Dynamics of Affordances and Implications for Design

Affordance is an important concept in HCI. There are various interpretations of affordances but it has been difficult to use this concept for design purposes. Often the treatment of affordances in the current HCI literature has been as a one-to-one relationship between a user and an artefact. According to our views, affordance is a dynamic, always emerging relationship between a human and his environment. We believe that the social and cultural contexts within which an artefact is situated affect the way in which the artefact is used. Using a Structuration Theory approach, we argue that affordances need also be treated at a much broader level, encompassing social and cultural aspects. We suggest that affordances should be seen at three levels: single user, organizational (or work group) and societal. Focusing on the organizational level affordances, we provide details of several important factors that affect the emergence of affordances

Angiotensin II Inhibits Insulin Binding to Endothelial Cells

BackgroundInsulin-mediated glucose uptake in insulin target tissues is correlated with interstitial insulin concentration, rather than plasma insulin concentration. Therefore, insulin delivery to the interstitium of target tissues is very important, and the endothelium may also play an important role in the development of insulin resistance.MethodsAfter treating bovine aortic endothelial cells with angiotensin II (ATII), we observed the changes in insulin binding capacity and the amounts of insulin receptor (IR) on the cell membranes and in the cytosol.ResultsAfter treatment of 10-7M ATII, insulin binding was decreased progressively, up to 60% at 60 minutes (P<0.05). ATII receptor blocker (eprosartan) dose dependently improved the insulin binding capacity which was reduced by ATII (P<0.05). At 200 µM, eprosartan fully restored insulin binding capacity, althogh it resulted in only a 20% to 30% restoration at the therapeutic concentration. ATII did not affect the total amount of IR, but it did reduce the amount of IR on the plasma membrane and increased that in the cytosol.ConclusionATII decreased the insulin binding capacity of the tested cells. ATII did not affect the total amount of IR but did decrease the amount of IR on the plasma membrane. Our data indicate that ATII decreases insulin binding by translocating IR from the plasma membrane to the cytosol. The binding of insulin to IR is important for insulin-induced vasodilation and transendothelial insulin transport. Therefore, ATII may cause insulin resistance through this endothelium-based mechanism

RESEARCH ON THE ASSORTMENT OF THE TIMBER HARVESTED IN THE FOREST DISTRICT OF ANINA IN 2014

The paper addresses a topical issue in the analysis and comparison of results from forest harvesting in 4 lots within the Forest Distict of Anina, by methods of calculation and final measurement result in the warehouse. The research was conducted in the Forest District of Anina in the timber harvesting areas operated by logging services in 4 lots in 2014. After presenting the need, goals and objectives, the paper focuses on the research methods used and the procedure related to the determination of the industrial assortments though different methods, whose outcomes are then compared

Model of heat transfer in circulating fluidized beds applied for co2 capture by calcium-looping process

The heat transfer to wall panels in the circulating fluidized beds applied for calcium looping process is investigated by the a mathematical model. The heat transfer between the furnace wall and the bed includes contributions from radiation, particle and gas convection, and gas conduction; these processes are highly coupled and interrelated. The energy and mass balance equations together with the equations that describe the hydrodynamics and heat transfer processes were implemented in MATLAB/Simulink. The model gives satisfactory predictions of the gas/particles to wall heat transfer coefficient for several sets of operating parameters. The simulation’s results show that more than 85% of the carbonation/calcination reaction has occurred in the dense region of the fluidized beds.Papers presented at the 13th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Portoroz, Slovenia on 17-19 July 2017 .International centre for heat and mass transfer.American society of thermal and fluids engineers

RESEARCH ON THE CHOICE OF ECOPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES OF FOREST HARVESTING IN THE NATIONAL PARK OF SEMENIC - CHEILE CARAŞULUI

The current paper addresses the issue of choosing ecoproductive technologies of forest harvesting in the National Park of Semenic - Cheile Carasului, both through the optimal choice of the method of operation and through the system of machines used for forest harvesting from the economic, ecological and ergonomic point of view. Subsequent to the presentation of the materials and methods used, different methods of harvesting are compared in the context of ecoproductive exploitation. The selected optimal method was examined by means of a SWOT analysis through highlighting its advantages and disadvantages. After choosing the method of harvesting, the effective application of technologies of reduced environmental impact took place by choosing the optimal machine systems

Prevalence and correlates of inadequate glycaemic control: results from a nationwide survey in 6,671 adults with diabetes in Brazil

Diabetes is a significant public health burden on the basis of its increased incidence, morbidity, and mortality. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of inadequate glycaemic control and its correlates in a large multicentre survey of Brazilian patients with diabetes. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a consecutive sample of patients aged 18 years or older with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, attending health centres located in ten large cities in Brazil (response rate = 84%). Information about diabetes, current medications, complications, diet, and satisfaction with treatment were obtained by trained interviewers, using a standardized questionnaire. Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography in a central laboratory. Patients with HbA1c ≥ 7 were considered to have inadequate glycaemic control. Overall 6,701 patients were surveyed, 979 (15%) with type 1 and 5,692 (85%) with type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of inadequate glycaemic control was 76%. Poor glycaemic control was more common in patients with type 1 diabetes (90%) than in those with type 2 (73%), P < 0.001. Characteristics significantly associated with improved glycaemic control included: fewer years of diabetes duration, multi professional care, participation in a diabetes health education program, and satisfaction with current diabetes treatment. Despite increased awareness of the benefits of tight glycaemic control, we found that few diabetic patients in Brazil met recommended glycaemic control targets. This may contribute to increased rates of diabetic complications, which may impact health care costs. Our data support the public health message of implementation of early, aggressive management of diabetes

Differences in bioactivity between human insulin and insulin analogues approved for therapeutic use- compilation of reports from the past 20 years

In order to provide comprehensive information on the differences in bioactivity between human insulin and insulin analogues, published in vitro comparisons of human insulin and the rapid acting analogues insulin lispro (Humalog®), insulin aspart ( NovoRapid®), insulin glulisine (Apidra®), and the slow acting analogues insulin glargine (Lantus®), and insulin detemir (Levemir®) were gathered from the past 20 years (except for receptor binding studies). A total of 50 reports were retrieved, with great heterogeneity among study methodology. However, various differences in bioactivity compared to human insulin were obvious (e.g. differences in effects on metabolism, mitogenesis, apoptosis, intracellular signalling, thrombocyte function, protein degradation). Whether or not these differences have clinical bearings (and among which patient populations) remains to be determined

Communication and Networking Techniques for Traffic Safety Systems

Accident statistics indicate that every year a significant number of casualties and extensive property losses occur due to traffic accidents. Consequently, efforts are directed towards developing passive and active safety systems that help reduce the severity of crashes, or prevent vehicles from colliding with one another. To develop these systems, technologies such as sensor systems, computer vision and vehicular communication have been proposed. Safety vehicular communication is defined as the exchange of data between vehicles with the goal of providing in-vehicle safety systems with enough information to permit detection of traffic dangers. Inter-vehicle communication is a key safety technology, especially as a complement to other technologies such as radar, as the information it provides cannot be gathered in any other way. However, due to the specifics of the traffic environment, the design of efficient safety communication systems poses a series of major technical challenges. In this thesis we focus on the design and development of a safety communication system that provides support for active safety systems such as collision warning and collision avoidance. We begin by providing a method for designing the support system for active safety systems. Within our study, we investigate different safety aspects of traffic situations. For performing traffic investigations, we have developed ECAM, a temporal reasoning system for modeling and analyzing accident scenarios. Next, we focus on the communication system design. We investigate approaches that can be applied to implement safety vehicular communication, as well as design aspects of such systems, including networking techniques and transmission procedures. We then propose a new solution for vehicular communication in the form of a distributed communication protocol that allows the vehicles to organize themselves in virtual clusters according to their common interest in traffic safety. To disseminate the information used for organizing the network and for assessing dangers in traffic, we develop an anonymous context-based broadcast protocol. This protocol requires the receivers to determine whether they are the intended destination for sent messages based on knowledge about their current situation in traffic. This communication system is then augmented with a reactive operation mode, where warnings can be issued and forwarded by vehicles. A vehicular communication platform that provides an implementation framework for the communication system, and integrates it within a vehicle, is also proposed. Experiments have been conducted, under various conditions, to test communication performance and the system’s ability to reduce accidents. The results indicate that that the proposed communication system can efficiently provide the exchange of safety information between vehicles