Mapping Late Hokusai Research: Digitizing and Publishing Bilingual Research Data

The initiative “Late Hokusai: Thought, Technique, Society” took place at the British Museum (BM) and SOAS, University of London (2016–2019). As part of its activities, it built a linked-data platform prototype on ResearchSpace. The prototype offers a redesigned process for how museum researchers and users find, research with, discuss and expand bilingual data about early modern Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and instigated a discussion about what a collaborative research platform for the Hokusai research community could look like. While Japanese resource specialists have long recognized the complexity of Japanese script as a challenge for multilingual research and collection platforms, the processes for and results of integrating Japanese source data into bi- or multilingual museum databases remained unsatisfactory. This paper revisits the challenges posed by “non-Latin script” (NLS) in museum databases in the case of the Hokusai research platform at the British Museum, which integrated Japanese and English languages. It localizes the issues arising from working with Japanese source data in the Latin script project environment and accompanies the museum researchers’ tasks regarding the correct input, rendering and display of the source script at each step: 1) object analysis, 2) registering NLS metadata, 3) processing NLS information and 4) visualizing LS and NLS information for general and specialist audiences. After assessing these practices, the paper critically reflects on selected approaches, successes, and shortcomings experienced while creating such a prototype. By sharing its experiences, the project hopes to aid prospective research projects on a similar path regarding project setup and documentation. Furthermore, it advocates the sustainability of research practices according to data reusability parameters. L’initiative « Late Hokusai : Thought Technique and Society » (Hokusai tardif : Pensées techniques et société) a eu lieu au British Museum (BM) et SOAS, l’Université de Londres (2016-2019). Dans le cadre des activités, cette initiative a produit une plateforme prototype de Web des données sur ResearchSpace. Le prototype offre un processus redessiné aidant les chercheurs de musée et les usagers à trouver, à faire de la recherche, à discuter et à étoffer les données bilingues concernant l’artiste Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), du début de l’ère moderne japonaise. Cela a déclenché une discussion sur l’apparence possible d’une plateforme de recherche collaborative dédiée à la communauté de recherche sur Hokusai. Tandis que les spécialistes de ressources japonaises reconnaissent depuis longtemps la complexité de l’écriture japonaise comme un défi pour la recherche multilingue et pour les plateformes de collection, les processus et les résultats de l’intégration des données sources japonaises dans des bases de données de musées bi- ou plurilingues demeurent insatisfaisants. Cet article réexamine les défis liés à des « écritures non-latines » (NLS, non-Latin script) dans des bases de données de musée dans le cas de la plateforme de recherche sur Hokusai au British Museum, ce qui a intégré les langues japonaise et anglaise. L’article localise les questions qui se posent durant le travail avec les données sources japonaises dans un environnement de projet en écriture latine et accompagne les tâches des chercheurs de musée concernant l’entrée correcte, le rendu et l’affichage de l’écriture source à chaque étape : 1) les analyses d’objet, 2) les enregistrements de métadonnées NLS, 3) le traitement de l’information NLS et 4) la visualisation de l’information LS (écriture latine, Latin script) et NLS pour des audiences générales et spécialistes. Cet article présentera une évaluation de ces pratiques et, ensuite, considérera de façon critique les approches sélectionnées, les succès et les défauts rencontrés pendant la création d’un tel prototype. En partageant ces expériences, ce projet vise à aider des projets de recherche prospectifs qui se trouvent dans un cas similaire, considérant la configuration de projets et la documentation. En outre, ce projet promeut la viabilité de pratiques de recherche conformément à des paramètres de réutilisation de données

A High Density SNP Array for the Domestic Horse and Extant Perissodactyla: Utility for Association Mapping, Genetic Diversity, and Phylogeny Studies

An equine SNP genotyping array was developed and evaluated on a panel of samples representing 14 domestic horse breeds and 18 evolutionarily related species. More than 54,000 polymorphic SNPs provided an average inter-SNP spacing of ∼43 kb. The mean minor allele frequency across domestic horse breeds was 0.23, and the number of polymorphic SNPs within breeds ranged from 43,287 to 52,085. Genome-wide linkage disequilibrium (LD) in most breeds declined rapidly over the first 50–100 kb and reached background levels within 1–2 Mb. The extent of LD and the level of inbreeding were highest in the Thoroughbred and lowest in the Mongolian and Quarter Horse. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) analyses demonstrated the tight grouping of individuals within most breeds, close proximity of related breeds, and less tight grouping in admixed breeds. The close relationship between the Przewalski's Horse and the domestic horse was demonstrated by pair-wise genetic distance and MDS. Genotyping of other Perissodactyla (zebras, asses, tapirs, and rhinoceros) was variably successful, with call rates and the number of polymorphic loci varying across taxa. Parsimony analysis placed the modern horse as sister taxa to Equus przewalski. The utility of the SNP array in genome-wide association was confirmed by mapping the known recessive chestnut coat color locus (MC1R) and defining a conserved haplotype of ∼750 kb across all breeds. These results demonstrate the high quality of this SNP genotyping resource, its usefulness in diverse genome analyses of the horse, and potential use in related species

The Problem of Distance in Digital Art History: A ResearchSpace Case Study on Sequencing Hokusai Print Impressions to Form a Human Curated Network of Knowledge

Technology is used to compress time and space but at the cost of ‘nearness’. This means it maintains a distance and disjoint between qualitative and quantitative techniques, and therefore between humanists and technology. The knowledge representations that humanists require to investigate a given subject are not the same as those mandated by technologists and database systems more concerned with scale and the efficiency of data processing and retrieval, rather than context and meaning. This perpetuates a humanist perception of information systems as either, useful but ancillary, or problematic. This paper describes an intervention that seeks to combine the qualitative with the quantitative through collaborative research, expressive structured data, and a human-centered and participatory approach to the ‘knowledge graph’. Its design is based on an understanding of the history of historical textual narrative and the benefit of approaching quantitative issues from the bottom up, or qualitatively, incorporating different levels of generalisation, perspectives (different vantage point on reality), and approaches to connections across time and space. A specialist question based on the designs of the artist, Katsushika Hokusai is used as a basis to illustrate how ‘micro’ research questions contribute, in part, to bigger questions and higher quality quantitative analysis

Mechanical and Biological Evaluation of Melt-Electrowritten Polycaprolactone Scaffolds for Acetabular Labrum Restoration

Repair or reconstruction of a degenerated or injured acetabular labrum is essential to the stability and health of the hip joint. Current methods for restoration fail to reproduce the structure and mechanical properties of the labrum. In this study, we characterized the structure and tensile mechanical properties of melt-electrowritten polycaprolactone scaffolds of varying architectures and assessed the labrum cell compatibility of selected graft candidates. Cell compatibility was assessed using immunofluorescence of the actin skeleton. First, labrum explants were co-cultured with scaffold specimen to investigate the scaffold compatibility with primary cells. Second, effects of pore size on pre-cultured seeded labrum cells were studied. Third, cell compatibility under dynamic stretching was examined. Grid-like structures showed favorable tensile properties with decreasing fibre spacing. Young’s moduli ranging from 2.33 ± 0.34 to 13.36 ± 2.59 MPa were measured across all structures. Primary labrum cells were able to migrate from co-cultured labrum tissue specimens into the scaffold and grow in vitro. Incorporation of small-diameter-fibre and interfibre spacing improved cell distribution and cell spreading, whereas mechanical properties were only marginally affected. Wave-patterned constructs reproduced the non-linear elastic behaviour of native labrum tissue and, therefore, allowed for physiological cyclic tensile strain but showed decreased cell compatibility under dynamic loading. In conclusion, melt-electrowritten polycaprolactone scaffolds are promising candidates for labral grafts; however, further development is required to improve both the mechanical and biological compatibility.ISSN:2073-440

Mechanical and Biological Evaluation of Melt-Electrowritten Polycaprolactone Scaffolds for Acetabular Labrum Restoration

Repair or reconstruction of a degenerated or injured acetabular labrum is essential to the stability and health of the hip joint. Current methods for restoration fail to reproduce the structure and mechanical properties of the labrum. In this study, we characterized the structure and tensile mechanical properties of melt-electrowritten polycaprolactone scaffolds of varying architectures and assessed the labrum cell compatibility of selected graft candidates. Cell compatibility was assessed using immunofluorescence of the actin skeleton. First, labrum explants were co-cultured with scaffold specimen to investigate the scaffold compatibility with primary cells. Second, effects of pore size on pre-cultured seeded labrum cells were studied. Third, cell compatibility under dynamic stretching was examined. Grid-like structures showed favorable tensile properties with decreasing fibre spacing. Young’s moduli ranging from 2.33 ± 0.34 to 13.36 ± 2.59 MPa were measured across all structures. Primary labrum cells were able to migrate from co-cultured labrum tissue specimens into the scaffold and grow in vitro. Incorporation of small-diameter-fibre and interfibre spacing improved cell distribution and cell spreading, whereas mechanical properties were only marginally affected. Wave-patterned constructs reproduced the non-linear elastic behaviour of native labrum tissue and, therefore, allowed for physiological cyclic tensile strain but showed decreased cell compatibility under dynamic loading. In conclusion, melt-electrowritten polycaprolactone scaffolds are promising candidates for labral grafts; however, further development is required to improve both the mechanical and biological compatibility