The effect of prototyping material on verbal and non-verbal behaviours in collaborative design tasks

This paper reports a study of 23 controlled experiments, with a total of 99 individual tasks, between pairs of designers collaborating to solve a simple design task using four different types of prototyping media. The aim of the study was to correlate verbal and non-verbal behaviours across different types of media with a range of measurement indicators. Using innovative movement trail images we show how collaborative sketching activity results in attenuated use of interpersonal collaborative space when compared with cardboard, clay, and Lego, which provoked intensive collaboration. Furthermore, the sketching (control) condition resulted in pre-conceived ideas being executed when compared with the three-dimensional media, where ideas emerged through collaboration. This finding suggests that increased creativity in design can result through the careful choice of prototyping media at the beginning of the design process

A distributed programming environment for Ada

Despite considerable commercial exploitation of fault tolerance systems, significant and difficult research problems remain in such areas as fault detection and correction. A research project is described which constructs a distributed computing test bed for loosely coupled computers. The project is constructing a tool kit to support research into distributed control algorithms, including a distributed Ada compiler, distributed debugger, test harnesses, and environment monitors. The Ada compiler is being written in Ada and will implement distributed computing at the subsystem level. The design goal is to provide a variety of control mechanics for distributed programming while retaining total transparency at the code level

An Expert System-Based Approach to Hospitality Company Diagnosis

This paper describes the development of a prototype Expert System-based Analysis and Diagnostic (ESAD) package for the Hotel and Catering Industry. This computerised tool aids the hospitality manager in methodically scrutinising the hotel unit and environment, combining key information with systematic reasoning. The system searches through its extensive knowledge base, investigating complicated relationships. The number of possibilities considered is increased which will broaden the depth and breadth of the analysis and therefore should improve the quality of the managers decision making

Sedimentology, stratigraphy and structural geology of the Burwood sub-basin, Mount Hamilton - Mararoa River area, western Southland, New Zealand

Structural and sedimentological evolution of the Burwood sub-Basin has resulted in the formation of a range of depositional environments in the Mount Hamilton - Mararoa River area in western Southland, New Zealand. The basement rock in the area is Triassic Murihiku Supergroup sediments (siltstone, sandstone, conglomerate and tuff} The basement is unconformably overlain by a series of sedimentary units that represent a range of depositional environments - from braided alluvial plain through to deep marine basin. With the initiation of extension during the Eocene, the Nightcaps Group began to accumulate; the Beaumont Formation was deposited by a braided river system that flowed from the southwest carrying Median Tectonic Zone and Takitimu Group detritus. Subsequent to this the Orauea Mudstone accumulated in a large lake that covered much of western Southland. During the early-mid Oligocene the tectonic regime became transtensional and the basin continued to subside, forming a sequence of marine units (Waiau Group). The early Whaingaroan Spear Peak Formation was deposited first, as a small, debris flow-dominated, proximal submarine ramp or fan. Detritus contained in this unit is derived from the Takitimu Group and Murihiku Supergroup to the southeast. As sediment supply rapidly decreased, the hemi-pelagic mudstone of the Waicoe Formation was deposited, giving way temporarily to a turbidite-dominated, outer submarine fan (Weydon Formation), flowing from the northeast, carrying Caples Terrane material, before another period of Waicoe Formation deposition. The Waitakian Haycocks Formation was then deposited as a thick, turbidite-dominated outer fan. The sediment is (krived from the Caples Terrane and was transported by currents flowing from the north. Deposition of the Waiau Group rel'Jccts the change from early-mid Oligocene transtension to eariy Miocene transpression that continued and increased until the late Miocene, resulting in deformation in the area. Following deposition of the Tertiary units, all the units in the area have been folded and faulted, with orientation of minor structures controlled by the regional Moonlight Fault System and Southland Syncline. Faulting in the southern part of the area parallels the north-south axis of the Southland Syncline, while in the west is parallel to the northeast-southwest Moonlight Fault System. Folding of the units is often disharmonic: the Beaumont and Spear Peak Formations are tightly folded, while the overlying units arc more broadly folded. Fold axes in the west arc orientated 20° from the Moonlight Fault System, suggesting that they have formed as a result of transprcssional strain related to movement on this fault system. Structural analysis indicates that 30% shortening and 5km dextral shear across the area is compatible with the relative orientations of folds and faults. Comparison of bedding orientation above and below the unconformity reveals that the western limb of the Southland Syncline was sub-horizontal until the late Miocene, while the cast limb dipped approximately 40°. The structural and sedimentary record of the Burwood sub-Basin throughout the Tertiary parallels that of the other western Southland Basins, with a number sedimentary units deposited in a subsiding basin that trended north-south and was bounded by the regionally extensive Moonlight Fault System. The structure in the area also shows evidence for distributed late Cenozoic deformation that resulted in the bending of the South Island terranes

Planning an Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System: A Matrix of Skills and Activities

The threat of a global influenza pandemic and the adoption of the World Health Organization (WHO) International Health Regulations (2005) highlight the value of well-coordinated, functional disease surveillance systems. The resulting demand for timely information challenges public health leaders to design, develop and implement efficient, flexible and comprehensive systems that integrate staff, resources, and information systems to conduct infectious disease surveillance and response. To understand what resources an integrated disease surveillance and response system would require, we analyzed surveillance requirements for 19 priority infectious diseases targeted for an integrated disease surveillance and response strategy in the WHO African region

Analysis of protein composition of rabbit aqueous humor following two different cataract surgery incision procedures using 2-DE and LC-MS/MS

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aqueous humor (AH), a liquid of the anterior and posterior chamber of the eye, comprises many proteins with various roles and important biological functions. Many of these proteins have not been identified yet and their functions in AH are still unknown. Recently, our laboratory published the protein database of AH obtained from healthy rabbits which expanded known protein identifications by 65%. Our present study extends our previous work and analyses AH following two types of cataract surgery incision procedures (clear corneal and limbal incisions) by using two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Although both incision protocols are commonly used during cataract surgeries, the difference in protein composition and their release into AH following each surgery has never been systematically compared and remains unclear. The first step, which is the focus of this work, is to assess the scale of the protein change, at which time does maximum release occurs and when possible, to identify protein changes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Samples of AH obtained prior to surgery and at different time points (0.5, 2, 12, 24 and 48 hours) following surgery (n = 3/protocol) underwent protein concentration determination, 2-DE and LC-MS/MS. There was a large (9.7 to 31.2 mg/mL) and rapid (~0.5 hour) influx of proteins into AH following either incision with a return to baseline quantities after 12 hours and 24 hours for clear corneal and limbal incision, respectively. We identified 80 non-redundant proteins, and compared to our previous study on healthy AH, 67.5% of proteins were found to be surgery-specific. In addition, 51% of those proteins have been found either in clear corneal (20%) or limbal incision (31%) samples.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results imply that a mechanism of protein release into AH after surgery is a global response to the surgery rather than increase in amount of protective proteins found in healthy AH and a mechanism of protein release for each type of incision procedure could be different. Although the total protein concentration was increased (at 0.5 and 2 hour time points and between types of surgery) many of 2-DE protein spots were similar based on 2-DE and MS analyses, and only a small number of protein spots changed with either the time points or surgical conditions (0.4 -1.9%). This suggests that the high protein content is due to an increase in the concentration of the same proteins with only a few unique proteins being altered per time point and with the different surgery type. This is the first report on the comparison of AH protein composition following two different cataract surgery procedures and it establishes the basis for better understanding of protein release into AH during events such as cataract surgery or other possible intervention to the eyes.</p

Solanum scalarium (Solanaceae), a newly-described dioecious bush tomato from Judbarra/Gregory National Park, Northern Territory, Australia

A new species of functionally dioecious bush tomato of Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum is described. Solanum scalarium Martine & T.M.Williams, sp. nov., is a member of the taxonomically challenging “Kimberley dioecious clade” in Australia and differs from other species in the group in its spreading decumbent habit and conspicuously prickly male floral rachis. The species is so far known from one site in Judbarra/Gregory National Park in the Northern Territory. Ex situ crosses and confirmation of inaperturate pollen grains produced in morphologically cosexual flowers indicate that these flowers are functionally female and the species is functionally dioecious. The scientific name reflects the ladder-like appearance of the inflorescence rachis armature of male individuals, the stone staircase that provides access to the type locality at the Escarpment Lookout Walk, and the importance of maintaining equitable and safe access to outdoor spaces. The common name Garrarnawun Bush Tomato is proposed in recognition of the lookout point at this site, a traditional meeting place of the Wardaman and Nungali-Ngaliwurru peoples whose lands overlap in this area

Total fertilization failure and idiopathic subfertility

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