Balancing Fairness and Predictability: An Analysis of Proposed Modifications to Standards Regarding the Enforcement of Prenuptial Agreements

Article published in the Michigan State University School of Law Student Scholarship Collection

An Investigation into the use of the Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) as a Means of Distribution Virtual Reality Tourist Information Across the World Wide Web

The purpose of the work described was to investigate the use of the Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) as a tool to distribute tourist information across the web. This was done by the creation of a web site containing two Virtual Reality models of tourist interest. These were then valuated using a number of techniques both online and offline. This paper describes the methods used to create and evaluate these models as well as giving a overview of some of the results obtained

Development of evanescent wave based sensor platforms for use in immunosensing

Two optical sensor platforms based on evanescent wave interactions for detection of biomolecules are presented. The first, a sol-gel derived planar waveguide, employs a grating coupler to couple light into a guided mode. The evanescent field of the mode interrogates the sensing layer. The platform employing mono-mode waveguides is described and applied to the imaging of fluorescently labelled antibodies which are immobilised on the waveguide surface. The antibodies, immunoglobulin G, are immobilised via an avidin-biotin bridge. First avidin is coated onto a silanized waveguide via a crosslinker. Then the surface is incubated with biotinylated fluorescently labelled antibodies. Compact optics image the evanescently excited fluorescence onto a large area, cooled CCD array. The image data is processed and corrected for local background levels. The second, a Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) refractive index sensor comprises of an integrated miniature SPR device interfaced to a computer. The sensor combines all of the necessary electro-optical components to excite a surface plasmon wave and quantify the resonance condition, within a single platform. This sensor is applied to liquid refractive index sensing and the monitoring of biomolecular interactions. Finally, work leading to the development of disposable sensor chips for use on the TI SPR sensor is presented

Using the Crytek Game Engine in the Technological University Dublin

It is envisaged that within the next 10 years. the Technological University Dublin (DIT), Ireland’s largest third level university, will move to a new campus in Grangegorman, located in the north inner city of Dublin This site is currently being used as a hospital. It has twelve listed buildings and is located in a densely populated urban community. This paper describes how the Crytek 3D Game engine is being used to create a game MOD (modification) of the current hospital site, how it will be used in the construction and public consultation process of the new campus and how students in the DIT are learning computer science in an new way

Learning to associate compatible and incompatible pictures with food and non-food odours, within a stimulus equivalence paradigm

a b s t r a c t Within consumer research, it is acknowledged that influential and perhaps unconscious associations to products exist, which require indirect as well as direct methods of investigation. We examine the potential usefulness of one such indirect method, an application of the stimulus equivalence matching-to-sample paradigm Two experiments are reported (n = 15, n = 20). Both used three, 3-membered stimulus sets: A (food and non-food odours); B (nonsense syllables); and C (pictures), two of which were either 'compatible' or 'incompatible' with the corresponding items in the A set. Each participant took part in both 'compatible' and 'incompatible' conditions. First, (A ? B), participants were trained to choose one of the three nonsense syllables when presented with one of the odours. Second, (B ? C), those who had learned the first task (n = 10, n = 14) were trained to choose one of the three pictures when presented with one of the nonsense syllables, and finally, in a test phase (C ? A), to choose one of the three odours when presented with one of the pictures. In both experiments, B ? C trials to criterion and response times were significantly greater in the 'incompatible' condition, and the error structure differed between conditions. In other phases, no consistent inter-condition differences were found. We discuss the use of this paradigm in consumer research on odours and tastes as a very indirect way of measuring pre-existing associations

Human Arm simulation for interactive constrained environment design

During the conceptual and prototype design stage of an industrial product, it is crucial to take assembly/disassembly and maintenance operations in advance. A well-designed system should enable relatively easy access of operating manipulators in the constrained environment and reduce musculoskeletal disorder risks for those manual handling operations. Trajectory planning comes up as an important issue for those assembly and maintenance operations under a constrained environment, since it determines the accessibility and the other ergonomics issues, such as muscle effort and its related fatigue. In this paper, a customer-oriented interactive approach is proposed to partially solve ergonomic related issues encountered during the design stage under a constrained system for the operator's convenience. Based on a single objective optimization method, trajectory planning for different operators could be generated automatically. Meanwhile, a motion capture based method assists the operator to guide the trajectory planning interactively when either a local minimum is encountered within the single objective optimization or the operator prefers guiding the virtual human manually. Besides that, a physical engine is integrated into this approach to provide physically realistic simulation in real time manner, so that collision free path and related dynamic information could be computed to determine further muscle fatigue and accessibility of a product designComment: International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing (IJIDeM) (2012) 1-12. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1012.432

A systematic review of the relationship between alexithymia and emotional eating in adults

Elucidating psychological characteristics associated with emotional eating may further inform interventions for this behaviour related to eating psychopathology. The present systematic review aimed to examine the relationship between alexithymia and self-reported emotional eating in adults, and provide a narrative synthesis of the existing literature. Using the PRISMA method for systematic reviews, six databases (MEDLINE, PsycInfo, PsycArticles, PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Science) were searched for peer-reviewed, quantitative research published between January 1994 and 20th July 2021, when the searches were conducted. Eligible articles investigated the association between alexithymia, as measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby, Parker, & Taylor, 1994), and emotional eating, as measured by any validated self-report instrument. Nine cross-sectional articles were reviewed, and risk of bias was assessed using the Appraisal Tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (Downes, Brennan, Williams, & Dean, 2016). A narrative synthesis of articles suggests positive associations between alexithymia and self-reported emotional eating. Five measures of emotional eating were used across articles, with limited but consistent evidence for the relationship between alexithymia and emotional eating as measured by the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (Van strien et al., 1986). Further research is required to add evidence to the nature of the relationship between alexithymia and emotional eating, and to explore mechanisms that might underpin any relationships. Understanding the association between alexithymia and emotional eating may support strategies and interventions for those seeking help for emotional eating and related eating behaviours

A medical hand tool physical interaction evaluation approach for prototype testing using patient care simulators

peer-reviewedThe purpose of this study was to develop and test a physical ergonomics assessment approach for medical device handles. The method assesses wrist posture and force of exertion simultaneously by task element. Electrogoniometers and EMG sensors were connected through a data acquisition module for synchronization with video recordings of trials. Task analysis of video recordings were performed offline with Observer XT software. Average posture and force data across several repetitions of individual task elements were calculated and presented in a format suitable for informing product designers of specific issues during a test trial. A handle comfort questionnaire is proposed to survey subjective responses. The evaluation approach was applied to an endoscope needle in sampling a biopsy from the stomach wall using a gastrointestinal track simulator with ten physician surrogates. The results showed that for all task elements the wrist was in extension (33 degrees-45 degrees). Peak muscle forces ranged from 28% to 68% MVC across the three muscles studied. Muscle peak forces were above ACGIH HAL maximum threshold limits for four of the seven task elements, and above the action limit for all seven task elements for two muscles. The handle comfort questionnaire data also supported the high muscle force findings, and also on force distribution on the handle due to contact stresses. This combined approach could be used to collect and report detailed early stage ergonomics data from user trials on patient care simulators. The approach is proposed for use by medical device designers at the design stage of new products using prototypes, but it could also be used on existing products with real patients. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.ACCEPTEDpeer-reviewe

A heat-and-pull rig for fiber taper fabrication

We describe a reproducible method of fabricating adiabatic tapers with 3-4 micron diameter. The method is based on a heat-and-pull rig, whereby a CO2 laser is continuously scanned across a length of fiber that is being pulled synchronously. Our system relies on a CO2 mirror mounted on a geared stepper motor in order to scan the laser beam across the taper region. We show that this system offers a reliable alternative to more traditional rigs incorporating galvanometer scanners. We have routinely obtained transmission losses between 0.1 and 0.3 dB indicating the satisfactory production of adiabatic tapers. The operation of the rig is described in detail and an analysis on the produced tapers is provided. The flexibility of the rig is demonstrated by fabricating prolate dielectric microresonators using a microtapering technique. Such a rig is of interest to a range of fields that require tapered fiber fabrication such as microcavity-taper coupling, atom guiding along a tapered fiber, optical fiber sensing and the fabrication of fused biconical tapered couplers.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures Submitted to Rev. Sci. Instru