M1-75 and the identification of its central star

The link between the shaping of bipolar planetary nebulae and their central stars is still poorly understood. The kinematics and shaping of the multipolar nebula M 1-75 are hereby investigated, and the location and nature of its central star are briefly discussed. Fabry-Perot data from GHaFAS on the WHT sampling the Doppler shift of the [N II] 658.3 nm line are used to study the dynamics of the nebula, by means of a detailed 3-D spatio-kinematical model. Multi-wavelength images and spectra from the WFC and IDS on the INT, and from ACAM on the WHT, allowed us to constrain the parameters of the central star. The two pairs of lobes, angularly separated by ~22 degrees, were ejected simultaneously approx. ~3500-5000 years ago, at the adopted distance range from 3.5 to 5.0 kpc. The larger lobes show evidence of a slight degree of point symmetry. The shaping of the nebula could be explained by wind interaction in a system consisting of a post-AGB star surrounded by a disc warped by radiative instabilities. This requires the system to be a close binary or a single star which engulfed a planet as it died. On the other hand, we present broad- and narrow-band images and a low S/N optical spectrum of the highly-reddened, previously unnoticed star which is likely the nebular progenitor. Its estimated V-I colour allows us to derive a rough estimate of the parameters and nature of the central star.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Quantification of vaporized targeted nanodroplets using high-frame-rate ultrasound and optics

Owing to their ability to efficiently deliver biological cargo and sense the intracellular milieu, vertical arrays of high aspect ratio nanostructures, known as nanoneedles,are being developed as minimally invasive tools for cell manipulation. However, little is known of the mechanisms of cargo transfer across the cell membrane-nanoneedle interface. Particularly,the contributions of membrane piercing, modulation of membrane permeability and endocytosis to cargo transfer remain largelyunexplored. Here, combining state-of-the-art electron and scanning ion conductance microscopy with molecular biology techniques, we show that porous silicon nanoneedle arrays concurrently stimulate independent endocytic pathways which contribute to enhanced biomolecule delivery into human mesenchymal stem cells. Electron microscopy of the cell membrane at nanoneedle sites shows an intact lipid bilayer, accompanied by an accumulation of clathrin-coated pits and caveolae. Nanoneedles enhance the internalisation of biomolecular markers of endocytosis, highlighting the concurrent activation of caveolae-and clathrin-mediated endocytosis, alongside macropinocytosis. These events contribute to the nanoneedle-mediated delivery (nanoinjection) of nucleic acids into human stem cells, which distribute across the cytosol and the endolysosomal system. This data extends the understanding of how nanoneedles modulate biological processes to mediate interaction with the intracellular space, providing indications for the rational design of improved cell-manipulation technologies

Molecular and biochemical characterization of glucose transport in Torulaspora delbrueckii

Apresentação efectuada no "XIV Congresso Nacional de Bioquímica", em Vilamoura, Portugal, em Dezembro de 2004