An Eye Tracking Study to Investigate the Influence of Language and Text Direction on Multimedia

This study investigated how native language orientation influences spatial bias, first visual fixation on screen, first visual fixation on pictures, learning outcomes, and mental effort of learners. Previous studies supported the effect of native language writing or reading direction on spatial bias, examining written text and images created by the participants (Barrett et al., 2002; Boroditsky, 2001; Chatterjee, Southwood & Basiko, 1999; Spalek & Hammad, 2005). However, no study investigated writing direction in multimedia presentations using eye tracking. This study addresses this gap. A total of 84 participants completed the study forming four groups. The first group (NativeLeft_InstrEng) consisted of individuals whose native language is written from left to right and who have never experienced a right to left language. They received the material in English. The second group (NativeRight_InstrAra), whose native language is written from right to left, received the material in Arabic. The third group (NativeLeft_LrnRight_InstrEng) consists of individuals whose native language is written from left to right and who are learning or have learned a language written from right to left. They received the material in English. The fourth group (NativeRight_InstrEng), whose native language is written from right to left, received the material in English. Participants were asked to complete a survey that consisted of eight sections: demographic questions, self-estimate prior knowledge test, the instructional unit, mental effort rating, sentence forming questions, recalling questions, sequence question and finally, post-test questions. Eye tracking was used to detect first fixation on screen and pictures, and results were compared with participants’ written responses. Eye movements can be considered the blueprint for how students process the visual information (Underwood & Radach, 1998). Significant results for learning and spatial bias confirmed that spatial bias is associated with native language orientation such that the left-oriented learners were more likely to demonstrate left bias on the screen, while participants who were right-oriented demonstrated right bias. However, exposure to other languages, culture, or beliefs; or living for some time in a country which uses a language with a different orientation can influence learner’s spatial bias, as seen with group NativeRight_InstrEng. Finally, differences in visual fixations on screen and pictures were not significant perhaps due to the simplicity of pictures used in this study

Assessment of Pulmonary Blood Flow in Heart Failure. Using Novel and Non-Invasive Diagnostic Methods.

In heart failure (HF), the heart is unable to pump effectively in order to satisfy the demands of the body. The elevated filling pressure seen in HF leads to accumulation of fluid in the lungs, i.e pulmonary congestion. While investigation with chest X-ray is recommended, it has limitations in detecting pulmonary congestion. Ventilation/perfusion single-photon emission computed tomography (V/P SPECT), i.e tomographic lung scintigraphy, is a promising method to diagnose and quantify pulmonary congestion in HF but needs to be validated by invasive right-heart catheterization. The variation of the blood volume in the pulmonary circulation measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may also have the potential to quantify the severity of HF.The general aim of this thesis was to develop and validate new non-invasive methods to diagnose and quantify pulmonary congestion and variation of the pulmonary blood flow in patients with HF, as well as to follow-uppulmonary congestion.Paper I revealed that the degree of pulmonary congestion in HF could be diagnosed and quantified using V/P SPECT. It was validated with right-heart catheterization. V/P SPECT was more accurate than chest X-ray in diagnosing pulmonary congestion in HF.In Paper II V/P SPECT showed that the pulmonary perfusion pattern was improved and that V/P SPECT could be used to follow treatment effect after heart transplantation in patients with HF and quantify the degree of pulmonarycongestion. It was validated with right-heart catheterization.Paper III demonstrated that V/P SPECT could be used to follow treatment effect and assess the degree of pulmonary congestion in patients with HF after receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). V/P SPECT was associated with improvement in patients’ symptoms.Paper IV showed that the pulmonary blood volume variation differed between patients with HF and healthy controls. In patients with HF, approximately 40% of the variation could be explained by the left ventricular longitudinal contribution to stroke volume and the phase shift between the in- and outflow to the pulmonary circulation. The remaining variation (60%) likely occur on a small vessel level.In summary, pulmonary congestion in HF is difficult to quantify objectively. The non-invasive methods V/P SPECT and MRI might add complementary information in the diagnosis of HF. V/P SPECT can be used to follow treatment effects after heart transplantation and CRT and may have a role in avoiding invasive right-heart catheterization in selected cases and aid in treatment decision

Determining the motives or reasons that make companies disclose environmental information

This paper presents an empirical investigation into environmental disclosure practices of oil and gas companies operating in Libya. It aims at exploring key motives for oil and gas companies operating in Libya for disclosing environmental information in their annual report. Hence, the paper seeks to answer the following questions: What motivate companies in Libya to disclose and pursue environmental information? In answering this question and meeting the aims of the research questionnaire method was used to collect data. Key factors were proposed based on previous studies namely: reputation, legal requirements, meeting society expectations, society pressures and economic factors. A total of 115 questionnaires were collected from 43 local and foreign companies operating in the Libyan oil and gas sector. The results indicate that foreign companies considered issues such as Reputation, Expectations of society, Legal requirements, Pressures of society and Economic factors as motives that encourage them to disclose environmental information. On the other hand the investigation refuel that local companies accept just Reputation and society Pressures of as motives that encourage them to disclose environmental information

Bacteria associated with inflammatory lesions of the enteric tract of cattle

Summary available; p. xxiii-xxvi

Condition based maintainance for rotating machinery

Masteroppgave i mekatronikk 2010 – Universitetet i Agder, GrimstadThis thesis report presents the results of a design and mathematical calculation of a mechanical test facility using SolidWorks simulation program to fine the FEM analysis of the transducer (part of the measurement device). A simplified shaft’s dynamic model was investigated using SimulationX program. The purpose of this, is to develop the knowledge about the rotating shaft and the reaction forces at the boundary condition. In this thesis, the CBM strategy is based on the model free technique and a continuous monitoring of the component(s) during the operation time. An automatic Switch Off program has been designed in LabView to prevent further damaging of the test facility. Functionalities from three different directions of measurement equipment (strain gages); X, Y and Z, have been considered to create a CBM strategy for the test-bearing effective lifetime by measuring the equivalent load. According to the work load and the time limitation, the building and testing of the test-rig have been dropped out of the thesis. This is in the concern of the supervisors. However, later in this report one will see the necessary details as concerning the building of test facility

Technical Efficiency of Rain-Fed Irish Potato Farmers in Plateau State, Nigeria: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

This study estimated technical efficiencies and identified the determinants of technical efficiencies of rain-fed Irish potato farmers in Plateau State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling techniques involving purposive and random sampling was used to obtain data from a study sample of 227 respondents using structured questionnaires during the 2012/2013 cropping season. Data were analyzed using stochastic frontier production function. Results showed that rain-fed Irish potato farmers were experiencing decreasing return to scale in the use of farm resources. This is confirmed by the estimated return to scale parameter of 0.958. The study also showed that technical efficiency ranges from 2.37% to 95.6% with a mean technical efficiency of 74%. This widely varying indices of technical efficiency among the rain-fed Irish potato farmers indicates great potential to achieve productivity growth through improved efficiency using existing technologies and the available resource base in the study area. The determinants of technical efficiencies were education, farming experience, potato variety and off-farm income. The study recommended that policies that would directly affect the identified determinants of technical efficiency be pursued by the relevant authorities. Keywords: Technical efficiency, inefficiency, stochastic frontier, Irish-potato, Plateau State, rain-fed production

In vitro Performance Assessment of Recent Nebuliser Delivery Systems for Nebulisation of Approved Aerosolised Tobramycin (TOBI)®

YesTOBI® is a recently marketed preservative and sulphate free tobramycin formulation approved by FDA for maintenance therapy for patient with cystic fibrosis. The performance of selected recent nebuliser delivery systems has been assessed using the developed method to determine the optimum combinations to deliver approved tobramycin inhaled solution (TOBI)®. A simple, sensitive and specific high performance liquid chromatographic method has been developed and used to quantitative determination of the aminoglycoside tobramycin following pre-column derivatisation with phenylisocyanate (PIC). The reaction time was 10 min at 80º C and the resulting derivative was stable for five days at room temperature. The quantitative performance of the assay was further improved by using another aminoglycoside (neomycin) as internal standard. The stable resulting PIC-tobramycin derivative was separated using a HPLC 5μm Columbus C18 column (150x4.60 mm i.d, Phenomenex). The mobile phase was consisted of acetonitrile-glacial acetic acid-water (450:5:545, v/v/v) and ultraviolet detection at (240 nm). The proposed method showed good validation data. The standard curve was linear (n=5) at seven different concentrations, ranging from 20 to 140μg/ml and the correlation coefficient (R2) of the regression line was 0.9995. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were 0.86μg/ml and 2.62μg/ml, respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD %) was less than 0.6% for intra-day assay (n=5) and 2.5% for inter-day assay (n=5). A number of nebuliser performance comparison studies have been demonstrated for aerosolise TOBI® to choice the optimum combination produces high repirable inhaled mass of tobramycin. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of recent nebuliser delivery systems to nebulise approved tobramycin inhaled solution (TOBI)®

Investigation of nanostructured conducting polymers and graphene/polyaniline nanocomposite based thin films for hydrogen gas sensing

Novel conductometric and layered Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) hydrogen gas sensors based on nanostructured conducting polymers and graphene/polyaniline nanocomposite are reported in this PhD dissertation. Template-free electropolymerization and/or chemical polymerization methods were employed during the synthesis of the nanostructured polythiophene, polypyrrole, polyaniline, polyanisidine, polyethylaniline and graphene/polyaniline nanocomposite which were investigated for their hydrogen gas sensing characteristics. The nanostructured gas sensitive films' physical and chemical properties were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). A programmable gas calibration and data acquisition system was utilized to measure the sensors' responses towards several concentrations of hydrogen gas at room temperature. A comparative study on the performance of conductometric hydrogen gas sensors based on electropolymerized polythiophene nanostructured films was conducted for the first time in this thesis according to the best of the author's knowledge. Polythiophene gas sensitive films featuring nanofibers with diameters of 10-40 nm were successfully electrodeposited on conductometric transducers. Electropolymerization parameters such as counterion's type, the concentration of the electrolyte, the electropolymerization potential and the deposition time were shown to affect the morphology of the gas sensitive film and ultimately its response towards hydrogen gas. Electropolymerized polypyrrole nanowires with diameters of 40-90 nm and chemically polymerized polypyrrole nanofibers of 18 nm in diameter were employed for hydrogen gas sensing for the first time herein. The effect of polypyrrole's counterion type on the resultant gas sensor electrical characteristics was investigated herein. Via a comprehensive investigation, it was found that chemically synthesized chloride-doped polypyrrole nanofibers to be more sensitive to hydrogen gas than the perchlorate-doped electropolymerized polypyrrole nanowires due to the smaller molecular size of the incorporated counterion into the polymer matrix. Novel layered SAW gas sensors based on polythiophene nanofibers, polypyrrole nanofibers, nanoporous polyaniline, polyanisidine nanofibers and polyethylaniline nanofibers were developed and tested at room temperature. The highest response was observed for the polyanisidine nanofibers/ZnO/36° YX LiTaO 3 SAW gas sensor with a 294 kHz frequency shift from the centre frequency upon exposure to hydrogen gas with the concentration of 1% in ambient air. Morphological analysis of the deposited polyanisidine nanofibers based thin film revealed that the nanofibers, ~55 nm in diameter, were not densely packed that allows deep and efficient penetration of target gas molecules into the sensitive film and makes gas sensing possible over the entire length of a nanofiber into a mesh. To the best knowledge of the author of this dissertation, the first ever reported hydrogen gas sensor based on graphene/polyaniline nanocomposite was developed and characterized for the first time in this PhD program. This sensor outperformed hydrogen gas sensors based on polyaniline nanofibers at room temperature. After analysing the nanocomposite's characterization results, the author of this thesis suggested that the observed high response is attributed to the graphene/polyaniline nanocomposite's high surface area compared to that of the pure polyaniline nanofibers due to the growth of polyaniline nanofibers in the order of 25-50 nm in diameter on the graphene nanosheets' surfaces

In vitro aerodynamic characterization of the dose emitted during nebulization of tobramycin high strength solution by novel and jet nebulizer delivery systems

YesBackground: Chronic infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa are a leading cause of morbidity in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). The aim of tobramycin inhalation therapy in CF patients with chronic pulmonary infection is to deliver high amounts of drug directly to the site of infection. TOBI® is a tobramycin nebulizer solution (300 mg/5 ml) approved by FDA for maintenance therapy for patient with CF. The 20% tobramycin sulfate solution was reported as the optimal and maximal concentration. Methods: Nebulization of high strength tobramycin solution (20% tobramycin sulfate) (HSTS) has been assessed in this study by using different selected high performance nebulizer delivery systems: two different designs of jet nebulizers, and three new nebulizers based on vibrating mesh technology. The aerosol particle size distribution and output characteristics were measured for in vitro performance assessment of the nebulizer systems. The methodology was adapted from the current European standard, EN 13544-1:2001E. Results: The particle size distribution characteristic measurements showed that all tested nebulizers may be suitable for inhalation of HSTS. The mean (SD) of highest percentage of fine particles (<5 mm) was 77.64 (2.3) % for Sidestream®, at flow rate 16 L/min. The highest respirable inhaled mass was for Pari LC Plus® combined with PariBoyN® compressor, with mean (SD) 90.85 (8.6) mg. The mean (SD) of highest drug wastage percentage was 63.9 (3.9) % for Sidestream® jet nebulizer combined with compressed air cylinder at flow rate 16 L/min, while the lowest was 2.3 (0.26) % for NE-U22 Omron® (high frequency). Conclusions: The HSTS can be nebulized by all tested nebulisers but the high frequency NE-U22 Omron® and Aeroneb Go® are more efficient. When the HSTS compared to TOBI®, the respirable inhaled dose was increased to more than 73%