A Wearable Haptic Device for the Hand With Interchangeable End-Effectors.

This article presents a 4-degrees-of-freedom (4-DoF) hand wearable haptic device for Virtual Reality (VR). It is designed to support different end-effectors, that can be easily exchanged so as to provide a wide range of haptic sensations. The device is composed of a static upper body, secured to the back of the hand, and the (changeable) end-effector, placed in contact with the palm.

Deconstructing Haptic Feedback Information in Robot-Assisted Needle Insertion in Soft Tissues.

This paper evaluates the role and effectiveness of different types of haptic feedback in presenting relevant feedback information during needle insertion in soft tissues through a remotely operated robot. We carried out three experiments with human subjects to analyze the effect of grounded kinesthetic feedback, cutaneous vibrotactile feedback, and cutaneous pressure feedback for rendering the elastic and the viscous force components of a simplified needle-tissue interaction model in a simulated environment. Results showed that providing the two pieces of feedback information through different channels, i.

On the Triggering Mechanisms of Upward Lightning.

Upward lightning studies took place in Rapid City, South Dakota, USA and S. Paulo, Brazil during the summer thunderstorm seasons from 2011 to 2016. One of the main objectives of these campaigns was to evaluate and characterize the triggering of upward positive leaders from tall objects due to preceding nearby flash activity.

B chromosome polymorphism in the fish, Astyanax scabripinnis.

Four populations of Astyanax scabripinnis (Pisces, Characidae) were analyzed for B chromosome features. This species contains a metacentric macrochromosome (BM), similar in size to the first chromosome of the karyotype, besides two variant forms, a large submetacentric (BSM) and a small metacentric (Bm), both showing a reduced frequency. These variant forms were observed only in the populations from the Campos do Jordão region (São Paulo State, Brazil), although not present in all the populations sampled.