The effects of transparency on trust in and acceptance of a content-based art recommender

The increasing availability of (digital) cultural heritage artefacts offers great potential for increased access to art content, but also necessitates tools to help users deal with such abundance of information. User-adaptive art recommender systems aim to present their users with art content tailored to their interests. These systems try to adapt to the user based on feedback from the user on which artworks he or she finds interesting. Users need to be able to depend on the system to competently adapt to their feedback and find the artworks that are most interesting to them. This paper investigates the influence of transparency on user trust in and acceptance of content-based recommender systems. A between-subject experiment (N = 60) evaluated interaction with three versions of a content-based art recommender in the cultural heritage domain. This recommender system provides users with artworks that are of interest to them, based on their ratings of other artworks. Version 1 was not transparent, version 2 explained to the user why a recommendation had been made and version 3 showed a rating of how certain the system was that a recommendation would be of interest to the user. Results show that explaining to the user why a recommendation was made increased acceptance of the recommendations. Trust in the system itself was not improved by transparency. Showing how certain the system was of a recommendation did not influence trust and acceptance. A number of guidelines for design of recommender systems in the cultural heritage domain have been derived from the study’s results.

Extension of the program 3D MMP with a fifth order Gaussian beam

The authors have extended Hafner and Bomholt's numerical electromagnetic scattering program 3D MMP [1993] with a fifth order Gaussian beam approximation using Barton and Alexander's equations from [1989]. Numerical computation results for one spherical particle located on-axis in a highly focussed Gaussian beam (s=0.1) serve as an example for high accuracy scattering simulations in the visual spectral range at low size parameters (α=20)     

Headache caused by a sphenoid mucocele but presenting as an ergotamine-induced headache

In a 65-year-old woman, symptomatic headache caused by a mucocele of the sphenoid sinus led to ergotamine abuse and subsequent ergotamine-induced headache. Since there were no neurological symptoms initially and the patient previously suffered from migraine, the mucocele was not recognized. Only after unsuccessful drug withdrawal therapy and an MRI, was the correct diagnosis made. Surgical removal of the mucocele led to complete relief of headache within 3 weeks. We conclude that ergotamine-induced headache can develop on the basis of symptomatic headache. In spite of the effectiveness of ergotamine tartrate, an MRI should be performed if focal neurological symptoms occur.     

Untersuchungen und Betrachtungen zur Anwendung von Kunststoffen für Lebensmittel XII: Zur Auswanderung monomerer Weichmacher aus PVC-Milchschläuchen in Reinigungslösungen

Investigations and Observations on the Application of Plastics in Foods XII: Migration of Monomeric Plasticizers from PVC Tubes into Cleansing Solutions The transfer of a few monomeric plasticizers from PVC milk tubes into cleansing solutions can be quantitatively detected by means of the analytical procedure given. It could be thus established that cleansing solutions of various compositions differ from each other in their extracting action on soft PVC. Milk tubes whose internal surface becomes brittle due to unsuitable cleansing agents can not be adequately cleaned because of the rough surface. Thus the quality of the milk flowing through them is impaired.     

Design and Development of a Package Using LCP for RF/Microwave MEMS Switches

We present the development of an ultrahigh moisture-resistant enclosure for RF microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switches using liquid-crystal polymer (LCP). A cavity formed in LCP has been laminated, at low temperature, onto a silicon MEMS switch to create a package. The LCP-cap package has an insertion loss of less than 0.2 dB at X-band. E595 outgas tests demonstrate that the LCP material is suitable for constructing reliable packages without interfering with the operation of the MEMS switch. The package also passes Method 1014, MIL-STD-883 gross leak, and fine leak hermeticity tests     

Forest fertilization — present state and history with special reference to South German conditions

Until well into the eighteenth century, forestry was largely confined to the poorer soils and sites too difficult for farming properly and ravaged by destructive lumbering, burning and grazing. Up to the mid-20th century there was much extraction of litter. All this resulted in nutrient impoverishment which persists to the present day. There has been some improvement through corrective fertilization. Such treatment over the past 30 years brought about yield improvement of around 3 m³/ha/year compared to untreated areas. This, no doubt, was largely because of the former widespread deficiencies of nitrogen and phosphate and weathering under high rainfall during the course of the experiments. Returns from fertilizer were very variable and such large improvements were not always the rule. Whether such results are still obtainable today when growth performance in many areas is so much improved or under different climatic conditions may be doubtful.Today there is a need more for ameliorative treatment to revitalize the forest and to stabilize or improve soil fertility. Many examples have shown that fertilizer treatment designed to improve growth can also improve toleration of natural and man-made adverse factors. Where this did not apply, the reason was found to be inappropriate nutrient combinations. For instance, it is only quite recently that the importance of magnesium deficiency has been recognized in many areas. Today it is possible to identify specific nutrient deficiencies before deciding on a fertilizer programme. The full potential of the forest can only be realised when all the major and trace elements are available in sufficient quantity from the soil and when nutrient contents in the plant are in equilibrium. The use of fertilizers in the complex environment of the forest ecosystem calls for discretion, the more so if the bad effects of man-made adverse factors are to be countered. Very soluble fertilizers used at a high rate can have undesirable side-effects, notably too rapid mineralisation of organic matter. So there is much to be said for using slower releasing fertilizers, but, where the need for improvement is urgent, soluble fertilizers are to be preferred. This is the case in nurseries and during the establishment phase where adverse factors (competition from the natural plant cover, wild animal damage and frost) must be outgrown. Quick releasing fertilizers are also recommended to ensure the right nutrient interrelationships in the tree, the earlier the necessary correction is made the better.In the future, fertilizer policies must be reviewed in the light of change in the level of pollution and, possibly also in the light of change in climate. Knowledge acquired up to now will be a useful foundation for future work.     

Detection of glycopeptide resistance genotypes and identification to the species level of clinically relevant enterococci by PCR

36 small-for-dates newborn were introduced to our studies. The concentrations of C3 in sera of newborns were at 65% mean values found in sera their mothers. We have compared the concentrations of C3 in sera of newborns and their mothers and did not find no correlation. These data may indicate this component does not penetrate through placenta.     

The spontaneous pregnancy prognosis in untreated subfertile couples: the Walcheren primary care study

The spontaneous pregnancy prognosis of couples in a primary care situation has never been studied. Prognostic models have been developed for referral populations only. We wished to develop a prognostic model to estimate the likelihood of live birth and the impact of prognostic factors among untreated subfertile couples in a primary care situation. With this aim, we conducted a cohort follow-up study of 726 couples in the peninsula of Walcheren, a geographically isolated, but demographically and socio-economically representative area of an industrialized Western society, The Netherlands. Of the Walcheren population, 9.9% exhibit subfertility complaints at least once during their lifetime. There were 201 live birth conceptions during 9915 months of untreated observation. The cumulative rate of conceptions leading to live births was 52.5% when all of the untreated observations were considered, and 72.0% in the subgroup of 342 couples who remained untreated throughout their follow-up. The relevant prognostic factors in this primary care subfertility population were: abnormal post-coital test, tubal defect, ovulation defect, and duration of subfertility. A prediction score based on these factors would be accurate in approximately 76-79% of cases. Live birth prognosis can be estimated with sufficient accuracy to be useful in counselling subfertility patients, and in planning clinical management.