Correction techniques for depth errors with stereo three-dimensional graphic displays

Three-dimensional (3-D), 'real-world' pictorial displays that incorporate 'true' depth cues via stereopsis techniques have proved effective for displaying complex information in a natural way to enhance situational awareness and to improve pilot/vehicle performance. In such displays, the display designer must map the depths in the real world to the depths available with the stereo display system. However, empirical data have shown that the human subject does not perceive the information at exactly the depth at which it is mathematically placed. Head movements can also seriously distort the depth information that is embedded in stereo 3-D displays because the transformations used in mapping the visual scene to the depth-viewing volume (DVV) depend intrinsically on the viewer location. The goal of this research was to provide two correction techniques; the first technique corrects the original visual scene to the DVV mapping based on human perception errors, and the second (which is based on head-positioning sensor input data) corrects for errors induced by head movements. Empirical data are presented to validate both correction techniques. A combination of the two correction techniques effectively eliminates the distortions of depth information embedded in stereo 3-D displays

Consumer Health Informatics: Empowering Healthy-Lifestyle-Seekers Through mHealth

People are at risk from noncommunicable diseases (NCD) and poor health habits, with interventions like medications and surgery carrying further risk of adverse effects. This paper addresses ways people are increasingly moving to healthy living medicine (HLM) to mitigate such health threats. HLM-seekers increasingly leverage mobile technologies that enable control of personal health information, collaboration with clinicians/other agents to establish healthy living practices. For example, outcomes from consumer health informatics research include empowering users to take charge of their health through active participation in decision-making about healthcare delivery. Because the success of health technology depends on its alignment/integration with a person's sociotechnical system, we introduce SEIPS 2.0 as a useful conceptual model and analytic tool. SEIPS 2.0 approaches human work (i.e., life's effortful activities) within the complexity of the design and implementation of mHealth technologies and their potential to emerge as consumer-facing NLM products that support NCDs like diabetes

Awareness and perception of oral health services among Chifubu secondary school students in Ndola, Zambia

Aim: To determine awareness and perception of oral health services and their influence on the utilization of oral health services.Subjects and Methods: A total of 353 simple randomly selected pupils aged 11-20 years at Chifubu secondary school in Ndola participated in the study. Data was collected using structured close ended self administered questionnaire which inquired on socio-demographics, awareness and perception of oral health services. Data entry and analysis was done using SPSS version 16.0. The chi square test was used to test for associations where significance was assumed when p≤0.05.Results: Majority of respondents were aged 16 to 20 years (52.4%), 52.7% boys, and 51.8% were in grade 10 - 12. Most participants reported to have received some oral health information (81.6%) mainly from teachers but 86.7% were not aware of specific oral health procedures. The overall perception on oral health among those who agree was 58.6%, while 47% disagree on the overall perception on the utilization of dental services. The main reason for utilizing the service was pain and bleeding. The main reasons for not seeking care were that they never thought it was important (31.2%), distance (17.3%) and cost (15%). The utilization of services was associated with age p= 0.029. Overall awareness was associated with age p= 0.046 and grade p= 0.007. Students with a positive utilization on oral health tended to be younger (p<0.001) and in lower grades (p<0.001).Conclusion: The majority of respondents were not aware of the dental services. Therefore, awareness campaigns are required on available oral health services. Perception of oral health was not statistically different by age, sex and grade. Most respondents had never utilized oral health services.Keywords: Awareness, Perception, Oral health services, students, Ndola, Zambi

Microstructural Development in As Built and Heat Treated IN625 Component Additively Manufactured by Laser Powder Bed Fusion

The RL10 engine program is exploring the use of IN625 Ni-base superalloy components that are additively manufactured using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). IN625 alloy powders are commercially available for LPBF to produce dense, complex parts/components. In this study, IN625 components, with both simple and complex geometries with overhangs, were manufactured via LPBF, and subjected to a heat-treatment consisting of a stress relief, hot isostatic pressing (HIP), and a solution anneal. The microstructure was examined with optical, scanning electron, and transmission electron microscopy. Changes in phase constituents and microstructure were documented as a function of heat treatment and component geometry (i.e., bulk section built on support structure versus thin, overhang section built on top of the previous powder bed). The as-built microstructural features included large columnar grains, a sub-grain cellular-solidification structure, approximately ~ 1 µm in diameter, and solute enriched cell boundaries decorated with A2B Laves phases. After heat treatment, the bulk section consisted of recrystallized equiaxed grains with annealing twins, and the sub-grain cellular-solidification structure was found to be completely dissolved. However, in the thin, overhang section, the sub-grain cellular-solidification structure persisted within columnar grain structure, which exhibited no recrystallization. An alternate HIP cycle with a higher temperature was employed to produce desired microstructure (i.e., recrystallized grains without sub-grain cells and Laves phases) in components with geometrical complexity for successful testing of RL10 engine

Building Entrepreneurship and Innovation through the Continuing Education of Micro and Small Tourism Enterprises

The Irish tourism industry is fragmented, composed mainly of micro/small businesses, and its owner/managers are lacking in innovativeness and competencies in such areas as marketing, knowledge management, information technology, quality assurance, pricing policy, innovation and management. As identified by Fáilte Ireland2 (2005; 2007), there is a need for increased professionalism and innovation in the industry – the agency sees education as key to their enhancement. While the larger tourism businesses benefit from a graduate management intake and continuing executive development, the owner of the small tourism operation is limited in their professional development. Indeed, literature highlights that continuing business education for owner/managers of micro/small businesses is problematic due to resource poverty, lack of appropriate and available tertiary tourism education, and that the foregoing is not confined to Ireland (cf. Jameson 2000; Billett 2001; Fáilte Ireland, 2005, 2007; Inui et al. 2006; Kelliher and Henderson 2006; Walker et al. 2007). In order to promote the professionalism and innovativeness of owner/managers of micro/small tourism enterprises, a degree program which satisfies the personal and professional development needs as well as the necessary knowledge requirements of the aforementioned cohort was developed by the authors‟ tertiary institute in collaboration with Fáilte Ireland; it is currently in its final stage of development. The programme‟s target launch date is September 2010 and involves delivering the program nation-wide. This paper details the development of a contemporary framework which is based on an andragogical philosophy and problem-based learning approach. The mode of delivery is blended learning and learners are credited for recognised prior learning (RPL). Although the framework has been crafted for one particular programme, targeted at a particular sector, it is perceived that it should provide guidelines to other educators who are responsible for the development of higher education for learners who are owner/managers of micro/small business enterprises. The authors drew on and integrated varying streams of learning literature as well as integrating results from a longitudinal study involving major stakeholders in order to develop the framework. The framework underscores the criticality of the collaboration between educators and major stakeholders to ensure that higher education meets not only the knowledge needs of its targeted learners but also their generic skill needs

Enhancing professionalism through the Continuing Education of Micro and Small Tourism Enterprises: A Model for Programme Development

This paper originates in the context of growing recognition that the success of the global tourism industry will ultimately depend on the professionalism of its workforce (Edgell et al., 2008). Indeed, as far back as 1986, Baum and Reid highlighted the need for professionalism in the Irish hospitality sector. More recently, the Tourism Policy Review Group (TPRG) report (2003, p. 54) targeted the need for enhanced professionalism in the fragmented, SME-dominated Irish industry (cf. Travers et al., 2004). However, while a general consensus exists on the merits of higher levels of professionalism, and education‘s role as a key driver of the professionalisation process is undisputed, continuing education for owner/managers of micro/small businesses is problematic (Kelliher et al., 2009). While the larger tourism businesses benefit from a graduate management intake and continuing executive development, the owner of the small tourism operation is limited in their professional development and face barriers to both access to and engagement in education associated with their scale, specifically their resource poverty and the bind of the workplace (Fáilte Ireland, 2004; Morrison and Teixera, 2004). In light of the foregoing, Fáilte Ireland began a tendering process for the delivery of a degree-level programme for owner/managers of micro/small business enterprises to address this deficit, and the authors‘ tertiary institute was successful in this process. A new three-year Bachelor of Science in Small Enterprise Management (BSc), based on an andragogical philosophy and problem-based learning approach (PBL), was developed during the 2009-2010 academic year. This paper details the BSc‘s development; it will provide insights into how the particular sector-specific challenges were met through a creative and innovative programme, tailor-made to be responsive to its specific audience‘s major needs for a sense of involvement, relevance and flexibility both in content and delivery (Storey and Westhead, 1997; Moon et al., 2005). While there is an awareness of the potential enhancement of professionalism that PBL offers (Nilsson, 2007), Strobel and Van Barneveld‘s (2009) meta-analysis of the literature highlighted a lack of consensus on the impact of PBL on learning outcomes. This paper will add to the extant literature on PBL by addressing the first stages in the operationalisation of the BSc initiative to enhance professionalism which involved substantial interaction with stakeholders (Fáilte Ireland discussions, round-table discussions and pilot study with potential students, and post pilot study interviews with participants). In addition to elaborating on the feedback to date from the pilot-study, the authors present their observations on the significance of these initial findings and the implications for the programme development team and industry stakeholders. Finally, although the BSc is specific to a particular sector, it is perceived that this paper, which reports on the first stages of a longitudinal study on the programme‘s learning impact, should provide guidelines to other educators who are responsible for the development of higher education for adult learners who are owner/managers of micro/small business enterprises

Climate Change – Refining the Impacts for Ireland: STRIVE Report (2001-CD-C3-M1) ISBN: 978-1-84095-297-1

International Context: As a mid-latitude country Ireland can expect its future temperature changes to mirror quite closely those of the globe as a whole. Best estimates of global temperature change by the end of the present century are currently in the region 1.8–4.0°C1. Regional Context: Weighted Ensemble Downscaling from Global Climate Models Global climate models (GCMs) have greatly improved in reliability and resolution as computing power has increased and better inputs from earth observation have become available. Despite this, they remain too coarse in terms of their grid size to enable climate scenarios at the scale necessary for impact analysis to be achieved. This study employs a statistical downscaling approach to overcome these difficulties and also to provide new information on model uncertainty with a view to reducing uncertainty in key sectors such as water resource management, agriculture and biodiversity

Inflammation and Immune-Related Candidate Gene Associations with Acute Lung Injury Susceptibility and Severity: A Validation Study

Introduction: Common variants in genes related to inflammation, innate immunity, epithelial cell function, and angiogenesis have been reported to be associated with risks for Acute Lung Injury (ALI) and related outcomes. We tested whether previously-reported associations can be validated in an independent cohort at risk for ALI. Methods: We identified 37 genetic variants in 27 genes previously associated with ALI and related outcomes. We prepared allelic discrimination assays for 12 SNPs from 11 genes with MAF>0.05 and genotyped these SNPs in Caucasian subjects from a cohort of critically ill patients meeting criteria for the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) followed for development of ALI, duration of mechanical ventilation, and in-hospital death. We tested for associations using additive and recessive genetic models. Results: Among Caucasian subjects with SIRS (n = 750), we identified a nominal association between rs2069832 in IL6 and ALI susceptibility (OR$_{adj}$ 1.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04–2.48, P = 0.03). In a sensitivity analysis limiting ALI cases to those who qualified for the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), rs61330082 in NAMPT was nominally associated with risk for ARDS. In terms of ALI outcomes, SNPs in MBL2 (rs1800450) and IL8 (rs4073) were nominally associated with fewer ventilator-free days (VFDs), and SNPs in NFE2L2 (rs6721961) and NAMPT (rs61330082) were nominally associated with 28-day mortality. The directions of effect for these nominal associations were in the same direction as previously reported but none of the associations survived correction for multiple hypothesis testing. Conclusion: Although our primary analyses failed to statistically validate prior associations, our results provide some support for associations between SNPs in IL6 and NAMPT and risk for development of lung injury and for SNPs in IL8, MBL2, NFE2L2 and NAMPT with severity in ALI outcomes. These associations provide further evidence that genetic factors in genes related to immunity and inflammation contribute to ALI pathogenesis

The molecular basis of thioalcohol production in human body odour

This work was supported by the BBSRC Grant BB/N006615/1.Body odour is a characteristic trait of Homo sapiens, however its role in human behaviour and evolution is poorly understood. Remarkably, body odour is linked to the presence of a few species of commensal microbes. Herein we discover a bacterial enzyme, limited to odour-forming staphylococci that are able to cleave odourless precursors of thioalcohols, the most pungent components of body odour. We demonstrated using phylogenetics, biochemistry and structural biology that this cysteine-thiol lyase (C-T lyase) is a PLP-dependent enzyme that moved horizontally into a unique monophyletic group of odour-forming staphylococci about 60 million years ago, and has subsequently tailored its enzymatic function to human-derived thioalcohol precursors. Significantly, transfer of this enzyme alone to non-odour producing staphylococci confers odour production, demonstrating that this C-T lyase is both necessary and sufficient for thioalcohol formation. The structure of the C-T lyase compared to that of other related enzymes reveals how the adaptation to thioalcohol precursors has evolved through changes in the binding site to create a constrained hydrophobic pocket that is selective for branched aliphatic thioalcohol ligands. The ancestral acquisition of this enzyme, and the subsequent evolution of the specificity for thioalcohol precursors implies that body odour production in humans is an ancient process.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Electrolytic ablation of the rat pancreas: a feasibility trial

BACKGROUND: Pancreatic cancer is a biologically aggressive disease with less than 20% of patients suitable for a "curative" surgical resection. This, combined with the poor 5-year survival indicates that effective palliative methods for symptom relief are required. Currently there are no ablative techniques to treat pancreatic cancer in clinical use. Tissue electrolysis is the delivery of a direct current between an anode and cathode to induce localised necrosis. Electrolysis has been shown to be safe and reliable in producing hepatic tissue and tumour ablation in animal models and in a limited number of patients. This study investigates the feasibility of using electrolysis to produce localised pancreatic necrosis in a healthy rat model. METHOD: Ten rats were studied in total. Eight rats were treated with variable "doses" of coulombs, and the systemic and local effects were assessed; 2 rats were used as controls. RESULTS: Seven rats tolerated the procedure well without morbidity or mortality, and one died immediately post procedure. One control rat died on induction of anaesthesia. Serum amylase and glucose were not significantly affected. CONCLUSION: Electrolysis in the rat pancreas produced localised necrosis and appears both safe, and reproducible. This novel technique could offer significant advantages for patients with unresectable pancreatic tumours. The next stage of the study is to assess pancreatic electrolysis in a pig model, prior to human pilot studies