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How to Democratize Internet of Things Devices: A Participatory Design Study to Improve Digital Literacy
No full textThe global introduction of affordable Internet of Things (IoT) devices offers an opportunity to empower a large variety of users with different needs. However, many off-the-shelf digital products are still not widely adopted by people who are hesitant technology users or by older adults, notwithstanding that the design and user-interaction of these devices is recognized to be user-friendly. Considering the habits and preferences of those who have used mainly analog devices for most of their lives, such users may encounter challenges such as digital illiteracy and technology anxiety when faced with newly-released digital IoT-based products. In view of the potential of IoT-based devices, how can we reduce the obstacles of a cohort with low digital literacy and technology anxiety and enable them to be equal participants in the digitalized world? This article shows the method and results achieved in a community-stakeholder workshop, developed through the participatory design methodology, aiming at brainstorming problems and scenarios through a focus group and a structured survey. The research activity focused on understanding factors to increase the usability of off-the-shelf IoT devices for hesitant users and identifying strategies for improving digital literacy and reducing technology anxiety. A notable result was a series of feedback items pointing to the importance of facilitating educational experiences through learning resources to support individuals with different abilities, age, gender expression, to better adopt off-the-shelf IoT-based solutions. This fundamental first step of user experience research generated considerations for designing open-source learning tools to foster inclusive and more accessible use of IoT-based technologies for improving older people’s daily activities
Structural and biophysical insights into the mode of covalent binding of rationally designed potent BMX inhibitors.
No full textThe bone marrow tyrosine kinase in chromosome X (BMX) is pursued as a drug target because of its role in various pathophysiological processes. We designed BMX covalent inhibitors with single-digit nanomolar potency with unexploited topological pharmacophore patterns. Importantly, we reveal the first X-ray crystal structure of covalently inhibited BMX at Cys496, which displays key interactions with Lys445, responsible for hampering ATP catalysis and the DFG-out-like motif, typical of an inactive conformation. Molecular dynamic simulations also showed this interaction for two ligand/BMX complexes. Kinome selectivity profiling showed that the most potent compound is the strongest binder, displays intracellular target engagement in BMX-transfected cells with two-digit nanomolar inhibitory potency, and leads to BMX degradation PC3 in cells. The new inhibitors displayed anti-proliferative effects in androgen-receptor positive prostate cancer cells that where further increased when combined with known inhibitors of related signaling pathways, such as PI3K, AKT and Androgen Receptor. We expect these findings to guide development of new selective BMX therapeutic approaches
Assessing intercity multimodal choice behavior in a Touristy City: A factor analysis
No full textThis paper investigates influential factors in passengers' intercity multimodal choice behaviors in a touristy city. By collecting large individual-level data through a comprehensive field survey that was carried out at the major transportation hubs in Xi'an, China, we studied four travel modes of the surveyed travelers in this touristy city, including air, high-speed rail, traditional passenger train, and express bus. For factor analysis, 12 variables, including not only individual-related attributes but also ticketing methods and mental perceptions, were used as the independent factors after the correlation analysis and collinearity test. The regression relationships between the travel mode choice and the independent variables were studied using Bayesian multinomial logistic regression. The results indicate that those 12 factors have significant and various influences on passengers' mode choices. In particular, travel distance, fare rate, intercity travel time per hundred kilometers, quality of service, accessibility of transportation hubs, and ticketing methods have influential contributions for explaining the choice decision-makings. The findings demystify the effects of several unexplored factors in intercity multimodal travel choice behaviors and shed new light on formulating traffic management strategies for service providers and decision-makers in practice
A first step towards on-device monitoring of body sounds in the wild
No full textBody sounds provide rich information about the state of the human body and can be useful in many medical applications. Auscultation, the practice of listening to body sounds, has been used for centuries in respiratory and cardiac medicine to diagnose or track disease progression. To date, however, its use has been confined to clinical and highly controlled settings. Our work addresses this limitation: we devise a chest-mounted wearable for continuous monitoring of body sounds, that leverages data processing algorithms that run on-device. We concentrate on the detection of heart sounds to perform heart rate monitoring. To improve robustness to ambient noise and motion artefacts, our device uses an algorithm that explicitly segments the collected audio into the phases of the cardiac cycle. Our study with 9 users demonstrates that it is possible to obtain heart rate estimates that are competitive with commercial devices, with low enough power consumption for continuous use
A Vision-Based Collocated Actuation-Sensing Scheme for a Compliant Tendon-Driven Robotic Hand
No full text© 2020 IEEE. The ability to sense compliant interactions through internal state measurements improves adaptability and robustness of robotic grasping and manipulation, without interfering with any carefully designed passive dynamics. This work presents a collocated sensing and actuation system using a compliant tendon driven hand and its accompanying model. Using a simple vision-based measurement device the approach is able to estimate its internal state and applied external forces. The camera-based sensor uses off-the-shelf components and has the ability to measure many more than 15 tendons simultaneously, giving a low-cost, scale-able, high-bandwidth sensing solution. The collocated configuration provides a framework for developing stable feedback controllers. Our results show that the system can estimate change in posture with < 10% error with the potential to estimate contact forces using the same scheme
The organization of a “Learnscape” node in the cognitive university campuses network in Poveglia island
No full text© 2020, International Centre for Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems SDEWES. All rights reserved. Regeneration of existing buildings and abandoned areas is a governmental and European key objective. This research focuses on Poveglia: an abandoned island in the Venetian lagoon, Italy. The underpinning idea concerns the upgrade of Poveglia to a zero energy Cognitive University Campus, connected to other educational institutions in the lagoon. The vision aims at reusing abandoned islands combining architecture, learning environments and digital networks, to demonstrate the potential of new technologies for the transformation of abandoned areas. The case study demonstrates the effectiveness of employing improved and revised systems and tools, developed in eLUX lab at the University of Brescia, for the regeneration of the island. The inclusion of the island in a smart campus network results in triggering positive synergies both enhancing energy efficiency and the learning environment. A further development concerns the setup of strategies for historical preservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy production
Investigation and analysis of turn-to-turn contact resistance of a no-insulation YBCO pancake coil under time-varying
No full textThis paper is focused on the turn-to-turn contact resistance as a major source of the characteristic resistance of no-insulation YBCO pancake coil. Usually, the characteristic resistance of the coil is calculated by measuring decay time constant. However, we identify that the turn-to-turn contact resistance is not a constant value and changes with time. In order to verify this, one single pancake NI HTS coil consisting of 27 turns were fabricated with winding tension carefully maintained at a constant level. Through charge, discharge and sudden tests under time-varying, we obtain curves of the axial field at the centre, coil end-to-end voltage and an output current of power supply. In this paper, results show that the turn-to-turn contact resistance of NI coil varies with the time
Developing distributed manufacturing strategies from the perspective of a product-process matrix
No full textIn today's highly competitive global business landscape, customers demand personalised products and responsive distribution systems, hence fuelling the concept of Distributed Manufacturing (DM) as a paradigm that suggests the geographical distribution of manufacturing systems adjacent to the markets enable ‘production on demand’. To this end, the objective of this research is to explore the DM concept to inform firms about the dynamically changing manufacturing environment, along with the emerging opportunities, and support business stakeholders in implementing DM-oriented strategies to achieve digitalisation, personalisation, and localisation. More specifically, the present research builds upon the Dynamic Capability Theory (DCT) and conducts semi-structured interviews with a panel of 16 experts from the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, Automotive, and Engineering industries to develop 12 exploratory industry cases. Our analysis highlights three strategies that companies can adopt to implement DM and realise shorter lead times and personalised product offerings, namely: (i) small-scale DM; (ii) in-house decoupled manufacturing; and (iii) outsourced decoupled manufacturing. However, the economic viability of the DM concept is identified as a significant barrier to relinquish the traditional centralised economies-of-scale. This research contributes by applying the DCT to the DM concept to advocate the viability and sustainability of manufacturing systems in the era of Industry 4.0. Pertaining to the originality of this research, limited work is available on the applicability of DM in industries, from the DCT perspective, to accomplish competitive advantages in the dynamic environment of manufacturing
Effect of parameters of pool geometry on flow characteristics in low slope vertical slot fishways
No full textA 3D numerical model using the re-normalized group (RNG) k-ϵ turbulent closure was applied to study the hydraulic characteristics of a fishway and their dependence on the shape of the baffles, bed slope and water level difference between two adjacent pools. The results show the hydraulic conditions of a fishway with Type H baffles are better than that of a fishway with Type L baffles based on the analysis of turbulent kinetic energy, energy dissipation rate and vorticity. The flow velocity, turbulent kinetic energy and average energy dissipation rates per unit volume are all positively correlated with bed slopes. Water level difference between two adjacent pools is the main influencing factor for the velocity in the vertical slot. When the water level differences between two adjacent pools are the same, the flow velocities in the vertical slot are almost equal even if the fishways have totally different slopes. These findings enable the design of economic fishways with steep slopes but slower water flow
Multi-scale morphological descriptors from the fractal analysis of particle contour
No full textThe increasing understanding of the connection between particle morphology and mechanical behaviour of granular materials has generated significant research on the quantitative characterisation of particle shape. This work proposes a simple and effective method, based on the fractal analysis of their contour, to characterise the morphology of soil particles over the range of experimentally accessible scales. In this paper, three new non-dimensional quantitative morphological descriptors are introduced to describe (1) overall particle shape at the macro-scale, (2) particle regularity at the meso-scale, and (3) particle texture at the micro-scale. The characteristic size separating structural features and textural features emerges directly from the results of the fractal analysis of the contour of the particle, and is a decreasing fraction of particle dimension. To explore the meaning of the descriptors, the method is applied first to a variety of Euclidean smooth and artificially roughened regular shapes and then to four natural and artificial sands with different levels of irregularity. Relationships are established between the new morphological descriptors and other quantities commonly adopted in the technical literature