Heat is an essential aspect of personal comfort. However, designing for heat as a comfort material is difficult due to the subjective nature of materials in combination with differing human perceptions and preferences. This paper presents the results of an explorative design project, where a heat kit consisting of three design probes was developed through self-exploration and participatory design with five participants. Field studies with this heat kit enabled the participants to interact with heat as a comfort material in their day-to-day lives. This allowed exploration of the contexts where heat is considered a comfort material, use cases stemming from these contexts, and usability considerations in designing with heat as a comfort material. As a result, two significant paradigms of using heat for comfort emerged: discomfort-avoidance behavior and comfort-seeking behavior. In addition, the degree of flexibility for users, importance of material with differing use cases, controllability of heat, and comfort in social interactions emerged as key design considerations when developing artifacts with heat as a comfort material. / Värme är en viktig aspekt när det gäller personliga bekvämligheter. Att skapa en design där värme är ett bekvämlighetsmaterial är dock svårt på grund av materialets subjektiva natur och människors multipla preferenser. Denna artikel presenterar resultaten av ett utforskande designprojekt, där ett värmekit bestående av tre designsonder utvecklades genom självutforskning och fem deltagares design. Fältstudier med detta värmekit gjorde det möjligt för deltagarna att interagera med värme som ett bekvämlighetsmaterial i deras dagliga liv, vilket gjorde det möjligt att utforska de sammanhang där värme anses vara ett bekvämlighetsmaterial, användingsfall som kommer från dessa kontext samt omständigheter för användaren som kommer från att designa efter värme som ett bekvämlighetsmaterial. Som ett resultat uppstod två betydande paradigm för att använda värme för komfort: beteende som undviker obehag och beteende som söker komfort. Dessutom framträdde graden av flexibilitet för användarna, vikten av material med olika användningsfall, reglerbarhet av värme och komfort i sociala interaktioner som viktiga designöverväganden vid utveckling av artefakter med värme som komfortmaterial.

This dissertation describes the development of temperature and pH-responsive interfaces, where the emphasis is placed on tuning the responsivities within a physiological temperature range. This tuning is achieved through the utilization of polymeric building blocks, where each component is specifically synthesized to have a unique responsivity. The assembly of these components onto surfaces permits the fabrication of stimuli-responsive interfaces. In addition, this dissertation explores the use of a self-assembling peptide as a modular building block to modify the interface of hydrogel microparticles, resulting in the formation of a new biosynthetic construct. Hydrogels are three-dimensional, crosslinked polymer networks that swell in water. Over the years, hydrogels have been extensively explored as biomaterials due to their high water content, tunable mechanics, and chemical versatility. Two areas where hydrogels have received considerable interest are drug delivery and extracellular matrices. Unfortunately, developing structurally and functionally complex hydrogels from the top down is challenging because many parameters cannot be independently tuned in a bulk material. An alternative route would be to develop a library of building blocks, where each is tailored for a given function, and assemble these components into composite structures. The building block synthesized and utilized in this dissertation is a microgel. Microgels are a colloidal dispersion of hydrogel microparticles, ranging in size from 100 to 1000 nm in diameter. The microgels were prepared from environmentally responsive polymers, sensitive to both temperature and pH. Microgels have been used in the fabrication of polyelectrolyte layer-by-layer films, where the microgel serves as the polyanion and a linear polycation is used to “stitch” the particles together. In Chapters 3 and 4, stimuli-responsive interfaces are prepared from environmentally responsive microgel building blocks. In particular, Chapter 3 demonstrates tuning of the film response temperature by preparing several different microgels with differing ratios of two thermoresponsive polymers. Chapter 4 evaluates the influence of the pH environment on the thermoresponsivity of microgel films. While the pH environment was found to substantially affect some films, it is possible to prepare microgel films that behave independently of pH. The swelling/de-swelling of the films was also investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a function of both pH and temperature. It was determined that the AFM imaging parameters can drastically affect the measured film thicknesses (Appendix A) due to the soft, deformable nature of microgel films. The studies in these chapters illustrate the advantages of preparing composite structures from discrete components, where the functionality of the composite is dictated by the constituent particles. In Chapter 5, attention is placed on modifying the surface of microgel particles. Many of the traditional routes used to modify microgels involve the incorporation of co-monomers into the network or the addition of polymer shells. However, a new core/shell construct is presented, where a microgel core is coated with a self-assembling peptide shell. In this scenario, the peptide shell serves as a modular scaffold, where surface-localized functional groups can participate in reactions. Although there are still a number of questions remaining in regard to the assembly process and stability of the construct, initial experiments suggests that this is an interesting and promising structure to study. Finally, a discussion of future directions and possible experiments is provided in Chapter 6. Hopefully, this will serve as a guide for further exploration of the research presented herein. Microgels remain a rich class of materials to study and employ. While their synthesis is rather straightforward, their use often results in complex behavior and interesting phenomena. Understanding their behavior is a crucial step in realizing their full potential.

Published Article / The ability to increase turnover in a short time is determined by industry characteristics. These characteristics need to be taken into account during forecasting and planning. The correlation. which can be described among others by the Market Response Time (MRT) has an impact upon the whole marketing planning. MRT is defined as the time between increased marketing efforts (stimuli) and the time when the market starts to react in terms of increased purchasing (response). It is expected that different industries have different MRTs which influence the analyzed planning in different ways. Thus sales planning must be adapted to MRT, which will most probably increase planning efficiency.

Regional differences in sweat gland output, skin temperature and thermoreceptor distribution can account for variations in regional perceptions of temperature, thermal comfort and wetness sensation. Large cohorts of studies have assessed these perceptual responses during sedentary activity but the findings are typically applied to a multitude of conditions, including exercise. Increases in sweat gland output, redistribution of blood flow and changes in skin and core temperature are basic responses to exercise in most conditions and these ultimately influence our perceptual responses. The primary aim of this thesis is to determine factors that influence regional differences in thermal sensation, thermal comfort and wetness sensation during exercise in moderate to hot conditions. The secondary aim is to develop and understand an additional variable, galvanic skin conductance (GSC) that can be used to predict thermal comfort and wetness sensation. The aim of the first study (Chapter 4) was to determine the influence of exercise on thermal sensitivity and magnitude sensation of warmth to a hot-dry stimulus (thermal probe at 40°C) and assess if any gender-linked differences and/or regional differences exist. From the data, body maps indicating sensitivity were produced for both genders during rest and exercise. Females had more regional differences than males. Overall sensitivity was greatest at the head, then the torso and declined towards the extremities. The data showed that exercise did not cause a significant reduction in thermal sensitivity but magnitude estimation was significantly lower after exercise for males and selected locations in females. The cause of a reduced magnitude sensation is thought to be associated with exercise induced analgesia; a reduction in sensitivity due to exercise related increases in circulating hormones. As the literature suggests that thermal comfort in the heat is influenced by the presence of sweat, the next study and all proceeding studies were concerned with this concept. In Chapter 5, building on earlier studies performed in our laboratories, the influence of local skin wettedness (wlocal) on local thermal comfort and wetness sensation was investigated in a neutral dry condition (20.2 ± 0.5°C and 43.5 ± 4.5% RH) whilst walking (4.5 km∙hr-1). Regional differences in wlocal were manipulated using specialised clothing comprising permeable and impermeable material areas. Strong correlations existed between local thermal comfort and local wetness sensation with the various measured wlocal (r2>0.88, p<0.05 and r2>0.83, p<0.05, respectively). The thermal comfort limit was defined as the wlocal value at which the participants no longer felt comfortable. Regional comfort limits for wlocal were identified (in order of high-low sensitivity); lower back (0.40), upper legs (0.44), lower legs (0.45), abdomen (0.45), chest (0.55), upper back (0.56), upper arms (0.57) and lower arms (0.65). The maximum degree of discomfort and wetness sensation experienced during the investigation was kept deliberately low in an attempt to determine the threshold values. Therefore comfort scores and wetness scores rarely reached a state of uncomfortable or wet so the next step was to assess these relationships when sweat production is high and the sensations worsened. However, pilot testing indicated that a ceiling effect would occur for wlocal at high levels of sweat production whilst thermal discomfort increased indicating wlocal was not the determining parameter in that case. Thus an additional parameter was required. The chosen parameter was galvanic skin conductance (GSC) due to its alleged ability to monitor pre-secretory sweat gland activity, skin hydration and surface sweat. In Chapter 6, the reliability, reproducibility and validity of GSC were confirmed in a series of pilot tests. Moderate to strong correlations were found between GSC and regional sweat rate (RSR) (r2>0.60, p<0.05) and wlocal (r2>0.55, p<0.05). The literature suggests standardising GSC relative to a minimum and maximum GSC value; however uncertainties arise when attempting to achieve maximum GSC. Therefore a change from baseline (∆GSC) was chosen as the proposed method of standardisation for further use. Additional results (from Chapter 9) revealed that ∆GSC also reflects pre-secretory sweat gland activity as it increased prior to sweat being present on the skin surface and prior to an increase in RSR. In Chapter 9, also hydration of the stratum corneum was measured using a moisture meter and the results revealed that it has an upper limit; indicating maximal hydration. From this point of full skin saturation ∆GSC and RSR markedly increase though sensations did not. It was also found that ∆GSC is only influenced by surface sweat that is in direct contact with the electrode and is not influenced by sweat elsewhere on the skin surface between electrodes. Higher levels of thermal discomfort have rarely been explored and neither has its relationship with wlocal. The ability of ∆GSC and wlocal to predict local thermal comfort and wetness sensation were compared in two different conditions to elicit low and high sweat production. Unlike Chapter 5, the body sites were not manipulated to control wlocal but allowed to vary naturally over time. The test was carried out on males (Chapter 7) and females (Chapter 8) to compare any gender linked differences and the results suggest that females are more sensitive than males to the initial presence of sweat. For both genders, wlocal and ∆GSC are strong predictors of thermal comfort and wetness sensation. More importantly, wlocal can only be used to predict local thermal comfort in conditions of low sweat production or low levels of thermal discomfort. However, once sweat production increases and thermal discomfort worsens ΔGSC (and not wlocal) can predict thermal comfort. Due to low sweat production observed in females indicates that this is only relevant for females. It appears that epidermal hydration has an important role on influencing thermal comfort. Receptors influencing our perceptual responses are located in the epidermis and when sweat is produced and released onto the skin surface, this epidermis swells and the sensitivity of receptors are said to increase. wlocal indicates the amount of moisture present on the skin surface, yet ∆GSC indicates presecretory sweat gland activity and epidermal hydration where the receptors are located. This may explain why on numerous occasions thermal comfort had a stronger relationship with ∆GSC than wlocal. Where Chapter 5 indicated the true local comfort limits for each respective zone, Chapter 7 and 8 provided a global picture of how local regions interact and influence local thermal comfort across the body. When wlocal varies naturally, the torso areas naturally produce more sweat than the extremities and it seemed that these areas produce so much more sweat than the extremities that they dominate local thermal comfort across the whole body. This is referred to in this thesis as a model of segmental interaction. As with thermal comfort, wetness sensation had strong relationships with wlocal and ∆GSC. The results also revealed a strong relationship between wetness sensation and thermal comfort. In contrast to the widely supported claim, a drop in skin temperature is not required to stimulate a wetness sensation. The point at which we detect sweat and when it becomes uncomfortable occurs at different wlocal values across the body. Thermal comfort is shown to be influenced by sweat during exercise in moderate-to-hot conditions. As w has an upper limit the findings suggest that it cannot predict thermal comfort during high sweat rates. Galvanic skin conductance monitors the process of sweat production more closely and thus is a better predictor of thermal comfort during all conditions and particularly during high sweat production. The strong relationship between thermal comfort and wetness sensation confirm the role of sweat production on thermal comfort. Gender differences to perceptual responses were observed, with females generally being more sensitive to sweat and a warm thermal stimulus than males. Regional differences to sweat and a warm stimulus generally suggest that the torso area is more sensitive than the extremities. This is important not only for sports clothing design but also protective clothing at the work place.

在臺灣國中英語課程的寫作部份，一向只有片段的填空、改寫句子或翻譯等，加強文法及句型結構的練習，而忽略能讓學生自我表達的創意寫作。對英語能力相當有限的國中生而言，若能提供有效、有趣的寫作指導，他們也能應用語言能力並發揮創意，寫出有趣的文章。 本研究在探討由看圖說故事進而寫故事，對國中生寫作能力的影響。本研究以台北市某國中兩班三年級，六十位學生為研究對象，先施以一次先前研究，作為主要研究的設計及實施之參考，再以三個故事為主題進行六篇記敘文的寫作。其中三篇只給作文題目及引導句，稱為題目引導式寫作；另三篇則提供題目加圖片，稱為圖片引導式寫作。整個研究內容另包括三次問卷及一系列的訪談。問卷一及問卷三在了解受測學生在研究前、研究後的寫作態度及動機的轉變；問卷二及訪談旨在了解學生對於圖片做為輔助教材的觀感。 本研究的主要發現如下：（1）圖片有助於學生寫故事的組織及架構，（2）圖片提供語料及文意，有助於學生發展故事內容及長度，（3）圖片刺激學生想像力，增加學生故事的創意，（4）學生在經過圖片式的寫作引導之後，對英文作文表現出比較積極的學習態度及動機。 / For junior high students in Taiwan, writing activities have been restricted to grammar-oriented exercises. Creative writing that engages students in using the target language communicatively has been neglected. Students at this level of proficiency, if provided with effective and stimulating writing instruction, are also able to compose fascinating stories. The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of pictures on junior high students’ narrative writing. Subjects in this study are sixty ninth-graders from two classes in a junior high school in Taipei city. Instruments consist of a pilot study, three student surveys, six narrative writing assignments and a series of one-to-one interviews. Findings are summarized as follows: First, picture aids facilitate students’ organizational skills for story writing. Second, pictorial presentation provides students with linguistic resources that help to enrich their story content. Third, pictorial images stimulate students’ imagination and add creativity to their stories. Furthermore, writing improvements through pictorial instruction also lead to the students’ positive attitude toward writing and stronger motivation as well.

The problem of this study was to determine whether there was any relationship between selected personality variables and art production with structured and non-structured stimuli.

The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of anxiety-relief therapy when compared with three other treatment groups (group systematic desensitization; a pseudo-therapy, suggestion, group; and a no-treatment group).

These studies led the experimenter to investigate the use of chemical aversion therapy using anectine as the aversive stimulus with a morphine addict. The success of Thomason and Rathod with heroin addicts suggested that their experimental method would be useful as a reference while designing this study. The treatment hypothesis was that the patient's use of intravenous narcotic drugs would be eliminated through the application of chemical aversion therapy. Chemical aversion therapy was operantly defined as the injection intravenously of anectine into the patient concurrent with his self-injection of his narcotic of choice.

This research demonstrates that experience with uncontrollable reinforcement, here defined as continuous non-contingent positive feedback to solution attempts of insoluble problems, fails to produce the proactive interference phenomenon, learned helplessness, while uncontrollable aversive events, here defined as negative feedback to solution attempts of insoluble problems, produces that phenomenon. These results partially support the "learned helplessness" hypothesis of Seligman (1975) which predicts that experience with uncontrollable reinforcement, the offset of negative events or the onset of positive ones, results in learning that responding is independent of reinforcement and that learning transfers to subsequent situations. This research further demonstrates that experience with controllability, here defined as solubility, results in enhanced competence.

The study was designed to find a response on the behavioral level that would be an effective index across subjects for determining when conditioned aversive suppression of a response had been achieved. Ten male volunteers received shock during trials in which they had to smoke. Half of the subjects received a brief but more intense shock when they stopped smoking during a trial. A comparison of these subjects to the others showed their average amount of smoking suppression in pre- and post-treatment rates to be significantly (P < .025) greater. In addition, these subjects showed conditioned emotional responding. It was concluded that this behavioral level response was an effective index for determining when suppression of smoking would occur.