Wireless Face Interface: Using voluntary gaze direction and facial muscle activations for human-computer interaction

The present aim was to investigate the functionality of a new wireless prototype called Face Interface. The prototype combines the use of voluntary gaze direction and facial muscle activations, for pointing and selecting objects on a computer screen, respectively. The subjective and objective functionality of the prototype was evaluated with a series of pointing tasks using either frowning (i.e., frowning technique) or raising the eyebrows (i.e., raising technique) as the selection technique. Pointing task times and accuracies were measured using three target diameters (i.e., 25, 30, 40 mm), seven pointing distances (i.e., 60, 120, 180, 240, 260, 450, and 520 mm), and eight pointing angles (0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, and 315°). The results showed that the raising technique was faster selection technique than the frowning technique for the objects that were presented in the pointing distances from 60 mm to 260 mm. For those pointing distances the overall pointing task times were 2.4 s for the frowning technique, and 1.6 s for the raising technique. Fitts’ law computations showed that the correlations for the Fitts’ law model were r = 0.77 for the frowning technique and r = 0.51 for the raising technique. Further, the index of performance (IP) value was 1.9 bits/s for the frowning technique and 5.4 bits/s for raising the eyebrows technique. Based on the results, the prototype functioned well and was adjustable so that two different facial activations can be used in combination with gaze direction for pointing and selecting objects on a computer screen.     

Microstructure and properties of Ni-Mn-Ga alloys produced by rapid solidification and pulsed electric current sintering

Ni-Mn-Ga alloys were compacted using pulsed electric current sintering (PECS) at 850-875 °C (50 MPa, 8 min) of flake-like powders made from the rapidly quenched melt-spun ribbons. Two kinds of ribbons were used: one made with a relatively slow wheel speed (6 m/s; average grain size ∼14 μm), and another with a faster wheel speed (23 m/s; average grain size ∼5 μm). Both sets of flake-like powders consisted of a mixture of non-modulated martensite (NM) and seven-layered modulated martensite (7M) structure. The amount of NM was greater in the slower speed material, while the other one exhibited mostly the 7M structure. These crystal structures were inherited by the sintered samples. In the compacts having the NM structure the multi-step martensitic reaction overlapped with the magnetic transition, and the Curie temperatures during heating and cooling differed from each other. In the compacts having mainly 7M structure the Curie point was about 100 °C and the martensitic transition took place in the paramagnetic state, while the intermartensitic one occurred in the region of 60-85 °C. This material demonstrated good magnetic properties and saturation magnetization, at best ∼50 emu/g. Mechanical properties of the compacts were good, and comparable to those of the polycrystalline Ni-Mn-Ga samples in compression.     

Formation of oxidising species and their role in the viscosity loss of cereal beta-glucan extracts

The aim of this study was to determine the role of the formation of radicals and hydrogen peroxide in the viscosity loss of beta-glucan extracts from oat and barley. Radicals derived from endogenous H₂O₂ were formed spontaneously in all extracts. The decomposition of H₂O₂ by catalase had little or no effect on the viscosity, and the radical formation detected and measured by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy did not predict the shelf life of crude beta-glucan extracts. The addition of FeSO₄ accelerated the radical formation and viscosity loss, revealing the sensitivity of the extract viscosity towards catalysts for oxidation. Using 50% cadoxen in the extracts slowed down the viscosity loss in all extracts but still led to a 10–70% decrease of the initial viscosities during 4 weeks of storage. The results suggest that the viscosity loss may be a result from multiple mechanisms including chemical reactions during storage as well as aggregation and conformational changes.     

Experiences on data quality in automatic tissue classification

Automatic intensity-based tissue classification sets requirements for the quality of multispectral magnetic resonance (MR) images. Tests for evaluating the separability of tissue classes, and on the other hand class distances required to obtain reliable classification, are presented in this study. Intraslice, interslice and interpatient training schemes for 5-nn classification were considered. Interslice training was utilized in classification of images from 10 patients with ischemic stroke giving results of satisfactory but highly variable quality. Based on the experience with these data sets, similar tests are recommended before imaging a large patient series in order to avoid extra manual work and to obtain reliable classification results.     

Treatments with Xylanase at High (90 %) and Low (40 %) Water Content Have Different Impacts on Physicochemical Properties of Wheat Bran

The aim of the work was to elucidate the impacts of treatment with xylanase at high (90 %) and low (40 %) water contents on the structural and physicochemical properties of wheat bran. The bran treatments at 40 % water content, both with and without added xylanase, resulted in a smaller average bran particle size, more changes in bran microstructure, and higher solubilization of polysaccharides than the corresponding treatments at 90 %. Also, the water holding capacity of bran (3.6?±?0.1 g water/g bran dm), determined by Baumann method, decreased more already after 4-h xylanase treatments at 40 % (2.4?±?0.1) than at 90 % (2.9?±?0.2). The solubility of salt-extractable bran proteins decreased during the treatments, especially at 40 %, also without added xylanase. Protein aggregation was detected in the SDS?+?DTT-extractable bran fraction, which also contained small proteins of 10–20 kDa not detectable in the untreated bran. The use of xylanase had only minor effect on bran proteins as compared to the treatments without added xylanase. The results indicate the large role of mechanical shear on the bran properties at 40 % water content. The low arabinose/xylose ratio (0.32) in the bran water extract after 24-h xylanase treatment at 40 %, however, suggests that the solubilization of arabinoxylan was caused by enzymatic action, and not by mechanical degradation. Arabinose/xylose ratio of the bran water extract decreased similarly during all the treatments, suggesting similar solubilization pattern of arabinoxylan at both water contents. The study showed that bran properties can be significantly modified by adjusting the water content and mechanical energy used in processing.     

Fluorescence quenching-based assays for hydrolyzing enzymes. Application of time-resolved fluorometry in assays for caspase, helicase, and phosphatase

We have developed assay technologies to measure hydrolyzing enzymes based on homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence quenching (TruPoint). High sensitivity was obtained using fluorescent europium chelates as labels, internally quenched by suitable quenchers and released upon enzymatic reaction. This approach allows robust and sensitive monitoring of low enzyme activities. The assay technology and the choice of donor-acceptor pairs were evaluated in three different enzymatic assays, a protease related to apoptosis, helicase involved in DNA unwinding, and phosphatase having an important role in cellular signaling cascades. All the assays produced an increasing signal, were sensitive, and had a good dynamic range. There were significant differences in optimized quenchers for each of the assays depending on the size, flexibility, and rigidity of the substrates. Also, clear differences in the energy-transfer reactions, their requirements for spectral overlapping, ionic interactions, and energy-transfer distances were found. Each of the enzymatic assays was briefly tested in a high-throughput screening environment by analyzing signal dynamics and statistical relevance as Z' factors.     

Whose responsibility is it anyway? Competing narratives of suggestion system change

This study explores employee narratives concerning change in a company suggestion program. The purpose of the change was to increase suggestion activity in the organization by introducing a new IT platform and altering the distribution of responsibilities in the suggestion process. This study explored how the change in the suggestion process was constructed by responsible managers, suggestion evaluators as well as the suggestion makers themselves. The narratives of the different employee groups differed in the ways in which the employee groups were positioned with respect to the suggestion process, as well as the assumptions concerning the motivational drivers underlying suggestion activity. The study is based on 22 interviews in a company operating in the field of oil refinement. By studying change in a company suggestion program, the paper contributes to the innovation management literature by illustrating the plurality of ways in which the social reality concerning suggestion practice may be constructed, and thus provides a novel perspective to understanding why engaging people in such activity can be challenging.