Ocular candidiasis in a tertiary hospital in Japan: A 10-year single-center retrospective study.

Ocular candidiasis is a major complication of candidemia that is sometimes sight-threatening. Although prompt ophthalmologic consultation and antifungal medication have been emphasized, recent changes in the causative species and drug susceptibilities make the picture unclear. This study aimed to determine whether there are trends among patients with ocular candidiasis and included 80 patients with candidemia who underwent ophthalmological screening at our hospital between 2010 and 2020. Data on the clinical characteristics, comorbidities, biochemical test results, causative Candida species, treatment, outcomes, visual acuity, and antifungal susceptibility were collected and analyzed. Statistical analyses were performed by comparing two groups, namely, the ocular candidiasis (n = 29) and non-ocular candidiasis (n = 51) groups. In the ocular candidiasis group, there were significantly more cases of central venous catheter insertion (82.8%, p = 0.026) and Candida albicans candidemia (72.4%, p < 0.001). Regarding ocular involvement, the majority of patients were asymptomatic. Most cases improved with antifungal therapy, but one case underwent vitrectomy. Between 2016 and 2020, there was a diversification of species, with a decrease in Candida parapsilosis and the emergence of Candida glabrata and Candida tropicalis. Regarding drug susceptibility, the minimum inhibitory concentrations of echinocandin and 5-fluorocytosine against Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, and Candida glabrata were slightly increased. In conclusion, in addition to appropriately performing ophthalmologic examinations, it is beneficial to select antifungal agents according to the diversity of species and drug susceptibilities.

Using a Rotating 3D LiDAR on a Mobile Robot for Estimation of Person's Body Angle and Gender.

We studied the use of a rotating multi-layer 3D Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) sensor (specifically the Velodyne HDL-32E) mounted on a social robot for the estimation of features of people around the robot. While LiDARs are often used for robot self-localization and people tracking, we were interested in the possibility of using them to estimate the people's features (states or attributes), which are important in human-robot interaction. In particular, we tested the estimation of the person's body orientation and their gender. As collecting data in the real world and labeling them is laborious and time consuming, we also looked into other ways for obtaining data for training the estimators: using simulations, or using LiDAR data collected in the lab. We trained convolutional neural network-based estimators and tested their performance on actual LiDAR measurements of people in a public space. The results show that with a rotating 3D LiDAR a usable estimate of the body angle can indeed be achieved (mean absolute error 33.5 ° ), and that using simulated data for training the estimators is effective. For estimating gender, the results are satisfactory (accuracy above 80%) when the person is close enough; however, simulated data do not work well and training needs to be done on actual people measurements.

Recognition of Rare Low-Moral Actions Using Depth Data.

Detecting and recognizing low-moral actions in public spaces is important. But low-moral actions are rare, so in order to learn to recognize a new low-moral action in general we need to rely on a limited number of samples. In order to study the recognition of actions from a comparatively small dataset, in this work we introduced a new dataset of human actions consisting in large part of low-moral behaviors. In addition, we used this dataset to test the performance of a number of classifiers, which used either depth data or extracted skeletons. The results show that both depth data and skeleton based classifiers were able to achieve similar classification accuracy on this dataset (Top-1: around 55%, Top-5: around 90%). Also, using transfer learning in both cases improved the performance.

Results and Prognostic Factors for Visual Outcome Following Micro Incision Vitrectomy Surgery in Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: To evaluate outcome of micro incision vitrectomy surgery (MIVS) for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Methods: One hundred seventy three eyes with PDR that underwent primary MIVS were classified into 3 groups by preoperative complications; group A consisted of 56 eyes with only vitreous hemorrhage (VH), group B was 97 eyes with retinal detachment (RD) outside the macula, and group C was 20 eyes with RD both in and out of the macular area. Perioperative factors and visual outcome were compared between 3 groups. Results: Visual acuity (VA) improved in 117 eyes (68%), remained unchanged in 37 eyes (21%), and deteriorated in 19 eyes (11%). Postoperative VA was improved or not changed in 96% of group A, 88% of group B, and 75% of group C. Postoperative complications were VH (21%), neovascular glaucoma (6%), and RD (5%). Preoperative ocular hypertension, operation time, iatrogenic tear, tamponade, and postoperative complications were significantly more in unimproved eyes, and multivariable analysis revealed preoperative ocular hypertension (odds ratio=5.1) and RD (odds ratio=4.1) as factors of poor postoperative VA. Conclusion: MIVS is effective for treatment of PDR, but visual outcome resulted from the preoperative conditions.

Surgical Treatment of Neovascular Glaucoma Secondary to Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy in Japanese Patients without the Use of Glaucoma Drainage Devices.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate outcomes of visual acuity (VA) and intraocular pressure (IOP) in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR)-associated neovascular glaucoma (NVG) in Japanese patients treated with surgical therapies without the use of glaucoma drainage devices. Methods: A retrospective analysis of medical records was conducted for 31 consecutive PDR-associated NVG patients who underwent surgical treatments in our institution between 2013 and 2022. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, VA, and IOP were recorded at the first and last visits, and surgical procedures, including pars plana vitrectomy with extensive panretinal and ciliary photocoagulation (PPV-PRCP), diode laser trans-scleral cyclophotocoagulation (DCPC), and trabeculectomy with mitomycin C (TLE-MMC), with or without a prior intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injection, were reviewed. Results: Of the thirty-one PDR patients with NVG, two patients received PPV-PRCP or DCPC alone (6.5%), respectively, three patients received TLE-MMC alone (9.7%), two patients received TLE-MMC after IVB (6.5%), six patients received PPV-PRCP and TLE-MMC (19.4%), seven patients received PPV-PRCP and TLE-MMC after IVB (22.6%), five patients received PPV-PRCP and DCPC and TLE-MMC (16.1%), and four patients received PPV-PRCP and DCPC and TLE-MMC after IVB (12.9%). The VA of two patients (6.5%) deteriorated to no light perception. In all patients, the mean logMAR VA was 1.28 ± 1.05 at the first visit and remained at 1.26 ± 1.08 at the last visit, with no significant change; the mean IOP was 33.0 ± 15.2 mmHg at the initial visit and decreased significantly to 14.0 ± 7.4 mmHg at the last visit. The number of eyes with IOP ≥ 21 decreased from twenty-eight (90.3%) to three (9.7%). Although IOP in patients with IOP > 30 mmHg at the initial visit reduced to a level comparable to that of patients with IOP ≤ 30 mmHg, the IOP > 30 mmHg group received IVB more frequently and had significantly higher logMAR VA at the last visit compared to the IOP ≤ 30 mmHg group. Hypotony (<6 mmHg) was observed in four eyes (12.9%). Conclusions: In PDR patients with NVG, various combinations of PPV-PRCP, DCPC, and TLE-MMC after adjunctive IVB without the use of glaucoma drainage devices lowered IOP sufficiently; for these patients, neovascular regression was observed, with no further deterioration of VA. However, surgical procedures should be performed for PDR patients with NVG before visual impairment occurs. On the other hand, approximately less than 15% of patients developed blindness or low IOP.

Three- and 4-year-old children's response tendencies to various interviewers.

Unlike young preschoolers, older preschoolers may exhibit a response bias under social pressure from authoritative interviewers. To examine this, 3- and 4-year-old preschoolers were asked yes-no questions about familiar and unfamiliar objects in three conditions. In one condition an adult asked them questions in a live interaction, in a second condition an adult asked questions via video, and in a third condition a robot asked questions via video. The 3-year-olds exhibited a yes bias-a tendency to say "yes"-in nearly all conditions. The only exception was when they were asked questions about unfamiliar objects by the human interviewer via video, where they did not respond in a biased manner. The 4-year-olds exhibited a yes bias in only one condition-when they were questioned by a live human interviewer about both objects. They also exhibited a nay-saying bias when asked questions about unfamiliar objects in both video conditions, and they did not show any response bias in other conditions. The results suggest that the social pressure from an authoritative adult in a live interaction is problematic.

Infants understand the referential nature of human gaze but not robot gaze.

Infants can acquire much information by following the gaze direction of others. This type of social learning is underpinned by the ability to understand the relationship between gaze direction and a referent object (i.e., the referential nature of gaze). However, it is unknown whether human gaze is a privileged cue for information that infants use. Comparing human gaze with nonhuman (robot) gaze, we investigated whether infants' understanding of the referential nature of looking is restricted to human gaze. In the current study, we developed a novel task that measured by eye-tracking infants' anticipation of an object from observing an agent's gaze shift. Results revealed that although 10- and 12-month-olds followed the gaze direction of both a human and a robot, only 12-month-olds predicted the appearance of objects from referential gaze information when the agent was the human. Such a prediction for objects reflects an understanding of referential gaze. Our study demonstrates that by 12 months of age, infants hold referential expectations specifically from the gaze shift of humans. These specific expectations from human gaze may enable infants to acquire various information that others convey in social learning and social interaction.

Hey Robot, Tell It to Me Straight: How Different Service Strategies Affect Human and Robot Service Outcomes.

With robots already entering simple service tasks in shops, it is important to understand how robots should perform customer service to increase customer satisfaction. We investigate two methods of customer service we theorize are better suited for robots than human shopkeepers: straight communication and data-driven communication. Along with an additional, more traditional customer service style, we compare these methods of customer service performed by a robot, to a human performing the same service styles in 3 online studies with over 1300 people. We find that while traditional customer service styles are best suited for human shopkeepers, robot shopkeepers using straight or data driven customer service styles increase customer satisfaction, make customers feel more informed, and feel more natural than when a human uses them. Our work highlights the need for investigating robot-specific best practices for customer service, but also for social interaction at large, as simply duplicating typical human-human interaction may not produce the best results for a robot.

Social aspects of collision avoidance: a detailed analysis of two-person groups and individual pedestrians.

Pedestrian groups are commonly found in crowds but research on their social aspects is comparatively lacking. To fill that void in literature, we study the dynamics of collision avoidance between pedestrian groups (in particular dyads) and individual pedestrians in an ecological environment, focusing in particular on (i) how such avoidance depends on the group's social relation (e.g. colleagues, couples, friends or families) and (ii) its intensity of social interaction (indicated by conversation, gaze exchange, gestures etc). By analyzing relative collision avoidance in the "center of mass" frame, we were able to quantify how much groups and individuals avoid each other with respect to the aforementioned properties of the group. A mathematical representation using a potential energy function is proposed to model avoidance and it is shown to provide a fair approximation to the empirical observations. We also studied the probability that the individuals disrupt the group by "passing through it" (termed as intrusion). We analyzed the dependence of the parameters of the avoidance model and of the probability of intrusion on groups' social relation and intensity of interaction. We confirmed that the stronger social bonding or interaction intensity is, the more prominent collision avoidance turns out. We also confirmed that the probability of intrusion is a decreasing function of interaction intensity and strength of social bonding. Our results suggest that such variability should be accounted for in models and crowd management in general. Namely, public spaces with strongly bonded groups (e.g. a family-oriented amusement park) may require a different approach compared to public spaces with loosely bonded groups (e.g. a business-oriented trade fair).

Epidemiology and characteristics of common forms of anterior uveitis at initial presentation in a tertiary facility in Japan.

PURPOSE: To elucidate detailed epidemiological profile of common types of anterior uveitis (AU) in real-world clinical setting of a tertiary facility in Japan, and to evaluate the characteristic clinical findings at initial presentation. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. METHODS: Clinical charts of 275 patients (335 eyes) aged 52.5 ± 19.1 years were reviewed retrospectively. Herpetic AU was diagnosed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction tests using aqueous humor. Time of uveitis onset, gender, laterality, disease course since the initial onset of AU, visual acuity (VA) and intraocular pressure (IOP) at first visit, and definitive diagnosis were collected from clinical charts. RESULTS: Acute AU (AAU) was the most common (21.8%) form of AU; followed by herpetic AU (20.7%) comprising Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) (8.0%), Varicella Zoster Virus (VZV) (9.1%) and cytomegalo virus (CMV) (3.6%); scleritis (13.5%); diabetic iritis (7.6%), and Posner-Schlossman syndrome (5.5%). Unilateral AU constituted 78.2%, and VA less than 20/30 accounted for 31.2%. Of all the eyes, 16.1% had an IOP higher than 20 mmHg, out of which 37.0% had herpetic AU, followed by scleritis in 25.9%, and Posner-Schlossman syndrome (PSS) in 11.1%. AU patients over 60 years of age were 40.4%, in which 34.2% had herpetic AU, followed by scleritis in 14.4% and AAU in 13.5%. Herpetic AU patients were significantly older and had higher IOP compared with AAU patients. CONCLUSION: The most frequent AU was AAU, followed by herpetic AU. Herpetic AU patients were older and had higher intraocular pressure than AAU patients, although VA was equally impaired in both groups.

Risk Factors for Legal Blindness in 77 Japanese Patients with Endogenous Endophthalmitis: A Multicenter Cohort Study from J-CREST.

PURPOSE: We investigated potential predictive factors for visual prognosis in Japanese patients with endogenous endophthalmitis. DESIGN: Retrospective observational multicenter cohort study. METHODS: We examined the characteristics of 77 Japanese patients with endogenous endophthalmitis and performed statistical analyses of these real-world data. The primary endpoint was the identification of factors associated with visual prognosis. We examined differences between patients in the better vision and legal blindness groups at 12 weeks after treatment initiation. RESULTS: The five risk factors for visual impairment at 12 weeks after treatment initiation were presence of pressure injuries, severe clinical symptoms (presence of eye pain and ciliary injection), pathogen identification, and poor best-corrected visual acuity at baseline. Staphylococcus aureus and fungus were associated with a better visual impairment outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Endogenous endophthalmitis remains a severe ocular infection; however, it can be managed with rapid treatments, as well as other advances in medical knowledge and technology.

Risk Factors for Legal Blindness in 237 Japanese Patients with Exogenous Endophthalmitis: A Multicenter Cohort Study from J-CREST.

PURPOSE: We investigated potential risk factors for visual prognosis in Japanese patients with exogenous endophthalmitis. METHODS: In this retrospective observational multicenter cohort study, risk factors for legal blindness at 12 weeks after treatment initiation were evaluated based on patient characteristics, initial BCVA, causative events, pathogens, ocular symptoms, duration from symptom onset to initial treatment, and selected treatments. RESULTS: Overall, 23.1% of eyes developed legal blindness. The six risk factors for legal blindness were presence of eye pain, pathogen identification, poor BCVA at the initial visit, longer duration from symptom onset to initial treatment, type of causative event, and type of causative pathogen. Regarding the type of causative pathogen, coagulase-negative staphylococci was associated with a better visual impairment outcome. CONCLUSION: Exogenous endophthalmitis remains a severe ocular infection; however, it can be managed with rapid treatment, as well as other advances in medical knowledge and technology.

[A case of neuromyelitis optica presenting ileus as a neurologic finding].

PURPOSE: To report an atypical case of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) with Sjögren syndrome that presented only ileus as a neurologic finding. CASE: A thirty two-year-old woman was hospitalized for abnormal abdominal symptoms, and was diagnosed as having paralytic ileus. Dry eye symptoms due to Sjogren syndrome were also observed, and visual acuity OU decreased suddenly 10 days after hospitalization. The best corrected visual acuity was 0.04 OD and 0.6 OS, and the optic discs OU were swollen and red. Although no neurologic signs were found, pleocytosis and abnormal MRI findings suggested NMO. Steroid pulse therapy was performed, and after three cycles, the ileus symptoms disappeared, and the disturbed visual acuity OU returned to normal. Because the anti-aquaporin 4 antibody was positive and no abnormal abdominal findings that might have caused ileus were found, we diagnosed NMO presenting only paralytic ileus as a neurologic finding. CONCLUSIONS: Differential diagnosis is important for NMO initiated by ileus as the only neurologic sign.

A Case of Atypical Unilateral Optic Neuritis Following BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination.

BACKGROUND: We report a case of atypical unilateral optic neuritis after receiving the BNT162b2 mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine. CASE PRESENTATION: An 86-year-old man complained of blurred vision and decreased visual acuity in his right eye 8 days after receiving the second BNT162b2 mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine and was referred to our hospital. He also had pain with eye movement. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in the right eye was 20/200 and critical flicker frequency dropped to 16 Hz. Relative afferent pupillary defect was positive and central scotomas were observed on visual field analysis. Fundus examination and SD-OCT revealed optic disc swelling and apparent thickening of the retinal nerve fiber layer around the optic disc in the right eye. Although either an increase in CRP or ESR on laboratory tests, demyelinating lesion on MRI, or positive of anti-MOG antibodies or anti-AQP4 antibodies were not observed, fluorescein angiography presented only hyperfluorescence of the optic disc in the right eye, but there were no findings such as papillary deficiency and choroidal delay that would suggest ischemic optic neuropathy. We diagnosed atypical optic neuritis developed after the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-based vaccination and initiated oral corticosteroid therapy. One month later, the optic disc swelling disappeared and BCVA improved to 20/100; however, the central scotoma remained and no further improvement in visual function OD was obtained. CONCLUSIONS: An atypical acute idiopathic optic neuritis can occur after receiving the second vaccination with BNT162b2, which may present a limited response to corticosteroid therapy.

Inflammatory Factors of Macular Atrophy in Eyes With Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treated With Aflibercept.

Background: Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) is a leading cause of blindness in older people. Low-grade inflammation is well-known as one of the pathogenic mechanisms in nAMD. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy is the first-line treatment for nAMD, although macula atrophy (MA) developed under anti-VEGF therapy causes irreversible visual function impairment and is recognized as a serious disorder. Here, we show specific expression patterns of aqueous humor (AH) cytokines in nAMD eyes developing MA under intravitreal injection of aflibercept (IVA) as an anti-VEGF antibody and present predictive cytokines as biomarkers for the incidence of MA in nAMD eyes under IVA treatment. Methods: Twenty-eight nAMD patients received three consecutive monthly IVA, followed by a pro re nata regimen for 2 years. AH specimens were collected before first IVA (pre-IVA) and before third IVA (post-IVA). AH cytokine levels, visual acuity (VA), and central retinal thickness (CRT) were measured. Results: Two-year incidence of MA was 21.4%. In nAMD eyes developing MA [MA (+) group], pre-IVA levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1ß, VEGF and post-IVA level of MCP-1 were higher than those in nAMD eyes without MA [MA (-) group]. In hierarchical cluster analysis, pre-IVA MCP-1 and VEGF were grouped into the same subcluster, as were post-IVA MCP-1 and CRT. In principal component analysis, principal component loading (PCL) of pre-IVA interferon-γ-inducible protein 10 (IP-10) was 0.61, but PCL of post-IVA IP-10 decreased to -0.09. In receiver operating characteristic analysis and Kaplan-Meier curves, pre-IVA MCP-1, MIP-1ß, and VEGF and post-IVA interleukin-6, MCP-1, and MIP-1ß were detected as predictive factors for MA incidence. In 2-year clinical course, changes of VA in groups with high levels of pre-IVA MIP-1ß (over 39.9 pg/ml) and VEGF (over 150.4 pg/ml) were comparable to those in MA (+) group. Conclusion: Substantial loss of IP-10 effects and persistent inflammation contribute to incidence of MA, and screening of AH cytokine levels could be a useful method to predict MA incidence in nAMD eyes under anti-VEGF therapy.

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes in 314 Japanese Patients with Bacterial Endophthalmitis: A Multicenter Cohort Study from J-CREST.

Bacterial endophthalmitis is an intraocular infection that causes rapid vison loss. Pathogens can infect the intraocular space directly (exogenous endophthalmitis (ExE)) or indirectly (endogenous endophthalmitis (EnE)). To identify predictive factors for the visual prognosis of Japanese patients with bacterial endophthalmitis, we retrospectively examined the bacterial endophthalmitis characteristics of 314 Japanese patients and performed statistics using these clinical data. Older patients, with significantly more severe clinical symptoms, were prevalent in the ExE group compared with the EnE group. However, the final best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was not significantly different between the ExE and EnE groups. Bacteria isolated from patients were not associated with age, sex, or presence of eye symptoms. Genus Streptococcus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Enterococcus were more prevalent in ExE patients than EnE patients and contributed to poor final BCVA. The presence of eye pain, bacterial identification, and poor BCVA at baseline were risk factors for final visual impairment.

Children perseverate to a human's actions but not to a robot's actions.

Previous research has shown that young children commit perseverative errors from their observation of another person's actions. The present study examined how social observation would lead children to perseverative tendencies, using a robot. In Experiment 1, preschoolers watched either a human model or a robot sorting cards according to one dimension (e.g. shape), after which they were asked to sort according to a different dimension (e.g. colour). The results showed that children's behaviours in the task were significantly influenced by the human model's actions but not by the robot's actions. Experiment 2 excluded the possibility that children's behaviours were not affected by the robot's actions because they did not observe its actions. We concluded that children's perseverative errors from social observation resulted, in part, from their socio-cognitive ability.

A Case of Meningeal Carcinomatosis Due to Signet-Ring Cell Carcinoma That Developed Severe Visual Impairment with Papillary Swelling.

PURPOSE: To report a case of meningeal carcinomatosis by metastasis of signet-ring cell carcinoma resulting in severe visual impairment. CASE PRESENTATION: A 49-year-old man visited our hospital complaining of blurred vision in his left eye since 2 months ago. There was no particular history. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 25/20 in the right eye and 20/20 in the left eye. Papillary swelling in both eyes and disc hemorrhage in the left eye were observed. Gradually, the frequency of dizziness increased, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suggested ventricular enlargement, infiltration around the optic nerve, and meningeal carcinomatosis. Increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure was found, and metastatic adenocarcinoma cells were observed by cerebrospinal fluid cytology. A gastroduodenal biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with signet-ring cells. Visual acuity at the final visit was 4/200 in both eyes. CONCLUSION: If papillary swelling is observed in both eyes, meningeal carcinomatosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis.

A Robot Is Not Worth Another: Exploring Children's Mental State Attribution to Different Humanoid Robots.

Recent technological developments in robotics has driven the design and production of different humanoid robots. Several studies have highlighted that the presence of human-like physical features could lead both adults and children to anthropomorphize the robots. In the present study we aimed to compare the attribution of mental states to two humanoid robots, NAO and Robovie, which differed in the degree of anthropomorphism. Children aged 5, 7, and 9 years were required to attribute mental states to the NAO robot, which presents more human-like characteristics compared to the Robovie robot, whose physical features look more mechanical. The results on mental state attribution as a function of children's age and robot type showed that 5-year-olds have a greater tendency to anthropomorphize robots than older children, regardless of the type of robot. Moreover, the findings revealed that, although children aged 7 and 9 years attributed a certain degree of human-like mental features to both robots, they attributed greater mental states to NAO than Robovie compared to younger children. These results generally show that children tend to anthropomorphize humanoid robots that also present some mechanical characteristics, such as Robovie. Nevertheless, age-related differences showed that they should be endowed with physical characteristics closely resembling human ones to increase older children's perception of human likeness. These findings have important implications for the design of robots, which also needs to consider the user's target age, as well as for the generalizability issue of research findings that are commonly associated with the use of specific types of robots.

Intrinsic group behaviour II: On the dependence of triad spatial dynamics on social and personal features; and on the effect of social interaction on small group dynamics.

In a follow-up to our work on the dependence of walking dyad dynamics on intrinsic properties of the group, we now analyse how these properties affect groups of three people (triads), taking also in consideration the effect of social interaction on the dynamical properties of the group. We show that there is a strong parallel between triads and dyads. Work-oriented groups are faster and walk at a larger distance between them than leisure-oriented ones, while the latter move in a less ordered way. Such differences are present also when colleagues are contrasted with friends and families; nevertheless the similarity between friend and colleague behaviour is greater than the one between family and colleague behaviour. Male triads walk faster than triads including females, males keep a larger distance than females, and same gender groups are more ordered than mixed ones. Groups including tall people walk faster, while those with elderly or children walk at a slower pace. Groups including children move in a less ordered fashion. Results concerning relation and gender are particularly strong, and we investigated whether they hold also when other properties are kept fixed. While this is clearly true for relation, patterns relating gender often resulted to be diminished. For instance, the velocity difference due to gender is reduced if we compare only triads in the colleague relation. The effects on group dynamics due to intrinsic properties are present regardless of social interaction, but socially interacting groups are found to walk in a more ordered way. This has an opposite effect on the space occupied by non-interacting dyads and triads, since loss of structure makes dyads larger, but causes triads to lose their characteristic V formation and walk in a line (i.e., occupying more space in the direction of movement but less space in the orthogonal one).