Suchergebnisse

An examination of current government efforts to develop a techno-nationalism in Canada describes the Community Access Program designed to "make Canadians the most Internet-connected people in the world." Internet access is seen as a vital step toward making Canada a competitive nation-state. The term "technological nationalism" introduced by Maurice Charland's (1986) is described along with two competing versions of technological nationalism: the communication state & the absent state. The premise of the communication state views technological nationalism as a positive expression of postmodernity in which culture, politics, & the economy are shaped by processes of interaction/connection rather than material factors. The absent nation thesis maintains that the rhetoric of communication has spawned the "illusion of a nation" that appears as a polis but lacks a common culture. Bruce Powe's (1993) concept of Canadian identity is discussed. In contrast to Charland's emphasis on the political economy, Powe sees electronic communication as a "psychic" phenomenon that symbolizes a flexible conception of citizenship. Prospects for techno-constitutional nationalism in Canada are discussed. 1 Table. J. Lindroth

Broadband technology has captured the attention of many stakeholders, nations, and governments throughout the world as a "nation building" infrastructure enabling the future economic prosperity and improved living standards for many communities. Broadband networks are an important means by which rural communities around the world can gain access to global networks of knowledge and communication. They are also a means by which nation-states and regions seek to increase their economic and cultural sovereignty. Rural broadband can therefore be seen as a critical nexus between global and local flows of both capital and ideas.In 2005, the provincial government of Alberta in Canada completed a significant investment into the construction of a unique high-speed, high-capacity fiber-optic network connecting rural communities throughout the province. The network was the first of its kind in the world in terms of the advantages it represented for rural individuals to benefit from easy access to broadband. Paradoxically, as of 2008 Alberta was ranked last among Canadian provinces for rural broadband access. This article examines how ambiguity and uncertainty faced by industry decision-makers and broadband stakeholders contribute to the adoption of broadband by rural communities. Interviews were conducted with industry decision-makers. Through the application of Weick's sensemaking framework, several areas of ambiguity and uncertainty are identified related to rural broadband adoption. A primary finding is that self-fulfilling prophecies about the broadband network's construction and use developed through collective sensemaking processes, resulting in an immobilizing effect on the development of rural broadband's "effective use" by communities. ; Tecnología de banda ancha ha capturado la atención de muchos interesados, las naciones y gobiernos de todo el mundo como la construcción de una "nación" infraestructura que permita la futura prosperidad económica y mejores niveles de vida para muchas comunidades. En 2005, el gobierno provincial de Alberta, en Canadá completó una importante inversión en la construcción de una única de alta velocidad y alta capacidad de la red de fibra óptica que conecta las comunidades rurales de toda la provincia. La red fue la primera de su tipo en el mundo en términos de las ventajas que representa para las personas rurales para beneficiarse de un fácil acceso a banda ancha. Paradójicamente, a partir de 2008 de Alberta se situó en último lugar entre las provincias canadienses de acceso de banda ancha rural. Este artículo analiza cómo la ambigüedad y la incertidumbre que enfrentan los responsables de la toma de decisiones de la industria de banda ancha y las partes interesadas contribuyan a la adopción de la banda ancha por las comunidades rurales. Se realizaron entrevistas con responsables de la toma de decisiones de la industria. A través de la aplicación del marco sensemaking Weick, varias áreas de la ambigüedad y la incertidumbre son identificadas relacionadas con la adopción de banda ancha rural. Una conclusión principal es que el auto varias profecías desarrollado a través de procesos colectivos sensemaking, resultando en un efecto de la inmovilización en el desarrollo de la banda ancha rural por las comunidades.

Despesa energètica; Telèfon intel·ligent; Lesió de la medul·la espinal ; Gasto energético; Teléfono inteligente; Lesión de la médula espinal ; Energy expenditure; Smartphone; Spinal cord injury ; This study aimed to investigate the validity of using built-in smartphone accelerometers to estimate the active energy expenditures of full-time manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury (SCI). Twenty participants with complete SCI completed 10 5-min daily activities that involved the upper limbs, during which their oxygen consumption and upper limb activity were registered using a portable gas analyzer and a smartphone (placed on the non-dominant arm), respectively. Time series of 1-min averaged oxygen consumption and 55 accelerometer variables (13 variables for each of the four axes and three additional variables for the correlations between axes) were used to estimate three multiple linear models, using a 10-fold cross-validation method. The results showed that models that included either all variables and models or that only included the linear variables showed comparable performance, with a correlation of 0.72. Slightly worse general performance was demonstrated by the model that only included non-linear variables, although it proved to be more accurate at estimating the energy expenditures (EE) during specific tasks. These results suggest that smartphones could be a promising low-cost alternative to laboratory-grade accelerometers to estimate the energy expenditure of wheelchair users with spinal cord injury during daily activities. ; This work was supported by Fundació la Marató de la TV3, under Projects 201720-10 and 201701-10, and European Union through the Operational Program of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the Valencian Community 2014-2020 (IDIFEDER/2018/029).