Pervasive 2007: It's about the User

Pervasive computing is as much about the user as it is about the technology. So, the Fifth International Conference on Pervasive Computing emphasized desirability rather than just feasibility. Featured themes included user benefits, human-computer interaction, group and social interactions, context awareness, finding and positioning people and objects, and personal privacy.     

Creating a Student Centered Learning Environment at the University of Denver

A team of faculty members at the University of Denver changed the learning environment in key courses in the Department of Engineering from predominately teacher centered to student centered. Through this funded project new grading methods were implemented, classrooms were renovated and wired with studio layouts to facilitate learning, the Engineering Circuits Laboratory was rewired and instrumented for automated data acquisition and reporting, and two new pedagogical approaches were developed. At the onset of the project, six goals were established related to student learning. The introduction of industry standard hardware and software provided students with unprecedented hands‐on experience and project related activities stimulated faculty innovations in other current and future courses. Assessment results indicate that the new grading system improved the clarity of expectations for students before assignments were given resulting in increased reported motivation for learning in many courses. Even though course GPAs did not always reflect higher achievement on graded work, faculty members firmly believe that deeper understanding was achieved because more complex material was assimilated.     

Introduction to the special series: HIV infection among drug abusers.

Drug users are particularly at risk for contracting the human immunodeficiency virus and serve as a major mechanism for spreading the virus to other sectors of the population. As a result drug abuse treatment and potential behavioral change strategies are primary public health issues. The purpose of this article is to review the contributions included in this special edition, which represent an effort to describe the most current thinking in the field with a blend of theoretical, review, and empirical articles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child custody mediation and litigation: Parents' satisfaction and functioning one year after settlement.

A 1-yr follow-up study was conducted on families randomly assigned to settle custody disputes either in mediation or through adversary procedures. Consistent with Time 1 reports, at Time 2 fathers who mediated were substantially more satisfied than were fathers who litigated. Fathers who mediated also complied more with child support orders. Contrary to prediction, the greater satisfaction and compliance of fathers did not lead to increased satisfaction among mothers who mediated. In contrast to Time 1, at follow-up mothers who mediated were significantly less satisfied than were mothers who litigated, but selective attrition may account for these differences. The psychological adjustment of mothers and fathers was not significantly different between settlement groups at Time 2, but mothers in both groups reported less satisfaction with dispute settlement and less dysphoria at Time 2 than they had reported at Time 1. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exposure plus response-prevention treatment of bulimia nervosa.

A controlled study evaluating the effectiveness of exposure plus response-prevention treatment of bulimia nervosa was conducted in a sample of 47 women. This was a four-group comparison involving three treatment conditions and a waiting-list control group. The three treatment conditions were (a) exposure plus response prevention conducted in a single setting (clinic), (b) exposure plus response prevention conducted in multiple settings (clinic, patients' homes, and restaurants), and (c) cognitive–behavioral therapy without exposure plus response prevention. All treatment was provided to groups of 3 patients at a time. Outcome was evaluated at posttreatment and at a 6-month follow-up. The three treatment groups improved significantly on most outcome measures, whereas the waiting-list control group showed little change. At follow-up, there was a slightly better outcome on vomiting behavior and amount of food consumed in one of the test meals for the exposure plus response-prevention groups relative to the no-exposure group. However, on all other measures, the degree of improvement from pretreatment to follow-up was the same for all three treatment groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathology in inpatients dependent on cocaine or alcohol and cocaine.

Assessed the differences between cocaine- and cocaine-plus-alcohol-dependent inpatients along several psychological variables. Of the 144 men that served as Ss, 113 were cocaine dependent and 31 were dependent on both cocaine and alcohol (CD-AD). CD-AD Ss showed significantly more symptoms of depression and anxiety and were more likely to have antisocial and avoidant personality disorders. The CD-AD group scored higher overall on the MMPI clinical scales. Results suggest that patients dependent on both cocaine and alcohol require increased attention to psychopathology during treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Docosahexaenoic acid in developing brain and retina of piglets fed high or low α-linolenate formula with and without fish oil

Docosahexaenoic acid (22∶6n−3) can be synthesized in the liver and/or brain from α-linolenic acid (18∶3n−3) and is required in large amounts in structural membranes of developing brain and retina. The adequacy and efficacy of formulas containing 18∶3n−3 and/or fish oil in providing 22∶6n−3 for deposition was investigated in piglets fed formula from birth to 15 days. The test formulas contained high (HL) or low (LL) 18∶3n−3 (3.9 or 0.7% of the total formula fatty acids, respectively), or low 18∶3n−3 plus fish oil (LL+FO) to provide C₂₀ and C₂₂ n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (0.8% of total fatty acids). Fatty acid analyses of synaptic plasma membrane and retina ethanolamine phospholipids (EPL), which are especially enriched in 22∶6n−3, were compared to those of 15-day-old piglets fed sow milk (SM). Feeding LL resulted in lower 22∶6n−3 in synaptic plasma membrane. Fatty acid levels in HL and LL+FO piglets were equivalent to SM, with the exception of lower 22∶5n−3 in the synaptic plasma membrane of LL+FO and in the retina of HL and LL+FO-fed piglets. Levels of 22∶4n−6 were also lower in the retina of the LL+FO group. The results suggest formula 18∶3n−3 is at least 24% as effective as C₂₀ and C₂₂ n−3 fatty acids as a source of membrane 22∶6n−3. This study shows dietary 18∶3n−3, as the only n−3 fatty acid, can support deposition of comparable percentage of 22∶6n−3 to natural milk. Fish oil also supported tissue levels of 22∶6n−3 similar to natural milk; however, lower 22∶4n−6 may indicate possible inhibitory effects on n−6 metabolism. Recipient of the 1967 Science and Engineering Scholarship, Natural Sciences & Engineering Research Council of Canada.     

Bond calibration method for Young’s modulus determination in the discrete element method framework

A new methodology for the calibration of bond microparameters in rocks represented by a package of joined random spherical particles in the discrete element method (DEM) framework is presented. Typically, calibration is achieved through a trial-and-error procedure using several DEM simulations of uniaxial compressive tests (UCTs). The bond calibration model (BCM) does not need a time-dependent UCT-DEM simulation to establish the relation between the microproperties of the bond and the macroproperties of the rock specimen. The BCM uses matrices to describe the interaction forces exerted by bonds and, by means of an assembly process similar to the finite element method, it can describe the complex network of bonds, enabling the model to capture small variations in particle size and bond distribution as demonstrated in this work. In this work, the BCM is presented and compared with UCT simulations performed using Esys Particle software. Multiple simulations are done with constant bond properties and different particle size ratios (\(D_{MAX}/D_{MIN})\) that cause small variations in the specimen’s Young’s modulus; these variations are well captured by the BCM with an error of <10%.