A look into the future: System-dynamic modeling of the political transformation of regional elites (Russia, 2021–2035)

The purpose of this study is to examine the ways in which the Russian regional administrative and political elites can change in 2021–2035. The authors attempted not only to find the most positive variants, but also to assess their probability and to describe the conditions for their implementation. There are seven predictive scenarios for the development of regional elites, which were constructed as a result of computer experiments with a system-dynamic model. The developed model is implemented in Powersim Studio 10. The model encompasses the main mechanisms and channels for recruiting elites as well as actors that have influenced the elite substitution system. The study is a follow-up to the work that was published in the Journal of Political Research and devoted to realistic and counterfeit scenarios of elite transformation in 1985–2019. The geographic framework within which the model can be applied spans — with some caveats — the European part of Russia. Modeling showed that some predictive scenarios are negative and even catastrophic for the progress of regional elites and for relations «federal center — regions». Moreover, such scenarios can be initiated not only by some unlikely events like the «Russian Maidan» (Ukrainization scenario), but also by erroneous actions of the federal government (Regency scenario). It has been revealed that the introduction of unified principles of monitoring and analysis, as well as centralized personnel management (Technocracy scenario) in the regions can solve all three key problems of elite evolution — namely, maintaining elite loyalty, achieving their acceptable quality, and gaining legitimacy.

Enabling visually impaired people to learn three-dimensional tactile graphics with a 3DOF haptic mouse

Background In this work, we present a novel sensory substitution system that enables to learn three dimensional digital information via touch when vision is unavailable. The system is based on a mouse-shaped device, designed to jointly perceive, with one finger only, local tactile height and inclination cues of arbitrary scalar fields. The device hosts a tactile actuator with three degrees of freedom: elevation, roll and pitch. The actuator approximates the tactile interaction with a plane tangential to the contact point between the finger and the field. Spatial information can therefore be mentally constructed by integrating local and global tactile cues: the actuator provides local cues, whereas proprioception associated with the mouse motion provides the global cues. Methods The efficacy of the system is measured by a virtual/real object-matching task. Twenty-four gender and age-matched participants (one blind and one blindfolded sighted group) matched a tactile dictionary of virtual objects with their 3D-printed solid version. The exploration of the virtual objects happened in three conditions, i.e., with isolated or combined height and inclination cues. We investigated the performance and the mental cost of approximating virtual objects in these tactile conditions. Results In both groups, elevation and inclination cues were sufficient to recognize the tactile dictionary, but their combination worked at best. The presence of elevation decreased a subjective estimate of mental effort. Interestingly, only visually impaired participants were aware of their performance and were able to predict it. Conclusions The proposed technology could facilitate the learning of science, engineering and mathematics in absence of vision, being also an industrial low-cost solution to make graphical user interfaces accessible for people with vision loss.

Regulation and Site-Specific Covalent Labeling of NSUN2 via Genetic Encoding Expansion

In living organisms, RNA regulates gene expression, cell migration, differentiation, and cell death. 5-Methylcytosine is a post-transcriptional RNA modification in a wide range of RNA species, including messenger RNAs. The addition of m5C to RNA cytosines is enabled by the NSUN enzyme family, a critical RNA methyltransferase. In this study, natural lysines modified with special groups were synthesized. Through two rounds of positive screening and one round of negative screening, we evaluated and identified the MbPylRS-tRNACUA unnatural lysine substitution system, which specifically recognizes lysine with a defined group. Moreover, non-natural lysine substitution at C271 of NSUN2 active site and the subsequent fluorescent labeling was realized through the click reaction. Then, the function of the NSUN2 mutant and its upregulated CDK1 gene as well as its effect on cell proliferation were evaluated. Efficient labeling and regulation of NSUN2 was achieved, laying the basis for further studies on the function and regulatory mechanism of upregulated genes.

Printed Texts Tracking and Following for a Finger-Wearable Electro-Braille System Through Opto-electrotactile Feedback

This paper presents our recent development on a portable and refreshable text reading and sensory substitution system for the blind or visually impaired (BVI), called Finger-eye. The system mainly consists of an opto-text processing unit and a compact electro-tactile based display that can deliver text-related electrical signals to the fingertip skin through a wearable and Braille-dot patterned electrode array and thus delivers the electro-stimulation based Braille touch sensations to the fingertip. To achieve the goal of aiding BVI to read any text not written in Braille through this portable system, in this work, a Rapid Optical Character Recognition (R-OCR) method is firstly developed for real-time processing text information based on a Fisheye imaging device mounted at the finger-wearable electro-tactile display. This allows real-time translation of printed text to electro-Braille along with natural movement of user's fingertip as if reading any Braille display or book. More importantly, an electro-tactile neuro-stimulation feedback mechanism is proposed and incorporated with the R-OCR method, which facilitates a new opto-electrotactile feedback based text line tracking control approach that enables text line following by user fingertip during reading. Multiple experiments were designed and conducted to test the ability of blindfolded participants to read through and follow the text line based on the opto-electrotactile-feedback method. The experiments show that as the result of the opto-electrotactile-feedback, the users were able to maintain their fingertip within a 2mm distance of the text while scanning a text line. This research is a significant step to aid the BVI users with a portable means to translate and follow to read any printed text to Braille, whether in the digital realm or physically, on any surface.

Hearing Gloves and Seeing Tongues? Disability, Sensory Substitution and the Origins of the Neuroplastic Subject

Researchers in post-war industrial laboratories such as Bell Labs and the Smith-Kettlewell Institute pioneered solutions to compensate for sensory loss through so-called sensory substitution systems, premised on an assumption of cortical and sensory plasticity. The article tracks early discussions of plasticity in psychology literature from William James, acknowledged by Wiener, but explicitly developed by Bach-y-Rita and his collaborators. After discussing the conceptual foundations of the principles of sensory substitution, two examples are discussed. First, ‘Project Felix’ was an experiment in vibrotactile communication by means of ‘hearing gloves’ for the deaf at Norbert Wiener’s laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, demonstrated to Helen Keller in 1950. Second, the tactile-visual sensory substitution system for the blind pioneered by Paul Bach-y-Rita from 1968 onwards. Cumulatively, this article underlines the crucial yet occluded history of research on sensory impairments in the discovery of underlying neurophysiological processes of plasticity and the emergent discourse of neuroplastic subjectivity.

Designing, Implementing And Evaluating A Cross-Modal Sensory Substitution System For The Effective Communication Of The Emotional And Informative Aspects Of Music

Visualizations have existed for millennia as ways to communicate information. Visualizations are ubiquitous tools used every day to help navigate cities and aid in learning complex tasks. Tasks are made simpler when applying various visualization methods to large data sets to discover trends that are otherwise difficult to notice. More recently, music visualization systems have been created to convey music in the visual domain; however, they are not based on any psychological model of auditory and visual equivalents. This thesis discusses a music visualization system called MusicViz, which facilitates in the visual communication of the informative and entertainment aspect of music based on psychologically justified translation principals. MusicViz is combined with a vibro-feedback chair called the Emoti-Chair, which translates auditory music to vibrations along the user’s back. The combined system is coined VITA (Visually Immersive and Tactile Animation). A usability evaluation of the VITA showed it is an enjoyable experience.

Designing, Implementing And Evaluating A Cross-Modal Sensory Substitution System For The Effective Communication Of The Emotional And Informative Aspects Of Music

Visualizations have existed for millennia as ways to communicate information. Visualizations are ubiquitous tools used every day to help navigate cities and aid in learning complex tasks. Tasks are made simpler when applying various visualization methods to large data sets to discover trends that are otherwise difficult to notice. More recently, music visualization systems have been created to convey music in the visual domain; however, they are not based on any psychological model of auditory and visual equivalents. This thesis discusses a music visualization system called MusicViz, which facilitates in the visual communication of the informative and entertainment aspect of music based on psychologically justified translation principals. MusicViz is combined with a vibro-feedback chair called the Emoti-Chair, which translates auditory music to vibrations along the user’s back. The combined system is coined VITA (Visually Immersive and Tactile Animation). A usability evaluation of the VITA showed it is an enjoyable experience.

Designing and Evaluating an Interface for the Composition of Vibro-Tactile Patterns Using Gestures

Human-computer interaction systems have been providing new ways for amateurs to compose music using traditional computer peripherals as well as gesture interfaces. Vibro-tactile patterns, which are a vibrational art form similar to auditory music, can also be composed using human-computer interfaces. This thesis discusses the gesture interface system called the Vibro-Motion, which facilitates the composition of vibro-tactile patterns in real-time on an existing tactile sensory substitution system called the Emoti-Chair. The Vibro-Motion allows users to control the pitch, magnitude of the vibration as well as the position of the vibration. A usability evaluation of Vibro-Motion system showed it to be intuitive, comfortable and enjoyable for the participants.

Designing and Evaluating an Interface for the Composition of Vibro-Tactile Patterns Using Gestures

Human-computer interaction systems have been providing new ways for amateurs to compose music using traditional computer peripherals as well as gesture interfaces. Vibro-tactile patterns, which are a vibrational art form similar to auditory music, can also be composed using human-computer interfaces. This thesis discusses the gesture interface system called the Vibro-Motion, which facilitates the composition of vibro-tactile patterns in real-time on an existing tactile sensory substitution system called the Emoti-Chair. The Vibro-Motion allows users to control the pitch, magnitude of the vibration as well as the position of the vibration. A usability evaluation of Vibro-Motion system showed it to be intuitive, comfortable and enjoyable for the participants.