Microsaccade-inspired event camera for robotics.

Neuromorphic vision sensors or event cameras have made the visual perception of extremely low reaction time possible, opening new avenues for high-dynamic robotics applications. These event cameras' output is dependent on both motion and texture. However, the event camera fails to capture object edges that are parallel to the camera motion. This is a problem intrinsic to the sensor and therefore challenging to solve algorithmically. Human vision deals with perceptual fading using the active mechanism of small involuntary eye movements, the most prominent ones called microsaccades. By moving the eyes constantly and slightly during fixation, microsaccades can substantially maintain texture stability and persistence. Inspired by microsaccades, we designed an event-based perception system capable of simultaneously maintaining low reaction time and stable texture. In this design, a rotating wedge prism was mounted in front of the aperture of an event camera to redirect light and trigger events. The geometrical optics of the rotating wedge prism allows for algorithmic compensation of the additional rotational motion, resulting in a stable texture appearance and high informational output independent of external motion. The hardware device and software solution are integrated into a system, which we call artificial microsaccade-enhanced event camera (AMI-EV). Benchmark comparisons validated the superior data quality of AMI-EV recordings in scenarios where both standard cameras and event cameras fail to deliver. Various real-world experiments demonstrated the potential of the system to facilitate robotics perception both for low-level and high-level vision tasks.

How does patient-centered communication influence patient trust?: The roles of patient participation and patient preference.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the effects of patient-centered communication, patient participation, and patient preference on patient trust in the context of China. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 217 cancer patients in China. Mediation and moderation analyses were performed to examine the relationships among the study variables. RESULTS: First, patient-centered communication increased patient participation in decision-making, which, in turn, enhanced patient trust. Second, patient-centered communication did not have a direct effect on patient trust. Third, patient preference for a passive role in decision-making weakened the relationship between patient participation and patient trust. CONCLUSION: The results underscore the significant effect of facilitating patient participation in linking patient-centered communication to patient trust. However, medical communication should also respond to patients' preferred roles in the decision-making process. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Doctors should provide patients with opportunities to ask questions and express their concerns. In addition, they should evaluate patients' preferred degree of involvement before inviting them to contribute so as to respect their preferences and values.

Evaluation of unimodal and multimodal information in health communication on GGO-related lung cancer screening: An eye-tracking study.

Aims: To find out a better propaganda and education plan for the popularization of the ground-glass opacities-related (GGO-related) lung cancer screening. Methods and Material: The control group took a lung cancer screening knowledge test directly before receiving the health education. By contrast, the experimental group took the same knowledge test after receiving health education. This study designed unimodal and multimodal materials about GGO-related lung cancer. The text and graph were considered unimodal information, while the video was multimodal information. According to the different information forms they were exposed to, the experimental group was further divided into text, graphic, and video groups. An eye-tracking system was performed to record eye-tracking data synchronously. Results: Compared with the control group, the knowledge test scores of each experimental group were remarkably improved. Furthermore, the graphic group had a significantly higher correct rate on the No. 7 question, while the video group had the lowest. In terms of saccades, the video group had significantly higher speed and amplitude of saccades than the other two groups. In terms of fixation, the interval duration, total duration of whole fixations, and a number of whole fixations of the graphic group were significantly lower than those of the other two groups, while the video group had the highest values for these variables. Conclusions: It was on the unimodal information, such as text and graphics, that people can spend less time and cost to achieve effective acquisition of GGO-related lung cancer screening knowledge.

Photometric-Stereo-Based Defect Detection System for Metal Parts.

Automated inspection technology based on computer vision is now widely used in the manufacturing industry with high speed and accuracy. However, metal parts always appear in high gloss or shadow on the surface, resulting in the overexposure of the captured images. It is necessary to adjust the light direction and view to keep defects out of overexposure and shadow areas. However, it is too tedious to adjust the position of the light direction and view the variety of parts' geometries. To address this problem, we design a photometric-stereo-based defect detection system (PSBDDS), which combines the photometric stereo with defect detection to eliminate the interference of highlights and shadows. Based on the PSBDDS, we introduce a photometric-stereo-based defect detection framework, which takes images captured in multiple directional lights as input and obtains the normal map through the photometric stereo model. Then, the detection model uses the normal map as input to locate and classify defects. Existing learning-based photometric stereo methods and defect detection methods have achieved good performance in their respective fields. However, photometric stereo datasets and defect detection datasets are not sufficient for training and testing photometric-stereo-based defect detection methods, thus we create a photometric stereo defect detection (PSDD) dataset using our PSBDDS to eliminate gaps between learning-based photometric stereo and defect detection methods. Furthermore, experimental results prove the effectiveness of the proposed PSBBD and PSDD dataset.

The role of eye tracker in teaching video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery: the differences in visual strategies between novice and expert surgeons in thoracoscopic surgery.

Background: In light of continued advances in surgical techniques, it is essential to improve the efficacy of training young thoracic surgeons. Increasingly, the feedback of visual information is believed to be a crucial teaching tool. When surgeons are looking at surgical teaching videos, eye gaze technology can be used to record the gaze movement to examine the stages of information access. Methods: A total of 8 novice surgeons and 8 expert surgeons were recruited to watch an instructional video of surgery while Tobii Pro Fusion was used to recorded their movement trajectory. Another 36 novice surgeons were recruited and divided into two groups. One group watched the video following the trajectory of the senior thoracic surgeons' eye movements and the other group watched the raw video. All 36 novice surgeons subsequently underwent a post-test which was conducted via a questionnaire. Results: The differences in eye fixation patterns and search strategies between novices and experts were assessed using 4 indexes, including total duration of fixation, time to entry saccade, number of saccades, and peak velocity of saccade. The results were compared using independent-sample t-tests and repeated-measures analysis. When experts watched the videos, there was a 67.8% overlap of eye gaze compared to a 51.4% overlap in novices (P≤0.001). The post-test showed that novice surgeons who watched the video marked with the senior thoracic surgeon's eye movements had a better understanding of the key points of the operation. Conclusions: Novice and expert surgeons have different eye fixation patterns and search strategies when watching videos of thoracoscopic surgery. Watching surgical videos marked with expert eye movement trajectories is conducive to novice surgeons to master operative skills.

Chinese adult segmentation according to health skills and analysis of their use for smart home: a cross-sectional national survey.

BACKGROUND: Digital health has become a heated topic today and smart homes have received much attention as an important area of digital health. Smart home is a device that enables automation and remote control in a home environment via the internet. However, most of the existing studies have focused on discussing the impact of smart home on people. Only few studies have focused on relationship between health skills and use of smart home. AIMS: To analyze the health skills of Chinese adults and segment them to compare and analyze the use of smart home for each group. METHODS: We used data from 11,031 participants aged 18 and above. The population was clustered based on five health skills factors: perceived social support, family health, health literacy, media use, and chronic diseases self-behavioral management. A total of 23 smart homes were categorized into three sub-categories based on their functions: entertainment smart home, functional smart home, and health smart home. We analyzed demographic characteristics and utilization rate of smart home across different cluster. Each groups' features and the differences in their needs for smart home functions were compared and analyzed. RESULTS: As a result of the survey on health skills, three groups with different characteristics were clustered: good health skills, middle health skills, and poor health skills. The utilization rate of smart home was the highest was good health skills group (total smart home: 92.7%; entertainment smart home: 61.1%, functional smart home: 77.4%, and health smart home: 75.3%; P < 0.001). For entertainment smart home, smart TV had the highest utilization rate (good health skills: 45.7%; middle health skills: 43.5%, poor health skills: 33.4%, P < 0.001). For functional smart home, smart washing machine (good health skills: 37.7%, middle health skills: 35.11%, poor health skills: 26.5%; P < 0.001) and smart air conditioner (good health skills: 36.0%, middle health skills: 29.1%, poor health skills: 24.6%) were higher than other of this category. For health smart home, sports bracelet has the highest utilization rate (good health skills: 37.3%, middle health skills: 24.5%, poor health skills: 22.8%). CONCLUSION: People can be divided into different categories based on health skill profiles, those with good health skills had a better utilization rate of smart home. The government and smart home companies need to focus on people with poor smart home use in various ways to promote their use of smart homes for personal health management.

Corrigendum: Does Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu).

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.756010.].

Does Influencers Popularity Actually Matter? An Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Influencers on Body Satisfaction and Mood Among Young Chinese Females: The Case of RED (Xiaohongshu).

Many studies have linked idealized body image on social media to negative psychological well-being among young females. However, social media influencers' imagery has not attracted much research attention in either the Western or the Asian context. This study aimed to experimentally investigate the impact of high versus low popular social media influencer images on young Chinese females' body satisfaction and mood. The participants were 420 female RED users (aged 18-35) who were randomly assigned to three groups: (1) the influencer-high group (idealized imagery alongside high engagement metrics); (2) the influencer-low group (the same idealized imagery adjusted for low engagement metrics); or (3) a control set of nature images. The results revealed that the groups exposed to influencer imagery had lower body satisfaction and more negative mood than the control group (nature images). Notably, this comparison showed no significant difference between the low-influencer and high-influencer groups in body satisfaction and mood. Additionally, this effect was moderated by individuals' self-discrepancy between personal ideals and their own bodies. That is, exposure to idealized body images does not always produce harmful effects. For those with lower self-discrepancy, idealized body posts somewhat positively affected their body satisfaction. The current research contributes to the media effect literature by providing critical new insights into the study of body image in the context of China.

Generation of nine iPSC lines (HNMUi002-A, HNMUi003-A, HNMUi004-A, HNMUi005-A, HNMUi006-A, HNMUi007-A, HNMUi008-A, HNMUi009-A, HNMUi010-A) from three Chinese families with thalassemia.

Thalassemia is a group of single-gene recessive inherited hemoglobin disorders caused by a mutation or deletion of one or more globin genes, which results in abnormal globin chain synthesis and hemoglobin formation. In this study, human iPSC lines HNMUi002-A, HNMUi003-A, HNMUi004-A, HNMUi005-A, HNMUi006-A, HNMUi007-A, HNMUi008-A, HNMUi009-A, HNMUi010-A were generated from the amniotic fluid cells or urine-derived cells isolated from 9 patients with thalassemia. The iPSC lines exhibited the normal karyotype, expressed pluripotency markers, and carried α- or ß- globin gene mutations. These pluripotent stem cell lines will serve as useful tools for studying pathophysiological mechanism of thalassemia.

Analysis of the interactive meaning of journalistic images of the human papillomavirus vaccine and the perceptions of female undergraduate students.

OBJECTIVES: This paper focuses on the underlying mechanisms of women's perceptions of persuasive visual health information. METHODS: In the image viewing process, a separation between the image producer and the image viewer occurs, and the connection between the two is fractured. This mixed method research included modal discourse analysis (coding based on visual grammar theory), an eye tracking experiment, a questionnaire survey, and in-depth semi-structured interviews. The interactive meanings of journalistic images related to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine were identified through four sets of codes. In addition, the perceptions of female viewers were analyzed. RESULTS: In the first set of stimuli, i.e., the infographic, the female participants focused most of their attention on information about the nine-valent HPV vaccine. An analysis of the interactive meaning of two sets of journalistic pictures, i.e., fictional pictures and nonfictional pictures, indicated that the image producers did not implement useful viewer involvement strategies to persuade viewers. Furthermore, female viewers focused their attention on the "similar other" during the viewing process, gazing at the patient the longest as the primary area of interest (AOI). CONCLUSIONS: The study indicates that the current persuasive visual information about the HPV vaccine needs further improvement due to the high demand for information about HPV from the Chinese female audience.

Generation of an induced pluripotent stem cell line from chorionic villi of a Patau syndrome spontaneous abortion.

Patau syndrome is a rare congenital malformation syndrome due to the presence of an extra chromosome 13. In this paper, we report the generation of an induced pluripotent stem cell line from the fibroblasts isolated from chorionic villi of an early spontaneously aborted foetus with Patau syndrome. The Patau syndrome villus induced pluripotent stem cell line retains the original trisomy 13 karyotype, expresses pluripotency markers and induces teratoma formation in NOD-SCID mice. This pluripotent stem cell model of Patau syndrome should serve as a tool to study this congenital malformation syndrome.

Ghrelin protects against contact dermatitis and psoriasiform skin inflammation by antagonizing TNF-α/NF-κB signaling pathways.

Contact dermatitis and psoriasis are skin disorders caused by immune dysregulation, yet much remains unknown about their underlying mechanisms. Ghrelin, a recently discovered novel peptide and potential endogenous anti-inflammatory factor expressed in the epidermis, is involved in skin repair and disease. In this study, we investigated the expression pattern and therapeutic effect of ghrelin in both contact dermatitis and psoriasis mouse models induced by oxazolone (OXA) and imiquimod (IMQ), respectively, and in TNF-α-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages, NHEKs and skin fibroblasts. Ghrelin expression was reduced in both the OXA-induced contact dermatitis and IMQ-induced psoriasis mouse models. Furthermore, treatment with ghrelin attenuated skin inflammation in both the contact dermatitis and psoriasis mouse models. Mice administered PBS after OXA- or IMQ-induced model generation exhibited typical skin inflammation, whereas ghrelin treatment in these mouse models substantially decreased the dermatitis phenotype. In addition, exogenous ghrelin attenuated the inflammatory reaction induced by TNF-α in RAW264.7 cells. Moreover, ghrelin administration limited activation of NF-κB signaling. In summary, ghrelin may represent a potential molecular target for the prevention and treatment of inflammatory skin diseases, including contact dermatitis and psoriasis.

Preoperative administration of bevacizumab is safe for patients with colorectal liver metastases.

AIM: To assess the impact of preoperative neoadjuvant bevacizumab (Bev) on the outcome of patients undergoing resection for colorectal liver metastases (CLM). METHODS: Eligible trials were identified from Medline, Embase, Ovid, and the Cochrane database. The data were analyzed with fixed-effects or random-effects models using Review Manager version 5.0. RESULTS: Thirteen nonrandomized studies with a total of 1431 participants were suitable for meta-analysis. There was no difference in overall morbidity and severe complications between the Bev + group and Bev - group (43.3% vs 36.8%, P = 0.06; 17.1% vs 11.4%, P = 0.07, respectively). Bev-related complications including wound and thromboembolic/bleeding events were also similar in the Bev + and Bev - groups (14.4% vs 8.1%, P = 0.21; 4.1% vs 3.8%, P = 0.98, respectively). The incidence and severity of sinusoidal dilation were lower in patients treated with Bev than in patients treated without Bev (43.3% vs 63.7%, P < 0.001; 16.8% vs 46.5%, P < 0.00, respectively). CONCLUSION: Bev can be safely administered before hepatic resection in patients with CLM, and has a protective effect against hepatic injury in patients treated with oxaliplatin chemotherapy.

Does external pancreatic duct stent decrease pancreatic fistula rate after pancreatic resection?: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The use of an external pancreatic duct stent to prevent fistula formation of pancreatic anastomosis remains a matter of debate. This study is a meta-analysis of the available evidence. METHODS: Articles published until the end of March 2011 comparing external stenting and non-stenting in pancreatic anastomosis were included. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and weighted mean differences (WMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using either the fixed effects model or random effects model. RESULTS: Six articles were identified for inclusion: 3 randomized controlled trials and 3 observational clinical studies. The meta-analysis revealed that the use of an external pancreatic duct stent was associated with a statistically significant reduction in overall postoperative morbidity (OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.39-0.81; p = 0.002), pancreatic fistula (OR 0.34; 95% CI 0.23-0.15; p < 0.001), severity of pancreatic fistula (OR 0.70; 95% CI 0.32-1.57; p = 0.04), delayed gastric emptying (OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.25-0.80; p = 0.007), and length of hospital stay (WMD -3.95; 95% CI -6.38 to -1.52; p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The current literature suggests that the use of an external pancreatic duct stent reduced the leakage rate of pancreatic anastomosis after pancreatic resection. and IAP.

Portal venous arterialization resulting in increased portal inflow and portal vein wall thickness in rats.

AIM: To explore the influence of portal vein hemo-dynamic changes after portal venous arterialization (PVA) on peribiliary vascular plexus (PVP) morphological structure and hepatic pathology, and to establish a theoretical basis for the clinical application of PVA. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control and PVA groups. After PVA, hemodynamic changes of the portal vein and morphological structure of hepatohilar PVP were observed using Doppler ultrasound, liver function tests, ink perfusion transparency management and three-dimensional reconstruction of computer microvisualization, and pathological examination was performed on tissue from the bile duct wall and the liver. RESULTS: After PVA, the cross-sectional area and blood flow of the portal vein were increased, and the increase became more significant over time, in a certain range. If the measure to limit the flow in PVA was not adopted, the high blood flow would lead to dilatation of intrahepatic portal vein and its branches, increase in collagen and fiber degeneration in tunica intima. Except glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), other liver function tests were normal. CONCLUSION: Blood with a certain flow and oxygen content is important for filling the PVP and meeting the oxygen requirement of the bile duct wall. After PVA, It is the anatomic basis to maintain normal morphology of hepatohilar bile duct wall that the blood with high oxygen content and high flow in arterialized portal vein may fill PVP by collateral vessel reflux. A adequate measure to limit blood flow is necessary in PVA.

Genetic link between Chaoshan and other Chinese Han populations: Evidence from HLA-A and HLA-B allele frequency distribution.

The genetic polymorphism of HLA-A and HLA-B loci was investigated in 505 Chaoshanese using PCR-SSP method. Among the HLA-A alleles detected, A*11 (35.64%) was most frequent, followed by A*02 (31.78%). Of 34 HLA-B alleles tested, 30 were observed, in which B*60 (21.68%), B*46 (14.46%), and B*58 (10.69%) were highly predominant. Comparison was made with other nine Chinese Han ethnic groups covering the Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The high frequent alleles found in Chaoshanese were also common in other Chinese groups compared though the frequency levels varied from group to group. The phylogenic tree analysis based on the HLA-A and -B allele frequencies of all the 10 Chinese ethnic groups revealed that Chaoshanese, while clustering in general with the southern China-related Han Chinese, had the highest affinity to the Mainland Minnanese, but separated distinctively from the northern Han Chinese. The study, however, was yet to confirm the hypothesis of the Central Plains Han origin of Chaoshanese. Interestingly, the alleles (B*46, B*38, and B*58) and the related haplotypes (A*02-B*46 and A*33-B*58) that are positively associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a disease prevailing predominantly among southern Chinese, were always at much higher frequencies among southern Chinese than among northern Chinese, whereas A*31 and B*13, the two alleles with highly protective effects for NPC, and the associated haplotype A*30-B*13 were predominantly high in northern Chinese. The different genetic background between northern and southern China may explain, at least partially, the prevalence of NPC among southern Chinese.