Proposal for an IMLS Collection Registry and Metadata Repository

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign proposes to design, implement, and research a collection-level registry and item-level metadata repository service that will aggregate information about digital collections and items of digital content created using funds from Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grants. This work will be a collaboration by the University Library and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. All extant digital collections initiated or augmented under IMLS aegis from 1998 through September 30, 2005 will be included in the proposed collection registry. Item-level metadata will be harvested from collections making such content available using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI PMH). As part of this work, project personnel, in cooperation with IMLS staff and grantees, will define and document appropriate metadata schemas, help create and maintain collection-level metadata records, assist in implementing OAI compliant metadata provider services for dissemination of item-level metadata records, and research potential benefits and issues associated with these activities. The immediate outcomes of this work will be the practical demonstration of technologies that have the potential to enhance the visibility of IMLS funded online exhibits and digital library collections and improve discoverability of items contained in these resources. Experience gained and research conducted during this project will make clearer both the costs and the potential benefits associated with such services. Metadata provider and harvesting service implementations will be appropriately instrumented (e.g., customized anonymous transaction logs, online questionnaires for targeted user groups, performance monitors). At the conclusion of this project we will submit a final report that discusses tasks performed and lessons learned, presents business plans for sustaining registry and repository services, enumerates and summarizes potential benefits of these services, and makes recommendations regarding future implementations of these and related intermediary and end user interoperability services by IMLS projects.unpublishednot peer reviewe

Global Alfven Eigenmodes in the H-1 heliac

Recent upgrades in H-1 power supplies have enabled the operation of the H-1 experiment at higher heating powers than previously attainable. A heating power scan in mixed hydrogen/helium plasmas reveals a change in mode activity with increasing heating power. At low power (<50 kW) modes with beta-induced Alfven eigenmode (BAE) frequency scaling are observed. At higher power modes consistent with an analysis of nonconventional Global Alfven Eigenmodes (GAEs) are observed, the subject of this work. We have computed the mode continuum, and identified GAE structures using the ideal MHD solver CKA and the gyrokinetic code EUTERPE. An analytic model for ICRH-heated minority ions is used to estimate the fast ion temperature from the hydrogen species. Linear growth rate scans using a local flux surface stability calculation, LGRO, are performed. These studies demonstrate growth from circulating particles whose speed is significantly less than the Alfven speed, and are resonant with the mode through harmonics of the Fourier decomposition of the strongly-shaped heliac magnetic field. They reveal drive is possible with a small, hot energetic tail of the hydrogen species. Local linear growth rate scans are also complemented with global calculations from CKA and EUTERPE. These qualitatively confirm the findings from the LGRO study, and show that the inclusion of finite Larmor radius effects can reduce the growth rate by a factor of three, but do not affect marginal stability. Finally, a study of damping of the global mode with the thermal plasma is conducted, computing continuum, and the damping arising from parallel electric fields. We find that continuum damping is of order 0.1% for the configuration studied. The inclusion of resistivity lifts the damping to 19%. Such large damping is consistent with experimental observations that in absence of drive the mode decays rapidly (~0.1 ms).Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, submitted 07/04/2017 to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusio

Using Cluster Abundances and Peculiar Velocities to Test the Gaussianity of the Cosmological Density Field

(Abridged) By comparing the frequency of typical events with that of unusual events, one can test whether the cosmological density distribution function is consistent with the normally made assumption of Gaussianity. To this end, we compare the consistency of the tail-inferred (from clusters) and measured values (from large-scale flows) of the rms level of mass fluctuations for two distribution functions: a Gaussian, and a texture (positively-skewed) PDF. Averaging the recent large-scale flow measurements, we find that observations of the rms and the tail at the 10 h^-1 Mpc scale disfavor a texture PDF at ~1.5 sigma in all cases. However, taking only the most recent measurement of the rms, that from Willick et al. (1997b), the comparison disfavors textures for low Omega_0=0.3, and disfavors Gaussian models if Omega_0=1 (again at ~1.5 sigma). Predictions for evolution of high temperature clusters can also be made for the models considered, and strongly disfavor Omega_0=1 in Gaussian models and marginally disfavor Omega_0=1 in texture models. Only Omega_0=0.3 Gaussian models are consistent with all the data considered.Comment: 34 pg incl. 8 embedded figures, LaTeX, aaspp4.sty, submitted to Ap

User experience of mixed reality applications for healthy ageing : A systematic review

Mixed reality (MR) technologies are being used increasingly to support healthy ageing, but past reviews have concentrated on the efficacy of the technology. This systematic review provides a synthesis of recent experimental studies on the instrumental, emotional and non-instrumental aspects of user experience of healthy older adults in relation to MR-related applications. The review was listed on PROSPERO, utilised a modified PICOS framework, and canvassed all published work between January 2010 to July 2021 that appeared in major databases (Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library). The literature search revealed 15 eligible studies. Results indicated that all included studies measured the instrumental quality of their applications, all but two studies measured the emotional reactions triggered by gameplay, and only six studies examined participants’ perception of non-instrumental quality of the applications. All included studies focused on improving a health domain such as cognitive or physical training. This suggests that the instrumental quality of the MR applications remains the focus of user experience studies, with far fewer studies examining the non-instrumental quality of the applications. Implications for game design and future research are discussed

Constraints on visual exploration of youth football players during 11v11 match-play : The influence of playing role, pitch position and phase of play

Visual exploratory action, in which football players turn their head to perceive their environment, improves prospective performance with the ball during match-play. This scanning action, however, is relevant for players throughout the entire match, as the information perceived through visual exploration is needed to guide movement around the pitch during both offensive and defensive play. This study aimed to understand how a player’s on-pitch position, playing role and phase of play influenced the visual exploratory head movements of players during 11v11 match-play. Twenty-two competitive-elite youth footballers (M = 16.25 years) played a total of 1,623 minutes (M = 73.8). Inertial measurement units, global positioning system units and notational analysis were used to quantify relevant variables. Analyses revealed that players explored more extensively when they were in possession of the ball, and less extensively during transition phases, as compared to team ball-possession and opposition ball-possession phases of play. Players explored most extensively when in the back third of the pitch, and least when they were in the middle third of the pitch. Playing role, pitch position and phase of play should be considered as constraints on visual exploratory actions when developing training situations aimed at improving the scanning actions of players

Visual exploration when surrounded by affordances : Frequency of head movements is predictive of response speed

Little is known about the actions supporting exploration and their relation to subsequent actions in situations when participants are surrounded by opportunities for action. Here, the movements that support visual exploration were related to performance in an enveloping football (soccer) passing task. Head movements of experienced football players were quantified with inertial measurement units. In a simulated football scenario, participants completed a receiving–passing task that required them to indicate pass direction to one of four surrounding targets, as quickly as they could after they gained simulated ball possession. The frequency of head movements before and after gaining ball possession and the pass response times were recorded. We controlled exploration time—the time before gaining simulated ball possession—to be 1, 2, or 3 seconds. Exploration time significantly influenced the frequency of head movements, and a higher frequency of head turns before gaining ball possession resulted in faster pass responses. Exploratory action influenced subsequent performatory action. That is, higher frequencies of head movements resulted in faster decisions. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Investigation of the neural control of cough and cough suppression in humans using functional brain imaging

Excessive coughing is one of the mostcommonreasons for seeking medical advice, yet the available therapies for treating cough disorders are inadequate. Humans can voluntarily cough, choose to suppress their cough, and are acutely aware of an irritation that is present in their airways. This indicates a significant level of behavioral and conscious control over the basic cough reflex pathway. However, very little is known about the neural basis for higher brain regulation of coughing. The aim of the present study was to use functional brain imaging in healthy humans to describe the supramedullary control of cough and cough suppression. Our data show that the brain circuitry activated during coughing in response to capsaicin-evoked airways irritation is not simply a function of voluntarily initiated coughing and the perception of airways irritation. Rather, activations in several brain regions, including the posterior insula and posterior cingulate cortex, define the unique attributes of an evoked cough. Furthermore, the active suppression of irritant-evoked coughing is also associated with a unique pattern of brain activity, including an involvement of the anterior insula, anterior mid-cingulate cortex, and inferior frontal gyrus. These data demonstrate for the first time that evoked cough is not solely a brainstem-mediated reflex response to irritation of the airways, but rather requires active facilitation by cortical regions, and is further regulated by distinct higher order inhibitory processes. Copyright © 2011 the authors

Principles of the guidance of exploration for orientation and specification of action

To control movement of any type, the neural system requires perceptual information to distinguish what actions are possible in any given environment. The behavior aimed at collecting this information, termed “exploration”, is vital for successful movement control. Currently, the main function of exploration is understood in the context of specifying the requirements of the task at hand. To accommodate for agency and action-selection, we propose that this understanding needs to be supplemented with a function of exploration that logically precedes the specification of action requirements with the purpose of discovery of possibilities for action—action orientation. This study aimed to provide evidence for the delineation of exploration for action orientation and exploration for action specification using the principles from “General Tau Theory.” Sixteen male participants volunteered and performed a laboratory-based exploration task. The visual scenes of different task-specific situations were projected on five monitors surrounding the participant. At a predetermined time, the participant received a simulated ball and was asked to respond by indicating where they would next play the ball. Head movements were recorded using inertial sensors as a measure of exploratory activity. It was shown that movement guidance characteristics varied between different head turns as participants moved from exploration for orientation to exploration for action specification. The first head turn in the trial, used for action-orientation, showed later peaks in the velocity profile and harder closure of the movement gap (gap between the start and end of the head-movement) in comparison to the later head turns. However, no differences were found between the first and the final head turn, which we hypothesized are used mainly for action orientation and specification respectively. These results are in support of differences in the function and control of head movement for discovery of opportunities for action (orientation) vs. head movement for specification of task requirements. Both are important for natural movement, yet in experimental settings,orientation is often neglected. Including both orientation and action specification in an experimental design should maximize generalizability of an experiment to natural behavior. Future studies are required to study the neural bases of movement guidance in order to better understand exploration in anticipation of movement

Determination of the Baryon Density from Large Scale Galaxy Redshift Surveys

We estimate the degree to which the baryon density, $\Omega_{b}$, can be determined from the galaxy power spectrum measured from large scale galaxy redshift surveys, and in particular, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. A high baryon density will cause wiggles to appear in the power spectrum, which should be observable at the current epoch. We assume linear theory on scales $\geq 20h^{-1}Mpc$ and do not include the effects of redshift distortions, evolution, or biasing. With an optimum estimate of $P(k)$ to $k\sim 2\pi/(20 h^{-1} Mpc)$, the $1 \sigma$ uncertainties in $\Omega_{b}$ are roughly 0.07 and 0.016 in flat and open ($\Omega_{0}=0.3$) cosmological models, respectively. This result suggests that it should be possible to test for consistency with big bang nucleosynthesis estimates of $\Omega_{b}$ if we live in an open universe.Comment: 23 Pages, 10 Postscript figure