‘Podracing’: experimenting with mobile TV content consumption and delivery methods

Recently, mobile TV has been launched in several countries. While mobile TV integrates television contents into mobile phones, the most personal of communication devices, it becomes interesting to know how this feature will be used throughout the day and in varying contexts of everyday life. This paper presents empirical results on the use of mobile TV with different delivery mechanisms and both quantitative and qualitative results on how end-users prefer to use mobile TV contents in different situations. The data is based on ongoing empirical research in Finland in 2006 and 2007. The mobile TV services under study included both news and entertainment contents, and were tested in 3G, DVB-H and Wi-Fi networks using different delivery paradigms: broadcast, on-demand and download. To explore the use of different delivery methods and content consumption, we have developed a mobile TV service protoype, called Podracing. The analysis shows that users appreciated up-to-date information and information-rich media forms and contents especially for mobile news delivery. There was high demand for only the latest news on mobiles. The real-time property was considered important. Most of the users looked at the headlines or followed the news several times a day – much more often than the traditional TV and news prime times would allow.     

UX Curve: A method for evaluating long-term user experience

The goal of user experience design in industry is to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty through the utility, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction with a product. So far, user experience studies have mostly focused on short-term evaluations and consequently on aspects relating to the initial adoption of new product designs. Nevertheless, the relationship between the user and the product evolves over long periods of time and the relevance of prolonged use for market success has been recently highlighted. In this paper, we argue for the cost-effective elicitation of longitudinal user experience data. We propose a method called the “UX Curve” which aims at assisting users in retrospectively reporting how and why their experience with a product has changed over time. The usefulness of the UX Curve method was assessed in a qualitative study with 20 mobile phone users. In particular, we investigated how users’ specific memories of their experiences with their mobile phones guide their behavior and their willingness to recommend the product to others. The results suggest that the UX Curve method enables users and researchers to determine the quality of long-term user experience and the influences that improve user experience over time or cause it to deteriorate. The method provided rich qualitative data and we found that an improving trend of perceived attractiveness of mobile phones was related to user satisfaction and willingness to recommend their phone to friends. This highlights that sustaining perceived attractiveness can be a differentiating factor in the user acceptance of personal interactive products such as mobile phones. The study suggests that the proposed method can be used as a straightforward tool for understanding the reasons why user experience improves or worsens in long-term product use and how these reasons relate to customer loyalty.     

Cross-Sectional Associations of Food Consumption with Plasma Fatty Acid Composition and Estimated Desaturase Activities in Finnish Children

Plasma fatty acid (FA) composition is known to be an indicator of dietary fat quality, but the associations of other dietary factors with plasma FA composition remain unknown in children. We investigated the cross-sectional associations of food consumption with the proportions of FA and estimated desaturase activities in plasma cholesteryl esters (CE) and phospholipids (PL) among children. The subjects were a population sample of 423 children aged 6–8 years examined at baseline of The Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) Study. We assessed food consumption by food records and plasma FA composition by gas chromatography. We used linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, physical activity and total energy intake to analyze the associations. A higher consumption of vegetable oil-based margarine (fat 60–80 %) was associated with a higher proportion of linoleic and α-linolenic acids in plasma CE and PL. A higher consumption of high-fiber grain products was related to a lower proportion of oleic acid in CE and PL. The consumption of candy was directly associated with the proportion of palmitoleic and oleic acid in plasma CE. The consumption of vegetable oil-based margarine was inversely associated with estimated stearoyl-CoA-desaturase activity in plasma CE and PL and the consumption of candy was directly related to it in plasma CE. The results of our study suggest that plasma FA composition is not only a biomarker for dietary fat quality but also reflects the consumption of high-fiber grain products and foods high in sugar among children.     

On-Chip Refrigeration by Evaporation of Hot Electrons at Sub-Kelvin Temperatures

Evaporation of hot electrons from a normal-metal into a superconductor can be used for efficient Peltier type cooling in micrometer size tunnel junctions. We have cooled the electrons to one third, ¹ and, as the main result of the present paper, a separate silicon nitride membrane to about one half of its starting temperature; all results have been obtained at temperatures well below 1K, where the lattice is weakly coupled to electrons thermally. The micromachined membrane can serve as a thermal bath for tiny samples, like bolometric radiation detectors in astronomy.     

Perceptions of and satisfaction with retirement: A comparison of six European Union countries.

The main aim of this study was to assess perceptions of and satisfaction with retirement among 1,686 recently retired people from 6 European Union countries. The authors compared their responses to a set of questions taken from the Retirement Satisfaction Inventory (F. J. Floyd et al., 1992). The first significant result was that Belgian, British, Finnish, French, and Spanish retirees all expressed very similar assessments of life satisfaction, whereas Portuguese retirees expressed a lower level of satisfaction. The 2nd result was that the major determinants of overall satisfaction in the 6 countries were (a) health and resources and (b) anticipated satisfaction. Finally, the data revealed that cultural background only accounted for a limited amount of variance in overall satisfaction with retirement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Managing the Senegal River: National and Local Development Dilemma

The Senegal River is located in West Africa in the Sudano-Sahelian zone. The river has faced various development schemes since the early 1970s, which have not brought the desired results. Many problems stem from the overall lack of economic and human development and weak institutional settings. Droughts and ethnic complexities add to the problem. The environment and local population have continuously been exposed to negative changes. The river developers face a difficult task when choosing the development options for the future. Taking into account all the stakeholders and variables, and adding to these the external demographic and natural challenges, the development actions require weighing complex multiform and interconnected issues. An objective analysis of the development plans is needed in order to avoid repeating past mistakes and to acquire harmonious end results.     

The Measurement of Business Intelligence

Based on a literature review, this article identifies and assesses measurement approaches for two different purposes: determining the value of BI and managing the BI process within an organization.     

Photoelectric emission and work function of semiconducting diamonds

Photoemission of electrons was observed in p-type semiconducting diamonds. The emitted electrons responding to photons which have the necessary threshold energy are believed to have originated from filled surface states. The surface charge densities are sufficiently large so that the Fermi level is greatly affected by the surface states. The work function of the semiconducting diamonds investigated is approximately 6.0 eV.     

Drying of in situ cast concrete ground slabs and covering criteria

The main objective of this paper was to examine the overall moisture behaviour of an in situ cast concrete ground slab during the initial drying period of the fresh concrete from casting to flooring. This article describes and evaluates various methods to measure moisture levels in concrete slabs in order to decide if flooring can be attached. The most accurate method is verified against measurements and compared with calculations. Many of the methods only consider the surface moisture content of the slab and do not consider the moisture condition deep in the slab. According to performed laboratory tests and FE modelling, moisture content of the slab surface is not a reliable indicator of the overall moisture conditions of the slab. Residual moisture deep in the slab has a major effect on the moisture distribution at the slab cross-section after flooring. The only reliable method to determine the moisture conditions in a new concrete ground slab before flooring is to measure the moisture content at the equivalent depth of the slab. It reliably predicts the ultimate moisture content at slab/flooring interface after flooring. A ground slab is drying in two directions: towards the indoor air by evaporation from the slab surface, and towards the cooler subsoil layers by diffusion. The significance of drying downwards increases after the flooring assembly.     

Thermal,moisture and microbiological boundary conditions of slab-on-ground structures in cold climate

Coarse-grained fill or drainage layers beneath heated slab-on-ground structures are warm and moist throughout the year. According to the in situ measurements, the relative humidity of the fill layer is high at RH ≈100%$\approx 100\%$. High relative humidity of the fill layer is not a sign of an un-functional drainage or capillary break layer, but a natural boundary condition for a slab structure adjacent to the moist subsoil. Due to the favourable conditions, microbe growth is very common in fill layers. Fungal or bacterial growth, in general, was detected in 98% of the test specimens taken beneath the ground slabs of heated buildings. Indicator species, either fungal or bacterial, were detected in 79% of the specimens. Yet, no moisture damage related to the ground floors was ever detected or recorded in the test buildings. The high microbe concentration in the fill layer beneath ground slabs is not a sign of moisture damage, but a natural state of the moist and warm fill layer.