Creating an iDTV Application from Inside a TV Company: A Situated and Participatory Approach

Part 2: Organizational Semiotics and ApplicationsInternational audienceTV is a highly social and massive media that is worldwide available. The Interactive Digital TV represents a new device that is still constructing its identity. Designing applications for it is a challenging task, partially because of its intrinsic complex context and the lack of theoretical and methodological referential to support design activities. In this paper, we argue for a Socially Aware Computing approach to the design of iDTV applications, articulating artifacts and methods from Organizational Semiotics and Participatory Design. A case study on requirements for the design of an iDTV application is situated in the practical context of a Brazilian broadcasting TV Company. The results show benefits of using informed artifacts and methods in participatory and situated practices, indicating that it is possible and viable to make socially aware design in industrial settings

Optical And Physical Properties Of Er3+-yb3+ Co-doped Tellurite Fibers

In this work we present results of physical and optical properties of Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped tellurite glasses and fibers. The Double Clad Tellurite Fibers (DCTFs) are based on glasses with the composition: TeO2-WO3-Nb2O5-Na 2O-Al2O3-Er2O3-Yb 2O3. The DCTFs were fabricated by using the rod-in-tube technique and a Heathway drawing tower. The optical absorption spectra (ranging from 350 to 1750 nm) of these fibers were measured using an Optical Spectrum Analyzer (OSA). The emission spectra, around 1550 nm band, of these fibers (lengths varying from 1 to 60 cm) were obtained by using a 980nm diode laser pump. The optimal Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) spectra were observed for fiber lengths ranging from 2 to 6 cm. The Er 3+/Yb3+ co-doped DCTFs show an efficient up-conversion process in comparison with the Er3+-doped DCTF. © 2011 Copyright Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).8120The Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)Murugan, G.S., Suzuki, T., Ohishi, Y., Raman characteristics and nonlinear optical properties of tellurite and phosphotellurite glasses containing heavy metal oxides with ultrabroad Raman bands (2006) J. of Appl. Phys., 100, p. 023107Nandi, P., Jose, G., Ytterbium-doped P2O5-TeO2 glass for laser applications (2006) IEEE J. of Quat. Electron., 42, pp. 1115-1121Man, S.Q., Pun, E.Y.B., Chung, P.S., Tellurite glasses for 1.3 mm optical amplifiers" (1999) Opt. Comm., 168, pp. 369-373Wang, J.S., Vogel, E.M., Snitzer, E., Tellurite Glass: A New Candidate for Fiber Devices" (1994) Opt. Mat., 3, pp. 187-203Xu, S., Sun, H., Dai, S., Zhang, J., Jiang, Z., Upconversion luminescence of Tm3+/Yb3+-codoped oxyhalide tellurite glasses" (2005) Sol. St. Comm., 133, pp. 89-92Bookey, H.T., Lousteau, J., Jha, A., Gayraud, N., Thomson, R.R., Psaila, N.D., Li, H., Kar, A.K., Multiple rare earth emissions in a multicore tellurite fiber with a single pump wavelength" (2007) Opt. Express, 15, pp. 17554-17561Qin, G., Mori, A., Ohishi, Y., Brillouin lasing in a single-mode tellurite fiber" (2007) Opt. Lett., 32, pp. 2179-2181Zweig, A.D., Frenz, M., Romano, V., Weber, H.P., A comparative study of laser tissue interaction at 2.94 μm and 10.6 μm" (1988) Appl. Phys. B, 47, pp. 259-265Zhang, J., Dai, S., Wang, G., Sun, H., Zhang, L., Hu, L., Fabrication and emission properties of Er3+/Yb3+ codoped tellurite glass fiber for broadband optical amplification (2005) J. of Lum., 115, pp. 45-52Shixun, D., Tiefeng, X., Qiuhua, N., Xiang, S., Xunsi, W., Fabrication and gain performance of Er3+/Yb3+-codoped tellurite glass fiber (2008) J. of Rare Earths, 26, pp. 915-918Jakutis, J., Gomes, L., Amancio, C.T., Kassab, L.R.P., Martinelli, J.R., Wetter, N.U., Increased Er3+ upconversion in tellurite fibers and glasses by co-doping with Yb3+ (2010) Opt. Mat., 33, pp. 107-111Hruby, A., Evaluation of glass-forming tendency by means of DTA (1972) Czech J. Phys B, 22, pp. 1187-119

AbeTx1 is a novel sea anemone toxin with a dual mechanism of action on Shaker-type K+ channels activation

Voltage-gated potassium (KV) channels regulate diverse physiological processes and are an important target for developing novel therapeutic approaches. Sea anemone (Cnidaria, Anthozoa) venoms comprise a highly complex mixture of peptide toxins with diverse and selective pharmacology on KV channels. From the nematocysts of the sea anemone Actinia bermudensis, a peptide that we named AbeTx1 was purified and functionally characterized on 12 different subtypes of KV channels (KV1.1–KV1.6; KV2.1; KV3.1; KV4.2; KV4.3; KV11.1; and, Shaker IR), and three voltage-gated sodium channel isoforms (NaV1.2, NaV1.4, and BgNaV). AbeTx1 was selective for Shaker-related K+ channels and is capable of inhibiting K+ currents, not only by blocking the K+ current of KV1.2 subtype, but by altering the energetics of activation of KV1.1 and KV1.6. Moreover, experiments using six synthetic alanine point-mutated analogs further showed that a ring of basic amino acids acts as a multipoint interaction for the binding of the toxin to the channel. The AbeTx1 primary sequence is composed of 17 amino acids with a high proportion of lysines and arginines, including two disulfide bridges (Cys1–Cys4 and Cys2–Cys3), and it is devoid of aromatic or aliphatic amino acids. Secondary structure analysis reveals that AbeTx1 has a highly flexible, random-coil-like conformation, but with a tendency of structuring in the beta sheet. Its overall structure is similar to open-ended cyclic peptides found on the scorpion κ-KTx toxins family, cone snail venoms, and antimicrobial peptides

Low-intensity resistance exercise does not affect cardiac autonomic modulation in patients with peripheral artery disease

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effect of a single bout of resistance exercise on cardiac autonomic modulation in patients with peripheral artery disease. METHODS: Fifteen patients with peripheral artery disease (age: 58.3±4.0 years) underwent the following sessions in a random order: resistance exercise (three sets of 10 repetitions of the six resistance exercises with a workload of 5-7 in the OMNI-RES scale) and control (similar to the resistance session; however, the resistance exercises were performed with no load). The frequency domain (low frequency, high frequency and sympathovagal balance) and symbolic analysis (0V, 1V and 2V patterns) of heart rate variability were obtained before and until one hour after the interventions. RESULTS: After the resistance exercise and control sessions, similar increases were observed in the consecutive heartbeat intervals (control: 720.8±28.6 vs. 790.9±34.4 ms; resistance exercise: 712.9±30.1 vs. 756.8±37.9 ms;