Motivational Principles and Personalisation Needs for Geo-Crowdsourced Intangible Cultural Heritage Mobile Applications

Whether it’s for altruistic reasons, personal gains, or third party’s interests, users are influenced by different kinds of motivations when making use of mobile geo-crowdsourcing applications (geoCAs). These reasons, extrinsic and/or intrinsic, must be factored in when evaluating the use intention of these applications and how effective they are. A functional geoCA, particularly if designed for Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), is the one that persuades and engages its users, by accounting for their diversity of needs across a period of time. This paper explores a number of proven and novel motivational factors destined for the preservation and collection of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) through geoCAs. By providing an overview of personalisation research and digital behaviour interventions for geo-crowdsoured ICH, the paper examines the most relevant usability and trigger factors for different crowd users, supported by a range of technology-based principles. In addition, we present the case of StoryBee, a mobile geoCA designed for “crafting stories” by collecting and sharing users’ generated content based on their location and favourite places. We conclude with an open-ended discussion about the ongoing challenges and opportunities arising from the deployment of geoCAs for ICH

Imaging features of rhinosporidiosis on contrast CT

Context: Rhinosporidiosis is a chronic granulomatous disease endemic in certain regions of India. Computed tomography (CT) imaging appearances of rhinosporidiosis have not been previously described in the literature. Aims: To study imaging features in rhinosporidiosis with contrast-enhanced CT and elucidate its role in the evaluation of this disease. Materials and Methods: Sixteen patients with pathologically proven rhinosporidiosis were included in the study. Contrast-enhanced CT images were analyzed retrospectively and imaging findings were correlated with surgical and histopathologic findings. Results: A total of 29 lesions were found and evaluated. On contrast-enhanced CT, rhinosporidiosis was seen as moderately enhancing lobulated or irregular soft tissue mass lesions in the nasal cavity (n = 13), lesions arising in nasal cavity and extending through choana into nasopharynx (n = 5), pedunculated polypoidal lesions arising from the nasopharyngeal wall (n = 5), oropharyngeal wall (n = 2), larynx (n = 1), bronchus (n = 1), skin and subcutaneous tissue (n = 2). The inferior nasal cavity comprising nasal floor, inferior turbinate, and inferior meatus was the most common site of involvement (n = 13). Surrounding bone involvement was seen in the form of rarefaction (n = 6), partial (n = 3) or complete erosion (n = 3) of inferior turbinate, thinning of medial maxillary wall (n = 2), and septal erosion (n = 2). Nasolacrimal duct involvement was seen in four cases. Conclusions: Contrast-enhanced CT has an important role in delineating the site and extent of the disease, as well as the involvement of surrounding bone, nasolacrimal duct and tracheobronchial tree. This provides a useful roadmap prior to surgery

Y chromosomal noncoding RNAs regulate autosomal gene expression via piRNAs in mouse testis.

Abstract Background Deciphering the functions of Y chromosome in mammals has been slow owing to the presence of repeats. Some of these repeats transcribe coding RNAs, the roles of which have been studied. Functions of the noncoding transcripts from Y chromosomal repeats however, remain unclear. While a majority of the genes expressed during spermatogenesis are autosomal, mice with different deletions of the long arm of the Y chromosome (Yq) were previously also shown to be characterized by subfertility, sterility and sperm abnormalities, suggesting the presence of effectors of spermatogenesis at this location. Here we report a set of novel noncoding RNAs from mouse Yq and explore their connection to some of the autosomal genes expressed in testis. Results We describe a set of novel mouse male-specific Y long arm (MSYq)-derived long noncoding (lnc) transcripts, named Pirmy and Pirmy-like RNAs. Pirmy shows a large number of splice variants in testis. We also identified Pirmy-like RNAs present in multiple copies at different loci on mouse Y chromosome. Further, we identified eight differentially expressed autosome-encoded sperm proteins in a mutant mouse strain, XYRIIIqdel (2/3 Yq-deleted). Pirmy and Pirmy-like RNAs have homology to 5′/3′UTRs of these deregulated autosomal genes. Several lines of experiments show that these short homologous stretches correspond to piRNAs. Thus, Pirmy and Pirmy-like RNAs act as templates for several piRNAs. In vitro functional assays reveal putative roles for these piRNAs in regulating autosomal genes. Conclusions Our study elucidates a set of autosomal genes that are potentially regulated by MSYq-derived piRNAs in mouse testis. Sperm phenotypes from the Yq-deleted mice seem to be similar to that reported in inter-specific male-sterile hybrids. Taken together, this study provides novel insights into possible role of MSYq-derived ncRNAs in male sterility and speciation

Effect of Ferroelectricity on Solar-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Activity of BaTiO3-Influence on the Carrier Separation and Stern Layer Formation

BaTiO3 is used as a target catalyst to probe the influence of ferroelectricity on the decolorization of a typical dye molecule—Rhodamine B—under simulated solar light. We show that there is a 3-fold increase in the decolorization rate using BaTiO3 with a high tetragonal content compared to predominantly cubic material. This is ascribed to the ferroelectricity of the tetragonal phase. The influence of ferroelectricity ensures a tightly bound layer of dye molecule and also acts to separate the photoexcited carriers due to the internal space charge layer. Both of these features act to enhance the catalytic performance. When nanostructured Ag is photochemically deposited on the surface of the BaTiO3, we find a further increase in the reaction rate that gives complete decolorization of the dye in around 45 min