The Functionality, Interface and Uptake of an energy saving application for mobile devices

Four focus groups involving 18 participants took part in a structured elicitation session in which they gave their views and opinions on the functionality and interface design of a possible energy saving application for mobile devices. A qualitative topical analysis of their discussions indicated a distinct expectation that the application would enable them to save money, and a preference for displaying information in a financial or cost-based format rather than in physical units. Summarising this by time period (especially day), rooms and even devices would be welcomed, as would relating consumption to a personally tailored target or baseline amount, and to normative comparisons (e.g., a typical person / household like you). Comparison of the tariffs of different energy suppliers would be a useful feature to promote initial acquisition of the app. Data entry on first use followed by use of the camera to scan codes would be acceptable. While seen as useful when mentioned, integrating meter-reading functionality into the app was not seen as a key attraction. Provision of basic energy related information for the specific devices owned would be expected by users. Technology permitting, the ability to monitor each device’s usage and to remotely control them would be welcomed – even the ability to turn on a device remotely would allow people to leave it off when away from the home. Alerts should be used with caution: where they are specifically informative and directly help the person reach goals that they recognise as beneficial, they will be acceptable, but they do run the real risk of annoying users. Games might play a useful function for users with children, who might prevent users from deleting the app if the game is attractive to them, but they seem unlikely to be a key attraction. Social networking was seen more as a way of virally spreading uptake of the app and maintaining its use within a community of users than as a way of motivating people to change behaviour. As with use of alerts, the ability to post to networking sites on behalf of users should be treated very cautiously, but allowing people to provide (or pass on) tips to each other might enhance the impact of advice suggested by the app. Any graphical representations should be simple, with complexity presented on demand by the user (‘drilling-down’). There was no consensus on bar or line charts, although dial and rainbow metaphors were well received: optionality would seem to be required here, with users able to select their preferred format. Any use of emoticons should be seen as additional to the main display of information, rather than as the central approach. Physical units such as kWh or joules should be avoided, and consumption expressed in financial terms wherever possible. There was clear awareness of the nature of thermographic images, which suggests that they could play a useful part in communicating consumption, even in simulations. Short-term financial consequences dominated the discussion in all of the groups, but there was a realisation that for some the longer-term environmental benefits of behaviour change might be worth presenting. A jaded awareness of fear-appeal visualisations (e.g., polar bears on melting icebergs) suggests that such negative approaches to the consequences of energy use would have limited effect. Positive consequences were not mentioned often (e.g., ‘saved a child in Tibet’) and might thus have more impact, through being novel and unexpected

An attentional control task reduces intrusive thoughts about smoking.

INTRODUCTION: Attentional control tasks such as body scanning and following isometric exercise instructions have been shown to reduce smoking cravings, apparently by reducing stress (Ussher, M., Cropley, M., Playle, S., Mohidin, R., & West, R. [2009]. Effect of isometric exercise and body scanning on cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Addiction, 104, 1251-1257. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02605.x). Related work based upon elaborated intrusion theory (Kavanagh, D. J., Andrade, J., & May, J. [2005]. Imaginary relish and exquisite torture: The elaborated intrusion theory of desire. Psychological Review, 112, 446-467. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.112.2.446) has shown that similar tasks can reduce hungry participants' involuntary food-related thoughts (May, J., Andrade, J., Batey, H., Berry, L.-M., & Kavanagh, D. [2010]. Less food for thought: Impact of attentional instructions on intrusive thoughts about snack foods. Appetite, 55, 279-287. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2010.06.014). This study tests the effect of body scanning instructions upon smoking-related thoughts as well as craving. METHODS: Twenty-seven smokers took part in 2 counterbalanced sessions, on different days, having been asked to abstain from smoking for 2 hr. In each session, they followed audio instructions for three 10-min blocks during which their thoughts were probed 10 times. In the first and third blocks, they were instructed to let their mind wander; during the second block of the control session, they also let their mind wander, but in the experimental session, they followed body scanning instructions. "Smoking thought frequency" was assessed using thought probes; "Craving" was measured using Factor 1 of the Questionnaire on Smoking Urges (Tiffany, S. T., & Drobes, D. J. [1991]. The development and initial validation of a questionnaire on smoking urges. British Journal of Addiction, 86, 1467-1476. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.1991.tb01732.x). RESULTS: Participants reported fewer smoking-related thoughts and lower smoking cravings in the body scanning block of the experimental session, whereas they rose in the comparable mind-wandering block of the control session. The reduction in thoughts during the body scanning correlated with the corresponding reduction in craving. CONCLUSIONS: Body scanning reduces cravings and reduces the frequency or shortens the duration of smoking thoughts. Attentional control strategies may form a useful part of smoking cessation practices

Focal plane arrays for submillimeter waves using two-dimensional electron gas elements: A grant under the Innovative Research Program

This final report describes a three-year research effort, aimed at developing new types of THz low noise receivers, based on bulk effect ('hot electron') nonlinearities in the Two-Dimensional Electron Gas (2DEG) Medium, and the inclusion of such receivers in focal plane arrays. 2DEG hot electron mixers have been demonstrated at 35 and 94 GHz with three orders of magnitude wider bandwidth than previous hot electron mixers, which use bulk InSb. The 2DEG mixers employ a new mode of operation, which was invented during this program. Only moderate cooling is required for this mode, to temperatures in the range 20-77 K. Based on the results of this research, it is now possible to design a hot electron mixer focal plane array for the THz range, which is anticipated to have a DSB receiver noise temperature of 500-1000K. In our work on this grant, we have found similar results the the Cronin group (resident at the University of Bath, UK). Neither group has so far demonstrated heterodyne detection in this mode, however. We discovered and explored some new effects in the magnetic field mode, and these are described in the report. In particular, detection of 94 GHz and 238 GHz, respectively, by a new effect, 'Shubnikov de Haas detection', was found to be considerably stronger in our materials than the cyclotron resonance detection. All experiments utilized devices with an active 2DEG region of size of the order of 10-40 micrometers long, and 20-200 micrometers wide, formed at the heterojunction between AlGaAs and GaAs. All device fabrication was performed in-house. The materials for the devices were also grown in-house, utilizing OMCVD (Organo Metallic Chemical Vapor Deposition). In the course of this grant, we developed new techniques for growing AlGaAs/GaAs with mobilities equalling the highest values published by any laboratory. We believe that the field of hot electron mixers and detectors will grow substantially in importance in the next few years, partly as a result of the opportunity given us through this grant, which represents the major effort in the US so far. We note, however, that parallel research on hot electron mixers in thin film superconductors in Russia, and recently in Sweden, have demonstrated mixing up to 1 THz, with the potential for low-noise receivers for frequencies up to many THz. The three groups recently assessed the relative adtantages of 2DEG and superconducting film mixers in a joint paper (Kollberg et al., 1992; see Appendix II)

Soil sustainability in organic agricultural production

Traditionally, the assessment of soil sustainability and the potential impact of cultivation are based upon the application of chemical procedures. In the absence of a biological context, these measurements offer little in understanding longterm changes in soil husbandry. Detailed microcosm investigations were applied as a predictive tool for management change. The microcosms were designed with homogenised soils treated with organic amendments. Key soil functional relationships were quantified using stable isotope techniques, biochemical measurements and traditional approaches

Selecting fast folding proteins by their rate of convergence

We propose a general method for predicting potentially good folders from a given number of amino acid sequences. Our approach is based on the calculation of the rate of convergence of each amino acid chain towards the native structure using only the very initial parts of the dynamical trajectories. It does not require any preliminary knowledge of the native state and can be applied to different kinds of models, including atomistic descriptions. We tested the method within both the lattice and off-lattice model frameworks and obtained several so far unknown good folders. The unbiased algorithm also allows to determine the optimal folding temperature and takes at least 3--4 orders of magnitude less time steps than those needed to compute folding times

An Implicit Lagrangean Code for Spherically Symmetric General Relativistic Hydrodynamics with an Approximate Riemann Solver

An implicit Lagrangian hydrodynamics code for general relativistic spherical collapse is presented. This scheme is based on an approximate linearized Riemann solver (Roe type scheme). This code is aimed especially at the calculation of the late phase of collapse-driven supernovae and the nascent neutron star, where there is a remarkable contrast between the dynamical time scale of the proto-neutron star and the diffusion time scale of neutrinos, without such severe limitation of the Courant condition at the center of the neutron star. Several standard test calculations have been done. Two other adiabatic simulations have also been done in order to test the performance of the code in the context of the collapse-driven supernovae. It is found that the time step can be extended far beyond the Courant limitation at the center of the neutron star. The details of the scheme and the results of these test calculations are discussed.Comment: AASTeX v4.0, 24 pages, 13 figures on request from [email protected], submitted to Ap

Assessing the performance of the Asian/Pacific islander identification algorithm to infer Hmong ethnicity from electronic health records in California.

OBJECTIVE:This study assesses the performance of the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries Asian/Pacific Islander Identification Algorithm (NAPIIA) to infer Hmong ethnicity. DESIGN AND SETTING:Analyses of electronic health records (EHRs) from 1 January 2011 to 1 October 2015. The NAPIIA was applied to the EHR data, and self-reported Hmong ethnicity from a questionnaire was used as the gold standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative predictive values (NPVs) were calculated comparing the source data ethnicity inferred by the algorithm with the self-reported ethnicity from the questionnaire. PARTICIPANTS:EHRs indicating Hmong, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean ethnicity who met the original study inclusion criteria were analysed. RESULTS:The NAPIIA had a sensitivity of 78%, a specificity of 99.9%, a PPV of 96% and an NPV of 99%. The prevalence of Hmong population in the sample was 3.9%. CONCLUSION:The high sensitivity of the NAPIIA indicates its effectiveness in detecting Hmong ethnicity. The applicability of the NAPIIA to a multitude of Asian subgroups can advance Asian health disparity research by enabling researchers to disaggregate Asian data and unmask health challenges of different Asian subgroups