Spitzer Observations of IC 2118

IC 2118, also known as the Witch Head Nebula, is a wispy, roughly cometary, ~5 degree long reflection nebula, and is thought to be a site of triggered star formation. In order to search for new young stellar objects (YSOs), we have observed this region in 7 mid- and far-infrared bands using the Spitzer Space Telescope and in 4 bands in the optical using the U. S. Naval Observatory 40-inch telescope. We find infrared excesses in 4 of the 6 previously-known T Tauri stars in our combined infrared maps, and we find 6 entirely new candidate YSOs, one of which may be an edge-on disk. Most of the YSOs seen in the infrared are Class II objects, and they are all in the "head" of the nebula, within the most massive molecular cloud of the region.Comment: Accepted to Ap

ZINinNGT: A Mobile Tool to Aid Hearing Parents Learning Dutch Sign Language

This study examines the potential of the ZINinNGT app, a mobile learning application designed to support hearing parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children in learning Dutch Sign Language. We conducted interviews with ten parents to investigate their current sign language learning experiences and to gather feedback on the ZINinNGT prototype. While results indicated that an app cannot overcome many of the challenges parents face, parents still expressed a very positive attitude towards using a sign language learning app. Feedback on the ZINinNGT prototype identified the need for enhanced usability and a desire to include quizzes and information on the handshapes of signs. Overall, feedback was very positive, indicating that a mobile app has the potential to support hearing parents by providing relevant content going beyond vocabulary level.</p

First Steps Towards a Signing Avatar for Railway Travel Announcements in the Netherlands

This paper presents first steps towards a sign language avatar for communicating railway travel announcements in Dutch Sign Language. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it demonstrates effective ways to employ co-design and focus group methods in the context of developing sign language technology, and presents several concrete findings and results obtained through co-design and focus group sessions which have not only led to improvements of our own prototype but may also inform the development of signing avatars for other languages and in other application domains

Eindrapport VC3BI commissie

De commissie VC3BI (Verkenningscommissie 3: Bachelors Informatiewetenschappen) heeft sinds eind 2014 de beoogde samenwerking verkend bij de in totaal zes Bacheloropleidingen in informatiewetenschappen aan UvA en VU. Bij de UvA gaat het om de opleidingen Informatica (INF), Informatiekunde (IK) en Kunstmatige Intelligentie (KI), bij de VU om Computer Science (CS), Information, Multimedia &amp; Management (IMM), en Lifestyle Informatics (LI)

Logics of knowledge and action: critical analysis and challenges

International audienceWe overview the most prominent logics of knowledge and action that were proposed and studied in the multiagent systems literature. We classify them according to these two dimensions, knowledge and action, and moreover introduce a distinction between individual knowledge and group knowledge, and between a nonstrategic an a strategic interpretation of action operators. For each of the logics in our classification we highlight problematic properties. They indicate weaknesses in the design of these logics and call into question their suitability to represent knowledge and reason about it. This leads to a list of research challenges

Cultured Neural Networks: Optimization of Patterned Network Adhesiveness and Characterization of their Neural Activity

One type of future, improved neural interface is the “cultured probe”. It is a hybrid type of neural information transducer or prosthesis, for stimulation and/or recording of neural activity. It would consist of a microelectrode array (MEA) on a planar substrate, each electrode being covered and surrounded by a local circularly confined network (“island”) of cultured neurons. The main purpose of the local networks is that they act as biofriendly intermediates for collateral sprouts from thein vivosystem, thus allowing for an effective and selective neuron–electrode interface. As a secondary purpose, one may envisage future information processing applications of these intermediary networks. In this paper, first, progress is shown on how substrates can be chemically modified to confine developing networks, cultured from dissociated rat cortex cells, to “islands” surrounding an electrode site. Additional coating of neurophobic, polyimide-coated substrate by triblock-copolymer coating enhances neurophilic-neurophobic adhesion contrast. Secondly, results are given on neuronal activity in patterned, unconnected and connected, circular “island” networks. For connected islands, the larger the island diameter (50, 100 or 150 μm), the more spontaneous activity is seen. Also, activity may show a very high degree of synchronization between two islands. For unconnected islands, activity may start at 22 days in vitro (DIV), which is two weeks later than in unpatterned networks.</jats:p