PickCells: A Physically Reconfigurable Cell-composed Touchscreen

Touchscreens are the predominant medium for interactions with digital services; however, their current fixed form factor narrows the scope for rich physical interactions by limiting interaction possibilities to a single, planar surface. In this paper we introduce the concept of PickCells, a fully reconfigurable device concept composed of cells, that breaks the mould of rigid screens and explores a modular system that affords rich sets of tangible interactions and novel acrossdevice relationships. Through a series of co-design activities – involving HCI experts and potential end-users of such systems – we synthesised a design space aimed at inspiring future research, giving researchers and designers a framework in which to explore modular screen interactions. The design space we propose unifies existing works on modular touch surfaces under a general framework and broadens horizons by opening up unexplored spaces providing new interaction possibilities. In this paper, we present the PickCells concept, a design space of modular touch surfaces, and propose a toolkit for quick scenario prototyping

Molecular Clouds associated with the Type Ia SNR N103B in the Large Magellanic Cloud

N103B is a Type Ia supernova remnant (SNR) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We carried out new $^{12}$CO($J$ = 3-2) and $^{12}$CO($J$ = 1-0) observations using ASTE and ALMA. We have confirmed the existence of a giant molecular cloud (GMC) at $V_\mathrm{LSR}$ $\sim$245 km s$^{-1}$ towards the southeast of the SNR using ASTE $^{12}$CO($J$ = 3-2) data at an angular resolution of $\sim$25$"$ ($\sim$6 pc in the LMC). Using the ALMA $^{12}$CO($J$ = 1-0) data, we have spatially resolved CO clouds along the southeastern edge of the SNR with an angular resolution of $\sim$1.8$"$ ($\sim$0.4 pc in the LMC). The molecular clouds show an expanding gas motion in the position-velocity diagram with an expansion velocity of $\sim5$ km s$^{-1}$. The spatial extent of the expanding shell is roughly similar to that of the SNR. We also find tiny molecular clumps in the directions of optical nebula knots. We present a possible scenario that N103B exploded in the wind-bubble formed by the accretion winds from the progenitor system, and is now interacting with the dense gas wall. This is consistent with a single-degenerate scenario.Comment: 12 pages, 1 table, 8 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ

Health literacy, health status, and healthcare utilization of Taiwanese adults: results from a national survey

Abstract Background Low health literacy is considered a worldwide health threat. The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence and socio-demographic covariates of low health literacy in Taiwanese adults and to investigate the relationships between health literacy and health status and health care utilization. Methods A national survey of 1493 adults was conducted in 2008. Health literacy was measured using the Mandarin Health Literacy Scale. Health status was measured based on self-rated physical and mental health. Health care utilization was measured based on self-reported outpatient clinic visits, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations. Results Approximately thirty percent of adults were found to have low (inadequate or marginal) health literacy. They tended to be older, have fewer years of schooling, lower household income, and reside in less populated areas. Inadequate health literacy was associated with poorer mental health (OR, 0.57; 95% CI, 0.35-0.91). No association was found between health literacy and health care utilization even after adjusting for other covariates. Conclusions Low (inadequate and marginal) health literacy is prevalent in Taiwan. High prevalence of low health literacy is not necessarily indicative of the need for interventions. Systematic efforts to evaluate the impact of low health literacy on health outcomes in other countries would help to illuminate features of health care delivery and financing systems that may mitigate the adverse health effects of low health literacy.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78252/1/1471-2458-10-614.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78252/2/1471-2458-10-614.pdfPeer Reviewe

A fabrication guide for planar silicon quantum dot heterostructures

We describe important considerations to create top-down fabricated planar quantum dots in silicon, often not discussed in detail in literature. The subtle interplay between intrinsic material properties, interfaces and fabrication processes plays a crucial role in the formation of electrostatically defined quantum dots. Processes such as oxidation, physical vapor deposition and atomic-layer deposition must be tailored in order to prevent unwanted side effects such as defects, disorder and dewetting. In two directly related manuscripts written in parallel we use techniques described in this work to create depletion-mode quantum dots in intrinsic silicon, and low-disorder silicon quantum dots defined with palladium gates. While we discuss three different planar gate structures, the general principles also apply to 0D and 1D systems, such as self-assembled islands and nanowires.Comment: Accepted for publication in Nanotechnology. 31 pages, 12 figure