Human experience in the natural and built environment : implications for research policy and practice

22nd IAPS conference. Edited book of abstracts. 427 pp. University of Strathclyde, Sheffield and West of Scotland Publication. ISBN: 978-0-94-764988-3

abaGa baRatur

Abaga baratur for four voices abaGa baratur (uncle hero) refers to the second Mongol ruler in Persia, Abaqa Khan from 1265 to 1282. During this time the Mongol empire was consumed with civil war and invasion, which led to the development of powerful alliances, often through marriage. In 1265, Abaqa Khan's father, Hulagu Khan, had negotiated with Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos to add a daughter of the Byzantine imperial family to the number of Hulagu's wives. Michael selected his illegitimate daughter Maria Palaiologina, but before she arrived in Persia, Hulagu died, so she was married to the Prince Abaqa Khan instead. This composition is a short glimpse of war, love and alliance. The Mongolian language features many guttural sounds, and being a living language, has evolved over time. This scene will compare the articulation of ancient, abaGa baratur and modern, abaga baatar(a) Mongolian, through the use and disuse of palatal, velar and uvular fricatives, trills and plosives. Then contrasting natural language use will be those experimental articulatory procedures identified throughout the score and based upon a novel articulatory mapping of the vocal tract

Evaluating Feature Checklists as a Measurement Instrument in Human-Computer Interaction

This thesis is concerned with the development and assessment of a measurement tool for use in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI); the instrument is known as the Feature Checklist (FC). The FC consists of a list of features of the user interface such as menu commands, against which are a few columns each asking a particular question. A series of seven studies were conducted in which the development of FCs progressed in a logical manner. Study 1 demonstrated that FCs were a more accurate and valid instrument compared with simple open-response questionnaires for asking users about their recent usage of menu commands, and had an accuracy of 87%. Studies 2 and 3 attempted to increase the accuracy of FCs by improving their visual layout. Study 4 demonstrated that FCs could provide additional information (i.e. other than frequency of usage) and that this additional information was also accurate. Study 5 replicated the findings of study 4 in an HCI setting and also provided evidence to suggest that command names are a more suitable way of listing features on the F.C. than semantic descriptions of commands' functions. Study 6 demonstrated the way in which FCs could be applied to HCI evaluation and assessed the cost to the user of completing a FC. Finally study 7 employed FCs in a "real-life", industrial setting. Throughout the thesis an attempt is made to relate the findings of each study to important research on human memory, in order to understand more fully the processes involved in FCs; the relevance of different theories of human memory are discussed. The results suggested that FCs provide accurate and valuable information about such things as: usage levels of interface features; user knowledge of the existence and function of interface features; and user estimates of the usefulness of interface features. As such, it is proposed that FCs are a useful addition to the area of HCI evaluation

Implementing immersive virtual reality in higher education:a qualitative study of instructor attitudes and perspectives

The current study aimed to understand the attitudes and perceptions of higher education (HE) instructors who have previously used immersive virtual reality (IVR) in teaching. This study employed a qualitative design by conducting semistructured interviews with HE instructors from several disciplines and institutions. Using thematic analysis, five major themes were formulated. These included: (a) applications and benefits; (b) curriculum integration; (c) classroom logistics; (d) barriers to application; and (e) evaluation. Instructors were generally positive about using I-VR as a pedagogical tool, proposing a range of novel applications and uses. However, logistical and technical problems were prominent which made implementation and widescale adoption challenging. The implications of these prominent attitudes are discussed, alongside a range of practical recommendations for applied future practic

Lung Toxicity of Ambient Particulate Matter from Southeastern U.S. Sites with Different Contributing Sources: Relationships between Composition and Effects

BACKGROUND: Exposure to air pollution and, more specifically, particulate matter (PM) is associated with adverse health effects. However, the specific PM characteristics responsible for biological effects have not been defined. OBJECTIVES: In this project we examined the composition, sources, and relative toxicity of samples of PM with aerodynamic diameter ≥2.5 μm (PM(2.5)) collected from sites within the Southeastern Aerosol Research and Characterization (SEARCH) air monitoring network during two seasons. These sites represent four areas with differing sources of PM(2.5), including local urban versus regional sources, urban areas with different contributions of transportation and industrial sources, and a site influenced by Gulf of Mexico weather patterns. METHODS: We collected samples from each site during the winter and summer of 2004 for toxicity testing and for chemical analysis and chemical mass balance–based source apportionment. We also collected PM(2.5) downwind of a series of prescribed forest burns. We assessed the toxicity of the samples by instillation into rat lungs and assessed general toxicity, acute cytotoxicity, and inflammation. Statistical dose–response modeling techniques were used to rank the relative toxicity and compare the seasonal differences at each site. Projection-to-latent-surfaces (PLS) techniques examined the relationships among sources, chemical composition, and toxicologic end points. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Urban sites with high contributions from vehicles and industry were most toxic

Examining differential responses to the Take Care of Me trial: A latent class and moderation analysis

Given prevalent alcohol misuse-emotional comorbidities among young adults, we developed an internet-based integrated treatment called Take Care of Me. Although the treatment had an impact on several secondary outcomes, effects were not observed for the primary outcome. Therefore, the goal of the current study was to examine heterogeneity in treatment responses. The initial RCT randomized participants to either a treatment or psychoeducational control condition. We conducted an exploratory latent class analysis to distinguish individuals based on pre-treatment risk and then used moderated regressions to examine differential treatment responses based on class membership. We found evidence for three distinct groups. Most participants fell in the “low severity” group (n = 123), followed by the “moderate severity” group (n = 57) who had a higher likelihood of endorsing a previous mental health diagnosis and treatment and higher symptom severity than the low group. The “high severity” group (n = 42) endorsed a family history of alcoholism, and the highest symptom severity and executive dysfunction. Moderated regressions revealed significant class differences in treatment responses. In the treatment condition, high severity (relative to low) participants reported higher alcohol consumption and hazardous drinking and lower quality of life at follow-up, whereas moderate severity (relative to low) individuals had lower alcohol consumption at follow-up, and lower hazardous drinking at end-of-treatment. No class differences were found for participants in the control group. Higher risk individuals in the treatment condition had poorer responses to the program. Tailoring interventions to severity may be important to examine in future research

2017 HRS/EHRA/ECAS/APHRS/SOLAECE expert consensus statement on catheter and surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation: executive summary.

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The British Army, information management and the First World War revolution in military affairs

Information Management (IM) – the systematic ordering, processing and channelling of information within organisations – forms a critical component of modern military command and control systems. As a subject of scholarly enquiry, however, the history of military IM has been relatively poorly served. Employing new and under-utilised archival sources, this article takes the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) of the First World War as its case study and assesses the extent to which its IM system contributed to the emergence of the modern battlefield in 1918. It argues that the demands of fighting a modern war resulted in a general, but not universal, improvement in the BEF’s IM techniques, which in turn laid the groundwork, albeit in embryonic form, for the IM systems of modern armies. KEY WORDS: British Army, Information Management, First World War, Revolution in Military Affairs, Adaptatio