In this study, we present an application of the Piece-wise Constant Strain (PCS) model to a flexible deformation analysis of a sports prosthesis leg. Dynamic motion analysis of an athlete wearing a sports prosthesis is important to clarify a relationship between the prosthesis characteristics and the performance of an athlete, which contributes to training of an athlete or design of the prosthesis. However, there are few studies on modeling of the three-dimensional deformation of the sports prosthesis. In soft robotics, the PCS model was proposed for calculating a flexible deformation of a beam or rod structure with a low computational cost. We employ the PCS model to calculate the flexible deformation of the prosthesis, assuming that its structure can be discretized into a finite number of segments. Moreover, we propose an estimation method of the prosthesis stiffness using optical motion capture data and calculating the semi-definite programming.

Accurate and timely prediction of flash flooding events can be a very useful tool for stormwater officials and first responders. Having lead time with which to issue evacuation directives, to close flood prone roadways, to deploy rescue gear and personnel, and to fortify areas against flooding is essential to minimize property damage and risk of casualties. In this poster, we are presenting a flash flooding prediction workflow based on the Hydrology Lab-Research Distributed Hydrologic Model (HL-RDHM). This workflow leverages cloud computing and the Pegasus Workflow Management System to provide continuous high resolution flood predictions for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area in North Texas, and can be easily expanded to other regions.

This paper presents results from a user study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of Korean text entry methods for smartwatches. Specifically, the study compares the four popular text entry methods for smartphones in the context of smartwatch use (three multi-tap 3x4 keypad methods and a QWERTY-like method). A distinctive feature of text entry in Korea is that traditionally different manufacturers have developed their own text entry methods starting with particular physical layouts on feature phones that are now available as soft keypads on smartphones. This research considers the next step in this progression by studying the viability of adopting these text entry methods on smartwatches. The results from the user study indicate that existing methods can be effective for text entry on smartwatches; analysis of the data offers suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the methods.

BACKGROUND: Telemonitoring interventions featuring transmission of home glucose records to healthcare providers have resulted in improved glycemic control in patients with diabetes. No research has addressed the intensity or duration of telemonitoring required to sustain such improvements. PURPOSE: The DiaTel study (10 January 2005 to 1 November 2007) compared active care management (ACM) with home telemonitoring (n=73) to monthly care coordination (CC) telephone calls (n=77) among veterans with diabetes and suboptimal glycemic control. The purpose of the DiaTel Extension was to assess whether initial improvements could be sustained with interventions of the same or lower intensity among participants who re-enrolled in a 6-month extension of DiaTel. METHODS: DiaTel participants receiving ACM were re-assigned randomly to monthly CC calls with continued telemonitoring but no active medication management (ACM-to-CCHT, n=23) or monthly CC telephone calls (ACM-to-CC, n=21). DiaTel participants receiving CC were re-assigned randomly to continued CC (CC-to-CC, n=28) or usual care (UC, ie, CC-to-UC, n=29). Hemaglobin A1c (HbA1c) was assessed at 3 and 6 months following re-randomization. RESULTS: Marked HbA1c improvements observed in DiaTel ACM participants were sustained 6 months after re-randomization in both ACM-to-CCHT and ACM-to-CC groups. Lesser HbA1c improvements observed in DiaTel CC participants were sustained in both CC-to-CC and CC-to-UC groups. No benefit was apparent for continued transmission of glucose data among DiaTel ACM participants or continued monthly telephone calls among DiaTel CC participants 6 months after re-randomization. CONCLUSION: Significant improvements in HbA1c achieved using home telemonitoring and active medication management for 6 months were sustained 6 months later with interventions of decreased intensity in VA Health System-qualified veterans. CLINICAL TRIAL REG. NO: NCT00245882, http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.

This paper reports the results of a user study designed to evaluate text entry methods for mobile phones used in Korea. At present the keypad layout for Korean mobile phones has not been standardized and different manufacturers produce phones with different layouts. Included in the evaluation are three of the dominant text entry methods: Chon-ji-in, EZ-Hangul, and SKY. The metrics used in the analysis are key strokes per character, words per minute, and total error rate. The results suggest that SKY offers a good balance between speed, effort, and accuracy. The paper also introduces a phrase set that has high correlation with the Korean language and could be used in other experiments on Korean text entry methods.

In many applications, it is important to understand the individual values of, and relationships between, multiple related scalar variables defined across a common domain. Several approaches have been proposed for representing data in these situations. In this paper we focus on strategies for the visualization of multivariate data that rely on color mixing. In particular, through a series of controlled observer experiments, we seek to establish a fundamental understanding of the information-carrying capacities of two alternative methods for encoding multivariate information using color: color blending and color weaving. We begin with a baseline experiment in which we assess participants' abilities to accurately read numerical data encoded in six different basic color scales defined in the L*a*b* color space. We then assess participants' abilities to read combinations of 2, 3, 4 and 6 different data values represented in a common region of the domain, encoded using either color blending or color weaving. In color blending a single mixed color is formed via linear combination of the individual values in L*a*b* space, and in color weaving the original individual colors are displayed side-by-side in a high frequency texture that fills the region. A third experiment was conducted to clarify some of the trends regarding the color contrast and its effect on the magnitude of the error that was observed in the second experiment. The results indicate that when the component colors are represented side-by-side in a high frequency texture, most participants' abilities to infer the values of individual components are significantly improved, relative to when the colors are blended. Participants' performance was significantly better with color weaving particularly when more than 2 colors were used, and even when the individual colors subtended only 3 minutes of visual angle in the texture. However, the information-carrying capacity of the color weaving approach has its limits. We found that participants' abilities to accurately interpret each of the individual components in a high frequency color texture typically falls off as the number of components increases from 4 to 6. We found no significant advantages, in either color blending or color weaving, to using color scales based on component hues thatare more widely separated in the L*a*b* color space. Furthermore, we found some indications that extra difficulties may arise when opponent hues are employed.

In this paper, we describe the results of two comprehensive controlled observer experiments intended to yield insight into the following question: If we could design the ideal texture pattern to apply to an arbitrary smoothly curving surface in order to enable its 3D shape to be most accurately and effectively perceived, what would the characteristics of that texture pattern be? We begin by reviewing the results of our initial study in this series, which were presented at the 2003 IEEE Symposium on Information Visualization, and offer an expanded analysis of those findings. We continue by presenting the results of a follow-on study in which we sought to more specifically investigate the separate and combined influences on shape perception of particular texture components, with the goal of obtaining a clearer view of their potential information carrying capacities. In each study, we investigated the observers' ability to identify the intrinsic shape category of a surface patch (elliptical, hyperbolic, cylindrical, or flat) and its extrinsic surface orientation (convex, concave, both, or neither). In our first study, we compared performance under eight different texture type conditions, plus two projection conditions (perspective or orthographic) and two viewing conditions (head-on or oblique). In this study, we found that: 1) Shape perception was better facilitated, in general, by the bidirectional "principal direction grid" pattern than by any of the seven other patterns tested; 2) shape type classification accuracy remained high under the orthographic projection condition for some texture types when the viewpoint was oblique; 3) perspective projection was required for accurate surface orientation classification; and 4) shape classification accuracy was higher when the surface patches were oriented at a (generic) oblique angle to the line of sight than when they were oriented (in a nongeneric pose) to face the viewpoint straight on. In our second study, we compared performance under eight new texture type conditions, redesigned to facilitate gathering insight into the cumulative effects of specific individual directional components in a wider variety of multidirectional texture patterns. In this follow-on study, we found that shape classification accuracy was equivalently good under a variety of test patterns that included components following either the first or first and second principal directions, in addition to other directions, suggesting that a principal direction grid texture is not the only possible "best option" for enhancing shape representation.