Infrastructuring: Toward an Integrated Perspective on the Design and Use of Information Technology

In this contribution, we investigate how results from the ongoing discussion about e-Infrastructures can be used to improve the design of IT infrastructures in organizations. We first establish a perspective on organizational IT as work infrastructure that focuses on the infrastructural nature of organizational Information Systems and describe challenges for designing within and for this type of infrastructure. Then we elaborate on possible use of concepts from the e-infrastructure discussion, in particular on the concept of infrastructuring as it was developed by Star and Ruhleder (1996) and Star and Bowker (2002). Using their “salient characteristics of infrastructure” we describe the methodological approach of Infrastructuring to develop methodological and tool support for all stakeholders’ activities that contribute to the successful establishment of an information system usage (equivalent to a work infrastructure improvement). We illustrate our ideas by drawing on a case in which new work infrastructures are introduced into an organizational context and by mapping out existing and possible tool support for infrastructuring

GaNEsHA: Opportunities for Sustainable Transportation in Smart Cities

In developed nations, cities experience a growing pressure to establish sustainable transportation solutions. However, currently cities have still only little knowledge about the transportation routines, needs and troubles of its citizens. A greater awareness of daily transportation activities could support cities to build up customized transportation infrastructures that meet sustainable requirements. To address this gap, we build the GaNEsHA mobile application. A mobile crowed-sensing tool to track mobility activities. We used the tool as a probe in an interview study with 14 citizens. Our findings indicated a need for ICT design to move beyond normative tools that simply aim to \u27encourage\u27 people to adopt sustainable practices. Instead, we identified different transitions how municipal mobility services can support sustainable mobility practices. These include: (1) creating awareness of environmental footprints, (2) supporting alternative transportation options, (3) optimizing towards individual needs, (4)facilitating local communities and participative approaches

How do numerical methods perform for delay differential equations undergoing a Hopf bifurcation?

This paper discusses the numerical solution of delay differential equations undergoing a Hopf birufication. Three distinct and complementary approaches to the analysis are presented.Manchester Centre for Computational Mathematic

Analysen zur Expression und Funktion von Connexinen während der Skelettmuskelentwicklung und in adulten Skelettmuskelfasern der Maus

In dieser Arbeit wurde die Expression von Connexinen während der Skelettmuskelentwicklung und in der adulten Skelettmuskulatur der Maus analysiert. 1. Ein zentraler Bestandteil der einwandfreien Funktion eines Muskels ist die elektrische Isolation der einzelnen Skelettmuskelfasern untereinander. Über die ektopische Cx43 Expression in adulten Skelettmuskelfasern der Maus sollte diese elektrische Isolation aufgehoben werden und der Einfluss auf die Skelettmuskelphysiologie untersucht werden. Die Analysen wiesen nach, dass Cx43 ektopisch exprimiert in adulten Skelettmuskelfasern in der Plasmamembran lokalisiert war, keine Gap Junctions ausbildete, jedoch eine erhöhte Halbkanalaktivität zeigte. Die ektopische Expression von Cx43 führte zur Erhöhung der Muskelkraftentwicklung, einhergehend mit einer veränderten Genexpression. Zudem zeigten Cx43 ektopisch exprimierende primäre Myotuben geringere Kalziumtransienten nach ATP Stimulation. Es konnte daher nachgewiesen werden, dass Cx43 ektopisch im Skelettmuskel exprimiert die Halbkanalaktivität des Proteins erhöht und so, möglicherweise über purinerge Signalwege, den Muskelphänotyp verändert. 2. In Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde zudem die endogene Expression von Cx45 im adulten Skelettmuskel untersucht. Nachdem die Expression über verschieden Methoden verifiziert werden konnte, zeigten Ko-Immunfluoreszens Analysen, das Cx45 in T-Tubuli Membranen und/oder in Terminalen Zisternen des Sarkoplasmatischen Retikulums lokalisiert ist, was die Ausbildung von Gap Junction Kanälen verhindert aber funktionale Halbkanäle ermöglichen könnte. 3. Die Skelettmuskulatur der Vertebraten entsteht aus mesodermalen Zellen, die sich zu Myoblasten entwickeln, differenzieren, und zu Myotuben fusionieren. In Myoblasten wird Cx43- in Myotuben Cx39 exprimiert. Ablation von Cx43 in vitro führt zur Verzögerung der Myogenese. In Cx39 defizienten Embryonen ist die Myogenese hingegen beschleunigt. Untersuchungen zur Myogenese an Cx39/Cx43 doppelt defizienten Embryonen sollten die Rolle der beiden Connexine während der Myogenese zu verstehen helfen. Analysen an Cx39/Cx43 doppelt defizienten Embryonen zeigten keine Veränderungen in Expressionstärke und Lokalisation myogener Marker im Vergleich zu Cx39 defizienten Embryonen. Sowohl einfach- als auch doppelt defiziente Embryonen bildeten Skelettmuskelfasern aus und waren bewegungsfähig. Diese Untersuchungen zeigten, dass weder Cx39 noch Cx43 notwendig für die Skelettmuskelentwicklung zu sein scheinen

Fostering Continuous User Participation by Embedding a Communication Support Tool in User Interfaces

This paper critically reviews previous IS literature on user participation and argues that the literature is mainly empirically or normatively oriented and lacks design research on developing system prototypes in order to foster continuous user participation. It then contributes to the current research by introducing a system prototype, a communication tool that enables users to participate while using their application systems in their work contexts. The prototype provides different communication channels for supporting user-designer communications and knowledge sharing among users with respect to application usage. When integrated in the interface of an application system, the tool can help to adapt and redesign the application. The initial evaluation of the communication tool within the context of an application system indicates its usefulness and usability

Navigating Relationships and Boundaries: Concerns around ICT-uptake for Elderly People

Despite a proliferation of research in the use of ICTs to support active and healthy ageing, few have considered the privacy and security concerns particular to the elderly. We investigated the appropriation of tablet devices and a neighborhood portal as well as emerging privacy and security issues through ethnographic and action research in a long-term participatory design (PD) project with elderly participants. We discuss two major themes: a) the tensions related to perceived digital threats and the social pressures of online disclosure to the social environment; and b) the relation of these issues to the ICT appropriation process and the referring challenges we encountered. We argue that there is a need to understand the interleaving of physical and virtual habitats, the various ways resulting in discomfort and the senior citizens' actions – which at first glance appear contradictory. We consider the implications of the issues observed for examining privacy and security concerns more broadly as well as discussing implications for the design of the portal and the shaping of social measures for appropriation support

Collaboration in Augmented Reality: How to establish coordination and joint attention?

Schnier C, Pitsch K, Dierker A, Hermann T. Collaboration in Augmented Reality: How to establish coordination and joint attention? In: Boedker S, Bouvin NO, Lutters W, Wulf V, Ciolfi L, eds. Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (ECSCW 2011). Springer-Verlag London; 2011: 405-416.We present an initial investigation from a semi-experimental setting, in which an HMD-based AR-system has been used for real-time collaboration in a task-oriented scenario (design of a museum exhibition). Analysis points out the specific conditions of interacting in an AR environment and focuses on one particular practical problem for the participants in coordinating their interaction: how to establish joint attention towards the same object or referent. Analysis allows insights into how the pair of users begins to familarize with the environment, the limitations and opportunities of the setting and how they establish new routines for e.g. solving the ʻjoint attentionʼ-problem