Why Haiti?: A case study of human processes in a natural disaster

This thesis problematizes geophysical disasters by examining the human processes that affect the extent of damage incurred by these “natural” events. Using the incredible aftermath of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010 as a case study, this thesis explores how foreign intervention in its various forms permeated the country from independence to the present day and respectively impacted the scale of devastation. In particular, this lens of foreign activity renders visible historical vulnerabilities and fallacies of aid that have since left the country destroyed and dependent. A critical analysis of Haitian history followed by a comprehensive assessment of various facets of the relief effort illuminate the human implications in the devastation that succeeded the earthquake. Ultimately, this devastation can be used to suggest that the past and present reliance on foreign actors to rebuild and redefine the nation largely failed to recognize local agency, hindering the development of Haitian sovereignty, capacity, and independence. Nonetheless, despite a critical assessment of the relief effort, a point of hope remains for future models of aid provision incorporating local agency and downward accountability. Thus, through a synthesis of historical, environmental, economic, and political fields of study it becomes apparent that foreign intervention has long dictated the course of Haitian state building, and as such, that human processes are implicated in environmental issues

Understanding information professionals: a survey on the quality of Linked Data sources for digital libraries

In this paper we provide an in-depth analysis of a survey related to Information Professionals (IPs) experiences with Linked Data quality. We discuss and highlight shortcomings in linked data sources following a survey related to the quality issues IPs find when using such sources for their daily tasks such as metadata creation

Investigating the Knowledge Surrounding Folate and Folic Acid in a Cohort of Vegetarians

BackgroundThe aim is to identify any gaps in the knowledge of folate and folic acid in vegetarians, which is of interest given the increasing adoption of vegetarian type diets. MethodsIn this convenience sample, 106 people answered an online questionnaire regarding folate intake and awareness among vegetarians. This was created using Google Forms and was shared via Facebook, including on various national and college vegetarian group pages. There were 44 questions. Twenty-four participants were excluded, because they reported eating fish, chicken or other meat. Final data analysis included 82 subjects. The majority of these vegetarians were females over the age of 30. ResultsFifty-five percent of those aged23% of those \u3e30, did not know the recommended stage for folic acid supplementation. Thirty-four percent of females, did not know any good food sources of folate compared to 67% of males. ConclusionsThere was an overall lack of knowledge regarding the recommended stage for folic acid intake and the required quantity of folic acid to be taken among vegetarians. This research suggests that more public health campaigns are needed in order to increase the knowledge and intake of folic acid

TIKD: A trusted integrated knowledge dataspace for sensitive healthcare data sharing

This paper presents the Trusted Integrated Knowledge Dataspace (TIKD), a new dataspace, based on linked data technologies and trusted data sharing, that supports integrated knowledge graphs for sensitive application environments such as healthcare. State-of-the-art shared dataspaces do not consider sensitive data and privacy-aware log records as part of their solutions, defining only how to access data. TIKD complements dataspace security approaches through trusted data sharing that considers personal data handling, data privileges, pseudonymization of user activity logging, and privacy-aware data interlinking services. TIKD was implemented on the Access Risk Knowledge(ARK) Platform, a socio-technical risk governance system, and deployed as part of the ARK-Virus Project which aims to govern the risk management of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE)across a group of collaborating healthcare institutions. The ARK Platform was evaluated, both before and after implementing the TIKD, using the ISO 27001 Gap Analysis Tool (GAT) which determines compliance with the information security standard.The results of the evaluation indicated that compliance with ISO 27001 increased from 50% to 85%. The evaluation also provided a set of recommended actions to meet the remaining requirements of the ISO 27001 standard. TIKD provides a collaborative environment, based on knowledge graph integration and GDPR-compliant personal data handling, as part of the data security infrastructure. As a result of this work, a new trusted data security methodology, based on personal data handling,data privileges, access control context specification, and privacy-aware data interlinking, was developed using a knowledge graph approac

Long-term storage and impedance-based water toxicity testing capabilities of fluidic biochips seeded with RTgill-W1 cells

Rainbow trout gill epithelial cells (RTgill-W1) are used in a cell-based biosensor that can respond within one hour to toxic chemicals that have the potential to contaminate drinking water supplies. RTgill-W1 cells seeded on enclosed fluidic biochips and monitored using electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) technology responded to 18 out of the 18 toxic chemicals tested within one hour of exposure. Nine of these chemical responses were within established concentration ranges specified by the U.S. Army for comparison of toxicity sensors for field application. The RTgill-W1 cells remain viable on the biochips at ambient carbon dioxide levels at 6°C for 78 weeks without media changes. RTgill-W1 biochips stored in this manner were challenged with 9.4 μM sodium pentachlorophenate (PCP), a benchmark toxicant, and impedance responses were significant (p \u3c 0.001) for all storage times tested. This poikilothermic cell line has toxicant sensitivity comparable to a mammalian cell line (bovine lung microvessel endothelial cells (BLMVECs)) that was tested on fluidic biochips with the same chemicals. In order to remain viable, the BLMVEC biochips required media replenishments 3 times per week while being maintained at 37°C. The ability of RTgill-W1 biochips to maintain monolayer integrity without media replenishments for 78 weeks, combined with their chemical sensitivity and rapid response time, make them excellent candidates for use in low cost, maintenance-free field-portable biosensors

ARK-Virus: an ARK platform extension for mindful risk governance of personal protective equipment use in healthcare

In this demonstration we present the Access Risk Knowledge (ARK) Platform - a socio-technical risk governance system. Through the ARK Virus Project, the ARK Platform has been extended for risk management of personal protective equipment (PPE) in healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. ARK demonstrates the benefits of a Semantic Web approach for supporting both the integration and classification of qualitative and quantitative PPE risk data, across multiple healthcare organisations, in order to generate a unique unified evidence base of risk. This evidence base could be used to inform decision making processes regarding PPE use