JuxtaLearn D3.2 Performance Framework

This deliverable, D3.2, for Work Package 3 incorporating the pedagogy from WP2 and orchestration factors mapped in D3.1 reviews aspects of performance in the context of participative video making. It reviews literature on curiosity and engagement characteristics of interaction mechanisms for public displays and anticipates requirements for social network analysis of relevant public videos from WP6 task 6.3. Thus, to support JuxtaLearn performance it proposes a reflective performance framework that encompasses the material environment and objects required, the participants, and the knowledge needed

Artistic participatory video-making for science engagement

This paper uses theatre to frame reflexive discussions on the use of participatory video making for science engagement. The ‘JuxtaLearn’ research project is presented as a case-study that focuses on performance concepts such as audience, purpose, improvisation or final production as a lens for supporting technology-enabled creative exploration. Three different approaches were taken to creative participatory video making processes: co-creation by learners, as a communication tool for researchers and as a public engagement tool. Differing expectations about the timing and aim of the research process created considerable debate among the research team regarding the control of and purpose of filmmaking. It was not the topic of debate within the film that was deemed controversial, but more who, when and in what ways these debates occurred. Theatrical and HCI concepts of audience, performance ownership, improvisation and storyboarding, boundary object creation, participation and boundary creatures are foci of debate within the project

Active inference, eye movements and oculomotor delays

International audienceThis paper considers the problem of sensorimotor delays in the optimal control of (smooth) eye movements under uncertainty. Specifically, we consider delays in the visuo-oculomotor loop and their implications for active inference. Active inference uses a generalisation of Kalman filtering to provide Bayes optimal estimates of hidden states and action in generalized coordinates of motion. Representing hidden states in generalized coordinates provides a simple way of compensating for both sensory and oculomotor delays. The efficacy of this scheme is illustrated using neuronal simulations of pursuit initiation responses, with and without compensation. We then consider an extension of the gener-ative model to simulate smooth pursuit eye movements — in which the visuo-oculomotor system believes both the target and its centre of gaze are attracted to a (hidden) point moving in the visual field. Finally, the generative model is equipped with a hierarchical structure, so that it can recognise and remember unseen (occluded) trajectories and emit anticipatory responses. These simulations speak to a straightforward and neurobiologically plausible solution to the generic problem of integrating information from different sources with different temporal delays and the particular difficulties encountered when a system — like the oculomotor system — tries to control its environment with delayed signals

Bats and Water: Anthropogenic Alterations Threaten Global Bat Populations

Natural bodies of open water in desert landscapes, such as springs and ephemeral pools, and the plant-life they support, are important resources for the survival of animals in hyper arid, arid and semi-arid (dryland) environments. Human-made artificial water sources, i.e. waste-water treatment ponds, catchments and reservoirs, have become equally important for wildlife in those areas. Bodies of open water are used by bats either for drinking and/or as sites over which to forage for aquatic emergent insects. Due to the scarcity of available water for replenishing water losses during roosting and flight, open bodies of water of many shapes and sizes may well be a key resource influencing the survival, activity, resource use and the distribution of insectivorous bats. In this chapter, we review the current knowledge of bats living in semi- and arid regions around the world and discuss the factors that influence their richness, behaviour and activity around bodies of water. We further present how increased anthropogenic changes in hydrology and water availability may influence the distribution of species of bats in desert environments and offer directions for future research on basic and applied aspects on bats and the water they use in these environments

Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning

The Mammoth Cave International Center for Science and Learning (MCICSL) is a cooperative venture of Mammoth Cave National Park and Western Kentucky University. Funding, logistical support, and governance of MCICSL are shared equally by both entities. MCICSL is part of a national network of research learning centers located within the National Park Service. The goals of MCICSL and the other research learning centers are to: I. Facilitate the use of parks for scientific inquiry. II. Support science-informed decision making. III. Communicate the relevance of and provide access to knowledge gained through scientific research. IV. Promote science literacy and resource stewardship. MCICSL has been operational since the middle of 2005, so it is still building programs. Current staffing consists of a Research Director (Toomey) and a part-time Education Program Specialist (Trimboli). In spite of the limited staff, MCICSL is meeting its goals and is leading both research and education based programs

Bats and Rats: Evolutionary Implications of Hindlimb Development

The evolution of flight has resulted in adaptive changes in the appendicular skeleton of bats. Although forelimb development is well-studied, little is known for hindlimb even though it helps support the wing membrane. Seba’s short-tailed bats (Carollia perspicillata) are New World fruit bats (Phyllostomidae, Microchiroptera) that reside throughout South and Central America. Our hypothesis was that the growth and development (ontogeny) of the hindlimb in bats will differ from terrestrial mammals (mouse) due to the adaptive demands of flight. Ten developmental stages of C. perspicillata were differentially stained using alcian blue (cartilage) and alizarine red (bone). Greatest length measurements (mm) were taken of the femur, tibia, and skull using an Olympus microscope with ocular ruler. For comparative measures with an ancestral terrestrial mammal, data on mouse femur, tibia, and skull lengths were gathered from the literature. Regression analysis for growth of the femur and tibia in mice compared to skull length showed a slope of 0.75 (R2 = 0.97) and 0.74 (R2 = 0.99) respectively. Carollia perspicillata showed a lower slope for femur (0.49, R2 = 0.87) and tibia (0.49, R2 = 0.88) growth indicating that the hindlimb grows at a slower rate (negative allometry) relative to the skull in bats than in mice. Regressing tibia and femur lengths against each other showed that the growth rate (slope = 0.95, R2 = 0.94) of the femur to the tibia had negative allometry with the tibia outpacing the femur, whereas C. perspicillata showed a positive allometric growth rate (slope = 1.1, R2 = 0.98) indicating that femur growth outpaced tibia growth in bats. These data indicate that the ontogeny of the hindlimb in bats has shifted away from a more ancestral terrestrial mammal due to selective pressures around the evolution of flight

Altitudinal Migration Patterns and Hibernation Activity in Colorado Bats

Recent studies have provided insight into altitudinal migration patterns of bats in relation to climate change. Historically bats will undergo significant seasonal altitudinal migration from low elevations where they spend the spring and summer up to higher elevations for the winter hibernation. During the winter bats will hibernate, where they reach physiological states of reduced energy expenditure and enter a state called torpor. Bats that hibernate often use caves, mines, or rock crevices along canyons, and will periodically wake up from torpor to search for water. Over the last two semesters I have been using bat sonar detectors to track migration patterns and winter activity of Colorado bats in St. Vrain Canyon near Lyons, CO. There are three study sites where bat sonar recoding devices have been set up to record bat sonar. Every two weeks the memory cards and batteries in each detector were replaced and the data was analyzed in the lab on campus. The software used for analysis can sort and auto-analyze the different calls by species. This has told us how many individuals of each species were present at what time, which can be used to get an estimate of activity patterns throughout the migration and subsequent hibernation period. I predict that as we progressed from fall to winter the activity patterns at the lowest elevation site (Site 1) and intermediate site (Site 2) will decrease as bats move into upper elevations. I predict that on days when temperatures are above freezing there will be more bat activity as bats come out for water. In the spring the bats should return from the highest elevation site (Site 3) and more activity should be recorded post-hibernation. Initial data analysis suggests a trend that follows our predictions but additional analysis is needed to accept or reject the hypothesis

Tomato: a crop species amenable to improvement by cellular and molecular methods

Tomato is a crop plant with a relatively small DNA content per haploid genome and a well developed genetics. Plant regeneration from explants and protoplasts is feasable which led to the development of efficient transformation procedures. In view of the current data, the isolation of useful mutants at the cellular level probably will be of limited value in the genetic improvement of tomato. Protoplast fusion may lead to novel combinations of organelle and nuclear DNA (cybrids), whereas this technique also provides a means of introducing genetic information from alien species into tomato. Important developments have come from molecular approaches. Following the construction of an RFLP map, these RFLP markers can be used in tomato to tag quantitative traits bred in from related species. Both RFLP's and transposons are in the process of being used to clone desired genes for which no gene products are known. Cloned genes can be introduced and potentially improve specific properties of tomato especially those controlled by single genes. Recent results suggest that, in principle, phenotypic mutants can be created for cloned and characterized genes and will prove their value in further improving the cultivated tomato.