TOGO truck information service: Based on mobile tracking system

In our current economic state, instant gratification from the satisfaction by the real time products and services and experiences are in demand for consumers. As a result, there are several if not many of these real-time base services that have arisen from what the consumers\u27 desire. During the research, I have witnessed the phenomenon that would fit the criteria. The perfect example would be the popularity of meals on wheels in the United States. Setting a new trend in the fast food market, the food truck industry has reached the numbers well over the thousands and still counting with their own unique ideas and innovations. I can confidently say, with the rise of the food truck industry, we have observed the decline of stationary restaurants. But, unlike the mobile counterpart, the stationary restaurants still have one distinct advantage; consumers know where to find them. For example, when struck with a craving for tacos, it is easier to Google a Mexican restaurant down the street, rather than to track down a taco truck. To counterstrike the stationary opposition to quench the hunger for the food truck enthusiasts, several apps have been created. The applications general idea is to pin point gourmet food trucks on mobile maps to even the reliability of playing fields via Twitter feeds, GPS and truck-reported location data. While none of which has achieved an exhaustive or completely accurate system, the search still continues for trucks for users depending on their location. During the present market condition, I am certain of making an accurate and effective real-time information service would be an interesting subject to approach in satisfying users and business owners desires. In demand of real-time information services, I will create a prototype for a food truck information service, inclusive of real-time location service; GPS, mobile tracking, truck-reported data and alert service. The consumers and the food truck owners will both come out as winners, with relaying precise information via real time communication devices. As a student studying the art of user experience and interaction design, goal of this study is to figure out how to enhance the user friendly interface along with meeting the expectations of actual consumers. In order to have a deeper understanding about interaction between users and real time location applications to heighten the level of services, I am willing to go above and beyond with through research to develop a next generation real time app during this project. Another critical factor that I, a user experience designer would point out would be communication. A key factor in completing the task, finding a significant way of communication method would be an additional goal throughout this project

Price Elasticity in Electronic Markets: Evaluating Quality and Product Information for Search and Experience Products

Evidence has shown that the provision of product information in electronic markets decreases the price elasticity of demand due to the ‘fit’ cost. This effect, however, could differ according to how consumers perceive the value of the product information to their quality evaluation procedures. If the information has very limited value, then they may not rely on it; thus, the demand elasticity may not decrease as predicted. The value of information to the quality evaluation procedure is determined by the consumer’s difficulty in judging product quality. Specifically, product attributes related to the quality of experience products cannot be ascertained by prior search and the value of information in this case is therefore low. Based on this prediction, this research investigates how the price elasticity of demand differs in relation to the difficulty of evaluating quality and how it affects the influence of product information provided in electronic markets on elasticity. Groupon sales data are used to empirically test these questions. The findings confirmed that elasticity is lower for experience products than for search products. This also suggests that the provision of product information lowers elasticity in differentiated product markets and that its effect is stronger for search products than experience products

Differences in Online Travel Planning: A Rural vs. Urban Perspective

The digital divide has been mostly studied with respect to access issues. This paper argues that differences in use have to be considered as well. It specifically looks at digital inequality issues with respect to rural versus urban Internet users in the context of online travel planning. A study of US online travelers was used as the data source and urban and rural respondents were identified based on whether they resided in a metropolitan statistical area or not. The analysis of the data indicates interesting digital inequalities with respect to Internet use as well as benefits derived. Implications for tourism marketers are discussed

Hierarchical Grid-Based Pairwise Key Pre-distribution in Wireless Sensor Networks

The security of wireless sensor networks is an active topic of research where both symmetric and asymmetric key cryptography issues have been studied. Due to their computational feasibility on typical sensor nodes, symmetric key algorithms that use the same key to encrypt and decrypt messages have been intensively studied and perfectly deployed in such environment. Because of the wireless sensor's limited infrastructure, the bottleneck challenge for deploying these algorithms is the key distribution. For the same reason of resources restriction, key distribution mechanisms which are used in traditional wireless networks are not efficient for sensor networks. To overcome the key distribution problem, several key pre-distribution algorithms and techniques that assign keys or keying material for the networks nodes in an offline phase have been introduced recently. In this paper, we introduce a supplemental distribution technique based on the communication pattern and deployment knowledge modeling. Our technique is based on the hierarchical grid deployment. For granting a proportional security level with number of dependent sensors, we use different polynomials in different orders with different weights. In seek of our proposed work's value, we provide a detailed analysis on the used resources, resulting security, resiliency, and connectivity compared with other related works.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, to appear in the International Journal of Networks and Securit

Meiji versus Postwar in Cold War Japan: The Emergence of Economic Nationalism in the 1960s

This is a revised and translated version of the authors Korean article Naengjŏngi Ilbon ŭi Meiji vs chŏnhu: 1960-nyŏndae kyŏngje naesyŏnŏllijŭm ŭi taedu, published in Ilbon sasang [Journal of Japanese thought] 36 (2019), with the permission of Ilbon Sasangsa Hakhoe [Korean Association for Japanese Thought].In the 1960s, Takeuchi Yoshimi urged a public debate over the Meiji Restoration centennial. Concerned about the potential for the marginalized and suppressed national perspective to emerge as ultranationalism, Takeuchi called on the pro-West and pro-Japan factions to jointly seize the initiative with respect to the national issue. The discourse surrounding the Meiji Restoration centennial in the 1960s initially developed relative to its encounter with American modernization theory, provoking a Meiji boom, or the idea that the Meiji era was a successful case of modernization (Meiji = modernity). Meanwhile, debates over the Meiji centennial were preceded by those over the postwar vicennial. Following declarations of the end of the postwar and a progressive transformation in the social and economic structure of the nation, the notion of postwar became synonymous with democracy. Engaging with these developments, the discourse on the Meiji centennial passed into a new phase defined by the question: Is it [more important to celebrate the] Meiji [centennial] or the postwar [vicennial]? The debate thus evolved into a conflict between establishment and antiestablishment factions. It was at this time that Takeuchi retracted his comments on the Meiji centennial. Ultimately, it was economic nationalism, rather than the ultranationalism (kageki na nashonarizumu) that had concerned Takeuchi, that emerged as the dominant discourse to accompany the Meiji centennial. This new form of ultranationalism was based upon the intellectual and material developments that accompanied the ascendant contexts of modernization theory, transformation, and high economic growth during the 1960s. Takeuchis attempt to seize the initiative regarding the national issue through debate over the Meiji centennial was thus interrupted before the effectiveness of his idea to create a more progressive nationalist discourse could be realized. With the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration in 2018, concerns over ultranationalism have once again emerged alongside the intellectually sterile idea of Meiji versus postwar. A return to the unfinished debate of the 1960s thus also holds significance for contemporary Japan.The translation and editing of this article were supported by the (Chae) Hakbong Changhakhoe [Hakbong Scholarship Foundation]

Impact of p21 Knockout on Topotecan-Induced Stress Responses in Human Colon Carcinoma Cells: A Proteomic Analysis

Abstract: There are few reports describing the role of p21-dependent protein repression in cell death. To identify such cell death-associated proteins and to shed the light into the molecular mechanisms by which p21 is responding to pharmacological stress, we used a subcellular proteomic approach for the analysis of protein expression profiles of fractionated nuclei, mitochondria, and cytosols of isogenic p21 null (p21-/-) and wild-type human HCT-116 cells following treatment with sublethal doses (1μM) of the topoisomerase I inhibitor, topotecan (TPT). In total, 174 unique deregulated proteins were identified in HCT-116 cells following treatment with TPT, whereas only 146 proteins were identified in p21-/-cells. They contributed to multiple functional activities of stress signaling pathways, and that p21-/-cells are accelerated to be more responsive to topotecan-induced cell death due to the following: 1) down regulation of proteins involved in the transcriptional and replication machinery of cells like DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase 1, Matrin 3, DNA replication licensing factor MCM4, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein Q, poly(Rc)-binding protein 1 and splicing factor arginine serine rich 7; 2) the activation of a caspase-independent apoptosis by the upregulation of the Bcl2 inhibitor of transcription (Bit1) protein; and 3) the activation of TNF signaling by the upregulation of macrophage immigration inhibitory factor (MIF), and 26S proteosome non-ATPase regulatory subunit 2 (TRAP2) proteins. We suggest that the upregulation of these proteins are contributing factors to the molecular mechanisms of topotecan-induced cell death in p21-/-cells; and that the data present an opportunity for developing new therapeutic approaches for selective targeting of p21-signaling pathways

Carrot and stick?: Impact of a low-stakes school accountability program on student achievement

A key concern in the design of education policies relates to the structure of incentives in accountability systems. This paper examines a school accountability program that provides financial support to low-performing schools but has no direct punishment scheme for recipients who do not exhibit improvement. Although the program does not include high-stakes consequences, our estimates indicate that the program reduced the share of underperforming students by 18 percent. This paper's results suggest that to improve student achievement, a school accountability program does not need to set high-stakes consequences that potentially induce unwanted strategic behaviors on the part of school workers

Human microglial cells synthesize albumin in brain

Albumin has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease since it can bind to and transport amyloid beta, the causative agent; albumin is also a potent inhibitor of amyloid beta polymerization. In a pilot phase study of Human Brain Proteome Project, we found evidence that albumin may be synthesized in immortalized human microglial cells, human primary microglial cells, and human fetal and adult brain tissues. We also found the synthesis and secretion is enhanced upon microglial activation by Amyloid [beta]~1-42~, lipopolysaccharide treatment or human Alzheimer's brain