Virtual assistants can be used to deliver innovative health programs that provide appealing, personalized, and convenient health advice and support at scale and low cost. Design characteristics that ...influence the look and feel of the virtual assistant, such as visual appearance or language features, may significantly influence users' experience and engagement with the assistant.
This scoping review aims to provide an overview of the experimental research examining how design characteristics of virtual health assistants affect user experience, summarize research findings of experimental research examining how design characteristics of virtual health assistants affect user experience, and provide recommendations for the design of virtual health assistants if sufficient evidence exists.
We searched 5 electronic databases (Web of Science, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and ACM Digital Library) to identify the studies that used an experimental design to compare the effects of design characteristics between 2 or more versions of an interactive virtual health assistant on user experience among adults. Data were synthesized descriptively. Health domains, design characteristics, and outcomes were categorized, and descriptive statistics were used to summarize the body of research. Results for each study were categorized as positive, negative, or no effect, and a matrix of the design characteristics and outcome categories was constructed to summarize the findings.
The database searches identified 6879 articles after the removal of duplicates. We included 48 articles representing 45 unique studies in the review. The most common health domains were mental health and physical activity. Studies most commonly examined design characteristics in the categories of visual design or conversational style and relational behavior and assessed outcomes in the categories of personality, satisfaction, relationship, or use intention. Over half of the design characteristics were examined by only 1 study. Results suggest that empathy and relational behavior and self-disclosure are related to more positive user experience. Results also suggest that if a human-like avatar is used, realistic rendering and medical attire may potentially be related to more positive user experience; however, more research is needed to confirm this.
There is a growing body of scientific evidence examining the impact of virtual health assistants' design characteristics on user experience. Taken together, data suggest that the look and feel of a virtual health assistant does affect user experience. Virtual health assistants that show empathy, display nonverbal relational behaviors, and disclose personal information about themselves achieve better user experience. At present, the evidence base is broad, and the studies are typically small in scale and highly heterogeneous. Further research, particularly using longitudinal research designs with repeated user interactions, is needed to inform the optimal design of virtual health assistants.
Polyethylene is a widely used plastic exhibiting a large range of properties that depend on molecular weight, crystallinity, chain branching, and cross-linking. In this study, the sound speeds and ...elastic properties of a variety of commercially available polyethylene materials were experimentally determined using the pulse-echo ultrasound technique. In situ pressure dependent measurements, including ultrasound time of flight, x-ray diffraction, and x-ray radiography, were performed using a Paris-Edinburgh large volume press at the High Pressure Collaborative Access Team (HPCAT), beamline 16-BM-B at the Advanced Photon Source. Polyethylene sound speed and elastic moduli were found to increase with increasing pressure. The zero pressure orthorhombic phase was found to transform to monoclinic at low pressures of ~0.1 GPa.
Display omitted
•Sound speed and elastic constants in polyethylene increase with increasing density.•Sound speed sharply increases at low pressure due to compression of free volume.•Stress-induced martensitic phase transformation observed at very low pressure.
Type I interferon (IFN)-induced genes have the potential for distinguishing active tuberculosis (ATB) from latent TB infection (LTBI) and healthy controls (HC), monitoring treatment, and detection of ...individuals at risk of progression to active disease. We examined the differential effects of IFN-α, IFN-β and Mycobacterium tuberculosis whole cell lysate (Mtb WCL) stimulation on the expression of selected IFN-stimulated genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from individuals with either LTBI, ATB, and healthy controls. Stimulation with IFN-α and IFN-β induced a higher expression of the interrogated genes while Mtb WCL stimulation induced expression similar to that observed at baseline, with the exception of IL-1A and IL-1B genes that were downregulated. The expression of IFN-α-induced FCGR1A gene, IFN-β-induced FCGR1A, FCGR1B, and SOCS3 genes, and Mtb WCL-induced IFI44, IFI44L, IFIT1, and IFITM3 genes differed significantly between LTBI and ATB. These findings suggest stimulation-driven gene expression patterns could potentially discriminate LTBI and ATB. Mechanistic studies are necessary to define the processes through which distinct type I IFNs and downstream ISGs determine infection outcomes and identify potential host-directed therapeutic strategies.
Preclinical studies have suggested that the oral antifungal agent itraconazole specifically inhibits proliferation, migration, and tube formation of endothelial cells. Itraconazole has potent ...antiangiogenic activity and enhances the efficacy of cytotoxic chemotherapy in multiple primary xenograft lung cancer models. On the basis of these data, we performed an exploratory clinical study, assessing the efficacy of itraconazole with cytotoxic chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with advanced lung cancer.
The study enrolled patients with progressive nonsquamous non–small-cell lung cancer after one prior cytotoxic therapy for metastatic disease, randomized 2:1 to intravenous administration of pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 on day 1, with or without itraconazole 200 mg orally daily, on a 21-day cycle. Outcome measures included percent progression-free at 3 months, progression-free survival, overall survival, and observed toxicity.
A total of 23 patients were enrolled; the study was stopped early because of increasing use of pemetrexed in the first-line setting. At 3 months, 67% of the patients on itraconazole plus pemetrexed were progression-free versus 29% on the control arm of pemetrexed alone (p = 0.11). Median progression-free survivals were 5.5 months (itraconazole) versus 2.8 months (control) (hazard ratio = 0.399, p = 0.089). Overall survival was longer in patients receiving itraconazole (median 32 months) versus control (8 months) (hazard ratio = 0.194, p = 0.012). There were no evident differences in toxicity between the study arms.
Itraconazole is well tolerated in combination with pemetrexed. Consistent with our preclinical data, daily itraconazole administration is associated with trends suggestive of improved disease control in patients receiving chemotherapy for advanced lung cancer.
IL-9 is an important mediator of allergic disease that is critical for mast cell-driven diseases. IL-9 is produced by many cell types, including T cells, basophils, and mast cells. Yet, how IL-9 is ...regulated in mast cells or basophils is not well characterized. In this report, we tested the effects of deficiency of a mouse
gene regulatory element (
CNS-25) in these cells in vivo and in vitro. In mast cells stimulated with IL-3 and IL-33, the
CNS-25 enhancer is a potent regulator of mast cell
gene transcription and epigenetic modification at the
locus. Our data show preferential binding of STAT5 and GATA1 to CNS-25 over the
promoter in mast cells and that T cells and mast cells have differing requirements for the induction of IL-9 production.
CNS-25 is required for IL-9 production from T cells, basophils, and mast cells in a food allergy model, and deficiency in IL-9 expression results in decreased mast cell expansion. In a
infection model, we observed a similar decrease in mast cell accumulation. Although decreased mast cells correlated with higher parasite egg burden and delayed clearance in vivo, T cell deficiency in IL-9 also likely contributes to the phenotype. Thus, our data demonstrate IL-9 production in mast cells and basophils in vivo requires
CNS-25, and that
CNS-25-dependent IL-9 production is required for mast cell expansion during allergic intestinal inflammation.
Prolonged chronic stress has deleterious effects on immune function and is associated with numerous negative health outcomes. The spleen harbors one-fourth of the body's lymphocytes and mediates both ...innate and adaptive immune responses. However, the subset of splenic lymphocytes that respond, either adaptively or maladaptively, to various stressors remains largely unknown. Here we investigated the effects of unpredictable chronic mild stress (CMS) exposure on spleen composition in male mice housed in two different caging conditions: standard caging (Cntl) and enriched environment (EE). EE-caged mice exhibited the greatest absolute number of splenocytes and CMS exposure significantly lowered splenocyte numbers in both caging conditions. Glucocorticoid production, measured by mean fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM), was significantly lower in EE-caged mice vs. Cntl-caged mice. Surprisingly, CMS exposure resulted in an increase in mean FCM in EE-caged mice, but no significant change in Cntl-caged mice. CMS altered the splenic B:T lymphocyte ratio; it reduced the frequency of B cells, but increased the frequency of T cells in EE-caged mice. Splenocyte number and B:T lymphocyte ratio showed a negative relationship with mean FCM. EE-caged mice had a lower frequency of immature and germinal B cells than Cntl-caged mice. CMS markedly increased the frequency of immature and marginal zone B cells, but decreased the frequency of follicular B cells in both caging conditions. Mean FCM correlated positively with frequency of immature, marginal zone and germinal center B cells, but negatively with frequency of follicular B cells. To conclude, splenic immune cells, particularly B lymphocyte composition, are modulated by caging environment and stress and may prime mice differently to respond to immune challenges.
The mechanism behind transgenerational epigenetic inheritance is unclear, particularly through the maternal grandparental line. We previously showed that disruption of folate metabolism in mice by ...the Mtrr hypomorphic mutation results in transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of congenital malformations. Either maternal grandparent can initiate this phenomenon, which persists for at least four wildtype generations. Here, we use genome-wide approaches to reveal genetic stability in the Mtrr model and genome-wide differential DNA methylation in the germline of Mtrr mutant maternal grandfathers. We observe that, while epigenetic reprogramming occurs, wildtype grandprogeny and great grandprogeny exhibit transcriptional changes that correlate with germline methylation defects. One region encompasses the Hira gene, which is misexpressed in embryos for at least three wildtype generations in a manner that distinguishes Hira transcript expression as a biomarker of maternal phenotypic inheritance.
Deaggregation of oxidized ultradispersed diamond (UDD) in dimethylsulfoxide followed by reaction with glycidol monomer, purification via aqueous dialysis, and dispersion in ethylene glycol (EG) base ...fluid affords nanodiamond (ND)–poly(glycidol) polymer brush:EG nanofluids exhibiting 12% thermal conductivity enhancement at a ND loading of 0.9 vol %. Deaggregation of UDD in the presence of oleic acid/octane followed by dispersion in light mineral oil and evaporative removal of octane gives ND·oleic acid:mineral oil dispersions exhibiting 11% thermal conductivity enhancement at a ND loading of 1.9 vol %. Average particle sizes of ND additives, determined by dynamic light scattering, are, respectively, ca. 11 nm (in H2O) and 18 nm (in toluene). Observed thermal conductivity enhancements outperform enhancement effects calculated using Maxwell’s effective medium approximation by 2- to 4-fold. Covalent ND surface modification gives 2-fold greater thermal conductivity enhancement than ND surface modification via hydrogen-bonding interactions at similar concentrations. Stable, static ND:mineral oil dispersions are reported for the first time.
We demonstrate rapid imaging based on four-wave mixing (FWM) by assessing the quality of advanced materials through measurement of their nonlinear response, exciton dephasing, and exciton lifetimes. ...We use a WSe
monolayer grown by chemical vapor deposition as a canonical example to demonstrate these capabilities. By comparison, we show that extracting material parameters such as FWM intensity, dephasing times, excited state lifetimes, and distribution of dark/localized states allows for a more accurate assessment of the quality of a sample than current prevalent techniques, including white light microscopy and linear micro-reflectance spectroscopy. We further discuss future improvements of the ultrafast FWM techniques by modeling the robustness of exponential decay fits to different spacing of the sampling points. Employing ultrafast nonlinear imaging in real-time at room temperature bears the potential for rapid in-situ sample characterization of advanced materials and beyond.
Next‐generation nanoelectronics based on 2D materials ideally will require reliable, flexible, transparent, and versatile dielectrics for transistor gate barriers, environmental passivation layers, ...capacitor spacers, and other device elements. Ultrathin amorphous boron nitride of thicknesses from 2 to 17 nm, described in this work, may offer these attributes, as the material is demonstrated to be universal in structure and stoichiometric chemistry on numerous substrates including flexible polydimethylsiloxane, amorphous silicon dioxide, crystalline Al2O3, other 2D materials including graphene, 2D MoS2, and conducting metals and metal foils. The versatile, large area pulsed laser deposition growth technique is performed at temperatures less than 200 °C and without modifying processing conditions, allowing for seamless integration into 2D device architectures. A device‐scale dielectric constant of 5.9 ± 0.65 at 1 kHz, breakdown voltage of 9.8 ± 1.0 MV cm−1, and bandgap of 4.5 eV were measured for various thicknesses of the ultrathin a‐BN material, representing values higher than previously reported chemical vapor deposited h‐BN and nearing single crystal h‐BN.
Ultrathin amorphous boron nitride films of thicknesses as low as 2 nm are deposited by low temperature pulsed laser deposition. Wafer‐scale process scalability with growth temperatures below 200 °C, film structure and chemistry invariance for numerous prospective substrates, and exceptional dielectric performance open up exciting possibilities to integrate a‐BN films in next‐generation 2D nanoelectronic material constructs.
PDF
