Data Cleaning Methods for Client and Proxy Logs

In this paper we present our experiences with the cleaning of Web client and proxy usage logs, based on a long-term browsing study with 25 participants. A detailed clickstream log, recorded using a Web intermediary, was combined with a second log of user interface actions, which was captured by a modified Firefox browser for a subset of the participants. The consolidated data from both records revealed many page requests that were not directly related to user actions. For participants who had no ad-filtering system installed, these artifacts made up one third of all transferred Web pages. Three major reasons could be identified: HTML Frames and iFrames, advertisements, and automatic page reloads. The experiences made during the data cleaning process might help other researchers to choose adequate filtering methods for their data

innovative Public Organic food Procurement for Youth (iPOPY). Lessons learned from implementing organic into European school meals – policy implications.

The introduction of organic food offers new dimensions to school meals, and schools offer new dimensions to organic food – when tackled properly. In this paper we present findings from the iPOPY research project that is funded by the ERA-Net, CORE-Organic-I funding body network. It is based on studies of school food policies in Denmark, Finland, Italy and Norway. The embedded food traditions and cultures have had different attention in these countries, why also food related consumption, institutions and markets are quite heterogeneous and dynamic. Whereas school food services are relatively widely embedded in the school systems in Finland and Italy, the Danish and Norwegian school food is predominantly defined by the packed lunch brought from home when it comes to organic food the pattern is different. To analyse the strategies used in these countries we have selected a number of cases where in-depth studies have been conducted. The concept of embedding has been used in these studies and it has been informed by policy and actor network theories. The results of this analysis show a complexity in implementing organic food in existing school food aims, in embedding school food policies and in comprising also aims and policies for organic food purchasing in these. The variety amongst the analysed countries in strategies and success is identified, covering both structural and stakeholder related findings. A major finding is pointing at the challenge of “multi-embedding” processes when including organic food in school meal procurement

Kerouac and Burroughs in Tangier

In her article Kerouac and Burroughs in Tangier Regina Weinreich discusses the two authors\u27 and their friends\u27 lives in Tangier. Given Burroughs\u27s need for collaboration as a significant part of his method of weriting, Kerouac\u27s more solitary approach to writing, and taking into account unpublished journals and new scholarship on this subject, Weinreich explores their time together in Tangier in order to shed some light on the two writers in an interzone of their processes of creation

Biocultural Diversity of Medicine in Tsum Valley

Health is intrinsically connected to biodiversity in the Himalayan mountains of Tsum Valley. Medicinal plants have historically been integral to primary health care in this region. The main objectives of this paper are to explore the role of biocultural diversity on perceptions of health and to demonstrate that medicinal plant knowledge contributes to health sovereignty in times of cultural and environmental change. The nutritional and medicinal significance of plants were examined in the daily lives of villagers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted from April to May 2023. Preliminary results are analyzed ethnographically. Interviews and participant observation will provide a rich understanding of biocultural influence on health perceptions within Tsum Valley. Further analysis of results must take place

CuseMyCampus Business Plan

Many students who arrive at Syracuse wish they knew more of the “inside scoop” in all aspects of the university. With the advent of Web 2.0, the Internet is now mainly dominated by social networking services. The formation and success of companies like Facebook, CollegeHumor, and Twitter show the extent to which students are connected constantly via the Internet throughout the day. One of the key problems with these large websites, such as Facebook and CollegeHumor, is the disconnect between the user and his community. These websites are successful on a large scale, but the niche small scale must be satisfied too. An aggregation of specific content, fostered to the acute topic of the university is a niche that has not been satisfied as of yet, but is in high demand. CuseMyCampus is a business that relays interesting information to the Syracuse students by funneling out content based on student opinion. The audience becomes the content-creator. The business relies on a website to serve as the medium for displaying important information to the Syracuse students. CuseMyCampus currently operates as a LLC business based out of New York. The company was founded in February 2010 originally as a satire website for Syracuse, displaying humorous news, articles, pictures, and videos. However, as the membership increased, so did the content for the website. The website will be revamped this summer, and will open up to a greater variety of content. The Academics page serves two purposes. Students will be able to review and read about classes and professors. Secondly, the page will serve as a virtual marketplace for textbook exchange. The Housing page will allow students to view apartments both on- and off-campus before actually deciding to live there. Landlords will be able to post their available apartments. A collection of photos, and past tenant comments will aid in the process of selection. Students will able to see what events are occurring every night and during the weekends, be it bar specials, community events, parties, and concerts. The Market page will have two purposes. First, it will allow student entrepreneurs to gain traction for their businesses by listing their product or idea and engaging with the large CuseMyCampus community. Secondly, students can post items they are trying to sell to one another within the university community. The Review page will overlap with many other pages, but will serve as a central source for students to get their fellow students’ opinions on events, restaurants, bars, museums, classes, teachers, and housing. The Humor page consists of student-generated content in the form of various media. Students can share news, pictures, or videos they have created for class and around campus. Most of the marketing will be done virally, as the website is easily shared through Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Tumblr, Myspace, and other popular social media sites. CuseMyCampus aggressively markets to freshman, by sending out flyers, posting on freshman Facebook groups, and being in constant contact with Syracuse students. By being the pioneers on campus where the student has a voice in hot topics CuseMyCampus continually blazes into a new frontier

The dynamical degree of billiards in an algebraic curve

We introduce an algebraic formulation of billiards on plane curves over algebraically closed fields, extending Glutsyuk's complex billiards. For any smooth algebraic curve $C$ of degree $d \geq 2$, algebraic billiards is a rational $(d-1)$-to-$(d-1)$ surface correspondence on the space of unit cotangent vectors based on $C$. We prove that the dynamical degree of the billiards correspondence is at most an explicit cubic algebraic integer $\rho_d < 2d^2 - d - 3$, depending only on the degree $d$ of $C$. As a corollary, for smooth real algebraic curves, the topological entropy of the classical billiards map is at most $\log \rho_d$. We further show that the billiards correspondence satisfies the singularity confinement property and preserves a natural $2$-form. To prove our bounds, we construct a birational model that partially resolves the indeterminacy of algebraic billiards.Comment: 55 pages; reorganized, detail added, minor changes to theorem statement

Making Self-Help Infrastructure Finance Regional: Promises and Perils of a Multi-Jurisdictional Approach.

In recent decades, Congress has failed to raise transportation revenues to keep pace with inflation and growth in traffic volume. Insufficient funding for transportation programs has induced many local governments to fund new road and transit infrastructure themselves, using ballot initiatives known as local option transportation taxes. While localized taxing decisions have become more politically expedient than raising federal and state motor fuel taxes, local funding comes with inherent drawbacks for developing regional transportation, which crosses into multiple taxing jurisdictions. This creates a potentially serious impediment to dealing with crucial problems like air quality, job access for the economically disadvantaged, and promotion of economic growth. In response, some regions have chosen to make local funding decisions using multi-jurisdictional, rather than local, taxes. These places have voted across an entire region, allowing them to develop comprehensive, systemic solutions to transportation problems. This study identifies barriers to the implementation of regional self-help strategies, and approaches that have worked in overcoming them. Using interviews and archival evidence, this study examines seven cases in Atlanta, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and Denver, focusing on how state authorizing legislation shaped each process. This study develops a typology of multi-jurisdictional transportation funding mechanisms and identifies appropriate state and local policy approaches for situations that vary according to features of the authorizing legislation. The political cost of developing a multi-jurisdictional option tax can be reduced by the existence of robust regional policy making institution, though these rarely exist in U.S. regions. The cost may also be lowered by permissive legislation. Such legislation can lift a major political obstacle to regional funding initiatives but can also make local collaboration more costly due to absence of legislation forcing rival jurisdictions to cooperate. Nevertheless, both possibilities are much less costly than the lack of any pre-approved authorizing legislation. This situation requires special legislation for each tax measure, which can result in elevated influence by state legislators in developing the transportation plan, and difficulty repeating the process.PHDUrban and Regional PlanningUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135871/1/dpwein_1.pd

Marketing Strategies Restaurant Leaders Use to Develop Their Customer Base

Surviving past the first year of operation is a growing concern for independent, full-service restaurants. Some restaurant leaders lack the marketing strategies necessary to develop a loyal customer base and survive beyond the first year of operation. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the marketing strategies that independent, family-oriented, full-service restaurant leaders located in the Pittsburgh, PA, metro area in business for at least 5 years have used to develop their customer base during the first year of operation. This study was guided by the 7Ps of marketing theory, which emphasizes how people, including customers and employees, influence the marketing process. Data were collected through in-depth semistructured interviews with 3 restaurant leaders and secondary documentation that included marketing and business strategies, customer base data, and profitability records during the first year of operation. Data were analyzed using a comparison analysis method to establish 3 emergent themes: immediate influence of word of mouth, power of consumer-driven marketing and social media, and the need for an integrated marketing mix. Findings indicate that these family-oriented, full-service restaurants were able to develop a customer base during their first year of business by integrating marketing strategies including word of mouth, social media, and limited print advertising. This study could assist these restaurant leaders in creating best practices for developing a customer base and surviving past the first year of operation. The implications for positive social change include the potential to empower restaurant leaders to engage in cause-related marketing, increase viability in local communities, and promote development of independent restaurants and small businesses