845 research outputs found
Construction of UEQ+ scales for voice quality: measuring user experience quality of voice interaction
The UEQ+ is a modular framework for the construction of UX
questionnaires. The researcher can pick those scales that fit his
or her research question from a list of 16 available UX
scales. Currently, no UEQ+ scales are available to allow
measuring the quality of voice interactions. Given that this type
of interaction is increasingly essential for the usage of digital
products, this is a severe limitation of the possible products and
usage scenarios that can be evaluated using the UEQ+. We
describe in this paper the construction of three specific scales to
measure the UX of voice interactions. Besides, we discuss how
these new scales can be combined with existing UEQ+ scales in
evaluation projects
Structure and localization of mRNA encoding a pigment dispersing hormone (PDH) in the eyestalk of the crayfish Orconectes limosus
AbstractThe pigment-dispersing hormone (PDH) is produced in the eyestalks of Crustacea where it induces light-adapting movements of pigment in the compound eye and regulates the pigment dispersion in the chromatophores. To study this hormone at the mRNA level, we cloned and sequenced cDNA encoding PDH in the crayfish Orconectes limosus. The structure of the PDH preprohormone consists of a signal peptide, a PDH precursor-related peptide (PPRP) and the highly conserved PDH peptide at the carboxy-terminal end. In situ hybridization in combination with immunocytochemistry revealed four cell clusters expressing PDH in the optic ganglia of the eyestalk. Three clusters stained both with the PDH cRNA probe and the PDH antiserum, however, the perikarya in the lamina ganglionaris (LG) only stained with the PDH antiserum, suggesting the presence of a PDH-like peptide in the LG
Ammonium Pertechnetate in Mixtures of Trifluoromethanesulfonic Acid and Trifluoromethanesulfonic Anhydride
Ammonium pertechnetate reacts in mixtures of trifluoromethanesulfonic anhydride and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid under final formation of ammonium pentakis(trifluoromethanesulfonato)oxidotechnetate(V), (NH) [TcO(OTf) ]. The reaction proceeds only at exact concentrations and under the exclusion of air and moisture via pertechnetyl trifluoromethanesulfonate, [TcO(OTf)], and intermediate Tc species. Tc nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been used to study the Tc compound and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), Tc NMR and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) experiments indicate the presence of the reduced technetium species. In moist air, (NH)2[TcO(OTf)5] slowly hydrolyses under formation of the tetrameric oxidotechnetate(V) (NH) [{TcO(TcO)}] ⋅10 HO. Single-crystal X-ray crystallography was used to determine the solid-state structures. Additionally, UV/Vis absorption and IR spectra as well as quantum chemical calculations confirm the identity of the species
Interrelationship Between the Open Circuit Potential Curves in a Class of Ni-Rich Cathode Materials
Metal induced folding: Synthesis and conformational analysis of the lanthanide complexes of two 44-membered hydrazone macrocycles
Six new lanthanide complexes of two 44-membered macrocycles have been prepared and characterised in solution. An analysis of the conformations of the free macrocycles and their lanthanide complexes both in solution (2D NMR) and in solid state (X-ray crystallography) demonstrate that the complexation induces changes in folding of the macrocycles
Strangeness Suppression in Proton-Proton Collisions
We analyse strangeness production in proton-proton (pp) collisions at SPS and
RHIC energies, using the recently advanced NeXus approach. After having
verified that the model reproduces well the existing data, we interpret the
results: strangeness is suppressed in proton-proton collisions at SPS energy as
compared to electron-positron (e+e-) annihilation due to the limited masses of
the strings produced in the reaction, whereas high energy pp and e+e-
collisions agree quantitatively . Thus strangeness suppression at SPS energies
is a consequence of the limited phase-space available in string fragmentation.Comment: 7 Figures, 4 Page
On the genetic involvement of apoptosis-related genes in Crohn's disease as revealed by an extended association screen using 245 markers: no evidence for new predisposing factors
Crohn's disease (CD) presents as an inflammatory barrier disease with characteristic destructive processes in the intestinal wall. Although the pathomechanisms of CD are still not exactly understood, there is evidence that, in addition to e.g. bacterial colonisation, genetic predisposition contributes to the development of CD. In order to search for predisposing genetic factors we scrutinised 245 microsatellite markers in a population-based linkage mapping study. These microsatellites cover gene loci the encoded protein of which take part in the regulation of apoptosis and (innate) immune processes. Respective loci contribute to the activation/suppression of apoptosis, are involved in signal transduction and cell cycle regulators or they belong to the tumor necrosis factor superfamily, caspase related genes or the BCL2 family. Furthermore, several cytokines as well as chemokines were included. The approach is based on three steps: analyzing pooled DNAs of patients and controls, verification of significantly differing microsatellite markers by genotyping individual DNA samples and, finally, additional reinvestigation of the respective gene in the region covered by the associated microsatellite by analysing single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Using this step-wise process we were unable to demonstrate evidence for genetic predisposition of the chosen apoptosis- and immunity-related genes with respect to susceptibility for CD
Leading-order determination of the gluon polarisation from semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering data
Using a novel analysis technique, the gluon polarisation in the nucleon is
re-evaluated using the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry measured in the cross
section of semi-inclusive single-hadron muoproduction with photon virtuality
. The data were obtained by the COMPASS experiment at
CERN using a 160 GeV/ polarised muon beam impinging on a polarised LiD
target. By analysing the full range in hadron transverse momentum ,
the different -dependences of the underlying processes are separated
using a neural-network approach. In the absence of pQCD calculations at
next-to-leading order in the selected kinematic domain, the gluon polarisation
is evaluated at leading order in pQCD at a hard scale of . It is determined in three intervals
of the nucleon momentum fraction carried by gluons, , covering the
range ~ and does not exhibit a significant
dependence on . The average over the three intervals, at
, suggests that the gluon polarisation
is positive in the measured range.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure
Resource Heterogeneity Moderates the Biodiversity-Function Relationship in Real World Ecosystems
Numerous recent studies have tested the effects of plant, pollinator, and predator diversity on primary productivity, pollination, and consumption, respectively. Many have shown a positive relationship, particularly in controlled experiments, but variability in results has emphasized the context-dependency of these relationships. Complementary resource use may lead to a positive relationship between diversity and these processes, but only when a diverse array of niches is available to be partitioned among species. Therefore, the slope of the diversity-function relationship may change across differing levels of heterogeneity, but empirical evaluations of this pattern are lacking. Here we examine three important functions/properties in different real world (i.e., nonexperimental) ecosystems: plant biomass in German grasslands, parasitism rates across five habitat types in coastal Ecuador, and coffee pollination in agroforestry systems in Indonesia. We use general linear and structural equation modeling to demonstrate that the effect of diversity on these processes is context dependent, such that the slope of this relationship increases in environments where limiting resources (soil nutrients, host insects, and coffee flowers, respectively) are spatially heterogeneous. These real world patterns, combined with previous experiments, suggest that biodiversity may have its greatest impact on the functioning of diverse, naturally heterogeneous ecosystems
Measurement of the charged-pion polarisability
The COMPASS collaboration at CERN has investigated pion Compton scattering,
, at centre-of-mass energy below 3.5 pion
masses. The process is embedded in the reaction
, which is initiated by
190\,GeV pions impinging on a nickel target. The exchange of quasi-real photons
is selected by isolating the sharp Coulomb peak observed at smallest momentum
transfers, \,(GeV/). From a sample of 63\,000 events the
pion electric polarisability is determined to be $\alpha_\pi\ =\ (\,2.0\ \pm\
0.6_{\mbox{\scriptsize stat}}\ \pm\ 0.7_{\mbox{\scriptsize syst}}\,) \times
10^{-4}\,\mbox{fm}^3\alpha_\pi=-\beta_\pi$, which
relates the electric and magnetic dipole polarisabilities. It is the most
precise measurement of this fundamental low-energy parameter of strong
interaction, that has been addressed since long by various methods with
conflicting outcomes. While this result is in tension with previous dedicated
measurements, it is found in agreement with the expectation from chiral
perturbation theory. An additional measurement replacing pions by muons, for
which the cross-section behavior is unambigiously known, was performed for an
independent estimate of the systematic uncertainty.Comment: Published version: 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
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