VIP: A knowledge-based design aid for the engineering of space systems

The Vehicles Implementation Project (VIP), a knowledge-based design aid for the engineering of space systems is described. VIP combines qualitative knowledge in the form of rules, quantitative knowledge in the form of equations, and other mathematical modeling tools. The system allows users rapidly to develop and experiment with models of spacecraft system designs. As information becomes available to the system, appropriate equations are solved symbolically and the results are displayed. Users may browse through the system, observing dependencies and the effects of altering specific parameters. The system can also suggest approaches to the derivation of specific parameter values. In addition to providing a tool for the development of specific designs, VIP aims at increasing the user's understanding of the design process. Users may rapidly examine the sensitivity of a given parameter to others in the system and perform tradeoffs or optimizations of specific parameters. A second major goal of VIP is to integrate the existing corporate knowledge base of models and rules into a central, symbolic form

Synced ads: effects of mobile ad size and timing

IntroductionSynced ads differ from other forms of targeted advertising on mobile devices because they target concurrent media usage rather than location or predicted interest in the brand. For example, a TV-viewer’s smartphone could listen to the ads playing on the TV set and show matching social media ads. These social media ads could be timed to appear simultaneously with the TV ad, or shortly before or after.MethodsThis research reports a meta-analysis (N = 980) of four lab studies that used representative samples of consumers and realistic manipulations of synced ads. These studies contrasted with most previous studies of synced ads, which have used student samples and unrealistic manipulations or imagined scenarios, which means little is known about whether or why synced ads are effective in real life. These four studies manipulated the effects of synced-ad timing (simultaneous vs. sequential before or after) and the size of the mobile ad, to see if these moderate the effects of synced ads.ResultsThe results showed that synced ads were more effective, measured by unaided brand recall, when they were shown after the TV commercial, rather than simultaneously. Ad size had no moderating effect, which suggests that normal ads can be used, rather than the full-screen or pop-up ads used in previous studies. A final study, in which ad timing was user-controlled, rather than advertiser-controlled, showed that precise timing is not important for synced-ad effectiveness.DiscussionThese results suggest the effects of synced ads are best explained by repetition rather than synergy between the two exposures. There were no significant effects on brand attitude, ad liking, or purchase intention. These results have implications for theoretical models of synced-ad effectiveness, and for advertisers planning to use synced ads

Immunotherapy with Canarypox Vaccine and Interleukin-2 for HIV-1 Infection: Termination of a Randomized Trial

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether immunotherapy of chronic HIV-1 infection can prevent or attenuate viremia upon antiviral discontinuation. DESIGN: This was a Phase II randomized, partially double blinded, 2×2 factorial study of three steps of 12 wk/step. Step I involved four groups: (1) vaccine placebo, (2) vaccine (ALVAC, vCP1452), (3) placebo + interleukin 2 (IL-2), and (4) vaccine + IL-2. Step II involved a 12-wk diagnostic treatment interruption (DTI). Step III involved an extension of the DTI for an additional 12 wk. SETTING: The Weill-Cornell General Clinical Research Center. PARTICIPANTS: Chronically infected HIV-1 positive adults with undetectable HIV-1 levels and > 400 CD4(+) T cells/μl. INTERVENTIONS: An HIV canarypox vaccine (vCP1452) and vaccine placebo, administered every 4 wk for four doses, and low-dose IL-2 administered daily for 12–24 wk. OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary endpoints: (1) Proportion of participants with undetectable plasma HIV RNA during trial Step II, (2) mean log(10) HIV RNA copies/ml ([HIV]) from weeks 21–25, and (3) proportion of individuals eligible for trial Step III. RESULTS: 44 participants were randomized, but 16 withdrew or were withdrawn before completing Step II. As all participants underwent viral relapse in Step II, the study was terminated after 28 participants completed Step II. Among the four groups, there was no difference in mean [HIV] or the proportion of individuals with < log(10) 4.48 HIV; no difference between the mean [HIV] of the two groups that received ALVAC (n = 17) versus placebo (n = 11); and no significant difference between the mean [HIV] of the two groups that received IL-2 (n = 11) versus placebo (n = 17). CONCLUSIONS: Neither ALVAC (vCP1452) nor low-dose daily IL-2 nor their combination prevented the relapse of viremia upon discontinuation of antiviral therapy

How coviewing reduces the effectiveness of TV advertising

In the present study – a naturalistic laboratory experiment – coviewing of TV commercials reduced their effectiveness (delayed proven ad recall) from 63%, obtained by single viewers, to 43%, for both coviewers. During coviewing, the ‘mere presence of another’ apparently distracts each coviewer’s attention from the screen. The reduction in TV ads’ effectiveness due to coviewing is equivalent to the loss from channel-change zapping, which reduces ad recall to 45%. More deleterious but less prevalent modes of digital video recorder-enabled ad avoidance are skip-button zapping, which reduces recall to 35%, and moderately fast zipping (X 8 fast forward), which reduces ad effectiveness almost entirely, leaving only 6% recall. This study concludes with some practical suggestions for improving the effectiveness of TV commercials seen by a coviewing audience

The utility of arc length for continuous response measurement of audience responses to humour

Continuous response measures of viewers’ reactions to media stimuli have advantages over retrospective self-report measures (Poels & Dewitte, 2006). However, it is difficult to capture continuous measures using single numbers, such as the mean, velocity (the slope), peak, and area under the curve (Kahneman, 2000). Dynamic models are required to illuminate dynamic interactions between audio-visual presentations and audience responses so as not to lose the rich data that is otherwise lost in static measures aggregated over time (Wang, Lang, and Busemeyer, 2011). This is especially the case for humour, which results from a trajectory over time. First there is the set-up, then there is the pay-off. A mean that averages over both these phases is meaningless. In this article, we propose a new measure for characterizing continuous responses: arc length, which is a measure of the length of the curve, or the length of the journey that a measure undergoes during a certain time period

Synced Ads: Effects of Mobile Ad Size and Timing

Data from four studies that manipulated the effects of synced-ad size and timin