Is exposure to online content depicting risky behavior related to viewers' own risky behavior offline?

There are public and governmental concerns that social media may encourage risky behavior in the offline environment. Using international survey data from 412 young adults aged between 18 and 25 years of age (M = 21.20 years, SD = 2.31 years), this study demonstrates that there is a relationship between exposure to online content depicting risky behavior and users’ own offline risky behavior. This relationship was found for six behaviors: drug use, excessive alcohol use, disordered eating, self-harm, violence to others, and dangerous pranks. A borderline effect was found for two further behaviors: unprotected sex and sex with a stranger. The relationship between content depicting disordered eating and offline behavior was only significant for females; suggesting that female users may be more vulnerable to effects of viewing content depicting disordered eating habits, and/or use social media content to find material related to their existing behavior. No other gender moderation effects were found. The findings provide preliminary evidence that social media use may influence offline risky behavior in young adults.     

Is eyeball temperature related to fatigue?

A study was made to determine whether eye temperature changed as a consequence of blood flow changes. The measurements on railway workers indicate a relationship between temperature and fatigue.     

What type of content are smartphone users addicted to?: SNS vs. games

Based on a sample of 944 respondents who were recruited from 20 elementary schools in South Korea, this research surveyed the factors that lead to smartphone addiction. This research examined the user characteristics and media content types that can lead to addiction. With regard to user characteristics, results showed that those who have lower self-control and those who have greater stress were more likely to be addicted to smartphones. For media content types, those who use smartphones for SNS, games, and entertainment were more likely to be addicted to smartphones, whereas those who use smartphones for study-related purposes were not. Although both SNS use and game use were positive predictors of smartphone addiction, SNS use was a stronger predictor of smartphone addiction than game use.     

Is visual content in textual search interfaces beneficial to dyslexic users?

Dyslexia is a learning disability characterised by problems with accurate or fluent word recognition, poor decoding, and poor spelling abilities. Although several studies have addressed dyslexia and Web accessibility, less is known about how dyslexia affects information search. This study investigated whether the inclusion of icons in search user interfaces enhances performance among dyslexics. A total of 21 dyslexics and 21 controls completed 52 search tasks in 4 conditions: icons only, words only, and both icons and words in a grid layout and a list layout, while eye movements were recorded. Dyslexics took significantly longer than controls to locate targets in tasks containing text, but not in the icon-only condition. Dyslexics had longer fixation durations than controls in both icon and text based search arrays, suggesting higher mental load associated with search tasks generally. The addition of words to icon arrays led to faster search times within controls, but not dyslexics. Dyslexics also exhibited more fixations on dual-modality tasks, and longer scanpaths than controls in list layout. Both groups were fastest searching the list layout, with icons and words listed in columns. Results are discussed in terms of the design of accessible search interfaces for dyslexic users, taking into account mental load of dual-modality information display, and the arrangement of search items. Empirical data is provided for the design of accessible search results interfaces for dyslexics.     

Is the use of information and communication technology related to performance in working memory tasks? Evidence from seventh-grade students

The main purpose of this study was to assess whether seventh-grade students use of information and communication technology (ICT) was related to performance on working memory tasks. In addition, the study tested whether the relationship between ICT use and performance on working memory tasks interacted with seventh-grade students’ socioeconomic level and gender. 275 students recruited from 30 Chilean schools were grouped according to their self-reported use of PC, the Internet, Chat and Video games. To assess students’ working memory performance, they were tested with a digit span test and a visuo-spatial measure. Only one of our two dependent variables reflected a relationship between specific profiles of ICT use and working memory. Higher scores on the digits span test were related to those user profiles combining PC use and video game play, that is, those identified as Full users and as PC and Console Gamers. We did not find an interaction effect of gender and ICT use or an interaction effect of socioeconomic level and ICT use. There are three possible explanations for these results: first, a proclivity of students with higher working memory capacity to engage in technology use; second, an impact on working memory of potential differences in multitasking; and, third, an impact on working memory of video game play. However, these results must be interpreted cautiously since scores on the GEFT, our visuo-spatial working memory measure, were not related to any profile of technology use. As serious educational games become more regularly used at school, previous differences in video game experience become growingly important. Future research must study whether the intended benefits of serious educational games are being mediated by individual differences in previous exposure to video games and other information and computer technologies, with independence of the directionality of the relationship between video game play and working memory.     

Synthesized or digitized? A guide to the use of computer speech

In addition to technical and cost determinants, a range of human factors issues governs the appropriateness of synthesized or digitized speech for a particular system. For example, since synthesized messages are created textually, they may reflect the rules and habits of written language, rather than spoken language. This may cause listeners some difficulty interpreting the intended meaning of the message. Moreover, the different speech media place constraints upon techniques of message creation editing, transmission and reception. Synthesized speech is easy to edit in terms of lexical content, but the production of sophisticated prosodic features can be problematic. In contrast, unedited digitized speech will normally have appropriate prosodic cues and because of this will be difficult to edit. The influence of these factors is examined and illustrations of both good and poor practice are given. The paper concludes with a decision criteria checklist for speech output devices.     

Is the influence of privacy and security on online trust the same for all type of consumers?

This article analyzes the relationships among online trust and two of its most important antecedents, namely privacy and security, and explains how consumers’ characteristics (gender, age, education and extraversion), moderate the influence of both privacy and security in online trust. This study expands previous literature by identifying the conditions under which perceived privacy and security are likely to have the greatest positive effects on consumer trust in the online retailer. Based on data from 398 online consumers, the results revealed that the influence of both privacy and security on online trust was stronger for male, younger, more educated, and less extraverted consumers. Implications for theory and management are discussed.     

A stress–based approach to the optimal design of structures with unilateral behavior of material or supports

The paper presents a stress-based approach that copes with the optimal design of truss-like elastic structures in case of unilateral behavior of material or ground supports. The conventional volume-constrained minimization of compliance is coupled with a set of local stress constraints that are enforced, all over the domain or along prescribed boundaries, to control the arising of members with tension-only or compression-only strength. A Drucker–Prager failure criterion is formulated to provide a smooth approximation of the no-tension or no-compression conditions governing the stress field. A selection strategy is implemented to handle efficiently the multi-constrained formulation that is solved through mathematical programming. Benchmark examples are investigated to discuss the features of the achieved optimal designs, as compared with problems involving material and ground supports with equal behavior in tension and compression. Numerical simulations show that a limited set of constraints is needed in the first iterations to steer the solution of the energy-driven optimization towards designs accounting for the prescribed assumption of unilateral strength.     

Is compulsive internet use related to sensitivity to reward and punishment,and impulsivity?

Aim of the present study was to examine whether the personality correlates sensitivity to reward and to punishment, and impulsivity predict compulsive internet use (CIU). Furthermore, the predictive value of these personality correlates was compared to the predictive value of factors relating to psychosocial wellbeing. The results showed that particularly rash spontaneous impulsivity predicts CIU and that this personality factor is more important than psychosocial wellbeing factors. Sensitivity to reward, which is supposed to play a role in craving processes associated with substance abuse and eating disorders, could not be related to CIU. The data suggest that internet users who are characterized by an impulsive personality feature, are less able to control their use of the internet, which makes them more vulnerable to develop CIU.     

Is Zendia the Isle of Pines?

Among several authoritative and diverse sources, this article is an attempt by the author, who believes that the Isle of Pines is Zendia and that it was the first choice as a landing site to establish a provisional government in exile, to be followed by a second landing onto mainland Cuba.     

Distributional approach to the analysis of linear time-varying systems†

This paper is devoted to the analysis of linear time-varying systems using distribution theory. The technique is developed to obtain the output given the input as well as to obtain the impulse response from the knowledge of the output and input. All quantities are considered time varying. The basic approach used converts the integral equation into a distributional differential equation.     

An analytical approach to the Fornberg–Whitham type equations by using the variational iteration method

In this paper, He’s variational iteration method (VIM) is applied to solve the Fornberg–Whitham type equations. The VIM provides fast converged approximate solutions to nonlinear equations without linearization, discretization, perturbation, or the Adomian polynomials. This makes the method attractive and reliable for solving the Fornberg–Whitham type equations. Numerical examples related to two initial value problems are presented to show the efficiency of the VIM.     

Modular approach to the design and analysis of password-based security protocols

In this paper, a general framework for designing and analyzing password-based security protocols is presented. First we introduce the concept of "weak computational indistinguishability" based on current progress of password-based security protocols. Then, we focus on cryptographic foundations for password-based security protocols, i.e., the theory of "weak pseudorandomness". Furthermore, based on the theory of weak pseudorandomness, we present a modular approach to design and analysis of password-based security protocols. Finally, applying the modular approach, we design two kinds of password-based security protocols, i.e., password-based session key distribution (PSKD) protocol and protected password change (PPC) protocol. In addition to having forward secrecy and improved efficiency, new protocols are proved secure.     

Anthropomorphism of computers: Is it mindful or mindless?

In analyzing the human tendency to treat computers as social actors (CASA), researchers tend to rule out the anthropomorphism explanation because anthropomorphism is understood to be “a sincere, conscious belief” that computers are human and/or deserving of human attributions. But, does anthropomorphism have to be necessarily mindful? Could it not also be a mindless tendency, especially given that most of us have somewhat long associations with our computers and have built human-like bonds with them? We examined these questions empirically by investigating whether the user tendency to treat computers as human beings is conscious (mindful) or non-conscious (mindless). We manipulated two variables (presence/absence of human-like agent and the low/high interactivity) on a health website and experimentally investigated whether they serve as anthropomorphic cues to trigger mindful attributions of human-ness to the website or mindless evaluations of the site in human terms. We found evidence for mindless anthropomorphism, with implications for user judgments of credibility of information on the site.     

Does locality make a difference? Assessing the effectiveness of location-aware narratives

With the increasing sophistication of mobile computing, a growing interest has been paid to locative media that aim at providing immersive experiences. Location aware narratives are a particular kind of locative media that aim at “telling stories that unfold in real space”. This paper presents a study that aimed at assessing an underlying hypothesis of location-aware narratives: that the coupling between the physical space and the narrative will result in increased levels of immersion in the narrative. Forty-five individuals experienced a location-aware video narrative in three locations: (a) the original location that contains physical cues from the narrative world, (b) a different location that yet portrays a similar atmosphere, and (c) a location that contains neither physical cues nor a similar atmosphere. Significant differences were found in users’ experiences with the narrative in terms of immersion in the story and mental imagery, but not with regard to feelings of presence, emotional involvement or the memorability of story elements. We reflect on these findings and the implications for the design of location-aware narratives and highlight questions for further research.     

A functional approach to the stability of non-linear systems by use of the comparison theorem†

The paper presents some stability conditions for non-linear systems based on the application of the comparison theorem. The non-linear integral equation which gives the output of the system is dominated by another non-linear integral equation of simpler structure. The study of the boundedness of this equation is carried out by considering an algebraic equation; the stability conditions for the non-linear system corresponds to the existence of real positive roots of the algebraic equation.     

Using tuple-spaces to manage the storage and dissemination of spatial–temporal content

Structured, spatial–temporal content arises in application areas such as mobile computing, intelligent transportation, urban mobility, and ubiquitous sensing. For the distributed storage and dissemination of such content, peer-to-peer solutions appear to be the natural choice. However, a closer analysis shows that distributed hash tables (DHT) alone are not enough: firstly, they do not maintain the original data structure needed to efficiently access the comprising attributes, and secondly, they lead to high signaling traffic when the data is short lived, such as in high mobility scenarios. In order to address these two problems we propose a novel content dissemination architecture based on an overlay of space-based containers. Furthermore, we apply the proposed concept to realize a concrete application in the field of intelligent transportation, and present the results of the performance evaluation conducted with the system prototype.