Identifying the Cognitive Needs of Visitors and Content Selection Parameters for Designing the Interactive Kiosk Software for Museums

International audienceThis research presents the findings of contextual interviews, visitor survey and behavioural study that were carried out in Indian museums. It originates from the hypothesis that the museum exhibits are unable to express their relevance, historical significance and related knowledge to satisfy the curiosity of visitors. Our objective is to identify the cognitive needs of museum visitors and the content selection parameters for designing the interactive kiosk software, which is expected to be set up in every thematic gallery of the museum. The kiosk software is intended to offer higher level of engaging and learnable experience to the museum visitors. The research involved participation of 100+ visitors in Indian museums. The access restrictions and constraints of museums cause cognitive deprivation of visitors and compromise the quality of experience. Therefore, the interactivity, animations and multimedia capabilities of kiosk software must be focused on overcoming these limitations

Analysis of visitors’ mobility patterns through random walk in the Louvre Museum

This paper proposes a random walk model to analyze visitors' mobility patterns in a large museum. Visitors' available time makes their visiting styles different, resulting in dissimilarity in the order and number of visited places and in path sequence length. We analyze all this by comparing a simulation model and observed data, which provide us the strength of the visitors' mobility patterns. The obtained results indicate that shorter stay-type visitors exhibit stronger patterns than those with the longer stay-type, confirming that the former are more selective than the latter in terms of their visitation type.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, 4 table

Assessing Public Engagement with Science in a University Primate Research Centre in a National Zoo

Recent years have seen increasing encouragement by research institutions and funding bodies for scientists to actively engage with the public, who ultimately finance their work. Animal behaviour as a discipline possesses several features, including its inherent accessibility and appeal to the public, that may help it occupy a particularly successful niche within these developments. It has also established a repertoire of quantitative behavioural methodologies that can be used to document the public's responses to engagement initiatives. This kind of assessment is becoming increasingly important considering the enormous effort now being put into public engagement projects, whose effects are more often assumed than demonstrated. Here we report our first attempts to quantify relevant aspects of the behaviour of a sample of the hundreds of thousands of visitors who pass through the ‘Living Links to Human Evolution Research Centre’ in Edinburgh Zoo. This University research centre actively encourages the public to view ongoing primate research and associated science engagement activities. Focal follows of visitors and scan sampling showed substantial ‘dwell times’ in the Centre by common zoo standards and the addition of new engagement elements in a second year was accompanied by significantly increased overall dwell times, tripling for the most committed two thirds of visitors. Larger groups of visitors were found to spend more time in the Centre than smaller ones. Viewing live, active science was the most effective activity, shown to be enhanced by novel presentations of carefully constructed explanatory materials. The findings emphasise the importance and potential of zoos as public engagement centres for the biological sciences

Removing the invisibility cloak: Using space design to influence patron behavior and increase service desk usage

In small branch libraries, patrons seeking assistance from library staff outside of the dedicated single-service desk often results in large staffing inefficiencies. This paper presents a case study in which the authors applied behavioral psychology models to a branch library’s space arrangement to identify possible factors influencing patron service point choices. A subsequent full space rearrangement was instituted which utilized human behavior research, service desk design principles, and low-cost methods to create a space that reduced barriers and influenced patrons back to the main service desk. The paper reports on the 11-month study that followed and the impact the rearrangement had on patron behavior. Results indicate that simple rearrangement of existing furniture and equipment into new configurations have direct influence on service desk usage and can encourage new patron behaviors. Space and human behavior are inherently connected and library managers should establish goals for how they envision their spaces to be used and arrange them in ways that encourage wanted behaviors.Ye

Sonic Hedgehog Gene Delivery to the Rodent Heart Promotes Angiogenesis via iNOS/Netrin-1/PKC Pathway

We hypothesized that genetic modification of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) transgene, a morphogen during embryonic development and embryonic and adult stem cell growth, improved their survival and angiogenic potential in the ischemic heart via iNOS/netrin/PKC pathway.MSCs from young Fisher-344 rat bone marrow were purified and transfected with pCMV Shh plasmid ((Shh)MSCs). Immunofluorescence, RT-PCR and Western blotting showed higher expression of Shh in (Shh)MSCs which also led to increased expression of angiogenic and pro-survival growth factors in (Shh)MSCs. Significantly improved migration and tube formation was seen in (Shh)MSCs as compared to empty vector transfected MSCs ((Emp)MSCs). Significant upregulation of netrin-1 and iNOS was observed in (Shh)MSCs in PI3K independent but PKC dependent manner. For in vivo studies, acute myocardial infarction model was developed in Fisher-344 rats. The animals were grouped to receive 70 microl basal DMEM without cells (group-1) or containing 1x10(6) (Emp)MSCs (group-2) and (Shh)MSCs (group-3). Group-4 received recombinant netrin-1 protein injection into the infarcted heart. FISH and sry-quantification revealed improved survival of (Shh)MSCs post engraftment. Histological studies combined with fluorescent microspheres showed increased density of functionally competent blood vessels in group-3 and group-4. Echocardiography showed significantly preserved heart function indices post engraftment with (Shh)MSCs in group-3 animals.Reprogramming of stem cells with Shh maximizes their survival and angiogenic potential in the heart via iNOS/netrin-1/PKC signaling

BCL11B Regulates Epithelial Proliferation and Asymmetric Development of the Mouse Mandibular Incisor

Mouse incisors grow continuously throughout life with enamel deposition uniquely on the outer, or labial, side of the tooth. Asymmetric enamel deposition is due to the presence of enamel-secreting ameloblasts exclusively within the labial epithelium of the incisor. We have previously shown that mice lacking the transcription factor BCL11B/CTIP2 (BCL11B hereafter) exhibit severely disrupted ameloblast formation in the developing incisor. We now report that BCL11B is a key factor controlling epithelial proliferation and overall developmental asymmetry of the mouse incisor: BCL11B is necessary for proliferation of the labial epithelium and development of the epithelial stem cell niche, which gives rise to ameloblasts; conversely, BCL11B suppresses epithelial proliferation, and development of stem cells and ameloblasts on the inner, or lingual, side of the incisor. This bidirectional action of BCL11B in the incisor epithelia appears responsible for the asymmetry of ameloblast localization in developing incisor. Underlying these spatio-specific functions of BCL11B in incisor development is the regulation of a large gene network comprised of genes encoding several members of the FGF and TGFβ superfamilies, Sprouty proteins, and Sonic hedgehog. Our data integrate BCL11B into these pathways during incisor development and reveal the molecular mechanisms that underlie phenotypes of both Bcl11b−/− and Sprouty mutant mice

Action Mechanism of Inhibin α-Subunit on the Development of Sertoli Cells and First Wave of Spermatogenesis in Mice

Inhibin is an important marker of Sertoli cell (SC) activity in animals with impaired spermatogenesis. However, the precise relationship between inhibin and SC activity is unknown. To investigate this relationship, we partially silenced both the transcription and translation of the gene for the α-subunit of inhibin, Inha, using recombinant pshRNA vectors developed with RNAi-Ready pSIREN-RetroQ-ZsGreen Vector (Clontech Laboratories, Mountain View, Calif). We found that Inha silencing suppresses the cell-cycle regulators Cyclin D1 and Cyclin E and up-regulates the cell-cycle inhibitor P21 (as detected by Western blot analysis), thereby increasing the number of SCs in the G1 phase of the cell cycle and decreasing the amount in the S-phase of the cell cycle (as detected by flow cytometry). Inha silencing also suppressed Pdgfa, Igf1, and Kitl mRNA levels and up-regulated Tgfbrs, Inhba, Inhbb, Cyp11a1, Dhh, and Tjp1 mRNA levels (as indicated by real-time polymerase chain reaction [PCR] analysis). These findings indicate that Inha has the potential to influence the availability of the ligand inhibin and its antagonist activin in the SC in an autocrine manner and inhibit the progression of SC from G1 to S. It may also participate in the development of the blood–testis barrier, Leydig cells, and spermatogenesis through its effect on Dhh, Tjp1, Kitl, and Pdgfa. Real-time PCR and Western blot analyses of Inha, Inhba, and Inhbb mRNA and Inha levels over time show that Inha plays an important role in the formation of round spermatid during the first wave of spermatogenesis in mice

Combined In Silico and In Vivo Analyses Reveal Role of Hes1 in Taste Cell Differentiation

The sense of taste is of critical importance to animal survival. Although studies of taste signal transduction mechanisms have provided detailed information regarding taste receptor calcium signaling molecules (TRCSMs, required for sweet/bitter/umami taste signal transduction), the ontogeny of taste cells is still largely unknown. We used a novel approach to investigate the molecular regulation of taste system development in mice by combining in silico and in vivo analyses. After discovering that TRCSMs colocalized within developing circumvallate papillae (CVP), we used computational analysis of the upstream regulatory regions of TRCSMs to investigate the possibility of a common regulatory network for TRCSM transcription. Based on this analysis, we identified Hes1 as a likely common regulatory factor, and examined its function in vivo. Expression profile analyses revealed that decreased expression of nuclear HES1 correlated with expression of type II taste cell markers. After stage E18, the CVP of Hes1−/− mutants displayed over 5-fold more TRCSM-immunoreactive cells than did the CVP of their wild-type littermates. Thus, according to our composite analyses, Hes1 is likely to play a role in orchestrating taste cell differentiation in developing taste buds

Prostate cancer and Hedgehog signalling pathway

[Abstract] The Hedgehog (Hh) family of intercellular signalling proteins have come to be recognised as key mediators in many fundamental processes in embryonic development. Their activities are central to the growth, patterning and morphogenesis of many different regions within the bodies of vertebrates. In some contexts, Hh signals act as morphogens in the dose-dependent induction of distinct cell fates within a target field, in others as mitogens in the regulation of cell proliferation or as inducing factors controlling the form of a developing organ. These diverse functions of Hh proteins raise many intriguing questions about their mode of action. Various studies have now demonstrated the function of Hh signalling in the control of cell proliferation, especially for stem cells and stem-like progenitors. Abnormal activation of the Hh pathway has been demonstrated in a variety of human tumours. Hh pathway activity in these tumours is required for cancer cell proliferation and tumour growth. Recent studies have uncovered the role for Hh signalling in advanced prostate cancer and demonstrated that autocrine signalling by tumour cells is required for proliferation, viability and invasive behaviour. Thus, Hh signalling represents a novel pathway in prostate cancer that offers opportunities for prognostic biomarker development, drug targeting and therapeutic response monitoring