Social sensitivity: a manifesto for CSCL research

International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning - Technologies for computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) are playing an increasingly prominent role in educational...     

Adsorption of bark derived polyphenols onto functionalized nanocellulose: Equilibrium modeling and kinetics

This article describes the kinetics and capacity of adsorbing condensed conifer tannins onto cationic cellulose nanocrystals (CCNCs). Batch adsorption experiments were carried as a function of pH, contact time, and initial tannin concentration with constant cationic cellulose nanocrystal concentration (0.01%). The adsorption process was highly pH dependent as adsorption capacities ranged from 13.2 mg/g to 112.7 mg/g at pH of 3–10. The amount of tannin adsorbed per unit mass of the cationic cellulose nanocrystals increased with increasing of tannin concentration until equilibrium was attained. The experimental data followed the Langmuir adsorption model, and the maximum experimental and theoretical adsorption capacities for the cationic nanocrystals reached 1,008 mg/g and 1,111 mg/g, respectively. The kinetics of adsorption was described best by the pseudo-second-order kinetics indicating a chemisorption process. The inherent adsorption has interesting applications for CCNC-complexes with natural polyphenolics in green chemical applications for adhesives, adsorbents, preservatives, and packaging materials.     

Liquid-Superrepellent Bioinspired Fibrillar Adhesives

Bioinspired elastomeric fibrillar surfaces have significant potential as reversible dry adhesives, but their adhesion performance is sensitive to the presence of liquids at the contact interface. Like their models in nature, many artificial mimics can effectively repel water, but fail when low-surface-tension liquids are introduced at the contact interface. A bioinspired fibrillar adhesive surface that is liquid-superrepellent even toward ultralow-surface-tension liquids while retaining its adhesive properties is proposed herein. This surface combines the effective adhesion principle of mushroom-shaped fibrillar arrays with liquid repellency based on double re-entrant fibril tip geometry. The adhesion performance of the proposed microfibril structures is retained even when low-surface-tension liquids are added to the contact interface. The extreme liquid repellency enables real-world applications of fibrillar adhesives for surfaces covered with water, oil, and other liquids. Moreover, fully elastomeric liquid-superrepellent surfaces are mechanically not brittle, highly robust against physical contact, and highly deformable and stretchable, which can increase the real-world uses of such antiwetting surfaces.     

The impact of salient advertisements on reading and attention on web pages.

Human vision is sensitive to salient features such as motion. Therefore, animation and onset of advertisements on Websites may attract visual attention and disrupt reading. We conducted three eye tracking experiments with authentic Web pages to assess whether (a) ads are efficiently ignored, (b) ads attract overt visual attention and disrupt reading, or (c) ads are covertly attended with distraction showing up indirectly in the reading performance. The Web pages contained an ad above a central text and another ad to the right of the text. In Experiments 1, 2, and 3A the task was to read for comprehension. Experiment 1 examined whether the degree of animation affects attention toward the ads. The results showed that ads were overtly attended during reading and that the dwell times on ads were the longest when the ad above was static and the other ad was animated. In Experiments 2 and 3, the ads appeared abruptly after a random time interval. The results showed that attention (i.e., the time when the eyes first entered an ad) was related to the ad onset time. This happened especially for the ad to the right, indicating that ads appearing close to the text region capture overt attention. In Experiment 3B the participants browsed the Web pages according to their own interest. The study demonstrated that salient ads attract overt visual attention and disrupt reading, but during free browsing, ads were viewed more frequently and for longer time than during reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Information technologies and transitions in the lives of 55–65-year-olds: The case of colliding life interests

More and more people entering the stage of retirement at around age 55–65 are healthy, active, and also very computer-literate. This trend is rapidly changing the common image of late-midlife technology users, which rests on the assumption that they find it difficult to embrace new technologies and also that their main interests are health related. Although technology use and lifestyles are changing, however, many other aspects of life remain the same. One of these aspects is that of the transitions, or life changes, that generally take place in these years. Besides retirement, these transitions include changes in health, housing, social interaction, work life, and personal finance. People develop different ways of coping with these transitions, which brings up interesting issues related to the late midlife stage. This paper presents a diary-aided interview study of late middle-age adults (N=24) in Finland and Sweden with a focus on the interplay between technologies and transitions. Transitions were found to play a part in how the life interests of late middle-aged persons are often conflictive, forcing them to choose from among various ‘possible selves’. At its best, technology can help alleviate these tensions. This finding is exemplified in the paper’s discussion of two design implications associated with particular clashes of interests, related to how daily activities are organized and how contact is maintained with one’s friends and family.     

Phenolic Compounds of the Inner Bark of Betula pendula: Seasonal and Genetic Variation and Induction by Wounding

The contents of individual phenolic compounds in the inner bark of silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) were analyzed by HPLC-DAD. Samples from 21 mature trees originating from three micropropagated parent trees were collected six times over a 1-year period. Significant seasonal variation in the quantities of ten compounds and four chromatographically unresolved compound pairs was found. A majority of the compounds also exhibited significant quantitative variation among birch clones. There were no qualitative differences associated with the season or among the clones. However, wounding of the bark induced the production of new types of bark phenolics: several ellagitannins were detected in the callus tissues of birch for the first time.