Designing specialized technology to aid assistance dogs

Interest is growing in studying canine and human relationships, especially working canines and their role in society. Interest is also growing in designing informed, user centered interactive technologies for animals. Combining these two themes, my doctoral research looks at creating user-centered, ethnographically informed designs for working animals (working dogs). The work examines existing design methodologies and posits new ones to contribute to a wider Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI) framework to design for and with animal users. Here I review the initial findings of the on-going work to develop an emergency alert alarm for assistance dog use

Learn to Spot Phishing URLs with the Android NoPhish App

Part 3: Tools and Applications for TeachingInternational audiencePhishing is a münich issue in today’s Internet. It can have financial or personal consequences. Attacks continue to become more and more sophisticated and the advanced ones (including spear phishing) can only be detected if people carefully check URLs – be it in messages or in the address bar of the web browser. We developed a game-based smartphone app – NoPhish – to educate people in accessing, parsing and checking URLs; i.e. enabling them to distinguish between trustworthy and non-trustworthy messages and websites. Throughout several levels of the game information is provided and phishing detection is exercised in a playful manner. Several learning principles were applied and the interfaces and texts were developed in a user-centered design

Seroprevalence of canine Leishmania infantum infection in the Mediterranean region and identification of risk factors : The example of North-Eastern and Pyrenean areas of Spain

This project received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement nº 642609 and by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain (CG12010-22368-CO2-01).Altres ajuts: RICET/RD12/0018/0010The Mediterranean basin is an endemic region for canine leishmaniosis (CanL), where it represents a major veterinary problem and raises human health concerns. However, the distribution of the disease is heterogeneous and not all countries and locations have been equally studied and characterized. This work describes the situation of CanL in Girona province (Catalonia, Spain), for which no data has been previously reported, and presents a relevant study to exemplify other areas with similar characteristics across the region. Four cross-sectional seroprevalence surveys were performed from 2012 to 2016 throughout the province, including 36 sampling stations in 26 localities and a total of 593 dogs. For each animal, individual and location variables were also collected. Additionally, each dog owner answered a questionnaire about their knowledge of CanL and preventive methods used. Blood samples were analysed by an in-house ELISA and a mixed logistic regression model was used to assess the relationship between pre-determined variables and dog seropositivity. A Spearman's correlation was used to assess the association between dog owners' perceived risk of CanL and Leishmania infantum seropositivity in dogs at a given location. The overall true seroprevalence estimated for Girona province was 19.5% (95%CI: 15.5-23.5), of which only 6.8% (10/146) were considered symptomatic. Age of the dog [OR = 1.21 (95%CI: 1.11-1.31); p < 0.001] and altitude [OR = 0.02 (95%CI: 0.001-0.19); p = 0.001] were identified as risk factors for the infection. The results obtained in this study are expected to aid in the implementation of directed control programmes in CanL endemic areas throughout Europe, as well as to provide suitable data for the design of better risk assessment maps of the disease

Aging-related predictive factors for oxygenation improvement and mortality in COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients exposed to prone position: A multicenter cohort study

Background: Elderly patients are more susceptible to Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) and are more likely to develop it in severe forms, (e.g., Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome [ARDS]). Prone positioning is a treatment strategy for severe ARDS; however, its response in the elderly population remains poorly understood. The main objective was to evaluate the predictive response and mortality of elderly patients exposed to prone positioning due to ARDS-COVID-19. Methods: This retrospective multicenter cohort study involved 223 patients aged ≥ 65 years, who received prone position sessions for severe ARDS due to COVID-19, using invasive mechanical ventilation. The PaO2/FiO2 ratio was used to assess the oxygenation response. The 20-point improvement in PaO2/FiO2 after the first prone session was considered for good response. Data were collected from electronic medical records, including demographic data, laboratory/image exams, complications, comorbidities, SAPS III and SOFA scores, use of anticoagulants and vasopressors, ventilator settings, and respiratory system mechanics. Mortality was defined as deaths that occurred until hospital discharge. Results: Most patients were male, with arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus as the most prevalent comorbidities. The non-responders group had higher SAPS III and SOFA scores, and a higher incidence of complications. There was no difference in mortality rate. A lower SAPS III score was a predictor of oxygenation response, and the male sex was a risk predictor of mortality. Conclusion: The present study suggests the oxygenation response to prone positioning in elderly patients with severe COVID-19-ARDS correlates with the SAPS III score. Furthermore, the male sex is a risk predictor of mortality

Avaliando a aprendizagem dos alunos da primeira série do Ensino Médio em uma unidade didática sobre o tema tabela periódica

A área de ensino de ciências está vivenciando um crescimento significativo em relação à pesquisa e, para contribuir neste aspecto, o presente trabalho propõe uma sequência de aulas que formam uma unidade didática, trabalhada na primeira série do Ensino Médio, com o propósito de avaliar o desenvolvimento dos alunos em relação ao tema tabela periódica em forma de questionários e mapas conceituais. As aulas foram ministradas por bolsistas do PIBID em Química da Universidade Federal deLavras e, os resultados mostram que, os alunos compreenderam a maneira pela qual a tabela periódicafoi desenvolvida, já que as respostas ao questionário pós foram mais elaboradas em relação ao prévio e, ainda, conseguiram relacionar os conceitos desenvolvidos por meio de mapas conceituais. Esta ainda contribuiu para a formação inicial dos licenciandos, uma vez que estes elaboraram, aplicaram eavaliaram a unidade

Research in User-Centered Design 2009 to 2018: A Systematic Keyword Network Analysis

User-centered design (UCD) has become an important concept in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and other disciplines. While there is abundant UCD research, keyword analysis research has been less studied even though keywords are important for achieving better understanding of UCD. Therefore, this study provides keywords network a visual analysis of UCD articles published between 2009 and 2018 to answer the following questions: (1) What UCD-related keywords have been studied and in which disciplines? and (2) How have keywords been connected to on another? The study analyzed 304 keywords articles from IEEE, ACM, and ScienceDirect that included “UCD” in their titles. It utilized Gephi 0.9.2 to visualize keyword frequencies, relationships, and authors’ disciplines. The findings presented that the five most frequently mentioned keywords regarding UCD were “usability,” “HCI,” “User Experiences,” “User-Centered,” and “User Interfaces”. The top five most identified disciplines in the UCD articles were Computer Science, Design, Engineering, Education, and Psychology. In visualizing this data, we created a keyword hierarchy with various sizes of texts and circles, and we denoted various relationship levels between keywords by different weights of edges. This visualization of the selected 43 keywords shows a clear relationship between keywords in which UCD is strongly related to usability, UX, user-centered, HCI, Persona, prototype, interaction design, interface design, assistive technology, design thinking. The findings can be valuable in understanding the current UCD research mainstream for researchers and designers pursuing interdisciplinary approaches

Indoor environmental quality and occupant satisfaction in green-certified buildings

Green building certification systems aim at improving the design and operation of buildings. However, few detailed studies have investigated whether green rating leads to higher occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality (IEQ). This research builds on previous work to address this. Based on the analysis of a subset of the Center for the Built Environment Occupant Indoor Environmental Quality survey database featuring 11,243 responses from 93 LEED-rated office buildings, we explored the relationships between the points earned in the IEQ category and the satisfaction expressed by occupants with the qualities of their indoor environment. We found that the achievement of a specific IEQ credit did not substantively increase satisfaction with the corresponding IEQ factor, while the rating level, and the product and version under which certification had been awarded, did not affect workplace satisfaction. There could be several reasons for this lack of relationships, some of which are outside the control of designers and beyond the scope of rating systems based primarily on design intent. We conclude with a discussion of the challenges and priorities that building professionals, researchers, and green building certification systems need to consider for moving us towards more comfortable, higher performing, and healthier green-rated buildings

Aloe barbadensis: how a miraculous plant becomes reality

Aloe barbadensis Miller is a plant that is native to North and East Africa and has accompanied man for over 5,000 years. The aloe vera plant has been endowed with digestive, dermatological, culinary and cosmetic virtues. On this basis, aloe provides a range of possibilities for fascinating studies from several points of view, including the analysis of chemical composition, the biochemistry involved in various activities and its application in pharmacology, as well as from horticultural and economic standpoints. The use of aloe vera as a medicinal plant is mentioned in numerous ancient texts such as the Bible. This multitude of medicinal uses has been described and discussed for centuries, thus transforming this miracle plant into reality. A summary of the historical uses, chemical composition and biological activities of this species is presented in this review. The latest clinical studies involved in vivo and in vitro assays conducted with aloe vera gel or its metabolites and the results of these studies are reviewed