On reminder effects, drop-outs and dominance: evidence from an online experiment on charitable giving

We present the results of an experiment that (a) shows the usefulness of screening out drop-outs and (b) tests whether different methods of payment and reminder intervals affect charitable giving. Following a lab session, participants could make online donations to charity for a total duration of three months. Our procedure justifying the exclusion of drop-outs consists in requiring participants to collect payments in person flexibly and as known in advance and as highlighted to them later. Our interpretation is that participants who failed to collect their positive payments under these circumstances are likely not to satisfy dominance. If we restrict the sample to subjects who did not drop out, but not otherwise, reminders significantly increase the overall amount of charitable giving. We also find that weekly reminders are no more effective than monthly reminders in increasing charitable giving, and that, in our three months duration experiment, standing orders do not increase giving relative to one-off donations

Use Cases for Abnormal Behaviour Detection in Smart Homes

While people have many ideas about how a smart home should react to particular behaviours from their inhabitant, there seems to have been relatively little attempt to organise this systematically. In this paper, we attempt to rectify this in consideration of context awareness and novelty detection for a smart home that monitors its inhabitant for illness and unexpected behaviour. We do this through the concept of the Use Case, which is used in software engineering to specify the behaviour of a system. We describe a set of scenarios and the possible outputs that the smart home could give and introduce the SHMUC Repository of Smart Home Use Cases. Based on this, we can consider how probabilistic and logic-based reasoning systems would produce different capabilities

Calendar.help: Designing a Workflow-Based Scheduling Agent with Humans in the Loop

Although information workers may complain about meetings, they are an essential part of their work life. Consequently, busy people spend a significant amount of time scheduling meetings. We present Calendar.help, a system that provides fast, efficient scheduling through structured workflows. Users interact with the system via email, delegating their scheduling needs to the system as if it were a human personal assistant. Common scheduling scenarios are broken down using well-defined workflows and completed as a series of microtasks that are automated when possible and executed by a human otherwise. Unusual scenarios fall back to a trained human assistant who executes them as unstructured macrotasks. We describe the iterative approach we used to develop Calendar.help, and share the lessons learned from scheduling thousands of meetings during a year of real-world deployments. Our findings provide insight into how complex information tasks can be broken down into repeatable components that can be executed efficiently to improve productivity.Comment: 10 page

IT-based Patient Interventions for Opioid Abuse: Evaluation using Analytical Model

The number of people in the US with opioid abuse exceeds 2 million and the total cost is approximately $100B per year. In this study, we focus on patient-level interventions and present three IT-based interventions: (a) mobile reminders, (b) electronic monitoring, and (c) composite intervention. We have developed an analytical model for evaluating interventions using Return-on-Investment (ROI). The interventions are cost-effective for higher values of intervention effectiveness, hospital, and emergency room cost. However, with QoL improvement, cost-effectiveness improves significantly. We also explored the use of financial incentives for increasing the adoption of interventions. These results will help patients, healthcare professionals, decision-makers, and family members to choose the most suitable intervention to address opioid abuse

Can implementation intentions and text messages promote brisk walking? A randomized trial.

Objective: To test the efficacy in promoting brisk walking of two theory-based interventions that incorporate implementation intentions and text message (Short Message Service; SMS) reminders directed at one’s walking-related plans or goals. Design: Participants (N = 149) were randomized to one of three conditions (implementation intention + SMS plan reminder, implementation intention + SMS goal reminder, control) before completing measures at baseline and follow-up 4 weeks later. At follow-up, the experimental groups were given a surprise recall task concerning their plans. All participants completed an equivalent goal recall task. Main Outcome Measures: Validated self-report measures of physical activity and measures of implementation intention and goal recall, weight, and waist-to-hip ratio. Results: Both intervention groups increased their brisk walking relative to the control group, without reducing other physical activity. The goal reminder group lost the most weight. The SMS plan reminder group recalled more of their plans than the SMS goal reminder group, but the latter were more successful in goal recall. Conclusion: Both interventions can promote brisk walking in sedentary populations. Text messages aid the recall of, and could enhance interventions that target, implementation intentions and goals

Measuring the eccentricity of the Earth orbit with a nail and a piece of plywood

I describe how to obtain a rather good experimental determination of the eccentricity of the Earth orbit, as well as the obliquity of the Earth rotation axis, by measuring, over the course of a year, the elevation of the Sun as a function of time during a day. With a very simple "instrument" consisting of an elementary sundial, first-year students can carry out an appealing measurement programme, learn important concepts in experimental physics, see concrete applications of kinematics and changes of reference frames, and benefit from a hands-on introduction to astronomy.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

A systematic review of digital interventions for improving the diet and physical activity behaviors of adolescents

Many adolescents have poor diet and physical activity behaviors, which can lead to the development of noncommunicable diseases in later life. Digital platforms offer inexpensive means of delivering health interventions, but little is known about their effectiveness. This systematic review was conducted to synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of digital interventions to improve diet quality and increase physical activity in adolescents, to effective intervention components and to assess the cost-effectiveness of these interventions. Following a systematic search, abstracts were assessed against inclusion criteria, and data extraction and quality assessment were performed for included studies. Data were analyzed to identify key features that are associated with significant improvement in behavior. A total of 27 studies met inclusion criteria. Most (n = 15) were Web site interventions. Other delivery methods were text messages, games, multicomponent interventions, emails, and social media. Significant behavior change was often seen when interventions included education, goal setting, self-monitoring, and parental involvement. None of the publications reported cost-effectiveness. Due to heterogeneity of studies, meta-analysis was not feasible.It is possible to effect significant health behavior change in adolescents through digital interventions that incorporate education, goal setting, self-monitoring, and parental involvement. Most of the evidence relates to Web sites and further research into alternate media is needed, and longer term outcomes should be evaluated. There is a paucity of data on the cost-effectiveness of digital health interventions, and future trials should report these data