Modeling late-life adaptation in affective well-being under a severe chronic health condition: The case of age-related macular degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) was used as a case model to longitudinally study adaptation in affective well-being under a prevalent chronic health condition. Measures of positive and negative affect, obtained at 5 subsequent measurement occasions with 3-month intervals in between, were analyzed in 90 older adults diagnosed with AMD. The authors proposed a pattern of adaptation that shows initial decline in affective well-being after disease outbreak, followed by a turnaround into a restorative phase of increase, implying nonlinear intraindividual trajectories, with changes substantially related to disease duration. Analysis was conducted by means of a nonlinear mixed models approach. Results confirmed the hypothesized adaptation pattern for positive affect but not for negative affect, which was found more stable across measurement occasions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interacting with proactive public displays

In this paper we describe the design and architecture of an adaptive proactive environment in which information, which reflects the communal interests of current inhabitants, is proactively displayed on large-scale public displays. Adaptation is achieved through implicit communication between the environment and personal sensor devices worn by users. These devices, called Pendle, serve two purposes: they store and make available to the environment user preferences, and they allow users to override the environment's proactive behavior by means of simple gestures. The result is a smooth integration of environment-controlled interaction (experienced by the user as implicit interaction, triggered by their presence) and user-controlled explicit interaction. Initial results show that user-controlled adaptation leads to an engaging user experience that is unobtrusive and not distracting.     

The adaptation dynamics of chronic functional impairment: What we can learn from older adults with vision loss.

This study used vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration to learn about adaptation processes related to chronic functional impairment, focusing on Horowitz and Reinhardt's (1998) concept of Adaptation to Age-related Vision Loss (AVL) as the outcome. We hypothesized that impacts of visual acuity on AVL are mediated by perceived functional vision losses and functional abilities, and tested for “adaptive” weakening of this impact with ongoing loss. Longitudinal data covering a one-year interval from samples with age-related macular degeneration gathered in New York (N = 361) and Heidelberg (Germany, N = 90) were used. We analyzed the hypothesized causal structure by modeling latent change scores, and checked if those with low, medium, and high levels of vision loss at baseline differ in the relations between one-year change scores. Results confirmed that impacts of vision loss on AVL are mediated by decline in functional ability. However, under the most severe levels of vision loss at baseline, functional decline showed only a minor impact on AVL change not explained by a lack of further decline in vision. Findings confirm the effectiveness of adaptation in terms of reduced reactivity to functional losses across increasing level of chronic impairment. Thus, adaptation, weakening the impact of chronic functional impairment on psychological outcomes over time with disease progression, deserves consideration in the study of psychological consequences of chronic physical health conditions in old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

All my online-friends are better than me – three studies about ability-based comparative social media use,self-esteem,and depressive tendencies

ABSTRACT

We conducted three studies to assess short-term and long-term effects of social comparative SNS use on self-esteem and depressive tendencies. In Study 1 (N?=?75) we found in an exposure experiment including two experimental groups and one control group that social comparative internet use decreased participants’ performance-oriented state self-esteem as a short-term effect. In Study 2 and 3 (Ns?=?809, 145) results of the serial multiple mediator model indicated that passive Facebook use is associated with higher depressive tendencies mediated by a higher ability-related social comparison orientation and lower self-esteem as long-term effect. To obtain more generalisable findings, we transferred the serial multiple mediator model successfully from private to professional SNS use (Study 3).     

Dichroic dyes,and liquid crystalline side chain polymers

Functional guest molecules incorporated into LC-side-chain polymers lead to polymeric materials which combine the physical and optical anisotropic properties of liquid crystals with the special functions of the guest components. This contribution focused on dichroic dyes, but the results are transferable to other guest moieties. The covalent fixation of the dye to the polymer backbone affords several advantages. Liquid crystalline materials with high dye concentrations were obtained opening the way to the preparation of highly ordered, optical uniaxial films with adjustable thickness and optical density. Thin well aligned LC-polymer films can in principle be used as an active medium for reversible optical information storage and mixtures of dye-containing copolymers in low molar mass liquid crystals can be used in displays. Current developments in the area of ferroelectric chiral smectic-C side-chain polymers will further enhance interest in this area.     

Binary search trees with binary comparison cost

We introduce a new variant of the cost measure usually associated with binary search trees. This cost measure BCOST, results from the observation that during a search, a decision to branch left need require only one binary comparison, whereas branching right or not branching at all requires two binary comparisons. This is in contrast with the standard cost measure TCOST, which assumes an equal number of comparisons is required for each of the three possible actions. With BCOST in mind we re-examine its effect with respect to minimal and maximal BCOST trees, minimal and maximal BCOST-height trees, and introduce a class of BCOST-height balanced trees, which have a logarithmically maintainable stratified subclass. Finally, a number of other issues are briefly touched upon.This work was partially supported by NATO Grant GR 155.81, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Grant No. A-5692, and National Science Foundation Grant No. MCS-8116522.     

Current routes in polycrystalline CuInSe2 and Cu(In,Ga)Se2 films

Local electrical transport measurements with scanning probe microscopy on polycrystalline (PX) p-CuInSe₂ and p-Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ films show that the photovoltaic and dark currents for bias voltages smaller than 1 V flow mainly through grain boundaries (GBs), indicating inversion at the GBs. Photocurrent for higher bias flows mainly via the grains. Based on these results and our finding of 100 meV GB band bending we deduce the potential landscape around the GBs. We suggest that high grain material quality, leading to large carrier mobilities, and electron–hole separation at the GBs, by chemical and electrical potential gradients, result in the high performance of these PX solar cells.     

Fertilizers, agronomy and N2O

N₂O is emitted from agricultural soils due to microbial transformation of N from fertilizers, manures and soil N reserves. N₂O also derives from N lost from agriculture to other ecosystems: as NH₃ or through NO ₃ ^- leaching. Increased efficiency in crop N uptake and reduction of N losses should in principle diminish the amount of N₂O from agricultural sources. Precision in crop nutrient management is developing rapidly and should increase this efficiency. It should be possible to design guidelines on good agricultural practices for low N₂O emissions in special situations, e.g. irrigated agriculture, and for special operations, e.g. deep placement of fertilizers and manures. However, current information is insufficient for such guidelines. Slow-release fertilizers and fertilizers with inhibitors of soil enzymatic processes show promise as products which give reduced N₂O emissions, but they are expensive and have had little market penetration. Benefits and possible problems with their use needs further clarification.