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Interactive Behavior Change Model (IBCM 8.0): Theory and Ontology
No full textThis paper presents the Interactive Behavior Change Model (IBCM 8.0), a system that integrates behavior change principles from neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral science into a behavioral meta-theory. With its broad, application-agnostic nature, the IBCM provides insight into behavior change, how it operates, and offers an alternative explanation for why various behavior change models work or do not work. It has applications as a behavioral system for education, research, analysis, intervention design, and implementation in various technologies, especially self-adaptive systems run by rule-based engines or artificial intelligence (AI). Due to space limits, this paper covers the model structure and theory with a limited high-level overview of its ontology.</p
Information Practices, Plural: Exploring Multiplicity and Mutual Constitution of Practices
No full textThis paper brings concepts from social practice theory into conversation with the question of how information practices relate to one another. In doing so, this paper speaks to the persistent challenge of articulating interconnections among information practices. To illustrate these interconnections, the paper presents the concept of embodied mutual constitution, which results from a recent empirical study of everyday information practices. This concept holds potential as a next step in identifying how multiple co-existing information practices can be explored. By contributing in this way to the advancement of information practices theory, this paper supports our expanding understanding of the nature and role of information in diverse life experiences
Increasing Passenger Efficiency and Minimizing Infection Transmission in Chinese Metro Stations during COVID-19: A Simulation-Based Strategy Analysis
No full textThis study addresses the challenging problem of increasing passengers’ travel efficiency while lowering the infection transmission risk at metro stations during COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this objective, we deploy Anylogic software and formulate an infection risk model. As a case study, this study focuses on a transfer metro station in Xi’an, China. Firstly, by utilizing Anylogic software, three distinct strategies are simulated: flow-control fences, travel reservation, and the collaborative use of travel reservations and flow-control fences. Secondly, the passenger density and average dwell time under these strategies are assessed while constructing an infection risk model to quantify the risk faced by passengers. Thirdly, when compared to the absence of any strategy, the results are as follows: (1) The flow-control fences strategy: implementing flow-control fences can effectively reduce the risk of passenger infection when the length of the flow-control fences is fixed at 47.5 m, but comes at the cost of a 20.15% decrease in passenger travel efficiency; however, excessively long flow-control fences will neither alleviate congestion nor reduce the infection risk. (2) The travel reservation strategy: the adoption of travel reservations, along with a fast track for reserved users, when the reservation proportion is 40%, leads to a remarkable 29.05% improvement in travel efficiency and reduces the risk of passenger infection by 67.12%. (3) The combined strategy: the combined utilization of travel reservations and flow-control fences enhances travel efficiency by 15.80% and reduces the risk of passenger infection by 56.77% when the reservation proportion is set at 30%. When the reservation proportion is between 10 and 30%, its infection risk reduction effect is better than that of the travel reservation strategy, but this is not necessarily true for their effects on travel efficiency. Finally, this study was compared to an existing study that proposed a new strateg
Silicon Carbide Pillar Lattice for Controlling the Spontaneous Emission of Embedded Color Centers
No full textNanopillars fabricated in diamond or silicon-carbide (SiC) have been used to enhance the light harvesting or absorption or to increase the collection efficiency of embedded single photon emission in the visible or near infrared for their detection using confocal microscopy. However, these dielectric pillars are unable to control the spontaneous emission process of the embedded color-centers. Here, we show that electromagnetic Mie-scattering moments within the periodic array of SiC pillar lattice can control the spontaneous emission process of embedded point defects. Using SiC nanopillars based lattice, we theoretically demonstrate a control over the spontaneous emission rate of embedded color-centers by using the coherent superposition of the electric dipolar and magnetic quadrupolar electromagnetic Mie-scattering moments of the structure. More than an order of magnitude emission/decay rate enhancement is obtained with the maximum enhancement close to 30. We also demonstrate that the relative phase of the Mie-scattering moments helps in controlling the emission directionality. SiC pillar lattice in the spectral range of color centres, from the visible to the near infrared, can be used to control the confinement and directionality of their spontaneous emission, increasing the opportunities to study light-matter interaction and to advance quantum photonic and quantum sensing device integration
Noninvasive measurement of body temperature distribution during radiofrequency hyperthermia for cancer treatment
No full textRadiofrequency hyperthermia is a treatment that involves heating cancer tissue by supplying a 10 to 100 MHz radiofrequency current through an electrode, aiming to induce thermal necrosis of cancer cells. However, this process also heats normal cells, making it crucial to monitor the temperature inside the patient’s body to prevent thermal necrosis of healthy tissues. Accurate noninvasive measurement of the internal body temperature is of utmost importance in radiofrequency hyperthermia. To achieve this, a numerical study was conducted to predict a patient’s body temperature by solving the Laplace and Pennes’ bioheat transfer equations for the specific area where the cancer is located. An in-house numerical program was developed and applied to radiofrequency hyperthermia to find the optimal electrode location, enhancing the necrosis rate of cancer cells while avoiding thermal damage to normal tissues
PUNCHING NAZIS: DECONSTRUCTING FASCIST VILLAINS IN FANTASTIC SCREEN CULTURE FROM ZOMBIES TO OUTER SPACE
No full textThroughout the mid to late twentieth century, World War Two era Nazi Germany quickly became the centre point of the ultimate cinematic villain. Whether this be historically based or integrated into fictitious stories, depictions of Nazis in cinematic tropes have proliferated antagonist sub-genres pitted against the forces of good. This article will consider these villainous others as a simulacre of historicity in fantastic screen culture to derive an understanding of how screen Nazis manifest an ongoing dialogue in cinematic villainies
Interfacial alloying between lead halide perovskite crystals and hybrid glasses
No full textThe stellar optoelectronic properties of metal halide perovskites provide enormous promise for next-generation optical devices with excellent conversion efficiencies and lower manufacturing costs. However, there is a long-standing ambiguity as to whether the perovskite surface/interface (e.g. structure, charge transfer or source of off-target recombination) or bulk properties are the more determining factor in device performance. Here we fabricate an array of CsPbI3 crystal and hybrid glass composites by sintering and globally visualise the property-performance landscape. Our findings reveal that the interface is the primary determinant of the crystal phases, optoelectronic quality, and stability of CsPbI3. In particular, the presence of a diffusion “alloying” layer is discovered to be critical for passivating surface traps, and beneficially altering the energy landscape of crystal phases. However, high-temperature sintering results in the promotion of a non-stoichiometric perovskite and excess traps at the interface, despite the short-range structure of halide is retained within the alloying layer. By shedding light on functional hetero-interfaces, our research offers the key factors for engineering high-performance perovskite devices
What Makes a Creative Team Player? A Social Dilemma Perspective on External Regulation and Creativity
No full textCreativity is important for a group’s success, and thus, groups often demand that their members contribute creativity by setting up group goals. Group goal external regulation arises when individual members feel that their behavior is externally initiated and enforced. While research from the self-determination perspective suggests that such external regulation undermines creativity, emerging research also suggests the opposite: external regulation has motivational functions boosting creativity. To integrate these seemingly contradictory perspectives, we developed a contingency model (based on social dilemma theory) to explain the impacts of group goal external regulation. Specifically, conceiving creativity in the individual-group context of multiple goals, we suggest that group goal external regulation can prompt or hinder individual member creativity, depending on their individual goal progress (“concern for me”) and group identification (“concern for us”). We found support from two studies that when group identification is high, individuals demonstrate higher levels of creativity, irrespective of their individual goal progress and group goal external regulation experienced. When group identification is low, individuals demonstrate more contingent responses—that is, external regulation is positively (negatively) related to individual member creativity when their individual goal progress is poor (good)
Enhancement of the electrochemical oxygen reduction performance by surface oxygen vacancies on hematite nanosheets
No full textThe surface atomic arrangement and defective structures of electrocatalysts play a crucial role in determining their catalytic activity and selectivity. Hematite (α-Fe2O3) nanostructures with oxygen vacancies are promising electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to their low-cost and environmental friendliness. However, a systematic study of their ORR performance, especially selectivity at high oxygen vacancy concentrations, is still lacking. In this study, we synthesized α-Fe2O3 nanosheets with surface oxygen vacancies using a simple solvothermal reaction followed by a liquid phase NaBH4 reduction method. The oxygen vacancy amount was adjusted by varying the concentrations of NaBH4 solution, and it was found that increasing the oxygen vacancy concentration from 11.4% to 43.4% improved the ORR activity, but further increasing it to 77.3% deteriorated the crystalline quality and thus affected the ORR performance. The optimized sample (α-Fe2O3-1 M), treated with a 1 M NaBH4 solution, showed a high limiting current density of 5.75 mA cm−2 at 0.4 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). The observed enhancement in ORR activity can be attributed to the optimal surface oxygen vacancies, which improve catalytic kinetics and increase the exposure of active sites
An Improved Principal Component Analysis Method for the Interpolation of Missing Data in GNSS-Derived PWV Time Series
No full textMissing data in precipitable water vapor derived from global navigation satellite systems (GNSS-PWV) is commonly a large hurdle in climatical applications, since continuous PWV is an important prerequisite. Interpolation using principal component analysis (PCA) is typically used to resolve this problem. However, the popular PCA-based interpolating methods, e.g., rank-deficient least squares PCA (RDPCA) and data interpolating empirical orthogonal function (DINEOF), often lead to unsatisfactory results. This study analyzes the relationship between missing data and PCA-based interpolation results and proposes an improved interpolation-based RDPCA (IRDPCA) that can take into account the PWV derived from ERA5 (ERA-PWV) as an additional aid. Three key steps are involved in the IRDPCA: initially interpolating missing data, estimating principal components through a functional model and optimizing the interpolation through an iterative process. Using a 6-year GNSS-PWV over 26 stations and ERA-PWV in Yunnan, China, the performance of the IRDPCA is compared with the RDPCA and DINEOF using simulation experiments based on both homogeneous data (i.e., interpolating ERA-PWV using available ERA-PWV) and heterogeneous data (i.e., interpolating GNSS-PWV using ERA-PWV). In the case of using homogeneous data, the root mean square (RMS) values of the interpolation errors are 3.45, 1.18 and 1.17 mm for the RDPCA, DINEOF and IRDPCA, respectively; while the values are 3.50, 2.50 and 1.55 mm in the heterogeneous case. These results demonstrate the superior performance of the IRDPCA in both the heterogeneous and homogeneous cases. Moreover, these methods are also applied to the interpolation of the real GNSS-PWV. The RMS, absolute bias and correlation of the GNSS-PWV are calculated by comparison with ERA-PWV. The results reveal that the interpolated GNSS-PWV using the IRDPCA is not impacted by the systematic discrepancies in the ERA-PWV and agrees well with the original data