使用电容和红外线接近感应开发新一代人机界面

预计2010年具有先进人机界面的电子产品出货量将超过十亿.这些人机界面利用电容和红外线接近感应等技术使终端用户体验显著改善,同时增加了系统可靠性、降低了总体成本.除了使产品更易使用、更具视觉吸引力之外,这些人机界面屏蔽掉了电子产品日益增长的复杂性,使得制造商能够把具有先进功能的产品更决推向市场.     

Learning disabilities and executive dysfunction in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The effect of comorbid reading or arithmetic learning disabilities (LDs) on neuropsychological function in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was studied. Participants were young males diagnosed with ADHD, with and without LD, and non-ADHD, non-LD male controls of similar age. LD was defined by combined regression-based and low-achievement classifications. Analyses adjusted for the effect of psychiatric comorbidity, age, and socioeconomic status on neuropsychological function. Children who had both ADHD and LD were significantly more impaired on both executive and nonexecutive functions than ADHD children without LD. Neuropsychological performance was most impaired in ADHD with combined arithmetic and reading disability. These data indicate that comorbid LD, especially arithmetic disability, significantly increases the severity of executive function impairment in ADHD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trust and the transformation of energy systems

The author looks at diverse concepts and roles of trust in the challenge of decarbonising energy systems, drawing on 25 years of personal experience in the fields of energy and environmental policy research. The paper focuses on three issues-public trust in science, institutional trust in making technology choices, and the idea that high-trust societies are more sustainable than those exhibiting low-trust. While trust is a key concept in understanding the public acceptability of technology choices, it is only one of a suite of interrelated concepts that must be addressed, which also includes liability, consent, and fairness. Furthermore, rational distrust among competing institutional world views may be critical in understanding the role of social capital in socioeconomic and technological development. Thus the concept of trust has become a portmanteau, carrying a diverse range of ideas and conditions for sustainable energy systems. The paper concludes with three emphases for decision makers. First, the issue is the energy system, not particular generating technologies. Second, the energy system must be recognized to be as much a social system as it is a technical one. Third, the system requires incorporation of the minimum level of diversity of engineering technologies and social actors to be sustainable.     

Gray‐scale addressing method by multi‐order paraunitary/orthogonal building blocks

A new driving scheme for liquid‐crystal displays has been proposed, which uses paraunitary matrices as the diagonal building blocks. The new driving scheme has the advantages of lower hardware complexity than the well‐known MLA. In this paper, a new method is proposed for the implementation of gray scale in the recently proposed paraunitary driving scheme and the MLA. The method is based on multi‐order paraunitary/orthogonal building blocks, which strikes a balance between frame size and number of voltage levels.     

Better Decisions, Better Processes: Using Customer-Integrated Decision Making

As Spectra Precision, Inc., in Dayton, Ohio, embarked on a new Total Quality Management approach, it recognized a need to improve its product development process by getting more customer focused and integrated within all internal functions. By choosing the Customer Integrated Decision Making/ Matrix Analysis (CIDM/MA) process, they brought a rigorous, cross-discipline team-based, transferable decision process into the company. The first project chosen was in one of the traditional market areas that was experiencing significant competitive pressure and internal debate on how to respond. With a team of representatives from engineering, quality, manufacturing, marketing, and sales, the project took three and half months to complete solution planning, in-context interviews, two choice-based market surveys, and internal discussion. Along the way, many key product, market, and competitive decisions were reached and presented to management for acceptance. For the first time management had hard, factual data available for making decisions about corrective actions on subsequent design efforts. Also, using CIDM/MA allowed management to have an integrated decision process that helped in deciding which customer segments were important to focus on, understanding these customers' needs and current perceptions, and focus on the response alternatives. As a result of this first success, a second project was started primarily utilizing an internal facilitator and other divisions of the company were starting to use the process as well.     

Reviews: What a great idea—I'll try that with my grade 9s

M. Monk & J. Osborne. (Eds.). (2000). Good Practice in Science Teaching: What Research Has to Say. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. ISBN 0–335–20391–4 (paper), 0–335–20392–2 (cloth)     

The Small Fatigue Crack Growth Behavior of an AM60 Magnesium Alloy

The effects of thermomechanical processing and subsequent heat treatment on the small fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior of an AM60 (Mg-6.29Al-0.28Mn wt pct) alloy were evaluated. The effects of mechanical loading parameters, such as maximum stress and load-ratio, on the small FCG behavior were also determined. Maximum stress did not appear to affect the crack propagation rate of small cracks in the stress and crack size ranges considered. Materials with different microstructures and yield stresses, introduced by different processing conditions, showed similar crack growth rates at equivalent stress intensity factor ranges. The effect of load ratio on small crack growth rates was recorded. Fracture surface characterization suggested that the fatigue crack propagation mechanism was a mixture of transgranular and intergranular cracking. Porosity and other material defects played respective important roles in determining the fatigue crack initiation and propagation behavior.     

Using audio to support animated route information in a hospital touch-screen kiosk

It can be difficult for both patients and staff to find particular locations within large, modern hospital building complexes. Interactive way-finding information on a touch-screen kiosk might remedy this, but numerous design issues face those developing appropriate interfaces. This paper discusses the decisions underlying a design which provided routes to 16 destinations in the UK’s third largest hospital, for both stair users and those wishing to avoid stairs. All routes included an animated map, photographs and text boxes with optional spoken output. Assessment methods included unobtrusive observation of kiosk users, analysis of computer logs, and interviews with reception staff who normally answered way-finding queries. Observation confirmed that people using the touch-screen reached their destinations. The computer logs over 10 weeks showed a stable daily average of 82 people interacting with the kiosk. Most way-finders (72%) retained the voice output but 28% turned it off, suggesting that modality choice is needed in multimedia interfaces for the public. This study highlighted beneficial side-effects of interactive way-finding kiosks, such as enabling patients to access relevant route information before visiting the hospital. This information could be provided via the internet or by including a printout of the relevant route with the appointment letter.