Advancing the cell culture landscape:the instructive potential of artificial and natural geometries

This research focuses on how surface structures can influence the behaviour of cells. There is a great diversity of surface structures, which makes the identification of an optimal physical environment for a specific phenotype difficult. Therefore, platforms that allow screening of many different designs at the same time facilitate the identification of an optimal cultural environment. Using the TopoChip, which contains 2176 unique microtopographies, structures have been identified that support the tenocyte phenotype, the primary cell type of the tendon. In addition, this also applies to mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), which experience an activation of tendon-related genes. Furthermore, the library has been creatively expanded by using natural surface topographies that cause unique cell behaviour, such as promoting osteogenesis

The Effect of Crime Type and Knowledge about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on the Judgement of Defendants with ASD

lObjective of the studyResearch found that defendants with ASD are judged more lenient than defendants for whom no diagnosis is mentioned. With this study, we test whether 1) knowledge about ASD is required to lead to more lenient judgements for people with ASD; and 2) the type of crime (crime: autism relevant vs. autism irrelevant) impacts on the judgement of autistic defendants.MethodologyA 3 (defendant information: "ASD + Knowledge" vs. ASD vs. control)· 3 (type of crime: assault vs. stalking vs. burglary) between-within subjects design was used. Participants (N = 146) were randomly assigned an experimental group and presented with three fictional crime vignettes. Two groups ("ASD + Knowledge" and "ASD") were told the defendant was autistic and received additional information about ASD in the "ASD + Knowledge" group.Results We found that for autism relevant crimes (assault and stalking), defendants with ASD received lower sentences than defendants without a (mentioned) diagnosis. f=or the autism irrelevant crime (burglary), autistic defendants were not judged more lenient than defendants without a (mentioned) diagnosis. Further analysis indicated that participants did indeed consider the link between ASD traits and the committed offense.Although there was a clear effect of crime type on the judgement of defendants with ASD, no difference was observed between the participants that did and did not receive information about ASD.ConclusionKnowing how different types of information can affect sentencing behaviour is crucial for training employees in the criminal justice system. Future research is needed exploring the relation between different types of information about ASD and sentencing decisions for autistic defendants.<br/

SenseBelt:a belt-worn sensor to support cross-device interaction

Mobile interaction is shifting from a single device to simultaneous interaction with ensembles of devices such as phones, tablets, or watches. Spatially-aware cross-device interaction between mobile devices typically requires a fixed tracking infrastructure, which lim- its mobility. In this paper, we present SenseBelt – a sensing belt that enhances existing mobile interactions and enables low-cost, ad hoc sensing of cross-device gestures and interactions. SenseBelt enables proxemic interactions between people and their personal devices. SenseBelt also supports cross-device interaction be- tween personal devices and stationary devices, such as public displays. We discuss the design and implementation of SenseBelt together with possible applications. With an initial evaluation, we provide insights into the benefits and drawbacks of a belt-worn mediating sensor to support cross-device interactions

Cross-surface:challenges and opportunities of spatial and proxemic interaction

In this workshop, we will review and discuss open issues, technical challenges and conceptual models for multi-device spatial or proxemic interaction. We aim to bring together researchers, students and practitioners working on technical infrastructures, studies and designs of spatial interfaces, or domain specific multi-device applications that use space as a unit of analysis. We focus specifically on analysing how such interfaces, tools and tracking technology can be deployed "in the wild". The workshop will facilitate knowledge exchange about the current state of spatial and proxemic interactive systems, identify application domains and enabling technologies for cross-surface interactions in the wild, and establish a research community to develop effective strategies for successful design of cross-device interactions

Cross-surface:challenges and opportunities of spatial and proxemic interaction

In this workshop, we will review and discuss open issues, technical challenges and conceptual models for multi-device spatial or proxemic interaction. We aim to bring together researchers, students and practitioners working on technical infrastructures, studies and designs of spatial interfaces, or domain specific multi-device applications that use space as a unit of analysis. We focus specifically on analysing how such interfaces, tools and tracking technology can be deployed "in the wild". The workshop will facilitate knowledge exchange about the current state of spatial and proxemic interactive systems, identify application domains and enabling technologies for cross-surface interactions in the wild, and establish a research community to develop effective strategies for successful design of cross-device interactions

Patterning of graphene on silicon-on-insulator waveguides through laser ablation and plasma etching

We present the use of femtosecond laser ablation for the removal of monolayer graphene from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguides, and the use of oxygen plasma etching through a metal mask to peel off graphene from the grating couplers attached to the waveguides. Through Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy, we show that the removal of graphene is successful with minimal damage to the underlying SOI waveguides. Finally, we employ both removal techniques to measure the contribution of graphene to the loss of grating-coupled graphene-covered SOI waveguides using the cut-back method. This loss contribution is measured to be 0.132 dB/μm

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING SOFTWARE COST ESTIMATION IN DOD ACQUISITION

Acquisition initiatives within the Department of Defense (DOD) are becoming increasingly reliant on software. While the DOD has ample experience in estimating costs of hardware acquisition, expertise in estimating software acquisition costs is lacking. The objective of this capstone project is to summarize the current software cost estimating methods, analyze existing software cost estimating models, and suggest areas and methods for improvement. To accomplish this, surveys were conducted to gather program cost data, which was run through existing cost estimating models. From here, the outputs were compared to actual program costs. This established a baseline for the effectiveness of existing methods and guided suggestions for areas of improvement. The Software Resource Data Reports (SRDR) data used seemed to have spurious data reporting from at least one source, and the base cost estimation models were not found to be sufficiently accurate in our study. The capstone finds that calibrating the cost models to the data available improved those models dramatically. In all, the capstone recommends performing data realism checks upon SRDR submissions to ensure data accuracy and calibrating cost models for each contractor with the available data before using them to estimate DOD Acquisition costs.Civilian, Department of the ArmyCivilian, Department of the ArmyCivilian, Department of the ArmyCivilian, Department of the ArmyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

A 22-single nucleotide polymorphism Alzheimer's disease risk score correlates with family history, onset age, and cerebrospinal fluid Aβ42

Introduction: The ability to identify individuals at increased genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) may streamline biomarker and drug trials and aid clinical and personal decision making. Methods: We evaluated the discriminative ability of a genetic risk score (GRS) covering 22 published genetic risk loci forADin 1162 Flanders-BelgianADpatients and 1019 controls and assessed correlations with family history, onset age, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers (A beta(1-42), T-Tau, P-Tau(181P)). Results: A GRS including all single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and age-specific APOE epsilon 4 weights reached area under the curve (AUC) 0.70, which increased to AUC 0.78 for patients with familial predisposition. Risk of AD increased with GRS (odds ratio, 2.32 (95% confidence interval 2.08-2.58 per unit; P < 1.0e(-15)). Onset age and CSF Ab1-42 decreased with increasing GRS (P-onset_age 5 9.0e(-11); P-A beta = 8.9e(-7)). Discussion: The discriminative ability of this 22-SNP GRS is still limited, but these data illustrate that incorporation of age-specific weights improves discriminative ability. GRS-phenotype correlations highlight the feasibility of identifying individuals at highest susceptibility. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the Alzheimer's Association