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.     

农耕印迹:扎染菱形纹样作为布依语“Ndaeh Sengh”的解读研究

目的 菱形纹样是我国古老的几何纹样之一，其历史悠久、应用广泛，在不同地域和文化背景下被赋予了不同的文化内涵，厘清纹样的在地性符号所指，是提升传统工艺传承与设计创新的方法路径。方法 以贵州花戛乡布依族扎染技艺中的菱形纹样为研究个案，结合人类学的田野调查法和艺术设计学的比较研究法，对花戛布依族服装配饰中的扎染菱形纹样进行综合考证和分析。结论 认为花戛扎染菱形纹样是布依族日用器物“升”的形态转译，是农耕背景下布依人祈求丰收的文化符号载体。有着文化符号功能的菱形“Ndaeh Sengh”纹样，与布依人生活、习俗、地域环境等方面存在多维的联结，“Ndaeh Sengh”越多代表农作物收成越好，寓意丰收和富足。“Ndaeh Sengh”作为农耕记忆背景下布依族集体无意识原型形式的外化，其制作工艺和纹样所承载的文化记忆对于非遗保护、工艺传承、非遗设计等方面都有一定的理论指导意义。     

Pattern design and optimization of yarn-dyed plaid fabric using isolation niche genetic algorithm and rough set theory

Under the circumstance of perceptual consumption, it is still challenging to grasp consumer's emotions and demands due to the large search space, diversified preferences, and easy fatigue of consumers. To reduce user fatigue and enlarge search space, a novel method was presented to design and optimize the pattern of yarn-dyed plaid fabric using the isolation niche genetic algorithm and rough set theory. Each pattern was encoded as a chromosome based on the real number code. The population was initialized and evolved using INGA to maintain the diversity. The rough set theory was adopted as the fitness function of isolation niche genetic algorithm to extract the consumer's demands. After multiple evolutions, a large set of practical patterns of the yarn-dyed plaid fabric are obtained. Experiments were carried out by 24 testers of different ages and genders. The results prove that the proposed method based on the isolation niche genetic algorithm and rough set theory is feasible and effective, supplying references to the designer.     

Feeding behavior parameters and temporal patterns in mid-lactation Holstein cows across a range of residual feed intake values

Residual feed intake (RFI) is a measurement of the difference between actual and predicted feed intake when adjusted for energy sinks; more efficient cows eat less than predicted (low RFI) and inefficient cows eat more than predicted (high RFI). Data evaluating the relationship between RFI and feeding behaviors (FB) are limited in dairy cattle; therefore, the objective of this study was to determine daily and temporal FB in mid-lactation Holstein cows across a range of RFI values. Mid-lactation Holstein cows (n = 592 multiparous; 304 primiparous) were enrolled in 17 cohorts at 97 ± 26 d in milk (± standard deviation), and all cows within a cohort were fed a common diet using automated feeding bins. Cow RFI was calculated as the difference between predicted and observed dry matter intake (DMI) after accounting for parity, days in milk, milk energy, metabolic body weight and change, and experiment. The associations between RFI and FB at the level of meals and daily totals were evaluated using mixed models with the fixed effect of RFI and the random effects of cow and cohort. Daily temporal FB analyses were conducted using 2-h blocks and analyzed using mixed models with the fixed effects of RFI, time, RFI × time, and cohort, and the random effect of cow (cohort). There was a positive linear association between RFI and DMI in multiparous cows and a positive quadratic relationship in primiparous cows, where the rate of increase in DMI was less at higher RFI. Eating rate, DMI per meal, and size of the largest daily meal were positively associated with RFI. Daily temporal analysis of FB revealed an interaction between RFI and time for eating rate in multiparous and primiparous cows. The eating rate increased with greater RFI at 11 of 12 time points throughout the day, and eating rate differed across RFI between multiple time points. There tended to be an interaction between RFI and time for eating time and bin visits in multiparous cows but not primiparous cows. Overall, there was a time effect for all FB variables, where DMI, eating time and rate, and bin visits were greatest after the initial daily feeding at 1200 h, increased slightly after each milking, and reached a nadir at 0600 h (6 h before feeding). Considering the relationship between RFI and eating rate, additional efforts to determine cost-effective methods of quantifying eating rate in group-housed dairy cows is warranted. Further investigation is also warranted to determine if management strategies to alter FB, especially eating rate, can be effective in increasing feed efficiency in lactating dairy cattle.     

A model of PEMFC-battery system to evaluate inner operating status and energy consumption under different energy management strategies

A hybrid system with jointed battery and PEMFC is popular and of great potential in New Energy Vehicle (NEV) application. However, reliability and efficiency remain to be improved for commercial products. To reflect the complicated physics inside the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the PEMFC model consisting of inner muti-physics process and other accessories was built, then a complete hybrid system was established when a matched battery, DC/DC, regenerative braking were taken into consideration. Based on the above model, the stack state and system performance under standard cycle for heavy duty vehicle-CWTVC were obtained. According to the simulation results, fuel cell states such as pressure, water content and voltage suffers severe oscillation with external load, especially in the highway cycle. Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) suffers from pressure impact with average value of more than 24 kPa in highway cycle. In the aspect of relative humidity, the PEMFC stack is most threatened in road cycle. As for the hybrid system, its efficiency and state of charge (SOC) fluctuation perform worst in urban cycle and road cycle respectively, while its highest efficiency occurs in road test. Operating mode of fuel cell has influence on hybrid system. When 3-level mode of fuel cell output was applied, the efficiency increased to its peak value at medium level of 28 kW and then declined gradually. H₂ consumption had an opposite trend compared to efficiency. In the aspect of battery SOC, it declines in operating process and its fluctuations decreases when medium level got bigger. The 3-level mode and 4-level mode were compared using this model. It can be concluded that although 3-level mode performs slightly better in hybrid system efficiency, H₂ consumption, pressure impact, it does not have absolute advantage over 4-level mode in other indicators.     

Structure–Function Relationship of Retinal Ganglion Cells in Multiple Sclerosis

The retinal ganglion cells (RGC) may be considered an easily accessible pathophysiological site of degenerative processes in neurological diseases, such as the RGC damage detectable in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with (HON) and without a history of optic neuritis (NON). We aimed to assess and interrelate RGC functional and structural damage in different retinal layers and retinal sites. We included 12 NON patients, 11 HON patients and 14 healthy controls for cross-sectional multifocal pattern electroretinography (mfPERG) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurements. Amplitude and peak times of the mfPERG were assessed. Macula and disc OCT scans were acquired to determine macular retinal layer and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness. In both HON and NON patients the foveal N2 amplitude of the mfPERG was reduced compared to controls. The parafoveal P1 peak time was significantly reduced in HON only. For OCT, parafoveal (pfGCL) and perifoveal (pGCL) ganglion cell layer thicknesses were decreased in HON vs. controls, while pRNFL in the papillomacular bundle sector (PMB) showed reductions in both NON and HON. As the mfPERG derived N2 originates from RGC axons, these findings suggest foveal axonal dysfunction not only in HON, but also in NON patients.     

绕丝结构对氦氙气体流动换热特性影响研究

在开放栅格式气冷空间堆堆芯的设计中，会在燃料棒上采用绕丝结构，这将对工质的流动换热特性产生很大影响。本文采用CFD方法开展了He-Xe混合气体在气冷空间堆典型带绕丝燃料通道内的流动换热特性的数值研究，获得进出口温度、压力、流速及流体密度等参数的空间分布。结果表明引入绕丝使得范宁摩擦因子出现大幅增加，部分绕丝结构会使努塞尔数降低20%～30%，且本文所研究5种绕丝结构热工水力性能比均小于1。研究结果对于气冷空间堆堆芯热设计、提高系统的安全性具有重要意义。