STEM education with Unity 3D

As a part of The Open University's OpenScience Laboratory, we are developing a 3D simulation of a Geology field trip based around Skiddaw in the Lake District, using the Unity software (http://unity3d.com/) and in collaboration with Daden (http://www.daden.co.uk/). During this session, we will give a demonstration of this 3D virtual geology field trip and discuss our rationale of developing a 3D simulation of a geology field trip. We will discuss the technological challenges of developing this application in Unity 3D. We will outline the opportunities that Unity 3D offers in developing 3D educational environments

Web GIS in practice V: 3-D interactive and real-time mapping in Second Life

This paper describes technologies from Daden Limited for geographically mapping and accessing live news stories/feeds, as well as other real-time, real-world data feeds (e.g., Google Earth KML feeds and GeoRSS feeds) in the 3-D virtual world of Second Life, by plotting and updating the corresponding Earth location points on a globe or some other suitable form (in-world), and further linking those points to relevant information and resources. This approach enables users to visualise, interact with, and even walk or fly through, the plotted data in 3-D. Users can also do the reverse: put pins on a map in the virtual world, and then view the data points on the Web in Google Maps or Google Earth. The technologies presented thus serve as a bridge between mirror worlds like Google Earth and virtual worlds like Second Life. We explore the geo-data display potential of virtual worlds and their likely convergence with mirror worlds in the context of the future 3-D Internet or Metaverse, and reflect on the potential of such technologies and their future possibilities, e.g. their use to develop emergency/public health virtual situation rooms to effectively manage emergencies and disasters in real time. The paper also covers some of the issues associated with these technologies, namely user interface accessibility and individual privacy

Exploring the affordances of virtual fieldwork in a multi-user, 3-D digital environment

The Open University has developed virtual field trips for teaching over a number of years, as a necessary supplement to their residential field schools. In common with many online virtual field trips (VFTs), these generally offered fairly simple, linear, isolated experiences. Users progressed from an overview/orientation page with some background information through to a series of static pages, each corresponding to a field locality and containing a set of resources (text, photographs, animations, questions, links). Little interactivity was possible, and most students experienced the VFT in isolation, whether studying it from a DVD or web browser. In 2013, a new VFT, Virtual Skiddaw, was produced via a collaboration between a virtual worlds expert (Shailey Minocha), a geologist (Tom Argles), and Daden, a software development company specializing in virtual worlds. The result is a rich, interactive virtual landscape in which detailed 3D localities are embedded in context, allowing users to follow a guided excursion or explore at their leisure. The VFT runs in a web browser using the free Unity 3D plugin. The Unity 3D gaming engine behind the VFT brings with it a number of features new to virtual field trips: multi-user capability (and interaction), ambient noise, avatar navigation (including flight for aerial views), teleporting (within world only!), 3D models of hand samples. Virtual Skiddaw offers distance students in particular a chance to learn together in the virtual environment, while tutors can lead a group activity in-world. The VFT is now embedded in a core second level Earth science OU module, S209, along with other assets from the recently launched OpenScience Laboratory at the OU (http://learn5.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=2). This session will introduce Virtual Skiddaw, and then progress to a hands-on demo, in-world, to showcase some of the features. Participants are invited to discuss affordances and pitfalls of the VFT, and its potential application beyond HE (for example, into schools)

A 3D virtual geology field trip in Unity

As a part of The OpenScience Laboratory, (http://www.open.ac.uk/openscience/), an initiative of The Open University (OU), UK and The Wolfson Foundation, we (OU and Daden http://www.daden.co.uk) are developing a 3D simulation of a Geology field trip based around Skiddaw in the Lake District, using the Unity 3D software. We are using digital data and imagery to reconstruct the landscape faithfully enough to provide a real sense of presence for the user. The primary objective of developing an authentic 3D interactive simulation has been to provide an immersive experience to the users through sense of space. The virtual embodiment in the form of avatars and the multi-user environment will help give a sense of co-presence and provide opportunities for collaborative learning. The interactions and the learning activities within the 3D environment are designed to mirror the experience of a real field trip. During the presentation at the conference, we plan to address: comparison of the 3D experience with 2D virtual field trips; the role that a 3D virtual geology field trip can play in terms of preparation and reflection before and after a real field trip; and whether and how a 3D simulation helps in gaining geological fieldwork skills and the limitations of 3D virtual geology field trips

Kinetics of Chromate and Phosphate Sorption by Oxide Minerals and Soils.

A nonlinear multireaction model was used to describe kinetic retention data sets for chromate, phosphate, arsenate, borate, fluoride, molybdate, selenite, and silicate by goethite, an iron oxide mineral, and selected soils. These data sets were obtained from laboratory batch experiments with time up to 24 h. Either a three-parameter version of the model consisting of one nonlinear reversible and one first order irreversible reaction, or a five-parameter version consisting of two nonlinear reversible and one first order irreversible reactions was capable of predicting anion sorption by goethite. A mechanistic model consistent with the nonlinear multireaction approach was also proposed in order to account for the adsorption of inorganic oxyanions onto oxide surfaces. The retention of chromate by goethite as a function of pH showed equilibrium constants to decrease with increasing pH. This was supported by the rate equations derived from the mechanistic model which predicted the pseudo rate coefficients for ligand exchange to be pH dependent. Two equilibrium type models, namely the Freundlich and two-site Langmuir were found to adequately describe the sorption (after 24 h of reaction) of chromate, phosphate, arsenate, selenite, and silicate by goethite. Both the Freundlich model and the multireaction model were found to be consistent in establishing an affinity sequence for anion adsorption by goethite. The data suggested the following affinity sequence: arsenate $\u3e$ selenite $\u3e$ phosphate $\u3e$ molybdate $\u3e$ chromate $\u3e$ fluoride $\u3e$ borate $\u3e$ silicate. The retention of chromate by six soils having different soil chemical properties were well described by either the three- or five-parameter versions of the multireaction model. Soils with high iron oxide contents and low pH were capable of retaining chromate to a greater degree than soils low in iron oxides and high pH. It was also found that significant amounts of chromate were incapable of being adsorbed by amorphous aluminum oxide and humic acid. The data sets generated for chromate and phosphate retention by goethite and various soils, as well as the models used for the prediction of their behavior, are a prerequisite for the quantification of their amounts remaining in the soil solution and thus susceptible to transport to the groundwater

A Storm's Approach; Hurricane Shelter Training in a Digital Age

New York City's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) originally ran hundreds of classroom based courses, where they brought together civil servants to learn how to run a Hurricane Shelter (HS). This approach was found to be costly, time consuming and lacked any sense of an impending disaster and need for emergency response. In partnership with the City of New York University School of Professional studies, Gronstedt Group and Daden Limited, the OEM wanted to create a simulation that overcame these issues, providing users with a more immersive and realistic approach at a lower cost. The HS simulation was built in the virtual world Second Life (SL). Virtual worlds are a genre of online communities that often take the form of a computer-based simulated environments, through which users can interact with one another and use or create objects. Using this technology allowed managers to apply their knowledge in both classroom and remote learning environments. The shelter simulation is operational 24/7, guiding users through a 4 1/2 hour narrative from start to finish. This paper will describe the rationale for the project, the technical approach taken - particularly the use of a web based authoring tool to create and manage the immersive simulation, and the results from operational use

Circulating Tumour Necrosis Factor is highly correlated with brainstem serotonin transporter availability in humans

Preclinical studies demonstrate that pro-inflammatory cytokines increase serotonin transporter availability and function, leading to depressive symptoms in rodent models. Herein we investigate associations between circulating inflammatory markers and brainstem serotonin transporter (5-HTT) availability in humans. We hypothesised that higher circulating inflammatory cytokine concentrations, particularly of tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α), would be associated with greater 5-HTT availability, and that TNF-α inhibition with etanercept (sTNFR:Fc) would in turn reduce 5-HTT availability. In 13 neurologically healthy adult women, plasma TNF-α correlated significantly with 5-HTT availability (rho=0.6; p=0.03) determined by [123I] -beta-CIT SPECT scanning. This association was replicated in an independent sample of 12 patients with psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis (rho=0.76; p=0.003). Indirect effects analysis, showed that there was a significant overlap in the variance explained by 5-HTT availability and TNF-α concentrations on BDI scores. Treatment with etanercept for 6-8 weeks was associated with a significant reduction in 5-HTT availability (Z= 2.09; p=0.03; r=0.6) consistent with a functional link. Our findings confirm an association between TNF-α and 5-HTT in both the basal physiological and pathological condition. Modulation of both TNF-α and 5-HTT by etanercept indicate the presence of a mechanistic pathway whereby circulating inflammatory cytokines are related to central nervous system substrates underlying major depression

Web GIS in practice VI: a demo playlist of geo-mashups for public health neogeographers

'Mashup' was originally used to describe the mixing together of musical tracks to create a new piece of music. The term now refers to Web sites or services that weave data from different sources into a new data source or service. Using a musical metaphor that builds on the origin of the word 'mashup', this paper presents a demonstration "playlist" of four geo-mashup vignettes that make use of a range of Web 2.0, Semantic Web, and 3-D Internet methods, with outputs/end-user interfaces spanning the flat Web (two-dimensional – 2-D maps), a three-dimensional – 3-D mirror world (Google Earth) and a 3-D virtual world (Second Life ®). The four geo-mashup "songs" in this "playlist" are: 'Web 2.0 and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for infectious disease surveillance', 'Web 2.0 and GIS for molecular epidemiology', 'Semantic Web for GIS mashup', and 'From Yahoo! Pipes to 3-D, avatar-inhabited geo-mashups'. It is hoped that this showcase of examples and ideas, and the pointers we are providing to the many online tools that are freely available today for creating, sharing and reusing geo-mashups with minimal or no coding, will ultimately spark the imagination of many public health practitioners and stimulate them to start exploring the use of these methods and tools in their day-to-day practice. The paper also discusses how today's Web is rapidly evolving into a much more intensely immersive, mixed-reality and ubiquitous socio-experiential Metaverse that is heavily interconnected through various kinds of user-created mashups

Deconfinement and Hadron Properties at Extremes of Temperature and Density

After introducing essential, qualitative concepts and results, we discuss the application of Dyson-Schwinger equations to QCD at finite T and mu. We summarise the calculation of the critical exponents of two-light-flavour QCD using the chiral and thermal susceptibilities; and an algebraic model that elucidates the origin of an anticorrelation between the mu- and T-dependence of a range of meson properties. That model also provides an algebraic understanding of why the finite-T behaviour of bulk thermodynamic properties is mirrored in their mu-dependence, and why meson masses decrease with mu even though f_pi and - increase. The possibility of diquark condensation is canvassed. Its realisation is uncertain because it is contingent upon an assumption about the quark-quark scattering kernel that is demonstrably false in some applications; e.g., it predicts the existence of coloured diquarks in the strong interaction spectrum, which are not observed.Comment: Summary of presentations at the Workshop on QCD at Finite Baryon Density, Bielefeld, Germany, 27-30/April/1998, 13 pages, 9 figures, espcrc1.sty, epsfig.sty. Correcting typsetting problem