Developing serious games for cultural heritage: a state-of-the-art review

Although the widespread use of gaming for leisure purposes has been well documented, the use of games to support cultural heritage purposes, such as historical teaching and learning, or for enhancing museum visits, has been less well considered. The state-of-the-art in serious game technology is identical to that of the state-of-the-art in entertainment games technology. As a result, the field of serious heritage games concerns itself with recent advances in computer games, real-time computer graphics, virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the main strengths of serious gaming applications may be generalised as being in the areas of communication, visual expression of information, collaboration mechanisms, interactivity and entertainment. In this report, we will focus on the state-of-the-art with respect to the theories, methods and technologies used in serious heritage games. We provide an overview of existing literature of relevance to the domain, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the described methods and point out unsolved problems and challenges. In addition, several case studies illustrating the application of methods and technologies used in cultural heritage are presented

Measurement of the Omega_c Lifetime

We present the measurement of the lifetime of the Omega_c we have performed using three independent data samples from two different decay modes. Using a Sigma- beam of 340 GeV/c we have obtained clean signals for the Omega_c decaying into Xi- K- pi+ pi+ and Omega- pi+ pi- pi+, avoiding topological cuts normally used in charm analysis. The short but measurable lifetime of the Omega_c is demonstrated by a clear enhancement of the signals at short but finite decay lengths. Using a continuous maximum likelihood method we determined the lifetime to be tau(Omega_c) = 55 +13-11(stat) +18-23(syst) fs. This makes the Omega_c the shortest living weakly decaying particle observed so far. The short value of the lifetime confirms the predicted pattern of the charmed baryon lifetimes and demonstrates that the strong interaction plays a vital role in the lifetimes of charmed hadrons.Comment: 15 pages, including 7 figures; gzipped, uuencoded postscrip

Search for the exotic Ξ−−(1860)\Xi^{--}(1860) Resonance in 340GeV/c Σ−\Sigma^--Nucleus Interactions

We report on a high statistics search for the $\Xi^{--}(1860)$ resonance in $\Sigma^-$-nucleus collisions at 340GeV/c. No evidence for this resonance is found in our data sample which contains 676000 $\Xi^-$ candidates above background. For the decay channel $\Xi^{--}(1860) \to \Xi^-\pi^-$ and the kinematic range 0.15$<x_F<$0.9 we find a 3$\sigma$ upper limit for the production cross section of 3.1 and 3.5 $\mu$b per nucleon for reactions with carbon and copper, respectively.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, modification of ref. 43 and 4

SYK inhibition thwarts the BAFF - B-cell receptor crosstalk and thereby antagonizes Mcl-1 in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Although small molecule inhibitors of B-cell receptor-associated kinases have revolutionized therapy in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), responses are incomplete. Pro-survival signaling emanating from the microenvironment may foster therapeutic resistance of the malignant B cells resident in the protective lymphoid niches. B-cell activating factor (BAFF) is critical to the survival of both healthy and neoplastic B cells. However, the pro-survival pathways triggered by BAFF have not been fully characterized. Here we show that BAFF elicited resistance to spontaneous and drug-induced apoptosis in stromal co-cultures, induced activation of both canonical and non-canonical NFκB signaling pathways, and triggered B-cell receptor signaling in CLL cells, independently of IGHV mutational status. SYK, a proximal kinase in the B-cell receptor signaling cascade, acted via STAT3 to bolster transcription of the anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1, thereby contributing to apoptosis resistance in BAFF-stimulated cells. SYK inhibitor entospletinib downregulated Mcl-1, abrogating BAFF-mediated cell survival. BAFF-B-cell receptor crosstalk in neoplastic B cells was mediated by SYK interaction with TRAF2/TRAF3 complex. Thus, SYK inhibition is a promising therapeutic strategy uniquely poised to antagonize crosstalk between BAFF and B-cell receptor, thereby disrupting the pro-survival microenvironment signaling in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Charge Asymmetries for D, D_s and Lambda_c Production in Sigma- - Nucleus Interactions at 340 GeV/c

CERN experiment WA89 has studied charmed particles produced by a Sigma^- beam at 340 GeV/c on nuclear targets. Production of particles which have light quarks in common with the beam is compared to production of those which do not. Considerable production asymmetries between D^- and D^p, D_s^ and D_s^+ and Lambda_c and Antilambda_c are observed. The results are compared with pion beam data and with theoretical calculations.Comment: LaTeX ; 16 pages including 4 ps figure

Search for the pentaquark candidate Θ+\Theta^+(1540) in the hyperon beam experiment WA89

We report on a high-statistics search for the \t1540 resonance in $\Sigma^-$-nucleus collisions at 340 \gevc1 . No evidence for this resonance was found in our data sample which contains 13 millions $K^0_s \to \pi^+\pi^-$ decays above background. For the decay channel $\Theta^+ \to K^0_s p$ and the kinematic range $x_F>$ 0.05 we find the production cross section to be $BR(\Theta^+ \to K^0_s p)\cdot \sigma_0 <$ 1.8 $\mu$b per nucleon at 99% CL.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

The psychological science accelerator’s COVID-19 rapid-response dataset

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Psychological Science Accelerator coordinated three large-scale psychological studies to examine the effects of loss-gain framing, cognitive reappraisals, and autonomy framing manipulations on behavioral intentions and affective measures. The data collected (April to October 2020) included specific measures for each experimental study, a general questionnaire examining health prevention behaviors and COVID-19 experience, geographical and cultural context characterization, and demographic information for each participant. Each participant started the study with the same general questions and then was randomized to complete either one longer experiment or two shorter experiments. Data were provided by 73,223 participants with varying completion rates. Participants completed the survey from 111 geopolitical regions in 44 unique languages/dialects. The anonymized dataset described here is provided in both raw and processed formats to facilitate re-use and further analyses. The dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore coping, framing, and self-determination across a diverse, global sample obtained at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data

A global experiment on motivating social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Finding communication strategies that effectively motivate social distancing continues to be a global public health priority during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-country, preregistered experiment (n = 25,718 from 89 countries) tested hypotheses concerning generalizable positive and negative outcomes of social distancing messages that promoted personal agency and reflective choices (i.e., an autonomy-supportive message) or were restrictive and shaming (i.e., a controlling message) compared with no message at all. Results partially supported experimental hypotheses in that the controlling message increased controlled motivation (a poorly internalized form of motivation relying on shame, guilt, and fear of social consequences) relative to no message. On the other hand, the autonomy-supportive message lowered feelings of defiance compared with the controlling message, but the controlling message did not differ from receiving no message at all. Unexpectedly, messages did not influence autonomous motivation (a highly internalized form of motivation relying on one’s core values) or behavioral intentions. Results supported hypothesized associations between people’s existing autonomous and controlled motivations and self-reported behavioral intentions to engage in social distancing. Controlled motivation was associated with more defiance and less long-term behavioral intention to engage in social distancing, whereas autonomous motivation was associated with less defiance and more short- and long-term intentions to social distance. Overall, this work highlights the potential harm of using shaming and pressuring language in public health communication, with implications for the current and future global health challenges

A multi-country test of brief reappraisal interventions on emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world