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.     

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)     

The territory ahead for multicultural competence: The "spinning" of racism.

Multicultural competence has become a mainstay within the training of professional psychologists, yet important areas within this framework remain to be more fully addressed. In particular, the dynamics of contemporary forms of racism have largely gone unexplored, depriving psychologists of clear direction in exploring the deepest levels of racist influences in their work. This qualitative analysis sought to shed light into this area by studying White people's experiences of race and racism. Although most affirmed the existence of racism, it was "spun" by most White participants--in other words, interpreted to their own advantage-into a problem that lies outside the scope of their own lives and responsibilities. Implications and resources for the practice and training of professional psychologists are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

LncRNA H19 Impairs Chemo and Radiotherapy in Tumorigenesis

Various treatments based on drug administration and radiotherapy have been devoted to preventing, palliating, and defeating cancer, showing high efficiency against the progression of this disease. Recently, in this process, malignant cells have been found which are capable of triggering specific molecular mechanisms against current treatments, with negative consequences in the prognosis of the disease. It is therefore fundamental to understand the underlying mechanisms, including the genes—and their signaling pathway regulators—involved in the process, in order to fight tumor cells. Long non-coding RNAs, H19 in particular, have been revealed as powerful protective factors in various types of cancer. However, they have also evidenced their oncogenic role in multiple carcinomas, enhancing tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. In this review, we analyze the role of lncRNA H19 impairing chemo and radiotherapy in tumorigenesis, including breast cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, glioma, and colorectal carcinoma.     

Efficient entropy estimation based on doubly stochastic models for quantized wavelet image data.

Under a rate constraint, wavelet-based image coding involves strategic discarding of information such that the remaining data can be described with a given amount of rate. In a practical coding system, this task requires knowledge of the relationship between quantization step size and compressed rate for each group of wavelet coefficients, the R-Q curve. A common approach to this problem is to fit each subband with a scalar probability distribution and compute entropy estimates based on the model. This approach is not effective at rates below 1.0 bits-per-pixel because the distributions of quantized data do not reflect the dependencies in coefficient magnitudes. These dependencies can be addressed with doubly stochastic models, which have been previously proposed to characterize more localized behavior, though there are tradeoffs between storage, computation time, and accuracy. Using a doubly stochastic generalized Gaussian model, it is demonstrated that the relationship between step size and rate is accurately described by a low degree polynomial in the logarithm of the step size. Based on this observation, an entropy estimation scheme is presented which offers an excellent tradeoff between speed and accuracy; after a simple data-gathering step, estimates are computed instantaneously by evaluating a single polynomial for each group of wavelet coefficients quantized with the same step size. These estimates are on average within 3% of a desired target rate for several of state-of-the-art coders.     

Effect of mixed solvents on PCDTBT:PC70BM based solar cells

We investigated the effect of solvents on the morphology, charge transport and device performance of poly[N-9″-hepta-decanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4′,7′-di-2-thienyl-2′,1′,3′-benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) and [6,6]-phenyl C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PC₇₀BM) based solar cells. To carry out this investigation, chloroform and 1,2-dichlorobenzene were chosen as good solvents of the two compounds. Films prepared with chloroform exhibit larger domains than those prepared with 1,2-dichlorobenzene and their size increases with the amount of PC₇₀BM. Fine tuning of the domain size was realized by using a solvent of mixed chloroform and 1,2-dichlorobenzene. At a mixing ratio of 50%:50%, a power conversion efficiency of 6.1% was achieved on PCDTBT:PC₇₀BM (1:3) devices with an active area of 1 cm², under air mass 1.5 global (AM 1.5 G) irradiation at 100 mW/cm².     

In situ measurement of free radical formation during the thermal decomposition of grape seed oil using “spin trapping” and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy

The generation of free radical intermediates as a result of the oxidative degradation of lipid molecules during the heating of grape seed oil has been established by a combination of “spin trapping” and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. The effects of temperature on the rates of formation and decomposition of the adduct with the spin trapN-t-butyl-α-phenylnitrone (PBN) have been investigated over the temperature range 105–180°C. The results show that PBN can be used for studies of free radical processes in oils in situ in the spectrometer cavity at temperatures up to 180°C.