Information enrichment for quality recommender systems

The explosive growth of the World-Wide-Web and the emergence of ecommerce are the major two factors that have led to the development of recommender systems (Resnick and Varian, 1997). The main task of recommender systems is to learn from users and recommend items (e.g. information, products or books) that match the users’ personal preferences. Recommender systems have been an active research area for more than a decade. Many different techniques and systems with distinct strengths have been developed to generate better quality recommendations. One of the main factors that affect recommenders’ recommendation quality is the amount of information resources that are available to the recommenders. The main feature of the recommender systems is their ability to make personalised recommendations for different individuals. However, for many ecommerce sites, it is difficult for them to obtain sufficient knowledge about their users. Hence, the recommendations they provided to their users are often poor and not personalised. This information insufficiency problem is commonly referred to as the cold-start problem. Most existing research on recommender systems focus on developing techniques to better utilise the available information resources to achieve better recommendation quality. However, while the amount of available data and information remains insufficient, these techniques can only provide limited improvements to the overall recommendation quality. In this thesis, a novel and intuitive approach towards improving recommendation quality and alleviating the cold-start problem is attempted. This approach is enriching the information resources. It can be easily observed that when there is sufficient information and knowledge base to support recommendation making, even the simplest recommender systems can outperform the sophisticated ones with limited information resources. Two possible strategies are suggested in this thesis to achieve the proposed information enrichment for recommenders: • The first strategy suggests that information resources can be enriched by considering other information or data facets. Specifically, a taxonomy-based recommender, Hybrid Taxonomy Recommender (HTR), is presented in this thesis. HTR exploits the relationship between users’ taxonomic preferences and item preferences from the combination of the widely available product taxonomic information and the existing user rating data, and it then utilises this taxonomic preference to item preference relation to generate high quality recommendations. • The second strategy suggests that information resources can be enriched simply by obtaining information resources from other parties. In this thesis, a distributed recommender framework, Ecommerce-oriented Distributed Recommender System (EDRS), is proposed. The proposed EDRS allows multiple recommenders from different parties (i.e. organisations or ecommerce sites) to share recommendations and information resources with each other in order to improve their recommendation quality. Based on the results obtained from the experiments conducted in this thesis, the proposed systems and techniques have achieved great improvement in both making quality recommendations and alleviating the cold-start problem.

Service quality in the Malaysian fast food industry : an examination using DINESERV

This study addresses calls in the literature for the external validation of Western-based marketing concepts and theory in the East. Using DINESERV, the relationships between service quality, overall service quality perceptions, customer satisfaction, and repurchase intentions in the Malaysian fast food industry are examined. A questionnaire was administered to Malaysian fast food consumers at a large university, resulting in findings that support the five-dimensional nature of DINESERV and three of four proposed hypotheses. This study contributes to knowledge of service quality in developing countries and is the first to examine DINESERV in the Malaysian fast food industry.

Cultural influences on IS service quality perceptions

While Information services function’s (ISF) service quality is not a new concept and has received considerable attention for over two decades, cross-cultural research of ISF’s service quality is not very mature. The author argues that the relationship between cultural dimensions and the ISF’s service quality dimensions may provide useful insights for how organisations should deal with different cultural groups. This paper will show that ISF’s service quality dimensions vary from one culture to another. The study adopts Hofstede’s (1980, 1991) typology of cultures and the “zones of tolerance” (ZOT) service quality measure reported by Kettinger & Lee (2005) as the primary commencing theory-base. In this paper, the author hypothesised and tested the influences of culture on users’ service quality perceptions and found strong empirical support for the study’s hypotheses. The results of this study indicate that as a result of their cultural characteristics, users vary in both their overall service quality perceptions and their perceptions on each of the four dimensions of ZOT service quality.

Impact of region-of-interest video coding on perceived quality in mobile video

Effective streaming of video can be achieved by providing more bits to the most important region in the frame at the cost of reduced bits in the less important regions. This strategy can be beneficial for delivering high quality videos in mobile devices, especially when the availability of bandwidth is usually low and limited. While the state-of-the-art video codecs such as H.264 may have been optimised for perceived quality, it is hypothesised that users will give more attention to interesting region/object when watching videos. Therefore, giving a higher quality to region of interest (ROI)while reducing quality of other areas may result in improving the overall perceived quality without necessarily increasing the bitrate. In this paper, the impact of ROI-based encoded video on perceived quality is investigated by conducting a user study for varous target bitrates. The results from the user study demonstrate that ROI-based video coding has superior perceived quality compared to normal encoded video at the same bitrate in the lower bitrate range.

Socioeconomic differences in takeaway food consumption among adults

Background In Australia and other developed countries, there are consistent and marked socioeconomic inequalities in health. Diet is a major contributing factor to the poorer health of lower socioeconomic groups: the dietary patterns of disadvantaged groups are least consistent with dietary recommendations for the prevention of diet-related chronic diseases compared with their more advantaged counterparts. Part of the reason that lower socioeconomic groups have poorer diets may be their consumption of takeaway foods. These foods typically have nutrient contents that fail to comply with the dietary recommendations for the prevention of chronic disease and associated risk factors. A high level of takeaway food consumption, therefore, may negatively influence overall dietary intakes and, consequently, lead to adverse health outcomes. Despite this, little attention has focused on the association between socioeconomic position (SEP) and takeaway food consumption, with the limited number of studies showing mixed results. Additionally, studies have been limited by only considering a narrow range of takeaway foods and not examining how different socioeconomic groups make choices that are more (or less) consistent with dietary recommendations. While a large number of earlier studies have consistently reported socioeconomically disadvantaged groups consume a lesser amount of fruit and vegetables, there is limited knowledge about the role of takeaway food in socioeconomic variations in fruit and vegetable intake. Furthermore, no known studies have investigated why there are socioeconomic differences in takeaway food consumption. The aims of this study are to: examine takeaway food consumption and the types of takeaway food consumed (healthy and less healthy) by different socioeconomic groups, to determine whether takeaway food consumption patterns explain socioeconomic variations in fruit and vegetable intake, and investigate the role of a range of psychosocial factors in explaining the association between SEP and takeaway food consumption and the choice of takeaway food. Methods This study used two cross-sectional population-based datasets: 1) the 1995 Australian National Nutrition Survey (NNS) which was conducted among a nationally representative sample of adults aged between 25.64 years (N = 7319, 61% response rate); and 2) the Food and Lifestyle Survey (FLS) which was conducted by the candidate and was undertaken among randomly selected adults aged between 25.64 years residing in Brisbane, Australia in 2009 (N = 903, 64% response rate). The FLS extended the NNS in several ways by describing current socioeconomic differences in takeaway food consumption patterns, formally assessing the mediated effect of takeaway food consumption to socioeconomic inequalities in fruit and vegetable intake, and also investigating whether (and which) psychosocial factors contributed to the observed socioeconomic variations in takeaway food consumption patterns. Results Approximately 32% of the NNS participants consumed takeaway food in the previous 24 hours and 38% of the FLS participants reported consuming takeaway food once a week or more. The results from analyses of the NNS and the FLS were somewhat mixed; however, disadvantaged groups were likely to consume a high level of �\less healthy. takeaway food compared with their more advantaged counterparts. The lower fruit and vegetable intake among lower socioeconomic groups was partly mediated by their high consumption of �\less healthy. takeaway food. Lower socioeconomic groups were more likely to have negative meal preparation behaviours and attitudes, and weaker health and nutrition-related beliefs and knowledge. Socioeconomic differences in takeaway food consumption were partly explained by meal preparation behaviours and attitudes, and these factors along with health and nutrition-related beliefs and knowledge appeared to contribute to the socioeconomic variations in choice of takeaway foods. Conclusion This thesis enhances our understanding of socioeconomic differences in dietary behaviours and the potential pathways by describing takeaway food consumption patterns by SEP, explaining the role of takeaway food consumption in socioeconomic inequalities in fruit and vegetable intake, and identifying the potential impact of psychosocial factors on socioeconomic differences in takeaway food consumption and the choice of takeaway food. Some important evidence is also provided for developing policies and effective intervention programs to improve the diet quality of the population, especially among lower socioeconomic groups. This thesis concludes with a discussion of a number of recommendations about future research and strategies to improve the dietary intake of the whole population, and especially among disadvantaged groups.

A critical evaluation and comparison of two formative measures of system quality using criterion variables

Evaluating the validity of formative variables has presented ongoing challenges for researchers. In this paper we use global criterion measures to compare and critically evaluate two alternative formative measures of System Quality. One model is based on the ISO-9126 software quality standard, and the other is based on a leading information systems research model. We find that despite both models having a strong provenance, many of the items appear to be non-significant in our study. We examine the implications of this by evaluating the quality of the criterion variables we used, and the performance of PLS when evaluating formative models with a large number of items. We find that our respondents had difficulty distinguishing between global criterion variables measuring different aspects of overall System Quality. Also, because formative indicators “compete with one another” in PLS, it may be difficult to develop a set of measures which are all significant for a complex formative construct with a broad scope and a large number of items. Overall, we suggest that there is cautious evidence that both sets of measures are valid and largely equivalent, although questions still remain about the measures, the use of criterion variables, and the use of PLS for this type of model evaluation.

Designing a continuum of quality external cause of injury information in Queensland : from ambulance to hospital

This study is the first to employ an epidemiological framework to evaluate the ‘fit-for-purpose’ of ICD-10-AM external cause of injury codes, ambulance and hospital clinical documentation for injury surveillance. Importantly, this thesis develops an evidence-based platform to guide future improvements in routine data collections used to inform the design of effective injury prevention strategies. Quantification of the impact of ambulance clinical records on the overall information quality of Queensland hospital morbidity data collections for injury causal information is a unique and notable contribution of this study.

Water Quality Indices from Unbalanced Spatio-Temporal Monitoring Designs

This chapter investigates a variety of water quality assessment tools for reservoirs with balanced/unbalanced monitoring designs and focuses on providing informative water quality assessments to ensure decision-makers are able to make risk-informed management decisions about reservoir health. In particular, two water quality assessment methods are described: non-compliance (probability of the number of times the indicator exceeds the recommended guideline) and amplitude (degree of departure from the guideline). Strengths and weaknesses of current and alternative water quality methods will be discussed. The proposed methodology is particularly applicable to unbalanced designs with/without missing values and reflects the general conditions and is not swayed too heavily by the occasional extreme value (very high or very low quality). To investigate the issues in greater detail, we use as a case study, a reservoir within South-East Queensland (SEQ), Australia. The purpose here is to obtain an annual score that reflected the overall water quality, temporally, spatially and across water quality indicators for each reservoir.

Investigating the concept of potential quality: An exploratory study in the real estate industry

Purpose The purpose of this research is to examine the concept of “potential quality” – that is, a company's tangible search qualities (such as the physical servicescape and virtual servicescape) – within the context of the real‐estate industry in the USA. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study collects data by conducting personal in‐depth interviews with 34 respondents who had been recent buyers or renters of property. The data are then coded and themed to identify quality dimensions relevant to this industry. Findings The results indicate that a buyer's perception of the overall service quality of real‐estate service consists of two components: the interaction with a realtor (process quality); and the virtual servicescape, especially the firm's website design and content (potential quality). The study concludes that existing scales (such as SERVQUAL and RESERV) fail to capture the tangible component of service quality sufficiently in the real‐estate industry. Research limitations/implications The study uses data from only one industry (real estate) and from only one demographic segment (professionals in higher education). Practical implications Service providers of intangible, high‐contact services must appreciate the importance of the virtual servicescape as a surrogate quality indicator that can help to reduce information asymmetries and consumers' uncertainty with regard to initiating a business relationship. Real estate firms need to pay attention to the training of agents and the design and content of their e‐service systems. Originality/value This study integrates potential quality, process quality, and outcome quality in a comprehensive proposed model. In particular, the study identifies “potential quality” as a combination of the attributes of the virtual service environment and the physical service environment.

Nutrition in remote Aboriginal communities: Lessons from Mai Wiru and the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands

Objective To examine the impact of efforts to improve nutrition on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands from 1986, especially in Mai Wiru stores. Methods Literature was searched in a systematic manner. In 2012, the store-turnover method was used to quantify dietary intake of the five APY communities that have a Mai Wiru (good food) store. Results were compared with those available from 1986. Prices of a standard market basket of basic foods, implementation of nutrition policy requirements and healthy food checklists were also assessed in all seven APY community stores from 2008 and compared with available data from 1986. Results Despite concerted efforts and achievements decreasing intake of sugar and increasing the availability and affordability of healthy foods, particularly fruit and vegetables, and consequent improvements in some nutrient indicators, the overall effect has been a decrease in diet quality as indicated primarily by the increased supply and proportion of energy intake from discretionary foods, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages, convenience meals and take-away foods. Conclusions The study findings reinforce the notion that, in the absence of supportive regulation and market intervention, adequate and sustained resources are required to improve nutrition and prevent diet-related chronic disease on the APY Lands. Implications This study also provides insights into food supply/security issues affecting other remote Aboriginal communities and wider Australia.

Water quality estimation by optical remote sensing in boreal lakes

In lake-rich regions, the gathering of information about water quality is challenging because only a small proportion of the lakes can be assessed each year by conventional methods. One of the techniques for improving the spatial and temporal representativeness of lake monitoring is remote sensing from satellites and aircrafts. The experimental material included detailed optical measurements in 11 lakes, air- and spaceborne remote sensing measurements with concurrent field sampling, automatic raft measurements and a national dataset of routine water quality measurements from over 1100 lakes. The analyses of the spatially high-resolution airborne remote sensing data from eutrophic and mesotrophic lakes showed that one or a few discrete water quality observations using conventional monitoring can yield a clear over- or underestimation of the overall water quality in a lake. The use of TM-type satellite instruments in addition to routine monitoring results substantially increases the number of lakes for which water quality information can be obtained. The preliminary results indicated that coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM) can be estimated with TM-type satellite instruments, which could possibly be utilised as an aid in estimating the role of lakes in global carbon budgets. Based on the results of reflectance modelling and experimental data, MERIS satellite instrument has optimal or near-optimal channels for the estimation of turbidity, chlorophyll a and CDOM in Finnish lakes. MERIS images with a 300 m spatial resolution can provide water quality information in different parts of large and medium-sized lakes, and in filling in the gaps resulting from conventional monitoring. Algorithms that would not require simultaneous field data for algorithm training would increase the amount of remote sensing-based information available for lake monitoring. The MERIS Boreal Lakes processor, trained with the optical data and concentration ranges provided by this study, enabled turbidity estimations with good accuracy without the need for algorithm correction with field measurements, while chlorophyll a and CDOM estimations require further development of the processor. The accuracy of interpreting chlorophyll a via semi empirical algorithms can be improved by classifying lakes prior to interpretation according to their CDOM level and trophic status. Optical modelling indicated that the spectral diffuse attenuation coefficient can be estimated with reasonable accuracy from the measured water quality concentrations. This provides more detailed information on light attenuation from routine monitoring measurements than is available through the Secchi disk transparency. The results of this study improve the interpretation of lake water quality by remote sensing and encourage the use of remote sensing in lake monitoring.

Feeding ecology of juvenile Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) in a northeast Pacific fjord: diet, availability of zooplankton, selectivity for prey, and potential competition for prey resources

We investigated the feeding ecology of juvenile salmon during the critical early life-history stage of transition from shallow to deep marine waters by sampling two stations (190 m and 60 m deep) in a northeast Pacific fjord (Dabob Bay, WA) between May 1985 and October 1987. Four species of Pacific salmon—Oncorhynchus keta (chum) , O. tshawytscha (Chinook), O. gorbuscha (pink), and O. kisutch (coho)—were examined for stomach contents. Diets of these fishes varied temporally, spatially, and between species, but were dominated by insects, euphausiids, and decapod larvae. Zooplankton assemblages and dry weights differed between stations, and less so between years. Salmon often demonstrated strongly positive or negative selection for specific prey types: copepods were far more abundant in the zooplankton than in the diet, whereas Insecta, Araneae, Cephalapoda, Teleostei, and Ctenophora were more abundant in the diet than in the plankton. Overall diet overlap was highest for Chinook and coho salmon (mean=77.9%)—species that seldom were found together. Chum and Chinook salmon were found together the most frequently, but diet overlap was lower (38.8%) and zooplankton biomass was not correlated with their gut fullness (%body weight). Thus, despite occasional occurrences of significant diet overlap between salmon species, our results indicate that interspecific competition among juvenile salmon does not occur in Dabob Bay.

Formulation, stability and keeping quality of three pelleted feeds used in carp culture

Three dry pelleted feeds incorporating fish meal, fish silage or a mixture of colocasia leaf powder and fish meal were formulated for use in carp culture. The diets formulated were tested for water stability and also for changes in their quality parameters over storage of three months. The different pellets showed satisfactory water stability. The variations recorded in the proximate composition during the period of storage did not bring about any drastic change in the overall keeping quality of the feeds. Therefore, the three formulated feeds are considered suitable for use in the culture of carps.

Study of effect Rosmarinus officinalis oil and nisin on the growth of Streptococcus iniae in lab conditions and fillets of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Fish are an important part of a healthy diet since they contain high quality protein, but typically present a low fat percent when compared to other meats. Fish is an extremely perishable food commodity. On the other hand, food borne diseases are still a major problem in the world, even in well-developed countries. The increasing incidence of food borne diseases coupled with the resultant social and economic implications means there is a constant striving to produce safer food and to develop new antimicrobial agents concerns over the safety of some chemical preservatives and negative consumer reactions to preservatives they perceive as chemical and artificial, have prompted on increased interest in more ‘‘naturalgreen’’ alternatives for the maintenance or extension of product shelf-life. Particular interest has focused on the potential applications of plant essential oils. However, to establish the usefulness of natural antimicrobial preservatives, they must be evaluated alone and in combination with other preservation factors to determine whether there are synergistic effects and multiple hurdles can be devised. In this study, were evaluated the effects of different concentrations of Rosmarinus officinalis and nisin and storage time (15 days) on growth of Streptococcus iniae GQ850377 in a lab conditions and a food model system (fillets of rainbow trout) in 4 and 8 °C. In addition, we also studied multi factorial effects of four different concentration of rosemary, three different concentrations of nisin, two different levels of pH in 3 temperature 4,15 and 37 °C on log% of S.iniae during 43 days in BHI broth. The results on growth of S. iniae were evaluated using SPSS 20.0 statistical software and analyzed the logarithm of total count of the bacterial by Tukey Test. Results were considered statistically significant when P<0.05. MIC and MBC values of rosemary and nisin were 0.03, 0.075 % and 5, 40 μg/mL, respectively. The growth of S. iniae was effected significantly (P<0.05) by rosemary and nisin and also combination of rosemary and nisin in 4 and 8 °C. Samples treated with 0.135 and 0.405 % of rosemary showed a significant decrease on the growth of the bacteria compared with control sample(P<0.05). The most ١٤٦ inhibitory effects were seen in samples treated with 0.135 and 0.405% of rosemary until 9 days after storage. Also, the synergism effects of rosemary and nisin on the growth rate of bacteria was significant (P<0.05) compared with untreated samples and samples treated with the rosemary or nisin, only. Synergistic effects was observed at concentration of 0.405% rosemary and 0.75 μg/mL nisin in both temprature. Results of this study showed that different concentration of rosemary a significant inhibitory effect (P<0.05) on log% of S. iniae, in BHI broth in pH 5.5 and 7 in 4,15 and 37 °C during 43 days. In concentration of 0% rosemary (control) in pH 5.5 and 7 and 37°C, log% were 1.099 and 3.15, whereas in concentration of 0.015% rosemary were -4/241 and 1.454, respectively. The use of essential oils may improve food safety and overall microbial quality. If essential oils were to be more widely applied as antibacterials in foods, the organoleptic impact would be important. In addition, it is recommended to apply essential oils or their compounds as part of a hurdle system and to use it as an antimicrobial component along with other preservation techniques. Thus essential of R. officinalis with high antibacterial activity selected in this study could be a potential source for inhibitory substances against some food-borne pathogens and they may be candidates for using in foods or food-processing systems.

Randomized, controlled trial investigating short-term health-related quality of life with doxorubicin and paclitaxel versus doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide as first-line chemotherapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer: European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Breast Cancer Group, Investigational Drug Branch for Breast Cancer and the New Drug Development Group Study.

PURPOSE: To compare health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving the combination of doxorubicin and paclitaxel (AT) or doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide (AC) as first-line chemotherapy treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eligible patients (n = 275) with anthracycline-naive measurable metastatic breast cancer were randomly assigned to AT (doxorubicin 60 mg/m(2) as an intravenous bolus plus paclitaxel 175 mg/m(2) as a 3-hour infusion) or AC (doxorubicin 60 mg/m(2) plus cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m(2)) every 3 weeks for a maximum of six cycles. Dose escalation of paclitaxel (200 mg/m(2)) and cyclophosphamide (750 mg/m(2)) was planned at cycle 2 to reach equivalent myelosuppression in the two groups. HRQOL was assessed with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire C30 and the EORTC Breast Module at baseline and the start of cycles 2, 4, and 6, and 3 months after the last cycle. RESULTS: Seventy-nine percent of the patients (n = 219) completed a baseline measure. However, there were no statistically significant differences in HRQOL between the two treatment groups. In both groups, selected aspects of HRQOL were impaired over time, with increased fatigue, although some clinically significant improvements in emotional functioning were seen, as well as a reduction in pain over time. Overall, global quality of life was maintained in both treatment groups. CONCLUSION: This information is important when advising women patients of the expected HRQOL consequences of treatment regimens and should help clinicians and their patients make informed treatment decisions.