376 research outputs found
Three themes for designing games that aim to promote a positive body perception in hospitalized children
Hospitalized children often experience physical changes that negatively affect their bodily perceptions, thereby adding to the stress of being sick. Existing approaches to supporting hospitalized children such as those promoted by the Clown Doctors use play to distract the child from negative bodily perceptions. In contrast, we propose reframing the bodily perception of these children through bodily virtual play facilitated by their imagination. We explore this design space through an analysis of the literature combined with design explorations around play and bodily imagination. This research results in a set of themes for games that aim to reframe bodily perception to a more positive self-image full of creative potential. We envisage that our work could help designers who aim to create digital play for sick children
When optimization for governing human environment tipping elements is neither sustainable nor safe
Optimizing economic welfare in environmental governance has been criticized for delivering short-term gains at the expense of long-term environmental degradation. Different from economic optimization, the concepts of sustainability and the more recent safe operating space have been used to derive policies in environmental governance. However, a formal comparison between these three policy paradigms is still missing, leaving policy makers uncertain which paradigm to apply. Here, we develop a better understanding of their interrelationships, using a stylized model of human-environment tipping elements. We find that no paradigm guarantees fulfilling requirements imposed by another paradigm and derive simple heuristics for the conditions under which these trade-offs occur. We show that the absence of such a master paradigm is of special relevance for governing real-world tipping systems such as climate, fisheries, and farming, which may reside in a parameter regime where economic optimization is neither sustainable nor safe.The
authors are grateful for financial support from the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, the
Stordalen Foundation (via the Planetary Boundaries Research Network PB.net), the Earth
League’s EarthDoc program, the Leibniz Association (project DOMINOES) and the
Swedish Research Council Formas (Project Grant 2014-589)
Searching for optimal variables in real multivariate stochastic data
By implementing a recent technique for the determination of stochastic
eigendirections of two coupled stochastic variables, we investigate the
evolution of fluctuations of NO2 concentrations at two monitoring stations in
the city of Lisbon, Portugal. We analyze the stochastic part of the
measurements recorded at the monitoring stations by means of a method where the
two concentrations are considered as stochastic variables evolving according to
a system of coupled stochastic differential equations. Analysis of their
structure allows for transforming the set of measured variables to a set of
derived variables, one of them with reduced stochasticity. For the specific
case of NO2 concentration measures, the set of derived variables are well
approximated by a global rotation of the original set of measured variables. We
conclude that the stochastic sources at each station are independent from each
other and typically have amplitudes of the order of the deterministic
contributions. Such findings show significant limitations when predicting such
quantities. Still, we briefly discuss how predictive power can be increased in
general in the light of our methods
Karakterisasi Tanaman Tamarillo Di Sulawesi Selatan
Tamarillo (Chypomandra betacea Sent.) is a high land plant, that has been grown and developed in several regions in Indonesia, including in Toraja. However, the fruit that has a slightly sour sweet taste has not been widely used as nutritious food. The study aimed to characterize tamarillo plants that grow in the three developing areas. Data and information obtained from this activity can be used as an important information to determine the characters and to distinguish cultivars tamarillo plants in the area. The research was conducted using survey methods and direct observation in the field from March-September 2014 in three areas, namely Sapan and Kantun Poya District, North Toraja Regency, and Sangalla District, in Tana Toraja Regency, South Sulawesi Province. Data were collected for morphological characters of stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, and fruit nutrient content. Data were analyzed by simple statistical analysis and genetic relationship analysis using NTSys Program 2.1. The results showed that the toraja tamarillo had erect stems, round shape, height 2–5 meters, the leaves were dark green, flat type, slippery surface, facing upward. Purple flowers, the number of 10–12 fruits per cluster, with five stamens. Fruit type flat, oval, raw green color and when ripe striped maroon, production of 10–15 kg fruit/tree/year. The content of vitamin C was 30 mg/100 g, 2.6% of sugar, 85% of fruit juice content, 1.4% of total acid content, the amount of dissolved solids in the juice was 12.35%. The result of genetic relationship analysis using a 45 character traits showed that the cultivars Sangalla and Kantun Poya, as well as Sapan and Sangalla cultivars had a closed genetic relationship. Meanwhile, Sapan and Kantun Poya cultivars had much genetic relationship with different genetic trait
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Capillary-Driven Flow in Open Microchannels Printed with Fused Deposition Modeling
The fundamentals of fluid flow in 3D printed, open microchannels created using fused
deposition modeling (FDM) are explored. Printed microchannels are used in microfluidic devices
and have potential applications in embedding electronics in plastic substrates. However, FDM
parts possess rough surfaces, and in this study, surface topography is shown to have an important
impact on flow behavior, causing the liquid to travel down the channel with a characteristic
‘pulsing’ movement. We also analyze the influence of print orientation on capillary flow, where
microchannels printed in specific orientations are shown to exhibit different flow dynamics.Mechanical Engineerin
Solid behavior of anisotropic rigid frictionless bead assemblies
We investigate the structure and mechanical behavior of assemblies of
frictionless, nearly rigid equal-sized beads, in the quasistatic limit, by
numerical simulation. Three different loading paths are explored: triaxial
compression, triaxial extension and simple shear. Generalizing recent results
[1], we show that the material, despite rather strong finite sample size
effects, is able to sustain a finite deviator stress in the macroscopic limit,
along all three paths, without dilatancy. The shape of the yield surface is
adequately described by a Lade-Duncan (rather than Mohr-Coulomb) criterion.
While scalar state variables keep the same values as in isotropic systems,
fabric and force anisotropies are each characterized by one parameter and are
in one-to-one correspondence with principal stress ratio along all three
loading paths.The anisotropy of the pair correlation function extends to a
distance between bead surfaces on the order of 10% of the diameter. The tensor
of elastic moduli is shown to possess a nearly singular, uniaxial structure
related to stress anisotropy. Possible stress-strain relations in monotonic
loading paths are also discussed
Primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma of the breast: prognostic factors and outcomes of a study by the International Extranodal Lymphoma Study Group
Background: Primary diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) of breast is rare. We aimed to define clinical features, prognostic factors, patterns of failure, and treatment outcomes. Patients and methods: A retrospective international study of 204 eligible patients presenting to the International Extranodal Lymphoma Study Group-affiliated institutions from 1980 to 2003. Results: Median age was 64 years, with 95% of patients presenting with unilateral disease. Median overall survival (OS) was 8.0 years, and median progression-free survival 5.5 years. In multifactor analysis, favourable International Prognostic Index score, anthracycline-containing chemotherapy, and radiotherapy (RT) were significantly associated with longer OS (each P ≤ 0.03). There was no benefit from mastectomy, as opposed to biopsy or lumpectomy only. At a median follow-up time of 5.5 years, 37% of patients had progressed—16% in the same or contralateral breast, 5% in the central nervous system, and 14% in other extranodal sites. Conclusions: The combination of limited surgery, anthracycline-containing chemotherapy, and involved-field RT produced the best outcome in the pre-rituximab era. A prospective trial on the basis of these results should be pursued to confirm these observations and to determine whether the impact of rituximab on the patterns of relapse and outcome parallels that of DLBCL presenting at other site
The structure of Chariklo's rings from stellar occultations
Two narrow and dense rings (called C1R and C2R) were discovered around the
Centaur object (10199) Chariklo during a stellar occultation observed on 2013
June 3. Following this discovery, we planned observations of several
occultations by Chariklo's system in order to better characterize the physical
properties of the ring and main body. Here, we use 12 successful occulations by
Chariklo observed between 2014 and 2016. They provide ring profiles (physical
width, opacity, edge structure) and constraints on the radii and pole position.
Our new observations are currently consistent with the circular ring solution
and pole position, to within the km formal uncertainty for the ring
radii derived by Braga-Ribas et al. The six resolved C1R profiles reveal
significant width variations from to 7.5 km. The width of the fainter
ring C2R is less constrained, and may vary between 0.1 and 1 km. The inner and
outer edges of C1R are consistent with infinitely sharp boundaries, with
typical upper limits of one kilometer for the transition zone between the ring
and empty space. No constraint on the sharpness of C2R's edges is available. A
1 upper limit of m is derived for the equivalent width of
narrow (physical width <4 km) rings up to distances of 12,000 km, counted in
the ring plane
Potential feedbacks between loss of biosphere integrity and climate change
Non-technical abstract
Individual organisms on land and in the ocean sequester massive amounts of the carbon emitted into the atmosphere by humans. Yet the role of ecosystems as a whole in modulating this uptake of carbon is less clear. Here, we study several different mechanisms by which climate change and ecosystems could interact. We show that climate change could cause changes in ecosystems that reduce their capacity to take up carbon, further accelerating climate change. More research on – and better governance of – interactions between climate change and ecosystems is urgently required.
Technical abstract
Individual responses of terrestrial and marine species to future climate change will affect the capacity of the land and ocean to store carbon. How system-level changes in the integrity of the biosphere interact with climate change is more uncertain. Here, we explore the consequences
of different hypotheses on the interactions between the climate–carbon system and the integrity of the terrestrial and marine biospheres. We investigate mechanisms including impairment of terrestrial ecosystem functioning due to lagged ecosystem responses, permafrost thaw, terrestrial biodiversity loss and impacts of changes in marine biodiversity on the marine biological pump. To investigate climate–biosphere interactions involving complex concepts such as biosphere integrity, we designed and implemented conceptual representations of these climate–biosphere interactions in a stylized climate–carbon model. We find that all four classes of interactions amplify climate change, potentially contributing up to an additional 0.4°C warming across all representative concentration pathway scenarios by the year 2100 and potentially turning the terrestrial biosphere into a net carbon source,
although uncertainties are large. The results of this preliminary quantitative study call for more research on – and better integrated governance of – the interactions between climate change and biosphere integrity, the two core ‘planetary boundaries’.The research leading to these results has received funding from the Stordalen Foundation via the Planetary Boundary Research Network (PB.net), the Earth League’s EarthDoc programme, the Leibniz Association (project DOMINOES), European Research Council Synergy project Imbalance-P (grant ERC-2013-SyG-610028), European Research Council Advanced Investigator project ERA (grant ERC-2016-ADG-743080), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG BE 6485/1-1), Project Grant 2014-589 from the Swedish Research Council Formas and a core grant to the Stockholm Resilience Centre by Mistra
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