Multiscreen Social TV System: A Mixed Method Understanding of Users’ Attitudes and Adoption Intention

Past social TV (STV) system user studies usually tested a small number of trialists in lab settings in Western countries. This Asian research took a mix method approach (interview, observation, and web survey) to examine the attitudes of 76 young adults’ experiences of using a multiscreen STV system. The results show that the majority of participants preferred shifting and complementary patterns when using STV. Their favorite feature was multiscreen video teleportation via QR codes. Nearly half of participants agreed that sociability features of the STV system could facilitate their perceived social presence and sense of community, which increased adoption intention. Additionally, text messaging was selected as the preferred mode for social interactions during video viewing. Although most participants liked the user-friendly design to upload and share videos conveniently, age has a negative association with users’ receptiveness of the user generated video channel creation and aggregation feature.     

A framework for improving the efficiency of operational testing through Bayesian adaptive design

When developing a product, it is important to consider product performance from a user perspective. This type of evaluation can be done through operational testing—assessing the ability of representative users to satisfactorily accomplish tasks with the product in operationally representative environments. This process can be expensive and time-consuming, but is critical to understanding whether the product can adequately do the job for which it was designed. We show how an existing design of experiments (DOEs) process for operational testing can be leveraged to construct a Bayesian adaptive design. This design, nested within the larger design created by the DOE process, allows interim analyses to stop testing early for success or futility. Representative simulations are presented to demonstrate how these interim analyses can be used in an operational test setting, and reductions in necessary test events are shown. The application of Bayesian-adaptive design methods will allow future operational testing to be conducted in less time and at less expense, on average, without compromising the ability of the existing process to verify the product meets the user's needs.     

Distribution-free composite Shewhart-GWMA Mann-Whitney charts for monitoring the process location

The Mann-Whitney (MW) statistic is one of the most recommended two-sample statistical tests when the assumption of normality fails to hold due to its robustness and fascinating properties especially when small sample sizes are involved. In order to improve the sensitivity of the generally weighted moving average (GWMA) monitoring scheme toward the detection of large shifts, in this paper, a new distribution-free phase II composite Shewhart-GWMA (CSG) scheme is proposed using the MW U statistic. The performance of the proposed scheme is investigated using the average run-length (ARL) and average extra quadratic loss (AEQL) values through extensive simulations. The performance of this newly proposed monitoring scheme is found to be superior when compared to numerous memory-type MW schemes (some existing and others introduced in this paper) in many situations. An illustrative example is given to demonstrate the implementation of the CSG MW U scheme using real-life data.     

Temperature influence on the development of interdiffusion phenomena in MCrAlY-coated nickel-based superalloys

In this work, the interdiffusion between a MCrAlY-bond coat and two different nickel-based superalloys is evaluated at three temperatures, 950 °C, 980 °C, and 1,050 °C. Of primary interest is the evolution of Kirkendall-porosity, the β-depleted zone in the bond coat and the β’- depleted zone in the superalloy. The three phenomena arise near the interface between bond coat and superalloy as a result of interdiffusion between both materials and are detrimental to the coating-substrate system. The evolution of the interdiffusion phenomena is highly dependent on the alloy composition of the materials as well as the annealing temperature. It has been found that not only the temperature dependency of the diffusion coefficient but also the temperature dependent element activities are an important factor when evaluating the interdiffusion phenomena. It has further been shown that at lower temperatures the amount of Kirkendall-porosity per volume fraction is higher than at higher temperatures, even though the overall amount of porosity is lower. Different equilibrium concentrations of main alloying elements and a correspondingly lower over-saturation of vacancies have been identified as the main explanation.     

Nutrient digestibility and endogenous protein losses in the foregut and small intestine of weaned dairy calves fed calf starters with conventional or enzyme-treated soybean meal

The aims of this experiment were (1) to compare the effects of a soybean meal with an enzymatic treatment (ESBM) to reduce the concentration of antinutritional factors versus a standard soybean meal (SBM) on foregut and small intestine digestion in weaned dairy calves and (2) to estimate the endogenous losses of crude protein (CP) in the small intestine. Our hypothesis was that a diet containing ESBM instead of SBM would improve ruminal and small intestine digestion and absorption of nutrients. A T-cannula was placed in the duodenum, and a second T-cannula was installed in the distal ileum of 12 Holstein calves at approximately 3 wk of age. Calves were weaned on d 42, and on d 50 they were assigned randomly to a quadruplicated 3 × 3 Latin square with 10-d periods. Digesta samples were collected on d 7 and 8 from the ileum and d 9 and 10 from the duodenum. The diets were fed for ad libitum intake and consisted of a calf starter (CS) of 20% CP with SBM as the main source of protein (CTRL), and an isonitrogenous CS with an ESBM instead of SBM (ENZT). A third diet with a low content of CP (10%) and no soy protein was fed to estimate endogenous N losses and digestibilities of test ingredients. Flows and digestibilities of nutrients were compared between CTRL and ENZT and their test ingredients (SBM vs. ESBM, respectively). Duodenal net flows of CP and total AA as well as ruminal microbial protein synthesis per kilogram of digested CP were greater, and flow of nonprotein N and CP true (corrected by endogenous and microbial flows) foregut digestibility were lower with ENZT than CTRL. The apparent small intestine digestibilities of CP and total AA were greater for ESBM than SBM, but there were no differences between the CTRL and ENZT diets. We observed no differences in digestibilities at the duodenum or ileum of starch or NDF, but true small intestine digestibilities of CP and all AA were greater with ENZT than CTRL. Total endogenous protein losses in the small intestine estimated from calves fed the low-CP with no soy protein diet were 37 ± 1.5 g of CP and 29 ± 1.4 g of AA/kg of DMI. These values may be considered the basal endogenous losses as they are similar to values obtained with the regression method, which estimates N losses when dietary N is null. Our results indicated that the inclusion of an ESBM improved the efficiency of ruminal microbial protein synthesis per digested kilogram of organic matter and CP, and increased CP and AA absorption in the small intestine despite a greater proportion of undigested dietary protein entering the duodenum.     

Genomic evaluation of dairy heifer livability

Differences in breeds and sire lines suggest the presence of a genetic component for heifer livability (HLIV). Genomic evaluation for this trait can increase profitability and improve animal health and welfare. Evaluations for HLIV were examined from 3,362,499 calf data records from heifers of all breeds born from 2009 to 2016. Data were obtained from the national cooperator database maintained by the Council on Dairy Cattle Breeding (https://www.uscdcb.com/). The total number of deaths reported was 134,753 (4.01%), which included herds with death loss between 1.5 and 25.5%. Age at death was evaluated and ranged from >2 d of age until the heifer left the herd, with a maximum of 18 mo of age. Records were not included until 3 yr after the birthdate so that live status of contemporaries could be confirmed by a calving date for those animals. Deaths observed until 2 d after birth were considered to be a stillbirth rather than a failure of HLIV. The scale used for analysis of HLIV was 0 (died) or 100 (live), and the heritability estimate was 0.7% based on sire model with restricted maximum likelihood estimation. Genomic predicted transmitting abilities for Holstein ranged from ?1.6% to +1.6% with a standard deviation of 0.5%, and genomic predicted transmitting abilities for Jersey ranged from ?0.5% to +0.5% with a standard deviation of 0.2%. The mean overall death loss was about 4%. Reliabilities of genomic predictions for young animals averaged 46% for Holsteins and 30% for Jerseys, and corresponding traditional parent average reliabilities averaged 16% and 12%, respectively. Correlations of HLIV were 0.44 with productive life, 0.18 to 0.22 with yield traits, and 0.29 with early first calving on proven Holstein bulls. The HLIV trait had a favorable genetic trend in recent years, likely because of the indirect selection associated with the correlated traits. The trait HLIV should receive 1% of emphasis on the Lifetime Net Merit index, resulting in economic progress worth $50,000/yr. By encouraging more comprehensive recording on calf mortality, the reliabilities of genetic predictions could increase significantly.     

Highly transparent Yb:Y2O3 ceramics obtained by solid-state reaction and combined sintering procedures

(Y_0.87-xLa_0.1Zr_0.03Yb_x)₂O₃ (x?=?0.02, 0.04, 0.05) transparent ceramics were obtained by solid-state reaction and combined sintering procedures with La₂O₃ and ZrO₂ as sintering additives. A method based on two-step intermediate sintering in air followed by vacuum sintering was applied in order to control the densification and grain growth of the samples during the final sintering process. The results indicate that La₂O₃ and ZrO₂ co-additives can improve the microstructure and optical properties of Yb:Y₂O₃ ceramics at relatively low sintering temperature. On the other hand, the addition of Zr⁴⁺ ions leads to the formation of dispersed scattering volumes in the ceramic bodies. Transmittance of 78.8% was measured for the 2.0?at% Yb:Y₂O₃ ceramic sample at the wavelength of 1100?nm. The spectroscopic properties of Yb:Y₂O₃ ceramics were investigated at room temperature. The obtained results show that the absorption cross-section at 978?nm is in the range of 2.08?×?10^–20 to 2.36?×?10^–20 cm², whereas the emission cross-section at 1032?nm is ~1.0?×?10^–20 cm².     

Antioxidant and antimicrobial potential of cajazeira leaves (Spondias mombin) extracts

Cajazeira leaves (Spondias mombin) have their highlighted use as antioxidant and natural antimicrobial, which justifies the objective of this work to evaluate the biological activities of different extracts. In order to evaluate the antioxidant and antimicrobial potentials of the cajazeira leaves, extractions at low pressure and high pressure were performed. The low pressure extractions (PLE) were carried out using Soxhlet (SOX) and tip ultrasound, using different solvents. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) was evaluated at temperature of 40?60°C and pressure of 150?300 bar besides extraction with cosolvent. Higher yields were obtained with the use of more polar solvents at LPE. The extracts obtained by SOX with ethanol and others polar solvents presented the best TPC values and antioxidant activity. The extracts at LPE with hexane and ethyl acetate and SFE presented better antimicrobial activity. Through liquid chromatography of high efficiency, it was possible to identify compounds with recognized biological activity, like ellagic acid, gallic acid and catechin.     

Long-term performance predictions in ground improvements with vacuum assisted Prefabricated Vertical Drains

Investigation into time dependent long-term performance of Prefabricated Vertical Drains (PVDs) combined with vacuum consolidation in thick deposits of clay has been extremely limited. Predicting both settlements and excess pore pressures in such cases has become increasingly challenging when time duration is long-term, e.g. several years. In discussing such matter, finding a suitable model to predict the long-term performance is inevitable. Elasto-plastic analysis models such as Cam-Clay cannot predict long-term time-dependent deformational behaviour in soft soils. In this technical note, a Biot type fully-coupled creep-based elastic viscoplastic (EVP) finite element (FE) numerical model has been extended for application in vacuum consolidation. The vacuum consolidation section of the embankment constructed in Ballina, New South Wales, Australia (hereafter referred as Ballina embankment), is analysed using the model through a unit cell analysis and the numerical predictions are compared with field performance monitoring data up to 1200 days (>3 years). The proposed analysis method for PVD combined with vacuum consolidation involving an EVP model is found to be capable of predicting both short-term and long-term deformational behaviours. Predictions are improved when an exponential function is used for the secondary compression index in the EVP model. Comparison has also been carried out at another location in the embankment where the foundation clay thickness was different to check the precision of the methodology and for better understanding of ground settlement behaviour. Details of the analysis methodology and its validation against field performance data are presented in this note.