The Disappearing Computer

Computers are with us everywhere and we are aware of their increasing significance for our lives. In parallel, the spread of computers caused a shift in our activities: away from real, physical objects in the environment as the sources of information toward computer monitors as the interfaces to information. This shift had implications for the design of information systems. Computers became primary objects of our attention resulting in an area called 'human-computer interaction.' Today, however, we must ask: Are we actually interested in interacting with computers? Isn't our goal rather to interact with information, to communicate and to collaborate with people? Shouldn't the computer move into the background and disappear

Beyond Finite Size Scaling in Solidification Simulations

Although computer simulation has played a central role in the study of nucleation and growth since the earliest molecular dynamics simulations almost 50 years ago, confusion surrounding the effect of finite size on such simulations have limited their applicability. Modeling solidification in molten tantalum on the BlueGene/L computer, we report here on the first atomistic simulation of solidification that verifies independence from finite size effects during the entire nucleation and growth process, up to the onset of coarsening. We show that finite size scaling theory explains the observed maximal grain sizes for systems up to about 8,000,000 atoms. For larger simulations, a cross-over from finite size scaling to more physical size-independent behavior is observed

Atoms in the Surf: Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability using 9 Billion Atoms

We present a fluid dynamics video showing the results of a 9-billion atom molecular dynamics simulation of complex fluid flow in molten copper and aluminum. Starting with an atomically flat interface, a shear is imposed along the copper-aluminum interface and random atomic fluctuations seed the formation of vortices. These vortices grow due to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The resulting vortical structures are beautifully intricate, decorated with secondary instabilities and complex mixing phenomena. This work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.Comment: Description of video submitted to APS DFD Gallery of Fluid Motion 200

High-Pressure Tailored Compression: Controlled Thermodynamic Paths

We have recently carried out novel and exploratory dynamic experiments where the sample follows a prescribed thermodynamic path. In typical dynamic compression experiments, the samples are thermodynamically limited to the principal Hugoniot or quasi-isentrope. With recent developments in the functionally graded material impactor, we can prescribe and shape the applied pressure profile with similarly-shaped, non-monotonic impedance profile in the impactor. Previously inaccessible thermodynamic states beyond the quasi-isentropes and Hugoniot can now be reached in dynamic experiments with these impactors. In the light gas-gun experiments on copper reported here, we recorded the particle velocities of the Cu-LiF interfaces and employed hydrodynamic simulations to relate them to the thermodynamic phase diagram. Peak pressures for these experiments were on the order of megabars, and the time-scales ranged from nanoseconds to several microseconds. The strain rates of the quasi-isentropic experiments are approximately 10{sup 4} s{sup -1} to 10{sup 6} s{sup -1} in samples with thicknesses up to 5 mm. Though developed at a light-gas gun facility, such shaped pressure-profiles are also feasible in principle with laser ablation or magnetic driven compression techniques allowing for new directions to be taken in high pressure physics

Reviving calm technology in the e-tourism context

Tourism industry practitioners should understand the controversial nature of the information and communication technology (ICT) proliferation to ensure the ICT solutions do not consume too much of their attention, thus jeopardizing consumer enjoyment of tourism services. The concept of calm technology or calm design serves this purpose. Calm design suggests that technology should quietly recede in the background and come into play with users when and if required, thus delivering and/or enhancing a desired experience. Although this concept is of relevance to e-tourism, until recently, it has never been considered within. This is where this paper contributes to knowledge as, for the first time, it introduces calm design into the e-tourism context and critically evaluates the determinants of its broader adoption within the tourism industry. It positions calm design within the e-tourism realm, discusses its implications for customer service management, supply chain management and destination management, and discloses opportunities for future research

Automating unobtrusive personalized services in ambient media environments

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-013-1634-2In the age of ambient media, people are surrounded by lots of physical objects (media objects) for rendering the digital world in the natural environment. These media objects should interact with users in a way that is not disturbing for them. To address this issue, this work presents a design and automation strategy for augmenting the world around us with personalized ambient media services that behave in a considerate manner. That is, ambient services are capable of adjusting its obtrusiveness level (i.e., the extent to which each service intrudes the user¿s mind) by using the appropriate media objects for each user¿s situation.This work has been developed with the support of MICINN, under the project EVERYWARE TIN2010-18011, and the support of the Christian Doppler Forschungsgesellschaft and the BMWFJ, Austria.Serral Asensio, E.; Gil Pascual, M.; Valderas Aranda, PJ.; Pelechano Ferragud, V. (2014). Automating unobtrusive personalized services in ambient media environments. Multimedia Tools and Applications. 71(1):159-178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-013-1634-2S159178711Bencomo N, Grace P, Flores-Cortés CA, Hughes D, Blair GS (2008) Genie: supporting the model driven development of reflective, component-based adaptive systems. In: ICSE, pp 811–814Blumendorf M, Lehmann G, Albayrak S (2010) Bridging models and systems at runtime to build adaptive user interfaces. In: Proc. of EICS 2010. 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Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Temperature Equilibration in Dense Hydrogen

The temperature equilibration rate in dense hydrogen (for both T_{i}>T_{e} and T_i<T_e) has been calculated with molecular dynamics simulations for temperatures between 10 and 600 eV and densities between 10^{20}/cc to 10^{24}/cc. Careful attention has been devoted to convergence of the simulations, including the role of semiclassical potentials. We find that for Coulomb logarithms L>1, a model by Gericke-Murillo-Schlanges (GMS) [Gericke et al., PRE 65, 036418 (2002)] based on a T-matrix method and the approach by Brown-Preston-Singleton [Brown et al., Phys. Rep. 410, 237 (2005)] agrees with the simulation data to within the error bars of the simulation. For smaller Coulomb logarithms, the GMS model is consistent with the simulation results. Landau-Spitzer models are consistent with the simulation data for L>4

Alterations of NK cell phenotype during pregnancy in multiple sclerosis

In multiple sclerosis (MS), relapse rate is decreased by 70-80% in the third trimester of pregnancy. However, the underlying mechanisms driving this effect are poorly understood. Evidence suggests that CD56(bright) NK cell frequencies increase during pregnancy. Here, we analyze pregnancy-related NK cell shifts in a large longitudinal cohort of pregnant women with and without MS, and provide in-depth phenotyping of NK cells. In healthy pregnancy and pregnancy in MS, peripheral blood NK cells showed significant frequency shifts, notably an increase of CD56(bright) NK cells and a decrease of CD56(dim) NK cells toward the third trimester, indicating a general rather than an MS-specific phenomenon of pregnancy. Additional follow-ups in women with MS showed a reversal of NK cell changes postpartum. Moreover, high-dimensional profiling revealed a specific CD56(bright) subset with receptor expression related to cytotoxicity and cell activity (e.g., CD16(+) NKp46(high) NKG2D(high) NKG2A(high) phenotype) that may drive the expansion of CD56(bright) NK cells during pregnancy in MS. Our data confirm that pregnancy promotes pronounced shifts of NK cells toward the regulatory CD56(bright) population. Although exploratory results on in-depth CD56(bright) phenotype need to be confirmed in larger studies, our findings suggest an increased regulatory NK activity, thereby potentially contributing to disease amelioration of MS during pregnancy