Ubiquitous computing: Anytime, anyplace, anywhere?

Computers are ubiquitous, in terms that they are everywhere, but does this mean the same as ubiquitous computing? Views are divided. The convergent device (one-does-all) view posits the computer as a tool through which anything, and indeed everything, can be done (Licklider & Taylor, 1968). The divergent device (many-do-all) view, by contrast, offers a world where microprocessors are embedded in everything and communicating with one another (Weiser, 1991). This debate is implicitly present in this issue, with examples of the convergent device in Crook & Barrowcliff's paper and in Gay et al's paper, and examples of the divergent devices in Thomas & Gellersen's paper and Baber's paper. I suspect both streams of technology are likely to co-exist

Integrated context-aware and cloud-based adaptive home screens for android phones

This is the post-print version of this Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 Springer VerlagThe home screen in Android phones is a highly customizable user interface where the users can add and remove widgets and icons for launching applications. This customization is currently done on the mobile device itself and will only create static content. Our work takes the concept of Android home screen [3] one step further and adds flexibility to the user interface by making it context-aware and integrated with the cloud. Overall results indicated that the users have a strong positive bias towards the application and that the adaptation helped them to tailor the device to their needs by using the different context aware mechanisms

Research on gas-surface interactions, 1966-1967. Part 1 - Project summary final report, 11 Aug. 1966 - 11 Oct. 1967

High intensity shock tube driven molecular beam for gas-surface interaction

Proximal business intelligence on the semantic web

This is the post-print version of this article. The official version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2010 Springer.Ubiquitous information systems (UBIS) extend current Information System thinking to explicitly differentiate technology between devices and software components with relation to people and process. Adapting business data and management information to support specific user actions in context is an ongoing topic of research. Approaches typically focus on providing mechanisms to improve specific information access and transcoding but not on how the information can be accessed in a mobile, dynamic and ad-hoc manner. Although web ontology has been used to facilitate the loading of data warehouses, less research has been carried out on ontology based mobile reporting. This paper explores how business data can be modeled and accessed using the web ontology language and then re-used to provide the invisibility of pervasive access; uncovering more effective architectural models for adaptive information system strategies of this type. This exploratory work is guided in part by a vision of business intelligence that is highly distributed, mobile and fluid, adapting to sensory understanding of the underlying environment in which it operates. A proof-of concept mobile and ambient data access architecture is developed in order to further test the viability of such an approach. The paper concludes with an ontology engineering framework for systems of this type – named UBIS-ONTO

Investigating heuristic evaluation as a methodology for evaluating pedagogical software: An analysis employing three case studies

This paper looks specifically at how to develop light weight methods of evaluating pedagogically motivated software. Whilst we value traditional usability testing methods this paper will look at how Heuristic Evaluation can be used as both a driving force of Software Engineering Iterative Refinement and end of project Evaluation. We present three case studies in the area of Pedagogical Software and show how we have used this technique in a variety of ways. The paper presents results and reflections on what we have learned. We conclude with a discussion on how this technique might inform on the latest developments on delivery of distance learning. © 2014 Springer International Publishing

Herbal extracts modulate the amplitude and frequency of slow waves in circular smooth muscle of mouse small intestine

Background: Herbal preparations like STW 5 (Iberogast(R)) are widely used drugs in the treatment of dyspepsia and motility-related disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. STW 5 is a phytotherapeutic agent consisting of a fixed mixture of 9 individual plant extracts. The electrophysiological mechanisms of action of STW 5 remain obscure. Aim: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether herbal extracts influence electrophysiological parameters of the small intestine. For this purpose, the resting membrane potential (RMP) and the slow wave rhythmicity of smooth muscle cells of mouse small intestine were observed. Methods: Intracellular recordings of smooth muscle cells of the circular muscle layer of mouse small intestine were performed using standard microelectrode techniques. After dissection of the mucosa, the small intestine was placed in an organ bath and a microelectrode was applied on a circular smooth muscle cell. The RMP and the amplitude of slow waves were measured in millivolts. Results: The RMP of smooth muscle cells was - 59 +/- 1.3 mV. This RMP was significantly depolarized by STW 5 ( 9.6 +/- 1.6 mV); the depolarizing effects can be mainly attributed to the constituents of matricariae flos, angelicae radix and chelidonii herba. The basal frequency of small intestinal slow waves was 39.5 +/- 1.4 min(-1) and the amplitude was 23.1 +/- 0.9 mV. STW 5 significantly reduced the amplitude and frequency of the slow waves ( 11.7 +/- 0.8 mV; 33.5 +/- 3.4 min(-1)). This effect on slow waves represents the sum of the effects of the 9 phytoextracts. Whereas angelicae radix and matricariae flos completely blocked slow wave activity, Iberis amara increased the frequency and amplitude, chelidonii herba reduced the frequency and amplitude of the slow waves, mentae piperitae folium reduced the frequency and left amplitude unchanged and liquiritae radix, carvi fructus and melissae folium had no effects. Conclusion: Herbal extracts cause changes in smooth muscle RMP and slow wave rhythmicity, up to reversible abolition, by blockade of large conductance Ca2+ channels and other not yet identified mechanisms. In herbal preparations like STW 5 these effects add up to a total effect and this study indicates that herbal preparations which are widely used in dyspepsia and motility-related disorders have characteristic, reproducible, reversible effects on small intestinal electrophysiology. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel

Agricultural and Finance Intervention Increased Dietary Intake and Weight of Children Living in HIV-Affected Households in Western Kenya.

We tested whether a multisectoral household agricultural and finance intervention increased the dietary intake and improved the nutritional status of HIV-affected children. Two hospitals in rural Kenya were randomly assigned to be either the intervention or the control arm. The intervention comprised a human-powered water pump, microfinance loan for farm commodities, and training in sustainable farming practices and financial management. In each arm, 100 children (0-59 mo of age) were enrolled from households with HIV-infected adults 18-49 y old. Children were assessed beginning in April 2012 and every 3 mo for 1 y for dietary intake and anthropometry. Children in the intervention arm had a larger increase in weight (β: 0.025 kg/mo, P = 0.030), overall frequency of food consumption (β: 0.610 times · wk-1 · mo-1, P = 0.048), and intakes of staples (β: 0.222, P = 0.024), fruits and vegetables (β: 0.425, P = 0.005), meat (β: 0.074, P < 0.001), and fat (β: 0.057, P = 0.041). Livelihood interventions have potential to improve the nutrition of HIV-affected children. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01548599