Understanding the effects of peripheral vision and muscle memory on in-vehicle touchscreen interactions

It is important to gain a better understanding of how drivers interact with in-vehicle touchscreens to help design interfaces to minimise “eyes off road” time. The study aimed to investigate the relative effects of two interaction mechanisms (peripheral vision - PV and muscle memory - MM) shown to be relevant to visual behaviour when driving, on the time to press different sized buttons (small 6x6cm, medium 10x10cm, large 14x14cm) on an in-vehicle touchscreen. Twenty-five participants took part in a driving simulator study. They were presented with a single, white, square button on the touchscreen on 24 successive trials. For MM conditions, participants wore a pair of glasses that blocked their peripheral vision and for PV conditions they were asked to keep their focus on the vehicle in front throughout. Results showed that task time gradually decreased for the trials when participants could only use MM. However, overall task time for MM conditions were significantly higher than for those in which PV was utilised, and participants rated the use of MM to be more difficult than PV. In contrast, results suggest that for interfaces that utilise peripheral visual processing the learning effect is not evident and operation times are constant over time. These findings indicate that in-vehicle touch screens should be designed to utilise peripheral vision for making simple button selections with reduced visual demand

Understanding the effects of peripheral vision and muscle memory on in-vehicle touchscreen interactions

It is important to gain a better understanding of how drivers interact with in-vehicle touchscreens to help design interfaces to minimise “eyes off road” time. The study aimed to investigate the relative effects of two interaction mechanisms (peripheral vision - PV and muscle memory - MM) shown to be relevant to visual behaviour when driving, on the time to press different sized buttons (small 6x6cm, medium 10x10cm, large 14x14cm) on an in-vehicle touchscreen. Twenty-five participants took part in a driving simulator study. They were presented with a single, white, square button on the touchscreen on 24 successive trials. For MM conditions, participants wore a pair of glasses that blocked their peripheral vision and for PV conditions they were asked to keep their focus on the vehicle in front throughout. Results showed that task time gradually decreased for the trials when participants could only use MM. However, overall task time for MM conditions were significantly higher than for those in which PV was utilised, and participants rated the use of MM to be more difficult than PV. In contrast, results suggest that for interfaces that utilise peripheral visual processing the learning effect is not evident and operation times are constant over time. These findings indicate that in-vehicle touch screens should be designed to utilise peripheral vision for making simple button selections with reduced visual demand

New oxides for oxygen evolution catalysis from hydrothermal synthesis

The hydrothermal synthesis of complex oxides of ruthenium and iridium with potential application as oxygen evolution reaction catalysts in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells is reported. The materials M0.15Ru0.85O2, where M = Zn, Mg, Ni, Co or Cu, have been synthesised from peroxide reagents and potassium perruthenate. Structural refinement against powder neutron diffraction data shows these materials adopt the rutile structure with space group P42/mnm with the metals substituting ruthenium and no evidence of oxide vacancies. X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra recorded at the Ru K-edge show that to compensate for the inclusion of these metals, the ruthenium is oxidised above +4. New oxides based on (Ca0.59Na0.27)2Ir2O6·0.66H2O were produced with substitutions made on both the A and B-site. All materials were shown to adopt the pyrochlore structure with space group Fd m. The level of B-site substitution was found to be dependent on the substituent element (Sb, Ru, Rh, Mn or Zr), with maximum substitution levels ranging from 30-100 %. The zirconium substituted material, (Ca0.58Na0.32Zr0.12)2(Ir0.56Zr0.44)2O6·0.97H2O, shows significant deviation from the average structure at the local scale. The synthesis of the pure iridium material was further investigated and it was found both the A-site composition and particle size could be controlled. Treatment in concentrated H2SO4 at elevated temperature yielded materials with vacant A-sites. The hydrothermal synthesis of a number of other mixed metal oxides is reported. These include the perovskites Na(Ta1-xMx)O3, Na(Nb1-xIrx)O3and SrRuO3, where M = Ir or Ru, and x < 0.15, the hexagonal perovskite 4H-BaRuO3, Sr2.85Ir3O11 a material with a KSbO3-type structure and a barium iridate with an unknown structure. In electrochemical tests, performed in membrane electrode assemblies, all materials outperform the benchmark materials, iridium tantalum oxide and ruthenium iridium oxide under acidic conditions. The substituted rutile materials are highly active, but not as durable or selective towards the oxygen evolution reaction as the iridate materials. In situ studies of catalyst layers using X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy at the Ir LIII, Ru K, Rh K and Sb K-edges show that both iridium and ruthenium participate in redox chemistry at oxygen evolution conditions, however antimony and rhodium are redox inactive

Public Perception of Desalinated Produced Water From Oil and Gas Field Operations: A Replication

This study is a replication of Theodori et al.’s (2009) research on public perception of desalinated produced water from oil and gas field operations. The data used in this paper were collected in twelve Texas counties. Overall, the findings of this investigation paralleled those uncovered in Theodori et al.’s original exploration. Our data reveal that small percentages of respondents are extremely familiar with the process of desalination and extremely confident that desalinated water could meet human drinking water quality and purity standards. Our data also indicate that respondents are more favorably disposed toward the use of desalinated water for purposes where the probability of human or animal ingestion is lessened. Lastly, our data show that individuals with higher levels of familiarity with the process of desalination were more likely than those with lower levels of familiarity to agree that desalinated water from oil and gas field operations could safely be used for each of nine proposed purposes. Possible implications of these findings are advanced

ZIF-8 metal organic framework for the conversion of glucose to fructose and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural

Herein, Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) is considered as an easy and cheap to prepare alternative catalyst for the isomerization of glucose and production of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF). For the synthesis of the ZIF-8 catalysts two preparation methods were evaluated, being room temperature and hydrothermal synthesis at 140 °C. Of these, the hydrothermal synthesis method yields a material with exceptionally high surface area (1967 m2·g−1). As a catalyst, the ZIF-8 materials generated excellent fructose yields. Specifically, ZIF-8 prepared by hydrothermal synthesis yielded a fructose selectivity of 65% with a glucose conversion of 24% at 100 °C in aqueous reaction medium. However, this selectivity dropped dramatically when the reactions were repeated at higher temperatures (~140 °C). Interestingly, greater quantities of mannose were produced at higher temperatures too. The lack of strong Brønsted acidity in both ZIF-8 materials resulted in poor HMF yields. In order to improve HMF yields, reactions were performed at a lower pH of 1.0. At 140 °C the lower pH was found to drive the reaction towards HMF and double its yield. Despite the excellent performance of ZIF-8 catalysts in batch reactions, their activity did not translate well to the flow reactor over a continuous run of 8 h, which was operating with a residence time of 6 min. The activity of ZIF-8 halved in the flow reactor at 100 °C in ~3 h, which implies that the catalyst’s stability was not maintained in the long run

Dynamical Balance in the Indonesian Seas Circulation

A high resolution, four-open port, non-linear, barotropic ocean model (2D POM) is used to analyze the Indonesian Seas circulation. Both local and overall momentum balances are studied. It is shown that geostrophy holds over most of the area and that the Pacific-Indian Ocean pressure difference is essentially balanced by the resultant of pressure forces acting on the bottom

Quantitative analysis of cell types during growth and morphogenesis in Hydra

Tissue maceration was used to determine the absolute number and the distribution of cell types in Hydra. It was shown that the total number of cells per animal as well as the distribution of cells vary depending on temperature, feeding conditions, and state of growth. During head and foot regeneration and during budding the first detectable change in the cell distribution is an increase in the number of nerve cells at the site of morphogenesis. These results and the finding that nerve cells are most concentrated in the head region, diminishing in density down the body column, are discussed in relation to tissue polarity

State-by-State Report on Permanent Public Access to Electronic Government Information

The purpose of this study was to research what, if anything, state governments are doing to meet the enormous challenges of ensuring permanent public access to state electronic government information. A comprehensive survey was created and distributed to AALL authors in each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. State authors completed the survey by December 2002 and, in addition, submitted a short executive summary based on their survey results. The survey reveals that only one state—Colorado—has enacted legislation that explicitly addresses permanent public access (effective August 15, 2003). No state, including Colorado, comprehensively addresses the challenges of permanent public access to and preservation of electronic government information. State records boards, state archives and state libraries are often aware of permanent public access issues and have often taken steps to preserve electronic information. They have sometimes taken steps to provide continuous public access or have developed guidelines for state agencies to provide such access. These efforts of state records boards, state archives and state libraries are often ineffective, however, because they lack a solid statutory foundation. Without comprehensive statutes supporting a system to coordinate and centralize permanent public access, state agencies thwart the positive efforts of state records boards, state archives and state libraries. The agencies fail to appreciate the need to ensure the full lifecycle of electronic government information, particularly Web-based publications and records. And any guidelines for permanent public access that target them do not solve the problem of agencies’ lack the expertise, personnel and funding. We envisioned that this project would be the first step in the advocacy process necessary to enact state laws that will prevent the loss of important state government information in electronic format. Toward this end, we sought to create a document that could be provided to legislators and other policymakers to educate them about the responsibility of state governments to ensure permanent public access to electronic information. An additional objective was to strengthen the GRC and WAO’s ties to AALL members at the local level, thereby forming a base of activists who could advocate for improved laws mandating permanent public access to state government information. Because AALL and other library organizations lack the manpower to tackle the problem of disappearing electronic government information in all states simultaneously, the Grant Team has identified key states to target for legislative activity

Unravelling the transport mechanism of pore-filled membranes for hydrogen separation

The permeation characteristics of palladium pore filled (PF) membranes have been investigated with gas permeation and structural characterization of the membranes. PF membranes have been prepared by filling with Pd the nanoporous γ-Al2O3/YSZ (or pure YSZ) layer supported onto porous α-Al2O3 and ZrO2. The number of nanoporous layers and the applied vacuum level during the electroless plating process have been studied. Gas permeation properties of the PF membranes have been determined in a temperature range of 300-550 °C. The measured hydrogen permeances have been found to be lower than previously reported for similar membranes. It has been found that the hydrogen fluxes do not depend on the thickness of the nanoporous layers (γ-Al2O3/YSZ or pure YSZ) or on the vacuum pump employed for filling with Pd. The physicochemical characterization performed showed that the palladium deposited does not form a percolated network across the mesoporous layer(s), leading to low hydrogen permeances and thus low H2/N2 perm-selectivities.The presented work is funded within FERRET project as part of European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) for the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative under grant agreement n° 621181. The Talos TEM was funded as part of HEFCE funding in the UK Research Partnership Investment Funding (UKRPIF) Manchester RPIF Round 2

In situ XAFS of acid-resilient iridate pyrochlore oxygen evolution electrocatalysts under operating conditions

Pyrochlore iridates (Na,Ca)2-xIr2O6?H2O are acid-stable electrocatalysts that are candidates for use in electrolysers and fuel cells. Ir LIII-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy in 1 M H2SO4 at oxygen evolution conditions suggests the involvement of the electrons from the conduction band of the metallic particles, rather than just surface iridium reacting