Using voice assistant skills in family life

Voice assistants are increasingly prevalent in family life, being used, for example, for listening to music, finding out information, asking jokes and playing games together. However, little research shows how such technology influences dynamic family interactions in the home over time. An in-the-wild study was conducted in six family homes over three weeks. An Alexa, with a number of skills, was set up in each home for the families to use. The findings showed differences in use over time. To begin, family cohesion behavior and family rituals were most prevalent. At the end of the study, the skills were found to motivate distinct family interaction patterns: including more collaboration to manage Alexa and scaffolding of children’s interactions with Alexa, given developmental differences in users’ grasp of Alexa’s capabilities and limitations. We discuss how voice assistants support different interaction patterns and potentially, offer different learning opportunities

Optimization of Multi-Stack Exhaust Systems - New System Design Application

Both analytical and numerical optimization methods have been developed to optimize multi-stack exhaust systems for application in new system designs. In these systems the combined airflow capacity of the stacks equals the maximum laboratory exhaust airflow. The theoretical analysis indicates that the optimized design uses as little as 50% of the design fan power annually. This paper presents the system models, the optimization methods, and describes appropriate applications

New Challenges in Psycho-Oncology Research III: A systematic review of psychological interventions for prostate cancer survivors and their partners: clinical and research implications

Abstract not availableSuzanne K. Chambers, Melissa K. Hyde, David P. Smith, Suzanne Hughes, Susan Yuill, Sam Egger, Dianne L. O'Connell, Kevin Stein, Mark Frydenberg, Gary Wittert, Jeff Dun

The response of the tandem pore potassium channel TASK-3 (K2P9.1) to voltage : gating at the cytoplasmic mouth

Although the tandem pore potassium channel TASK-3 is thought to open and shut at its selectivity filter in response to changes of extracellular pH, it is currently unknown whether the channel also shows gating at its inner, cytoplasmic mouth through movements of membrane helices M2 and M4.We used two electrode voltage clamp and single channel recording to show that TASK-3 responds to voltage in a way that reveals such gating. In wild-type channels, Popen was very low at negative voltages, but increased with depolarisation. The effect of voltage was relatively weak and the gating charge small, ∼0.17.Mutants A237T (in M4) and N133A (in M2) increased Popen at a given voltage, increasing mean open time and the number of openings per burst. In addition, the relationship between Popen andvoltagewas shifted to lesspositive voltages. Mutation of putative hinge glycines (G117A, G231A), residues that are conserved throughout the tandem pore channel family, reduced Popen at a given voltage, shifting the relationship with voltage to a more positive potential range. None of these mutants substantially affected the response of the channel to extracellular acidification. We have used the results from single channel recording to develop a simple kinetic model to show how gating occurs through two classes of conformation change, with two routes out of the open state, as expected if gating occurs both at the selectivity filter and at its cytoplasmic mouth

The selectivity, voltage-dependence and acid sensitivity of the tandem pore potassium channel TASK-1 : contributions of the pore domains

We have investigated the contribution to ionic selectivity of residues in the selectivity filter and pore helices of the P1 and P2 domains in the acid sensitive potassium channel TASK-1. We used site directed mutagenesis and electrophysiological studies, assisted by structural models built through computational methods. We have measured selectivity in channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes, using voltage clamp to measure shifts in reversal potential and current amplitudes when Rb+ or Na+ replaced extracellular K+. Both P1 and P2 contribute to selectivity, and most mutations, including mutation of residues in the triplets GYG and GFG in P1 and P2, made channels nonselective. We interpret the effects of these—and of other mutations—in terms of the way the pore is likely to be stabilised structurally. We show also that residues in the outer pore mouth contribute to selectivity in TASK-1. Mutations resulting in loss of selectivity (e.g. I94S, G95A) were associated with slowing of the response of channels to depolarisation. More important physiologically, pH sensitivity is also lost or altered by such mutations. Mutations that retained selectivity (e.g. I94L, I94V) also retained their response to acidification. It is likely that responses both to voltage and pH changes involve gating at the selectivity filter

The relative efficiency of automatic and discretionary regional aid

For the last two decades, the primary instruments for UK regional policy have been discretionary subsidies. Such aid is targeted at "additional" projects - projects that would not have been implemented without the subsidy - and the subsidy should be the minimum necessary for the project to proceed. Discretionary subsidies are thought to be more efficient than automatic subsidies, where many of the aided projects are non-additional and all projects receive the same subsidy rate. The present paper builds on Swales (1995) and Wren (2007a) to compare three subsidy schemes: an automatic scheme and two types of discretionary scheme, one with accurate appraisal and the other with appraisal error. These schemes are assessed on their expected welfare impacts. The particular focus is the reduction in welfare gain imposed by the interaction of appraisal error and the requirements for accountability. This is substantial and difficult to detect with conventional evaluation techniques

Clinicians' perspectives and experiences of providing cervical ripening at home or in-hospital in the United Kingdom

Induction of labour, or starting labour artificially, is offered when the risks of continuing pregnancy are believed to outweigh the risks of the baby being born. In the United Kingdom, cervical ripening is recommended as the first stage of induction. Increasingly, maternity services are offering this outpatient or 'at home', despite limited evidence on its acceptability and how different approaches to cervical ripening work in practice. There is also a paucity of literature on clinicians' experiences of providing induction care in general, despite their central role in developing local guidelines and delivering this care. This paper explores induction, specifically cervical ripening and the option to return home during that process, from the perspective of midwives, obstetricians and other maternity staff. As part of a process evaluation involving five case studies undertaken in British maternity services, interviews and focus groups were conducted with clinicians who provide induction of labour care. The thematic findings were generated through in-depth analysis and are grouped to reflect key points within the process of cervical ripening care: 'Implementing home cervical ripening', 'Putting local policy into practice', 'Giving information about induction' and 'Providing cervical ripening'. A range of practices and views regarding induction were recorded, showing how the integration of home cervical ripening is not always straightforward. Findings demonstrate that providing induction of labour care is complex and represents a significant workload. Home cervical ripening was seen as a solution to managing this workload; however, findings highlighted ways in which this expectation might not be borne out in practice. More comprehensive research is needed on workload impacts and possible lateral effects within other areas of maternity services

Students’ Perceptions of Learning Processes as Co-Authors of Digital Tabletop Activities

We conducted a small-scale study in order to explore students’ perceptions of the learning processes when engaged as co-authors of content for collaborative higher order thinking skills learning tasks. We specifically designed the process to allow for self-critique – where authors can observe their creations being solved and therefore understand where they may improve their design. We collected data over a three-day period from a sample of twelve thirteen year olds, working in teams, authoring content for Digital Mysteries (a higher order thinking skills collaborative learning application based on the digital tabletop). The study was structured to follow Bloom’s taxonomy, a continuum of cognitive skills that develop during a learning process. We found that 1) rather than follow this continuum, skills developed in a non-linear manner due to the abstract nature of the authoring activity, and 2) the students’ demonstrated good metacognitive insights into the authoring task, technology and collaborative learning as a whole