Rapid biodiversity assessment of arthropods for monitoring average local species richness and related ecosystem services

Rapid biodiversity assessment (RBA) is proposed as an affordable indicator for monitoring local species richness of arthropods and sustainability of related ecosystem services. The indicator is based on strictly standardised sampling procedures and the identification of parataxonomic units (morphospecies) instead of species identification. The collection of arthropods was optimized with regard to trap types, time and length of collecting period, selection of four out of seven weekly samples, and choice of counted taxa and trophic guilds. By measuring arthropod activity, RBA is an indicator for functional diversity. Over a period of 8years, average yearly numbers of morphospecies were assessed in Switzerland in 15 agricultural habitats, 15 managed forests, and in 12 unmanaged habitats ranging from protected lowland wetlands to Alpine meadows. The yearly RBA-trend in unmanaged habitats is used for assessing the influence of climate and weather on biodiversity, and as a reference for measuring the relative influences of recent management changes in agriculture and forestry. The average number of morphospecies per sampling station per year depends on temperature, and was only marginally significantly increasing over time in agriculture, but not in forestry or unmanaged areas. Three RBA indices considered to be relevant for maintaining ecosystem services were calculated from the average number of morphospecies per location per year: (1) indicator for ecological resilience and sustainability (all morphospecies); (2) indicator for pollinator diversity (taxa with a majority of pollinators) and (3) indicator for biocontrol diversity (ratio between carnivore and herbivore guilds

“Sweet: I did it”! Measuring the sense of agency in gustatory interfaces

Novel gustatory interfaces offer the potential to use the sense of taste as a feedback modality during the interaction. They are being explored in a wide range of implementations, from chemical to electrical and thermal stimulation of taste. However, the fundamental aspect of gustatory interaction that has yet to be explored is the Sense of Agency (SoA). It is the subjective experience of voluntary control over actions in the external world. This work investigates the SoA in gustatory systems using the intentional binding paradigm to quantify how different taste outcome modalities influence users' SoA. We first investigate such gustatory systems using the intentional binding paradigm to quantify how different tastes influence users' SoA (Experiment 1). The gustatory stimuli were sweet (sucrose 75.31 mg/ml), bitter (caffeine powder 0.97 mg/ml), and neutral (mineral water) as the outcomes of specific keyboard presses. We then investigated how SoA was altered depending on users' sweet liking phenotype, given that sweet is one of the taste outcomes (Experiment 2), and in contrast with audio as a traditional outcome. In Experiment 2, stronger taste concentrations (sweet-sucrose 342.30 g/L, bitter-quinine 0.1 g/L, and neutral) were used, with only participants being moderate sweet likers. We further contrasted tastes with audio as the traditional outcome. Our findings show that all three taste outcomes exhibit similar intentional binding compared to auditory in medium sweet likers. We also show that longer action-outcome duration improved the SoA. We finally discuss our findings and identify design opportunities considering SoA for gustatory interfaces and multisensory interaction

Response of arthropod species richness and functional groups to urban habitat structure and management

Urban areas are a particular landscape matrix characterized by a fine-grained spatial arrangement of very diverse habitats (urban mosaic). We investigated arthropods to analyse biodiversity-habitat associations along five environmental gradients (age, impervious area, management, configuration, composition) in three Swiss cities (96 study sites). We considered total species richness and species richness within different functional groups (zoophagous, phytophagous, pollinator, low mobility, and high mobility species). Information theoretical model selection procedures were applied and predictions were calculated based on weighted models. Urban areas yielded on average 284 arthropod species (range: 169-361), with species richness correlating mostly with heterogeneity indices (configuration and composition). Species richness also increased with age of urban settlement, while enlarged proportions of impervious area and intensified habitat management was negatively correlated. Functional groups showed contrasted, specific responses to environmental variables. Overall, we found surprisingly little variation in species richness along the gradients, which is possibly due to the fine-grained spatial interlinkage of good (heterogeneous) and bad (sealed) habitats. The highly fragmented nature of urban areas may not represent a major obstacle for the arthropods currently existing in cities because they have probably been selected for tolerance to fragmentation and for high colonisation potential. Given that built areas are becoming denser, increasing spatial heterogeneity of the urban green offers potential for counteracting the detrimental effects of densification upon urban biodiversity. By quantifying the expected effects along environmental gradients, this study provides guidance for managers to set priorities when enhancing urban arthropod species richnes

Transverse flow under oscillating stimulation in helical square ducts with cochlea-like geometrical curvature and torsion

The cochlea is our fluid-filled organ of hearing with a unique spiral shape. The physiological role of this shape remains unclear. Previous research has paid only little attention to the occurrence of transverse flow in the cochlea, in particular in relation to the cochlea's shape. To better understand its influence on fluid dynamics, this study aims to characterize transverse flow due to harmonically oscillating axial flow in square ducts with curvature and torsion, similar to the shape of human cochleae. Four geometries were investigated to study curvature and torsion effects on axial and transverse fluid flow components. Twelve frequencies from 0.125 Hz to 256 Hz were studied, covering infrasound and low-frequency hearing, with mean inlet velocity amplitudes representing levels expected for normal conversations or louder situations. Our simulations show that torsion contributes significantly to transverse flow in unsteady conditions, and that its contribution increases with increasing oscillation frequencies. Curvature has a small effect on transverse flow, which decreases rapidly for increasing frequencies. Strikingly, the combined effect of curvature and torsion on transverse flow is greater than expected from a simple superposition of the two effects, especially when the relative contribution of curvature alone becomes negligible. These findings could be relevant to understand physiological processes in the cochlea, including metabolite transport and wall shear stresses. Further studies are needed to investigate possible implications on cochlear mechanics.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figure

Demonstration of FoodFab: Creating Food Perceptual Illusions using Food 3D Printing

Food 3D printing enables the creation of customized food structures based on a person's individual needs. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of food 3D printing to create perceptual illusions for controlling the level of perceived satiety given a defined amount of calories. We present FoodFab, a system that allows users to control their food intake through modifying a food's internal structure via two 3D printing parameters: infill pattern and infill density. In two experiments with a total of 30 participants, we studied the effect of these parameters on users' chewing time that is known to affect people's feeling of satiety. Our results show that we can indeed modify the chewing time by varying infill pattern and density, and thus control perceived satiety. Based on the results, we propose two computational models and integrate them into a user interface that simplifies the creation of personalized food structures

FoodFab: Creating Food Perception Illusions using Food 3D Printing

Personalization of eating such that everyone consumes only what they need allows improving our management of food waste. In this paper, we explore the use of food 3D printing to create perceptual illusions for controlling the level of perceived satiety given a defined amount of calories. We present FoodFab, a system that allows users to control their food intake through modifying a food's internal structure via two 3D printing parameters: infill pattern and infill density. In two experiments with a total of 30 participants, we studied the effect of these parameters on users' chewing time that is known to affect people's feeling of satiety. Our results show that we can indeed modify the chewing time by varying infill pattern and density, and thus control perceived satiety. Based on the results, we propose two computational models and integrate them into a user interface that simplifies the creation of personalized food structures

Smell, Taste, and Temperature Interfaces

Everyday life hinges on smell, taste, and temperature-based experiences, from eating to detecting potential hazards (e.g., smell of rotten food, microbial threats, and non-microbial threats such as from hazardous gases) to responding to thermal behavioral changes. These experiences are formative as visceral, vital signals of information, and contribute directly to our safety, well-being, and enjoyment. Despite this, contemporary technology mostly stimulates vision, audition, and - more recently - touch, unfortunately leaving out the senses of smell taste and temperature. In the last decade, smell, taste, and temperature interfaces have gained a renewed attention in the field of Human Computer Interaction, fueled by the growth of virtual reality and wearable devices. As these modalities are further explored, it is imperative to discuss underlying cultural contexts of these experiences, how researchers can robustly stimulate and sense these modalities, and in what contexts such multisensory technologies are meaningful. This workshop addresses these topics and seeks to provoke critical discussions around chemo- and thermo-sensory HCI

"Workhood"-a useful concept for the analysis of health workers' resources? an evaluation from Tanzania

International debates on improving health system performance and quality of care are strongly coined by systems thinking. There is a surprising lack of attention to the human (worker) elements. Although the central role of health workers within the health system has increasingly been acknowledged, there are hardly studies that analyze performance and quality of care from an individual perspective. Drawing on livelihood studies in health and sociological theory of capitals, this study develops and evaluates the new concept of workhood. As an analytical device the concept aims at understanding health workers' capacities to access resources (human, financial, physical, social, cultural and symbolic capital) and transfer them to the community from an individual perspective. Case studies were conducted in four Reproductive-and-Child-Health (RCH) clinics in the Kilombero Valley, south-eastern Tanzania, using different qualitative methods such as participant observation, informal discussions and in-depth interviews to explore the relevance of the different types of workhood resources for effective health service delivery. Health workers' ability to access these resources were investigated and factors facilitating or constraining access identified. The study showed that lack of physical, human, cultural and financial capital constrained health workers' capacity to act. In particular, weak health infrastructure and health system failures led to the lack of sufficient drug and supply stocks and chronic staff shortages at the health facilities. However, health workers' capacity to mobilize social, cultural and symbolic capital played a significant role in their ability to overcome work related problems. Professional and non-professional social relationships were activated in order to access drug stocks and other supplies, transport and knowledge. By evaluating the workhood concept this study highlights the importance of understanding health worker performance by looking at their resources and capacities. Rather than blaming health workers for health system failures, applying a strength-based approach offers new insights into health workers' capacities and identifies entry points for target actions

Adrenalectomy-Produced Facilitation of Pavlovian Conditioned Cardiodecelerations in Immobilized Rats

Previous evidence has suggested that both hormonal and behavioral aspects of adrenal stress activation may contribute to heart rate (HR) conditioning during physical/pharmacological immobilization. Accordingly, four studies were conducted to determine if bilateral adrenalectomy facilitates stimulus-control over Pavlovian conditioned cardiodecelerations in rats immobilized either through physical restraint or neuromuscular paralysis. Plasma corticosterone assays were used as an index of the effectiveness of adrenal removal. The results showed that adrenalectomy facilitated both simple and discriminated Pavlovian conditioned cardiodecelerations in rats paralyzed with d-tubocurarine chloride (dTC) without significantly altering the characteristics of EMG recovery from paralysis. Similarly, adrenalectomy facilitated simple Pavlovian HR conditioning in physically restrained rats. The results suggest that adrenal activation may disrupt the parasympathetically-mediated Pavlovian conditioned cardiodeceleration in the physically-and dTC-immobilized rat. However, the specific nature of neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying cardiovascular conditioning during immobilization remains problematical.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75069/1/j.1469-8986.1977.tb03371.x.pd