Potential for Chemical Repellents Against the Mite Tyrophagus putrescentiae to Prevent Infestation of Country Hams

Tyrophagus putrescentiae (Shrank), commonly known as the ham mite, is a cosmopolitan pest found of various stored food commodities, including aged hams and cheeses (Amoah et al. 2017; Campbell et al. 2017). Recent research suggested methods to deter T. putrescentiae from infestation of country hams using different types of food-safe chemicals (Abbar et al. 2016). In this experiment, four chemicals were tested to ascertain their effectiveness in deterring T. putrescentiae from ham infestation. Repellency tests used a piece of ham and a group of mites placed on opposite sides of a Petri dish with a black construction paper floor. A test barrier of a test compound or solvent control was deposited on a white filter paper strip bisecting the dish at its center. The chemicals Nootkatone, Propylene Glycol, Glycerol and a fatty acid blend called “C8910” prevented more mites from contacting the ham compared to strips with solvent. These results suggest the potential for using one or more of these food-safe compounds to prevent ham mites form infesting hams in aging rooms

TempoCave: Visualizing Dynamic Connectome Datasets to Support Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

We introduce TempoCave, a novel visualization application for analyzing dynamic brain networks, or connectomes. TempoCave provides a range of functionality to explore metrics related to the activity patterns and modular affiliations of different regions in the brain. These patterns are calculated by processing raw data retrieved functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans, which creates a network of weighted edges between each brain region, where the weight indicates how likely these regions are to activate synchronously. In particular, we support the analysis needs of clinical psychologists, who examine these modular affiliations and weighted edges and their temporal dynamics, utilizing them to understand relationships between neurological disorders and brain activity, which could have a significant impact on the way in which patients are diagnosed and treated. We summarize the core functionality of TempoCave, which supports a range of comparative tasks, and runs both in a desktop mode and in an immersive mode. Furthermore, we present a real-world use case that analyzes pre- and post-treatment connectome datasets from 27 subjects in a clinical study investigating the use of cognitive behavior therapy to treat major depression disorder, indicating that TempoCave can provide new insight into the dynamic behavior of the human brain

Making as a means to re-engage disengaged young people back into education:a case study

Lickable Cities is a research project that responds to the recent and overwhelming abundance of non-calls for gustatory exploration of urban spaces. In this paper, we share experiences from nearly three years of nonrepresentational, absurdist, and impractical research. During that time, we licked hundreds of surfaces, infrastructures, and interfaces in cities around the world. We en-countered many challenges from thinking with, designing for, and interfacing through taste, including: - how can and should we grapple with contamination?, and - how might lickable interfaces influence more-than-humans? We discuss these challenges to compassionately question the existing framework for designing with taste in HCI

Evaluation of the local physical activity and sport network in Nendaz: results of two cross-sectional population-based surveys

The aim of local physical activity and sport networks in Switzerland is to improve co-operation between different players in physical activity and sport promotion in a community, town or region. Nendaz has introduced such a network in 2004. Two postal questionnaire surveys were carried out in 2005 and 2007. The local network in Nendaz reached a high level of awareness, its utilisation in the population and satisfaction were generally good. Physical activity behaviour was high in both years compared to the general French-speaking population in Switzerland. In order to judge the effects of such an intervention on the population level, baseline surveys should be carried out before the start of the project and control communities should be studied simultaneously

Light scattering by particles with small-scale surface roughness: comparison of four classes of model geometries

We compare four different model geometries for particles with small-scale surface roughness. The geometries are based on regular and stochastic surface perturbations, as well as on 2D- and 3D-roughness models. We further compare T-matrix and discrete dipole computations. Particle size parameters of 5 and 50 are considered, as well as refractive indices of 1.6 + 0.0005i and 3 +0.1i. The effect of small-scale surface roughness on the intensity and polarisation of the scattered light strongly depends on the size parameter and refractive index. In general, 2D surface roughness models predict stronger effects than 3D models. Stochastic surface roughness models tend to predict the strongest depolarising effects, while regular surface roughness models can have a stronger effect on the angular distribution of the scattered intensity. Computations with the discrete dipole approximation only cover a limited range of size parameters. T-matrix computations allow us to significantly extend that range, but at the price of restricting the model particles to symmetric surface perturbations with small amplitudes

Reflexive practices for the future of design education:an exercise in ethno-empathy

This paper responds to the growing body of literature that calls for more candour in discussing practical, social, and ethical problems that inevitably arise throughout the lifespan of research projects. We begin by describing our use of critical and anarchist pedagogies to inform the design of a recent academic workshop. The workshop emerged iteratively and led to the core activity: our building of a totemic “city of ethical conundrums”. This collaborative artefact allowed us to discuss why and how we negotiate ethical issues in vivo, and how this matches up with the formal institutional ethics process. We uncovered what we called “ethno-empathy”: a concept that helped us understand, and give language to the circumstances, requirements and implications for our mutually shared experience of crafting a metaphorical city of ethical conundrums

Field studies of thermal comfort across multiple climate zones for the subcontinent: India Model for Adaptive Comfort (IMAC)

© 2015 The Authors. India is witnessing unprecedented growth trends in building construction, particularly office spaces. Indian offices are designed to operate at 22.5 ± 1 °C all year round to meet the stringent "Class A" specifications outlined by international standards in the absence of an India-specific comfort standard. This paper proposes an India Model for Adaptive Comfort - IMAC - based on the field surveys administered in 16 buildings in three seasons and five cities, representative of five Indian climate zones. A total of 6330 responses were gathered from naturally ventilated, mixed mode and air-conditioned office buildings using instantaneous thermal comfort surveys.Occupants in naturally ventilated Indian offices were found to be more adaptive than the prevailing ASHRAE and EN models would suggest. According to the IMAC model, neutral temperature in naturally ventilated buildings varies from 19.6 to 28.5 °C for 30-day outdoor running mean air temperatures ranging from 12.5 to 31 °C. This is the first instance where a study proposes a single adaptive model for mixed mode buildings asserting its validity for both naturally ventilated and air-conditioned modes of operation in the building, with neutral temperature varying from 21.5 to 28.7 °C for 13-38.5 °C range of outdoor temperatures. For air-conditioned buildings, Fanger's static PMV model was found to consistently over-predict the sensation on the warmer side of the 7-point sensation scale