Development of a Digital Tool to Overcome the Challenges of Rural Food SMEs

Peer reviewed

Rapid Scan Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) and Digital EPR Development

Rapid scan electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was developed in the Eaton laboratory at the University of Denver. Applications of rapid scan to wider spectra, such as for immobilized nitroxides, spin-labeled proteins, irradiated tooth and fingernail samples were demonstrated in this dissertation. The scan width has been increased from 55 G to 160 G. The signal to noise (S/N) improvement for slowly tumbling spin-labeled protein samples that is provided by rapid scan EPR will be highly advantageous for biophysical studies. With substantial improvement in S/N by rapid scan, the dose estimation for irradiated tooth enamels became more reliable than the traditional continuous wave (CW) EPR. An alternate approach of rapid scan, called field-stepped direct detection EPR, was developed to reconstruct wider EPR signals. A Mn2+ containing crystal was measured by field-stepped direct detection EPR, which had a spectrum more than 6000 G wide. Since the field-stepped direct detection extends the advantages of rapid scan to much wider scan ranges, this methodology has a great potential to replace the traditional CW EPR. With recent advances in digital electronics, a digital rapid scan spectrometer was built based on an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG), which can excite spins and detect EPR signals with a fully digital system. A near-baseband detection method was used to acquire the in-phase and quadrature signals in one physical channel. The signal was analyzed digitally to generate ideally orthogonal quadrature signals. A multiharmonic algorithm was developed that employed harmonics of the modulation frequencies acquired in the spectrometer transient mode. It was applied for signals with complicated lineshapes, and can simplify the selection of modulation amplitude. A digital saturation recovery system based on an AWG was built at X-band (9.6 GHz). To demonstrate performance of the system, the spin-lattice relaxation time of a fused quartz rod was measured at room temperature with fully digital excitation and detection.

Development of a digital model of ground-water flow in deeply weathered crystalline rock, Chester County, Pennsylvania /

"August 1980."

Development of a digital tool to overcome the challenges of rural food SMEs

It has been recognised that throughout the UK, rural economies have a significant potential for growth but despite the potential for growth, many rural businesses face barriers that prohibit their expansion. In this study, we focus on one particular group of rural small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): food and drink producers. Through user engagement activities, we identify the issues and needs associated with distributing products to the market, in order to understand the main issues which prevent rural food and drink SMEs from expansion, and to establish the requirements for a digital solution to this challenge.

Development, Annotation and Protection of Digital Archive “Bulgarian Folklore Heritage”

The key to prosperity in today's world is access to digital content and skills to create new content. Investigations of folklore artifacts is the topic of this article, presenting research related to the national program „Knowledge Technologies for Creation of Digital Presentation and Significant Repositories of Folklore Heritage” (FolkKnow). FolkKnow aims to build a digital multimedia archive "Bulgarian Folklore Heritage” (BFH) and virtual information portal with folk media library of digitized multimedia objects from a selected collection of the fund of Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum (IEFSEM) of the Bulgarian Academy of Science (BAS). The realization of the project FolkKnow gives opportunity for wide social applications of the multimedia collections, for the purposes of Interactive distance learning/self-learning, research activities in the field of Bulgarian traditional culture and for the cultural and ethno-tourism. We study, analyze and implement techniques and methods for digitization of multimedia objects and their annotation. In the paper are discussed specifics approaches used to building and protect a digital archive with multimedia content. Tasks can be systematized in the following guidelines: * Digitization of the selected samples * Analysis of the objects in order to determine the metadata of selected artifacts from selected collections and problem areas * Digital multimedia archive * Socially-oriented applications and virtual exhibitions artery * Frequency dictionary tool for texts with folklore themes * A method of modern technologies of protecting intellectual property and copyrights on digital content developed for use in digital exposures.

Development of New Solutions in the Field of Digitization and Digital Presentation of the National Folklore Heritage

This article briefly reviews the software developments for digital presentation and preservation of Bulgarian folklore treasure created within the project “Knowledge Technologies for Creation of Digital Presentation and Significant Repositories of Folklore Heritage” by teams of the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics.

Supporting self-management: development and evaluation of a digital resource for adults with asthma

The problem: Around 300 million people worldwide have asthma and prevalence is increasing. Support for optimal self-management can be effective in improving a range of outcomes and is cost effective, but is underutilised as a treatment strategy. Supporting optimum self-management using digital technology shows promise, but how best to do this is not clear. Aim: The purpose of this project was to explore the potential role of a digital intervention in promoting optimum self-management in adults with asthma. Methods: Following the MRC Guidance on the Development and Evaluation of Complex Interventions which advocates using theory, evidence, user testing and appropriate modelling and piloting, this project had 3 phases. Phase 1: Examination of the literature to inform phases 2 and 3, using systematic review methods and focussed literature searching. Phase 2: Developing the Living Well with Asthma website. A prototype (paper-based) version of the website was developed iteratively with input from a multidisciplinary expert panel, empirical evidence from the literature (from phase 1), and potential end users via focus groups (adults with asthma and practice nurses). Implementation and behaviour change theories informed this process. The paper-based designs were converted to the website through an iterative user centred process (think aloud studies with adults with asthma). Participants considered contents, layout, and navigation. Development was agile using feedback from the think aloud sessions immediately to inform design and subsequent think aloud sessions. Phase 3: A pilot randomised controlled trial over 12 weeks to evaluate the feasibility of a Phase 3 trial of Living Well with Asthma to support self-management. Primary outcomes were 1) recruitment & retention; 2) website use; 3) Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) score change from baseline; 4) Mini Asthma Quality of Life (AQLQ) score change from baseline. Secondary outcomes were patient activation, adherence, lung function, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), generic quality of life measure (EQ-5D), medication use, prescribing and health services contacts. Results: Phase1: Demonstrated that while digital interventions show promise, with some evidence of effectiveness in certain outcomes, participants were poorly characterised, telling us little about the reach of these interventions. The interventions themselves were poorly described making drawing definitive conclusions about what worked and what did not impossible. Phase 2: The literature indicated that important aspects to cover in any self-management intervention (digital or not) included: asthma action plans, regular health professional review, trigger avoidance, psychological functioning, self-monitoring, inhaler technique, and goal setting. The website asked users to aim to be symptom free. Key behaviours targeted to achieve this include: optimising medication use (including inhaler technique); attending primary care asthma reviews; using asthma action plans; increasing physical activity levels; and stopping smoking. The website had 11 sections, plus email reminders, which promoted these behaviours. Feedback during think aloud studies was mainly positive with most changes focussing on clarification of language, order of pages and usability issues mainly relating to navigation difficulties. Phase 3: To achieve our recruitment target 5383 potential participants were invited, leading to 51 participants randomised (25 to intervention group). Age range 16-78 years; 75% female; 28% from most deprived quintile. Nineteen (76%) of the intervention group used the website for an average of 23 minutes. Non-significant improvements in favour of the intervention group observed in the ACQ score (-0.36; 95% confidence interval: -0.96, 0.23; p=0.225), and mini-AQLQ scores (0.38; -0.13, 0.89; p=0.136). A significant improvement was observed in the activity limitation domain of the mini-AQLQ (0.60; 0.05 to 1.15; p = 0.034). Secondary outcomes showed increased patient activation and reduced reliance on reliever medication. There was no significant difference in the remaining secondary outcomes. There were no adverse events. Conclusion: Living Well with Asthma has been shown to be acceptable to potential end users, and has potential for effectiveness. This intervention merits further development, and subsequent evaluation in a Phase III full scale RCT.

RACISM IN DIGITAL ERA: DEVELOPMENT AND INITIAL VALIDATION OF THE PERCEIVED ONLINE RACISM SCALE (PORS V1.0)

Racism continues to thrive on the Internet. Yet, little is known about racism in online settings and the potential consequences. The purpose of this study was to develop the Perceived Online Racism Scale (PORS), the first measure to assess people’s perceived online racism experiences as they interact with others and consume information on the Internet. Items were developed through a multi-stage process based on literature review, focus-groups, and qualitative data collection. Based on a racially diverse large-scale sample (N = 1023), exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided support for a 30-item bifactor model with the following three factors: (a) 14-item PORS-IP (personal experiences of racism in online interactions), (b) 5-item PORS-V (observations of other racial/ethnic minorities being offended), and (c) 11-item PORS-I (consumption of online contents and information denigrating racial/ethnic minorities and highlighting racial injustice in society). Initial construct validity examinations suggest that PORS is significantly linked to psychological distress.

Modelo de inclusão digital para construção do conhecimento em qualidade de vida e atividade fisica

Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Educação Física

ALFABETIZAÇÃO DIGITAL: proposição de parâmetros metodológicos em competência informacional

Much has been discussed about Digital Literacy, but it is quite obscure the identification of the skills required to develop such process. This study was done towards an integration of the Digital Literacy process to the specific informational skills a person may dominate, search, retrieve and use information efficiently, in its professional, academic or personal life. The main objective of this work is to propose methodological parameters for training in informational skills. Otherwise, the specific objectives are associated to the supposition and identification of the desired skills of the Digital Literacy program participants. The methodological procedures applied to the research are of exploratory character, and to do so two tools are used: the literature research and case studies. Besides having the methodology in structured information competence, the study points out to the fact that the country is too far from what is desired concerning development and employment of Digital Literacy programs consistent enough to support the teaching and learning of searching, recovering and using of information by the participants. Therefore, it is essential to create programs that provide not only machinery, but motivate individuals to develop informational skills to help in the learning process.

Online Mammographic Images Database for Development and Comparison of CAD Schemes

Considering the difficulties in finding good-quality images for the development and test of computer-aided diagnosis (CAD), this paper presents a public online mammographic images database free for all interested viewers and aimed to help develop and evaluate CAD schemes. The digitalization of the mammographic images is made with suitable contrast and spatial resolution for processing purposes. The broad recuperation system allows the user to search for different images, exams, or patient characteristics. Comparison with other databases currently available has shown that the presented database has a sufficient number of images, is of high quality, and is the only one to include a functional search system.

A calibration approach based on Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy inference system for digital electronic compasses

Recently, the development of industrial processes brought on the outbreak of technologically complex systems. This development generated the necessity of research relative to the mathematical techniques that have the capacity to deal with project complexities and validation. Fuzzy models have been receiving particular attention in the area of nonlinear systems identification and analysis due to it is capacity to approximate nonlinear behavior and deal with uncertainty. A fuzzy rule-based model suitable for the approximation of many systems and functions is the Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy model. IS fuzzy models are nonlinear systems described by a set of if then rules which gives local linear representations of an underlying system. Such models can approximate a wide class of nonlinear systems. In this paper a performance analysis of a system based on IS fuzzy inference system for the calibration of electronic compass devices is considered. The contribution of the evaluated IS fuzzy inference system is to reduce the error obtained in data acquisition from a digital electronic compass. For the reliable operation of the TS fuzzy inference system, adequate error measurements must be taken. The error noise must be filtered before the application of the IS fuzzy inference system. The proposed method demonstrated an effectiveness of 57% at reducing the total error based on considered tests. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.