Exploring Navigation: Towards a Framework for Design and Evaluation of Navigation in Electronic Spaces

PERSONA is an acronym for PERsonal and SOcial NAvigation. The name of the project illustrates its two-fold approach; studying the individual cognitive, social and cultural differences in navigational ability and recognizing that computer users are social beings in interacting with other people as they make their way through information spaces. Based on this understanding we are developing new approaches to interactive system design. One of these is to identify how and where we can adapt to the individual person's needs. At the same time we are developing alternative approaches to system design, breaking away from the lonely 'walker in the woods' picture of the information system user, to a social being able to interact with other users and so get help in achieving their goals. In this first deliverable from the project, we present a comprehensive review of literature which we see as having an impact on navigation in information space. This volume contains a number of individual and co-authored papers covering various aspects of geographic and electronic spaces and on navigation in geographic and electronic spaces; Individual and cultural differences; Social aspects of navigation; Design based on alternative or complimentary approaches that we believe hold the promise of making interfaces and systems more navigable

The natural protection of erosion : the plant’s properties and impact on the formation of surface erosion on slopes

Vårt landskap utsätts hela tiden för förändringar, där både naturliga processer och mänsklig påverkan kan orsaka stora problem. Erosion är en naturlig process men kan påskyndas av människliga aktiviteter, markanvändning och klimatförändringar. Arbetets syfte var att genom en litteraturstudie undersöka och sammanfatta de bildande processerna av ytlig vattenerosion i slänter, samt hur växters tekniska egenskaper påverkar och motverkar erosion. I studien framgick det att ytlig vattenerosion påverkas av flera olika faktorer och har olika bildningsprocesser, morfologiska karaktär och kapacitet att transportera bort material från slänter. Avgörande faktorer som visades påverka erosion vara bland annat jordens sammansättning, nederbördens mängd och intensitet, släntens lutning och längd, samt om markytan är exponerad eller täckt av vegetation. Vidare visade resultatet av studien att växter har en betydande roll för bildningen av erosion i slänter. Vegetations egenskaper kan påverka både genom att effektivt reducera erosion, men även bidra till att erosionen ökar. Bland annat visades egenskaper som höjd över mark, täthet, rotdensitet, tillväxthastighet och förna kunna ha en betydande inverkan på bildningen av ytlig vattenerosion. I studien framgår det tydligt att erosionsprocesser och växters egenskaper har ett komplext förhållande där flera faktorer kan spela viktiga roller. Det här kan vara viktigt att ha kännedom om för att förutse risker med exponerad jord, samt för att värdesätta vegetationens betydelse vid planering, byggnation, etablering och förvaltning.Our landscape is constantly exposed to changes, where both natural processes and human impact can cause major problems. Erosion is a natural process but can be accelerated by human activities, land use and climate change. The main purpose of this paper was to examine through a literature study the formation processes of surficial water erosion on slopes, as well as how the technical properties of vegetation affect and counteract erosion. The material for this paper that have been In the study it was shown that surficial water erosion is affected by several different factors and has different processes of formation, morphological character and capacity to transport materials away from slopes. Decisive factors that were shown to affect erosion was including soil composition, the precipitations amount and intensity, the slope gradient and length, and whether the soil surface is exposed or covered with vegetation. Furthermore the result of this study showed that plants plays a significant role in the formation of erosion on slopes. The properties of vegetation can affect both by effectively reducing erosion but also contribute to increasing erosion. Properties such as the height above ground, density, root density, growth rate and litter, was shown to have a significant impact on the formation of surficial water erosion. The study clearly shows that erosion processes and plant properties have a complex relationship where several factors can play important roles. This can be important to be aware of in order to anticipate risks with exposed soil, as well as to value the importance of vegetation in planning, construction, establishment and management

European Arctic Initiatives Compendium

Julkaistu versi

Increased pulsatility in the fetal ductus venosus is not related to altered cardiac strain in high-risk pregnancies.

Blood flow velocity patterns in fetal veins are considered to reflect cardiac function, but have not been convincingly documented. The aim of this study was to generate reference values for fetal cardiac strain and compare it with results in fetuses with signs of increased venous pulsatility

Reference values for voice use of healthy women over 67 years of age collected by longterm-registration with the voice accumulator VoxLog

The study aimed to obtain reference values for voice use in vocally healthy speakers over 67 years, examine how voice use differs during different periods of the day and with different levels of ambient noise, if there is a difference in voice use between everyday and studio environments, the relationship between subjective estimates and objective measurement and evaluate the voice accumulator VoxLog in regards to userfriendliness. Eight women with a mean age of 71,4 years participated. Phonation time, fundamental frequency, voice intensity and ambient noise were registered during seven days. A diary, using visual analogue scales for estimation of voice use was filled out three times a day. Results showed a mean phonation time of 6,7 %, mean fundamental frequency of 230,3 Hz and mean voice intensity of 85 dB SPL. Participants used higher voice intensity in everyday settings compared to studio environment. Fundamental frequency, phonation time and voice intensity increased with rising level of ambient noise. More research is needed in this area.Studien syftade till att ta fram referensvärden för röstanvändning hos röstfriska talare över 67 år, undersöka hur röstanvändningen varierar under dagen och med olika nivåer av omgivningsbuller, hur röstanvändning skiljer sig mellan vardags- och studiomiljö, hur sambanden ser ut mellan subjektiva skattningar och objektiv mätdata samt att utvärdera röstackumulatorn VoxLogs användarvänlighet. Åtta kvinnor med en medelålder på 71,4 år deltog. Under sju dagar registrerades deltagarnas fonationstid, grundtonsfrekvens, röststyrka och omgivningsbuller. En röstdagbok med visuella analoga skalor fylldes i tre gånger dagligen gällande uppskattad röstanvändning. Resultaten visade en medelfonationstid på 6,7 %, medelgrundtonsfrekvensen var 230,3 Hz och medelröststyrkan var 85 dB SPL. Deltagarna använde en starkare röststyrka i vardagen än vid studioinspelningarna. Röststyrka, fonationstid och grundtonsfrekvens höjdes med ökat omgivningsbuller. Mer forskning krävs inom området

Reactions to awareness of activated protein C resistance carriership: a descriptive study of 270 women.

Background. Around 25 million Caucasian women are carriers of the FV Leiden mutation that causes activated protein C (APC) resistance. This is a heritable condition with a lifelong increased risk of venous thromboembolism. We performed this study to investigate women's reactions to their awareness of being APC-resistant and the consequences of this awareness. Methods. All APC-resistant women (n = 270) included in a prior study on APC resistance and pregnancy (n = 2480) were invited by written questionnaire to describe their reactions to having APC resistance, how this had changed their lives, and how they experienced our information. Answers were obtained from 215 of the 270 women (80%). Results. More than 94% of the APC-resistant women were satisfied with knowing themselves to be APC-resistant and pleased that they had enrolled in the study. Of the women on combined oral contraceptives (COC), 84% changed their method of contraception, but 16% continued on COC. One-third of the women reported becoming more worried or afraid of getting pregnant again as a result of their awareness of being APC-resistant. The proportion of women who sought legal abortions during a 2-year period after receiving this information was similar in both subgroups: 4.4% (12/270) vs. 4.3% (94/2210), p = 0.9. Conclusions. We conclude that most APC-resistant women were pleased to learn of their APC resistance status, that there was not an increased incidence of legal abortions, but almost one-third reported being more worried or afraid of getting pregnant again

Fibrillin Immunoreactive Fibers Constitute a Unique Network in the Human Dermis: Immunohistochemical Comparison of the Distributions of Fibrillin, Vitronectin, Amyloid P Component, and Orcein Stainable Structures in Normal Skin and Elastosis

Fibrillin, a 350-kD glycoprotein, was recently localized to elastin-associated 10nm microfibrils. Here, the distribution of fibrillin immunoreactivity was determined in normal skin in individuals of different ages and in lesions of solar elastosis or anetoderma. It was compared with the distribution of orcein-stainable fibers and with the immunoreactivities of vitronectin and amyloid P component. These glycoproteins are known to occur in conjunction with the orcein-stainable elastic fibers in adults, but not in the young. Fibrillin immunoreactivity was associated with orcein-stainable fibers in normal skin of both adults and the young. In addition, the fibrillin immunoreactive fiber network comprised fine fibers that were unstainable by orcein, anti-vitronectin, or anti- amyloid P component. Such fine fibers were especially abundant close to the dermal-epidermal junction zone. Immunoreactivities of anti-vitronectin and anti-amyloid P component were not always associated with fibrillin immunoreactivity but were consistently found to co-localize with orcein-stainable fibers in adults. This suggests vitronectin and amyloid P component to be associated with the amorphous elastin rather than with the microfibrils, although alternative interpretations are possible. In elastotic lesions, fibrillin immunoreactivity was generally fainter than that obtained using anti-vitronectin or anti-amyloid P component. In contrast, an extensive network of dermal fibers stained by anti-fibrillin, but not by anti-amyloid P component, anti-vitronectin, or orcein, was seen in an anetoderma lesion. In conclusion, fibrillin immunoreactivity is associated with a unique dermal network, which ultrastructurally is composed of microfibrils. These fibers are proposed to have an important structural and functional role in anchoring the dermal elastic fibers in the extracellular matrix and to the lamina densa

Individual risk assessment of thrombosis in pregnancy.

Thromboembolic complications during pregnancy are major contributors to maternal death, but there is no reliable way to estimate the absolute risk of thrombosis before the occurrence of a thromboembolic complication. OBJECTIVE: To create a model for individual estimation of thrombosis risk during pregnancy and to determine the distribution of risk estimates in a series of gravidae. METHOD AND PATIENTS: Estimates of absolute risk of pregnancy-related thromboembolism were calculated by multiplying reported figures of thrombosis incidence by prevalence-adjusted odds ratios of the following variables: smoking, parity, preeclampsia, mode of delivery, age, overweight, activated protein C resistance (FV Leiden or FV:Q506), thrombosis heredity, and previous thrombosis. We present the risk distribution among a unselected prospectively gathered cohort of 2384 unselected gravidae who were interviewed and tested for activated protein C resistance in early pregnancy. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: A model for individual estimation of the absolute risk of thrombosis is presented, which is provided to the readers as a free automatic Internet-based service (http://www.riskpreg.com). As compared with antepartum, more women at high risk can be identified in the postpartum period and we suggest that this might be of use in planning the prevention of thrombosis

Protein S binding in relation to the subunit composition of human C4b-binding protein

AbstractThe human regulatory complement component C4b-binding protein (C4BP) circulates in plasma either as a free protein or in a bimolecular complex with the vitamin K-dependent protein S. The major form of C4BP is composed of 7 identical, disulfide-linked 70 kDa subunits (α-chains), the arrangement of which gives the C4BP molecule a spider-like appearance. Recently, we identified a unique 45 kDa subunit (β-chain) in C4BP. We have now isolated a subpopulation of C4BP, which does notbind protein S. This C4BP species, which had a molecular weight slightly lower than that of the predominant form, was found to lack the β-chain. Another lower molecular weight form of C4BP was also purified. It contained the β-chain and was efficient in binding protein S. Its subunit composition was judged to comprise six α-chains and one β-chain. These results indicate C4BP in plasma to be heterogeneous at a molecular level vis-a-vis subunit composition and/or protein S binding ability and provide support for the concept that the β-chain of C4BP contains the single protein S binding site