Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention: a step in the wrong direction

Ipek Bengisu looks at Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, the national and international response, and the potential wider implications of the decision for tackling violence against women

Designing Multimedia Quality-based Advanced Videoconferencing Applications for Telemedicine over the Internet

Telemedicine and related healthcare technologies aim to provide efficient healthcare to improve the well being of patients and bring medical expertise at a lower cost to people who are geographically separated. This field has evolved over the past thirty years and today most telemedicine applications still use expensive leased telecommunication circuits to provide secured reliable connections. With the ubiquity of the Internet, it is now possible to deliver healthcare through Internet-based telemedicine applications to a wider population. However, the unreliable connection properties of packet-based systems and their vulnerability to various impairments that can occur at the physical, network, and application levels hamper the quality of Internet-based telemedicine applications. This research developed a taxonomy that identifies several key telemedicine dimensions to help patients, providers and program administrators understand the effort. The next phases of the study will create new objective/subjective multimedia quality models exclusively for telemedicine over the Internet using an experimental design over an emulated testbed. These models will be developed for telediagnosis in ophthalmology and mental health with extensive experiments using real-world telemedicine multimedia sessions obtained from the Regenstrief Institute for Health Care and VA. Finally, an intelligent videoconferencing software will be developed with real-time quality feedback functionality based on the quality models developed during this study. This new artifact will help practitioners in the field to pursue telemedicine confidently with the knowledge of real-time quality conditions under which they operate

Biomimetic materials and design

El campo interdisciplinario de la biomimética ha sido objeto de creciente atención en los últimos años. La comunidad científica e industrial entiende que el daño que hemos estado haciendo a la naturaleza puede ser resuelto por la naturaleza misma. El diseño biomimético también ha ido ganando impulso gracias a las nuevas investigaciones y tecnologías. La biomimética no se limita a la forma y la estética solamente, sino que también hace uso de una comprensión más profunda de los aspectos funcionales, procesos y sistemas encontrados en la naturaleza. Este artículo desarrolla cinco enfoques biomimé- ticos: imitación, inspiración, funcionalidad, basado en procesos y basado en ecosistemas. Los estudios de casos cortos explican cómo la investigación biomimética puede ayudar a resolver diferentes problemas en el diseño.The interdisciplinary field of biomimetics has been enjoying increasing attention in recent years. The scientific and industrial community understands that the harm we have been doing to nature can actually be solved by nature herself. Biomimetic design has also been gaining impetus thanks to new research and technologies. Biomimetics is not limited to form and aesthetics only but also makes use of a deeper understanding of functional aspects, processes and systems found in nature. This paper elaborates on five biomimetic approaches: imitation, inspiration, functional, process-based, and ecosystem-based. Short case studies explain how biomimetic research can help solve different problems in design.O campo interdisciplinar de biomimética tem recebido atenção crescente nos últimos anos. A comunidade científica e industrial entende que os danos que temos feito à natureza podem ser resolvidos pela própria natureza. O design biomimético também vem ganhando força graças a novas pesquisas e tecnologias. Biomimética não está limitado a apenas a forma e estética, mas também faz uso de uma compreensão mais profunda dos aspectos funcionais, processos e sistemas encontrados na natureza. Este artigo tem cinco abordagens biomiméticos: imitação, inspiração, funcionalidade, com base em processos e com base nos ecossistemas. Os estudos de caso explicam como a pesquisa biomimética pode ajudar a resolver problemas diferentes em design

Investigation on emission features of TTBC aggregates in PVA fiber mats by electrospinning

Thesis (Master)--İzmir Institute of Technology, Chemistry, İzmir, 2010Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 40-43)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxii, 43 leaves1,1’,3,3’-tetraethyl-5,5’,6,6’ -tetrachlorobenzimidazolocarbocyanine (TTBC) is a frequently used cyanine dye that undergoes two different types of molecular aggregate (J and H-type). Dye molecules, in general, come into aggregation in ionic solutions and solid surfaces without control over the type and orientation of the resulting aggregate. In this research, we focused on electrospinning of aqueous poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/TTBC solutions and investigated whether the aggregate formation could be controlled by solution and instrumental parameters of this process. Initially, TTBC was molecularly dispersed in aqueous PVA solution with a weight fraction of 0.001- 0.65 % and the precursor solution was subjected to electrospinning under electrical field ranging from 0.95-1.81 kV/cm. A stationary horizontal electrospinning set-up was used including two parallel-positioned metal strips as counter electrode. Both randomlydeposited and uniaxially aligned fibers were achieved. For the reason of comparison, reference films were prepared by spin-coating and film casting. Photoluminescence and polarized FTIR spectroscopy techniques were employed to examine spectral properties of the fibers. While H- and J-type aggregates coexist within spin-coated films and only J-aggregates exist within cast films, only H-type aggregates were observed within the fibers regardless of their alignment. A strong polarized emission was obtained from the unaxially aligned fibers due to the orientation of H-aggregates along the fibers. Consequently, electrospinning was found to be an alternative method to bring individually dispersed dye molecules into oriented H-type aggregates within submicron diameter fibers. Similar experimentation was also applied to TTBC/PS and Pyrene/Polystyrene(PS) systems to investigate aggregation behavior of dye molecules. TTBC exhibited similar behavior in PS/Dimethylformamide (DMF) system observed in PVA/H2O system. However, electrospinning has no remarkable influence on aggregation of pyrene in excimers. It slightly disassemble excimer structure

Effective Use of User Interface and User Experience in an mHealth Application

The effect of user interface (UI) design decisions on system usability has been discussed in information system literature. These discussions evolved into investigating the effectiveness of UI and how it affects a system user’s performance, as well as his or her perception of the system as a whole. This paper investigates the role of UI design on facilitating effective use in the context of mobile applications. Based on the Effective Use Theory, we test four different UIs developed for frequent data input tasks in a mobile platform using a controlled experiment and a follow-up survey. Our findings indicate that UI design in terms of touch technique (tap vs. slide) and target direction (vertical vs. horizontal) has a significant impact on the task completion time, as well as the app UIs’ perceived usability and likability. We discuss both theoretical and empirical implications of the results and suggest future research directions

Effects of User Interface Design and Task Complexity Level on User Experience in an mHealth Application

User interface (UI) is a crucial component of any application, including mHealth apps, as UI directly affects the user–app interaction, which then determines the concrete user experience with the app. This paper presents the results of an experimental study that examines the effects of data entry UI types and task complexity on user experience within the context of a mobile app. We used a 2 (touch technique: tap vs. slide) X 2 (target direction: vertical vs. horizontal) X 2 (task complexity: simple vs. complex) design. Our findings indicate that UI design in terms of touch technique and target direction, as well as task complexity have a significant impact on the task completion time. As for error rate, however, we did not find any significant differences by UI design or task complexity level

Online Ratings and Reviews: Are numerical ratings more persuasive than written reviews?

In this thesis, the aim is to investigate the effect of numerical values and words on the consumer decision process. Previous research has studied the effect of online rating and review systems and how they influence consumer behavior and purchase decisions. While some studies have argued that reviews have a greater impact on users, others have argued that rating scores are more important. The main purpose of this study is to question whether participants are more affected by numerical data. In order to understand this relationship, an online experiment was conducted to analyze people’s preference on numeral ratings and written reviews and how these two elements in a website affect their behavior. The online experiment with a survey was conducted on 303 participants, mainly NHH students. We tested three types of products: books (Goodreads), restaurants (TripAdvisor) and coffee machines (Amazon). Two dummy pages were created for each product type, one of them had high numerical rating and negative written reviews, the other one had low numerical rating and positive written reviews. Instead of showing all three categories to the participants, they were shown two of them. Results illustrate that participants prefer the combination of low numerical rating and positive written reviews rather than the combination of high numerical rating and negative reviews. In addition, participants that preferred high numerical rating and negative reviews had higher level of confidence than the other group. Furthermore, we present a nuanced discussion based on the presented results and findings.nhhma

The Effects of Neuroscience Based Mindfulness Training on Adolescents

This preliminary study aims to address situations such as high anxiety, stress, inability to focus, and physical burnout experienced by students in the exams made during the transition to a higher education process in the educational system. It also aims to contribute to the development of students’ academic and social-emotional skills, in other words emotional literacy through mindfulness training. For this reason, the effects of neuroscience-based mindfulness training on pupils in the eleventh grade’s levels of stress, anxiety, and positive and negative emotions were explored. Seven voluntarily recruited high school juniors in the 11th grade made up the study’s sample. The study was conducted over the course of 4 weeks and 6 sessions with the children after school. Data gathering tools are congruent with mixed method research design. Data collection instruments of Positive and Negative Emotion Scale (PANAS), Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale adapted for high school students (DASS-42) and Mindfulness Scale for Adolescents were employed as pre and posttest measurements. The study also conducted pre- and post-interview forms to gather opinions from the students regarding the study. The results of the study revealed a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of being non-judgmental subscale of the Adolescent Mindfulness Scale (p=.023 .05) and the positive emotion subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (p=.018 .05). However, there was no significant difference found in terms of stress and anxiety scores, as measured by the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-42). During the interviews with the students, it was reported that they were able to identify their emotions and had started to effectively manage stress. This finding supports the results regarding emotional regulation. Based on these findings, it is suggested that implementing mindfulness activities and integrating them into existing school programs could be beneficial. Such programs would assist students in managing their stress, regulating their emotions, and ultimately contribute to their overall learning experience, which is supposed to contribute to their academic and emotional literacy

Investigating User Satisfaction: An Adaptation of IS Success Model for Short-term Use

Research studies investigating the acceptance of information systems mostly focused on systems designed for long-term use without considering systems designed for one-time or short-term use. However, systems designed for short-term use are part of the health information technology portfolio. We propose a theoretical model inspired by the D&M IS success model to investigate user satisfaction, as a measure of acceptance, with a web-based decision aid designed for short-term use to support “goals of care” decision-makers. We hypothesize that media richness, perceived social presence, and trust affect system quality and information quality, which affects user satisfaction and implementation outcomes. We propose a mixed-methods study to test our hypotheses using eye-tracking, surveys, and interviews