A straightforward and miniature implementation method of postural synergies for replicating human grasp characteristics accurately and intuitively

The postural synergies have great potentials to replicate human grasp characteristics, simplify grasp control and reduce the number of hardware needed actuators. However, due to the complex mapping relationship and jagged transmission ratio, the implemented mechanisms are always too bulky and loose which greatly limits its application. For current solutions, the replicating accuracy of motion characteristics or control intuition are compromised, and hitherto no work reports the replicating errors in literatures. To overcome these limitations, we present a novel design framework to determine the actuation configuration, implemented scheme and physical parameters. In this way, the mechanism is miniaturized and can be compactly embedded in hand palm, a self-contained synergy robot hand that integrated with mechanism, sensors and suited electrical system is built. The experiments demonstrate that the robot hand can accurately replicate the motion characteristics of two primary synergies, keep the control intuition to simplify grasp control, perform a better anthropomorphic motion capability and grasp different objects with versatile grasp functionality.

Translating additive connectors from English into Spanish and vice versa

This contrastive study aims to analyze and compare the usages of one type of sentence connectors, reinforcing additive connectors, in English and in Spanish through a corpus-based approach, which relies on bidirectional translation data. The analysis includes behavioral profiles of each of the list of connectors in each language, comparisons among them, comparisons between original texts and translated texts in both directions, cross-register differences, translational options, and the connectors’ mutual correspondence, which shows the degree of equivalence of each pair of connectors based on how often they are translated into each other. The results show important differences in the use of reinforcing additive connectors, mainly connected with (a) the more even distribution in English as compared with the great predominance of one connector in Spanish, además; (b) a more marked tendency for explicitation in Spanish and for the use of zero translation in English; (c) generally low mutual correspondence values, which seem to reflect high language variation, richness, and complex mapping of resources utilized to connect sentences.

Reciprocity in Czech Light Verb Constructions: The Dependency Perspective

In this paper, we draw attention to reciprocity in Czech light verb constructions – a language phenomenon, which has not been discussed yet. Reciprocity is contributed to light verb constructions by predictive nouns, as they are the nouns that represent the semantic core of these constructions. Here we focus on reciprocal light verb constructions derived by the syntactic operation of reciprocalization. We show that the complex mapping of semantic participants onto valency complementations, characteristic of reciprocalization, is reflected in reciprocal light verb constructions in the same way as in reciprocal nominal constructions. The main difference between reciprocal nominal constructions and reciprocal light verb constructions lies in the morphosyntactic expression of reciprocalized participants. We demonstrate that surface syntactic changes in reciprocal light verb constructions are regular enough to be described on the rule basis: the rule based generation of reciprocal light verb constructions requires a cooperation of two sets of rules – rules for deep and surface syntactic structure formation of light verb constructions and rules for capturing reciprocity.

Editorial

The articles in European Comic Art 13.1 all allude to the capacity of comics for demystification and disruption. This may take the form of a mistrust of canons; a retelling of the lives of painters that subtly, or less subtly, debunks the mythology of the great artist; an assault on the sensibilities of those who cling to a male-defined idealisation of the female body; a refusal of the illusion of depth in favour of a more complex mapping of connections across surfaces; or the subversive appropriation of a genre previously based on colonial assumptions.

CLASSIFICATION OF REMOTE GEOGRAPHIC IMAGES

The article considers the properties of remote geoimages. The properties of remote geoimages are singled out; the system ofclassification features is developed. The classification features of remote geoimages are divided into two groups: features of thewhole work and features of the iconic image. The first are the features that apply to the whole work, is visualized digital oranalogy display on any media. These include: recording information, repeatability, print format and image construction andproduction technology and registration and destination materials. The second group of features includes the features of thedirectly iconic image, what we can see in the picture. These are coverage of the territory, signs of image characteristics (spatial,spectral, radiometric and temporal resolution), detail, spectral range and degree of reduction. The following properties of remotegeoimages are distinguished: visibility, complex mapping of geosphere components, regular repeatability of shooting, remotegeneralization of the image, objectivity, efficiency, extraterritoriality, accessibility. The correspondence of the properties ofremote geoimages to their classification features is outlined. On the basis of the developed classification features theclassification of remote geoimages is created. The developed classification of remote geoimages according to certain features isthe most complete and systematized ordering of currently known types of remote geoimages. The developed classification willbe included in the analytical and information system for geo-iconic visualization and construction of geoimages with givenproperties. The classification is designed with the possibility of updating and supplementing, which provides for its furtherimprovement.

Mapping Human Enhancement Rhetoric

This chapter raises ethical questions about the relationship between HET and the discourse of human enhancement technologies. Specifically, it explores some problems in mapping human enhancement rhetoric. In the first section, human enhancement rhetoric is defined. Questions are raised about the rhetorical act of re-defining “human enhancement” as a problem of self-descriptive narrative and performance measurement. In section two, various approaches and terms for mapping are presented as a way of underscoring the slippery qualities of human enhancement as a dynamic, expanding discourse. Section three explains the changing ethical positions for enhancement technology users through the concepts of “over claim,” “reacting to technology,” and “ethos.” In section four, boundary changes for HET users are discussed as a complex mapping of shifting concepts, discourse, and communities. In conclusion, the transition from human enhancement to transhuman enhancement is emphasized with suggestions for future research.