ONTRACK: Dynamically adapting music playback to support navigation

Listening to music on personal, digital devices whilst mobile is an enjoyable, everyday activity. We explore a scheme for exploiting this practice to immerse listeners in navigation cues. Our prototype, ONTRACK, continuously adapts audio, modifying the spatial balance and volume to lead listeners to their target destination. First we report on an initial lab-based evaluation that demonstrated the approach’s efficacy: users were able to complete tasks within a reasonable time and their subjective feedback was positive. Encouraged by these results we constructed a handheld prototype. Here, we discuss this implementation and the results of field-trials. These indicate that even with a low-fidelity realisation of the concept, users can quite effectively navigate complicated routes.

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The deformation mechanism for high-purity

Two grades of polycrystalline vanadium and one grade of single crystal vanadium were strained in tension using temperature change and strain rate change techniques to study the controlling deformation mechanism at temperatures between 77 and 293 K. An abrupt change of yield stress, flow stress, and strain rate sensitivity indicates that a change of rate-controlling mechanism takes place at approximately 200 K. At temperatures below 200 K, the Peierls mechanism is probably dominating. At temperatures between 200 and 293 K, the predominant controlling process is probably the interaction between dislocations and interstitial impurities. Mechanical twins were developed in single crystals deformed at 77 and 120 K; the twinning plane was 211. Slip lines could not, in general, be identified, but were noted in one contaminated specimen. Single crystals generally showed a chisel edge type of ductile fracture. Formerly Graduate Student, Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon This paper is based upon a thesis submitted by C. T. This paper is based upon a thesis submitted by C. T. This paper is based upon a thesis submitted by C. T.     

Radial tunnel syndrome: diagnosis and management

PURPOSE: To present the first documentation of iris retraction syndrome in eyes with nonrhegmatogenous retinal detachment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One patient with age-related macular degeneration and another with panuveitis developed exudative retinal detachment with iris retraction configuration. Ultrasound biomicroscopy was performed to investigate the anatomic relationship of structures in the anterior segment of the eye. RESULTS: Ultrasound biomicroscopy demonstrated a severe backward bowing of the peripheral iris with irido-ciliary body and irido-zonular contact as well as broad iris lens touch. The iris retraction syndrome resolved after pupil dilation and disruption of the pupillary adhesions in both cases. The retinal detachment resolved several months later, without surgery. CONCLUSION: Iris retraction syndrome appears not to be exclusive to rhegmatogenous retinal detachment but can present in eyes with exudative - nonrhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Thus, when the configuration of the iris shows bowing in patients with retinal detachment, iris retraction syndrome should be considered and prompt pupil dilation should be carried out.     

Antigenic variation and cross-reactivity in Bacteroides forsythus clinical isolates detected by western blot

Bacteroides forsythus is one of the etiologic agents of destructive periodontal diseases. Determining which antigenic components of the bacterium are recognized in the immune response of periodontitis patients is an important step in assessing strategies for vaccine development. The aim of this study was to identify the major strain-variable and cross-reactive antigens of B. forsythus clinical isolates recognized by serum IgG from patients with early-onset rapidly progressive periodontitis. Ten patient sera with measurable IgG against antigenic components of the species were identified by Western blot. Positive sera were tested by checkerboard ELISA to identify those most responsive to strain-variable antigens in nine clinical isolates and ATCC strain 43037. Correlation analysis of the ELISA data suggested that different subsets of isolates were preferentially recognized by different sera. Western blots revealed that certain sera also recognized major shared components across all the isolates, but preferential recognition of different isolate subsets by different patients was clearly confirmed. To determine if the variable antigens recognized were nonprotein, proteinase K-digested isolates were compared to undigested controls by Western blot. The main strain-variable antigens were proteinase resistant, while proteins at 200 and 210 kDa were identified as the major shared components. Two-dimensional SDS-PAGE revealed that these proteins are the quantitatively dominant heat-modifiable components of the cell envelope. Even though variable antigens are prominent in the immune response of patients, a cross-protective vaccine based on the shared envelope proteins of B. forsythus seems feasible in light of these observations.     

The Cost of Diversity in Textile Finishing

The effect on specific operating and capital costs of textile finishing, incurred by catering for the demands of a wide range of customers in varied styles, is illustrated. The return on investment in a new factory planned to operate under these conditions is realistically examined and a view expressed on the likely pattern of future investment in textile finishing.