Three applications of augmented reality technologies in structural engineering education

In technology terms, a real environment or personal space that is altered with digital media, such as images, is termed Augmented Reality (A.R.). From 2020 onwards, the next big thing in the technology sector will be A.R. The purpose of the current paper was to get ahead of the technology curve and develop applications of A.R. which could be used within structural engineering education both now and in the future. Three applications are presented. The first was a walking map/tour of Manchester and its buildings and bridges, whereby, at each stop, the tour is augmented with explanatory videos showing, amongst other things, structural load paths superimposed onto the actual structure. The second application was a structural engineering laboratory exercise that was augmented with videos explaining how to set up and use the apparatus from start to finish. The intention was to replace Lecturer/Technician assistance and make the exercise self-supporting. The final application used 360° video footage of a real construction site that was augmented with H&S/C.D.M. information. A unique 360° media suite at the University of Salford was used to display the video footage, which aided group work and also had a gaming element to the exercise whereby an X-box style controller was used to ‘point and shoot’ at perceived hazards and, if correct, pop ups would be revealed which would give mitigation measures and C.D.M. information. Quantative and qualitative means were used to measure the effectiveness of each application, with the general conclusion that further and continual refinement of the A.R. content would enhance effectiveness. There were no qualitative comments on the effectiveness of the technology, which implies that participants had few concerns about using the technology. There is promising potential of applying A.R. in structural engineering education in the future

Larger portions make me eat more : awareness of the external factors that influence food intake

There is consistent evidence that the amount of food people consume can be influenced by external factors, such as food portion size or the amount of food others are eating. However research studies to date have suggested that people are generally unaware of the influence that these external factors have on food intake. In the present research we directly tested whether consumers are aware of how external factors can affect their food intake. In Study 1 we re-analysed data from a study in which an effect of portion size on food intake was observed and post-consumption, participants were asked whether they believed portion size had influenced their food intake. In Study 2 participants were asked to indicate whether several different external factors known to increase food intake would be likely to increase, decrease or have no effect on how much they would eat in hypothetical scenarios. In Study 1, a large proportion of participants (56%) believed that their food intake was influenced by portion size. In Study 2, a large proportion of participants accurately identified that external factors known to affect eating behaviour would be likely to increase their food intake: portion size (73%), social influence (40%), food variety (75%), and distraction (59%). Together these results suggest that consumers show awareness of the influence that external factors have on their food intake

A systematic review of techniques and interventions for improving adherence to inclusion and exclusion criteria during enrolment into randomised controlled trials

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Enrolment of patients into a randomised controlled trial (RCT) in violation of key inclusion or exclusion criteria, may lead to excess avoidable harm. The purpose of this paper was to systematically identify and review techniques and interventions proven to prevent or avoid inappropriate enrolment of patients into RCTs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Methodology Register, online abstract repositories, and conference websites were searched. Experts were contacted and bibliographies of retrieved papers hand-searched. The search cut-off date was 31 August 2009.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No primary publications were found. We identified one study in the grey literature (conference abstracts and presentations) reporting the results of an evaluation of the effectiveness of an intervention designed to prevent or avoid inappropriate enrolment of patients into an RCT. In the context of a multicentre trial, use of a dummy enrolment run-in phase was shown to reduce enrolment errors significantly (<it>P </it>< 0.001), from 16.1% during the run-in phase to < 1% after trial initiation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our systematic search yielded only one technique or intervention shown to improve adherence to eligibility criteria during enrolment into RCTs. Given the potential harm involved in recruiting patients into a clinical trial in violation of key eligibility criteria, future research is needed to better inform those conducting clinical trials of how best to prevent enrolment errors</p

Adherence to treatment in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis:a cross-sectional, multi-method study investigating the influence of beliefs about treatment and parental depressive symptoms

Background: Adherence to treatment is often reported to be low in children with cystic fibrosis. Adherence in cystic fibrosis is an important research area and more research is needed to better understand family barriers to adherence in order for clinicians to provide appropriate intervention. The aim of this study was to evaluate adherence to enzyme supplements, vitamins and chest physiotherapy in children with cystic fibrosis and to determine if any modifiable risk factors are associated with adherence. Methods: A sample of 100 children (≤18 years) with cystic fibrosis (44 male; median [range] 10.1 [0.2-18.6] years) and their parents were recruited to the study from the Northern Ireland Paediatric Cystic Fibrosis Centre. Adherence to enzyme supplements, vitamins and chest physiotherapy was assessed using a multi-method approach including; Medication Adherence Report Scale, pharmacy prescription refill data and general practitioner prescription issue data. Beliefs about treatments were assessed using refined versions of the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire-specific. Parental depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Results: Using the multi-method approach 72% of children were classified as low-adherers to enzyme supplements, 59% low-adherers to vitamins and 49% low-adherers to chest physiotherapy. Variations in adherence were observed between measurement methods, treatments and respondents. Parental necessity beliefs and child age were significant independent predictors of child adherence to enzyme supplements and chest physiotherapy, but parental depressive symptoms were not found to be predictive of adherence. Conclusions: Child age and parental beliefs about treatments should be taken into account by clinicians when addressing adherence at routine clinic appointments. Low adherence is more likely to occur in older children, whereas, better adherence to cystic fibrosis therapies is more likely in children whose parents strongly believe the treatments are necessary. The necessity of treatments should be reinforced regularly to both parents and children

Optical biosensor differentiates signaling of endogenous PAR1 and PAR2 in A431 cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protease activated receptors (PARs) consist of a family of four G protein-coupled receptors. Many types of cells express several PARs, whose physiological significance is mostly unknown.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we show that non-invasive resonant waveguide grating (RWG) biosensor differentiates signaling of endogenous protease activated receptor subtype 1 (PAR₁) and 2 (PAR₂) in human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells. The biosensor directly measures dynamic mass redistribution (DMR) resulted from ligand-induced receptor activation in adherent cells. In A431, both PAR₁and PAR₂agonists, but neither PAR₃nor PAR₄agonists, trigger dose-dependent Ca²⁺mobilization as well as G_q-type DMR signals. Both Ca²⁺flux and DMR signals display comparable desensitization patterns upon repeated stimulation with different combinations of agonists. However, PAR₁and PAR₂exhibit distinct kinetics of receptor re-sensitization. Furthermore, both trypsin- and thrombin-induced Ca²⁺flux signals show almost identical dependence on cell surface cholesterol level, but their corresponding DMR signals present different sensitivities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Optical biosensor provides an alternative readout for examining receptor activation under physiologically relevant conditions, and differentiates the signaling of endogenous PAR₁and PAR₂in A431.</p

Cold gas accretion in galaxies

Evidence for the accretion of cold gas in galaxies has been rapidly accumulating in the past years. HI observations of galaxies and their environment have brought to light new facts and phenomena which are evidence of ongoing or recent accretion: 1) A large number of galaxies are accompanied by gas-rich dwarfs or are surrounded by HI cloud complexes, tails and filaments. It may be regarded as direct evidence of cold gas accretion in the local universe. It is probably the same kind of phenomenon of material infall as the stellar streams observed in the halos of our galaxy and M31. 2) Considerable amounts of extra-planar HI have been found in nearby spiral galaxies. While a large fraction of this gas is produced by galactic fountains, it is likely that a part of it is of extragalactic origin. 3) Spirals are known to have extended and warped outer layers of HI. It is not clear how these have formed, and how and for how long the warps can be sustained. Gas infall has been proposed as the origin. 4) The majority of galactic disks are lopsided in their morphology as well as in their kinematics. Also here recent accretion has been advocated as a possible cause. In our view, accretion takes place both through the arrival and merging of gas-rich satellites and through gas infall from the intergalactic medium (IGM). The infall may have observable effects on the disk such as bursts of star formation and lopsidedness. We infer a mean ``visible'' accretion rate of cold gas in galaxies of at least 0.2 Msol/yr. In order to reach the accretion rates needed to sustain the observed star formation (~1 Msol/yr), additional infall of large amounts of gas from the IGM seems to be required.Comment: To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics Reviews. 34 pages. Full-resolution version available at http://www.astron.nl/~oosterlo/accretionRevie

Mapping Hazard Zones, Rapid Warning Communication and Understanding Communities: Primary Ways to Mitigate Pyroclastic Flow Hazard

Co-auteur étrangerInternational audienc

Galaxies appear simpler than expected

Galaxies are complex systems the evolution of which apparently results from the interplay of dynamics, star formation, chemical enrichment, and feedback from supernova explosions and supermassive black holes. The hierarchical theory of galaxy formation holds that galaxies are assembled from smaller pieces, through numerous mergers of cold dark matter. The properties of an individual galaxy should be controlled by six independent parameters including mass, angular-momentum, baryon-fraction, age and size, as well as by the accidents of its recent haphazard merger history. Here we report that a sample of galaxies that were first detected through their neutral hydrogen radio-frequency emission, and are thus free of optical selection effects, shows five independent correlations among six independent observables, despite having a wide range of properties. This implies that the structure of these galaxies must be controlled by a single parameter, although we cannot identify this parameter from our dataset. Such a degree of organisation appears to be at odds with hierarchical galaxy formation, a central tenet of the cold dark matter paradigm in cosmology.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figure

Non-invasive intravital imaging of cellular differentiation with a bright red-excitable fluorescent protein

A method for non-invasive visualization of genetically labelled cells in animal disease models with micron-level resolution would greatly facilitate development of cell-based therapies. Imaging of fluorescent proteins (FPs) using red excitation light in the “optical window” above 600 nm is one potential method for visualizing implanted cells. However, previous efforts to engineer FPs with peak excitation beyond 600 nm have resulted in undesirable reductions in brightness. Here we report three new red-excitable monomeric FPs obtained by structure-guided mutagenesis of mNeptune, previously the brightest monomeric FP when excited beyond 600 nm. Two of these, mNeptune2 and mNeptune2.5, demonstrate improved maturation and brighter fluorescence, while the third, mCardinal, has a red-shifted excitation spectrum without reduction in brightness. We show that mCardinal can be used to non-invasively and longitudinally visualize the differentiation of myoblasts and stem cells into myocytes in living mice with high anatomical detail