bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Person‐centred climate and psychometrical exploration of person‐centredness and among patients not conveyed by the Ambulance Care Service
Authors: Rantala Andreas , Forsberg Anna , Ekwall Anna
Published: September 2017

Background

What already is known is that as many as 50% of all Swedish Ambulance Care Service assignments are considered as non‐emergency. Therefore, due to medical protocols and triage system, patients are refused conveyance to the Accident and Emergency Department by the Ambulance Care Service.

Aim

The aim of this study was to psychometrically explore the construct validity of a possible dimension of person‐centredness, developed from a previous published qualitative study in a nonemergency ambulance care context. A second aim was to explore patients’ experiences of the person‐centred climate and to explore possible relationship between it and person‐centredness.

Design/Methods

A retrospective, explorative, cross‐sectional survey design with a convenience sample was employed. A total of 111 questionnaires were analysed using descriptive and comparative statistics. An explanatory factor analysis was also conducted.

Findings

A one‐factor solution for the specific items possibly constructing person‐centredness was found. The responses to the Person‐centred Climate Questionnaire‐Patient version (PCQ‐P) revealed that the climate was received as highly person‐centred. Relationships were found between the specific items possibly constructing person‐centredness and PCQ‐P.

Conclusion

A highly valid construct of person‐centredness exists within nonurgent Ambulance Care Service assignments comprising eight aspects of being taken seriously. The climate in which nonemergency ambulance care is provided has great potential to facilitate person‐centredness by means of taking patients seriously. The psychosocial aspects of PCQ‐P and person‐centredness are somewhat related to each other.
Expansionary Contractions and Fiscal Free Lunches: Too Good To Be True?
Authors: McManus Richard , Ozkan Gulcin , Trzeciakiewicz Dawid
Published: September 2017

This paper builds a framework to jointly examine the possibilities of both expansionary fiscal contractions (austerity increasing output) and fiscal free lunches (expansions reducing government debt), arguments which in recent debates have been supported by the austerity and stimulus camps, respectively. We propose a new metric quantifying the budgetary implications of fiscal action, a key aspect of fiscal policy particularly at the monetary zero lower bound. We find that austerity needs to be highly persistent and credible in order to be expansionary, and stimulus needs to be temporary, responsive, and well‐targeted in order to lower debt. We conclude that neither is likely, especially during periods of economic distress.
How societal stereotypes might form and evolve via cumulative cultural evolution
Authors: Martin Douglas , Cunningham Sheila J. , Hutchison Jacqui , Slessor Gillian , Smith Kenny
Published: September 2017

The current article examines how societal stereotypes might form and evolve through a process of cumulative cultural evolution as social information is repeatedly passed from person to person. Social psychology research has done much to inform our understanding about the substantial influence stereotypes exert on us as individuals and on our society, yet comparatively little is known about how society's pools of stereotype knowledge form and how they evolve. Here, we review evidence that as social information is repeatedly passed from person to person, there is a continuous cycle of stereotype formation and evolution that is driven by constraints and biases in (a) observations of the social environment, (b) cognitive representations of the social environment, and (c) social transmissions of cognitive representations of the social environment. We suggest the reason stereotypes exist and persist is because they are perfectly adapted for human cognition and the reason they are perfectly adapted for human cognition is because they are the cumulative product of human cognition.
Exploring generative dissonance: Inten[s]ional states and relational interruptions
Authors: Galletta Anne
Published: September 2017

There is great potential to mine social psychological theory and explore the human experience of thoughts in tension. The work in cognitive dissonance reveals how cognitive inconsistencies and the consequential aversive psychological state of dissonance may affect one's understanding of the relations between self and other, creating openings for more inclusive social boundaries. The phenomenon of the “tension state” has potential links to notions of the dialogic space, reframing cognitions and altering social relations toward new interpretations of social givens. I discuss cognitive and relational dissonance in a case study on school desegregation and raise the possibility that desegregated school settings might create opportunities for cognitive openings, new understandings, and space for solidarity. Linking the long and rich theoretical history of cognitive dissonance to critical social theory, the paper advances a related and new concept of generative dissonance. This construct underscores the interruption of cognitive cohesion and the production of new ways of thinking and new social relations. These forms of cognitive and relational rupture generate openings with embodied relational implications, creating the possibility for reframing social problems and reconfiguring human relations.
Parasitemia due to Sarcocystis neurona‐like infection in a clinically ill domestic cat
Authors: Zitzer Nina C. , Marsh Antoinette E. , Burkhard Mary Jo , Radin M. Judith , Wellman Maxey L. , Jugan Maria , Parker Valerie
Published: September 2017

An 8‐year‐old, 6‐kg, male neutered Domestic Shorthair cat was presented to The Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center (OSU‐VMC) for difficulty breathing. Physical examination and thoracic radiographs indicated pneumonia, a soft‐tissue mass in the left caudal lung lobe, and diffuse pleural effusion. The effusion was classified as modified transudate. Rare extracellular elongated (~5–7 μm × 1–2 μm) zoites with a central round to oval‐shaped purple to deep purple vesicular nucleus with coarsely stippled chromatin and light blue cytoplasm were seen on a peripheral blood smear. Serum IgG and IgM were positive for Sarcocystis sp. antibodies and negative for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies, suggesting that the infection was acute rather than a recrudescence of prior infection. This organism was most consistent with either Sarcocystis neurona or Sarcocystis dasypi based on DNA sequence analysis of PCR products using COC ssRNA, ITS‐1, snSAG2, and JNB25/JD396 primer sets. This is the first report to visualize by light microscopy circulating Sarcocystis sp. merozoites in the peripheral blood of a domestic cat. Therefore, Sarcocystis should be considered as a differential diagnosis in cats with suspected systemic protozoal infection.
Screening for fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia: is it possible and what are the potential outcomes?
Authors: Kjeldsen‐Kragh J.
Published: September 2017

Fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAIT) is a rare but potentially very serious bleeding condition affecting the fetus/newborn. The vast majority (>80%) of FNAIT cases among Caucasians, and the most serious one, are caused by maternal antibodies to the human platelet antigen 1a (HPA‐1a). The clinical consequences of FNAIT span a continuum from no symptoms to intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) and intrauterine death. The incidence of FNAIT‐associated ICH has been estimated to be around 1 in 10 000 newborns. For many reasons, FNAIT has not been considered for prophylactic efforts similar to those that have been used for the prevention of HDFN, caused by antibodies against RhD: first, HPA‐1a typing kits are not well suited to the workflow in immunohaematology laboratories; secondly, the costs associated with HPA‐1a typing of all pregnant women have been a hindrance; thirdly, there is no international consensus regarding the optimal antenatal management of HPA‐1a‐immunized women identified in a screening programme; fourthly, it has generally been believed that immunization against HPA‐1a mostly takes place during the first incompatible pregnancy, and finally, there is yet no medicinal product available that can prevent HPA‐1a‐immunization in the same way as anti‐D can prevent RhD immunization. Implementation of HPA‐1a typing of all pregnant women has been discussed by the health authorities in several European countries. The abovementioned five hindrances for FNAIT screening and the Wilson and Jungner criteria for screening programmes will be discussed in the light of recent advances within FNAIT research.
Mitochondrial damage‐associated molecular patterns in blood transfusion products
Authors: Marcoux G. , Boilard E.
Published: September 2017

Mitochondria are organelles in charge of energy supply and the control of apoptosis. Owing to their similarities with bacteria, however, extracellular mitochondria are considered damage‐associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) capable of activating the immune system and non‐immune cells. Studies revealed that diverse blood products contain extracellular mitochondria, which could account for the adverse reactions that can occur in transfusion. In this review, we discuss how mitochondrial DAMPs can trigger inflammatory responses, we highlight conditions relevant to transfusion during which mitochondria have been identified outside cells, and we discuss their potential as biomarkers for the assessment of blood product quality.
Development of A Template Lesson Plan Based on 5e Model Enhanced with Computer Supported Applications and Conceptual Change Texts
Authors: Şeker Burcu Sezginsoy , Erdem Aliye
Published: September 2017

Students learning a defined subject only perform by learning of thinking based on the concepts forming that subjects. Otherwise, students may move away from the scientific meaning of concepts and may fall into conceptual errors. Students’ conceptual errors affect their following learning and cause them resist change. It is possible to prevent this resistance with conceptual change texts. This study aimed to correct present concepts of students by exchanging them with new concepts and rearranging their present knowledge structure using conceptual change texts. Conceptual change texts were introduced at the explanation step of a 5e model by assuming that a 5e model enhanced with texts would make learning meaningful and permanent. In other steps of the 5e model, audio-visual elements such as animations, colored pictures, and computer-supported applications were used to increase the permanency and accessibility of knowledge. The objective of this study is to develop a lesson plan and activities based on the 5e model that would be a template for the learning outcome: “He/she distinguishes natural and man-made elements that he/she sees in his/her environment”, which occurs in “The Place We Live” unit in 4th grade social sciences curriculum and for learning outcomes of the concepts in the same unit. Photostory 3 software is among the computer-supported applications used in the preparation of activities. Conceptual errors related to the subject were determined by literature review and by considering the students’ opinions before preparation of conceptual change texts.
Effectiveness of population based risk reduction programs for risky sexual behavior among young people in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol
Authors: Enuameh Yeetey Akpe Kwesi , Adjei George , Mahama Emmanuel , Gyan Thomas , Koku Emmanuel
Published: September 2017

Review question/objective:

: The objective of this review is to synthesize the best available evidence on the effectiveness of population based (public health) risk reduction interventions (programs and services) on sexual risk taking among young people (aged 10 to 24 years old) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The specific review questions are:

1. What is the effectiveness of population based risk reduction interventions on risky sexual behaviors among young people in LMICs?

2. What are the characteristics (e.g. modalities, frequencies, etc.) of population based interventions that are effective in reducing risky sexual behaviors among young people in LMICs?
Facilitators and barriers to modern contraception use among reproductive-aged women living in sub-Saharan Africa: a qualitative systematic review protocol
Authors: Aviisah Mark Akantigse , Norman Ishmael D. , Enuameh Yeetey
Published: September 2017

Review question/objective:

: The main objective of this qualitative review is to synthesize the best available evidence on facilitators and barriers of modern contraception use among reproductive-aged (15–49 years) women living in sub-Saharan Africa [SSA].

The specific review questions are:

1. What are the facilitators and barriers to modern contraception use among reproductive-aged women in SSA?

2. How different are the facilitators and barriers between sexually active non-married and married women?

3. Have these facilitators and barriers changed over time, and how have they changed?
Foot self-management for adults with diabetes in western countries: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Stevens Kathleen , Bruneau Jill , Moralejo Donna
Published: September 2017

Scoping review objective/question:

The objective of this scoping review is to examine and map the range of issues related to self-management of feet in adults with diabetes with similar lifestyles, risks and health care in western countries.
Effectiveness of droxidopa compared to midodrine in standing blood pressure and orthostatic tolerance in adults with neurogenic orthostatic hypotension: a systematic review protocol
Authors: Patrick Kelli , Martin Tina
Published: September 2017

Review question

The question of this review is: what is the effectiveness of droxidopa compared to midodrine on standing blood pressure and orthostatic intolerance symptoms in adults with neurogenic orthostatic hypotension?
On the Real-Time Estimation of Disk Temperature Spatial Distributions in Aeroengines
Authors: van Paridon Andrew , Bacic Marko , Ireland Peter T. , Daniel Ron
Published: September 2017

This paper presents a novel approach to real-time modeling of disk temperature distribution using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD). The method combines singular value decomposition (SVD) techniques with a series of low-order transfer functions to predict the disk's thermal response over a typical flight. The model uses only typically available full authority digital electronic control (FADEC) measurements to predict temperature with accuracy of ±30 K over the whole flight cycle. A Kalman filter has also been developed based on a single temperature measurement, and the location of the measurement has been assessed in order to select the most appropriate target for instrumentation. Points all around the front and back of the disk have been assessed, and the best practice result is found to be near the center of the disk neck. This represents a compromise between matching the fast dynamic response of the rim, with the slower dynamics of the cob. The new model has been validated against an independent flight simulation.
Orthogonal Eigenfunction Expansion Method for One-Dimensional Dual-Phase Lag Heat Conduction Problem With Time-Dependent Boundary Conditions
Authors: Biswas Pranay , Singh Suneet
Published: September 2017

The separation of variables (SOV) can be used for all Fourier, single-phase lag (SPL), and dual-phase lag (DPL) heat conduction problems with time-independent source and/or boundary conditions (BCs). The Laplace transform (LT) can be used for problems with time-dependent BCs and sources but requires large computational time for inverse LT. In this work, the orthogonal eigenfunction expansion (OEEM) has been proposed as an alternate method for non-Fourier (SPL and DPL) heat conduction problem. However, the OEEM is applicable only for cases where BCs are homogeneous. Therefore, BCs of the original problem are homogenized by subtracting an auxiliary function from the temperature to get a modified problem in terms of a modified temperature. It is shown that the auxiliary function has to satisfy a set of conditions. However, these conditions do not lead to a unique auxiliary function. Therefore, an additional condition, which simplifies the modified problem, is proposed to evaluate the auxiliary function. The methodology is verified with SOV for time-independent BCs. The implementation of the methodology is demonstrated with illustrative example, which shows that this approach leads to an accurate solution with reasonable number of terms in the expansion.
Beneficial effects of rosiglitazone and losartan combination in diabetic rats
Authors: Ateyya Hayam , Nader Manar A. , El-Sherbeeny Nagla A.
Published: September 2017

Diabetes with vascular complication needs strict interventions to retard possible serious complications. This research estimated the possible interaction of rosiglitazone (RGN) with losartan (Los) in diabetic rats. Male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly divided into nondiabetic rats, diabetic rats, and diabetic rats that received RGN, Los, or a combination of RGN and Los. Measurement of serum glucose, vascular adhesion molecule-1, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, aortic lipid peroxide (malondialdehyde), glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and total nitrate/nitrite levels was done. Also, the effects of RGN on the relaxation created by acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside, contraction of isolated aortic rings provoked by phenylephrine and angiotensin II were determined. Results revealed that RGN or Los had a vasodilating effect to variable degrees indicated by enhanced effects on both acetylcholine-induced relaxation and the antagonistic effect on angiotensin II and phenylephrine-stimulated contraction of diabetic aortas with significant amelioration in serum glucose, vascular adhesion molecule-1, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α levels and aortic oxidant/antioxidant balance. Treatment of diabetic rats with a combination of RGN and Los produced a more pronounced effect on the measured parameters compared to the diabetic, RGN-, and Los-treated groups. These findings point out the beneficial effects of RGN and Los combination in diabetic rats.
A mixed SIR-SIS model to contain a virus spreading through networks with two degrees
Authors: Essouifi Mohamed , Achahbar Abdelfattah
Published: September 2017

Due to the fact that the “nodes” and “links” of real networks are heterogeneous, to model computer viruses prevalence throughout the Internet, we borrow the idea of the reduced scale free network which was introduced recently. The purpose of this paper is to extend the previous deterministic two subchains of Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible (SIS) model into a mixed Susceptible-Infected-Recovered and Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible (SIR–SIS) model to contain the computer virus spreading over networks with two degrees. Moreover, we develop its stochastic counterpart. Due to the high protection and security taken for hubs class, we suggest to treat it by using SIR epidemic model rather than the SIS one. The analytical study reveals that the proposed model admits a stable viral equilibrium. Thus, it is shown numerically that the mean dynamic behavior of the stochastic model is in agreement with the deterministic one. Unlike the infection densities [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] which both tend to a viral equilibrium for both approaches as in the previous study, [Formula: see text] tends to the virus-free equilibrium. Furthermore, since a proportion of infectives are recovered, the global infection density [Formula: see text] is minimized. Therefore, the permanent presence of viruses in the network due to the lower-degree nodes class. Many suggestions are put forward for containing viruses propagation and minimizing their damages.
First-principles study on electronic properties of stanene/WS2 monolayer
Authors: Chen Xi , Li Yin , Tang Jia , Wu Liyuan , Liang Dan , Zhang Ru
Published: September 2017

We present first-principles calculations to study the stability and electronic properties of stanene on WS2 hybrid structure. It can be seen that the stanene is bound to WS2 substrate with an interlayer distance of about 3.0 Å with a binding energy of −51.8 meV per Sn atom, suggesting a weak interaction between stanene and WS2. The nearly linear band dispersion character of stanene can be preserved with a sizeable band gap in stanene on WS2 hybrid structure due to the difference of onsite energy induced by WS2 substrate, which is more helpful to the on–off current ratio in the logical devices made of stanene/WS2. Moreover, the band gaps, the position of Dirac point with respect to Fermi level, and electron effective mass (EEM) of stanene on WS2 hybrid structure can be tuned by the interlayer distance, external electric field and strains. These results indicate that stanene on WS2 hybrid structure is a promising candidate for stanene-based field-effect transistor (FET) with a finite band gap and high carrier mobility.
Multistability in Piecewise Linear Systems versus Eigenspectra Variation and Round Function
Authors: Gilardi-Velázquez H. E. , Ontañón-García L. J. , Hurtado-Rodriguez D. G. , Campos-Cantón E.
Published: September 2017

A multistable system generated by Piecewise Linear (PWL) subsystems based on the jerk equation is presented. The system’s behavior is characterized by means of the Nearest Integer or the [Formula: see text] function to control the switching events and to locate the corresponding equilibria on each of the commutation surfaces. These surfaces are generated through the switching function dividing the space into regions equally distributed along one axis. The trajectory of the system is governed by the eigenspectrum of the coefficient matrix, which can be adjusted by a bifurcation parameter. The behavior of the system can change from multiscroll oscillations in a mono-stable state into the coexistence of several single-scroll attractors in multistable states. The dynamics and bifurcation analysis are illustrated by numerical simulations to depict the multistable states.
Stability of oscillating gaseous masses in massive Brans–Dicke gravity
Authors: Sharif M. , Manzoor Rubab
Published: September 2017

This paper explores the instability of gaseous masses for the radial oscillations in post-Newtonian correction of massive Brans–Dicke (BD) gravity. For this purpose, we derive linearized perturbed equation of motion through Lagrangian radial perturbation which leads to the condition of marginal stability. We discuss radius of instability of different polytropic structures in terms of the Schwarzschild radius. It is concluded that our results provide a wide range of difference with those in general relativity and BD gravity.
Abelian groups with left morphic endomorphism ring
Authors: Călugăreanu Grigore
Published: September 2017

The main purpose of this paper is to determine as much as possible, large classes of Abelian groups which have left morphic endomorphism ring. We show that morphic Abelian groups and Abelian groups whose endomorphism ring is left (or right) morphic coincide in the torsion, divisible, torsion-free and splitting mixed cases. In some cases, we obtain more general results concerning image-projective (or image-injective) Abelian groups.
Computational aspects of rational residuosity
Authors: Hittmeir Markus
Published: September 2017

In this paper, we consider an extension of Jacobi’s symbol, the so-called rational [Formula: see text]th power residue symbol. In Sec. 3, we prove a novel generalization of Zolotarev’s lemma. In Secs. 4–6, we show that several hard computational problems are polynomial-time reducible to computing these residue symbols, such as getting nontrivial information about factors of semiprime numbers. We also derive criteria concerning the Quadratic Residuosity Problem.
A characterization of Sophie Germain primes
Authors: Leonetti Paolo
Published: September 2017

Let [Formula: see text] be an odd integer. It is shown that [Formula: see text] is a complete residue system modulo [Formula: see text] for some permutation [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] if and only if [Formula: see text] is a Sophie Germain prime. Partial results are obtained also for the case [Formula: see text] even.
Synthesis and luminescence properties of new red phosphor YBiW2O9:Eu3+
Authors: Xie Zhi , Zhao Wang , Zhou Wei-Wei , Yang Fu-Gui
Published: September 2017

A new series of YBiW2O9:Eu[Formula: see text] phosphors were successfully synthesized by the solid-state reaction method for the first time. Pure phase formation of YBiW2O9:Eu[Formula: see text] was confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction. It is found that the 7F[Formula: see text]L6 transition results in the strongest near-ultraviolet excitation centered at 395 nm and the phosphors show strong electric-dipole (ED) transitions (5D[Formula: see text]F[Formula: see text] with red emission peaking at 616[Formula: see text]nm. The optimal Eu[Formula: see text] doping concentration of 70[Formula: see text]mol.% is presented in YBiW2O9:Eu[Formula: see text] phosphors. The Y[Formula: see text]BiW2O9:0.7Eu[Formula: see text] phosphor has better Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage chromaticity coordinate of (0.669, 0.328) in comparison with commercial red-emitting phosphors (Y2O2S:Eu[Formula: see text], Y2O3:Eu[Formula: see text]. The internal quantum efficiency of Y[Formula: see text]BiW2O9:0.7Eu[Formula: see text] was measured to be 45.1%, and temperature-dependent luminescence shows its good thermal stability. All the results suggest that YBiW2O9:Eu[Formula: see text] is a potential candidate of red phosphor for the applications in white light emitting diodes.
TARS
Authors: Han Yu , Fei Yunsi
Published: September 2017

Efficient medium access control (MAC) is desirable for underwater sensor networks (UWSNs). However, designing an efficient underwater MAC protocol is challenging due to the long propagation delay of the underwater acoustic channel and spatial-temporal uncertainty. In this article, we propose a novel Traffic-Adaptive Receiver-Synchronized underwater MAC protocol, TARS, for throughput maximization. We divide time into equal-sized slots, each the size of one packet transmission time plus a guard time to cope with network dynamics. We adjust the packet transmission phase in a slot, determined by the sender-receiver distance, to align packet receptions for collision reduction. Both the sound propagation speed variation and the node mobility are considered in setting the transmission phase and slot size. We employ a queue-aware utility-optimization framework to determine the optimal transmission strategies dynamically, taking into account both the interference and data queue status. Extensive simulation results show that compared to the existing representative protocols, TARS achieves better performance with higher network throughput and lower packet delay (e.g., about 13%−146% higher in throughput and 13%−21% lower in delay than others in a mobile ad hoc network), as well as robustness under network mobility. Thus, TARS is highly suitable for mobile and traffic-varying UWSNs.
How to Remember What to Remember
Authors: Brewer R. N. , Morris M. R. , Lindley S. E.
Published: September 2017

Digital reminder systems typically use time and place as triggers to remind people to perform activities. In this paper, we investigate how digital reminder systems could better support the process of remembering in a wider range of situations. We report findings from a survey and one-week diary study, which reveal that people want to remember to perform a broad spectrum of activities in the future, many of which cannot be supported by simple time- and location-based reminders. In addition to these examples of prospective memory, or ‘remembering intentions’ [53], we also find that people want support in ‘retrieving’ [53] information and details, especially those encountered through social interactions or intended for use in conversations with others. Drawing on our analysis of what people want to remember and how they try to support this, we draw implications for the design of intelligent reminder systems such as digital assistants (e.g. Microsoft’s Cortana) and smart speaker systems (e.g. Amazon Echo), and highlight the possibilities afforded by drawing on conversation and giving material form to digital reminders.
If It’s Convenient
Authors: Doryab Afsaneh , Bellotti Victoria , Yousfi Alaaeddine , Wu Shuobi , Carroll John M. , Dey Anind K.
Published: September 2017

Peer-to-Peer Variable Service Transaction (P2P-VST) systems enable people to offer and receive help with a wide range of task types. However, such services are hampered by the difficulty of finding relevant and convenient opportunities for transactions in a timely fashion. Many transaction opportunities are missed as a consequence of members not being aware of offers and/or requests from people nearby or en route that match their needs and/or abilities. In this paper, we explore the impact of context-awareness on P2P-VSTs to address this problem. Using mobile technology and an in situ study, we evaluate how recommending service requests targeted at a person’s context impacts their willingness to enter a transaction. Our results show that, even when people have not actively volunteered for a service, they are significantly more likely to accept a transaction opportunity if it is convenient for them in terms of time and location. These findings demonstrate how context-aware technology holds the promise of increasing the efficiency and activity level in P2P-VST systems.
Modus Operandi of Crowd Workers
Authors: Gadiraju Ujwal , Checco Alessandro , Gupta Neha , Demartini Gianluca
Published: September 2017

The ubiquity of the Internet and the widespread proliferation of electronic devices has resulted in flourishing microtask crowdsourcing marketplaces, such as Amazon MTurk. An aspect that has remained largely invisible in microtask crowdsourcing is that of work environments; defined as the hardware and software affordances at the disposal of crowd workers which are used to complete microtasks on crowdsourcing platforms. In this paper, we reveal the significant role of work environments in the shaping of crowd work. First, through a pilot study surveying the good and bad experiences workers had with UI elements in crowd work, we revealed the typical issues workers face. Based on these findings, we then deployed over 100 distinct microtasks on CrowdFlower, addressing workers in India and USA in two identical batches. These tasks emulate the good and bad UI element designs that characterize crowdsourcing microtasks. We recorded hardware specifics such as CPU speed and device type, apart from software specifics including the browsers used to complete tasks, operating systems on the device, and other properties that define the work environments of crowd workers. Our findings indicate that crowd workers are embedded in a variety of work environments which influence the quality of work produced. To confirm and validate our data-driven findings we then carried out semi-structured interviews with a sample of Indian and American crowd workers from this platform. Depending on the design of UI elements in microtasks, we found that some work environments support crowd workers more than others. Based on our overall findings resulting from all the three studies, we introduce ModOp, a tool that helps to design crowdsourcing microtasks that are suitable for diverse crowd work environments. We empirically show that the use of ModOp results in reducing the cognitive load of workers, thereby improving their user experience without affecting the accuracy or task completion time.
CrowdPickUp
Authors: Goncalves Jorge , Hosio Simo , van Berkel Niels , Ahmed Furqan , Kostakos Vassilis
Published: September 2017

We develop and evaluate a new ubiquitous crowdsourcing platform called CrowdPickUp, that combines the advantages of mobile and situated crowdsourcing to overcome their respective limitations. In a 19-day long field study with 70 participants, we evaluate the quality of work that CrowdPickUp produces. In particular, we measure quality in terms of worker performance in a variety of tasks (requiring local knowledge, location-based, general) while using a number of different quality control mechanisms, and also capture workers’ perceptions of the platform. Our findings show that workers of CrowdPickUp contributed data of comparable quality to previously presented crowdsourcing deployments while at the same time allowing for a wide breadth of tasks to be deployed. Finally, we offer insights towards the continued exploration of this research agenda.
QuickTalk
Authors: Ham Seongmin , Lee Jihyung , Lee Kyunghan
Published: September 2017

IoT devices are in general considered to be straightforward to use. However, we find that there are a number of situations where the usability becomes poor. The situations include but not limited to the followings: 1) when initializing an IoT device, 2) when trying to control an IoT device which is initialized by another person, and 3) when trying to control an IoT device out of many of the same type. We tackle these situations by proposing a new association-free communication method, QuickTalk. QuickTalk lets a user device such as a smartphone pinpoint and activate an IoT device with the help of an IR transmitter and communicate with the pinpointed IoT device through the broadcast channel of WiFi without a conventional association process. This nature, QuickTalk allows a user device to immediately give a command to a specific IoT device in proximity even when the IoT device is uninitialized, unassociated with the control interface of the user, or associated but visually indistinguishable from others of the same kind. Our experiments of QuickTalk implemented on Raspberry Pi 2 devices show that QuickTalk does its job quickly and intuitively. The end-to-end delay of QuickTalk for transmitting an IoT command is on average about 0.74 seconds, and is upper bounded by 2.5 seconds. We further confirm that even when an IoT device has ongoing data sessions with other devices, which disturb the broadcast channel, QuickTalk can still reliably communicate with the IoT device at the cost of minor throughput degradation.
Forma Track
Authors: Kalyanaraman Avinash , Hong Dezhi , Soltanaghaei Elahe , Whitehouse Kamin
Published: September 2017

Knowledge of a person’s whereabouts in the home is key to context-aware applications, but many people do not want to carry or wear a tag or mobile device in the home. Therefore, many tracking systems are now using so-called weak biometrics such as height, weight, and width. In this paper, we propose to use body shape as a weak biometric, differentiating people based on features such as head size, shoulder size, or torso size. The basic idea is to scan the body with a radar sensor and to compute the reflection profile: the amount of energy that reflects back from each part of the body. Many people have different body shapes even if they have the same height, weight, or width, which makes body shape a stronger biometric. We built a proof-of-concept system called FormaTrack to test this approach, and evaluate using eight participants of varying height and weight. We collected over 2800 observations while capturing a wide range of factors such as clothing, hats, shoes, and backpacks. Results show that FormaTrack can achieve a precision, recall, direction and identity accuracy (over all possible groups of 2 people) of 100%, 99.86%, 99.7% and 95.3% respectively. Results indicate that FormaTrack can achieve over 99% tracking accuracy with 2 people in a home with 5 or more rooms.
Automatic Calibration of High Density Electric Muscle Stimulation
Authors: Knibbe Jarrod , Strohmeier Paul , Boring Sebastian , Hornbæk Kasper
Published: September 2017

Electric muscle stimulation (EMS) can enable mobile force feedback, support pedestrian navigation, or confer object affordances. To date, however, EMS is limited by two interlinked problems. (1) EMS is low resolution -- achieving only coarse movements and constraining opportunities for exploration. (2) EMS requires time consuming, expert calibration -- confining these interaction techniques to the lab. EMS arrays have been shown to increase stimulation resolution, but as calibration complexity increases exponentially as more electrodes are used, we require heuristics or automated procedures for successful calibration. We explore the feasibility of using electromyography (EMG) to auto-calibrate high density EMS arrays. We determine regions of muscle activity during human-performed gestures, to inform stimulation patterns for EMS-performed gestures. We report on a study which shows that auto-calibration of a 60-electrode array is feasible: achieving 52% accuracy across six gestures, with 82% accuracy across our best three gestures. By highlighting the electrode-array calibration problem, and presenting a first exploration of a potential solution, this work lays the foundations for high resolution, wearable and, perhaps one day, ubiquitous EMS beyond the lab.
Mining User Reviews for Mobile App Comparisons
Authors: Li Yuanchun , Jia Baoxiong , Guo Yao , Chen Xiangqun
Published: September 2017

As the number of mobile apps keeps increasing, users often need to compare many apps, in order to choose one that best fits their needs. Fortunately, as there are so many users sharing an app market, it is likely that some other users with the same preferences have already made the comparisons and shared their opinions. For example, a user may state that an app is better in power consumption than another app in a review, then the review would help other users who care about battery life while choosing apps. This paper presents a method to identify comparative reviews for mobile apps from an app market, which can be used to provide fine-grained app comparisons based on different topics. According to experiments on 5 million reviews from Google Play and manual assessments on 900 reviews, our method is able to identify opinions accurately and provide meaningful comparisons between apps, which could in turn help users find desired apps based on their preferences.
Supporting Social Interactions with an Expressive Heart Rate Sharing Application
Authors: Liu Fannie , Dabbish Laura , Kaufman Geoff
Published: September 2017

The present work explores the social dynamics of expressive biosignals: leveraging wearable technologies to introduce sensed physiological data as a means of clarifying the emotional or psychological processes underlying our subjective experiences. We developed an Android application that linked to a wearable heart rate sensor and allowed for the direct sharing and real-time broadcasting of users’ heart rate via text messaging. We deployed this application in a two-week field study to investigate the contextual triggers, perceptions, and consequences of users’ sharing behaviors. The study (N=13) utilized a combination of Experience Sampling Methodology (ESM) and qualitative interviews to discover the situations in which users were more or less likely to share their heart rate with contacts, and the subsequent interactions that occurred after sharing. The results revealed that participants used heart rate sharing as a means to express emotions and provide daily updates, as well as simply a novel and playful form of communication. They reported a variety of communicative consequences of their sharing as well as specific logistical and psychological barriers to sharing. The implications of these results for the design of expressive biosignal sharing systems for supporting positive social interactions are discussed.
PRADO
Authors: Lu Xuan , Chen Zhenpeng , Liu Xuanzhe , Li Huoran , Xie Tao , Mei Qiaozhu
Published: September 2017

To survive and stand out from the fierce market competition nowadays, it is critical for app developers to know (desirably ahead of time) whether, how well, and why their apps would be adopted by users. Ideally, the adoption of an app could be predicted by factors that can be controlled by app developers in the development process, and factors that app developers are able to take actions on and improve according to the predictions. To this end, this paper proposes PRADO, an approach to measuring various aspects of user adoption, including app download and installation, uninstallation, and user ratings. PRADO employs advanced machine learning algorithms to predict user adoption based on how these metrics correlate to a comprehensive taxonomy of 108 developer-controllable features of the app. To evaluate PRADO, we use 9,824 free apps along with their behavioral data from 12.57 million Android users, demonstrating that user adoption of a new app can be accurately predicted. We also derive insights on which factors are statistically significant to user adoption, and suggest what kinds of actions can be possibly performed by developers in practice.
Moving Beyond Market Research
Authors: Mathur Akhil , Kalanadhabhatta Lakshmi Manasa , Majethia Rahul , Kawsar Fahim
Published: September 2017

Large-scale mobile data studies can reveal valuable insights into user behavior, which in turn can assist system designers to create better user experiences. After a careful review of existing mobile data literature, we found that there have been no large-scale studies to understand smartphone usage behavior in India -- the second-largest and fastest growing smartphone market in the world. With the goal of understanding various facets of smartphone usage in India, we conducted a mixed-method longitudinal data collection study through an Android app released on Google Play. Our app was installed by 215 users, and logged 11.9 million data points from them over a period of 8 months. We analyzed this rich dataset along the lines of four broad facets of smartphone behavior -- how users use different apps, interact with notihcations, react to different contexts, and charge their smartphones -- to paint a holistic picture of smartphone usage behavior of Indian users. This quantitative analysis was complemented by a survey with 55 users and semi-structured interviews with 26 users to deeply understand their smartphone usage behavior. While our first-of-its-kind study uncovered many interesting facts about Indian smartphone users, we also found striking differences in usage behavior compared to past studies in other geographical contexts. We observed that Indian users spend significant time with their smartphones after midnight, continuously check notifications without attending to them and are extremely conscious about their smartphones’ battery. Perhaps the most dramatic finding is the nature of mobile consumerism of Indian users as shown by our results. Taken together, these and the rest of our findings demonstrate the unique characteristics that are shaping the smartphone usage behavior of Indian users.
MyTraces
Authors: Mehrotra Abhinav , Tsapeli Fani , Hendley Robert , Musolesi Mirco
Published: September 2017

Most of the existing work concerning the analysis of emotional states and mobile phone interaction has been based on correlation analysis. In this paper, for the first time, we carry out a causality study to investigate the causal links between users’ emotional states and their interaction with mobile phones, which could provide valuable information to practitioners and researchers. The analysis is based on a dataset collected in-the-wild. We recorded 5,118 mood reports from 28 users over a period of 20 days.

Our results show that users’ emotions have a causal impact on different aspects of mobile phone interaction. On the other hand, we can observe a causal impact of the use of specific applications, reflecting the external users’ context, such as socializing and traveling, on happiness and stress level. This study has profound implications for the design of interactive mobile systems since it identifies the dimensions that have causal effects on users’ interaction with mobile phones and vice versa. These findings might lead to the design of more effective computing systems and services that rely on the analysis of the emotional state of users, for example for marketing and digital health applications.
FootprintID
Authors: Pan Shijia , Yu Tong , Mirshekari Mostafa , Fagert Jonathon , Bonde Amelie , Mengshoel Ole J. , Noh Hae Young , Zhang Pei
Published: September 2017

We present FootprintID, an indoor pedestrian identification system that utilizes footstep-induced structural vibration to infer pedestrian identities for enabling various smart building applications. Previous studies have explored other sensing methods, including vision-, RF-, mobile-, and acoustic-based methods. They often require specific sensing conditions, including line-of-sight, high sensor density, and carrying wearable devices. Vibration-based methods, on the other hand, provide easy-to-install sparse sensing and utilize gait to distinguish different individuals. However, the challenge for these methods is that the signals are sensitive to the gait variations caused by different walking speeds and the floor variations caused by structural heterogeneity.

We present FootprintID, a vibration-based approach that achieves robust pedestrian identification. The system uses vibration sensors to detect footstep-induced vibrations. It then selects vibration signals and classifiers to accommodate sensing variations, taking step location and frequency into account. We utilize the physical insight on how individual step signal changes with walking speeds and introduce an iterative transductive learning algorithm (ITSVM) to achieve robust classification with limited labeled training data. When trained only on the average walking speed and tested on different walking speeds, FootprintID achieves up to 96% accuracy and a 3X improvement in extreme speeds compared to the Support Vector Machine. Furthermore, it achieves up to 90% accuracy (1.5X improvement) in uncontrolled experiments.
LoRa Backscatter
Authors: Talla Vamsi , Hessar Mehrdad , Kellogg Bryce , Najafi Ali , Smith Joshua R. , Gollakota Shyamnath
Published: September 2017

The vision of embedding connectivity into billions of everyday objects runs into the reality of existing communication technologies -- there is no existing wireless technology that can provide reliable and long-range communication at tens of microwatts of power as well as cost less than a dime. While backscatter is low-power and low-cost, it is known to be limited to short ranges. This paper overturns this conventional wisdom about backscatter and presents the first wide-area backscatter system. Our design can successfully backscatter from any location between an RF source and receiver, separated by 475 m, while being compatible with commodity LoRa hardware. Further, when our backscatter device is co-located with the RF source, the receiver can be as far as 2.8 km away. We deploy our system in a 4,800 ft2 (446 m2) house spread across three floors, a 13,024 ft2 (1210 m2) office area covering 41 rooms, as well as a one-acre (4046 m2) vegetable farm and show that we can achieve reliable coverage, using only a single RF source and receiver. We also build a contact lens prototype as well as a flexible epidermal patch device attached to the human skin. We show that these devices can reliably backscatter data across a 3,328 ft2 (309 m2) room. Finally, we present a design sketch of a LoRa backscatter IC that shows that it costs less than a dime at scale and consumes only 9.25 μW of power, which is more than 1000x lower power than LoRa radio chipsets.