The IT potential of haptics: Touch access for people with disabilities

In his licentiate thesis, Calle Sjöström sums up his own and Certec's experience from almost five years' work on haptic interfaces for people with disabilities. The haptic technology tested have great potential for future development, but need refinemen

A systematic review and mixed treatment comparison of pharmacological interventions for the treatment of obesity

addresses: Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK. [email protected]: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; ReviewThis is the peer reviewed version of the article which has been published in final form at 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2011.00981.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.The study aims to compare anti-obesity interventions in a single evidence synthesis framework. Electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials of orlistat, rimonabant or sibutramine reporting weight or body mass index (BMI) change from baseline at 3, 6 or 12 months. A mixed treatment comparison was used to combine direct and indirect trial evidence. Ninety-four studies involving 24,808 individuals were included; 83 trials included data on weight change and 41 on BMI change. All results are in comparison with placebo. The active drugs were all effective at reducing weight and BMI. At 3 months, orlistat reduced weight by -2.65 kg (95% credibility interval -4.00 kg, -1.31 kg). For sibutramine, 15 mg gave a greater reduction than 10 mg at 12 months, -6.35 kg versus -5.42 kg, respectively. Rimonabant reduced weight by -11.23 kg at 3 months and -4.55 kg at 12 months. Lifestyle advice alone also reduced weight at 6 and 12 months, but was less effective than the pharmacological interventions. In conclusion, modest weight reductions were seen for all pharmacological interventions. Those interventions which have now been withdrawn from use (sibutramine and rimonabant) seem to be the most effective, implying that there may be a place in clinical practice for similar drugs if side effects could be avoided

Pre-treatment and extraction techniques for recovery of added value compounds from wastes throughout the agri-food chain

The enormous quantity of food wastes discarded annually force to look for alternatives for this interesting feedstock. Thus, food bio-waste valorisation is one of the imperatives of the nowadays society. This review is the most comprehensive overview of currently existing technologies and processes in this field. It tackles classical and innovative physical, physico-chemical and chemical methods of food waste pre-treatment and extraction for recovery of added value compounds and detection by modern technologies and are an outcome of the COST Action EUBIS, TD1203 Food Waste Valorisation for Sustainable Chemicals, Materials and Fuels

The Phantasticon: The PHANToM for blind people

This paper deals with CERTECs work to use haptics to provide a new way of using computers for visually impaired people and people with physical disabilities. We have chosen to call the concept The Phantasticon. CERTEC has developed a set of program

The IT-Potential Of Haptics - Touch access for people with disabilities

Today, computers are important tools for blind people, but they are mostly used as text machines. The wide adoption of the Internet as an information channel has led to a minor revolution for people with visual disabilities by giving them access to information that was previously inaccessible. Graphical interfaces like Windows have made computers more accessible and easier to use for the majority of people. Unfortunately, the graphical interface is an obstacle rather than an improvement for people with visual disabilities. Certec has been working on touch interfaces -- haptic interfaces -- since 1995, exploring the possibilities they can offer people with different kinds of disabilities. With a haptic computer interface, a blind person can play haptic computer games, learn mathematics by tracing touchable mathematical curves, and gain better access to graphical user interfaces like Windows. This thesis attempts to condense experience and ideas that have resulted from our work, which began with the PHANToM (from SensAble Technologies Inc.) and now includes force feedback joysticks, the FEELit mouse (from Immersion Corp.), as well as other haptic devices. The differences between the 3D-haptics provided by the PHANToM and the 2D-haptics provided by the FEELit mouse are analyzed. It is established that our early work on the PHANToM generated useful fundamental knowledge and a "head start in our thinking" which were of great use when we had the opportunity to try the FEELit mouse. Three concept studies in the area of haptic Windows access are presented: . FEELit Desktop from Immersion combined with synthetic speech and Braille for general Windows access . Radial haptic menus to maximize the use of a small haptic devices . A set of virtual haptic tools to be used as aids f..