Towards Enhancing Low Vision Usability of Data Charts on Smartphones.

The importance of data charts is self-evident, given their ability to express complex data in a simple format that facilitates quick and easy comparisons, analysis, and consumption. However, the inherent visual nature of the charts creates barriers for people with visual impairments to reap the associated benefts to the same extent as their sighted peers. While extant research has predominantly focused on understanding and addressing these barriers for blind screen reader users, the needs of low-vision screen magnifer users have been largely overlooked. In an interview study, almost all low-vision participants stated that it was challenging to interact with data charts on small screen devices such as smartphones and tablets, even though they could technically "see" the chart content. They ascribed these challenges mainly to the magnifcation-induced loss of visual context that connected data points with each other and also with chart annotations, e.g., axis values. In this paper, we present a method that addresses this problem by automatically transforming charts that are typically non-interactive images into personalizable interactive charts which allow selective viewing of desired data points and preserve visual context as much as possible under screen enlargement. We evaluated our method in a usability study with 26 low-vision participants, who all performed a set of representative chart-related tasks under different study conditions. In the study, we observed that our method signifcantly improved the usability of charts over both the status quo screen magnifer and a state-of-the-art space compaction-based solution.

Towards Enhancing Blind Users' Interaction Experience with Online Videos via Motion Gestures.

Blind users interact with smartphone applications using a screen reader, an assistive technology that enables them to navigate and listen to application content using touch gestures. Since blind users rely on screen reader audio, interacting with online videos can be challenging due to the screen reader audio interfering with the video sounds. Existing solutions to address this interference problem are predominantly designed for desktop scenarios, where special keyboard or mouse actions are supported to facilitate 'silent' and direct access to various video controls such as play, pause, and progress bar. As these solutions are not transferable to smartphones, suitable alternatives are desired. In this regard, we explore the potential of motion gestures in smartphones as an effective and convenient method for blind screen reader users to interact with online videos. Specifically, we designed and developed YouTilt, an Android application that enables screen reader users to exploit an assortment of motion gestures to access and manipulate various video controls. We then conducted a user study with 10 blind participants to investigate whether blind users can leverage YouTilt to properly execute motion gestures for video-interaction tasks while simultaneously listening to video sounds. Analysis of the study data showed a significant improvement in usability by as much as 43.3% (avg.) with YouTilt compared to that with default screen reader, and overall a positive attitude and acceptance towards motion gesture-based video interaction.

Bringing Things Closer: Enhancing Low-Vision Interaction Experience with Office Productivity Applications.

Many people with low vision rely on screen-magnifier assistive technology to interact with productivity applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation software. Despite the importance of these applications, little is known about their usability with respect to low-vision screen-magnifier users. To fill this knowledge gap, we conducted a usability study with 10 low-vision participants having different eye conditions. In this study, we observed that most usability issues were predominantly due to high spatial separation between main edit area and command ribbons on the screen, as well as the wide span grid-layout of command ribbons; these two GUI aspects did not gel with the screen-magnifier interface due to lack of instantaneous WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) feedback after applying commands, given that the participants could only view a portion of the screen at any time. Informed by the study findings, we developed MagPro, an augmentation to productivity applications, which significantly improves usability by not only bringing application commands as close as possible to the user's current viewport focus, but also enabling easy and straightforward exploration of these commands using simple mouse actions. A user study with nine participants revealed that MagPro significantly reduced the time and workload to do routine command-access tasks, compared to using the state-of-the-art screen magnifier.

Rotate-and-Press: A Non-visual Alternative to Point-and-Click?

Most computer applications manifest visually rich and dense graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that are primarily tailored for an easy-and-efficient sighted interaction using a combination of two default input modalities, namely the keyboard and the mouse/touchpad. However, blind screen-reader users predominantly rely only on keyboard, and therefore struggle to interact with these applications, since it is both arduous and tedious to perform the visual 'point-and-click' tasks such as accessing the various application commands/features using just keyboard shortcuts supported by screen readers. In this paper, we investigate the suitability of a 'rotate-and-press' input modality as an effective non-visual substitute for the visual mouse to easily interact with computer applications, with specific focus on word processing applications serving as the representative case study. In this regard, we designed and developed bTunes, an add-on for Microsoft Word that customizes an off-the-shelf Dial input device such that it serves as a surrogate mouse for blind screen-reader users to quickly access various application commands and features using a set of simple rotate and press gestures supported by the Dial. Therefore, with bTunes, blind users too can now enjoy the benefits of two input modalities, as their sighted counterparts. A user study with 15 blind participants revealed that bTunes significantly reduced both the time and number of user actions for doing representative tasks in a word processing application, by as much as 65.1% and 36.09% respectively. The participants also stated that they did not face any issues switching between keyboard and Dial, and furthermore gave a high usability rating (84.66 avg. SUS score) for bTunes.

iTOC: Enabling Efficient Non-Visual Interaction with Long Web Documents.

Interacting with long web documents such as wiktionaries, manuals, tutorials, blogs, novels, etc., is easy for sighted users, as they can leverage convenient pointing devices such as a mouse/touchpad to quickly access the desired content either via scrolling with visual scanning or clicking hyperlinks in the available Table of Contents (TOC). Blind users on the other hand are unable to use these pointing devices, and therefore can only rely on keyboard-based screen reader assistive technology that lets them serially navigate and listen to the page content using keyboard shortcuts. As a consequence, interacting with long web documents with just screen readers, is often an arduous and tedious experience for the blind users. To bridge the usability divide between how sighted and blind users interact with web documents, in this paper, we present iTOC, a browser extension that automatically identifies and extracts TOC hyperlinks from the web documents, and then facilitates on-demand instant screen-reader access to the TOC from anywhere in the website. This way, blind users need not manually search for the desired content by moving the screen-reader focus sequentially all over the webpage; instead they can simply access the TOC from anywhere using iTOC, and then select the desired hyperlink which will automatically move the focus to the corresponding content in the document. A user study with 15 blind participants showed that with iTOC, both the access time and user effort (number of user input actions) were significantly lowered by as much as 42.73% and 57.9%, respectively, compared to that with another state-of-the-art solution for improving web usability.

TableView: Enabling Eficient Access to Web Data Records for Screen-Magnifier Users.

People with visual impairments typically rely on screen-magnifier assistive technology to interact with webpages. As screen-magnifier users can only view a portion of the webpage content in an enlarged form at any given time, they have to endure an inconvenient and arduous process of repeatedly moving the magnifier focus back-and-forth over different portions of the webpage in order to make comparisons between data records, e.g., comparing the available fights in a travel website based on their prices, durations, etc. To address this issue, we designed and developed TableView, a browser extension that leverages a state-of-the art information extraction method to automatically identify and extract data records and their attributes in a webpage, and subsequently presents them to a user in a compactly arranged tabular format that needs significantly less screen space compared to that currently occupied by these items in the page. This way, TableView is able to pack more items within the magnifier focus, thereby reducing the overall content area for panning, and hence making it easy for screen-magnifier users to compare different items before making their selections. A user study with 16 low vision participants showed that with TableView, the time spent on panning the data records in webpages was significantly reduced by 72.9% (avg.) compared to that with just a screen magnifier, and 66.5% compared to that with a screen magnifier using a space compaction method.

Repurposing Visual Input Modalities for Blind Users: A Case Study of Word Processors.

Visual 'point-and-click' interaction artifacts such as mouse and touchpad are tangible input modalities, which are essential for sighted users to conveniently interact with computer applications. In contrast, blind users are unable to leverage these visual input modalities and are thus limited while interacting with computers using a sequentially narrating screen-reader assistive technology that is coupled to keyboards. As a consequence, blind users generally require significantly more time and effort to do even simple application tasks (e.g., applying a style to text in a word processor) using only keyboard, compared to their sighted peers who can effortlessly accomplish the same tasks using a point-and-click mouse. This paper explores the idea of repurposing visual input modalities for non-visual interaction so that blind users too can draw the benefits of simple and efficient access from these modalities. Specifically, with word processing applications as the representative case study, we designed and developed NVMouse as a concrete manifestation of this repurposing idea, in which the spatially distributed word-processor controls are mapped to a virtual hierarchical 'Feature Menu' that is easily traversable non-visually using simple scroll and click input actions. Furthermore, NVMouse enhances the efficiency of accessing frequently-used application commands by leveraging a data-driven prediction model that can determine what commands the user will most likely access next, given the current 'local' screen-reader context in the document. A user study with 14 blind participants comparing keyboard-based screen readers with NVMouse, showed that the latter significantly reduced both the task-completion times and user effort (i.e., number of user actions) for different word-processing activities.

Screen Magnification for Office Applications.

People with low vision use screen magnifiers to interact with computers. They usually need to zoom and pan with the screen magnifier using predefined keyboard and mouse actions. When using office productivity applications (e.g., word processors and spreadsheet applications), the spatially distributed arrangement of UI elements makes interaction a challenging proposition for low vision users, as they can only view a fragment of the screen at any moment. They expend significant chunks of time panning back-and-forth between application ribbons containing various commands (e.g., formatting, design, review, references, etc.) and the main edit area containing user content. In this demo, we will demonstrate MagPro, an interface augmentation to office productivity tools, that not only reduces the interaction effort of low-vision screen-magnifier users by bringing the application commands as close as possible to the users' current focus in the edit area, but also lets them easily explore these commands using simple mouse actions. Moreover, MagPro automatically synchronizes the magnifier viewport with the keyboard cursor, so that users can always see what they are typing, without having to manually adjust the magnifier focus every time the keyboard cursor goes of screen during text entry.

Expression of RNA-binding Motif Protein 3 (RBM3) and Cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRP) Is Associated with Improved Clinical Outcome in Patients with Colon Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown a potential role of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) in a variety of biological pathways, including cancer progression, whilst their expression in various tumor types may be associated with patient prognosis. However, the role of the RBP family members has not been explored in colon cancer and their possible use as prognostic biomarkers is largely unknown. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To determine the prognostic role of three RBP genes: insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 2 (IGFBP2), RNA-binding motif protein 3 (RBM3), and cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRP) in colon cancer. RESULTS: We examined the RNA expression of IGFBP2, RBM3, and CIRP in 94 human colon cancer samples along with matched normal tissue samples from each patient using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). No significant associations were observed between RNA expression of RBPs and the studied clinical features. The estimated 5-year disease-free survival rate was significantly better for patients with higher expression of RBM3 and CIRP, while patient survival was not significantly correlated to IGFBP2 expression. CONCLUSION: RBM3 and CIRP may be useful prognostic biomarkers of colon cancer.

Cold-inducible RNA-binding protein promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition by activating ERK and p38 pathways.

Transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1), a potent inducer of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), upregulates the cold-inducible RNA-binding protein (CIRP). The link between CIRP and EMT, however, remains unknown. To determine the role of CIRP in EMT, we performed CIRP knockdown and overexpression experiments in in vitro TGF-ß1-induced EMT models. We found that CIRP overexpression promoted the downregulation of epithelial markers and the upregulation of mesenchymal markers after TGF-ß1 treatment for EMT induction. It also promoted cell migration and invasion, key features of EMT. In contrast, CIRP knockdown inhibited the downregulation of epithelial markers and the upregulation of mesenchymal markers after TGF-ß1 treatment for EMT induction. In addition, it also inhibited cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the RNA-recognition motif in CIRP is essential for the role of CIRP in EMT. At the downstream level, CIRP knockdown downregulated Snail, key transcriptional regulator of EMT, while CIRP overexpression upregulated it. We found out that the link between CIRP and Snail is mediated by ERK and p38 pathways. EMT is a critical component of carcinoma metastasis and invasion. As demonstrated in this study, the biological role of CIRP in EMT may explain why CIRP overexpression has been associated with a bad prognosis in cancer patients.

Cold-inducible RNA-binding protein, CIRP, inhibits DNA damage-induced apoptosis by regulating p53.

CIRP has been implicated in apoptosis, yet its mechanism of action remains unknown. To determine the role of CIRP in DNA damage-induced apoptosis, we performed CIRP overexpression and knockdown experiments to investigate the effects of CIRP on key molecules in apoptosis pathway. Etoposide treatment was used to induce DNA damage-induced apoptosis. We found that CIRP knockdown increased p53 level, which in turn up-regulated pro-apoptotic genes and down-regulated anti-apoptotic genes. In contrast, CIRP overexpression decreased p53 level, which in turn down-regulated pro-apoptotic genes and up-regulated anti-apoptotic genes. The change in the expression levels of pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic genes shifts the balance between life and death of cells. CIRP expression is upregulated by chronic inflammation, and this phenomenon provides an interesting interventional opportunity in cancers arising from chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation up-regulates CIRP, which in turn inhibit apoptosis. Therefore, inhibiting the function of up-regulated CIRP may have a therapeutic value in cancer.

Efficacy of computer-assisted, 3D motion-capture toothbrushing instruction.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of computer-assisted TBI using a smart toothbrush (ST) and smart mirror (SM) in plaque control to that of conventional TBI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated the plaque removal efficacy of a ST comprising a computer-assisted, wirelessly linked, three-dimensional (3D) motion-capture, data-logging, and SM system in TBI. We also evaluated the efficacy of TBI with a ST and SM system by analyzing the reductions of the modified Quigley-Hein plaque index in 60 volunteers. These volunteers were separated randomly into two groups: conventional TBI (control group) and computer-assisted TBI (experimental group). The changes in the plaque indexes were recorded immediately, 1 week, 1 month, and 10 months after TBI. RESULTS: The patterns of decreases in the modified Quigley-Hein plaque indexes were similar in the two groups. Reductions of the plaque indexes of both groups in each time period were observed (P < 0.0001), and the effects of TBI did not differ between the two groups (P = 0.3803). All volunteers were sufficiently motivated in using this new system. CONCLUSION: The reported new, computer-assisted TBI system might be an alternative option in controlling dental plaque and maintaining oral hygiene. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Individuals can be motivated by the new system; meanwhile, comparable effects of controlling dental plaque can be achieved.

Alpha-fetoprotein, identified as a novel marker for the antioxidant effect of placental extract, exhibits synergistic antioxidant activity in the presence of estradiol.

Placenta, as a reservoir of nutrients, has been widely used in medical and cosmetic materials. Here, we focused on the antioxidant properties of placental extract and attempted to isolate and identify the main antioxidant factors. Porcine placental extracts were prepared through homogenization or acid hydrolysis, and their antioxidant activity was investigated in the human keratinocyte HaCaT cell line. Treatment with homogenized placental extract (H-PE) increased the cell viability of H2O2-treated HaCaT cells more than two-fold. H-PE treatment suppressed H2O2-induced apoptotic and necrotic cell death and decreased intracellular ROS levels in H2O2-treated HaCaT cells. The antioxidant factors in H-PE were found to be thermo-unstable and were thus expected to include proteins. The candidate antioxidant proteins were fractionated with cation-exchange, anion-exchange, and size-exclusion chromatography, and the antioxidant properties of the chromatographic fractions were investigated. We obtained specific antioxidant fractions that suppressed ROS generation and ROS-induced DNA strand breaks. From silver staining and MALDI-TOF analyses, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) precursor was identified as a main marker for the antioxidant effect of H-PE. Purified AFP or ectopically expressed AFP exhibited synergistic antioxidant activity in the presence of estradiol. Taken together, our data suggest that AFP, a serum glycoprotein produced at high levels during fetal development, is a novel marker protein for the antioxidant effect of the placenta that exhibits synergistic antioxidant activity in the presence of estradiol.

Reversal of 2-Cys peroxiredoxin oligomerization by sulfiredoxin.

Hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) regulates the structure and function of 2-Cys peroxiredoxins (Prxs). Upon oxidation by excess H(2)O(2), Prxs become overoxidized to a sulfinic acid of its peroxidatic cysteine residue, resulting in a structural change from a small oligomer with peroxidase function to a large oligomer with chaperone function. Then, sulfiredoxin (Srx) reduces the overoxidized Prxs by an ATP-dependent mechanism. Although Srx is known to repair the overoxidized forms of Prx, the role of Srx in the reversal of Prx oligomerization remains to be elucidated. Here we investigated whether Srx1 directly facilitates the dissociation of yeast Prx1 (YPrx1) from a high-molecular-weight (HMW) complex to a low-molecular-weight (LMW) complex in vitro. Srx1 reactivates the YPrx1 peroxidase activity that is inactivated by H(2)O(2), whereas it decreases the chaperone activity enhanced by H(2)O(2). We show that Srx1 dissociates the H(2)O(2)-induced HMW YPrx1 complex, and that the Srx1 Cys84 residue is critical for its dissociation. In contrast to wild-type Srx1, an inactive Srx1 mutant (Srx1-C84S) did not induce the reactivation of inactivated YPrx1 or dissociation of the HMW YPrx1 complex. We revealed that Srx1 interacts directly with YPrx1 in yeast cells using bimolecular fluorescence complementation. Taken together, these findings suggest that Srx1 regulates YPrx1 function and structure in yeast cells through a direct interaction.

RNA-binding properties and RNA chaperone activity of human peroxiredoxin 1.

Human peroxiredoxin 1 (hPrx1), a member of the peroxiredoxin family, detoxifies peroxide substrates and has been implicated in numerous biological processes, including cell growth, proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and redox signaling. To date, Prx1 has not been implicated in RNA metabolism. Here, we investigated the ability of hPrx1 to bind RNA and act as an RNA chaperone. In vitro, hPrx1 bound to RNA and DNA, and unwound nucleic acid duplexes. hPrx1 also acted as a transcription anti-terminator in an assay using an Escherichia coli strain containing a stem-loop structure upstream of the chloramphenicol resistance gene. The overall cellular level of hPrx1 expression was not increased at low temperatures, but the nuclear level of hPrx1 was increased. In addition, hPrx1 overexpression enhanced the survival of cells exposed to cold stress, whereas hPrx1 knockdown significantly reduced cell survival under the same conditions. These findings suggest that hPrx1 may perform biological functions as a RNA-binding protein, which are distinctive from known functions of hPrx1 as a reactive oxygen species scavenger.

Optimal protocol for teleconsultation with a cellular phone for dentoalveolar trauma: an in-vitro study.

PURPOSE: Dental trauma is frequently unpredictable. The initial assessment and urgent treatment are essential for dentists to save the patient's teeth. Mobile-phone-assisted teleconsultation and telediagnosis for dental trauma could be an aid when a dentist is not available. In the present in-vitro study, we evaluated the success rate and time to transfer images under various conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the image quality of cameras built into mobile phones based on their resolution, autofocus, white-balance, and anti-movement functions. RESULTS: The image quality of most built-in cameras was acceptable to perform the initial assessment, with the autofocus function being essential to obtain high-quality images. The transmission failure rate increased markedly when the image size exceeded 500 κB and the additional text messaging did not improve the success rate or the transmission time. CONCLUSION: Our optimal protocol could be useful for emergency programs running on the mobile phones.

Human peroxiredoxin 1 modulates TGF-ß1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition through its peroxidase activity.

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is induced by transforming growth factor-ß1 (TGF-ß1), is an important event that allows cancer cells to obtain invasive and metastatic characteristics. Although human peroxiredoxin 1 (hPrx1) has been implicated in tumor progression (e.g., invasion and metastasis), little is known about the role of hPrx1 in the EMT process during tumorigenesis. Here, we investigated the regulatory effect of hPrx1 during TGF-ß1-induced EMT in A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells. We observed that high hPrx1 levels downregulated E-cadherin expression, and low hPrx1 levels upregulated E-cadherin expression, suggesting that the hPrx1 level may be correlated with EMT. Knockdown of hPrx1 significantly inhibited TGF-ß1-induced EMT and cell migration, whereas hPrx1 overexpression enhanced TGF-ß1-induced EMT and cell migration. In contrast to wild-type hPrx1, a peroxidase-inactive hPrx1 mutant (hPrx1-C51S) resulted in markedly increased E-cadherin expression. Moreover, hPrx1 regulated the expression of two E-cadherin transcriptional repressors, Snail and Slug. These findings provide new insight into the role of hPrx1 in regulating TGF-ß1-induced EMT.