Smartphones are used today to accomplish a variety of different tasks, but it has some issues that might be solved with new technology. Augmented Reality is a developing technology that in the future can be used in our daily lives to solve some of the problems that smartphones have. Before people will adopt the new augmented technology it is important to have an intuitive method to interact with it. Hand gesturing has always been a vital part of human interaction. Using hand gestures to interact with devices has the potential to be a more natural and familiar method than traditional methods, such as keyboards, controllers, and computer mice. The aim of this thesis is to explore whether hand gesture recognition in an Augmented Reality head-mounted display can provide the same interaction possibilities as a smartphone touchscreen. This was done by implementing an application in Unity that mimics an interface of a smartphone, but uses hand gestures as input in AR. The Leap Motion Controller was the device used to perform hand gesture recognition. To test how practical hand gestures are as an interaction method, text typing was chosen as the task to be used to measure this, as it is used in many applications on smartphones. Thus, the results can be better generalized to real world usage.Five different keyboards were designed and tested in a pilot study. A controlled experiment was conducted, in which 12 participants tried two hand gesturing keyboards and a touchscreen keyboard. This was done to compare how hand gestures compare to touchscreen interaction. In the experiment, participants wrote words using the keyboards, while their completion time and accuracy was recorded. After using a keyboard, a questionnaire was completed by the participants to measure the usability.  The results consists of an implementation of five different keyboards, and data collected from the experiment. The data gathered from the experiment consists of completion time, accuracy, and usability derived from questionnaire responses. Statistical tests were used to determine statistical significance between the keyboards used in the experiment. The results are presented in graphs and tables. The results show that typing with pinch gestures in augmented reality is a slow and tiresome way of typing and affects the users completion time and accuracy negatively, in relation to using a touchscreen. The lower completion time, and higher usability, of the touchscreen keyboard could be determined with statistical significance. Prediction and auto-completion might help with fatigue as fewer key presses are needed to create a word. The research concludes that hand gestures are reasonable to use as input technique to accomplish certain tasks that a smartphone performs. These include simple tasks such as scrolling through a website or opening an email. However, tasks that involve typing long sentences, e.g. composing an email, is arduous using pinch gestures. When it comes to typing, the authors advice developers to employ a continuous gesture typing approach such as Swype for Android and iOS.

This thesis aims to depict Syrian refugees' detrimental livelihoods in the area of Izmir, Turkey and to through mapping, prototyping building and analysing two live projects - developed using a combination of Participatory Action Research and Design Thinking - provide examples on how architects and architecture students can work within the field of displacement. The projects are in two different contexts and have been carried out by students at Umeå School of Architecture, including the authors of this paper. The first is about creating a multi-use activity space at the rooftop of TIAFI community centre, located in Basmane - a refugee dense area in the city of Izmir. The second one is based in the nomadic labour camps in the farmlands of Torbali - a peripheral city to Izmir.

Antalet ungdomar och särskilt flickor som slutar med sport i tonåren har ökat senaste decenniet. Eftersom fysisk aktivitet främjar hälsan är det viktigt att vi försöker vända trenden. Studien ämnade skapa ökad förståelse för varför vissa personer slutar tidigare än andra, genom att undersöka hur kön, sporters könskodning samt maskulin och feminin personlighet (MF-poäng) baserat på Big Five Inventory (BFI 44) påverkar deltagande och avslut i sport. Antalet deltagare var 6 139, och tre grupper skapades; de som slutat i sin sport innan 20 års ålder, de som slutat i sin sport efter 19 års ålder och de som fortfarande var aktiva. Två studier genomfördes, först en systematisk översikt av könskodning av sport, som gav värden för 123 sporter på hur maskulin-feminin de har skattats. Analyserna visade att kön predicerar vilken grad av maskulint eller feminint kodad sport man väljer att delta i, där män väljer mer maskulint kodade sporter och vice versa för kvinnor. Maskulina personlighetsegenskaper predicerade att pojkar och aktiva män valde maskulint kodade sporter, och vice versa för flickor och aktiva kvinnor. Pojkar och män var aktiva i sin sport fler år än flickor och kvinnor. Deltagande i en feminint kodad sport predicerade att flickor var aktiva längre. Maskulin och feminin personlighet predicerade inte antalet aktiva år inom sport. Mer kunskap behövs för att behålla så många som möjligt aktiva så länge som möjligt, oavsett typ av sport och kön. / The rate of adolescents, especially girls who are quitting sports has increased in the last decade. Since physical activity is an important factor for good health, it´s important that we try to turn the trend around. The aim of the present study was to understand why some people are quitting sports earlier than others, by examining how sex, sports gendertyping, and masculine and feminine personality (MF-score) based on the Big Five Inventory (BFI 44) affect participation and termination in sport. The sample size was 6 139 and three groups were created, adolescents that stopped doing their sport before age 20, adults that stopped doing their sport after age 19,and adults that were still active. Two studies were conducted, a systematic review of sports gendertyping, which provided values on how masculine-feminine each of 123 sports have been rated. The analyses showed that sex is a significant predictor of sport choice. Males chose more masculine sports, and vice versa for females. Masculine personality predicted choice of masculine coded sports for boys and active males, and vice versa for girls and active females. Boys and men were also active in sports more years than girls and women. Feminine sports predicted more active years among girls. Masculine and feminine personality did not predict how many years participants were active in the sport. Further knowledge is needed to keep as many active as long as possible, regardless of type of sport and sex.

The Paenibacillaceae family of bacteria includes two species known to infect the hives of honeybees, Paenibacillus larvae and Brevibacillus laterosporus. P. larvae, the causative agent of American Foulbrood (AFB) causes a lethal infection of honeybee larvae, while B. laterosporus is a secondary invader following European Foulbrood (EFB) infection. Increasing antibiotic resistance of P. larvae bacteria has prompted a search for alternative treatment methods for this disease. Bacteriophages are the most diverse life forms on earth and can provide important insights about the bacterial hosts they infect. However, few Paenibacillaceae phages have been isolated or characterized. In this study, the first B. laterosporus phages are characterized with respect to host range, structural morphology, and sequence similarity. The isolation and characterization of many P. larvae field isolates together with 38 novel P. larvae phages made possible the first broad phage typing study of P. larvae. Phage typing data indicated that P. larvae strains tested could be categorized into one of two groups. Comparative genomics of bacteriophages was made easier by modifying Phamerator to make it broadly accessible and usable to phage researchers throughout the world. Additionally, raw sequencing data can now be used to identify phage DNA packaging strategies that are indicative of a phage’s physical ends. Using these data, phage genomes can be published in an orientation and complementarity that reflects the physical structure of the phage chromosome, providing order and consistency that will benefit all future phage researchers.

Before major athletic events, a taper is often prescribed to facilitate recovery and enhance performance. However, it is unknown which taper model is most effective for peaking maximal strength and positively augmenting skeletal muscle. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare performance outcomes and skeletal muscle adaptations following a step vs. an exponential taper in strength athletes. Sixteen powerlifters (24.0 ± 4.0 years, 174.4 ± 8.2 cm, 89.8 ± 21.4 kg) participated in a 6-week training program aimed at peaking maximal strength on back squat [initial 1-repetition-maximum (1RM): 174.7 ± 33.4 kg], bench press (118.5 ± 29.9 kg), and deadlift (189.9 ± 41.2 kg). Powerlifters were matched based on relative maximal strength, and randomly assigned to either (a) 1-week overreach and 1-week step taper or (b) 1-week overreach and 3-week exponential taper. Athletes were tested pre- and post-training on measures of body composition, jumping performance, isometric squat, and 1RM. Whole muscle size was assessed at the proximal, middle, and distal vastus lateralis using ultrasonography and microbiopsies at the middle vastus lateralis site. Muscle samples ( = 15) were analyzed for fiber size, fiber type [myosin-heavy chain (MHC)-I, -IIA, -IIX, hybrid-I/IIA] using whole muscle immunohistochemistry and single fiber dot blots, gene expression, and microRNA abundance. There were significant main time effects for 1RM squat ( < 0.001), bench press ( < 0.001), and deadlift, ( = 0.024), powerlifting total ( < 0.001), Wilks Score ( < 0.001), squat jump peak-power scaled to body mass ( = 0.001), body mass ( = 0.005), fat mass ( = 0.002), and fat mass index ( = 0.002). There were significant main time effects for medial whole muscle cross-sectional area (mCSA) ( = 0.006) and averaged sites ( < 0.001). There was also a significant interaction for MHC-IIA fiber cross-sectional area (fCSA) ( = 0.014) with comparisons revealing increases following the step-taper only ( = 0.002). There were significant main time effects for single-fiber MHC-I% ( = 0.015) and MHC-IIA% ( = 0.033), as well as for MyoD ( = 0.002), MyoG ( = 0.037), and miR-499a ( = 0.033). Overall, increases in whole mCSA, fCSA, MHC-IIA fCSA, and MHC transitions appeared to favor the step taper group. An overreach followed by a step taper appears to produce a myocellular environment that enhances skeletal muscle adaptations, whereas an exponential taper may favor neuromuscular performance.

No description available.

Within the framework of the present work, an aerosol typing methodology applicable to both ground-based and spaceborne lidar systems has been developed. The novel aerosol typing scheme was developed based on the optimal estimation method (OEM) and allows the identification of up to four different aerosol components present in an aerosol mixture as well as the quantification of their contribution to the aerosol mixture in terms of relative volume. The four aerosol components considered in this typing scheme represent the most commonly observed aerosol particles in nature and are assumed to be physically separated from each other and, therefore, can create external mixtures. Two components represent fine-mode particles, absorbing (FSA) and less absorbing (FSNA), and the remaining two aerosol components represent coarse-mode particles, spherical (CS) and non-spherical (CNS). These components can adequately represent the most frequently observed aerosol types in the atmosphere: combustion- and pollution-related aerosol, sea salt and desert dust, respectively. The lidar-derived optical parameters used in this typing scheme are the lidar ratio and the particle linear depolarization ratio at two distinctive wavelengths (355 and 532 nm), the backscatter-related color ratio (for the wavelength pair of 532/1064 nm) and the extinction-related Ångström exponent (for the wavelength pair of 355/532 nm). These intensive optical properties can be combined in different ways making the methodology flexible, allowing thus its application to lidar systems with different configurations (e.g., single wavelength or multiwavelength). The functionality of the typing scheme was demonstrated by its application to case studies of known aerosol conditions as well as to cases of non-characterized aerosol load. The algorithm was also applied to a long-term dataset to provide a seasonal characterization of the aerosol situation over Haifa, Israel. It was shown that the OEM is an effective methodology that can be also applied for aerosol typing purposes, and that it can be used to support the ground-based validation efforts of EarthCARE's products and algorithms.

<div>Typing in Japanese is a difficult process for novice and intermediate learners of Japanese due</div><div>to the writing system of the Japanese language and its comparatively involved input method on a</div><div>keyboard. Considering that spell checkers, which enable the user to check and correct their own</div><div>errors and select the correct kanji word, are designed for native speakers, the learners of Japanese</div><div>as a foreign language (JFL) may not recognize their spelling errors and are thus unable to selfcorrect using this built-in tool.</div><div>The present study addresses this problem and conducts an experiment to evaluate the</div><div>effectiveness of a visual feedback tool by its error recognition rate on the learners spelling errors</div><div>when typing in Japanese. The participants were 46 beginner level JFL learners in a third semester</div><div>Japanese course, and the majority consist of native speakers of Chinese or English. The</div><div>participants participated in two experimental sessions. In both sessions, participants were audio</div><div>recorded while reading aloud a list of words in Japanese for pronunciation analysis and screen</div><div>recorded while typing the same list of Japanese words. These recordings are used to analyze the</div><div>characteristics of error patterns in both pronunciation and typing. During the typing sessions, visual</div><div>feedback is provided to the participants via a customized dictionary tool when participants make</div><div>a spelling error.</div><div>The results show that regardless of the native language, the learners have difficulty on certain</div><div>words that include long vowels or double consonants. The recorded error patterns align with the</div><div>findings of previous studies (Hatasa, 2001; Nakazawa, 2003; Tsuchiya, 2000), and the visual</div><div>feedback showed an average error recognition rate of 76% of the participants’ spelling errors. The</div><div>participants also assessed the dictionary tool in terms of usability, and their responses indicate that</div><div>such tools are very useful during typing. The researcher concludes that using a visual feedback</div><div>dictionary tool is effective in recognizing the spelling errors of the learners when typing, and it</div><div>increases the learner’s awareness of spelling accuracy.</div>

L’objectif de cette étude est de déterminer l’importance clinique de l’antigène érythrocytaire canin Dal, en investiguant sa prévalence, son mode d’héritabilité et son immunogénicité. Un total de 1230 chiens a été recruté à travers l’Amérique du Nord et typés pour le Dal en utilisant des allo-anticorps polyclonaux et une technique sur colonne de gel. Des individus Dal-négatifs ont été identifiés chez les Dalmatiens (n=15/128), Doberman Pinschers (n=183/432), Shih Tzus (n=12/21), chiens de races croisées (3/122), Beagles (2/100), Lhasa Apso (1/3) et Bichon Frisé (1/6). Six donneurs de sang Dal-négatifs ont été identifiés, dont 5 Doberman Pinschers (1/228 donneurs d’une autre race). Tous les autres chiens testés étaient Dal-positifs (n=418). La rareté du sang Dal-négatif place les chiens Dal-négatifs à risque d’incompatibilité transfusionnelle lors de transfusions multiples. Cette étude est la première à identifier des individus Dal-négatifs chez des chiens de race autre que Dalmatien et à établir le mode d’héritabilité du Dal, soit autosomal dominant. Par la suite, 2 Beagles Dal-négatifs ont été sensibilisés spécifiquement pour le Dal en recevant une transfusion Dal-positif. Suivant la sensibilisation, des allo-anticorps anti-Dal ont été détectés à partir du 4ième jour post-transfusion et sont demeurés détectables jusqu’à 2 ans post-transfusion. Les titres d’agglutination maximaux (1:64 et 1:1024) ont été atteints 2 et 1 mois post-transfusion chez le chien #1 et le chien #2, respectivement. Cette étude a confirmé l’immunogénicité du Dal tout en ayant généré une quantité considérable d’allo-anticorps anti-Dal permettant de futurs typages sanguins Dal. / The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical importance of the Dal canine erythrocyte antigen by investigating its prevalence, its mode of inheritance and its immunogenicity. A total of 1230 dogs recruited from North America were blood typed for Dal applying a gel column technique using polyclonal canine anti-Dal sera. Dal-negative dogs were identified mostly in Dalmatians (15/128), Dobermans Pinschers (183/432) and Shih Tzus (12/21), and sporadically in mixed breed dogs (3/122), Beagles (2/100), Lhasa Apso (1/6) and Bichon Frise (1/3). All other dogs tested were Dal-positive (n= 418). Six Dal-negative blood donors were found, including 5 Doberman Pinschers (1/228 non-Dalmatian and non-Doberman Pinscher blood donors). The scarcity of Dal-negative blood donors puts Dal-negative patient at higher risk of transfusion incompatibility if requiring multiple blood transfusions. This study was the first to identify Dal-negative dogs in other breeds than Dalmatians and to establish an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance of the Dal-positive phenotype. Secondly, 2 Dal-negative healthy research Beagles were sensitized specifically for Dal with a Dal-positive packed red blood cell transfusion. Following sensitization, anti-Dal alloantibodies were detected as early as 4 days post-transfusion and remained detectable 2 years post-transfusion, with maximum agglutination titers (1:1024 and 1:64) reached respectively 1 and 2 months posttransfusion in dog #2 and dog #1. Our study confirmed the immunogenicity of the Dal and allowed banking of a considerable amount of polyclonal antisera for further Dal blood typing.

Les langages de programmation typés dynamiquement tels que JavaScript et Python repoussent la vérification de typage jusqu’au moment de l’exécution. Afin d’optimiser la performance de ces langages, les implémentations de machines virtuelles pour langages dynamiques doivent tenter d’éliminer les tests de typage dynamiques redondants. Cela se fait habituellement en utilisant une analyse d’inférence de types. Cependant, les analyses de ce genre sont souvent coûteuses et impliquent des compromis entre le temps de compilation et la précision des résultats obtenus. Ceci a conduit à la conception d’architectures de VM de plus en plus complexes. Nous proposons le versionnement paresseux de blocs de base, une technique de compilation à la volée simple qui élimine efficacement les tests de typage dynamiques redondants sur les chemins d’exécution critiques. Cette nouvelle approche génère paresseusement des versions spécialisées des blocs de base tout en propageant de l’information de typage contextualisée. Notre technique ne nécessite pas l’utilisation d’analyses de programme coûteuses, n’est pas contrainte par les limitations de précision des analyses d’inférence de types traditionnelles et évite la complexité des techniques d’optimisation spéculatives. Trois extensions sont apportées au versionnement de blocs de base afin de lui donner des capacités d’optimisation interprocédurale. Une première extension lui donne la possibilité de joindre des informations de typage aux propriétés des objets et aux variables globales. Puis, la spécialisation de points d’entrée lui permet de passer de l’information de typage des fonctions appellantes aux fonctions appellées. Finalement, la spécialisation des continuations d’appels permet de transmettre le type des valeurs de retour des fonctions appellées aux appellants sans coût dynamique. Nous démontrons empiriquement que ces extensions permettent au versionnement de blocs de base d’éliminer plus de tests de typage dynamiques que toute analyse d’inférence de typage statique. / Dynamically typed programming languages such as JavaScript and Python defer type checking to run time. In order to maximize performance, dynamic language virtual machine implementations must attempt to eliminate redundant dynamic type checks. This is typically done using type inference analysis. However, type inference analyses are often costly and involve tradeoffs between compilation time and resulting precision. This has lead to the creation of increasingly complex multi-tiered VM architectures. We introduce lazy basic block versioning, a simple just-in-time compilation technique which effectively removes redundant type checks from critical code paths. This novel approach lazily generates type-specialized versions of basic blocks on the fly while propagating context-dependent type information. This does not require the use of costly program analyses, is not restricted by the precision limitations of traditional type analyses and avoids the implementation complexity of speculative optimization techniques. Three extensions are made to the basic block versioning technique in order to give it interprocedural optimization capabilities. Typed object shapes give it the ability to attach type information to object properties and global variables. Entry point specialization allows it to pass type information from callers to callees, and call continuation specialization makes it possible to pass return value type information back to callers without dynamic overhead. We empirically demonstrate that these extensions enable basic block versioning to exceed the capabilities of static whole-program type analyses.