bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Patient journey in erosive oesophagitis: real-world perspectives from US physicians and patients
Authors: Vaezi Michael F , Brunton Stephen , Mark Fendrick A , Howden Colin W , Atkinson Christian , Pelletier Corey , Jacob Rinu , Spechler Stuart J
Published: July 2022

Objective

Management of erosive oesophagitis (EE) remains suboptimal, with many patients experiencing incomplete healing, ongoing symptoms, and relapse despite proton pump inhibitor (PPI) treatment. The Study of Acid-Related Disorders investigated patient burden of individuals with EE in a real-world setting.

Design

US gastroenterologists (GIs) or family physicians (FPs)/general practitioners (GPs) treating patients with EE completed a physician survey and enrolled up to four patients with EE for a patient survey, with prespecified data extracted from medical records.

Results

102 GIs and 149 FPs/GPs completed the survey; data were available for 73 patients (mean age at diagnosis, 45.4 years). Omeprazole was healthcare professional (HCP)-preferred first-line treatment (60.8% GIs; 56.4% FPs/GPs), and pantoprazole preferred second line (29.4% and 32.9%, respectively). Price and insurance coverage (both 55.5% HCPs) and familiarity (47.9%) key drivers for omeprazole; insurance coverage (52.0%), price (50.0%), familiarity (48.0%), initial symptom relief (46.0%), and safety (44.0%) key drivers for pantoprazole. Only 49.3% patients took medication as instructed all the time; 56.8% independently increased medication frequency some of the time. Despite treatment, 57.5% patients experienced heartburn and 30.1% regurgitation; heartburn was the most bothersome symptom. 58.9% patients believed that their symptoms could be better controlled; only 28.3% HCPs were very satisfied with current treatment options. 83.6% patients wanted long-lasting treatment options. Fast symptom relief for patients was a top priority for 66.1% HCPs, while 56.6% would welcome alternatives to PPIs.

Conclusion

This real-world multicentre study highlights the need for new, rapidly acting treatments in EE that reduce symptom burden, offer durable healing and provide symptom control.
Between paternalism and illegality: a longitudinal analysis of the role and condition of manual scavengers in India
Authors: Saldanha Sakshi , Kirchhelle Claas , Webster Emily , Vanderslott Samantha , Vaz Manjulika
Published: July 2022

Manual scavengers, or ‘Safai Karamcharis’, as they are known in India, are sanitation workers who manually clean human waste for a living and face considerable occupational health risks. They are subject to deep-seated, caste-based stigma associated with their perceived ‘caste impurity’ and lack of cleanliness, which result both in consistently dangerous substandard working conditions and lack of social mobility, with women facing greater hardships. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated their plight. Despite the considerable efforts of social advocates, organised movements and government institutions, reforms and criminalisation have produced mixed results and campaigners remain divided on whether banning manual scavenging is an effective solution. This article reviews the history of attempts to address scavenging in India. Starting in the colonial period and ending with the current government’s Swachh Bharat Mission, it highlights how attempts to deal with scavenging via quick-fix solutions like legal bans criminalising their employment, infrastructure upgrades or paternalistic interventions have either failed to resolve issues or exacerbated scavengers’ situation by pushing long-standing problems out of view. It argues that meaningful progress depends on abandoning top-down modes of decision-making, addressing the underlying sociocultural and infrastructural factors that perpetuate the ill health and social conditions of manual scavengers, collecting data on the true extent of scavenging, and investing in and providing political agency to communities themselves.
Impact of hospital readiness on patient safety incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia: health worker perceptions
Authors: Dhamanti Inge , Indriani Diah , Miftahussurur Muhammad , Kurniawati Eva , Engineer Cyrus Y
Published: July 2022

Objectives

This study examined the impact of hospital readiness on patient safety from the healthcare workers’ perspective.

Design

The study employed a mixed-methods explanatory sequential design, with the quantitative phase taking precedence. We conducted an online survey of 235 healthcare workers at COVID-19 referral hospitals, followed by an interview with 11 participants from various hospital types.

Setting

COVID-19 referral hospitals in Indonesia.

Participants

Health workers working at COVID-19 referral hospitals.

Measures

Hospital ownership; hospital accreditation status; hospital readiness including incident management system, surge capacity, infection control and prevention, and human resource management; patient safety incident.

Results

According to the survey, 66.4% of the participants worked at a hospital owned by the provincial or district government, and 69.4% worked at a hospital which had received an excellent status accreditation. More than 80% of the hospitals scored well in the categories of the incident management system (86%), surge capacity (80.9%), infection control and prevention (97.9%), and human resource management (84.7%). However, only 50.6% of the hospitals scored well in managing patient safety incidents. Hospital ownership, accreditation status and hospital readiness all have an impact on patient safety incidents, which were reported in all types of hospitals by both studies.

Conclusions

This study provides significant results for Indonesia in terms of hospital preparedness and patient safety for the COVID-19 pandemic. The accreditation and ownership status of the hospital have aided hospital readiness. Despite the fact that no hospital in the world was prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital readiness has improved a year later; however, patient safety has not improved. Patient safety incidents occurred regardless of hospital status, with the most common occurrence being delayed treatment. Administrative errors were also recorded in COVID-19 field hospitals that were not accredited. Future research should focus on improving pandemic care quality and implementing initiatives that are applicable to all types of hospitals.
Future of mental health in the metaverse
Authors: Usmani Sadia Suhail , Sharath Medha , Mehendale Meghana
Published: July 2022

The metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were some of the hottest tech terms in 2021, according to a Google Trends search. Our review aims to describe the metaverse and NFTs in the context of their potential application in the treatment of mental health disorders. Advancements in technology have been changing human lives at an ever-increasing pace. Metaverse, also known as the three-dimensional (3D) internet, is the convergence of virtual reality (VR) and physical reality in a digital space. It could potentially change the internet as we know it, with NFTs as the key building blocks in the new expansive virtual ecosystem. This immersive 3D virtual world boasts the features of the real world with the added ability to change the surrounding environment according to individual needs and requirements. VR, augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) have been employed as tools in the treatment of various mental health disorders for the past decade. Studies have reported positive results on their effectiveness in the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders. VR/AR/MR have been hailed as a solution to the acute shortage of mental health professionals and the lack of access to mental healthcare. But, on the flip side, young adults tend to spend a significant amount of time playing 3D immersive games and using social media, which can lead to insecurity, anxiety, depression, and behavioural addiction. Additionally, endless scrolling through social media platforms negatively affects individuals' attention span as well as aggravating the symptoms of adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

We aimed to explore the ramifications of expanding applications of the metaverse on mental health. So far, no other review has explored the future of mental health in the context of the metaverse.
A digital pathway for genetic testing in UK NHS patients with cancer: BRCA-DIRECT randomised study internal pilot
Authors: Torr Bethany , Jones Christopher , Choi Subin , Allen Sophie , Kavanaugh Grace , Hamill Monica , Garrett Alice , MacMahon Suzanne , Loong Lucy , Reay Alistair , Yuan Lina , Valganon Petrizan Mikel , Monson Kathryn , Perry Nicky , Fallowfield Lesley , Jenkins Valerie , Gold Rochelle , Taylor Amy , Gabe Rhian , Wiggins Jennifer , Lucassen Anneke , Manchanda Ranjit , Gandhi Ashu , George Angela , Hubank Michael , Kemp Zoe , Evans D Gareth , Bremner Stephen , Turnbull Clare
Published: July 2022

Background

Germline genetic testing affords multiple opportunities for women with breast cancer, however, current UK NHS models for delivery of germline genetic testing are clinician-intensive and only a minority of breast cancer cases access testing.

Methods

We designed a rapid, digital pathway, supported by a genetics specialist hotline, for delivery of germline testing ofBRCA1/BRCA2/PALB2(BRCA-testing), integrated into routine UK NHS breast cancer care. We piloted the pathway, as part of the larger BRCA-DIRECT study, in 130 unselected patients with breast cancer and gathered preliminary data from a randomised comparison of delivery of pretest information digitally (fully digital pathway) or via telephone consultation with a genetics professional (partially digital pathway).

Results

Uptake of genetic testing was 98.4%, with good satisfaction reported for both the fully and partially digital pathways. Similar outcomes were observed in both arms regarding patient knowledge score and anxiety, with <5% of patients contacting the genetics specialist hotline. All progression criteria established for continuation of the study were met.

Conclusion

Pilot data indicate preliminary demonstration of feasibility and acceptability of a fully digital pathway for BRCA-testing and support proceeding to a full powered study for evaluation of non-inferiority of the fully digital pathway, detailed quantitative assessment of outcomes and operational economic analyses.

Trial registration number

ISRCTN87845055.
Use of a head-mounted patient display in a task driven anaesthesia simulator: a randomised trial
Authors: Cole Jacob Henry , Hughey S
Published: July 2022

Introduction

Head-mounted displays (HMDs) are becoming increasingly investigated in the realm of healthcare. These devices are worn on the user’s head and display information directly to the eye. This allows for near-constant delivery of information, regardless of user position. Increasing advances in technology have allowed for miniaturisation, increasing sophistication, wireless capability and prolonged battery life, all of which allow for more opportunities for these devices to be used in a clinical setting.

Methods

A prospective, randomised, controlled, parallel-group study was conducted. Subjects were randomised to either an HMD group or a non-HMD group. All subjects then underwent a standardised intraoperative care simulation experience consisting of multiple procedures that required completion within a set time limit. During this period, subjects concurrently monitored the physiological state of a simulated patient. Multiple standardised physiological derangements were displayed to the subjects via either the worn HMD or standard monitors. The primary outcome was the time to recognition of these physiological derangements.

Results

A total of 39 anaesthesia providers were enrolled in this study. There was a significant decrease in the total time it took them to recognise the simulated physiological derangements in the HMD group (difference of 38.2% (95% CI 20.3% to 56.1%); p=0.011) No significant differences in the time that it took to perform the required simulated procedures were observed. Significantly fewer physiological derangements were overlooked by the HMD group than the control group overall (relative risk reduction 0.78 (95% CI 0.31 to 0.94); p=0.003).

Conclusions

Recent advances in HMD technology may be able to produce a functional adjunctive monitoring device that improves the speed with which anaesthesia providers respond to intraoperative events. This benefit comes without increasing distraction from the task. Further studies in true operative environments are needed to validate this technology.
Return to flying duties of German military pilots after recovery from COVID-19
Authors: Adam Tim , Sammito S , Nicol E , Guettler N J
Published: July 2022

Background

Pilots are working in a unique and exacting environment with hypobaric hypoxia and acceleration forces. In military flying, missions are often challenging with possible combat scenarios and in remote areas with impaired infrastructure.

Methods

We analysed all German military pilots and pilot candidates with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, who have all been evaluated prior to their return to flying duties between April 2020 and January 2022 by the German Air Force Centre of Aerospace Medicine. Symptoms, comorbidities, scope of investigations, examination results, vaccination status and aeromedical disposition are described.

Results

90 pilots (82 active pilots and 8 pilot candidates) with a median age of 35 years (IQR 15 years) were included. 78 pilots (87%) reported symptoms, with median duration of 6 days. Symptoms included influenza-like symptoms (70.0%), headache (45.6%), impaired physical fitness (37.8%), anosmia/ageusia (36.7%), fever (27.8%), exertional dyspnoea (8.9%), memory and concentration disorders (4.4%), diarrhoea (3.3%) and dyspnoea at rest (2.2%). Only one pilot (1.1%) was hospitalised, two (2.2%) required outpatient treatment. All pilots were allowed to return to unrestricted flying duties after the assessment, with eight (8.9%) reporting ongoing mild symptoms.

Conclusion

Due to their demanding working environment, pilots, and other high-hazard employees, should undergo medical evaluation prior to return to their duties to exclude ongoing symptoms and the development of post-acute COVID-19 or post-COVID-19 syndrome. The scope of examinations may depend on the severity of the disease, comorbidities, the vaccination status, the predominant SARS-CoV-2 variant and the type of aircraft flown.
Recurrence of axial spondyloarthritis among first-degree relatives in a prospective 35-year-follow-up family study
Authors: van der Linden Sjef M , Khan Muhammad Asim , Li Zhixiu , Baumberger Heinz , Zandwijk Hermine van , Khan Mohammad Kazim , Villiger Peter M , Brown Matthew A
Published: July 2022

Objective

The lifetime recurrence rate (RR) of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) among first-degree relatives (FDR) and the effect of proband’s gender, HLA-B27 and radiographic status is unclear. Our 35-year-follow-up family study has enabled these issues to be addressed.

Methods

In 1985, 363 ankylosing spondylitis (AS) probands (members of the Swiss AS Patient Society) and 806 FDR recruited into the study, completed questionnaires regarding axSpA manifestations, underwent a physical examination and most also underwent pelvic radiography and HLA-B27 typing. At follow-up in 2018–2019, of the former participants whose current addresses could be retrieved, 162 had died and 485 (125 patients with AS plus 360 FDR) completed a postal questionnaire.

Results

At follow-up, 48 of 177 HLA-B27(+) FDR had developed axSpA, an RR of 27.1% (95% CI 20.6% to 33.7%). 27/148 (18.2%) children of AS probands (modified New York (mNY) criteria) were affected versus 2/50 (4.0%) children of non-radiographic axSpA probands (p=0.0138, OR=5.36; 95% CI 1.23 to 23.40). Children of female probands were more often affected (12/22; 54.5%) than of male probands (15/78; 19.2%) (p=0.0003; OR=4.89; 95% CI 1.96 to 12.23). This increased risk applies equally to sons and daughters.

Conclusion

The lifetime RR of axSpA for HLA-B27(+) FDR is substantial (27.1%), and disease severity (as defined by radiographic sacroiliitis by the mNY criteria) is an additional risk factor. Affected mothers pass on the disease significantly more often to their offspring than do affected fathers. These findings may lead to better assessment of lifetime risk for axSpA in the offspring. Moreover, investigation of this gender effect may uncover additional putative disease susceptibility factors.
Joule–Thomson expansion of Einstein–Skyrmion black holes
Authors: Bai Yan-Ying
Published: July 2022

The Joule–Thomson expansion of Einstein–Skyrmion black holes in four dimensions was studied in the extended phase space. We obtained the inversion curves and isenthalpic curves for different values of parameters K and λ, which represent the coupling strength between the gravity field and matter field. We found that parameters K and λ have the same effects during the entire Joule–Thomson expansion and larger parameter K or λ corresponds to smaller inversion pressure. Analogously, the phase space { T, P} consists of cooling–heating regions. In addition, the dispersion point of the Joule–Thomson coefficient μ is in correspondence with the zero point of the Hawking temperature T, and the ratio of the minimum inversion temperature [Formula: see text] and the critical temperature Tc is a constant.
Gravitational waves at the first post-Newtonian order with the Weyssenhoff fluid in Einstein–Cartan theory
Authors: Battista Emmanuele , De Falco Vittorio
Published: July 2022

The generation of gravitational waves from a post-Newtonian source endowed with a quantum spin, modeled by the Weyssenhoff fluid, is investigated in the context of Einstein–Cartan theory at the first post-Newtonian level by resorting to the Blanchet–Damour formalism. After having worked out the basic principles of the hydrodynamics in Einstein–Cartan framework, we study the Weyssenhoff fluid within the post-Newtonian approximation scheme. The complexity of the underlying dynamical equations suggests to employ a discrete description via the point-particle limit, a procedure which permits the analysis of inspiralling spinning compact binaries. We then provide a first application of our results by considering binary neutron star systems.
Study of null and time-like geodesics in the exterior of a Schwarzschild black hole with quintessence and cloud of strings
Authors: Fathi Mohsen , Olivares Marco , Villanueva J. R.
Published: July 2022

Recently, an analytical study of radial and circular orbits for null and time-like geodesics that propagate in the spacetime produced by a Schwarzschild black hole associated with cloud of strings, in a universe filled by quintessence, has been done in Mustafa and Hussain (Eur Phys J C 81:419, 2021). In this paper, we complete the aforementioned study by investigating possible analytical solutions to the equations of motion for other types of bound orbits, beside taking into account the cases of unbound orbits. This requires an extensive study of the corresponding effective potentials that categorize the test particle motion. We follow the standard Lagrangian dynamics to parametrize the radial and angular geodesics and the resultant (hyper-)elliptic integrals of motion are treated accordingly. We also simulate the orbits which correspond to different levels of energy in the effective potentials.
Resilient Deployment of Smart Nodes for Improving Confident Information Coverage in 5G IoT
Authors: Deng Xianjun , Tian Yuan , Yi Lingzhi , Yang Laurence Tianruo , Xia Yunzhi , Tang Xiao , Zhu Chenlu
Published: July 2022

The development of 5G has brought new opportunities for the application of Internet of Things (IoT). The integration of 5G and IoT technologies promote high availability, resilience, and reliability of the network infrastructures. IoT deployment optimization is the core issue of 5G IoT. Traditionally, IoT node deployment methods mostly used disk coverage model or probabilistic detection coverage model, which only utilizes the sensing capability of a single IoT node, which results in higher deployment costs. In this article, we study the network resilience of coverage estimation error and solve the coverage problem of resilient deployment of smart nodes in 5G IoT. The coverage formulation in the deployment optimization method is defined based on the confident information coverage (CIC). In order to obtain the optimal deployment with a given coverage quality and with a given budget, the mixed-integer linear programming models (CICILP-COST) and (CICILP-ERROR) are proposed based on the CIC model. After analyzing the model complexity, the proposed models are solved by the variable relaxation algorithm (CICVR-COST) and dichotomous search algorithm (CICDS-ERROR), respectively. Simulations on air pollution datasets in Lyon, France, show that the proposed model yields a lower cost optimal deployment than existing peer schemes.
The power particle-in-cell method
Authors: Qu Ziyin , Li Minchen , De Goes Fernando , Jiang Chenfanfu
Published: July 2022

This paper introduces a new weighting scheme for particle-grid transfers that generates hybrid Lagrangian/Eulerian fluid simulations with uniform particle distributions and precise volume control. At its core, our approach reformulates the construction of Power Particles [de Goes et al. 2015] by computing volume-constrained density kernels. We employ these optimized kernels as particle domains within the Generalized Interpolation Material Point method (GIMP) in order to incorporate Power Particles into the Particle-In-Cell framework, hence the name the
Power Particle-In-Cell
method. We address the construction of volume-constrained density kernels as a regularized optimal transportation problem and describe an iterative solver based on localized Gaussian convolutions that leads to a significant performance speedup compared to [de Goes et al. 2015]. We also present novel extensions for handling free surfaces and solid obstacles that bypass the need for cell clipping and ghost particles. We demonstrate the advantages of our transfer weights by improving hybrid schemes for fluid simulation such as the Fluid Implicit Particle (FLIP) method and the Affine Particle-In-Cell (APIC) method with volume preservation and robustness to varying particle-per-cell ratio, while retaining low numerical dissipation, conserving linear and angular momenta, and avoiding particle reseeding or post-process relaxations.
Physics-based character controllers using conditional VAEs
Authors: Won Jungdam , Gopinath Deepak , Hodgins Jessica
Published: July 2022

High-quality motion capture datasets are now publicly available, and researchers have used them to create kinematics-based controllers that can generate plausible and diverse human motions without conditioning on specific goals (i.e., a task-agnostic generative model). In this paper, we present an algorithm to build such controllers for physically simulated characters having many degrees of freedom. Our physics-based controllers are learned by using conditional VAEs, which can perform a variety of behaviors that are similar to motions in the training dataset. The controllers are robust enough to generate more than a few minutes of motion without conditioning on specific goals and to allow many complex downstream tasks to be solved efficiently. To show the effectiveness of our method, we demonstrate controllers learned from several different motion capture databases and use them to solve a number of downstream tasks that are challenging to learn controllers that generate natural-looking motions from scratch. We also perform ablation studies to demonstrate the importance of the elements of the algorithm. Code and data for this paper are available at: https://github.com/facebookresearch/PhysicsVAE
Photo-to-shape material transfer for diverse structures
Authors: Hu Ruizhen , Su Xiangyu , Chen Xiangkai , Van Kaick Oliver , Huang Hui
Published: July 2022

We introduce a method for assigning photorealistic relightable materials to 3D shapes in an automatic manner. Our method takes as input a photo exemplar of a real object and a 3D object with segmentation, and uses the exemplar to guide the assignment of materials to the parts of the shape, so that the appearance of the resulting shape is as similar as possible to the exemplar. To accomplish this goal, our method combines an
image translation neural network
with a
material assignment neural network.
The image translation network translates the color from the exemplar to a projection of the 3D shape and the part segmentation from the projection to the exemplar. Then, the material prediction network assigns materials from a collection of realistic materials to the projected parts, based on the translated images and perceptual similarity of the materials.

One key idea of our method is to use the translation network to establish a correspondence between the exemplar and shape projection, which allows us to transfer materials between objects with
diverse structures.
Another key idea of our method is to use the two pairs of (color, segmentation) images provided by the image translation to guide the material assignment, which enables us to ensure the
consistency
in the assignment. We demonstrate that our method allows us to assign materials to shapes so that their appearances better resemble the input exemplars, improving the quality of the results over the state-of-the-art method, and allowing us to automatically create thousands of shapes with high-quality photorealistic materials. Code and data for this paper are available at https://github.com/XiangyuSu611/TMT.
Sketch2Pose
Authors: Brodt Kirill , Bessmeltsev Mikhail
Published: July 2022

Artists frequently capture character poses via raster sketches, then use these drawings as a reference while posing a 3D character in a specialized 3D software --- a time-consuming process, requiring specialized 3D training and mental effort. We tackle this challenge by proposing the first system for automatically inferring a 3D character pose from a single bitmap sketch, producing poses consistent with viewer expectations. Algorithmically interpreting bitmap sketches is challenging, as they contain significantly distorted proportions and foreshortening. We address this by predicting three key elements of a drawing, necessary to disambiguate the drawn poses: 2D bone tangents, self-contacts, and bone foreshortening. These elements are then leveraged in an optimization inferring the 3D character pose consistent with the artist's intent. Our optimization balances cues derived from artistic literature and perception research to compensate for distorted character proportions. We demonstrate a gallery of results on sketches of numerous styles. We validate our method via numerical evaluations, user studies, and comparisons to manually posed characters and previous work.

Code and data for our paper are available at http://www-labs.iro.umontreal.ca/bmpix/sketch2pose/.
SNeRF
Authors: Nguyen-Phuoc Thu , Liu Feng , Xiao Lei
Published: July 2022

This paper presents a stylized novel view synthesis method. Applying state-of-the-art stylization methods to novel views frame by frame often causes jittering artifacts due to the lack of cross-view consistency. Therefore, this paper investigates 3D scene stylization that provides a strong inductive bias for consistent novel view synthesis. Specifically, we adopt the emerging neural radiance fields (NeRF) as our choice of 3D scene representation for their capability to render high-quality novel views for a variety of scenes. However, as rendering a novel view from a NeRF requires a large number of samples, training a stylized NeRF requires a large amount of GPU memory that goes beyond an off-the-shelf GPU capacity. We introduce a new training method to address this problem by alternating the NeRF and stylization optimization steps. Such a method enables us to make full use of our hardware memory capacity to both generate images at higher resolution and adopt more expressive image style transfer methods. Our experiments show that our method produces stylized NeRFs for a wide range of content, including indoor, outdoor and dynamic scenes, and synthesizes high-quality novel views with cross-view consistency.
ASE
Authors: Peng Xue Bin , Guo Yunrong , Halper Lina , Levine Sergey , Fidler Sanja
Published: July 2022

The incredible feats of athleticism demonstrated by humans are made possible in part by a vast repertoire of general-purpose motor skills, acquired through years of practice and experience. These skills not only enable humans to perform complex tasks, but also provide powerful priors for guiding their behaviors when learning new tasks. This is in stark contrast to what is common practice in physics-based character animation, where control policies are most typically trained from scratch for each task. In this work, we present a large-scale data-driven framework for learning versatile and reusable skill embeddings for physically simulated characters. Our approach combines techniques from adversarial imitation learning and unsupervised reinforcement learning to develop skill embeddings that produce life-like behaviors, while also providing an easy to control representation for use on new downstream tasks. Our models can be trained using large datasets of unstructured motion clips, without requiring any task-specific annotation or segmentation of the motion data. By leveraging a massively parallel GPU-based simulator, we are able to train skill embeddings using over a decade of simulated experiences, enabling our model to learn a rich and versatile repertoire of skills. We show that a single pre-trained model can be effectively applied to perform a diverse set of new tasks. Our system also allows users to specify tasks through simple reward functions, and the skill embedding then enables the character to automatically synthesize complex and naturalistic strategies in order to achieve the task objectives.
Facial hair tracking for high fidelity performance capture
Authors: Winberg Sebastian , Zoss Gaspard , Chandran Prashanth , Gotardo Paulo , Bradley Derek
Published: July 2022

Facial hair is a largely overlooked topic in facial performance capture. Most production pipelines in the entertainment industry do not have a way to automatically capture facial hair or track the skin underneath it. Thus, actors are asked to shave clean before face capture, which is very often undesirable. Capturing the geometry of individual facial hairs is very challenging, and their presence makes it harder to capture the deforming shape of the underlying skin surface. Some attempts have already been made at automating this task, but only for static faces with relatively sparse 3D hair reconstructions. In particular, current methods lack the temporal correspondence needed when capturing a sequence of video frames depicting facial performance. The problem of robustly tracking the skin underneath also remains unaddressed. In this paper, we propose the first multiview reconstruction pipeline that tracks both the dense 3D facial hair, as well as the underlying 3D skin for entire performances. Our method operates with standard setups for face photogrammetry, without requiring dense camera arrays. For a given capture subject, our algorithm first reconstructs a dense, high-quality neutral 3D facial hairstyle by registering sparser hair reconstructions over multiple frames that depict a neutral face under quasi-rigid motion. This custom-built, reference facial hairstyle is then tracked throughout a variety of changing facial expressions in a captured performance, and the result is used to constrain the tracking of the 3D skin surface underneath. We demonstrate the proposed capture pipeline on a variety of different facial hairstyles and lengths, ranging from sparse and short to dense full-beards.
A Label-Free Molecularly Imprinted Electrochemical Sensor Based on MXene Nanosheets Modified by Gold Nanoparticles for Sensitive and Selective Detection of Homocysteine
Authors: Liu Miao , Pan Bingchen , Tang Shanshan , Wang Wei , Hou Huipeng , Xie Bingteng , Liang Axin , Luo Aiqin
Published: July 2022

A label-free molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor (MIECS) based on electropolymerized molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was developed for the determination of homocysteine (Hcy) in serum for the first time. MXene@AuNPs with layered structure was synthesized on the electrode by modifying MXene with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). MIP based on dopamine hydrochloride (DA) were electropolymerized onto the surface of MXene@AuNPs modified electrode by molecular docking and quantum chemical calculations for specific recognition of Hcy. MXene@AuNPs as a carrier for immobilizing MIP steadily enhances the conductivity of the electrode (about 4.2-fold) and plays a crucial part in improving the detection sensitivity of MIECS. The results showed that the current response linearly decreased with the increasing concentration of Hcy in the detection range from 1 × 10−13 to 1 × 10−5 mol l−1, the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of 11.81 fmol l−1 and 39.49 fmol l−1, respectively. With favorable selectivity, stability, reproducibility and ruggedness, the developed MIECS was applied to the determination of Hcy in human serum samples with recoveries of 87.83%–92.58%. The proposed strategy has potential application for disease surveillance.
High-Performance Non-Enzymatic Electrochemical Dopamine Sensors Based on Metal-Organic Framework Derived Co-C-Matrix Nanoplatforms
Authors: Hedau Bhavna , Kang Byeong-Cheol , Park Sang-Joon , Ha Tae-Jun
Published: July 2022

A facile electrochemical sensing nanoplatform for detection of ultralow dopamine (DA) concentrations is developed through modification of cobalt-benzene tricarboxylic acid (Co-BTC) derived cobalt-carbon-matrix (Co-C-matrix). To enhance surface reactions and enzyme-like activities involved in interaction with DA, the structural integration of hybrid Co-C-matrix into Co-BTC as metal-organic framework (MOF) is investigated, resulting in nanostructured transducing media with high sensitivity and selectivity as catalyst. The Co-C-matrix nanoplatform exhibited the improved performance based on electrocatalytic oxidation of DA with high sensitivity of 7176 μA mM−1 cm−2 and low detection limit of 10 nM. Furthermore, the linearity of an amperometry peak toward DA concentration over wide concentration range from 10 nM to 25 μM was observed under optimal conditions. Excellent selectivity in the presence of potential interferents and operational stability in ambient air for 30 days as well as under environmental conditions for the electrochemical oxidation of dopamine were achieved. The practical feasibility of these non-enzymatic biosensors is demonstrated on real samples, where DA is detected in human serum with outstanding recovery of up to 100%. The synergetic effect of Co atoms dispersed in the matrix of the carbon nanohybrid results in abundant active sites for DA oxidation and electron transfer pathways.
Comparative Analysis of Crosstalk Effects in Dielectric Inserted Horizontal andVertical Multi-layer GNR Interconnects for Ternary Logic System
Authors: Deepthi Gurijala , Tatineni Madhavi
Published: July 2022

In this work, the performance of copper (Cu), dielectric inserted horizontal graphene nanoribbon (Di-HGNR) interconnect and dielectric inserted vertical graphene nanoribbon (Di-VGNR) interconnects are investigated using active shielding and passive shielding techniques. However, the analysis is carried out by adapting driver-interconnect-load system. This analysis considers the interconnect length from 500 to 2000 μm for 10 nm technology node. Further, the crosstalk induced effects on various interconnect structures are examined. It is envisaged that Di-VGNR exhibits lowest propagation delay compared to Cu and Di-HGNR. Further, the in-phase and out-phase crosstalk delay among the coupled interconnect lines is determined. It is investigated that active shielded Di-VGNR has least crosstalk induced delay compared to other interconnect structures considered in this study. Therefore, Di-VGNR interconnects outperforms Cu and Di-HGNR and are best suited for future VLSI interconnects.
Construction and Analysis of Performance Evaluation Index System for Chinese Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Based on Fuzzy Hierarchical Analysis Model
Authors: He Mengning , Estebanez Raquel Pérez
Published: July 2022

It is of great theoretical and practical significance to introduce the supply chain concept into micro and small manufacturing enterprises and to build a cost management evaluation model for micro and small manufacturing enterprises based on the supply chain to improve the cost management of micro and small manufacturing enterprises. To this end, based on combing the relevant literature on supply chain and cost management evaluation at home and abroad, this paper analyzes the characteristics of cost management of micro and small manufacturing enterprises because of the problems of cost management of micro and small manufacturing enterprises, adopts the gray fuzzy hierarchical analysis method to assign and evaluate, which takes into account the nonindependence among the elements of each level and the elements of the same level, and also considers the characteristics of grayness and fuzziness of qualitative indicators so that the evaluation results are more credible. The evaluation of cost management of micro and small manufacturing enterprises based on the supply chain was carried out by using gray fuzzy analysis, and the empirical analysis was based on the research data of company B. The evaluation result was “poor,” which verified the applicability of the cost management performance evaluation model of micro and small manufacturing enterprises and indicated the direction for the improvement of cost management of micro and small manufacturing enterprises. And, the proposed intuitionistic fuzzy hierarchical analysis has greater advantages in evaluation accuracy than the traditional fuzzy hierarchical analysis.
Effectiveness and Safety of PD-1 Inhibitor Monotherapy for Elderly Patients with Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: A Real-World Exploratory Study
Authors: Li Xiao-Ping , Zhang Wei-Dong , Li Ming-Jiang , Wang Juan , Lian Jie , Zhou Hong-Gang
Published: July 2022

Background. Immunotherapy represented by PD-1 blockades had become the standard of care for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) gradually. Unfortunately, several PD-1 inhibitor-related studies excluded elderly patients with NSCLC over 75 years of age, resulting in relatively limited evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of PD-1 in elderly patients with NSCLC clinically. Objective. This study aimed to identify the effectiveness and safety of PD-1 blockade monotherapy among elderly patients with advanced NSCLC. Methods. Elderly patients with advanced NSCLC (≥65 years) who received PD-1 blockade monotherapy from September 2018 to December 2021 were screened retrospectively, and a total of 68 elderly patients with NSCLC were eligible for inclusion ultimately. The PD-1 blockades in the study were the available PD-1 monoclonal antibodies that had been approved for marketing in China, including camrelizumab, sintilimab, pembrolizumab, and nivolumab. The effectiveness and safety of the patients was collected retrospectively. Additionally, the correlation between prognosis and baseline characteristic subgroups was analyzed to identify the potential risk factors for progression-free survival (PFS). Results. The median age of the 68 elderly patients with advanced NSCLC was 73 years (range: 65–82 years). Best overall response during PD-1 blockade administration suggested that no patients were found with complete response, partial response was found in 14 patients, stable disease was noted in 29 patients, and 25 patients had progressive disease, yielding an objective response rate (ORR) of 20.6% (95%CI: 11.7%–32.1%) and a disease control rate (DCR) of 63.2% (95%CI: 50.7%–74.6%). Furthermore, prognostic analysis exhibited that the median progression-free survival (PFS) of the 68 patients with advanced NSCLC was 3.5 months (95%CI: 2.4–4.6) and the median overall survival (OS) was 10.5 months (95%CI: 6.3–14.7). Additionally, a total of 48 patients were observed with the treatment-related adverse reaction (70.6%) of the 68 elderly patients with NSCLC, and the incidence of grade 3 or above adverse reactions was 16.2%. Specifically, the most common adverse reactions were fatigue, diarrhea, rash, and abnormal liver function with the incidence of 25.0%, 22.1%, 16.2%, and 14.7%, respectively. Exploratory analysis between PFS and baseline characteristic subgroups suggested that ECOG performance status and number of metastatic lesions might be independent factors for PFS. Conclusion. PD-1 blockade monotherapy exhibited potential effectiveness and acceptable toxicity for elderly patients with NSCLC. ECOG performance status and number of metastatic lesions might be potential risk factors to predict the PFS of elderly patients with advanced NSCLC.
Decentered Individualized Sphero-Cylindrical (DISC) Ablation and Corneal Crosslinking in Patient with Progressive Keratoconus
Authors: Knezović Igor , Djurić Sara
Published: July 2022

Aim. To report a new method with which we have treated a 29-year-old patient with keratoconus and progressive bilateral visual loss during the past few years. Methods. The patient underwent inferotemporal decentered individualized sphero-cylindrical (DISC) ablation and crosslinking (CXL) of the left eye. After administration of topical anesthetic, the patient was subjected to phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) laser ablation of the central 7.0 mm optical zone with 50 μm depth of epithelial ablation. To avoid the possible outcome of corneal haze, 0.02% mitomycin C (MMC) was applied to the stromal surface for 40 seconds. Riboflavin 0.1% solution was then administered topically every 2 minutes for a 30-minute period followed by 5 cycles of corneal crosslinking, radiating with UV-A at 3 mW/cm2, for a duration of 5 minutes. Results. 17 months postoperative, there was an impressive improvement in uncorrected distance visual acuity, and the cornea became more regular. Results of Fourier’s analysis imply a drop of irregularity (-28.6% two months and –63% seventeen months postoperative), Zernike analysis revealed a decrease of higher order aberrations (spheric and comatic aberrations), and corneal index values in the 8 mm zone (IHD, ISV, and IVA) became lower, compared to the preoperative values. Conclusion. It is possible to obtain better outcome of visual function with DISC ablation through an individual approach compared to CXL solely. This approach might be a promising strategy in retrieving impaired vision in patients suffering from keratoconus.
Antioxidant Mechanism of Renal and Hepatic Failure Prevention Related to Paracetamol Overdose by the Aqueous Extract of Amblygonocarpus andongensis Stem Bark
Authors: Baponwa O. , Amang A. P. , Mezui C. , Koubala B. B. , Siwe G. T. , Vandi V. L. , Tan P. V.
Published: July 2022

Paracetamol is a commonly used analgesic/antipyretic whose long‐term intake or overdose is associated with renal and hepatic injuries. The aim of this study was to determine the hepatonephroprotective mechanisms of the aqueous extract of Amblygonocarpus andongensis stem bark (AEAASB) on renal and hepatic failure resulting from paracetamol overdose. Forty‐five rats were divided into nine groups (n = 5); these were treated once daily for 8 days with 5 ml/kg distilled water (normal, negative, and satellite controls); 0.9% normal saline and 140 mg/kg N‐acetyl‐cysteine (positive controls); 125, 250, and 500 mg/kg AEAASB (test groups); and 500 mg/kg AEAASB (satellite test). On day 8 after different treatments, hepatonephrotoxicity was induced in all the groups except the normal group by oral administration of a single dose of paracetamol (1000 mg/kg). Urinary, hematological, serum, and oxidative stress parameters and in vitro antioxidant activity of AEAASB were evaluated. Histological sections of the liver and kidney were performed. AEAASB significantly decreased urea, creatinine, transaminases, alkaline phosphatase, and bilirubin (p < 0.001) at 500 mg/kg compared to the negative control. Significant decreases in hepatic (p < 0.01) and renal (p < 0.001) malondialdehyde levels were associated with increases in superoxide dismutase, catalase, and reduced glutathione levels in 500 mg/kg AEAASB compared with the negative control. Histological analysis showed that AEAASB prevented paracetamol‐induced renal and liver tissue damage. Furthermore, AEAASB revealed a very strong antioxidant activity (inhibitory concentration 50 = 180 μg/ml, antioxidant activity index = 5.55) with an ability to scavenge 63.03% 2,2‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhy‐drazyl radical and reduced ferric iron by 52.68 mgEqVitC/100 g DM. The hepatonephroprotective effect of AEAASB might result from its ability to improve the antioxidant status through the stimulation of antioxidant factors and the scavenging of free radicals. This property could be ascribed to the presence of some classes of bioactive compounds such as phenolic compounds in great amounts.
Research on Product Innovation Intention Analysis System Model Based on Computational Thinking
Authors: Zhang Shuo , Zou Hua , Qiao Zhicheng , Sun Jian , Xu Yan
Published: July 2022

The starting point of this study is to improve the realistic problem of high failure rate of product innovation and improve the success rate of product innovation. First, starting from the relationship between user demand and innovation, this study constructs a product innovation-demand screening system model from a macro perspective and describes the circular promotion relationship between demand and innovation. Second, apply computational thinking to further characterize the system model. From the point of view of mining frequent item sets, this paper constructs an analysis model of product innovation intention from a microscopic perspective and makes a correlation analysis of innovation and demand, providing technical support for the combination and screening of innovation and demand. The model runs in a Python environment. This study uses the Apriori algorithm to improve the efficiency of frequent set mining. This model has no specific restrictions on the selected users, the way to select demand data is broad, and the data are easy to obtain. The use of large amounts of data for analysis also reduces the bias of experts and leading users in evaluating and screening innovation intentions. The simulation of the operation and screening efficiency of the product innovation intention analysis model shows that (1) the model runs effectively. (2) The number of innovation intentions screened by the model can be regulated by adjusting only two variables: min_support and min_confidence. However, the number of strong association rules is more sensitive to the adjustment of min_support. (3) The innovation intention analysis model has significantly improved the efficiency of innovation intention screening. (4) Adjusting the innovation portfolio according to the analysis results of innovation intention can make new products more popular.