Crafting the Compelling User Experience

This article provides an introduction to the usage of software engineering approaches and tools for the design of user experience (UE). This approach was developed for three main reasons: (a) to provide UE design teams a rigorous, methodical, encompassing method that can be applied throughout the entire product development cycle; (b) to provide designers a way to work with abstract concepts to establish the conceptual design of the system before progressing to the realization of the design to the appropriate platform; and (c) to communicate the intended design to the implementation team in a manner that is concise, complete, and familiar. The approach is the application of Unified Modeling Language concepts to describe users and the UE design rather than the technical architecture. It is believed that designing the UE design separately from the technical architecture will help ensure teams deliver a usable and delightful UE. The methods in this article have been applied to a handful of real-world projects in the last year and a half. Thus far, the application of software engineering approaches and tools have been found to be very powerful aids that have enabled the creation of highly useful Web experiences as well as software applications.

Our intent is to address the full gamut of issues involved in creating a total user experience (UE)-from discovery of users needs through high-level and low-level design, ensuring fidelity during development, and deployment, with a full assessment of how well the design meets users' needs. We believe that through a concerted use of such a rigorous approach we can greatly improve not only the UE of products we create, but also the experience of designing and developing them. We are not the only team taking this direction in UE design. It has become clear to many in our field that a more rigorous, thorough, and accurate approach to UE design is not only possible-it is necessary, for many of the same reasons that software engineers long ago embraced such practices. As we are evolving our approaches in other phases, this article focuses on the discovery and design phase activities.     

Cryptococcosis in tree shrews (Tupaia tana and Tupaia minor) and elephant shrews (Macroscelides proboscides)

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relation between metabolic and anthropometric parameters and circulating leptin concentrations in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). DESIGN AND PATIENTS: Correlation of fasting serum leptin concentrations with anthropometric measures and multiple metabolic parameters including insulin and glucose responses to a 2-hour 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in 85 women with PCOS (17-36 years, body mass index (BMI) 29.9 +/- 0.9 kg/m2, mean +/- SD) and 18 control women (25-47 years, BMI 25 +/- 1.7 kg/m2). Diagnostic criteria for PCOS: characteristic ovarian morphology on ultrasound plus at least two of (1) elevated serum testosterone; (2) elevated serum androstenedione; and (3) reduced serum SHBG concentrations. MEASUREMENTS: Concentrations of androgens, lipids, PRL, gonadotrophins, and leptin were measured in the baseline fasting blood sample from an OGTT. Insulin and glucose were measured throughout OGTT. Serum leptin concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Log leptin levels in the PCOS group correlated significantly with BMI (r = 0.85, P < 0.0001) and with 8 other parameters including waist/hip ratio (r = 0.51, P = 0.0005). By stepwise regression analysis, only BMI (P < 0.0001) and plasma high density lipoprotein concentration (P = 0.02) were independently correlated with log leptin levels, both positively. There was no effect of fat distribution, as measured by waist/ hip ratio, on leptin concentrations. Comparison of control subjects to a BMI-matched subgroup of 55 PCOS subjects revealed significantly higher circulating concentrations of LH, testosterone, DHEAS, progesterone and androstenedione, and higher glucose and insulin responses to OGTT in the PCOS group. Leptin levels were not different between the PCOS subgroup and control group (14.8 +/- 1.3 vs 12.1 +/- 2.3 micrograms/l, mean +/- SE, P = 0.26) and the relation of BMI to leptin levels determined by linear regression analysis also did not differ between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that circulating leptin concentrations in women with PCOS, a condition characterized by hyperandrogenaemia, increased LH concentrations and insulin resistance, are strongly related to BMI and not independently affected by circulating levels of insulin, gonadotrophins or sex hormones.     

Fibronectin fragments modulate human retinal capillary cell proliferation and migration

Capillary morphogenesis involves cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. Proteases elaborated by capillary cells modify the extracellular matrix (ECM) to facilitate capillary tube formation. Previously, we detected the presence of fibronectin fragments (Fn-f) associated with the proform of matrix metalloprotease-2 (MMP-2) in conditioned medium of human retinal endothelial cells (HRECs). Association of this fragment to latent MMP-2 prevented autocatalytic activation of MMP-2, suggesting a modulatory role of Fn-f in MMP-2 activation. In this report, we examined the potential role of Fn-f on two processes involved in angiogenesis, proliferation and migration of vascular cells. The effects of Fn-f on proliferation were determined by DNA synthesis and cell counts. Their effects on migration were assessed using modified Boyden chambers. Seven Fn-f were tested on vascular cell migration and/or proliferation. Three Fn-f induced migration. Fn-f of 30-kDa and 120-kDa size positively affected proliferation of microvascular cells but not macrovascular cells. A 45-kDa gelatin binding fragment of Fn inhibited HREC proliferation but stimulated pericyte and smooth muscle cell proliferation. The potency of these fragments exceeded that of the known angiogenic growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), on HREC migration. ECM components such as fibronectin may influence capillary morphogenesis by the generation of fragments that can modulate proliferation, migration, and protease activation. In the setting of diabetes, excess Fn is generated and is available for degradation. Thus, the production of Fn-f may be specifically relevant to the angiogenesis observed in proliferative diabetic retinopathy.     

Dielectric properties of Sr3CuNb2O9 perovskite ceramics

The dielectric constant ? and loss tangent tanδ of Sr₃CuNb₂O₉ perovskite ceramics prepared by solid-state reactions have been measured at temperatures from 300 to 900 K and frequencies from 25 to 1 × 10⁶ Hz. The results demonstrate that the samples slowly cooled from the temperature of the final, high-temperature firing (1200°C) have relatively low permittivity (? ? 10) and dielectric losses (tanδ ? 0.005 at 1 kHz) at room temperature, with no strong dielectric dispersion and no prominent maxima in the temperature dependences of their permittivity and dielectric loss. The ceramics quenched from 1300°C exhibit a pronounced Debye-type low-frequency relaxation and strong dielectric dispersion in conjunction with high permittivity ? ? 2000 at low frequencies and/or high temperatures. The observed dielectric anomalies in the Sr₃CuNb₂O₉ ceramics can be understood in terms of Maxwell-Wagner relaxation at dielectric inhomogeneities associated with the quenching-induced difference in oxygen-vacancy concentration between the grain bulk and surface layer.     

Bioconversion of n−3 and n−6 PUFA by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Clavibacter</Emphasis> sp. ALA2

Clavibacter sp. ALA2 oxidized n−3 and n−6 PUFA into a variety of oxylipins. Structures of products converted from EPA and DHA were determined as 15,18-dihydroxy-14,17-epoxy-5(Z),8(Z),11(Z)-eicosatrienoic acid and 17,20-dihydroxy-16,19-epoxy-4(Z),7(Z),10(Z),13(Z)-docosatetraenoic acid by GC-MS and NMR analyses. In contrast, γ-linolenic acid and arachidonic acid were converted to diepoxy bicyclic FA, tetrahydrofuranyl monohydroxy FA, and trihydroxy FA. Thus, the structures of bioconversion products were different between n−3 and n−6 PUFA. Furthermore, strain ALA2 placed hydroxy groups and cyclic structures at the same position from the ω-terminal despite the number of carbons in the chain and the double bonds in the PUFA.     

Post-synthetic modification of conjugated microporous polymers

Control over the surface functionality and microporosity in conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) has been achieved by the post-synthetic modification of amines into amides of with different alkyl chains, one of which was chiral. The surface areas, pore volumes, carbon dioxide uptakes and isosteric heat of adsorption for carbon dioxide can be rationally tuned.