Effect of high-level content organizers on hypertext learning

This study investigates the cognitive abilities involved in hypertext learning and design approaches that can help users. We examined the effects of two types of high-level content organizers - a graphic spatial map and an alphabetical list - on readers’ memory for hypertext structure. In the control condition, a simple “home” page with no navigational aid was offered. Subjects were asked to read the hypertext with the purpose of learning the content, but in the post test phase they also had to recall the layout of nodes and links. Memory for links and page places varied as a function of condition. When a spatial map was available participants reconstructed more accurate formal structure then in the two other conditions. Participants’ memory about page places was the least accurate in the list condition. Results also indicate that participants use the content organizer when it is available in order to orientate during learning from hypertext documents.Our results prove that a content organizer showing the formal structure can facilitate the spatial mapping process. However, an organizer exposing a different structure than the real one would generate a conflict.     

Effect of preparation conditions on nanostructural features of the NAFION® type perfluorinated proton conducting membranes

Features of the fine structure of three samples of perfluorinated Nafion® type membranes—Nafion-115, its Russian analogue MF-4SK, and a new similar material PFM-E produced according to our novel water-emulsion technique—have been characterized using the small-angle neutron scattering technique. A difference in the regularity of common elements of fine structure (cylindrical channels) in the membranes has been revealed. Nafion-115 has the most regular structure with a diffraction peak corresponding to the double channel diameter and an additional broad maximum in the scattering curve indicating a long-range order in the arrangement of straight cylindrical channels. For MF-4SK, in addition, twisted and less ordered channels have been observed. In the PFM-E sample channels have a tortuous and branched structure with diameters similar to Nafion-115. Only a short-range order (40–50 Å) in the arrangement of the channels has been detected, and correlation in their mutual orientation at longer distances is weakened. It has been supposed that the observed branched structure of the channels promotes an increase in water content and an improvement in proton conductivity.     

Questions for Freud: The secret history of psychoanalysis.

Review of book: Questions for Freud: The Secret History of Psychoanalysis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997, xiv + 239 pp. Reviewed by Hannah S. Decker. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

One-dimensional walls

A one-dimensional wall is one in which the magnetization does not vary throughout the thickness of the ferromagnetic film nor along the length of the wall. There are three types of one dimensional walls: Bloch, Néel, and intermediate. The results of calculations of the structure, width, and type of walls as a function of film thickness and wall angle are discussed. The Néel wall width is inversely proportional to wall angle and to film thickness plus a constant. The Bloch wall width is proportional to the square root of film thickness plus a constant. The transition between Néel and intermediate walls is marked by an abrupt change of slope in the hard-axis hysteresis loop.     

Water level measurement uncertainty during BWR instability

This paper addresses the performance of the water-level measurement system in a boiling water reactor (BWR) during severe instability oscillations which, under some circumstances, can occur during an anticipated transient without SCRAM (ATWS). Test data from a prototypical mock-up of the water-level measurement system was used to refine and calibrate a water-level measurement system model. The model was then used to predict level measurement system response, using as boundary conditions vessel pressures calculated by RETRAN for an ATWS/instability event.The results of the study indicate that rapid pressure changes in the reactor pressure vessel which cause oscillations in downcomer water level, coupled with differences in instrument line lengths, can produce errors in the sensed water level. Using nominal parameters for the measurement system components, a severe instability transient which produced a 0.2 m peak-to-minimum water-level oscillation in the vessel downcomer was predicted to produce pressure difference equivalent to a 0.7 m level oscillation at the input to the differential pressure transmitter, 0.5 m oscillation at the output of the transmitter, and an oscillation of 0.3 m on the water-level indicator in the control room. The level measurement system error, caused by downcomer water-level oscillations and instrument line length differential, is mitigated by damping both in the differential pressure transmitter used to infer level and in the control room display instrument.     

Immunoquantitation of cytochromes P450 1A and P450 2B and comparison with chlorinated hydrocarbon levels in archived polar bear liver samples

The present study examined the utility of an immunoblot method for quantitation of cytochrome P450 isozymes in archived liver samples as a bioassay of exposure to halogenated hydrocarbons. Hepatic microsomes were prepared from 44 archived polar bear (Ursus maritimus) liver homogenates that had been stored at approximately -40 degrees C for 9-10 years and analyzed on blots probed with antibodies to rat cytochromes P450 1A1 and P450 2B1. The results revealed a positive correlation between cytochrome P450 1A and total polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels in the archived liver samples, suggesting that cytochrome P450 1A was induced in polar bears by environmental exposure to PCBs.     

Outbreak of adenovirus 35 pneumonia among adult residents and staff of a chronic care psychiatric facility

Outbreaks of acute respiratory disease caused by adenovirus are rarely documented in civilian populations, and adenovirus 35 is an uncommon serotype best recognized as a cause of serious disease in immunocompromised patients. An outbreak of adenovirus 35 pneumonia among residents and staff of a chronic care psychiatric facility was investigated. Fourteen (26%) of 53 residents and 4 (2%) of approximately 200 staff had radiographically confirmed pneumonia. Thirteen (93%) of 14 residents with pneumonia were hospitalized, 5 (36%) required mechanical ventilation, and 1 (7%) died. One staff member was hospitalized. Adenovirus infection was diagnosed in 17 (94%) persons with pneumonia by culture or serology and was confirmed as adenovirus 35 infection in 8 persons. Residents with pneumonia had resided at the facility longer than other residents. Chronic illness was not a risk factor for severe disease. Crowding and poor hygienic behaviors probably facilitated transmission among residents.     

Covalent Linkage and Macrocylization Preserve and Enhance Synergistic Interactions in Catalytic Amyloids

The self-assembly of short peptides into catalytic amyloid-like nanomaterials has proven to be a powerful tool in both understanding the evolution of early proteins and identifying new catalysts for practically useful chemical reactions. Here we demonstrate that both parallel and antiparallel arrangements of β-sheets can accommodate metal ions in catalytically productive coordination environments. Moreover, synergistic relationships, identified in catalytic amyloid mixtures, can be captured in macrocyclic and sheet-loop-sheet species, that offer faster rates of assembly and provide more complex asymmetric arrangements of functional groups, thus paving the way for future designs of amyloid-like catalytic proteins. Our findings show how initial catalytic activity in amyloid assemblies can be propagated and improved in more-complex molecules, providing another link in a complex evolutionary chain between short, potentially abiotically produced peptides and modern-day enzymes.     

Constraint-Based Facial Animation

Constraints have been traditionally used for computer animation applications to define side conditions for generating synthesized motion according to a standard, usually physically realistic, set of motion equations. The case of facial animation is very different, as no set of motion equations for facial expressions is available. In this paper we discuss a facial animation editor, which uses numerical constraints for two roles: to declare the mimic repertoire of synthetic faces and other requirements a facial animation has to meet, and to aid the animator in the process of composing a specific animation fulfilling the requirements. The editor is thus also a ``motion sculpturing' tool, which lifts the task of creating facial animation from the control data manipulation level to the conceptual design level. The major aid of the editor is to repair inconsistencies due to changes made by the user, and revise changes for which no good repair is possible. Also, reuse of constrained animations, especially expressions, is supported. The main machinery behind these services is interval propagation, which, if using certain type of linear inequalities to express the character- as well as the animation-specific requirements, can produce quickly the interval of feasible values for each control variable. If a solution (usually, repair) has to be produced, it is generated by selecting the best one from a restricted set of acceptable solutions, based on user-defined or automatically generated criteria for the choices.     

A critical review on questionnaire surveys in the field of energy-related occupant behaviour

Occupants perform various actions to satisfy their physical and non-physical needs in buildings. These actions greatly affect building operations and thus energy use. Clearly understanding and accurately modelling occupant behaviour in buildings are crucial to guide energy-efficient building design and operation, and to reduce the gap between design and actual energy performance of buildings. To study and understand occupant behaviour, a cross-sectional questionnaire survey is one of the most useful tools to gain insights on general behaviour patterns and drivers, and to find connections between human, social and local comfort parameters. In this study, 33 projects were reviewed from the energy-related occupant behaviour research literature that employed cross-sectional surveys or interviews for data collection from the perspective of findings, limitations and methodological challenges. This research shows that future surveys are needed to bridge the gaps in literature but they would need to encompass a multidisciplinary approach to do so as until now only environmental and engineering factors were considered in these studies. Insights from social practice theories and techniques must be acquired to deploy robust and unbiased questionnaire results, which will provide new, more comprehensive knowledge in the field, and therefore occupant behaviour could be better understood and represented in building performance simulation to support design and operation of low or net-zero energy buildings.