Human-centred identity - from rhetoric to reality

This paper presents a proposal for human-centred identity management. Even though the term ‘human-centred identity’ has been widely used in the past few years, the solutions either descritbe a technical system for managing identity, or describe an identity management solution that meets a particular administrative need. Our proposal, however, presents a set of propertis that have to be considered, and the choices have to be made for each property must satisfy the needs of both the individual and the organization that owns the identity management system. The properties were identified as a result of reviewing a range of national identity systems, and the problems that arise from them

Monthly and diurnal variations of limnological conditions of two ponds

A study on monthly and diurnal changes of limnological conditions of two ponds was conducted in the Bangladesh Agricultural University campus, Mymensingh. The research work was performed by studying the limnological parameters such as transparency, temperature, dissolved oxygen, free carbon dioxide, pH, total alkalinity, nitrate-nitrogen, phosphate-phosphorus and plankton. Diurnal variations of physico-chemical factors were studied fortnightly at 6 hrs intervals at 6 a.m., 12 noon, 6 p.m. and 12 midnight. The amounts of transparency, dissolved oxygen and pH were higher during winter months than in summer months in both the ponds. Transparency, water temperature, total alkalinity, NO3-N and PO4-P were higher during summer months than in winter months in both the ponds. But the amount of free carbon dioxide was higher during winter months than in summer months in pond 1 while in pond 2 the amount of free carbon dioxide was higher during summer months than in winter months. Qualitative and quantitative monthly variations of phytoplankton and zooplankton were observed in both the ponds during the study period. The highest amount of dissolved oxygen, pH and total alkalinity were recorded at 6 p.m. and the lowest amounts of those at 6 a.m. in both the ponds. The highest temperature was recorded at 12 noon and the lowest at 12 midnight. But the highest amount of free carbon dioxide was recorded at 6 a.m. and the lowest at 6 p.m. in both the ponds. All the factors showed appreciable diel variations throughout the study period, which indicate that the ponds are productive.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 7 (1): 14-20, June, 201

A framework for the lived experience of identity

This paper presents a framework for the design of human-centric identity management systems. Whilst many identity systems over the past few years have been labelled as human-centred, we argue that the term has been appropriated by technologists to claim moral superiority of their products, and by system owners who confuse administrative convenience with benefits for users. The framework for human-centred identity presented here identifies a set of design properties that can impact the lived experience of the individuals whose identity is being managed. These properties were identified through an analysis of public response to 15 historic national identity systems. They capture the practical design aspects of an identity system, from structural aspects that affect the flow of information - Control Points, Subject Engagement, Identity Exposure, Population Coverage—to the metrical aspects that considers how information is used and perceived—Expert Interpretation, Population Comprehension, Information Accuracy, Information Stability, Subject Coupling, Information Polymorphism. Any identity system can be described in terms of these fundamental properties, which affect individuals’ lived experience, and therefore help to determine the acceptance or rejection of such systems. We first apply each individual property within the context of two national identity systems—the UK DNA Database and the Austrian Citizen Card, and then also demonstrate the applicability of the framework within the contexts of two non-government identity platforms—Facebook and Phorm. Practitioners and researchers would make use of this framework by analysing an identity system in terms of the various properties, and the interactions between these properties within the context of use, thus allowing for the development of the potential impacts that the system has on the lived experience

Five-dimensional PPN formalism and experimental test of Kaluza-Klein theory

The parametrized post Newtonian formalism for 5-dimensional metric theories with a compact extra dimension is developed. The relation of the 5-dimensional and 4-dimensional formulations is then analyzed, in order to compare the higher dimensional theories of gravity with experiments. It turns out that the value of post Newtonian parameter $\gamma$ in the reduced 5-dimensional Kaluza-Klein theory is two times smaller than that in 4-dimensional general relativity. The departure is due to the existence of an extra dimension in the Kaluza-Klein theory. Thus the confrontation between the reduced 4-dimensional formalism and Solar system experiments raises a severe challenge to the classical Kaluza-Klein theory.Comment: 4 pages, 1 table, accepted for publication in Physics Letters

Welfare implications of participating in agri‐value chains among vegetable farmers in Northern Ghana

This study investigates the welfare implications of agri‐value chain participation utilizing data collected from 423 smallholder vegetable farmers in northern Ghana. The endogenous switching regression (ESR) model estimates the determinants of agri‐value chain participation and their associated impacts on farmers' welfare, measured by household income and consumption expenditure. The ESR model accounts for selectivity bias associated with observed and unobserved factors. We find that agri‐value chain participation improves vegetable farmers' welfare. Participation significantly increases household income and consumption expenditure by about 22% and 40%, respectively. Our results also reveal that agri‐value chain participation is significantly determined by education, household size, mobile phone ownership, irrigation, farm size, farmer group membership, and extension visits. Variables such as education, access to irrigation, farm size, access to credit, farmer group membership, and extension are the significant determinants of farmers' welfare

Agrifood system participation and production efficiency among smallholder vegetable farmers in Northern Ghana

Formalized marketing arrangements between smallholder farmers and produce buyers are gradually replacing spot market transactions in developing countries due to the rapid structural transformation of agrifood systems. This study examines the impact of agrifood system participation on the total value of vegetable production and technical efficiency (TE), using a sample of 423 vegetable farmers from Northern Ghana. We employ propensity score matching and W. Greene's selection bias-corrected stochastic production frontier methods to correct for observable and unobservable selection bias issues, respectively. We further use a metafrontier model to derive technology gap ratios (TGRs) and meta-TE for agrifood system participants and nonparticipants. The results reveal that agrifood system participants are about 50% more productive than nonparticipants. In addition, participants have higher meta-TE (58% vs. 55%) and TGR (98% vs. 94%) than nonparticipants. Variables such as farmer group membership, extension visits, mobile phone ownership, irrigation and road access are the notable correlates of smallholder farmers' participation in agrifood systems. The total value of vegetable production is significantly influenced by fertilizer, agrochemicals, seeds, irrigation, soil fertility, and location-fixed effects

Hydrogenation of alkylaromatics over Rh/silica

The hydrogenation, and competitive hydrogenation, of toluene, ethylbenzene, propylbenzene and the xylenes has been studied over a rhodium catalyst in the liquid phase at 323 K and 3 bar(g). The reactivity of the aromatics gave an order of para-xylene > ortho-xylene > meta-xylene > toluene > ethylbenzene ≫ propylbenzene. Kinetic analysis revealed that the order of reaction in hydrogen was typically first order while the reaction order in toluene was zero order and negative half order for ethylbenzene. The reaction order for propylbenzene and the xylenes was negative first order. Apparent activation energies were calculated and all were in the range 26–46 kJ mol−1. Competitive hydrogenation between toluene, ethylbenzene and propylbenzene revealed that the propylbenzene was the most strongly adsorbed aromatic in agreement with the strongly negative reaction order. The xylenes gave an order of reactivity of para > ortho > meta following the increasing negative reaction order. Reactions with deuterium revealed an inverse kinetic isotope effect, most likely related to the change in hybridization of the carbon from sp2 to sp3, for all reactions, except that of ortho-xylene. Rapid exchange of the methyl group hydrogens was observed with all the xylenes, whereas total exchange was noted with toluene. The generation of trans-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane was explained by the formation of two intermediates, 1,2-dimethylcyclohexene and 1,6-dimethylcyclohexene, which give the cis-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane and trans-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane, respectively

Genome-wide identification and prediction of SARS-CoV-2 mutations show an abundance of variants: Integrated study of bioinformatics and deep neural learning

Genomic data analysis is a fundamental system for monitoring pathogen evolution and the outbreak of infectious diseases. Based on bioinformatics and deep learning, this study was designed to identify the genomic variability of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide and predict the impending mutation rate. Analysis of 259044 SARS-CoV-2 isolates identified 3334545 mutations with an average of 14.01 mutations per isolate. Globally, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is the most prevalent mutational event. The prevalence of C > T (52.67%) was noticed as a major alteration across the world followed by the G > T (14.59%) and A > G (11.13%). Strains from India showed the highest number of mutations (48) followed by Scotland, USA, Netherlands, Norway, and France having up to 36 mutations. D416G, F106F, P314L, UTR:C241T, L93L, A222V, A199A, V30L, and A220V mutations were found as the most frequent mutations. D1118H, S194L, R262H, M809L, P314L, A8D, S220G, A890D, G1433C, T1456I, R233C, F263S, L111K, A54T, A74V, L183A, A316T, V212F, L46C, V48G, Q57H, W131R, G172V, Q185H, and Y206S missense mutations were found to largely decrease the structural stability of the corresponding proteins. Conversely, D3L, L5F, and S97I were found to largely increase the structural stability of the corresponding proteins. Multi-nucleotide mutations GGG > AAC, CC > TT, TG > CA, and AT > TA have come up in our analysis which are in the top 20 mutational cohort. Future mutation rate analysis predicts a 17%, 7%, and 3% increment of C > T, A > G, and A > T, respectively in the future. Conversely, 7%, 7%, and 6% decrement is estimated for T > C, G > A, and G > T mutations, respectively. T > G\A, C > G\A, and A > T\C are not anticipated in the future. Since SARS-CoV-2 is mutating continuously, our findings will facilitate the tracking of mutations and help to map the progression of the COVID-19 intensity worldwide