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The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a method that can gradually find a sweet spot between user experience and visual intensity of website elements to maximise user conversion with minimal adverse effect.

In the first phase of the study, the authors develop the method. In the second stage, the authors test and evaluate the method via an empirical study; also, an experiment was conducted within web interface with the gradual intensity of visual elements.

The findings reveal that the negative response grows faster than conversion when the visual intensity of the web interface is increased. However, a saturation point, where there is coexistence between maximum conversion and minimum negative response, can be found.

The findings imply that efforts to attract user attention should be pursued with increased caution and that a gradual approach presented in this study helps in finding a site-specific sweet spot for a level of visual intensity by incrementally adjusting the elements of the interface and tracking the changes in user behaviour.

Web marketing and advertising professionals often face the dilemma of determining the optimal level of visual intensity of interface element. Excessive use of marketing component and attention-grabbing visual elements can lead to an inferior user experience and consequent user churn due to growing intrusiveness. At the same time, too little visual intensity can fail to steer users. The present study provides a gradual approach which aids in finding a balance between user experience and visual intensity, maximising user conversion and, thus, providing a practical solution for the problem.

In this study we examine the spectral properties of stiffness degradation at the constitutive level and at the levels of finite elements and their assemblies. The principal objective is to assess the effects of defects on the elastic stiffness properties at different levels of observation. In particular, we are interested in quantitative damage measures, which characterize the fundamental mode of degradation in the form of elastic damage at the level of constitutive relations and at the level of finite elements and structures.

Contact problems are among the most difficult ones in mechanics. Due to its practical importance, the problem has been receiving extensive research work over the years. The finite element method has been widely used to solve contact problems with various grades of complexity. Great progress has been made on both theoretical studies and engineering applications. This paper reviews some of the main developments in contact theories and finite element solution techniques for static contact problems. Classical and variational formulations of the problem are first given and then finite element solution techniques are reviewed. Available constraint methods, friction laws and contact searching algorithms are also briefly described. At the end of the paper, a bibliography is included, listing about seven hundred papers which are related to static contact problems and have been published in various journals and conference proceedings from 1976.

The purpose of this paper is to achieve numerical simulation of discontinuous rock masses.

The extended finite element method (XFEM) was used. Discontinuities (such as joints, faults, and material interfaces) are contained in the elements, thus the mesh can be generated without taking into account the existence of discontinuities. When one element contains no discontinuity, the displacement function is degenerated into that of the conventional finite element. For the element containing discontinuities, the standard displacement‐based approximation is enriched by incorporating level‐set‐based enrichment functions that model the discontinuities, and an element subdivision procedure is used to integrate the domain of the element.

Mesh generation can be simplified considerably and high‐quality meshes can be obtained. A solution with good precision can also be achieved. It is concluded that the XFEM technique is especially suitable in simulating discontinuous rock masses problems.

Crack initiation and propagation should be considered in further studies.

The paper presents a very useful numerical method for a geotechnical engineering problem that has the ability to simulate the failure process of discontinuous rock masses. The method is expected to be used widely in the deformation and stability analysis of complicated rock masses.

The paper provides a new numerical method for discontinuous rock masses that is very convenient for pre‐processing.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate and to assess the capabilities of the most common finite element (FE)‐based tools to deal with global‐local analysis. Two kinds of coupling were investigated: shell to shell and shell to solid.

The issue of connecting non‐matching FE global and local models, characterized by different mesh refinements and/or different element types, was addressed by introducing appropriate kinematic constraints on the nodes at the interfaces. The coupling techniques available in the three FE‐based codes (ABAQUS^®, NASTRAN^® and ANSYS^®), were assessed by applying them on a common numerical test case (non‐linear buckling analysis of a square plate). Results of the global‐local simulations were compared to the results obtained for relevant reference solutions.

The continuity of displacements and stresses across the interface between global and local models and the influence of the presence of the local model on the global model solution were used as parameters to test the quality of the results. It was observed that the tools implemented in the different codes provide different results. The results characterized by a higher quality were found by using the Multi Point Constraint available in ABAQUS^®.

When dealing with complex structures, multi‐scale (global‐local) approaches are commonly adopted to optimize the computational cost by increasing mesh refinements and/or introducing elements with different formulations in specific region of the structures identified as “local model”. In this paper an overview of the coupling tools available in the main commercial FE code is given.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new elemental enrichment technique to improve the accuracy of the simulations of thermal problems containing weak discontinuities.

The enrichment is introduced in the elements cut by the materials interface by means of adding additional shape functions. The weak form of the problem is obtained using Galerkin approach and subsequently integrating the diffusion term by parts. To enforce the continuity of the fluxes in the “cut” elements, a contour integral must be added. These contour integrals named here the “inter-elemental heat fluxes” are usually neglected in the existing enrichment approaches. The proposed approach takes these fluxes into account.

It has been shown that the inter-elemental heat fluxes cannot be generally neglected and must be included. The corresponding method can be easily implemented in any existing finite element method (FEM) code, as the new degrees of freedom corresponding to the enrichment are local to the elements. This allows for their static condensation, thus not affecting the size and structure of the global system of governing equations. The resulting elements have exactly the same number of unknowns as the non-enriched finite element (FE).

It is the first work where the necessity of including inter-elemental heat fluxes has been demonstrated. Moreover, numerical tests solved have proven the importance of these findings. It has been shown that the proposed enrichment leads to an improved accuracy in comparison with the former approaches where inter-elemental heat fluxes were neglected.

This paper aims to present an iterative approach to creating a collaborative design-and-play skatepark videogame for a children’s museum physics exhibit. Intended for children of 5-8 years old and accompanying adults, this interactive tabletop game encourages players to build a skatepark and then skate through it with a skater character. This case study describes the authors’ design perspective shift to make the game’s possibilities for tinkering more “perceptible.”

This paper presents a case-based design narrative that draws on the project’s iterative playability testing with parent–child dyads and reflections from the design team’s endeavors. This analysis draws on methodological elements adapted from agile game development processes and educational design-based research.

The initial game prototype inhibited the collaborative tinkering of parent–child dyads because it used interface abstractions such as menus, did not orient to the task of tinkering with skatepark design and did not help players understand why their skatepark designs failed. Subsequent game versions adopted blocks as a metaphor for interaction, gave players explicit design goals and models and provided players with more explicit feedback about their skater’s motion.

Museum games that provide tinkering experiences for children are an emerging medium. Central concerns for those designing such games are presenting multiple modes of play for different players and contexts and clearly and quickly communicating the possible activities and interactions. The design approach in this study offers players the opportunity to – at both short and long timescales – take up game-directed challenges or explore the skatepark physics through self-generated goals.

In this paper, Isoparametric finite element formulations are derived for special elements for representing the steel‐concrete interface. Curved multi‐noded Isoparametric element for reinforcing steel idealization is proposed. In addition, special thin Isoparametric element in a form of a sheath is suggested in order to model the bond‐slip characteristics. Special provisions are taken into account to avoid numerical difficulties. The proposed elements are incorporated in non‐linear finite element program DMGPLSTS and applied to the problem of tension stiffening of reinforced concrete members. The results are noted to reflect a softer overall response attributable to the slip effect.

This paper aims to examine the elements of the main process of pilgrimage tourism (PT), occurring between pilgrims, hikers and tourists along a trail towards a holy site. PT is defined as a process consisting of three sub-processes over time and across contexts: pre-process, main process and post-process.

Explores the core reasons for PT through active participation and observation.

This study reveals different layers, levels, views, approaches and perspectives involved in people-based processes. The study attempts to conceptualize the elements involved between people committed and dedicated to PT.

The introduced model of PT stresses the processes and interfaces involved over time and across contexts between people, with the same or different sequences. There is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no previous research that explores and describes the processes and interaction between pilgrims, hikers and tourists.

The ultimate experience at an individual level differs, depending upon the outcome of the PT-elements of the model of PT (i.e. processes, interfaces, people and sequences).

From a social science perspective, the research examines the motives of different traveller types and looks at their different perspectives of being involved with the same physical activity of travel. The study emphasises that we can be involved in the same physical activity, but embrace it with different levels of personal and emotional engagement.

A conceptualized model of PT containing four elements (process, interface, people and sequence) – all of which offer a foundation for structuring and assessing empirical research, and provide additional insights and knowledge into the dynamics and complexity involved specifically in a people-based process consisting of interfaces and sequences when travelling.

We compare potential‐based (ø‐U‐P0) and displacement‐based finite element methods for static analysis of contained fluids. A general transient formulation may be specialized to static analysis in both cases. In the potential‐based method velocity potentials (ø) and a single pressure (P0) variable are the unknowns in the fluid region. Displacements are the unknowns in the fluid for displacement‐based methods. Higher‐order displace‐ment‐based elements may produce singular matrices for some static analyses, restricting us to four‐node elements for reliability. While both methods can yield excellent results when compared with experimental data, potential‐based methods appear to have computational advantages over displacement‐based methods.