Radio programming: The role of the programmer

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Realizing live sequence charts in SystemVerilog.

The design of an embedded control system starts with an investigation of properties and behaviors of the process evolving within its environment, and an analysis of the requirement for its safety performance. In early stages, system requirements are often specified as scenarios of behavior using sequence charts for different use cases. This specification must be precise, intuitive and expressive enough to capture different aspects of embedded control systems. As a rather rich and useful extension to the classical message sequence charts, live sequence charts (LSC), which provide a rich collection of constructs for specifying both possible and mandatory behaviors, are very suitable for designing an embedded control system. However, it is not a trivial task to realize a high-level design model in executable program codes effectively and correctly. This paper tackles the challenging task by providing a mapping algorithm to automatically synthesize SystemVerilog programs from given LSC specifications

Multisensory Experiences: A Primer

We present a primer on multisensory experiences, the different components of this concept, as well as a reflection of its implications for individuals and society. We define multisensory experiences, illustrate how to understand them, elaborate on the role of technology in such experiences, and present the three laws of multisensory experiences, which can guide discussion on their implications. Further, we introduce the case of multisensory experiences in the context of eating and human-food interaction to illustrate how its components operationalize. We expect that this article provides a first point of contact for those interested in multisensory experiences, as well as multisensory experiences in the context of human-food interaction.</jats:p

Editorial: Perspectives on Multisensory Human-Food Interaction

Eating and drinking are undoubtedly amongst life’s most multisensory experiences. Take, for instance, the enjoyment of flavor, which is one of the most important elements of such experiences, resulting from the integration of gustatory, (retronasal) olfactory, and possibly also trigeminal/oral-somatosensory cues (Prescott, 2015). Nevertheless, researchers have suggested that all our senses can influence the way in which we perceive flavor, not to mention our eating and drinking experiences. For instance, the color and shape of the food, the background sonic/noise cues in our eating environments, and/or the sounds associated with mastication can all influence our perception and enjoyment of our eating and drinking experiences (Spence, 2020). Human-Food Interaction (HFI) research has been growing steadily in recent years (e.g., Deng et al., 2021). Research into multisensory interactions designed to create, modify, and/or enhance our food-related experiences is one of the core areas of HFI (Multisensory HFI or MHFI, Altarriba Bertran et al., 2019; Velasco and Obrist, 2020). The aim being to further our understanding of the principles that govern the systematic connections between the senses in the context of HFI. In this Research Topic, we called for investigations and applications of systems that create new, or enhance already existing, multisensory eating and drinking experiences (what can be considered the “hacking” of food experiences) in the context of HFI. Moreover, we were also interested in those works that focus on or are based on the principles governing the systematic connections that exist between the senses. HFI also involves the experiencing of food interactions digitally in remote locations. Therefore, we were also interested in sensing and actuation interfaces, new communication mediums, and persisting and retrieving technologies for human food interactions. Enhancing social interactions to augment the eating experience is another issue we wanted to see addressed here, what has been referred to as “digital commensality” (Spence et al., 2019)

Multisensory Approaches to Human-Food Interaction

Here, we present the outcome of the 4th workshop on Multisensory Approaches to Human-Food Interaction (MHFI), developed in collaboration with ICMI 2020 in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Capitalizing on the increasing interest on multisensory aspects of human-food interaction and the unique contribution that our community offers, we developed a space to discuss ideas ranging from mechanisms of multisensory food perception, through multisensory technologies, to new applications of systems in the context of MHFI. All in all, the workshop involved 11 contributions, which will hopefully further help shape the basis of a field of inquiry that grows as we see progress in our understanding of the senses and the development of new technologies in the context of food

HCI as a means to prosociality in the economy

HCI research often involves intervening in the economic lives of people, but researchers only rarely give explicit consideration to what actually constitutes prosociality in the economy. Much has been said previously regarding sustainability but this has largely focused on environmental rather than interpersonal relations. This paper provides an analysis of how prosocial HCI has been discussed and continues to be defined as a research field. Based on a corpus of published works, we describe a variety of genres of work relating to prosocial HCI. Key intellectual differences are explored, including the epistemological and ethical positions involved in designing for prosocial outcomes as well as how HCI researchers posit economic decision-making. Finally, emerging issues and opportunities for further debate and collaboration are discussed in turn

Systolic blood pressure reactions to acute stress are associated with future hypertension status in the Dutch Famine Birth Cohort Study

These analyses examined the association between blood pressure reactions to acute psychological stress and subsequent hypertension status in a substantial Dutch cohort. Blood pressure was recorded during a resting baseline and during three acute stress tasks, Stroop colour word, mirror tracing and speech. Five years later, diagnosed hypertension status was determined by questionnaire. Participants were 453 (237 women) members of the Dutch Famine Birth Cohort. In analysis adjusting for a number of potential confounders, systolic blood pressure reactivity was positively related to future hypertension. This was the case irrespective of whether reactivity was calculated as the peak or the average response to the stress tasks. The association was strongest for reactions to the speech and Stroop tasks. Diastolic blood pressure reactivity was not significantly associated with hypertension. The results provide support for the reactivity hypothesis. \ud \u

The Future of Human-Food Interaction

There is an increasing interest in food within the HCI discipline, with many interactive prototypes emerging that augment, extend and challenge the various ways people engage with food, ranging from growing plants, cooking ingredients, serving dishes and eating together. Grounding theory is also emerging that in particular draws from embodied interactions, highlighting the need to consider not only instrumental, but also experiential factors specific to human-food interactions. Considering this, we are provided with an opportunity to extend human-food interactions through knowledge gained from designing novel systems emerging through technical advances. This workshop aims to explore the possibility of bringing practitioners, researchers and theorists together to discuss the future of human-food interaction with a particular highlight on the design of experiential aspects of human-food interactions beyond the instrumental. This workshop extends prior community building efforts in this area and hence explicitly invites submissions concerning the empirically-informed knowledge of how technologies can enrich eating experiences. In doing so, people will benefit not only from new technologies around food, but also incorporate the many rich benefits that are associated with eating, especially when eating with others

Mercury in Active-Layer Tundra Soils of Alaska: Concentrations, Pools, Origins, and Spatial Distribution

Tundra soils serve as major sources of mercury (Hg) input to the Arctic Ocean via river runoff and coastal erosion; yet little information is available on tundra soil Hg concentrations, pool sizes, origins, and dynamics. We present a detailed investigation of Hg in the active layer (upper ~100 cm subject to seasonal thaw) of tundra soils across 11 sites in Alaska. Soil Hg concentrations in organic horizons (151±7 µg kg-1) were in the upper range of temperate soil organic horizons, and concentrations in mineral horizons (98±6 µg kg-1) were much higher than in temperate soils. Soil Hg concentrations declined from inland to coastal sites, in contrast to a hypothesized northward increase expected because of proximity to coastal atmospheric mercury depletion events (AMDEs). Principle component analyses and elemental ratios results show that exogenic sources dominated over geogenic sources-in A-horizons (66±4%), and mineral B-horizons (51±1%). 14C age-dating suggested recent origins of Hg in surface soils but showed that mineral soils (more than 7,300 years old) must have accumulated atmospheric inputs across millennia leading to high soil concentrations and pools. We estimated a total Northern Hemisphere (NH) active-layer tundra soil Hg pool of 184 Gg (range of 136 Gg to 274 Gg), suggesting a globally important Hg storage pool. Tundra soils are subject to seasonal thaw and freeze dynamics, thereby providing large inputs to rivers, lakes, and the Arctic Ocean. Understanding processes that mobilize Hg from tundra soils will be critical to understanding future Arctic wildlife and humans Hg exposures

Metabolically exaggerated cardiac reactions to acute psychological stress: The effects of resting blood pressure status and possible underlying mechanisms

The study aimed to: confirm that acute stress elicits metabolically exaggerated increases in cardiac activity; test whether individuals with elevated resting blood pressure show more exaggerated cardiac reactions to stress than those who are clearly normotensive; and explore the underlying mechanisms. Cardiovascular activity and oxygen consumption were measured pre-, during, and post- mental stress, and during graded submaximal cycling exercise in 11 young men with moderately elevated resting blood pressure and 11 normotensives. Stress provoked increases in cardiac output that were much greater than would be expected from contemporary levels of oxygen consumption. Exaggerated cardiac reactions were larger in the relatively elevated blood pressure group. They also had greater reductions in total peripheral resistance, but not heart rate variability, implying that their more exaggerated cardiac reactions reflected greater β-adrenergic activation