Using an Embodiment Technique in Psychological Experiments with Virtual Reality: A Scoping Review of the Embodiment Configurations and their Scientific Purpose

Background: In recent years, psychological studies with virtual reality have increasingly involved some eEmbodiment tTechnique (ET) in which the users’ bodily movements are mapped on the movements of a digital body. However, this domain is very fragmented across disciplines and plagued by terminological ambiguity. Objective: This paper provides a scoping review of the psychological studies deploying some ET in VR. Methods: A total of 742 papers were retrieved from Scopus and the ACM Digital library using “embodiment” and “virtual reality” as keywords; after screening them, 79 were eventually retained. From each study, the following information was extracted: (a) the content of the virtual scenario, (b) the extent of the embodiment, and (c) the scientific purpose and measure of the psychological experience of embodiment. This information is summarized and discussed, as well as reported in tabular format for each study. Results: We first distinguished ET from other types of digital embodiment. Then we summarized the ET solutions in terms of the completeness of the digital body assigned to the user and of whether the digital body's appearance resembled the users' real one. Finally, we report the purpose and the means of measuring the users’sense of embodiment. Conclusion: This review maps the variety of embodiment configurations and the scientific purpose they serve. It offers a background against which other studies planning to use this technique can position their own solution and highlight some underrepresented lines of research that are worth exploring.

Using an Embodiment Technique in Psychological Experiments with Virtual Reality: A Scoping Review of the Embodiment Configurations and their Scientific Purpose

Background: In recent years, psychological studies with virtual reality have increasingly involved some eEmbodiment tTechnique (ET) in which the users’ bodily movements are mapped on the movements of a digital body. However, this domain is very fragmented across disciplines and plagued by terminological ambiguity. Objective: This paper provides a scoping review of the psychological studies deploying some ET in VR. Methods: A total of 742 papers were retrieved from Scopus and the ACM Digital library using “embodiment” and “virtual reality” as keywords; after screening them, 79 were eventually retained. From each study, the following information was extracted: (a) the content of the virtual scenario, (b) the extent of the embodiment, and (c) the scientific purpose and measure of the psychological experience of embodiment. This information is summarized and discussed, as well as reported in tabular format for each study. Results: We first distinguished ET from other types of digital embodiment. Then we summarized the ET solutions in terms of the completeness of the digital body assigned to the user and of whether the digital body's appearance resembled the users' real one. Finally, we report the purpose and the means of measuring the users’sense of embodiment. Conclusion: This review maps the variety of embodiment configurations and the scientific purpose they serve. It offers a background against which other studies planning to use this technique can position their own solution and highlight some underrepresented lines of research that are worth exploring.

Neuroimaging. How to Question Scientific Images and Their Artistic Value

Unquestionable holders of aesthetic content, images have a well-known role even in conveying scientific knowledge. In the present work, we focus on the epistemological role of images within neuroscience. We first analyze the concepts of representation, similarity, and informativeness. Second, we discuss relevant case-studies, i.e., images by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and how the pictorial interventions commonly applied on them might have an impact on their informational content. Finally, we explore the notion of imagination as a relevant faculty for modelling neuroscientific theories and the concept of creativity as an instrument to aesthetically modify brain images. These manipulations enable images to achieve the scientific purpose, altering the relation of similarity between the image and the studied phenomenon. In conclusion, this process leads to rethinking the role of the neuroscientist as an active observer.

The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer, MEDA. A Suite of Environmental Sensors for the Mars 2020 Mission

NASA’s Mars 2020 (M2020) rover mission includes a suite of sensors to monitor current environmental conditions near the surface of Mars and to constrain bulk aerosol properties from changes in atmospheric radiation at the surface. The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) consists of a set of meteorological sensors including wind sensor, a barometer, a relative humidity sensor, a set of 5 thermocouples to measure atmospheric temperature at ∼1.5 m and ∼0.5 m above the surface, a set of thermopiles to characterize the thermal IR brightness temperatures of the surface and the lower atmosphere. MEDA adds a radiation and dust sensor to monitor the optical atmospheric properties that can be used to infer bulk aerosol physical properties such as particle size distribution, non-sphericity, and concentration. The MEDA package and its scientific purpose are described in this document as well as how it responded to the calibration tests and how it helps prepare for the human exploration of Mars. A comparison is also presented to previous environmental monitoring payloads landed on Mars on the Viking, Pathfinder, Phoenix, MSL, and InSight spacecraft.

Metodologia badań postaw politycznych młodzieży w świetle badań empirycznych

The article complements the methodological discussions with issues related to the participation of young people in social research. The scientific purpose of the article is to analyze, indicate the features and stages of the research process, methods and scope of research in the context of available research on the political participation of young Poles. The subject of the analysis is also the research project “Determinants of the electoral participation of young Poles in 2019” carried out in September 2019.

Why and how does CDGP limit access to some deep geothermal data

<p>The Data Centre for Deep Geothermal Energy (CDGP – Centre de Données de Géothermie Profonde, https://cdgp.u-strasbg.fr) was launched in 2016 by the LabEx G-EAU-THERMIE PROFONDE - now ITI GeoT, https://iti-geot.unistra.fr/ - to preserve, archive and distribute data acquired on geothermal sites in Alsace. Since the beginning of the project, specific procedures are followed to respect international requirements for data management. In particular, FAIR recommendations are used to distribute Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable data “As Open as Possible, as Closed as Necessary”.</p><p>CDGP distributes data originating from academic institutions as well as industrial partners. The former are obviously open and disseminated without restriction, to fulfil Open Science requirements. The latter are nevertheless less opened, depending on the access restrictions given by the data owner. Up to now, the industrial data may be open, restricted to academic, distributed case-by-case (after owner’s agreement), or closed. Metadata are fully open. The access rights are also pushed to the EPOS TCS-AH platform (https://tcs.ah-epos.eu).</p><p>CDGP implemented an Authentication, Authorization and Accounting Infrastructure (AAAI) to handle the distribution rules. Business category is verified at least for academics to grant access. Datasets are provided (or denied) automatically if possible. If necessary, the user’s request is forwarded to the provider who can accept or disallow access. Reports listing datasets distributed to users are sent to providers every six months. This AAAI is build to earn and keep data providers’ trust, as well as to publicized data.</p><p>CDGP is trying to broaden the number of open datasets. There are questions on access restrictions to some vintage industrial data of Soultz-sous-Forêts, since some of them where acquired with public European funding. Also, industrial data from Vendenheim area where several felt earthquakes occurred (2019, 2020), currently not available, may become partly accessible since some exploration was done for “scientific purpose” and that expertise studies are required to understand the induced seismicity.</p>

Mining machines elements packing and securing on platform container

The scientific purpose of this paper was to analyse the problem related to intermodal transportation of mining components packed in containers or other cargo transport units coupled with the problem of its proper securing. In this article, the issue of exposing the load to the effects of inertia forces which might cause unintentional movement is presented. The methods of securing the heavy load in cargo transport units are reviewed in the context of cargo immobilisation possibilities while reducing the load sensitivity to mechanical forces. The research part of this article presents the methods of packing and securing an atypical load, which is a part of a mining machine weighing 18t. This paper presents the results of calculations of inertia forces acting on the transported cargo, packed on a container platform. Based on the results, the cross fixing method was selected to secure the cargo and further decisions were made on the type and quantity of conveyor lashings necessary for the safe and correct carriage of the atypical load.

Toponyms on the ice: The symbolic and iconographical role of Antarctic research base names

Place names serve a symbolic function in enforcing colonial power over landscapes. Within colonial locales, place names reproduce and reflect the ideological goals of settlers to reinforce or claim space for an individual, group or nation. One toponymically understudied colonial region where place names play a prominent role is the Antarctic, where the names of research bases promote the cultural power of settler nations to symbolically claim the continental landscape. As Antarctica is a geopolitically contested space, Antarctic research base names serve as an ideological purpose in reinforcing claims to the Antarctic, contrasting the ostensibly scientific purpose of research bases. This paper examines Antarctic research base names by categorising and interpreting their naming sources through a critical toponymic lens. This paper discusses general Antarctic naming trends and establishes possible reasons and outcomes of their employment, using three primary arguments: (1) Antarctic research base names are often nationalistic and reflect the implicit geopolitical goals of settler nations, (2) Antarctic research base names reflect and reproduce ongoing polar colonialism and (3) contestation over the naming of Antarctic research bases exemplifies the iconographical and cultural conflict between Antarctic nations. This paper seeks to provoke a future toponymic investigation into Antarctica and study Antarctic cultural landscapes more generally.

TUSC (TUrbinate Surgery Classification): A Novel Classification Proposal for Turbinate Surgery

Aim of this manuscript is to propose a clear and easily applicable classification for turbinate surgery, based on the use of a numerical model, which could be introduced in the practice of Otolaryngologists and Maxillo-Facial surgeons.Applying this classification, it will be possible to offer an easy format when describing which turbinates are involved in a procedure, and to offer a quick method to record and analyse clinical data, also for scientific purpose.

Chronicle and mix

- October 10 p. Mr. Minister of Internal Affairs for the mentally ill visited the Kazan District Hospital for the mentally ill.- Privat-docent of Kazan University for the department of nervous and mental illnesses, doctor of medicine, B.I. Vorotynskiy, on January 1899 will be sent abroad for one year for a scientific purpose.