Orientador: Patricia Jacqueline Thyssen / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-24T16:08:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mira_CaueTrani_M.pdf: 3071912 bytes, checksum: c01afc0e4e37aabc1ba91ac542ea964f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Os dípteros estão associados aos diversos ambientes humanos podendo causar danos para a saúde pública, perdas econômicas ou, por outro lado, prestar auxílio dentro do âmbito médico-legal ao serem utilizados para estimar o tempo de óbito em casos de morte suspeita. Muitos levantamentos faunísticos de dípteros que têm sido realizados até o momento no Brasil são precários por relatarem a presença de espécimes até níveis taxonômicos superiores ao de espécie, dadas as dificuldades encontradas como ausência de chaves taxonômicas para certos grupos e insuficiência na descrição de caracteres. Assim, o avanço de quaisquer outros trabalhos que queiram investigar a biologia, ecologia ou dinâmica desses organismos na natureza também estará prejudicado. As chaves convencionais para identificação de espécies de Fanniidae (Diptera: Muscomorpha) são escassas, restritas a uma pequena região geográfica ou limitada para apenas um sexo (macho ou fêmea). A chave interativa, construída com auxílio de bases computacionais, pode representar uma alternativa relevante para uma melhor compreensão dos aspectos taxonômicos ainda pouco esclarecidos dentro deste grupo. Adicionalmente, a interatividade representa um processo de maior flexibilidade na consulta dos caracteres, inserção de fotografias e detalhes pormenorizados em glossários, promovendo identificações mais acuradas. Assim, neste estudo foram levantados os caracteres específicos para 21 espécies do gênero Fannia (Muscomorpha: Diptera, Fanniidae), e incluídos caracteres que possibilitam a separação entre este gênero e Euryomma. Foram selecionadas espécies listadas na literatura como tendo importância nas áreas médica, veterinária e forense de diversos ambientes e localidades que compõem a região Sudeste do Brasil. Ao todo 38 caracteres morfológicos encontram-se listados na chave interativa elaborada com o auxílio do programa LUCID®. A partir do levantamento de dados das espécies para construção da chave observou-se que Fannia carvalhoi Couri 2005 constitui registro de nova ocorrência para a região amostrada neste estudo. O trabalho final encontra-se disponível e publicado na web / Abstract: Species of Diptera associated with several human environments and may cause harm to public health, economic losses or on the other hand, assist in the forensic context when used to estimate the time of death in cases of suspicious death. Many dipteran fauna surveys that have been conducted so far in Brazil are precarious for reporting the presence of specimens taxonomic given the difficulties encountered such as a lack of taxonomic keys for certain groups and insufficiency in describing characters. Thus, the advancement of any other work that want to investigate the biology, ecology and dynamics of these organisms in nature will also be harmed. Conventional keys for identification of species of Fanniidae (Diptera: Muscomorpha) are scarce, restricted to a small geographic region or limited to only one gender (male or female). The interactive key, built with the aid of computational bases, may represent a relevant alternative to a better understanding of taxonomic aspects still not clarified within this group. In addition, interactivity is a process of greater flexibility in the consultation of the characters, insert photos and full details on glossaries, promoting more accurate identifications. In this study have been raised the specific characters for 21 species of the genus Fannia (Muscomorpha: Diptera, Fanniidae), and included characters that allow the separation between this genre and Euryomma. Were selected species listed in the literature as having importance in medical, veterinary and forensic areas of diverse environments and locales that compose the Southeast region of Brazil. Altogether 38 morphological characters are listed in the interactive key elaborated with the assistance of LUCID® software. From the survey data for the construction of key species it was observed that Fannia carvalhoi Couri 2005 establishes new record for the region sampled in this study. The final work is available and published on the web / Mestrado / Biodiversidade Animal / Mestre em Biologia Animal

The purpose of this research was to investigate whether interactivity yields a learning effect when used appropriately in e-Learning Systems, and whether this effect enhances learning. The importance of interactivity for success in learning has always been paramount; however, little scientific evidence can be found to support this importance (Sims, 2003; Leiner & Quiring, 2008). Thus, this research aims to provide evidence of the impact of interactivity on e-Learning Systems considering three main agents: the learner, the teacher and the system (educational triangle). A key element often found to be related to learning and the three previously-mentioned agents is the concept of feedback. The use of interactivity as part of a feedback mechanism for enhancing learning is well documented in this research. Three empirical studies were designed to investigate interactivity within the educational triangle. These three studies, developed to support the research hypotheses, were conducted based on the framework of positivism and action research paradigms. The first study, entitled “Interactive Pedagogical Feedback”, aimed to gather evidence for how highly interactive pedagogically-designed formative feedback enhances students’ memory and understanding. The two student groups to which the interactive conditions were added showed a significant difference in the post test scores. A one-way ANOVA with a Turkey HSD post hoc test for all pair wise comparisons reveals a significant difference between the transfer and no condition scenario. The second study, entitled “Interactive Audio Feedback”, examined whether the speed enhancements of oral feedback improve the conditions for the production of lecture’s feedback and the quality of the feedback delivered to the students. The use of the interactive condition reduces by 40 to 65% the time it usually takes to prepare feedback for final assignments, and an unpaired Student’s t-test shows significant differences in the use of the two conditions. The final study, “Interactive Texting Feedback”, took a pedagogical approach to provide formative feedback to a student audience using mobile text messages. It aimed to determine whether Interactive Texting Feedback enhances the leaning experience within the e-Learning environment. Inferential analysis demonstrated good correlations in the use and benefits obtained by the introduction of the interactive mechanism. The results indicated that interactivity is critical in promoting and enhancing effective learning. Learning theories led by the generative theory of learning (Wittrock, 1974) and the principles of multimedia learning (Mayer, 2001) provide scientific explanation for this findings.

Advertising is the centre of numerous studies due to it central role in business, however it remains quite static amidst revolutionary consumer shifts towards digital consumption. While consumers are active online, advertising budgets are not being focused towards new media. This study uses structural equation modelling to show that marketers are acting as gatekeepers to investment, as their perceptions are affected by factors driven by external conditions, the influence of others, as well as their own internal beliefs and attitudes. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Understanding the interactive experience of using digital technologies is a complex process. Traditional methods of evaluating interactive technologies originate from usability, which focuses on ease of use, ease of learning and performance. User Experience (UX) emerged from the recognition that usability alone does not account for the more subjective emotional responses experienced when interacting with a product. Although the term UX has become widely accepted within the area of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), its definition still remains unclear, making it difficult to evaluate and design for. This thesis adopts a hybrid perspective by bridging the division between the reductionist and holistic approaches to UX research. Using a multi-methods approach that combine the strengths of both quantitative (objective) and qualitative (subjective) methods, will provide deeper insights into the users’ judgement process of interactive products. Various theories have been proposed to understand UX, yet no consensual UX theory or model has emerged. The importance of aesthetics in influencing decisions about a products quality gained much attention in early UX research with conflicting results, sparking a surge of research into understanding the complexities of user quality judgement. Past UX research has focused on the multi-constructs of pragmatics, hedonics and aesthetics, and how these may influence user judgement, which can vary depending on the context, task and user background. However, little attention has been given to the impact of interactive design features upon UX. Findings from this thesis clearly show that interactivity is an important element within UX in both short and long-term usage. This thesis expands the existing process model of user quality judgement, through a series of three studies to reveal the importance of interactivity, and how initial perception and judgement of a products quality can change over time. The first two studies identify the importance of interactivity in positive influencing UX. Both studies revealed that affective and hedonic ratings increased as a result of interaction, demonstrating the powerful effect of interaction, and showed clear differences for websites that contained enhanced interactive features, despite the presence of usability problems. Further exploration using cluster analysis revealed three sub-groups that categorised users not only by their interactive style preferences, but also by their predispositions towards technology. This perspective of user sub-group analysis is a contribution to the field which bridges population-level quantitative analysis with qualitative findings that focuses on the individual ethnographic interpretations of experience. Considerable UX research has focused on short-term evaluations, based on users first impressions pre and post-interaction, with few studies capturing long-term usage. The third study reports on an ecological longitudinal investigation into how UX changes over time and long-term product use. A group of novice iPad users were tracked over six months to reveal that despite poor usability, hedonic ratings remained high, yet over time usefulness and utility were dominating factors affecting UX and product adoption. The influence of both device and app revealed that although users found the device more pleasurable, it was the variety of apps contained on the device that facilitated positive UX. The overall findings from this research provided some valuable methodological insights and aided the creation of set of practical UX heuristics that can be used to inform both future research and design practice.

The mobility, flexibility, convenience, and ubiquity of mobile data services (MDS) have contributed to their enormous growth and popularity with users. MDS allow users to communicate through mobile texting (mTexting), mobile Instant Messaging (mIM), multimedia messaging services (MMS), and email. A unique feature of MDS that enhances its popularity among its users is the awareness capability, which is revolutionizing the way MDS is being used to communicate today. It allows potential communication partners to socialize through these technologies. This dissertation explored the relationship between user experience, perceived richness, perceived social presence and satisfaction with MDS. A research model for examining the antecedent conditions that influence social presence, richness, social interaction and satisfaction with MDS was developed. Partial least square analysis showed that user experience influenced both social presence and richness. Also supported was the relationship between richness, social presence and satisfaction with MDS. Social presence mediated the relationship between user experience and richness. However, only one dimension of interactivity influenced social presence.

Second Life, a 3-D virtual world, has evolved as a shopping channel for both consumers and retailers. This channel of retailing offers interactive environment, allows designing atmospherics, and provides enjoyable shopping experience as compared to website stores. The purpose of the study was: (1) to identify the key features of Second Life stores and (2) to determine the relationship of the Second Life store features with consumer purchase intentions. The online survey was administered in Second Life by an external research agency, and 249 usable surveys were collected. The data were analyzed utilizing factor analysis and regression. Three key features of Second Life stores were explored in this study. These three features were: (1) interactivity via the two components of two-way communication and active control, (2) store atmospherics, and (3) shopping enjoyment. Regression analysis showed that shopping enjoyment and two-way communication (i.e., the presence of an avatar sales representative) were significant predictors of purchase intention in Second Life stores, while active control and store atmospherics did not influence purchase intentions.

The dissertation 'Educational Simulation in Task Situations' is focused on a new medium - educational simulation, which is starting to establish itself in the field of education. This work is examining educational simulations from three different points of view: 1) the acceptance of educational simulations in the school environment, 2) the interactivity of learning material, and 3) the authenticity of learning material. The experimental results are divided into three separate chapters according to the respective viewpoint. The investigation focused on acceptance in the first chapter draws from the evaluation of 34 Czech teachers and more than 1000 students, who both evaluated the benefits and shortcomings of particular educational simulations that were used by the teachers and their students. The experiment on interactivity (N = 152) in the second chapter is focused on the experimental comparison of learning material with activated interactive features and learning material with deactivated features. The third experiment on authenticity (N = 48) compares teaching material using authentic media sequences and the same material converted into an animated form. All three main chapters contain a theoretical review of the respective topic and our own experimental research. The methodology is based on the...

As media over the last decade has become increasingly interactive, the user’s role as the previously passive observer has shifted to an active role playing its own part of the experience. The same development can be seen in storytelling, where traditional narrative techniques are often combined with modern technology in order to create a new level of immersion, aiming to provide the user with the feeling of “being there”. The aim of this study is to practically investigate interactive storytelling and see how different levels of interactivity affects the general user experience within the horror genre, and if there is a connection between interactivity and the feeling of immersion. In doing so, we hope to investigate how the use of interactivity can be further developed in order to increase the immersive storytelling experience. The study was conducted by having a number of test subjects view five horror stories produced like short horror films mixed with different interactive techniques and answer questions about their experience. Additionally, the participants’ heart rates were monitored during each session. The study revealed that the higher the level of interactivity, the less immersed the user felt, which contradicted the hypothesis that increased levels of interactivity would increase the feeling of immersion. Meanwhile, interactive elements were generally more enjoyed. From the results it could eventually be concluded that it is not the interactivity per se that has the potential to increase the immersive experience, but the ability to let the user interact without any perceived restrictions. In other words, for interactivity to not inhibit the feeling of immersion, it must befit the story and have natural implementations of the controls in order to not steal attention from the content. / Samtidigt som media under det senaste decenniet har blivit alltmer interaktivt så har användarens tidigare roll som passiv åskådare skiftat till att istället vara en aktiv del av upplevelsen. Samma utveckling kan ses i historieberättandet, där traditionella, narrativa tekniker ofta kombineras med modern teknologi för att skapa en ny nivå av inlevelse med målet att förse användaren med känslan av att ”vara där”. Målet med denna studie är att praktiskt utreda interaktivt berättande och se hur olika nivåer av interaktivitet påverkar användarens generella upplevelse inom skräck-genren, samt om det finns ett samband mellan interaktivitet och inlevelse. På så vis hoppas vi på att utreda hur användandet av interaktivitet kan fortsätta att utvecklas för att förstärka känslan av inlevelse i historieberättandet. Studien genomfördes genom att låta ett antal försökspersoner se fem korta skräckfilmer med olika interaktiva tekniker, för att sedan svara på frågor om upplevelsen. Deltagarnas hjärtfrekvens mättes även under varje delmoment. Studien pekade på att ju högre nivå av interaktivitet, desto mindre kände användaren inlevelse, vilket gick emot hypotesen att högre nivåer av interaktivitet skulle öka inlevelsen. Samtidigt visade det sig att de interaktiva inslagen generellt uppskattades mer av användarna. Från resultatet kunde så småningom slutledas att det inte är interaktiviteten i sig som har potentialen att förstärka inlevelsen, utan förmågan att låta användaren interagera utan några upplevda begränsningar. För att interaktiviteten inte ska hämma känslan av inlevelse måste denna med andra ord passa berättelsen och använda sig av kontroller med naturlig känsla för att inte stjäla uppmärksamheten från innehållet.

This thesis is focusing on the emotion of fear in conjunction with an interactive narrative experience. It analyses the emotional scope fear entails as well as discusses different narrative formats and interactivity in terms of agency. Through extensive research on the topic at hand, multiple prototypes is developed focusing on expressing different variations of fear while experimenting with the narrative structure and interactive elements available through the software Twine. Based on this, conclusions were made on the complexity of designing for an emotion and the difficulty in reaching more intense feelings of fear. There was also a struggle of balancing interactivity with narrative while also designing for a frightening experience. Lastly, final conclusions were made on the prototypes abilities to produce frightening responses, which ultimately showed signs towards lesser feelings of fear, such as nervousness, anxiety and trepidation.

The emergence of online entrepreneurship platforms made it possible for entrepreneurs to fund their innovative ideas through financial support from business angels, venture capitalists, and crowds. Nevertheless, technology product development projects are the most difficult to fund on such platforms, with the least funding success and highest unsuccessful dollar value among all categories. One major factor affecting funding success on these platforms is the extent of perceived innovativeness of the presented technology products. The extant literature evinces that product innovativeness perception is influenced not only by novelty but also meaningfulness perception and that innovativeness brings higher funding success when novel projects are also perceived to be meaningful. By drawing on the theory of resonance, this study investigates the impact of interactivity on the extent of perceived innovativeness by creating an impact on resonance, which is proposed to represent all pre-identified aspects of meaningfulness. An online experiment was conducted to empirically validate the proposed research model, and increased interactivity was found to be positively associated with perceived product innovativeness through higher resonance. Theoretically, this study proposes the resonance concept to account for the meaningfulness perception regarding innovative product ideas and demonstrates the positive effect of increased interactivity on perceived innovativeness. For practitioners, the results provide evidence for the positive impact of interactive product presentation on the increased perception of resonance and, thus, innovativeness, which evinces a higher potential for funding success in highly innovative product development projects. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)