The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF): raising awareness of the user benefits for scholarly editions

The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF), an initiative born in 2011, defines a set of common application programming interfaces (APIs) to retrieve, display, manipulate, compare, and annotate digitised and born-digital images. Upon implementation, these technical specifications have offered institutions and end users alike new possibilities. In Switzerland, only a handful of organizations and projects have collaborated with the IIIF community. For instance, e-codices, the Virtual Manuscript Library, implemented in December 2014 the two core IIIF APIs (Image API and Presentation API). Since then, no other Swiss collection has fully complied with the IIIF specifications to make true interoperability possible. The NIE-INE project, overseen by the University of Basel and funded by Swissuniversities, has aimed to build a national platform for scientific editions. There is a shared rationale between NIE-INE and IIIF who both advocate flexible and consistent technical architecture as well as providing high-quality user experience (UX) in their content delivery. Remote and in-person usability tests were conducted on the Universal Viewer (UV) and Mirador, two IIIF-compliant image viewers deployed by many IIIF implementers, in order to assess their satisfaction and efficiency as well as their perceived usability. NIE-INE was the target audience of the usability testing with a view to evaluating how scholarly research and the wider scientific community could benefit from leveraging IIIF-compliant technology. To conclude this bachelor’s thesis, a set of recommendations, based on the usability testing results and throughout this assignment, was drawn for the developing teams of both viewers, the IIIF community and the NIE-INE team members

Suggested measures for deploying IIIF in Swiss cultural heritage institutions

This white paper has been written as part of the Towards IIIF-Compliance Knowledge in Switzerland (TICKS) project, conducted at the Haute école de gestion de Genève (HEG-GE) between March 2018 and February 2019, which originated on the acknowledgements that the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) ecosystem was not enough known and deployed in the cultural heritage field in Switzerland. The white paper starts with the main principles of IIIF, notably indicating the different technical specifications, or application programming interfaces (APIs), produced by the IIIF community as well as the platforms of Swiss projects or institutions that have deployed IIIF. Going from general to specific, a generic IIIF step-by-step graph and six more precise use cases reflecting different needs of the GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) sector giving implementation measures have been produced. Finally, the document contains recommendations for further action as well as some information on the possible reuse of this document for other regions of the world or for other scientific fields

Experimental study of a low-order wavefront sensor for the high-contrast coronagraphic imager EXCEDE

The mission EXCEDE (EXoplanetary Circumstellar Environments and Disk Explorer), selected by NASA for technology development, is designed to study the formation, evolution and architectures of exoplanetary systems and characterize circumstellar environments into stellar habitable zones. It is composed of a 0.7 m telescope equipped with a Phase-Induced Amplitude Apodization Coronagraph (PIAA-C) and a 2000-element MEMS deformable mirror, capable of raw contrasts of 1e-6 at 1.2 lambda/D and 1e-7 above 2 lambda/D. One of the key challenges to achieve those contrasts is to remove low-order aberrations, using a Low-Order WaveFront Sensor (LOWFS). An experiment simulating the starlight suppression system is currently developed at NASA Ames Research Center, and includes a LOWFS controlling tip/tilt modes in real time at 500 Hz. The LOWFS allowed us to reduce the tip/tilt disturbances to 1e-3 lambda/D rms, enhancing the previous contrast by a decade, to 8e-7 between 1.2 and 2 lambda/D. A Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) controller is currently implemented to improve even more that result by reducing residual vibrations. This testbed shows that a good knowledge of the low-order disturbances is a key asset for high contrast imaging, whether for real-time control or for post processing.Comment: 12 pages, 20 figures, proceeding of the SPIE conference Optics+Photonics, San Diego 201

Towards Trusted Identities for Swiss Researchers and their Data

In this paper we report on efforts to enhance the Swiss persistent identifier (PID) ecosystem. We will firstly describe the current situation and the need for improvement in order to describe in full detail the steps undertaken to create a Swiss-wide model. A case study was undertaken by using several data sets from the domains of art and design in the context of the ICOPAD project. We will provide a set of recommendations to enable a PID service that could mint Archival Resource Key (ARK) identifiers or a flavour of Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs) as complement to Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs). We will conclude with some remarks concerning the transferability of this approach to other areas and the requirements for a national hub for PID management in Switzerland

The Correlation framework: bridging the gap between modeling and analysis for 3D woven composites

International audienceA large variety of dierent descriptors can be employed for describing 3D woven composites. Each of them is targeted to a specic application, ranging from design, weaving, molding, impregnation down to non-destructive testing, imaging and numerical modeling of the actual micro-structure. In order to relate these dierent representations, it is proposed herewith to rely on the inherent weaving pattern as an intrinsic common feature, and to resort to images as a common language to guaranty the continuity of information. To connect these 3D images (either real or synthesized), Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) is called for in order to exploit the conservation of topology. A complete test scenario is devised in which dierent manufactured woven samples are compared to the theoretical textile arrangement. The results conrm the eectiveness of the method

Nonlinear stability at the Eckhaus boundary

The real Ginzburg-Landau equation possesses a family of spatially periodic equilibria. If the wave number of an equilibrium is strictly below the so called Eckhaus boundary the equilibrium is known to be spectrally and diffusively stable, i.e., stable w.r.t. small spatially localized perturbations. If the wave number is above the Eckhaus boundary the equilibrium is unstable. Exactly at the boundary spectral stability holds. The purpose of the present paper is to establish the diffusive stability of these equilibria. The limit profile is determined by a nonlinear equation since a nonlinear term turns out to be marginal w.r.t. the linearized dynamics.Comment: 25 pages, 1 figur

Développement et validation d’une nouvelle méthode quantitative et objective d'évaluation du comportement et des dépenses énergétiques du taureau Brave au cours de la corrida : applications à l’étude de la faiblesse des taureaux lors de la corrida

La faiblesse des taureaux Braves pendant la corrida est un phénomène qui a fait l’objet de nombreuses études depuis une trentaine d’années. Jusqu’à aujourd’hui, deux méthodes d’analyses de la réactivité comportementale ont été développées. L’une comme outil de sélection destiné aux éleveurs, l’autre comme moyen de notation de la dépense énergétique et de la faiblesse. Cependant, chacune de ces méthodes présente des lacunes : manque d’exhaustivité, d’objectivité et de répétabilité. D’autre part, ces méthodes sont des évaluations qualitatives ou semi-qualitatives de la réactivité comportementale. Or, il apparaît essentiel de mieux évaluer quantitativement les comportements du taureau dans l’arène. Pour ces raisons, nous avons développé une évaluation objective, qui pourra être considérée comme une méthode de référence. Cette approche permet d’accéder à des données quantitatives et de calculer la dépense énergétique de l’animal plus précisément. Ces données supplémentaires et cet outil ouvrent une nouvelle voie pour tenter d’expliquer la faiblesse des taureaux lors de la corrida