Storytelling with objects to explore digital archives

Finding media in archives is difficult while storytelling with photos can be fun and supports memory retrieval. Could the search for media become a natural part of the storytelling experience? This study investigates spatial interactions with objects as a means to encode information for retrieval while being embedded in the story flow. An experiment is carried out in which participants watch a short video and re-tell the story using cards each of which shows a character or object occurring in the video. Participants arrange the cards when telling the story. It is analyzed what information interactions with cards carry and how this information relates to the language of storytelling. Most participants align interactions with objects with the sentences of the story while some arrange the cards corresponding to the video scene. Spatial interactions with objects can carry information on their own or complemented by language

An Inquiry into the Practice of Proving in Low-Dimensional Topology

The aim of this article is to investigate specific aspects connected with visualization in the practice of a mathematical subfield: low-dimensional topology. Through a case study, it will be established that visualization can play an epistemic role. The background assumption is that the consideration of the actual practice of mathematics is relevant to address epistemological issues. It will be shown that in low-dimensional topology, justifications can be based on sequences of pictures. Three theses will be defended. First, the representations used in the practice are an integral part of the mathematical reasoning. As a matter of fact, they convey in a material form the relevant transitions and thus allow experts to draw inferential connections. Second, in low-dimensional topology experts exploit a particular type of manipulative imagination which is connected to intuition of two- and three-dimensional space and motor agency. This imagination allows recognizing the transformations which connect different pictures in an argument. Third, the epistemic—and inferential—actions performed are permissible only within a specific practice: this form of reasoning is subject-matter dependent. Local criteria of validity are established to assure the soundness of representationally heterogeneous arguments in low-dimensional topology

Why 'scaffolding' is the wrong metaphor : the cognitive usefulness of mathematical representations.

The metaphor of scaffolding has become current in discussions of the cognitive help we get from artefacts, environmental affordances and each other. Consideration of mathematical tools and representations indicates that in these cases at least (and plausibly for others), scaffolding is the wrong picture, because scaffolding in good order is immobile, temporary and crude. Mathematical representations can be manipulated, are not temporary structures to aid development, and are refined. Reflection on examples from elementary algebra indicates that Menary is on the right track with his ‘enculturation’ view of mathematical cognition. Moreover, these examples allow us to elaborate his remarks on the uniqueness of mathematical representations and their role in the emergence of new thoughts.Peer reviewe

The effects of nonconcurrent and concurrent relaxation training on cardiovascular reactivity to a psychological stressor

Eight patients in a cardiac rehabilitation program, after exposure to two psychological stressors approximately equivalent with respect to cardiovascular reactivity, were given nonconcurrent progressive muscle relaxation training and retested for reactivity. They were then provided with relaxation training concurrently with one of the stressors and exposed again to the two stressors. No significant effects for nonconcurrent progressive muscle relaxation training were detected. Concurrent training, in contrast, produced reductions in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Reductions resulting from training on the target stressor showed little tendency to generalize to the nontarget stressor; the discrimination was particularly well defined for systolic blood pressure. We conclude that muscle relaxation techniques are maximally effective in reducing reactivity to psychological stressors when relaxation training is provided concurrently with the stressor. Our findings further suggest that to inculcate the relaxation response reliably across different situations, specific training to enhance generalization may be needed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44813/1/10865_2004_Article_BF00844731.pd

An optical fibre rereadable radiation dosimeter for use at high doses and at elevated temperature

A new type of radiation dosimeter for large radiation doses is described, which is based on silica fibre material. Conventional radioluminescence or thermoluminescence of silica produces emission in the blue region of the spectrum. However, in this new material irradiation, in conjunction with a heat treatment, generates a green emission band. The intensity of the green band can be monitored by either radioluminescence or thermoluminescence using a test dose. The signals are directly related to the total irradiation history of the material. The dosimeter is therefore rereadable. The production mechanism of the green emission centre requires a thermal processing stage, with an activation energy of 0.52 eV. Further, the dosimeter is effective at recording radiation during high-temperature exposure, to at least 400°C, with the subsequent dosimetry being performed below 200°C

Clinical Justification for Preliminary Thermal Exposure to Composite in the Treatment of Caries: Randomized Clinical Trial

Background. Polymer composites have good aesthetic characteristics and pronounced physicochemical properties, as compared to traditional restorative materials such as amalgam. However, the polymerization reaction of composite material containing bismethacrylate group commonly used in clinical practice is always accompanied by a different degree of volumetric shrinkage (2.7%~7.1%). The resulting stress can lead to adhesion failure and some other unfavorable clinical consequences, such as enamel destruction, microcracking of composite material and formation of microleakage between composite and tooth cavity wall, which can result in recurrent caries and postoperative sensitivity, thereby affecting the long-term effect of restoration. Therefore, studying the effect of preheating on composite restoration is important for its clinical application. Objective. To improve the effectiveness of treatment of patients with dental caries by improving the physicochemical properties of composite restorations.Methods. A randomized clinical trial enrolled 180 patients aged 18 to 45 years, diagnosed with dentin caries class I, according to Black (K02.1 in ICD). The study was conducted in the Dental Clinic of Kuban State Medical University, Russia. 180 composite restorations were performed in the treatment of dentin caries of molars. Patients were randomized into 2 groups): the control group — 90 patients and the main group — 90 patients. The control and main groups, in turn, were divided into three subgroups, depending on the composite used — Estelite Sigma Quick (Tokuyama Dental, Japan), Filtek Bulk Fill Posterior Restorative (3M Espe, USA) and DentLight (VladMiVa, Russia). Each subgroup consisted of 30 patients. In the control group, the classical method of filling with a composite material at “room temperature” was applied. In the main group, a composite heating conditioner “Ena Heat” (Micerium, Italy) was used to heat the composite to 55 °C before adapting the material in the formed cavity with subsequent photopolymerization. The quality of composite restorations within the clinical study was evaluated using the modified Ryge criterion immediately after treatment and after 6, 12, 18, 24 months. Statistical processing of the obtained data was carried out by means of one-factor analysis of variance using the GraphPadPrism 9 program (GraphPad Software, USA).Results. The duration of the clinical study comprised 24 months. The study revealed a statistically significant decrease in the quality of marginal fit of composite restorations (according to the Ryge score) by 20.1% (p = 0.0001) in the control group and by 5.7% (p = 0.0328) in the main group.  At the same time, no statistically significant changes in Ryge scores were reported in the subgroups of composite materials of the main group (pF = 0.9480, pE = 0.1837, pD = 0.2529). As a result of the study, an optimal time algorithm (7 seconds) for using a special furnace for preheating the composite before sealing with subsequent photopolymerization was obtained.Conclusion. The study revealed a statistically significant positive effect of the proposed algorithm for working with a heated composite on the quality of marginal fit in the long term after treatment in comparison with the classical method of working with a composite at “room temperature”

The cognitive integration of scientific instruments: Information, situated cognition, and scientific practice

Researchers in the biological and biomedical sciences, particularly those working in laboratories, use a variety of artifacts to help them perform their cognitive tasks. This paper analyses the relationship between researchers and cognitive artifacts in terms of integration. It first distinguishes different categories of cognitive artifacts used in biological practice on the basis of their informational properties. This results in a novel classification of scientific instruments, conducive to an analysis of the cognitive interactions between researchers and artifacts. It then uses a multidimensional framework in line with complementarity-based extended and distributed cognition theory to conceptualize how deeply instruments in different informational categories are integrated into the cognitive systems of their users. The paper concludes that the degree of integration depends on various factors, including the amount of informational malleability, the intensity and kind of information flow between agent and artifact, the trustworthiness of the information, the procedural and informational transparency, and the degree of individualisation

Kruppel-like Factor 15 Is a Critical Regulator of Cardiac Lipid Metabolism

Background: Metabolic homeostasis is central to normal cardiac function. The molecular mechanisms underlying metabolic plasticity in the heart remain poorly understood. Results: Kruppel-like factor 15 (KLF15) is a direct and independent regulator of myocardial lipid flux. Conclusion: KLF15 is a core component of the transcriptional circuitry that governs cardiac metabolism. Significance: This work is the first to implicate the KLF transcription factor family in cardiac metabolism. The mammalian heart, the body\u27s largest energy consumer, has evolved robust mechanisms to tightly couple fuel supply with energy demand across a wide range of physiologic and pathophysiologic states, yet, when compared with other organs, relatively little is known about the molecular machinery that directly governs metabolic plasticity in the heart. Although previous studies have defined Kruppel-like factor 15 (KLF15) as a transcriptional repressor of pathologic cardiac hypertrophy, a direct role for the KLF family in cardiac metabolism has not been previously established. We show in human heart samples that KLF15 is induced after birth and reduced in heart failure, a myocardial expression pattern that parallels reliance on lipid oxidation. Isolated working heart studies and unbiased transcriptomic profiling in Klf15-deficient hearts demonstrate that KLF15 is an essential regulator of lipid flux and metabolic homeostasis in the adult myocardium. An important mechanism by which KLF15 regulates its direct transcriptional targets is via interaction with p300 and recruitment of this critical co-activator to promoters. This study establishes KLF15 as a key regulator of myocardial lipid utilization and is the first to implicate the KLF transcription factor family in cardiac metabolism