Citard Services (Cyprus)

Since 2016, A(H5Nx) high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus of clade 2.3.4.4b has become one of the most serious global threats not only to wild and domestic birds, but also to public health. In recent years, important changes in the ecology, epidemiology, and evolution of this virus have been reported, with an unprecedented global diffusion and variety of affected birds and mammalian species. After the two consecutive and devastating epidemic waves in Europe in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, with the second one recognized as one of the largest epidemics recorded so far, this clade has begun to circulate endemically in European wild bird populations. This study used the complete genomes of 1,956 European HPAI A(H5Nx) viruses to investigate the virus evolution during this varying epidemiological outline. We investigated the spatiotemporal patterns of A(H5Nx) virus diffusion to/from and within Europe during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 epidemic waves, providing evidence of ongoing changes in transmission dynamics and disease epidemiology. We demonstrated the high genetic diversity of the circulating viruses, which have undergone frequent reassortment events, providing for the first time a complete overview and a proposed nomenclature of the multiple genotypes circulating in Europe in 2020-2022. We described the emergence of a new genotype with gull adapted genes, which offered the virus the opportunity to occupy new ecological niches, driving the disease endemicity in the European wild bird population. The high propensity of the virus for reassortment, its jumps to a progressively wider number of host species, including mammals, and the rapid acquisition of adaptive mutations make the trend of virus evolution and spread difficult to predict in this unfailing evolving scenario.

ABSTRACT The sense of embodiment in virtual reality is a strong case of body ownership illusion, effectively allowing humans to experience the ownership of a modified, or a completely different body. Virtual embodiment has captured the attention of researchers in various fields, with applications far beyond computer science. Despite the promising applications, little is known about the neural mechanisms behind full-body virtual embodiment. This study investigates the influence of anodal transcranial direct current stimulation of the brain area linked to processing of the bodily self (right temporoparietal junction) to the subjective strength of virtual embodiment and its main constituents, using within-subject experimental design with sham-controlled stimulation. Virtual embodiment was studied using questionnaires, accompanied by brain signals gathered using EEG. Our results suggest that stimulation did not affect the sense of ownership toward the virtual avatar. Borderline strengthening of the perceived sense of agency toward the avatar’s actions was found in the sessions with stimulation.

Immersive virtual reality (IVR) can induce an experience of “social presence” which can, in turn, increase social influence. Non-verbal behavior such as eye contact is an important component of human communication and, therefore, an important factor in creating social presence. This paper presents an experimental study that elaborates social influence through conformity with a group of virtual agents within an immersive virtual environment (IVE). Specifically, it investigates the impact of the agents’ gaze behavior on social presence and influence. An experiment based on the Asch (1951) paradigm using two levels of agents’ gaze behavior (Eye Contact condition vs. No-Eye Contact condition) was conducted. The results showed that participants conformed with the agents as they gave significantly more incorrect responses to the trials that the agents also gave an incorrect response, compared to those trials that the agents gave correct answers. However, no impact of the agents’ gaze behavior on conformity was observed, even if the participants in the Eye Contact condition reported a higher sense of social presence. In addition, self-reported measures showed a number of social effects that occurred only in the eye contact condition, indicating that the agents’ gaze behavior has an impact on participants’ experience.

Digital technologies can help with preservation of cultural heritage and virtual reality can be used for that purpose. In this paper, a virtual reality application that has the potential of assisting the learning process of folk dances is introduced. This application includes three different assisting approaches that are presented and evaluated with 30 healthy participants. An animated avatar of the professional dancer is shown in immersive virtual reality and participants were asked to imitate the movements in order to learn the dance. Movements were recorded using a passive optical motion capture system and afterwards compared to the recordings from the professional dancers. Questionnaire data were also collected and initial results indicate that participants that had feedback provided achieved better performance.

Underwater environments are still providing significant challenges for diver communication and interaction. Smartphones and tablets have the potential to provide great assistance for divers under water and even allow them to utilize augmented and mixed reality, but the housing solutions limit their capabilities. In particular, interaction with them cannot harness a touch screen medium. This paper presents a novel way of providing textual input in underwater environments. The concept is utilizing orientation sensors allowing for tilting a smartphone to input textual information. Three different titling configurations of keyboards were implemented and evaluated on land and in a swimming pool in a user study that involved 17 healthy volunteers and assessed their performance in two different conditions reflecting two typical diving poses. Results clearly demonstrate the benefit of this technique and suggest more effective configurations. A following discussion derives general recommendations for implementing similar methods that use tilting to interact with devices under water.

The past few years have seen an increase in the use of virtual reality (VR) in museum environments in an attempt for museums to embrace technological innovations and adapt to the challenges of the digital era. While there are studies that examine the advantages of VR in museums and visitors’ experiences with it, there are no studies examining the experiences of museum professionals who are responsible for a museum’s objects and narratives. The aim of this paper is to explore the practices, experiences, and perceptions of museum professionals on the use of VR technology in museums, their perceived advantages and challenges of such technologies, and their vision for the future of technology in museums. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of interviews with museum professionals from a number of countries around the world who worked with particular VR projects in their own institutions. The ultimate aim is to offer a more critical and holistic examination and assessment of the use of VR in museums and provide suggestions for designing and developing VR projects in the future.