Prediction of higher heating values for saturated fatty acids from their physical properties

Higher heating values (HHVs) of fatty acids (C₄–C₁₈) were measured and correlated using linear least square regression analysis. Equations were developed for the estimation of the HHVs of saturated fatty acids from their molecular weight (Mw), density (DN) and carbon number (CN). These equations are HHV = 0.0518 Mw + 29.76, HHV = −93.4 DN + 122.67 and HHV = 0.7271 CN + 31.419 with R² values of 0.9895, 0.9798, and 0.9895, respectively. The correlations may be used for HHV estimation of mixtures of fatty acids developed from vegetable oils.     

Validation of a task demand measure for predicting mental workloads of physical therapists

The purpose of this study is to validate an analytical method in assessing demanded mental workloads for physical therapists, and to discuss its possible ergonomics implications on the design of healthcare working systems in which physical therapists are considered as the users. A task analysis was first used to understand the operation steps of three identified physical therapies. Then, the McCracken–Aldrich technique was applied to assign ratings of mental workload demanded for performing each step of the therapies. Finally, the assigned ratings were validated by the analysis of correlation with the answers of the NASA-TLX questionnaire collected from seventeen physical therapists in the rehabilitation center of a university-affiliated hospital. Results showed that the proposed McCracken–Aldrich technique was suitable as an analysis tool for predicting metal workloads of physical therapists. Some possible implications about the information provision and user interface design for reducing therapists' mental workloads on current therapy operations were discussed.Relevance to industryResults of this paper are expected to contribute the research and development in healthcare industry on its system design and workflow analysis.     

Using physical memorabilia as opportunities to move into collocated digital photo-sharing

The uptake of digital photos vs. print photos has altered the practice of photo-sharing. Print photos are easy to share within the home, but much harder to share outside of it. The opposite is true of digital photos. People easily share digital photos outside the home, e.g., to family and friends by e-mail gift-giving, and to social networks and the broader public by web publishing. Yet within the home, collocated digital photo-sharing is harder, primarily because digital photos are typically stored on personal accounts in desktop computers located in home offices. This leads to several consequences. (1) The invisibility of digital photos implies few opportunities for serendipitous photo-sharing. (2) Access control and navigation issues inhibit family members from retrieving photo collections. (3) Photo viewing is compromised as digital photos are displayed on small screens in an uncomfortable viewing setting.To mitigate some of these difficulties, we explore how physical memorabilia collected by family members can create opportunities that encourage social and collocated digital photo-sharing. First, we studied (via contextual interviews with 20 households) how families currently practice photo-sharing and how they keep memorabilia. We identified classes of memorabilia that can serve as memory triggers to family events, trips, and times when people took photos. Second, we designed Souvenirs, a photo-viewing system that exploits memorabilia as a social instrument. Using Souvenirs, a family member can meaningfully associate physical memorabilia with particular photo-sets. Later, any family member can begin their story-telling with others through the physical memento, and then enrich the story by displaying its associated photos simply by moving the memento close to the home's large-format television screen. Third, we re-examined our design premises by evoking household reactions to an early version of Souvenirs. Based on these interviews, we redesigned Souvenirs to better reflect the preferences and real practices of photo and memorabilia use in the home.     

A review of “ The Co-ordination and Regulation of Movements” By N. Bernstein. (Pergamon Press, 1967.) [ Pp. xii+ 196.] 505

Abstract

The complaints of workers in a noisy workshop were taken as the basis of recognition and attitude to noise. However, all the complaints based on noise exposure could not be attributed to neurotic responses. The distinctive character of homeostatic changes induced by noise exposure was attributable to the depression of the adreno-cortical function. The possibility was considered that the metabolism of the brain was disturbed by the noise exposure. It was concluded that the complaints of workers exposed to noise must be considered from the view-point that workers have a physical, mental and social existence.     

Helium gas permeability of montmorillonite/epoxy nanocomposites

Helium gas permeability of silicate clay (montmorillonite) particles/epoxy nanocomposites was examined. The incorporation of increasing amounts of montmorillonite particles reduced the helium gas permeability. Based on Fick’s law, gas permeation behavior of the nanocomposite was evaluated. With the increase of montmorillonite loading, gas diffusivity decreased, while gas solubility increased. Helium diffusion behavior is in agreement to the numerical results based on the Hatta–Taya–Eshelby theory. It has been revealed that dispersion of nanoscale platelets in polymer is effective in improving gas barrier property.     

电弧作用下 AgMeO 触头材料的物理冶金过程分析

本文分析了ＡｇＭｅＯ触头材料电弧侵蚀机理,对电弧的热力作用下触头材料的各种响应从物理冶金本质角度进行全面研究,在此基础上对ＡｇＭｅＯ触头材料组元和组织的优化设计作了完整的分析讨论,提出优化设计判据,最后提出能充分表征触头材料电气使用性能的材料物理性能参数。     

物理化学实验结果的计算机处理

设计了一个适用于6个物理化学实验的计算机程序。只需将实验所得的原始数据输入计算机即可得到打印出的原始数据与所求参数的表格和所需要的各类图形。本程序适用于燃烧热、饱和蒸气压、表面张力、反应速度常数的测定以及二元液系相图的绘制。     

Polycrystalline silicon films on glass grown by amorphous-liquid-crystalline transition at temperatures below 330 °C

An approach to deposit polycrystalline silicon layers on amorphous substrates is presented. It is shown that metastable amorphous silicon can be transformed into its more stable microcrystalline structure at a temperature below 330 °C via an intermediate liquid solution stage. In particular, the interaction of liquid indium nanodroplets in contact with amorphous silicon is shown to lead to the formation of circular polycrystalline domains. Crystallinity of these domains is analyzed by micro-Raman spectroscopy. The droplet size necessary for the onset of crystallization is related to the temperature of the film. Full coverage of the substrate with microcrystalline silicon has been obtained at 320 °C within less than one hour. These films might act as seeding layers for further enlargement by steady-state liquid phase epitaxy.     

Using multiple indexes for efficient subsequence matching in time-series databases

A time-series database is a set of data sequences, each of which is a list of changing values of an object in a given period of time. Subsequence matching is an operation that searches for such data subsequences whose changing patterns are similar to a query sequence in a time-series database. This paper addresses a performance issue of time-series subsequence matching. First, we quantitatively examine the performance degradation caused by the window size effect, and then show that the performance of subsequence matching with a single index is not satisfactory in real applications. We claim that index interpolation is a fairly effective tool to solve this problem. Index interpolation performs subsequence matching by selecting the most appropriate one from multiple indexes built on windows of their distinct sizes. For index interpolation, we need to decide the sizes of windows for multiple indexes to be built. In this paper, we solve the problem of selecting optimal window sizes from the perspective of physical database design. Given a set of pairs 〈length, frequency〉 of query sequences to be performed in a target application and a set of window sizes for building multiple indexes, we devise a formula that estimates the overall cost of all the subsequence matchings performed in a target application. By using this formula, we propose an algorithm that determines the optimal window sizes for maximizing the performance of entire subsequence matchings. We formally prove the optimality as well as the effectiveness of the algorithm. Finally, we show the superiority of our approach by performing extensive experiments with a real-life stock data set and a large volume of synthetic data sets.     

Harnessing social dynamics through persuasive technology to promote healthier lifestyle

In light of current calls by medical professionals to confront the global issue of obesity and related illnesses, we developed a mobile application called STEP UP that monitors physical activity and provides data that can be easily shared within a social network. We then conducted an exploratory, theoretical study based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA) followed by an experimental trial and user study. The purpose of the studies was to explore the effect of persuasive technology on physical activity behavior and to investigate its effectiveness in motivating users to use the technology to be more physically active. The application was found to have a positive effect on the participants and their level of physical activity. They enjoyed using the application and were motivated to walk more, especially when enabled to share their step counts with their friends. The social component of the application clearly enhanced users’ walking experience, as the atmosphere of friendly competition motivated them to walk more. Based on user responses, we conclude that a further enhanced application that includes chat functionality may be even more successful in supporting increased physical activity and thus healthier lifestyle.