Goal-Setting for Knowledge Documentation using Persuasive Systems Design – Selection and Implementation of Design Principles

Knowledge management and knowledge documentation are essential capabilities of organizations for innovation and competition. While documenting knowledge is often induced by extrinsic motivation, persuasive systems have the potential to change behavior by emphasizing intrinsic motivation. In this study, we explore goal-setting in persuasive systems in a design science project about knowledge documentation and derive 17 design principles from literature and theories. We apply the design principles by creating a process for guided goal-setting and implement the process in a persuasive system for knowledge documentation in form of a mobile application. We evaluated the artifacts in two iterations regarding the realization of the design principles as well as the acceptance and perceived impact of the persuasive system. The study’s contribution is both the selection of the design principles, as well as the implementation in the form of a process and a mobile application

The Late Orchid Catches the Bee: Frost Damage and Pollination Success in the Face of Global Warming in a European Terrestrial Orchid

Global warming changes flowering times of many plant species, with potential impacts on frost damage and their synchronization with pollinator activity. These effects can have severe impacts on plant fitness, yet we know little about how frequently they occur and the extent of damage they cause. We addressed this topic in a thermophilic orchid with a highly specific pollination mechanism, the Small Spider Orchid, Ophrys araneola RchB, in six populations in Northern Switzerland. We measured flowering time, frost damage, and fruiting success in 1250 individually marked plants during 3 years, and documented spring temperatures. Using regression models with historical climate data, we estimated past and future frost damage. In addition, we analyzed historical records of the orchid and its only verified pollinator, the solitary bee Andrena combinata in Northern Switzerland, to estimate potential desynchronization between flowering and pollinator activity due to climate change. Increased spring temperatures accelerated flowering time, and together with the number of frost days explained frost damage well. Frost damage was severe and early‐flowering plants were more likely to be damaged. Historical climate data suggested frost damage has increased in the last decades and may increase further in the future. All populations but one had very low fruit set, and plants that flowered earlier were less likely to set fruit. The historical data from between 1970 and 2019 showed a significant advance of flowering‐ and pollinator occurrence time in the last decades, but to a similar degree in orchids and bees. Our study shows that the orchid, despite being limited to warm habitats in central Europe, suffers under global warming by increased frost damage caused by earlier flowering. We did not detect an effect of accelerated flowering on desynchronization in flowering time and pollinator activity in this orchid species

Protocol for a prospective, controlled, observational study to evaluate the influence of hypoxia on healthy volunteers and patients with inflammatory bowel disease: the Altitude IBD Study.

INTRODUCTION Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic intestinal disorder, often leading to an impaired quality of life in affected patients. The importance of environmental factors in the pathogenesis of IBD, including their disease-modifying potential, is increasingly recognised. Hypoxia seems to be an important driver of inflammation, as has been reported by our group and others. The aim of the study is to evaluate if hypoxia can alter disease activity of IBD measured by Harvey-Bradshaw Activity Index in Crohn's disease (increase to ≥5 points) and the partial Mayo Score for ulcerative colitis (increase to ≥2 points). To test the effects of hypoxia under standardised conditions, we designed a prospective and controlled investigation in healthy controls and patients with IBD in stable remission. METHODS AND ANALYSIS This is a prospective, controlled and observational study. Participants undergo a 3-hour exposure to hypoxic conditions simulating an altitude of 4000 metres above sea level (m.a.s.l.) in a hypobaric pressure chamber. Clinical parameters, as well as blood and stool samples and biopsies from the sigmoid colon are collected at subsequent time points. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Kanton Zurich (reference KEK-ZH-number 2013-0284). The results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and shared with the worldwide medical community. TRIALS REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT02849821; Pre-results

electronCT - an imaging technique using very-high energy electrons

The electronCT technique is an imaging method based on the multiple Coulomb scattering of relativistic electrons and has potential applications in medical and industrial imaging. It utilizes a pencil beam of electrons in the very high energy electron (VHEE, 50–250 MeV) range and a single detection layer for the determination of the beam profile. The technique constitutes a projectional, two-dimensional imaging method and thus also qualifies for the tomographic reconstruction of samples. Given the simplicity of the technical setup and its location behind the sample, the electronCT technique has potential synergies with VHEE radiotherapy, making use of the same electron source for both treatment and diagnostics and thus being a candidate for in situ imaging and patient localization. At the same time, several technical challenges arise from the measurement technique when applied for the imaging of living beings. Measurements performed at the ARES linear particle accelerator at an electron energy of 155 MeV using a mouse phantom and a Timepix3 silicon pixel detector assembly demonstrate the feasibility of this technique. Both projectional and tomographic reconstructions are presented and the potential and limits of the technology are discussed