Study on Personal Characteristics and Emotional Affordances through User Activity Analysis

Design methodology should address psychological and cognitive aspects based on human emotion and feeling as well as physical and functional aspects based on product structure. Donald Norman introduced perceived affordances as characteristics in the appearance of an object that gives clues for its proper operations. We conducted a case study in a public space - building lobby - used by many general people. User activities and behaviors were analyzed in several specific tasks given to twenty participants with similar cultural background in the lobby of a building they have never been to before. Then we identified affordances and building structure elements, called affordance features, critically related to those affordances. While performing the tasks in the same building lobby, user activities can be classified into several different groups for each task based on affordance features involved in their activities. These user activity differences are then compared with their personal cognitive characteristics derived from their perception and judgment preferences using intuitive and factual perception orientation and objective and subjective decision making inclination respectively. For user of less common activities for some tasks, personal cognitive characteristics have been identified. This study could help in affordance-based design so that alternative affordance features are designed considering diverse user cognitive characteristics

The discovery and characterization of tungsten insertase in tungsten cofactor biosynthesis

Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Determinants of sensitization to allergen in infants and young children

Atopic sensitization is a complex phenomenon that changes dynamically with age throughout childhood; its prevalence increases with age in young children. Additionally, with increasing age, the prevalence of sensitization to inhalant allergens and the prevalence of polysensitization to allergens increase. It is also well established that the development of atopic sensitization is the result of a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. However, there is considerable heterogeneity in the literature in terms of the effect of different environmental exposures in young children on the subsequent risk of atopic sensitization and allergic diseases. Previous studies on the relationship, in early life, between pet ownership, sex, exposure to secondhand smoke, exposure to traffic-related air pollution components, and atopic sensitization have yielded different results. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of gene-environment interactions, especially during early childhood, on the risk of subsequent atopic sensitization and allergic diseases. Therefore, pediatricians should consider the genetic and environmental determinants of atopic sensitization in infants and young children when diagnosing and treating patients with allergic diseases. Determining ways in which early exposure to these risk factors in young children may be reduced could be beneficial in preventing the likelihood of developing atopic sensitization