Toolkits, cards and games–a review of analogue tools for collaborative ideation

Analogue tools offer distinct benefits for collaborative design ideation and can take a variety of tailored forms including card decks, templates, toys and board games. However, owing to the disparate and multidisciplinary sources of these tools, there is currently no easy way to gain a coherent view of the tool landscape. To resolve this, we conducted a survey of analogue ideation tools within the design and HCI literatures, and within commercial practice. Of 3,395 results, 76 met the inclusion criteria. The resulting collection is presented and classified according to 10 descriptors including a novel taxonomy for distinguishing 7 tool types (methods, prompts, components, concepts, stories, embodiment, and construction). We also discuss gaps and opportunities for future tool development in inclusivity, cultural-tailoring and embodiment. Our aim is to help designers and design teams more fluently select, customize, critique, analyse and/or build tools to support collaborative designerly inquiry

Collaborative workshops at scale: a method for non-facilitated virtual collaborative design workshops

This article introduces a method for conducting a fully online collaborative design workshop requiring no facilitation which we refer to as a Self-guided Collaborative Online Workshop (SCOW). The article provides three main contributions. Firstly, we present a process for the conversion of a face-to-face facilitated design workshop into a SCOW using a method we call the “playboard” which draws on concepts from CSCL literature. Secondly, we evaluate the efficacy of SCOWs using an iterative evaluation with 75 participants, including measures for participant satisfaction, subjective and objective learning outcomes, quality of the online and self-guided experience, and comparison with face-to-face workshops. Results across all measures indicate that the self-guided workshop was as successful as the in-person facilitated original. Moreover, participants reported advantages of the more scalable format including improved access to those with non-visible disabilities and in the Global South. Finally, based on our findings, we present a set of recommendations for others interested in using SCOWs as an inclusive and scalable way to support collaborative experiences

Tools for wellbeing-supportive design: features, characteristics, and prototypes

While research on wellbeing within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is an active space, a gap between research and practice persists. To tackle this, we sought to identify the practical needs of designers in taking wellbeing research into practice. We report on 15 semi-structured interviews with designers from four continents, yielding insights into design tool use generally and requirements for wellbeing design tools specifically. We then present five resulting design tool concepts, two of which were further developed into prototypes and tested in a workshop with 34 interaction design and HCI professionals. Findings include seven desirable features and three desirable characteristics for wellbeing-supportive design tools, including that these tools should satisfy the need for proof, buy-in, and tangibility. We also provide clarity around the notion of design for wellbeing and why it must be distinguished from design for positive emotions

Degradation pathways in standard and inverted DBP-C 70 based organic solar cells

Achieving long-term stability in organic solar cells is a remaining bottleneck for the commercialization of this otherwise highly appealing technology. In this work, we study the performance and stability differences in standard and inverted DBP/C70 based organic solar cells. Differences in the charge-transfer state properties of inverted and standard configuration DBP/C70 solar cells are revealed by sensitive external quantum efficiency measurements, leading to differences in the open-circuit voltages of the devices. The degradation of standard and inverted solar cell configurations at ISOS aging test conditions (ISOS-D-3 and ISOS-T-3) was investigated and compared. The results indicate that the performance drop in the small molecule bilayer solar cells is less related to changes at the D-A interface, suggesting also a pronounced morphological stability, and instead, in the case of inverted cells, dominated by degradation at the electron transport layer (ETL) bathocuproine (BCP). Photoluminescence measurements, electron-only-device characteristics, and stability measurements show improved exciton blocking, electron transport properties and a higher stability for BCP/Ag ETL stacks, giving rise to inverted devices with enhanced performance and device stability

Deciphering Electron Interplay at the Fullerene/Sputtered TiOxInterface: A Barrier-Free Electron Extraction for Organic Solar Cells

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) technology now offers power conversion efficiency (PCE) of over 18% and is one of the main emerging photovoltaic technologies. In such devices, titanium dioxide (TiOx) has been vastly used as an electron extraction layer, typically showing unwanted charge-extraction barriers and the need for light-soaking. In the present work, using advanced photoemission spectroscopies, we investigate the electronic interplay at the interface between low-temperature-sputtered TiOx and C70 acceptor fullerene molecules. We show that defect states in the band gap of TiOx are quenched by C70 while an interfacial state appears. This new interfacial state is expected to support the favorable energy band alignment observed, showing a perfect match of transport levels, and thus barrier-free extraction of charges, making low-temperature-sputtered TiOx a good candidate for the next generation of organic solar cells

Global, regional, and national sex-specific burden and control of the HIV epidemic, 1990–2019, for 204 countries and territories : the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2019

Background: The sustainable development goals (SDGs) aim to end HIV/AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Understanding the current state of the HIV epidemic and its change over time is essential to this effort. This study assesses the current sex-specific HIV burden in 204 countries and territories and measures progress in the control of the epidemic. Methods: To estimate age-specific and sex-specific trends in 48 of 204 countries, we extended the Estimation and Projection Package Age-Sex Model to also implement the spectrum paediatric model. We used this model in cases where age and sex specific HIV-seroprevalence surveys and antenatal care-clinic sentinel surveillance data were available. For the remaining 156 of 204 locations, we developed a cohort-incidence bias adjustment to derive incidence as a function of cause-of-death data from vital registration systems. The incidence was input to a custom Spectrum model. To assess progress, we measured the percentage change in incident cases and deaths between 2010 and 2019 (threshold >75% decline), the ratio of incident cases to number of people living with HIV (incidence-to-prevalence ratio threshold <0·03), and the ratio of incident cases to deaths (incidence-to-mortality ratio threshold <1·0). Findings: In 2019, there were 36·8 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 35·1–38·9) people living with HIV worldwide. There were 0·84 males (95% UI 0·78–0·91) per female living with HIV in 2019, 0·99 male infections (0·91–1·10) for every female infection, and 1·02 male deaths (0·95–1·10) per female death. Global progress in incident cases and deaths between 2010 and 2019 was driven by sub-Saharan Africa (with a 28·52% decrease in incident cases, 95% UI 19·58–35·43, and a 39·66% decrease in deaths, 36·49–42·36). Elsewhere, the incidence remained stable or increased, whereas deaths generally decreased. In 2019, the global incidence-to-prevalence ratio was 0·05 (95% UI 0·05–0·06) and the global incidence-to-mortality ratio was 1·94 (1·76–2·12). No regions met suggested thresholds for progress. Interpretation: Sub-Saharan Africa had both the highest HIV burden and the greatest progress between 1990 and 2019. The number of incident cases and deaths in males and females approached parity in 2019, although there remained more females with HIV than males with HIV. Globally, the HIV epidemic is far from the UNAIDS benchmarks on progress metrics

Crystal Structure of the Minimalist Max-E47 Protein Chimera

Max-E47 is a protein chimera generated from the fusion of the DNA-binding basic region of Max and the dimerization region of E47, both members of the basic region/helix-loop-helix (bHLH) superfamily of transcription factors. Like native Max, Max-E47 binds with high affinity and specificity to the E-box site, 5′-CACGTG, both in vivo and in vitro. We have determined the crystal structure of Max-E47 at 1.7 Å resolution, and found that it associates to form a well-structured dimer even in the absence of its cognate DNA. Analytical ultracentrifugation confirms that Max-E47 is dimeric even at low micromolar concentrations, indicating that the Max-E47 dimer is stable in the absence of DNA. Circular dichroism analysis demonstrates that both non-specific DNA and the E-box site induce similar levels of helical secondary structure in Max-E47. These results suggest that Max-E47 may bind to the E-box following the two-step mechanism proposed for other bHLH proteins. In this mechanism, a rapid step where protein binds to DNA without sequence specificity is followed by a slow step where specific protein:DNA interactions are fine-tuned, leading to sequence-specific recognition. Collectively, these results show that the designed Max-E47 protein chimera behaves both structurally and functionally like its native counterparts

Predicting the environmental suitability for onchocerciasis in Africa as an aid to elimination planning

Recent evidence suggests that, in some foci, elimination of onchocerciasis from Africa may be feasible with mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin. To achieve continental elimination of transmission, mapping surveys will need to be conducted across all implementation units (IUs) for which endemicity status is currently unknown. Using boosted regression tree models with optimised hyperparameter selection, we estimated environmental suitability for onchocerciasis at the 5 × 5-km resolution across Africa. In order to classify IUs that include locations that are environmentally suitable, we used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis to identify an optimal threshold for suitability concordant with locations where onchocerciasis has been previously detected. This threshold value was then used to classify IUs (more suitable or less suitable) based on the location within the IU with the largest mean prediction. Mean estimates of environmental suitability suggest large areas across West and Central Africa, as well as focal areas of East Africa, are suitable for onchocerciasis transmission, consistent with the presence of current control and elimination of transmission efforts. The ROC analysis identified a mean environmental suitability index of 0.71 as a threshold to classify based on the location with the largest mean prediction within the IU. Of the IUs considered for mapping surveys, 50.2% exceed this threshold for suitability in at least one 5×5-km location. The formidable scale of data collection required to map onchocerciasis endemicity across the African continent presents an opportunity to use spatial data to identify areas likely to be suitable for onchocerciasis transmission. National onchocerciasis elimination programmes may wish to consider prioritising these IUs for mapping surveys as human resources, laboratory capacity, and programmatic schedules may constrain survey implementation, and possibly delaying MDA initiation in areas that would ultimately qualify