Tactile colour pictogram to improve artwork appreciation of people with visual impairments

A recent development in tactile technology enables an improvement in the appreciation of the visual arts for people with visual impairment (PVI). The tactile sense, in conjunction with, or a possibly as an alternative to, the auditory sense, would allow PVIs to approach artwork in a more self‐driven and engaging way that would be difficult to achieve with just an auditory stimulus. Tactile colour pictograms (TCPs), which are raised geometric patterns, are ideographic characters that are designed to enable PVIs to identify colours and interpret information by touch. In this article, three TCPs are introduced to code colours in the Munsell colour system. Each colour pattern consists of a basic cell size of 10 mm × 10 mm to represent the patterns consistently in terms of regular shape. Each TCP consists of basic geometric patterns that are combined to create primary, secondary, and tertiary colour pictograms of shapes indicating colour hue, intensity and lightness. Each TCP represents 29 colours including six hues; they were then further expanded to represent 53 colours. Two of them did not increase the cell size, the other increased the cell size 1.5 times for some colours, such as yellow‐orange, yellow, blue, and blue‐purple. Our proposed TCPs use a slightly larger cell size compared to most tactile patterns currently used to indicate colour, but code for more colours. With user experience and identification tests, conducted with 23 visually impaired adults, the effectiveness of the TCPs suggests that they were helpful for the participants.     

Real-time organic aerosol chemical speciation in the indoor environment using extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Understanding the sources and composition of organic aerosol (OA) in indoor environments requires rapid measurements, since many emissions and processes have short timescales. However, real-time molecular-level OA measurements have not been reported indoors. Here, we present quantitative measurements, at a time resolution of five seconds, of molecular ions corresponding to diverse aerosol-phase species, by applying extractive electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (EESI-MS) to indoor air analysis for the first time, as part of the highly instrumented HOMEChem field study. We demonstrate how the complex spectra of EESI-MS are screened in order to extract chemical information and investigate the possibility of interference from gas-phase semivolatile species. During experiments that simulated the Thanksgiving US holiday meal preparation, EESI-MS quantified multiple species, including fatty acids, carbohydrates, siloxanes, and phthalates. Intercomparisons with Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer suggest that EESI-MS quantified a large fraction of OA. Comparisons with FIGAERO-CIMS shows similar signal levels and good correlation, with a range of 100 for the relative sensitivities. Comparisons with SV-TAG for phthalates and with SV-TAG and AMS for total siloxanes also show strong correlation. EESI-MS observations can be used with gas-phase measurements to identify co-emitted gas- and aerosol-phase species, and this is demonstrated using complementary gas-phase PTR-MS observations.     

Eugenol,citral, and hexanal,alone or in combination with heat,affect viability,biofilm formation,and swarming on Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli

Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli strains are pathogenic for humans and cause mild to severe illnesses. In this study, the antimicrobial effect of citral, eugenol, and hexanal in combination with heat shock (HS) was evaluated in terms of the growth, biofilm formation, swarming, and expression of virulence genes of STEC serotypes (O157:H7, O103, O111, and O26). Eugenol was the most effective compound against the growth of E. coli strains (MBC = 0.58 to 0.73 mg/mL), followed by citral (MBC = 0.86 to 1.26 mg/mL) and hexanal (MBC = 2.24 to 2.52 mg/mL). Biofilm formation and swarming motility have great variability between STEC strains. Natural compounds—alone or combined with HS—inhibited biofilm formation; however, swarming motility was induced by most treatments. The expression of the studied genes during biofilm formation and swarming under natural antimicrobials was affected but not in a uniform pattern. These treatments could be used to control contamination of STEC and inhibit biofilm formation.     

Cyanogenic,carotenoids and protein composition in leaves and roots across seven diverse population found in the world cassava germplasm collection at CIAT,Colombia

The objective of this study was to characterise the nutritional potential of leaves and identify a diversity centre with low cyanide and high nutrient content among 178 Latin American cassava genotypes. This field-based collection represents the seven diversity centres, held at The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT Palmira, Colombia) by the Cassava Program. The cyanide, all-trans-β-carotene and lutein concentrations in cassava leaves ranged from 346 to 7484 ppm dry basis (db), from 174–547 μg g⁻¹ db and 15–181 μg g⁻¹ db, respectively. Cassava leaves also showed significant levels of essential amino acids leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, valine and threonine, and average total protein content of 26.24 g 100 g⁻¹ db. Among seven diversity centres, South American rainforest group showed low cyanide and high carotene content in leaves. In addition, VEN77 and PAN51 genotypes stood out for having low cyanide in leaves and roots and high carotene in leaves. This genetic diversity can be used to select high potential progenitors for breeding purposes.     

The use of joint coordinates to monitor patients in a movement-based interaction system

Universal Access in the Information Society - Movement-based interaction has brought about new possibilities in healthcare environments. Concretely, rehabilitation therapies represent an adequate...     

Boccia game simulator: Serious game adapted for people with disabilities

Integration in the world of sport is one way for individuals with disabilities or motor disorders to feel more socially integrated, independent, and confident. Boccia is a Paralympic sport, which is increasingly getting more attention around the world. These facts have contributed to the objectives of this work. Including it in the serious games category enables to develop and rehabilitate the cognitive capabilities. The main focus was BC3 classification athletes (users with limited motor characteristics that require the use of an assistive device—a ramp, in this case). This paper describes a realistic Boccia game simulator adapted for people with disabilities that integrates a set of features that includes real physics and social features. These features can be used to enhance the interest of nonpractitioners of the sport and to improve the training conditions. The official Boccia regulation was added to the design of the simulator. The usability and approximation to the reality of the simulator were tested and validated based on the tests performed and data collected via a survey of users with no motor or psychological disorders. Realism and usability rating was almost excellent, and good results were achieved at the assessment of the game experience.     

Introducing the Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence Technique (PLIF) to Measure Mixing Time in Gas-Stirred Ladles

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - The planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique was implemented to measure mixing time in a 1/17 water model of a 200-ton ladle furnace. The...     

Measurements and modeling of absorptive partitioning of volatile organic compounds to painted surfaces

Partitioning to surfaces is an important sink for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) indoors, but the mechanisms are not well understood or quantified. Here, a mass spectrometer was coupled to a portable surface reactor and a flow tube to measure partitioning of VOCs into paint films coated onto glass or wallboard, and their subsequent diffusion. A model was developed to extract values of the effective absorbing organic mass concentration of the film, C_w, which is a measure of absorption capacity, and VOC diffusion coefficients, D_f, from VOC time profiles measured during film passivation and depassivation. Values of C_w agreed well with the value estimated from the paint film mass and flow tube air volume, and D_f values (also measured using attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) correlated well with VOC vapor saturation concentrations, C*, estimated using a group contribution method. The value of these relationships for estimating key parameters that control VOC partitioning into paint and the fate of VOCs indoors was demonstrated using a house model, which indicated that >50% of VOCs with C* ≤10⁸ μg/m³ (C* of octane, hexanone, and propanol) that contacted a paint film of typical thickness fully permeated the film regardless of emission duration.