Ecological IVIS design : using EID to develop a novel in-vehicle information system

New in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) are emerging which purport to encourage more environment friendly or ‘green’ driving. Meanwhile, wider concerns about road safety and in-car distractions remain. The ‘Foot-LITE’ project is an effort to balance these issues, aimed at achieving safer and greener driving through real-time driving information, presented via an in-vehicle interface which facilitates the desired behaviours while avoiding negative consequences. One way of achieving this is to use ecological interface design (EID) techniques. This article presents part of the formative human-centred design process for developing the in-car display through a series of rapid prototyping studies comparing EID against conventional interface design principles. We focus primarily on the visual display, although some development of an ecological auditory display is also presented. The results of feedback from potential users as well as subject matter experts are discussed with respect to implications for future interface design in this field

Development of a technology adoption and usage prediction tool for assistive technology for people with dementia

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below. Copyright @ The Authors 2013.In the current work, data gleaned from an assistive technology (reminding technology), which has been evaluated with people with Dementia over a period of several years was retrospectively studied to extract the factors that contributed to successful adoption. The aim was to develop a prediction model with the capability of prospectively assessing whether the assistive technology would be suitable for persons with Dementia (and their carer), based on user characteristics, needs and perceptions. Such a prediction tool has the ability to empower a formal carer to assess, through a very limited amount of questions, whether the technology will be adopted and used.EPSR

Synovial cell metabolism and chronic inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis

Metabolomic studies of body fluids show that immune-mediated inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are associated with metabolic disruption. This is likely to reflect the increased bioenergetic and biosynthetic demands of sustained inflammation and changes to nutrient and oxygen availability in damaged tissue. The synovial membrane lining layer is the principle site of inflammation in RA. Here the resident cells are the fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) and the synovial tissue macrophages (STM), which are transformed toward overproduction of enzymes which degrade cartilage and bone, and cytokines which promote immune cell infiltration. Recent studies have shown metabolic changes in both FLS and macrophages from RA patients and these may be therapeutically targetable. However, as the origins and subset specific functions of synoviocytes are poorly understood and the signaling modules which control metabolic deviation in RA synovial cells are yet to be explored, significant additional research is needed to translate these findings toward clinical application. Furthermore, in many inflamed tissues, different cell types can forge metabolic collaborations through solute carriers (SLC) in their membranes, to meet a high demand for energy or biomolecules. Such relationships are likely to exist in the synovium and are yet to be explored. Finally, it is not yet known whether metabolic change is a consequence of disease or if primary changes to cellular metabolism might underlie or contribute to early stage disease pathogenesis. This article collates what is known about metabolism in synovial tissue cells and highlights future research directions in this area

Site-specific associations of muscle thickness with bone mineral density in middle-aged and older men and women

It is unknown whether age-related site-specific muscle loss is associated with areal bone mineral density (aBMD) in older adults. To examine the relationships between aBMD and whole-body muscle thickness distribution, 97 healthy adults (46 women and 51 men) aged 50–78 years volunteered. Total and appendicular lean soft tissue mass, aBMD of the lumbar spine (LS-aBMD) and femoral neck (FN-aBMD) were determined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Muscle thickness (MT) was measured by ultrasound at nine sites of the body (forearm, upper arm, trunk, upper leg, and lower leg). Relationships of each co-variate with aBMD were tested partialling out the effect of age. aBMD was not correlated with either MT of the trunk or anterior lower leg in either sex. In men, significant and relatively strong correlations were observed between anterior and posterior upper arms, posterior lower leg, and anterior upper leg MT and LS-aBMD or FN-aBMD. In women, significant correlations were observed between anterior and posterior upper legs, posterior lower leg, and anterior upper arm MT and FN-aBMD. LS-aBMD was only correlated with forearm and posterior upper leg MT in women. In conclusion, the site-specific association of MT and aBMD differs between sexes and may be associated with the participants’ daily physical activity profile

Passive water control at the surface of a superhydrophobic lichen

Some lichens have a super-hydrophobic upper surface, which repels water drops, keeping the surface dry but probably preventing water uptake. Spore ejection requires water and is most efficient just after rainfall. This study was carried out to investigate how super-hydrophobic lichens manage water uptake and repellence at their fruiting bodies, or podetia. Drops of water were placed onto separate podetia of Cladonia chlorophaea and observed using optical microscopy and cryo-scanning-electron microscopy (cryo-SEM) techniques to determine the structure of podetia and to visualise their interaction with water droplets. SEM and optical microscopy studies revealed that the surface of the podetia was constructed in a three-level structural hierarchy. By cryo-SEM of water-glycerol droplets placed on the upper part of the podetium, pinning of the droplet to specific, hydrophilic spots (pycnidia/apothecia) was observed. The results suggest a mechanism for water uptake, which is highly sophisticated, using surface wettability to generate a passive response to different types of precipitation in a manner similar to the Namib Desert beetle. This mechanism is likely to be found in other organisms as it offers passive but selective water control

Examining links between anxiety, reinvestment and walking when talking by older adults during adaptive gait

Falls by older adults often result in reduced quality of life and debilitating fear of further falls. Stopping walking when talking (SWWT) is a significant predictor of future falls by older adults and is thought to reflect age-related increases in attentional demands of walking. We examine whether SWWT is associated with use of explicit movement cues during locomotion, and evaluate if conscious control (i.e., movement specific reinvestment) is causally linked to falls-related anxiety during a complex walking task. We observed whether twenty-four older adults stopped walking when talking when asked a question during an adaptive gait task. After certain trials, participants completed a visual-spatial recall task regarding walkway features, or answered questions about their movements during the walk. In a subsequent experimental condition, participants completed the walking task under conditions of raised postural threat. Compared to a control group, participants who SWWT reported higher scores for aspects of reinvestment relating to conscious motor processing but not movement self-consciousness. The higher scores for conscious motor processing were preserved when scores representing cognitive function were included as a covariate. There were no group differences in measures of general cognitive function, visual spatial working memory or balance confidence. However, the SWWT group reported higher scores on a test of external awareness when walking, indicating allocation of attention away from task-relevant environmental features. Under conditions of increased threat, participants self-reported significantly greater state anxiety and reinvestment and displayed more accurate responses about their movements during the task. SWWT is not associated solely with age-related cognitive decline or generic increases in age-related attentional demands of walking. SWWT may be caused by competition for phonological resources of working memory associated with consciously processing motor actions and appears to be causally linked with fall-related anxiety and increased vigilance.This research was supported by The Royal Society (IE131576) and British Academy (SG132820)

Changes in urinary metabolomic profile during relapsing renal vasculitis

Current biomarkers of renal disease in systemic vasculitis lack predictive value and are insensitive to early damage. To identify novel biomarkers of renal vasculitis flare, we analysed the longitudinal urinary metabolomic profile of a rat model of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) vasculitis. Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were immunised with human myeloperoxidase (MPO). Urine was obtained at regular intervals for 181 days, after which relapse was induced by re-challenge with MPO. Urinary metabolites were assessed in an unbiased fashion using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and analysed using partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and partial least squares regression (PLS-R). At 56 days post-immunisation, we found that rats with vasculitis had a significantly different urinary metabolite profile than control animals; the observed PLS-DA clusters dissipated between 56 and 181 days, and re-emerged with relapse. The metabolites most altered in rats with active or relapsing vasculitis were trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), citrate and 2-oxoglutarate. Myo-inositol was also moderately predictive. The key urine metabolites identified in rats were confirmed in a large cohort of patients using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Hypocitraturia and elevated urinary myo-inositol remained associated with active disease, with the urine myo-inositol:citrate ratio being tightly correlated with active renal vasculitis

The Thermal Design, Characterization, and Performance of the SPIDER Long-Duration Balloon Cryostat

We describe the SPIDER flight cryostat, which is designed to cool six millimeter-wavelength telescopes during an Antarctic long-duration balloon flight. The cryostat, one of the largest to have flown on a stratospheric payload, uses liquid helium-4 to deliver cooling power to stages at 4.2 and 1.6 K. Stainless steel capillaries facilitate a high flow impedance connection between the main liquid helium tank and a smaller superfluid tank, allowing the latter to operate at 1.6 K as long as there is liquid in the 4.2 K main tank. Each telescope houses a closed cycle helium-3 adsorption refrigerator that further cools the focal planes down to 300 mK. Liquid helium vapor from the main tank is routed through heat exchangers that cool radiation shields, providing negative thermal feedback. The system performed successfully during a 17 day flight in the 2014-2015 Antarctic summer. The cryostat had a total hold time of 16.8 days, with 15.9 days occurring during flight.Comment: 15 pgs, 17 fig

Current quark mass dependence of nucleon magnetic moments and radii

A calculation of the current-quark-mass-dependence of nucleon static electromagnetic properties is necessary in order to use observational data as a means to place constraints on the variation of Nature's fundamental parameters. A Poincare' covariant Faddeev equation, which describes baryons as composites of confined-quarks and -nonpointlike-diquarks, is used to calculate this dependence The results indicate that, like observables dependent on the nucleons' magnetic moments, quantities sensitive to their magnetic and charge radii, such as the energy levels and transition frequencies in Hydrogen and Deuterium, might also provide a tool with which to place limits on the allowed variation in Nature's constants.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables, 4 appendice

Inhibition of the tyrosine phosphatase SHP-2 suppresses angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo

Endothelial cell survival is indispensable to maintain endothelial integrity and initiate new vessel formation. We investigated the role of SHP-2 in endothelial cell survival and angiogenesis in vitro as well as in vivo. SHP-2 function in cultured human umbilical vein and human dermal microvascular endothelial cells was inhibited by either silencing the protein expression with antisense-oligodesoxynucleotides or treatment with a pharmacological inhibitor (PtpI IV). SHP-2 inhibition impaired capillary-like structure formation (p < 0.01; n = 8) in vitro as well as new vessel growth ex vivo (p < 0.05; n = 10) and in vivo in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane (p < 0.01, n = 4). Additionally, SHP-2 knock-down abrogated fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2)-dependent endothelial proliferation measured by MTT reduction ( p ! 0.01; n = 12). The inhibitory effect of SHP-2 knock-down on vessel growth was mediated by increased endothelial apoptosis ( annexin V staining, p ! 0.05, n = 9), which was associated with reduced FGF-2-induced phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K), Akt and extracellular regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) and involved diminished ERK1/2 phosphorylation after PI3-K inhibition (n=3). These results suggest that SHP-2 regulates endothelial cell survival through PI3-K-Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways thereby strongly affecting new vessel formation. Thus, SHP-2 exhibits a pivotal role in angiogenesis and may represent an interesting target for therapeutic approaches controlling vessel growth. Copyright (C) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel