Reflecting on the usability of research on culture in designing interaction

The concept of culture has been attractive to producers of interactive\ud systems who are willing to design useful and relevant solutions to users\ud increasingly located in culturally diverse contexts. Despite a substantial body of\ud research on culture and technology, interaction designers have not always been\ud able to apply these research outputs to effectively define requirements for\ud culturally diverse users. This paper frames this issue as one of understanding of\ud the different paradigms underpinning the cultural models being applied to\ud interface development and research. Drawing on different social science theories,\ud the authors discuss top-down and bottom-up perspectives in the study of users‟\ud cultural differences and discuss the extent to which each provides usable design\ud knowledge. The case is made for combining bottom-up and top-down perspectives\ud into a sociotechnical approach that can produce knowledge useful and usable by\ud interaction designers. This is illustrated with a case study about the design of\ud interactive systems for farmers in rural Kenya

Exploring sociotechnical gaps in an intercultural, multidisciplinary design project

This paper highlights the need for the creation of artefacts that make\ud visible the gap between social requirements and the technical affordances of\ud technology. Augmenting the visibility of this gap can lead to a better integration\ud of the process and product of interaction design in intercultural and\ud multidisciplinary projects. Sociotechnical matrices are presented as artefacts that\ud can help to explore this gap. This is illustrated with a case study of the design of\ud interactive systems for farmers in rural Kenya. We discuss experiences in the use\ud of these matrices and new challenges that have emerged in using them

THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN PREDICTING ADOPTION OF WIND EROSION CONTROL PRACTICES

Logit and ordered probit analyses were used to identify factors associated with reduced tillage adoption, continuous spring cropping, and the number of changes made in response to wind erosion. Contrary to previous results for water erosion control, simple perception of a wind erosion problem or membership in a particular socioeconomic category did not significantly explain adoption of wind erosion control practices, but participating in a targeted educational program did. This educational program: (a) highlighted the threats of wind erosion to human health and to soil productivity, and (b) described specific potentially profitable farming practices for solving the wind erosion problem.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Adding ROS Scavengers to Cold K\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e Cardioplegia Reduces Superoxide Emission During 2 h Global Cold Cardiac Ischemia

We reported that the combination of reactive oxygen species (ROS) quenchers Mn(III) tetrakis (4-benzoic acid) porphyrin (MnTBAP), catalase, and glutathione (MCG) given before 2 hours cold ischemia better protected cardiac mitochondria against cold ischemia and warm reperfusion (IR)-induced damage than MnTBAP alone. Here, we hypothesize that high K+ cardioplegia (CP) plus MCG would provide added protection of mitochondrial bioenergetics and cardiac function against IR injury. Using fluorescence spectrophotometry, we monitored redox balance, ie reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide (NADH/FAD), superoxide (O2 •−), and mitochondrial Ca2+ (m[Ca2+]) in the left ventricular free wall. Guinea pig isolated hearts were perfused with either Krebs Ringer’s (KR) solution, CP, or CP + MCG, before and during 27°C perfusion followed immediately by 2 hours of global ischemia at 27°C. Drugs were washed out with KR at the onset of 2 hours 37°C reperfusion. After 120 minutes warm reperfusion, myocardial infarction was lowest in the CP + MCG group and highest in the KR group. Developed left ventricular pressure recovery was similar in CP and CP + MCG and was better than in the KR group. O2 •−, m[Ca2+], and NADH/FAD were significantly different between the treatment and KR groups. O2 •− was lower in CP + MCG than in the CP group. This study suggests that CP and ROS quenchers act in parallel to improve mitochondrial function and to provide protection against IR injury at 27°C

Comparison of Cumulative Planimetry versus Manual Dissection to Assess Experimental Infarct Size in Isolated Hearts

Introduction Infarct size (IS) is an important variable to estimate cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury in animal models. Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) stains viable cells red while leaving infarcted cells unstained. To quantify IS, infarcted and non-infarcted tissue is often manually dissected and weighed (IS-DW). An alternative is to measure infarcted areas by cumulative planimetry (IS-CP). Methods We prospectively compared these two methods in 141 Langendorff-prepared guinea pig hearts (1.44 ± 0.02 g) that were part of different studies on mechanisms of cardioprotection. Hearts were perfused with Krebs–Ringer\u27s and subjected to 30 min global ischemia after various cardioprotective treatments. Two hours after reperfusion hearts were cut into 6–7 transverse sections (3 mm) and stained for 5 min in 1% TTC and 0.1 M KH2PO4 buffer (pH 7.4, 38 °C). Each slice was first scanned and its infarcted area measured with Image 1.62 software (NIH). Infarctions in individual slices of each heart were averaged (IS-CP) on the basis of their weight. After scanning, IS-DW was determined by careful manual dissection of infarcted from non-infarcted tissue and measuring their respective total weight. Results We found limited tissue permeation of TTC in relation to the slice thickness leaving tissue in the center unstained, as well as significant cross-contamination of stained vs. unstained tissue after manual dissection. IS-CP and IS-DW ranged from 6.0 to 73.1% and 19.4 to 70.5%, respectively, and correlated as follows: IS-DW = (27.6 ± 1.4) + (0.518 ± 0.038) • IS-CP; r = 0.75 (Pearson), p \u3c 0.001. In addition, IS-CP correlated better with return of function after reperfusion like developed left ventricular pressure, contractility and relaxation, and myocardial oxygen consumption. Discussion Despite a good correlation between both methods, limited tissue permeation by TTC diffusion and limited precision in the ability to manually dissect stained from unstained tissue leads to an overestimation of infarct size by dissection and weighing compared to cumulative planimetry

Time series analysis of incomes policies in the United States

The old controversy about whether wage and price controls are instrumental or not in bringing down the rate of inflation was never quite buried in the U.S., although after the apparent failure of Nixon?s Economic Stabilization Program of 1971-1974 (ESP) to achieve its desired goals, even the enthusiasm of Incomes Policy advocates appeared for a while to have been mitigated. Defeat however, was never acknowledged, by its defenders. All type of ex-post rationalizations were offered as to, why, in the case of controls having been properly implemented and coordinated with more responsible monetary and fiscal policy, they would have eventually succeeded and not been thwarted in holding the reins of an inflation which from a brisk trot before the imposition of the ESP had set forth in an unbridled gallop at the end of it. Vanquishing inflation has certainly never been a pure academic problem since the costs of either living with it or putting an end to it have always been too real for everybody. But the Reagan administration?s belief in a supply-side free lunch as an effective weapon against inflation has rekindled the debate. There is an increased willingness to have yet another go at controls of those who always seeing wage inflation as the big culprit do not think that moderate fiscal and monetary restraint together with the measures to reduce costs and boost productivity (as Reagan?s administration has set out to do) can alone curb price inflation without the parallel complementary effect of some direct mandatory wage restraint. The purpose here is limited - to take again the skeleton out of the cupboard, namely the U.S. Economic Stabilization Program of 1971-1974 and try to ask some questions similar to the previous quantitative studies about its effects, as well as some other questions which were perhaps not so much looked into before.