Vergleichen als Forschungspraxis in der Virtual Reality

Becker J, Maile M, Schwandt S. Vergleichen als Forschungspraxis in der Virtual Reality. In: Büschenfeld J, Böddeker M, Moltmann R, eds. Praktiken der Geschichtsschreibung. Vergleichende Perspektiven auf Forschungs- und Vermittlungsprozesse. Public History - Angewandte Geschichte. Bielefeld, Germany: transcript Verlag; 2023: 55-68.Geschichte boomt! Ob Audio- und Fernsehbeiträge, Comics, Science Slams oder Ausstellungen - historische Themen werden auf vielfältige Weise vermittelt. Die zum Teil forschungsnahen Präsentationsformen ergänzen und bereichern nicht nur den wissenschafts- und bildungspolitisch fest verankerten Umgang mit Geschichte an Schulen und Universitäten. In diesem Sammelband stehen die Praktiken der Geschichtsschreibung im Zentrum, etwa des Recherchierens, Auswählens oder Zusammenstellens. Das Ziel ist, den vermeintlichen Antagonismus ›klassischer‹ Geschichtsforschung und Public History aufzulösen und neu über wissenschaftliche Forschung, ihre Ergebnisse, ihre Kommunikation und Präsentation nachzudenken. Die Beiträger*innen liefern einen aufschlussreichen Blick hinter die Kulissen des Doing in Forschung und Vermittlung

Patients presenting to the emergency department with non-specific complaints : the Basel Non-specific Complaints (BANC) study

Patient management in emergency departments (EDs) is often based on management protocols developed for specific complaints like dyspnea, chest pain, or syncope. To the best of our knowledge, to date no protocols exist for patients with nonspecific complaints (NSCs) such as "weakness,""dizziness," or "feeling unwell." The objectives of this study were to provide a framework for research and a description of patients with NSCs presenting to EDs

Drug-related emergency department visits by elderly patients presenting with non-specific complaints

BACKGROUND Since drug-related emergency department (ED) visits are common among older adults, the objectives of our study were to identify the frequency of drug-related problems (DRPs) among patients presenting to the ED with non-specific complaints (NSC), such as generalized weakness and to evaluate responsible drug classes. METHODS Delayed type cross-sectional diagnostic study with a prospective 30 day follow-up in the ED of the University Hospital Basel, Switzerland. From May 2007 until April 2009, all non-trauma patients presenting to the ED with an Emergency Severity Index (ESI) of 2 or 3 were screened and included, if they presented with non-specific complaints. After having obtained complete 30-day follow-up, two outcome assessors reviewed all available information, judged whether the initial presentation was a DRP and compared their judgment with the initial ED diagnosis. Acute morbidity ("serious condition") was allocated to individual cases according to predefined criteria. RESULTS The study population consisted of 633 patients with NSC. Median age was 81 years (IQR 72/87), and the mean Charlson comorbidity index was 2.5 (IQR 1/4). DRPs were identified in 77 of the 633 cases (12.2%). At the initial assessment, only 40% of the DRPs were correctly identified. 64 of the 77 identified DRPs (83%) fulfilled the criteria "serious condition". Polypharmacy and certain drug classes (thiazides, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, anticonvulsants) were associated with DRPs. CONCLUSION Elderly patients with non-specific complaints need to be screened systematically for drug-related problems. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00920491

Who Did What When? Discovering Complex Historical Interrelations in Immersive Virtual Reality

Derksen M, Becker J, Elahi MF, et al. Who Did What When? Discovering Complex Historical Interrelations in Immersive Virtual Reality. In: 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR). IEEE; 2023: 129-137

Virtual Reality Based Access to Knowledge Graphs for History Research

Becker J, Botsch M, Cimiano P, et al. Virtual Reality Based Access to Knowledge Graphs for History Research. In: Acosta M, Peroni S, Vahdati S, Gentile A-L, Pellegrini T, Kalo J-C, eds. Knowledge Graphs: Semantics, Machine Learning, and Languages. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Semantic Systems, 20–22 September 2023, Leipzig, Germany. Studies on the Semantic Web. IOS Press; 2023.Purpose: Knowledge graphs have so far been intensively used in the cultural heritage domain. Current interaction paradigms and interfaces however are often limited to textual representations or 2D visualizations, not taking into account the 4D nature of data. In digital history in particular, where events as well as geographical and temporal relationships play an important role, exploration paradigms that take into account the 4D nature of event-related data are important, as they have the potential to support historians in generating new knowledge and discovering new relationships. In this paper, we explore the potential of virtual reality as a paradigm allowing digital humanities researchers, historians in particular, to explore a semantic 4D space defined by knowledge graphs from an egocentric perspective. Methodology: We present eTaRDiS: a virtual reality based tool supporting immersive exploration of knowledge graphs. We evaluate the tool in the context of a task in which historians and laypersons with a history background explore DBpedia and Wikidata. We report results of a study involving 13 subjects that interacted with the data in eTaRDiS in the context of a specific task, in order to gain insights regarding the interaction patterns of users with our system. The usability of the tool was evaluated using a questionnaire including questions from the System Usability Scale (SUS) in addition to task-specific questions. Findings: The usability evaluation showed that our tool achieved an overall SUS score of 71.92, corresponding to a ‘satisfactory’ rating. While the mean score reached with laypersons with a history background was quite high with 76.0, corresponding to a rating of ‘excellent’, the score for historians was lower with 69.4, corresponding to a ‘sufficient to satisfactory’ rating. A qualitative analysis of the interaction data revealed that participants quickly identified the relevant information in the tasks using a variety of strategies and taking advantage of the features provided in eTaRDiS. Value: eTaRDiS is to our knowledge the first virtual reality based exploration tool supporting the exploration of knowledge graphs. The findings of the usability evaluation and the qualitative analysis of exploration patterns show that the system could potentially be a valuable tool for allowing digital humanities researchers to explore knowledge graphs as a way to discover new relationships between historical events and persons of interest