Robotics‐based telepresence using multi‐modal interaction for individuals with visual impairments

Although many assistive devices have been developed and utilized to aid in daily living, the most general assistive means for individuals with visual impairments are the walking cane and guide dogs. These assistive means are effective in assisting the user in navigating within an environment; however, the navigation space is limited to the proximal environment of the user. Thus, in this paper, we discuss a method to increase the range of accessibility to a remote environment through robotic embodiment that enables teleoperation and teleperception through multi‐modal feedback. In order to transform remote spatial information into a non‐visual modality, we present a framework for utilizing an RGB‐D‐based depth camera, a mobile robot, and a haptic interface for 3D haptic rendering to accomplish the goal of haptic exploration of a remote environment. Experiments with three different control methods for robot interaction are designed for users with and without visual impairments. Several hypothesis are built to study the correlation between control/feedback modality and performance in telerobotic operations. Results show that users performed best when combining semi‐autonomous navigation with 3D haptic exploration and also rated their experience with our system as fairly good. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mechanical properties of morcellised bone graft with the addition of hydroxyapatite

Mixtures of morcellised bone graft (MBG) and hydroxyapatite (HA) are frequently used in revision arthroplasty surgery. However, the changes in the mechanical properties from adding HA to MBG are unknown. This study used a uniaxial compression test to replicate impaction bone grafting and subsequent early postoperative weightbearing to investigate the effect of adding different proportion of HA to MBG. To achieve this aim, human MBG was subjected to increasing impaction forces and the apparent stiffness and creep for each stress level determined. Subsequently, increasing proportions porous and non porous HA were added to the MBG. The major findings were that the apparent stiffness for MBG increased and the associated creep decreased both with the application of increasing stress and with the addition of increasing proportions of HA. In conclusion, greater proportions of HA in the graft mixture improved the mechanical response compared with MBG impacted under the same force. This improvement replicated the properties of pure MBG under high axial stress. This study indicates that graft mixtures of MBG and HA can be tailormade for patients. The need for less impaction force in MBG:HA mixtures to obtain the same properties as pure MBG may decrease the risk of intraoperative fracture.     

Does devoutness delay death? Psychological investment in religion and its association with longevity in the Terman sample.

Religious people tend to live slightly longer lives (M. E. McCullough, W. T. Hoyt, D. B. Larson, H. G. Koenig, & C. E. Thoresen, 2000). On the basis of the principle of social investment (J. Lodi-Smith & B. W. Roberts, 2007), the authors sought to clarify this phenomenon with a study of religion and longevity that (a) incorporated measures of psychological religious commitment; (b) considered religious change over the life course; and (c) examined 19 measures of personality traits, social ties, health behaviors, and mental and physical health that might help to explain the religion–longevity association. Discrete-time survival growth mixture models revealed that women (but not men) with the lowest degrees of religiousness through adulthood had shorter lives than did women who were more religious. Survival differences were largely attributable to cross-sectional and prospective between-class differences in personality traits, social ties, health behaviors, and mental and physical health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Categorically defined targets trigger spatiotemporal visual attention.

Transient attention to a visually salient cue enhances processing of a subsequent target in the same spatial location between 50 to 150 ms after cue onset (K. Nakayama & M. Mackeben, 1989). Do stimuli from a categorically defined target set, such as letters or digits, also generate transient attention? Participants reported digit targets among keyboard symbols in a changing array of 8 items. When 1 target preceded a second target in the same location at a stimulus onset asynchrony of 107 ms (but not 213 ms), the second target was reported more often than in a condition in which there was no leading target. When the 2 targets were at different locations, report of the second target was impaired. With both letters and digits as targets, the enhancement effect was shown not to be due to category priming. Critically, the attentional benefit was present whether or not participants reported the leading target. Transient attention, contingent attentional capture, popout, and Lag 1 sparing in the attentional blink may involve a common mechanism for orienting processing resources towards salient and task relevant stimuli. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Soft X‐ray Ptychographic Imaging and Morphological Quantification of Calcium Silicate Hydrates (C–S–H)

Morphological details of calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H) stemming from the hydration process of Portland cement (PC) phases are crucial for understanding the PC‐based systems but are still only partially known. Here we introduce the first soft X‐ray ptychographic imaging of tricalcium silicate (C₃S) hydration products. The results are compared using both scanning transmission X‐ray and electron transmission microscopy data. The evidence shows that ptychography is a powerful method to visualize the details of outer and inner product C–S–H of fully hydrated C₃S, which have fibrillar and an interglobular structure with average void sizes of 20 nm, respectively. The high‐resolution ptychrography image enables us to perform morphological quantification of C–S–H, and, for the first time, to possibly distinguish the contributions of inner and outer product C–S–H to the small angle scattering of cement paste. The results indicate that the outer product C–S–H is mainly responsible for the q^?3 regime, whereas the inner product C–S–H transitions to a q^?2 regime. Various hypotheses are discussed to explain these regimes.     

Evaluation of high temperature polymers in nanolayered films and gradient refractive index (GRIN) lenses

A new polymer nanolayer gradient refractive index (GRIN) system with more robust thermal stability because of incorporation of a high glass transition temperature polyester, OKP4HT, was demonstrated. A combination of extruded nanolayered GRIN film systems, comprised of five unique polymer materials, were combined to produce laminate optics comprised of a large internal refractive index gradient distribution, n = 1.445 – 1.630, without degradation of optical transmissive properties. The optical performance of a series of varied magnitude GRIN lenses, ranging from Δn = 0 to 0.185, was evaluated. Increasing the lens refractive index range resulted in decreased optic sphericalaberrations that followed analytical predictions. An analytical approach was reported to correlate the polymer material upper service temperature (UST) to the onset of polymer material loss modulus as measured by DMTA. Thermo‐optical interferometry measurements of irreversible lens deformation confirmed the lenses UST at 125°C for the OKP4HT/PC system as compared to 75°C for a PMM/SAN17 system. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42741.     

Neighborhood Revitalization and Displacement A Review of the Evidence

Few issues have presented as great a challenge to urban policymakers and planners as the decline of the central city. As middle- and upper-income families migrated from the city to the suburban ring, they often left behind a decaying core increasingly populated by low-income and minority families. Despite evidence that these trends are continuing, numerous instances of spontaneous neighborhood revitalization have been occurring recently. While this new dynamic suggests that central cities may be staging a resurgence, it has also created concern that low-income city residents are being displaced from their neighborhoods as they find themselves unable to compete in the inflated housing market. The displacement phenomenon has received widespread attention in the popular press and has become a concern of many neighborhood groups and local planners. This paper reviews the evidence of displacement in revitalizing neighborhoods to determine if available data support the conventional wisdom. The conclusion is that, while displacement may be a serious problem in some neighborhoods, there is little support for the notion that a substantial trend is occurring or that in the aggregate large numbers of poor households are being affected.