Schminky: The design of a café based digital experience

This paper describes the design process and lessons learned from creating Schminky, a café-based digital experience. Schminky was developed as an experimental field trial to explore the role of pervasive computing. The game will be played by the general public for one week in the Watershed café in Bristol. The Schminky system and the experience design process is described and three key findings, creative tension, context and content are discussed.     

The steric requirements for sterol inhibition of tetrahymanol biosynthesis

Many naturally occurring sterols are accumulated and metabolized byTetrahymena pyriformis. In most cases, the sterols are desaturated to give^Δ5,7,22-derivatives. Compounds with an ethyl, but not with a methyl, substituent at C-24 are dealkylated. Exposure of the ciliates to the appropriate sterol sharply curtails the synthesis of the native pentacyclic triterpenoid alcohols, tetrahymanol and diplopterol. An analysis with modified sterols has revealed several additional features that are required for desaturation at C-7,8 and C-22,23 and for inhibition of tetrahymanol biosynthesis. The presence of atrans-17(20)-double bond, which eliminates free rotation at C-20 and fixes C-22 to the right of the nucleus, does not interfere with desaturation, while thecis- or left-handed isomer is not metabolized. Thecis-Δ¹⁷⁽²⁰⁾-isomer is, however, an effective inhibitor of tetrahymanol biosynthesis, although less so that thetrans-counterpart. When a methyl or hydroxyl group at C-20 protrudes to the front of the molecule in the right-handed conformation, metabolism is reduced or abolished. Shortening (by one C-atom) or lengthening of the sterol side chain has little effect on the ability of the compounds to inhibit tetrahymanol biosynthesis or to support growth, as long as the overall length of the side chain does not exceed seven carbons from C-20. The presence of a 7α-, 7β-, 20α-, 20β-, or a 25-hydroxy group in the cholesterol molecule sharply inhibits desaturation and curtails the effectiveness of the compound as an inhibitor of tetrahymanol biosynthesis. The 7- or 22-keto derivatives seem to act in a fashion similar to the hydroxy derivatives, but these compounds show greater inhibition of growth. 20-Methylcholesterol, however, is a potent inhibitor of synthesis, which suggests that the polarity of the substituent of C-20 is more important than bulk. Many sterols can effectively replace tetrahymanol in the membranes of these ciliates. However, several of the compounds, which inhibit synthesis, appear to be physiologically inappropriate, and poor growth results. An example of the latter class is 20-methylcholesterol. Finally, a class of sterols, represented by 20α-hydroxycholesterol and 7-ketocholesterol, does not severly inhibit tetrahymanol synthesis but leads to growth inhibition and surface abnormalities. These sterols apparently lead to a disordered membrane, even in the presence of tetrahymanol.     

The immediate and enduring impact of a cancer diagnosis on professional growth and development.

Whether one is prepared for them or not, personal challenges that affect professional roles are a fact of life. The author discusses the immediate and enduring consequences of the diagnosis of, treatment of, and recovery from a life-threatening illness as they relate to practicing psychology. In particular, the areas impacted, such as work responsibilities, training and supervision, and professional development, are addressed. In addition, clients' reactions and personal responses to those reactions are considered. The more enduring impact on the understanding of several common therapeutic concepts, including emotional avoidance, rational versus irrational beliefs, just worldview, and acceptance, is explored. Finally, practical implications and recommendations are made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Strain, Patterson, and Seidenberg (2002).

E. Strain, K. E. Patterson, and M. S. Seidenberg (2002) reported an effect of imageability and a Regularity X Imageability interaction in a regression analysis of naming latencies to 120 words. One of their items (couth) was named correctly by just 5 of their 24 participants, and its reaction time was an outlier on their distribution. When that single item is removed, the significant predictors are age of acquisition (AoA), word frequency, regularity, and length. Analyses of the combined data from J. Monaghan and A. W. Ellis's (2002) Experiments 1-3 indicate that AoA predicts naming latencies for exception words but not consistent words. E. Strain et al.'s other points are considered in the light of these observations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Covert pain in hypnotic analgesia: Its reality as tested by the real-simulator design.

Simulation of covert pain, as reported by the hidden observer method, proved very successful for 12 simulator Ss known to be unable to reduce overtly reported pain through hypnotic analgesia procedures, as compared with 12 highly hypnotizable Ss whose pain had been shown to be reduced by at least one third through hypnotic analgesia suggestions. Preliminary practice in dissociation (and in simulated dissociation) through amnesia for a word list and through attempted automatic writing also demonstrated successful simulation. However, in an honesty inquiry by a staff member not participating as a hypnotist-experimenter, no simulator claimed to have been amnesic, to have performed automatic writing, or to have reduced pain beyond the reduction that could be achieved through waking suggestion. The methods by which the successful simulation was achieved were explored in subsequent interviews. In contrast with the simulators, no highly hypnotizable S modified any earlier report on the basis of the honesty inquiry. Results confirm the importance of postexperimental honesty interrogation when the real–simulator design is used. Results also lend support to the reality of the covert experience of pain in the absence of its overt experience in hypnotic analgesia. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Electronic Structure of Low‐Temperature Solution‐Processed Amorphous Metal Oxide Semiconductors for Thin‐Film Transistor Applications

The electronic structure of low temperature, solution‐processed indium–zinc oxide thin‐film transistors is complex and remains insufficiently understood. As commonly observed, high device performance with mobility >1 cm² V^?1 s^?1 is achievable after annealing in air above typically 250 °C but performance decreases rapidly when annealing temperatures ≤200 °C are used. Here, the electronic structure of low temperature, solution‐processed oxide thin films as a function of annealing temperature and environment using a combination of X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and photothermal deflection spectroscopy is investigated. The drop‐off in performance at temperatures ≤200 °C to incomplete conversion of metal hydroxide species into the fully coordinated oxide is attributed. The effect of an additional vacuum annealing step, which is beneficial if performed for short times at low temperatures, but leads to catastrophic device failure if performed at too high temperatures or for too long is also investigated. Evidence is found that during vacuum annealing, the workfunction increases and a large concentration of sub‐bandgap defect states (re)appears. These results demonstrate that good devices can only be achieved in low temperature, solution‐processed oxides if a significant concentration of acceptor states below the conduction band minimum is compensated or passivated by shallow hydrogen and oxygen vacancy‐induced donor levels.     

Mechanochemical solid state synthesis and optical properties of Cd0.5Zn0.5Se nanocrystals

High-quality Cd_0.5Zn_0.5Se nanoparticles with diameters ranging from 2.6 to 4.3 nm were synthesized via intensive mechanical milling for up to 20 h. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) and broadening of the diffraction peaks increased with increasing ball milling process and later decreased. XRD pattern confirmed a dominant zinc blende phase at (x = 0.5) composition. The optical spectra of the nanoparticles exhibited an onset absorption peak at 349 nm, with maximum absorption at 290 nm. The luminescence properties of the nanoparticles at room temperature were analyzed via photoluminescence spectroscopy, revealing band-edge emission at 354 nm. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra exhibit broad emission band at the range of (380–508) nm photon energy. The PL spectrum has two distinctive shoulders at 403 and 450 nm. Band emissions of 1.74, 1.54 and 1.4 eV at longer wavelengths that were associated with the surface state were also observed. High-transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) revealed the successful annihilation of such defects with continuous milling.     

Knowledge through participation: the triumphs and challenges of transferring Integrated Pest and Disease Management (IPDM) technology to cocoa farmers in Papua New Guinea

Income from cocoa is the main source of cash used to purchase food and services in many communities in the tropical lowlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Despite the availability of improved management technology, there has been poor transfer and uptake of these technologies among smallholder cocoa farmers, and potentially high bean yields and farmer incomes remain unrealised. A series of IPDM options that were shown to improve crop management and cocoa bean yield in research trials were demonstrated to farmers using an on-farm participatory approach that enabled farmers to evaluate the costs and benefits of each strategy before committing to adoption. The options were designed to provide several levels of entry to improved management, and ranged from no inputs (Option 1), manual inputs (Option 2: pruning, sanitation, weed management and regular complete pod harvesting), high level inputs (Option 3: pruning, sanitation, weed management, regular complete pod harvesting and fertiliser application), to intensive management (Option 4: pruning, sanitation, weed management, regular complete pod harvesting, and the application of fertiliser, fungicide and pesticide). Farmers from East New Britain, Madang and Bougainville, the three main cocoa growing provinces in PNG, participated in on-farm IPDM training and surveys to monitor changes in knowledge and management practice. Farmers opted in or out of the training as their commitments or level of interest changed, and new farmers joined in after observing changes in the cocoa blocks. Farmers were trained in epidemiology and crop management, were shown how to apply the IPDM inputs in their own cocoa blocks, and were given a simple training manual. Surveys conducted prior to, and 3 years after the training, showed an improvement in the farmers’ knowledge of cocoa management and a better understanding of cocoa pest and disease epidemiology. Three years after the training, pest and disease incidence in participating cocoa blocks had declined and cocoa yields had increased by an average of 30%. Trained farmers were encouraged to demonstrate improved management to neighbouring farmers, and the program has now been officially adopted as the national strategy to improve cocoa production in PNG. The participatory approach is an effective way of disseminating information and technology to farmers, however, it requires frequent follow-up visits by trained extension staff. We also discuss the significant challenges associated with conducting farmer surveys.     

Microcomputer-Based Approaches for Preventing Drug and Alcohol Abuse Among Adolescents from Ethnic-Racial Minority Backgrounds

This study was designed to empirically assess the potential of microcomputer-based intervention with black adolescents from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Subjects were 26, 11 through 14-year-old black females and males recruited from three boroughs in New York City. A sample task was administered via microcomputer system followed by a postintervention measurement battery. Observational measures were also employed to assess interactional variables. Subjects' attitudes toward educational content in general, and toward drug and alcohol information delivery in particular, appeared to be a significant intervening variable that could alter the overall efficacy of computer-delivered interventions. Both observational and postintervention measures indicated an overall positive subject response to computer-administered instruction. In contrast, however, respondents indicated a negative response to microcomputer delivery of drug and alcohol related materials. Results of the experiment are discussed along with rationales and future research directions.