Space for Two to Think: Large, High-Resolution Displays for Co-located Collaborative Sensemaking

Large, high-resolution displays carry the potential to enhance single display groupware collaborative sensemaking for intelligence analysis tasks by providing space for common ground to develop, but it is up to the visual analytics tools to utilize this space effectively. In an exploratory study, we compared two tools (Jigsaw and a document viewer), which were adapted to support multiple input devices, to observe how the large display space was used in establishing and maintaining common ground during an intelligence analysis scenario using 50 textual documents. We discuss the spatial strategies employed by the pairs of participants, which were largely dependent on tool type (data-centric or function-centric), as well as how different visual analytics tools used collaboratively on large, high-resolution displays impact common ground in both process and solution. Using these findings, we suggest design considerations to enable future co-located collaborative sensemaking tools to take advantage of the benefits of collaborating on large, high-resolution displays

Large High Resolution Displays for Co-Located Collaborative Intelligence Analysis

Large, high-resolution vertical displays carry the potential to increase the accuracy of collaborative sensemaking, given correctly designed visual analytics tools. From an exploratory user study using a fictional intelligence analysis task, we investigated how users interact with the display to construct spatial schemas and externalize information, as well as how they establish shared and private territories. We investigated the spatial strategies of users partitioned by tool type used (document- or entity-centric). We classified the types of territorial behavior exhibited in terms of how the users interacted with the display (integrated or independent workspaces). Next, we examined how territorial behavior impacted the common ground between the pairs of users. Finally, we recommend design guidelines for building co-located collaborative visual analytics tools specifically for use on large, high-resolution vertical displays

Air & Light & time & Space : How Successful Academics Write. Helen Sword London: Harvard University Press (2017) pp.266 Hardback £19.95 ISBN 978-0-674-73770-9

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Physiological Response of Southern Appalachian High-Elevation Rock Outcrop Herbs to Reduced Cloud Immersion

Cloud immersion experienced by high-elevation rock outcrop plants reduces the leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit (VPD), decreasing transpirational water loss. Frequent cloud immersion might ameliorate water stress in shallow soil outcrop communities, increasing water use efficiency and growth. Current climate pattern predictions propose that Southern Appalachian cloud immersion frequency will decrease, potentially increasing water stress in rock outcrop plant populations. In this experiment, outcrop specialists Hydatica petiolaris (cliff saxifrage) and Solidagosimulans (granite dome goldenrod) were grown in microcosms simulating current, reduced, and absent cloud immersion. Light saturation point and water use efficiency (WUE) increased, and transpiration decreased with decreasing immersion treatment duration. Root mass, root to shoot ratio, and specific leaf mass were greatest in thereduced immersion treatment. Simulated non-immersed conditions resulted in higher VPD, photosynthetic rate, transpiration, and lower WUE across treatments. Results indicate phenotypic plasticity in response to immersion duration for some physiological parameters, suggesting the ability of these plants to acclimate to changing climatic conditions

“The Knot Loops in upon Itself”: Futility in Language, Communication, and Meaning in J. M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians

South African novelist J. M. Coetzee’s 1980 novel Waiting for the Barbarians explores how systems of oppression work to destroy language, impede communication, and divert meaning from lived experiences. Focalized through the experience of a rural township’s Magistrate, the novel largely deals with acts of oppression inflicted upon a group of barbarians who are given no voice and little agency. After he establishes a physical relationship with an unnamed barbarian woman, the Magistrate becomes obsessed with reconciling his position in the unidentified Empire with that of the barbarian experience. He fails at this reconciliation for three reasons: the failure of language to express horrific bodily pain, the disconnect between the physical body and meaning, and Coetzee’s own hesitancy as an author to impose a single interpretation. This thesis explores these “failures” by examining both verbal and nonverbal forms of language and communication in the novel. Many aspects of the text, including torture, spoken language, and historiography, perpetuate the oppression of the barbarian people but fail to allow an easy interpretation or signify a conclusive meaning. In fact, a singular meaning in the text proves elusive for both the Magistrate and readers. Political and historical implications aside, Waiting for the Barbarians challenges readers to accept the pitfalls of language and communication and thus, the evasive and complex presence of meaning

Parental experiences of education at home during a pandemic

Acknowledgements The research team would like to express their gratitude to the study participants for generously contributing their time and experiences to this research. The lead researcher also wishes to thank Dr. Mark Jenkins for his unwavering and invaluable guidance, encouragement and support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Language of the Birds: A Ceramic Exploration of Alchemical Transmutation

How can the medieval ideas and concepts of alchemy be translated into a body of contemporary ceramic work? The term alchemical transmutation can be used to describe an action on the physical level (the purification and transformation of metals) as well as an action on the metaphysical level (the purification of the spirit and thetransformation of mankind). The realm of alchemy is one of corresponding duality, from its very definition to the related symbol structures and allegories. Various initiatory aspects of the artist’s own life provided inspiration forfulfilling the metaphysical aspect of transmutation, while the medium of ceramics, which undergoes a transformation from common earth into lasting work, mimics the act of physical transformation. Alchemical allegories are explored through obsessive and repetitive acts of creation in ceramics, leading to the development of personal symbols and a deeper understanding of self

In the Grip of Slavery: The Rise of a Slave Society Surrounding the Establishment of Stock Stands along the Buncombe Turnpike, 1790 to 1855

Western North Carolina is often seen as a region where African-American slavery was uncommon, and non-essential to the economy. However, in Buncombe County, especially the communities along the Buncombe Turnpike, slavery was common and played an important role in the economy. Many of Buncombe’s most wealthy and prominent slave-owners ran “stock stands” or inns along the road. Over two generations, the elements of a slave society (including the consolidation of wealth, a new profitable commodity, and a strengthening of slave codes) manifested themselves in Buncombe and by 1855 the communities along the Buncombe Turnpike were in the grip of slaver

The role of reactive oxygen species in insulin resistance

Insulin resistance and type II diabetes mellitus are major public health issues in the U.S.; more specifically insulin resistance is strongly correlated with obesity. Multiple factors influence insulin resistance such as hyperglycemic conditions and increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). As oxygen radicals accumulate in adipocytes from increased glucose oxidation, they interfere with insulin signaling and affect glucose uptake. To determine if insulin sensitivity can be prolonged with the aid of antioxidants, adipocytes were maintained in a high glucose medium supplemented with antioxidants ascorbic acid or &alpha-tocopherol and then tested for insulin sensitivity. Our studies reveal that ROS levels fluctuate in insulin resistant adipocytes (Day 11-21). We show for the first time that there is a decrease in ROS levels at Day 13, which then significantly increase at Day 15 and this trend continues every other day till Day 21. At Day 10 and 15 the ROS levels are high, but adipocytes have high GLUT4 expression at Day 10 and decreased expression on Day 15. By Day 15 there is increased phosphorylation of AKT but no change in IRS-1 phosphorylation. The levels of ROS were significantly decreased with the application of antioxidants. With decreased ROS levels there was overall increased phosphorylation of IRS-1 and AKT. The lipid content and distribution was not affected by ROS levels. In conclusion, the development of insulin resistance is effected by ROS, however the data indicates that there is a mechanism independent of AKT, or a target downstream of AKT that is affected and leading to the development of insulin resistance. ROS levels also regulate the expression of GLUT4 and thus GLUT4-mediated glucose uptake resulting in resistance to insulin signaling. Insulin resistance is affected by ROS levels differently if it is added exogenously, or if it is amassed endogenously. Identification of factors that interfere with insulin signaling and thus type II diabetes, like ROS levels, can lead to the development of possible therapeutic treatments

`Birds of a feather flock together' or `opposites attract'?: characterizing the romantic partners of individuals exhibiting borderline personality disorder traits using a dimensional personality model

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is often characterized by “a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 663). There has been limited research, however, to characterize the romantic partners of individuals with this diagnosis. Furthermore, the research to date has resulted in inconsistent findings and focuses exclusively on categorical diagnoses, rather than dimensional personality traits. Therefore, this study sought to characterize the ideal and actual romantic partners of individuals exhibiting BPD traits in terms of the five factor model and determine whether these romantic partnerships support an attraction model of similarity, complementarity, or neither. It was predicted that the ideal romantic partners of individuals exhibiting higher BPD traits would possess five factor traits similar to their own, while their actual romantic partners would possess largely complementary five factor traits. Questionnaires assessing BPD traits, five factor traits, and romantic relationship characteristics were administered to 70 female college undergraduates, and a measure of five factor traits to their current romantic partners. Participants scoring higher on measures of BPD traits were found to desire ideal partners with higher neuroticism, and pair with actual partners with higher neuroticism and lower extraversion and agreeableness. Support was provided for the similarity model of attraction