537 research outputs found
Living with the user: Design drama for dementia care through responsive scripted experiences in the home
Participation in forms of drama and narrative can provoke empathy and creativity in user-centred design processes. In this paper, we expand upon existing methods to explore the potential for responsive scripted experiences that are delivered through the combination of sensors and output devices placed in a home. The approach is being developed in the context of Dementia care, where the capacity for rich user participation in design activities is limited. In this case, a system can act as a proxy for a person with Dementia, allowing designers to gain experiences and insight as to what it is like to provide care for, and live with, this person. We describe the rationale behind the approach, a prototype system architecture, and our current work to explore the creation of scripted experiences for design, played out though UbiComp technologies.This research is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council UK, (AH/K00266X/1) and Horizon Digital Economy Research (RCUK grant EP/G065802/1)
Using cultural probes to inform the design of assistive technologies
This paper discusses the practical implications of applying cultural probes to drive the design of assistive technologies. Specifically we describe a study in which a probe was deployed with home-based carers of people with dementia in order to capture critical data and gain insights of integrating the technologies into this sensitive and socially complex design space. To represent and utilise the insights gained from the cultural probes, we created narratives based on the probe data to enhance the design of assistive technologies.This work was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/K00266X/1) and RCUK through the Horizon Digital Economy Research grant (EP/G065802/1)
Kinetic energy driven superconductivity, the origin of the Meissner effect, and the reductionist frontier
Is superconductivity associated with a lowering or an increase of the kinetic
energy of the charge carriers? Conventional BCS theory predicts that the
kinetic energy of carriers increases in the transition from the normal to the
superconducting state. However, substantial experimental evidence obtained in
recent years indicates that in at least some superconductors the opposite
occurs. Motivated in part by these experiments many novel mechanisms of
superconductivity have recently been proposed where the transition to
superconductivity is associated with a lowering of the kinetic energy of the
carriers. However none of these proposed unconventional mechanisms explores the
fundamental reason for kinetic energy lowering nor its wider implications. Here
I propose that kinetic energy lowering is at the root of the Meissner effect,
the most fundamental property of superconductors. The physics can be understood
at the level of a single electron atom: kinetic energy lowering and enhanced
diamagnetic susceptibility are intimately connected. According to the theory of
hole superconductivity, superconductors expel negative charge from their
interior driven by kinetic energy lowering and in the process expel any
magnetic field lines present in their interior. Associated with this we predict
the existence of a macroscopic electric field in the interior of
superconductors and the existence of macroscopic quantum zero-point motion in
the form of a spin current in the ground state of superconductors (spin
Meissner effect). In turn, the understanding of the role of kinetic energy
lowering in superconductivity suggests a new way to understand the fundamental
origin of kinetic energy lowering in quantum mechanics quite generally
Bound States in Mildly Curved Layers
It has been shown recently that a nonrelativistic quantum particle
constrained to a hard-wall layer of constant width built over a geodesically
complete simply connected noncompact curved surface can have bound states
provided the surface is not a plane. In this paper we study the weak-coupling
asymptotics of these bound states, i.e. the situation when the surface is a
mildly curved plane. Under suitable assumptions about regularity and decay of
surface curvatures we derive the leading order in the ground-state eigenvalue
expansion. The argument is based on Birman-Schwinger analysis of Schroedinger
operators in a planar hard-wall layer.Comment: LaTeX 2e, 23 page
The Right to Informed Choice. A Study and Opinion Poll of Women Who Were or Were Not Given the Option of a Sterilisation with Their Caesarean Section
BACKGROUND: In The Netherlands, caesarean sections (CSs) are rarely combined with tubal occlusion (TO), partly because discussing CS/TO near delivery is considered unethical and earlier hypothetical counselling--i.e. suppose you happen to need a CS--is rare. This results in more unintended pregnancies and is inconsistent with informed choice. We explored whether TO should indeed not be made routinely available to eligible women. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A questionnaire was mailed to 515 Para ≥2 who underwent in the past ≥1 CS. 498 (96.7%) responded. They were on average 35.3 years old, had 2.5 children, had undergone 1.6 CSs, and 3.3 years had passed since their index delivery, either a CS (393) or vaginal birth (105) after a previous CS. 87% of the 498 believed that pregnant mothers with ≥1 children should be routinely counselled about CS/TO. Indeed, 58% and 85% respectively, thought women/couples expecting their second or third child should still be given the TO option days before delivery, if omitted earlier. Counselled women, 138/498 (27.8%), were far more often satisfied than those without CS/TO option. 33/393 had a CS/TO. None indicated regret in the questionnaire. Another 119 also would have elected a CS/TO if given that option. Therefore, 152 (38.7%) of 393 Para ≥2 had or would have liked a concurrent TO. 118/119 wrote they still regretted missing this opportunity. The exception's husband had had a vasectomy. 100/119 were good TO candidates: they were ≥28 years when they delivered an apparently healthy baby of ≥37 weeks. The current contraceptive use of these 100 suggests that this group will have at least 8 unintended pregnancies before age 50. CONCLUSION: The experiences and opinions of previous potential candidates for a CS/TO do not support the reluctance of Dutch obstetricians to counsel pregnant Para ≥1 about the TO option for a (potential) CS
Radioimmunotherapy Improves Survival of Rats with Microscopic Liver Metastases of Colorectal Origin
BACKGROUND: Half of the patients with colorectal cancer develop liver metastases during the course of their disease. The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy of radioimmunotherapy (RIT) with a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody (mAb) to treat experimental colorectal liver metastases. METHODS: Male Wag/Rij rats underwent a minilaparotomy with intraportal injection of 1 x 10(6) CC531 tumor cells. The biodistribution of (111)In-labeled MG1, 1 day after intravenous administration, was determined in vivo and compared with that of an isotype-matched control antibody (UPC-10). The maximal tolerated dose (MTD) of (177)Lu-labeled MG1 was determined and the therapeutic efficacy of (177)Lu-MG1 at MTD was compared with that of (177)Lu-UPC-10 and saline only. RIT was administered either at the day of tumor inoculation or 14 days after tumor inoculation. Primary endpoint was survival. RESULTS: (111)In-MG1 preferentially accumulated in CC531 liver tumors (9.2 +/- 3.7%ID/g), whereas (111)In-UPC-10 did not (0.8 +/- 0.1%ID/g). The MTD of (177)Lu-MG1 was 400 MBq/kg body weight. Both the administration of (177)Lu-MG1 and (177)Lu-UPC-10 had no side-effects except a transient decrease in body weight. The survival curves of the group that received (177)Lu-UPC-10 and the group that received saline only did not differ (P = 0.407). Administration of (177)Lu-MG1 RIT immediately after surgery improved survival significantly compared with administration of (177)Lu-UPC-10 (P = 0.009) whereas delayed treatment did not (P = 0.940). CONCLUSION: This study provides proof of principle that RIT can be an effective treatment modality for microscopic liver metastases, whereas RIT is not effective in larger tumors
Vortex phases in mesoscopic cylinders with suppressed surface superconductivity
Vortex structures in mesoscopic cylinder placed in external magnetic field
are studied under the general de Gennes boundary condition for the order
parameter corresponding to the suppression of surface superconductivity. The
Ginzburg-Landau equations are solved based on trial functions for the order
parameter for vortex-free, single-vortex, multivortex, and giant vortex phases.
The equilibrium vortex diagrams in the plane of external field and cylinder
radius and magnetization curves are calculated at different values of de Gennes
"extrapolation length" characterizing the boundary condition for the order
parameter. The comparison of the obtained variational results with some
available exact solutions shows good accuracy of our approach.Comment: RevTex, 11 pages, 10 figure
Meissner effect, Spin Meissner effect and charge expulsion in superconductors
The Meissner effect and the Spin Meissner effect are the spontaneous
generation of charge and spin current respectively near the surface of a metal
making a transition to the superconducting state. The Meissner effect is well
known but, I argue, not explained by the conventional theory, the Spin Meissner
effect has yet to be detected. I propose that both effects take place in all
superconductors, the first one in the presence of an applied magnetostatic
field, the second one even in the absence of applied external fields. Both
effects can be understood under the assumption that electrons expand their
orbits and thereby lower their quantum kinetic energy in the transition to
superconductivity. Associated with this process, the metal expels negative
charge from the interior to the surface and an electric field is generated in
the interior. The resulting charge current can be understood as arising from
the magnetic Lorentz force on radially outgoing electrons, and the resulting
spin current can be understood as arising from a spin Hall effect originating
in the Rashba-like coupling of the electron magnetic moment to the internal
electric field. The associated electrodynamics is qualitatively different from
London electrodynamics, yet can be described by a small modification of the
conventional London equations. The stability of the superconducting state and
its macroscopic phase coherence hinge on the fact that the orbital angular
momentum of the carriers of the spin current is found to be exactly ,
indicating a topological origin. The simplicity and universality of our theory
argue for its validity, and the occurrence of superconductivity in many classes
of materials can be understood within our theory.Comment: Submitted to SLAFES XX Proceeding
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