327 research outputs found
Introduction to the new usability
This paper introduces the motivation for and concept of the "new usability" and positions it against existing approaches to usability. It is argued that the contexts of emerging products and systems mean that traditional approaches to usability engineering and evaluation are likely to prove inappropriate to the needs of "digital consumers." The paper briefly reviews the contributions to this special issue in terms of their relation to the idea of the "new usability" and their individual approaches to dealing with contemporary usability issues. This helps provide a background to the "new usability" research agenda, and the paper ends by posing what are argued to be the central challenges facing the area and those which lie at the heart of the proposed research agenda
Space Manufacturing: The Next Great Challenge
Space manufacturing encompasses the research, development and manufacture necessary for the production of any product to be used in near zero gravity, and the production of spacecraft required for transporting research or production devices to space. Manufacturing for space, and manufacturing in space will require significant breakthroughs in materials and manufacturing technology, as well as in equipment designs. This report reviews some of the current initiatives in achieving space manufacturing. The first initiative deals with materials processing in space, e.g., processing non-terrestrial and terrestrial materials, especially metals. Some of the ramifications of the United States Microgravity Payloads fourth (USMP-4) mission are discussed. Some problems in non-terrestrial materials processing are mentioned. The second initiative is structures processing in space. In order to accomplish this, the International Space Welding Experiment was designed to demonstrate welding technology in near-zero gravity. The third initiative is advancements in earth-based manufacturing technologies necessary to achieve low cost access to space. The advancements discussed include development of lightweight material having high specific strength, and automated fabrication and manufacturing methods for these materials
Panel discussion on chiral extrapolation of physical observables
This is an approximate reconstruction of the panel discussion on chiral
extrapolation of physical observables. The session consisted of brief
presentations from panelists, followed by responses from the panel, and
concluded with questions and comments from the floor with answers from
panelists. In the following, the panelists have summarized their statements,
and the ensuing discussion has been approximately reconstructed from notes.Comment: Lattice2002(plenary) 15 pages, 3 figure
Targeted prevention of common mental health disorders in university students: randomised controlled trial of a transdiagnostic trait-focused web-based intervention
Background:
A large proportion of university students show symptoms of common mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety, substance use disorders and eating disorders. Novel interventions are required that target underlying factors of multiple disorders.<p></p>
Aims:
To evaluate the efficacy of a transdiagnostic trait-focused web-based intervention aimed at reducing symptoms of common mental disorders in university students.<p></p>
Method:
Students were recruited online (n = 1047, age: M = 21.8, SD = 4.2) and categorised into being at high or low risk for mental disorders based on their personality traits. Participants were allocated to a cognitive-behavioural trait-focused (n = 519) or a control intervention (n = 528) using computerised simple randomisation. Both interventions were fully automated and delivered online (trial registration: ISRCTN14342225). Participants were blinded and outcomes were self-assessed at baseline, at 6 weeks and at 12 weeks after registration. Primary outcomes were current depression and anxiety, assessed on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD7). Secondary outcome measures focused on alcohol use, disordered eating, and other outcomes.<p></p>
Results:
Students at high risk were successfully identified using personality indicators and reported poorer mental health. A total of 520 students completed the 6-week follow-up and 401 students completed the 12-week follow-up. Attrition was high across intervention groups, but comparable to other web-based interventions. Mixed effects analyses revealed that at 12-week follow up the trait-focused intervention reduced depression scores by 3.58 (p<.001, 95%CI [5.19, 1.98]) and anxiety scores by 2.87 (p = .018, 95%CI [1.31, 4.43]) in students at high risk. In high-risk students, between group effect sizes were 0.58 (depression) and 0.42 (anxiety). In addition, self-esteem was improved. No changes were observed regarding the use of alcohol or disordered eating.<p></p>
Conclusions
This study suggests that a transdiagnostic web-based intervention for university students targeting underlying personality risk factors may be a promising way of preventing common mental disorders with a low-intensity intervention
FishNet: an online database of zebrafish anatomy
Background: Over the last two decades, zebrafish have been established as a genetically versatile model system for investigating many different aspects of vertebrate developmental biology. With the credentials of zebrafish as a developmental model now well recognized, the emerging new opportunity is the wider application of zebrafish biology to aspects of human disease modelling. This rapidly increasing use of zebrafish as a model for human disease has necessarily generated interest in the anatomy of later developmental phases such as the larval, juvenile, and adult stages, during which many of the key aspects of organ morphogenesis and maturation take place. Anatomical resources and references that encompass these stages are non-existent in zebrafish and there is therefore an urgent need to understand how different organ systems and anatomical structures develop throughout the life of the fish. Results: To overcome this deficit we have utilized the technique of optical projection tomography to produce three-dimensional (3D) models of larval fish. In order to view and display these models we have created FishNet http://www.fishnet.org.au, an interactive reference of zebrafish anatomy spanning the range of zebrafish development from 24 h until adulthood. Conclusion: FishNet contains more than 36 000 images of larval zebrafish, with more than 1 500 of these being annotated. The 3D models can be manipulated on screen or virtually sectioned. This resource represents the first complete embryo to adult atlas for any species in 3D
Light Hadron Spectrum and Quark Masses from Quenched Lattice QCD
We present details of simulations for the light hadron spectrum in quenched
QCD carried out on the CP-PACS parallel computer. Simulations are made with the
Wilson quark action and the plaquette gauge action on 32^3x56 - 64^3x112
lattices at four lattice spacings (a \approx 0.1-0.05 fm) and the spatial
extent of 3 fm. Hadronic observables are calculated at five quark masses
(m_{PS}/m_V \approx 0.75 - 0.4), assuming the u and d quarks being degenerate
but treating the s quark separately. We find that the presence of quenched
chiral singularities is supported from an analysis of the pseudoscalar meson
data. We take m_\pi, m_\rho and m_K (or m_\phi) as input. After chiral and
continuum extrapolations, the agreement of the calculated mass spectrum with
experiment is at a 10% level. In comparison with the statistical accuracy of
1-3% and systematic errors of at most 1.7% we have achieved, this demonstrates
a failure of the quenched approximation for the hadron spectrum: the meson
hyperfine splitting is too small, and the octet masses and the decuplet mass
splittings are both smaller than experiment. Light quark masses are calculated
using two definitions: the conventional one and the one based on the
axial-vector Ward identity. The two results converge toward the continuum
limit, yielding m_{ud}=4.29(14)^{+0.51}_{-0.79} MeV. The s quark mass depends
on the strange hadron mass chosen for input: m_s = 113.8(2.3)^{+5.8}_{-2.9} MeV
from m_K and m_s = 142.3(5.8)^{+22.0}_{-0} MeV from m_\phi, indicating again a
failure of the quenched approximation. We obtain \Lambda_{\bar{MS}}^{(0)}=
219.5(5.4) MeV. An O(10%) deviation from experiment is observed in the
pseudoscalar meson decay constants.Comment: 60 pages, 49 figure
Weakly first-order phase transitions: the epsilon expansion vs. numerical simulations
Some phase transitions of cosmological interest may be weakly first-order and
cannot be analyzed by a simple perturbative expansion around mean field theory.
We propose a simple two-scalar model--the cubic anisotropy model--as a foil for
theoretical techniques to study such transitions, and we review its
similarities and dissimilarities to the electroweak phase transition in the
early universe. We present numerical Monte Carlo results for various
discontinuities across very weakly first-order transitions in this model and,
as an example, compare them to epsilon-expansion results. For this purpose, we
have computed through next-to-next-to-leading order in epsilon.Comment: 4 pages, Latex, uses revtex, epsf macro package
Assessing the Safety of Stem Cell Therapeutics
Unprecedented developments in stem cell research herald a new era of hope and expectation for novel therapies. However, they also present a major challenge for regulators since safety assessment criteria, designed for conventional agents, are largely inappropriate for cell-based therapies. This article aims to set out the safety issues pertaining to novel stem cell-derived treatments, to identify knowledge gaps that require further research, and to suggest a roadmap for developing safety assessment criteria. It is essential that regulators, pharmaceutical providers, and safety scientists work together to frame new safety guidelines, based on âacceptable risk,â so that patients are adequately protected but the safety âbarâ is not set so high that exciting new treatments are lost
Evaluation of the IgG antibody response to SARS CoV-2 infection and performance of a lateral flow immunoassay: cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis over 11 months
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the dynamics and longevity of the humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and assess the performance of professional use of the UK-RTC AbC-19 Rapid Test lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) for the target condition of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein IgG antibodies. DESIGN: Nationwide serological study. SETTING: Northern Ireland, UK, May 2020âFebruary 2021. PARTICIPANTS: Plasma samples were collected from a diverse cohort of individuals from the general public (n=279), Northern Ireland healthcare workers (n=195), pre-pandemic blood donations and research studies (n=223) and through a convalescent plasma programme (n=183). Plasma donors (n=101) were followed with sequential samples over 11 months post-symptom onset. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in plasma samples using Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG/IgA/IgM, Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG and EuroImmun IgG SARS-CoV-2 ELISA immunoassays over time. UK-RTC AbC-19 LFIA sensitivity and specificity, estimated using a three-reference standard system to establish a characterised panel of 330 positive and 488 negative SARS-CoV-2 IgG samples. RESULTS: We detected persistence of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies for up to 10 months post-infection, across a minimum of two laboratory immunoassays. On the known positive cohort, the UK-RTC AbC-19 LFIA showed a sensitivity of 97.58% (95.28% to 98.95%) and on known negatives, showed specificity of 99.59% (98.53 % to 99.95%). CONCLUSIONS: Through comprehensive analysis of a cohort of pre-pandemic and pandemic individuals, we show detectable levels of IgG antibodies, lasting over 46 weeks when assessed by EuroImmun ELISA, providing insight to antibody levels at later time points post-infection. We show good laboratory validation performance metrics for the AbC-19 rapid test for SARS-CoV-2 spike protein IgG antibody detection in a laboratory-based setting
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