Effects of virtual agents on interaction efficiency and environmental immersion in MR environments

Background Physical entity interactions in mixed reality(MR)environments aim to harness human capabilities in manipulating physical objects,thereby enhancing virtual environment(VEs)functionality.In MR,a common strategy is to use virtual agents as substitutes for physical entities,balancing interaction efficiency with environmental immersion.However,the impact of virtual agent size and form on interaction performance remains unclear.Methods Two experiments were conducted to explore how virtual agent size and form affect interaction performance,immersion,and preference in MR environments.The first experiment assessed five virtual agent sizes(25%,50%,75%,100%,and 125%of physical size).The second experiment tested four types of frames(no frame,consistent frame,half frame,and surrounding frame)across all agent sizes.Participants,utilizing a head mounted display,performed tasks involving moving cups,typing words,and using a mouse.They completed questionnaires assessing aspects such as the virtual environment effects,interaction effects,collision concerns,and preferences.Results Results from the first experiment revealed that agents matching physical object size produced the best overall performance.The second experiment demonstrated that consistent framing notably enhances interaction accuracy and speed but reduces immersion.To balance efficiency and immersion,frameless agents matching physical object sizes were deemed optimal.Conclusions Virtual agents matching physical entity sizes enhance user experience and interaction performance.Conversely,familiar frames from 2D interfaces detrimentally affect interaction and immersion in virtual spaces.This study provides valuable insights for the future development of MR systems.

Critical care nurses and their clinical reasoning for customizing monitor alarms:a mixed-method study

Objective:To explore the clinical rationale of critical care nurses for personalizing monitor alarms.One of the most crucial jobs assigned to critical care nurses is monitoring patients'physiological indicators and carrying out the necessary associated interventions.Successful use of equipment in the nursing practice environment will be improved by a thorough understanding of the nurse's approach to alarm configuration.Methods:A mixed-method design integrating quantitative and qualitative components was used.The sample of this study recruited a convenience sample of 60 nurses who have worked in critical care areas.This study took place at Lebanese American University Medical Center Rizk Hospital,utilizing a semi-structured interview with participants.Results:The study demonstrated the high incidence of nuisance alarms and the desensitization of critical care nurses to vital ones.According to the nurses,frequent false alarms and a shortage of staff are the 2 main causes of alarm desensitization.Age was significantly associated with the perception of Smart alarms,according to the data(P=0.03).Four interconnected themes and subcategories that reflect the clinical reasoning process for alarm customization were developed as a result of the study's qualitative component:(1)unit alarm environment;(2)nursing style;(3)motivation to customize;and(4)clinical and technological customization.Conclusions:According to this study,nurses believe that alarms are valuable.However,a qualitative analysis of the experiences revealed that customization has been severely limited since the healthcare team depends on nurses to complete these tasks independently.Additionally,a staffing shortage and lack of technical training at the start of placement have also hindered customization.

Pyrite Formation in Organic-rich Clay, Calcitic and Coal-Forming Environments

The early diagenetic characteristics of pyrite formation processes in a Miocene freshwater sequence of mixed sediments （coal fragments in clays, sandstones or shales） alternating with continuous brown coal layers was investigated. Based on abundant minerals, the following main sedimentary environments were distinguished： the illite-montmorillonitic （I-M）, calcitic （Ct） and coal-forming environment （CL）. For these hydrogeochemically differing environments the effects of limiting factors on the pyrite formation process （availability of sulphate and Fe, amount of organic matter and participation of organic sulphur） were assessed by correlation analysis. Significant differences in the effects of these limiting factors in the particular environments were observed. These differences were explained taking in account the different oxidative activity, Fe-complex and surface complex forming properties of humic substances in dependence of pH of environment and the abundance of sorptionally active clay minerals. In environments having a relatively low pH and containing clay minerals （I-M- and CL-environments） the oxidative activity of humic substances （Hs） on pyrite precursors was greatly prevented however pyrite formation depended on reactive Fe availability as the consequence of complex formation. On the contrary, in environments with a relatively high pH, as it was the calcitic, the oxidative activity of Hs was greatly enhanced, thus oxidizing the sulfur precursors of pyrite. The oxidation degree of organic matter was probably also a consequence of the differing activity of the humic electron-acceptors.

Probing neutron–proton effective mass splitting using nuclear stopping and isospin mix in heavy-ion collisions in GeV energy region

The ramifications of the effective mass splitting on the nuclear stopping and isospin tracer during heavy-ion collisions within the gigaelectron volt energy region are studied using an isospin-dependent quantum molecular dynamics model.Three isotope probes,i.e.,a proton,deuteron,and triton,are used to calculate the nuclear stopping.Compared to the mn*>mp*case,the mn*<mp*parameter results in a stronger stopping for protons but a weaker stopping for tritons.The calculations of the isospin tracer show that the mn*>mp*parameter results in a higher isospin mix than the mn*<mp*parameter.The rapidity and impact parameter dependences of the isospin tracer are also studied.A constraining of the effective mass splitting using the free nucleons with high rapidity and in a central rather than peripheral collision is suggested.

New Stably Expressed Loci Responsible for Panicle Angle Trait in Japonica Rice in Four Environments

Panicle angle （PA） of 254 recombinant inbred lines derived from a cross between two japonica varieties Xiushui 79 and C Bao was investigated under four environments,and a genetic linkage map including 111 SSR markers was constructed.Genetic analysis was conducted by mixed major gene plus polygene inheritance models,and quantitative trait loci （QTLs） identification by the QTLNetwork 2.0 and the composite interval mapping approach of WinQTLCart 2.5 software.Results showed that the PA trait was controlled by two major genes plus polygenes,mainly by major genes.Eight QTLs for PA were detected by the QTLNetwork 2.0 software,and each locus explained 0.01% to 39.89% of the phenotypic variation.Twelve QTLs for PA were detected by the WinQTLCart 2.5 software,with each locus explaining 2.83% to 30.60% of the phenotypic variation.Two major QTLs （qPA9.2 and qPA9.5） distributed between RM3700 and RM3600 and between RM5652 and RM410,respectively,and a moderate QTL （qPA9.7） distributed between RM257 and OSR28,were both detected by the two methods in all of the four environments.The negative effect alleles of the three QTLs were from Xiushui 79.In addition,eight pairs of epistatic QTLs with minor effects were also detected.QTL × environment interactions were not significant for additive QTLs and epistatic QTL pairs.

Simulation Environments: Challenges for Advancement

A brief review of the basic terminology on simulation, simulation life-cycle activities such as model-based activities, behavior-oriented activities, and quality assurance activities is given. Then, the challenges and opportunities for the advancement of the state-of-the-art in simulation environments are discussed under the following headings: modelling environments, simulation environments, mixed simulation environments, and comprehensive simulation environments.

Using Mixed Reality as a Simulation Tool in Urban Planning Project for Sustainable Development

Nowadays, urban design faces complex demands. It has become a necessity to negotiate between stakeholder objectives, the expectations of citizens and the demands of planning. It is desirable to involve the stakeholders and citizens from an early stage in the planning process to enable their different viewpoints to be successfully expressed and comprehended. Therefore, the basic aim of the study was how the MR （mixed reality） application is designed to encourage and improve communication on urban design among stakeholders and citizens？ In this paper, we discuss new approaches to visualize urban building and environment alternatives to different stakeholders and provide them with tools to explore different approaches to urban planning in order to support citizen＇s participation in urban planning with augmented and mixed reality. The major finding of the study is that learning ＂how these participatory technologies may help build a community of practice around an urban project＂. And throughout the different experiences, we can learn to assist towards development of a methodology to use the mixed reality as a simulation tool in the enhancement of collaborative interaction in real-Egyptian project. So, we can determine a number of recommendations to deal with new participatory design tools for urban planning projects.

New Opportunities for Neutrons in Environmental and Biological Sciences

The use of neutron methods in environmental and biological sciences is rapidly emerging and accelerating with the development of new instruments at neutron user facilities.This article,based on a workshop held at Oak Ridge National Laboratory(ORNL),offers insights into the application of neutron techniques in environmental and biological sciences.We highlight recent advances and identify key challenges and potential future research areas.These include soil and rhizosphere processes,root water dynamics,plant-microbe interactions,structure and dynamics of biological systems,applications in synthetic biology and enzyme engineering,next-generation bioproducts,biomaterials and bioenergy,nanoscale structure,and fluid dynamics of porous materials in geochemistry.We provide an outlook on emerging opportunities with an emphasis on new capabilities that will be enabled at the Spallation Neutron Source Second Target Station currently under design at ORNL.The mission of scientific neutron user facilities worldwide is to enable science using state-of-the-art neutron capabilities.We aim to encourage researchers in the environmental and biological research community to explore the unique capability afforded by neutrons at these facilities.

Operational characteristics of mixed traffic flow under bi-directional environment using cellular automaton

Mixed traffic flow composed of autos and non-autos widely exists in developing countries and areas. To investigate the operational characteristics of the mixed traffic flow consisting of vehicles in different types （large vehicles, cars, and bicycles）, we develop a cellular automaton model to repli- cate the travel behaviors on a bi-directional road segment with respect to the physical and mechanic features of different vehicle types. By implementing the essential parameters calibrated through the field data collection, a numerical study is carried out considering the variation in volume, density, and velocity with different compositions of mixed traffic flows. The primary findings include： the average ve- locity of traffic flow and total volume decrease 60% and 30% after incorporating 10% bicycles, respectively; the phenomenon of double-summit in terms bicycle is beyond 60 % ; the maximal total volume higher than 10 %. of the total volume appears when the proportion of starts to recover when the proportion of bicycle is

Efficient and fair coin mixing for Bitcoin

Bitcoin transactions are pseudo-anonymous,which can be exploited to reveal a user’s private information.To eliminate this threat,this paper presents FairMixer,a highly secure and efficient Bitcoin mixing system using the trusted execution environments(TEEs).With the TEE’s confidentiality and integrity guarantees for code and data,FairMixer enables a correct and privacy-preserving mixing process.However,a TEE-based implementation cannot prevent the manipulation of inputs to the mixer,such as mixing request submissions and blockchain feeds.Against this background,FairMixer captures users’ mixing requests via Bitcoin transactions for deterring a malicious service provider from dropping benign participants.To constrain misbehavior during a mixing mission,a misconduct monitoring mechanism and a penalty mechanism are introduced.The proposed scheme is fully compatible with Bitcoin and forces mixes to be accountable.Finally,a prototype of FairMixer is provided using Intel Software Guard Extensions(SGX) and its performance is evaluated in the Bitcoin Testnet.FairMixer mixes 700 inputs in just 8.39 s,which outperforms most existing decentralized mixers.

Predicting the Neutron and Proton Masses Based on Baryons which Are Yang-Mills Magnetic Monopoles and Koide Mass Triplets

We show how the Koide relationships and associated triplet mass matrices can be generalized to derive the observed sum of the free neutron and proton rest masses in terms of the up and down current quark masses and the Fermi vev to six parts in 10,000. This sum can then be solved for the separate neutron and proton masses using the neutron minus proton mass difference derived by the author in a recent, separate paper. The oppositely-signed charges of the up and down quarks are responsible for the appearance of a complex phase exp(iδ) and real rotation angle θ which leads on an independent basis to mass and mixing matrices similar to that of Cabibbo, Kobayashi and Maskawa (CKM). These can then be used to specify the neutron and proton mass relationships to unlimited accuracy using θ as a nucleon fitting angle deduced from empirical data. This fitting angle is then shown to be related to an invariant of the CKM mixing angles within experimental errors. Also developed is a master mass and mixing matrix which may help to interconnect all baryon and quark masses and mixing angles. The Koide generalizations developed here enable these neutron and proton mass relationships to be given a Lagrangian formulation based on neutron and proton field strength tensors that contain vacuum-amplified and current quark wavefunctions and masses. In the course of development, we also uncover new Koide relationships for the neutrinos, the up quarks, and the down quarks.

高速公路混合交通环境下的智能网联汽车换道策略研究

为推动智能网联汽车应用落地,提出高速公路混合交通环境下智能网联汽车换道策略。首先,改进NaSch元胞自动机模型,并采用马尔科夫链算法计算道路通行能力;其次,针对目标车道为专用车道和普通车道分别建立基于车速引导的决策模型和基于博弈论的双矩阵决策模型;最后,采用多目标轨迹优化算法优化换道轨迹。结果表明:目标车道为专用车道和普通车道时,所提出的策略可分别提高换道效率6%、3.38%。

城市道路网联混驾车辆分阶段动态轨迹控制方法

随着城市的进步和不断发展,智能驾驶车辆逐渐代替路段中的部分人工驾驶车辆,但在未来较长时间内人工驾驶车辆并不会被完全取代,此时出现网联车与人工驾驶车辆的混驾环境,即目前以及未来时间内我们面临的驾驶环境。网联车与人工驾驶车辆驾驶行为在路段内相互干扰,造成混合车流行驶效率低下。为减弱2种车辆间的相互作用,提出一种分离混驾环境下网联车和人工驾驶车辆的分阶段动态车道引导算法(dynamic lane guidance algorithm for separating CAVs and HDVs in mixed traffic environment,SCHME)。通过该算法分离在交叉口上游路段的混合流车辆集合,调整智能驾驶车辆的行驶路线并进行实时动态更新,在满足运动学约束收敛的条件下,人工驾驶车辆根据网联车的动态路线进行相应调整,实现在每辆车广义安全损失成本最小的情况下提高路段内混驾环境下车辆运行效率。通过MATLAB模拟车辆在进入交叉口前的车辆运行状态,结果表明,SCHME算法可在广义安全损失成本最小的情况下提高路段内平均车辆通行效率(17.29%),同时当车辆优化数组越大,车辆集合距离交叉口越远时,智能驾驶车辆渗透率越低,每辆车的道路广义安全损失成本越低。

转型环境与混合情绪对新手创业拼凑的组态效应:一个fsQCA的实证分析

通过构建“情绪-环境-行为”的研究框架,探究混合情绪与转型环境的4个前因条件对创业新手创业拼凑的组态效应。对162份调查问卷数据的QCA分析发现:(1)单一情绪或环境因素不构成创业拼凑发生的必要条件;(2)导致创业新手投入拼凑的前因组态有2个,即高积极情绪*高消极情绪*低环境敌对性*高环境动态性、低积极情绪*高消极情绪*高环境敌对性*高环境动态性;(3)导致创业新手顾客拼凑的前因组态有1个,即高积极情绪*高消极情绪*高环境敌对性*高环境动态性;(4)导致创业新手制度拼凑的前因组态有2个,即低积极情绪*高环境敌对性*高环境动态性、高消极情绪*高环境敌对性*高环境动态性。研究丰富和深化了创业拼凑前因的研究文献,拓宽了情绪-环境的组态视角,为新手创业拼凑实践提供了参考与建议。

青少年向复合阅读转向的引导策略

为探究全媒体环境下青少年向复合阅读转变过程中的阅读表现及其影响因素,并提出科学引导策略,文章运用混合方法研究收集青少年阅读的调查数据,对数据资料进行多角度多层次的深入分析。研究发现:青少年阅读整体上初显复合模式,阅读态度和家庭环境支持对青少年阅读行为表现产生显著的正向影响,阅读行为投入的内部反馈和外部结果又会影响他们的阅读态度,尤其是对个人兴趣驱动的休闲阅读态度产生显著影响;科学引导青少年向复合阅读转变的策略包括:根据阅读态度实施差异化的引导策略,加大家庭环境的支持力度,提供线上线下无缝衔接的服务体验。

渠式切割水泥土连续墙的应用和发展

作为超深、等厚、连续、可靠的截水挡土帷幕,渠式切割水泥土连续墙在国内有广泛应用。本文概括了渠式切割水泥土连续墙在国内的引进、应用和发展历程。结合对国内200多个既有应用案例的统计分析,研究了渠式切割水泥土连续墙的施工设备保有情况、成墙深度范围、常用墙体厚度和主要应用场景;罗列了渠式切割水泥土连续墙在复杂地层施工的辅助措施以及典型案例;指出了渠式切割水泥土连续墙在敏感环境微扰动施工的控制要点;介绍了渠式切割预制装配式混凝土连续墙的设计要求和用途,尤其是内插预制板材的截面设计和制造工艺;最后用工程实例表明渠式切割预制装配式混凝土连续墙同时继承了渠式切割微扰动和地下连续墙支护刚度好的特点,无论是切割成墙期间还是土方开挖期间,施工对周边环境的影响都较小。

蓄滞洪区安全建设工程水环境影响分析

蓄滞洪区是中国防洪体系重要组成部分,蓄滞洪区安全建设工程涉及范围广,建设内容包括多项点状和线性工程,工程实施可能对生态敏感区和饮用水水源保护区的水质产生不利影响。以鄱阳湖珠湖蓄滞洪区为例,采用湖泊推流衰减模型和湖泊完全混合模型,模拟施工期和运行期悬浮物和TP浓度变化及对水环境敏感目标的影响。结果表明:工程不利水环境影响主要产生在施工期,工程涉水施工造成悬浮物浓度超过背景值的扩散范围约300 m,TP浓度超背景值的扩散范围约210 m,对饮用水水源保护区水质有一定影响;运行期间,洪水淹没带入的污染物对珠湖水质产生影响,但珠湖水体总体能够达到Ⅲ类水质标准,蓄滞洪区的启用降低了超额洪水发生时的水环境风险。研究成果可为鄱阳湖蓄滞洪区安全建设工程水环境保护提供依据,为其他蓄滞洪区工程环保工作提供借鉴。

一种基于硅传感器的空间中子探测器设计

针对空间站轨道复杂的中子辐射环境,设计一种中子探测器,采用硅层叠结构,利用核反冲法及核反应法进行中子的间接探测,获取空间站轨道中子辐射的能谱信息。该中子探测器的探测范围指标为0.025 eV~10MeV,搭载于天宫空间站梦天实验舱的空间辐射生物学暴露实验装置上,用于监测空间站低地球轨道的中子辐射环境,获取在轨探测数据,可为研究空间中子对生物体造成辐射效应的作用机理提供重要依据,也可为研究次级粒子对航天器电子元件造成的单粒子效应提供必要的空间环境参数。

空间混合辐射环境器件单粒子在轨错误率预估及不确定度分析方法

针对空间混合辐射对器件单粒子在轨错误率的影响,基于典型静态随机存储器利用中国原子能科学研究院HI-13串列加速器以及钴源总剂量模拟辐照试验装置开展协合效应研究,发展了一种器件在混合辐射环境下的单粒子在轨错误率计算方法。并利用该方法计算了协合效应影响下的航天器典型任务周期器件的在轨错误率,同时分析了器件在轨错误率计算中的不确定度来源并计算了在轨错误率不确定度。结果表明,对于该类型器件,空间混合辐射场导致的协合效应将降低器件单粒子在轨错误率。

基于氧化腐蚀行为的铅铋堆燃料组件多物理耦合特性研究

氧是铅铋堆中最具应用潜力的非金属缓蚀剂,在冷却剂中添加一定浓度的氧,可在结构材料表面生成保护性氧化膜,可以极大程度上缓解液态铅铋对结构材料的腐蚀。在铅铋堆中,氧化层的生长-去除行为受温度、氧浓度、冷却剂流速、时间等多种因素影响,同时氧化层的生长也改变了堆芯的热工水力特性和中子物理参数,因此,研究铅铋堆的氧化腐蚀场、热工水力场和中子物理场的耦合作用对铅铋堆应用有重要意义。本文基于MOOSE(面向对象的多物理场仿真环境)平台搭建了核-热-材多物理场耦合框架,开展了铅铋堆在基准工况下的核-热-材耦合分析,并研究了氧浓度和冷却剂入口温度对关键耦合参数时序变化规律和氧化层分布的影响。结果表明,基准工况下氧化腐蚀10 000 h后,燃料组件包壳表面的氧化层平均厚度约为9.86μm,燃料最大温升为13.36 K,k_(eff)下降7 pcm;氧浓度升高可以极有效地抑制磁铁矿溶解,但达到一定浓度后氧浓度的升高对Fe-Cr尖晶石的生长促进作用较小;冷却剂入口温度的升高会导致组件中心处包壳壁面的磁铁矿去除速率增大,并且可以大幅促进Fe-Cr尖晶石的生长。