Horizontal Plane Haptic Redirection: Realizing Haptic Feedback for the Virtual Inclined Plane in VR.

Some interactions in virtual environments need to be operated on inclined planes. If a real inclined plane can be found in the real environment that corresponds exactly to the angle of the virtual inclined plane to provide haptic feedback, the user's immersion can be enhanced. However, it is not easy to find such a real inclined plane in the real environment. We proposed a horizontal plane haptic redirection scheme, where users interacting with virtual inclined planes in virtual environments can obtain haptic feelings by using real horizontal planes that are easily available in the real world for redirection mapping. We also designed an integrated solution to locate the real horizontal plane and for haptic redirection based on the Vive Pro headset. Then we measured the angle and size thresholds for horizontal plane haptic redirection as 20° and 88%, respectively, through a user study. Through experiments, we also found that when the degree of redirection exceeded the threshold, the user's operation efficiency would be significantly reduced. In addition, we compared the horizontal plane haptic redirection scheme with the scheme without redirection and the scheme without haptic feedback to demonstrate the validity and necessity of the redirection scheme proposed in this paper.

Key Molecules in Bladder Cancer Affect Patient Prognosis and Immunotherapy Efficacy: Further Exploration for CNTN1 and EMP1.

PURPOSE: Immunotherapy has been widely used in bladder cancer (BCa) in recent years and has significantly improved the prognosis of patients with BCa. However, further identification of immunotherapy-sensitive individuals to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy remains an important unmet need. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The key genes were screened and identified from Gene Expression Omnibus database and The Cancer Genome Atlas database to construct the risk prediction function (risk scores). Real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and IMvigor210 data sets were used to verify the roles of key molecules and efficacy of risk scores. The biologic function of CNTN1 and EMP1 was further explored through cell proliferation experiments. RESULTS: Five key genes, CNTN1, MAP1A, EMP1, MFAP5, and PTGIS, which were significantly related to the prognosis and immune checkpoint molecules of patients, were screened out. CNTN1 and EMP1 were further experimentally confirmed for their significant tumor-promoting effects. Besides, the constructed risk scores on the basis of these five key genes can accurately predict the prognosis and immunotherapy efficacy of patients with BCa. Interestingly, the high-risk patients identified by the risk scores have significantly worse prognosis and immunotherapy effects than low-risk patients. CONCLUSION: The key genes we screened can affect the prognosis of BCa, tumor microenvironment immune infiltration, and the efficacy of immunotherapy. The risk scores tool we constructed will contribute to the development of individualized treatment for BCa.

Action recognition based on multimode fusion for VR online platform.

The current popular online communication platforms can convey information only in the form of text, voice, pictures, and other electronic means. The richness and reliability of information is not comparable to traditional face-to-face communication. The use of virtual reality (VR) technology for online communication is a viable alternative to face-to-face communication. In the current VR online communication platform, users are in a virtual world in the form of avatars, which can achieve "face-to-face" communication to a certain extent. However, the actions of the avatar do not follow the user, which makes the communication process less realistic. Decision-makers need to make decisions based on the behavior of VR users, but there are no effective methods for action data collection in VR environments. In our work, three modalities of nine actions from VR users are collected using a virtual reality head-mounted display (VR HMD) built-in sensors, RGB cameras and human pose estimation. Using these data and advanced multimodal fusion action recognition networks, we obtained a high accuracy action recognition model. In addition, we take advantage of the VR HMD to collect 3D position data and design a 2D key point augmentation scheme for VR users. Using the augmented 2D key point data and VR HMD sensor data, we can train action recognition models with high accuracy and strong stability. In data collection and experimental work, we focus our research on classroom scenes, and the results can be extended to other scenes.

Application of next-generation sequencing on diagnosis of bloodstream infection caused by Mycoplasma hominis in a patient with ANCA-associated vasculitis.

BACKGROUND: Mycoplasma hominis is one of the main opportunistic pathogenic mycoplasmas in humans which has a major impact on patients with bloodstream infections. Because it is difficult to detect or isolate, rapid and accurate diagnosis using improved methods is essential and still challenging for patients with bloodstream infection. CASE PRESENTATION: In this case, we reported the application of next -generation sequencing for the diagnosis of bloodstream infection caused by Mycoplasma hominis in a patient with Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis. After 9 days of combined treatment with levofloxacin, polymyxin B and meropenem, the patient's condition was gradually controlled and he was discharged without further complications. During the three-month outpatient follow-up, no recurrence of symptoms or clinical signs was reported. CONCLUSIONS: This successful application of next generation sequencing assisted the rapid diagnosis of Mycoplasma hominis bloodstream infection, provided a new perspective in the clinical approach and highlighted the potential of this technique in rapid etiological diagnosis.

Metagenomic next-generation sequencing for the diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in critically pediatric patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) for the diagnosis of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia (PCP) in critically pediatric patients. METHODS: Seventeen critically pediatric patients with PCP and sixty patients diagnosed with non-PCP pneumonia who were admitted in pediatric intensive care unit between June 2018 and July 2021 were enrolled. Conventional methods and mNGS for detecting Pneumocystis jirovecii (P. jirovecii) were compared. The patients' demographics, comorbidities, laboratory test results, antibiotic treatment response and 30 day mortality were analyzed. RESULT: The mNGS showed a satisfying diagnostic performance with a sensitivity of 100% in detecting P. jirovecii compared with Gomori methenamine silver staining (5.9%), serum (1,3)-ß-D-glucan (86.7%) and and LDH (55.6%). The diagnostic specificity of mNGS for PCP was higher than that of serum BDG (56.7%) and LDH (71.4%). In PCP group, over one thirds' cases had mixed infections. Compared with survivors, non-survivors had higher stringently mapped read numbers (SMRNs) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) sample (P < 0.05), suggesting SMRNs were closely associated with the severity of response. The detection for P. jirovecii by mNGS both in BALF and blood samples reached a concordance rate of 100%, and the SMRNs in the BALF were remarkably higher than that in blood samples. Initial antimicrobial treatment was modified in 88.2% of PCP patients based on the mNGS results. CONCLUSION: The mNGS is a potential and efficient technology in diagnosing PCP and shows a satisfying performance in the detection of co-pathogens. Both blood and BALF samples for mNGS are suggested for the presumptive diagnosis of PCP.