Health Figures: An Open Source JavaScript Library for Health Data Visualization

The way we look at data has a great impact on how we can understand it, particularly when the data is related to health and wellness. Due to the increased use of self-tracking devices and the ongoing shift towards preventive medicine, better understanding of our health data is an important part of improving the general welfare of the citizens. Electronic Health Records, self-tracking devices and mobile applications provide a rich variety of data but it often becomes difficult to understand. We implemented the hFigures library inspired on the hGraph visualization with additional improvements. The purpose of the library is to provide a visual representation of the evolution of health measurements in a complete and useful manner. We researched the usefulness and usability of the library by building an application for health data visualization in a health coaching program. We performed a user evaluation with Heuristic Evaluation, Controlled User Testing and Usability Questionnaires. In the Heuristics Evaluation the average response was 6.3 out of 7 points and the Cognitive Walkthrough done by usability experts indicated no design or mismatch errors. In the CSUQ usability test the system obtained an average score of 6.13 out of 7, and in the ASQ usability test the overall satisfaction score was 6.64 out of 7. We developed hFigures, an open source library for visualizing a complete, accurate and normalized graphical representation of health data. The idea is based on the concept of the hGraph but it provides additional key features, including a comparison of multiple health measurements over time. We conducted a usability evaluation of the library as a key component of an application for health and wellness monitoring. The results indicate that the data visualization library was helpful in assisting users in understanding health data and its evolution over time.Comment: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 16.1 (2016

In Defence of European Universities : Scholars and activists, unite!

Peer reviewe

Challenges and confusion in media and communication regulation: a four country comparison.

In this chapter we discuss recent developments and challenges in European media and communication policy, focussing on the period since the 2008 global financial crisis. We are especially interested in the implications of the financial crisis and its political repercussions nationally (austerity measures and cuts to public services as well as growing anti-politics sentiments and widespread dissatisfaction with free-market capitalism and representative democracy) for media and communication policy, understood here in a broad sense, so to include all electronic communications, such as the Internet, mobile communications, social media etc. Our overarching concern is with the implications of developments in media and communication policy for the democratic functions of the media in Europe

Diversidad y derechos. La conexión entre la reforma mediática y los medios públicos

This article addresses the gap between media reform movements and support for public service media (PSM). It argues that the “critical juncture” created by the challenges of digitalization has shifted the focus from diversity to communication rights as a central aim for media reform. It posits that rights-based approach would position PSM in the framework of different media reform movements, and hence foster new alliances by connecting it to media freedom and digital rights discourses. In addition, it suggests that media reform movements would benefit from supporting PSM as a tool for achieving democratic communication rights.El siguiente artículo aborda la distancia existente entre los movimientos que defienden la reforma de los medios y el propio apoyo a los medios públicos. En él, se defiende que el “momento crítico” que se ha generado a partir del reto de la digitalizacion ha acabado por desplazar el foco del tema de la diversidad a la concepción de la comunicación como derecho en tanto que aspiración central dentro de la reforma mediática. El texto argumenta que un acercamiento basado en la comunicación como derecho posicionaría a los medios públicos dentro del marco de acción de los movimientos pro-reforma y, por lo tanto, permitiría promover nuevas alianzas al conectar estos movimientos con discursos centrados en las ideas de la libertad mediática y los derechos digitales. Además, se sugiere que los movimientos proreforma pueden beneficiarse de su propia defensa de los medios públicos como herramienta de cara a lograr derechos democráticos asociados a la comunicación

FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF THE FATIGUE BEHAVIOR OF WOOD FIBER CELL WALLS

The fatigue behavior of the wood fiber cell wall under mechanical treatment in refining was simulated dynamically using a finite element method. The effect of the amplitude and frequency of impacts on the mechanical breakdown of the fiber wall structure was examined. The proposed model of the fiber cell wall was constructed from elementary microfibrils in various orientations embedded in isotropic lignin. The fatigue of the cell wall was simulated under normal refiner mechanical pulping conditions. A cyclic load was applied on the model fiber through a hemispherical grit proposed to be applied on the surface on refiner segments. Changes in the elastic modulus of the cell wall were analyzed to determine the potential for cell wall breakdown. An increase in the amplitude of applied forces and frequency of impacts was found to have a significant influence on the reduction of the elastic modulus of the wall structure. A high frequency of impacts increased the stiffness of the cell wall, but resulted in faster reduction of the elastic modulus. At a lower amplitude of impacts, efficient breakdown of the cell wall using grits was achieved with a high frequency of impacts or a high rotational speed of refiners

Median sääntely ja informoitu kansalaisuus

Käsittelen artikkelissani median sääntelyä informoidun kansalaisen näkökulmasta. Ensiksi tarkastelen demokratian ja median välistä pysyvää jännitettä. Seuraavaksi käsittelen murrosta median ja demokratian välisessä psykologisessa sopimuksessa. Lopuksi esittelen kansalaisten viestinnällisten oikeuksien käsitteen ja tarkastelen, miten sen avulla voitaisiin tarkentaa mediaa koskevan säädöspolitiikan tavoitteita. Yleisenä lähtökohtanani on, että toimivan demokratian edellytyksenä ovat hyvin informoidut ja yhteiskunnallisesti toimintakykyiset kansalaiset, ja että medialla on keskeinen rooli informoidun, toimintakykyisen kansalaisuuden tuottamisessa

Europe of networks or the European Public Sphere? : Four plus one approaches

The main argument in this article is that instead of attempting to establish the existence or the nonexistence of the European public sphere or public spheres, we could think of Europe as consisting of a multiplicity of networks, each having a public sphere or spheres of their own. The idea of seeing the public sphere from the point of view of networks is critical to the traditional Habermasian idea of conceiving the public sphere as something intrinsically restricted to national boundaries. The social and cultural networks operate in all areas of life. They have developed, transformed, and vastly expanded in time. It is difficult to make clear distinctions between different networks today as they can operate locally, nationally, trans-nationally, regionally, trans-regionally as well as globally. However, from the point of view of democratic theory it is still important to make a separation between these different spatial embodiments of the networks ! as they all indicate different modalities for democratic polities. Democracy needs to be thought differently on a local or national scale than on the trans-national or global scale. The idea of seeing the public sphere from the point of view of networks is critical to the traditional idea of conceiving the public sphere as something intrinsically restricted to national boundaries