Framework for Electroencephalography-based Evaluation of User Experience

Measuring brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG) is mature enough to assess mental states. Combined with existing methods, such tool can be used to strengthen the understanding of user experience. We contribute a set of methods to estimate continuously the user's mental workload, attention and recognition of interaction errors during different interaction tasks. We validate these measures on a controlled virtual environment and show how they can be used to compare different interaction techniques or devices, by comparing here a keyboard and a touch-based interface. Thanks to such a framework, EEG becomes a promising method to improve the overall usability of complex computer systems.Comment: in ACM. CHI '16 - SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing System, May 2016, San Jose, United State

Establishment of Dominance Relationships in the Blue Gourami Trichogaster Trichopterus (Pallas)

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Are There Types of Academically Entitled Students? A Cluster Analysis

Academic entitlement (AE), which includes some students’ tendencies to express deservingness of academic outcomes, not based on achievement, may have serious implications, such as academic dishonesty and classroom incivility. Some researchers have suggested that there may be different types of students with regard to AE, implying that motives for entitled behaviour may not be uniform. The current study extends previous work in identifying subtypes of AE. A sample of 751 undergraduate students responded to measures of AE, narcissism, and performance avoidance learning orientation. Cluster analysis revealed five distinct clusters: Entitled Narcissist, Entitled Non-Narcissist, Unobtrusive Entitlement, Not Entitled, and Performance Avoidant. The Entitled Narcissist cluster is small in size and members generally have a higher sense of entitlement. The Entitled Non-Narcissist cluster is larger in size and members tend to have high performance avoidance scores. Understanding typologies of AE could lead to different strategies for addressing highly entitled students. Keywords: academic entitlement, student entitlement, cluster analysis, typologiesLa prétention scolaire (Academic Entitlement [AE]), qui inclut la tendance de certains étudiants à revendiquer la réussite scolaire sans qu’elle se fonde sur les résultats obtenus, peut avoir de sérieuses répercussions telles que la malhonnêteté scolaire et l’incivilité en classe. Certains chercheurs ont suggéré qu’il pourrait y avoir différents types d’étudiants en ce qui concerne l’AE, ce qui implique que les motifs derrière leur comportement peuvent ne pas être uniformes. La présente étude se veut le prolongement de travaux antérieurs visant l’identification de sous-groupes d’AE. Un échantillon de 751 étudiants universitaires a répondu aux mesures d’AE, de narcissisme et d’orientation de l’apprentissage par l’évitement des performances. L’analyse typologique révèle cinq sous-groupes distincts : les narcissiques, les non-narcissiques, les discrets (ces trois groupes croient que tout leur est dû), ceux qui n’ont pas le sentiment que tout leur est dû, et ceux qui évitent la performance. Les individus de type narcissique forment un groupe de petite taille et ont en général un sentiment plus fort que tout leur est dû. Les individus de type non narcissique forment un groupe de plus grande taille et ont tendance à obtenir des scores d’évitement de performance plus élevés. La compréhension de typologies de l’AE pourrait conduire à différentes stratégies pour s’adresser aux étudiants qui ont un sentiment très fort que tout leur est dû. Mots-clés : prétention scolaire, sentiment que tout leur est dû, étudiants, analyse typologique, typologie

Conceptualising work in economics: negating a disutility

This paper starts from the premise that economics has offered a one-sided conception of work. Standard economic theory, specifically, has defined work as a means to income and consumption; it has failed to grasp the importance of work as an end in its own right. The aim of the paper is to develop an alternative conception of work that captures the formative impacts of work on the well-being of workers. The paper firstly outlines and criticises the different definitions of the disutility of work found in economics. It then offers a critical assessment of happiness research on work. The idea that the effects of work on worker well-being can be captured by job satisfaction data and that the importance of work can be reduced to a subjective feeling in the heads of individual workers - two key aspects of happiness research - are challenged. The final part of the paper develops novel ideas about how the economics of work should progress in the future. The section proposes a needs-based conception of work and then uses this conception to make the case for collective intervention aimed at enhancing the quality of work life

Continuous Monitoring of Software Services: Design and Application of the Kieker Framework

In addition to studying the construction and evolution of software services, the software engineering discipline needs to address the operation of continuously running software services. A requirement for its robust operation are means for effective monitoring of software runtime behavior. In contrast to profiling for construction activities, monitoring of operational services should only impose a small performance overhead. Furthermore, instrumentation should be non-intrusive to the business logic, as far as possible. We present the Kieker framework for monitoring software runtime behavior, e.g., internal performance or (distributed) trace data. The flexible architecture allows to replace or add framework components, including monitoring probes, analysis components, and monitoring record types shared by logging and analysis. As a non-intrusive instrumentation technique, Kieker currently employs, but is not restricted to, aspect-oriented programming. An extensive lab study evaluates and quantifies the low overhead caused by the framework components. Qualitative evaluations provided by industrial case studies demonstrate the practicality of the approach with a telecommunication customer self service and a digital photo submission service. Kieker is available as open-source software, where both the academic and industrial partners contribute to the code. Our experiment data is publicly available, allowing interested researchers to repeat and extend our lab experiments

Response of greater sage-grouse to surface coal mining and habitat conservation in association with the mine

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) is a sagebrushobligate species that has experienced species-wide declines in population density and distribution. Sage-grouse habitats support human-related needs including domestic livestock grazing, urban development, and energy extraction. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified energy extraction as a range-wide sage-grouse conservation threat. Mining has been of specific concern because of observed sage-grouse population declines and impaired habitat within close proximity to the activity. Mining may be particularly problematic for small, isolated sage-grouse populations. In southwestern Utah, proactive habitat improvements and predator management have been implemented to mitigate the potential effects of surface mining on the southernmost population of sage-grouse in the United States. We evaluated sage-grouse lek attendance trends before (1991–2010) and during (2011–2016) mining on a lek located near the mine (Sink Valley lek) to assess population responses to coal mining and related mitigation activities. Changes in lek trends have been demonstrated as a valid metric to assess the effects of conservation actions on sage-grouse populations. We used a paired t-test to compare differences in male lek attendance before and during mining and analysis of variance to determine if sage-grouse densities and distance to mining changed during the mining period. We recorded bird coordinate location and the number of birds observed at each sighting location along 10 transects within the study site area. Differences in location from mining was tested using Analysis of Variance with α \u3c 0.5. There was no difference in the number of males attending the Sink Valley lek before and during mining. Population cycles were consistent over the time period sampled. With the exception of 2013, which had an unusually high number of sage-grouse found within the Sink Valley area, there were no differences in the number of birds observed at each sighting location in relation to the mine center (P = 0.37), the coal crushing facility (P = 0.34), and the mine boundary (P = 0.24). Coupled with ongoing mitigation activities including habitat restoration, pinyon-juniper (Pinus edulis, Juniperus osteosperma) removal, aggressive predator control, pre-mining acclimation to human influences, and removal of pinyon-juniper woodlands, surface coal mining had no negative effect on population cycles in the Alton/Sink Valley area

Welche ökonomischen Aspekte sollten in der Europäischen Verfassung berücksichtigt werden?

Im Dezember 2001 beschloss der Europäische Rat von Laeken, einen »Konvent zur Zukunft Europas« einzuberufen. Er erhielt den Auftrag, die Vereinfachung und Reorganisation der Verträge zu prüfen und eine Europäische Verfassung vorzubereiten. Die Verfassung soll die EU für das 21. Jahrhundert rüsten, insbesondere muss sie auch den Bedürfnissen der vielen neuen Mitglieder Rechnung tragen. Nach Ansicht von Prof. Dr. Bruno S. Frey, Institut für Empirische Wirtschaftsforschung der Universität Zürich, enthalten die bisher vorliegenden Verfassungsentwürfe kaum irgendwelche innovative Elemente. Nach wie vor stünden die Nationalstaaten im Zentrum. »Eine in die Zukunft orientierte Europäische Verfassung sollte ... genügend Flexibilität für die Entstehung neuer staatlicher Ordnungen aufweisen und nicht einfach die heute bestehenden Einheiten zementieren.« Prof. Dr. Charles B. Blankart, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, und Prof. Dr. Dennis C. Mueller, Universität Wien, bezeichnen »die derzeitigen Entscheidungsstrukturen mit Rat und Parlament als konkurrierenden Organen« als unklar und widersprüchlich. Die zunächst notwendige Entscheidung in Richtung Staatenbund oder Bundesstaat sei bei der Zusammensetzung des Konvents aber kaum zu erwarten. Klaus Hänsch, MdEP, der Mitglied des Präsidiums des Konvents zur Zukunft Europas ist und die Arbeitsgruppe »Economic governance« leitet, betont dagegen, der Konvent habe den Auftrag, die Union demokratischer, transparenter und effizienter zu machen. Er ziele nicht darauf ab, die Politiken der Union neu zu definieren oder zu ändern.Verfassung, Europäische Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion, EU-Staaten

Correlation Between Low Frequency Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR) and Auroral Structures

Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR) is a radio wave emission that has long been associated with auroral activity. AKR is normally observed in the frequency range from -60 - 600 kHz. Low frequency AKR (or LF-AKR) events are characterized as a rapid extension of AKR related emissions to 30 kHz or lower in frequency for typically much less than 10 minutes. LF-AKR emissions predominantly occur within a frequency range of 20 kHz - 30 kHz, but there are LF-AKR related emissions that reach to a frequency of 5 kHz. This study correlates all instances of LF-AKR events during the first four years of observations from the IMAGE spacecraft's Radio Plasma Imager (WI) instrument with auroral observations from the wideband imaging camera (WIC) onboard IMAGE. The correlation between LF-AKR occurrence and WIC auroral observations shows that in the 295 confirmed cases of LF-AKR emissions, bifurcation of the aurora is seen in 74% of the cases. The bifurcation is seen in the dusk and midnight sectors of the auroral oval, where AKR is believed to be generated. The polarization of these LF-AKR emissions has yet to be identified. Although LF-AKR may not be the only phenomena correlated with bifurcated auroral structures, bifurcation will occur in most instances when LF-AKR is observed. The LF-AKR emissions may be an indicator of specific auroral processes sometimes occurring during storm-time conditions in which field-aligned density cavities extend a distance of perhaps 5-6 RE tailward from the Earth for a period of 10 minutes or less

Integrated proteomic and transcriptomic profiling of mouse lung development and Nmyc target genes

Although microarray analysis has provided information regarding the dynamics of gene expression during development of the mouse lung, no extensive correlations have been made to the levels of corresponding protein products. Here, we present a global survey of protein expression during mouse lung organogenesis from embryonic day E13.5 until adulthood using gel-free two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled to shotgun tandem mass spectrometry (MudPIT). Mathematical modeling of the proteomic profiles with parallel DNA microarray data identified large groups of gene products with statistically significant correlation or divergence in coregulation of protein and transcript levels during lung development. We also present an integrative analysis of mRNA and protein expression in Nmyc loss- and gain-of-function mutants. This revealed a set of 90 positively and negatively regulated putative target genes. These targets are evidence that Nmyc is a regulator of genes involved in mRNA processing and a repressor of the imprinted gene Igf2r in the developing lung