Food Donation Mobile Apps –What Has Been Done and How It Can Be Improved

poster abstractFood insecurity, a lack of access to healthy and affordable food, is a major issue within the US and many nonprofit organizations, like food banks and food pantries are unable to keep up with increased demand for food support . With smartphones progressively increasing their capability in their application to everyday life, how can they play a role in the supporting of people living with food insecurity? In this study, we reviewed multiple mobile applications available free on the iOS app store, including Food Bank, AmpleHarvest, St.Mary’s Food Bank, RoadrunnerFood Bank, and Wood Buffalo Food Bank, taking note of what features they possess, and how well they functioned. Our findings have shown that the most common features consisted of a map for locating food banks, and a contribution function for donating money and giving suggestions and information for donating food and volunteering. Further notable features found that were not as common include are sources page referring to other food support programs, a page for upcoming events, and social media integration. Notable issues included some apps being comparatively lacking in features, leading to gaps in opportunity. Furthermore, issues of long-term application and project sustainability were noticeable, where a lack of regular updates in some apps are suspected to be the cause of dated appearances , functions not loading, and crashes . It was important to note that the apps with more features and better functionality are more state specific, run by local organizations . This analysis suggests that the cost, production, and maintenance of free apps may b e a productive are a to explore. Over all, our initial research helps us understand the current landscape of donation technology among mobile applications. In further research, studies with core stakeholders, including donors and donation recipients, would help gain understanding and assessment in new donation methods and platform

Turning within: passages of interiority in the Confessions, the Inferno, and the Interior Castle

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityThis study provides an analysis of the narrative construction of interiority in the Confessions, the Inferno, and the Interior Castle. I take as a starting point a cognitive linguistics/evolutionary psychology perspective on 'common sense' or 'folk' dualism where the 'self is construed as divided between two entities --such as a 'soul' and a 'body' that acts in the world-- that have different roles and relate to each other spatially and hierarchically. I contend that this loosely called 'model' resonates with and helps make explicit a basic, shared, similarly spatial pattern of the 'self' described by the three texts. With this pattern in view, the analysis seeks to reveal the particular way in which each of the three texts develops interiority and performs self-understanding. In particular, I show that self-understanding is created through the rich description of the protagonists' interaction with and development within interior spaces and landscapes. This 'productive' development occurs during the narrative 'undoing' of self and the self's language on the way to the divine 'within.' Lastly, I suggest that the interior journeys both perform and overtly offer parallel lessons on reading itself

SUPPLY CHAIN INNOVATIONS FOR DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION IN UNITED KINGDOM

This research study identifies the key elements, the drivers and barriers which impact on the innovative supply chain practices of the building products suppliers and therefore the sustainability of the UK construction Industry. In particular, sustainability continues to be an important thought for the UK construction industry materials/products suppliers. The study draws upon a number of literature themes such as product development, parameters of innovation, product innovation, rapid prototyping, collaboration, lean production practices, perspectives of supply chain; supply chain management, supply chain innovations, research and development; research and development; sustainability; sustainable construction; and benefits of sustainable construction to the environment. This study supported process of identifying different innovative supply chain practices in the building products manufacturers, a sub-sector contributing to the sustainability of the UK construction industry. Starting with the initial aim of exploring features that impact positively or negatively on innovation of supply chain practices and different theories, a number of frameworks as well as literature and approaches for innovative practices within the construction industry were reviewed. It is understood that the supply chain practices in the construction industry are integrative, interrelated and impacts the sustainability. Therefore it was important to further examine the industry supply chain relationships, the drivers of industry supply chain and impact on organisational performances. The building products manufacturers sub-sector within the UK construction industry is being transformed profoundly due to a number of factors including new products development, new markets, and increased environmental awareness, global reach of organisations and changing customer expectations as well as lifestyle; these companies are expected to consider sustainability and environmental issues while developing innovative supply chain strategies. The specifics include innovative issues around sourcing materials and products; the marketing and lifetime operations of construction industry initiatives; and even disposing construction wastes either from construction activities or at the terminal stage of construction products. iii From the relevant literature and contexts study of the UK construction industry, a theoretical framework was informed and questions for the survey were identified. For the questions raised and during the design of theoretical framework a mixed methods research methodology was adopted to collect quantitative data through a questionnaire and a case study. The quantitative data were analysed using SPSS software. Through the results from the data analysis, and interviews with the industry practitioners within the supply chain, a conceptual framework was developed and further adjusted to identify three core influencing groups of factors –company, industrial and regulatory; and further enhanced through the case study interviews. Finally, the interactions between these factors were focused on and the results used to articulate the research findings. This study confirmed that some of these organisations already had an excellent past experience of supply chain management and were informed of regulations affecting the UK construction industry. There is evidence that some of these organisations were leading in innovation of supply chain practices to enhance their competitiveness and therefore increase industry market share and profitability. This research proposes a new conceptual framework for the UK construction industry practitioners and makers. It is expected that it will motivate as well as aid the UK construction industry stakeholders to evaluate the existing innovative supply chain practices and therefore influence sustainability. It is further expected that this study will help the Industry players to better understand the importance of various sustainability drivers and the barriers which prevents adoption of innovative supply chain practices. Additionally, the results from the study will be used as motivators towards adopting innovative supply chain practices in the UK construction industry to improve sustainability

On the performance of emerging wireless mesh networks

Wireless networks are increasingly used within pervasive computing. The recent development of low-cost sensors coupled with the decline in prices of embedded hardware and improvements in low-power low-rate wireless networks has made them ubiquitous. The sensors are becoming smaller and smarter enabling them to be embedded inside tiny hardware. They are already being used in various areas such as health care, industrial automation and environment monitoring. Thus, the data to be communicated can include room temperature, heart beat, user’s activities or seismic events. Such networks have been deployed in wide range areas and various levels of scale. The deployment can include only a couple of sensors inside human body or hundreds of sensors monitoring the environment. The sensors are capable of generating a huge amount of information when data is sensed regularly. The information has to be communicated to a central node in the sensor network or to the Internet. The sensor may be connected directly to the central node but it may also be connected via other sensor nodes acting as intermediate routers/forwarders. The bandwidth of a typical wireless sensor network is already small and the use of forwarders to pass the data to the central node decreases the network capacity even further. Wireless networks consist of high packet loss ratio along with the low network bandwidth. The data transfer time from the sensor nodes to the central node increases with network size. Thus it becomes challenging to regularly communicate the sensed data especially when the network grows in size. Due to this problem, it is very difficult to create a scalable sensor network which can regularly communicate sensor data. The problem can be tackled either by improving the available network bandwidth or by reducing the amount of data communicated in the network. It is not possible to improve the network bandwidth as power limitation on the devices restricts the use of faster network standards. Also it is not acceptable to reduce the quality of the sensed data leading to loss of information before communication. However the data can be modified without losing any information using compression techniques and the processing power of embedded devices are improving to make it possible. In this research, the challenges and impacts of data compression on embedded devices is studied with an aim to improve the network performance and the scalability of sensor networks. In order to evaluate this, firstly messaging protocols which are suitable for embedded devices are studied and a messaging model to communicate sensor data is determined. Then data compression techniques which can be implemented on devices with limited resources and are suitable to compress typical sensor data are studied. Although compression can reduce the amount of data to be communicated over a wireless network, the time and energy costs of the process must be considered to justify the benefits. In other words, the combined compression and data transfer time must also be smaller than the uncompressed data transfer time. Also the compression and data transfer process must consume less energy than the uncompressed data transfer process. The network communication is known to be more expensive than the on-device computation in terms of energy consumption. A data sharing system is created to study the time and energy consumption trade-off of compression techniques. A mathematical model is also used to study the impact of compression on the overall network performance of various scale of sensor networks

Pengaruh DPK, CAR, NPL, dan Suku Bunga Antar Bank Terhadap Penyaluran Kredit yang Terdaftar di BEI

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this study is determine the effect of Third Party Funds (DPK), Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) Non Performing Loan (NPL) and Jakarta Interbank Offered Rate (JIBOR) on distribution credit in government bank in period 2013-2018. This research used population in Government Bank. Sample is chosen based on sampling technique using census. Data analysis tools are descriptive statistic and multiple linier regression analysis. The result of F test explain that Third Party Funds (DPK), Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Non Performing Loan (NPL), and Jakarta Interbank Offered Rate (JIBOR) simultaneously have significant effect on credit distribution. The result of t Test are: (1) Third Party Funds has positive effect significant on credit distribution, (2) Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) has positive effect but not significant on credit distribution, (3) Non Performing Loan (NPL) has positive effect not significant on credit distribution, and (4) Jakarta Interbank Offered Rate (JIBOR) has negative effect not significant on credit distribution. Keywords: Third Party Funds (DPK), Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), Non Performing Loan (NPL), and Jakarta Interbank Offered Rate (JIBOR), Credit Distribution

Facial recognition using deep learning

In this article, the researcher presented the results of recognition of four emotional states (happy, sad, angry, and disgust) based on facial expressions. A deep learning method with a Convolutional Neural Network algorithm for recognizing problems has been proven very effective way to overcome the recognition problem. A comparative study is carried out using MUAD3D dataset from Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak for evaluating accuracy performance of this dataset. More discussion is provided to prove the effectiveness of the Convolutional Neural Network in recognition problems

Desarrollo de la teleoperación de robots industriales y colaborativos mediante técnicas avanzadas de visión artificial

[ES] Actualmente la robótica está teniendo un crecimiento muy grande, siendo la piedra angular de lo que se conoce como la Industria 4.0. Para facilitar la implantación de los sistemas robotizados en la industria general, y la pequeña y mediana empresa en particular, los robots deben tener una serie de características: deben ser económicos, fáciles de utilizar, versátiles, etc. En este Trabajo Fin de Máster (TFM) se propone desarrollar una aplicación para que pueda teleoperar sistemas robotizados. Para que sea lo más eficiente posible, se debe permitir que la interacción entre el operario y el robot sea lo más directo y natural posible. Además, debería permitir la teleoperación de diferentes sistemas robotizados. Para permitir una interacción natural, en este TFM se propone utilizar técnicas avanzadas de visión artificial. Gracias a estas técnicas, la cámara de visión detectará la posición y los movimientos del brazo del operario, de forma que se mandará dicha información a la unidad de control del robot para generar las referencias de movimiento de los robots. Los robots a utilizar en este TFM son los robots disponibles en el Dpto. de Ingeniería de Sistemas y Automática y el Instituto U. de Automática e Informática Industrial. En concreto se trabajará con del robot IRB140, un robot industrial compacto de 6 grados de libertad. Además, se deberá programas y controlar también el robot YUMI, un robot colaborativo de última generación compuesto por 2 brazos y un total de 14 grados de libertad.[CA] Actualment la robòtica està tenint un creixement molt gran, sent la pedra angular del que es coneix com la Indústria 4.0. Per a facilitar la implantació dels sistemes robotitzats en la indústria general, i la xicoteta i mitjana empresa en particular, els robots han de tindre una sèrie de característiques: han de ser econòmics, fàcils d'utilitzar, versàtils, etc. En aquest Treball Fi de Màster (TFM) es proposa fer una aplicació perquè puga teleoperar sistemes robotitzats. Perquè siga el més eficient possible, s'ha de permetre que la interacció entre l'operari i el robot siga el més directe i natural possible. A més, hauria de permetre la teleoperació de diferents sistemes robotitzats. Per a permetre una interacció natural, en aquest TFM es proposa utilitzar tècniques avançades de visió artificial. Gràcies a aquestes tècniques, la càmara de visió detectarà la posició i els moviments del braç de l'operari, de manera que es manarà la dita informació a la unitat de control del robot per a generar les referències de moviment dels robots. Els robots a utilitzar en aquest TFM són els robots disponibles en el Dpto. d'Enginyeria de Sistemes i Automàtica i l'Institut U. d'Automàtica i Informàtica Industrial. En concret es treballarà amb del robot IRB140, un robot industrial compacte de 6 graus de llibertat. A més, s'haurà de programar i controlar també el robot YUMI, un robot col·laboratiu d'última generació format per 2 braços i un total de 14 graus de llibertat.[EN] Currently, robotics are having a very large growth, being the cornerstone of what is known as Industry 4.0. To facilitate the implementation of robotic systems in general industry, and small and medium enterprises in particular, robots must have a number of characteristics: they must be economical, easy to use, versatile, etc. In this Final Master's Project (TFM) it is proposed to develop an application so that it can teleoperate robotic systems. To be as efficient as possible, the interaction between the operator and the robot must be allowed to be as direct and natural as possible. In addition, it should allow teleoperation of different robotic systems. To allow a natural interaction, in this TFM it is proposed to use advanced artificial vision techniques. Thanks to these techniques, the vision camera will detect the position and movements of the operator's arm, so that this information will be sent to the robot control unit to generate the movement references of the robots. The robots to be used in this TFM are the robots available in the Dept. of Systems Engineering and Automation and the U. Institute of Automation and Industrial Computing. In particular we will work with the IRB140 robot, a compact industrial robot with 6 degrees of freedom. In addition, the YUMI robot, a last-generation collaborative robot composed of 2 arms and a total of 14 degrees of freedom, must also be programmed and controlled.Jiva, EI. (2019). Desarrollo de la teleoperación de robots industriales y colaborativos mediante técnicas avanzadas de visión artificial. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/130010TFG

The utility of peer group supervision for psychologists in practice.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.Peer group supervision has the potential to play an important role in the continuing professional development of practising psychologists, by providing a forum where practitioners can learn from each other in a supportive environment, while still maintaining their autonomy. However, research in the area is limited and theoretical conceptualisation around the topic is still at an elementary level. Therefore, one of the aims of this study was to evaluate the utility of peer group supervision for psychologists in practice. The second aim was to generate theory on the relationships between the various factors that play a role in determining the utility of peer group supervision and the mechanisms through which these factors operate. In order to achieve these aims, the research approach was exploratory and qualitative. The naturally occurring group processes of a single group of practising psychologists, who used a model of peer group supervision proposed by Akhurst (2000b), was the focus of this study. Five of their group sessions were audio-taped and transcribed to form the major data source. A brief questionnaire was also administered. A general analytical approach derived from grounded theory was used to analyse the data, with a particular focus on the processes and interactions within the group. Theoretical insights from the field of group dynamics were used to interpret and explain the findings generated from the analysis. The findings of this study suggest that peer group supervision has the potential to meet a number of the professional needs of practising psychologists and is therefore able to make a positive contribution to their professional development. A number of factors that mediate the potential utility of peer group supervision were identified. These factors include membership diversity, group developmental level, group orientation, facilitation style, interaction patterns and the use of structure. Plausible relationships between these factors were suggested, providing an initial picture of the complex interlocking web of factors that act on the group process to determine the utility of peer supervision groups. This understanding was used to suggest possible adaptations that may increase the utility of the model used to structure the group that participated in this study

Peran Set Dresser dalam Produksi Iklan Food & Fashion di PT Juara Karya Citra

Laporan ini berisi tentang pengalaman penulis selama mengikuti praktik kerja magang yang telah berlangsung selama 2 bulan. PT. Juara Karya Citra yang menjadi tempat praktik kerja magang penulis merupakan tempat yang menghasilkan para pekerja menjadi lebih aktif dan kreatif. PT. Juara Karya Citra merupakan perusahaan yang bergerak dibidang audio visual sejak tahun 2004. Penulis memilih perusahaan tersebut karena memiliki prospek kerja yang bagus untuk kedepannya. Sehingga penulis tertarik untuk bergabung menjadi bagian perusahaan tersebut. Dalam praktik kerja magang, tentunya penulis menemukan kesulitan dan tantangan baru, missal sistim kerja yang di lakukan oleh pekerja profesional dan pemakaian alat untuk membantu mendesain set. Sehingga penulis mendapatkan ilmu baru yang lebih luas lagi dalam produksi. Dalam permasalahan tersebut, solusi muncul ketika mendapatkan projek selanjutnya. Penulis mengetahui bagaimana alur kerja secara profesional dalam produksi dan pemakaian alat untuk membantu mendesain set