A Trip to the Moon: Personalized Animated Movies for Self-reflection

Self-tracking physiological and psychological data poses the challenge of presentation and interpretation. Insightful narratives for self-tracking data can motivate the user towards constructive self-reflection. One powerful form of narrative that engages audience across various culture and age groups is animated movies. We collected a week of self-reported mood and behavior data from each user and created in Unity a personalized animation based on their data. We evaluated the impact of their video in a randomized control trial with a non-personalized animated video as control. We found that personalized videos tend to be more emotionally engaging, encouraging greater and lengthier writing that indicated self-reflection about moods and behaviors, compared to non-personalized control videos

Surface carbohydrates and cell wall structure of in vitro-induced uredospore infection structures of Uromyces riciae-fabae before and after treatment with enzymes and alkali

Uredospores of Uromyces viciae-fabae differentiate to form germ tubes, appressoria, infection hyphae and haustorial mother cells on oil-containing collodion membranes. The cell walls of these infection structures were studied with the electron microscope and with FITC-labeled lectins before and after treatment with enzymes and inorganic solvents. Binding of the FITC-labeled lectins was measured with a microscope photometer. The enzymes pronase E, aminarinase, chitinase and lipase had different effects on each infection structure. Pronase treatment uncovered the chitin of germ tubes, appressoria and haustorial mother cells, but not of substomatal vesicles and infection hyphae. A mixture of a- and 13-1,3- glucanase which also contained chitinase activity dissolved germ tubes and appressoria completely, but not infection pegs, substomatal vesicles, infection hyphae and haustorial mother cells. After treatment with laminarinase or lipase, an additional layer, which is especially obvious over the substomatal vesicle, infection hypha and haustorial mother cell, bound to LCA-FITC. In the wall of the haustorial mother cell, a ring, which surrounds the presumed infection peg, had strong affinity for WGA after protease and sodium hydroxide treatment. The infection structures have a fibrillar skeleton. The main constituent seems to be chitin. This skeleton is more dense or has a higher chitin content in the walls of appressoria and haustrial mother cells. The fibrils of the skeleton extend throughout the cell wall of the germ tube and appressorium. They are embedded within amorphous material of complex chemical composition (a-1,3-glucan, 15-1,3-glucan, glycoprotein). The chitin of the infection peg, substomatal vesicle, infection hypha and haustorial mother cell is covered completely with this amorphous material. These resuIts show, that each infection structure has distinct surface and wall characteristics. They may reflect the different tasks of the infection structures during host recognition and leaf penetration

Carbohydrates on the surface of urediniospore- and basidiospore-derived infection structures of heteroecious and autoecious rust fungi

Nine fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeiled leclins with affinity towards different carbohydrates were used to probe the surface carbohydrates of infection structures in vitro, derived from urediniospores and basidiospores of an autoecious rust species. Uromyces viciae-fabae (Pers,) Schroet., and of a heteroecious rust species, Lhomyces rumicis (Schum,) Wint, Lectin binding was quantified by measuring fluorescence photometrically. All lectins bound in a characteristic pattern to the infection structures of the respective spore types of each rust fungus. Differences were especially obvious between those infection structures normally produced inside leaf tissue, namely the urediniospore-derived substomatal vesicles with infection hyphae, and the basidiospore-derived intraepidermal vesicles. The dikaryotic stage and the monokaryotic stage of the heteroecious fungus differed mainly in their affinity for the lectins from Bandeira simplicifolia and Lotus tetragonolobus. A statistical anaiysis comparing the binding oi the iectins to infection structures of two rust fungi suggested that cell surface composition is determined by nuclear condition. The monokaryotic stages of both rust fungi have a higher degree of similarity than the dikaryotic and monokaryotic stages of the same rust fungus

Basidiospores of Rust Fungi (Uromyces Species) Differentiate Infection Structures in Vitro

Basidiosporesofrust fungi (Uromyces species) differentiate infection structures in vitro, Experimental Mycology 12, 275-283. The effect of six different substrates on basidiospore germination and differentiation of infection structures was investigated in three species of Uromyces: U. appendiculatus var. appendiculatus, U. viciae-fabae, and U. vignae. Light and fluorescent microscopic observations were made after 3 days of incubation on the following substrates: 2 or 5% water agar, glass slide, collodion membrane, nitrocellulose sheet, and isolated host cuticle. Infection structure development up to the formation of a primary hypha was observed on hard substrates, such as 5% water agar, nitrocellulose sheet, and on isolated host cuticle. Addition of oil to the collodion membrane did not significantly increase the differentiation rate. The morphology and nuclear condition of these basidiospore infection structures were similar to those observed in host tissue. For the three directly penetrating species we studied, it appears that basidiospores respond to an unspecific stimulus, such as the thickness of host cuticle or the hardness of an artificial substrate