Evocative computing – creating meaningful lasting experiences in connecting with the past

We present an approach – evocative computing – that demonstrates how ‘at hand’ technologies can be ‘picked up’ and used by people to create meaningful and lasting experiences, through connecting and interacting with the past. The approach is instantiated here through a suite of interactive technologies configured for an indoor-outdoor setting that enables groups to explore, discover and research the history and background of a public cemetery. We report on a two-part study where different groups visited the cemetery and interacted with the digital tools and resources. During their activities serendipitous uses of the technology led to connections being made between personal memo-ries and ongoing activities. Furthermore, these experiences were found to be long-lasting; a follow-up study, one year later, showed them to be highly memorable, and in some cases leading participants to take up new directions in their work. We discuss the value of evocative computing for enriching user experiences and engagement with heritage practices

Photometric Redshifts for an Optical/Near-Infrared Catalogue in the Chandra Deep Field South

Photometric redshifts have proven a powerful tool in identifying galaxies over a large range of lookback times. We have been generalising this technique to incorporate the selection of candidate high redshift QSOs. We have applied this to a large optical/near-infrared imaging survey in 6 wavebands aiming to push farther in redshift (and fainter in luminosity) than previous studies. We believe that study of these very faint and distant objects provides valuable insights into galaxy formation and evolution. Here we present work in progress and preliminary results for a catalogue of objects detected as part of the Las Campanas Infrared Survey. This is a stepping stone to the type of survey data that will become available in the next few years from projects such as UKIDSS and VISTA.Comment: 4 pages LaTeX, submitted to the "Eurokiel 2002: Galaxy Evolution III: From Simple Models to Self Consistant Approaches" Conference Proceeding

Development and evaluation of lessons for class and group situations in grade I. Volume I.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University For volume II, please see: http://hdl.handle.net/2144/1415

Mapping Occupational Therapy Practice with Postsecondary Students: A Scoping Review

Background: Legislation supports a role for occupational therapy in postsecondary settings, but this area is not a common practice area and the practice area is not well understood. This scoping review maps current literature of occupational therapists working with students in postsecondary settings in order to inform future research and practice. Method: After identifying included articles, a narrative description of the quantitative studies along with a concept map were completed. A qualitative thematic analysis of the articles was also conducted. Results: Twenty-five articles met the inclusion criteria. Quantitative results describe occupational therapy services as both a direct and indirect service provided through offices of disability services, assistive technology, and supported education programs, among others. The primary population with whom occupational therapists engage with are students with mental illness. Three qualitative themes emerged from the scoping review, including the focus on occupation and skills needed for success, using the campus environment, and campus collaboration. Conclusion: The structure of occupational therapy services varies from location to location and occupational therapists work with various populations of students. Future research needs to support the distinct value of occupational therapy in this practice area, including the scope and outcomes of occupational therapy services with different populations of students

Storage Conditions and Passages Alter IL-6 Secretion in C26 Adenocarcinoma Cell Lines

The C26 adenocarcinoma tumor line is frequently used to establish peripheral tumors in mice for the study of cancer cachexia and cancer-related fatigue. Recently, we have noticed a progressive decline in the effects of tumor growth on our biological and behavioral measures in the tumor-bearing mice. Therefore, we compared effects of three aliquots of the C26 tumor cell line that differed in storage condition and number of passages on cytokine secretion, tumor growth, weight loss and fatigue behavior. Three aliquots of the C26 tumor line were selected as alpha (α), beta (β), and gamma (γ). Aliquot α was an original C26 stock line that had been stored at −80 °C. Aliquot β was stored in liquid nitrogen. Aliquot γ was taken from aliquot β and passaged three times. The three aliquots of the C26 tumor line showed differences in IL-6 mRNA and protein secretion in vitro, with aliquot β showing the greatest IL-6 secretion. These differences were mirrored in vivo. Plasma IL-6 levels were elevated in all tumor bearing mice but was greatest in group β mice. Carcass weight was decreased in all three tumor groups. Brain expression of IL-1β mRNA was greatest in group β and group β demonstrated the greatest decline in running activity at day 19. Storage conditions and number of passages influence C26 tumor cell secretion of cytokines. Variations in C26 aliquots may explain differences observed between laboratories using the same cell line. We recommend always storing cell lines in liquid nitrogen and limiting the number of passages before use in experiments

Testing Sunyaev-Zel'dovich measurements of the hot gas content of dark matter haloes using synthetic skies

The thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (tSZ) effect offers a means of probing the hot gas in and around massive galaxies and galaxy groups and clusters, which is thought to constitute a large fraction of the baryon content of the Universe. The Planck collaboration recently performed a stacking analysis of a large sample of `locally brightest galaxies' (LBGs) and, surprisingly, inferred an approximately self-similar relation between the tSZ flux and halo mass. At face value, this implies that the hot gas mass fraction is independent of halo mass, a result which is in apparent conflict with resolved X-ray observations. We test the robustness of the inferred trend using synthetic tSZ maps generated from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations and using the same tools and assumptions applied in the Planck study. We show that, while the detection and the estimate of the `total' flux (within $5 r_{500}$) is reasonably robust, the inferred flux originating from within $r_{500}$ (i.e. the limiting radius to which X-ray observations typically probe) is highly sensitive to the assumed pressure distribution of the gas. Using our most realistic simulations with AGN feedback, that reproduce a wide variety of X-ray and optical properties of groups and clusters, we estimate that the derived tSZ flux within $r_{500}$ is biased high by up to to an order of magnitude for haloes with masses $M_{500} \sim 10^{13}$ M$_{\odot}$. Moreover, we show that the AGN simulations are consistent with the total tSZ flux-mass relation observed with Planck, whereas a self-similar model is ruled out.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS, accepted after minor revisio

On the Intracluster Medium in Cooling Flow & Non-Cooling Flow Clusters

Recent X-ray observations have highlighted clusters that lack entropy cores. At first glance, these results appear to invalidate the preheated ICM models. We show that a self-consistent preheating model, which factors in the effects of radiative cooling, is in excellent agreement with the observations. Moreover, the model naturally explains the intrinsic scatter in the L-T relation, with ``cooling flow'' and ``non-cooling flow'' systems corresponding to mildly and strongly preheated systems, respectively. We discuss why preheating ought to be favoured over merging as a mechanism for the origin of ``non-cooling flow'' clusters.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the "Multiwavelength Cosmology" Conference held in Mykonos, Greece, June 2003, ed. M. Plionis (Kluwer