Supporting memory and identity in older people: findings from a ‘Sandpit’ process

Identity in old age is challenged by physical changes, evolving roles within the family, and life transitions such as retirement. Supporting identity is therefore important in later life, and might be assisted by media technologies which allow people to reflect on their lives, record their personal histories and share these with family, friends and caregivers. This possibility was explored in two creative ‘Sandpits’ with older people as part of the SUS-IT project, funded by the New Dynamics of Ageing programme in the UK. Discussions were held with PC and non-PC user groups of retirement age to understand memory and identity practices and elicit reactions to three novel product concepts. These included a Reminiscing Radio for life review, a Story Lamp for associating spoken stories with photographs and memorabilia, and a pair of virtual reality Travel Glasses for transporting you back to a special place in the past. The main findings of these discussions will be presented, along with concepts generated by the participants in a re-design exercise. This paper will also show how the sandpits enabled older people to be involved in the design process by allowing them to shape early design concepts through exploring their own ideas and motivations

Immunoradiometric assay of circulating C-reactive protein: age-related values in the adult general population

Background: Increased values of C-reactive protein (CRP), the classical acute phase protein, within the range below 5 mg/L, previously considered to be within the reference interval, are strongly associated with increased risk of atherothrombotic events, and are clinically significant in osteoarthritis and neonatal infection.<br/> Methods: A robust new polyclonal-monoclonal solid-phase IRMA for CRP was developed, with a range of 0.05- 10.0 mg/L.<br/> Results: Plasma CRP values in general adult populations from Augsburg, Germany (2291 males and 2203 females; ages, 25-74 years) and Glasgow, Scotland (604 males and 650 females; ages, 25-64 years) were very similar. The median CRP approximately doubled with age, from similar to 1 mg/L in the youngest decade to similar to 2 mg/L in the oldest, and tended to be higher in females. <br/>Conclusion: This extensive data set, the largest such study of CRP, provides valuable reference information for future clinical and epidemiological investigations

Fermionization, Convergent Perturbation Theory, and Correlations in the Yang-Mills Quantum Field Theory in Four Dimensions

We show that the Yang-Mills quantum field theory with momentum and spacetime cutoffs in four Euclidean dimensions is equivalent, term by term in an appropriately resummed perturbation theory, to a Fermionic theory with nonlocal interaction terms. When a further momentum cutoff is imposed, this Fermionic theory has a convergent perturbation expansion. To zeroth order in this perturbation expansion, the correlation function $E(x,y)$ of generic components of pairs of connections is given by an explicit, finite-dimensional integral formula, which we conjecture will behave as $$E(x,y) \sim |x - y|^{-2 - 2 d_G},$$ \noindent for $|x-y|>>0,$ where $d_G$ is a positive integer depending on the gauge group $G.$ In the case where $G=SU(n),$ we conjecture that $$d_G = {\rm dim}SU(n) - {\rm dim}S(U(n-1) \times U(1)),$$ \noindent so that the rate of decay of correlations increases as $n \to \infty.$Comment: Minor corrections of notation, style and arithmetic errors; correction of minor gap in the proof of Proposition 1.4 (the statement of the Proposition was correct); further remark and references adde

Quantum spacetime and the renormalization group: Progress and visions

The quest for a consistent theory which describes the quantum microstructure of spacetime seems to require some departure from the paradigms that have been followed in the construction of quantum theories for the other fundamental interactions. In this contribution we briefly review two approaches to quantum gravity, namely, asymptotically safe quantum gravity and tensor models, based on different theoretical assumptions. Nevertheless, the main goal is to find a universal continuum limit for such theories and we explain how coarse-graining techniques should be adapted to each case. Finally, we argue that although seemingly different, such approaches might be just two sides of the same coin.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of "Progress and Visions in Quantum Theory in View of Gravity: Bridging foundations of physics and mathematics", Leipzig, 201

Family memories in the home: contrasting physical and digital mementos

We carried out fieldwork to characterise and compare physical and digital mementos in the home. Physical mementos are highly valued, heterogeneous and support different types of recollection. Contrary to expectations, we found physical mementos are not purely representational, and can involve appropriating common objects and more idiosyncratic forms. In contrast, digital mementos were initially perceived as less valuable, although participants later reconsidered this. Digital mementos were somewhat limited in function and expression, largely involving representational photos and videos, and infrequently accessed. We explain these digital limitations and conclude with design guidelines for digital mementos, including better techniques for accessing and integrating these into everyday life, allowing them to acquire the symbolic associations and lasting value that characterise their physical counterparts

The Logarithmic Triviality of Compact QED Coupled to a Four Fermi Interaction

This is the completion of an exploratory study of Compact lattice Quantum Electrodynamics with a weak four-fermi interaction and four species of massless fermions. In this formulation of Quantum Electrodynamics massless fermions can be simulated directly and Finite Size Scaling analyses can be performed at the theory's chiral symmetry breaking critical point. High statistics simulations on lattices ranging from $8^4$ to $24^4$ yield the equation of state, critical indices, scaling functions and cumulants. The measurements are well fit with the orthodox hypothesis that the theory is logarithmically trivial and its continuum limit suffers from Landau's zero charge problem.Comment: 27 pages, 15 figues and 10 table

Field Measurements of Penetrator Seismic Coupling in Sediments and Volcanic Rocks

Field experiments were conducted to determine how well a seismometer installed using a penetrator would be coupled to the ground. A dry-lake bed and a lava bed were chosen as test sites to represent geological environments of two widely different material properties. At each site, two half-scale penetrators were fired into the ground, a three-component geophone assembly was mounted to the aft end of each penetrator, and dummy penetrators were at various distances to generate seismic signals. These signals were detected by the penetrator-mounted geophone assembly and by a reference geophone assembly buried or anchored to surface rock and 1-m from the penetrator. The recorded signals were digitized, and cross-spectral analyses were performed to compare the observed signals in terms of power spectral density ratio, coherence, and phase difference. The analyses indicate that seismometers deployed by penetrators will be as well coupled to the ground as are seismometers installed by conventional methods for the frequency range of interest in earthquake seismology

Coherent phenomena in mesoscopic systems

A mesoscopic system of cylindrical geometry made of a metal or a semiconductor is shown to exhibit features of a quantum coherent state. It is shown that magnetostatic interaction can play an important role in mesoscopic systems leading to an ordered ground state. The temperature $T^{*}$ below the system exhibits long-range order is determined. The self-consistent mean field approximation of the magnetostatic interaction is performed giving the effective Hamiltonian from which the self-sustaining currents can be obtained. The relation of quantum coherent state in mesoscopic cylinders to other coherent systems like superconductors is discussed.Comment: REVTeX, 4 figures, in print in Supercond. Sci. Techno

Degradation of LaMnO{3-y} surface layer in LaMnO{3-y}/ metal interface

We report electrical measurements showing the degradation processes of LaMnO$_{3-y}$ (LaMnO) in LaMnO/normal metal interface in both point contact and planar-type junctions. Immediately after the preparation of the interface, the degradation process was followed by measuring the evolution of the junction resistance versus time. This process is characterized by the appearance of a second maximum in the resistance vs. temperature (R-T) dependence at temperatures lower than the Curie temperature T$_c$, at which the metal-insulator transition occurs in the bulk. These effects are explained in terms of the formation of a depleted interface layer in LaMnO caused by an out-diffusion of oxygen from the manganite surface to the normal metal. This assumption is confirmed by XPS measurement. Similar results on LaSrMnO$_{3-y}$ interfaces are also obtained.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Appl. Phys. Lett.(2002