Continuity in cognition

Designing for continuous interaction requires designers to consider the way in which human users can perceive and evaluate an artefact’s observable behaviour, in order to make inferences about its state and plan, and execute their own continuous behaviour. Understanding the human point of view in continuous interaction requires an understanding of human causal reasoning, of the way in which humans perceive and structure the world, and of human cognition. We present a framework for representing human cognition, and show briefly how it relates to the analysis of structure in continuous interaction, and the ways in which it may be applied in design

The effects of ractopamine-HCl (optaflexx) on performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of finishing feedlot heifers

Beta-adrenergic agonists are commonly used in livestock production to accelerate growth by enhancing lean tissue gain. These compounds repartition nutrients away from fat deposition and toward protein accretion. Generally, increased growth is associated with ractopamine feeding, which improves feed conversion and increases body weight gain. However, little data exists on the effects of ractopamine-HCl on live performance or carcass characteristics of beef heifers. Data released from Elanco Animal Health indicate that differences between gender may exist in response to ractopamine, and therefore appropriate strategies for the administration of this compound must be defined for heifers independent of those for steers. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of Optaflexx, when fed for different dosages over different durations, on finishing heifer performance

Triiodothyronine (T3) levels fluctuate in response to ambient temperature rather than nutritional status in a wild tropical ungulate

Animals can employ a range of physiological mechanisms in response to unpredictable changes within their environment, such as changes in food availability and human disturbances. For example, impala exhibit higher faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) levels—indicative of physiological stress—in response to low food quality and higher human disturbance. In this study, we measured faecal triiodothyronine (T3) metabolite (FTM) levels in 446 wild impala from 2016 to 2018 to test the hypothesis that environmental and human disturbances would affect their physiological status. We also validated a faecal thyroid hormone assay. T3 levels mainly regulate metabolic rate and drive thermoregulation—increasing with colder temperatures. We predicted that individuals would have lower FTM levels, indicative of poor physiological status, (i) when food quality was poor, (ii) when ambient temperature (Ta) was high, (iii) in areas of high human disturbance (due to food competition with livestock) and (iv) when FGM levels were high. Interestingly, we found that Ta was the most important predictor of FTM—FTM levels decreased by 70% from lowest to highest Ta—and food quality and human disturbance only influenced FTM levels when Ta was accounted for. FTM levels also tended to increase with increasing FGM levels, opposite our predictions. Our results suggest that food quality and availabilitymay only partially influence FTM levels and that fluctuations in Ta are a significant driver of FTM levels in a wild tropical ungulate. Given that thyroid hormones are primarily responsible for regulating metabolic rate, they may be better indicators of how wild animals metabolically and energetically respond to environmental factors and only indicate poor nutritional status in extreme cases. glucocorticoid, impala, Serengeti, stress, thyroid hormones, validationpublishedVersio

Shift of percolation thresholds for epidemic spread between static and dynamic small-world networks

The aim of the study was to compare the epidemic spread on static and dynamic small-world networks. The network was constructed as a 2-dimensional Watts-Strogatz model (500x500 square lattice with additional shortcuts), and the dynamics involved rewiring shortcuts in every time step of the epidemic spread. The model of the epidemic is SIR with latency time of 3 time steps. The behaviour of the epidemic was checked over the range of shortcut probability per underlying bond 0-0.5. The quantity of interest was percolation threshold for the epidemic spread, for which numerical results were checked against an approximate analytical model. We find a significant lowering of percolation thresholds for the dynamic network in the parameter range given. The result shows that the behaviour of the epidemic on dynamic network is that of a static small world with the number of shortcuts increased by 20.7 +/- 1.4%, while the overall qualitative behaviour stays the same. We derive corrections to the analytical model which account for the effect. For both dynamic and static small-world we observe suppression of the average epidemic size dependence on network size in comparison with finite-size scaling known for regular lattice. We also study the effect of dynamics for several rewiring rates relative to latency time of the disease.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

On the algebraic K-theory of the complex K-theory spectrum

Let p>3 be a prime, let ku be the connective complex K-theory spectrum, and let K(ku) be the algebraic K-theory spectrum of ku. We study the p-primary homotopy type of the spectrum K(ku) by computing its mod (p,v_1) homotopy groups. We show that up to a finite summand, these groups form a finitely generated free module over a polynomial algebra F_p[b], where b is a class of degree 2p+2 defined as a higher Bott element.Comment: Revised and expanded version, 42 pages

Preventing and Lessening Exacerbations of Asthma in School-aged children Associated with a New Term (PLEASANT): Recruiting Primary Care Research Sites-the PLEASANT experience

Background: Recruitment of general practices and their patients into research studies is frequently reported as a challenge. The Preventing and Lessening Exacerbations of Asthma in School-aged children Associated with a New Term (PLEASANT) trial recruited 142 general practices, across England and Wales and delivered the study intervention to time and target. Aims: To describe the process of recruitment used within the cluster randomised PLEASANT trial and present results on factors that influenced recruitment. Methods: Data were collected on the number of and types of contact used to gain expression of interest and subsequent randomisation into the PLEASANT trial. Practice size and previous research experience were also collected. Results: The mean number of contacts required to gain expression of interest were m=3.01 (s.d. 1.6) and total number of contacts from initial invitation to randomisation m=6.8 (s.d. 3.5). Previous randomised controlled trial involvement (hazard ratio (HR)=1.81 (confidence interval (CI) 95%, 1.55–2.11) P<0.001) and number of studies a practice had previously engaged in (odds ratio (OR) 1.91 (CI 95%, (1.52–2.42)) P<0.001), significantly influenced whether a practice would participate in PLEASANT. Practice size was not a significant deciding factor (OR=1.04 (95% CI 0.99–1.08) P=0.137). Conclusions: Recruitment to time and target can be achieved in general practice. The amount of resource required for site recruitment should not, however, be underestimated and multiple strategies for contacting practices should be considered. General practitioners with more research experience are more likely to participate in studies

Cross-Sector social partnership success: A process perspective on the role of relational factors

The study employs partial least squares structural equation modelling to examine cross-sector social partnership success in the context of Spanish business (N = 102). Proposing the development of second-order models, the research identifies the role of relational factors that directly and indirectly affect partnership success. The study demonstrates that to increase partnership success, it is essential for socially responsible businesses to share the same values with their non-profit partners, thus contributing to trust and commitment and effectively enhancing relational effects. Employing relational factors for the conceptualisation of partnership success contributes an empirical quantitative process perspective that associates success with value creation processe

A generalized definition of reactivity for ecological systems and the problem of transient species dynamics

1. Perturbations to an ecosystem's steady state can trigger transient responses of great ecological relevance. Asymptotic stability determines whether a generic perturbation will fade out in the long run, but falls short of characterizing the dynamics immediately after an equilibrium has been perturbed. Reactivity, traditionally defined as the maximum instantaneous growth rate of small perturbations to a stable steady state, is a simple yet powerful measure of the short-term instability of a system as a whole. In many ecological applications, however, it could be important to focus on the reactivity properties of just some specific, problem-dependent state variables, such as the abundance of a focal species engaged in interspecific competition, either predators or preys in a trophic community, or infectious individuals in disease transmission. 2. We propose a generalized definition of reactivity (g-reactivity) that allows to evaluate the differential contribution of the state space components to the transient behaviour of an ecological system following a perturbation. Our definition is based on the dynamic analysis of a system output, corresponding to an ecologically motivated linear transformation of the relevant state variables. We demonstrate that the g-reactivity properties of an equilibrium are determined by the dominant eigenvalue of a Hermitian matrix that can be easily obtained from the Jacobian associated with the equilibrium and the system output transformation. 3. As a testbed for our methodological framework, we analyse the g-reactivity properties of simple spatially implicit metapopulation models of some prototypical ecological interactions, namely competition, predation and transmission of an infectious disease. We identify conditions for the temporary coexistence of an invader with a (possibly competitively superior) resident species, for transitory invasion of either prey or predator in otherwise predator- or prey-dominated ecosystems, and for transient epidemic outbreaks. 4. Through suitable examples, we show that characterizing the transient dynamics associated with an ecosystem's steady state can be, in some cases, as important as determining its asymptotic behaviour, from both theoretical and management perspective. Because g-reactivity analysis can be performed for systems of any complexity in a relatively straightforward way, we conclude that it may represent a useful addition to the toolbox of quantitative ecologists

Functional importance of cardiac enhancer-associated noncoding RNAs in heart development and disease.

The key information processing units within gene regulatory networks are enhancers. Enhancer activity is associated with the production of tissue-specific noncoding RNAs, yet the existence of such transcripts during cardiac development has not been established. Using an integrated genomic approach, we demonstrate that fetal cardiac enhancers generate long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) during cardiac differentiation and morphogenesis. Enhancer expression correlates with the emergence of active enhancer chromatin states, the initiation of RNA polymerase II at enhancer loci and expression of target genes. Orthologous human sequences are also transcribed in fetal human hearts and cardiac progenitor cells. Through a systematic bioinformatic analysis, we identified and characterized, for the first time, a catalog of lncRNAs that are expressed during embryonic stem cell differentiation into cardiomyocytes and associated with active cardiac enhancer sequences. RNA-sequencing demonstrates that many of these transcripts are polyadenylated, multi-exonic long noncoding RNAs. Moreover, knockdown of two enhancer-associated lncRNAs resulted in the specific downregulation of their predicted target genes. Interestingly, the reactivation of the fetal gene program, a hallmark of the stress response in the adult heart, is accompanied by increased expression of fetal cardiac enhancer transcripts. Altogether, these findings demonstrate that the activity of cardiac enhancers and expression of their target genes are associated with the production of enhancer-derived lncRNAs