Can User Experience affect buying intention? A case study on the evaluation of exercise equipment.

Treadmills are increasingly loaded with digital technology for assisting the individual during the workout sessions by providing information for tracking relevant training parameters. Also, this technology makes exercise more pleasurable by keeping the user connected to her/his digital ecosystem (e.g. social networking, access to multimedia content). Although there is an increasing interest in digital technologies to be used in fitness, a cursory literature search shows that the interest towards gym equipment is currently limited to the hardware component, thus making biomechanics the focus of the investigation. Other types of contributions are very rare and mostly focused on the design of tools for special populations (e.g. elderly, disabilities) as well as for promoting physical activity monitoring (eHealth). In the present study information on the perceived usability of the interface was collected and analysed along with opinions about buying intention and estimated pricing. Twenty-three individuals were tested after using a treadmill (Technogym S.p.A.) equipped with an interface allowing equipment and training management, activity monitoring and user entertainment. Results indicated a significant influence of perceived usability of the interface on the intention of buying the whole system, thus suggesting the existence of a ROI of Human-Centred Design strategies

A Simple(r) Tool For Examining Fixations

This short paper describes an update of A Simple Tool For Examining Fixations (ASTEF) developed for facilitating the examination of eye-tracking data and for computing a spatial statistics algorithm that has been validated as a measure of mental workload (namely, the Nearest Neighbor Index: NNI). The code is based on Matlab® 2013a and is currently distributed on the web as an open-source project. This implementation of ASTEF got rid of many functionalities included in the previous version that are not needed anymore considering the large availability of commercial and open-source software solutions for eye-tracking. That makes it very easy to compute the NNI on eye-tracking data without the hassle of learning complicated tools. The software also features an export function for creating the time series of the NNI values computed on each minute of the recording. This feature is crucial given that the spatial distribution of fixations must be used to test hypotheses about the time course of mental load

The Etymology of Vedic bravi ‘to say, to speak, to tell’

This paper argues that the standard etymology of Vedic bravi ‘to say, to speak, to tell’ from Proto-Indo-Euro-pean *mleu̯h2- ‘to speak’ (and its connection with Avestan mrao- ‘to say, to speak’) cannot be upheld, since it is based on an irregular consonant change that cannot be independently motivated and explained. As an al-ternative, two diff erent PIE verbal roots will be proposed, *melH-u- →mleu̯H- ‘to say, to speak’ and *bleu̯h2/3- ‘to speak or to call’, that provide phonologically and semantically regular bases for the words involved

Migrations non-documentées et imaginaires sur Internet : le cas des harraga tunisiens.

International audienceLes frontières entre l’Afrique du Nord et l’Europe sont de plus en plus difficilement franchissables en raison de la mise en œuvre de politiques migratoires restrictives et se déploient dans l’espace physique et dans l’imaginaire de ceux qui aspirent à émigrer. Des Tunisiens, principalement de jeunes hommes célibataires, tentent de quitter leur pays sur des embarcations de fortune sans passeport ni visa. Dans les dialectes maghrébins, on nomme ces candidats à l’émigration harraga – « les brûleurs » – car ils « brûlent » les frontières ainsi que les étapes nécessaires à un départ qui respecterait les contraintes imposées par les États.Certains harraga mettent en ligne des contenus en lien avec leurs désirs ou leurs aventures migratoires. Ils créent des pages dédiées à la harga sur les réseaux sociaux tels que Facebook, postent et commentent des séquences filmées durant les traversées ou créent des vidéos grâce au montage d’images qu’ils collectent sur internet et qu’ils associent à des chansons. Ces matériaux sont des portes d’entrée vers l’imaginaire migratoire des harraga. L’espace digital leur permet de documenter, mettre en scène, anticiper ou fantasmer le franchissement des frontières ainsi que leur vie de l’autre côté de la Méditerranée.À la rencontre des humanités digitales et des sciences sociales des migrations, ce texte porte sur l’agentivité (agency) de ceux qui désirent migrer. Elle interroge les modalités par lesquelles les harraga tentent de « brûler » les frontières tant physiques qu’imaginaires en faisant, notamment, appel aux ressources digitales. Elle étudie l’imaginaire migratoire des harraga et leur perception des frontières grâce à des matériaux originaux récoltés dans le cadre du projet « Undocumented Mobility (Tunisia-Switzerland) and Digital-Cultural Resources after the ‘Arab Spring’ » financé par le Fonds National Suisse pour la recherche scientifique. La spécificité de ces données sera interrogée, notamment à l’aune des défis méthodologiques qu’elle induit

Permissivity of the NCI-60 cancer cell lines to oncolytic Vaccinia Virus GLV-1h68

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oncolytic viral therapy represents an alternative therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cancer. We previously described GLV-1h68, a modified Vaccinia Virus with exclusive tropism for tumor cells, and we observed a cell line-specific relationship between the ability of GLV-1h68 to replicate in vitro and its ability to colonize and eliminate tumor in vivo.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In the current study we surveyed the in vitro permissivity to GLV-1h68 replication of the NCI-60 panel of cell lines. Selected cell lines were also tested for permissivity to another Vaccinia Virus and a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) strain. In order to identify correlates of permissity to viral infection, we measured transcriptional profiles of the cell lines prior infection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed highly heterogeneous permissivity to VACV infection amongst the cell lines. The heterogeneity of permissivity was independent of tissue with the exception of B cell derivation. Cell lines were also tested for permissivity to another Vaccinia Virus and a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) strain and a significant correlation was found suggesting a common permissive phenotype. While no clear transcriptional pattern could be identified as predictor of permissivity to infection, some associations were observed suggesting multifactorial basis permissivity to viral infection.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings have implications for the design of oncolytic therapies for cancer and offer insights into the nature of permissivity of tumor cells to viral infection.</p

Dose-effect study of Gelsemium sempervirens in high dilutions on anxiety-related responses in mice

Introduction This study was designed to investigate the putative anxiolytic-like activity of ultra-low doses of Gelsemium sempervirens (G. sempervirens), produced according to the homeopathic pharmacopeia. Methods Five different centesimal (C) dilutions of G. sempervirens (4C, 5C, 7C, 9C and 30C), the drug buspirone (5 mg/kg) and solvent vehicle were delivered intraperitoneally to groups of ICR-CD1 mice over a period of 9 days. The behavioral effects were assessed in the open-field (OF) and light\u2013dark (LD) tests in blind and randomized fashion. Results Most G. sempervirens dilutions did not affect the total distance traveled in the OF (only the 5C had an almost significant stimulatory effect on this parameter), indicating that the medicine caused no sedation effects or unspecific changes in locomotor activity. In the same test, buspirone induced a slight but statistically significant decrease in locomotion. G. sempervirens showed little stimulatory activity on the time spent and distance traveled in the central zone of the OF, but this effect was not statistically significant. In the LD test, G. sempervirens increased the % time spent in the light compartment, an indicator of anxiolytic-like activity, with a statistically significant effect using the 5C, 9C and 30C dilutions. These effects were comparable to those of buspirone. The number of transitions between the compartments of the LD test markedly increased with G. sempervirens 5C, 9C and 30C dilutions. Conclusion The overall pattern of results provides evidence that G. sempervirens acts on the emotional reactivity of mice, and that its anxiolytic-like effects are apparent, with a non-linear relationship, even at high dilutions

Intratumoral IL-12 and TNF-α–Loaded Microspheres Lead To Regression of Breast Cancer and Systemic Antitumor Immunity

Background: Local, sustained delivery of cytokines at a tumor can enhance induction of antitumor immunity and may be a feasible neoadjuvant immunotherapy for breast cancer. We evaluated the ability of intratumoral poly-lactic-acid-encapsulated microspheres (PLAM) containing interleukin 12 (IL-12), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in a murine model of breast cancer to generate a specific antitumor response.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41401/1/10434_2004_Article_147.pd