65 research outputs found

    Strafvorderlijke gegevensverwerking

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    As a result of society’s increasing digitisation, the police have ever more opportunities to collect, investigate and combine huge amounts of personal data using advanced technology. Examples are provided from recent cases where police have gained access to millions of encrypted messages from various servers, including Ennetcom, EncroChat and Sky Global. However, the current legal framework is, as yet, ill-equipped to deal with this new reality. Partly for this reason, legislators are facing new questions about how the (further) processing of data in detection should be regulated by law. Commissioned by the WODC, this study examines the legal safeguards in criminal justice data collection in relation to the legal safeguards governing the processing of these data. The Code of Criminal Procedure mainly focuses on the collection of data and to a much lesser extent on its further use, but this may involve a (fresh) invasion of citizens’ privacy. The Police Data Act contains some provisions to data processing, but the relationship with the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure is not entirely clear. This study identifies the requirements and safeguards under European law for the processing of data for criminal justice purposes. Further inspiration is drawn from experience with the Intelligence and Security Services Act 2017 in which powers of collection and (further) processing are regulated in a single law. Finally, it explores how, in several countries (Germany, Belgium and Norway), the requirements arising from European law have been translated into legal regulations and how these regulations are designed. This study provides tools that legislators can use to reconsider the methods of standardisation and legal regulation design to better protect citizens' privacy. The recommendations thus focus on strengthening the legal framework on data processing and its supervision by creating an explicit legal framework in the Code of Criminal Procedure and establishing an independent supervisor focused on the processing of personal data by investigative authorities

    Strafvorderlijke gegevensverwerking

    Get PDF
    As a result of society’s increasing digitisation, the police have ever more opportunities to collect, investigate and combine huge amounts of personal data using advanced technology. Examples are provided from recent cases where police have gained access to millions of encrypted messages from various servers, including Ennetcom, EncroChat and Sky Global. However, the current legal framework is, as yet, ill-equipped to deal with this new reality. Partly for this reason, legislators are facing new questions about how the (further) processing of data in detection should be regulated by law. Commissioned by the WODC, this study examines the legal safeguards in criminal justice data collection in relation to the legal safeguards governing the processing of these data. The Code of Criminal Procedure mainly focuses on the collection of data and to a much lesser extent on its further use, but this may involve a (fresh) invasion of citizens’ privacy. The Police Data Act contains some provisions to data processing, but the relationship with the Dutch Code of Criminal Procedure is not entirely clear. This study identifies the requirements and safeguards under European law for the processing of data for criminal justice purposes. Further inspiration is drawn from experience with the Intelligence and Security Services Act 2017 in which powers of collection and (further) processing are regulated in a single law. Finally, it explores how, in several countries (Germany, Belgium and Norway), the requirements arising from European law have been translated into legal regulations and how these regulations are designed. This study provides tools that legislators can use to reconsider the methods of standardisation and legal regulation design to better protect citizens' privacy. The recommendations thus focus on strengthening the legal framework on data processing and its supervision by creating an explicit legal framework in the Code of Criminal Procedure and establishing an independent supervisor focused on the processing of personal data by investigative authorities

    E-commerce adoption by SMEs in developing countries: evidence from Indonesia

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    This study aims to provide an overview of e-commerce adoption by SMEs in developing countries and, in particular, the extent of the adoption of e-commerce by Indonesian SMEs. It identifies the e-commerce benefits realized by these SMEs and investigates the relationship between the levels of e-commerce adoption and the benefits thus realized. The study was motivated by the limited studies related to e-commerce adoption by SMEs, especially in developing countries. In addition, it seems that most e-commerce studies are focused more on upstream issues: to see the factors that facilitate, or barriers faced regarding e-commerce adoption, rather than downstream issues: to see post-adoption benefits. This certainly limits our understanding about e-commerce adoption by SMEs in developing countries, as well as the post-adoption benefits of e-commerce. Indonesia was chosen as the place in which to conduct the study. A survey of 292 SMEs shows that the majority of them are still at an early stage in their adoption of e-commerce. Their use of e-commerce is dominated by marketing and purchasing and procurement activities. “Extending market reach”, “increased sales”, “improved external communication”, “improved company image”, “improved speed of processing”, and “increased employee productivity” are reported as the top six e-commerce benefits perceived by these SMEs. This study also shows that SMEs at the higher level of e-commerce adoption experience greater e-commerce benefits than those at other levels of adoption

    TOPICAL REVIEW: Microfluidics for flow cytometric analysis of cells and particles

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    This review describes recent developments in microfabricated flow cytometers and related microfluidic devices that can detect, analyze, and sort cells or particles. The high-speed analytical capabilities of flow cytometry depend on the cooperative use of microfluidics, optics and electronics. Along with the improvement of other components, replacement of conventional glass capillary-based fluidics with microfluidic sample handling systems operating in microfabricated structures enables volume- and power-efficient, inexpensive and flexible analysis of particulate samples. In this review, we present various efforts that take advantage of novel microscale flow phenomena and microfabrication techniques to build microfluidic cell analysis systems.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/49182/2/pm5_3_r02.pd

    Microbial Diversity of a Brazilian Coastal Region Influenced by an Upwelling System and Anthropogenic Activity

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    BACKGROUND: Upwelling systems are characterised by an intense primary biomass production in the surface (warmest) water after the outcrop of the bottom (coldest) water, which is rich in nutrients. Although it is known that the microbial assemblage plays an important role in the food chain of marine systems and that the upwelling systems that occur in southwest Brazil drive the complex dynamics of the food chain, little is known about the microbial composition present in this region. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We carried out a molecular survey based on SSU rRNA gene from the three domains of the phylogenetic tree of life present in a tropical upwelling region (Arraial do Cabo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). The aim was to analyse the horizontal and vertical variations of the microbial composition in two geographically close areas influenced by anthropogenic activity (sewage disposal/port activity) and upwelling phenomena, respectively. A lower estimated diversity of microorganisms of the three domains of the phylogenetic tree of life was found in the water of the area influenced by anthropogenic activity compared to the area influenced by upwelling phenomena. We observed a heterogenic distribution of the relative abundance of taxonomic groups, especially in the Archaea and Eukarya domains. The bacterial community was dominated by Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes phyla, whereas the microeukaryotic community was dominated by Metazoa, Fungi, Alveolata and Stramenopile. The estimated archaeal diversity was the lowest of the three domains and was dominated by uncharacterised marine Crenarchaeota that were most closely related to Marine Group I. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The variety of conditions and the presence of different microbial assemblages indicated that the area of Arraial do Cabo can be used as a model for detailed studies that contemplate the correlation between pollution-indicating parameters and the depletion of microbial diversity in areas close to anthropogenic activity; functional roles and geochemical processes; phylogeny of the uncharacterised diversity; and seasonal variations of the microbial assemblages

    Trait‐based analysis of subpolar North Atlantic phytoplankton and plastidic ciliate communities using automated flow cytometer

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    Plankton are an extremely diverse and polyphyletic group, exhibiting a large range in morphological and physiological traits. Here, we apply automated optical techniques, provided by the pulse‐shape recording automated flow cytometer—CytoSense—to investigate trait variability of phytoplankton and plastidic ciliates in Arctic and Atlantic waters of the subpolar North Atlantic. We used the bio‐optical descriptors derived from the CytoSense (light scattering [forward and sideward] and fluorescence [red, yellow/green and orange from chlorophyll a, degraded pigments, and phycobiliproteins, respectively]) and translated them into functional traits to demonstrate ecological trait variability along an environmental gradient. Cell size was the master trait varying in this study, with large photosynthetic microplankton (> 20 μm in cell diameter), including diatoms as single cells and chains, as well as plastidic ciliates found in Arctic waters, while small‐sized phytoplankton groups, such as the picoeukaryotes (< 4 μm) and the cyanobacteria Synechococcus were dominant in Atlantic waters. Morphological traits, such as chain/colony formation and structural complexity (i.e., cellular processes, setae, and internal vacuoles), appear to favor buoyancy in highly illuminated and stratified Arctic waters. In Atlantic waters, small cell size and spherical cell shape, in addition to photo‐physiological traits, such as high internal pigmentation, offer chromatic adaptation for survival in the low nutrient and dynamic mixing waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The use of automated techniques that quantify ecological traits holds exciting new opportunities to unravel linkages between the structure and function of plankton communities and marine ecosystems

    Regional differences in portion size consumption behaviour: Insights for the global food industry

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    Abstract: Given the influence of globalization on consumer food behaviour across the world, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the theoretical discourse around food portion size as a global consumption-related symbol and its underlying socio-economic drivers for food industry strategy. Overall, 25,000 global food consumers were surveyed across 24 countries to elicit insight on portion size consumption behaviour as well as consumer perception on eating and drinking small portion size within selected socio-economic classes. The data was quantitatively analysed to answer the pertinent research objectives. In 20 out of the 24 global markets surveyed, large food portion size was statistically established as a prevalent consumption-related symbol. The paper found that there are regional differences in portion size food consumption behaviour, and further disparities exist across age, gender and income status in 24 countries covering all regions, including Australia, China, Mexico, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States of America. The outlined food industry implications reveal that adaptation and standardisation strategies are still relevant in global food and nutrition strategy as revealed by the variations in the preference for food portion sizes across various countries of the world

    Phytoplankton responses to marine climate change – an introduction

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    Phytoplankton are one of the key players in the ocean and contribute approximately 50% to global primary production. They serve as the basis for marine food webs, drive chemical composition of the global atmosphere and thereby climate. Seasonal environmental changes and nutrient availability naturally influence phytoplankton species composition. Since the industrial era, anthropogenic climatic influences have increased noticeably – also within the ocean. Our changing climate, however, affects the composition of phytoplankton species composition on a long-term basis and requires the organisms to adapt to this changing environment, influencing micronutrient bioavailability and other biogeochemical parameters. At the same time, phytoplankton themselves can influence the climate with their responses to environmental changes. Due to its key role, phytoplankton has been of interest in marine sciences for quite some time and there are several methodical approaches implemented in oceanographic sciences. There are ongoing attempts to improve predictions and to close gaps in the understanding of this sensitive ecological system and its responses
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