Exploring Human Images in Website Design Across Cultures: A Multi-Method Approach

To gain insight into how Internet users perceive human images, a controlled experiment was conducted using a survey, interviews, and an eye-tracking device. Three experimental conditions of human images were created including (1) human images with facial features; (2) human images but with no facial features; and (3) no human images. It was expected that human images with facial features would induce a user to perceive the website as more appealing, having warmth or social presence, and as more trustworthy. In turn, image appeal and perceived social presence were predicted to result in trust. All expected relationships in the model were supported except no direct relationship was found between the human image conditions and trust. Another goal of the research was to examine user reactions by cultural group, and differing reactions were observed between Canadian, German, and Japanese related to perceptions of use of human images in website design

NGC 6309, a Planetary Nebula that Shifted from Round to Multipolar

We present new narrow-band Ha, [N II], and [O III] high-resolution images of the quadrupolar planetary nebula (PN) NGC 6309 that show in great detail its bipolar lobes and reveal new morphological features. New high- and low-dispersion long-slit spectra have been obtained to help in the investigation of the new nebular components. The images and spectra unveil two diffuse blobs, one of them located at 55 arcsec from the central star along the NE direction (PA= +71) and the other at 78 arcsec in the SW direction (PA= -151). Therefore, these structures do not share the symmetry axes of the inner bipolar outflows. Their radial velocities relative to the system are quite low: +3 and -4 km/s, respectively. Spectroscopic data confirm a high [O III] to Ha ratio, indicating that the blobs are being excited by the UV flux from the central star. Our images convincingly show a spherical halo 60 arcsec in diameter encircling the quadrupolar nebula. The expansion velocity of this shell is low, 66 km/s. The software SHAPE has been used to construct a morpho-kinematic model for the ring and the bipolar flows that implies an age of 4,000 yrs, the expansion of the halo sets a lower limit for its age 46,000 yrs, and the very low expansion of the blobs suggests they are part of a large structure corresponding to a mass ejection that took place 150,000 yrs ago. In NGC 6309 we have direct evidence of a change in the geometry of mass-loss, from spherical in the halo to axially-symmetric in the two pairs of bipolar lobes.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Social Presence and Use of Internet-Delivered Interventions: A Multi-Method Approach

Objective Internet-delivered interventions can effectively change health risk behaviors and their determinants, but adherence to intervention websites once they are accessed is very low. This study tests whether and how social presence elements can increase website use. Methods A website about Hepatitis A, B, and C virus infections was used in a preparatory lab-based eye-tracking study assessing whether social presence elements attract participants\u27 attention, because this is a prerequisite for affecting website use. In the following field study, 482 participants representative of the Dutch population were randomized to either a website with or a website without social presence elements. Participants completed a questionnaire of validated measures regarding user perceptions immediately after exposure to the website. Server registrations were used to assess website use. Results Participants in the experimental condition focused on the social presence elements, both in terms of frequency (F(1, 98) = 40.34, p<.001) and duration (F(1, 88) = 39.99, p<.001), but did not differ in website use in comparison with the control condition; neither in terms of the number of pages visited (t(456) = 1.44, p = .15), nor in terms of time on the website (t(456) = 0.01, p = .99). Conclusions Adding social presence elements did not affect actual use of an intervention website within a public health context. Possible reasons are limited attention for these elements in comparison with the main text and the utilitarian value of intervention websites

In vitro secretion profiles of interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF alpha after selective infection with Escherichia coli in human fetal membranes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chorioamniotic membranes infection is a pathologic condition in which an abnormal secretion of proinflammatory cytokines halts fetal immune tolerance. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the functional response of human chorioamniotic membranes, as well as the individual contribution of the amnion and choriodecidua after stimulation with Escherichia coli, a pathogen associated with preterm labor.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Explants of chorioamniotic membranes from 10 women (37–40 weeks of gestation) were mounted and cultured in a Transwell system, which allowed us to test the amnion and choriodecidua compartments independently. Escherichia coli (1 × 10 6 CFU/mL) was added to either the amniotic or the choriodecidual regions or both; after a 24-h incubation, the secretion of IL-1beta, IL-6, TNFalpha, IL-8, and IL-10 in both compartments was measured using a specific ELISA. Data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After stimulation with Escherichia coli, the choriodecidua compartment showed an increase in the secretion of IL-1beta (21-fold), IL-6 (2-fold), IL-8 (6-fold), and IL-10 (37-fold), regardless of which side of the membrane was stimulated; TNFalpha secretion augmented (22-fold) also but only when the stimulus was applied simultaneously to both sides. When the amnion was stimulated directly, the level of IL-1beta (13-fold) rose significantly; however, the increase in IL-8 secretion was larger (20-fold), regardless of the primary site of infection. TNFalpha secretion in the amnion compartment rose markedly only when Escherichia coli was simultaneously applied to both sides.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Selective stimulation of fetal membranes with Escherichia coli results in a differential production of IL-1beta, IL-6, TNFalpha, IL-8, and IL-10. These tissues were less responsive when the amnion side was stimulated. This is in agreement with the hypothesis that the choriodecidua may play a primary role during an ascending intrauterine infection, being the main barrier to progression of the infection into the amniotic cavity. Therefore, the tissue-specific capacities for the secretion of these immune modulators could be a determining factor for the degree of severity of the inflammation process in fetal membranes.</p

Prevalencia de Obesidad en estudiantes de primaria del colegio Raimondi

Con el objetivo de determinar la prevalencia de sobrepeso obesidad en escolares de 3º a 6º año de primaria del colegio Raimondi. Material y métodos: entre julio noviembre del 2015 fueron evaluados 371 de 3º a 6º de primaria del colegio de varones Raimondi en quienes se determinó el IMC el cual con ayuda del Z-escore se determinó la prevalencia de sobrepeso obesidad. Resultados: se encontró que el 66.3% de niños tuvieron un IMC &gt; del percentil 85 considerado como sobrepeso obesidad y de estos el 37.5% fueron obesos. Se concluye que la obesidad es una condición relacionada a los hábitos alimentarios inadecuados que compromete a más de un tercio de la población escolar de primaria en el colegio Raimondi. Palabras Clave: Obesidad en escolares

Gender differences in virtual route learning

Past studies have found evidence of gender differences in route-learning strategies, indicating that men rely on configurational strategies (e.g., cardinal directions) and women rely on topographic strategies (e.g., landmarks). Whether and how these gender differences in route-learning strategies extend to virtual environments is not fully known. In this dissertation, I investigated gender differences in learning virtual routes from two frames of reference- egocentric and allocentric. One hundred and twenty participants volunteered for the two experiments. After completing two tests of spatial abilities, the participants viewed four separate virtual routes and their eye movements were recorded. Afterwards, they provided written route directions. In the egocentric viewpoint experiment, I found no support for the hypotheses predicting that men and women would differ in configurational and topographic route-learning strategies (visual and written). There were significant gender differences in configurational strategies when I analyzed a subset of compass users, suggesting that there is a more complex relationship between gender and virtual route-learning strategies than previously assumed. In part, visual scanning of route elements was significantly correlated with written directions. The predicted gender differences in spatial abilities (object location memory and mental rotation) were significant, but spatial abilities only partially correlated with written directions and eye fixations. Unexpectedly, the results yielded a significant negative correlation between women’s scores on the object location memory and written references to landmarks. In the allocentric viewpoint experiment, gender differences in route-learning strategies were significant or trended towards significance. Furthermore, visual scanning of the virtual route was significantly correlated with providing written directions. As in the egocentric viewpoint experiment, gender differences in spatial abilities were significant, but these abilities rarely correlated with route-learning strategies. Generally, the experimental results indicate that gender differences in virtual route-learning strategies are significant only under specific frames of reference. As well, allocating eye fixations on topographic and configurational elements of the environment correlates with making written references to those elements, regardless of viewpoint. Lastly, the use of a specific virtual route-learning strategy is not extensively associated with mental rotation and object location memory abilities, contradicting past assumptions about this relationship

Exploring Human Images in Website Design: A Multi-Method Approach

Effective visual design of e-commerce websites enhances website aesthetics and emotional appeal for the user. To gain insight into how Internet users perceive human images as one element of website design, a controlled experiment was conducted using a questionnaire, interviews, and eye-tracking methodology. Three conditions of human images were created including human images with facial features, human images without facial features, and a control condition with no human images. It was expected that human images with facial features would induce a user to perceive the website as more appealing, having warmth or social presence, and as more trustworthy. In turn, higher levels of image appeal and perceived social presence were predicted to result in trust. All expected relationships in the model were supported except no direct relationship was found between the human image conditions and trust. Additional analyses revealed subtle differences in the perception of human images across cultures (Canada, Germany, and Japan). While the general impact of human images seems universal across country groups, based on interview data four concepts emerged—aesthetics, symbolism, affective property, and functional property—with participants from each culture focusing on different concepts as applied to website design. Implications for research and practice are discussed