Descriptive analysis and comparison of strategic incremental rehearsal to "Business as Usual" sight-word instruction for an adult nonreader with intellectual disability.

PubMed

Richman, David M; Grubb, Laura; Thompson, Samuel

2018-01-01

Strategic Incremental Rehearsal (SIR) is an effective method for teaching sight-word acquisition, but has neither been evaluated for use in adults with an intellectual disability, nor directly compared to the ongoing instruction in the natural environment. Experimental analysis of sight word acquisition via an alternating treatment design was conducted with a 23-year-old woman with Down syndrome. SIR was compared to the current reading instruction (CRI) in a classroom for young adults with intellectual disabilities. CRI procedures included non-contingent praise, receptive touch prompts ("touch the word bat"), echoic prompts ("say bat"), textual prompts ("read the word"), and pre-determined introduction of new words. SIR procedures included textual prompts on flash cards, contingent praise, corrective feedback, and mastery-based introduction of new words. The results indicated that SIR was associated with more rapid acquisition of sight words than CRI. Directions for future research could include systematic comparisons to other procedures, and evaluations of procedural permutations of SIR.

Recognition of Rapid Speech by Blind and Sighted Older Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gordon-Salant, Sandra; Friedman, Sarah A.

2011-01-01

Purpose: To determine whether older blind participants recognize time-compressed speech better than older sighted participants. Method: Three groups of adults with normal hearing participated (n = 10/group): (a) older sighted, (b) older blind, and (c) younger sighted listeners. Low-predictability sentences that were uncompressed (0% time…

Are normally sighted, visually impaired, and blind pedestrians accurate and reliable at making street crossing decisions?

PubMed

Hassan, Shirin E

2012-05-04

The purpose of this study is to measure the accuracy and reliability of normally sighted, visually impaired, and blind pedestrians at making street crossing decisions using visual and/or auditory information. Using a 5-point rating scale, safety ratings for vehicular gaps of different durations were measured along a two-lane street of one-way traffic without a traffic signal. Safety ratings were collected from 12 normally sighted, 10 visually impaired, and 10 blind subjects for eight different gap times under three sensory conditions: (1) visual plus auditory information, (2) visual information only, and (3) auditory information only. Accuracy and reliability in street crossing decision-making were calculated for each subject under each sensory condition. We found that normally sighted and visually impaired pedestrians were accurate and reliable in their street crossing decision-making ability when using either vision plus hearing or vision only (P > 0.05). Under the hearing only condition, all subjects were reliable (P > 0.05) but inaccurate with their street crossing decisions (P < 0.05). Compared to either the normally sighted (P = 0.018) or visually impaired subjects (P = 0.019), blind subjects were the least accurate with their street crossing decisions under the hearing only condition. Our data suggested that visually impaired pedestrians can make accurate and reliable street crossing decisions like those of normally sighted pedestrians. When using auditory information only, all subjects significantly overestimated the vehicular gap time. Our finding that blind pedestrians performed significantly worse than either the normally sighted or visually impaired subjects under the hearing only condition suggested that they may benefit from training to improve their detection ability and/or interpretation of vehicular gap times.

Are Normally Sighted, Visually Impaired, and Blind Pedestrians Accurate and Reliable at Making Street Crossing Decisions?

PubMed Central

Hassan, Shirin E.

2012-01-01

Purpose. The purpose of this study is to measure the accuracy and reliability of normally sighted, visually impaired, and blind pedestrians at making street crossing decisions using visual and/or auditory information. Methods. Using a 5-point rating scale, safety ratings for vehicular gaps of different durations were measured along a two-lane street of one-way traffic without a traffic signal. Safety ratings were collected from 12 normally sighted, 10 visually impaired, and 10 blind subjects for eight different gap times under three sensory conditions: (1) visual plus auditory information, (2) visual information only, and (3) auditory information only. Accuracy and reliability in street crossing decision-making were calculated for each subject under each sensory condition. Results. We found that normally sighted and visually impaired pedestrians were accurate and reliable in their street crossing decision-making ability when using either vision plus hearing or vision only (P > 0.05). Under the hearing only condition, all subjects were reliable (P > 0.05) but inaccurate with their street crossing decisions (P < 0.05). Compared to either the normally sighted (P = 0.018) or visually impaired subjects (P = 0.019), blind subjects were the least accurate with their street crossing decisions under the hearing only condition. Conclusions. Our data suggested that visually impaired pedestrians can make accurate and reliable street crossing decisions like those of normally sighted pedestrians. When using auditory information only, all subjects significantly overestimated the vehicular gap time. Our finding that blind pedestrians performed significantly worse than either the normally sighted or visually impaired subjects under the hearing only condition suggested that they may benefit from training to improve their detection ability and/or interpretation of vehicular gap times. PMID:22427593

Mid-latency auditory evoked potential response revealed as an evidence of neural plasticity in blinnd individuals.

PubMed

Muthusamy, Anbarasi; Gajendran, Rajkumar; Rao B, Vishwanatha

2014-01-01

There is a general impression that visually blind individuals show an exceptionally better perception of other sensory modalities such as hearing, touch and smell sensations. In this study, we intended to compare the mid-latency auditory evoked potential response (MLAEP) or Middle latency Response (MLR) to get an idea of the activity pattern of auditory thalamus and cortex between 30 visually handicapped subjects and 30 normal sighted subjects. The results showed a decrease in many of the MLR wave latencies, but highly significant for the wave Pa (P value <0.002). This fact can be reflected as an evidence of existence of cross-modal neuroplasticity. We also inferred that there are significant gender differences with latencies shorter in males than females (P value <0.02) in the blind subjects group which could be attributed to their rehabilitation training.

A Depth-Based Head-Mounted Visual Display to Aid Navigation in Partially Sighted Individuals

PubMed Central

Hicks, Stephen L.; Wilson, Iain; Muhammed, Louwai; Worsfold, John; Downes, Susan M.; Kennard, Christopher

2013-01-01

Independent navigation for blind individuals can be extremely difficult due to the inability to recognise and avoid obstacles. Assistive techniques such as white canes, guide dogs, and sensory substitution provide a degree of situational awareness by relying on touch or hearing but as yet there are no techniques that attempt to make use of any residual vision that the individual is likely to retain. Residual vision can restricted to the awareness of the orientation of a light source, and hence any information presented on a wearable display would have to limited and unambiguous. For improved situational awareness, i.e. for the detection of obstacles, displaying the size and position of nearby objects, rather than including finer surface details may be sufficient. To test whether a depth-based display could be used to navigate a small obstacle course, we built a real-time head-mounted display with a depth camera and software to detect the distance to nearby objects. Distance was represented as brightness on a low-resolution display positioned close to the eyes without the benefit focussing optics. A set of sighted participants were monitored as they learned to use this display to navigate the course. All were able to do so, and time and velocity rapidly improved with practise with no increase in the number of collisions. In a second experiment a cohort of severely sight-impaired individuals of varying aetiologies performed a search task using a similar low-resolution head-mounted display. The majority of participants were able to use the display to respond to objects in their central and peripheral fields at a similar rate to sighted controls. We conclude that the skill to use a depth-based display for obstacle avoidance can be rapidly acquired and the simplified nature of the display may appropriate for the development of an aid for sight-impaired individuals. PMID:23844067

Sensory Function: Insights From Wave 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project

PubMed Central

Kern, David W.; Wroblewski, Kristen E.; Chen, Rachel C.; Schumm, L. Philip; McClintock, Martha K.

2014-01-01

Objectives. Sensory function, a critical component of quality of life, generally declines with age and influences health, physical activity, and social function. Sensory measures collected in Wave 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) survey focused on the personal impact of sensory function in the home environment and included: subjective assessment of vision, hearing, and touch, information on relevant home conditions and social sequelae as well as an improved objective assessment of odor detection. Method. Summary data were generated for each sensory category, stratified by age (62–90 years of age) and gender, with a focus on function in the home setting and the social consequences of sensory decrements in each modality. Results. Among both men and women, older age was associated with self-reported impairment of vision, hearing, and pleasantness of light touch. Compared with women, men reported significantly worse hearing and found light touch less appealing. There were no gender differences for vision. Overall, hearing loss seemed to have a greater impact on social function than did visual impairment. Discussion. Sensory function declines across age groups, with notable gender differences for hearing and light touch. Further analysis of sensory measures from NSHAP Wave 2 may provide important information on how sensory declines are related to health, social function, quality of life, morbidity, and mortality in this nationally representative sample of older adults. PMID:25360015

Haptic cues for orientation and postural control in sighted and blind individuals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jeka, J. J.; Easton, R. D.; Bentzen, B. L.; Lackner, J. R.

1996-01-01

Haptic cues from fingertip contact with a stable surface attenuate body sway in subjects even when the contact forces are too small to provide physical support of the body. We investigated how haptic cues derived from contact of a cane with a stationary surface at low force levels aids postural control in sighted and congenitally blind individuals. Five sighted (eyes closed) and five congenitally blind subjects maintained a tandem Romberg stance in five conditions: (1) no cane; (2,3) touch contact (< 2 N of applied force) while holding the cane in a vertical or slanted orientation; and (4,5) force contact (as much force as desired) in the vertical and slanted orientations. Touch contact of a cane at force levels below those necessary to provide significant physical stabilization was as effective as force contact in reducing postural sway in all subjects, compared to the no-cane condition. A slanted cane was far more effective in reducing postural sway than was a perpendicular cane. Cane use also decreased head displacement of sighted subjects far more than that of blind subjects. These results suggest that head movement control is linked to postural control through gaze stabilization reflexes in sighted subjects; such reflexes are absent in congenitally blind individuals and may account for their higher levels of head displacement.

Using an iTouch to Teach Core Curriculum Words and Definitions: Efficacy and Social Validity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jameson, J. Matt; Thompson, Victoria; Manuele, Greg; Smith, Diane; Egan, Hannah; Moore, Tiffany

2012-01-01

Media scholars have long recognized the interaction between the medium that conveys the information and the information that is conveyed. This study examined the relative impact of different low- and high-tech instructional mediums (e.g., flashcards and the iTouch) on the acquisition of general education content-referenced sight words and…

The Usher lifestyle survey: maintaining independence: a multi-centre study.

PubMed

Damen, Godelieve W J A; Krabbe, Paul F M; Kilsby, M; Mylanus, Emmanuel A M

2005-12-01

Patients with Usher syndrome face a special set of challenges in order to maintain their independence when their sight and hearing worsen. Three different types of Usher (I, II and III) are distinguished by differences in onset, progression and severity of hearing loss, and by the presence or absence of balance problems. In this study 93 Usher patients from seven European countries filled out a questionnaire on maintaining independence (60 patients type I, 25 patients type II, four patients type III and four patients type unknown). Results of Usher type I and II patients are presented. Following the Nordic definition of maintaining independence in deaf-blindness, three domains are investigated: access to information, communication and mobility. Research variables in this study are: age and type of Usher, considered hearing loss- and the number of retinitis pigmentosa-related sight problems. Usher type I patients tend to need more help than Usher type II patients and the amount of help that they need grows when patients get older or when considered hearing loss worsens. No patterns in results were seen for the number of retinitis pigmentosa related sight problems.

Sensory function: insights from Wave 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project.

PubMed

Pinto, Jayant M; Kern, David W; Wroblewski, Kristen E; Chen, Rachel C; Schumm, L Philip; McClintock, Martha K

2014-11-01

Sensory function, a critical component of quality of life, generally declines with age and influences health, physical activity, and social function. Sensory measures collected in Wave 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) survey focused on the personal impact of sensory function in the home environment and included: subjective assessment of vision, hearing, and touch, information on relevant home conditions and social sequelae as well as an improved objective assessment of odor detection. Summary data were generated for each sensory category, stratified by age (62-90 years of age) and gender, with a focus on function in the home setting and the social consequences of sensory decrements in each modality. Among both men and women, older age was associated with self-reported impairment of vision, hearing, and pleasantness of light touch. Compared with women, men reported significantly worse hearing and found light touch less appealing. There were no gender differences for vision. Overall, hearing loss seemed to have a greater impact on social function than did visual impairment. Sensory function declines across age groups, with notable gender differences for hearing and light touch. Further analysis of sensory measures from NSHAP Wave 2 may provide important information on how sensory declines are related to health, social function, quality of life, morbidity, and mortality in this nationally representative sample of older adults. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Deafness Simulation: A Model for Enhancing Awareness and Sensitivity among Hearing Educators.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sevigny-Skyer, Solange C.; Dagel, Delbert D.

1990-01-01

The National Technical Institute for the Deaf developed and implemented a school-based deafness simulation project for hearing faculty members called "Keeping in Touch." Faculty members wore tinnitus maskers which produced a moderate-to-severe hearing loss and subsequently discussed their experiences, feelings, and communication…

The Age of OrthoInfo: A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Patient Comprehension of Informed Consent.

PubMed

Egekeze, Nkemakolam; Dubin, Jonathan; Williams, Karen; Bernhardt, Mark

2016-10-05

Integral to an orthopaedic surgeon-patient informed consent discussion is the assessment of patient comprehension of their medical care. However, little is known about how to optimize patient comprehension of an informed consent discussion. The purpose of our study was to evaluate three time-controlled informed consent discussion methods to determine which optimized patient comprehension immediately after the discussion. Sixty-seven consecutive patients with knee osteoarthritis who were considered medically appropriate for a knee corticosteroid injection were enrolled in our trial. Participants were randomized and were allocated into one of three groups in a parallel fashion and 1:1:1 ratio. Our three groups varied by sensory input and included verbal (hearing), verbal and video (hearing and sight), and verbal and model (hearing, sight, and touch). Each participant listened to a 10-minute scripted lecture given by a researcher; this lecture was based on content from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons patient education web site OrthoInfo. Patient comprehension was assessed after the lecture using a validated questionnaire called the Nkem test. Our primary outcome evaluated patient comprehension utilizing a pairwise comparison of mean comprehension scores between the groups. The primary outcome was analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance with the least significant difference calculated post hoc and a 95% confidence interval (95% CI). The health-care staff, study participants, and outcome assessor were each blinded to group assignments. The mean comprehension scores were 84% (95% CI, 79% to 88%) for the verbal and model group, 74% (95% CI, 63% to 80%) for the verbal and video group, and 71% (95% CI, 61% to 80%) for the verbal group. The omnibus analysis of variance was significant and showed a difference among the groups (p = 0.019). The pairwise comparison of the groups using the least significant difference calculated post hoc showed that the verbal and model group outperformed the verbal group (p = 0.01) and the verbal and video group (p = 0.023). Multisensory patient education incorporating OrthoInfo and an anatomic model optimized patient comprehension immediately after a time-controlled informed consent discussion. This finding could play an important role in improving surgeon-patient communication in the field of orthopaedic surgery. Copyright © 2016 by The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Incorporated.

Finding the Correspondence of Audio-Visual Events by Object Manipulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishibori, Kento; Takeuchi, Yoshinori; Matsumoto, Tetsuya; Kudo, Hiroaki; Ohnishi, Noboru

A human being understands the objects in the environment by integrating information obtained by the senses of sight, hearing and touch. In this integration, active manipulation of objects plays an important role. We propose a method for finding the correspondence of audio-visual events by manipulating an object. The method uses the general grouping rules in Gestalt psychology, i.e. “simultaneity” and “similarity” among motion command, sound onsets and motion of the object in images. In experiments, we used a microphone, a camera, and a robot which has a hand manipulator. The robot grasps an object like a bell and shakes it or grasps an object like a stick and beat a drum in a periodic, or non-periodic motion. Then the object emits periodical/non-periodical events. To create more realistic scenario, we put other event source (a metronome) in the environment. As a result, we had a success rate of 73.8 percent in finding the correspondence between audio-visual events (afferent signal) which are relating to robot motion (efferent signal).

First-year medical students prefer multiple learning styles.

PubMed

Lujan, Heidi L; DiCarlo, Stephen E

2006-03-01

Students have preferences for the ways in which they receive information. The visual, auditory, reading/writing, kinesthetic (VARK) questionnaire identifies student's preferences for particular modes of information presentation. We administered the VARK questionnaire to our first-year medical students, and 166 of 250 students (66%) returned the completed questionnaire. Only 36.1% of the students preferred a single mode of information presentation. Among these students, 5.4% preferred visual (learning from graphs, charts, and flow diagrams), 4.8% preferred auditory (learning from speech), 7.8% preferred printed words (learning from reading and writing), and 18.1% preferred using all their senses (kinesthetics: learning from touch, hearing, smell, taste, and sight). In contrast, most students (63.8%) preferred multiple modes [2 modes (24.5%), 3 modes (32.1%), or 4 modes (43.4%)] of information presentation. Knowing the students preferred modes can 1) help provide instruction tailored to the student's individual preference, 2) overcome the predisposition to treat all students in a similar way, and 3) motivate teachers to move from their preferred mode(s) to using others.

Acoustic-tactile rendering of visual information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, Pubudu Madhawa; Pappas, Thrasyvoulos N.; Atkins, Joshua; West, James E.; Hartmann, William M.

2012-03-01

In previous work, we have proposed a dynamic, interactive system for conveying visual information via hearing and touch. The system is implemented with a touch screen that allows the user to interrogate a two-dimensional (2-D) object layout by active finger scanning while listening to spatialized auditory feedback. Sound is used as the primary source of information for object localization and identification, while touch is used both for pointing and for kinesthetic feedback. Our previous work considered shape and size perception of simple objects via hearing and touch. The focus of this paper is on the perception of a 2-D layout of simple objects with identical size and shape. We consider the selection and rendition of sounds for object identification and localization. We rely on the head-related transfer function for rendering sound directionality, and consider variations of sound intensity and tempo as two alternative approaches for rendering proximity. Subjective experiments with visually-blocked subjects are used to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. Our results indicate that intensity outperforms tempo as a proximity cue, and that the overall system for conveying a 2-D layout is quite promising.

Tactile exploration of virtual objects for blind and sighted people: the role of beta 1 EEG band in sensory substitution and supramodal mental mapping

PubMed Central

Brayda, L.; De Carli, F.; Chellali, R.; Famà, F.; Bruzzo, C.; Lucagrossi, L.; Rodriguez, G.

2012-01-01

The neural correlates of exploration and cognitive mapping in blindness remain elusive. The role of visuo-spatial pathways in blind vs. sighted subjects is still under debate. In this preliminary study, we investigate, as a possible estimation of the activity in the visuo-spatial pathways, the EEG patterns of blind and blindfolded-sighted subjects during the active tactile construction of cognitive maps from virtual objects compared with rest and passive tactile stimulation. Ten blind and ten matched, blindfolded-sighted subjects participated in the study. Events were defined as moments when the finger was only stimulated (passive stimulation) or the contour of a virtual object was touched (during active exploration). Event-related spectral power and coherence perturbations were evaluated within the beta 1 band (14–18 Hz). They were then related to a subjective cognitive-load estimation required by the explorations [namely, perceived levels of difficulty (PLD)]. We found complementary cues for sensory substitution and spatial processing in both groups: both blind and sighted subjects showed, while exploring, late power decreases and early power increases, potentially associated with motor programming and touch, respectively. The latter involved occipital areas only for blind subjects (long-term plasticity) and only during active exploration, thus supporting tactile-to-visual sensory substitution. In both groups, coherences emerged among the fronto-central, centro-parietal, and occipito-temporal derivations associated with visuo-spatial processing. This seems in accordance with mental map construction involving spatial processing, sensory-motor processing, and working memory. The observed involvement of the occipital regions suggests that a substitution process also occurs in sighted subjects. Only during explorations did coherence correlate positively with PLD for both groups and in derivations, which can be related to visuo-spatial processing, supporting the existence of supramodal spatial processing independently of vision capabilities. PMID:22338024

Individual Literacy Activities with Hearing-Impaired Children in the Preschool Period

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karasu, H. Pelin

2014-01-01

The ability to recognize sight words, phonological awareness, syntax, semantics, and pragmatic skills begins to develop during the preschool period, and is important for formal reading education. The purpose of this study was to define individualized studies that support the development of literacy skills among hearing-impaired preschool children.…

The Five Senses of Christmas Chemistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Derek A.; Dicks, Andrew P.

2012-01-01

This article describes the organic chemistry of five compounds that are directly associated with the Christmas season. These substances and related materials are presented within the framework of the five senses: silver fulminate (sound), alpha-pinene (sight), sodium acetate (touch), tryptophan (taste), and gingerol (smell). Connections with the…

Blind people are more sensitive than sighted people to binaural sound-location cues, particularly inter-aural level differences.

PubMed

Nilsson, Mats E; Schenkman, Bo N

2016-02-01

Blind people use auditory information to locate sound sources and sound-reflecting objects (echolocation). Sound source localization benefits from the hearing system's ability to suppress distracting sound reflections, whereas echolocation would benefit from "unsuppressing" these reflections. To clarify how these potentially conflicting aspects of spatial hearing interact in blind versus sighted listeners, we measured discrimination thresholds for two binaural location cues: inter-aural level differences (ILDs) and inter-aural time differences (ITDs). The ILDs or ITDs were present in single clicks, in the leading component of click pairs, or in the lagging component of click pairs, exploiting processes related to both sound source localization and echolocation. We tested 23 blind (mean age = 54 y), 23 sighted-age-matched (mean age = 54 y), and 42 sighted-young (mean age = 26 y) listeners. The results suggested greater ILD sensitivity for blind than for sighted listeners. The blind group's superiority was particularly evident for ILD-lag-click discrimination, suggesting not only enhanced ILD sensitivity in general but also increased ability to unsuppress lagging clicks. This may be related to the blind person's experience of localizing reflected sounds, for which ILDs may be more efficient than ITDs. On the ITD-discrimination tasks, the blind listeners performed better than the sighted age-matched listeners, but not better than the sighted young listeners. ITD sensitivity declines with age, and the equal performance of the blind listeners compared to a group of substantially younger listeners is consistent with the notion that blind people's experience may offset age-related decline in ITD sensitivity. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Importance of Orientation and Mobility Skills for Students Who Are Deaf-Blind. Revised

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gense, D. Jay; Gense, Marilyn

2004-01-01

Children learn about their environment as they move through it--about people and objects, sizes, shapes, and distances. For typically developing children the senses of sight and hearing provide the greatest motivation for exploration. These children will use their vision and hearing to gather information about their surroundings while growing in…

Convergent and invariant object representations for sight, sound, and touch.

PubMed

Man, Kingson; Damasio, Antonio; Meyer, Kaspar; Kaplan, Jonas T

2015-09-01

We continuously perceive objects in the world through multiple sensory channels. In this study, we investigated the convergence of information from different sensory streams within the cerebral cortex. We presented volunteers with three common objects via three different modalities-sight, sound, and touch-and used multivariate pattern analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data to map the cortical regions containing information about the identity of the objects. We could reliably predict which of the three stimuli a subject had seen, heard, or touched from the pattern of neural activity in the corresponding early sensory cortices. Intramodal classification was also successful in large portions of the cerebral cortex beyond the primary areas, with multiple regions showing convergence of information from two or all three modalities. Using crossmodal classification, we also searched for brain regions that would represent objects in a similar fashion across different modalities of presentation. We trained a classifier to distinguish objects presented in one modality and then tested it on the same objects presented in a different modality. We detected audiovisual invariance in the right temporo-occipital junction, audiotactile invariance in the left postcentral gyrus and parietal operculum, and visuotactile invariance in the right postcentral and supramarginal gyri. Our maps of multisensory convergence and crossmodal generalization reveal the underlying organization of the association cortices, and may be related to the neural basis for mental concepts. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Fingertip contact influences human postural control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jeka, J. J.; Lackner, J. R.

1994-01-01

Touch and pressure stimulation of the body surface can strongly influence apparent body orientation, as well as the maintenance of upright posture during quiet stance. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between postural sway and contact forces at the fingertip while subjects touched a rigid metal bar. Subjects were tested in the tandem Romberg stance with eyes open or closed under three conditions of fingertip contact: no contact, touch contact (< 0.98 N of force), and force contact (as much force as desired). Touch contact was as effective as force contact or sight of the surroundings in reducing postural sway when compared to the no contact, eyes closed condition. Body sway and fingertip forces were essentially in phase with force contact, suggesting that fingertip contact forces are physically counteracting body sway. Time delays between body sway and fingertip forces were much larger with light touch contact, suggesting that the fingertip is providing information that allows anticipatory innervation of musculature to reduce body sway. The results are related to observations on precision grip as well as the somatosensory, proprioceptive, and motor mechanisms involved in the reduction of body sway.

Soldier Performance in Continuous Operations. Administrative Manual for a Briefing and Seminar for Platoon and Squad Personnel

DTIC Science & Technology

1985-07-01

appearing targets. Soldiers with keen sight and hearing can be used for perimeter security, especially at night. Can anyone think of other...you are go- ing to hear next. Not all suggestions for improvement will be valid, worthwhile suggestions. Sometimes, it seems like it’s basic human...want to hear what (designate a person or persons) thinks." 5. Draw out the reluctant participant by addressing some questions (perhaps a lead

The origins of metamodality in visual object area LO: Bodily topographical biases and increased functional connectivity to S1

PubMed Central

Tal, Zohar; Geva, Ran; Amedi, Amir

2016-01-01

Recent evidence from blind participants suggests that visual areas are task-oriented and sensory modality input independent rather than sensory-specific to vision. Specifically, visual areas are thought to retain their functional selectivity when using non-visual inputs (touch or sound) even without having any visual experience. However, this theory is still controversial since it is not clear whether this also characterizes the sighted brain, and whether the reported results in the sighted reflect basic fundamental a-modal processes or are an epiphenomenon to a large extent. In the current study, we addressed these questions using a series of fMRI experiments aimed to explore visual cortex responses to passive touch on various body parts and the coupling between the parietal and visual cortices as manifested by functional connectivity. We show that passive touch robustly activated the object selective parts of the lateral–occipital (LO) cortex while deactivating almost all other occipital–retinotopic-areas. Furthermore, passive touch responses in the visual cortex were specific to hand and upper trunk stimulations. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis suggests that LO is functionally connected to the hand area in the primary somatosensory homunculus (S1), during hand and shoulder stimulations but not to any of the other body parts. We suggest that LO is a fundamental hub that serves as a node between visual-object selective areas and S1 hand representation, probably due to the critical evolutionary role of touch in object recognition and manipulation. These results might also point to a more general principle suggesting that recruitment or deactivation of the visual cortex by other sensory input depends on the ecological relevance of the information conveyed by this input to the task/computations carried out by each area or network. This is likely to rely on the unique and differential pattern of connectivity for each visual area with the rest of the brain. PMID:26673114

Oscillatory activity reflects differential use of spatial reference frames by sighted and blind individuals in tactile attention.

PubMed

Schubert, Jonathan T W; Buchholz, Verena N; Föcker, Julia; Engel, Andreas K; Röder, Brigitte; Heed, Tobias

2015-08-15

Touch can be localized either on the skin in anatomical coordinates, or, after integration with posture, in external space. Sighted individuals are thought to encode touch in both coordinate systems concurrently, whereas congenitally blind individuals exhibit a strong bias for using anatomical coordinates. We investigated the neural correlates of this differential dominance in the use of anatomical and external reference frames by assessing oscillatory brain activity during a tactile spatial attention task. The EEG was recorded while sighted and congenitally blind adults received tactile stimulation to uncrossed and crossed hands while detecting rare tactile targets at one cued hand only. In the sighted group, oscillatory alpha-band activity (8-12Hz) in the cue-target interval was reduced contralaterally and enhanced ipsilaterally with uncrossed hands. Hand crossing attenuated the degree of posterior parietal alpha-band lateralization, indicating that attention deployment was affected by external spatial coordinates. Beamforming suggested that this posture effect originated in the posterior parietal cortex. In contrast, cue-related lateralization of central alpha-band as well as of beta-band activity (16-24Hz) were unaffected by hand crossing, suggesting that these oscillations exclusively encode anatomical coordinates. In the blind group, central alpha-band activity was lateralized, but did not change across postures. The pattern of beta-band activity was indistinguishable between groups. Because the neural mechanisms for posterior alpha-band generation seem to be linked to developmental vision, we speculate that the lack of this neural mechanism in blind individuals is related to their preferred use of anatomical over external spatial codes in sensory processing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Five Senses--Prime Keys to the Art and Craft of Teaching.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutro, Edmund; Gross, Richard E.

1983-01-01

Sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste can be utilized to infuse excitement into social studies courses. For example, students can view photographs of persons during the Great Depression, listen to music of various eras, and handle realia. Two examples of approaches in United States history are provided. (RM)

Evaluation of Sound Therapy Tinnitus Treatments with Concurrent Counseling in Active Duty Military Personnel

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-07-04

14 List of figures 1. Prevalence of service-connected tinnitus and hearing loss by FY...3 3. Tinnitus apps provided for use with the Apple iPod TouchTM ...................................................... 4 4. Chronology of...experience tinnitus will seek medical attention for treatment (Formby and Scherer, 2013; Hearing Center of Excellence, 2013). The prevalence of tinnitus in

Touch activates human auditory cortex.

PubMed

Schürmann, Martin; Caetano, Gina; Hlushchuk, Yevhen; Jousmäki, Veikko; Hari, Riitta

2006-05-01

Vibrotactile stimuli can facilitate hearing, both in hearing-impaired and in normally hearing people. Accordingly, the sounds of hands exploring a surface contribute to the explorer's haptic percepts. As a possible brain basis of such phenomena, functional brain imaging has identified activations specific to audiotactile interaction in secondary somatosensory cortex, auditory belt area, and posterior parietal cortex, depending on the quality and relative salience of the stimuli. We studied 13 subjects with non-invasive functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to search for auditory brain areas that would be activated by touch. Vibration bursts of 200 Hz were delivered to the subjects' fingers and palm and tactile pressure pulses to their fingertips. Noise bursts served to identify auditory cortex. Vibrotactile-auditory co-activation, addressed with minimal smoothing to obtain a conservative estimate, was found in an 85-mm3 region in the posterior auditory belt area. This co-activation could be related to facilitated hearing at the behavioral level, reflecting the analysis of sound-like temporal patterns in vibration. However, even tactile pulses (without any vibration) activated parts of the posterior auditory belt area, which therefore might subserve processing of audiotactile events that arise during dynamic contact between hands and environment.

Cortical network differences in the sighted versus early blind for recognition of human-produced action sounds

PubMed Central

Lewis, James W.; Frum, Chris; Brefczynski-Lewis, Julie A.; Talkington, William J.; Walker, Nathan A.; Rapuano, Kristina M.; Kovach, Amanda L.

2012-01-01

Both sighted and blind individuals can readily interpret meaning behind everyday real-world sounds. In sighted listeners, we previously reported that regions along the bilateral posterior superior temporal sulci (pSTS) and middle temporal gyri (pMTG) are preferentially activated when presented with recognizable action sounds. These regions have generally been hypothesized to represent primary loci for complex motion processing, including visual biological motion processing and audio-visual integration. However, it remained unclear whether, or to what degree, life-long visual experience might impact functions related to hearing perception or memory of sound-source actions. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we compared brain regions activated in congenitally blind versus sighted listeners in response to hearing a wide range of recognizable human-produced action sounds (excluding vocalizations) versus unrecognized, backward-played versions of those sounds. Here we show that recognized human action sounds commonly evoked activity in both groups along most of the left pSTS/pMTG complex, though with relatively greater activity in the right pSTS/pMTG by the blind group. These results indicate that portions of the postero-lateral temporal cortices contain domain-specific hubs for biological and/or complex motion processing independent of sensory-modality experience. Contrasting the two groups, the sighted listeners preferentially activated bilateral parietal plus medial and lateral frontal networks, while the blind listeners preferentially activated left anterior insula plus bilateral anterior calcarine and medial occipital regions, including what would otherwise have been visual-related cortex. These global-level network differences suggest that blind and sighted listeners may preferentially use different memory retrieval strategies when attempting to recognize action sounds. PMID:21305666

Exploring cardinality in the era of touchscreen-based technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sedaghatjou, Mina; Campbell, Stephen R.

2017-11-01

This paper explores how a young child (56 m) builds an understanding of the cardinality principle through communicative, touchscreen-based activities involving talk, gesture and body engagement working via multimodal, touchscreen interface using contemporary mobile technology. Drawing upon Nemirovsky's perceptuomotor integration theoretical lens and other foundational aspects of Husserlian phenomenology, we present an in-depth case study of a preschool child developing mathematical expertise and tool fluency using an iPad application called TouchCounts to operate with cardinal numbers. Overall, this study demonstrates that the one-on-one multimodal touch, sight and auditory feedback via a touchscreen device can serve to assist in a child's development of cardinality.

(I Learned It) through the Grapevine: Hypermedia at Work in the Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Robert

1989-01-01

Describes a project that was intended to aid students researching "The Grapes of Wrath" and that resulted in a program that uses the Apple Macintosh computer with HyperCard and a videodisk to put users in touch with the sights, sounds, issues, and events of the United States in the 1930s. (three references) (CLB)

How Should We Question Young Children's Understanding of Aspectuality?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waters, Gillian M.; Beck, Sarah R.

2012-01-01

In two experiments, we investigated whether 4- to 5-year-old children's ability to demonstrate their understanding of aspectuality was influenced by how the test question was phrased. In Experiment 1, 60 children chose whether to look or feel to gain information about a hidden object (identifiable by sight or touch). Test questions referred either…

Teaching Beginning Reading Sounds to Head Start Youngsters.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Von Hilsheimer, Catherine

The effectiveness of the Three Owls Reading Method was tested, using 53 children from a Head Start program. The Three Owls system combines sight, phonic, and linguistic reading methods with movement and touch modes of instruction. After a pretest for phonic letter recognition, the students were matched and assigned to one of two classes in a…

Genetics Home Reference: Bardet-Biedl syndrome

MedlinePlus

... signaling pathways. Cilia are also necessary for the perception of sensory input (such as sight, hearing, and ... during development and lead to abnormalities of sensory perception. Researchers believe that defective cilia are responsible for ...

Protecting national park soundscapes

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-01-01

America's national parks provide a wealth of experiences to millions of people every year. What visitors seelandscapes, wildlife, cultural activitiesoften lingers in memory for life. And what they hear adds a dimension that sight alone cannot p...

STS-4 landing at Edwards Air Foce Base, California

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

STS-4 landing at Edwards Air Foce Base, California. Actor Roy Rogers with Astronauts Jerry L. Ross, left, and Guy S. Gardner at Edwards for the STS-4 landing on July 1, 1982. Also present (behind Gardner at extreme right) was former Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. (33226); President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan meet Astronauts Thomas K. Mattingly, II., right, and Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr., after the landing of the Columbia at Edwards (33227,33230); Space Shuttle Columbia, followed by two T-38 chase planes, touches down on Edwards Air Force Base's Runway 22 to complete mission. In this view, one chase plane appears to be directly above and behind the Columbia, whose nose wheels have not yet touched ground. The other plane appears to be further up front (33228); The rear wheels of the Columbia touch down on the Edwards AFB runway. There are no chase planes in sight in this photo (33229).

Touch-screen computerized education for patients with brain injuries.

PubMed

Patyk, M; Gaynor, S; Kelly, J; Ott, V

1998-01-01

The use of computer technology for patient education has increased in recent years. This article describes a study that measures the attitudes and perceptions of healthcare professionals and laypeople regarding the effectiveness of a multimedia computer, the Brain Injury Resource Center (BIRC), as an educational tool. The study focused on three major themes: (a) usefulness of the information presented, (b) effectiveness of the multimedia touch-screen computer methodology, and (c) the appropriate time for making this resource available. This prospective study, conducted in an acute care medical center, obtained healthcare professionals' evaluations using a written survey and responses from patients with brain injury and their families during interviews. The findings have yielded excellent ratings as to the ease of understanding and usefulness of the BIRC. By using sight, sound, and touch, such a multimedia learning center has the potential to simplify patient and family education.

Cognitive Processes in Intelligence Analysis: A Descriptive Model and Review of the Literature

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-12-01

vision, hearing , touch,) tion’frquenly ncouterIntefernce In column 2 are the means by which allresulting from unavoidable confusion on reqenty couner... auditory , touch, or senses and makes It available to the muscular sense Inputs outside rest of the cognitive structure, while at awareness and attention...or Ie, the visual to the auditory . change in the sensory Input. The buffer p Shas several characteristics: (The reader may be able to recap- ture

What Is an Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM)?

MedlinePlus

... sensory information, such as interpretation of pain and temperature, light touch, vibration and more. The temporal lobe functions to process things related to hearing, memory, learning and receptive speech. The occipital lobe functions to ...

Functional Equivalence of Spatial Images from Touch and Vision: Evidence from Spatial Updating in Blind and Sighted Individuals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giudice, Nicholas A.; Betty, Maryann R.; Loomis, Jack M.

2011-01-01

This research examined whether visual and haptic map learning yield functionally equivalent spatial images in working memory, as evidenced by similar encoding bias and updating performance. In 3 experiments, participants learned 4-point routes either by seeing or feeling the maps. At test, blindfolded participants made spatial judgments about the…

Virtual reality interface devices in the reorganization of neural networks in the brain of patients with neurological diseases.

PubMed

Gatica-Rojas, Valeska; Méndez-Rebolledo, Guillermo

2014-04-15

Two key characteristics of all virtual reality applications are interaction and immersion. Systemic interaction is achieved through a variety of multisensory channels (hearing, sight, touch, and smell), permitting the user to interact with the virtual world in real time. Immersion is the degree to which a person can feel wrapped in the virtual world through a defined interface. Virtual reality interface devices such as the Nintendo® Wii and its peripheral nunchuks-balance board, head mounted displays and joystick allow interaction and immersion in unreal environments created from computer software. Virtual environments are highly interactive, generating great activation of visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems during the execution of a video game. In addition, they are entertaining and safe for the user. Recently, incorporating therapeutic purposes in virtual reality interface devices has allowed them to be used for the rehabilitation of neurological patients, e.g., balance training in older adults and dynamic stability in healthy participants. The improvements observed in neurological diseases (chronic stroke and cerebral palsy) have been shown by changes in the reorganization of neural networks in patients' brain, along with better hand function and other skills, contributing to their quality of life. The data generated by such studies could substantially contribute to physical rehabilitation strategies.

Virtual reality interface devices in the reorganization of neural networks in the brain of patients with neurological diseases

PubMed Central

Gatica-Rojas, Valeska; Méndez-Rebolledo, Guillermo

2014-01-01

Two key characteristics of all virtual reality applications are interaction and immersion. Systemic interaction is achieved through a variety of multisensory channels (hearing, sight, touch, and smell), permitting the user to interact with the virtual world in real time. Immersion is the degree to which a person can feel wrapped in the virtual world through a defined interface. Virtual reality interface devices such as the Nintendo® Wii and its peripheral nunchuks-balance board, head mounted displays and joystick allow interaction and immersion in unreal environments created from computer software. Virtual environments are highly interactive, generating great activation of visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems during the execution of a video game. In addition, they are entertaining and safe for the user. Recently, incorporating therapeutic purposes in virtual reality interface devices has allowed them to be used for the rehabilitation of neurological patients, e.g., balance training in older adults and dynamic stability in healthy participants. The improvements observed in neurological diseases (chronic stroke and cerebral palsy) have been shown by changes in the reorganization of neural networks in patients’ brain, along with better hand function and other skills, contributing to their quality of life. The data generated by such studies could substantially contribute to physical rehabilitation strategies. PMID:25206907

Tactile short-term memory in sensory-deprived individuals.

PubMed

Papagno, Costanza; Minniti, Giovanna; Mattavelli, Giulia C; Mantovan, Lara; Cecchetto, Carlo

2017-02-01

To verify whether loosing a sense or two has consequences on a spared sensory modality, namely touch, and whether these consequences depend on practice or are biologically determined, we investigated 13 deafblind participants, 16 deaf participants, 15 blind participants, and 13 matched normally sighted and hearing controls on a tactile short-term memory task, using checkerboard matrices of increasing length in which half of the squares were made up of a rough texture and half of a smooth one. Time of execution of a fixed matrix, number of correctly reproduced matrices, largest matrix correctly reproduced and tactile span were recorded. The three groups of sensory-deprived individuals did not differ in any measure, while blind and deaf participants outscored controls in all parameters except time of execution; the difference approached significance for deafblind people compared to controls only in one measure, namely correctly reproduced matrices. In blind and deafblind participants, performance negatively correlated with age of Braille acquisition, the older being the subject when acquiring Braille, the lower the performance, suggesting that practice plays a role. However, the fact that deaf participants, who did not share tactile experience, performed similarly to blind participants and significantly better than controls highlights that practice cannot be the only contribution to better tactile memory.

Toward interactive context-aware affective educational recommendations in computer-assisted language learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, Olga C.; Saneiro, Mar; Boticario, Jesus G.; Rodriguez-Sanchez, M. C.

2016-01-01

This work explores the benefits of supporting learners affectively in a context-aware learning situation. This features a new challenge in related literature in terms of providing affective educational recommendations that take advantage of ambient intelligence and are delivered through actuators available in the environment, thus going beyond previous approaches which provided computer-based recommendation that present some text or tell aloud the learner what to do. To address this open issue, we have applied TORMES elicitation methodology, which has been used to investigate the potential of ambient intelligence for making more interactive recommendations in an emotionally challenging scenario (i.e. preparing for the oral examination of a second language learning course). Arduino open source electronics prototyping platform is used both to sense changes in the learners' affective state and to deliver the recommendation in a more interactive way through different complementary sensory communication channels (sight, hearing, touch) to cope with a universal design. An Ambient Intelligence Context-aware Affective Recommender Platform (AICARP) has been built to support the whole experience, which represents a progress in the state of the art. In particular, we have come up with what is most likely the first interactive context-aware affective educational recommendation. The value of this contribution lies in discussing methodological and practical issues involved.

Mechanically Activated Ion Channels

PubMed Central

Ranade, Sanjeev S.; Syeda, Ruhma; Patapoutian, Ardem

2015-01-01

Mechanotransduction, the conversion of physical forces into biochemical signals, is an essential component of numerous physiological processes including not only conscious senses of touch and hearing, but also unconscious senses such as blood pressure regulation. Mechanically activated (MA) ion channels have been proposed as sensors of physical force, but the identity of these channels and an understanding of how mechanical force is transduced has remained elusive. A number of recent studies on previously known ion channels along with the identification of novel MA ion channels have greatly transformed our understanding of touch and hearing in both vertebrates and invertebrates. Here, we present an updated review of eukaryotic ion channel families that have been implicated in mechanotransduction processes and evaluate the qualifications of the candidate genes according to specified criteria. We then discuss the proposed gating models for MA ion channels and highlight recent structural studies of mechanosensitive potassium channels. PMID:26402601

The Haptic Test Battery: A New Instrument to Test Tactual Abilities in Blind and Visually Impaired and Sighted Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ballesteros, Soledad; Bardisa, Dolores; Millar, Susanna; Reales, Jose M.

2005-01-01

A new psychological test battery was designed to provide a much-needed comprehensive tool for assessing the perceptual and cognitive abilities of visually handicapped children in using active touch. The test materials consist of raised-line, raised-dot, raised-surface shapes and displays, and familiar and novel 3-D objects. The research used 20…

Pointing with the Left and Right Hands in Congenitally Blind Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ittyerah, Miriam; Gaunet, Florence; Rossetti, Yves

2007-01-01

Congenitally blind and blindfolded sighted children at ages of 6, 8, 10 and 12 years performed a pointing task with their left and right index fingers at an array of three targets on a touch screen to immediate (0 s) and delayed (4 s) instructions. Accuracy was greater for immediate than delayed pointing and there was an effect of delay for the…

Reading Embossed Capital Letters: An fMRI Study in Blind and Sighted Individuals

PubMed Central

Burton, H.; McLaren, D.G.; Sinclair, R.J.

2013-01-01

Reading Braille activates visual cortex in blind people [Burton et al., J Neurophysiol 2002;87: 589-611; Sadato et al., Nature 1996;380:526-528; Sadato et al., Brain 1998;121:1213-1229]. Because learning Braille requires extensive training, we had sighted and blind people read raised block capital letters to determine whether all groups engage visual cortex similarly when reading by touch. Letters were passively rubbed across the right index finger at 30 mm/s using an MR-compatible drum stimulator. Age-matched sighted, early blind (lost sight 0–5 years), and late blind (lost sight >5.5 years) volunteers performed three tasks: stating an identified letter, stating a verb containing an identified letter, and feeling a moving smooth surface. Responses were voiced immediately after the drum stopped moving across the fingertip. All groups showed increased activity in visual areas V1 and V2 during both letter identification tasks. Blind compared to sighted participants showed greater activation increases predominantly in the parafoveal-peripheral portions of visuotopic areas and posterior parts of BA 20 and 37. Sighted participants showed suppressed activity in most of the same areas except for small positive responses bilaterally in V1, left V5/MT+, and bilaterally in BA 37/20. Blind individuals showed suppression of the language areas in the frontal cortex, while sighted individuals showed slight positive responses. Early blind showed a more extensive distribution of activity in superior temporal sulcal multisensory areas. These results show cross-modal reorganization of visual cortex and altered response dynamics in nonvisual areas that plausibly reflect mechanisms for adaptive plasticity in blindness. PMID:16142777

Seeing Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miles, Rhea; Zambone, Alana

2017-01-01

Students who are blind or visually impaired (BVI), like all students, need to conduct scientific investigations that involve measurements and reading experimental procedures. Best instructional practices for BVI students include touch and hearing experiences. Related strategies and tools include electronic textbooks, assistive technologies such as…

United States Air Force F-35A Operational Basing Environmental Impact Statement. Appendix E: Comments

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

her sight and hearing at a young . said that hearing loss was the greater atni ction f()r reason. r,\\ professionals in the music mdustry. their...A. Approved for public release: distribution unlimited. 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Report totals 2440 pages 14. ABSTRACT Development and fielding of...cognitive development of James A. Dumont, Esq. R0252 GP-20 NO-8 E-483 Comments of Richard Joseph eta! on F-35A Operational Basing DEIS July

Remote Atomic Force Microscopy of Microscopic Organisms: Technological Innovations for Hands-On Science with Middle and High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, M. G.; Andre, T.; Kubasko, D.; Bokinsky, A.; Tretter, T.; Negishi, A.; Taylor, R.; Superfine, R.

2004-01-01

This study examined hands-on experiences in the context of an investigation of viruses and explored how and why hands-on experiences may be effective. We sought to understand whether or not touching and manipulating materials and objects could lead to a deeper, more effective type of knowing than that we obtain from sight or sound alone. Four…

Identification of a sporozoite-specific antigen from Toxoplasma gondii

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Toxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan parasite that causes the disease toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis results in the loss of life, sight, cognitive and motor function, and hearing in congenitally infected individuals. While the sources of T. gondii infection have been established, the factors influen...

Auditory cues for orientation and postural control in sighted and congenitally blind people

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Easton, R. D.; Greene, A. J.; DiZio, P.; Lackner, J. R.

1998-01-01

This study assessed whether stationary auditory information could affect body and head sway (as does visual and haptic information) in sighted and congenitally blind people. Two speakers, one placed adjacent to each ear, significantly stabilized center-of-foot-pressure sway in a tandem Romberg stance, while neither a single speaker in front of subjects nor a head-mounted sonar device reduced center-of-pressure sway. Center-of-pressure sway was reduced to the same level in the two-speaker condition for sighted and blind subjects. Both groups also evidenced reduced head sway in the two-speaker condition, although blind subjects' head sway was significantly larger than that of sighted subjects. The advantage of the two-speaker condition was probably attributable to the nature of distance compared with directional auditory information. The results rule out a deficit model of spatial hearing in blind people and are consistent with one version of a compensation model. Analysis of maximum cross-correlations between center-of-pressure and head sway, and associated time lags suggest that blind and sighted people may use different sensorimotor strategies to achieve stability.

Balancing game universes for playing without sight or hearing.

PubMed

Westin, Thomas; Furöstam, Malin; Yasasindhu, Roy; Norberg, Lena; Wiklund, Mats; Mozelius, Peter

2015-01-01

Equal access to cultural activities is important for inclusion and computer gaming is one of the most common activities in digital culture. However, many people with impairments are excluded from participating. While parallel game universes (PGUs) provide a method to achieve equal access, the question is: how can a balanced collaborative real-time game be designed with the help of PGU for playing without sight or hearing? Balance is a central concept in game design and is important to avoid perceived cheating or disadvantages due to individual or environmental differences. The question was examined with a design science approach, where a game prototype was created in two iterations with a structured design method and evaluated using interviews and observations. In this first step of a more long-term study, ten experienced gamers without impairments were selected with purposive sampling to provide relevant data through simulation of temporary impairments or environmental issues, which can affect many or all gamers. By sorting out these issues first, later testing with actual blind and deaf gamers can focus on more specific issues for each group. The ten participants played either without sight or hearing. The results confirm the use of PGUs for creating a balanced experience but also finds that while multiplayer feel is not optimal, it is a reasonable trade-off for universal access for blind and deaf being able to play together. The results also show that a help system and equal understanding of the game play between the blind and deaf players are important aspects to achieve game balance. Further research should be done involving actual blind and deaf gamers, and similar evaluations of game balance should be conducted with users having other types of impairments.

Keyboard With Voice Output

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huber, W. C.

1986-01-01

Voice synthesizer tells what key is about to be depressed. Verbal feedback useful for blind operators or where dim light prevents sighted operator from seeing keyboard. Also used where operator is busy observing other things while keying data into control system. Used as training aid for touch typing, and to train blind operators to use both standard and braille keyboards. Concept adapted to such equipment as typewriters, computers, calculators, telephones, cash registers, and on/off controls.

HandSight: Supporting Everyday Activities through Touch-Vision

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-10-01

switches between IR and RGB o Large, low resolution, and fixed focal length > 1ft • Raspberry PI NoIR: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/ pi -noir...camera/ o Raspberry Pi NoIR camera with external visible light filters o Good image quality, manually adjustable focal length, small, programmable 11...purpose and scope of the research. 2. KEYWORDS: Provide a brief list of keywords (limit to 20 words). 3. ACCOMPLISHMENTS: The PI is reminded that

Cartesian visions.

PubMed

Fara, Patricia

2008-12-01

Few original portraits exist of René Descartes, yet his theories of vision were central to Enlightenment thought. French philosophers combined his emphasis on sight with the English approach of insisting that ideas are not innate, but must be built up from experience. In particular, Denis Diderot criticised Descartes's views by describing how Nicholas Saunderson--a blind physics professor at Cambridge--relied on touch. Diderot also made Saunderson the mouthpiece for some heretical arguments against the existence of God.

Infant Massage: Communicating through Touch.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevens, Vivian

1998-01-01

Describes the benefits of infant massage, particularly for babies with deafness who have hearing parents. Steps for giving baby massages are provided, including placing a hand on the baby's stomach and making eye contact, starting with the legs, looking for cues, and communicating with the baby. (CR)

Multisensory Strategies for Science Vocabulary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Husty, Sandra; Jackson, Julie

2008-01-01

Seeing, touching, smelling, hearing, and learning! The authors observed that their English Language Learner (ELL) students achieved a deeper understanding of the properties of matter, as well as enhanced vocabulary development, when they were guided through inquiry-based, multisensory explorations that repeatedly exposed them to words and…

Biology Today: Of Wishbones, Beavers & Blinking.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flannery, Maura, Ed.

1989-01-01

Provided is a discussion of items covering a variety of fascinating biological topics which include: the elasticity of the furcula of starlings in flight, beavers increasing the greenhouse effect, effective invaders, traveling birds, the cuckoo deception, competitive sperm, hearing springs, heat and sight, blinking as punctuation, mutations, and…

Sighted and visually impaired students’ perspectives of illustrations, diagrams and drawings in school science

PubMed Central

McDonald, Celia; Rodrigues, Susan

2016-01-01

Background: In this paper we report on the views of students with and without visual impairments on the use of illustrations, diagrams and drawings (IDD) in science lessons. Method: Our findings are based on data gathered through a brief questionnaire completed by a convenience sample of students prior to trialling new resource material. The questionnaire sought to understand the students’ views about using IDD in science lessons. The classes involved in the study included one class from a primary school, five classes from a secondary school and one class from a school for visually impaired students. Results: Approximately 20% of the participants thought that the diagrams were boring and just under half (48%) of the total sample (regardless of whether they were sighted or visually impaired) did not think diagrams were easy to use. Only 14% of the participants felt that repeated encounters with the same diagrams made the diagrams easy to understand. Unlike sighted students who can ‘flit’ across diagrams, a visually impaired student may only see or touch a small part of the diagram at a time so for them ‘fliting’ could result in loss of orientation with the diagram. Conclusions: Treating sighted and visually impaired pupils equally is different to treating them identically. Sighted students incidentally learn how to interpret visual information from a young age. Students who acquire sight loss need to learn the different rules associated with reading tactile diagrams, or large print and those who are congenitally blind do not have visual memories to rely upon. PMID:27918598

Knockout of the ASIC2 channel in mice does not impair cutaneous mechanosensation, visceral mechanonociception and hearing

PubMed Central

Roza, Carolina; Puel, Jean-Luc; Kress, Michaela; Baron, Anne; Diochot, Sylvie; Lazdunski, Michel; Waldmann, Rainer

2004-01-01

Mechanosensitive cation channels are thought to be crucial for different aspects of mechanoperception, such as hearing and touch sensation. In the nematode C. elegans, the degenerins MEC-4 and MEC-10 are involved in mechanosensation and were proposed to form mechanosensitive cation channels. Mammalian degenerin homologues, the H+-gated ASIC channels, are expressed in sensory neurones and are therefore interesting candidates for mammalian mechanosensors. We investigated the effect of an ASIC2 gene knockout in mice on hearing and on cutaneous mechanosensation and visceral mechanonociception. However, our data do not support a role of ASIC2 in those facets of mechanoperception. PMID:15169849

Memory for sound, with an ear toward hearing in complex auditory scenes.

PubMed

Snyder, Joel S; Gregg, Melissa K

2011-10-01

An area of research that has experienced recent growth is the study of memory during perception of simple and complex auditory scenes. These studies have provided important information about how well auditory objects are encoded in memory and how well listeners can notice changes in auditory scenes. These are significant developments because they present an opportunity to better understand how we hear in realistic situations, how higher-level aspects of hearing such as semantics and prior exposure affect perception, and the similarities and differences between auditory perception and perception in other modalities, such as vision and touch. The research also poses exciting challenges for behavioral and neural models of how auditory perception and memory work.

Other ways of seeing: From behavior to neural mechanisms in the online “visual” control of action with sensory substitution

PubMed Central

Proulx, Michael J.; Gwinnutt, James; Dell’Erba, Sara; Levy-Tzedek, Shelly; de Sousa, Alexandra A.; Brown, David J.

2015-01-01

Vision is the dominant sense for perception-for-action in humans and other higher primates. Advances in sight restoration now utilize the other intact senses to provide information that is normally sensed visually through sensory substitution to replace missing visual information. Sensory substitution devices translate visual information from a sensor, such as a camera or ultrasound device, into a format that the auditory or tactile systems can detect and process, so the visually impaired can see through hearing or touch. Online control of action is essential for many daily tasks such as pointing, grasping and navigating, and adapting to a sensory substitution device successfully requires extensive learning. Here we review the research on sensory substitution for vision restoration in the context of providing the means of online control for action in the blind or blindfolded. It appears that the use of sensory substitution devices utilizes the neural visual system; this suggests the hypothesis that sensory substitution draws on the same underlying mechanisms as unimpaired visual control of action. Here we review the current state of the art for sensory substitution approaches to object recognition, localization, and navigation, and the potential these approaches have for revealing a metamodal behavioral and neural basis for the online control of action. PMID:26599473

Development of a test of suprathreshold acuity in noise in Brazilian Portuguese: a new method for hearing screening and surveillance.

PubMed

Vaez, Nara; Desgualdo-Pereira, Liliane; Paglialonga, Alessia

2014-01-01

This paper describes the development of a speech-in-noise test for hearing screening and surveillance in Brazilian Portuguese based on the evaluation of suprathreshold acuity performances. The SUN test (Speech Understanding in Noise) consists of a list of intervocalic consonants in noise presented in a multiple-choice paradigm by means of a touch screen. The test provides one out of three possible results: "a hearing check is recommended" (red light), "a hearing check would be advisable" (yellow light), and "no hearing difficulties" (green light) (Paglialonga et al., Comput. Biol. Med. 2014). This novel test was developed in a population of 30 normal hearing young adults and 101 adults with varying degrees of hearing impairment and handicap, including normal hearing. The test had 84% sensitivity and 76% specificity compared to conventional pure-tone screening and 83% sensitivity and 86% specificity to detect disabling hearing impairment. The test outcomes were in line with the degree of self-perceived hearing handicap. The results found here paralleled those reported in the literature for the SUN test and for conventional speech-in-noise measures. This study showed that the proposed test might be a viable method to identify individuals with hearing problems to be referred to further audiological assessment and intervention.

Cellular Uptake of Aminoglycosides

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steyger, Peter S.

2005-01-01

Aminoglycosides exert their cytotoxic effect at three different locations: at the cell surface, in the cytosol, or in the nucleus. At the cell surface, aminoglycoside binding can cause temporary hearing loss, motor paralysis at the neuromuscular junction, ion wasting in kidneys, or analgesia in mechano- and nocioreceptors (touch and pain sensory…

Health Factors Influencing Education of American Indians. A Position Paper.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

deMontigny, Lionel H.

The resume of health problems facing the American Indian school child emphasized that health, culture, education, and economics are mutually interdependent and must be evaluated and planned for jointly. Specific health problems discussed include general health, nutrition, fever and chronic illness, hearing, sight, and mental health.…

Cognitive neuroscience: integration of sight and sound outside of awareness?

PubMed

Noel, Jean-Paul; Wallace, Mark; Blake, Randolph

2015-02-16

A recent study found that auditory and visual information can be integrated even when you are completely unaware of hearing or seeing the paired stimuli--but only if you have received prior, conscious exposure to the paired stimuli. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

"Television" Artists

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szekely, George

2010-01-01

In an art class, children browse through space-age knobs, robot antennas and gyroscopic signal searchers. They extend space needle antennas before turning on an old TV. They discover the sights and sounds of televisions past, hearing the hiss, the gathering power, and seeing the blinking eye, the black-and-white light and blurry images projected…

Communication Opportunities for Students with Deafblindness in Specialized and Inclusive Settings: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Correa-Torres, Silvia Maria

2008-01-01

Many students with deafblindness now are educated in less restricted educational environments with their hearing and sighted peers. However, that less restricted education setting does not guarantee deafblind students opportunities for communication and social interactions. The author observed 4 students with deafblindness and gathered information…

Exceptional Family Member Program EFM

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-01-01

official. A legible copy of the most current Individualized Education Plan ( IEP ) must be submitted with NA\\’PERS 1754/4. SNAVPERS 1754/3 and 1754/4 must be...Center National Easter Seal Society (Mobiltv / Hearing /Sight) iEarlv Intervention) 1-800-833 3232 - * 1-800-221-6821 -- (312) 726-6200 Autism

Accommodating Students' Sensory Learning Modalities in Online Formats

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allison, Barbara N.; Rehm, Marsha L.

2016-01-01

Online classes have become a popular and viable method of educating students in both K-12 settings and higher education, including in family and consumer sciences (FCS) programs. Online learning dramatically affects the way students learn. This article addresses how online learning can accommodate the sensory learning modalities (sight, hearing,…

Yes, You Can Learn Foreign Language Pronunciation by Sight!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Richmond, Edmun B.; And Others

1979-01-01

Describes the Envelope Vowel Approximation System (EVAS), a foreign language pronunciation learning system which allows students to see as well as hear a pedagogical model of a sound, and to compare their own utterances of that sound to the model as they pronounce the same sound. (Author/CMV)

Bringing Hearing to the Deaf

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shipsey, Ian

In his talk, Shipsey will discuss the cochlear implant, the first device to successfully allow the profoundly deaf to regain some sense of hearing. A cochlear implant is a small electronic apparatus. Unlike a normal hearing aid, which amplifies sound, a cochlear implant is surgically implanted behind the ear where it converts sound waves into electrical impulses. These implants have instigated a popular but controversial revolution in the treatment of deafness, and they serve as a model for research in neuroscience and biomedical engineering. Shipsey will discuss the physiology of natural hearing from the perspective of a physicist. He willmore » also touch on the function of cochlear implants in the context of historical treatments, electrical engineering, psychophysics, clinical evaluation of efficacy and personal experience. Finally, Shipsey will address the social implications of cochlear implantation and the future outlook for auditory prostheses.« less

Retinotopically specific reorganization of visual cortex for tactile pattern recognition

PubMed Central

Cheung, Sing-Hang; Fang, Fang; He, Sheng; Legge, Gordon E.

2009-01-01

Although previous studies have shown that Braille reading and other tactile-discrimination tasks activate the visual cortex of blind and sighted people [1–5], it is not known whether this kind of cross-modal reorganization is influenced by retinotopic organization. We have addressed this question by studying S, a visually impaired adult with the rare ability to read print visually and Braille by touch. S had normal visual development until age six years, and thereafter severe acuity reduction due to corneal opacification, but no evidence of visual-field loss. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) revealed that, in S’s early visual areas, tactile information processing activated what would be the foveal representation for normally-sighted individuals, and visual information processing activated what would be the peripheral representation. Control experiments showed that this activation pattern was not due to visual imagery. S’s high-level visual areas which correspond to shape- and object-selective areas in normally-sighted individuals were activated by both visual and tactile stimuli. The retinotopically specific reorganization in early visual areas suggests an efficient redistribution of neural resources in the visual cortex. PMID:19361999

Thimble microscope system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamal, Tahseen; Rubinstein, Jaden; Watkins, Rachel; Cen, Zijian; Kong, Gary; Lee, W. M.

2016-12-01

Wearable computing devices, e.g. Google Glass, Smart watch, embodies the new human design frontier, where technology interfaces seamlessly with human gestures. During examination of any subject in the field (clinic, surgery, agriculture, field survey, water collection), our sensory peripherals (touch and vision) often go hand-in-hand. The sensitivity and maneuverability of the human fingers are guided with tight distribution of biological nerve cells, which perform fine motor manipulation over a range of complex surfaces that is often out of sight. Our sight (or naked vision), on the other hand, is generally restricted to line of sight that is ill-suited to view around corner. Hence, conventional imaging methods are often resort to complex light guide designs (periscope, endoscopes etc) to navigate over obstructed surfaces. Using modular design strategies, we constructed a prototype miniature microscope system that is incorporated onto a wearable fixture (thimble). This unique platform allows users to maneuver around a sample and take high resolution microscopic images. In this paper, we provide an exposition of methods to achieve a thimble microscopy; microscope lens fabrication, thimble design, integration of miniature camera and liquid crystal display.

Anthro-Centric Multisensory Interface for Vision Augmentation/Substitution (ACMI-VAS)

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-01

Argus™ I and II Retinal Prosthesis System epiretinal microelectrode arrays (Second Sight Medical Products, Inc, Sylmar, CA) recently approved for use in...Figure 3. C olour photo of A rgus II epiretinal prosthesis secured to the retina w ith a retinaltack. Figure 4. Subject using the A rgus II device perform...in the environment. Alternatively, we have also implemented a touch screen mechanism that allows the user to feel the pixels under his or her

Sunship Earth: An Acclimatization Program for Outdoor Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Matre, Steve

This book describes a 5-day program of imaginative activities designed to help elementary school children learn how their world functions through seeing, smelling, tasting, touching, and hearing. The book is designed to help children understand energy flow, the cycles of basic materials, the diversity of life, natural communities, change,…

The Effect of Multimedia-Based Learning on the Concept Learning Levels and Attitudes of Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beydogan, H. Ömer; Hayran, Zeynel

2015-01-01

Problem Statement: Rich stimuli received by sensory organs such as vision, hearing, and touch are important elements that affect an individual's perception, identification, classification, and conceptualization of the external world. In primary education, since students perform conceptual abstraction based upon concrete characteristics, when they…

Auditory and tactile gap discrimination by observers with normal and impaired hearing.

PubMed

Desloge, Joseph G; Reed, Charlotte M; Braida, Louis D; Perez, Zachary D; Delhorne, Lorraine A; Villabona, Timothy J

2014-02-01

Temporal processing ability for the senses of hearing and touch was examined through the measurement of gap-duration discrimination thresholds (GDDTs) employing the same low-frequency sinusoidal stimuli in both modalities. GDDTs were measured in three groups of observers (normal-hearing, hearing-impaired, and normal-hearing with simulated hearing loss) covering an age range of 21-69 yr. GDDTs for a baseline gap of 6 ms were measured for four different combinations of 100-ms leading and trailing markers (250-250, 250-400, 400-250, and 400-400 Hz). Auditory measurements were obtained for monaural presentation over headphones and tactile measurements were obtained using sinusoidal vibrations presented to the left middle finger. The auditory GDDTs of the hearing-impaired listeners, which were larger than those of the normal-hearing observers, were well-reproduced in the listeners with simulated loss. The magnitude of the GDDT was generally independent of modality and showed effects of age in both modalities. The use of different-frequency compared to same-frequency markers led to a greater deterioration in auditory GDDTs compared to tactile GDDTs and may reflect differences in bandwidth properties between the two sensory systems.

Task demands affect spatial reference frame weighting during tactile localization in sighted and congenitally blind adults

PubMed Central

Schubert, Jonathan T. W.; Badde, Stephanie; Röder, Brigitte

2017-01-01

Task demands modulate tactile localization in sighted humans, presumably through weight adjustments in the spatial integration of anatomical, skin-based, and external, posture-based information. In contrast, previous studies have suggested that congenitally blind humans, by default, refrain from automatic spatial integration and localize touch using only skin-based information. Here, sighted and congenitally blind participants localized tactile targets on the palm or back of one hand, while ignoring simultaneous tactile distractors at congruent or incongruent locations on the other hand. We probed the interplay of anatomical and external location codes for spatial congruency effects by varying hand posture: the palms either both faced down, or one faced down and one up. In the latter posture, externally congruent target and distractor locations were anatomically incongruent and vice versa. Target locations had to be reported either anatomically (“palm” or “back” of the hand), or externally (“up” or “down” in space). Under anatomical instructions, performance was more accurate for anatomically congruent than incongruent target-distractor pairs. In contrast, under external instructions, performance was more accurate for externally congruent than incongruent pairs. These modulations were evident in sighted and blind individuals. Notably, distractor effects were overall far smaller in blind than in sighted participants, despite comparable target-distractor identification performance. Thus, the absence of developmental vision seems to be associated with an increased ability to focus tactile attention towards a non-spatially defined target. Nevertheless, that blind individuals exhibited effects of hand posture and task instructions in their congruency effects suggests that, like the sighted, they automatically integrate anatomical and external information during tactile localization. Moreover, spatial integration in tactile processing is, thus, flexibly adapted by top-down information—here, task instruction—even in the absence of developmental vision. PMID:29228023

Health and Juvenile Delinquency: Prescriptive Policy. Analysis As a Practical Art.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Flentje, H. Edward; Penner, Maurice J.

A case history of the development of a new Kansas state policy on juvenile delinquency illustrates the use of policy impact analysis and suggests four principles to follow in prescriptive policy analysis. A Kansas governor's task force on juvenile delinquency found evidence linking delinquency to undetected health problems (in sight, hearing,…

The College Student with a Disability: A Faculty Handbook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Lynn M.

A guide to the instruction of students with disabilities is presented to enhance learning in a college or university setting. Various adjustments that can be made in the environment or in teaching style are suggested. The following categories of disabled students are addressed: blind students, partially sighted students, deaf or hearing-impaired…

The social class gradient in health in Spain and the health status of the Spanish Roma.

PubMed

La Parra Casado, Daniel; Gil González, Diana; de la Torre Esteve, María

2016-10-01

To determine the social class gradient in health in general Spain population and the health status of the Spanish Roma. The National Health Survey of Spanish Roma 2006 (sample size = 993 people; average age: 33.6 years; 53.1% women) and the National Health Surveys for Spain 2003 (sample size: 21,650 people; average age: 45.5 years; 51.2% women) and 2006 (sample size: 29,478 people; average age: 46 years; 50.7% women) are compared. Several indicators were chosen: self-perceived health, activity limitation, chronic diseases, hearing and sight problems, caries, and obesity. Analysis was based on age-standardised rates and logistic regression models. According to most indicators, Roma's health is worse than that of social class IV-V (manual workers). Some indicators show a remarkable difference between Roma and social class IV-V: experiencing three or more health problems, sight problems, and caries, in both sexes, and hearing problems and obesity, in women. Roma people are placed on an extreme position on the social gradient in health, a situation of extreme health inequality.

Tactile memory of deaf-blind adults on four tasks.

PubMed

Arnold, Paul; Heiron, Karen

2002-02-01

The performance of ten deaf-blind and ten sighted-hearing participants on four tactile memory tasks was investigated. Recognition and recall memory tasks and a matching pairs game were used. It was hypothesized that deaf-blind participants would be superior on each task. Performance was measured in terms of the time taken, and the number of items correctly recalled. In Experiments 1 and 2, which measured recognition memory in terms of the time taken to remember target items, the hypothesis was supported, but not by the length of time taken to recognize the target items, or for the number of target items correctly identified. The hypothesis was supported by Experiment 3, which measured recall memory, with regard to time taken to complete some of the tasks but not for the number of correctly recalled positions. Experiment 4, which used the matching pairs game, supported the hypothesis in terms of both time taken and the number of moves required. It is concluded that the deaf-blind people's tactile encoding is more efficient than that of sighted-hearing people, and that it is probable that their storage and retrieval are normal.

Membrane-mirror-based autostereoscopic display for tele-operation and teleprescence applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKay, Stuart; Mair, Gordon M.; Mason, Steven; Revie, Kenneth

2000-05-01

An autostereoscopic display for telepresence and tele- operation applications has been developed at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. The research is a collaborative effort between the Imaging Group and the Transparent Telepresence Research Group, both based at Strathclyde. A key component of the display is the directional screen; a 1.2-m diameter Stretchable Membrane Mirror is currently used. This patented technology enables large diameter, small f No., mirrors to be produced at a fraction of the cost of conventional optics. Another key element of the present system is an anthropomorphic and anthropometric stereo camera sensor platform. Thus, in addition to mirror development, research areas include sensor platform design focused on sight, hearing, research areas include sensor platform design focused on sight, hearing, and smell, telecommunications, display systems for all visual, aural and other senses, tele-operation, and augmented reality. The sensor platform is located at the remote site and transmits live video to the home location. Applications for this technology are as diverse as they are numerous, ranging from bomb disposal and other hazardous environment applications to tele-conferencing, sales, education and entertainment.

Psycho acoustical Measures in Individuals with Congenital Visual Impairment.

PubMed

Kumar, Kaushlendra; Thomas, Teenu; Bhat, Jayashree S; Ranjan, Rajesh

2017-12-01

In congenital visual impaired individuals one modality is impaired (visual modality) this impairment is compensated by other sensory modalities. There is evidence that visual impaired performed better in different auditory task like localization, auditory memory, verbal memory, auditory attention, and other behavioural tasks when compare to normal sighted individuals. The current study was aimed to compare the temporal resolution, frequency resolution and speech perception in noise ability in individuals with congenital visual impaired and normal sighted. Temporal resolution, frequency resolution, and speech perception in noise were measured using MDT, GDT, DDT, SRDT, and SNR50 respectively. Twelve congenital visual impaired participants with age range of 18 to 40 years were taken and equal in number with normal sighted participants. All the participants had normal hearing sensitivity with normal middle ear functioning. Individual with visual impairment showed superior threshold in MDT, SRDT and SNR50 as compared to normal sighted individuals. This may be due to complexity of the tasks; MDT, SRDT and SNR50 are complex tasks than GDT and DDT. Visual impairment showed superior performance in auditory processing and speech perception with complex auditory perceptual tasks.

Development of a Test of Suprathreshold Acuity in Noise in Brazilian Portuguese: A New Method for Hearing Screening and Surveillance

PubMed Central

Vaez, Nara; Desgualdo-Pereira, Liliane; Paglialonga, Alessia

2014-01-01

This paper describes the development of a speech-in-noise test for hearing screening and surveillance in Brazilian Portuguese based on the evaluation of suprathreshold acuity performances. The SUN test (Speech Understanding in Noise) consists of a list of intervocalic consonants in noise presented in a multiple-choice paradigm by means of a touch screen. The test provides one out of three possible results: “a hearing check is recommended” (red light), “a hearing check would be advisable” (yellow light), and “no hearing difficulties” (green light) (Paglialonga et al., Comput. Biol. Med. 2014). This novel test was developed in a population of 30 normal hearing young adults and 101 adults with varying degrees of hearing impairment and handicap, including normal hearing. The test had 84% sensitivity and 76% specificity compared to conventional pure-tone screening and 83% sensitivity and 86% specificity to detect disabling hearing impairment. The test outcomes were in line with the degree of self-perceived hearing handicap. The results found here paralleled those reported in the literature for the SUN test and for conventional speech-in-noise measures. This study showed that the proposed test might be a viable method to identify individuals with hearing problems to be referred to further audiological assessment and intervention. PMID:25247181

Summary of Tactile User Interfaces Techniques and Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spirkovska, Lilly

2005-01-01

Mental workload can be de.ned as the ratio of demand to allocated resources. Multiple-resource theory stresses the importance of distribution of tasks and information across various human sensory channels to reduce mental workload. One sensory channel that has been of interest since the late 1800s is touch. Unlike the more typical displays that target vision or hearing, tactile displays present information to the user s sense of touch. We present a summary of different methods for tactile display, historic and more recent systems that incorporate tactile display for information presentation, advantages and disadvantages of targeting the tactile channel, and future directions in tactile display research.

Summary of Tactile User Interfaces Techniques and Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spirkovska, Lilly

2004-01-01

Mental workload can be defined as the ratio of demand to allocated resources. Multiple- resource theory stresses the importance of distribution of tasks and information across various sensory channels of the human to reduce mental workload. One sensory channel that has been of interest since the late 1800s is touch. Unlike the more typical displays that target vision or hearing, tactile displays present information to the user s sense of touch. We present a summary of different methods for tactile display; historic and more recent systems that incorporate tactile display for information presentation; advantages and disadvantages of targeting the tactile channel; and future directions in tactile display research.

The Middle Years, Development and Adjustment; A Study-Discussion Course.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kleinsasser, L.D., Comp.; Harris, Dale B., Comp.

Based largely on research in adult development and aging, these readings and discussion questions pertain to such aspects of development and adjustment in middle life as the following: individual differences in aging; biological changes through the adult years; changes in the physical senses (vision, hearing, taste, smell, touch, and pain)…

Engage, Investigate, and Report: Enhancing the Curriculum with Scientific Inquiry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blake, Sally

2009-01-01

Young children are called natural scientists for good reason. Even infants investigate their surroundings, using their senses to look, touch, smell, hear, and taste. As children discover objects and situations that are puzzling or intriguing--things that provoke their curiosity--they begin looking for ways to find answers, all in an effort to…

BodyHeat Encounter: Performing Technology in Pedagogical Spaces of Surveillance/Intimacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fels, Lynn; Ricketts, Kathryn

2015-01-01

What occurs when videographer and performer encounter each other through the lens of a camera? This collaborative performative inquiry focuses on embodiment and emergent narrative as realized through an encounter between technology and the visceral body--a relational body that smells, touches, sees, hears and feels the emergent world through…

Seeing What Children See: Enhancing Understanding of Outdoor Learning Experiences through Body-Worn Cameras

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lloyd, Amanda; Gray, Tonia; Truong, Son

2018-01-01

This study investigates innovative ways that outdoor educators can actively promote young participants' authentic voice in educational research and, in turn, increase our understanding of their worldview through accurately recording what children are seeing, hearing, doing, and touching when they are beyond our researcher's gaze. The study was…

Playful and Multi-Sensory Fieldwork: Seeing, Hearing and Touching New York

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Phillips, Richard

2015-01-01

Geographical fieldwork is being reinvigorated through pedagogical and methodological innovations. Yet, while there are many good ideas in circulation, there is less evidence of where these ideas are taking us: what students are getting out of them, and what significance they may have for the discipline. These questions are explored through case…

Investigation of Priority Needs in Terms of Museum Service Accessibility for Visually Impaired Visitors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Handa, Kozue; Dairoku, Hitoshi; Toriyama, Yoshiko

2010-01-01

This study investigates the priority needs of museum service accessibility for visually impaired visitors. For this purpose, conjoint analysis was utilized. Four conjoint attributes of museum services were selected: A--facilities for wayfinding; B--exhibitions and collections including objects for touching, hearing, smelling, etc.; C--information…

Learning Styles in the Art Room

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rohrbach, Marla

2011-01-01

Art students have different learning styles. Some are visual learners who need to see the information. Some are auditory learners who need to hear the information. Others are tactile/kinesthetic learners who need to move, do, or touch in order to learn. Looking over her curriculum and lesson plans, the author realized almost every art lesson…

The Influence of Tactile Cognitive Maps on Auditory Space Perception in Sighted Persons.

PubMed

Tonelli, Alessia; Gori, Monica; Brayda, Luca

2016-01-01

We have recently shown that vision is important to improve spatial auditory cognition. In this study, we investigate whether touch is as effective as vision to create a cognitive map of a soundscape. In particular, we tested whether the creation of a mental representation of a room, obtained through tactile exploration of a 3D model, can influence the perception of a complex auditory task in sighted people. We tested two groups of blindfolded sighted people - one experimental and one control group - in an auditory space bisection task. In the first group, the bisection task was performed three times: specifically, the participants explored with their hands the 3D tactile model of the room and were led along the perimeter of the room between the first and the second execution of the space bisection. Then, they were allowed to remove the blindfold for a few minutes and look at the room between the second and third execution of the space bisection. Instead, the control group repeated for two consecutive times the space bisection task without performing any environmental exploration in between. Considering the first execution as a baseline, we found an improvement in the precision after the tactile exploration of the 3D model. Interestingly, no additional gain was obtained when room observation followed the tactile exploration, suggesting that no additional gain was obtained by vision cues after spatial tactile cues were internalized. No improvement was found between the first and the second execution of the space bisection without environmental exploration in the control group, suggesting that the improvement was not due to task learning. Our results show that tactile information modulates the precision of an ongoing space auditory task as well as visual information. This suggests that cognitive maps elicited by touch may participate in cross-modal calibration and supra-modal representations of space that increase implicit knowledge about sound propagation.

Sight-Reading Expertise: Cross-Modality Integration Investigated Using Eye Tracking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drai-Zerbib, Veronique; Baccino, Thierry; Bigand, Emmanuel

2012-01-01

It is often said that experienced musicians are capable of hearing what they read (and vice versa). This suggests that they are able to process and to integrate multimodal information. The present study investigates this issue with an eye-tracking technique. Two groups of musicians chosen on the basis of their level of expertise (experts,…

The Effect of the Tuning System and Instrument Variables on Modal Dictation Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demirbatir, Rasim Erol; Çeliktas, Hatice; Engür, Doruk

2018-01-01

Ear training and musical literacy (ETML) education is one of the main dimensions of the bachelor degree program of music teacher education departments, which provides professional music education. In ETML education, hearing, sight-reading and dictation studies for Turkish music makams have an important place. In this study, it was aimed to…

Unlocking the brain's mysteries: Meet the bioengineers behind next-generation neural devices

ScienceCinema

Pannu, Sat; Shah, Kedar; Tolosa, Vanessa; Tooker, Angela

2018-01-16

Bioengineers in the Neural Technologies Group at Lawrence Livermore are creating the next generation of clinical- and research-quality neural interfaces. The goal is to gain a fundamental understanding of neuroscience, treat a variety of debilitating neurological disorders (such as Parkinson's, depression, and epilepsy), and restore lost neural functions such as sight, hearing, and mobility.

The Nature of the Social Experiences of Students with Deaf-Blindness Who Are Educated in Inclusive Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Correa-Torres, Silvia M.

2008-01-01

This qualitative case study investigated the nature of social experiences and opportunities for communication among students who are deaf-blind, their sighted peers with no hearing loss, and adults in inclusive settings. Strategies used by adults to promote interaction were also observed. Implications and suggestions for future research are…

Monkeys Match and Tally Quantities across Senses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Kerry E.; MacLean, Evan L.; Brannon, Elizabeth M.

2008-01-01

We report here that monkeys can actively match the number of sounds they hear to the number of shapes they see and present the first evidence that monkeys sum over sounds and sights. In Experiment 1, two monkeys were trained to choose a simultaneous array of 1-9 squares that numerically matched a sample sequence of shapes or sounds. Monkeys…

Kite Aerial Photography as a Tool for Remote Sensing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sallee, Jeff; Meier, Lesley R.

2010-01-01

As humans, we perform remote sensing nearly all the time. This is because we acquire most of our information about our surroundings through the senses of sight and hearing. Whether viewed by the unenhanced eye or a military satellite, remote sensing is observing objects from a distance. With our current technology, remote sensing has become a part…

Unlocking the brain's mysteries: Meet the bioengineers behind next-generation neural devices

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pannu, Sat; Shah, Kedar; Tolosa, Vanessa

Bioengineers in the Neural Technologies Group at Lawrence Livermore are creating the next generation of clinical- and research-quality neural interfaces. The goal is to gain a fundamental understanding of neuroscience, treat a variety of debilitating neurological disorders (such as Parkinson's, depression, and epilepsy), and restore lost neural functions such as sight, hearing, and mobility.

"FruitZotic": A Sensory Approach to Introducing Preschoolers to Fresh Exotic Fruits at Head Start Locations in Western Massachusetts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kannan, Srimathi; Smith, Rebecca; Foley, Christine; Del Sole, Sarah; White, Alissa; Sheldon, Lisa A.; Mietlcki-Floyd, Shirley; Severin, Suzanne

2011-01-01

FruitZotic incorporated fruit stories (exotic-fruits-literacy), a "See, Smell, Hear, Touch and Taste" (sensory) segment and a question-prompted discussion. Three take-home components incorporating the exotic fruits were: Coloring Activity, Recipes, and Fact Sheets. Sensory based nutrition education can increase familiarity with exotic…

Local and Global Cross-Modal Influences between Vision and Hearing, Tasting, Smelling, or Touching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forster, Jens

2011-01-01

It is suggested that the distinction between global versus local processing styles exists across sensory modalities. Activation of one-way of processing in one modality should affect processing styles in a different modality. In 12 studies, auditory, haptic, gustatory or olfactory global versus local processing was induced, and participants were…

Hearing as Touch in a Multilingual Film Interview: The Interviewer's Linguistic Incompetence as Aesthetic Key Moment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Frimberger, Katja

2016-01-01

This article explores the author's embodied experience of linguistic incompetence in the context of an interview-based, short, promotional film production about people's personal connections to their spoken languages in Glasgow, Scotland/UK. The article highlights that people's right to their spoken languages during film interviews and the…

Feeling the Spirit: Spiritualism, Literary Aesthetics, and the Reformation of the Senses in Nineteenth-Century America

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fritz, Tracy Lynn

2012-01-01

This dissertation attempts to explain how nineteenth-century American Spiritualist literature may have made readers feel like they were hearing voices, touching the dead, seeing celestial spaces, or enjoying other sensory proofs of the afterlife. Spiritualists believed that, while all human beings possessed faculties designed to perceive the dead,…

Robust and automated three-dimensional segmentation of densely packed cell nuclei in different biological specimens with Lines-of-Sight decomposition.

PubMed

Mathew, B; Schmitz, A; Muñoz-Descalzo, S; Ansari, N; Pampaloni, F; Stelzer, E H K; Fischer, S C

2015-06-08

Due to the large amount of data produced by advanced microscopy, automated image analysis is crucial in modern biology. Most applications require reliable cell nuclei segmentation. However, in many biological specimens cell nuclei are densely packed and appear to touch one another in the images. Therefore, a major difficulty of three-dimensional cell nuclei segmentation is the decomposition of cell nuclei that apparently touch each other. Current methods are highly adapted to a certain biological specimen or a specific microscope. They do not ensure similarly accurate segmentation performance, i.e. their robustness for different datasets is not guaranteed. Hence, these methods require elaborate adjustments to each dataset. We present an advanced three-dimensional cell nuclei segmentation algorithm that is accurate and robust. Our approach combines local adaptive pre-processing with decomposition based on Lines-of-Sight (LoS) to separate apparently touching cell nuclei into approximately convex parts. We demonstrate the superior performance of our algorithm using data from different specimens recorded with different microscopes. The three-dimensional images were recorded with confocal and light sheet-based fluorescence microscopes. The specimens are an early mouse embryo and two different cellular spheroids. We compared the segmentation accuracy of our algorithm with ground truth data for the test images and results from state-of-the-art methods. The analysis shows that our method is accurate throughout all test datasets (mean F-measure: 91%) whereas the other methods each failed for at least one dataset (F-measure≤69%). Furthermore, nuclei volume measurements are improved for LoS decomposition. The state-of-the-art methods required laborious adjustments of parameter values to achieve these results. Our LoS algorithm did not require parameter value adjustments. The accurate performance was achieved with one fixed set of parameter values. We developed a novel and fully automated three-dimensional cell nuclei segmentation method incorporating LoS decomposition. LoS are easily accessible features that ensure correct splitting of apparently touching cell nuclei independent of their shape, size or intensity. Our method showed superior performance compared to state-of-the-art methods, performing accurately for a variety of test images. Hence, our LoS approach can be readily applied to quantitative evaluation in drug testing, developmental and cell biology.

The Acuity of Echolocation: Spatial Resolution in Sighted Persons Compared to the Performance of an Expert Who Is Blind

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teng, Santani; Whitney, David

2011-01-01

Echolocation is a specialized application of spatial hearing that uses reflected auditory information to localize objects and represent the external environment. Although it has been documented extensively in nonhuman species, such as bats and dolphins, its use by some persons who are blind as a navigation and object-identification aid has…

Young, Gifted, and Handicapped: Mainstreaming High Potential Handicapped Students into the Executive High School Internships Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, Sharlene P.

The document describes the Executive High School Internships program which mainstreamed a pilot group of 14 high potential students with orthopedic, hearing, and sight impairments into a project which enabled them to spend a full term, on leave from classes, in nonpaid placements with public and private sector managers and executives, learning how…

Sensory Changes in Later Life. A Pacific Northwest Extension Publication. PNW 196. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmall, Vicki L.

This booklet is designed to help persons who have elderly family members or who work with older adults understand and help compensate for the sensory changes that occur in later life. It contains sections on vision, hearing, taste and smell, and touch. Discussed in the section on vision are the following: common age-related changes, eye diseases…

Family Support Makes a Difference with a Deafblind Child: Orion's Journey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Withrow, Heather

2016-01-01

While some people feel that an infant who will never see or hear can bring only heartache, Orion's family knew differently. Deafblindness is not just about the absence of sight and sound. It is so much more than the sum of these two parts. What one learns from experiencing the collaboration between a teacher of the deaf and a teacher of the…

The Middle School Mess: If You Love Bungee Jumping, You're the Middle School Type

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, Peter

2011-01-01

Suspended "between childhood and the adult world, pre-teens have been called the toughest to teach." Indeed, one can't touch middle school without hearing about "raging hormones." By all accounts, middle schools are a weak link in the chain of public education. Is it the churn of ill-conceived attempts at reform that's causing all the problems? Is…

Remote Tactile Displays for Future Soldiers

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-05-01

envisioned as an alternate means of communication for those who are visually 4 or hearing impaired. Oddly, the success of Braille “reading...designers. For example, simply embossing the alphabet in paper to read by touch succumbed to Braille because subtle spatial patterns easily apparent to...fashioned after the six- dot Braille system. Although an alphanumeric code was mastered with surprising rapidity, one striking difficulty emerged

Inspiring Generations through Knowledge and Discovery. Strategic Plan. Fiscal Years 2010-2015

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smithsonian Institution, 2015

2015-01-01

Imagine being able to access all known information about an insect species--whether it was discovered 100 years or 100 days ago--with one touch of the screen. Picture a world in which you can not only see Smithsonian objects online but also hear them and watch them in motion. Or imagine learning that Smithsonian astrophysicists discovered a new,…

Sensory Tours as a Method for Engaging Children as Active Researchers: Exploring the Use of Wearable Cameras in Early Childhood Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Green, Carie

2016-01-01

This article explores the use of wearable cameras with children as a data collection means to engage young children as active researchers in recording their experiences in natural environments. This method captures children's unique perspectives of being-in-the-world, depicting what they see, hear, say, touch, and their interactions with others.…

Tool-use-associated sound in the evolution of language.

PubMed

Larsson, Matz

2015-09-01

Proponents of the motor theory of language evolution have primarily focused on the visual domain and communication through observation of movements. In the present paper, it is hypothesized that the production and perception of sound, particularly of incidental sound of locomotion (ISOL) and tool-use sound (TUS), also contributed. Human bipedalism resulted in rhythmic and more predictable ISOL. It has been proposed that this stimulated the evolution of musical abilities, auditory working memory, and abilities to produce complex vocalizations and to mimic natural sounds. Since the human brain proficiently extracts information about objects and events from the sounds they produce, TUS, and mimicry of TUS, might have achieved an iconic function. The prevalence of sound symbolism in many extant languages supports this idea. Self-produced TUS activates multimodal brain processing (motor neurons, hearing, proprioception, touch, vision), and TUS stimulates primate audiovisual mirror neurons, which is likely to stimulate the development of association chains. Tool use and auditory gestures involve motor processing of the forelimbs, which is associated with the evolution of vertebrate vocal communication. The production, perception, and mimicry of TUS may have resulted in a limited number of vocalizations or protowords that were associated with tool use. A new way to communicate about tools, especially when out of sight, would have had selective advantage. A gradual change in acoustic properties and/or meaning could have resulted in arbitrariness and an expanded repertoire of words. Humans have been increasingly exposed to TUS over millions of years, coinciding with the period during which spoken language evolved. ISOL and tool-use-related sound are worth further exploration.

The association of indicators of fetal growth with visual acuity and hearing among conscripts.

PubMed

Olsen, J; Sørensen, H T; Steffensen, F H; Sabroe, S; Gillman, M W; Fischer, P; Rothman, K J

2001-03-01

Impaired fetal growth is associated with increased susceptibility to several chronic diseases. We studied the association between birth weight, indicators of disproportional fetal growth, and impaired visual acuity and hearing in 4,300 conscripts from a well-defined region in Denmark from August 1, 1993, to July 31, 1994. From the standard health examination for conscripts, we obtained data on sight based on the Snellen's chart and data on hearing acuity based on audiometry. By means of record linkage, we obtained data on outcomes for the conscripts at birth from the Medical Birth Registry. From this registry, we have data on birth weight, gestational age, and birth length that were recorded from existing computerized registers based on the records of midwives. A birth weight of less than 3,000 gm and a body mass index at birth of less than 3.4 were associated with reduced visual acuity and impaired hearing. The results could be due to fetal brain programming or due to confounding, by early birth trauma or other factors.

Augmented reality for anatomical education.

PubMed

Thomas, Rhys Gethin; John, Nigel William; Delieu, John Michael

2010-03-01

The use of Virtual Environments has been widely reported as a method of teaching anatomy. Generally such environments only convey the shape of the anatomy to the student. We present the Bangor Augmented Reality Education Tool for Anatomy (BARETA), a system that combines Augmented Reality (AR) technology with models produced using Rapid Prototyping (RP) technology, to provide the student with stimulation for touch as well as sight. The principal aims of this work were to provide an interface more intuitive than a mouse and keyboard, and to evaluate such a system as a viable supplement to traditional cadaver based education.

Multiple man-machine interfaces

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stanton, L.; Cook, C. W.

1981-01-01

The multiple man machine interfaces inherent in military pilot training, their social implications, and the issue of possible negative feedback were explored. Modern technology has produced machines which can see, hear, and touch with greater accuracy and precision than human beings. Consequently, the military pilot is more a systems manager, often doing battle against a target he never sees. It is concluded that unquantifiable human activity requires motivation that is not intrinsic in a machine.

Open Touch/Sound Maps: A system to convey street data through haptic and auditory feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaklanis, Nikolaos; Votis, Konstantinos; Tzovaras, Dimitrios

2013-08-01

The use of spatial (geographic) information is becoming ever more central and pervasive in today's internet society but the most of it is currently inaccessible to visually impaired users. However, access in visual maps is severely restricted to visually impaired and people with blindness, due to their inability to interpret graphical information. Thus, alternative ways of a map's presentation have to be explored, in order to enforce the accessibility of maps. Multiple types of sensory perception like touch and hearing may work as a substitute of vision for the exploration of maps. The use of multimodal virtual environments seems to be a promising alternative for people with visual impairments. The present paper introduces a tool for automatic multimodal map generation having haptic and audio feedback using OpenStreetMap data. For a desired map area, an elevation map is being automatically generated and can be explored by touch, using a haptic device. A sonification and a text-to-speech (TTS) mechanism provide also audio navigation information during the haptic exploration of the map.

A controlled study of Tourette syndrome. IV. Obsessions, compulsions, and schizoid behaviors.

PubMed Central

Comings, D E; Comings, B G

1987-01-01

To determine the frequency of obsessive, compulsive, and schizoid behaviors in Tourette syndrome (TS), we prospectively questioned 246 patients with TS, 17 with attention-deficit disorder (ADD), 15 with ADD due to a TS gene, and 47 random controls. The comparative frequency of obsessive, compulsive, and repetitive behaviors--such as obsessive unpleasant thoughts, obsessive silly thoughts, echolalia, palilalia, touching things excessively, touching things a specific number of times, touching others excessively, sexual touching, biting or hurting oneself, head banging, rocking, mimicking others, counting things, and occasional or frequent public exhibitionism--were significantly more common in TS patients than in controls. The frequency of each of these was much higher for grade 3 (severe) TS. Most of these behaviors also occurred significantly more often in individuals with ADD or in individuals with ADD secondary to TS (ADD 2(0) TS). When these features were combined into an obsessive-compulsive score, 45.4% of TS patients had a score of 4-15, whereas 8.5% of controls had a score of 4 or 5. These results indicate that obsessive-compulsive behaviors are an integral part of the expression of the TS gene and can be inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. Schizoid symptoms, such as thinking that people were watching them or plotting against them, were significantly more common in TS patients than in controls. Auditory hallucinations of hearing voices were present in 14.6% of TS patients, compared with 2.1% of controls (P = .02). These symptoms were absent in ADD patients but present in ADD 2(0) TS patients. These voices were often blamed for telling them to do bad things and were frequently identified with the devil. None of the controls had a total schizoid behavior score greater than 3, whereas 10.9% of the TS patients had scores of 4-10 (P = .02). This frequency increased to 20.6% in the grade 3 TS patients. These quantitative results confirm our clinical impression that some TS patients have paranoid ideations, often feel that people are out to get them, and hear voices. PMID:3479015

NASA Social and Media Briefing on Next Mars Mission

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

News media and social media participants gathered at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Central California Thursday, May 3 to hear from NASA and its partners about the agency’s mission to study the interior of the Red Planet. NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) is scheduled to launch May 5 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg.

Info Based Med Emergency Decision Tools, Rural Mobil Comm

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-10-01

through its ability to deliver and manage a wide variety of environmental sensors – in short, a robotic equivalent of hearing, sight, smell, taste, and...spread of infection . Panasonic Rugged Laptop: At the time of the evaluation, the Panasonic Toughbook was regarded as the industry standard for...a patient’s systolic and diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, temperature, and oxygen saturation ( SpO2 ). The front of the device contains an LCD

Hearing shapes our perception of time: temporal discrimination of tactile stimuli in deaf people.

PubMed

Bolognini, Nadia; Cecchetto, Carlo; Geraci, Carlo; Maravita, Angelo; Pascual-Leone, Alvaro; Papagno, Costanza

2012-02-01

Confronted with the loss of one type of sensory input, we compensate using information conveyed by other senses. However, losing one type of sensory information at specific developmental times may lead to deficits across all sensory modalities. We addressed the effect of auditory deprivation on the development of tactile abilities, taking into account changes occurring at the behavioral and cortical level. Congenitally deaf and hearing individuals performed two tactile tasks, the first requiring the discrimination of the temporal duration of touches and the second requiring the discrimination of their spatial length. Compared with hearing individuals, deaf individuals were impaired only in tactile temporal processing. To explore the neural substrate of this difference, we ran a TMS experiment. In deaf individuals, the auditory association cortex was involved in temporal and spatial tactile processing, with the same chronometry as the primary somatosensory cortex. In hearing participants, the involvement of auditory association cortex occurred at a later stage and selectively for temporal discrimination. The different chronometry in the recruitment of the auditory cortex in deaf individuals correlated with the tactile temporal impairment. Thus, early hearing experience seems to be crucial to develop an efficient temporal processing across modalities, suggesting that plasticity does not necessarily result in behavioral compensation.

A comparative study of simple auditory reaction time in blind (congenitally) and sighted subjects.

PubMed

Gandhi, Pritesh Hariprasad; Gokhale, Pradnya A; Mehta, H B; Shah, C J

2013-07-01

Reaction time is the time interval between the application of a stimulus and the appearance of appropriate voluntary response by a subject. It involves stimulus processing, decision making, and response programming. Reaction time study has been popular due to their implication in sports physiology. Reaction time has been widely studied as its practical implications may be of great consequence e.g., a slower than normal reaction time while driving can have grave results. To study simple auditory reaction time in congenitally blind subjects and in age sex matched sighted subjects. To compare the simple auditory reaction time between congenitally blind subjects and healthy control subjects. STUDY HAD BEEN CARRIED OUT IN TWO GROUPS: The 1(st) of 50 congenitally blind subjects and 2(nd) group comprises of 50 healthy controls. It was carried out on Multiple Choice Reaction Time Apparatus, Inco Ambala Ltd. (Accuracy±0.001 s) in a sitting position at Government Medical College and Hospital, Bhavnagar and at a Blind School, PNR campus, Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. Simple auditory reaction time response with four different type of sound (horn, bell, ring, and whistle) was recorded in both groups. According to our study, there is no significant different in reaction time between congenital blind and normal healthy persons. Blind individuals commonly utilize tactual and auditory cues for information and orientation and they reliance on touch and audition, together with more practice in using these modalities to guide behavior, is often reflected in better performance of blind relative to sighted participants in tactile or auditory discrimination tasks, but there is not any difference in reaction time between congenitally blind and sighted people.

A novel missense mutation in the ACTG1 gene in a family with congenital autosomal dominant deafness: A case report.

PubMed

Lee, Cha Gon; Jang, Jahyeon; Jin, Hyun-Seok

2018-06-01

The ACTG1 gene encodes the cytoskeletal protein γ-actin, which functions in non‑muscle cells and is abundant in the auditory hair cells of the cochlea. Autosomal dominant missense mutations in ACTG1 are associated with DFNA20/26, a disorder that is typically characterized by post‑lingual progressive hearing loss. To date, 17 missense mutations in ACTG1 have been reported in 20 families with DFNA20/26. The present study described a small family with autosomal dominant nonsyndromic hearing loss. A novel heterozygous missense mutation, c.94C>T (p.Pro32Ser), in ACTG1 was identified using the TruSight One sequencing panel. Notably, congenital hearing loss in our proband was identified by newborn hearing screening at birth. In silico predictions of protein structure and function indicate that the p.Pro32Ser mutation may result in conformational changes in γ‑actin. The present study expands the understanding of the phenotypic effects of heterozygous missense mutations in the ACTG1 gene. In specific, the present results emphasize that mutations in ACTG1 result in a diverse spectrum of onset ages, including congenital in addition to post‑lingual onset.

Does Seeing Ice Really Feel Cold? Visual-Thermal Interaction under an Illusory Body-Ownership

PubMed Central

Kanaya, Shoko; Matsushima, Yuka; Yokosawa, Kazuhiko

2012-01-01

Although visual information seems to affect thermal perception (e.g. red color is associated with heat), previous studies have failed to demonstrate the interaction between visual and thermal senses. However, it has been reported that humans feel an illusory thermal sensation in conjunction with an apparently-thermal visual stimulus placed on a prosthetic hand in the rubber hand illusion (RHI) wherein an individual feels that a prosthetic (rubber) hand belongs to him/her. This study tests the possibility that the ownership of the body surface on which a visual stimulus is placed enhances the likelihood of a visual-thermal interaction. We orthogonally manipulated three variables: induced hand-ownership, visually-presented thermal information, and tactically-presented physical thermal information. Results indicated that the sight of an apparently-thermal object on a rubber hand that is illusorily perceived as one's own hand affects thermal judgments about the object physically touching this hand. This effect was not observed without the RHI. The importance of ownership of a body part that is touched by the visual object on the visual-thermal interaction is discussed. PMID:23144814

Does seeing ice really feel cold? Visual-thermal interaction under an illusory body-ownership.

PubMed

Kanaya, Shoko; Matsushima, Yuka; Yokosawa, Kazuhiko

2012-01-01

Although visual information seems to affect thermal perception (e.g. red color is associated with heat), previous studies have failed to demonstrate the interaction between visual and thermal senses. However, it has been reported that humans feel an illusory thermal sensation in conjunction with an apparently-thermal visual stimulus placed on a prosthetic hand in the rubber hand illusion (RHI) wherein an individual feels that a prosthetic (rubber) hand belongs to him/her. This study tests the possibility that the ownership of the body surface on which a visual stimulus is placed enhances the likelihood of a visual-thermal interaction. We orthogonally manipulated three variables: induced hand-ownership, visually-presented thermal information, and tactically-presented physical thermal information. Results indicated that the sight of an apparently-thermal object on a rubber hand that is illusorily perceived as one's own hand affects thermal judgments about the object physically touching this hand. This effect was not observed without the RHI. The importance of ownership of a body part that is touched by the visual object on the visual-thermal interaction is discussed.

Evidence for enhanced discrimination of virtual auditory distance among blind listeners using level and direct-to-reverberant cues.

PubMed

Kolarik, Andrew J; Cirstea, Silvia; Pardhan, Shahina

2013-02-01

Totally blind listeners often demonstrate better than normal capabilities when performing spatial hearing tasks. Accurate representation of three-dimensional auditory space requires the processing of available distance information between the listener and the sound source; however, auditory distance cues vary greatly depending upon the acoustic properties of the environment, and it is not known which distance cues are important to totally blind listeners. Our data show that totally blind listeners display better performance compared to sighted age-matched controls for distance discrimination tasks in anechoic and reverberant virtual rooms simulated using a room-image procedure. Totally blind listeners use two major auditory distance cues to stationary sound sources, level and direct-to-reverberant ratio, more effectively than sighted controls for many of the virtual distances tested. These results show that significant compensation among totally blind listeners for virtual auditory spatial distance leads to benefits across a range of simulated acoustic environments. No significant differences in performance were observed between listeners with partial non-correctable visual losses and sighted controls, suggesting that sensory compensation for virtual distance does not occur for listeners with partial vision loss.

Gender differences in learning style preferences among undergraduate physiology students.

PubMed

Wehrwein, Erica A; Lujan, Heidi L; DiCarlo, Stephen E

2007-06-01

Students have individual learning style preferences including visual (V; learning from graphs, charts, and flow diagrams), auditory (A; learning from speech), read-write (R; learning from reading and writing), and kinesthetic (K; learning from touch, hearing, smell, taste, and sight). These preferences can be assessed using the VARK questionnaire. We administered the VARK questionnaire to undergraduate physiology majors enrolled in a capstone physiology laboratory at Michigan State University; 48 of the 86 students (55.8%) who returned the completed questionnaire voluntarily offered gender information. The responses were tallied and assessed for gender difference in learning style preference; 54.2% of females and only 12.5% of males preferred a single mode of information presentation. Among the female students, 4.2% of the students preferred V, 0% of the students preferred A, 16.7% of the students preferred printed words (R), and 33.3% of the students preferred using all their senses (K). In contrast, male students were evenly distributed in preference, with 4.2% of the students preferring A, R, or K, respectively, while 0% of the students preferred V. Furthermore, 45.8% of female and 87.5% of male respondents preferred multiple modes [female: 2 modes (12.5%), 3 modes (12.5%), and 4 modes (20.8%); males: 2 modes (16.7%), 3 modes (12.5%), and 4 modes (58.3%)] of presentation. In summary, a majority of male students preferred multimodal instruction, specifically, four modes (VARK), whereas a majority of female students preferred single-mode instruction with a preference toward K. Thus, male and female students have significantly different learning styles. It is the responsibility of the instructor to address this diversity of learning styles and develop appropriate learning approaches.

A user-operated test of suprathreshold acuity in noise for adult hearing screening: The SUN (Speech Understanding in Noise) test.

PubMed

Paglialonga, Alessia; Tognola, Gabriella; Grandori, Ferdinando

2014-09-01

A novel, user-operated test of suprathreshold acuity in noise for use in adult hearing screening (AHS) was developed. The Speech Understanding in Noise test (SUN) is a speech-in-noise test that makes use of a list of vowel-consonant-vowel (VCV) stimuli in background noise presented in a three-alternative forced choice (3AFC) paradigm by means of a touch sensitive screen. The test is automated, easy-to-use, and provides self-explanatory results (i.e., 'no hearing difficulties', or 'a hearing check would be advisable', or 'a hearing check is recommended'). The test was developed from its building blocks (VCVs and speech-shaped noise) through two main steps: (i) development of the test list through equalization of the intelligibility of test stimuli across the set and (ii) optimization of the test results through maximization of the test sensitivity and specificity. The test had 82.9% sensitivity and 85.9% specificity compared to conventional pure-tone screening, and 83.8% sensitivity and 83.9% specificity to identify individuals with disabling hearing impairment. Results obtained so far showed that the test could be easily performed by adults and older adults in less than one minute per ear and that its results were not influenced by ambient noise (up to 65dBA), suggesting that the test might be a viable method for AHS in clinical as well as non-clinical settings. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vision loss and hearing loss in painting and musical composition.

PubMed

Marmor, Michael F

2014-07-01

This article considers the impact of vision and hearing loss on great painters and musical composers. The visual work of Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keeffe, Edgar Degas, and Claude Monet all showed alterations as their vision failed. In contrast, Gabriel Fauré, Bedřich Smetana, and Ludwig von Beethoven wrote many of their best compositions while totally deaf, and Georg Friedrich Handel and Frederick Delius struggled to compose late in life when they lost their vision (although their hearing remained excellent). There are 2 major distinctions between the role of vision and hearing for these artistic disciplines. First, there is a surrogate means of "hearing" music, through the musical score, which allows composers to write and edit music while totally deaf. The greatest problem with deafness for a skilled composer is interference from internal noise (tinnitus). There is no surrogate for vision to allow a painter to work when the subject is a blur or the colors on the canvas cannot be distinguished. Second, although the appreciation of art is visual and that of music is auditory, the transcription of both art and musical composition is visual. Thus, visual loss does pose a problem for a composer accustomed to working with good sight, because it disrupts habitual methods of writing and editing music. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Force Sensitive Handles and Capacitive Touch Sensor for Driving a Flexible Haptic-Based Immersive System

PubMed Central

Covarrubias, Mario; Bordegoni, Monica; Cugini, Umberto

2013-01-01

In this article, we present an approach that uses both two force sensitive handles (FSH) and a flexible capacitive touch sensor (FCTS) to drive a haptic-based immersive system. The immersive system has been developed as part of a multimodal interface for product design. The haptic interface consists of a strip that can be used by product designers to evaluate the quality of a 3D virtual shape by using touch, vision and hearing and, also, to interactively change the shape of the virtual object. Specifically, the user interacts with the FSH to move the virtual object and to appropriately position the haptic interface for retrieving the six degrees of freedom required for both manipulation and modification modalities. The FCTS allows the system to track the movement and position of the user's fingers on the strip, which is used for rendering visual and sound feedback. Two evaluation experiments are described, which involve both the evaluation and the modification of a 3D shape. Results show that the use of the haptic strip for the evaluation of aesthetic shapes is effective and supports product designers in the appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of the shape. PMID:24113680

Force sensitive handles and capacitive touch sensor for driving a flexible haptic-based immersive system.

PubMed

Covarrubias, Mario; Bordegoni, Monica; Cugini, Umberto

2013-10-09

In this article, we present an approach that uses both two force sensitive handles (FSH) and a flexible capacitive touch sensor (FCTS) to drive a haptic-based immersive system. The immersive system has been developed as part of a multimodal interface for product design. The haptic interface consists of a strip that can be used by product designers to evaluate the quality of a 3D virtual shape by using touch, vision and hearing and, also, to interactively change the shape of the virtual object. Specifically, the user interacts with the FSH to move the virtual object and to appropriately position the haptic interface for retrieving the six degrees of freedom required for both manipulation and modification modalities. The FCTS allows the system to track the movement and position of the user's fingers on the strip, which is used for rendering visual and sound feedback. Two evaluation experiments are described, which involve both the evaluation and the modification of a 3D shape. Results show that the use of the haptic strip for the evaluation of aesthetic shapes is effective and supports product designers in the appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of the shape.

Social Contact Enhances Bodily Self-Awareness.

PubMed

Hazem, Nesrine; Beaurenaut, Morgan; George, Nathalie; Conty, Laurence

2018-03-08

Human self-awareness is arguably the most important and revealing question of modern sciences. Converging theoretical perspectives link self-awareness and social abilities in human beings. In particular, mutual engagement during social interactions-or social contact-would boost self-awareness. Yet, empirical evidence for this effect is scarce. We recently showed that the perception of eye contact induces enhanced bodily self-awareness. Here, we aimed at extending these findings by testing the influence of social contact in auditory and tactile modalities, in order to demonstrate that social contact enhances bodily self-awareness irrespective of sensory modality. In a first experiment, participants were exposed to hearing their own first name (as compared to another unfamiliar name and noise). In a second experiment, human touch (as compared to brush touch and no-touch) was used as the social contact cue. In both experiments, participants demonstrated more accurate rating of their bodily reactions in response to emotional pictures following the social contact condition-a proxy of bodily self-awareness. Further analyses indicated that the effect of social contact was comparable across tactile, auditory and visual modalities. These results provide the first direct empirical evidence in support of the essential social nature of human self-awareness.

Cryo-EM Structure of the Mechanotransduction Channel NOMPC

PubMed Central

Jin, Peng; Bulkley, David; Guo, Yanmeng; Zhang, Wei; Guo, Zhenhao; Huynh, Walter; Wu, Shenping; Meltzer, Shan; Cheng, Tong; Jan, Lily Yeh; Jan, Yuh-Nung; Cheng, Yifan

2017-01-01

Mechanosensory transduction for senses such as proprioception, touch, balance, acceleration, hearing and pain relies on mechanotransduction channels, which convert mechanical stimuli into electrical signals in specialized sensory cells1. How force gates mechanotransduction channels is a central question in the field, for which there are two major models. One is the membrane-tension model: force applied to the membrane generates a change in membrane tension that is sufficient to gate the channel, as in the case of bacterial MscL channel and certain eukaryotic potassium channels2-5. The other is the tether model: force is transmitted via a tether to gate the channel. Recent study suggests that NOMPC, a mechanotransduction channel that mediates hearing and touch sensation in Drosophila, is gated by tethering of its ankyrin repeat (AR) domain to microtubules of the cytoskeleton6. Thus, a goal of studying NOMPC is to reveal the underlying mechanism of force induced gating, which could serve as a paradigm of the tether model. NOMPC, a Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channel and the founding member of the TRPN sub-family7, fulfills all the criteria for a bona fide mechanotransduction channel1,8, and is important for a variety of mechanosensation-related behaviors such as locomotion, touch and sound sensation across different species including C. elegans9, Drosophila8,10-11 and zebrafish12. NOMPC has 29 ARs, the largest number among TRP channels. They are implicated as tether to convey force from cytoskeleton to the channel, thus to mediate mechanosensation6,13-15. A key question is how the long AR domain is organized as a tether that can trigger channel gating. Here we present a de novo atomic structure of NOMPC determined by single particle electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM), and discuss how its architecture could provide a means to convey mechanical force to generating an electrical signal within a cell. PMID:28658211

Casper W. Weinberger to be Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare: Hearings Before the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare. United States Senate, Ninety-Third Congress. Part 2: Appendix--Comprehensive HEW Simplification and Reform "MEGA Proposal".

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare.

A proposal up for consideration before the United States Senate is discussed. The program suggested is a redesign of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in keeping with the principles of the New Federalism. The proposal touches every major area of HEW policy: it simplifies the Department's program structure; it narrows and focuses the…

Demystifying Mechanosensitive Piezo Ion Channels.

PubMed

Xu, X Z Shawn

2016-06-01

Mechanosensitive channels mediate touch, hearing, proprioception, and blood pressure regulation. Piezo proteins, including Piezo1 and Piezo2, represent a new class of mechanosensitive channels that have been reported to play key roles in most, if not all, of these modalities. The structural architecture and molecular mechanisms by which Piezos act as mechanosensitive channels, however, remain mysterious. Two new studies have now provided critical insights into the atomic structure and molecular basis of the ion permeation and mechano-gating properties of the Piezo1 channel.

BEST: Bilingual environmental science training: Kindergarten level

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1996-03-01

This booklet is one of a series of bilingual guides to environmental-science learning activities for students to do at home. Lesson objectives, materials required, procedure, vocabulary, and subjects integrated into the lesson are described in English for each lesson. A bilingual glossary, alphabetized by English entries, with Spanish equivalents in both English and Spanish, follows the lesson descriptions, and is itself followed by a bibliography of English-language references. This booklet includes descriptions of six lessons covering the senses of touch and sight, the sense of smell, how to distinguish living and non-living things, cell structures, the skeletal system, and themore » significance of food groups. 8 figs.« less

How Do Vision and Hearing Impact Pedestrian Time-to-Arrival Judgments?

PubMed Central

Roper, JulieAnne M.; Hassan, Shirin E.

2014-01-01

Purpose To determine how accurate normally-sighted male and female pedestrians were at making time-to-arrival (TTA) judgments of approaching vehicles when using just their hearing or both their hearing and vision. Methods Ten male and 14 female subjects with confirmed normal vision and hearing estimated the TTA of approaching vehicles along an unsignalized street under two sensory conditions: (i) using both habitual vision and hearing; and (ii) using habitual hearing only. All subjects estimated how long the approaching vehicle would take to reach them (ie the TTA). The actual TTA of vehicles was also measured using custom made sensors. The error in TTA judgments for each subject under each sensory condition was calculated as the difference between the actual and estimated TTA. A secondary timing experiment was also conducted to adjust each subject’s TTA judgments for their “internal metronome”. Results Error in TTA judgments changed significantly as a function of both the actual TTA (p<0.0001) and sensory condition (p<0.0001). While no main effect for gender was found (p=0.19), the way the TTA judgments varied within each sensory condition for each gender was different (p<0.0001). Females tended to be as accurate under either condition (p≥0.01) with the exception of TTA judgments made when the actual TTA was two seconds or less and eight seconds or longer, during which the vision and hearing condition was more accurate (p≤0.002). Males made more accurate TTA judgments under the hearing only condition for actual TTA values five seconds or less (p<0.0001), after which there were no significant differences between the two conditions (p≥0.01). Conclusions Our data suggests that males and females use visual and auditory information differently when making TTA judgments. While the sensory condition did not affect the females’ accuracy in judgments, males initially tended to be more accurate when using their hearing only. PMID:24509543

Olfaction and Hearing Based Mobile Robot Navigation for Odor/Sound Source Search

PubMed Central

Song, Kai; Liu, Qi; Wang, Qi

2011-01-01

Bionic technology provides a new elicitation for mobile robot navigation since it explores the way to imitate biological senses. In the present study, the challenging problem was how to fuse different biological senses and guide distributed robots to cooperate with each other for target searching. This paper integrates smell, hearing and touch to design an odor/sound tracking multi-robot system. The olfactory robot tracks the chemical odor plume step by step through information fusion from gas sensors and airflow sensors, while two hearing robots localize the sound source by time delay estimation (TDE) and the geometrical position of microphone array. Furthermore, this paper presents a heading direction based mobile robot navigation algorithm, by which the robot can automatically and stably adjust its velocity and direction according to the deviation between the current heading direction measured by magnetoresistive sensor and the expected heading direction acquired through the odor/sound localization strategies. Simultaneously, one robot can communicate with the other robots via a wireless sensor network (WSN). Experimental results show that the olfactory robot can pinpoint the odor source within the distance of 2 m, while two hearing robots can quickly localize and track the olfactory robot in 2 min. The devised multi-robot system can achieve target search with a considerable success ratio and high stability. PMID:22319401

A Tactile Carina Nebula

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grice, Noreen A.; Mutchler, M.

2010-01-01

Astronomy was once considered a science restricted to fully sighted participants. But in the past two decades, accessible books with large print/Braille and touchable pictures have brought astronomy and space science to the hands and mind's eye of students, regardless of their visual ability. A new universally-designed tactile image featuring the Hubble mosaic of the Carina Nebula is being presented at this conference. The original dataset was obtained with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) hydrogen-alpha filter in 2005. It became an instant icon after being infused with additional color information from ground-based CTIO data, and released as Hubble's 17th anniversary image. Our tactile Carina Nebula promotes multi-mode learning about the entire life-cycle of stars, which is dramatically illustrated in this Hubble mosaic. When combined with descriptive text in print and Braille, the visual and tactile components seamlessly reach both sighted and blind populations. Specific touchable features of the tactile image identify the shapes and orientations of objects in the Carina Nebula that include star-forming regions, jets, pillars, dark and light globules, star clusters, shocks/bubbles, the Keyhole Nebula, and stellar death (Eta Carinae). Visit our poster paper to touch the Carina Nebula!

Blindness and social trust: The effect of early visual deprivation on judgments of trustworthiness.

PubMed

Ferrari, C; Vecchi, T; Merabet, L B; Cattaneo, Z

2017-10-01

Investigating the impact of early visual deprivation on evaluations related to social trust has received little attention to date. This is despite consistent evidence suggesting that early onset blindness may interfere with the normal development of social skills. In this study, we investigated whether early blindness affects judgments of trustworthiness regarding the actions of an agent, with trustworthiness representing the fundamental dimension in the social evaluation. Specifically, we compared performance between a group of early blind individuals with that of sighted controls in their evaluation of trustworthiness of an agent after hearing a pair of two positive or two negative social behaviors (impression formation). Participants then repeated the same evaluation following the presentation of a third (consistent or inconsistent) behavior regarding the same agent (impression updating). Overall, blind individuals tended to give similar evaluations compared to their sighted counterparts. However, they also valued positive behaviors significantly more than sighted controls when forming their impression of an agent's trustworthiness. Moreover, when inconsistent information was provided, blind individuals were more prone to revise their initial evaluation compared to controls. These results suggest that early visual deprivation may have a dramatic effect on the evaluation of social factors such as trustworthiness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thinking about Seeing: perceptual sources of knowledge are encoded in the theory of mind brain regions of sighted and blind adults

PubMed Central

Koster-Hale, Jorie; Bedny, Marina; Saxe, Rebecca

2014-01-01

Blind people's inferences about how other people see provide a window into fundamental questions about the human capacity to think about one another's thoughts. By working with blind individuals, we can ask both what kinds of representations people form about others’ minds, and how much these representations depend on the observer having had similar mental states themselves. Thinking about others’ mental states depends on a specific group of brain regions, including the right temporo-parietal junction (RTPJ). We investigated the representations of others’ mental states in these brain regions, using multivoxel pattern analyses (MVPA). We found that, first, in the RTPJ of sighted adults, the pattern of neural response distinguished the source of the mental state (did the protagonist see or hear something?) but not the valence (did the protagonist feel good or bad?). Second, these neural representations were preserved in congenitally blind adults. These results suggest that the temporo-parietal junction contains explicit, abstract representations of features of others’ mental states, including the perceptual source. The persistence of these representations in congenitally blind adults, who have no first-person experience with sight, provides evidence that these representations emerge even in the absence of first-person perceptual experiences. PMID:24960530

Thinking about seeing: perceptual sources of knowledge are encoded in the theory of mind brain regions of sighted and blind adults.

PubMed

Koster-Hale, Jorie; Bedny, Marina; Saxe, Rebecca

2014-10-01

Blind people's inferences about how other people see provide a window into fundamental questions about the human capacity to think about one another's thoughts. By working with blind individuals, we can ask both what kinds of representations people form about others' minds, and how much these representations depend on the observer having had similar mental states themselves. Thinking about others' mental states depends on a specific group of brain regions, including the right temporo-parietal junction (RTPJ). We investigated the representations of others' mental states in these brain regions, using multivoxel pattern analyses (MVPA). We found that, first, in the RTPJ of sighted adults, the pattern of neural response distinguished the source of the mental state (did the protagonist see or hear something?) but not the valence (did the protagonist feel good or bad?). Second, these neural representations were preserved in congenitally blind adults. These results suggest that the temporo-parietal junction contains explicit, abstract representations of features of others' mental states, including the perceptual source. The persistence of these representations in congenitally blind adults, who have no first-person experience with sight, provides evidence that these representations emerge even in the absence of relevant first-person perceptual experiences. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electronic Nose and Electronic Tongue

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharyya, Nabarun; Bandhopadhyay, Rajib

Human beings have five senses, namely, vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste. The sensors for vision, hearing and touch have been developed for several years. The need for sensors capable of mimicking the senses of smell and taste have been felt only recently in food industry, environmental monitoring and several industrial applications. In the ever-widening horizon of frontier research in the field of electronics and advanced computing, emergence of electronic nose (E-Nose) and electronic tongue (E-Tongue) have been drawing attention of scientists and technologists for more than a decade. By intelligent integration of multitudes of technologies like chemometrics, microelectronics and advanced soft computing, human olfaction has been successfully mimicked by such new techniques called machine olfaction (Pearce et al. 2002). But the very essence of such research and development efforts has centered on development of customized electronic nose and electronic tongue solutions specific to individual applications. In fact, research trends as of date clearly points to the fact that a machine olfaction system as versatile, universal and broadband as human nose and human tongue may not be feasible in the decades to come. But application specific solutions may definitely be demonstrated and commercialized by modulation in sensor design and fine-tuning the soft computing solutions. This chapter deals with theory, developments of E-Nose and E-Tongue technology and their applications. Also a succinct account of future trends of R&D efforts in this field with an objective of establishing co-relation between machine olfaction and human perception has been included.

The effects of negative emotions on sensory perception: fear but not anger decreases tactile sensitivity.

PubMed

Kelley, Nicholas J; Schmeichel, Brandon J

2014-01-01

Emotions and sensory perceptions are closely intertwined. Of the five senses, sight has been by far the most extensively studied sense in emotion research. Relatively less is known about how emotions influence the other four senses. Touch is essential for nonverbal communication in both humans and other animals. The current investigation tested competing hypotheses about the effect of fear on tactile perception. One hypothesis based on evolutionary considerations predicts that fear enhances sensory perception, including tactile sensitivity. A competing hypothesis based on research on peripheral psychophysiology predicts that fear should decrease tactile sensitivity. Two experiments that induced negative emotional states and measured two-point discrimination ability at the fingertip found that fear reduces tactile sensitivity relative to anger or a neutral control condition (Studies 1 and 2). These findings did not appear to be driven by participants' naïve beliefs about the influence of emotions on touch (Study 3). The results represent the first evidence of the causal impact of emotional states on tactile sensitivity, are consistent with prior evidence for the peripheral physiological effects of fear, and offer novel empirical grounds for developing and advancing theories of emotional influences on sensory perception.

Intracranial Cortical Responses during Visual–Tactile Integration in Humans

PubMed Central

Quinn, Brian T.; Carlson, Chad; Doyle, Werner; Cash, Sydney S.; Devinsky, Orrin; Spence, Charles; Halgren, Eric

2014-01-01

Sensory integration of touch and sight is crucial to perceiving and navigating the environment. While recent evidence from other sensory modality combinations suggests that low-level sensory areas integrate multisensory information at early processing stages, little is known about how the brain combines visual and tactile information. We investigated the dynamics of multisensory integration between vision and touch using the high spatial and temporal resolution of intracranial electrocorticography in humans. We present a novel, two-step metric for defining multisensory integration. The first step compares the sum of the unisensory responses to the bimodal response as multisensory responses. The second step eliminates the possibility that double addition of sensory responses could be misinterpreted as interactions. Using these criteria, averaged local field potentials and high-gamma-band power demonstrate a functional processing cascade whereby sensory integration occurs late, both anatomically and temporally, in the temporo–parieto–occipital junction (TPOJ) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Results further suggest two neurophysiologically distinct and temporally separated integration mechanisms in TPOJ, while providing direct evidence for local suppression as a dominant mechanism for synthesizing visual and tactile input. These results tend to support earlier concepts of multisensory integration as relatively late and centered in tertiary multimodal association cortices. PMID:24381279

The effects of negative emotions on sensory perception: fear but not anger decreases tactile sensitivity

PubMed Central

Kelley, Nicholas J.; Schmeichel, Brandon J.

2014-01-01

Emotions and sensory perceptions are closely intertwined. Of the five senses, sight has been by far the most extensively studied sense in emotion research. Relatively less is known about how emotions influence the other four senses. Touch is essential for nonverbal communication in both humans and other animals. The current investigation tested competing hypotheses about the effect of fear on tactile perception. One hypothesis based on evolutionary considerations predicts that fear enhances sensory perception, including tactile sensitivity. A competing hypothesis based on research on peripheral psychophysiology predicts that fear should decrease tactile sensitivity. Two experiments that induced negative emotional states and measured two-point discrimination ability at the fingertip found that fear reduces tactile sensitivity relative to anger or a neutral control condition (Studies 1 and 2). These findings did not appear to be driven by participants’ naïve beliefs about the influence of emotions on touch (Study 3). The results represent the first evidence of the causal impact of emotional states on tactile sensitivity, are consistent with prior evidence for the peripheral physiological effects of fear, and offer novel empirical grounds for developing and advancing theories of emotional influences on sensory perception. PMID:25202299

Occupational Health Problems among Dentists in Croatia

PubMed Central

Vodanović, Marin; Sović, Slavica; Galić, Ivan

2016-01-01

Aim To assess the health status among dentists in Croatia regarding the symptoms of musculoskeletal, dermatological, sight, hearing and neurological disorders. Methods The anonymous online survey was conducted among 506 Croatian dentists. Results It was found that over 78.18% of the surveyed dentists experienced work related pain in upper back, 76.97% of them in lower back. Work-related skin problems were reported by 29.29% of dentists. Vision problems were reported by 46.87% and hearing problems by 19.03% of participants. Neurological disorders were reported by 15.76% of dentists. Conclusion This study is the first to report on the overall health status of Croatian dentists and, unfortunately, it showed undesirable results. Numerous health hazards, increased professional requirements and limited ergonomics in the work environment of Croatian dental practitioners cause various health disorders, and the prevalence of occupational diseases is very high. PMID:28275278

Automated audiometry using apple iOS-based application technology.

PubMed

Foulad, Allen; Bui, Peggy; Djalilian, Hamid

2013-11-01

The aim of this study is to determine the feasibility of an Apple iOS-based automated hearing testing application and to compare its accuracy with conventional audiometry. Prospective diagnostic study. Setting Academic medical center. An iOS-based software application was developed to perform automated pure-tone hearing testing on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. To assess for device variations and compatibility, preliminary work was performed to compare the standardized sound output (dB) of various Apple device and headset combinations. Forty-two subjects underwent automated iOS-based hearing testing in a sound booth, automated iOS-based hearing testing in a quiet room, and conventional manual audiometry. The maximum difference in sound intensity between various Apple device and headset combinations was 4 dB. On average, 96% (95% confidence interval [CI], 91%-100%) of the threshold values obtained using the automated test in a sound booth were within 10 dB of the corresponding threshold values obtained using conventional audiometry. When the automated test was performed in a quiet room, 94% (95% CI, 87%-100%) of the threshold values were within 10 dB of the threshold values obtained using conventional audiometry. Under standardized testing conditions, 90% of the subjects preferred iOS-based audiometry as opposed to conventional audiometry. Apple iOS-based devices provide a platform for automated air conduction audiometry without requiring extra equipment and yield hearing test results that approach those of conventional audiometry.

Learning to echolocate in sighted people: a correlational study on attention, working memory and spatial abilities.

PubMed

Ekkel, M R; van Lier, R; Steenbergen, B

2017-03-01

Echolocation can be beneficial for the orientation and mobility of visually impaired people. Research has shown considerable individual differences for acquiring this skill. However, individual characteristics that affect the learning of echolocation are largely unknown. In the present study, we examined individual factors that are likely to affect learning to echolocate: sustained and divided attention, working memory, and spatial abilities. To that aim, sighted participants with normal hearing performed an echolocation task that was adapted from a previously reported size-discrimination task. In line with existing studies, we found large individual differences in echolocation ability. We also found indications that participants were able to improve their echolocation ability. Furthermore, we found a significant positive correlation between improvement in echolocation and sustained and divided attention, as measured in the PASAT. No significant correlations were found with our tests regarding working memory and spatial abilities. These findings may have implications for the development of guidelines for training echolocation that are tailored to the individual with a visual impairment.

The injured eye

PubMed Central

Scott, Robert

2011-01-01

Eye injuries come at a high cost to society and are avoidable. Ocular blast injuries can be primary, from the blast wave itself; secondary, from fragments carried by the blast wind; tertiary; due to structural collapse or being thrown against a fixed object; or quaternary, from burns and indirect injuries. Ballistic eye protection significantly reduces the incidence of eye injuries and should be encouraged from an early stage in Military training. Management of an injured eye requires meticulous history taking, evaluation of vision that measures the acuity and if there is a relative pupillary defect as well as careful inspection of the eyes, under anaesthetic if necessary. A lateral canthotomy with cantholysis should be performed immediately if there is a sight-threatening retrobulbar haemorrhage. Systemic antibiotics should be prescribed if there is a suspected penetrating or perforating injury. A ruptured globe should be protected by an eye shield. Primary repair of ruptured globes should be performed in a timely fashion. Secondary procedures will often be required at a later date to achieve sight preservation. A poor initial visual acuity is not a guarantee of a poor final result. The final result can be predicted after approximately 3–4 weeks. Future research in eye injuries attempts to reduce scarring and neuronal damage as well as to promote photoreceptor rescue, using post-transcriptional inhibition of cell death pathways and vaccination to promote neural recovery. Where the sight has been lost sensory substitution of a picture from a spectacle mounted video camera to the touch receptors of the tongue can be used to achieve appreciation of the outside world. PMID:21149360

Haptic-2D: A new haptic test battery assessing the tactual abilities of sighted and visually impaired children and adolescents with two-dimensional raised materials.

PubMed

Mazella, Anaïs; Albaret, Jean-Michel; Picard, Delphine

2016-01-01

To fill an important gap in the psychometric assessment of children and adolescents with impaired vision, we designed a new battery of haptic tests, called Haptic-2D, for visually impaired and sighted individuals aged five to 18 years. Unlike existing batteries, ours uses only two-dimensional raised materials that participants explore using active touch. It is composed of 11 haptic tests, measuring scanning skills, tactile discrimination skills, spatial comprehension skills, short-term tactile memory, and comprehension of tactile pictures. We administered this battery to 138 participants, half of whom were sighted (n=69), and half visually impaired (blind, n=16; low vision, n=53). Results indicated a significant main effect of age on haptic scores, but no main effect of vision or Age × Vision interaction effect. Reliability of test items was satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha, α=0.51-0.84). Convergent validity was good, as shown by a significant correlation (age partialled out) between total haptic scores and scores on the B101 test (rp=0.51, n=47). Discriminant validity was also satisfactory, as attested by a lower but still significant partial correlation between total haptic scores and the raw score on the verbal WISC (rp=0.43, n=62). Finally, test-retest reliability was good (rs=0.93, n=12; interval of one to two months). This new psychometric tool should prove useful to practitioners working with young people with impaired vision. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Universe for all to discover

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortiz-Gil, A.; Ballesteros, F.; Espinós, H.; Fernández-Soto, A.; Lanzara, M.; Moya, M. J.; Navarro, J.

2015-05-01

In the title of this paper, we have changed the slogan of the International Year of Astronomy, ``The Universe yours to discover" to ``The Universe for all to discover" in order to emphasize the need to think about broader audiences when we plan astronomical activities at school or during outreach events. The strategy we propose follows what is known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL allows to reach to the general public as well as to audiences which might be regarded as ``special" because they have some disability. It has been shown that everybody has a preferred style of learning (some remember better what they see, others what they hear or what they touch) and therefore, everybody is more or less able under the different styles of learning. Through this talk I am going to outline some of the principles of the UDL that can be applied in the teaching and communication of Astronomy, along with an example of its implementation in the project ``A Touch of the Universe".

The Impact of Early Visual Deprivation on Spatial Hearing: A Comparison between Totally and Partially Visually Deprived Children

PubMed Central

Cappagli, Giulia; Finocchietti, Sara; Cocchi, Elena; Gori, Monica

2017-01-01

The specific role of early visual deprivation on spatial hearing is still unclear, mainly due to the difficulty of comparing similar spatial skills at different ages and to the difficulty in recruiting young blind children from birth. In this study, the effects of early visual deprivation on the development of auditory spatial localization have been assessed in a group of seven 3–5 years old children with congenital blindness (n = 2; light perception or no perception of light) or low vision (n = 5; visual acuity range 1.1–1.7 LogMAR), with the main aim to understand if visual experience is fundamental to the development of specific spatial skills. Our study led to three main findings: firstly, totally blind children performed overall more poorly compared sighted and low vision children in all the spatial tasks performed; secondly, low vision children performed equally or better than sighted children in the same auditory spatial tasks; thirdly, higher residual levels of visual acuity are positively correlated with better spatial performance in the dynamic condition of the auditory localization task indicating that the more residual vision the better spatial performance. These results suggest that early visual experience has an important role in the development of spatial cognition, even when the visual input during the critical period of visual calibration is partially degraded like in the case of low vision children. Overall these results shed light on the importance of early assessment of spatial impairments in visually impaired children and early intervention to prevent the risk of isolation and social exclusion. PMID:28443040

Factors associated with persons with disability employment in India: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Naraharisetti, Ramya; Castro, Marcia C

2016-10-07

Over twenty million persons with disability in India are increasingly being offered poverty alleviation strategies, including employment programs. This study employs a spatial analytic approach to identify correlates of employment among persons with disability in India, considering sight, speech, hearing, movement, and mental disabilities. Based on 2001 Census data, this study utilizes linear regression and spatial autoregressive models to identify factors associated with the proportion employed among persons with disability at the district level. Models stratified by rural and urban areas were also considered. Spatial autoregressive models revealed that different factors contribute to employment of persons with disability in rural and urban areas. In rural areas, having mental disability decreased the likelihood of employment, while being female and having movement, or sight impairment (compared to other disabilities) increased the likelihood of employment. In urban areas, being female and illiterate decreased the likelihood of employment but having sight, mental and movement impairment (compared to other disabilities) increased the likelihood of employment. Poverty alleviation programs designed for persons with disability in India should account for differences in employment by disability types and should be spatially targeted. Since persons with disability in rural and urban areas have different factors contributing to their employment, it is vital that government and service-planning organizations account for these differences when creating programs aimed at livelihood development.

Enduring Influence of Elizabethan Ophthalmic Texts of the 1580s: Bailey, Grassus, and Guillemeau

PubMed Central

Leffler, Christopher T; Schwartz, Stephen G; Davenport, Byrd; Randolph, Jessica; Busscher, Joshua; Hadi, Tamer

2014-01-01

Three English ophthalmic texts of the 1580s were frequently republished: 1) Walter Bailey’s A Briefe Treatise Touching the Preseruation of the Eie Sight, 2) The Method of Phisicke, an adaptation of the medieval treatise of Benevenutus Grassus, and 3) A Worthy Treatise of the Eyes, a translation of Jacques Guillemeau’s treatise. Their history is intertwined through composite publications, some of which lacked clear attribution. At least 21 editions incorporated these texts. Although not previously realized, major elements of all 3 works are found in Two Treatises Concerning the Preseruation of Eie-sight, first published in 1616. To preserve eyesight, Bailey recommended eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis), fennel (Fæniculum vulgare), and a moderate lifestyle incorporating wine. In the works of Grassus and Guillemeau, cataracts were believed to lie anterior to the ‘crystalline humor,’ and were treated by the ‘art of the needle,’ or couching. Links are found between Grassus, Guillemeau, and eighteenth century glaucoma concepts. Although one of his students has traditionally received credit, it was English oculist John Thomas Woolhouse who first combined the early concepts and used the term glaucoma to describe the palpably hard eye in the early eighteenth century. The three primary ophthalmic texts of 1580s England influenced ophthalmic thought for over a century. PMID:24959303

Biography of louis braille and invention of the braille alphabet.

PubMed

Jiménez, Javier; Olea, Jesús; Torres, Jesús; Alonso, Inmaculada; Harder, Dirk; Fischer, Konstanze

2009-01-01

Louis Braille (1809-1852) was born in France. At the age of three, he wounded his right eye with a cobbler's tool while playing in his father's workshop. No medical knowledge could save his eyesight at that time. Louis's left eye became inflamed, apparently due to subsequent sympathetic ophthalmia, and he eventually lost the sight in that eye. At the age of five, Louis Braille was completely blind. He is considered to be the inventor of a writing system by touch that bears his name, the Braille system. This revolutionary system has allowed blind people to access written culture, and it can therefore be considered a major advance in the quality of life for the blind. The immediate precursor of the invention of the Braille system was the alphabet created by Charles Barbier de la Serre (1767-1841) who created a language by touch designed for military and secret use. Louis Braille modified this alphabet into the Braille alphabet, which is practically the same one that is currently used. It required time to be recognized and to be implemented as a reading and writing method for blind people throughout the world. In 1950, UNESCO effectively universalized the Braille alphabet, and in 2005 it recognized Braille system as a "vital language of communication, as legitimate as all other languages in the world."

Shedding light on light: benefits of anthropogenic illumination to a nocturnally foraging shorebird.

PubMed

Dwyer, Ross G; Bearhop, Stuart; Campbell, Hamish A; Bryant, David M

2013-03-01

Intertidal habitats provide important feeding areas for migratory shorebirds. Anthropogenic developments along coasts can increase ambient light levels at night across adjacent inter-tidal zones. Here, we report the effects of elevated nocturnal light levels upon the foraging strategy of a migratory shorebird (common redshank Tringa totanus) overwintering on an industrialised estuary in Northern Europe. To monitor behaviour across the full intertidal area, individuals were located by day and night using VHF transmitters, and foraging behaviour was inferred from inbuilt posture sensors. Natural light was scored using moon-phase and cloud cover information and nocturnal artificial light levels were obtained using geo-referenced DMSP/OLS night-time satellite imagery at a 1-km resolution. Under high illumination levels, the commonest and apparently preferred foraging behaviour was sight-based. Conversely, birds feeding in areas with low levels of artificial light had an elevated foraging time and fed by touch, but switched to visual rather than tactile foraging behaviour on bright moonlit nights in the absence of cloud cover. Individuals occupying areas which were illuminated continuously by lighting from a large petrochemical complex invariably exhibited a visually based foraging behaviour independently of lunar phase and cloud cover. We show that ambient light levels affect the timing and distribution of foraging opportunities for redshank. We argue that light emitted from an industrial complex improved nocturnal visibility. This allowed sight-based foraging in place of tactile foraging, implying both a preference for sight-feeding and enhanced night-time foraging opportunities under these conditions. The study highlights the value of integrating remotely sensed data and telemetry techniques to assess the effect of anthropogenic change upon nocturnal behaviour and habitat use. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2012 British Ecological Society.

Assessing changes in a patient's condition - perspectives of intensive care nurses.

PubMed

Kvande, Monica; Delmar, Charlotte; Lykkeslet, Else; Storli, Sissel Lisa

2017-03-01

To explore the phenomenon of assessing changes in patients' conditions in intensive care units from the perspectives of experienced intensive care nurses. Providing safe care for patients in intensive care units requires an awareness and perception of the signs that indicate changes in a patient's condition. Nurses in intensive care units play an essential role in preventing the deterioration of a patient's condition and in improving patient outcomes. This hermeneutic phenomenological study conducted close observations and in-depth interviews with 11 intensive care nurses. The nurses' experience ranged from 7 to 28 years in the intensive care unit. Data were collected at two intensive care units in two Norwegian university hospitals. The analysis was performed using the reflective methods of van Manen. An overarching theme of 'sensitive situational attention' was identified, in which the nurses were sensitive in relation to a patient and understood the significance of a given situation. This theme was further unfolded in four subthemes: (1) being sensitive and emotionally present, (2) being systematic and concentrating, (3) being physically close to the bedside and (4) being trained and familiar with the routines. Nurses understand each patient's situation and foresee clinical eventualities through a sensitive and attentive way of thinking and working. This requires nurses to be present at the bedside with both their senses (sight, hearing, smell and touch) and emotions and to work in a concentrated and systematic manner. Knowledge about the unique patient exists in interplay with past experiences and medical knowledge, which are essential for nurses to understand the situation. Clinical practice should develop routines that enable nurses to be present at the bedside and to work in a concentrated and systematic manner. Furthermore, providing safe care requires nurses to be sensitive and attentive to each patient's unique situation. © 2016 British Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Increasing combat realism: the effectiveness of stun belt use on soldiers for the enhancement of live training and testing exercises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schricker, Bradley C.; Antalek, Christopher

2006-05-01

The ability to make correct decisions while operating in a combat zone enables American and Coalition warfighters to better respond to any threats they may encounter due to the minimization of negative training the warfighter encountered during their live, virtual, and constructive (LVC) training exercises. By increasing the physical effects encountered by one's senses during combat scenarios, combat realism is able to be increased, which is a key component in the reduction in negative training. The use of LVC simulations for training and testing augmentation purposes depends on a number of factors, not the least of which is the accurate representation of the training environment. This is particularly true in the realm of tactical engagement training through the use of Tactical Engagement Simulation Systems (TESS). The training environment is perceived through human senses, most notably sight and hearing. As with other haptic devices, the sense of touch is gaining traction as a viable medium through which to express the effects of combat battle damage from the synthetic training environment to participants within a simulated training exercise. New developments in this field are promoting the safe use of an electronic stun device to indicate to a trainee that they have been hit by a projectile, from either direct or indirect fire, through the course of simulated combat. A growing number of examples suggest that this added output medium can greatly enhance the realism of a training exercise and, thus, improve the training value. This paper serves as a literature survey of this concept, beginning with an explanation of TESS. It will then focus on how the electronic stun effect may be employed within a TESS and then detail some of the noted pros and cons of such an approach. The paper will conclude with a description of potential directions and work.

An innovative solid oral nutritional supplement to fight weight loss and anorexia: open, randomised controlled trial of efficacy in institutionalised, malnourished older adults.

PubMed

Pouyssegur, Valerie; Brocker, Patrice; Schneider, Stéphane M; Philip, Jean Luc; Barat, Philippe; Reichert, Ewa; Breugnon, Frederic; Brunet, Didier; Civalleri, Bruno; Solere, Jean Paul; Bensussan, Line; Lupi-Pegurier, Laurence

2015-03-01

To evaluate the impact of a solid nutritional supplement on the weight gain of institutionalised older adults>70 years with protein-energy malnutrition. The innovation of these high-protein and high-energy cookies was the texture adapted to edentulous patients (Protibis®, Solidages, France). An open, multicentre, randomised controlled trial. Seven nursing homes. One hundred and seventy-five malnourished older adults, aged 86±8 years. All participants received the standard institutional diet. In addition, Intervention group participants received eight cookies daily (11.5 g protein; 244 kcal) for 6 weeks (w0-w6). Five visits (w-4, w0, w6, w10 and w18). Percentage of weight gain from w0 to w6 (body mass in kg). Appetite, rated using a numerical scale (0: no appetite to 10: extremely good appetite); current episodes of pressure ulcers and diarrhea. Average weight increased in Intervention group (n=88) compared with Control group (n=87) without cookies supplementation (+1.6 versus -0.7%, P=0.038). Weight gain persisted 1 month (+3.0 versus -0.2%, P=0.025) and 3 months after the end of cookies consumption (+3.9 versus -0.9%, P=0.003), with diarrhea reduction (P=0.027). There was a synergistic effect with liquid/creamy dietary supplements. Subgroup analysis confirmed the positive impact of cookies supplementation alone on weight increase (P=0.024), appetite increase (P=0.009) and pressure ulcers reduction (P=0.031). The trial suggested that, to fight against anorexia, the stimulation of touch (finger food; chewing, even on edentulous gums) and hearing (intra-oral sounds) could be valuable alternatives to sight, smell and taste alterations. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Being an adolescent with a cochlear implant in the world of hearing people: coping in school, in society and with self identity.

PubMed

Rich, Shanit; Levinger, Miriam; Werner, Shirli; Adelman, Cahtia

2013-08-01

The cochlear implant has revolutionized functioning with severe-to-profound sensori-neural loss. A deaf child implanted at an early age with good habilitation may have good language abilities and function well in daily life. As the implanted child grows up, managing in the world of hearing people may become more complex. During adolescence, the teenager copes with many issues, including identity, socialization with the peer group, and managing in the school setting. These issues may be even more challenging for the adolescents using a cochlear implant. This study was designed to shed light on how adolescents with cochlear implants experience coping with the issues mentioned. Twelve teenagers (14-18 years old), fairly similar to the entire adolescent implanted population at the center at which the study was conducted, participated in the study. They had been unilaterally or bilaterally implanted at differing ages. The participants filled out a questionnaire dealing with their functioning in the educational setting, their social preferences and functioning, and their identity as hearing or deaf. The results were analyzed using the principles of thematic analysis. At school, some reported better achievements than others but they all expressed some difficulty functioning in class mainly in situations involving several speakers. From a social point of view, some reported a preference for association with normal hearing peers, whereas others favored hard-of-hearing friends, and one had no preference. Of those who touched on the topic of self-identity, one referred to herself as deaf, eight defined themselves as hard-of-hearing, and two consider themselves hearing. From the responses of these teenagers, it is clear that adolescents with cochlear implants are a heterogeneous group. Parents and teachers should be aware that adolescents with implants, even when successful academically, may experience difficulties in the classroom setting. Most of the participants in this study learning in a mainstream setting, preferred social relationships with hearing peers (to hard of hearing/deaf). The responses of these adolescents with cochlear implants support the conjecture that they have both a hearing identity and a deaf identity, which may be expressed at varying intensities depending on the situation at the time. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Technology-assisted language intervention for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing; a pilot study of augmentative and alternative communication for enhancing language development.

PubMed

Meinzen-Derr, Jareen; Wiley, Susan; McAuley, Rose; Smith, Laura; Grether, Sandra

2017-11-01

Pilot study to assess the effect of augmentative and alternative communication technology to enhance language development in children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Five children ages 5-10 years with permanent bilateral hearing loss who were identified with language underperformance participated in an individualized 24-week structured program using the application TouchChat WordPower on iPads ® . Language samples were analyzed for changes in mean length of utterance, vocabulary words and mean turn length. Repeated measures models assessed change over time. The baseline median mean length of utterance was 2.41 (range 1.09-6.63; mean 2.88) and significantly increased over time (p = 0.002) to a median of 3.68 at final visit (range 1.97-6.81; mean 3.62). At baseline, the median total number of words spoken per language sample was 251 (range 101-458), with 100 (range 36-100) different words spoken. Total words and different words significantly increased over time (β = 26.8 (7.1), p = 0.001 for total words; β = 8.0 (2.7), p = 0.008 for different words). Mean turn length values also slightly increased over time. Using augmentative and alternative communication technology on iPads ® shows promise in supporting rapid language growth among elementary school-age children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing with language underperformance.

Self-reported occupational health problems among Libyan dentists.

PubMed

Arheiam, Arheiam; Ingafou, Mohamed

2015-01-01

To investigate the prevalence of the most common occupation-related health problems as well as factors associated with their incidence among dental practitioners. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey of Libyan dental practitioners. Participants provided information regarding their experience of occupationally related problems they encountered over the past 12 months which included inquiries about musculoskeletal pain, percutaneous injuries, allergy, eye and sight problems, and hearing problems. Musculoskeletal problems were the most frequently reported (48.2%), followed by percutaneous injuries (35%), eye problems (22%), allergy (11%) and hearing problems (7.6%). Musculoskeletal problems were significantly higher among dentists who work in private sector, full timer as well as those who prefer to work in a sitting position (p=0.021, 0.027 and 0.008, respectively). Practitioners with less than 5 years in service reported significantly higher percentage of percutaneous injuries (p=0.027) than their senior counterparts, whereas practitioners who spent more than 10 years in service were more likely to suffer from visual disturbances (p=0.033). The findings of this study indicate that musculoskeletal problems and percutaneous injuries are the most commonly reported occupational health problems among dentists, whereas allergic reactions and hearing problems are the least reported ones. Dentists should use alternate working positions to minimise musculoskeletal problems and adopt more effective strategies to prevent percutaneous injuries particularly among novices.

When the Eyes Are Shut: The Strange Case of Girolamo Cardano's Idolum in Somniorum Synesiorum Libri IIII (1562).

PubMed

Corrias, Anna

2018-01-01

In his treatise on dreams Somniorum Synesiorum Libri IIII, published in 1562, the Italian Renaissance philosopher and physician Girolamo Cardano distinguishes between idola and visiones (or visa). Historians have discussed the reasons for such a distinction without taking into account Cardano's original theory of sense-perception. In this article I shall argue that, in order to interpret the meaning of idola and visiones in Cardano's theory of dreams, one should bear in mind his view that hearing is superior to sight and that while idola are essentially based on sound, visiones depend on images.

LITERATURE FORENSICS? DOOR TO WHAT WAS KNOWN ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Science's all-consuming drive to make new discoveries often risks losing sight of what was already known at one time - that which already exists in the published literature. Inadequate attention to the published literature and insufficient time devoted to its mining and synthesis into new knowledge is a problem faced by all disciplines, especially highly interdisciplinary fields such as environmental forensics, whose knowledge base is fragmented across numerous disciplines. While the conduct of science applies principles of quality assurance to a wide array of its processes, how pervasive are quality controls designed to ensure that planned or ongoing research has not been undertaken before? Has sufficient energy been devoted to mining what has already been discovered and synthesizing it into a larger, more useful perspective? This paper touches on the liabilities associated with insufficient examination of an exponentially growing published literature (

How should we question young children's understanding of aspectuality?

PubMed

Waters, Gillian M; Beck, Sarah R

2012-09-01

In two experiments, we investigated whether 4- to 5-year-old children's ability to demonstrate their understanding of aspectuality was influenced by how the test question was phrased. In Experiment 1, 60 children chose whether to look or feel to gain information about a hidden object (identifiable by sight or touch). Test questions referred either to the perceptual aspect of the hidden object (e.g., whether it was red or blue), the modality dimension (e.g., what colour it was), or the object's identity (e.g., which one it was). Children who heard the identity question performed worse than those who heard the aspect or dimension question. Further investigation in Experiment 2 (N= 23) established that children's difficulty with the identity question was not due to a problem recalling the objects. We discuss how the results of these methodological investigations impact on researchers' assessment of the development of aspectuality understanding. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Touch the table before the target: contact with an underlying surface may assist the development of precise visually controlled reach and grasp movements in human infants.

PubMed

Karl, Jenni M; Wilson, Alexis M; Bertoli, Marisa E; Shubear, Noor S

2018-05-24

Multiple motor channel theory posits that skilled hand movements arise from the coordinated activation of separable neural circuits in parietofrontal cortex, each of which produces a distinct movement and responds to different sensory inputs. Prehension, the act of reaching to grasp an object, consists of at least two movements: a reach movement that transports the hand to a target location and a grasp movement that shapes and closes the hand for target acquisition. During early development, discrete pre-reach and pre-grasp movements are refined based on proprioceptive and tactile feedback, but are gradually coordinated together into a singular hand preshaping movement under feedforward visual control. The neural and behavioural factors that enable this transition are currently unknown. In an attempt to identify such factors, the present descriptive study used frame-by-frame video analysis to examine 9-, 12-, and 15-month-old infants, along with sighted and unsighted adults, as they reached to grasp small ring-shaped pieces of cereal (Cheerios) resting on a table. Compared to sighted adults, infants and unsighted adults were more likely to make initial contact with the underlying table before they contacted the target. The way in which they did so was also similar in that they generally contacted the table with the tip of the thumb and/or pinky finger, a relatively open hand, and poor reach accuracy. Despite this, infants were similar to sighted adults in that they tended to use a pincer digit, defined as the tip of the thumb or index finger, to subsequently contact the target. Only in infants was this ability related to their having made prior contact with the underlying table. The results are discussed in relation to the idea that initial contact with an underlying table or surface may assist infants in learning to use feedforward visual control to direct their digits towards a precise visual target.

Virtual reality in surgical training.

PubMed

Lange, T; Indelicato, D J; Rosen, J M

2000-01-01

Virtual reality in surgery and, more specifically, in surgical training, faces a number of challenges in the future. These challenges are building realistic models of the human body, creating interface tools to view, hear, touch, feel, and manipulate these human body models, and integrating virtual reality systems into medical education and treatment. A final system would encompass simulators specifically for surgery, performance machines, telemedicine, and telesurgery. Each of these areas will need significant improvement for virtual reality to impact medicine successfully in the next century. This article gives an overview of, and the challenges faced by, current systems in the fast-changing field of virtual reality technology, and provides a set of specific milestones for a truly realistic virtual human body.

Embodied Space: a Sensorial Approach to Spatial Experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durão, Maria João

2009-03-01

A reflection is presented on the significance of the role of the body in the interpretation and future creation of spatial living structures. The paper draws on the body as cartography of sensorial meaning that includes vision, touch, smell, hearing, orientation and movement to discuss possible relationships with psychological and sociological parameters of 'sensorial space'. The complex dynamics of body-space is further explored from the standpoint of perceptual variables such as color, light, materialities, texture and their connections with design, technology, culture and symbology. Finally, the paper discusses the integration of knowledge and experimentation in the design of future habitats where body-sensitive frameworks encompass flexibility, communication, interaction and cognitive-driven solutions.

Development of the Visual Word Form Area Requires Visual Experience: Evidence from Blind Braille Readers.

PubMed

Kim, Judy S; Kanjlia, Shipra; Merabet, Lotfi B; Bedny, Marina

2017-11-22

Learning to read causes the development of a letter- and word-selective region known as the visual word form area (VWFA) within the human ventral visual object stream. Why does a reading-selective region develop at this anatomical location? According to one hypothesis, the VWFA develops at the nexus of visual inputs from retinotopic cortices and linguistic input from the frontotemporal language network because reading involves extracting linguistic information from visual symbols. Surprisingly, the anatomical location of the VWFA is also active when blind individuals read Braille by touch, suggesting that vision is not required for the development of the VWFA. In this study, we tested the alternative prediction that VWFA development is in fact influenced by visual experience. We predicted that in the absence of vision, the "VWFA" is incorporated into the frontotemporal language network and participates in high-level language processing. Congenitally blind ( n = 10, 9 female, 1 male) and sighted control ( n = 15, 9 female, 6 male), male and female participants each took part in two functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments: (1) word reading (Braille for blind and print for sighted participants), and (2) listening to spoken sentences of different grammatical complexity (both groups). We find that in blind, but not sighted participants, the anatomical location of the VWFA responds both to written words and to the grammatical complexity of spoken sentences. This suggests that in blindness, this region takes on high-level linguistic functions, becoming less selective for reading. More generally, the current findings suggest that experience during development has a major effect on functional specialization in the human cortex. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The visual word form area (VWFA) is a region in the human cortex that becomes specialized for the recognition of written letters and words. Why does this particular brain region become specialized for reading? We tested the hypothesis that the VWFA develops within the ventral visual stream because reading involves extracting linguistic information from visual symbols. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that in congenitally blind Braille readers, but not sighted readers of print, the VWFA region is active during grammatical processing of spoken sentences. These results suggest that visual experience contributes to VWFA specialization, and that different neural implementations of reading are possible. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/3711495-10$15.00/0.

Development of the Visual Word Form Area Requires Visual Experience: Evidence from Blind Braille Readers

PubMed Central

Kanjlia, Shipra; Merabet, Lotfi B.

2017-01-01

Learning to read causes the development of a letter- and word-selective region known as the visual word form area (VWFA) within the human ventral visual object stream. Why does a reading-selective region develop at this anatomical location? According to one hypothesis, the VWFA develops at the nexus of visual inputs from retinotopic cortices and linguistic input from the frontotemporal language network because reading involves extracting linguistic information from visual symbols. Surprisingly, the anatomical location of the VWFA is also active when blind individuals read Braille by touch, suggesting that vision is not required for the development of the VWFA. In this study, we tested the alternative prediction that VWFA development is in fact influenced by visual experience. We predicted that in the absence of vision, the “VWFA” is incorporated into the frontotemporal language network and participates in high-level language processing. Congenitally blind (n = 10, 9 female, 1 male) and sighted control (n = 15, 9 female, 6 male), male and female participants each took part in two functional magnetic resonance imaging experiments: (1) word reading (Braille for blind and print for sighted participants), and (2) listening to spoken sentences of different grammatical complexity (both groups). We find that in blind, but not sighted participants, the anatomical location of the VWFA responds both to written words and to the grammatical complexity of spoken sentences. This suggests that in blindness, this region takes on high-level linguistic functions, becoming less selective for reading. More generally, the current findings suggest that experience during development has a major effect on functional specialization in the human cortex. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The visual word form area (VWFA) is a region in the human cortex that becomes specialized for the recognition of written letters and words. Why does this particular brain region become specialized for reading? We tested the hypothesis that the VWFA develops within the ventral visual stream because reading involves extracting linguistic information from visual symbols. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that in congenitally blind Braille readers, but not sighted readers of print, the VWFA region is active during grammatical processing of spoken sentences. These results suggest that visual experience contributes to VWFA specialization, and that different neural implementations of reading are possible. PMID:29061700

Towards a capabilities database to inform inclusive design: experimental investigation of effective survey-based predictors of human-product interaction.

PubMed

Tenneti, Raji; Johnson, Daniel; Goldenberg, Liz; Parker, Richard A; Huppert, Felicia A

2012-07-01

A key issue in the field of inclusive design is the ability to provide designers with an understanding of people's range of capabilities. Since it is not feasible to assess product interactions with a large sample, this paper assesses a range of proxy measures of design-relevant capabilities. It describes a study that was conducted to identify which measures provide the best prediction of people's abilities to use a range of products. A detailed investigation with 100 respondents aged 50-80 years was undertaken to examine how they manage typical household products. Predictor variables included self-report and performance measures across a variety of capabilities (vision, hearing, dexterity and cognitive function), component activities used in product interactions (e.g. using a remote control, touch screen) and psychological characteristics (e.g. self-efficacy, confidence with using electronic devices). Results showed, as expected, a higher prevalence of visual, hearing, dexterity, cognitive and product interaction difficulties in the 65-80 age group. Regression analyses showed that, in addition to age, performance measures of vision (acuity, contrast sensitivity) and hearing (hearing threshold) and self-report and performance measures of component activities are strong predictors of successful product interactions. These findings will guide the choice of measures to be used in a subsequent national survey of design-relevant capabilities, which will lead to the creation of a capability database. This will be converted into a tool for designers to understand the implications of their design decisions, so that they can design products in a more inclusive way. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Sensory Disruption in Modern Living and the Emergence of Sensory Inequities

PubMed Central

Hoover, Kara C.

2018-01-01

Modern lifestyles are disrupting the human senses—primarily sight, sound, and smell. Noise-induced hearing loss has been noted for centuries and increasing over time following the industrial era. From the mid-20th century, the numbers of individuals with myopia (the leading visual impairment) have been increasing globally. Historical evidence for olfactory dysfunction is not known but its etiological links to pollution suggest it increased following industrialization. Clinical interventions for sight and sound loss include preventative and corrective measures but none exist for olfactory dysfunction. Further, olfactory loss is linked to multiple negative health outcomes across physical, mental, and social domains. Due to the global rates of exposure to pollution, olfaction is a global health concern. The environmental injustice inherent in human society (locally and globally) results in inequitable risk for sensory loss by the most vulnerable populations and creates an even deeper gradient in health disparity. Situated within the environmental justice and health disparity literature, this paper introduces the term sensory inequity to describe variation in sensory environments based on socio-economic status (which is often entwined with race and education). A key challenge to risk management is awareness of sensory inequity experienced by vulnerable populations and incorporating that awareness into basic research and policy. PMID:29599658

Persistence of touch DNA on burglary-related tools.

PubMed

Pfeifer, Céline M; Wiegand, Peter

2017-07-01

Experts are increasingly concerned by issues regarding the activity level of DNA stains. A case from our burglary-related casework pointed out the need for experiments regarding the persistence of DNA when more than one person touched a tool handle. We performed short tandem repeat (STR) analyses for three groups of tools: (1) personal and mock owned tools; (2) tools, which were first "owned" by a first user and then handled in a burglary action by a second user; and (3) tools, which were first owned by a first user and then handled in a moderate action. At least three types of tool handles were included in each of the groups. Every second user handled the tool with and without gloves. In total, 234 samples were analyzed regarding profile completeness of first and second user as well as properties like detectable major profile or mixture attributes. When second users simulated a burglary by using a tool bare handed, we could not detect the first user as major component on their handles but attribute him to the stain in 1/40 cases. When second users broke up the burglary setup using gloves, the first user matched the DNA handle profile in 37% of the cases. Moderate use of mock borrowed tools demonstrated a material-dependent persistence. In total, we observed that the outcome depends mainly on the nature of contact, the handle material, and the user-specific characteristics. This study intends to supplement present knowledge about persistence of touch DNA with a special emphasis on burglary-related cases with two consecutive users and to act as experimental data for an evaluation of the relevance of alleged hypotheses, when such is needed in a court hearing.

On-chip functional neuroimaging with mechanical stimulation in Caenorhabditis elegans larvae for studying development and neural circuits.

PubMed

Cho, Yongmin; Oakland, David N; Lee, Sol Ah; Schafer, William R; Lu, Hang

2018-02-13

Mechanosensation is fundamentally important for the abilities of an organism to experience touch, hear sounds, and maintain balance. Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful system for studying mechanosensation as this worm is well suited for in vivo functional imaging of neurons. Many years of research using labor-intensive methods have generated a wealth of knowledge about mechanosensation in C. elegans, and the recent microfluidic-based platforms continue to push the boundary for this field. However, developmental aspects of sensory biology, including mechanosensation, are still not fully understood. One current bottleneck is the difficulty in assaying larvae because they are much smaller than adult worms. Microfluidic devices with features small enough for larvae, especially actuators for the delivery of mechanical stimulation, are difficult to design and fabricate. Here, we present a series of automatic microfluidic platforms that allow for in vivo functional imaging of C. elegans responding to controlled mechanical stimulation at different developmental stages. Using a novel fabrication method, we designed highly deformable pneumatically actuated on-chip structures that can deliver mechanical stimulation to larval worms. The PDMS actuator allows for quantitatively controlled mechanical stimulation of both gentle and harsh touch neurons, by simply changing the actuation pressure, which makes this device easily translatable to other labs. We validated the design and utility of our systems with studies of the functional role of mechanosensory neurons in developing worms; we showed that gentle and harsh touch neurons function similarly in early larvae as they do in the adult stage, which would not have been possible previously. Finally, we investigated the effect of a sleep-like state on neuronal responses by imaging C. elegans in the lethargus state.

[Age-related changes of sensory system].

PubMed

Iwamoto, Toshihiko; Hanyu, Haruo; Umahara, Takahiko

2013-10-01

Pathological processes usually superimpose on physiological aging even in the sensory system including visual, hearing, olfactory, taste and somatosensory functions. Representative changes of age-related changes are presbyopia, cataracts, and presbyacusis. Reduced sense of smell is seen in normal aging, but the prominent reduction detected by the odor stick identification test is noticed especially in early stage of Alzheimer or Parkinson disease. Reduced sense of taste is well-known especially in salty sense, while the changes of sweet, bitter, and sour tastes are different among individuals. Finally, deep sensation of vibration and proprioception is decreased with age as well as superficial sensation (touch, temperature, pain). As a result, impaired sensory system could induce deterioration of the activities of daily living and quality of life in the elderly.

An Augmented Reality Nanomanipulator for Learning Nanophysics: The "NanoLearner" Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marchi, Florence; Marliere, Sylvain; Florens, Jean Loup; Luciani, Annie; Chevrier, Joel

The work focuses on the description and evaluation of an augmented reality nanomanipulator, called "NanoLearner" platform used as educational tool in practical works of nanophysics. Through virtual reality associated to multisensory renderings, students are immersed in the nanoworld where they can interact in real time with a sample surface or an object, using their senses as hearing, seeing and touching. The role of each sensorial rendering in the understanding and control of the "approach-retract" interaction has been determined thanks to statistical studies obtained during the practical works. Finally, we present two extensions of the use of this innovative tool for investigating nano effects in living organisms and for allowing grand public to have access to a natural understanding of nanophenomena.

Virtual reality for emergency training

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Altinkemer, K.

1995-12-31

Virtual reality is a sequence of scenes generated by a computer as a response to the five different senses. These senses are sight, sound, taste, touch, smell. Other senses that can be used in virtual reality include balance, pheromonal, and immunological senses. Many application areas include: leisure and entertainment, medicine, architecture, engineering, manufacturing, and training. Virtual reality is especially important when it is used for emergency training and management of natural disasters including earthquakes, floods, tornados and other situations which are hard to emulate. Classical training methods for these extraordinary environments lack the realistic surroundings that virtual reality can provide.more » In order for virtual reality to be a successful training tool the design needs to include certain aspects; such as how real virtual reality should be and how much fixed cost is entailed in setting up the virtual reality trainer. There are also pricing questions regarding the price per training session on virtual reality trainer, and the appropriate training time length(s).« less

Perceptual learning.

PubMed

Seitz, Aaron R

2017-07-10

Perceptual learning refers to how experience can change the way we perceive sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch. Examples abound: music training improves our ability to discern tones; experience with food and wines can refine our pallet (and unfortunately more quickly empty our wallet), and with years of training radiologists learn to save lives by discerning subtle details of images that escape the notice of untrained viewers. We often take perceptual learning for granted, but it has a profound impact on how we perceive the world. In this Primer, I will explain how perceptual learning is transformative in guiding our perceptual processes, how research into perceptual learning provides insight into fundamental mechanisms of learning and brain processes, and how knowledge of perceptual learning can be used to develop more effective training approaches for those requiring expert perceptual skills or those in need of perceptual rehabilitation (such as individuals with poor vision). I will make a case that perceptual learning is ubiquitous, scientifically interesting, and has substantial practical utility to us all. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Functional Equivalence of Spatial Images from Touch and Vision: Evidence from Spatial Updating in Blind and Sighted Individuals

PubMed Central

Giudice, Nicholas A.; Betty, Maryann R.; Loomis, Jack M.

2012-01-01

This research examines whether visual and haptic map learning yield functionally equivalent spatial images in working memory, as evidenced by similar encoding bias and updating performance. In three experiments, participants learned four-point routes either by seeing or feeling the maps. At test, blindfolded participants made spatial judgments about the maps from imagined perspectives that were either aligned or misaligned with the maps as represented in working memory. Results from Experiments 1 and 2 revealed a highly similar pattern of latencies and errors between visual and haptic conditions. These findings extend the well known alignment biases for visual map learning to haptic map learning, provide further evidence of haptic updating, and most importantly, show that learning from the two modalities yields very similar performance across all conditions. Experiment 3 found the same encoding biases and updating performance with blind individuals, demonstrating that functional equivalence cannot be due to visual recoding and is consistent with an amodal hypothesis of spatial images. PMID:21299331

The Influence of Motor Skills on Measurement Accuracy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brychta, Petr; Sadílek, Marek; Brychta, Josef

2016-10-01

This innovative study trying to do interdisciplinary interface at first view different ways fields: kinantropology and mechanical engineering. A motor skill is described as an action which involves the movement of muscles in a body. Gross motor skills permit functions as a running, jumping, walking, punching, lifting and throwing a ball, maintaining a body balance, coordinating etc. Fine motor skills captures smaller neuromuscular actions, such as holding an object between the thumb and a finger. In mechanical inspection, the accuracy of measurement is most important aspect. The accuracy of measurement to some extent is also dependent upon the sense of sight or sense of touch associated with fine motor skills. It is therefore clear that the level of motor skills will affect the precision and accuracy of measurement in metrology. Aim of this study is literature review to find out fine motor skills level of individuals and determine the potential effect of different fine motor skill performance on precision and accuracy of mechanical engineering measuring.

Predicting successful tactile mapping of virtual objects.

PubMed

Brayda, Luca; Campus, Claudio; Gori, Monica

2013-01-01

Improving spatial ability of blind and visually impaired people is the main target of orientation and mobility (O&M) programs. In this study, we use a minimalistic mouse-shaped haptic device to show a new approach aimed at evaluating devices providing tactile representations of virtual objects. We consider psychophysical, behavioral, and subjective parameters to clarify under which circumstances mental representations of spaces (cognitive maps) can be efficiently constructed with touch by blindfolded sighted subjects. We study two complementary processes that determine map construction: low-level perception (in a passive stimulation task) and high-level information integration (in an active exploration task). We show that jointly considering a behavioral measure of information acquisition and a subjective measure of cognitive load can give an accurate prediction and a practical interpretation of mapping performance. Our simple TActile MOuse (TAMO) uses haptics to assess spatial ability: this may help individuals who are blind or visually impaired to be better evaluated by O&M practitioners or to evaluate their own performance.

Eclipse Soundscapes Project: Making the August 21, 2017 Total Solar Eclipse Accessible to Everyone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winter, H. D., III

2017-12-01

The Eclipse Soundscapes Project delivered a multisensory experience that allowed the blind and visually impaired to engage with the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse along with their sighted peers in a way that would not have been possible otherwise. The project, from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and NASA's Heliophysics Education Consortium, includes illustrative audio descriptions of the eclipse in real time, recordings of the changing environmental sounds during the eclipse, and an interactive "rumble map" app that allows users to experience the eclipse through touch and sound. The Eclipse Soundscapes Project is working with organizations such as the National Parks Service (NPS), Science Friday, and Brigham Young University and by WGBH's National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) to bring the awe and wonder of the total solar eclipse and other astronomical phenomena to a segment of the population that has been excluded from and astronomy and astrophysics for far too long, while engaging all learners in new and exciting ways.

Treating inflammation by blocking interleukin-1 in a broad spectrum of diseases.

PubMed

Dinarello, Charles A; Simon, Anna; van der Meer, Jos W M

2012-08-01

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a highly active pro-inflammatory cytokine that lowers pain thresholds and damages tissues. Monotherapy blocking IL-1 activity in autoinflammatory syndromes results in a rapid and sustained reduction in disease severity, including reversal of inflammation-mediated loss of sight, hearing and organ function. This approach can therefore be effective in treating common conditions such as post-infarction heart failure, and trials targeting a broad spectrum of new indications are underway. So far, three IL-1-targeted agents have been approved: the IL-1 receptor antagonist anakinra, the soluble decoy receptor rilonacept and the neutralizing monoclonal anti-IL-1β antibody canakinumab. In addition, a monoclonal antibody directed against the IL-1 receptor and a neutralizing anti-IL-1α antibody are in clinical trials.

Autobiographical accounts of sensing in Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism.

PubMed

Elwin, Marie; Ek, Lena; Schröder, Agneta; Kjellin, Lars

2012-10-01

Sensory experiences in Asperger syndrome (AS) or high-functioning autism (HFA) were explored by qualitative content analysis of autobiographical texts by persons with AS/HFA. Predetermined categories of hyper- and hyposensitivity were applied to texts. Hypersensitivity consists of strong reactions and heightened apprehension in reaction to external stimuli, sometimes together with overfocused or unselective attention. It was common in vision, hearing, and touch. In contrast, hyposensitivity was frequent in reaction to internal and body stimuli such as interoception, proprioception, and pain. It consists of less registration, discrimination, and recognition of stimuli as well as cravings for specific stimuli. Awareness of the strong impact of sensitivity is essential for creating good environments and encounters in the context of psychiatric and other health care. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hearing in three dimensions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shinn-Cunningham, Barbara

2003-04-01

One of the key functions of hearing is to help us monitor and orient to events in our environment (including those outside the line of sight). The ability to compute the spatial location of a sound source is also important for detecting, identifying, and understanding the content of a sound source, especially in the presence of competing sources from other positions. Determining the spatial location of a sound source poses difficult computational challenges; however, we perform this complex task with proficiency, even in the presence of noise and reverberation. This tutorial will review the acoustic, psychoacoustic, and physiological processes underlying spatial auditory perception. First, the tutorial will examine how the many different features of the acoustic signals reaching a listener's ears provide cues for source direction and distance, both in anechoic and reverberant space. Then we will discuss psychophysical studies of three-dimensional sound localization in different environments and the basic neural mechanisms by which spatial auditory cues are extracted. Finally, ``virtual reality'' approaches for simulating sounds at different directions and distances under headphones will be reviewed. The tutorial will be structured to appeal to a diverse audience with interests in all fields of acoustics and will incorporate concepts from many areas, such as psychological and physiological acoustics, architectural acoustics, and signal processing.

Problem solving of student with visual impairment related to mathematical literacy problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pratama, A. R.; Saputro, D. R. S.; Riyadi

2018-04-01

The student with visual impairment, total blind category depends on the sense of touch and hearing in obtaining information. In fact, the two senses can receive information less than 20%. Thus, students with visual impairment of the total blind categories in the learning process must have difficulty, including learning mathematics. This study aims to describe the problem-solving process of the student with visual impairment, total blind category on mathematical literacy issues based on Polya phase. This research using test method similar problems mathematical literacy in PISA and in-depth interviews. The subject of this study was a student with visual impairment, total blind category. Based on the result of the research, problem-solving related to mathematical literacy based on Polya phase is quite good. In the phase of understanding the problem, the student read about twice by brushing the text and assisted with information through hearing three times. The student with visual impairment in problem-solving based on the Polya phase, devising a plan by summoning knowledge and experience gained previously. At the phase of carrying out the plan, students with visual impairment implement the plan in accordance with pre-made. In the looking back phase, students with visual impairment need to check the answers three times but have not been able to find a way.

Impaired Vibration of Auditory Ossicles in Osteopetrotic Mice

PubMed Central

Kanzaki, Sho; Takada, Yasunari; Niida, Shumpei; Takeda, Yoshihiro; Udagawa, Nobuyuki; Ogawa, Kaoru; Nango, Nobuhito; Momose, Atsushi; Matsuo, Koichi

2011-01-01

In the middle ear, a chain of three tiny bones (ie, malleus, incus, and stapes) vibrates to transmit sound from the tympanic membrane to the inner ear. Little is known about whether and how bone-resorbing osteoclasts play a role in the vibration of auditory ossicles. We analyzed hearing function and morphological features of auditory ossicles in osteopetrotic mice, which lack osteoclasts because of the deficiency of either cytokine RANKL or transcription factor c-Fos. The auditory brainstem response showed that mice of both genotypes experienced hearing loss, and laser Doppler vibrometry revealed that the malleus behind the tympanic membrane failed to vibrate. Histological analysis and X-ray tomographic microscopy using synchrotron radiation showed that auditory ossicles in osteopetrotic mice were thicker and more cartilaginous than those in control mice. Most interestingly, the malleal processus brevis touched the medial wall of the tympanic cavity in osteopetrotic mice, which was also the case for c-Src kinase–deficient mice (with normal numbers of nonresorbing osteoclasts). Osteopetrotic mice showed a smaller volume of the tympanic cavity but had larger auditory ossicles compared with controls. These data suggest that osteoclastic bone resorption is required for thinning of auditory ossicles and enlargement of the tympanic cavity so that auditory ossicles vibrate freely. PMID:21356377

Remote atomic force microscopy of microscopic organisms: Technological innovations for hands-on science with middle and high school students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, M. G.; Andre, T.; Kubasko, D.; Bokinsky, A.; Tretter, T.; Negishi, A.; Taylor, R.; Superfine, R.

2004-01-01

This study examined hands-on experiences in the context of an investigation of viruses and explored how and why hands-on experiences may be effective. We sought to understand whether or not touching and manipulating materials and objects could lead to a deeper, more effective type of knowing than that we obtain from sight or sound alone. Four classes of high school biology students and four classes of seventh graders participated in the study that examined students' use of remote microscopy with a new scientific tool called the nanoManipulator, which enabled them to reach out and touch live viruses inside an atomic force microscope. Half of the students received full haptic (tactile and kinesthetic) feedback from a haptic joystick, whereas half of the students were able to use the haptic joystick to manipulate viruses but the tactile feedback was blocked. Results showed that there were significant gains from pre- to postinstruction across treatment groups for knowledge and attitudes. Students in both treatment groups developed conceptual models of viruses that were more consistent with current scientific research, including a move from a two-dimensional to a three-dimensional understanding of virus morphology. There were significant changes in students' understandings of scale; after instruction, students were more likely to identify examples of nanosized objects and be able to describe the degree to which a human would have to be shrunk to reach the size of a virus. Students who received full-haptic feedback had significantly better attitudes suggesting that the increased sensory feedback and stimulation may have made the experience more engaging and motivating to students.

Touch for Socioemotional and Physical Well-Being: A Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Field, Tiffany

2010-01-01

This review briefly summarizes recent empirical research on touch. The research includes the role of touch in early development, touch deprivation, touch aversion, emotions that can be conveyed by touch, the importance of touch for interpersonal relationships and how friendly touch affects compliance in different situations. MRI data are reviewed…

Communication acoustics in Bell Labs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flanagan, J. L.

2004-05-01

Communication aoustics has been a central theme in Bell Labs research since its inception. Telecommunication serves human information exchange. And, humans favor spoken language as a principal mode. The atmospheric medium typically provides the link between articulation and hearing. Creation, control and detection of sound, and the human's facility for generation and perception are basic ingredients of telecommunication. Electronics technology of the 1920s ushered in great advances in communication at a distance, a strong economical impetus being to overcome bandwidth limitations of wireline and cable. Early research established criteria for speech transmission with high quality and intelligibility. These insights supported exploration of means for efficient transmission-obtaining the greatest amount of speech information over a given bandwidth. Transoceanic communication was initiated by undersea cables for telegraphy. But these long cables exhibited very limited bandwidth (order of few hundred Hz). The challenge of sending voice across the oceans spawned perhaps the best known speech compression technique of history-the Vocoder, which parametrized the signal for transmission in about 300 Hz bandwidth, one-tenth that required for the typical waveform channel. Quality and intelligibility were grave issues (and they still are). At the same time parametric representation offered possibilities for encryption and privacy inside a traditional voice bandwidth. Confidential conversations between Roosevelt and Churchill during World War II were carried over high-frequency radio by an encrypted vocoder system known as Sigsaly. Major engineering advances in the late 1940s and early 1950s moved telecommunications into a new regime-digital technology. These key advances were at least three: (i) new understanding of time-discrete (sampled) representation of signals, (ii) digital computation (especially binary based), and (iii) evolving capabilities in microelectronics that ultimately provided circuits of enormous complexity with low cost and power. Digital transmission (as exemplified in pulse code modulation-PCM, and its many derivatives) became a telecommunication mainstay, along with switches to control and route information in digital form. Concomitantly, storage means for digital information advanced, providing another impetus for speech compression. More and more, humans saw the need to exchange speech information with machines, as well as with other humans. Human-machine speech communication came to full stride in the early 1990s, and now has expanded to multimodal domains that begin to support enhanced naturalness, using contemporaneous sight, sound and touch signaling. Packet transmission is supplanting circuit switching, and voice and video are commonly being carried by Internet protocol.

Immune–neural connections: how the immune system’s response to infectious agents influences behavior

PubMed Central

McCusker, Robert H.; Kelley, Keith W.

2013-01-01

Summary Humans and animals use the classical five senses of sight, sound, touch, smell and taste to monitor their environment. The very survival of feral animals depends on these sensory perception systems, which is a central theme in scholarly research on comparative aspects of anatomy and physiology. But how do all of us sense and respond to an infection? We cannot see, hear, feel, smell or taste bacterial and viral pathogens, but humans and animals alike are fully aware of symptoms of sickness that are caused by these microbes. Pain, fatigue, altered sleep pattern, anorexia and fever are common symptoms in both sick animals and humans. Many of these physiological changes represent adaptive responses that are considered to promote animal survival, and this constellation of events results in sickness behavior. Infectious agents display a variety of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) that are recognized by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). These PRR are expressed on both the surface [e.g. Toll-like receptor (TLR)-4] and in the cytoplasm [e.g. nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (Nod)-like receptors] of cells of the innate immune system, primarily macrophages and dendritic cells. These cells initiate and propagate an inflammatory response by stimulating the synthesis and release of a variety of cytokines. Once an infection has occurred in the periphery, both cytokines and bacterial toxins deliver this information to the brain using both humoral and neuronal routes of communication. For example, binding of PRR can lead to activation of the afferent vagus nerve, which communicates neuronal signals via the lower brain stem (nucleus tractus solitarius) to higher brain centers such as the hypothalamus and amygdala. Blood-borne cytokines initiate a cytokine response from vascular endothelial cells that form the blood–brain barrier (BBB). Cytokines can also reach the brain directly by leakage through the BBB via circumventricular organs or by being synthesized within the brain, thus forming a mirror image of the cytokine milieu in the periphery. Although all cells within the brain are capable of initiating cytokine secretion, microglia have an early response to incoming neuronal and humoral stimuli. Inhibition of proinflammatory cytokines that are induced following bacterial infection blocks the appearance of sickness behaviors. Collectively, these data are consistent with the notion that the immune system communicates with the brain to regulate behavior in a way that is consistent with animal survival. PMID:23225871

Going global: the transnationalization of care.

PubMed

Yeates, Nicola

2011-01-01

This article critically examines the contours of ‘care transnationalization’ as an ongoing social process and a field of enquiry. Care transnationalization scholarship combines structural understandings of global power relations with an emphasis on social interactions between defined actors in ways that keep sight of human agency, material welfare and wider social development. It has, however, tended to privilege particular forms, dynamics and sites of care transnationalization over others. The body of research on care labour migration, which is otherwise the most developed literature on care transnationalization to date, contains a number of biases and omissions in its coverage of border-spanning relations and their mediation across country contexts. At the same time, other significant forms of care transnationalization, such as those involving consumer-based care migration, corporate restructuring and the formation of care policy, have suffered from comparative neglect. Working towards an integrated agenda that addresses these diverse expressions of care transnationalization and how they ‘touch down’ in a range of sectoral, social and country contexts is of prime importance to policy research agendas directed at understanding the wider development impacts of processes of social and economic restructuring.

Simultaneous neural and movement recording in large-scale immersive virtual environments.

PubMed

Snider, Joseph; Plank, Markus; Lee, Dongpyo; Poizner, Howard

2013-10-01

Virtual reality (VR) allows precise control and manipulation of rich, dynamic stimuli that, when coupled with on-line motion capture and neural monitoring, can provide a powerful means both of understanding brain behavioral relations in the high dimensional world and of assessing and treating a variety of neural disorders. Here we present a system that combines state-of-the-art, fully immersive, 3D, multi-modal VR with temporally aligned electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings. The VR system is dynamic and interactive across visual, auditory, and haptic interactions, providing sight, sound, touch, and force. Crucially, it does so with simultaneous EEG recordings while subjects actively move about a 20 × 20 ft² space. The overall end-to-end latency between real movement and its simulated movement in the VR is approximately 40 ms. Spatial precision of the various devices is on the order of millimeters. The temporal alignment with the neural recordings is accurate to within approximately 1 ms. This powerful combination of systems opens up a new window into brain-behavioral relations and a new means of assessment and rehabilitation of individuals with motor and other disorders.

Reach out to one and you reach out to many: social touch affects third-party observers.

PubMed

Schirmer, Annett; Reece, Christy; Zhao, Claris; Ng, Erik; Wu, Esther; Yen, Shih-Cheng

2015-02-01

Casual social touch influences emotional perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours of interaction partners. We asked whether these influences extend to third-party observers. To this end, we developed the Social Touch Picture Set comprising line drawings of dyadic interactions, half of which entailed publicly acceptable casual touch and half of which served as no-touch controls. In Experiment 1, participants provided basic image norms by rating how frequently they observed a displayed touch gesture in everyday life and how comfortable they were observing it. Results implied that some touch gestures were observed more frequently and with greater comfort than others (e.g., handshake vs. hug). All gestures, however, obtained rating scores suitable for inclusion in Experiments 2 and 3. In Experiment 2, participants rated perceived valence, arousal, and likeability of randomly presented touch and no-touch images without being explicitly informed about touch. Image characters seemed more positive, aroused, and likeable when they touched as compared to when they did not touch. Image characters seemed more negative and aroused, but were equally likeable, when they received touch as compared to when there was no physical contact. In Experiment 3, participants passively viewed touch and no-touch images while their eye movements were recorded. Differential gazing at touch as compared to no-touch images emerged within the first 500 ms following image exposure and was largely restricted to the characters' upper body. Gazing at the touching body parts (e.g., hands) was minimal and largely unaffected by touch, suggesting that touch processing occurred outside the focus of visual attention. Together, these findings establish touch as an important visual cue and provide novel insights into how this cue modulates socio-emotional processing in third-party observers. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Social Touch Technology: A Survey of Haptic Technology for Social Touch.

PubMed

Huisman, Gijs

2017-01-01

This survey provides an overview of work on haptic technology for social touch. Social touch has been studied extensively in psychology and neuroscience. With the development of new technologies, it is now possible to engage in social touch at a distance or engage in social touch with artificial social agents. Social touch research has inspired research into technology mediated social touch, and this line of research has found effects similar to actual social touch. The importance of haptic stimulus qualities, multimodal cues, and contextual factors in technology mediated social touch is discussed. This survey is concluded by reflecting on the current state of research into social touch technology, and providing suggestions for future research and applications.

[Acoustical parameters of toys].

PubMed

Harazin, Barbara

2010-01-01

Toys play an important role in the development of the sight and hearing concentration in children. They also support the development of manipulation, gently influence a child and excite its emotional activities. A lot of toys emit various sounds. The aim of the study was to assess sound levels produced by sound-emitting toys used by young children. Acoustical parameters of noise were evaluated for 16 sound-emitting plastic toys in laboratory conditions. The noise level was recorded at four different distances, 10, 20, 25 and 30 cm, from the toy. Measurements of A-weighted sound pressure levels and noise levels in octave band in the frequency range from 31.5 Hz to 16 kHz were performed at each distance. Taking into consideration the highest equivalent A-weighted sound levels produced by tested toys, they can be divided into four groups: below 70 dB (6 toys), from 70 to 74 dB (4 toys), from 75 to 84 dB (3 toys) and from 85 to 94 dB (3 toys). The majority of toys (81%) emitted dominant sound levels in octave band at the frequency range from 2 kHz to 4 kHz. Sound-emitting toys produce the highest acoustic energy at the frequency range of the highest susceptibility of the auditory system. Noise levels produced by some toys can be dangerous to children's hearing.

Constraining the common properties of active region formation using the SDO/HEAR dataset

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schunker, H.; Braun, D. C.; Birch, A. C.

2016-10-01

Observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) have the potential for allowing the helioseismic study of the formation of hundreds of active regions, which enable us to perform statistical analyses. We collated a uniform data set of emerging active regions (EARs) observed by the SDO/HMI instrument suitable for helioseismic analysis, where each active region can be observed up to 7 days before emergence. We call this dataset the SDO Helioseismic Emerging Active Region (SDO/HEAR) survey. We have used this dataset to to understand the nature of active region emergence. The latitudinally averaged line-of-sight magnetic field of all the EARs shows that the leading (trailing) polarity moves in a prograde (retrograde) direction with a speed of 110 ± 15 m/s (-60 ± 10 m/s) relative to the Carrington rotation rate in the first day after emergence. However, relative to the differential rotation of the surface plasma the East-West velocity is symmetric, with a mean of 90 ± 10 m/s. We have also compared the surface flows associated with the EARs at the time of emergence with surface flows from numerical simulations of flux emergence with different rise speeds. We found that the surface flows in simulations of emerging flux with a low rise speed of 70 m/s best match the observations.

Impacts of Chandra X-ray Observatory Public Communications and Engagement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arcand, Kimberly K.; Watzke, Megan; Lestition, Kathleen; Edmonds, Peter

2015-01-01

The Chandra X-ray Observatory Center runs a multifaceted Public Communications & Engagement program encompassing press relations, public engagement, and education. Our goals include reaching a large and diverse audience of national and international scope, establishing direct connections and working relationships with the scientists whose research forms the basis for all products, creating peer-reviewed materials and activities that evolve from an integrated pipeline design and encourage users toward deeper engagement, and developing materials that target underserved audiences such as women, Spanish speakers, and the sight and hearing impaired. This talk will highlight some of the key features of our program, from the high quality curated digital presence to the cycle of research and evaluation that informs our practice at all points of the program creation. We will also discuss the main impacts of the program, from the tens of millions of participants reached through the establishment and sustainability of a network of science 'volunpeers.'

Olfaction: New Understandings, Diagnostic Applications.

PubMed

Ruggiero, Gabrielle F; Wick, Jeannette Y

2016-11-01

Estimates indicate that 14 million Americans have olfactory dysfunction. As with other senses, such as sight and hearing, olfaction frequently declines with age. Impaired olfaction can be a warning sign of Parkinson's disease, sometimes occurring before motor symptoms develop. It's also an initial symptom of Alzheimer's dementia (AD); the amyloid plaques and tangles characterizing AD invade the olfactory bulb and hippocampus early in its course, hampering odor identification. Olfactory dysfunction is associated with some serious problems, including inability to smell warning odors (fire, gas) and impaired ability to taste food. Standardized, validated methods are available to measure several different dimensions of olfactory function, including odor identification, discrimination, and threshold levels. Researchers are currently studying the unique olfactory deficits associated with different conditions in hopes of identifying new, noninvasive tools for early diagnosis and treatment. Drugs may cause or contribute to olfactory dysfunction, but it can be difficult to pinpoint offending medications.

Interactive Inventory Monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garud, Sumedha

2013-01-01

Method and system for monitoring present location and/or present status of a target inventory item, where the inventory items are located on one or more inventory shelves or other inventory receptacles that communicate with an inventory base station through use of responders such as RFIDs. A user operates a hand held interrogation and display (lAD) module that communicates with, or is part of the base station to provide an initial inquiry. lnformation on location(s) of the larget invenlory item is also indicated visibly and/or audibly on the receptacle(s) for the user. Status information includes an assessment of operation readiness and a time, if known, that the specified inventory item or class was last removed or examined or modified. Presentation of a user access level may be required for access to the target inventgory item. Another embodiment provides inventory informatin for a stack as a sight-impaired or hearing-impaired person adjacent to that stack.

Interactive inventory monitoring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spremo, Stevan M. (Inventor); Udoh, Usen E. (Inventor)

2009-01-01

Method and system for monitoring present location and/or present status of a target inventory item, where the inventory items are located on one or more inventory shelves or other inventory receptacles that communicate with an inventory base station through use of responders such as RFIDs. A user operates a hand held interrogation and display (IAD) module that communicates with, or is part of, the base station, to provide an initial inquiry. Information on location(s) of the target inventory item is also indicated visibly and/or audibly on the receptacle(s) for the user. Status information includes an assessment of operation readiness and a time, if known, that the specified inventory item or class was last removed or examined or modified. Presentation of a user access level may be required for access to the target inventory item. Another embodiment provides inventory information for a stack as a sight-impaired or hearing-impaired person passes adjacent to that stack.

Development of a Portable Two-Way Communication and Information Device for Deafblind People.

PubMed

Ozioko, Oliver; Hersh, Marion

2015-01-01

This paper presents research on the development of a wearable two-way communication and information device for deafblind people who use tactile communications methods, namely the British deafblind manual alphabet and/or Braille. The device has two components: a glove worn by the deafblind person and a handheld display with keypad to be used by their hearing and sighted communication partner. Users can send messages using pressure sensors embedded in the glove and receive them by means of vibration on the palm. The two components are linked by Bluetooth and the use of Bluetooth to communicate with computers, mobile phones and other Bluetooth enabled devices is being investigated. The design was informed by feedback obtained from a survey of deafblind people and interviews with staff in two organisations for deafblind people. Research and development of the device is still ongoing.

The Measurement of Auditory Abilities of Blind, Partially Sighted, and Sighted Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stankov, Lazar; Spilsbury, Georgina

1979-01-01

Auditory tests were administered to 30 blind, partially sighted, and sighted children. Overall, the blind and sighted were equal on most of the measured abilities. Blind children performed well on tonal memory tests. Partially sighted children performed more poorly than the other two groups. (MH)

Please Touch: Object Properties that Invite Touch.

PubMed

Klatzky, R L; Peck, J

2012-01-01

Touch has received increasing interest in marketing, given research indicating that contact with products influences evaluation and the tendency to purchase. However, little is known from the marketing or psychophysical literature about visible attributes of objects that elicit touch for hedonic purposes. In these studies, participants rated the tendency of pictured objects to invite touch, or "touch-ability." Rated touch-ability varied reliably with structural attributes of objects, and the structural influences were distinct from those on other ratings such as attractiveness and apparent expense. Although the trends varied across object sets, touch-ability generally declined as surface textures became markedly rough and shape complexity became extreme. Holding stimulus factors constant, touch-ability also varied with the specific hand movements that were anticipated. Finally, mean touch-ability ratings were correlated across participants with the "Need for Touch" scale, which measures an individual's tendency to touch products. The studies point to touch-ability as a potential factor that might be incorporated into product design.

The Virtual Midas Touch: Helping Behavior After a Mediated Social Touch.

PubMed

Haans, A; Usselsteijn, W A

2009-01-01

A brief touch on the upper arm increases people's altruistic behavior and willingness to comply with a request. In this paper, we investigate whether this Midas touch phenomenon would also occur under mediated conditions (i.e., touching via an arm strap equipped with electromechanical actuators). Helping behavior was more frequently endorsed in the touch, compared to the no-touch condition, but this difference was not found to be statistically significant. However, a meta-analytical comparison with published research demonstrated that the strength of the virtual Midas touch is of the same magnitude as that of the Midas touch in unmediated situations. The present experiment, thus, provides empirical evidence that touch-like qualities can be attributed to electromechanical stimulation. This is important for the field of mediated social touch of which the design rationale is based on the assumption that mediated touch by means of tactile feedback technologies is processed in ways similar to real physical contact.

Multisensory architectures for action-oriented perception

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alba, L.; Arena, P.; De Fiore, S.; Listán, J.; Patané, L.; Salem, A.; Scordino, G.; Webb, B.

2007-05-01

In order to solve the navigation problem of a mobile robot in an unstructured environment a versatile sensory system and efficient locomotion control algorithms are necessary. In this paper an innovative sensory system for action-oriented perception applied to a legged robot is presented. An important problem we address is how to utilize a large variety and number of sensors, while having systems that can operate in real time. Our solution is to use sensory systems that incorporate analog and parallel processing, inspired by biological systems, to reduce the required data exchange with the motor control layer. In particular, as concerns the visual system, we use the Eye-RIS v1.1 board made by Anafocus, which is based on a fully parallel mixed-signal array sensor-processor chip. The hearing sensor is inspired by the cricket hearing system and allows efficient localization of a specific sound source with a very simple analog circuit. Our robot utilizes additional sensors for touch, posture, load, distance, and heading, and thus requires customized and parallel processing for concurrent acquisition. Therefore a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based hardware was used to manage the multi-sensory acquisition and processing. This choice was made because FPGAs permit the implementation of customized digital logic blocks that can operate in parallel allowing the sensors to be driven simultaneously. With this approach the multi-sensory architecture proposed can achieve real time capabilities.

Hearing, feeling or seeing a beat recruits a supramodal network in the auditory dorsal stream.

PubMed

Araneda, Rodrigo; Renier, Laurent; Ebner-Karestinos, Daniela; Dricot, Laurence; De Volder, Anne G

2017-06-01

Hearing a beat recruits a wide neural network that involves the auditory cortex and motor planning regions. Perceiving a beat can potentially be achieved via vision or even touch, but it is currently not clear whether a common neural network underlies beat processing. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to test to what extent the neural network involved in beat processing is supramodal, that is, is the same in the different sensory modalities. Brain activity changes in 27 healthy volunteers were monitored while they were attending to the same rhythmic sequences (with and without a beat) in audition, vision and the vibrotactile modality. We found a common neural network for beat detection in the three modalities that involved parts of the auditory dorsal pathway. Within this network, only the putamen and the supplementary motor area (SMA) showed specificity to the beat, while the brain activity in the putamen covariated with the beat detection speed. These results highlighted the implication of the auditory dorsal stream in beat detection, confirmed the important role played by the putamen in beat detection and indicated that the neural network for beat detection is mostly supramodal. This constitutes a new example of convergence of the same functional attributes into one centralized representation in the brain. © 2016 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Clinton advocates for Law of the Sea treaty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy

The Obama administration recently reiterated its call for the United States to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who expressed strong support for the Law of the Sea treaty during her Senate confirmation hearing in 2009, again called for passage of the treaty during 15 December remarks at a business roundtable in Washington, D. C., sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts. "Signing on to the convention is critical to protecting American security and enhancing our economic strength," she said, noting that the U.S. ratification of the treaty would protect American business interests by providing "legal certainty and predictability that businesses can rely on." The treaty—which also touches on a wide range of other issues including navigation, conservation and management of resources, and scientific research—is opposed by some who are concerned about the undermining of national sovereignty.

[Information technology in learning sign language].

PubMed

Hernández, Cesar; Pulido, Jose L; Arias, Jorge E

2015-01-01

To develop a technological tool that improves the initial learning of sign language in hearing impaired children. The development of this research was conducted in three phases: the lifting of requirements, design and development of the proposed device, and validation and evaluation device. Through the use of information technology and with the advice of special education professionals, we were able to develop an electronic device that facilitates the learning of sign language in deaf children. This is formed mainly by a graphic touch screen, a voice synthesizer, and a voice recognition system. Validation was performed with the deaf children in the Filadelfia School of the city of Bogotá. A learning methodology was established that improves learning times through a small, portable, lightweight, and educational technological prototype. Tests showed the effectiveness of this prototype, achieving a 32 % reduction in the initial learning time for sign language in deaf children.

How many sightings to model rare marine species distributions

PubMed Central

Authier, Matthieu; Monestiez, Pascal; Ridoux, Vincent

2018-01-01

Despite large efforts, datasets with few sightings are often available for rare species of marine megafauna that typically live at low densities. This paucity of data makes modelling the habitat of these taxa particularly challenging. We tested the predictive performance of different types of species distribution models fitted to decreasing numbers of sightings. Generalised additive models (GAMs) with three different residual distributions and the presence only model MaxEnt were tested on two megafauna case studies differing in both the number of sightings and ecological niches. From a dolphin (277 sightings) and an auk (1,455 sightings) datasets, we simulated rarity with a sighting thinning protocol by random sampling (without replacement) of a decreasing fraction of sightings. Better prediction of the distribution of a rarely sighted species occupying a narrow habitat (auk dataset) was expected compared to the distribution of a rarely sighted species occupying a broad habitat (dolphin dataset). We used the original datasets to set up a baseline model and fitted additional models on fewer sightings but keeping effort constant. Model predictive performance was assessed with mean squared error and area under the curve. Predictions provided by the models fitted to the thinned-out datasets were better than a homogeneous spatial distribution down to a threshold of approximately 30 sightings for a GAM with a Tweedie distribution and approximately 130 sightings for the other models. Thinning the sighting data for the taxon with narrower habitats seemed to be less detrimental to model predictive performance than for the broader habitat taxon. To generate reliable habitat modelling predictions for rarely sighted marine predators, our results suggest (1) using GAMs with a Tweedie distribution with presence-absence data and (2) implementing, as a conservative empirical measure, at least 50 sightings in the models. PMID:29529097

A Touch Sensing Technique Using the Effects of Extremely Low Frequency Fields on the Human Body

PubMed Central

Elfekey, Hatem; Bastawrous, Hany Ayad; Okamoto, Shogo

2016-01-01

Touch sensing is a fundamental approach in human-to-machine interfaces, and is currently under widespread use. Many current applications use active touch sensing technologies. Passive touch sensing technologies are, however, more adequate to implement low power or energy harvesting touch sensing interfaces. This paper presents a passive touch sensing technique based on the fact that the human body is affected by the surrounding extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields, such as those of AC power lines. These external ELF fields induce electric potentials on the human body—because human tissues exhibit some conductivity at these frequencies—resulting in what is called AC hum. We therefore propose a passive touch sensing system that detects this hum noise when a human touch occurs, thus distinguishing between touch and non-touch events. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is validated by designing and implementing a flexible touch sensing keyboard. PMID:27918416

A Touch Sensing Technique Using the Effects of Extremely Low Frequency Fields on the Human Body.

PubMed

Elfekey, Hatem; Bastawrous, Hany Ayad; Okamoto, Shogo

2016-12-02

Touch sensing is a fundamental approach in human-to-machine interfaces, and is currently under widespread use. Many current applications use active touch sensing technologies. Passive touch sensing technologies are, however, more adequate to implement low power or energy harvesting touch sensing interfaces. This paper presents a passive touch sensing technique based on the fact that the human body is affected by the surrounding extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic fields, such as those of AC power lines. These external ELF fields induce electric potentials on the human body-because human tissues exhibit some conductivity at these frequencies-resulting in what is called AC hum. We therefore propose a passive touch sensing system that detects this hum noise when a human touch occurs, thus distinguishing between touch and non-touch events. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is validated by designing and implementing a flexible touch sensing keyboard.

Sighting optics including an optical element having a first focal length and a second focal length and methods for sighting

DOEpatents

Crandall, David Lynn

2011-08-16

Sighting optics include a front sight and a rear sight positioned in a spaced-apart relation. The rear sight includes an optical element having a first focal length and a second focal length. The first focal length is selected so that it is about equal to a distance separating the optical element and the front sight and the second focal length is selected so that it is about equal to a target distance. The optical element thus brings into simultaneous focus for a user images of the front sight and the target.

Uncertain sightings and the extinction of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.

PubMed

Solow, Andrew; Smith, Woollcott; Burgman, Mark; Rout, Tracy; Wintle, Brendan; Roberts, David

2012-02-01

The extinction of a species can be inferred from a record of its sightings. Existing methods for doing so assume that all sightings in the record are valid. Often, however, there are sightings of uncertain validity. To date, uncertain sightings have been treated in an ad hoc way, either excluding them from the record or including them as if they were certain. We developed a Bayesian method that formally accounts for such uncertain sightings. The method assumes that valid and invalid sightings follow independent Poisson processes and use noninformative prior distributions for the rate of valid sightings and for a measure of the quality of uncertain sightings. We applied the method to a recently published record of sightings of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis). This record covers the period 1897-2010 and contains 39 sightings classified as certain and 29 classified as uncertain. The Bayes factor in favor of extinction was 4.03, which constitutes substantial support for extinction. The posterior distribution of the time of extinction has 3 main modes in 1944, 1952, and 1988. The method can be applied to sighting records of other purportedly extinct species. ©2011 Society for Conservation Biology.

The Use of Touch in Therapy: Can We Talk?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Melanie A.

The empirical literature regarding the use of nonerotic touch in psychotherapy is reviewed. Theoretical and ethical concerns are discussed, including the taboo against touching clients, situations in which touch may be appropriate, and whether or not nonerotic touch leads to erotic touch. It is difficult to design controlled studies for ongoing…

Discomfort and avoidance of touch: new insights on the emotional deficits of social anxiety.

PubMed

Kashdan, Todd B; Doorley, James; Stiksma, Melissa C; Hertenstein, Matthew J

2017-12-01

Physical touch is central to the emotional intimacy that separates romantic relationships from other social contexts. In this study of 256 adults (128 heterosexual couples, mean relationship length = 20.5 months), we examined whether individual differences in social anxiety influenced comfort with and avoidance of physical touch. Because of prior work on sex difference in touch use, touch comfort, and social anxiety symptoms and impairment, we explored sex-specific findings. We found evidence that women with greater social anxiety were less comfortable with touch and more avoidant of touch in same-sex friendships. Additionally, a woman's social anxiety had a bigger effect on a man's comfort with touch and avoidance of touch in the romantic relationship than a man's social anxiety had on the woman's endorsement of touch-related problems. These effects were uninfluenced by the length of romantic relationships. Touch is a neglected emotional experience that offers new insights into the difficulties of individuals suffering from social anxiety problems, and their romantic partners.

Affectionate Touch to Promote Relational, Psychological, and Physical Well-Being in Adulthood: A Theoretical Model and Review of the Research.

PubMed

Jakubiak, Brittany K; Feeney, Brooke C

2017-08-01

Throughout the life span, individuals engage in affectionate touch with close others. Touch receipt promotes well-being in infancy, but the impacts of touch in adult close relationships have been largely unexplored. In this article, we propose that affectionate touch receipt promotes relational, psychological, and physical well-being in adulthood, and we present a theoretical mechanistic model to explain why affectionate touch may promote these outcomes. The model includes pathways through which touch could affect well-being by reducing stress and by promoting well-being independent of stress. Specifically, two immediate outcomes of affectionate touch receipt-relational-cognitive changes and neurobiological changes-are described as important mechanisms underlying the effects of affectionate touch on well-being. We also review and evaluate the existing research linking affectionate touch to well-being in adulthood and propose an agenda to advance research in this area. This theoretical perspective provides a foundation for future work on touch in adult close relationships.

Socio-affective touch expression database

PubMed Central

Op de Beeck, Hans

2018-01-01

Socio-affective touch communication conveys a vast amount of information about emotions and intentions in social contexts. In spite of the complexity of the socio-affective touch expressions we use daily, previous studies addressed only a few aspects of social touch mainly focusing on hedonics, such as stroking, leaving a wide range of social touch behaviour unexplored. To overcome this limit, we present the Socio-Affective Touch Expression Database (SATED), which includes a large range of dynamic interpersonal socio-affective touch events varying in valence and arousal. The original database contained 26 different social touch expressions each performed by three actor pairs. To validate each touch expression, we conducted two behavioural experiments investigating perceived naturalness and affective values. Based on the rated naturalness and valence, 13 socio-affective touch expressions along with 12 corresponding non-social touch events were selected as a complete set, achieving 75 video clips in total. Moreover, we quantified motion energy for each touch expression to investigate its intrinsic correlations with perceived affective values and its similarity among actor- and action-pairs. As a result, the touch expression database is not only systematically defined and well-controlled, but also spontaneous and natural, while eliciting clear affective responses. This database will allow a fine-grained investigation of complex interpersonal socio-affective touch in the realm of social psychology and neuroscience along with potential application areas in affective computing and neighbouring fields. PMID:29364988

A Self-Report Measure of Touching Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schutte, Nicola S.; And Others

Because touching is an important and often studied construct, and there is need for a valid self-report measure of touching behavior, a measure of touching behaviors was developed. Touching behaviors to be reported were: brief touch on the arm or shoulder, handshake, hug, hand holding, kiss on the cheek, and kiss on the lips. Persons identified as…

Touch: a nursing strategy in the intensive care unit.

PubMed

Estabrooks, C A

1989-07-01

In this article findings are reported from a qualitative study that examined touch from the perspective of intensive care (ICU) nurses. In-depth interviews with eight experienced ICU nurses and participant observation were used to collect data. Three distinct kinds of touch were identified, as well as normative patterns of touch among ICU nurses. The findings indicate that an understanding of touch is predicated on knowledge about the structural components of touch and the contextual variables and conditions that determine norms of touching. Touch is described as a multipurpose nursing strategy in the ICU. A need was identified to study a wider range of potential therapeutic and nontherapeutic touch meanings for nurses and patients than has previously been reported.

A review of sensing technologies for small and large-scale touch panels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akhtar, Humza; Kemao, Qian; Kakarala, Ramakrishna

2017-06-01

A touch panel is an input device for human computer interaction. It consists of a network of sensors, a sampling circuit and a micro controller for detecting and locating a touch input. Touch input can come from either finger or stylus depending upon the type of touch technology. These touch panels provide an intuitive and collaborative workspace so that people can perform various tasks with the use of their fingers instead of traditional input devices like keyboard and mouse. Touch sensing technology is not new. At the time of this writing, various technologies are available in the market and this paper reviews the most common ones. We review traditional designs and sensing algorithms for touch technology. We also observe that due to its various strengths, capacitive touch will dominate the large-scale touch panel industry in years to come. In the end, we discuss the motivation for doing academic research on large-scale panels.

Mutual touch during mother-infant face-to-face still-face interactions: influences of interaction period and infant birth status.

PubMed

Mantis, Irene; Stack, Dale M; Ng, Laura; Serbin, Lisa A; Schwartzman, Alex E

2014-08-01

Contact behaviours such as touch, have been shown to be influential channels of nonverbal communication between mothers and infants. While existing research has examined the communicative roles of maternal or infant touch in isolation, mutual touch, whereby touching behaviours occur simultaneously between mothers and their infants, has yet to be examined. The present study was designed to investigate mutual touch during face-to-face interactions between mothers and their 5½-month-old fullterm (n=40), very low birth weight/preterm (VLBW/preterm; n=40) infants, and infants at psychosocial risk (n=41). Objectives were to examine: (1) how the quantitative and qualitative aspects of touch employed by mothers and their infants varied across the normal periods of the still-face (SF) procedure, and (2) how these were associated with risk status. Mutual touch was systematically coded using the mother-infant touch scale. Interactions were found to largely consist of mutual touch and one-sided touch plus movement, highlighting that active touching is pervasive during mother-infant interactions. Consistent with the literature, while the SF period did not negatively affect the amount of mutual touch engaged in for mothers and their fullterm infants and mothers and their infants at psychosocial risk, it did for mothers and their VLBW/preterm infants. Together, results illuminate how both mothers and infants participate in shaping and co-regulating their interactions through the use of touch and underscore the contribution of examining the influence of birth status on mutual touch. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Therapeutic touch and dementia care: an ongoing journey.

PubMed

Doherty, Donna; Wright, Stephen; Aveyard, Barry; Sykes, Meg

2006-12-01

Touch is considered a core aspect of care provision and therapeutic relationships. Therapeutic touch allows nurses to facilitate healing and forge therapeutic relationships through touch or non-touch and maintain channels of communication often lost in dementia as the disease progresses. This article reports the findings of a research project to examine the effectiveness of therapeutic touch in dementia care.

Hearing Shapes: Event-related Potentials Reveal the Time Course of Auditory-Visual Sensory Substitution.

PubMed

Graulty, Christian; Papaioannou, Orestis; Bauer, Phoebe; Pitts, Michael A; Canseco-Gonzalez, Enriqueta

2018-04-01

In auditory-visual sensory substitution, visual information (e.g., shape) can be extracted through strictly auditory input (e.g., soundscapes). Previous studies have shown that image-to-sound conversions that follow simple rules [such as the Meijer algorithm; Meijer, P. B. L. An experimental system for auditory image representation. Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 39, 111-121, 1992] are highly intuitive and rapidly learned by both blind and sighted individuals. A number of recent fMRI studies have begun to explore the neuroplastic changes that result from sensory substitution training. However, the time course of cross-sensory information transfer in sensory substitution is largely unexplored and may offer insights into the underlying neural mechanisms. In this study, we recorded ERPs to soundscapes before and after sighted participants were trained with the Meijer algorithm. We compared these posttraining versus pretraining ERP differences with those of a control group who received the same set of 80 auditory/visual stimuli but with arbitrary pairings during training. Our behavioral results confirmed the rapid acquisition of cross-sensory mappings, and the group trained with the Meijer algorithm was able to generalize their learning to novel soundscapes at impressive levels of accuracy. The ERP results revealed an early cross-sensory learning effect (150-210 msec) that was significantly enhanced in the algorithm-trained group compared with the control group as well as a later difference (420-480 msec) that was unique to the algorithm-trained group. These ERP modulations are consistent with previous fMRI results and provide additional insight into the time course of cross-sensory information transfer in sensory substitution.

Evaluation of Dynamic Passing Sight Distance Problem Using a Finite Element Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yan, Xuedong; Radwan, Essam; Zhang, Fan

2008-06-01

Sufficient passing sight distance is an important control for two-lane rural highway design to minimize the possibility of a head-on collision between passing and opposing vehicles. Traditionally, passing zones are marked by checking passing sight distance that is potentially restricted by static sight obstructions. Such obstructions include crest curves, overpasses, and lateral objects along highways. This paper proposes a new concept of dynamic sight-distance assessment, which involves restricted passing sight distances due to the impeding vehicles that are traveling in the same direction. Using a finite-element model, the dynamic passing sight-distance problem was evaluated, and the writers analyzed the relationshipsmore » between the available passing sight distance and other factors such as the horizontal curve radius, impeding vehicle dimensions, and a driver s following distance. It was found that the impeding vehicles may cause substantially insufficient passing sight distances, which may lead to potential traffic safety problems. It is worthwhile to expand on this safety issue and consider the dynamic passing sight distance in highway design.« less

Sighting optics including an optical element having a first focal length and a second focal length

DOEpatents

Crandall, David Lynn [Idaho Falls, ID

2011-08-01

One embodiment of sighting optics according to the teachings provided herein may include a front sight and a rear sight positioned in spaced-apart relation. The rear sight includes an optical element having a first focal length and a second focal length. The first focal length is selected so that it is about equal to a distance separating the optical element and the front sight and the second focal length is selected so that it is about equal to a target distance. The optical element thus brings into simultaneous focus, for a user, images of the front sight and the target.

Friendly touch increases gratitude by inducing communal feelings

PubMed Central

Simão, Cláudia; Seibt, Beate

2015-01-01

Communion among people is easily identifiable. Close friends or relatives frequently touch each other and this physical contact helps identifying the type of relationship they have. We tested whether a friendly touch and benefits elicit the emotion of gratitude given the close link between gratitude and communal relations. In Study 1, we induced a communal mindset and manipulated friendly touch (vs. non-touch) and benefit to female participants by a female confederate. We measured pre- and post-benefit gratitude, communal feelings, and liking toward the toucher, as well as general affect. In Study 2, we manipulated mindset, friendly touch and benefit, and measured the same variables in female pairs (confederate and participants). In both studies the results showed a main effect of touch on pre-benefit gratitude: participants who were touched by the confederate indicated more gratitude than those not touched. Moreover, benefit increased gratitude toward a confederate in the absence of touch, but not in the presence of touch. Additionally, perceiving the relationship as communal, and not merely liking the confederate, or a positive mood mediated the link between touch and gratitude. The results further support a causal model where touch increases communal feelings, which in turn increase gratitude at the end of the interaction, after having received a benefit from the interaction partner. These results support a broader definition of gratitude as an emotion embodied in communal relationship cues. PMID:26124737

Friendly touch increases gratitude by inducing communal feelings.

PubMed

Simão, Cláudia; Seibt, Beate

2015-01-01

Communion among people is easily identifiable. Close friends or relatives frequently touch each other and this physical contact helps identifying the type of relationship they have. We tested whether a friendly touch and benefits elicit the emotion of gratitude given the close link between gratitude and communal relations. In Study 1, we induced a communal mindset and manipulated friendly touch (vs. non-touch) and benefit to female participants by a female confederate. We measured pre- and post-benefit gratitude, communal feelings, and liking toward the toucher, as well as general affect. In Study 2, we manipulated mindset, friendly touch and benefit, and measured the same variables in female pairs (confederate and participants). In both studies the results showed a main effect of touch on pre-benefit gratitude: participants who were touched by the confederate indicated more gratitude than those not touched. Moreover, benefit increased gratitude toward a confederate in the absence of touch, but not in the presence of touch. Additionally, perceiving the relationship as communal, and not merely liking the confederate, or a positive mood mediated the link between touch and gratitude. The results further support a causal model where touch increases communal feelings, which in turn increase gratitude at the end of the interaction, after having received a benefit from the interaction partner. These results support a broader definition of gratitude as an emotion embodied in communal relationship cues.

Social touch and human development.

PubMed

Cascio, Carissa J; Moore, David; McGlone, Francis

2018-04-24

Social touch is a powerful force in human development, shaping social reward, attachment, cognitive, communication, and emotional regulation from infancy and throughout life. In this review, we consider the question of how social touch is defined from both bottom-up and top-down perspectives. In the former category, there is a clear role for the C-touch (CT) system, which constitutes a unique submodality that mediates affective touch and contrasts with discriminative touch. Top-down factors such as culture, personal relationships, setting, gender, and other contextual influences are also important in defining and interpreting social touch. The critical role of social touch throughout the lifespan is considered, with special attention to infancy and young childhood, a time during which social touch and its neural, behavioral, and physiological contingencies contribute to reinforcement-based learning and impact a variety of developmental trajectories. Finally, the role of social touch in an example of disordered development -autism spectrum disorder-is reviewed. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

An Interactive Software Program to Develop Pianists' Sight-Reading Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsangari, Victoria

2010-01-01

Musical sight-reading, or sight-playing, is defined as "the ability to play music from a printed score or part for the first time without benefit of practice." While this is the most strict definition of the term, also known as "prima vista" (at first sight), some use the term "sight-reading" even if some rehearsal…

Vicarious Social Touch Biases Gazing at Faces and Facial Emotions.

PubMed

Schirmer, Annett; Ng, Tabitha; Ebstein, Richard P

2018-02-01

Research has suggested that interpersonal touch promotes social processing and other-concern, and that women may respond to it more sensitively than men. In this study, we asked whether this phenomenon would extend to third-party observers who experience touch vicariously. In an eye-tracking experiment, participants (N = 64, 32 men and 32 women) viewed prime and target images with the intention of remembering them. Primes comprised line drawings of dyadic interactions with and without touch. Targets comprised two faces shown side-by-side, with one being neutral and the other being happy or sad. Analysis of prime fixations revealed that faces in touch interactions attracted longer gazing than faces in no-touch interactions. In addition, touch enhanced gazing at the area of touch in women but not men. Analysis of target fixations revealed that touch priming increased looking at both faces immediately after target onset, and subsequently, at the emotional face in the pair. Sex differences in target processing were nonsignificant. Together, the present results imply that vicarious touch biases visual attention to faces and promotes emotion sensitivity. In addition, they suggest that, compared with men, women are more aware of tactile exchanges in their environment. As such, vicarious touch appears to share important qualities with actual physical touch. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Active Interpersonal Touch Gives Rise to the Social Softness Illusion

PubMed Central

Gentsch, Antje; Panagiotopoulou, Elena; Fotopoulou, Aikaterini

2015-01-01

Summary Social touch plays a powerful role in human life, with important physical and mental health benefits in development and adulthood. Touch is central in building the foundations of social interaction, attachment, and cognition [1–5], and early, social touch has unique, beneficial neurophysiological and epigenetic effects [6–9]. The recent discovery of a separate neurophysiological system for affectively laden touch in humans has further kindled scientific interest in the area [10, 11]. Remarkably, however, little is known about what motivates and sustains the human tendency to touch others in a pro-social manner. Given the importance of social touch, we hypothesized that active stroking elicits more sensory pleasure when touching others’ skin than when touching one’s own skin. In a set of six experiments (total N = 133) we found that healthy participants, mostly tested in pairs to account for any objective differences in skin softness, consistently judged another’s skin as feeling softer and smoother than their own skin. We further found that this softness illusion appeared selectively when the touch activated a neurophysiological system for affective touch in the receiver. We conclude that this sensory illusion underlies a novel, bodily mechanism of socio-affective bonding and enhances our motivation to touch others. PMID:26365257

Touch, the essence of caring for people with end-stage dementia: a mental health perspective in Namaste Care.

PubMed

Nicholls, Daniel; Chang, Esther; Johnson, Amanda; Edenborough, Michel

2013-01-01

This article presents the mental health aspects of 'touch' associated with a funded research project: Avoiding 'high tech' through 'high touch' in end-stage dementia: Protocol for care at the end-of-life. These mental health aspects highlight the human need for touch that continues up until and inclusive of the final stages of life. This study was informed by Simard's (2007) 'high touch' protocol based on the End-of-Life Namaste Care programme for people with dementia. The article is situated in relation to the research project which used a three-phase mixed methods approach. Data explored in this article are derived from focus groups conducted at three residential aged care facilities located in metropolitan and regional areas of NSW, Australia. The exploration of touch vis-a-vis mental health fell under two broad themes: touch by others and touch by the person. Sub-elements of these themes comprised touch towards a physical objective, touch towards an emotional objective, touch of objects and touch of others. The overarching outcome of interconnectedness embraced environmental awareness and human and life awareness. These two broad themes, with their accompanying elements, express the essential nature of mental health as a reciprocal connectedness, with reciprocal impacts on both those people with advanced dementia and their carers.

Parental touch reduces social vigilance in children.

PubMed

Brummelman, Eddie; Terburg, David; Smit, Miranda; Bögels, Susan M; Bos, Peter A

2018-05-09

The sense of touch develops in utero and enables parent-child communication from the earliest moments of life. Research shows that parental touch (e.g., licking and grooming in rats, skin-to-skin care in humans) has organizing effects on the offspring's stress system. Little is known, however, about the psychological effects of parental touch. Building on findings from ethology and psychology, we propose that parental touch-even as subtle as a touch on the shoulder-tells children that their environment is safe for exploration, thus reducing their social vigilance. We tested this hypothesis in late childhood (ages 8-10) and early adolescence (ages 11-14) in 138 parent-child dyads. Parents were randomly assigned to touch or not touch their child briefly and gently on the shoulder, right below the deltoid. Parental touch lowered children's implicit attention to social threat. While parental touch lowered trust among socially non-anxious children, it raised trust among those who needed it the most: socially anxious children. The effects were observed only in late childhood, suggesting that parental touch loses its safety-signaling meaning upon the transition to adolescence. Our findings underscore the power of parental touch in childhood, especially for children who suffer from social anxiety. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Determining high touch areas in the operating room with levels of contamination.

PubMed

Link, Terri; Kleiner, Catherine; Mancuso, Mary P; Dziadkowiec, Oliwier; Halverson-Carpenter, Katherine

2016-11-01

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put forth the recommendation to clean areas considered high touch more frequently than minimal touch surfaces. The operating room was not included in these recommendations. The purpose of this study was to determine the most frequently touched surfaces in the operating room and their level of contamination. Phase 1 was a descriptive study to identify high touch areas in the operating room. In phase 2, high touch areas determined in phase 1 were cultured to determine if high touch areas observed were also highly contaminated and if they were more contaminated than a low touch surface. The 5 primary high touch surfaces in order were the anesthesia computer mouse, OR bed, nurse computer mouse, OR door, and anesthesia medical cart. Using the OR light as a control, this study demonstrated that a low touch area was less contaminated than the high touch areas with the exception of the OR bed. Based on information and data collected in this study, it is recommended that an enhanced cleaning protocol be established based on the most frequently touched surfaces in the operating room. Copyright © 2016 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Touch in primary care consultations: qualitative investigation of doctors’ and patients’ perceptions

PubMed Central

Cocksedge, Simon; George, Bethan; Renwick, Sophie; Chew-Graham, Carolyn A

2013-01-01

Background Good communication skills are integral to successful doctor–patient relationships. Communication may be verbal or non-verbal, and touch is a significant component, which has received little attention in the primary care literature. Touch may be procedural (part of a clinical task) or expressive (contact unrelated to a procedure/examination). Aim To explore GPs’ and patients’ experiences of using touch in consultations. Design and setting Qualitative study in urban and semi-rural areas of north-west England. Method Participating GPs recruited registered patients with whom they felt they had an ongoing relationship. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews and subjected to constant comparative qualitative analysis. Results All participants described the importance of verbal and non-verbal communication in developing relationships. Expressive touch was suggested to improve communication quality by most GPs and all patients. GPs reported a lower threshold for using touch with older patients or those who were bereaved, and with patients of the same sex as themselves. All patient responders felt touch on the hand or forearm was appropriate. GPs described limits to using touch, with some responders rarely using anything other than procedural touch. In contrast, most patient responders believed expressive touch was acceptable, especially in situations of distress. All GP responders feared misinterpretation in their use of touch, but patients were keen that these concerns should not prevent doctors using expressive touch in consultations. Conclusion Expressive touch improves interactions between GPs and patients. Increased educational emphasis on the conscious use of expressive touch would enhance clinical communication and, hence, perhaps patient wellbeing and care. PMID:23540485

Fingertip touch improves postural stability in patients with peripheral neuropathy.

PubMed

Dickstein, R; Shupert, C L; Horak, F B

2001-12-01

The purpose of this work was to determine whether fingertip touch on a stable surface could improve postural stability during stance in subjects with somatosensory loss in the feet from diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The contribution of fingertip touch to postural stability was determined by comparing postural sway in three touch conditions (light, heavy and none) in eight patients and eight healthy control subjects who stood on two surfaces (firm or foam) with eyes open or closed. In the light touch condition, fingertip touch provided only somatosensory information because subjects exerted less than 1 N of force with their fingertip to a force plate, mounted on a vertical support. In the heavy touch condition, mechanical support was available because subjects transmitted as much force to the force plate as they wished. In the no touch condition, subjects held the right forefinger above the force plate. Antero-posterior (AP) and medio-lateral (ML) root mean square (RMS) of center of pressure (CoP) sway and trunk velocity were larger in subjects with somatosensory loss than in control subjects, especially when standing on the foam surface. The effects of light and heavy touch were similar in the somatosensory loss and control groups. Fingertip somatosensory input through light touch attenuated both AP and ML trunk velocity as much as heavy touch. Light touch also reduced CoP sway compared to no touch, although the decrease in CoP sway was less effective than with heavy touch, particularly on the foam surface. The forces that were applied to the touch plate during light touch preceded movements of the CoP, lending support to the suggestion of a feedforward mechanism in which fingertip inputs trigger the activation of postural muscles for controlling body sway. These results have clinical implications for understanding how patients with peripheral neuropathy may benefit from a cane for postural stability in stance.

Significance of Touch in Young Children's Lives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Frances M.

2005-01-01

Touch matters. Humans need nurturing touch for optimum emotional, physical, and cognitive development and health--especially in infancy. Positive touch lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the brain. Drawing on research and anecdotal evidence to support the importance of touch to children's well-being, the author makes a case for…

Touch during childbirth: yesterday and today.

PubMed

Klein, Michele

2003-02-01

Birth helpers touch the parturient woman in many ways. They make physical contact to diagnose difficulties and manipulate safe delivery. They may also touch the woman in non-physical ways, with special words, as they help a woman to give birth. Some hope also for a divine touch, as Jewish tradition teaches that God is a partner in the birth process. This paper takes a historical look at the different forms of touch used by birth attendants to ease the safe arrival of a healthy infant. We hope that this short retrospective will encourage today's birth helpers, especially doctors and midwives, to notice how they themselves touch birthing women. We hope to promote awareness of the verbal and non-verbal language of touch and to encourage the use of the art of touch among medical staff who are now more skilled than ever before in applying scientific touch to patients.

Touch massage, a rewarding experience.

PubMed

Lindgren, Lenita; Jacobsson, Maritha; Lämås, Kristina

2014-12-01

This study aims to describe and analyze healthy individuals' expressed experiences of touch massage (TM). Fifteen healthy participants received whole body touch massage during 60 minutes for two separate occasions. Interviews were analyzed by narrative analysis. Four identifiable storyline was found, Touch massage as an essential need, in this storyline the participants talked about a desire and need for human touch and TM. Another storyline was about, Touch massage as a pleasurable experience and the participants talked about the pleasure of having had TM. In the third storyline Touch massage as a dynamic experience, the informants talked about things that could modulate the experience of receiving TM. In the last storyline, Touch massage influences self-awareness, the participants described how TM affected some of their psychological and physical experiences. Experiences of touch massage was in general described as pleasant sensations and the different storylines could be seen in the light of rewarding experiences. © The Author(s) 2014.

"Visual" Cortex Responds to Spoken Language in Blind Children.

PubMed

Bedny, Marina; Richardson, Hilary; Saxe, Rebecca

2015-08-19

Plasticity in the visual cortex of blind individuals provides a rare window into the mechanisms of cortical specialization. In the absence of visual input, occipital ("visual") brain regions respond to sound and spoken language. Here, we examined the time course and developmental mechanism of this plasticity in blind children. Nineteen blind and 40 sighted children and adolescents (4-17 years old) listened to stories and two auditory control conditions (unfamiliar foreign speech, and music). We find that "visual" cortices of young blind (but not sighted) children respond to sound. Responses to nonlanguage sounds increased between the ages of 4 and 17. By contrast, occipital responses to spoken language were maximal by age 4 and were not related to Braille learning. These findings suggest that occipital plasticity for spoken language is independent of plasticity for Braille and for sound. We conclude that in the absence of visual input, spoken language colonizes the visual system during brain development. Our findings suggest that early in life, human cortex has a remarkably broad computational capacity. The same cortical tissue can take on visual perception and language functions. Studies of plasticity provide key insights into how experience shapes the human brain. The "visual" cortex of adults who are blind from birth responds to touch, sound, and spoken language. To date, all existing studies have been conducted with adults, so little is known about the developmental trajectory of plasticity. We used fMRI to study the emergence of "visual" cortex responses to sound and spoken language in blind children and adolescents. We find that "visual" cortex responses to sound increase between 4 and 17 years of age. By contrast, responses to spoken language are present by 4 years of age and are not related to Braille-learning. These findings suggest that, early in development, human cortex can take on a strikingly wide range of functions. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/3511674-08$15.00/0.

Mobile assistive technologies for the visually impaired.

PubMed

Hakobyan, Lilit; Lumsden, Jo; O'Sullivan, Dympna; Bartlett, Hannah

2013-01-01

There are around 285 million visually impaired people worldwide, and around 370,000 people are registered as blind or partially sighted in the UK. Ongoing advances in information technology (IT) are increasing the scope for IT-based mobile assistive technologies to facilitate the independence, safety, and improved quality of life of the visually impaired. Research is being directed at making mobile phones and other handheld devices accessible via our haptic (touch) and audio sensory channels. We review research and innovation within the field of mobile assistive technology for the visually impaired and, in so doing, highlight the need for successful collaboration between clinical expertise, computer science, and domain users to realize fully the potential benefits of such technologies. We initially reflect on research that has been conducted to make mobile phones more accessible to people with vision loss. We then discuss innovative assistive applications designed for the visually impaired that are either delivered via mainstream devices and can be used while in motion (e.g., mobile phones) or are embedded within an environment that may be in motion (e.g., public transport) or within which the user may be in motion (e.g., smart homes). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Vibration-enhanced posture stabilization achieved by tactile supplementation: may blind individuals get extra benefits?

PubMed

Magalhães, Fernando Henrique; Kohn, André Fabio

2011-08-01

Diminished balance ability poses a serious health risk due to the increased likelihood of falling, and impaired postural stability is significantly associated with blindness and poor vision. Noise stimulation (by improving the detection of sub-threshold somatosensory information) and tactile supplementation (i.e., additional haptic information provided by an external contact surface) have been shown to improve the performance of the postural control system. Moreover, vibratory noise added to the source of tactile supplementation (e.g., applied to a surface that the fingertip touches) has been shown to enhance balance stability more effectively than tactile supplementation alone. In view of the above findings, in addition to the well established consensus that blind subjects show superior abilities in the use of tactile information, we hypothesized that blind subjects may take extra benefits from the vibratory noise added to the tactile supplementation and hence show greater improvements in postural stability than those observed for sighted subjects. If confirmed, this hypothesis may lay the foundation for the development of noise-based assistive devices (e.g., canes, walking sticks) for improving somatosensation and hence prevent falls in blind individuals. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Learning, retention, and generalization of haptic categories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Do, Phuong T.

This dissertation explored how haptic concepts are learned, retained, and generalized to the same or different modality. Participants learned to classify objects into three categories either visually or haptically via different training procedures, followed by an immediate or delayed transfer test. Experiment I involved visual versus haptic learning and transfer. Intermodal matching between vision and haptics was investigated in Experiment II. Experiments III and IV examined intersensory conflict in within- and between-category bimodal situations to determine the degree of perceptual dominance between sight and touch. Experiment V explored the intramodal relationship between similarity and categorization in a psychological space, as revealed by MDS analysis of similarity judgments. Major findings were: (1) visual examination resulted in relatively higher performance accuracy than haptic learning; (2) systematic training produced better category learning of haptic concepts across all modality conditions; (3) the category prototypes were rated newer than any transfer stimulus followed learning both immediately and after a week delay; and, (4) although they converged at the apex of two transformational trajectories, the category prototypes became more central to their respective categories and increasingly structured as a function of learning. Implications for theories of multimodal similarity and categorization behavior are discussed in terms of discrimination learning, sensory integration, and dominance relation.

Art on the Nanoscale and Beyond.

PubMed

Yetisen, Ali K; Coskun, Ahmet F; England, Grant; Cho, Sangyeon; Butt, Haider; Hurwitz, Jonty; Kolle, Mathias; Khademhosseini, Ali; Hart, A John; Folch, Albert; Yun, Seok Hyun

2016-03-02

Methods of forming and patterning materials at the nano- and microscales are finding increased use as a medium of artistic expression, and as a vehicle for communicating scientific advances to a broader audience. While sharing many attributes of other art forms, miniaturized art enables the direct engagement of sensory aspects such as sight and touch for materials and structures that are otherwise invisible to the eye. The historical uses of nano-/microscale materials and imaging techniques in arts and sciences are presented. The motivations to create artwork at small scales are discussed, and representations in scientific literature and exhibitions are explored. Examples are presented using semiconductors, microfluidics, and nanomaterials as the artistic media; these utilized techniques including micromachining, focused ion beam milling, two-photon polymerization, and bottom-up nanostructure growth. Finally, the technological factors that limit the implementation of artwork at miniature scales are identified, and potential future directions are discussed. As research marches toward even smaller length scales, innovative and engaging visualizations and artistic endeavors will have growing implications on education, communication, policy making, media activism, and public perception of science and technology. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Definition Of Touch-Sensitive Zones For Graphical Displays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Monroe, Burt L., III; Jones, Denise R.

1988-01-01

Touch zones defined simply by touching, while editing done automatically. Development of touch-screen interactive computing system, tedious task. Interactive Editor for Definition of Touch-Sensitive Zones computer program increases efficiency of human/machine communications by enabling user to define each zone interactively, minimizing redundancy in programming and eliminating need for manual computation of boundaries of touch areas. Information produced during editing process written to data file, to which access gained when needed by application program.

Maternal touch and infant affect in the Still Face Paradigm: A cross-cultural examination.

PubMed

Lowe, Jean R; Coulombe, Patrick; Moss, Natalia C; Rieger, Rebecca E; Aragón, Crystal; MacLean, Peggy C; Caprihan, Arvind; Phillips, John P; Handal, Alexis J

2016-08-01

Touch between mother and infant plays an important role in development starting from birth. Cross-cultural differences surrounding rearing practices have an influence on parent-infant interaction, including types of touch used and the development of emotional regulation. This study was designed to investigate maternal touch and infant emotional regulation in infant-mother dyads from Ecuador (n=25) and Hispanic dyads from the United States (US) (n=26). Mothers and their 4-month-old full-term infants participated in the Still Face Paradigm. Second-by-second coding of maternal touch and infant affect was completed. Overall the analyses showed that Ecuadorian mothers used more nurturing and accompaniment touch and less attention seeking touch than US Hispanic mothers during the pre-stressor (baseline) episode. Lagged multilevel models were used to investigate the effect of the different types of touch on infant emotional regulation in the groups for the episodes. The data suggest that playful touch had a significant increase in infant affect, whereas accompaniment and attention-seeking touch had a significant decrease in infant affect. Overall, this study provides support for the role of touch in mother-infant synchronicity in relation to infant's emotional regulation. Identifying touch that is more calming is important to foster emotional regulation in infancy, which can have important implications for development. Published by Elsevier Inc.

"Touch Me, Like Me": Testing an Encounter Group Assumption

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boderman, Alvin; And Others

1972-01-01

An experiment to test an encounter group assumption that touching increases interpersonal attraction was conducted. College women were randomly assigned to a touch or no-touch condition. A comparison of total evaluation scores verified the hypothesis: subjects who touched the accomplice perceived her as a more attractive person than those who did…

Essential Touch: Meeting the Needs of Young Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carlson, Frances M.

2006-01-01

Learn how to safely incorporate touch in the early childhood setting and how to prepare children to confront troubling touch-related situations that may arise outside your setting. Following Acknowledgments, the book includes the following six chapters: (1) Taking a Look at Touch; (2) The Importance of Touch in Development and Learning; (3)…

The Neurobiology Shaping Affective Touch: Expectation, Motivation, and Meaning in the Multisensory Context

PubMed Central

Ellingsen, Dan-Mikael; Leknes, Siri; Løseth, Guro; Wessberg, Johan; Olausson, Håkan

2016-01-01

Inter-individual touch can be a desirable reward that can both relieve negative affect and evoke strong feelings of pleasure. However, if other sensory cues indicate it is undesirable to interact with the toucher, the affective experience of the same touch may be flipped to disgust. While a broad literature has addressed, on one hand the neurophysiological basis of ascending touch pathways, and on the other hand the central neurochemistry involved in touch behaviors, investigations of how external context and internal state shapes the hedonic value of touch have only recently emerged. Here, we review the psychological and neurobiological mechanisms responsible for the integration of tactile “bottom–up” stimuli and “top–down” information into affective touch experiences. We highlight the reciprocal influences between gentle touch and contextual information, and consider how, and at which levels of neural processing, top-down influences may modulate ascending touch signals. Finally, we discuss the central neurochemistry, specifically the μ-opioids and oxytocin systems, involved in affective touch processing, and how the functions of these neurotransmitters largely depend on the context and motivational state of the individual. PMID:26779092

Touching ethics: assessing the applicability of ethical rules for safe touch in CAM--outcomes of a CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) practitioner survey in Israel.

PubMed

Schiff, Elad; Ben-Arye, Eran; Shilo, Margalit; Levy, Moti; Schachter, Leora; Weitchner, Na'ama; Golan, Ofra; Stone, Julie

2011-02-01

Recently, ethical guidelines regarding safe touch in CAM were developed in Israel. Publishing ethical codes does not imply that they will actually help practitioners to meet ethical care standards. The effectiveness of ethical rules depends on familiarity with the code and its content. In addition, critical self-examination of the code by individual members of the profession is required to reflect on the moral commitments encompassed in the code. For the purpose of dynamic self-appraisal, we devised a survey to assess how CAM practitioners view the suggested ethical guidelines for safe touch. We surveyed 781 CAM practitioners regarding their perspectives on the safe-touch code. There was a high level of agreement with general statements regarding ethics pertaining to safe touch with a mean rate of agreement of 4.61 out of a maximum of 5. Practitioners concurred substantially with practice guidelines for appropriate touch with a mean rate of agreement of 4.16 out of a maximum of 5. Attitudes toward the necessity to touch intimate areas for treatment purposes varied with 78.6% of respondents strongly disagreeing with any notion of need to touch intimate areas during treatment. 7.9% neither disagreed nor agreed, 7.9% slightly agreed, and 7.6% strongly agreed with the need for touching intimate areas during treatment. There was a direct correlation between disagreement with touching intimate areas for therapeutic purposes and agreement with general statements regarding ethics of safe touch (Spearman r=0.177, p<0.0001), and practice guidelines for appropriate touch (r=0.092, p=0.012). A substantial number of practitioners agreed with the code, although some findings regarding the need to touch intimate area during treatments were disturbing. Our findings can serve as a basis for ethical code development and implementation, as well as for educating CAM practitioners on the ethics of touch. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reading the mind in the touch: Neurophysiological specificity in the communication of emotions by touch.

PubMed

Kirsch, Louise P; Krahé, Charlotte; Blom, Nadia; Crucianelli, Laura; Moro, Valentina; Jenkinson, Paul M; Fotopoulou, Aikaterini

2017-05-29

Touch is central to interpersonal interactions. Touch conveys specific emotions about the touch provider, but it is not clear whether this is a purely socially learned function or whether it has neurophysiological specificity. In two experiments with healthy participants (N = 76 and 61) and one neuropsychological single case study, we investigated whether a type of touch characterised by peripheral and central neurophysiological specificity, namely the C tactile (CT) system, can communicate specific emotions and mental states. We examined the specificity of emotions elicited by touch delivered at CT-optimal (3cm/s) and CT-suboptimal (18cm/s) velocities (Experiment 1) at different body sites which contain (forearm) vs. do not contain (palm of the hand) CT fibres (Experiment 2). Blindfolded participants were touched without any contextual cues, and were asked to identify the touch provider's emotion and intention. Overall, CT-optimal touch (slow, gentle touch on the forearm) was significantly more likely than other types of touch to convey arousal, lust or desire. Affiliative emotions such as love and related intentions such as social support were instead reliably elicited by gentle touch, irrespective of CT-optimality, suggesting that other top-down factors contribute to these aspects of tactile social communication. To explore the neural basis of this communication, we also tested this paradigm in a stroke patient with right perisylvian damage, including the posterior insular cortex, which is considered as the primary cortical target of CT afferents, but excluding temporal cortex involvement that has been linked to more affiliative aspects of CT-optimal touch. His performance suggested an impairment in 'reading' emotions based on CT-optimal touch. Taken together, our results suggest that the CT system can add specificity to emotional and social communication, particularly with regards to feelings of desire and arousal. On the basis of these findings, we speculate that its primary functional role may be to enhance the 'sensual salience' of tactile interactions. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Reliability Based Geometric Design of Horizontal Circular Curves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajbongshi, Pabitra; Kalita, Kuldeep

2018-06-01

Geometric design of horizontal circular curve primarily involves with radius of the curve and stopping sight distance at the curve section. Minimum radius is decided based on lateral thrust exerted on the vehicles and the minimum stopping sight distance is provided to maintain the safety in longitudinal direction of vehicles. Available sight distance at site can be regulated by changing the radius and middle ordinate at the curve section. Both radius and sight distance depend on design speed. Speed of vehicles at any road section is a variable parameter and therefore, normally the 98th percentile speed is taken as the design speed. This work presents a probabilistic approach for evaluating stopping sight distance, considering the variability of all input parameters of sight distance. It is observed that the 98th percentile sight distance value is much lower than the sight distance corresponding to 98th percentile speed. The distribution of sight distance parameter is also studied and found to follow a lognormal distribution. Finally, the reliability based design charts are presented for both plain and hill regions, and considering the effect of lateral thrust.

The design of light pipe with microstructures for touch screen

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Bo; Lu, Kan; Liu, Pengfei; Wei, Xiaona

2010-11-01

Touch screen has a very wide range of applications. Most of them are used in public information inquiries, for instance, service inquiries in telecommunication bureau, tax bureau, bank system, electric department, etc...Touch screen can also be used for entertainment and virtual reality applications too. Traditionally, touch screen was composed of pairs of infrared LED and correspondent receivers which were all installed in the screen frame. Arrays of LED were set in the adjacent sides of the frame of an infrared touch screen while arrays of the infrared receivers were fixed in each opposite side, so that the infrared detecting network was formed. While the infrared touch screen has some technical limitations nowadays such as the low resolution, limitations of touching methods and fault response due to environmental disturbances. The plastic material has a relatively high absorption rate for infrared light, which greatly limits the size of the touch screen. Our design uses laser diode as source and change the traditional inner structure of touch screen by using a light pipe with microstructures. The geometric parameters of the light pipe and the microstructures were obtained through equation solving. Simulation results prove that the design method for touch screen proposed in this paper could achieve high resolution and large size of touch screen.

Affective touch awareness in mental health and disease relates to autistic traits - An explorative neurophysiological investigation.

PubMed

Croy, Ilona; Geide, Helen; Paulus, Martin; Weidner, Kerstin; Olausson, Håkan

2016-11-30

Affective touch is important for social interaction within families and groups and there is evidence that unmyelinated C tactile fibers are involved in this process. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders show alterations in the perception and processing of affective touch. sThus, we hypothesized that affective touch awareness based on C tactile fiber activation is impaired in individuals with high levels of autistic trait. The pleasantness perception of optimal and suboptimal C tactile stimuli was tested in an explorative study in 70 patients recruited from an outpatient psychotherapy clinic and 69 healthy comparison subjects. All participants completed questionnaires about autistic traits, depressive symptomatology, childhood maltreatment, and about the daily amount of touch. Relative to comparison subjects, patients reported engaging in touch less frequently in daily life and rated touch less pleasant. Reduced valence ratings of touch were explained by childhood maltreatment but not by any particular disorder or depression severity. Among all tested variables, the affective touch awareness correlated with autistic traits only - in patients as well as in comparison subjects. Taken together, individuals with mental health issues have a lower baseline of expression and reception of affective touch. Autistic traits and childhood maltreatment modulate the experience of affective touch. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

InSight Prelaunch Briefing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

Stu Spath, InSight program manager, Lockheed Martin Space, left, and Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager, NASA JPL, discuss NASA's InSight mission during a prelaunch media briefing, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

A Sensitive, Reliable Inexpensive Touch Detector

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anger, Douglas; Schachtman, Todd R.

2007-01-01

Research in a laboratory required a sensitive, reliable, inexpensive touch detector for use with rats to test the reinforcement of inhibition. A small touch detector was also desirable so that the detector could be mounted on the rat's cage close to the object being touched by the rat, whose touches in turn were being detected by current passing…

Touch increases autonomic coupling between romantic partners

PubMed Central

Chatel-Goldman, Jonas; Congedo, Marco; Jutten, Christian; Schwartz, Jean-Luc

2014-01-01

Interpersonal touch is of paramount importance in human social bonding and close relationships, allowing a unique channel for affect communication. So far the effect of touch on human physiology has been studied at an individual level. The present study aims at extending the study of affective touch from isolated individuals to truly interacting dyads. We have designed an ecological paradigm where romantic partners interact only via touch and we manipulate their empathic states. Simultaneously, we collected their autonomic activity (skin conductance, pulse, respiration). Fourteen couples participated to the experiment. We found that interpersonal touch increased coupling of electrodermal activity between the interacting partners, regardless the intensity and valence of the emotion felt. In addition, physical touch induced strong and reliable changes in physiological states within individuals. These results support an instrumental role of interpersonal touch for affective support in close relationships. Furthermore, they suggest that touch alone allows the emergence of a somatovisceral resonance between interacting individuals, which in turn is likely to form the prerequisites for emotional contagion and empathy. PMID:24734009

Adaptive Changes in Early and Late Blind: A fMRI Study of Verb Generation to Heard Nouns

PubMed Central

BURTON, H.; SNYDER, A. Z.; DIAMOND, J. B.; RAICHLE, M. E.

2013-01-01

Literacy for blind people requires learning Braille. Along with others, we have shown that reading Braille activates visual cortex. This includes striate cortex (V1), i.e., banks of calcarine sulcus, and several higher visual areas in lingual, fusiform, cuneus, lateral occipital, inferior temporal, and middle temporal gyri. The spatial extent and magnitude of magnetic resonance (MR) signals in visual cortex is greatest for those who became blind early in life. Individuals who lost sight as adults, and subsequently learned Braille, still exhibited activity in some of the same visual cortex regions, especially V1. These findings suggest these visual cortex regions become adapted to processing tactile information and that this cross-modal neural change might support Braille literacy. Here we tested the alternative hypothesis that these regions directly respond to linguistic aspects of a task. Accordingly, language task performance by blind persons should activate the same visual cortex regions regardless of input modality. Specifically, visual cortex activity in blind people ought to arise during a language task involving heard words. Eight early blind, six late blind, and eight sighted subjects were studied using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during covert generation of verbs to heard nouns. The control task was passive listening to indecipherable sounds (reverse words) matched to the nouns in sound intensity, duration, and spectral content. Functional responses were analyzed at the level of individual subjects using methods based on the general linear model and at the group level, using voxel based ANOVA and t-test analyses. Blind and sighted subjects showed comparable activation of language areas in left inferior frontal, dorsolateral prefrontal, and left posterior superior temporal gyri. The main distinction was bilateral, left dominant activation of the same visual cortex regions previously noted with Braille reading in all blind subjects. The spatial extent and magnitude of responses was greatest on the left in early blind individuals. Responses in the late blind group mostly were confined to V1 and nearby portions of the lingual and fusiform gyri. These results confirm the presence of adaptations in visual cortex of blind people but argue against the notion that this activity during Braille reading represents somatosensory (haptic) processing. Rather, we suggest that these responses can be most parsimoniously explained in terms of linguistic operations. It remains possible that these responses represent adaptations which initially are for processing either sound or touch, but which are later generalized to the other modality during acquisition of Braille reading skills. PMID:12466452

Effects of Hearing Loss on Dual-Task Performance in an Audiovisual Virtual Reality Simulation of Listening While Walking.

PubMed

Lau, Sin Tung; Pichora-Fuller, M Kathleen; Li, Karen Z H; Singh, Gurjit; Campos, Jennifer L

2016-07-01

Most activities of daily living require the dynamic integration of sights, sounds, and movements as people navigate complex environments. Nevertheless, little is known about the effects of hearing loss (HL) or hearing aid (HA) use on listening during multitasking challenges. The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of age-related hearing loss (ARHL) on word recognition accuracy in a dual-task experiment. Virtual reality (VR) technologies in a specialized laboratory (Challenging Environment Assessment Laboratory) were used to produce a controlled and safe simulated environment for listening while walking. In a simulation of a downtown street intersection, participants completed two single-task conditions, listening-only (standing stationary) and walking-only (walking on a treadmill to cross the simulated intersection with no speech presented), and a dual-task condition (listening while walking). For the listening task, they were required to recognize words spoken by a target talker when there was a competing talker. For some blocks of trials, the target talker was always located at 0° azimuth (100% probability condition); for other blocks, the target talker was more likely (60% of trials) to be located at the center (0° azimuth) and less likely (40% of trials) to be located at the left (270° azimuth). The participants were eight older adults with bilateral HL (mean age = 73.3 yr, standard deviation [SD] = 8.4; three males) who wore their own HAs during testing and eight controls with normal hearing (NH) thresholds (mean age = 69.9 yr, SD = 5.4; two males). No participant had clinically significant visual, cognitive, or mobility impairments. Word recognition accuracy and kinematic parameters (head and trunk angles, step width and length, stride time, cadence) were analyzed using mixed factorial analysis of variances with group as a between-subjects factor. Task condition (single versus dual) and probability (100% versus 60%) were within-subject factors. In analyses of the 60% listening condition, spatial expectation (likely versus unlikely) was a within-subject factor. Differences between groups in age and baseline measures of hearing, mobility, and cognition were tested using t tests. The NH group had significantly better word recognition accuracy than the HL group. Both groups performed better when the probability was higher and the target location more likely. For word recognition, dual-task costs for the HL group did not depend on condition, whereas the NH group demonstrated a surprising dual-task benefit in conditions with lower probability or spatial expectation. For the kinematic parameters, both groups demonstrated a more upright and less variable head position and more variable trunk position during dual-task conditions compared to the walking-only condition, suggesting that safe walking was prioritized. The HL group demonstrated more overall stride time variability than the NH group. This study provides new knowledge about the effects of ARHL, HA use, and aging on word recognition when individuals also perform a mobility-related task that is typically experienced in everyday life. This research may help inform the development of more effective function-based approaches to assessment and intervention for people who are hard-of-hearing. American Academy of Audiology.

Let's face the music: a behavioral and electrophysiological exploration of score reading.

PubMed

Gunter, Thomas C; Schmidt, Björn-Helmer; Besson, Mireille

2003-09-01

This experiment was carried out to determine whether reading diatonic violations in a musical score elicits similar endogenous ERP components when hearing such violations in the auditory modality. In the behavioral study, musicians were visually presented with 120 scores of familiar musical pieces, half of which contained a diatonic violation. The score was presented in a measure-by-measure manner. Self-paced reading was significantly delayed for measures containing a violation, indicating that sight reading a violation requires additional effort. In the ERP study, the musical phrases were presented in a "RSVP"-like manner. We predicted that diatonic violations would elicit a late positive component. However, the ERP associated with the measure where a violation was presented showed a negativity instead. The negativity started around 100 ms and lasted for the entire recording period. This long-lasting negativity encompassed at least three distinct effects that were possibly related to violation detection, working memory processing, and a further integration/interpretation process.

The no-touch rubber hand paradigm and mirror-touch sensation: Support for the self-other theory of mirror-touch synesthesia.

PubMed

White, Rebekah C; Davies, Anne M Aimola

2015-01-01

We thoroughly enjoyed Ward and Banissy's Discussion Paper on mirror-touch synesthesia. The authors contrast two theories for explaining this phenomenon-the Threshold Theory and their Self-Other Theory. Ward and Banissy note that the Self-Other Theory garners support from studies that have tested individuals with mirror-touch synesthesia using the rubber hand paradigm. In this Commentary, we provide further support for the Self-Other Theory by drawing on findings from control participants without mirror-touch synesthesia tested with two different no-touch rubber hand paradigms-one paradigm makes it easier while the other makes it more difficult to make the self-other distinction.

Mammalian touch catches up

PubMed Central

Walsh, Carolyn M.; Bautista, Diana M.; Lumpkin, Ellen A.

2015-01-01

An assortment of touch receptors innervate the skin and encode different tactile features of the environment. Compared with invertebrate touch and other sensory systems, our understanding of the molecular and cellular underpinnings of mammalian touch lags behind. Two recent breakthroughs have accelerated progress. First, an arsenal of cell-type-specific molecular markers allowed the functional and anatomical properties of sensory neurons to be matched, thereby unraveling a cellular code for touch. Such markers have also revealed key roles of non-neuronal cell types, such as Merkel cells and keratinocytes, in touch reception. Second, the discovery of Piezo genes as a new family of mechanically activated channels has fueled the discovery of molecular mechanisms that mediate and mechanotransduction in mammalian touch receptors. PMID:26100741

Does affective touch influence the virtual reality full body illusion?

PubMed

de Jong, Jutta R; Keizer, Anouk; Engel, Manja M; Dijkerman, H Chris

2017-06-01

The sense of how we experience our physical body as our own represents a fundamental component of human self-awareness. Body ownership can be studied with bodily illusions which are generated by inducing a visuo-tactile conflict where individuals experience illusionary ownership over a fake body or body part, such as a rubber hand. Previous studies showed that different types of touch modulate the strength of experienced ownership over a rubber hand. Specifically, participants experienced more ownership after the rubber hand illusion was induced through affective touch vs non-affective touch. It is, however, unclear whether this effect would also occur for an entire fake body. The aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate whether affective touch modulates the strength of ownership in a virtual reality full body illusion. To elicit this illusion, we used slow (3 cm/s; affective touch) and fast (30 cm/s; non-affective touch) stroking velocities on the participants' abdomen. Both stroking velocities were performed either synchronous or asynchronous (control condition), while participants viewed a virtual body from a first-person-perspective. In our first study, we found that participants experienced more subjective ownership over a virtual body in the affective touch condition, compared to the non-affective touch condition. In our second study, we found higher levels of subjective ownership for synchronous stimulation, compared to asynchronous, for both touch conditions, but failed to replicate the findings from study 1 that show a difference between affective and non-affective touch. We, therefore, cannot conclude unequivocally that affective touch enhances the full-body illusion. Future research is required to study the effects of affective touch on body ownership.

Early parental touch and preterm infants.

PubMed

Harrison, L L; Woods, S

1991-01-01

Thirty-six parents were videotaped during visits with their preterm infants in a neonatal intensive care unit in order to describe some characteristics of parental touch. Parents most often touched infants' hands, backs, and heads, using stroke, hold, or contact actions of moderate intensity. Mothers and grandmothers provided more touch than fathers, and parents provided less touch to infants at or below a gestational age of 28 weeks. The results can be used as a basis for more controlled experimental studies evaluating preterm infants' physiologic responses to early parental touch.

The role of the inferior frontal gyrus in vicarious social touch: A transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) study.

PubMed

Peled-Avron, Leehe; Glasner, Laura; Gvirts, Hila Z; Shamay-Tsoory, Simone G

2018-04-30

The neural mechanisms facilitating the experience of vicarious social touch are largely unknown. The right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) has been suggested as part of a simulation observation-execution neural network that plays a key role in the perception of tactile stimuli. Considering that vicarious social touch involves vicarious sharing of emotions, we hypothesized that emotional empathy, i.e., the ability to feel what another individual is feeling, modulates the neural responses to vicarious touch. To examine the role of the rIFG in vicarious touch and its modulation by levels of emotional empathy, we used anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on forty participants who observed photos depicting social touch, nonsocial touch or no touch during tDCS or sham stimulation. The results show that while participants with high levels of emotional empathy exhibited no change in ratings of vicarious social touch, participants with low levels of emotional empathy rate human touch as more emotional following anodal stimulation of the rIFG than following sham stimulation. These findings indicate that emotional responses to vicarious social touch are associated with rIFG activity and are modulated by levels of emotional empathy. This result has major therapeutic potential for individuals with low empathic abilities, such as those with ASD. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Sensory and Emotional Perception of Wooden Surfaces through Fingertip Touch

PubMed Central

Bhatta, Shiv R.; Tiippana, Kaisa; Vahtikari, Katja; Hughes, Mark; Kyttä, Marketta

2017-01-01

Previous studies on tactile experiences have investigated a wide range of material surfaces across various skin sites of the human body in self-touch or other touch modes. Here, we investigate whether the sensory and emotional aspects of touch are related when evaluating wooden surfaces using fingertips in the absence of other sensory modalities. Twenty participants evaluated eight different pine and oak wood surfaces, using sensory and emotional touch descriptors, through the lateral motion of active fingertip exploration. The data showed that natural and smooth wood surfaces were perceived more positively in emotional touch than coated surfaces. We highlight the importance of preserving the naturalness of the surface texture in the process of wood-surface treatment so as to improve positive touch experiences, as well as avoid negative ones. We argue that the results may offer possibilities in the design of wood-based interior products with a view to improving consumer touch experiences. PMID:28348541

Touching Hearts, Touching Minds: using emotion-based messaging to promote healthful behavior in the Massachusetts WIC program.

PubMed

Colchamiro, Rachel; Ghiringhelli, Kara; Hause, Judith

2010-01-01

The Touching Hearts, Touching Minds initiative was funded through a 2003 United States Department of Agriculture Special Projects grant to revitalize nutrition education and services in the Massachusetts Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program. The 30 nutrition education materials and facilitated group counseling techniques developed through the project use the power of parent-identified emotional "pulse points" to become more influential in guiding WIC participants to practice positive eating and physical activity behaviors that lead to healthier families. Touching Hearts, Touching Minds materials and strategies have been well received and provide opportunities to transform the nutrition counseling relationship between WIC families and WIC staff. Touching Hearts, Touching Minds has changed nutrition education in Massachusetts and is influencing nutrition education across the country and beyond in numerous venues. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Touch communicates distinct emotions.

PubMed

Hertenstein, Matthew J; Keltner, Dacher; App, Betsy; Bulleit, Brittany A; Jaskolka, Ariane R

2006-08-01

The study of emotional signaling has focused almost exclusively on the face and voice. In 2 studies, the authors investigated whether people can identify emotions from the experience of being touched by a stranger on the arm (without seeing the touch). In the 3rd study, they investigated whether observers can identify emotions from watching someone being touched on the arm. Two kinds of evidence suggest that humans can communicate numerous emotions with touch. First, participants in the United States (Study 1) and Spain (Study 2) could decode anger, fear, disgust, love, gratitude, and sympathy via touch at much-better-than-chance levels. Second, fine-grained coding documented specific touch behaviors associated with different emotions. In Study 3, the authors provide evidence that participants can accurately decode distinct emotions by merely watching others communicate via touch. The findings are discussed in terms of their contributions to affective science and the evolution of altruism and cooperation. (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved

Investigating Maternal Touch and Infants' Self-Regulatory Behaviours during a Modified Face-to-Face Still-Face with Touch Procedure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jean, Amélie D. L.; Stack, Dale M.; Arnold, Sharon

2014-01-01

Maternal touch and infants' self-regulatory behaviours were examined during a modified Still-Face with Touch (SF?+?T) procedure. Mothers and their 5½-month-old infants participated in one period of Normal interaction followed by three SF?+?T periods. Maternal functions of touch, and infants' self-regulatory behaviour, affect, and…

Control of multi-joint arm movements for the manipulation of touch in keystroke by expert pianists

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Production of a variety of finger-key touches in the piano is essential for expressive musical performance. However, it remains unknown how expert pianists control multi-joint finger and arm movements for manipulating the touch. The present study investigated differences in kinematics and kinetics of the upper-limb movements while expert pianists were depressing a key with two different touches: pressed and struck. The former starts key-depression with the finger-tip contacting the key, whereas the latter involves preparatory arm-lift before striking the key. To determine the effect of individual muscular torque (MUS) as well as non-muscular torques on joint acceleration, we performed a series of inverse and forward dynamics computations. Results The pressed touch showed smaller elbow extension velocity, and larger shoulder and finger flexion velocities during key-depression compared with the struck touch. The former touch also showed smaller elbow extension acceleration directly attributed to the shoulder MUS. In contrast, the shoulder flexion acceleration induced by elbow and wrist MUS was greater for the pressed touch than the struck touch. Towards the goal of producing the target finger-key contact dynamics, the pressed and struck touches effectively took advantage of the distal-to-proximal and proximal-to-distal inter-segmental dynamics, respectively. Furthermore, a psychoacoustic experiment confirmed that a tone elicited by the pressed touch was perceived softer than that by the struck touch. Conclusion The present findings suggest that manipulation of tone timbre depends on control of inter-segmental dynamics in piano keystroke. PMID:20630085

Ocean Current Power Generator. Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

O'Sullivan, G. A.

2002-07-26

The Ocean Power Generator is both technically and economically suitable for deployment in the Gulf Stream from the US Navy facility in Dania, Florida. Yet to be completed is the calibration test in the Chesapeake Bay with the prototype dual hydroturbine Underwater Electric Kite. For the production units a revised design includes two ballast tanks mounted as pontoons to provide buoyancy and depth control. The power rating of the Ocean Power Generator has been doubled to 200 kW ready for insertion into the utility grid. The projected cost for a 10 MW installation is $3.38 per watt, a cost thatmore » is consistent with wind power pricing when it was in its deployment infancy, and a cost that is far better than photovoltaics after 25 years of research and development. The Gulf Stream flows 24 hours per day, and water flow is both environmentally and ecologically perfect as a renewable energy source. No real estate purchases are necessary, and you cannot see, hear, smell, or touch an Ocean Power Generator.« less

Analytic study of the Tadoma method: language abilities of three deaf-blind subjects.

PubMed

Chomsky, C

1986-09-01

This study reports on the linguistic abilities of 3 adult deaf-blind subjects. The subjects perceive spoken language through touch, placing a hand on the face of the speaker and monitoring the speaker's articulatory motions, a method of speechreading known as Tadoma. Two of the subjects, deaf-blind since infancy, acquired language and learned to speak through this tactile system; the third subject has used Tadoma since becoming deaf-blind at age 7. Linguistic knowledge and productive language are analyzed, using standardized tests and several tests constructed for this study. The subjects' language abilities prove to be extensive, comparing favorably in many areas with hearing individuals. The results illustrate a relatively minor effect of limited language exposure on eventual language achievement. The results also demonstrate the adequacy of the tactile sense, in these highly trained Tadoma users, for transmitting information about spoken language sufficient to support the development of language and learning to produce speech.

The SpikerBox: A Low Cost, Open-Source BioAmplifier for Increasing Public Participation in Neuroscience Inquiry

PubMed Central

Marzullo, Timothy C.; Gage, Gregory J.

2012-01-01

Although people are generally interested in how the brain functions, neuroscience education for the public is hampered by a lack of low cost and engaging teaching materials. To address this, we developed an open-source tool, the SpikerBox, which is appropriate for use in middle/high school educational programs and by amateurs. This device can be used in easy experiments in which students insert sewing pins into the leg of a cockroach, or other invertebrate, to amplify and listen to the electrical activity of neurons. With the cockroach leg preparation, students can hear and see (using a smartphone oscilloscope app we have developed) the dramatic changes in activity caused by touching the mechanosensitive barbs. Students can also experiment with other manipulations such as temperature, drugs, and microstimulation that affect the neural activity. We include teaching guides and other resources in the supplemental materials. These hands-on lessons with the SpikerBox have proven to be effective in teaching basic neuroscience. PMID:22470415

[Tones and being tuned. Suggestions for the common origins of music therapy and hypnotherapy].

PubMed

Vas, József Pál

2013-01-01

Sound vibrations are viewed to play an important role in embryonic development. Before the cochlea evolves, the haptic and mechanic skin-receptors detect the amniotic fluid's pressure-waves produced by sounds in uterus. Touching and hearing are seen as primordial and the most relevant stimuli both of mother-fetus attunement and development of fetal nervous system. Man is attuned to environmental stimuli, mainly to human speaking since the embryonic period. Attunement is secured by energy zones (chakras) circling around body. It is considered to be base of our music capacity. Origin of hypnotic susceptibility is viewed as being in embryonic period as well. Movements, experiences supposed, bonding and communication patterns of both of fetus and hypnotized person are suggested to show similarities. Prenatal audio-somatosensory stimulating program facilitates newborn babies' cognitive, emotional and bonding capacities. As a matter of fact, by virtue of regressive fetus-like experiences, hypnotherapy contributes to the restart of personality development halted by trauma.

The Visceral Novel Reader and Novelized Medicine in Georgian Britain.

PubMed

Class, Monika

The article introduces "the visceral novel reader" as a diachronic, context-sensitive mode of novelistic reception, in which fact and fiction overlap cognitively: the mental rehearsal of the activity of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching while reading novels and, vice versa, the mental rehearsal of novels in the act of perceiving the real world. Located at the intersection of literature, medicine and science, "the visceral novel reader" enhances our understanding of the role that novels played in the dialectic construction of erudition in English. In Georgian Britain, reading practices became a testing ground for the professionalization of physicians, natural philosophers, and men of letters. While it was in the professionals' common interest to implement protocols that taught readers to separate body from mind, and fact from fiction, novels came to stand for "debased" (visceral) reading. Novels inverted these notions by means of medicalization (regimentation, somatization, and individuation) and contributed to the professional stratification of medicine and literature.

Freeform object design and simultaneous manufacturing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Wei; Zhang, Weihan; Lin, Heng; Leu, Ming C.

2003-04-01

Today's product design, especially the consuming product design, focuses more and more on individuation, originality, and the time to market. One way to meet these challenges is using the interactive and creationary product design methods and rapid prototyping/rapid tooling. This paper presents a novel Freeform Object Design and Simultaneous Manufacturing (FODSM) method that combines the natural interaction feature in the design phase and simultaneous manufacturing feature in the prototyping phase. The natural interactive three-dimensional design environment is achieved by adopting virtual reality technology. The geometry of the designed object is defined through the process of "virtual sculpting" during which the designer can touch and visualize the designed object and can hear the virtual manufacturing environment noise. During the designing process, the computer records the sculpting trajectories and automatically translates them into NC codes so as to simultaneously machine the designed part. The paper introduced the principle, implementation process, and key techniques of the new method, and compared it with other popular rapid prototyping methods.

Highly stretchable, transparent ionic touch panel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Chong-Chan; Lee, Hyun-Hee; Oh, Kyu Hwan; Sun, Jeong-Yun

2016-08-01

Because human-computer interactions are increasingly important, touch panels may require stretchability and biocompatibility in order to allow integration with the human body. However, most touch panels have been developed based on stiff and brittle electrodes. We demonstrate an ionic touch panel based on a polyacrylamide hydrogel containing lithium chloride salts. The panel is soft and stretchable, so it can sustain a large deformation. The panel can freely transmit light information because the hydrogel is transparent, with 98% transmittance for visible light. A surface-capacitive touch system was adopted to sense a touched position. The panel can be operated under more than 1000% areal strain without sacrificing its functionalities. Epidermal touch panel use on skin was demonstrated by writing words, playing a piano, and playing games.

Contact high: Mania proneness and positive perception of emotional touches.

PubMed

Piff, Paul K; Purcell, Amanda; Gruber, June; Hertenstein, Matthew J; Keltner, Dacher

2012-01-01

How do extreme degrees of positive emotion-such as those characteristic of mania-influence emotion perception? The present study investigated how mania proneness, assessed using the Hypomanic Personality Scale, influences the perception of emotion via touch. Using a validated dyadic interaction paradigm for communicating emotion through touch (Hertenstein, Keltner, App, Bulleit, & Jaskolka, 2006), participants (N=53) received eight different touches to their forearm from a stranger and then identified the emotion via forced-choice methodology. Mania proneness predicted increased overall accuracy in touch perception, particularly for positive emotion touches, as well as the over-attribution of positive and under-attribution of negative emotions across all touches. These findings highlight the effects of positive emotion extremes on the perception of emotion in social interactions.

Feeling Touched: Emotional Modulation of Somatosensory Potentials to Interpersonal Touch.

PubMed

Ravaja, N; Harjunen, V; Ahmed, I; Jacucci, G; Spapé, M M

2017-01-12

Although the previous studies have shown that an emotional context may alter touch processing, it is not clear how visual contextual information modulates the sensory signals, and at what levels does this modulation take place. Therefore, we investigated how a toucher's emotional expressions (anger, happiness, fear, and sadness) modulate touchee's somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) in different temporal ranges. Participants were presented with tactile stimulation appearing to originate from expressive characters in virtual reality. Touch processing was indexed using SEPs, and self-reports of touch experience were collected. Early potentials were found to be amplified after angry, happy and sad facial expressions, while late potentials were amplified after anger but attenuated after happiness. These effects were related to two stages of emotional modulation of tactile perception: anticipation and interpretation. The findings show that not only does touch affect emotion, but also emotional expressions affect touch perception. The affective modulation of touch was initially obtained as early as 25 ms after the touch onset suggesting that emotional context is integrated to the tactile sensation at a very early stage.

Feeling Touched: Emotional Modulation of Somatosensory Potentials to Interpersonal Touch

PubMed Central

Ravaja, N.; Harjunen, V.; Ahmed, I.; Jacucci, G.; Spapé, M. M.

2017-01-01

Although the previous studies have shown that an emotional context may alter touch processing, it is not clear how visual contextual information modulates the sensory signals, and at what levels does this modulation take place. Therefore, we investigated how a toucher’s emotional expressions (anger, happiness, fear, and sadness) modulate touchee’s somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) in different temporal ranges. Participants were presented with tactile stimulation appearing to originate from expressive characters in virtual reality. Touch processing was indexed using SEPs, and self-reports of touch experience were collected. Early potentials were found to be amplified after angry, happy and sad facial expressions, while late potentials were amplified after anger but attenuated after happiness. These effects were related to two stages of emotional modulation of tactile perception: anticipation and interpretation. The findings show that not only does touch affect emotion, but also emotional expressions affect touch perception. The affective modulation of touch was initially obtained as early as 25 ms after the touch onset suggesting that emotional context is integrated to the tactile sensation at a very early stage. PMID:28079157

The soothing function of touch: affective touch reduces feelings of social exclusion.

PubMed

von Mohr, Mariana; Kirsch, Louise P; Fotopoulou, Aikaterini

2017-10-18

The mammalian need for social proximity, attachment and belonging may have an adaptive and evolutionary value in terms of survival and reproductive success. Consequently, ostracism may induce strong negative feelings of social exclusion. Recent studies suggest that slow, affective touch, which is mediated by a separate, specific C tactile neurophysiological system than faster, neutral touch, modulates the perception of physical pain. However, it remains unknown whether slow, affective touch, can also reduce feelings of social exclusion, a form of social pain. Here, we employed a social exclusion paradigm, namely the Cyberball task (N = 84), to examine whether the administration of slow, affective touch may reduce the negative feelings of ostracism induced by the social exclusion manipulations of the Cyberball task. As predicted, the provision of slow-affective, as compared to fast-neutral, touch led to a specific decrease in feelings of social exclusion, beyond general mood effects. These findings point to the soothing function of slow, affective touch, particularly in the context of social separation or rejection, and suggest a specific relation between affective touch and social bonding.

Reliability of an infrared forehead skin thermometer for core temperature measurements.

PubMed

Kistemaker, J A; Den Hartog, E A; Daanen, H A M

2006-01-01

The SensorTouch thermometer performs an infrared measurement of the skin temperature above the Superficial Temporal Artery (STA). This study evaluates the validity and the accuracy of the SensorTouch thermometer. Two experiments were performed in which the body temperature was measured with a rectal sensor, with an oesophageal sensor and with the SensorTouch. After entering a warm chamber the SensorTouch underestimated the core temperature during the first 10 minutes. After that, the SensorTouch was not significantly different from the core temperature, with an average difference of 0.5 degrees C (SD 0.5 degrees C) in the first study and 0.3 degrees C (SD 0.2 degrees C) in the second study. The largest differences between the SensorTouch and the core temperature existed 15 minutes after the start of the exercise. During this period the SensorTouch was significantly higher than the core temperature. The SensorTouch did not provide reliable values of the body temperature during periods of increasing body temperature, but the SensorTouch might work under stable conditions.

Towards a Dynamic Model of Skills Involved in Sight Reading Music

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kopiez, Reinhard; Lee, Ji In

2006-01-01

This study investigates the relationship between selected predictors of achievement in playing unrehearsed music (sight reading) and the changing complexity of sight reading tasks. The question under investigation is, how different variables gain or lose significance as sight reading stimuli become more difficult. Fifty-two piano major graduates…

Sight-Singing: Ten Years of Published Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuehne, Jane M.

2010-01-01

The purpose of this article was to review published research on sight-singing from the past 10 years, 1998-2008. Several authors published research in various areas in sight-singing. These included festival availability and participation, time use in sight-singing adjudication, method and materials, strategies of successful students, assessing…

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION REPORT, KMC CONTROLS, INC. SLE-1001 SIGHT GLASS MONITOR

EPA Science Inventory

The Environmental Technology Verification report discusses the technology and performance of the KMC SLE-1001 Sight Glass Monitor manufactured by KMC Controls, Inc. The sight glass monitor (SGM) fits over the sight glass that may be installed in a refrigeration system for the pur...

Growing up blind does not change the neural bases of Theory of Mind

PubMed Central

Bedny, Marina; Pascual-Leone, Alvaro; Saxe, Rebecca R.

2009-01-01

Humans reason about the mental states of others; this capacity is called Theory of Mind (ToM). In typically developing adults, ToM is supported by a consistent group of brain regions: the bilateral temporoparietal junction (TPJ), medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), precuneus (PC), and anterior temporal sulci (aSTS). How experience and intrinsic biological factors interact to produce this adult functional profile is not known. In the current study we investigate the role of visual experience in the development of the ToM network by studying congenitally blind adults. In experiment 1, participants listened to stories and answered true/false questions about them. The stories were either about mental or physical representations of reality (e.g., photographs). In experiment 2, participants listened to stories about people's beliefs based on seeing or hearing; people's bodily sensations (e.g., hunger); and control stories without people. Participants judged whether each story had positive or negative valance. We find that ToM brain regions of sighted and congenitally blind adults are similarly localized and functionally specific. In congenitally blind adults, reasoning about mental states leads to activity in bilateral TPJ, MPFC, PC, and aSTS. These brain regions responded more to passages about beliefs than passages about nonbelief representations or passages about bodily sensations. Reasoning about mental states that are based on seeing is furthermore similar in congenitally blind and sighted individuals. Despite their different developmental experience, congenitally blind adults have a typical ToM network. We conclude that the development of neural mechanisms for ToM depends on innate factors and on experiences represented at an abstract level, amodally. PMID:19553210

The multi-sensory approach as a geoeducational strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musacchio, Gemma; Piangiamore, Giovanna Lucia; Pino, Nicola Alessandro

2014-05-01

Geoscience knowledge has a strong impact in modern society as it relates to natural hazards, sustainability and environmental issues. The general public has a demanding attitude towards the understanding of crucial geo-scientific topics that is only partly satisfied by science communication strategies and/or by outreach or school programs. A proper knowledge of the phenomena might help trigger crucial inquiries when approaching mitigation of geo-hazards and geo-resources, while providing the right tool for the understanding of news and ideas floating from the web or other media, and, in other words, help communication to be more efficient. Nonetheless available educational resources seem to be inadequate in meeting the goal, while research institutions are facing the challenge to experience new communication strategies and non-conventional way of learning capable to allow the understanding of crucial scientific contents. We suggest the use of multi-sensory approach as a successful non-conventional way of learning for children and as a different perspective of learning for older students and adults. Sense organs stimulation are perceived and processed to build the knowledge of the surrounding, including all sorts of hazards. Powerfully relying in the sense of sight, Humans have somehow lost most of their ability for a deep perception of the environment enriched by all the other senses. Since hazards involve emotions we argue that new ways to approach the learning might go exactly through emotions that one might stress with a tactile experience, a hearing or smell stimulation. To test and support our idea we are building a package of learning activities and exhibits based on a multi-sensory experience where the sight is not allowed.

Results of Skylab experiment T00-2, manual navigation sightings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Randle, R. J.

1976-01-01

An analysis of navigation data collected using a hand-held space sextant on the second and third manned Skylab missions was presented. From performance data and astronaut comments it was determined that: (1) the space sextant, the sighting station, and the sighting techniques require modification; (2) the sighting window must be of good optical quality; (3) astronaut performance was stable over long mission time; and (4) sightings made with a hand-held sextant were accurate and precise enough for reliable interplanetary manual navigation.

Bacterial contamination of computer touch screens.

PubMed

Gerba, Charles P; Wuollet, Adam L; Raisanen, Peter; Lopez, Gerardo U

2016-03-01

The goal of this study was to determine the occurrence of opportunistic bacterial pathogens on the surfaces of computer touch screens used in hospitals and grocery stores. Opportunistic pathogenic bacteria were isolated on touch screens in hospitals; Clostridium difficile and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus and in grocery stores; methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Enteric bacteria were more common on grocery store touch screens than on hospital computer touch screens. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Flow visualization of mast-mounted-sight/main rotor aerodynamic interactions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghee, Terence A.; Kelley, Henry L.

1993-01-01

Flow visualization tests were conducted on a 27 percent-scale AH-64 attack helicopter model fitted with various mast-mounted-sight configurations in an attempt to identify the cause of adverse vibration encountered during full-scale flight tests of an Apache/Longbow configuration. The tests were conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center in the 14- by 22-Foot Subsonic Tunnel. A symmetric and an asymmetric mast-mounted-sight oriented at several skew angles were tested at forward and rearward flight speeds of 30 and 45 knots. A laser light sheet seeded with vaporized propylene glycol was used to visualize the wake of the sight in planes parallel and perpendicular to the freestream flow. Analysis of the flow visualization data identified the frequency of the wake shed from the sight, the angle-of-attack at the sight, and the location where the sight wake crossed the rotor plane. Differences in wake structure were observed between the various sight configurations and slew angles. Postulations into the cause of the adverse vibration found in flight test are given along with considerations for future tests.

Therapeutic touch and postoperative pain: a Rogerian research study.

PubMed

Meehan, T C

1993-01-01

This article details Meehan's research study concerning the conceptualization of therapeutic touch within Rogers' science of unitary human beings and an investigation of the effects of therapeutic touch on pain experience in postoperative patients. Using a single trial, single-blind, three-group design, 108 postoperative patients were randomly assigned to receive one of the following: therapeutic touch, a placebo control intervention which mimicked therapeutic touch, or the standard intervention of a narcotic analgesic. Using a visual analogue scale, pain was measured before and one hour following intervention. The hypothesis, that therapeutic touch would significantly decrease postoperative pain compared to the placebo control intervention, was not supported. Secondary analyses suggest that therapeutic touch may decrease patients' need for analgesic medication. Implications for further research and practice are suggested.

Therapeutic Touch(®) in a geriatric Palliative Care Unit - A retrospective review.

PubMed

Senderovich, Helen; Ip, Mary Lou; Berall, Anna; Karuza, Jurgis; Gordon, Michael; Binns, Malcolm; Wignarajah, Shaira; Grossman, Daphna; Dunal, Lynda

2016-08-01

Complementary therapies are increasingly used in palliative care as an adjunct to the standard management of symptoms to achieve an overall well-being for patients with malignant and non-malignant terminal illnesses. A Therapeutic Touch Program was introduced to a geriatric Palliative Care Unit (PCU) in October 2010 with two volunteer Therapeutic Touch Practitioners providing treatment. To conduct a retrospective review of Therapeutic Touch services provided to patients in an in-patient geriatric palliative care unit in order to understand their responses to Therapeutic Touch. A retrospective medical chart review was conducted on both patients who received Therapeutic Touch as well as a random selection of patients who did not receive Therapeutic Touch from October 2010-June 2013. Client characteristics and the Therapeutic Touch Practitioners' observations of the patients' response to treatment were collected and analyzed. Patients who did not receive Therapeutic Touch tended to have lower admitting Palliative Performance Scale scores, shorter length of stay and were older. Based on a sample of responses provided by patients and observed by the Therapeutic Touch practitioner, the majority of patients receiving treatment achieved a state of relaxation or sleep. This retrospective chart review suggests that implementation of a TT program for an inpatient geriatric Palliative Care Unit is feasible, and appears to be safe, and well-tolerated. Moreover, patient responses, as recorded in the Therapeutic Touch practitioners' session notes, suggest beneficial effects of Therapeutic Touch for a significant number of participants with no evidence of negative sequelae. Therefore, the use of TT in this difficult setting appears to have potential value as an adjunct or complementary therapy to help patients relax. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Light and heavy touch reduces postural sway and modifies axial tone in Parkinson’s disease

PubMed Central

Franzén, Erika; Paquette, Caroline; Gurfinkel, Victor; Horak, Fay

2014-01-01

Background Light touch with a stable object reduces postural sway by increasing axial postural tone in healthy subjects. However, it is unknown whether subjects with Parkinson’s disease (PD), who have more postural sway and higher axial postural tone than healthy subjects, can benefit from haptic touch. Objective To investigate the effect of light and heavy touch on postural stability and hip tone in subjects with PD. Methods Fourteen subjects with mid-stage PD, and 14 healthy control subjects were evaluated during quiet standing with eyes closed with their arms: 1) crossed, 2) lightly touching a fixed rigid bar in front of them and 3) firmly gripping the bar. Postural sway was measured with a forceplate and axial hip tone was quantified using a unique device that measures the resistance of the hips to yaw rotation while maintaining active stance. Results Subjects with PD significantly decreased their postural sway with light or heavy touch (p<0.001 vs. arms crossed), similarly as control subjects. Without touch, hip tone was larger in PD subjects. With touch, however, tone values were similar in both groups. This change in hip tone with touch was highly correlated with the initial amount of tone (PD: r=− 0.72 to −0.95 and controls: r=−0.74 to−0.85). Conclusions We showed, for the first time, that subjects with PD benefit from touch similarly to control subjects and that despite higher axial postural tone, PD subjects are able to modulate their tone with touch. Future studies should investigate the complex relationship between touch and postural tone. PMID:22415944

Vision-Based Finger Detection, Tracking, and Event Identification Techniques for Multi-Touch Sensing and Display Systems

PubMed Central

Chen, Yen-Lin; Liang, Wen-Yew; Chiang, Chuan-Yen; Hsieh, Tung-Ju; Lee, Da-Cheng; Yuan, Shyan-Ming; Chang, Yang-Lang

2011-01-01

This study presents efficient vision-based finger detection, tracking, and event identification techniques and a low-cost hardware framework for multi-touch sensing and display applications. The proposed approach uses a fast bright-blob segmentation process based on automatic multilevel histogram thresholding to extract the pixels of touch blobs obtained from scattered infrared lights captured by a video camera. The advantage of this automatic multilevel thresholding approach is its robustness and adaptability when dealing with various ambient lighting conditions and spurious infrared noises. To extract the connected components of these touch blobs, a connected-component analysis procedure is applied to the bright pixels acquired by the previous stage. After extracting the touch blobs from each of the captured image frames, a blob tracking and event recognition process analyzes the spatial and temporal information of these touch blobs from consecutive frames to determine the possible touch events and actions performed by users. This process also refines the detection results and corrects for errors and occlusions caused by noise and errors during the blob extraction process. The proposed blob tracking and touch event recognition process includes two phases. First, the phase of blob tracking associates the motion correspondence of blobs in succeeding frames by analyzing their spatial and temporal features. The touch event recognition process can identify meaningful touch events based on the motion information of touch blobs, such as finger moving, rotating, pressing, hovering, and clicking actions. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed vision-based finger detection, tracking, and event identification system is feasible and effective for multi-touch sensing applications in various operational environments and conditions. PMID:22163990

Assessing uncertainty in sighting records: an example of the Barbary lion.

PubMed

Lee, Tamsin E; Black, Simon A; Fellous, Amina; Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki; Angelici, Francesco M; Al Hikmani, Hadi; Reed, J Michael; Elphick, Chris S; Roberts, David L

2015-01-01

As species become rare and approach extinction, purported sightings can be controversial, especially when scarce management resources are at stake. We consider the probability that each individual sighting of a series is valid. Obtaining these probabilities requires a strict framework to ensure that they are as accurately representative as possible. We used a process, which has proven to provide accurate estimates from a group of experts, to obtain probabilities for the validation of 32 sightings of the Barbary lion. We consider the scenario where experts are simply asked whether a sighting was valid, as well as asking them to score the sighting based on distinguishablity, observer competence, and verifiability. We find that asking experts to provide scores for these three aspects resulted in each sighting being considered more individually, meaning that this new questioning method provides very different estimated probabilities that a sighting is valid, which greatly affects the outcome from an extinction model. We consider linear opinion pooling and logarithm opinion pooling to combine the three scores, and also to combine opinions on each sighting. We find the two methods produce similar outcomes, allowing the user to focus on chosen features of each method, such as satisfying the marginalisation property or being externally Bayesian.

Archiving InSight Lander Science Data Using PDS4 Standards

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stein, T.; Guinness, E. A.; Slavney, S.

2017-12-01

The InSight Mars Lander is scheduled for launch in 2018, and science data from the mission will be archived in the NASA Planetary Data System (PDS) using the new PDS4 standards. InSight is a geophysical lander with a science payload that includes a seismometer, a probe to measure subsurface temperatures and heat flow, a suite of meteorology instruments, a magnetometer, an experiment using radio tracking, and a robotic arm that will provide soil physical property information based on interactions with the surface. InSight is not the first science mission to archive its data using PDS4. However, PDS4 archives do not currently contain examples of the kinds of data that several of the InSight instruments will produce. Whereas the existing common PDS4 standards were sufficient for most of archiving requirements of InSight, the data generated by a few instruments required development of several extensions to the PDS4 information model. For example, the seismometer will deliver a version of its data in SEED format, which is standard for the terrestrial seismology community. This format required the design of a new product type in the PDS4 information model. A local data dictionary has also been developed for InSight that contains attributes that are not part of the common PDS4 dictionary. The local dictionary provides metadata relevant to all InSight data sets, and attributes specific to several of the instruments. Additional classes and attributes were designed for the existing PDS4 geometry dictionary that will capture metadata for the lander position and orientation, along with camera models for stereo image processing. Much of the InSight archive planning and design work has been done by a Data Archiving Working Group (DAWG), which has members from the InSight project and the PDS. The group coordinates archive design, schedules and peer review of the archive documentation and test products. The InSight DAWG archiving effort for PDS is being led by the PDS Geosciences Node with several other nodes working one-on-one with instruments relevant to their disciplines. Once the InSight mission begins operations, the DAWG will continue to provide oversight on release of InSight data to PDS. Lessons learned from InSight archive work will also feed forward to planning the archives for the Mars 2020 rover.

The development of maternal touch across the first year of life.

PubMed

Ferber, Sari Goldstein; Feldman, Ruth; Makhoul, Imad R

2008-06-01

The developmental trajectories of specific forms of maternal touch during natural caregiving were examined across the first year in relation to the development of mother-infant reciprocal communication. One hundred and thirty-one mothers and infants in four groups aged 3, 6, 9, and 12 months were observed in a cross-sectional design at home during natural caregiving and mother-child play sessions. Microanalytic coding of the caregiving sessions considered nine forms of maternal touch, which were aggregated into three global touch categories: affectionate, stimulating, and instrumental. Play sessions were coded for maternal sensitivity and dyadic reciprocity. Maternal affectionate and stimulating touch decreased significantly during the second 6 months of life. In parallel, dyadic reciprocity increased in the second half year. Dyadic reciprocity was predicted by the frequency of affectionate touch but not by any other form of touch. Results contribute to specifying the role of touch as it evolves across the first year of life within the global mother-infant communication system.

The meaning of the virtual Midas touch: an ERP study in economic decision making.

PubMed

Spapé, Michiel M; Hoggan, Eve E; Jacucci, Giulio; Ravaja, Niklas

2015-03-01

The Midas touch refers to the altruistic effects of a brief touch. Though these effects have often been replicated, they remain poorly understood. We investigate the psychophysiology of the effect using remotely transmitted, precisely timed, tactile messages in an economic decision-making game called Ultimatum. Participants were more likely to accept offers after receiving a remotely transmitted touch. Furthermore, we found distinct effects of touch on event-related potentials evoked by (a) feedback regarding accepted and rejected offers, (b) decision cues related to proposals, and (c) the haptic and auditory cues themselves. In each case, a late positive effect of touch was observed and related to the P3. Given the role of the P3 in memory-related functions, the results indicate an indirect relationship between touch and generosity that relies on memory. This hypothesis was further tested and confirmed in the positive effects of touch on later proposals. © 2014 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Reading Touch Screen Storybooks with Mothers Negatively Affects 7-Year-Old Readers’ Comprehension but Enriches Emotional Engagement

PubMed Central

Ross, Kirsty M.; Pye, Rachel E.; Randell, Jordan

2016-01-01

Touch screen storybooks turn reading into an interactive multimedia experience, with hotspot-activated animations, sound effects, and games. Positive and negative effects of reading multimedia stories have been reported, but the underlying mechanisms which explain how children’s learning is affected remain uncertain. The present study examined the effect of storybook format (touch screen and print) on story comprehension, and considered how level of touch screen interactivity (high and low) and shared reading behaviors (cognitive and emotional scaffolding, emotional engagement) might contribute to comprehension. Seven-year-olds (n = 22) were observed reading one touch screen storybook and one print storybook with their mothers. Story comprehension was inferior for the touch screen storybooks compared to the print formats. Touch screen interactivity level had no significant effect on comprehension but did affect shared reading behaviors. The mother–child dyads spent less time talking about the story in the highly interactive touch screen condition, despite longer shared reading sessions because of touch screen interactions. Positive emotional engagement was greater for children and mothers in the highly interactive touch screen condition, due to additional positive emotions expressed during touch screen interactions. Negative emotional engagement was greater for children when reading and talking about the story in the highly interactive condition, and some mothers demonstrated negative emotional engagement with the touch screen activities. The less interactive touch screen storybook had little effect on shared reading behaviors, but mothers controlling behaviors were more frequent. Storybook format had no effect on the frequency of mothers’ cognitive scaffolding behaviors (comprehension questions, word help). Relationships between comprehension and shared reading behaviors were examined for each storybook, and although length of the shared reading session and controlling behaviors had significant effects on comprehension, the mechanisms driving comprehension were not fully explained by the data. The potential for touch screen storybooks to contribute to cognitive overload in 7-year-old developing readers is discussed, as is the complex relationship between cognitive and emotional scaffolding behaviors, emotional engagement, and comprehension. Sample characteristics and methodological limitations are also discussed to help inform future research. PMID:27899903

Learning from vision-to-touch is different than learning from touch-to-vision.

PubMed

Wismeijer, Dagmar A; Gegenfurtner, Karl R; Drewing, Knut

2012-01-01

We studied whether vision can teach touch to the same extent as touch seems to teach vision. In a 2 × 2 between-participants learning study, we artificially correlated visual gloss cues with haptic compliance cues. In two "natural" tasks, we tested whether visual gloss estimations have an influence on haptic estimations of softness and vice versa. In two "novel" tasks, in which participants were either asked to haptically judge glossiness or to visually judge softness, we investigated how perceptual estimates transfer from one sense to the other. Our results showed that vision does not teach touch as efficient as touch seems to teach vision.

"Atypical touch perception in MTS may derive from an abnormally plastic self-representation".

PubMed

Bufalari, Ilaria; Porciello, Giuseppina; Aglioti, Salvatore Maria

2015-01-01

Mirror Touch Synesthetes (MTSs) feel touch while they observe others being touched. According to the authors, two complementary theoretical frameworks, the Threshold Theory and the Self-Other Theory, explain Mirror Touch Synesthesia (MTS). Based on the behavioral evidence that in MTSs the mere observation of touch is sufficient to elicit self-other merging (i.e., self-representation changes), a condition that in non-MTSs just elicits self-other sharing (i.e., mirroring activity without self-other blurring), and on the rTPJ anatomical alterations in MTS, we argue that MTS may derive from an abnormally plastic self-representation and atypical multisensory integrative mechanisms.

Touch-screen technology usage in toddlers.

PubMed

Ahearne, Caroline; Dilworth, Sinead; Rollings, Rachel; Livingstone, Vicki; Murray, Deirdre

2016-02-01

To establish the prevalence and patterns of use of touch-screen technologies in the toddler population. Parental questionnaires were completed for children aged 12 months to 3 years examining access to touch-screen devices and ability to perform common forms of interaction with touch-screen technologies. The 82 questionnaires completed on typically developing children revealed 71% of toddlers had access to touch-screen devices for a median of 15 min (IQR: 9.375-26.25) per day. By parental report, 24 months was the median age of ability to swipe (IQR: 19.5-30.5), unlock (IQR: 20.5-31.5) and active looking for touch-screen features (IQR: 22-30.5), while 25 months (IQR: 21-31.25) was the median age of ability to identify and use specific touch-screen features. Overall, 32.8% of toddlers could perform all four skills. From 2 years of age toddlers have the ability to interact purposefully with touch-screen devices and demonstrate a variety of common skills required to utilise touch-screen technology. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Laterality of foetal self-touch in relation to maternal stress.

PubMed

Reissland, Nadja; Aydin, Ezra; Francis, Brian; Exley, Kendra

2015-01-01

This longitudinal observational study investigated whether foetuses change their hand preference with gestational age, and also examined the effects of maternal stress on lateralized foetal self-touch. Following ethical approval, fifteen healthy foetuses (eight girls and seven boys) were scanned four times from 24 to 36 weeks gestation. Self-touch behaviours which resulted in a touch of the foetal face/head were coded in 60 scans for 10 min and analysed in terms of frequency of the foetuses using left and right hands to touch their face. The joint effects of foetal age, stress and sex on laterality were assessed. We modelled the proportion of right self-touches for each foetal scan using a generalized linear mixed model, taking account of the repeated measures design. There was substantial variability in hand preference between foetuses. However, there was no significant increase in the proportion of right-handed touches with foetal age. No sex differences in handedness were identified. However, maternally reported stress level was significantly positively related to foetal left-handed self-touches (odds ratio 0.915; p < .0001). This longitudinal study provides important new insights into the effect of recent maternal stress on foetal predominant hand use during self-touch.

Topography of social touching depends on emotional bonds between humans.

PubMed

Suvilehto, Juulia T; Glerean, Enrico; Dunbar, Robin I M; Hari, Riitta; Nummenmaa, Lauri

2015-11-10

Nonhuman primates use social touch for maintenance and reinforcement of social structures, yet the role of social touch in human bonding in different reproductive, affiliative, and kinship-based relationships remains unresolved. Here we reveal quantified, relationship-specific maps of bodily regions where social touch is allowed in a large cross-cultural dataset (N = 1,368 from Finland, France, Italy, Russia, and the United Kingdom). Participants were shown front and back silhouettes of human bodies with a word denoting one member of their social network. They were asked to color, on separate trials, the bodily regions where each individual in their social network would be allowed to touch them. Across all tested cultures, the total bodily area where touching was allowed was linearly dependent (mean r(2) = 0.54) on the emotional bond with the toucher, but independent of when that person was last encountered. Close acquaintances and family members were touched for more reasons than less familiar individuals. The bodily area others are allowed to touch thus represented, in a parametric fashion, the strength of the relationship-specific emotional bond. We propose that the spatial patterns of human social touch reflect an important mechanism supporting the maintenance of social bonds.

The use of touch to enhance nursing care of older person in long-term mental health care facilities.

PubMed

Gleeson, M; Timmins, F

2004-10-01

The self-care deficits experienced by older clients in long-term mental health settings, because of cognitive impairment, are likely to impact upon the clients' higher-order needs. The practice of nursing the elderly involves a lot of personal contact, during the delivery of fundamental physical care. While physiological and safety needs are crucial to clients in long-term settings, higher-order needs need also to be addressed. From the clients' perspective nurse's use of touch provides comfort, warmth and security, although there is a dearth of empirical evidence of these benefits. This paper explores the nurse's use of touch, the impact of touch and the experiences of touch on the older person in long-term settings. Because of the dearth of research in the use of touch with elderly clients in long-term care mental health facilities, a review of the literature was performed on the topic. This revealed that touch by nurses is frequently associated with routine tasks within nursing, and is less likely to be a caring touch intervention. Recommendations include further research on the topic and caution with widespread adoption of caring touch as an intervention.

Topography of social touching depends on emotional bonds between humans

PubMed Central

Suvilehto, Juulia T.; Glerean, Enrico; Dunbar, Robin I. M.; Hari, Riitta; Nummenmaa, Lauri

2015-01-01

Nonhuman primates use social touch for maintenance and reinforcement of social structures, yet the role of social touch in human bonding in different reproductive, affiliative, and kinship-based relationships remains unresolved. Here we reveal quantified, relationship-specific maps of bodily regions where social touch is allowed in a large cross-cultural dataset (N = 1,368 from Finland, France, Italy, Russia, and the United Kingdom). Participants were shown front and back silhouettes of human bodies with a word denoting one member of their social network. They were asked to color, on separate trials, the bodily regions where each individual in their social network would be allowed to touch them. Across all tested cultures, the total bodily area where touching was allowed was linearly dependent (mean r2 = 0.54) on the emotional bond with the toucher, but independent of when that person was last encountered. Close acquaintances and family members were touched for more reasons than less familiar individuals. The bodily area others are allowed to touch thus represented, in a parametric fashion, the strength of the relationship-specific emotional bond. We propose that the spatial patterns of human social touch reflect an important mechanism supporting the maintenance of social bonds. PMID:26504228

Tactile Approaches for Teaching Blind and Visually-Impaired Students in the Geosciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Permenter, J. L.; Runyon, C.

2003-12-01

Hearing and touch are perhaps the two most important senses for teaching visually-impaired students in any context. Classroom lectures obviously emphasize the auditory aspects of learning, while touch is often relegated to either Braille texts or raised--line drawings for illustrative figures. From the student's perspective, some lecture topics, especially in the sciences, can be a challenge to grasp without additional stimuli. Geosciences have a distinct visual component that can be lost when teaching blind or visually-impaired students, particularly in the study of geomorphology and landform change. As an example, the matters raised concerning volcanic hazards can be difficult to envision without due attention to the limitations of visually-impaired students. Here, we suggest an example of a tactile approach for introducing the study of volcanoes and the hazards associated with them. Large, visually-stimulating images of a volcanic, populated region in southern Peru are supplied for those students who have poor but extant visual acuity, while precise, clay-based models of the region complement the images for those students, as well as for students who have no visual ability whatsoever. We use a model of the terrestrial volcano El Misti and the nearby city of Arequipa, Peru, to directly reflect the volcanic morphology and hazardous aspects of the terrain. The use of computer-generated digital elevation models from remote sensing imaging systems allows accurate replication of the regional topography. Instructors are able to modify these clay models to illustrate spatial and temporal changes in the region, allowing students to better grasp potential geological and geographical transformations over time. The models spawn engaging class discussions and help with designing hazard mitigation protocols.

Florence Nightingale: Appreciating our legacy, envisioning our future.

PubMed

Malpas, Phyllis

2006-01-01

"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music that he hears, however measured or far away." This quote is attributed to Henry David Thoreau, (Walden, 1854) not Florence Nightingale, but it certainly can describe Florence, particularly in early life. Florence, you can say, "had it all": wealth, education, a doting extended family, and a life of leisure, which included the opportunity to travel anywhere in the world. Even her name was given because she was born in Florence, Italy, during her parents' 3-year honeymoon tour of Europe. But inside Florence, "the different drummer" quietly but steadily beat, and her life was compelled to seek until she could find or, in her case, create the music she heard. After years of searching, Florence determined that "nursing," a practice every woman engaged in, was not simply a matter of kindness and care, but rather a body of knowledge, an art and a science. She never lost sight of her goal that nursing should become a profession in its own right, and not a branch of medicine. Nursing at that time was reserved for nuns in Germany, Ireland, and France, or for family and friends caring for relatives who were ill. Florence felt nursing was her "calling" and her mission. Once she discovered nursing, she pursued it for more than 50 years until the last moment of her life. Her dedication has a good deal to do with how and why we are nursing today.

Instructor Touch Enhanced College Students' Evaluations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Legg, Angela M.; Wilson, Janie H.

2013-01-01

Touch between people is associated with several outcomes, including reduced stress, more positive mood, enhanced feelings of closeness, and positive behavioral change. However, the potential utility of touch rarely has been examined in a college sample, with teachers touching their students. In the present study, we used instrumental touch…

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY VERIFICATION REPORT LASER TOUCH AND TECHNOLOGIES, LLC LASER TOUCH MODEL LT-B512

EPA Science Inventory

The Environmental Technology Verification report discusses the technology and performance of Laser Touch model LT-B512 targeting device manufactured by Laser Touch and Technologies, LLC, for manual spray painting operations. The relative transfer efficiency (TE) improved an avera...

Exploring the psychological processes underlying touch: lessons from the Alexander Technique.

PubMed

Jones, T; Glover, L

2014-01-01

The experience of touch is significant; both in its positive implications and in how it attracts caution and controversy. Accordingly, physical contact within psychological therapy has been shown to improve well-being and the therapeutic relationship, yet the majority of therapists never or rarely use touch. This research aimed to explore psychological processes underlying touch through the Alexander Technique, a psycho-physical technique taught one to one using touch. Six individuals who had received the Alexander Technique were interviewed, and 111 completed surveys. Interview data suggested an incompatibility between touch and the spoken word, which was understood through the way touch lacks verbal discourses in our society. The largely simplistic and dichotomous verbal understanding we have (either only very positive or very negative) could help understand some of the societal-level caution surrounding touch. Touch was seen also as a nurturing experience by interviewees, which influenced inter-personal and intra-personal relational processes. Developmental models were used to frame the way touch strengthened the pupil-teacher relationship and the way pupils' intra-personal psychological change seemed linked to this relational experience. The surveys largely supported these findings, and discussion is made around the notable way pupils negatively interpreted the intention of the survey. Implications for the use of touch in psychological therapies are discussed, as are limitations and ideas for future research. Touch is a powerful experience, and physical contact within psychological therapy has been shown to improve well-being and the therapeutic relationship, yet the majority of therapists never or rarely use touch. The AT is an alternative therapeutic approach to psycho-physical well-being that offers an interesting model to study the impact of touch. Findings from those that have used the technique reaffirmed that touch can improve well-being and can be a powerful force in the 'therapeutic relationship'. Accounts drew strong parallels with developmental experiences, which may be of particular interest to those working psychodynamically. Findings also highlighted the lack of discourses our culture has for touch and how the ones we share can be super-imposed onto experiences. This should be kept in mind when discussing all types of physical contact with clients. Outcomes from AT pupils cannot be generalized to those seeking psychological support; however, the findings accentuated the power of holistic working. This is important as we begin to understand more around how emotions are held in the body. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Socio-Emotional Effects of the Transition from Sight to Blindness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thurston, Mhairi; Thurston, Allen; McLeod, John

2010-01-01

The research examined the socio-emotional impact of sight loss on a sample of 18 blind and partially sighted adults from the east coast of Scotland (average age 64). The impact of sight loss in four core areas (mood, self-concept, social connectedness and loss) was explored. Data were collected using the mental health and social functioning…

The Play Behavior and Play Materials of Blind and Sighted Infants and Preschoolers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Troster, H.; Brambring, M.

1994-01-01

Analysis of questionnaires completed by parents of 91 young blind children and 74 matched sighted children indicated that sighted children engaged in more complex levels of play at an earlier age; blind children interacted less frequently with other children than did sighted children; blind children preferred tactile-auditory games and toys; and…

27 CFR 53.61 - Imposition and rates of tax.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... set of sights (iron or optical), sight mount or set of sight mounts, a choke, a flash hider, a muzzle brake, a magazine, a set of sling swivels, and/or an attachable ramrod for muzzle loading firearms when... sights and mounts, recoil pads, slings, sling swivels, chokes, and flash hiders/muzzle brakes of a type...

Sight-Singing Pedagogy: A Content Analysis of Choral Methods Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Floyd, Eva G.; Haning, Marshall A.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the sight-singing pedagogy content of choral methods textbooks, with the intent of determining what elements of sight-singing pedagogy are most commonly included in these resources. A content analysis was conducted to analyze information related to sight-singing pedagogy in 10 textbooks that are commonly…

Multi-Touch Tabletop System Using Infrared Image Recognition for User Position Identification.

PubMed

Suto, Shota; Watanabe, Toshiya; Shibusawa, Susumu; Kamada, Masaru

2018-05-14

A tabletop system can facilitate multi-user collaboration in a variety of settings, including small meetings, group work, and education and training exercises. The ability to identify the users touching the table and their positions can promote collaborative work among participants, so methods have been studied that involve attaching sensors to the table, chairs, or to the users themselves. An effective method of recognizing user actions without placing a burden on the user would be some type of visual process, so the development of a method that processes multi-touch gestures by visual means is desired. This paper describes the development of a multi-touch tabletop system using infrared image recognition for user position identification and presents the results of touch-gesture recognition experiments and a system-usability evaluation. Using an inexpensive FTIR touch panel and infrared light, this system picks up the touch areas and the shadow area of the user's hand by an infrared camera to establish an association between the hand and table touch points and estimate the position of the user touching the table. The multi-touch gestures prepared for this system include an operation to change the direction of an object to face the user and a copy operation in which two users generate duplicates of an object. The system-usability evaluation revealed that prior learning was easy and that system operations could be easily performed.

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder Benefit from Using Vision in Combination with Touch Information for Quiet Standing

PubMed Central

Bair, Woei-Nan; Barela, José A.; Whitall, Jill; Jeka, John J.; Clark, Jane E.

2011-01-01

In two experiments, the ability to use multisensory information (haptic information, provided by lightly touching a stationary surface, and vision) for quiet standing was examined in typically developing (TD) children, adults, and in 7-year-old children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Four sensory conditions (no touch/no vision, with touch/no vision, no touch/with vision, and with touch/with vision) were employed. In experiment 1, we tested 4-, 6- and 8-year-old TD children and adults to provide a developmental landscape for performance on this task. In experiment 2, we tested a group of 7-year-old children with DCD and their age-matched TD peers. For all groups, touch robustly attenuated standing sway suggesting that children as young as 4 years old use touch information similarly to adults. Touch was less effective in children with DCD compared to their TD peers, especially in attenuating their sway velocity. Children with DCD, unlike their TD peers, also benefited from using vision to reduce sway. The present results suggest that children with DCD benefit from using vision in combination with touch information for standing control possibly due to their less well developed internal models of body orientation and self-motion. Internal model deficits, combined with other known deficits such as postural muscles activation timing deficits, may exacerbate the balance impairment in children with DCD. PMID:21571533

Detecting and Classifying Human Touches in a Social Robot Through Acoustic Sensing and Machine Learning

PubMed Central

Alonso-Martín, Fernando; Gamboa-Montero, Juan José; Castillo, José Carlos; Castro-González, Álvaro; Salichs, Miguel Ángel

2017-01-01

An important aspect in Human–Robot Interaction is responding to different kinds of touch stimuli. To date, several technologies have been explored to determine how a touch is perceived by a social robot, usually placing a large number of sensors throughout the robot’s shell. In this work, we introduce a novel approach, where the audio acquired from contact microphones located in the robot’s shell is processed using machine learning techniques to distinguish between different types of touches. The system is able to determine when the robot is touched (touch detection), and to ascertain the kind of touch performed among a set of possibilities: stroke, tap, slap, and tickle (touch classification). This proposal is cost-effective since just a few microphones are able to cover the whole robot’s shell since a single microphone is enough to cover each solid part of the robot. Besides, it is easy to install and configure as it just requires a contact surface to attach the microphone to the robot’s shell and plug it into the robot’s computer. Results show the high accuracy scores in touch gesture recognition. The testing phase revealed that Logistic Model Trees achieved the best performance, with an F-score of 0.81. The dataset was built with information from 25 participants performing a total of 1981 touch gestures. PMID:28509865

Analysis of touch used by occupational therapy practitioners in skilled nursing facilities.

PubMed

Morris, Douglas; Henegar, J; Khanin, S; Oberle, G; Thacker, S

2014-09-01

Instrumental touch is identified as having purposeful physical contact in order to complete a task. Expressive touch is identified as warm, friendly physical contact and is not solely for performing a task. Expressive touch has been associated with improved client status, increased rapport and greater gains made during therapy. The purpose of the study was to observe the frequency of expressive and instrumental touch utilized by an occupational therapist during an occupational therapy session. Thirty-three occupational therapy professionals, including occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants, employed at skilled nursing facilities in southwest Florida were observed. Data were collected on the Occupational Therapy Interaction Assessment. The results of the data analysis showed a positive relationship between the gender of the therapist and the frequency of expressive touch. The data also showed that a large majority of touches were instrumental touch and pertained to functional mobility. The results of the study can contribute to a better understanding of the holistic aspects of occupational therapy. By the use of more expressive touch, occupational therapy practitioners may have a positive, beneficial effect on both the client and the therapy process as a whole. Further research is needed to determine the effect an occupational therapy setting has on the frequency of instrumental and expressive touch. A larger sample size and a distinction between evaluation and treatment sessions would benefit future studies. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Investigation of force, contact area, and dwell time in finger-tapping tasks on membrane touch interface.

PubMed

Liu, Na; Yu, Ruifeng

2018-06-01

This study aimed to determine the touch characteristics during tapping tasks on membrane touch interface and investigate the effects of posture and gender on touch characteristics variables. One hundred participants tapped digits displayed on a membrane touch interface on sitting and standing positions using all fingers of the dominant hand. Touch characteristics measures included average force, contact area, and dwell time. Across fingers and postures, males exerted larger force and contact area than females, but similar dwell time. Across genders and postures, thumb exerted the largest force and the force of the other four fingers showed no significant difference. The contact area of the thumb was the largest, whereas that of the little finger was the smallest; the dwell time of the thumb was the longest, whereas that of the middle finger was the shortest. Relationships among finger sizes, gender, posture and touch characteristics were proposed. The findings helped direct membrane touch interface design for digital and numerical control products from hardware and software perspectives. Practitioner Summary: This study measured force, contact area, and dwell time in tapping tasks on membrane touch interface and examined effects of gender and posture on force, contact area, and dwell time. The findings will direct membrane touch interface design for digital and numerical control products from hardware and software perspectives.

Detecting and Classifying Human Touches in a Social Robot Through Acoustic Sensing and Machine Learning.

PubMed

Alonso-Martín, Fernando; Gamboa-Montero, Juan José; Castillo, José Carlos; Castro-González, Álvaro; Salichs, Miguel Ángel

2017-05-16

An important aspect in Human-Robot Interaction is responding to different kinds of touch stimuli. To date, several technologies have been explored to determine how a touch is perceived by a social robot, usually placing a large number of sensors throughout the robot's shell. In this work, we introduce a novel approach, where the audio acquired from contact microphones located in the robot's shell is processed using machine learning techniques to distinguish between different types of touches. The system is able to determine when the robot is touched (touch detection), and to ascertain the kind of touch performed among a set of possibilities: stroke , tap , slap , and tickle (touch classification). This proposal is cost-effective since just a few microphones are able to cover the whole robot's shell since a single microphone is enough to cover each solid part of the robot. Besides, it is easy to install and configure as it just requires a contact surface to attach the microphone to the robot's shell and plug it into the robot's computer. Results show the high accuracy scores in touch gesture recognition. The testing phase revealed that Logistic Model Trees achieved the best performance, with an F -score of 0.81. The dataset was built with information from 25 participants performing a total of 1981 touch gestures.

Multi-Touch Tabletop System Using Infrared Image Recognition for User Position Identification

PubMed Central

Suto, Shota; Watanabe, Toshiya; Shibusawa, Susumu; Kamada, Masaru

2018-01-01

A tabletop system can facilitate multi-user collaboration in a variety of settings, including small meetings, group work, and education and training exercises. The ability to identify the users touching the table and their positions can promote collaborative work among participants, so methods have been studied that involve attaching sensors to the table, chairs, or to the users themselves. An effective method of recognizing user actions without placing a burden on the user would be some type of visual process, so the development of a method that processes multi-touch gestures by visual means is desired. This paper describes the development of a multi-touch tabletop system using infrared image recognition for user position identification and presents the results of touch-gesture recognition experiments and a system-usability evaluation. Using an inexpensive FTIR touch panel and infrared light, this system picks up the touch areas and the shadow area of the user’s hand by an infrared camera to establish an association between the hand and table touch points and estimate the position of the user touching the table. The multi-touch gestures prepared for this system include an operation to change the direction of an object to face the user and a copy operation in which two users generate duplicates of an object. The system-usability evaluation revealed that prior learning was easy and that system operations could be easily performed. PMID:29758006

Touch and feel? Using the rubber hand paradigm to investigate self-touch enhancement in right-hemisphere stroke patients.

PubMed

White, Rebekah C; Aimola Davies, Anne M; Kischka, Udo; Davies, Martin

2010-01-01

Following stroke, a patient may fail to report touch administered by another person but claim that she feels touch when it is self-administered. We investigated three explanations for self-touch enhancement: (1) proprioceptive information from the administering hand, (2) attentional modulation, and (3) temporal expectation. Tactile sensation was assessed with vision precluded, and with the affected hand positioned in the left and right hemispace. In four of six experiments, the somatic rubber hand paradigm was used: the Examiner administered stimulation to the patient's affected left hand while guiding the patient's right hand to administer synchronous stimulation to a prosthetic hand. Even though the patient's two hands were not in contact, patients detected the same number of stimulations as when they touched their own hand directly (self-administered condition). Moreover, there was no decline in rates of detection when potentially informative movements of the administering hand were restricted. This demonstrates that patients feel rather than infer stimulation under conditions of self-touch. When patients received stimulation to the affected hand in the opposite hemispace to the hand administering touch to the prosthetic hand, all but one showed self-touch enhancement. Thus, neither proprioceptive information nor attentional modulation at the spatial region of the administering hand provided a sufficient explanation for self-touch enhancement. A follow-up experiment indicated an important role for temporal expectation: a delay, between the patient's stimulation of the prosthetic hand and the Examiner's stimulation of the patient's affected hand, eliminated the self-touch enhancement effect.

Mind the Gap: The Effects of Temporal and Spatial Separation in Localization of Dual Touches on the Hand.

PubMed

Sadibolova, Renata; Tamè, Luigi; Walsh, Eamonn; Longo, Matthew R

2018-01-01

In this study, we aimed to relate the findings from two predominantly separate streams of literature, one reporting on the localization of single touches on the skin, and the other on the distance perception of dual touches. Participants were touched with two points, delivered either simultaneously or separated by a short delay to various locations on their left hand dorsum. They then indicated on a size-matched hand silhouette the perceived locations of tactile stimuli. We quantified the deviations between the actual stimulus grid and the corresponding perceptual map which was constructed from the perceived tactile locations, and we calculated the precision of tactile localization (i.e., the variability across localization attempts). The evidence showed that the dual touches, akin to single touch stimulations, were mislocalized distally and that their variable localization error was reduced near joints, particularly near knuckles. However, contrary to single-touch localization literature, we observed for the dual touches to be mislocalized towards the ulnar side of the hand, particularly when they were presented sequentially. Further, the touches presented in a sequential order were slightly "repelled" from each other and their perceived distance increased, while the simultaneous tactile pairs were localized closer to each other and their distance was compressed. Whereas the sequential touches may have been localized with reference to the body, the compression of tactile perceptual space for simultaneous touches was related in the previous literature to signal summation and inhibition and the low-level factors, including the innervation density and properties of receptive fields (RFs) of somatosensory neurons.

A New LSP Educational Experience in Nebrija University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Genís, Marta; Orduna, Elena; Rubio Romero, Juana; Perlado, Marta

2012-01-01

The contest "Touched by Advertising," organized by the Publicity Department of Nebrija University, gives awards in three general categories: Great Touched, Young Touched and Touched to Career Development. Alongside these general categories, there are technical awards for the best slogan, the best performance, the best score and the best…

Enhancing Interaction through Positive Touch

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pardew, E. Michelle; Bunse, Carol

2005-01-01

Positive touch is an application of the ancient practice of infant massage. Positive touch provides families and caregivers with simple and positive ways to touch their child that contribute to the overall goal of providing a nurturing environment that supports the child's growth and development. This article describes infant massage techniques in…

"Touch" in Educational and Child Care Settings: Dilemmas and Responses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piper, Heather; Smith, Hannah

2003-01-01

This article considers the touching, or rather, not touching, of children and young people in professional settings. Some have argued that many schools and other childcare environments are becoming "no touch" zones. Formal guidelines in the UK are centrally concerned with "child protection" issues, and "force and…

InSight Prelaunch Briefing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

Stu Spath, InSight program manager, Lockheed Martin Space, discusses NASA's InSight mission during a prelaunch media briefing, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

InSight Prelaunch Briefing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

Tom Hoffman, InSight project manager, NASA JPL, right, discusses NASA's InSight mission during a prelaunch media briefing, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

InSight Prelaunch Briefing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator, NASA JPL, discusses NASA's InSight mission during a prelaunch media briefing, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

The Development of a String Sight-Reading Pitch Skill Hierarchy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, Michael L.; Henry, Michele L.

2012-01-01

This study was designed to determine a pitch skill hierarchy for string sight-reading, to determine the effects of key on string sight-reading achievement, and to determine the validity of a tonal pattern system as a measurement of melodic sight-reading skill for string players. High school string students (n = 94) obtained a mean score of 27.28…

Spatial working memory for locations specified by vision and audition: testing the amodality hypothesis.

PubMed

Loomis, Jack M; Klatzky, Roberta L; McHugh, Brendan; Giudice, Nicholas A

2012-08-01

Spatial working memory can maintain representations from vision, hearing, and touch, representations referred to here as spatial images. The present experiment addressed whether spatial images from vision and hearing that are simultaneously present within working memory retain modality-specific tags or are amodal. Observers were presented with short sequences of targets varying in angular direction, with the targets in a given sequence being all auditory, all visual, or a sequential mixture of the two. On two thirds of the trials, one of the locations was repeated, and observers had to respond as quickly as possible when detecting this repetition. Ancillary detection and localization tasks confirmed that the visual and auditory targets were perceptually comparable. Response latencies in the working memory task showed small but reliable costs in performance on trials involving a sequential mixture of auditory and visual targets, as compared with trials of pure vision or pure audition. These deficits were statistically reliable only for trials on which the modalities of the matching location switched from the penultimate to the final target in the sequence, indicating a switching cost. The switching cost for the pair in immediate succession means that the spatial images representing the target locations retain features of the visual or auditory representations from which they were derived. However, there was no reliable evidence of a performance cost for mixed modalities in the matching pair when the second of the two did not immediately follow the first, suggesting that more enduring spatial images in working memory may be amodal.

Learning from vision-to-touch is different than learning from touch-to-vision

PubMed Central

Wismeijer, Dagmar A.; Gegenfurtner, Karl R.; Drewing, Knut

2012-01-01

We studied whether vision can teach touch to the same extent as touch seems to teach vision. In a 2 × 2 between-participants learning study, we artificially correlated visual gloss cues with haptic compliance cues. In two “natural” tasks, we tested whether visual gloss estimations have an influence on haptic estimations of softness and vice versa. In two “novel” tasks, in which participants were either asked to haptically judge glossiness or to visually judge softness, we investigated how perceptual estimates transfer from one sense to the other. Our results showed that vision does not teach touch as efficient as touch seems to teach vision. PMID:23181012

Tactile communication, cooperation, and performance: an ethological study of the NBA.

PubMed

Kraus, Michael W; Huang, Cassey; Keltner, Dacher

2010-10-01

Tactile communication, or physical touch, promotes cooperation between people, communicates distinct emotions, soothes in times of stress, and is used to make inferences of warmth and trust. Based on this conceptual analysis, we predicted that in group competition, physical touch would predict increases in both individual and group performance. In an ethological study, we coded the touch behavior of players from the National Basketball Association (NBA) during the 2008-2009 regular season. Consistent with hypotheses, early season touch predicted greater performance for individuals as well as teams later in the season. Additional analyses confirmed that touch predicted improved performance even after accounting for player status, preseason expectations, and early season performance. Moreover, coded cooperative behaviors between teammates explained the association between touch and team performance. Discussion focused on the contributions touch makes to cooperative groups and the potential implications for other group settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Active touch and self-motion encoding by Merkel cell-associated afferents

PubMed Central

Severson, Kyle S.; Xu, Duo; Van de Loo, Margaret; Bai, Ling; Ginty, David D.; O’Connor, Daniel H.

2017-01-01

Summary Touch perception depends on integrating signals from multiple types of peripheral mechanoreceptors. Merkel-cell associated afferents are thought to play a major role in form perception by encoding surface features of touched objects. However, activity of Merkel afferents during active touch has not been directly measured. Here, we show that Merkel and unidentified slowly adapting afferents in the whisker system of behaving mice respond to both self-motion and active touch. Touch responses were dominated by sensitivity to bending moment (torque) at the base of the whisker and its rate of change, and largely explained by a simple mechanical model. Self-motion responses encoded whisker position within a whisk cycle (phase), not absolute whisker angle, and arose from stresses reflecting whisker inertia and activity of specific muscles. Thus, Merkel afferents send to the brain multiplexed information about whisker position and surface features, suggesting that proprioception and touch converge at the earliest neural level. PMID:28434802

'Kiss, cuddle, squeeze': the experiences and meaning of touch among parents of children with autism attending a Touch Therapy Programme.

PubMed

Cullen, Lesley; Barlow, Julie

2002-09-01

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences and meaning of touch between parents and children with autism before and after attending a Touch Therapy Programme. The sample comprised 12 parents (1 father and 11 mothers) of children (1 female and 11 male) with autism. Parents were interviewed before and immediately after the 8-week programme. Pre-programme results suggested that children were controlling the experience of touch. Parents felt 'hurt' in response to the 'aloof nature of autism, and natural parenting instincts (e.g. spontaneous cuddles) were restricted. Post-programme results suggested that children appeared to tolerate touch. Parents reported that routine tasks (e.g. dressing) were accomplished more easily and that children appeared generally more relaxed. Parents reported feeling 'closer' to their children and felt that the touch therapy had opened a communication channel between themselves and their children.

Touch in Family Therapy: An Exploratory Study Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moy, Caryl T.

The use of touch in therapeutic relationships is seldom dealt with as a practice issue except in a proscriptive way. To gather descriptive information on the use of touch in therapy, professional therapists (N=50) whose practice was largely family therapy were interviewed about the successful use of touch in their helping relationships. Interview…

Touching Hearts, Touching Minds: Using Emotion-Based Messaging to Promote Healthful Behavior in the Massachusetts WIC Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colchamiro, Rachel; Ghiringhelli, Kara; Hause, Judith

2010-01-01

The "Touching Hearts, Touching Minds" initiative was funded through a 2003 United States Department of Agriculture Special Projects grant to revitalize nutrition education and services in the Massachusetts Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program. The 30 nutrition education materials and…

78 FR 6835 - Certain Mobile Handset Devices and Related Touch Keyboard Software; Institution of Investigation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-31

... Related Touch Keyboard Software; Institution of Investigation AGENCY: U.S. International Trade Commission... importation of certain mobile handset devices and related touch keyboard software by reason of infringement of... certain mobile handset devices and related touch keyboard software that infringe one or more of claims 36...

The Effect of Counselor Touch in an Initial Counseling Session.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hubble, Mark A.; And Others

1981-01-01

Investigated the effect of counselor touch on female clients (N=32) and the moderating effect of clients' field dependence-independence on their response to a counselor's touch. Results indicated that counselors were perceived as significantly more expert when they touched than when they did not. Suggests implications for counseling. (Author)

Aging and curvature discrimination from static and dynamic touch.

PubMed

Norman, J Farley; Kappers, Astrid M L; Cheeseman, Jacob R; Ronning, Cecilia; Thomason, Kelsey E; Baxter, Michael W; Calloway, Autum B; Lamirande, Davora N

2013-01-01

Two experiments evaluated the ability of 30 older and younger adults to discriminate the curvature of simple object surfaces from static and dynamic touch. The ages of the older adults ranged from 66 to 85 years, while those of the younger adults ranged from 20 to 29 years. For each participant in both experiments, the minimum curvature magnitude needed to reliably discriminate between convex and concave surfaces was determined. In Experiment 1, participants used static touch to make their judgments of curvature, while dynamic touch was used in Experiment 2. When static touch was used to discriminate curvature, a large effect of age occurred (the thresholds were 0.67 & 1.11/m for the younger and older participants, respectively). However, when participants used dynamic touch, there was no significant difference between the ability of younger and older participants to discriminate curvature (the thresholds were 0.58 & 0.59/m for the younger and older participants, respectively). The results of the current study demonstrate that while older adults can accurately discriminate surface curvature from dynamic touch, they possess significant impairments for static touch.

Aging and Curvature Discrimination from Static and Dynamic Touch

PubMed Central

Norman, J. Farley; Kappers, Astrid M. L.; Cheeseman, Jacob R.; Ronning, Cecilia; Thomason, Kelsey E.; Baxter, Michael W.; Calloway, Autum B.; Lamirande, Davora N.

2013-01-01

Two experiments evaluated the ability of 30 older and younger adults to discriminate the curvature of simple object surfaces from static and dynamic touch. The ages of the older adults ranged from 66 to 85 years, while those of the younger adults ranged from 20 to 29 years. For each participant in both experiments, the minimum curvature magnitude needed to reliably discriminate between convex and concave surfaces was determined. In Experiment 1, participants used static touch to make their judgments of curvature, while dynamic touch was used in Experiment 2. When static touch was used to discriminate curvature, a large effect of age occurred (the thresholds were 0.67 & 1.11/m for the younger and older participants, respectively). However, when participants used dynamic touch, there was no significant difference between the ability of younger and older participants to discriminate curvature (the thresholds were 0.58 & 0.59/m for the younger and older participants, respectively). The results of the current study demonstrate that while older adults can accurately discriminate surface curvature from dynamic touch, they possess significant impairments for static touch. PMID:23844224

Observed touch on a non-human face is not remapped onto the human observer's own face.

PubMed

Beck, Brianna; Bertini, Caterina; Scarpazza, Cristina; Làdavas, Elisabetta

2013-01-01

Visual remapping of touch (VRT) is a phenomenon in which seeing a human face being touched enhances detection of tactile stimuli on the observer's own face, especially when the observed face expresses fear. This study tested whether VRT would occur when seeing touch on monkey faces and whether it would be similarly modulated by facial expressions. Human participants detected near-threshold tactile stimulation on their own cheeks while watching fearful, happy, and neutral human or monkey faces being concurrently touched or merely approached by fingers. We predicted minimal VRT for neutral and happy monkey faces but greater VRT for fearful monkey faces. The results with human faces replicated previous findings, demonstrating stronger VRT for fearful expressions than for happy or neutral expressions. However, there was no VRT (i.e. no difference between accuracy in touch and no-touch trials) for any of the monkey faces, regardless of facial expression, suggesting that touch on a non-human face is not remapped onto the somatosensory system of the human observer.

Observed Touch on a Non-Human Face Is Not Remapped onto the Human Observer's Own Face

PubMed Central

Beck, Brianna; Bertini, Caterina; Scarpazza, Cristina; Làdavas, Elisabetta

2013-01-01

Visual remapping of touch (VRT) is a phenomenon in which seeing a human face being touched enhances detection of tactile stimuli on the observer's own face, especially when the observed face expresses fear. This study tested whether VRT would occur when seeing touch on monkey faces and whether it would be similarly modulated by facial expressions. Human participants detected near-threshold tactile stimulation on their own cheeks while watching fearful, happy, and neutral human or monkey faces being concurrently touched or merely approached by fingers. We predicted minimal VRT for neutral and happy monkey faces but greater VRT for fearful monkey faces. The results with human faces replicated previous findings, demonstrating stronger VRT for fearful expressions than for happy or neutral expressions. However, there was no VRT (i.e. no difference between accuracy in touch and no-touch trials) for any of the monkey faces, regardless of facial expression, suggesting that touch on a non-human face is not remapped onto the somatosensory system of the human observer. PMID:24250781

Does the type of somatosensory information from the contralateral finger touch affect grip force control while lifting an object?

PubMed

Chen, Bing; Aruin, Alexander S

2013-11-27

The magnitude of grip force used to lift and transport a hand-held object is decreased if a light finger touch from the contralateral arm is provided to the wrist of the target arm. We investigated whether the type of contralateral arm sensory input that became available with the finger touch to the target arm affects the way grip force is reduced. Nine healthy subjects performed the same task of lifting and transporting an instrumented object with no involvement of the contralateral arm and when an index finger touch of the contralateral arm was provided to the wrist, elbow, and shoulder. Touching the wrist and elbow involved movements of the contralateral arm; no movements were produced while touching the shoulder. Grip force was reduced by approximately the same amount in all conditions with the finger touch compared to the no touch condition. This suggests that information from the muscle and joint receptors of the contralateral arm is used in control of grip force when a finger touch is provided to the wrist and elbow, and cutaneous information is utilized when lifting an object while touching the shoulder. The results of the study provide additional evidence to support the use of a second arm in the performance of activities of daily living and stress the importance of future studies investigating contralateral arm sensory input in grip force control. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Children's Learning from Touch Screens: A Dual Representation Perspective.

PubMed

Sheehan, Kelly J; Uttal, David H

2016-01-01

Parents and educators often expect that children will learn from touch screen devices, such as during joint e-book reading. Therefore an essential question is whether young children understand that the touch screen can be a symbolic medium - that entities represented on the touch screen can refer to entities in the real world. Research on symbolic development suggests that symbolic understanding requires that children develop dual representational abilities, meaning children need to appreciate that a symbol is an object in itself (i.e., picture of a dog) while also being a representation of something else (i.e., the real dog). Drawing on classic research on symbols and new research on children's learning from touch screens, we offer the perspective that children's ability to learn from the touch screen as a symbolic medium depends on the effect of interactivity on children's developing dual representational abilities. Although previous research on dual representation suggests the interactive nature of the touch screen might make it difficult for young children to use as a symbolic medium, the unique interactive affordances may help alleviate this difficulty. More research needs to investigate how the interactivity of the touch screen affects children's ability to connect the symbols on the screen to the real world. Given the interactive nature of the touch screen, researchers and educators should consider both the affordances of the touch screen as well as young children's cognitive abilities when assessing whether young children can learn from it as a symbolic medium.

Caring touch--patients' experiences in an anthroposophic clinical context.

PubMed

Ozolins, Lise-Lotte; Hörberg, Ulrica; Dahlberg, Karin

2015-12-01

This study describes the phenomenon of caring touch from the patients' perspective in an anthroposophic clinical context where caring touch is often used to promote health and alleviate suffering. The aim of the study was to explore and phenomenologically describe the phenomenon of caring touch from the patients' perspectives. The study has been carried out with a Reflective Lifeworld Research approach in order to understand and describe human existential phenomena. Ten female patients were interviewed in an anthroposophic clinic in Sweden. The findings show how caring touch has multifaceted meanings and makes the patients' feel present and anchored in a meaningful context. The patients' feel that they are seen, accepted and confirmed. Furthermore, touch creates a caring space where the patients become receptive for care and has the power to alleviate the patients' suffering, as well as to frighten and cause or worsen the suffering. In order to take advantage of the caring potential, the patient needs to be invited to a respectful and sensitive form of touch. An interpersonal flexible space is necessary where the touch can be effective, and where a dynamic interplay can develop. In conclusion, caring touch is an opportunity for carers to support well-being and health. The carers need to approach their patients in both a sensitive and reflective way. A caring science perspective can serve as a help to further understand touch as a unique caring act. © 2015 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Hand-touch contact assessment of high-touch and mutual-touch surfaces among healthcare workers, patients, and visitors.

PubMed

Cheng, V C C; Chau, P H; Lee, W M; Ho, S K Y; Lee, D W Y; So, S Y C; Wong, S C Y; Tai, J W M; Yuen, K Y

2015-07-01

Unlike direct contact with patients' body, hand hygiene practice is often neglected by healthcare workers (HCWs) and visitors after contact with patients' environment. Contact with hospital environmental items may increase risk of pathogen transmission. To enumerate the number of hand-touch contacts by patients, HCWs and visitors with any hospital environmental items. All contact-episodes between person and item were recorded by direct observation in a six-bed cubicle of acute wards for 33 working days. High-touch and mutual-touch items with high contact frequencies by HCWs, patients, and visitors were analysed. In total, 1107 person-episodes with 6144 contact-episodes were observed in 66 observation hours (average: 16.8 person-episodes and 93.1 contact-episodes per hour). Eight of the top 10 high-touch items, including bedside rails, bedside tables, patients' bodies, patients' files, linen, bed curtains, bed frames, and lockers were mutually touched by HCWs, patients, and visitors. Bedside rails topped the list with 13.6 contact-episodes per hour (mean), followed by bedside tables (12.3 contact-episodes per hour). Using patients' body contacts as a reference, it was found that medical staff and nursing staff contacted bedside tables [rate ratio (RR): 1.741, 1.427, respectively] and patients' files (RR: 1.358, 1.324, respectively) more than patients' bodies, and nursing staff also contacted bedside rails (RR: 1.490) more than patients' bodies. Patients' surroundings may be links in the transmission of nosocomial infections because many are frequently touched and mutually contacted by HCWs, patients, and visitors. Therefore, the focus of hand hygiene education, environmental disinfection, and other system changes should be enhanced with respect to high-touch and mutual-touch items. Copyright © 2015 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Attention focus and self-touch in toddlers: The moderating effect of attachment security.

PubMed

Ito-Jäger, Sachiyo; Howard, Amanda R; Purvis, Karyn B; Cross, David R

2017-08-01

The superior self-regulation and attention-regulation abilities of securely attached children have been repeatedly demonstrated. However, the mechanisms that allow securely attached children to exhibit higher levels of attention focus than insecurely attached (anxious-ambivalent and anxious-avoidant) children need to be explored. One possible mechanism that has been hypothesized to play a role in focusing attention is self-touch. Previous research has shown that 10-year-old children exhibit more bilateral self-touch (i.e., both hands are simultaneously moving onto each other or on the body, and both hands are in contact with each other or with the body), but not lateral self-touch (i.e., one hand is moving on the other hand or on the body, and the hand is in contact with the other hand or with the body), when they focus attention on a task. Because bilateral coordination is still developing during childhood, we expected that lateral self-touch, instead of bilateral self-touch, may be associated with attention focus for toddlers. The objectives of the present study were to examine whether securely attached toddlers exhibit more self-touch, particularly lateral self-touch, while they focus on a task than while they do not focus on a task. We expected to find that the association between lateral self-touch and attention focus is not as strong for insecurely attached toddlers. Data from forty-nine mother-child dyads were employed for analyses. The attachment classification of the children was determined using the Strange Situation. The duration of attention focus and self-touch behavior during a reading task were coded. An association between lateral self-touch and attention focus was found for children of all attachment classifications. This association was particularly strong for securely attached children. We discuss the possibility that securely attached toddlers may use lateral self-touch to regulate attention. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Touch massage: a pilot study of a complex intervention.

PubMed

Lindgren, Lenita; Lehtipalo, Stefan; Winsö, Ola; Karlsson, Marcus; Wiklund, Urban; Brulin, Christine

2013-11-01

To report and evaluate a complex touch massage intervention according to the British Medical Research Council framework. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of touch massage on levels of anxiety and physiological stress in patients scheduled for elective aortic surgery. The use of touch massage has increased during the past decade but no systematic studies have been implemented to investigate the effectiveness of such treatment. It is important to conduct multidisciplinary investigations into the effects of complex interventions such as touch massage. For this, the British Medical Research Council has provided a useful framework to guide the development, piloting, evaluation and reporting of complex intervention studies. A pilot study with a randomized controlled design including 20 patients (10 + 10) scheduled for elective aortic surgery. Selected outcome parameters included; self-reported anxiety, measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y instrument, and physiological stress, measured by heart rate variability, blood pressure, respiratory frequency, oxygen saturation and concentrations of cortisol, insulin and glucose in serum. There were significant differences in self-reported anxiety levels before and after touch massage (p = 0.007), this was not observed in the control group (p = 0.833). There was a significant difference in self-reported anxiety levels between the touch massage group and the control group after touch massage and rest (p = 0.001). There were no significant differences in physiological stress-related outcome parameters between patients who received touch massage and controls. In our study, touch massage decreased anxiety levels in patients scheduled for elective aortic surgery, and the British Medical Research Council framework was a useful guideline for the development, evaluation and reporting of a touch massage intervention. Touch massage can reduce patients' anxiety levels and is thus an important nursing intervention in intensive and post-operative care. © 2013 The Authors. Nursing in Critical Care © 2013 British Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Fingertip contact suppresses the destabilizing influence of leg muscle vibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lackner, J. R.; Rabin, E.; DiZio, P.

2000-01-01

Touch of the hand with a stationary surface at nonmechanically supportive force levels (<1 N) greatly attenuates postural sway during quiet stance. We predicted such haptic contact would also suppress the postural destabilization caused by vibrating the right peroneus brevis and longus muscles of subjects standing heel-to-toe with eyes closed. In experiment 1, ten subjects were tested under four conditions: no-vibration, no-touch; no-vibration, touch; vibration, no-touch; and vibration, touch. A hand-held physiotherapy vibrator (120 Hz) was applied approximately 5 cm above the malleolous to stimulate the peroneus longus and brevis tendons. Touch conditions involved contact of the right index finger with a laterally positioned surface (<1 N of force) at waist height. Vibration in the absence of finger contact greatly increased the mean sway amplitude of the center of pressure and of the head relative to the no-vibration, no-touch control condition (P < 0.001). The touch, no-vibration and touch-vibration conditions were not significantly different (P > 0.05) from each other and both had significantly less mean sway amplitude of head and of center of pressure than the other conditions (P < 0.01). In experiment 2, eight subjects stood heel-to-toe under touch and no-touch conditions involving 40-s duration trials of peroneus tendon vibration at different duty cycles: 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-s ON and OFF periods. The vibrator was attached to the subject's leg and remotely activated. In the no-touch conditions, subjects showed periodic postural disruptions contingent on the duty cycle and mirror image rebounds with the offset of vibration. In the touch conditions, subjects were much less disrupted and showed compensations occurring within 500 ms of vibration onset and mirror image rebounds with vibration offset. Subjects were able to suppress almost completely the destabilizing influence of the vibration in the 3- and 4-s duty cycle trials. These experiments show that haptic contact of the hand with a stable surface can suppress abnormal proprioceptive and motor signals in leg muscles.

InSight Prelaunch Briefing

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

Social media guest listen as Bruce Banerdt, InSight principal investigator, NASA JPL, discusses NASA's InSight mission during a prelaunch media briefing, Thursday, May 3, 2018, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is a Mars lander designed to study the "inner space" of Mars: its crust, mantle, and core. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Examining the Validity of Self-Report: Middle-Level Singers' Ability to Predict and Assess Their Sight-Singing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Darrow, Alice-Ann; Marsh, Kerry

2006-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to determine choral students' ability to predict and evaluate their sight-singing skills. Participants were asked to assign a rating based on how well they predicted they would sight-sing five musical examples. Following the singing of each example, participants were asked to evaluate their sight-singing…

MicroSight Optics

ScienceCinema

None

2018-05-16

MicroSight is an innovative gunsight technology that allows a marksman's eye to focus on both the front gunsight and the intended target. The MicroSight improves both firearm safety and performance by imaging two objects at different focal distances. The MicroSight was developed at Idaho National Laboratory, and has been licensed by Apollo Optical Systems. You can learn more about INL's research programs at http://www.facebook.com/idahonationallaboratory.

MicroSight Optics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2010-01-01

MicroSight is an innovative gunsight technology that allows a marksman's eye to focus on both the front gunsight and the intended target. The MicroSight improves both firearm safety and performance by imaging two objects at different focal distances. The MicroSight was developed at Idaho National Laboratory, and has been licensed by Apollo Optical Systems. You can learn more about INL's research programs at http://www.facebook.com/idahonationallaboratory.

OBSERVATIONAL PROPERTIES OF ROTATIONALLY EXCITED MOLECULAR HYDROGEN IN TRANSLUCENT LINES OF SIGHT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jensen, Adam G.; Sonneborn, George; Snow, Theodore P.

2010-03-10

The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) has allowed precise determinations of the column densities of molecular hydrogen (H{sub 2}) in Galactic lines of sight with a wide range of pathlengths and extinction properties. However, survey studies of lines of sight with greater extinction have been mostly restricted to the low-J states (lower total angular momentum) in which most molecular hydrogen is observed. This paper presents a survey of column densities for the molecular hydrogen in states of greater rotational excitation (J >= 2) in Galactic lines of sight with log N(H{sub 2}) {approx}> 20. This study is comprehensive through themore » highest excited state detectable in each line of sight. J = 5 is observed in every line of sight, and we detect J = 7 in four lines of sight, J = 8 in one line of sight, and vibrationally excited H{sub 2} in two lines of sight. We compared the apparent b-values and velocity offsets of the higher-J states relative to the dominant low-J states and we found no evidence of any trends that might provide insight into the formation of higher-J H{sub 2}, although these results are the most affected by the limits of the FUSE resolution. We also derive excitation temperatures based on the column densities of the different states. We confirm that at least two distinct temperatures are necessary to adequately describe these lines of sight, and that more temperatures are probably necessary. Total H{sub 2} column density is known to be correlated with other molecules; we explore if correlations vary as a function of J for several molecules, most importantly CH and CH{sup +}. Finally, we briefly discuss interpretations of selected lines of sight by comparing them to models computed using the Meudon PDR code.« less

Using space and time to encode vibrotactile information: toward an estimate of the skin's achievable throughput.

PubMed

Novich, Scott D; Eagleman, David M

2015-10-01

Touch receptors in the skin can relay various forms of abstract information, such as words (Braille), haptic feedback (cell phones, game controllers, feedback for prosthetic control), and basic visual information such as edges and shape (sensory substitution devices). The skin can support such applications with ease: They are all low bandwidth and do not require a fine temporal acuity. But what of high-throughput applications? We use sound-to-touch conversion as a motivating example, though others abound (e.g., vision, stock market data). In the past, vibrotactile hearing aids have demonstrated improvement in speech perceptions in the deaf. However, a sound-to-touch sensory substitution device that works with high efficacy and without the aid of lipreading has yet to be developed. Is this because skin simply does not have the capacity to effectively relay high-throughput streams such as sound? Or is this because the spatial and temporal properties of skin have not been leveraged to full advantage? Here, we begin to address these questions with two experiments. First, we seek to determine the best method of relaying information through the skin using an identification task on the lower back. We find that vibrotactile patterns encoding information in both space and time yield the best overall information transfer estimate. Patterns encoded in space and time or "intensity" (the coupled coding of vibration frequency and force) both far exceed performance of only spatially encoded patterns. Next, we determine the vibrotactile two-tacton resolution on the lower back-the distance necessary for resolving two vibrotactile patterns. We find that our vibratory motors conservatively require at least 6 cm of separation to resolve two independent tactile patterns (>80 % correct), regardless of stimulus type (e.g., spatiotemporal "sweeps" versus single vibratory pulses). Six centimeter is a greater distance than the inter-motor distances used in Experiment 1 (2.5 cm), which explains the poor identification performance of spatially encoded patterns. Hence, when using an array of vibrational motors, spatiotemporal sweeps can overcome the limitations of vibrotactile two-tacton resolution. The results provide the first steps toward obtaining a realistic estimate of the skin's achievable throughput, illustrating the best ways to encode data to the skin (using as many dimensions as possible) and how far such interfaces would need to be separated if using multiple arrays in parallel.

Sighting frequency and relative abundance of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) along the northeast coast of Margarita Island and Los Frailes Archipelago, Venezuela.

PubMed

Oviedo, Lenin; Silva, Noemi

2005-01-01

The study of local cetaceans in Venezuela has a very recent history, and few efforts have been made in the assessment of coastal populations based on field research. The occurrence of whales and dolphins along the northeast coast of Venezuela has been documented through sightings and stranding records. Given the underwater topographical features and the influence of upwelling processes, this area is considered a very productive coastal ecosystem. Our objective was to establish the sighting frequency and relative abundance of bottlenose dolphins in the area. Sighting records were gathered on bottlenose dolphins and other cetacean species occurring along the northeast coast of Margarita Island and Los Frailes Archipelago through direct observation during land-based (6 surveys, 48 hours of observation) and boat-based surveys (24 surveys, 121 hours of observation, 1295 km covered). A sighting frequency was calculated using two methodologies and then compared, considering: 1) a mean effective observation time (4.27 hours), and 2) distance covered with cetacean sightings (1108 kin). A third method is proposed relating a mean effective distance covered with cetacean sightings and expressed as a percentage. The abundance index was calculated using the mean effective observation time. The sighting frequency of Tursiops truncattus in the study area was 3 - 4 sightings per day of 4.27 observation hours, or by 185 kilometers covered. The relative abundance was calculated as 35 dolphins in the study area, so a total population of less than 60 dolphins could inhabit the proposed range. Tursiops truncatus is the dominant species in the northeast coast of Margarita Island and Los Frailes Archipelago with 70% of all the sightings, so this locality could be termed as the distribution range of a possible local population of bottlenose dolphins.

Identifying sighting clusters of endangered taxa with historical records.

PubMed

Duffy, Karl J

2011-04-01

The probability and time of extinction of taxa is often inferred from statistical analyses of historical records. Many of these analyses require the exclusion of multiple records within a unit of time (i.e., a month or a year). Nevertheless, spatially explicit, temporally aggregated data may be useful for identifying clusters of sightings (i.e., sighting clusters) in space and time. Identification of sighting clusters highlights changes in the historical recording of endangered taxa. I used two methods to identify sighting clusters in historical records: the Ederer-Myers-Mantel (EMM) test and the space-time permutation scan (STPS). I applied these methods to the spatially explicit sighting records of three species of orchids that are listed as endangered in the Republic of Ireland under the Wildlife Act (1976): Cephalanthera longifolia, Hammarbya paludosa, and Pseudorchis albida. Results with the EMM test were strongly affected by the choice of the time interval, and thus the number of temporal samples, used to examine the records. For example, sightings of P. albida clustered when the records were partitioned into 20-year temporal samples, but not when they were partitioned into 22-year temporal samples. Because the statistical power of EMM was low, it will not be useful when data are sparse. Nevertheless, the STPS identified regions that contained sighting clusters because it uses a flexible scanning window (defined by cylinders of varying size that move over the study area and evaluate the likelihood of clustering) to detect them, and it identified regions with high and regions with low rates of orchid sightings. The STPS analyses can be used to detect sighting clusters of endangered species that may be related to regions of extirpation and may assist in the categorization of threat status. ©2010 Society for Conservation Biology.

Toddlers' Word Learning from Contingent and Noncontingent Video on Touch Screens

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirkorian, Heather L.; Choi, Koeun; Pempek, Tiffany A.

2016-01-01

Researchers examined whether contingent experience using a touch screen increased toddlers' ability to learn a word from video. One hundred and sixteen children (24-36 months) watched an on-screen actress label an object: (a) without interacting, (b) with instructions to touch "anywhere" on the screen, or (c) with instructions to touch a…

The Power of Touch: Nonverbal Communication within Married Dyads

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Joann C. Seeman; Vogel, David L.; Madon, Stephanie; Edwards, Sarah R.

2011-01-01

Researchers have suggested that one function of touch in mixed-sex interactions is to exert influence over another person. Yet theories offer different explanations as to when women and men will use touch as an influence strategy. The gender politics hypothesis proposes that men touch more as a way to maintain inequalities present in society. In…

Please Touch the Children: Appropriate Touch in the Primary Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owen, Pamela M.; Gillentine, Jonathan

2011-01-01

This study proposes to shift the current theoretical framework in which teachers practise a guarded approach regarding the touching of children in early childhood settings, towards a practice of acceptance. A brief historical context of touching is presented and supplemented with a survey of 63 currently practising K-3rd grade teachers. The survey…

The Use of Touch in Counseling: An Ethical Decision-Making Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calmes, Stephanie A.; Piazza, Nick J.; Laux, John M.

2013-01-01

Although some counselors have advocated for the limited use of touch in counseling, others have argued that touch has no place within the counseling relationship. Despite the controversy, the use of touch has been shown to have a number of therapeutic benefits; however, there are few ethical decision-making models that are appropriate for…

Handling Pressures: Analysing Touch in American Films about Youth Sport

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chare, Nicholas

2013-01-01

This paper examines how films produced in the USA in the past 10 years and featuring the coaching of youth sport, represent the issue of touch during instruction and training. Touch in such films is figured in diverse ways ranging from pats of reassurance and hugs of congratulation to cuffs of disapprobation. Touch is also occasionally depicted…

The state of research on the effects of therapeutic touch.

PubMed

Easter, A

1997-06-01

Therapeutic Touch is investigated using an integrative review of the literature. Using Ganong's (1987) methodology, the article explores the research question, What is the state of development of research regarding Therapeutic Touch? by analyzing primary research reports from 23 articles in 14 referred journals. The findings of the review indicate positive regard for the use of Therapeutic Touch. All research points to the need for further study in this area. Research methods used are satisfactory, but more rigorous methodologies would promote a more scientific contribution to the body of literature on Therapeutic Touch.

Development of high-performance low-reflection rugged resistive touch screens for military displays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Raymond; Wang, Minshine; Thomas, John; Wang, Lawrence; Chang, Victor

2010-04-01

Just as iPhones with sophisticated touch interfaces have revolutionised the human interface for the ubiquitous cell phone, the Military is rapidly adopting touch-screens as a primary interface to their computers and vehicle systems. This paper describes the development of a true military touch interface solution from an existing industrial design. We will report on successful development of 10.4" and 15.4" high performance rugged resistive touch panels using IAD sputter coating. Low reflectance (specular < 1% and diffuse < 0.07%) was achieved with high impact, dust, and chemical resistant surface finishes. These touch panels were qualified over a wide operational temperature range, -51°C to +80°C specifically for military and rugged industrial applications.

Visual enhancing of tactile perception in the posterior parietal cortex.

PubMed

Ro, Tony; Wallace, Ruth; Hagedorn, Judith; Farnè, Alessandro; Pienkos, Elizabeth

2004-01-01

The visual modality typically dominates over our other senses. Here we show that after inducing an extreme conflict in the left hand between vision of touch (present) and the feeling of touch (absent), sensitivity to touch increases for several minutes after the conflict. Transcranial magnetic stimulation of the posterior parietal cortex after this conflict not only eliminated the enduring visual enhancement of touch, but also impaired normal tactile perception. This latter finding demonstrates a direct role of the parietal lobe in modulating tactile perception as a result of the conflict between these senses. These results provide evidence for visual-to-tactile perceptual modulation and demonstrate effects of illusory vision of touch on touch perception through a long-lasting modulatory process in the posterior parietal cortex.

Multimodal infant-directed communication: how caregivers combine tactile and linguistic cues.

PubMed

Abu-Zhaya, Rana; Seidl, Amanda; Cristia, Alejandrina

2017-09-01

Both touch and speech independently have been shown to play an important role in infant development. However, little is known about how they may be combined in the input to the child. We examined the use of touch and speech together by having mothers read their 5-month-olds books about body parts and animals. Results suggest that speech+touch multimodal events are characterized by more exaggerated touch and speech cues. Further, our results suggest that maternal touches are aligned with speech and that mothers tend to touch their infants in locations that are congruent with names of body parts. Thus, our results suggest that tactile cues could potentially aid both infant word segmentation and word learning.

Typewriting: The Sight Method of Teaching Typewriting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ruddle, Eleanor S.

1970-01-01

Research with beginning typewriting students supports the use of the sight method-looking at the fingers and keyboard during the initial learning stages. The sight method increases the rate and degree of accuracy. (CH)

Social Connectedness and Perceived Listening Effort in Adult Cochlear Implant Users: A Grounded Theory to Establish Content Validity for a New Patient-Reported Outcome Measure.

PubMed

Hughes, Sarah E; Hutchings, Hayley A; Rapport, Frances L; McMahon, Catherine M; Boisvert, Isabelle

2018-02-08

Individuals with hearing loss often report a need for increased effort when listening, particularly in challenging acoustic environments. Despite audiologists' recognition of the impact of listening effort on individuals' quality of life, there are currently no standardized clinical measures of listening effort, including patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). To generate items and content for a new PROM, this qualitative study explored the perceptions, understanding, and experiences of listening effort in adults with severe-profound sensorineural hearing loss before and after cochlear implantation. Three focus groups (1 to 3) were conducted. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 17 participants from a cochlear implant (CI) center in the United Kingdom. The participants included adults (n = 15, mean age = 64.1 years, range 42 to 84 years) with acquired severe-profound sensorineural hearing loss who satisfied the UK's national candidacy criteria for cochlear implantation and their normal-hearing significant others (n = 2). Participants were CI candidates who used hearing aids (HAs) and were awaiting CI surgery or CI recipients who used a unilateral CI or a CI and contralateral HA (CI + HA). Data from a pilot focus group conducted with 2 CI recipients were included in the analysis. The data, verbatim transcripts of the focus group proceedings, were analyzed qualitatively using constructivist grounded theory (GT) methodology. A GT of listening effort in cochlear implantation was developed from participants' accounts. The participants provided rich, nuanced descriptions of the complex and multidimensional nature of their listening effort. Interpreting and integrating these descriptions through GT methodology, listening effort was described as the mental energy required to attend to and process the auditory signal, as well as the effort required to adapt to, and compensate for, a hearing loss. Analyses also suggested that listening effort for most participants was motivated by a need to maintain a sense of social connectedness (i.e., the subjective awareness of being in touch with one's social world). Before implantation, low social connectedness in the presence of high listening effort encouraged self-alienating behaviors and resulted in social isolation with adverse effects for participant's well-being and quality of life. A CI moderated but did not remove the requirement for listening effort. Listening effort, in combination with the improved auditory signal supplied by the CI, enabled most participants to listen and communicate more effectively. These participants reported a restored sense of social connectedness and an acceptance of the continued need for listening effort. Social connectedness, effort-reward balance, and listening effort as a multidimensional phenomenon were the core constructs identified as important to participants' experiences and understanding of listening effort. The study's findings suggest: (1) perceived listening effort is related to social and psychological factors and (2) these factors may influence how individuals with hearing loss report on the actual cognitive processing demands of listening. These findings provide evidence in support of the Framework for Understanding Effortful Listening a heuristic that describes listening effort as a function of both motivation and demands on cognitive capacity. This GT will inform item development and establish the content validity for a new PROM for measuring listening effort.

InSight Probes the 'Inner Space' of Mars

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-01-25

An artist's impression of the InSight lander on Mars. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is designed to give the Red Planet its first thorough check up since it formed 4.5 billion years ago. It is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the California coast between May 5 through June 8, 2018, and land on Mars six months later. InSight will look for tectonic activity and meteorite impacts, study how much heat is still flowing through the planet, and track Mars' wobble as it orbits the sun. While InSight is a Mars mission, it's more than a Mars mission. InSight will help answer key questions about the formation of the rocky planets of the solar system. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22226

Why women use makeup: implication of psychological traits in makeup functions.

PubMed

Korichi, Rodolphe; Pelle-de-Queral, Delphine; Gazano, Germaine; Aubert, Arnaud

2008-01-01

Makeup acts and stimulates three of our senses: touch (which encompasses all sensations from the body surface), smell (fragrance), and sight (the process of becoming and looking beautiful). The positive stimulation of these senses by makeup can induce sensory as well as psychological pleasure. In order to understand the relationship of women to their makeup, we interviewed different groups of women on their quality of life and makeup habits. Then, through four standard well-validated psychometric self-questionnaires, we examined the possible relation between the need to make up oneself and specific psychological features. Our first results clearly showed that makeup could support two opposite "up" functions, i.e., "camouflage" vs "seduction." Concerning their psychological profiles, results showed that women of the functional class "camouflage" are more anxious, defensive, and emotionally unstable compared to those of the functional class "seduction," who appear to be more sociable, assertive, and extroverted. Further analyses revealed a division of the two classes into subclasses of volunteers with opposed personality and psychological profiles. This new classification allowed us to define more precisely the relations existing within the subjective experience of women during the makeup process. In conclusion, our study revealed that beyond the simple application of colorful products on the face, makeup has two major functional implications depending on specific psychological profiles of women.

The evolution of neuroArm.

PubMed

Sutherland, Garnette R; Wolfsberger, Stefan; Lama, Sanju; Zarei-nia, Kourosh

2013-01-01

Intraoperative imaging disrupts the rhythm of surgery despite providing an excellent opportunity for surgical monitoring and assessment. To allow surgery within real-time images, neuroArm, a teleoperated surgical robotic system, was conceptualized. The objective was to design and manufacture a magnetic resonance-compatible robot with a human-machine interface that could reproduce some of the sight, sound, and touch of surgery at a remote workstation. University of Calgary researchers worked with MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates engineers to produce a requirements document, preliminary design review, and critical design review, followed by the manufacture, preclinical testing, and clinical integration of neuroArm. During the preliminary design review, the scope of the neuroArm project changed to performing microsurgery outside the magnet and stereotaxy inside the bore. neuroArm was successfully manufactured and installed in an intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging operating room. neuroArm was clinically integrated into 35 cases in a graded fashion. As a result of this experience, neuroArm II is in development, and advances in technology will allow microsurgery within the bore of the magnet. neuroArm represents a successful interdisciplinary collaboration. It has positive implications for the future of robotic technology in neurosurgery in that the precision and accuracy of robots will continue to augment human capability.

Spatial asymmetry in tactile sensor skin deformation aids perception of edge orientation during haptic exploration.

PubMed

Ponce Wong, Ruben D; Hellman, Randall B; Santos, Veronica J

2014-01-01

Upper-limb amputees rely primarily on visual feedback when using their prostheses to interact with others or objects in their environment. A constant reliance upon visual feedback can be mentally exhausting and does not suffice for many activities when line-of-sight is unavailable. Upper-limb amputees could greatly benefit from the ability to perceive edges, one of the most salient features of 3D shape, through touch alone. We present an approach for estimating edge orientation with respect to an artificial fingertip through haptic exploration using a multimodal tactile sensor on a robot hand. Key parameters from the tactile signals for each of four exploratory procedures were used as inputs to a support vector regression model. Edge orientation angles ranging from -90 to 90 degrees were estimated with an 85-input model having an R (2) of 0.99 and RMS error of 5.08 degrees. Electrode impedance signals provided the most useful inputs by encoding spatially asymmetric skin deformation across the entire fingertip. Interestingly, sensor regions that were not in direct contact with the stimulus provided particularly useful information. Methods described here could pave the way for semi-autonomous capabilities in prosthetic or robotic hands during haptic exploration, especially when visual feedback is unavailable.

A review of principles in design and usability testing of tactile technology for individuals with visual impairments.

PubMed

Horton, Emily L; Renganathan, Ramkesh; Toth, Bryan N; Cohen, Alexa J; Bajcsy, Andrea V; Bateman, Amelia; Jennings, Mathew C; Khattar, Anish; Kuo, Ryan S; Lee, Felix A; Lim, Meilin K; Migasiuk, Laura W; Zhang, Amy; Zhao, Oliver K; Oliveira, Marcio A

2017-01-01

To lay the groundwork for devising, improving, and implementing new technologies to meet the needs of individuals with visual impairments, a systematic literature review was conducted to: a) describe hardware platforms used in assistive devices, b) identify their various applications, and c) summarize practices in user testing conducted with these devices. A search in relevant EBSCO databases for articles published between 1980 and 2014 with terminology related to visual impairment, technology, and tactile sensory adaptation yielded 62 articles that met the inclusion criteria for final review. It was found that while earlier hardware development focused on pin matrices, the emphasis then shifted toward force feedback haptics and accessible touch screens. The inclusion of interactive and multimodal features has become increasingly prevalent. The quantity and consistency of research on navigation, education, and computer accessibility suggest that these are pertinent areas of need for the visually impaired community. Methodologies for usability testing ranged from case studies to larger cross-sectional studies. Many studies used blindfolded sighted users to draw conclusions about design principles and usability. Altogether, the findings presented in this review provide insight on effective design strategies and user testing methodologies for future research on assistive technology for individuals with visual impairments.

Magnifying Smartphone Screen Using Google Glass for Low-Vision Users.

PubMed

Pundlik, Shrinivas; HuaQi Yi; Rui Liu; Peli, Eli; Gang Luo

2017-01-01

Magnification is a key accessibility feature used by low-vision smartphone users. However, small screen size can lead to loss of context and make interaction with magnified displays challenging. We hypothesize that controlling the viewport with head motion can be natural and help in gaining access to magnified displays. We implement this idea using a Google Glass that displays the magnified smartphone screenshots received in real time via Bluetooth. Instead of navigating with touch gestures on the magnified smartphone display, the users can view different screen locations by rotating their head, and remotely interacting with the smartphone. It is equivalent to looking at a large virtual image through a head contingent viewing port, in this case, the Glass display with ~ 15 ° field of view. The system can transfer seven screenshots per second at 8 × magnification, sufficient for tasks where the display content does not change rapidly. A pilot evaluation of this approach was conducted with eight normally sighted and four visually impaired subjects performing assigned tasks using calculator and music player apps. Results showed that performance in the calculation task was faster with the Glass than with the phone's built-in screen zoom. We conclude that head contingent scanning control can be beneficial in navigating magnified small smartphone displays, at least for tasks involving familiar content layout.

Tactile Acuity in the Blind: A Closer Look Reveals Superiority over the Sighted in Some but Not All Cutaneous Tasks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alary, Flamine; Duquette, Marco; Goldstein, Rachel; Chapman, C. Elaine; Voss, Patrice; La Buissonniere-Ariza, Valerie; Lepore, Franco

2009-01-01

Previous studies have shown that blind subjects may outperform the sighted on certain tactile discrimination tasks. We recently showed that blind subjects outperformed the sighted in a haptic 2D-angle discrimination task. The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of the same blind (n = 16) and sighted (n = 17, G1) subjects in three…

An oxytocin-induced facilitation of neural and emotional responses to social touch correlates inversely with autism traits.

PubMed

Scheele, Dirk; Kendrick, Keith M; Khouri, Christoph; Kretzer, Elisa; Schläpfer, Thomas E; Stoffel-Wagner, Birgit; Güntürkün, Onur; Maier, Wolfgang; Hurlemann, René

2014-08-01

Social communication through touch and mutual grooming can convey highly salient socio-emotional signals and has been shown to involve the neuropeptide oxytocin (OXT) in several species. Less is known about the modulatory influence of OXT on the neural and emotional responses to human interpersonal touch. The present randomized placebo (PLC)-controlled within-subject pharmaco-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was designed to test the hypothesis that a single intranasal dose of synthetic OXT (24 IU) would facilitate both neural and emotional responses to interpersonal touch in a context- (female vs male touch) and trait- (autistic trait load) specific manner. Specifically, the experimental rationale was to manipulate the reward value of interpersonal touch independent of the intensity and type of actual cutaneous stimulation administered. Thus, 40 heterosexual males believed that they were touched by either a man or a woman, although in fact an identical pattern of touch was always given by the same female experimenter blind to condition type. Our results show that OXT increased the perceived pleasantness of female, but not male touch, and associated neural responses in insula, precuneus, orbitofrontal, and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex. Moreover, the behavioral and neural effects of OXT were negatively correlated with autistic-like traits. Taken together, this is the first study to show that the perceived hedonic value of human heterosexual interpersonal touch is facilitated by OXT in men, but that its behavioral and neural effects in this context are blunted in individuals with autistic traits.

Factors associated with hand hygiene practices in two neonatal intensive care units.

PubMed

Cohen, Bevin; Saiman, Lisa; Cimiotti, Jeannie; Larson, Elaine

2003-06-01

To determine whether hand hygiene practices differ between levels of contact with neonates; to characterize the hand hygiene practices of different types of personnel; and to compare hand hygiene practices in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) using different products. Research assistants observed staff hand hygiene practices during 38 sessions in two NICUs. Patient touches were categorized as touching within the neonates' environment but only outside the Isolette (Level 1), touching within the Isolette but not the neonate directly (Level 2) or directly touching the neonate (Level 3). Hand hygiene practices for each touch were categorized into five groups: cleaned hands and new gloves; uncleaned hands and new gloves; used gloves; clean hands and no gloves; uncleaned hands and no gloves. Research assistants observed 1472 touches. On average each neonate or his or her immediate environment was touched 78 times per shift. Nurses (P = 0.001), attending physicians (P = 0.02) and physicians-in-training (P = 0.03) were more likely to use appropriate practices during Level 3 touches, but only 22.8% of all touches were with cleaned and/or newly gloved hands. The mean number of direct touches by staff members with cleaned hands was greater in the NICU using an alcohol-based hand rub than in the NICU using antimicrobial soap (P < 0.01). Hand hygiene was suboptimal in this high risk setting; administrative action and improved products may be needed to assure acceptable practice. In this study use of an alcohol-based product was associated with significantly improved hand hygiene and should be encouraged, as recommended in the new CDC hand hygiene guideline.

No-Touch Technique and a New Donor Adjuster for Descemet's Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty

PubMed Central

Kobayashi, Akira; Yokogawa, Hideaki; Sugiyama, Kazuhisa

2012-01-01

Purpose One difficulty with Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) is air management during surgery and donor endothelial lamella centering. We evaluated the no-touch technique for donor centering and the use of a newly developed DSAEK donor adjuster. Methods We evaluated the records of 12 consecutive patients (mean age 75.3 years) with bullous keratopathy who had undergone DSAEK. In all cases, the no-touch technique was attempted first. When the no-touch technique failed, a DSAEK donor adjuster with a 30-gauge cannula resembling a curved reverse Sinskey hook was used for donor centering. The adjuster allows air injection during donor centering. Results The no-touch technique using simple corneal surface massage to center the graft was successful in 4 cases (33.3%), while 4 cases required ocular tilting (33.3%) in addition to corneal surface massage. The no-touch technique was ineffective in 4 cases (33.3%), but the donor adjuster was used successfully and easily for these patients. Comparing the endothelial cell loss rate between the no-touch technique group and the donor adjuster group, there was no significant difference at 6 months. Conclusions The no-touch technique was useful for better control of DSAEK donor centering in most cases. When the no-touch technique was ineffective, the DSAEK donor adjuster was uniformly successful. PMID:22807910

Factors influencing load-haul-dump operator line of sight in underground mining.

PubMed

Eger, Tammy; Salmoni, Alan; Whissell, Robert

2004-03-01

The inability of load-haul-dump (LHD) equipment operators to see people, objects or hazards around the LHD machine they drive is a causal factor in a number of serious accidents. Line of sight evaluations were conducted on 11 different LHD models. Results indicated blind spots were caused by cab posts, and vehicles lights and light brackets. Line of sight impairments were caused by wheel well covers, buckets, fire extinguisher, light posts, radiator covers, booms, radio remote boxes, elevated engine profiles and air intake cylinders. These results were supported by questionnaires completed by 130 LHD operators. The operators indicated the bucket, lights and light brackets, boom and cab impaired line of sight. Line of sight testing and LHD operator feedback indicated line of sight to the right front corner and back right corner were typically worse than line of sight to the front left side of the vehicle. Results of this study have been used to conduct awareness campaigns within the Ontario mining industry and to suggest vehicle design modifications to LHD manufacturers.

Enhancing the Entertainment Experience of Blind and Low-Vision Theatregoers through Touch Tours

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Udo, J. P.; Fels, D. I.

2010-01-01

In this paper we demonstrate how universal design theory and the research available on museum-based touch tours can be used to develop a touch tour for blind and low-vision theatregoers. We discuss these theoretical and practical approaches with reference to data collected and experience gained from the creation and execution of a touch tour for…

Clinical Holistic Medicine: Classic Art of Healingor the Therapeutic Touch

PubMed Central

Ventegodt, Søren; Morad, Mohammed; Merrick, Joav

2004-01-01

Touching is often a forgotten part of medicine. The manual medicine or therapeutic touch (TT) is much more powerful than many modern, biomedically oriented physicians think. Pain and discomfort can be alleviated just by touching the sick area and in this way help the patient to be in better contact with the tissue and organs of their body. Lack of presence in the body seems to be connected with many symptoms that can be readily reversed simply by sensitive touch. When touch is combined with therapeutic work on mind and feelings, holistic healing seems to be facilitated and many problems can be solved in a direct and easy way in the clinic without drugs. This paper gives examples of the strength of manual medicine or therapeutic touch in its most simple form, and points to the power of physical contact between physician and his patient in the context of the theory and practice of holistic healing. Intimacy seems highly beneficial for the process of healing and it is very important to distinguish clearly between intimacy and sexuality for the physician and his patent to be able to give and receive touch without fear and without holding back emotionally. PMID:15010568

The MAGIC Touch: Combining MAGIC-Pointing with a Touch-Sensitive Mouse

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drewes, Heiko; Schmidt, Albrecht

In this paper, we show how to use the combination of eye-gaze and a touch-sensitive mouse to ease pointing tasks in graphical user interfaces. A touch of the mouse positions the mouse pointer at the current gaze position of the user. Thus, the pointer is always at the position where the user expects it on the screen. This approach changes the user experience in tasks that include frequent switching between keyboard and mouse input (e.g. working with spreadsheets). In a user study, we compared the touch-sensitive mouse with a traditional mouse and observed speed improvements for pointing tasks on complex backgrounds. For pointing task on plain backgrounds, performances with both devices were similar, but users perceived the gaze-sensitive interaction of the touch-sensitive mouse as being faster and more convenient. Our results show that using a touch-sensitive mouse that positions the pointer on the user’s gaze position reduces the need for mouse movements in pointing tasks enormously.

Is Skin-Touch Sham Needle Not Placebo? A Double-Blind Crossover Study on Pain Alleviation

PubMed Central

Homma, Ikuo; Izumizaki, Masahiko

2015-01-01

It remains an open question whether placebo/sham acupuncture, in which the needle tip presses the skin, can be used as a placebo device for research on pain. We compare the analgesic effect of the skin-touch placebo needle with that of the no-touch placebo needle, in which the needle tip does not touch the skin, in a double-blind crossover manner including no-treatment control in 23 healthy volunteers. The subjects received painful electrical stimulation in the forearm before and during needle retention to the LI 4 acupoint and after the removal of the needle and rated pain intensity using a visual analogue scale. We found no significant difference in analgesic effects among the skin-touch placebo needle, no-touch placebo needle, and no-treatment control at every point before, during, and after the treatments (p > 0.05). The results indicate that the skin-touch placebo needle can be used as a placebo device in clinical studies on pain. PMID:26064153

Developing a Sight Conservation Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Braxton, Olivia A.; Farris, R. Linsy

1975-01-01

Among the services added to Harlem (New York) Hospital's opthalmology department was a sight conservation program designed to alert the community to the need for eye care and to screen for early signs of eye disorders causing sight impairment. (SB)

An Exploration into Self Concept: A Comparative Analysis between the Adolescents Who Are Sighted and Blind in India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halder, Santoshi; Datta, Poulomee

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the self concept of adolescents who are sighted and blind with respect to gender in India. The sample was made up of 160 participants aged 15 to 18 years: of whom 100 were sighted and 60 were blind. The results of the t-tests illustrated that sighted male adolescents scored higher in the overall…

Therapeutic touch: is there a scientific basis for the practice?

PubMed

Clark, P E; Clark, M J

1984-01-01

The research-related literature on the topic of therapeutic touch is critically reviewed. The purpose of the review is to explore the current scientific basis for the teaching and practice of therapeutic touch as a treatment modality. An examination of published research literature indicates that empirical support for the practice of therapeutic touch is, at best, weak. The results of well-designed, double-blind studies have been transient, of no significance, or are in need of independent replication. Current practice of therapeutic touch is empirically little more than practice of placebo. Considerations for further nursing research are also presented.

Reflection of a therapeutic touch experience: case study 2.

PubMed

Green, C A

1998-02-01

The purpose of this case study was to explore the experience of both giving and receiving Therapeutic Touch. A subjective account of the Therapeutic Touch experience is given in an attempt to throw light on its unique creative and therapeutic qualities. In most instances it was shown that the experience of both giving and receiving Therapeutic Touch was a parallel experience. This case study explores the effects of Therapeutic Touch on a client experiencing pain and associated anxiety. Whilst a response to treatment was observed, the need for further case studies and research studies in this area was identified.

Line-of-sight structure toward strong lensing galaxy clusters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bayliss, Matthew B.; Johnson, Traci; Sharon, Keren

2014-03-01

We present an analysis of the line-of-sight structure toward a sample of 10 strong lensing cluster cores. Structure is traced by groups that are identified spectroscopically in the redshift range, 0.1 ≤ z ≤ 0.9, and we measure the projected angular and comoving separations between each group and the primary strong lensing clusters in each corresponding line of sight. From these data we measure the distribution of projected angular separations between the primary strong lensing clusters and uncorrelated large-scale structure as traced by groups. We then compare the observed distribution of angular separations for our strong lensing selected lines ofmore » sight against the distribution of groups that is predicted for clusters lying along random lines of sight. There is clear evidence for an excess of structure along the line of sight at small angular separations (θ ≤ 6') along the strong lensing selected lines of sight, indicating that uncorrelated structure is a significant systematic that contributes to producing galaxy clusters with large cross sections for strong lensing. The prevalence of line-of-sight structure is one of several biases in strong lensing clusters that can potentially be folded into cosmological measurements using galaxy cluster samples. These results also have implications for current and future studies—such as the Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields—that make use of massive galaxy cluster lenses as precision cosmological telescopes; it is essential that the contribution of line-of-sight structure be carefully accounted for in the strong lens modeling of the cluster lenses.« less

Blindness and partial sight in an elderly population.

PubMed Central

Gibson, J M; Lavery, J R; Rosenthal, A R

1986-01-01

A cross sectional, prevalence survey of eye disease in the population over 75 years old of Melton Mowbray has been used to examine the accuracy and completeness of the Blind and Partially Sighted Registers. The Blind Register had high sensitivity and specificity but was found to underestimate the prevalence of blindness by a factor of 1.1. The Partially Sighted Register had high specificity, but the sensitivity was only 50% and it underestimated the prevalence of partial sight by a factor of 1.5. Seven persons eligible for registration, but previously not registered, were found, two as blind and five as partially sighted. This represented 21% of the registrable visually impaired population. PMID:3756128

InSight Spacecraft Arrival

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-28

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft arrives at the Astrotech processing facility. InSight was developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, and is scheduled for liftoff is May 5, 2018. InSight is the first mission to land on Mars and explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth.

Exploratory flow visualization investigation of mast-mounted sights in presence of a rotor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghee, Terence A.; Kelley, Henry L.

1995-01-01

A flow visualization investigation with a laser light sheet system was conducted on a 27-percent-scale AH-64 attack helicopter model fitted with two mast-mounted sights in the langley 14- by 22-foot subsonic tunnel. The investigation was conducted to identify aerodynamic phenomena that may have contributed to adverse vibration encountered during full-scale flight of the AH-64D apache/longbow helicopter with an asymmetric mast-mounted sight. Symmetric and asymmetric mast-mounted sights oriented at several skew angles were tested at simulated forward and rearward flight speeds of 30 and 45 knots. A laser light sheet system was used to visualize the flow in planes parallel to and perpendicular to the free-stream flow. Analysis of these flow visualization data identified frequencies of flow patterns in the wake shed from the sight, the streamline angle at the sight, and the location where the shed wake crossed the rotor plane. Differences in wake structure were observed between the sight configurations and various skew angles. Analysis of lateral light sheet plane data implied significant vortex structure in the wake of the asymmetric mast-mounted sight in the configuration that produced maximum in-flight vibration. The data showed no significant vortex structure in the wake of the asymmetric and symmetric configurations that produced no increase in in-flight adverse vibration.

Blame it on the bossa nova: Transfer of perceived sexiness from music to touch.

PubMed

Fritz, Thomas Hans; Brummerloh, Berit; Urquijo, Maria; Wegner, Katharina; Reimer, Enrico; Gutekunst, Sven; Schneider, Lydia; Smallwood, Jonathan; Villringer, Arno

2017-09-01

Emotion elicited through music transfers to subsequent processing of facial expressions. Music may accordingly function as a social technology by promoting social bonding. Here, we investigated whether music would cross-modally influence the perception of sensual touch, a behavior related to mating. A robot applied precisely controlled gentle touch to a group of healthy participants while they listened to music that varied with respect to its perceived sexiness. As the perceived sexiness of the music increased, so did the subjective sexiness of the touch stimulations. In short, the perception of sexiness transferred from music to touch. Because sensual touch is key to mating behavior and relates to procreation, this association has implications for the universality and evolutionary significance of music. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The RNA Polymerase-Associated Factor 1 Complex Is Required for Plant Touch Responses

PubMed Central

Jensen, Gregory S.; Fal, Kateryna; Hamant, Olivier

2017-01-01

Abstract Thigmomorphogenesis is a stereotypical developmental alteration in the plant body plan that can be induced by repeatedly touching plant organs. To unravel how plants sense and record multiple touch stimuli we performed a novel forward genetic screen based on the development of a shorter stem in response to repetitive touch. The touch insensitive (ths1) mutant identified in this screen is defective in some aspects of shoot and root thigmomorphogenesis. The ths1 mutant is an intermediate loss-of-function allele of VERNALIZATION INDEPENDENCE 3 (VIP3), a previously characterized gene whose product is part of the RNA polymerase II-associated factor 1 (Paf1) complex. The Paf1 complex is found in yeast, plants and animals, and has been implicated in histone modification and RNA processing. Several components of the Paf1 complex are required for reduced stem height in response to touch and normal root slanting and coiling responses. Global levels of histone H3K36 trimethylation are reduced in VIP3 mutants. In addition, THS1/VIP3 is required for wild type histone H3K36 trimethylation at the TOUCH3 (TCH3) and TOUCH4 (TCH4) loci and for rapid touch-induced upregulation of TCH3 and TCH4 transcripts. Thus, an evolutionarily conserved chromatin-modifying complex is required for both short- and long-term responses to mechanical stimulation, providing insight into how plants record mechanical signals for thigmomorphogenesis. PMID:28204553

Association of Vogt Koyanagi Harada Syndrome and Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis.

PubMed

Aydin, Teoman; Taspinar, Ozgur; Guneser, Meryem; Keskin, Yasar

2016-03-01

Vogt Koyanagi Harada (VKH) Syndrome is a rarely-seen multi-systemic, autoimmune and inflammatory disease. It observed frequently with neurologic, auditory and skin manifestations and characterized with bilateral, chronic and diffused granulomatous panuveitis. It generally affects women in young-adult period. A 57 year-old female patient applied to a special center one year ago with a complaint of decrease in the sight acuity of the right eye. The right eye was operated on with cataract diagnosis. Uveitis was developed firstly in the right eye and then in the left eye after the operation. Having complaints about uveitis, tinnitus and hear loss, the patient was diagnosed with VKH syndrome. The pains started to be felt in small hand joints and both of the two ankles. The pains were increasing especially in the mornings and during rest. The duration of morning stiffness was two hours in hand and foot joints. The patient had had lumbar pain with mechanic characteristic for five years. Being diagnosed with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis (RA), our case is presented because VKH syndrome is rarely seen in Turkey, and the joint findings are at the forefront.

Usher syndrome type 1–associated cadherins shape the photoreceptor outer segment

PubMed Central

Parain, Karine; Aghaie, Asadollah; Picaud, Serge

2017-01-01

Usher syndrome type 1 (USH1) causes combined hearing and sight defects, but how mutations in USH1 genes lead to retinal dystrophy in patients remains elusive. The USH1 protein complex is associated with calyceal processes, which are microvilli of unknown function surrounding the base of the photoreceptor outer segment. We show that in Xenopus tropicalis, these processes are connected to the outer-segment membrane by links composed of protocadherin-15 (USH1F protein). Protocadherin-15 deficiency, obtained by a knockdown approach, leads to impaired photoreceptor function and abnormally shaped photoreceptor outer segments. Rod basal outer disks displayed excessive outgrowth, and cone outer segments were curved, with lamellae of heterogeneous sizes, defects also observed upon knockdown of Cdh23, encoding cadherin-23 (USH1D protein). The calyceal processes were virtually absent in cones and displayed markedly reduced F-actin content in rods, suggesting that protocadherin-15–containing links are essential for their development and/or maintenance. We propose that calyceal processes, together with their associated links, control the sizing of rod disks and cone lamellae throughout their daily renewal. PMID:28495838

Usher syndrome type 1-associated cadherins shape the photoreceptor outer segment.

PubMed

Schietroma, Cataldo; Parain, Karine; Estivalet, Amrit; Aghaie, Asadollah; Boutet de Monvel, Jacques; Picaud, Serge; Sahel, José-Alain; Perron, Muriel; El-Amraoui, Aziz; Petit, Christine

2017-06-05

Usher syndrome type 1 (USH1) causes combined hearing and sight defects, but how mutations in USH1 genes lead to retinal dystrophy in patients remains elusive. The USH1 protein complex is associated with calyceal processes, which are microvilli of unknown function surrounding the base of the photoreceptor outer segment. We show that in Xenopus tropicalis , these processes are connected to the outer-segment membrane by links composed of protocadherin-15 (USH1F protein). Protocadherin-15 deficiency, obtained by a knockdown approach, leads to impaired photoreceptor function and abnormally shaped photoreceptor outer segments. Rod basal outer disks displayed excessive outgrowth, and cone outer segments were curved, with lamellae of heterogeneous sizes, defects also observed upon knockdown of Cdh23 , encoding cadherin-23 (USH1D protein). The calyceal processes were virtually absent in cones and displayed markedly reduced F-actin content in rods, suggesting that protocadherin-15-containing links are essential for their development and/or maintenance. We propose that calyceal processes, together with their associated links, control the sizing of rod disks and cone lamellae throughout their daily renewal. © 2017 Schietroma et al.

Pain. Part 2a: Trigeminal Anatomy Related to Pain.

PubMed

Renton, Tara; Egbuniwe, Obi

2015-04-01

In order to understand the underlying principles of orofacial pain it is important to understand the corresponding anatomy and mechanisms. Paper 1 of this series explains the central nervous and peripheral nervous systems relating to pain. The trigeminal nerve is the 'great protector' of the most important region of our body. It is the largest sensory nerve of the body and over half of the sensory cortex is responsive to any stimulation within this system. This nerve is the main sensory system of the branchial arches and underpins the protection of the brain, sight, smell, airway, hearing and taste, underpinning our very existence. The brain reaction to pain within the trigeminal system has a significant and larger reaction to the threat of, and actual, pain compared with other sensory nerves. We are physiologically wired to run when threatened with pain in the trigeminal region and it is a 'miracle' that patients volunteer to sit in a dental chair and undergo dental treatment. Clinical Relevance: This paper aims to provide the dental and medical teams with a review of the trigeminal anatomy of pain and the principles of pain assessment.

[Neural prostheses and neuromodulation : Research and clinical practice in therapy and rehabilitation].

PubMed

Stieglitz, T

2010-08-01

Stimulation of the nervous system with the aid of electrical active implants has changed the therapy of neurological diseases and rehabilitation of lost functions and has expanded clinical practice within the last few years. Alleviation of effects of neurodegenerative diseases, therapy of psychiatric diseases, the functional restoration of hearing as well as other applications have been transferred successfully into clinical practice. Other approaches are still under development in preclinical and clinical trials. The restoration of sight by implantable electronic systems that interface with the retina in the eye is an example how technological progress promotes novel medical devices. The idea of using the electrical signal of the brain to control technical devices and (neural) prostheses is driving current research in the field of brain-computer interfaces. The benefit for the patient always has to be balanced with the risks and side effects of those implants in comparison to medicinal and surgical treatments. How these and other developments become established in practice depends finally on their acceptance by the patients and the reimbursement of their costs.

The genesis of craniofacial biology as a health science discipline.

PubMed

Sperber, G H; Sperber, S M

2014-06-01

The craniofacial complex encapsulates the brain and contains the organs for key functions of the body, including sight, hearing and balance, smell, taste, respiration and mastication. All these systems are intimately integrated within the head. The combination of these diverse systems into a new field was dictated by the dental profession's desire for a research branch of basic science devoted and attuned to its specific needs. The traditional subjects of genetics, embryology, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, dental materials, odontology, molecular biology and palaeoanthropology pertaining to dentistry have been drawn together by many newly emerging technologies. These new technologies include gene sequencing, CAT scanning, MRI imaging, laser scanning, image analysis, ultrasonography, spectroscopy and visualosonics. A vibrant unitary discipline of investigation, craniofacial biology, has emerged that builds on the original concept of 'oral biology' that began in the 1960s. This paper reviews some of the developments that have led to the genesis of craniofacial biology as a fully-fledged health science discipline of significance in the advancement of clinical dental practice. Some of the key figures and milestones in craniofacial biology are identified. © 2014 Australian Dental Association.

Limited sight distance warning for vertical curves

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1984-11-01

This is a summary of the procedures and findings of a study of highway signs to warn of restricted sight distance due to crest vertical curves. Driver awareness, understanding, and response to the existing LIMITED SIGHT DISTANCE (LSD) sign and severa...

"A touch of physiotherapy" - the significance and meaning of touch in the practice of physiotherapy.

PubMed

Bjorbækmo, Wenche Schrøder; Mengshoel, Anne Marit

2016-01-01

Touch, while ubiquitous and ever present in the practice of physiotherapy, is conspicuously absent from physiotherapy-related research. Based on a theoretical perspective inspired by phenomenology, this article explores and elaborates on the meaning and significance of touch in the practice of physiotherapy. The research data were generated through 16 close observations conducted in primary care clinics, and through interviews with 9 physiotherapists and with 9 patients suffering from chronic neck problems. The findings revealed how the use of touch in the practice of physiotherapy brings people into proximity in ways more complex than simple skin-to-skin contact. Through nontouch, touch, and movements, physiotherapists invite their patients to participate in the process of creating and performing therapy; dialogue through touch and movement is vital. Touch in physiotherapy depends on the physiotherapist's embodied skills; those they cultivate in order to respectfully listen to their patients and guide them to explore their own bodily capacity, limits and possibilities. The findings also suggest that observing therapy from outside and from participating in it offer significant different experiences, information, understanding, and meanings. The differences between physiotherapy as observed expression and as lived experience would seem to have important implications for understanding the practice of physiotherapy.

Abundances of Deuterium, Oxygen and Nitrogen in the Local Interstellar Medium: Overview of First Results from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moos, H. W.; Sembach, K. R.; Vidal-Madjar, A.; York, D. G.; Friedman, S. D.; Hebrard, G.; Kruk, J. W.; Lehner, N.; Lemoine, M.; Sonneborn, G.;

An adaptive management approach to controlling suburban deer

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nielson, C.K.; Porter, W.F.; Underwood, H.B.

1997-01-01

Distance sight-resight sampling has particular relevance to aerial surveys, in which height above ground and aircraft speed make the critical assumption of certain detection on the track-line unrealistic. Recent developments in distance sight-resight theory have left practical issues related to data collection as the major impediment to widespread use of distance sight-resight sampling in aerial surveys. We describe and evaluate a system to automatically log, store, and process data from distance sight-resight aerial surveys. The system has a primary digital system and a secondary audio system. The digital system comprises a sighting 'gun' and small keypad for each observer, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, and an altimeter interface, all linked to a central laptop computer. The gun is used to record time and angle of declination from the horizon of sighted groups of animals as they pass the aircraft. The keypad is used to record information on species and group size. The altimeter interface records altitude from the aircraft's radar altimeter, and the GPS receiver provides location data at user-definable intervals. We wrote software to import data into a database and convert it into a form appropriate for distance sight-resight analyses. Perpendicular distance of sighted groups of animals from the flight path is calculated from altitude and angle of declination. Time, angle of declination, species, and group size of sightings by independent observers on the same side of the aircraft are used as criteria to classify single and duplicate sightings, allowing testing of the critical distance sampling assumption (g(0)=1) and estimation of g(0) if that assumption fails. An audio system comprising headphones for each observer and a 4-track tape recorder allows recording of data that are difficult to accommodate in the digital system and provides a backup to the digital system. We evaluated the system by conducting experimental surveys and reviewing results from actual surveys.

Therapeutic touch and post-Hurricane Hugo stress.

PubMed

Olson, M; Sneed, N; Bonadonna, R; Ratliff, J; Dias, J

1992-06-01

This repeated-session design sought to answer questions about the effectiveness of therapeutic touch in reduction of stress for 23 individuals following a natural disaster. In addition, methodological issues related to the average length of time for a therapeutic-touch treatment and a method of documenting the nonverbal interaction between subject and toucher were investigated. Findings indicate that stressed people report themselves to be less stressed following therapeutic touch (p = .05). Time of therapeutic-touch intervention varied significantly between the touchers, with a range of 6.8 to 20 minutes. Qualitative data examining the interaction of toucher and subject raised a number of questions that require further study.

MTVis: tree exploration using a multitouch interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrews, David; Teoh, Soon Tee

2010-01-01

We present MTVis, a multi-touch interactive tree visualization system. The multi-touch interface display hardware is built using the LED-LP technology, and the tree layout is based on RINGS, but enhanced with multitouch interactions. We describe the features of the system, and how the multi-touch interface enhances the user's experience in exploring the tree data structure. In particular, the multi-touch interface allows the user to simultaneously control two child nodes of the root, and rotate them so that some nodes are magnified, while preserving the layout of the tree. We also describe the other meaninful touch screen gestures the users can use to intuitively explore the tree.

Inferring extinction risks from sighting records.

PubMed

Thompson, C J; Lee, T E; Stone, L; McCarthy, M A; Burgman, M A

2013-12-07

Estimating the probability that a species is extinct based on historical sighting records is important when deciding how much effort and money to invest in conservation policies. The framework we offer is more general than others in the literature to date. Our formulation allows for definite and uncertain observations, and thus better accommodates the realities of sighting record quality. Typically, the probability of observing a species given it is extant/extinct is challenging to define, especially when the possibility of a false observation is included. As such, we assume that observation probabilities derive from a representative probability density function. We incorporate this randomness in two different ways ("quenched" versus "annealed") using a framework that is equivalent to a Bayes formulation. The two methods can lead to significantly different estimates for extinction. In the case of definite sightings only, we provide an explicit deterministic calculation (in which observation probabilities are point estimates). Furthermore, our formulation replicates previous work in certain limiting cases. In the case of uncertain sightings, we allow for the possibility of several independent observational types (specimen, photographs, etc.). The method is applied to the Caribbean monk seal, Monachus tropicalis (which has only definite sightings), and synthetic data, with uncertain sightings. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chiral anomaly enhancement and photoirradiation effects in multiband touching fermion systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ezawa, Motohiko

2017-05-01

Multiband touchings together with the emergence of fermions exhibiting linear dispersions have recently been predicted and realized in various materials. We first investigate the Adler-Bell-Jackiw chiral anomaly in these multiband touching semimetals when they are described by the pseudospin operator in high-dimensional representation. By evaluating the Chern number, we show that the anomalous Hall effect is enhanced depending on the magnitude of the pseudospin. It is also confirmed by the analysis of the Landau levels when magnetic field is applied. Namely, charge pumping occurs from one multiband touching point to another through multichannel Landau levels in the presence of parallel electric and magnetic fields. We also show a pair annihilation of two multiband touching points by photoirradiation. Furthermore, we propose generalizations of Dirac semimetals, multiple Weyl semimetals, and loop-nodal semimetals to those composed of fermions carrying pseudospins in high-dimensional representation. Finally we investigate the three-band touching protected by the C3 symmetry. We show that the three-band touching point is broken into two Weyl points by photoirradiation.

Expanding the primate body schema in sensorimotor cortex by virtual touches of an avatar.

PubMed

Shokur, Solaiman; O'Doherty, Joseph E; Winans, Jesse A; Bleuler, Hannes; Lebedev, Mikhail A; Nicolelis, Miguel A L

2013-09-10

The brain representation of the body, called the body schema, is susceptible to plasticity. For instance, subjects experiencing a rubber hand illusion develop a sense of ownership of a mannequin hand when they view it being touched while tactile stimuli are simultaneously applied to their own hand. Here, the cortical basis of such an embodiment was investigated through concurrent recordings from primary somatosensory (i.e., S1) and motor (i.e., M1) cortical neuronal ensembles while two monkeys observed an avatar arm being touched by a virtual ball. Following a period when virtual touches occurred synchronously with physical brushes of the monkeys' arms, neurons in S1 and M1 started to respond to virtual touches applied alone. Responses to virtual touch occurred 50 to 70 ms later than to physical touch, consistent with the involvement of polysynaptic pathways linking the visual cortex to S1 and M1. We propose that S1 and M1 contribute to the rubber hand illusion and that, by taking advantage of plasticity in these areas, patients may assimilate neuroprosthetic limbs as parts of their body schema.

Effect of Touch Screen Tablet Use on Fine Motor Development of Young Children.

PubMed

Lin, Ling-Yi; Cherng, Rong-Ju; Chen, Yung-Jung

2017-10-20

To investigate the effects of touch-screen tablet use on the fine motor development of preschool children without developmental delay. 40 children who used a touch-screen tablet more 60 minutes per week for at least 1 month received a 24-week home fine motor activity program using a touch-screen-tablet. 40 children matched for age (mean = 61.0 months) and sex who did not meet the criteria for previous tablet use received a 24-week program consisting of manual play activities. Motor performance was measured using the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. The two-factor mixed design ANOVA was used to compare performance of the touch-screen tablet and non-touch-screen tablet groups. Pretest analysis showed no group differences in motor performance and pinch strength. At posttest, children in the nontouch-screen-tablet group made significantly greater changes in fine motor precision (p < 0.001), fine motor integration (p = 0.008), and manual dexterity (p = 0.003). Using a touch screen tablet extensively might be disadvantageous for the fine motor development of preschool children.

JPL-20180307-INSIGHf-0001-Mars InSight Arrives at Vandenberg Air Force Base

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-07

NASA's InSight spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, to begin final preparations for launch. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface, studying the planet's interior by listening for marsquakes and measuring its heat output. It will be the first planetary spacecraft to launch from this west coast launch facility. The launch period for InSight opens May 5, 2018 and continues through June 8, 2018.

InSight Spacecraft Arrival

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-28

After a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, ground crews offload NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft designed to land on Mars. InSight was developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, and is scheduled for liftoff is May 5, 2018. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth.

InSight Spacecraft Arrival

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-28

After arrival at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, ground crews prepare NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft for transportation to the Astrotech processing facility. InSight was developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, and is scheduled for liftoff is May 5, 2018. InSight is the first mission to explore the deep interior of Mars. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth.

InSight Spacecraft Uncrating, Removal from Container, Lift Heat

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-01

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft is uncrated inside the Astrotech processing facility. InSight was developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, and is scheduled for liftoff is May 5, 2018. InSight is the first mission to land on Mars and explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth.

InSight Spacecraft Arrival

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-02-28

A U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft arrives at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California carrying NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft designed to land on Mars. InSight was developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, and is scheduled for liftoff is May 5, 2018. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth.

The subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex: a clinical marker for centration of refractive treatments and devices.

PubMed

Chang, Daniel H; Waring, George O

2014-11-01

To describe the inconsistencies in definition, application, and usage of the ocular reference axes (optical axis, visual axis, line of sight, pupillary axis, and topographic axis) and angles (angle kappa, lambda, and alpha) and to propose a precise, reproducible, clinically defined reference marker and axis for centration of refractive treatments and devices. Perspective. Literature review of papers dealing with ocular reference axes, angles, and centration. The inconsistent definitions and usage of the current ocular axes, as derived from eye models, limit their clinical utility. With a clear understanding of Purkinje images and a defined alignment of the observer, light source/fixation target, and subject eye, the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex can be a clinically useful reference marker. The axis formed by connecting the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex and the fixation point, the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex axis, is independent of pupillary dilation and phakic status of the eye. The relationship of the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex axis to a refined definition of the visual axis without reference to nodal points, the foveal-fixation axis, is discussed. The displacement between the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex and pupil center is described not by an angle, but by a chord, here termed chord mu. The application of the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex to the surgical centration of refractive treatments and devices is discussed. As a clinically defined reference marker, the subject-fixated coaxially sighted corneal light reflex avoids the shortcomings of current ocular axes for clinical application and may contribute to better consensus in the literature and improved patient outcomes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

InSight Atlas V Tower Roll

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-22

At Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the gantry is rolled back on the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V to a Centaur upper stage aft stub adapter (ASA) and interstage adapter (ISA) for NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft to land on Mars. The next step will be arrival of InSight encapsulated in its payload faring for mating atop the rocket. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center, are supporting the mission. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management.

Evaluation of a 15-inch widescreen OLED with sunlight-readable resistive touch panel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hufnagel, Bruce D.; Tchon, Joseph L.; Bahadur, Birendra

2012-06-01

A commercially available 15-inch active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) television was modified to include a sunlight-readable resistive touch panel for technical evaluation with regard to a variety of rugged military and aerospace applications. By removing the circular polarizer (CP) from the AMOLED and relying on the touch panel's CP, the authors were able to minimize change in display luminance while adding touch capability and reducing reflectance.

Modulation of C. elegans Touch Sensitivity Is Integrated at Multiple Levels

PubMed Central

Chen, Xiaoyin

2014-01-01

Sensory systems can adapt to different environmental signals. Here we identify four conditions that modulate anterior touch sensitivity in Caenorhabditis elegans after several hours and demonstrate that such sensory modulation is integrated at multiple levels to produce a single output. Prolonged vibration involving integrin signaling directly sensitizes the touch receptor neurons (TRNs). In contrast, hypoxia, the dauer state, and high salt reduce touch sensitivity by preventing the release of long-range neuroregulators, including two insulin-like proteins. Integration of these latter inputs occurs at upstream neurohormonal cells and at the insulin signaling cascade within the TRNs. These signals and those from integrin signaling converge to modulate touch sensitivity by regulating AKT kinases and DAF-16/FOXO. Thus, activation of either the integrin or insulin pathways can compensate for defects in the other pathway. This modulatory system integrates conflicting signals from different modalities, and adapts touch sensitivity to both mechanical and non-mechanical conditions. PMID:24806678

Segmentation of touching handwritten Japanese characters using the graph theory method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suwa, Misako

2000-12-01

Projection analysis methods have been widely used to segment Japanese character strings. However, if adjacent characters have overhanging strokes or a touching point doesn't correspond to the histogram minimum, the methods are prone to result in errors. In contrast, non-projection analysis methods being proposed for use on numerals or alphabet characters cannot be simply applied for Japanese characters because of the differences in the structure of the characters. Based on the oversegmenting strategy, a new pre-segmentation method is presented in this paper: touching patterns are represented as graphs and touching strokes are regarded as the elements of proper edge cutsets. By using the graph theoretical technique, the cutset martrix is calculated. Then, by applying pruning rules, potential touching strokes are determined and the patterns are over segmented. Moreover, this algorithm was confirmed to be valid for touching patterns with overhanging strokes and doubly connected patterns in simulations.

The effects of therapeutic touch on pain.

PubMed

Monroe, Carolyn Magdalen

2009-06-01

To better understand how Therapeutic Touch can be used in today's health care arena, this integrative literature review will examine current research that will help answer the question, Does Therapeutic Touch reduce pain? An extensive search was conducted of the online databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, PsychLIT, and PubMed to retrieve research articles published from 1997 to 2007. Seven studies that were conducted between 1997 and 2004 were found and only five of the seven were included as pertinent evidence to answer the question. All of the research that was reviewed to answer whether Therapeutic Touch could significantly reduce pain revealed a majority of statistically significant positive results for implementing this intervention. Because there are no identified risks to Therapeutic Touch as a pain relief measure, it is safe to recommend despite the limitations of current research. Therapeutic Touch should be considered among the many possible nursing interventions for the treatment of pain.

Paper-based piezoelectric touch pads with hydrothermally grown zinc oxide nanowires.

PubMed

Li, Xiao; Wang, Yu-Hsuan; Zhao, Chen; Liu, Xinyu

2014-12-24

This paper describes a new type of paper-based piezoelectric touch pad integrating zinc oxide nanowires (ZnO NWs), which can serve as user interfaces in paper-based electronics. The sensing functionality of these touch pads is enabled by the piezoelectric property of ZnO NWs grown on paper using a simple, cost-efficient hydrothermal method. A piece of ZnO-NW paper with two screen-printed silver electrodes forms a touch button, and touch-induced electric charges from the button are converted into a voltage output using a charge amplifier circuit. A touch pad consisting of an array of buttons can be readily integrated into paper-based electronic devices, allowing user input of information for various purposes such as programming, identification checking, and gaming. This novel design features ease of fabrication, low cost, ultrathin structure, and good compatibility with techniques in printed electronics, and further enriches the available technologies of paper-based electronics.

Material requirements for bio-inspired sensing systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biggins, Peter; Lloyd, Peter; Salmond, David; Kusterbeck, Anne

2008-10-01

The aim of developing bio-inspired sensing systems is to try and emulate the amazing sensitivity and specificity observed in the natural world. These capabilities have evolved, often for specific tasks, which provide the organism with an advantage in its fight to survive and prosper. Capabilities cover a wide range of sensing functions including vision, temperature, hearing, touch, taste and smell. For some functions, the capabilities of natural systems are still greater than that achieved by traditional engineering solutions; a good example being a dog's sense of smell. Furthermore, attempting to emulate aspects of biological optics, processing and guidance may lead to more simple and effective devices. A bio-inspired sensing system is much more than the sensory mechanism. A system will need to collect samples, especially if pathogens or chemicals are of interest. Other functions could include the provision of power, surfaces and receptors, structure, locomotion and control. In fact it is possible to conceive of a complete bio-inspired system concept which is likely to be radically different from more conventional approaches. This concept will be described and individual component technologies considered.

A geographic analysis of the status of mountain lions in Oklahoma

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pike, J.R.; Shaw, J.H.; Leslie, David M.; Shaw, M.G.

1999-01-01

The geographic distribution of sightings and sign of mountain lions (Puma concolor) in Oklahoma was investigated. Mail survey questionnaires were sent to natural resource professionals throughout Oklahoma to gather temporal and spatial information on sightings of mountain lions from 1985 to 1995. We used a geographic information system (GIS) to compare locations of sightings and sign in the state with ecoregions, deer harvest, human population densities, locations of licensed owners and breeders of mountain lions, and generalized topography. Sightings and sign of mountain lions occurred significantly more often in the Central Rolling Red Plains than elsewhere in the state. Sightings of mountain lions increased with total deer harvest statewide (R2=0.828, P<0.001). Numbers of sightings of mountain lions were correlated negatively with density of the human population (R2=0.885, P=0.017). Surveys are a valuable method to assess the status of rare wildlife species when other methods are not available and when those receiving the survey are qualified.

Can pictures promote the acquisition of sight-word reading? An evaluation of two potential instructional strategies.

PubMed

Richardson, Amy R; Lerman, Dorothea C; Nissen, Melissa A; Luck, Kally M; Neal, Ashley E; Bao, Shimin; Tsami, Loukia

2017-01-01

Sight-word instruction can be a useful supplement to phonics-based methods under some circumstances. Nonetheless, few studies have evaluated the conditions under which pictures may be used successfully to teach sight-word reading. In this study, we extended prior research by examining two potential strategies for reducing the effects of overshadowing when using picture prompts. Five children with developmental disabilities and two typically developing children participated. In the first experiment, the therapist embedded sight words within pictures but gradually faded in the pictures as needed using a least-to-most prompting hierarchy. In the second experiment, the therapist embedded text-to-picture matching within the sight-word reading sessions. Results suggested that these strategies reduced the interference typically observed with picture prompts and enhanced performance during teaching sessions for the majority of participants. Text-to-picture matching also accelerated mastery of the sight words relative to a condition under which the therapist presented text without pictures. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Replicability of sight word training and phonics training in poor readers: a randomised controlled trial

PubMed Central

Kohnen, S; Jones, K; Eve, P; Banales, E; Larsen, L; Castles, A

2015-01-01

Given the importance of effective treatments for children with reading impairment, paired with growing concern about the lack of scientific replication in psychological science, the aim of this study was to replicate a quasi-randomised trial of sight word and phonics training using a randomised controlled trial (RCT) design. One group of poor readers (N = 41) did 8 weeks of phonics training (i.e., phonological decoding) and then 8 weeks of sight word training (i.e., whole-word recognition). A second group did the reverse order of training. Sight word and phonics training each had a large and significant valid treatment effect on trained irregular words and word reading fluency. In addition, combined sight word and phonics training had a moderate and significant valid treatment effect on nonword reading accuracy and fluency. These findings demonstrate the reliability of both phonics and sight word training in treating poor readers in an era where the importance of scientific reliability is under close scrutiny. PMID:26019992

Turning the InSight Lander Science Deck

NASA Image and Video Library

2015-05-27

The science deck of NASA's InSight lander is being turned over in this April 29, 2015, photo from InSight assembly and testing operations inside a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver. The large circular component on the deck is the protective covering to be placed over InSight's seismometer after the seismometer is placed directly onto the Martian ground. InSight, for Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, is scheduled for launch in March 2016 and landing in September 2016. It will study the deep interior of Mars to advance understanding of the early history of all rocky planets, including Earth. Note: After thorough examination, NASA managers have decided to suspend the planned March 2016 launch of the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission. The decision follows unsuccessful attempts to repair a leak in a section of the prime instrument in the science payload. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19670

Violence reduction and assailant control with integral laser-sighted police pistols

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Houde-Walter, Will

1997-01-01

Laser sighting systems have been proven effective in reducing violence during tactical police operations. the laser sight plays two roles, one as an extremely intimidating pointer that informs the assailant of potential bullet placement and the other as a low light sighting device to increase the probability of hitting the target. Laser sighting gives the officer an additional alternative to lethal force. The statistical base of police data from laser assisted confrontations indicates that the assailant will capitulate, even when heavily armed, in the vast majority of cases. In this paper, we will introduce a new police technology; micro-visible diode lasers for semi- automatic piston recoil spring guide mounting of laser sights. This approach provides many advantages as the laser is concealed and protected by the pistol frame and the point of aim is aligned at the same mounting locations as the barrel. The laser can be field issues and installed or removed from the pistol in a minute with no permanent modification to the pistol.

Processing time of addition or withdrawal of single or combined balance-stabilizing haptic and visual information

PubMed Central

Honeine, Jean-Louis; Crisafulli, Oscar; Sozzi, Stefania

2015-01-01

We investigated the integration time of haptic and visual input and their interaction during stance stabilization. Eleven subjects performed four tandem-stance conditions (60 trials each). Vision, touch, and both vision and touch were added and withdrawn. Furthermore, vision was replaced with touch and vice versa. Body sway, tibialis anterior, and peroneus longus activity were measured. Following addition or withdrawal of vision or touch, an integration time period elapsed before the earliest changes in sway were observed. Thereafter, sway varied exponentially to a new steady-state while reweighting occurred. Latencies of sway changes on sensory addition ranged from 0.6 to 1.5 s across subjects, consistently longer for touch than vision, and were regularly preceded by changes in muscle activity. Addition of vision and touch simultaneously shortened the latencies with respect to vision or touch separately, suggesting cooperation between sensory modalities. Latencies following withdrawal of vision or touch or both simultaneously were shorter than following addition. When vision was replaced with touch or vice versa, adding one modality did not interfere with the effect of withdrawal of the other, suggesting that integration of withdrawal and addition were performed in parallel. The time course of the reweighting process to reach the new steady-state was also shorter on withdrawal than addition. The effects of different sensory inputs on posture stabilization illustrate the operation of a time-consuming, possibly supraspinal process that integrates and fuses modalities for accurate balance control. This study also shows the facilitatory interaction of visual and haptic inputs in integration and reweighting of stance-stabilizing inputs. PMID:26334013

InSight Atlas V ISA-ASA Lift and Mate

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-05

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the aft stub adapter (ASA) and interstage adapter (ISA) for a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V arrives at Space Launch Complex 3. The launch vehicle will send NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft to land on Mars. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center, are supporting the mission. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management.

InSight Atlas V ISA-ASA Transport

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-05

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the aft stub adapter (ASA) and interstage adapter (ISA) for a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V arrive at Space Launch Complex 3. The launch vehicle will send NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft to land on Mars. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center, are supporting the mission. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management.

InSight Atlas V ISA-ASA Transport

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-05

At Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the aft stub adapter (ASA) and interstage adapter (ISA) for a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket are transported to Space Launch Complex 3. The launch vehicle will send NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft to land on Mars. InSight is the first mission to explore the Red Planet's deep interior. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center, are supporting the mission. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management.

Predictors for people's response to a tornado warning: Arkansas, 1 March 1997.

PubMed

Balluz, L; Schieve, L; Holmes, T; Kiezak, S; Malilay, J

2000-03-01

On 1 March 1997, powerful tornadoes touched down in Arkansas (USA) on a Saturday afternoon. Twenty-six fatalities and 400 non-fatal injuries were reported. We performed a population-based cross-sectional study to determine factors associated with appropriate responses to tornado warnings. Of 146 survey participants, 140 (96 per cent) knew the difference between 'tornado watch' and 'tornado warning' and were aware of when the warning was announced. Of those 140 participants, 64 (45.7 per cent) responded to the warning by seeking shelter, and 58 (90.6 per cent) of those 64 acted within five minutes of hearing the warning. Four factors were positively associated with those seeking shelter: having graduated from high school (OR = 4.2, 95 per cent CI = 1.1-15.5); having a basement in one's house (OR = 3.8, 95 per cent exact CI = 1.1-17.1); hearing a siren (OR = 4.4, 95 per cent CI = 1.3-18.9); and having prepared a household plan of response when tornadoes occur (OR = 2.6, 95 per cent CI = 1.1-6.3). On the basis of these findings, we recommend: first, that people who live in tornadoprone areas have a personal plan of action to help them respond immediately to warnings; second, public-health education officials in areas with frequent tornadic activity should do more to educate the public about what they can do to protect themselves from a tornado; and third, that emergency-management officials planning protection measures for vulnerable communities should consider that most people have limited time (our study documented five minutes) in which to respond to a tornado warning. Thus, shelters in tornado-prone areas should be quickly accessible by residents.

Digital kids of the Heisei era: experiment at Toyonaka Bunka Kindergarten.

PubMed

Matsuda, S

1999-01-01

I wonder what most people think when they hear of small children playing on computers in kindergarten. One can almost hear the responses: "Why should kindergarten children have to use computers?" Small children are using computers? It's much too earlyl" "At kindergarten children should be singing, playing games, and making mud pies!" A computer is the epitome of the artificial. If we really make a mess of things, humans will become slaves to computers. What can they be thinking, putting such things in kindergartens as a child's toy? Many people who think in this way have never touched a computer, and it often seems the case that these "emotional opponents" are opposed to them only because of their own preconceptions. There is still a preconception that" a computer = a square machine like a TV with lots of difficult-looking keys". Computers are now in virtually all of the electronic appliances we use every day, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuums and televisions, and we think nothing of it. We live each day using computers, but only the "square" computer invites such contempt. Why is this the case? On the other side, there are the "proactive endorsers", who think "Computers have spread thus far in society and schools, so we must let children become familiar with them from a very young age!" These people often seem to want to teach everyone everything. There is much to know about the image and use of computers. They seem to think that if adults don't teach them, children won't understand anything. On this point, they are at the same level as the "emotional opponents", in that they conceive of computers as being something out of the ordinary.

Administrator Bridenstine: InSight Will Map the Inside of Mars

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-05

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine shares thoughts on the Mars InSight mission, the search for evidence of life beyond Earth, returning humans to the Moon and why Earth is his favorite planet. To learn more about InSight, visit https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/.

Flexible Organic Tribotronic Transistor Memory for a Visible and Wearable Touch Monitoring System.

PubMed

Li, Jing; Zhang, Chi; Duan, Lian; Zhang, Li Min; Wang, Li Duo; Dong, Gui Fang; Wang, Zhong Lin

2016-01-06

A new type of flexible organic tribotronic transistor memory is proposed, which can be written and erased by externally applied touch actions as an active memory. By further coupling with an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), a visible and wearable touch monitoring system is achieved, in which touch triggering can be memorized and shown as the emission from the OLED. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

On the existence of touch points for first-order state inequality constraints

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seywald, Hans; Cliff, Eugene M.

1993-01-01

The appearance of touch points in state constrained optimal control problems with general vector-valued control is studied. Under the assumption that the Hamiltonian is regular, touch points for first-order state inequalities are shown to exist only under very special conditions. In many cases of practical importance these conditions can be used to exclude touch points a priori without solving an optimal control problem. The results are demonstrated on a simple example.

Integration of advanced technologies to enhance problem-based learning over distance: Project TOUCH.

PubMed

Jacobs, Joshua; Caudell, Thomas; Wilks, David; Keep, Marcus F; Mitchell, Steven; Buchanan, Holly; Saland, Linda; Rosenheimer, Julie; Lozanoff, Beth K; Lozanoff, Scott; Saiki, Stanley; Alverson, Dale

2003-01-01

Distance education delivery has increased dramatically in recent years as a result of the rapid advancement of communication technology. The National Computational Science Alliance's Access Grid represents a significant advancement in communication technology with potential for distance medical education. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the TOUCH project (Telehealth Outreach for Unified Community Health; http://hsc.unm.edu/touch) with special emphasis on the process of problem-based learning case development for distribution over the Access Grid. The objective of the TOUCH project is to use emerging Internet-based technology to overcome geographic barriers for delivery of tutorial sessions to medical students pursuing rotations at remote sites. The TOUCH project also is aimed at developing a patient simulation engine and an immersive virtual reality environment to achieve a realistic health care scenario enhancing the learning experience. A traumatic head injury case is developed and distributed over the Access Grid as a demonstration of the TOUCH system. Project TOUCH serves as an example of a computer-based learning system for developing and implementing problem-based learning cases within the medical curriculum, but this system should be easily applied to other educational environments and disciplines involving functional and clinical anatomy. Future phases will explore PC versions of the TOUCH cases for increased distribution. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

The Spatial Cognition of Blind Pedestrians.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hollyfield, Rebecca L.; Foulke, Emerson

1983-01-01

Four groups (sighted, blindfolded sighted, legally blind, and blind) of adults were trained to traverse a five-block route in a residential neighborhood and were then asked to reconstruct the route from memory. Results showed the blind and sighted adults demonstrated similar abilities to learn routes but showed significant differences in memorial…

Factors Related to Sight-Reading Accuracy: A Meta-Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mishra, Jennifer

2014-01-01

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine the extent of the overall relationship between previously tested variables and sight-reading. An exhaustive survey of the available research literature was conducted resulting in 92 research studies that reported correlations between sight-reading and another variable. Variables ("n" =…

InSight, a Mars MIssion Artist Concept

NASA Image and Video Library

2012-02-28

This artist rendition is of the Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport InSight Lander. InSight proposes to place a single geophysical lander on Mars to study its deep interior. Note: After thorough examination, NASA managers have decided to suspend the planned March 2016 launch of the Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission. The decision follows unsuccessful attempts to repair a leak in a section of the prime instrument in the science payload. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA13958

InSight Prelaunch Overview

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-05-03

Members of the media and social media participants attended the NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, prelaunch briefing at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The presentation focused on InSight Mars lander. InSight is scheduled for liftoff May 5, 2018, atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg. The spacecraft will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface studying the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes.

InSight Spacecraft Uncrating, Removal from Container, Lift Heat

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-01

Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the heatshield for NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft is removed from protective wrapping. InSight was developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, and is scheduled for liftoff is May 5, 2018. InSight is the first mission to land on Mars and explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth.

InSight Spacecraft Uncrating, Removal from Container, Lift Heat

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-01

Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians and engineers inspect the heatshield for NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft. InSight was developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, and is scheduled for liftoff is May 5, 2018. InSight is the first mission to land on Mars and explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth.

InSight Spacecraft Uncrating, Removal from Container, Lift Heat

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-03-01

Inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the heatshield for NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, spacecraft has been removed from protective wrapping. InSight was developed and built by Lockheed-Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, and is scheduled for liftoff is May 5, 2018. InSight is the first mission to land on Mars and explore the Red Planet's deep interior. It will investigate processes that shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system including Earth.

Resolving the Azimuthal Ambiguity in Vector Magnetogram Data with the Divergence-Free Condition: Theoretical Examination

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crouch, A.; Barnes, G.

2008-01-01

We demonstrate that the azimuthal ambiguity that is present in solar vector magnetogram data can be resolved with line-of-sight and horizontal heliographic derivative information by using the divergence-free property of magnetic fields without additional assumptions. We discuss the specific derivative information that is sufficient to resolve the ambiguity away from disk center, with particular emphasis on the line-of-sight derivative of the various components of the magnetic field. Conversely, we also show cases where ambiguity resolution fails because sufficient line-of-sight derivative information is not available. For example, knowledge of only the line-of-sight derivative of the line-of-sight component of the field is not sufficient to resolve the ambiguity away from disk center.

InSight Media Day Preparation

NASA Image and Video Library

2018-04-05

NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, or InSight, is in a clean room inside the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. InSight is scheduled for liftoff on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket May 5, 2018. InSight will be the first mission to look deep beneath the Martian surface. It will study the planet's interior by measuring its heat output and listen for marsquakes. InSight will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a map of the planet’s deep interior. The resulting insight into Mars’ formation will provide a better understanding of how other rocky planets, including Earth, were created. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight mission for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The spacecraft, including cruise stage and lander, was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver. Several European partners, including France's space agency, the Centre National d'Étude Spatiales, and the German Aerospace Center, are supporting the mission. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Atlas V launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch management.

Explaining Away the Body: Experiences of Supernaturally Caused Touch and Touch on Non-Hand Objects within the Rubber Hand Illusion

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background In rubber hand illusions and full body illusions, touch sensations are projected to non-body objects such as rubber hands, dolls or virtual bodies. The robustness, limits and further perceptual consequences of such illusions are not yet fully explored or understood. A number of experiments are reported that test the limits of a variant of the rubber hand illusion. Methodology/Principal Findings A variant of the rubber hand illusion is explored, in which the real and foreign hands are aligned in personal space. The presence of the illusion is ascertained with participants' scores and temperature changes of the real arm. This generates a basic illusion of touch projected to a foreign arm. Participants are presented with further, unusual visuotactile stimuli subsequent to onset of the basic illusion. Such further visuotactile stimulation is found to generate very unusual experiences of supernatural touch and touch on a non-hand object. The finding of touch on a non-hand object conflicts with prior findings, and to resolve this conflict a further hypothesis is successfully tested: that without prior onset of the basic illusion this unusual experience does not occur. Conclusions/Significance A rubber hand illusion is found that can arise when the real and the foreign arm are aligned in personal space. This illusion persists through periods of no tactile stimulation and is strong enough to allow very unusual experiences of touch felt on a cardboard box and experiences of touch produced at a distance, as if by supernatural causation. These findings suggest that one's visual body image is explained away during experience of the illusion and they may be of further importance to understanding the role of experience in delusion formation. The findings of touch on non-hand objects may help reconcile conflicting results in this area of research. In addition, new evidence is provided that relates to the recently discovered psychologically induced temperature changes that occur during the illusion. PMID:20195378

Novel thigmomorphogenetic responses in Carica papaya: touch decreases anthocyanin levels and stimulates petiole cork outgrowths

PubMed Central

Porter, Brad W.; Zhu, Yun J.; Webb, David T.; Christopher, David A.

2009-01-01

Background and Aims Because of its rapid growth rate, relative ease of transformation, sequenced genome and low gene number relative to Arabidopsis, the tropical fruit tree, Carica papaya, can serve as a complementary genetic model for complex traits. Here, new phenotypes and touch-regulated gene homologues have been identified that can be used to advance the understanding of thigmomorphogenesis, a multigenic response involving mechanoreception and morphological change. Methods Morphological alterations were quantified, and microscopy of tissue was conducted. Assays for hypocotyl anthocyanins, lignin and chlorophyll were performed, and predicted genes from C. papaya were compared with Arabidopsis touch-inducible (TCH) and Mechanosensitive channel of Small conductance-like genes (MscS-like or MSL). In addition, the expression of two papaya TCH1 homologues was characterized. Key Results On the abaxial side of petioles, treated plants were found to have novel, hypertrophic outgrowths associated with periderm and suberin. Touched plants also had higher lignin, dramatically less hypocotyl anthocyanins and chlorophyll, increased hypocotyl diameter, and decreased leaf width, stem length and root fresh weight. Papaya was found to have fewer MSL genes than Arabidopsis, and four touch-regulated genes in Arabidopsis had no counterparts in papaya. Water-spray treatment was found to enhance the expression of two papaya TCH1 homologues whereas induction following touch was only slightly correlated. Conclusions The novel petiole outgrowths caused by non-wounding, mechanical perturbation may be the result of hardening mechanisms, including added lignin, providing resistance against petiole movement. Inhibition of anthocyanin accumulation following touch, a new phenotypic association, may be caused by diversion of p-coumaroyl CoA away from chalcone synthase for lignin synthesis. The absence of MSL and touch-gene homologues indicates that papaya may have a smaller set of touch-regulated genes. The genes and novel touch-regulated phenotypes identified here will contribute to a more comprehensive view of thigmomorphogenesis in plants. PMID:19182220

Novel thigmomorphogenetic responses in Carica papaya: touch decreases anthocyanin levels and stimulates petiole cork outgrowths.

PubMed

Porter, Brad W; Zhu, Yun J; Webb, David T; Christopher, David A

2009-04-01

Because of its rapid growth rate, relative ease of transformation, sequenced genome and low gene number relative to Arabidopsis, the tropical fruit tree, Carica papaya, can serve as a complementary genetic model for complex traits. Here, new phenotypes and touch-regulated gene homologues have been identified that can be used to advance the understanding of thigmomorphogenesis, a multigenic response involving mechanoreception and morphological change. Morphological alterations were quantified, and microscopy of tissue was conducted. Assays for hypocotyl anthocyanins, lignin and chlorophyll were performed, and predicted genes from C. papaya were compared with Arabidopsis touch-inducible (TCH) and Mechanosensitive channel of Small conductance-like genes (MscS-like or MSL). In addition, the expression of two papaya TCH1 homologues was characterized. On the abaxial side of petioles, treated plants were found to have novel, hypertrophic outgrowths associated with periderm and suberin. Touched plants also had higher lignin, dramatically less hypocotyl anthocyanins and chlorophyll, increased hypocotyl diameter, and decreased leaf width, stem length and root fresh weight. Papaya was found to have fewer MSL genes than Arabidopsis, and four touch-regulated genes in Arabidopsis had no counterparts in papaya. Water-spray treatment was found to enhance the expression of two papaya TCH1 homologues whereas induction following touch was only slightly correlated. The novel petiole outgrowths caused by non-wounding, mechanical perturbation may be the result of hardening mechanisms, including added lignin, providing resistance against petiole movement. Inhibition of anthocyanin accumulation following touch, a new phenotypic association, may be caused by diversion of p-coumaroyl CoA away from chalcone synthase for lignin synthesis. The absence of MSL and touch-gene homologues indicates that papaya may have a smaller set of touch-regulated genes. The genes and novel touch-regulated phenotypes identified here will contribute to a more comprehensive view of thigmomorphogenesis in plants.

Exploring surface cleaning strategies in hospital to prevent contact transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

PubMed

Lei, Hao; Jones, Rachael M; Li, Yuguo

2017-01-18

Cleaning of environmental surfaces in hospitals is important for the control of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other hospital-acquired infections transmitted by the contact route. Guidance regarding the best approaches for cleaning, however, is limited. In this study, a mathematical model based on ordinary differential equations was constructed to study MRSA concentration dynamics on high-touch and low-touch surfaces, and on the hands and noses of two patients (in two hospitals rooms) and a health care worker in a hypothetical hospital environment. Two cleaning interventions - whole room cleaning and wipe cleaning of touched surfaces - were considered. The performance of the cleaning interventions was indicated by a reduction in MRSA on the nose of a susceptible patient, relative to no intervention. Whole room cleaning just before first patient care activities of the day was more effective than whole room cleaning at other times, but even with 100% efficiency, whole room cleaning only reduced the number of MRSA transmitted to the susceptible patient by 54%. Frequent wipe cleaning of touched surfaces was shown to be more effective that whole room cleaning because surfaces are rapidly re-contaminated with MRSA after cleaning. Wipe cleaning high-touch surfaces was more effective than wipe cleaning low-touch surfaces for the same frequency of cleaning. For low wipe cleaning frequency (≤3 times per hour), high-touch surfaces should be targeted, but for high wipe cleaning frequency (>3 times per hour), cleaning should target high- and low-touch surfaces in proportion to the surface touch frequency. This study reproduces the observations from a field study of room cleaning, which provides support for the validity of our findings. Daily whole room cleaning, even with 100% cleaning efficiency, provides limited reduction in the number of MRSA transmitted to susceptible patients via the contact route; and should be supplemented with frequent targeted cleaning of high-touch surfaces, such as by a wipe or cloth containing disinfectant.

Expanding the primate body schema in sensorimotor cortex by virtual touches of an avatar

PubMed Central

Shokur, Solaiman; O’Doherty, Joseph E.; Winans, Jesse A.; Bleuler, Hannes; Lebedev, Mikhail A.; Nicolelis, Miguel A. L.

2013-01-01

The brain representation of the body, called the body schema, is susceptible to plasticity. For instance, subjects experiencing a rubber hand illusion develop a sense of ownership of a mannequin hand when they view it being touched while tactile stimuli are simultaneously applied to their own hand. Here, the cortical basis of such an embodiment was investigated through concurrent recordings from primary somatosensory (i.e., S1) and motor (i.e., M1) cortical neuronal ensembles while two monkeys observed an avatar arm being touched by a virtual ball. Following a period when virtual touches occurred synchronously with physical brushes of the monkeys' arms, neurons in S1 and M1 started to respond to virtual touches applied alone. Responses to virtual touch occurred 50 to 70 ms later than to physical touch, consistent with the involvement of polysynaptic pathways linking the visual cortex to S1 and M1. We propose that S1 and M1 contribute to the rubber hand illusion and that, by taking advantage of plasticity in these areas, patients may assimilate neuroprosthetic limbs as parts of their body schema. PMID:23980141

Final Sampling Bias in Haptic Judgments: How Final Touch Affects Decision-Making.

PubMed

Mitsuda, Takashi; Yoshioka, Yuichi

2018-01-01

When people make a choice between multiple items, they usually evaluate each item one after the other repeatedly. The effect of the order and number of evaluating items on one's choices is essential to understanding the decision-making process. Previous studies have shown that when people choose a favorable item from two items, they tend to choose the item that they evaluated last. This tendency has been observed regardless of sensory modalities. This study investigated the origin of this bias by using three experiments involving two-alternative forced-choice tasks using handkerchiefs. First, the bias appeared in a smoothness discrimination task, which indicates that the bias was not based on judgments of preference. Second, the handkerchief that was touched more often tended to be chosen more frequently in the preference task, but not in the smoothness discrimination task, indicating that a mere exposure effect enhanced the bias. Third, in the condition where the number of touches did not differ between handkerchiefs, the bias appeared when people touched a handkerchief they wanted to touch last, but not when people touched the handkerchief that was predetermined. This finding suggests a direct coupling between final voluntary touching and judgment.

Touch Locating and Stretch Sensing Studies of Conductive Hydrogels with Applications to Soft Robots.

PubMed

Zhou, Yanmin; He, Bin; Yan, Zhe; Shang, Yinghui; Wang, Qigang; Wang, Zhipeng

2018-02-13

Soft robots possess great potential in environmental adaptations, while their environmental sensing abilities are critical. Conductive hydrogels have been suggested to possess sensing abilities. However, their application in soft robots is lacking. In this work, we fabricated a soft and stretchable gel material, introduced its sensing mechanisms, and developed a measurement setup. Both experimental and simulation studies indicate strong nonlinearity of touch locating on a square touch panel with Cartesian coordinates. To simplify the touch locating, we proposed a touch locating system based on round touch panels with polar coordinates. Mathematical calculations and finite element method (FEM) simulations showed that in this system the locating of a touch point was only determined by its polar radius. This was verified by experimental studies. As a resistor, a gel strip's resistance increases with stretching. To demonstrate their applications on soft robots, a 3D printed three-fingered soft gripper was employed with gel strips attached. During finger bending for rod grasping, the resistances of the gel strips increased, indicating stretching of the soft material. Furthermore, the strain and stress of a gel strip increased with a decrease of the rod diameter. These studies advance the application of conductive hydrogels on soft robots.

Touch Interaction with 3D Geographical Visualization on Web: Selected Technological and User Issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herman, L.; Stachoň, Z.; Stuchlík, R.; Hladík, J.; Kubíček, P.

2016-10-01

The use of both 3D visualization and devices with touch displays is increasing. In this paper, we focused on the Web technologies for 3D visualization of spatial data and its interaction via touch screen gestures. At the first stage, we compared the support of touch interaction in selected JavaScript libraries on different hardware (desktop PCs with touch screens, tablets, and smartphones) and software platforms. Afterward, we realized simple empiric test (within-subject design, 6 participants, 2 simple tasks, LCD touch monitor Acer and digital terrain models as stimuli) focusing on the ability of users to solve simple spatial tasks via touch screens. An in-house testing web tool was developed and used based on JavaScript, PHP, and X3DOM languages and Hammer.js libraries. The correctness of answers, speed of users' performances, used gestures, and a simple gesture metric was recorded and analysed. Preliminary results revealed that the pan gesture is most frequently used by test participants and it is also supported by the majority of 3D libraries. Possible gesture metrics and future developments including the interpersonal differences are discussed in the conclusion.

The (Null) Effect of Affective Touch on Betrayal Aversion, Altruism, and Risk Taking.

PubMed

Koppel, Lina; Andersson, David; Morrison, India; Västfjäll, Daniel; Tinghög, Gustav

2017-01-01

Pleasant touch is thought to increase the release of oxytocin. Oxytocin, in turn, has been extensively studied with regards to its effects on trust and prosocial behavior, but results remain inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of touch on economic decision making. Participants ( n = 120) were stroked on their left arm using a soft brush (touch condition) or not at all (control condition; varied within subjects), while they performed a series of decision tasks assessing betrayal aversion (the Betrayal Aversion Elicitation Task), altruism (donating money to a charitable organization), and risk taking (the Balloon Analog Risk Task). We found no significant effect of touch on any of the outcome measures, neither within nor between subjects. Furthermore, effects were not moderated by gender or attachment. However, attachment avoidance had a significant effect on altruism in that those who were high in avoidance donated less money. Our findings contribute to the understanding of affective touch-and, by extension, oxytocin-in social behavior, and decision making by showing that touch does not directly influence performance in tasks involving risk and prosocial decisions. Specifically, our work casts further doubt on the validity of oxytocin research in humans.

Discipline, desire, and transgression in physiotherapy practice.

PubMed

Nicholls, David A; Holmes, Dave

2012-08-01

Therapeutic touch has played an important part in human civilization and continues to contribute to our social relations and individual identities. Therapeutic touch has been a vital component in the development and definition of physiotherapy practice and continues to be one of the profession's principal distinguishing competencies. It is surprising then that while so much has been written about how to perform therapeutic touch techniques, little has been written about the role that these techniques have played in defining physiotherapy's professional identity. Drawing on the work of three postmodern philosophers, we offer a critique of physio-therapeutic approaches to therapeutic touch, examining why certain modes of touch were adopted by the profession in the past and not others; how the innate sensuality of touch had to be managed; and how the disciplinary technologies that surrounded the practice of massage came to define physiotherapy's professional identity. Our thesis is that the disciplinary technologies adopted by the profession in the 1890s endure today and that the profession's heavily disciplined approach to touch is now constraining new therapeutic possibilities that may be necessary if the profession is to respond to the demands of twenty-first century health care.

Expansion of Smartwatch Touch Interface from Touchscreen to Around Device Interface Using Infrared Line Image Sensors.

PubMed

Lim, Soo-Chul; Shin, Jungsoon; Kim, Seung-Chan; Park, Joonah

2015-07-09

Touchscreen interaction has become a fundamental means of controlling mobile phones and smartwatches. However, the small form factor of a smartwatch limits the available interactive surface area. To overcome this limitation, we propose the expansion of the touch region of the screen to the back of the user's hand. We developed a touch module for sensing the touched finger position on the back of the hand using infrared (IR) line image sensors, based on the calibrated IR intensity and the maximum intensity region of an IR array. For complete touch-sensing solution, a gyroscope installed in the smartwatch is used to read the wrist gestures. The gyroscope incorporates a dynamic time warping gesture recognition algorithm for eliminating unintended touch inputs during the free motion of the wrist while wearing the smartwatch. The prototype of the developed sensing module was implemented in a commercial smartwatch, and it was confirmed that the sensed positional information of the finger when it was used to touch the back of the hand could be used to control the smartwatch graphical user interface. Our system not only affords a novel experience for smartwatch users, but also provides a basis for developing other useful interfaces.

What aspects of vision facilitate haptic processing?

PubMed

Millar, Susanna; Al-Attar, Zainab

2005-12-01

We investigate how vision affects haptic performance when task-relevant visual cues are reduced or excluded. The task was to remember the spatial location of six landmarks that were explored by touch in a tactile map. Here, we use specially designed spectacles that simulate residual peripheral vision, tunnel vision, diffuse light perception, and total blindness. Results for target locations differed, suggesting additional effects from adjacent touch cues. These are discussed. Touch with full vision was most accurate, as expected. Peripheral and tunnel vision, which reduce visuo-spatial cues, differed in error pattern. Both were less accurate than full vision, and significantly more accurate than touch with diffuse light perception, and touch alone. The important finding was that touch with diffuse light perception, which excludes spatial cues, did not differ from touch without vision in performance accuracy, nor in location error pattern. The contrast between spatially relevant versus spatially irrelevant vision provides new, rather decisive, evidence against the hypothesis that vision affects haptic processing even if it does not add task-relevant information. The results support optimal integration theories, and suggest that spatial and non-spatial aspects of vision need explicit distinction in bimodal studies and theories of spatial integration.

Development and Evaluation of a Novel Pan-Specialty Virtual Reality Surgical Simulator for Smartphones.

PubMed

Nehme, Jean; Bahsoun, Ali N; Chow, Andre

2016-01-01

Touch Surgery is a novel simulator that allows cognitive task simulation and rehearsal of surgical procedures. Touch Surgery is designed for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets. This allows a global community of surgical professionals to review the steps of a procedure and test their competence. Content on Touch Surgery is developed with expert surgeons in the field from world leading institutions. Here we describe the development of Touch Surgery, its adoption by the global training community.

Acceptability of a Touch Screen Tablet Psychosocial Survey Administered to Radiation Therapy Patients in Japan.

PubMed

Suzuki, Eiji; Mackenzie, Lisa; Sanson-Fisher, Robert; Carey, Mariko; D'Este, Catherine; Asada, Hiromi; Toi, Masakazu

2016-08-01

Studies in western clinical settings suggest that touch screen computer surveys are an acceptable mode of collecting information about cancer patients' wellbeing We examined the acceptability of a touch screen tablet survey among cancer patients in Japan. Eligible patients (n = 262) attending a university hospital radiation therapy (RT) department were invited to complete a touch screen tablet survey about psychosocial communication and care. Survey consent and completion rates, the proportion and characteristics of patients who completed the touch screen survey unassisted, and patient-reported acceptability were assessed. Of 158 consenting patients (consent rate 60 % [95 % CI 54, 66 %] of eligible patients), 152 completed the touch screen computer survey (completion rate 58 % [95 % CI 52, 64 %] of eligible patients). The survey was completed without assistance by 74 % (n = 113; 95 % CI 67, 81 %) of respondents. Older age was associated with higher odds of having assistance with survey completion (OR 1.09; 95 % CI 1.04, 1.14 %). Ninety-two percent of patients (95 % CI 86, 96 %) felt that the touch screen survey was easy to use and 95 % (95 % CI 90, 98 %) agreed or strongly agreed that they were comfortable answering the questions. Overall, 65 % (95 % CI 57, 73 %) of respondents would be willing to complete such a survey more than once while waiting for RT treatment. Although patient self-reported acceptability of the touch screen survey was high, self-administered touch screen tablet surveys may not be entirely appropriate for older cancer patients or possibly for patients with lower educational attainment.

Effects of acute tryptophan depletion on central processing of CT-targeted and discriminatory touch in humans.

PubMed

Trotter, Paula Diane; McGlone, Francis; McKie, Shane; McFarquhar, Martyn; Elliott, Rebecca; Walker, Susannah Claire; Deakin, John Francis William

2016-08-01

C-tactile afferents (CTs) are slowly conducting nerve fibres, present only in hairy skin. They are optimally activated by slow, gentle stroking touch, such as those experienced during a caress. CT stimulation activates affective processing brain regions, alluding to their role in affective touch perception. We tested a theory that CT-activating touch engages the pro-social functions of serotonin, by determining whether reducing serotonin, through acute tryptophan depletion, diminishes subjective pleasantness and affective brain responses to gentle touch. A tryptophan depleting amino acid drink was administered to 16 healthy females, with a further 14 receiving a control drink. After 4 h, participants underwent an fMRI scan, during which time CT-innervated forearm skin and CT non-innervated finger skin was stroked with three brushes of differing texture, at CT-optimal force and velocity. Pleasantness ratings were obtained post scanning. The control group showed a greater response in ipsilateral orbitofrontal cortex to CT-activating forearm touch compared to touch to the finger where CTs are absent. This differential response was not present in the tryptophan depleted group. This interaction effect was significant. In addition, control participants showed a differential primary somatosensory cortex response to brush texture applied to the finger, a purely discriminatory touch response, which was not observed in the tryptophan depleted group. This interaction effect was also significant. Pleasantness ratings were similar across treatment groups. These results implicate serotonin in the differentiation between CT-activating and purely discriminatory touch responses. Such effects could contribute to some of the social abnormalities seen in psychiatric disorders associated with abnormal serotonin function. © 2016 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The effect of light touch on balance control during overground walking in healthy young adults.

PubMed

Oates, A R; Unger, J; Arnold, C M; Fung, J; Lanovaz, J L

2017-12-01

Balance control is essential for safe walking. Adding haptic input through light touch may improve walking balance; however, evidence is limited. This research investigated the effect of added haptic input through light touch in healthy young adults during challenging walking conditions. Sixteen individuals walked normally, in tandem, and on a compliant, low-lying balance beam with and without light touch on a railing. Three-dimensional kinematic data were captured to compute stride velocity (m/s), relative time spent in double support (%DS), a medial-lateral margin of stability (MOS ML ) and its variance (MOS ML CV), as well as a symmetry index (SI) for the MOS ML . Muscle activity was evaluated by integrating electromyography signals for the soleus, tibialis anterior, and gluteus medius muscles bilaterally. Adding haptic input decreased stride velocity, increased the %DS, had no effect on the MOS ML magnitude, decreased the MOS ML CV, had no effect on the SI, and increased activity of most muscles examined during normal walking. During tandem walking, stride velocity and the MOS ML CV decreased, while %DS, MOS ML magnitude, SI, and muscle activity did not change with light touch. When walking on a low-lying, compliant balance beam, light touch had no effect on walking velocity, MOS ML magnitude, or muscle activity; however, the %DS increased and the MOS ML CV and SI decreased when lightly touching a railing while walking on the balance beam. The decreases in the MOS ML CV with light touch across all walking conditions suggest that adding haptic input through light touch on a railing may improve balance control during walking through reduced variability.

Bimanual Interaction with Interscopic Multi-Touch Surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schöning, Johannes; Steinicke, Frank; Krüger, Antonio; Hinrichs, Klaus; Valkov, Dimitar

Multi-touch interaction has received considerable attention in the last few years, in particular for natural two-dimensional (2D) interaction. However, many application areas deal with three-dimensional (3D) data and require intuitive 3D interaction techniques therefore. Indeed, virtual reality (VR) systems provide sophisticated 3D user interface, but then lack efficient 2D interaction, and are therefore rarely adopted by ordinary users or even by experts. Since multi-touch interfaces represent a good trade-off between intuitive, constrained interaction on a touch surface providing tangible feedback, and unrestricted natural interaction without any instrumentation, they have the potential to form the foundation of the next generation user interface for 2D as well as 3D interaction. In particular, stereoscopic display of 3D data provides an additional depth cue, but until now the challenges and limitations for multi-touch interaction in this context have not been considered. In this paper we present new multi-touch paradigms and interactions that combine both traditional 2D interaction and novel 3D interaction on a touch surface to form a new class of multi-touch systems, which we refer to as interscopic multi-touch surfaces (iMUTS). We discuss iMUTS-based user interfaces that support interaction with 2D content displayed in monoscopic mode and 3D content usually displayed stereoscopically. In order to underline the potential of the proposed iMUTS setup, we have developed and evaluated two example interaction metaphors for different domains. First, we present intuitive navigation techniques for virtual 3D city models, and then we describe a natural metaphor for deforming volumetric datasets in a medical context.

Unmyelinated tactile cutaneous nerves signal erotic sensations.

PubMed

Jönsson, Emma H; Backlund Wasling, Helena; Wagnbeck, Vicktoria; Dimitriadis, Menelaos; Georgiadis, Janniko R; Olausson, Håkan; Croy, Ilona

2015-06-01

Intrapersonal touch is a powerful tool for communicating emotions and can among many things evoke feelings of eroticism and sexual arousal. The peripheral neural mechanisms of erotic touch signaling have been less studied. C tactile afferents (unmyelinated low-threshold mechanoreceptors), known to underpin pleasant aspects of touch processing, have been posited to play an important role. In two studies, we investigated the relationship between C tactile activation and the perception of erotic and pleasant touch, using tactile brushing stimulation. In total, 66 healthy subjects (37 women, age range 19-51 years) were examined. In study 1 (n = 20), five different stroking velocities were applied to the forearm and the inner thigh. The participants answered questions about partnership, mood, and touch. In study 2 (n = 46), the same five stroking velocities were applied to the forearm. The participants answered questions about partnership, touch, and sexuality. Both touch eroticism and pleasantness were rated significantly higher for C tactile optimal velocities compared with suboptimal velocities. No difference was found between the ratings of the thigh and the forearm. The velocity-dependent rating curves of pleasantness, intensity, and eroticism differed from each other. Pleasantness was best explained by a quadratic fit, intensity by a linear fit, and eroticism by both. A linear transformation of pleasantness and intensity predicted the observed eroticism ratings reliably. Eroticism ratings were negatively correlated with length of relationship. Touch was rated most erotic when perceived as pleasant and weak. In human hairy skin, perception of pleasantness is correlated with the firing rate of C tactile afferents, and perception of intensity is correlated with the firing rate of Aβ afferents. Accordingly, eroticism may be perceived most readily for touch stimuli that induce high activity in C tactile fibers and low activity in Aβ fibers. © 2015 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

Does therapeutic touch ease the discomfort or distress of patients undergoing stereotactic core breast biopsy? A randomized clinical trial.

PubMed

Frank, Leslie Smith; Frank, James L; March, David; Makari-Judson, Grace; Barham, Ruth B; Mertens, Wilson C

2007-01-01

To determine whether therapeutic touch administered at the time of stereotactic core biopsy of suspicious breast lesions results in a reduction in anxiety and pain. Randomized, patient-blinded, controlled trial of either Krieger-Kunz therapeutic touch administered by a trained practitioner or a sham intervention mimicking therapeutic touch delivered during core biopsy. Stereotactic breast biopsy unit of a comprehensive breast center. Women with mammographically detected, nonpalpable breast lesions requiring biopsy. Changes in pain and anxiety measured by visual analog scales immediately before and after stereotactic core biopsy. A total of 82 patients were accrued: 42 received actual therapeutic touch and 40 sham therapeutic touch. No significant differences were found between the arms for age, ethnicity, educational background, or other demographic data. The sham arm had a preponderance of left breast biopsies (48% vs 58%; P = 0.07) and received a slightly higher volume of epinephrine-containing local anesthetic (6.5 +/- 6.1 vs 4.5 +/- 4.5 mL; P = 0.09). Therapeutic touch patients were more likely to have an upper breast lesion location (57% vs 53%; P = 0.022). No significant differences between the arms were seen regarding postbiopsy pain (P = 0.95), anxiety (P = 0.66), fearfulness, or physiological parameters. Similarly, no differences were seen between the arms when change in parameters from prebiopsy to postbiopsy was considered for any of the psychological or physiological variables measured. These findings persisted when confounding variables were controlled for. Women undergoing stereotactic core breast biopsy received no significant benefit from therapeutic touch administered during the procedure. Therapeutic touch cannot be routinely recommended for patients in this setting.

Illusory sense of human touch from a warm and soft artificial hand.

PubMed

Cabibihan, John-John; Joshi, Deepak; Srinivasa, Yeshwin Mysore; Chan, Mark Aaron; Muruganantham, Arrchana

2015-05-01

To touch and be touched are vital to human development, well-being, and relationships. However, to those who have lost their arms and hands due to accident or war, touching becomes a serious concern that often leads to psychosocial issues and social stigma. In this paper, we demonstrate that the touch from a warm and soft rubber hand can be perceived by another person as if the touch were coming from a human hand. We describe a three-step process toward this goal. First, we made participants select artificial skin samples according to their preferred warmth and softness characteristics. At room temperature, the preferred warmth was found to be 28.4 °C at the skin surface of a soft silicone rubber material that has a Shore durometer value of 30 at the OO scale. Second, we developed a process to create a rubber hand replica of a human hand. To compare the skin softness of a human hand and artificial hands, a robotic indenter was employed to produce a softness map by recording the displacement data when constant indentation force of 1 N was applied to 780 data points on the palmar side of the hand. Results showed that an artificial hand with skeletal structure is as soft as a human hand. Lastly, the participants' arms were touched with human and artificial hands, but they were prevented from seeing the hand that touched them. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis suggests that a warm and soft artificial hand can create an illusion that the touch is from a human hand. These findings open the possibilities for prosthetic and robotic hands that are life-like and are more socially acceptable.

Patterns of Individual Variation in Visual Pathway Structure and Function in the Sighted and Blind

PubMed Central

Datta, Ritobrato; Benson, Noah C.; Prasad, Sashank; Jacobson, Samuel G.; Cideciyan, Artur V.; Bridge, Holly; Watkins, Kate E.; Butt, Omar H.; Dain, Aleksandra S.; Brandes, Lauren; Gennatas, Efstathios D.

2016-01-01

Many structural and functional brain alterations accompany blindness, with substantial individual variation in these effects. In normally sighted people, there is correlated individual variation in some visual pathway structures. Here we examined if the changes in brain anatomy produced by blindness alter the patterns of anatomical variation found in the sighted. We derived eight measures of central visual pathway anatomy from a structural image of the brain from 59 sighted and 53 blind people. These measures showed highly significant differences in mean size between the sighted and blind cohorts. When we examined the measurements across individuals within each group we found three clusters of correlated variation, with V1 surface area and pericalcarine volume linked, and independent of the thickness of V1 cortex. These two clusters were in turn relatively independent of the volumes of the optic chiasm and lateral geniculate nucleus. This same pattern of variation in visual pathway anatomy was found in the sighted and the blind. Anatomical changes within these clusters were graded by the timing of onset of blindness, with those subjects with a post-natal onset of blindness having alterations in brain anatomy that were intermediate to those seen in the sighted and congenitally blind. Many of the blind and sighted subjects also contributed functional MRI measures of cross-modal responses within visual cortex, and a diffusion tensor imaging measure of fractional anisotropy within the optic radiations and the splenium of the corpus callosum. We again found group differences between the blind and sighted in these measures. The previously identified clusters of anatomical variation were also found to be differentially related to these additional measures: across subjects, V1 cortical thickness was related to cross-modal activation, and the volume of the optic chiasm and lateral geniculate was related to fractional anisotropy in the visual pathway. Our findings show that several of the structural and functional effects of blindness may be reduced to a smaller set of dimensions. It also seems that the changes in the brain that accompany blindness are on a continuum with normal variation found in the sighted. PMID:27812129

Touch Processing and Social Behavior in ASD.

PubMed

O Miguel, Helga; Sampaio, Adriana; Martínez-Regueiro, Rocío; Gómez-Guerrero, Lorena; López-Dóriga, Cristina Gutiérrez; Gómez, Sonia; Carracedo, Ángel; Fernández-Prieto, Montse

2017-08-01

Abnormal patterns of touch processing have been linked to core symptoms in ASD. This study examined the relation between tactile processing patterns and social problems in 44 children and adolescents with ASD, aged 6-14 (M = 8.39 ± 2.35). Multiple linear regression indicated significant associations between touch processing and social problems. No such relationships were found for social problems and autism severity. Within touch processing, patterns of hyper-responsiveness and hypo-responsiveness best predicted social problems, whereas sensory-seeking did not. These results support that atypical touch processing in individuals with ASD might be contributing to the social problems they present. Moreover, it the need to explore more in depth the contribution of sensory features to the ASD phenotype.

The communication of emotion via touch.

PubMed

Hertenstein, Matthew J; Holmes, Rachel; McCullough, Margaret; Keltner, Dacher

2009-08-01

The study of emotional communication has focused predominantly on the facial and vocal channels but has ignored the tactile channel. Participants in the current study were allowed to touch an unacquainted partner on the whole body to communicate distinct emotions. Of interest was how accurately the person being touched decoded the intended emotions without seeing the tactile stimulation. The data indicated that anger, fear, disgust, love, gratitude, and sympathy were decoded at greater than chance levels, as well as happiness and sadness, 2 emotions that have not been shown to be communicated by touch to date. Moreover, fine-grained coding documented specific touch behaviors associated with different emotions. The findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to the study of emotion-related communication. 2009 APA, all rights reserved.