Lifelogging user study:bystander privacy

Automatically and passively taking pictures (using lifelogging devices such as wearable cameras) of people who don’t know they’re having their picture taken raises a number of privacy concerns (from a bystander’s perspective). We conducted a study focussing on the bystanders’ concerns to the presence of augmented reality wearable devices in two contexts (one formal and one informal). The results suggests the need to embed privacy enhancing techniques into the design of lifelogging applications, which are likely to depend upon an array of factors, but not limited to the context of use, scenario (and surroundings), and content

Analyzing Ideological Communities in Congressional Voting Networks

We here study the behavior of political party members aiming at identifying how ideological communities are created and evolve over time in diverse (fragmented and non-fragmented) party systems. Using public voting data of both Brazil and the US, we propose a methodology to identify and characterize ideological communities, their member polarization, and how such communities evolve over time, covering a 15-year period. Our results reveal very distinct patterns across the two case studies, in terms of both structural and dynamic properties

Party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation

The degree of closure of the governmental arena is a central aspect of the stabilization of party systems, and yet little systematic effort has been devoted to its operationalization. The article proposes a new index, examines its reliability and validity, and reports the ranking of 60 party systems. By redefining the units of measurement we suggest new indicators that are uniform and transparent in their logic of construction, can be applied both to specific government-changes and to time periods, and are sensitive to the degree of change. The article finds a hierarchy among the components of party system closure, dominated by coalition formula. While new and established democracies can both produced closed patterns, the analysis of inter-war European party systems shows that closed systems are less prone to authoritarian takeover. The article demonstrates the power of inertia: the completely closed configurations stand out as the most durable ones

It’s been mostly about money!: a multi-method research approach to the sources of institutionalization

Although much has been written about the process of party system insti- tutionalization in different regions, the reasons why some party systems institutionalize while others do not still remain a mystery. Seeking to fill this lacuna in the literature, and using a mixed-methods research approach, this article constitutes a first attempt to answer simultaneously the following three questions: (1) What specific factors help party systems to institutio- nalize (or not)? (2) What are the links (in terms of time and degree) as well as the causal mechanisms behind such relationships? and (3) how do they affect a particular party system? In order to do so, this article focuses on the study of party system development and institutionalization in 13 postcommunist democracies between 1990 and 2010. Methodologically, the article innovates in five respects. First, it continues the debate on the importance of ‘‘mixed methods’’ when trying to answer different research questions. Second, it adds to the as yet brief literature on the combination of process tracing and qualitative comparative analysis. Third, it constitutes the first attempt to date to use a most similar different outcome/most different same outcome pro- cedure in order to reduce causal complexity before undertaking a crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis. Third, it also shows the merits of combining both congruence and process tracing in the same comparative study. Finally, it also develops a novel ‘‘bipolar comparative method’’ to explain the extent to which opposite outcomes are determined by reverse conditions and conflicting intervening causal forces

Co-opting the state: how weak parties can make stable party systems

Conventional understandings of party system institutionalisation assume that institutionalised parties are necessary for interparty competition to stabilise. However, this approach neglects the role of the state in shaping party competition. Using survey data from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, it is shown that weakly institutionalised parties can lead to institutionalised party systems if parties are able to successfully co-opt the state and use state resources to supplement party deficiencies. By developing a relationship that intertwines parties with the state, parties in young democracies do not need to institutionalise for stable party systems to form

Parties for Rent? Ambition, Ideology, and Party Switching in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies

Party switching by legislators has been common in many countries, including the Philippines, Italy, Nepal, Ecuador, Russia, and Japan. While frequently dismissed as simply an indicator of a weak parties, switching provides a unique window on party systems. To the extent that we understand affiliation decisions, we gain insight on the way politicians use parties to advance their careers. In this article I offer a model of party-membership patterns, where decisions to switch party or to stay put are a function of the strategic interaction of legislators and endogenous party leaders. I test the model on the case of Brazil, where switching is common. Results suggest that Brazilian legislators use parties to maximize pork, ideological consistency, and short-term electoral success, but which of these matters most depends on constituents, i.e., legislators use parties for different purposes in different electoral environments. The approach developed here could easily be applied to study legislative behavior in other political systems

Weekly AUC2 carboplatin is inactive in acquired platinum resistant ovarian cancer with or without phenoxodiol, a sensitiser of platinum cytotoxicity: the phase III OVATURE multicenter randomized study

Background Platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (PROC) constitutes a therapeutic dilemma with limited efficacy from traditional cytotoxic agents. Based on prior data suggesting that scheduling alterations of platinum would increase activity, the aim of the present study was to assess the potential therapeutic benefit of phenoxodiol (PXD), a novel biomodulator shown to have chemoresistance reversing potential, when combined with weekly AUC2-carboplatin in PROC patients. Patients and methods A multicenter randomized double-blind placebo controlled phase-III-study was conducted to compare oral PXD plus AUC2-carboplatin (group 1) versus placebo plus AUC2-carboplatin (group 2) weekly in PROC patients. The primary end point was progression-free-survival (PFS). Secondary objectives included overall survival (OS), response rates, duration of response and quality of life. Results The study was terminated early 14 April 2009, after recruitment of 142 patients due to feasibility and recruitment challenges. A total of 142 patients were randomized. The groups were well balanced in terms of important baseline characteristics. The median PFS for group 1 was 15.4 weeks [95% confidence interval (CI) 11.1–21.0] versus 20.1 weeks for group 2 (95% CI = 13.1–33.4); P = 0.3. The objective response rate and median survival in group 1 versus group 2 was 0% versus 1% and 38.3 weeks (95% CI 32.0–45.3) versus 45.7 weeks (95% CI 35.6–58.0), respectively. PXD appeared to be well tolerated. The main reason for dose modification in both groups was hematologic toxicity. Conclusions Orally delivered PXD showed no evidence of clinical activity, when combined with weekly AUC2-carboplatin in PROC. In addition, single-agent weekly AUC2-carboplatin appeared to be inactive by response criteria in a homogenously defined population of PROC. This has implications for the design of future studies