User Benefits Research Articles

How Working Memory Supports Language Comprehension after Cochlear Implantation

Language comprehension in challenging conditions requires the integration of multimodal information. Necessary resources are provided by the working memory. We discuss how adult cochlear implant users benefit from auditory-cognitive training during their rehabilitation process. Working memory capacity highly impacts language comprehension whenever listening effort is increased. Since CI users may have trouble to recover the phonological structure from the speech signal, working memory is required to provide necessary resources to disambiguate multiple interpretation options. However, either due to their hearing biography or due to their advanced age, CI user often show reduced working memory capacities. Previous studies with hearing-impaired adults provide evidence for the potential of combined auditory-cognitive training during the rehabilitation process of CI users.

Decentralized solar-powered cooling systems for fresh fruit and vegetables to reduce post-harvest losses in developing regions: a review

Abstract The availability of on-farm storage and processing is a critical challenge facing small farmers, which hinders agricultural productivity. Thirty per cent of the food produced globally is lost after harvest, with the proportion being exceptionally high in low- and middle-income countries due to a lack of on-farm handling and storage facilities. Conventional cold-storage solutions have not taken off at the smallholder level, mainly due to a lack of availability and access to reliable grid electricity. Therefore, off-grid decentralized solar-powered cold-storage units can play a vital role in preserving the produce at production sites and enhancing livelihood and rural development with a minimal carbon footprint. To maintain low temperatures at every step of the agricultural value chain, known as the ‘cold chain’, several technology vendors aim to improve the shelf life and user benefit. Small-scale farmers, which account for two-thirds of all food losses, are another group they focus on. This study examines the existing situation, importance and potential opportunities of decentralized cold-storage systems for fresh fruit and vegetables. In addition to economic, social, technological and environmental limitations, this study examines the triumphs and challenges of incorporating solar-energy-powered cold storage into developing communities. Although the private sector, NGOs and some government agencies are working to promote decentralized cold-storage facilities, relatively little has been done so far to have a significant influence on post-harvest losses and food security. There are still knowledge gaps on decentralized cold-storage facilities. The primary operational constraint is the economic situation of end users and the lack of financing alternatives for smallholder farmers.

Factors influencing the patronage of flexible transport in urban and rural areas. A case study in NSW, Australia

Since 1990, gradual changes have been observed in the implementation of flexible transport service (FTS) schemes. A growing body of evidence suggests FTS are highly supportive for specific groups, like people with disabilities and the socially disadvantaged. Although this is more evident in rural and regional areas where there may be no fixed public transport routes, some urban FTS schemes have proven effective. However, little empirical research has focused on exploring the factors influencing patronage of FTS in urban and rural areas. This study aims to understand the relationships between patronage and the user's characteristics in New South Wales, Australia, by associating spatial datasets and employing statistical modelling to compare the experience in urban and rural contexts. Results show that users' characteristics of flexible transport are contrastingly different in urban and rural areas; and that this method represents an effective tool to capture the economic and social benefits for FTS users. This study posits that tangible evidence is not enough to evaluate and assess FTS schemes and points out that a careful understanding of the FTS user's benefits is needed to assess the effectiveness of FTS. These findings contribute to a better understanding of flexible transport implementation and provide evidence for FTS scheme proponents and transport funders.

The public good and public attitudes toward data sharing through IoT

AbstractThe Internet of Things (IoT) has potential to deliver important benefits for IoT users, society and public good. How do citizens feel about sharing data from personal devices compared with “smart city” data collection in public spaces, with government and nongovernmental organizations, and across different situations? What predicts willingness to share their data with government? Through a nationally representative survey of over 2000 US respondents as well as interviews, we explore the willingness of citizens to share their data in various circumstances, using the contextual integrity framework, the literature on the “publicness” of organizations, and public value creation. Across different contexts, from half to 2/3 of survey respondents were willing to share data from their own IoT devices for public benefits, and 80%−93% supported the use of sensors in public places for a variety of collective purposes. Trust in government was significantly related to data sharing and support for smart city data collection. Yet government in the United States is less trusted with this data than other organizations with public purposes, such as nonprofits. Cultivating trust through transparent and responsible data stewardship will be important for future use of IoT data for public good.

Neural Crypto-Coding Based Approach to Enhance the Security of Images over the Untrusted Cloud Environment

The cloud provides on-demand, high-quality services to its users without the burden of managing hardware and software. Though the users benefit from the remote services provided by the cloud, they do not have their personal data in their physical possession. This certainly poses new security threats for personal and confidential data, bringing the focus back on trusting the use of the cloud for sensitive data. The benefits of the cloud outweigh the concerns raised earlier, and with an increase in cloud usage, it becomes more important for security services to evolve in order to address the ever-changing threat landscape. Advanced encryption standard (AES), being one of the most widely used encryption techniques, has inherent disadvantages related to the secret key that is shared, and predictable patterns in subkey generation. In addition, since cloud storage involves data transfer over a wireless channel, it is important to address the effect of noise and multipath propagation on the transmitted data. Catering to this problem, we propose a new approach—the secure and reliable neural cryptcoding (SARNC) technique—which provides a superior algorithm, dealing with better encryption techniques combined with channel coding. A chain is as strong as the weakest link and, in the case of symmetric key encryption, the weakest link is the shared key. In order to overcome this limitation, we propose an approach wherein the key used for cryptographic purposes is different from the key shared between the sender and the receiver. The shared key is used to derive the secret private key, which is generated by the neural key exchange protocol. In addition, the proposed approach emphasizes strengthening the sub-key generation process and integrating advanced encryption standard (AES) with low-density parity check (LDPC) codes to provide end-to-end security and reliability over wireless channels. The proposed technique was tested against research done in related areas. A comparative study shows a significant improvement in PSNR, MSE, and the structural similarity index (SSIM). The key strength analysis was carried out to understand the strength and weaknesses of the keys generated.

Examining Attitudes Towards Mental Health Diagnoses: A Q-Methodology Study

Background Debates exist regarding the validity and utility of functional psychiatric diagnoses. How mental health diagnoses are understood has real impacts for service users and service delivery. Aims To investigate different attitudes about the utility of psychiatric diagnoses. Methods Forty-one stakeholders sorted 57 statements related to the usefulness of psychiatric diagnoses. Using q-methodology, four viewpoints were identified and interpreted. Results Viewpoint 1 (Pathologising human experience) regarded diagnoses as pseudo-scientific constructs that lacked validity and obscured the relationships between lived experience and distress. Viewpoint 2 (Illnesses like any other) held that labels reflected real disorders and diagnosis offered important benefits for service users and services. Viewpoint 3 (Stigmatised conditions) similarly regarded diagnoses as reflecting real disorders, but diagnostic criteria were viewed as biased and the impacts of applying labels seen as causing problems for service users. Conversely, Viewpoint 4 (Useful short-hands) viewed diagnostic processes as imperfect but necessary for supporting communication and structuring service delivery. Conclusions While not all viewpoints are in keeping with empirical evidence, we hope results will enable professionals and service users to take meta-positions in relation to their own and others’ attitudes, and to reflect on the impacts of privileging certain viewpoints over others.

Exploiting the Internet Resources for Autonomous Robots in Agriculture

Autonomous robots in the agri-food sector are increasing yearly, promoting the application of precision agriculture techniques. The same applies to online services and techniques implemented over the Internet, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing, which make big data, edge computing, and digital twins technologies possible. Developers of autonomous vehicles understand that autonomous robots for agriculture must take advantage of these techniques on the Internet to strengthen their usability. This integration can be achieved using different strategies, but existing tools can facilitate integration by providing benefits for developers and users. This study presents an architecture to integrate the different components of an autonomous robot that provides access to the cloud, taking advantage of the services provided regarding data storage, scalability, accessibility, data sharing, and data analytics. In addition, the study reveals the advantages of integrating new technologies into autonomous robots that can bring significant benefits to farmers. The architecture is based on the Robot Operating System (ROS), a collection of software applications for communication among subsystems, and FIWARE (Future Internet WARE), a framework of open-source components that accelerates the development of intelligent solutions. To validate and assess the proposed architecture, this study focuses on a specific example of an innovative weeding application with laser technology in agriculture. The robot controller is distributed into the robot hardware, which provides real-time functions, and the cloud, which provides access to online resources. Analyzing the resulting characteristics, such as transfer speed, latency, response and processing time, and response status based on requests, enabled positive assessment of the use of ROS and FIWARE for integrating autonomous robots and the Internet.

Coordinated configuration strategy of multi-energy systems based on capacity-energy-information sharing

Multi-energy systems (MESs) integrate multiple energy vectors and contribute to energy efficient utilization, which have received considerable attention in the energy research field. However, regarding a MES with multi communities, the coordination among the communities has not been fully considered in its planning and configuration. Therefore, this paper proposes a coordinated configuration strategy for MES planning based on capacity-energy-information sharing. First, analysing the capacity, energy and information sharing mechanisms among communities, an improved energy hub (EH) model and hierarchical planning framework for MES is built. Moreover, a bilevel configuration model that coordinates the planning and operation stages is developed to design a MES, which is guided by the information sharing of communities. While the upper level model makes the optimal quantity and capacity configuration plan of communities with consideration of capacity sharing, the lower level model optimizes the best operation economy considering energy interactions in MES scheduling. Finally, a case study is carried out and simulation results show that, compared with the planning approaches in the reference cases, the proposed strategy contributes to a decrease in the MES planning costs and exhibits better performances in jointly considering the planning economy, robustness, carbon emissions and user benefits.

Mobile Apps for mental health: Literature review

This article provides an overview of the literature on mobile applications for mental health. The object of the study is mobile applications designed to help with various mental disorders. The authors discuss in detail the aspects related to the effectiveness and accessibility of such applications, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile applications in the context of benefits for the end user. This article offers a generalized review of the literature on this topic and can serve as a basis for further research in the field of mobile applications for mental health. An attempt has also been made to identify promising areas for this area. The authors conclude that mobile applications for mental health have a number of advantages, among which are their accessibility, confidentiality and a positive impact on the health of users, as well as disadvantages, which are largely associated with the recent emergence of the field and the lack of control by mental health professionals. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the systematization and analysis of existing data on mobile applications for mental health. The conclusions of the article can be useful for specialists in the field of psychology and developers of mobile applications for mental health.

MagneComm+: Near-Field Electromagnetic Induction Communication With Magnetometer

Near-field communication (NFC) technology emerges as a vital role with appealing benefits for users to improve mobile device's functionality. Although today's most smartphones and smartwatches come with NFC support, other mobile devices (e.g., PC and laptops) and IoT devices that don't equip with dedicated radio modules cannot take advantage of wide-scale NFC capability. We design and develop MagneComm+, an NFC implementation scheme without dedicated hardware and propose a novel near-field communication protocol that is applicable to almost all mobile devices and IoT devices. The key idea is to utilize the electromagnetic induction (EMI) signal emitted from the computing devices (e.g., CPUs) and captured by magnetometers on mobile devices for communication. We tackle challenges in data encoding/decoding, preamble detection, retransmission and error correction, multi-transmitter, and full-duplex schemes, to efficiently generate and reliably receive EMI signal with the hardware available on devices. We prototype MagneComm+ on both between laptops and smartphones, as well as between two laptops with an external magnetometer. Extensive evaluation results show that our MagneComm+ supports around 10cm communication distance with average 110 bit per second (bps) data rate on the normal-speed mode, and maximum 17.28kbps on the full-speed mode.

Clinical Influence of Handheld Ultrasound, Supported by Automatic Quantification and Telemedicine, in Suspected Heart Failure.

Early and correct heart failure (HF) diagnosis is essential to improvement of patient care. We aimed to evaluate the clinical influence of handheld ultrasound device (HUD) examinations by general practitioners (GPs) in patients with suspected HF with or without the use of automatic measurement of left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (autoEF), mitral annular plane systolic excursion (autoMAPSE) and telemedical support. Five GPs with limited ultrasound experience examined 166 patients with suspected HF (median interquartile range=70 (63-78) y; mean ± SD EF=53 ± 10%). They first performed a clinical examination. Second, they added an examination with HUD, automatic quantification tools and, finally, telemedical support by an external cardiologist. At all stages, the GPs considered whether the patients had HF. The final diagnosis was made by one of five cardiologists using medical history and clinical evaluation including a standard echocardiography. Compared with the cardiologists' decision, the GPs correctly classified 54% by clinical evaluation. The proportion increased to 71% after adding HUDs, and to 74 % after telemedical evaluation. Net reclassification improvement was highest for HUD with telemedicine. There was no significant benefit of the automatic tools (p ≥ 0.58). Addition of HUD and telemedicine improved the GPs' diagnostic precision in suspected HF. Automatic LV quantification added no benefit. Refined algorithms and more training may be needed before inexperienced users benefit from automatic quantification of cardiac function by HUDs.

고령친화 욕실디자인 가이드라인의 행동과학적 지식배경 확장연구 - 머사앤리의 사용자혜택기준 이론을 중심으로 -

As individual needs are emphasized and the influence of the artificial environment grows, the importance of customized design guidelines that are considerate of users when creating the environment has been highlighted. In particular, in the era of long-life, where the proportion of environmentally sensitive elderly increases rapidly, the convergence knowledge base for understanding the elderly-friendly guidelines needs to be expanded. The purpose of this study is to expand the basis of behavioral science knowledge that helps to understand the guidelines for aging-friendly bathroom design. To this end, Murtha & Lee’s User Benefit Criteria theory was used, and the guidelines were aimed at the contents of the bathroom in the recently developed guidelines for aging-friendly housing. As a research method, a content analysis technique was used. A total of 111 guideline items were analyzed according to 21 user benefit dimensions. Among the aging-friendly bathroom design guidelines, a total of 57 guidelines supporting ‘Behavioral Facilitation’ and 48 guidelines supporting ‘Physiological Maintenance’, accounting for 95% of the total. In the former case, ‘Functional Conformance’, ‘Operational Conformance’, and ‘Spatial Conformance’ accounted for about 93%, and in the latter case, ‘Hazard Regulation’ and ‘Support Conformance’ accounted for about 69%. This is the core purposes and expected effects shown in the existing guidelines, and it is clear that it is an important wisdom to design well. In addition, due to the relationship between guideline items and user benefits, it was provided as a framework for a comprehensive understanding of how profiles should be approached to prevent accidents in the bathroom and improve the quality of life of the elderly. In conclusion, behavioral science knowledge of the background and objectives of the creation of guidelines created to specifically present bathroom plans, and the evaluation of usability has been extended and systematically presented.

Recovered Fly Ashes as an Anthropogenic Raw Material

Poland is a country where the commercial power industry mainly uses coal to produce energy. As a result of energy production processes, by-products of combustion are generated, primarily fly ashes. In Poland, these are mostly obtained from conventional coal combustion boilers. Fly ashes from coal combustion account for 1.2% of all industrial waste generated in Poland. In addition, fly ashes are produced by fluidized-bed boilers. These are classified as a mixture of fly ashes and solid calcium-based reaction waste from flue-gas desulphurization, and constitute almost 2% of Polish industrial waste. This paper describes the amounts of fly ashes generated in Poland and considers activities related to their recovery and disposal. The high recovery levels of fly ashes (about 90%) and fluidized ashes (about 98%) mean that these waste products can also be considered anthropogenic raw materials. The use of these materials in the cement industry is an example of industrial symbiosis. Such usage benefits not only the economy but also the environment and, therefore, society as a whole. To describe the use of recovered fly ashes in cement plants, the authors use the anthropogenicity index, which characterizes the level of technological advancement and the substitutability of primary raw materials for secondary raw materials.

A Study on the Improvement Direction of Artificial Intelligence Speakers Applying DeLone and McLean’s Information System Success Model

Recently, many artificial intelligence speakers have been released on the market worldwide. However, the AI speaker thinks autonomously, which is a characteristic of AI. There seems to be no element to talk about. Even answering the question of this study and saying, “It’s not like an artificial intelligence speaker, it’s like a slightly advanced Internet-connected radio.” To determine the difference between these released technologies and users’ expectations in detail, we tried to analyze whether the quality and value of artificial intelligence speakers affect the positive (+) effect on use and user satisfaction. Finally, we tried to determine if it comes with user benefits. As a result of analyzing DeLone and McLean’s IS SUCCESS model, it was found that the information quality provided by the artificial intelligence speaker is used, but it is difficult to deliver satisfaction, but the service and system quality deliver user satisfaction. Moreover, it was found that perceived pleasure had no positive effect on the use or user satisfaction. It is necessary to upgrade to a level that can provide information providing quality and enjoyment that users can perceive. This means that it is a system with built-in voice recognition to answer questions connected to the Internet.

Problematising ‘Fused Principles’ in Discourses of Preventative Social Care: Interpreting the Implementation of National Social Services Legislation in Wales, UK

Abstract Prevention is a core principle in social care legislation across the UK. However, history shows great variability in how a preventative social care agenda is conceptualised and implemented. We report findings from an independent evaluation of the implementation of the ‘2014 Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act’ incorporating a document analysis of reports and plans from Wales’ twenty-two local authorities (LAs) and eighty-eight qualitative interviews from social services strategic leaders and operational managers within four Welsh LAs. Analysis highlighted multiple interpretations of national policy, with notable overlapping agendas. In Gramscian terms, there is a constant process of negotiating prevention values and agendas, with consequences for whose interests are served. This was apparent through drives towards cost-saving, financial sustainability and reduced service demand operating alongside values-based principles rooted in well-being and mutualism. Following Kenny’s work in community development, we argue a ‘fusing’ of principles whilst espousing benefits for service users, potentially blurs the aims of the legislation, with implications for practice.

The influence of user-perceived benefits on the acceptance of microlearning for librarians’ training

Microlearning has shifted professional training and development and its acceptance depends on perceived user benefits. This study examines the influence of user-perceived benefits on librarians’ acceptance of the microlearning approach in selected universities in Tanzania. Using a questionnaire informed by the variables of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) model to collect data from a sample of 64 librarians, the results indicated that the perceived ease of use was found to play a more significant role in the acceptance of microlearning than perceived usefulness. However, the lack of in-person/physical interaction with peers during the training deterred the use of microlearning by the librarians. The positive influence of perceived usefulness and ease of use on the acceptance of microlearning strengthens the relevance of adopting microlearning as a didactic technology for librarians’ training. The findings imply that proper implementation of microlearning as a training avenue is key due to the plenteous benefits it affords over the challenges.

The Ontology of Biological Attributes (OBA)—computational traits for the life sciences

Existing phenotype ontologies were originally developed to represent phenotypes that manifest as a character state in relation to a wild-type or other reference. However, these do not include the phenotypic trait or attribute categories required for the annotation of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) mappings or any population-focussed measurable trait data. The integration of trait and biological attribute information with an ever increasing body of chemical, environmental and biological data greatly facilitates computational analyses and it is also highly relevant to biomedical and clinical applications. The Ontology of Biological Attributes (OBA) is a formalised, species-independent collection of interoperable phenotypic trait categories that is intended to fulfil a data integration role. OBA is a standardised representational framework for observable attributes that are characteristics of biological entities, organisms, or parts of organisms. OBA has a modular design which provides several benefits for users and data integrators, including an automated and meaningful classification of trait terms computed on the basis of logical inferences drawn from domain-specific ontologies for cells, anatomical and other relevant entities. The logical axioms in OBA also provide a previously missing bridge that can computationally link Mendelian phenotypes with GWAS and quantitative traits. The term components in OBA provide semantic links and enable knowledge and data integration across specialised research community boundaries, thereby breaking silos.

Exploring the Contingent Role of Effort Expectancy on Online Purchase Intention in E-commerce Application

Objective: This study examines the influence of hedonic and utilitarian values on perceived benefits and their impact on purchase intention by using effort expectancy as a moderating variable. Design/Methods/Approach: This study adopts a quantitative approach by employing a non-probability sampling technique to collect a sample of 175 respondents who had used the Shopee application in Malang. The data was analyzed using SmartPLS through the measurement model test (outer model) and structural model test. Findings: The results show that hedonic value and utilitarian value have a positive and significant effect on perceived benefit, hedonic value and utilitarian value have a positive and significant impact on purchase intention, and perceived benefit has a positive and significant effect on purchase intention. However, effort expectancy does not have a significant role in moderating the relationships. Originality/Value: The limited extant literature only addresses a simple direct–effect relationship between effort expectancy toward behavioral intention and use behavior. Drawing on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use, this research provides deep insight through position effort expectance as the moderation role. Also, this study elaborates on the effect of utilitarian and hedonic values on perceived benefit. In turn, this framework also explored the influence of perceived benefit on consumer intention to purchase in electronic commerce, further advancing an understanding of this dynamic subject matter. Practical/Policy Implications: The study contributes to the existing knowledge of managerial practice by pointing out the importance of effort expectancy, which shapes the consumer's perceived benefit, and illustrating its impact in the case of purchasing intention in an e-commerce application. E-commerce companies can enhance the customer experience when accessing applications to invigorate purchase intention. E-commerce companies need to maintain their performance in terms of app ease of use and provide innovations by providing more user benefits, thereby creating loyal customers. Eventually, the company should keep earning society's trust as reliable e-commerce that meets the needs of today's digital era.

Enhancing Students' Science Process Skills through the Implementation of POGIL-based General Chemistry Experiment Manual: A Quantitative Study

This study focuses on the development of a POGIL-based experiment manual for general chemistry courses to enhance students' science process skills. The research and development (R&D) method, utilizing the Plomp model, was employed to create a valid and practical manual. Data were collected through a validity and practicality questionnaire, which was then analyzed using the Kappa Cohen's method. The manual's content was found to be highly valid, with an average score of 0.82, while its graphics had an average score of 0.84, also falling within the high category. Practicality was assessed through small group student testing, revealing high practicality scores in terms of user convenience, attractiveness, and benefits, with an average score of 0.77. Overall, the results indicate that the POGIL-based general chemistry experiment manual developed in this study is both valid and practical.

Dipwmsearch: a Python package for searching di-PWM motifs.

Seeking probabilistic motifs in a sequence is a common task to annotate putative transcription factor binding sites or other RNA/DNA binding sites. Useful motif representations include position weight matrices (PWMs), dinucleotide PWMs (di-PWMs), and hidden Markov models (HMMs). Dinucleotide PWMs not only combine the simplicity of PWMs-a matrix form and a cumulative scoring function-but also incorporate dependency between adjacent positions in the motif (unlike PWMs which disregard any dependency). For instance to represent binding sites, the HOCOMOCO database provides di-PWM motifs derived from experimental data. Currently, two programs, SPRy-SARUS and MOODS, can search for occurrences of di-PWMs in sequences. We propose a Python package called dipwmsearch, which provides an original and efficient algorithm for this task (it first enumerates matching words for the di-PWM, and then searches these all at once in the sequence, even if the latter contains IUPAC codes). The user benefits from an easy installation via Pypi or conda, a comprehensive documentation, and executable scripts that facilitate the use of di-PWMs. dipwmsearch is available at https://pypi.org/project/dipwmsearch/ and https://gite.lirmm.fr/rivals/dipwmsearch/ under Cecill license.