Presence and task performance:an approach in the light of cognitive style

The paper highlights the relationship between each of four bi-polar dimensions of personality cognitive style, such as extraversion–introversion, sensing–intuition, thinking–feeling and judging–perceiving, and the level of sense of presence experienced. Findings indicate that individuals who are more sensitive, more feeling or more introverted experience a higher level of presence. While not reaching statistical significance, differing cognitive styles appear to impact on task performance. The apparent negative relationship discovered between sense of presence and task performance should be considered in the light of task characteristics. We discuss the implications of these findings and how they contribute to an understanding of the complex relationship that exists between presence and task performance and how this subsequently ought to influence the design of virtual environments

Why bad ideas are a good idea

What would happen if we wrote an Abstract that was the exact opposite of what the paper described? This is a bad idea, but it makes us think more carefully than usual about properties of Abstracts. This paper describes BadIdeas, a collection of techniques that uses ???bad??? or ???silly??? ideas to inspire creativity, explore design domains and teach critical thinking in interaction design. We describe the approach, some evidence, how it is performed in practice and experience in its use.published or submitted for publicationis peer reviewe

The Mechanical and material properties of 316LN austenitic stainless steel for the fusion application in cryogenic temperatures

Due to the constant increase of claims for all materials used in superconducting magnets in "magnetic fusion reactors", the article deals with the possibilities of increasing the mechanical properties of austenitic stainless steel tested at cryogenic conditions that ensure the transport of Helium to magnets. The aim of the experimental plan was to increase the mechanical properties of the steel grade 316LN tested at 4.2K from the original value Steel A: YS = 1045 MPa, UTS = 1528 MPa, A = 33% to the value of YS = 1204 MPa,UTS = 1642 MPa, A = 34% and Steel B: YS = 1173 MPa, UTS = 1541 MPa, A = 28% to the value of YS = 1351 MPa, UTS = 1645 MPa, A = 17%. The increase in mechanical properties of the steel grade under examination has been made by means of heat processing in the conditions of annealing: Th1 = 625 ° C / th1 = 696 h. The mechanical properties of steel were evaluated using static tension tests at 4,2 K. The samples were placed in a cryostat filled with liquid helium. Except for the mechanical properties, there were also evaluated structural changes depending on the conditions of heat processing by light optical microscopy and EBSD (Electron Backscatter Diffraction). The increase of steel properties used in low temperatures was achieved by heat processing

Inaugurating a Dutch Napoleon? Conservative criticism of the 1815 constitution of the United Kingdom of The Netherlands

International audienc

Tumor Microenvironment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma:Challenges and Opportunities for New Treatment Options

The prevalence of liver cancer is constantly rising, with increasing incidence and mortality in Europe and the USA in recent decades. Among the different subtypes of liver cancers, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most commonly diagnosed liver cancer. Besides advances in diagnosis and promising results of pre-clinical studies, HCC remains a highly lethal disease. In many cases, HCC is an effect of chronic liver inflammation, which leads to the formation of a complex tumor microenvironment (TME) composed of immune and stromal cells. The TME of HCC patients is a challenge for therapies, as it is involved in metastasis and the development of resistance. However, given that the TME is an intricate system of immune and stromal cells interacting with cancer cells, new immune-based therapies are being developed to target the TME of HCC. Therefore, understanding the complexity of the TME in HCC will provide new possibilities to design novel and more effective immunotherapeutics and combinatorial therapies to overcome resistance to treatment. In this review, we describe the role of inflammation during the development and progression of HCC by focusing on TME. We also describe the most recent therapeutic advances for HCC and possible combinatorial treatment options

The Role of Macrophages in Cancer Development and Therapy

Macrophages are critical mediators of tissue homeostasis and influence various aspects of immunity. Tumor-associated macrophages are one of the main cellular components of the tumor microenvironment. Depending on their activation status, macrophages can exert a dual influence on tumorigenesis by either antagonizing the cytotoxic activity of immune cells or, less frequently, by enhancing antitumor responses. In most situations, TAMs suppress T cell recruitment and function or regulate other aspects of tumor immunity. The importance of TAMs targeting in cancer therapy is derived from the strong association between the high infiltration of TAMs in the tumor tissue with poor patient prognosis. Several macrophage-targeting approaches in anticancer therapy are developed, including TAM depletion, inhibition of new TAM differentiation, or re-education of TAM activation for cancer cell phagocytosis. In this review, we will describe the role of TAMs in tumor development, including such aspects as protumorigenic inflammation, immune suppression, neoangiogenesis, and enhancement of tissue invasion and distant metastasis. Furthermore, we will discuss therapeutic approaches that aim to deplete TAMs or, on the contrary, re-educate TAMs for cancer cell phagocytosis and antitumor immunity

Predicting missing quality of life data that were later recovered : an empirical comparison of approaches

Peer reviewedPostprin