Important considerations for creative professionals when designing for users with mental health issues

Creative professionals who design products, entertainment, application, websites, and even marketing are gradually beginning to realize the importance of evoking emotions and personalized communication to attract users’ attention and improve the satisfying experience. Emotional-based design can profoundly influence overall user experience since emotions affect decision making, attention, memory, and meaning. Designers often apply emotional design by two main approaches. The first is based on the modification of objects’ aesthetic appearances such as color, shape, and texture. The other focuses on engaging interaction mostly based on technology development (Van Gorp, Adams 2012). Both of these factors have significant effects on people especially for those who have mental health issues. The author bridges scholarship in emotional design and mental health science to empower designers in supporting people with mental health issues

Refined list version of Hadwiger’s Conjecture

Assume $\lambda=\{k_1,k_2, \ldots, k_q\}$ is a partition of $k_{\lambda} = \sum_{i=1}^q k_i$. A $\lambda$-list assignment of $G$ is a $k_\lambda$-list assignment $L$ of $G$ such that the colour set $\bigcup_{v \in V(G)}L(v)$ can be partitioned into $|\lambda|= q$ sets $C_1,C_2,\ldots,C_q$ such that for each $i$ and each vertex $v$ of $G$, $|L(v) \cap C_i| \ge k_i$. We say $G$ is $\lambda$-choosable if $G$ is $L$-colourable for any $\lambda$-list assignment $L$ of $G$. The concept of $\lambda$-choosability is a refinement of choosability that puts $k$-choosability and $k$-colourability in the same framework. If $|\lambda|$ is close to $k_\lambda$, then $\lambda$-choosability is close to $k_\lambda$-colourability; if $|\lambda|$ is close to $1$, then $\lambda$-choosability is close to $k_\lambda$-choosability. This paper studies Hadwiger‘s Conjecture in the context of $\lambda$-choosability. Hadwiger‘s Conjecture is equivalent to saying that every $K_t$-minor-free graph is $\{1 \star (t-1)\}$-choosable for any positive integer $t$. We prove that for $t \ge 5$, for any partition $\lambda$ of $t-1$ other than $\{1 \star (t-1)\}$, there is a $K_t$-minor-free graph $G$ that is not $\lambda$-choosable. We then construct several types of $K_t$-minor-free graphs that are not $\lambda$-choosable, where $k_\lambda - (t-1)$ gets larger as $k_\lambda-|\lambda|$ gets larger

Alkaline Pretreatment and Air Mixing for Improvement of Methane Production from Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Poultry Litter with Wheat Straw

Alkaline pretreatment (AL) and air mixing (air) both have the potential to improve anaerobic co-digestion (Co-AD) of poultry litter with wheat straw for methane production. In this study, the effects of the combination of AL (pH 12 for 12 h) and air mixing (12 mL·d−1) on the Co-AD process were investigated. The substrate hydrolysis was enhanced by AL, with soluble chemical oxygen demand increased by 4.59 times and volatile fatty acids increased by 5.04 times. The cumulative methane yield in the group of Co-AD by AL integrated with air (Co-(AL + air)), being 287 mL·(g VSadded)−1, was improved by 46.7% compared to the control. The cone model was found the best in simulating the methane yield kinetics with R2 ≥ 0.9979 and root mean square prediction error (rMSPE) ≤ 3.50. Co-(AL + air) had a larger hydrolysis constant k (0.14 d−1) and a shorter lag phase λ (0.99 d) than the control (k = 0.12 d−1, λ = 2.06 d). The digestate improved the removal of total solids and total volatile solids by 2.0 and 2.3 times, respectively. AL facilitated substrate degradation, while air can enrich the microbial activity, together enhancing the methane generation. The results show that AL + air can be applied as an effective method to improve methane production from the Co-AD process

NANO-FE AND MWCNTS BASED NON-ENZYMATIC SENSOR FOR DETERMINATION OF GLUCOSE IN SERUUM

The enzyme sensors based on glucose oxidase have been widely used for the detection of blood glucose. However, the activity of enzyme can be easily affected by temperature, pH, humidity and toxic chemical. Nanostructured metal-oxides have been extensively explored to develop nonenzymatic glucose sensors. An amperometric electrode based on multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and Fe nanoparticles has been successfully fabricated. The electrode exhibits the linear regression equation is: I = -0.1985 + 1.7499 CG (correlation coefficient is 0.9994). Linear response range: 0.2-20.0 mM, sensitivity: 1.75 a/am, the LOD was evaluated to be 0.03 mM according to IUPAC regulations (S/N = 3). Interference tests illustrated that 0.2 me of ascorbic acid and uric acid didn't have effect on the determination of glucose. In the presence of 0.02 M chloride ion, the current signal of 0.2 mM glucose almost keeps unchanged at the sensor, revealing that this new sensor has high tolerance level to chloride ion. The sensor has been successfully applied to determine glucose in the serum samples and obtained consist results with conventional spectrometry