Prototype Implementation of Innovative Braille Translator for the Visually Impaired With Hearing Deficiency

Text-to-Braille conversion as well as speech-to-Braille conversion are not available in combined form so far for the visually impaired, and there is tremendous need of a device that can look after this special class of people. The present chapter deals with a novel model that is designed to help both types of impaired people, be it visual problem or related with hearing. The proposal is itself unique and is also supported by experimental results available within the laboratory condition. This device will help people to read from text with their Braille language and will also help to convert the same form to audio signal. Since text and audio are the two main interfaces for any person to communicate with the external world apart from functionalities of sensory organs, the work has relevance. With the help of DANET, the same data, in text or speech form, can be accessed in more than one digital device simultaneously.

Anatomy of the Nervous System in Chelifer cancroides (Arachnida: Pseudoscorpiones) with a Distinct Sensory Pathway Associated with the Pedipalps

Many arachnid taxa have evolved unique, highly specialized sensory structures such as antenniform legs in Amblypygi (whip spiders), for instance, or mesosomal pectines in scorpions. Knowledge of the neuroanatomy as well as functional aspects of these sensory organs is rather scarce, especially in comparison to other arthropod clades. In pseudoscorpions, no special sensory structures have been discovered so far. Nevertheless, these animals possess dominant, multifunctional pedipalps, which are good candidates for being the primary sensory appendages. However, only little is known about the anatomy of the nervous system and the projection pattern of pedipalpal afferents in this taxon. By using immunofluorescent labeling of neuronal structures as well as lipophilic dye labeling of pedipalpal pathways, we identified the arcuate body, as well as a comparatively small mushroom body, the latter showing some similarities to that of Solifugae (sun spiders and camel spiders). Furthermore, afferents from the pedipalps terminate in a glomerular and a layered neuropil. Due to the innervation pattern and structural appearance, we conclude that these neuropils are the first integration centers of the chemosensory and mechanosensory afferents. Within Arthropoda, but also other invertebrates or even vertebrates, sensory structures show rather similar neuronal arrangement. Thus, these similarities in the sensory systems of different evolutionary origin have to be interpreted as functional prerequisites of the respective modality.

Psycho-Cognitive Model of Knowledge Creation Theory

Humans perform activities collaboratively or individually, and these activities, more often than not, involve both physical and mental processes. However, irrespective of whether individual or collective functioning, knowledge creation is a personal experience. Nevertheless, the general tenet of this paper is that knowledge is created in a human’s mind and resides in the head. Hence, it posits that knowledge creation is cognitive (associated with the neurological structures of the brain) and psychological (involving consciousness)—a psycho-cognitive process. This study thus employs a “Cognaction” mechanism that is based on the assumptions captured below. The mechanism premised that the human cognitive chamber consists of 3C modes of comprehension (for interpreting stimuli transmitted to the brain by sensory organs), contextualisation (for mindful connecting of chunks to existing schemas), and conceptualisation (for evaluative reflection in a manner that leads to drawing inference and building themes or new concepts). It demonstrates that as diverse skill sets are applied to a task, they generate varieties of effects and outcomes. The outcomes though are distinctive and at the same time are cospecialised. Thus, the psycho-cognitive perspective demonstrates knowledge creation as a cocreation process and sees knowledge as a mix of cocreated, cognitive structures. In view of these, the study provides the missing explanation on how the knowledge archetypes emerged. And it provides the missing link between the belief that “knowledge is created in the head” and knowledge creation theory.

The Association between Facial Morphology and Cold Pattern

Objectives: Facial diagnosis is an important part of clinical diagnosis in traditional East Asian Medicine. In this paper, using a fully automated facial shape analysis system, we show that facial morphological features are associated with cold pattern.Methods: The facial morphological features calculated from 68 facial landmarks included the angles, areas, and distances between the landmark points of each part of the face. Cold pattern severity was determined using a questionnaire and the cold pattern scores (CPS) were used for analysis. The association between facial features and CPS was calculated using Pearson's correlation coefficient and partial correlation coefficients.Results: The upper chin width and the lower chin width were negatively associated with CPS. The distance from the center point to the middle jaw and the distance from the center point to the lower jaw were negatively associated with CPS. The angle of the face outline near the ear and the angle of the chin line were positively associated with CPS. The area of the upper part of the face and the area of the face except the sensory organs were negatively associated with CPS. The number of facial morphological features that exhibited a statistically significant correlation with CPS was 37 (unadjusted).Conclusions: In this study of a Korean population, subjects with a high CPS had a more pointed chin, longer face, more angular jaw, higher eyes, and more upward corners of the mouth, and their facial sensory organs were relatively widespread.

Morphology and Distribution of Cutaneous Sensory Organs on the Digits of Anolis carolinensis and A. sagrei (Squamata: Dactyloidae) in Relation to the Adhesive Toepads and Their Deployment

Cutaneous sensory organs are characteristic of many squamate lineages. Such organs may occur on the surface of scales as button-like, circular protuberances set off from their surroundings by a noticeable boundary, often taking the form of a moat or furrow. They may be relatively unadorned, clad with the surface micro-ornamentation of the scales on which they are carried, or they may carry one or more bristles of varying length and surface ornamentation. Such bristles may extend away from the body of the organ to interface with the surrounding environment or to contact adjacent scales. Cutaneous sensory organs have been physiologically demonstrated to have a mechanoreceptive function but have also been posited to potentially be involved with additional sensory modalities. Their distribution and structure across the body surface has been shown to be unequal, with some regions being much more extensively endowed than others, indicative of regional differential sensitivity. The digits of Anolis (Iguania: Dactyloidae) carry adhesive toepads that are convergent with those of geckos (Gekkota). Geckos exhibit a high density of cutaneous sensory organs on their toepads and their form and distribution has been associated with the operation and control of the toepads during locomotion. Investigation of the form and topographical distribution of cutaneous sensory organs on the toepads of Anolis shows them to be convergent in these attributes with those of geckos and quite distinct from those of the ancestrally padless Iguana (Iguania: Iguanidae). Their location at scale margins and the direction of their bristles towards adjacent scales indicates that the cutaneous sensory organs play an important role in proprioception during toepad deployment in Anolis.