Systems, interactions and macrotheory

A significant proportion of early HCI research was guided by one very clear vision: that the existing theory base in psychology and cognitive science could be developed to yield engineering tools for use in the interdisciplinary context of HCI design. While interface technologies and heuristic methods for behavioral evaluation have rapidly advanced in both capability and breadth of application, progress toward deeper theory has been modest, and some now believe it to be unnecessary. A case is presented for developing new forms of theory, based around generic “systems of interactors.” An overlapping, layered structure of macro- and microtheories could then serve an explanatory role, and could also bind together contributions from the different disciplines. Novel routes to formalizing and applying such theories provide a host of interesting and tractable problems for future basic research in HCI

The role of the courts in the application of consumer protection law: A comparative perspective

The vast majority of jurisdictions (in particular, the European Union and South Africa) conform to the United Nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection, whereby governments are encouraged to establish and maintain legal and administrative measures to enable a consumer to obtain redress through both formal and informal procedures, with particular regard to the needs of vulnerable (low-income) consumers. The Guidelines for Consumer Protection encourage the resolution of consumer disputes in a manner that is not only fair and expeditious, but also includes the establishment of voluntary mechanisms and procedures. In this regard, the European Union and South Africa have established redress and enforcement of consumer protection mechanisms with a primary focus on consensual consumer dispute resolution and, more specifically, alternative dispute resolution. This does not, however, diminish the important role and responsibility that courts have in the effective enforcement of consumer protection law. This contribution aims to establish the role of the courts in this regard, not only for the advancement of consumer rights and consumer protection law, but also taking into account the ex officio role of the courts in relation to the effective (or ineffective) alternative dispute resolution mechanisms that are currently in place. The contribution analyses the comparative positions in the European Union and South Africa. In terms of the European Union position, focus is placed on the application of the relevant consumer directives within Member States, taking into account pre-existing national law and its interpretation by national courts. The primary focus, in terms of the South African position, is an analysis of the enforcement institutions and redress provisions contained in the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, taking into account the interpretation of these provisions by the relevant institutions and the courts. This contribution highlights problematic issues with the current alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, resulting in ineffective consumer protection and the ex officio role of the courts to address these issues. It aims to confirm that the right to access to the courts is a constitutionally entrenched right and a balance between effective formal and informal enforcement should be the aim

Schwarzschild-anti de Sitter within an Isothermal Cavity: Thermodynamics, Phase Transitions and the Dirichlet Problem

The thermodynamics of Schwarzschild black holes within an isothermal cavity and the associated Euclidean Dirichlet boundary-value problem are studied for four and higher dimensions in anti-de Sitter (AdS) space. For such boundary conditions classically there always exists a unique hot AdS solution and two or no Schwarzschild-AdS black-hole solutions depending on whether or not the temperature of the cavity-wall is above a minimum value, the latter being a function of the radius of the cavity. Assuming the standard area-law of black-hole entropy, it was known that larger and smaller holes have positive and negative specific heats and hence are locally thermodynamically stable and unstable respectively. In this paper we present the first derivation of this by showing that the standard area law of black-hole entropy holds in the semi-classical approximation of the Euclidean path integral for such boundary conditions. We further show that for wall-temperatures above a critical value a phase transition takes hot AdS to the larger Schwarzschild-AdS within the cavity. The larger hole thus can be globally thermodynamically stable above this temperature. The phase transition can occur for a cavity of arbitrary radius above a (corresponding) critical temperature. In the infinite cavity limit this picture reduces to that considered by Hawking and Page. The case of five dimensions is found to be rather special since exact analytic expressions can be obtained for the masses of the two holes as functions of cavity radius and temperature thus solving exactly the Euclidean Dirichlet problem. This makes it possible to compute the on-shell Euclidean action as functions of them from which other quantities of interest can be evaluated exactly.Comment: 23 pages, Late

The Ursinus Weekly, January 23, 1903

An Epistle of Karshish : Its spiritual significance • Lesson from the life of Mirabeau • Mid year examination schedule • Alumni notes • Athletic Association • Society notes • Monday Night Club • Pupils\u27 recital • Audubon science meetshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/3071/thumbnail.jp

The Ursinus Weekly, February 15, 1937

Local fraternities accept 59 new members; sororities reach half way rushing mark • Men\u27s Debating Club starts season tonight • Boys lead girls on dean\u27s, B list • Smith heads soph hop • Hedgerow to present three plays here on March 9,10 • E. M. Hershey, former Ursinus director, died on January 31 • Curtain Club cast stages play at Spring City high • Trend toward democratic constitution and presidential leadership, not fascism, says Dr. Barnard in answer to Are we headed toward a dictatorship? • Barnard delivers address before Right Angle Club • Y\u27s sponsor panel discussion of inter-racial questions • Brotherhood of St. Paul hold deputation services • Asa Kiefer, oldest living alumnus, died February 2 • Physical Education Club meet in new rec center • F. I. Sheeder represents Ursinus at college night • Women\u27s Debating Club discuss plans for future meetings • Grizzly courtmen drop hard fought contests; basketeers give way to Muhlenberg, St. Joe • Co-ed varsity defeats Mt. St. Joe; J.V.\u27s fall • Perkiomen Prep loses to frosh 33-21; Kellett\u27s cubs defeat Girard, 30-25, for fourth consecutive victory • Chess Club loses first match to Spring City high school, 5-3 • Wrestlers drop 3rd meet; Reynolds scores only win • Language clubs sponsor European motion pictures • Byron, Guest and Laughlin to speak at IRC meetinghttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1921/thumbnail.jp

LANDSAT TM image data quality analysis for energy-related applications

This project represents a no-cost agreement between National Aeronautic Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA GSFC) and the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL). PNL is a Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory operted by Battelle Memorial Institute at its Pacific Northwest Laboratories in Richland, Washington. The objective of this investigation is to evaluate LANDSAT's thematic mapper (TM) data quality and utility characteristics from an energy research and technological perspective. Of main interest is the extent to which repetitive TM data might support DOE efforts relating to siting, developing, and monitoring energy-related facilities, and to basic geoscientific research. The investigation utilizes existing staff and facility capabilities, and ongoing programmatic activities at PNL and other DOE national laboratories to cooperatively assess the potential usefulness of the improved experimental TM data. The investigation involves: (1) both LANDSAT 4 and 5 TM data, (2) qualitative and quantitative use consideration, and 3) NASA P (corrected) and A (uncorrected) CCT analysis for a variety of sites of DOE interest. Initial results were presented at the LANDSAT Investigator's Workshops and at specialized LANDSAT TM sessions at various conferences

Estimation of the mass absorption cross section of the organic carbon component of aerosols in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA)

International audienceData taken from the MCMA-2003 and the 2006 MILAGRO field campaigns are used to examine the absorption of solar radiation by the organic component of aerosols. Using irradiance data from a Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer (MFRSR) and an actinic flux spectroradiometer (SR), we derive aerosol single scattering albedo, ?0,?, as a function of wavelength, ?. We find that in the near-UV spectral range (250 to 400 nm) ?0,? is much lower compared to ?0,? at 500 nm indicating enhanced absorption in the near-UV range. Absorption by elemental carbon, dust, or gas cannot account for this enhanced absorption leaving the organic part of the aerosol as the only possible absorber. We use data from a surface deployed Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) along with the inferred ?0,? to estimate the Mass Absorption Cross section (MAC) for the organic carbon. We find that the MAC is about 10.5 m2/g at 300 nm and falls close to zero at about 500 nm; values that are roughly consistent with other estimates of organic carbon MAC. These MAC values can be considered as "radiatively correct" because when used in radiative transfer calculations the calculated irradiances/actinic fluxes match those measured at the wavelengths considered here. For an illustrative case study described here, we estimate that the light absorption by the "brown" (organic) carbonaceous aerosol can add about 40% to the light absorption of black carbon in Mexico City. This contribution will vary depending on the relative abundance of organic carbon relative to black carbon. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that organic aerosol would slow down photochemistry by selectively scavenging the light reaching the ground at those wavelengths that drive photochemical reactions. Finally, satellite retrievals of trace gases that are used to infer emissions currently assume that the MAC of organic carbon is zero. For trace gases that are retrieved using wavelengths shorter then 420 nm (i.e. SO2, HCHO, halogenoxides, NO2), the assumption of non-zero MAC values will induce an upward correction to the inferred emissions. This will be particularly relevant in polluted urban atmospheres and areas of biomass burning where organic aerosols are particularly abundant

Submerged in the mainstream? A case study of an immigrant learner in a New Zealand primary classroom

Immigrant children from diverse language backgrounds face not only linguistic challenges when enrolled in mainstream English-medium classrooms, but also difficulties adjusting to an unfamiliar learning community. The culture of primary school classrooms in New Zealand typically reflects conventions across three dimensions: interactional, instructional task performance and cognitive-academic development. All three dimensions are underpinned by the culturally specific discourse conventions involved in language socialisation. New learners may be helped by classmates or their teacher to understand and successfully use these conventions, but left on their own they may sink rather than swim. This is a case study of one Taiwanese 11-year old boy, 'John', who entered a New Zealand primary classroom midway through the school year. John's basic conversational ability was sound, but he did not possess the interactive classroom skills needed to operate in the new culture of learning. Selected from a wider study of the classroom, transcript data from audio-recorded excerpts of John's interactions over several months with his teacher and classmates are interpreted from perspectives derived from sociocultural and language socialisation theories. The article concludes with a brief consideration of the extent to which John constructed, or was constrained from constructing meaningful learning experiences, and suggestions for further research and reflection

Aerosol single-scattering albedo and asymmetry parameter from MFRSR observations during the ARM Aerosol IOP 2003

International audienceMulti-filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometers (MFRSRs) provide routine measurements of the aerosol optical depth (?) at six wavelengths (0.415, 0.5, 0.615, 0.673, 0.870 and 0.94 ?m). The single-scattering albedo (?0) is typically estimated from the MFRSR measurements by assuming the asymmetry parameter (g). In most instances, however, it is not easy to set an appropriate value of g due to its strong temporal and spatial variability. Here, we introduce and validate an updated version of our retrieval technique that allows one to estimate simultaneously ?0 and g for different types of aerosol. We use the aerosol and radiative properties obtained during the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program's Aerosol Intensive Operational Period (IOP) to validate our retrieval in two ways. First, the MFRSR-retrieved optical properties are compared with those obtained from independent surface, Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), and aircraft measurements. The MFRSR-retrieved optical properties are in reasonable agreement with these independent measurements. Second, we perform radiative closure experiments using the MFRSR-retrieved optical properties. The calculated broadband values of the direct and diffuse fluxes are comparable (~5 W/m2) to those obtained from measurements