28,376 research outputs found
Learning policies through argumentation-derived evidence (extended abstract)
(c) IFAAMASPublisher PD
Self monitoring of blood glucose - a survey of Diabetes UK members with type 2 diabetes who use SMBG
Background: aim - to survey members of Diabetes UK who had Type 2 diabetes and who used self monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG), to elicit their views on its usefulness in the management of their diabetes, and how they used the results. A questionnaire was developed for the Diabetes UK website. The questionnaire was posted on the Diabetes UK website until over 500 people had responded. Questions asked users to specify the benefits gained from SMBG, and how these benefits were achieved. We carried out both quantitative analysis and a thematic analysis for the open ended free-text questions.Findings: 554 participants completed the survey, of whom 289 (52.2%) were male. 20% of respondents were recently diagnosed (< 6 months). Frequency of SMBG varied, with 43% of participants testing between once and four times a day and 22% testing less than once a month or for occasional periods.80% of respondents reported high satisfaction with SMBG, and reported feeling more 'in control' of their diabetes management using it. The most frequently reported use of SMBG was to make adjustments to food intake or confirm a hyperglycaemic episode.Women were significantly more likely to report feelings of guilt or self-chastisement associated with out of range readings (p = < .001).Conclusion: SMBG was clearly of benefit to this group of confirmed users, who used the results to adjust diet, physical activity or medications. However many individuals (particularly women) reported feelings of anxiety and depression associated with its use.<br/
Making the user more efficient: Design for sustainable behaviour
User behaviour is a significant determinant of a product’s environmental impact; while engineering advances permit increased efficiency of product operation, the user’s decisions and habits ultimately have a major effect on the energy or other resources used by the product. There is thus a need to change users’ behaviour. A range of design techniques developed in diverse contexts suggest opportunities for engineers, designers and other stakeholders working in the field of sustainable innovation to affect users’ behaviour at the point of interaction with the product or system, in effect ‘making the user more efficient’. Approaches to changing users’ behaviour from a number of fields are reviewed and discussed, including: strategic design of affordances and behaviour-shaping constraints to control or affect energyor other resource-using interactions; the use of different kinds of feedback and persuasive technology techniques to encourage or guide users to reduce their environmental impact; and context-based systems which use feedback to adjust their behaviour to run at optimum efficiency and reduce the opportunity for user-affected inefficiency. Example implementations in the sustainable engineering and ecodesign field are suggested and discussed
Cargo/Logistics Airlift System Study (CLASS), Executive Summary
The current air cargo system is analyzed along with advanced air cargo systems studies. A forecast of advanced air cargo system demand is presented with cost estimates. It is concluded that there is a need for a dedicated advance air cargo system, and with application of advanced technology, reductions of 45% in air freight rates may be achieved
Aquaculture and marketing of the Florida Bay Scallop in Crystal River, Florida
The overall goal of this study was to develop a new fishery resource product through open-water
aquaculture for the west coast of Florida that would compete as a non-traditional product through market
development. Specific objectives were as follows:
I. To grow a minimum of 50, 000 juvenile scallops to a minimum market size of40 mm in a cage
and float system in the off-shore waters of Crystal River, Florida.
2. To determine the growth rate, survival, and time to market size for the individuals in this system
and area to other similar projects like Virginia.
3. To introduce local fishermen and the aquaculture students at Crystal River High School to the
hatchery, nursery, and grow-out techniques.
4. To determine the economic and financial characteristics of bay scallop culture in Florida and
assess the sensitivity of projected costs and earnings to changes in key technical, managerial, and
market related parameters.
5. To determine the market acceptability and necessary marketing strategy for whole bay scallop
product in Florida. (PDF has 99 pages.
Temperature dependent characterization of optical fibres for distributed temperature sensing in hot geothermal wells
This study was performed in order to select a proper fibre for the
application of a distributed temperature sensing system within a hot geothermal
well in Iceland. Commercially available high temperature graded index fibres
have been tested under in-situ temperature conditions. Experiments have been
performed with four different polyimide coated fibres, a fibre with an aluminum
coating and a fibre with a gold coating. To select a fibre, the relationship
between attenuation, temperature, and time has been analyzed together with SEM
micrographs. On the basis of these experiments, polyimide fibres have been
chosen for utilisation. Further tests in ambient and inert atmosphere have been
conducted with two polyimide coated fibres to set an operating temperature
limit for these fibres. SEM micrographs, together with coating colour changes
have been used to characterize the high temperature performance of the fibres.
A novel cable design has been developed, a deployment strategy has been worked
out and a suitable well for deployment has been selected.Comment: PACS: 42.81.Pa, 93.85.Fg, 47.80.Fg, 91.35.Dc, 07.20.Dt, 07.60.V
The Temperature Evolution of the Spectral Peak in High Temperature Superconductors
Recent photoemission data in the high temperature cuprate superconductor
Bi2212 have been interpreted in terms of a sharp spectral peak with a
temperature independent lifetime, whose weight strongly decreases upon heating.
By a detailed analysis of the data, we are able to extract the temperature
dependence of the electron self-energy, and demonstrate that this intepretation
is misleading. Rather, the spectral peak loses its integrity above Tc due to a
large reduction in the electron lifetime.Comment: 5 pages, revtex, 4 encapsulated postscript figure
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