17,110 research outputs found

    When Intrusive Can Be Likable: Product Placement Effects on Multitasking Consumers

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    Using movie scenes, this study examines how multitasking by viewers influences the product-plot integration effect. Findings indicate that multitasking dampens a well-integrated placement\u27s brand-enhancing effect and mitigates an intrusive placement\u27s brand-damaging effect. Well-integrated placement produces an assimilation effect, leading to convergence of viewers\u27 attitudes toward the placed versus competing brands, while intrusive placement triggers a contrast effect that results in divergence of these attitudes. Among single-tasking viewers, the boomerang effect of an intrusive placement decreases the favorability of the placed brand and increases the favorability of the not-shown competitor. The opposite is true among multitasking viewers, however

    They want to tell us: Attention-aware Design and Evaluation of Ambient Displays for Learning

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    This paper explores the interaction between users and ambient displays and the evaluation thereof in a learning context. A formative design study examined the user attention towards ambient displays as well as the influence of different display designs. Experimental prototypes were varied on two design dimensions, namely representational fidelity and notification level, and deployed on a university campus. For the evaluation a combined approach using quantitative attention data as well as qualitative assessment methods was used. The results show a high degree of user interest in the displays over time, but do not provide clear evidence that the design of the displays influences the user attention. Nevertheless, the combination of quantitative and qualitative measurement does provide a more holistic view on user attention. The gathered insights can inform future designs and developments of ambient displays also beyond the learning context

    Use of Medicinal Cannabis and Synthetic Cannabinoids in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): a systematic review

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    Background and Objectives: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common psychiatric disorder resulting from a traumatic event, is manifested through hyperarousal, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and sleep disturbances. Despite several therapeutic approaches being available, both pharmacological and psychological, recently a growing interest has developed in using cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids stems from their consideration as more efficient and better tolerated alternatives for the treatment of this condition. The present paper aims to evaluate the clinical and therapeutic potentials of medical cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids in treating PTSD patients. Methods: A systematic electronic search was performed, including all papers published up to May 2019, using the following keywords (((cannabis[Title/Abstract]) OR (synthetic cannabinoids [Title/Abstract])) AND ((PTSD[Title/Abstract]) OR (Posttraumatic stress disorder[Title/Abstract]))) for the topics ‘Cannabis’, ‘Synthetic Cannabinoids’, ‘PTSD’, and MESH terms, on the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science online databases. For data gathering purposes, PRISMA guidelines were followed. Results were organized into two groups, considering cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids as different therapeutic approaches for PTSD. Results: Present data show that cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids, both acting on the endocannabinoids system, may have a potential therapeutic use for improving PTSD symptoms, e.g., reducing anxiety, modulating memory-related processes, and improving sleep. Conclusions: Even though the current literature suggests that cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids may have a role in the treatment of PTSD, there is currently limited evidence regarding their safety and efficacy. Therefore, additional research is needed in order to better understand the effectiveness and therapeutic usage of these drug classes and monitor their safety.Peer reviewe

    High level sill and dyke intrusions initiated from rapidly buried mafic lava flows in scoria cones of Tongoa, Vanuatu (New Hebrides), South Pacific

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    Scoria cones are generally considered to grow rapidly in days to weeks or months. During their growth lava flows may be fed onto the cone surface from lava-lake breaches, or form by coalescence of spatter; such flows are preserved interbedded with scoria lapilli and ash beds. On Tongoa, an island of the Vanuatu volcanic arc in the South Pacific, a series of scoria cones developed during the Holocene, forming a widespread monogenetic volcanic field. Half sections of scoria cones along the coast expose complex interior architecture cone architectures. On the western side of Tongoa Island a scoria cone remnant with steeply crater-ward dipping beds of scoria ash and lapilli contains various dm-to-m thick lava flows, which are connected by irregular dikes cutting obliquely across the beds of the cone. The lava flows are coherent igneous bodies with well-developed flow top and basal breccias. The lavas interbedded with the cone-forming layers are part of a larger (up to 7 m thick) body that is connected to dykes and sills of irregular geometries that intrude the cone's pyroclastic layers. This 3D relationship suggests that the lava flows were buried quickly under the accumulating scoriaceous deposits. This allowed subsequent escape of magma from the fluid interiors of flows, with the magma then squeezed upward or laterally into the accumulating pyroclastic pile. Movement of the pile above the partly mobile lava, and potential destabilisation during intrusion into the pile of lava squeezed from the flows, may signal the onset of localised cone failures, and could be implicated in development of major cone breaches (e.g. Paricutin)

    Pervasive and standalone computing: The perceptual effects of variable multimedia quality.

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    The introduction of multimedia on pervasive and mobile communication devices raises a number of perceptual quality issues, however, limited work has been done examining the 3-way interaction between use of equipment, quality of perception and quality of service. Our work measures levels of informational transfer (objective) and user satisfaction (subjective)when users are presented with multimedia video clips at three different frame rates, using four different display devices, simulating variation in participant mobility. Our results will show that variation in frame-rate does not impact a user’s level of information assimilation, however, does impact a users’ perception of multimedia video ‘quality’. Additionally, increased visual immersion can be used to increase transfer of video information, but can negatively affect the users’ perception of ‘quality’. Finally, we illustrate the significant affect of clip-content on the transfer of video, audio and textual information, placing into doubt the use of purely objective quality definitions when considering multimedia presentations

    Intrusiveness, Trust and Argumentation: Using Automated Negotiation to Inhibit the Transmission of Disruptive Information

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    The question of how to promote the growth and diffusion of information has been extensively addressed by a wide research community. A common assumption underpinning most studies is that the information to be transmitted is useful and of high quality. In this paper, we endorse a complementary perspective. We investigate how the growth and diffusion of high quality information can be managed and maximized by preventing, dampening and minimizing the diffusion of low quality, unwanted information. To this end, we focus on the conflict between pervasive computing environments and the joint activities undertaken in parallel local social contexts. When technologies for distributed activities (e.g. mobile technology) develop, both artifacts and services that enable people to participate in non-local contexts are likely to intrude on local situations. As a mechanism for minimizing the intrusion of the technology, we develop a computational model of argumentation-based negotiation among autonomous agents. A key component in the model is played by trust: what arguments are used and how they are evaluated depend on how trustworthy the agents judge one another. To gain an insight into the implications of the model, we conduct a number of virtual experiments. Results enable us to explore how intrusiveness is affected by trust, the negotiation network and the agents' abilities of conducting argumentation

    Negative affective state mimics effects of perceptual load on spatial perception

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    Recent electrophysiological evidence has shown that perceptual load and negative affective state can produce very similar, early-attention gating effects in early visual areas, modulating the processing of peripheral stimuli. Here we assessed the question of whether or not these modulatory effects of perceptual load and negative affect (NA) lead to comparable changes in spatial perception abilities, which could be captured at the behavioral level. High perceptual load at fixation impaired the precise spatial localization of peripheral textures, relative to a low perceptual load condition. By contrast, the coarse spatial encoding of these peripheral stimuli was not load-dependent, under neutral affective conditions. The transient experience of NA was induced in an independent sample of participants, who showed decreased performance in the localization task, even at a low perceptual-load level. These results were observed in the absence of any systematic eye movement toward the peripheral textures. These findings suggest that spatial location perception is an attention-dependent, as well as state-dependent process, in the sense that NA, very much like load, can dynamically shape early spatial perceptual abilities. Although NA mimics load during spatial localization, we discuss the possibility that these two effects likely depend upon nonoverlapping brain networks

    EXODUS: Integrating intelligent systems for launch operations support

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    Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is developing knowledge-based systems to automate critical operations functions for the space shuttle fleet. Intelligent systems will monitor vehicle and ground support subsystems for anomalies, assist in isolating and managing faults, and plan and schedule shuttle operations activities. These applications are being developed independently of one another, using different representation schemes, reasoning and control models, and hardware platforms. KSC has recently initiated the EXODUS project to integrate these stand alone applications into a unified, coordinated intelligent operations support system. EXODUS will be constructed using SOCIAL, a tool for developing distributed intelligent systems. EXODUS, SOCIAL, and initial prototyping efforts using SOCIAL to integrate and coordinate selected EXODUS applications are described
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