From smart cities to smart social urbanism: A framework for shaping the socio-technological ecosystems in cities

Advocated mostly by technology companies, the smart city concept promises participation, democratization and innovative urbanism. Tracking these promises and ideas, this paper explores “smart urbanism” in ten cities from all over Israel. Based on interviews with leading figures in municipalities, smart city consultants and key figures in technological companies (n = 40), the aims of this paper are to assess the efforts of cities to become smart by responding to the following questions: 1. What is guiding the decision-making process in developing technological initiatives? 2. Does context play a role in implementing technological initiatives? 3. How are the residents perceived, and what tools are being used to address residents' digital differences? The key argument of this paper is threefold: first, in the process of becoming a smart city, the roles of public and private actors are blurred, influencing the process of decision making. Second, despite contextual differences, cities adopt similar digital initiatives. Third, technological initiatives that focus on social needs and address inequality in the digital age are still at the margins. The final discussion suggests that most municipalities are still at an early stage of digitization implementation and have the ability to shape and form a vision for the cities as socio-technological ecosystems in a way that will serve their publics as a whole. The paper ends with a call for shifting the focus from the city to society in developing digital initiatives and cultivating smart social urbanism.     

基于OBE理念的大学“计算机公共基础”课的改革与实践

文章以面向工科专业的工程教育专业认证需求为导向,研究"计算机公共基础"课程体系,实现计算思维落地,将新工科人才培养、工程教育专业认证与创新创业教育相结合,构建满足工程教育专业认证需要,适合新工科教育发展,理论实践互动融合、竞赛及创新创业相结合的"计算机公共基础"课程教学体系。     

Are female users equally active? An empirical study of the gender imbalance in Korean online news commenting

Because online news is pervasive and online comments provide space for people to express their opinions and participate in open discussions, they affect public opinion. However, at least in Korea, male users seem not only to be more active in consuming online news but also in commenting online. Many previous studies have investigated the gender imbalance in news consumption of not only traditional media but also online media. Although a few studies explored gender differences in online comments on news, no study has investigated such gender differences using actual data on the basic profiles of commenters. To fill the gap between previous studies and reality and address the gender imbalance in online news comments and public opinion, this study examined the differences between male and female online news commenters. Furthermore, using actual data provided by Naver, the dominant Internet portal in Korea, this study analyzed the characteristics of female news commenters and those of news content where female users most actively commented. This study found that—at least in Korea—fewer women comment on news, they are less active than men, and that there is a difference between younger and older women. This study also found that people write more comments in a day as their age increases and the gender differences decrease with age.     

Social media and political partisanship – A subaltern public sphere’s role in democracy

Social media, as a subaltern public sphere (Fraser, 1990), have a democratic function in providing an alternative platform for minorities and marginalized to defy mainstream discourses in the public sphere. However, social media have been found to have an echo chamber effect, which may be detrimental to democracy. They may help to accelerate the ascendancy of a “post-truth” era in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief. A study on political polarization, however, showed that selective exposure and avoidance in social media are weak indicators of polarization (Johnson et al., 2017). This study examines the role of social media in democracy and partisan politics. The authors considered that despite the echo chamber effect, social media have a limited part to play in the formation of polarized stances compared with other factors, such as demographics, political orientation, and mass media use. The study tested two main hypotheses: H1: Social media use is associated with political stance that is marginalized in the mainstream media; H2: Political orientation has a stronger relationship than social media use with the stance toward political values and social issues.The results supported both hypotheses. Social media are associated with political stance that is marginalized in the mainstream media. However, when compared with other factors, the relationship between social media and stance becomes less obvious. Although the echo chamber effect may reinforce the original stance, social media do not exhibit a strong relationship with the stance toward political values and social issues. Partisan orientation and use of partisan mass media are found to have stronger links with variations in stance. Social media, however, provide a subaltern public sphere for those excluded from the dominant public sphere, thus extending the public sphere to accommodate multiple opinions and perspectives.     

Comprehensive H2O Molecules Regulation via Deep Eutectic Solvents for Ultra-Stable Zinc Metal Anode

The corrosion, parasitic reactions, and aggravated dendrite growth severely restrict development of aqueous Zn metal batteries. Here, we report a novel strategy to break the hydrogen bond network between water molecules and construct the Zn(TFSI)₂-sulfolane-H₂O deep eutectic solvents. This strategy cuts off the transfer of protons/hydroxides and inhibits the activity of H₂O, as reflected in a much lower freezing point (<−80 °C), a significantly larger electrochemical stable window (>3 V), and suppressed evaporative water from electrolytes. Stable Zn plating/stripping for over 9600 h was obtained. Based on experimental characterizations and theoretical simulations, it has been proved that sulfolane can effectively regulate solvation shell and simultaneously build the multifunctional Zn-electrolyte interface. Moreover, the multi-layer homemade modular cell and 1.32 Ah pouch cell further confirm its prospect for practical application.     

Optochemical Control of mRNA Translation in Eukaryotes

A major stage in the expression of genes is the translation of messenger RNA (mRNA), and the regulation of this process is essential for protein production in cells. How tightly controlled gene expression can be spatially and temporally, is particularly evident in polar cells and embryonic development. We need tools to dissect these complex processes, if we wish to understand the underlying links, especially the difficulties brought on by malfunction. External bioorthogonal triggers are very helpful in this area, if they let us precisely control where and when a process is started. Equipping nucleic acids with light-responsive groups has proven to be an effective approach to examine the dynamic regulatory route of mRNA translation in living cells. In this review, we present an overview of the most recent methods for optochemically controlling translation, focusing on cis-acting technologies.     

The Molecular Basis of Catalysis by SDR Family Members Ketoacyl-ACP Reductase FabG and Enoyl-ACP Reductase FabI in Type-II Fatty Acid Biosynthesis

The short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) superfamily members acyl-ACP reductases FabG and FabI are indispensable core enzymatic modules and catalytic orientation controllers in type-II fatty acid biosynthesis. Herein, we report their distinct substrate allosteric recognition and enantioselective reduction mechanisms. FabG achieves allosteric regulation of ACP and NADPH through ACP binding across two adjacent FabG monomers, while FabI follows an irreversible compulsory order of substrate binding in that NADH binding must precede that of ACP on a discrete FabI monomer. Moreover, FabG and FabI utilize a backdoor residue Phe187 or a “rheostat” α8 helix for acyl chain length selection, and their corresponding triad residues Ser142 or Tyr145 recognize the keto- or enoyl-acyl substrates, respectively, facilitating initiation of nucleophilic attack by NAD(P)H. The other two triad residues (Tyr and Lys) mediate subsequent proton transfer and (R)-3-hydroxyacyl- or saturated acyl-ACP production.     

美国电信改革得失评述及对中国电信改革的思考

对美国电信改革进行了简要回顾的同时对不同阶段管理措施的功过得失进行评述：在所史分析的基础上,提出了“规模”与“创新”之间的结构性矛盾是电信业有效竞争的根本障碍;结合中国电信改革的实战,提出中国电信改革应缩续坚待循序渐进的改革原别,改革重点应该是鼓励创新而非降低价格。积极探索有效的资源共享机制,寻求电信业结构性矛盾的解决之路。     

韩国电信市场发展与政府管制

从管制机构与管制政策两个方面介绍了电信市场管制的基本情况.从非对称管制、资费管制、要求移动运营商提供用户手机号码薄以及对移动信息内容的管制四方面阐述了韩国政府的管制政策.说明了韩国移动市场的发展情况以及韩国近期的购并活动.     

Residence exchange wanted: A stable residence exchange problem

This paper introduces a special matching problem, the stable residence exchange problem, originated from the need for residence exchange in China. The problem involves families wishing to exchange their residences based on their preferences. The stability of exchange is defined and the problem can be formed as a special case of trading indivisible goods with preferences. The solution method and the properties of the solution are discussed and the factors that may affect the performance of the residence exchange are investigated through computer simulation. Finally, the application considerations are addressed.