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Depth maps acquired with ToF cameras have a limited accuracy due to the high noise level and to the multi-path interference. Deep networks can be used for refining ToF depth, but their training requires real world acquisitions with ground truth, which is complex and expensive to collect. A possible workaround is to train networks on synthetic data, but the domain shift between the real and synthetic data reduces the performances. In this paper, we propose three approaches to perform unsupervised domain adaptation of a depth denoising network from synthetic to real data. These approaches are respectively acting at the input, at the feature and at the output level of the network. The first approach uses domain translation networks to transform labeled synthetic ToF data into a representation closer to real data, that is then used to train the denoiser. The second approach tries to align the network internal features related to synthetic and real data. The third approach uses an adversarial loss, implemented with a discriminator trained to recognize the ground truth statistic, to train the denoiser on unlabeled real data. Experimental results show that the considered approaches are able to outperform other state-of-the-art techniques and achieve superior denoising performances.

Native to the Ponto-Caspian region, the benthic round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) has invaded several European inland waterbodies as well as the North American Great Lakes and the Baltic Sea. The species is capable of reaching very high densities in the invaded ecosystems, with not only evidence for significant food-web effects on the native biota and habitats, but also negative implications to coastal fishers. Although generally considered a coastal species, it has been shown that round goby migrate to deeper areas of the Great Lakes and other inland lakes during the cold season. Such seasonal movements may create new spatio-temporal ecosystem consequences in invaded systems. To seek evidence for seasonal depth distribution in coastal marine habitats, we compiled all available catch data for round goby in the Baltic Sea since its invasion and until 2017. We furthermore related the depths at capture for each season with the ambient thermal environment. The round goby spend autumn and winter at significantly deeper and offshore areas compared to spring and summer months; few fish were captured at depths 25 m. The thermal conditions at which round goby were caught varied significantly between seasons, being on average 18.3 °C during summer, and dropping to a low 3.8 °C during winter months. Overall, the fish sought the depths within each season with the highest possible temperatures. The spatial distribution of the round goby substantially overlaps with that of its main and preferred prey (mussels) and with that of its competitor for food (flatfish), but only moderately with the coastal predatory fish (perch), indicating thereby very complex trophic interactions associated with this invasion. Further investigations should aim at quantifying the food web consequences and coupling effects between different habitats related to seasonal migrations of the round goby, both in terms of the species as a competitor, predator and prey.

Background: Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is one of the helpful tools to diagnose depth of early gastric cancer (EGC). In this study, we examined efficiencies of EUS for EGC such as overall accuracy, risk factors of over/under-staging, and accuracies of each invasive distance. Methods: A total of 403 EGC lesions that could be investigated by EUS during pre-operation and histological diagnosis after endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) or surgery were enrolled in this study. For the 403 cases, we analyzed the accuracies of depth by conventional endoscopy (CE) and EUS retrospectively. We evaluated the clinical survey items of CE and EUS which will be described later to compare the differences between “accuracy group” and “over-staging group”, and between “accuracy group” and “under-staging group”, retrospectively. Additionally, 78 EGC lesions which were confined to the submucosa and for which it was possible to measure accurate invasive distance from the muscularis mucosae were examined for the relationship between preoperative diagnosis of depth by CE and EUS and invasive distance retrospectively. Results: The overall accuracies of both CE and EUS in predicting EGC invasion depth were 87.3%. For CE staging, histological classification was the factor which influenced over-staging. Gastric regions and tumor area were the factors which influenced under-staging of CE. For EUS staging, tumor area was the factor which influenced over-staging, and gastric regions were the factors which influenced under-staging. Both CE and EUS were not sufficient for predicting the lesions confined to < 500 µm from the muscularis mucosae because the accuracies of both in predicting depth were less than 50%. However, EUS has a higher accuracy than CE for the lesions confined to 500 - 2,000 µm. Conclusions: The overall accuracies of both CE and EUS in predicting EGC invasion depth were equal, but the contributing factors for over/under-staging were different. Both CE and EUS are not sufficient at present to predict the lesions confined to < 500 µm from the muscularis mucosae. However, the accuracy of EUS in predicting them may increase if high-performance EUS systems are developed in the future. J Clin Med Res. 2021;13(4):222-229 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jocmr4465

Background: The assessment and classification of burin severity and extent is very important for proper treatment. A computer system to assess burns seems to be crucial for the determination of fluid and nutritional requirements. The aim of the work: The objectives of this work are to design a computer system to assess and classify burns according to burn depth and extent and to implement the designed system for the assessment of fluid and nutritional needs using a database system for the automation of the entire process. Then test the computer system in reality through clinical application of the system on fifty patients with acute burn injury. Patients and Methods:This study was divided into two parts: Development of a burn management computer system [BMS]to facilitate the process of documentation, classification, and management of acute burn patients. The BMS contains three subsystems: Database, Classification, and Management subsystems. The second part was the clinical application of the system on fifty patients to test the efficacy, accuracy, and applicability of this system in comparison to the traditional method used at our unit. Results:Clinical application of the BMS has showed a reduction in the burn percentage calculation with 7.36%. It also decreased the amount of fluid calculated automatically by the system by about 7.28%, while the reduction in nutrition calculated automatically by the BMS was about 2.7%. Burn Management System has showed an overall shorter time in dealing with the cases. Conclusion: Clinical application of the BMS showed an accurate estimation of the burn percent, accurate and rapid calculation of resuscitation fluids and nutritional needs, and easy electronic documentation of patients’ data that required a minimal effort.

A new method for generating 3D images using both disparity parameters due to the color filtered aperture (CFA) and depth alignment of the multi-plane images for an acquired 2D image using a novel computational imaging system is presented. A CFA is created using add-on red, green, and blue color filters in front of the objective lens for a conventional 2D camera system. The multiple plane images are computed using various image regions identified by 2.1D sketch and the corresponding inter-region depth information with the aid of color disparities caused in the acquired 2D image. Our emphasis is to handle possible occlusions in single 2D image regions due to various object features for the acquired scene using ordered multiple plane images and to generate a 3D image by exploiting the order existing in the computed multiple plane images and compositing the region with aligned inter-image region depth information. The simulation and analysis demonstrate the elegance of the 3D image generation. Ultimately, the proposed computational imaging system is not only cost-effective but also an alternative to the stereo-based imaging system, which is not suited for ophthalmic or endoscopic imaging applications.

Aim The aim of this prospective cohort study was to assess the effect of a pocket irrigator/evacuator device (IED) in the non-surgical treatment of peri-implantitis. Material and Methods In total 24 patients having 38 implants diagnosed with peri-implantitis were included in this study. Peri-implant pockets were irrigated six times in three consecutive weeks. The primary outcome was bleeding on probing (BoP). Secondary outcome parameters included plaque index (Pl), suppuration on probing (SoP), probing pocket depth (PPD), marginal bone loss (MBL), presence and numbers of periodontal pathogens. Parameters were assessed at baseline and 3 months after the last treatment. Treatment pain perception was scored using the visual analog scale (VAS) after the first and last treatment. Results At 3 months, IED treatment revealed significant reduction of peri-implant BoP (71% [+/- 20] vs 57% [+/- 28] [P = .014]) and peri-implant plaque scores (10 [+/- 14] to 5 [+/- 9] [P = .039] [T0 vs T3 respectively]). Significant reduction in mean peri-implant PPD from 4.92 mm (SD +/- 1.28) to 4.66 mm (SD +/- 1.35) (P = .041) was observed. In addition, a reduction in VAS pain score between the first and the last (6th) treatment was found (P = .039). No reduction in SoP (P = .088) was found. No changes in mean periodontal full mouth plaque, BOP, SOP and PPD levels, MBL and microbiological outcomes were found. Conclusion Beneficial clinical effects in terms of BoP, PPD and PI were found at 3 months after IED treatment. However, the IED does not seem to effectively treat peri-implantitis in terms of disease resolution.

The increased availability of ultra-high field scanners provides an opportunity to perform fMRI at sub-millimeter spatial scales and enables in vivo probing of laminar function in the human brain. In most previous studies, the definition of cortical layers, or depths, is based on an anatomical reference image that is collected by a different acquisition sequence and exhibits different geometric distortion compared to the functional images. Here, we propose to generate the anatomical image with the fMRI acquisition technique by incorporating magnetization transfer (MT) weighted imaging. Small flip angle binomial pulse trains are used as MT preparation, with a flexible duration (several to tens of milliseconds), which can be applied before each EPI segment without constraining the acquisition length (segment or slice number). The method's feasibility was demonstrated at 7T for coverage of either a small slab or the near-whole brain at 0.8 mm isotropic resolution. Tissue contrast was found to be similar to that obtained with a state-of-art anatomical reference based on MP2RAGE. This MT-weighted EPI image allows an automatic reconstruction of the cortical surface to support laminar analysis in native fMRI space, obviating the need for distortion correction and registration.

Coastal waters are highly productive and diverse ecosystems, often dominated by marine submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and strongly affected by a range of human pressures. Due to their important ecosystem functions, for decades, both researchers and managers have investigated changes in SAV abundance and growth dynamics to understand linkages to human perturbations. In European coastal waters, monitoring of marine SAV communities traditionally combines diver observations and/or video recordings to determine, for example, spatial coverage and species composition. While these techniques provide very useful data, they are rather time consuming, labor-intensive, and limited in their spatial coverage. In this study, we compare traditional and emerging remote sensing technologies used to monitor marine SAV, which include satellite and occupied aircraft operations, aerial drones, and acoustics. We introduce these techniques and identify their main strengths and limitations. Finally, we provide recommendations for researchers and managers to choose the appropriate techniques for future surveys and monitoring programs. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:892-908. © 2021 SETAC.

Background Infra-acetabular screws enhance the fixation strength in acetabular fractures with separation of both columns. Placement without iatrogenic femoral head violation is challenging. Purpose To assess the impact of the acetabular configuration, the patients’ age and gender on safe infra-acetabulum screw insertion. Methods In 112 patients (69 females; mean age: 34 years, range 17–88; n = 200 hips), the lateral center–edge angle (LCE) was measured on radiographs. Using corresponding axial CT scans the residual distance from (the lateral border) of the screw to (the medial border of) the femoral head (“Screw-to-Femoral Head distance”; “RD_SFH”) was determined. Statistical analysis was carried out using linear regression, multiple linear regression and normal distribution estimation. Results The mean (range) LCE angle was 30° (7°–51°) and the mean (range) “RD_SFH” was 5 mm (1–14 mm). The linear regression model shows a significant linear relation between LCE and “RD_SFH” with a slope parameter of − 0.15 (p value p value 0.85). Compared to male patients, in females, the intercept is 4.62 mm (p value 0.0005) less, the slope parameter is 0.09 (p value 0.029) larger. Conclusion The virtual possibility to place an infra-acetabular screw was given in all patients. An increasing depth of the acetabulum correlated with a decrease in residual distances. As hip joint cartilage thickness was not considered in measurements, intraoperative rule-out of screw mispositioning especially in deep acetabular sockets and females is still of utmost importance.

Purpose. Early squamous cell neoplasia (ESCN) in the oesophagus is a highly treatable condition. Lesions confined to the mucosal layer can be curatively treated endoscopically. We build a computer-assisted detection (CADe) system that can classify still images or video frames as normal or abnormal with high diagnostic accuracy. Methods. We present a new benchmark dataset containing 68K binary labeled frames extracted from 114 patient videos whose imaged areas have been resected and correlated to histopathology. Our novel convolutional network (CNN) architecture solves the binary classification task and explains what features of the input domain drive the decision-making process of the network. Results. The proposed method achieved an average accuracy of 91.7 % compared to the 94.7 % achieved by a group of 12 senior clinicians. Our novel network architecture produces deeply supervised activation heatmaps that suggest the network is looking at intrapapillary capillary loop (IPCL) patterns when predicting abnormality. Conclusion. We believe that this dataset and baseline method may serve as a reference for future benchmarks on both video frame classification and explainability in the context of ESCN detection. A future work path of high clinical relevance is the extension of the classification to ESCN types., Accepted by IJCARS

Background and Objectives It is difficult to estimate the depth of the focal source by activation mapping. The present study was performed to demonstrate the usefulness of a simple maneuver in estimating the depth of the focal activation source (S). Methods A total of 44 sites (15 shallow, depth5.5 mm) were analyzed in 3 canine left ventricles under general anesthesia. A custom-made bipolar needle electrode was used to simulate a focal activation source. A mapping catheter with an electrode tip size of 2 mm, band electrode size of 1 mm, and inter-electrode spacing of 2-10-2 mm was placed at the mapping area. The position of the center of the distal 2 electrodes was kept at the insertion site of the needle electrode. The time interval between distal and proximal electrodes of the mapping catheter (Ttachy) was measured during needle electrode pacing. The time interval between distal and proximal electrodes (Tpace) was measured during pacing with distal electrodes of a mapping catheter. Depth index (δ) was defined as Ttachy/Tpace. Using in vivo data, simulation was performed to evaluate the depth and δ. Results Ttachy was 24±7.7 ms and 15±5.6 ms for shallow source and deep source simulation, respectively (p5.5 mm. Conclusions Ttachy was shorter and δ was smaller for a deep S than for a shallow S.

International audience; Viewing a scene on a screen display differs greatly from viewing it in the real world. The visual information is conveyed via a flat screen at a fixed distance, and this screen distance can influence how viewers perceive depth in stereograms in conventional stereoscopic displays. This study investigated whether screen distance influences perceived depth in Virtual Reality (VR) systems providing additional motion parallax information. Participants adjusted the depth of a vertical dihedron displayed as a random-dot stere-ogram. In a first experiment, the stimulus was presented either alone in a gray untextured background or in a cue-rich environment. We found that despite the extra motion parallax information in VR systems compared to conventional stereo-displays, physical screen distance still affected depth perception substantially at longer simulated distances. However, the effect lessened when observers were immersed in a rich and structured environment, possibly allowing them to use other depth cues. A second experiment assessed the influence of potentially potent display-related factors (resolution, display orientation, luminance non-uniformity, and specular reflection), as well as the effect of accommodation-vergence (A-V) conflict size. Depth perception was compared between a Head-Mounted Display (HMD) and an L-shaped system, and between a CAVE and an L-shaped system. These comparisons between CAVE-like VR systems and HMDs revealed that A-V conflict and inclusion of a rich environment were the major factors impacting depth perception. These results have practical and methodological implications for the reliable use of VR systems, especially where accurate depth-matching is involved.

Bayrakdar, M. Enes/0000-0001-9446-0988 WOS: 000503399200083 Wireless underground sensor networks are the new area of research. It is widely used in many engineering applications, from smart irrigation to security and precision agriculture. Some of the application areas of wireless underground sensor networks are underground with space, such as tunnel, cave, and so on, while some consist of no spaced underground solid areas as well. In this context, wireless underground sensor networks have recently become very important for precision agriculture purposes. In this paper, a smart insect pest detection technique with qualified underground wireless sensor nodes for precision agriculture has been investigated with a mathematical simulation model. In a simulated smart technique, insect pest detection is assumed to be carried out with a qualified acoustic sensor. In order to evaluate the performance of the underground network structure, the received signal strength and path loss parameters are examined. As the depth distance increases, the increase in path loss of communication has been revealed. The obtained performance evaluation result reveals the need for signal transmission with different transmitter power for depth-based communication in wireless underground sensor networks.

We explore the roles that potential and realized absorptive capacity play in enhancing firm performance, and examine external knowledge search strategies as antecedents of absorptive capacity. In this way, we endeavor to open the black box that sits between external knowledge search and performance, and suggest that the establishment of deep and broad relationships with external sources has differing impacts on potential and realized absorptive capacity for the firm. We argue that distinguishing clearly between potential and realized absorptive capacity may provide new insights into understanding why some companies are more successful than others at benefiting from external knowledge. A sample of 171 suppliers operating in the Iranian automotive industry is used to test the proposed theoretical model, through a two-stage least squares approach. Surprisingly, our results indicate that only the firm's capability to acquire and assimilate new ideas from the external environment (potential absorptive capacity) is related to performance for these firms operating in Iran, which been isolated from global markets due to international sanctions. Our findings emphasize the notion that potential and realized absorptive capacity represent distinct capabilities, with different antecedents and different impacts on firm performance.

Purpose We evaluated the feasibility and robustness of three methods for propofol-to-bispectral index (BIS) post-operative intensive care sedation, a manually-adapted target controlled infusion protocol (HUMAN), a computer-controlled predictive control strategy (EPSAC) and a computer-controlled Bayesian rule-based optimized control strategy (BAYES). Methods Thirty-six patients undergoing short lasting sedation following cardiac surgery were included to receive propofol to maintain a BIS between 40 and 60. Robustness of control for all groups was analysed using prediction error and spectrographic analysis. Results Although similar time courses of measured BIS were obtained in all groups, a higher median propofol effect-site concentration (CePROP) was required in the HUMAN group compared to the BAYES and EPSAC groups. The time course analysis of the remifentanil effect-site concentration (CeREMI) revealed a significant increase in CeREMI in the EPSAC group compared to BAYES and HUMAN during the case. Although similar bias and divergence in control was found in all groups, larger control inaccuracy was observed in HUMAN versus EPSAC and BAYES. Spectrographic analysis of the system behavior shows that BAYES covers the largest spectrum of frequencies, followed by EPSAC and HUMAN. Conclusions Both computer-based control systems are feasible to be used during ICU sedation with overall tighter control than HUMAN and even with lower required CePROP. EPSAC control required higher CeREMI than BAYES or HUMAN to maintain stable control. Clinical trial number: NCT00735631.

Obtaining highly accurate depth from stereo images in real time has many applications across computer vision and robotics, but in some contexts, upper bounds on power consumption constrain the feasible hardware to embedded platforms such as FPGAs. Whilst various stereo algorithms have been deployed on these platforms, usually cut down to better match the embedded architecture, certain key parts of the more advanced algorithms, e.g. those that rely on unpredictable access to memory or are highly iterative in nature, are difficult to deploy efficiently on FPGAs, and thus the depth quality that can be achieved is limited. In this paper, we leverage a FPGA-CPU chip to propose a novel, sophisticated, stereo approach that combines the best features of SGM and ELAS-based methods to compute highly accurate dense depth in real time. Our approach achieves an 8.7% error rate on the challenging KITTI 2015 dataset at over 50 FPS, with a power consumption of only 5W., Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, journal

Purpose of review We will explain the basic principles of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) during spinal surgery. Thereafter we highlight the significant impact that general anesthesia can have on the efficacy of the IONM and provide an overview of the essential pharmacological and physiological factors that need to be optimized to enable IONM. Lastly, we stress the importance of teamwork between the anesthesiologist, the neurophysiologist, and the surgeon to improve clinical outcome after spinal surgery. Recent findings In recent years, the use of IONM has increased significantly. It has developed into a mature discipline, enabling neurosurgical procedures of ever-increasing complexity. It is thus of growing importance for the anesthesiologist to appreciate the interplay between IONM and anesthesia and to build up experience working in a team with the neurosurgeon and the neurophysiologist. Summary Safety measures, cooperation, careful choice of drugs, titration of drugs, and maintenance of physiological homeostasis are essential for effective IONM.

By adding two disks to a standard silicon micro-ring resonator, a very high-quality factor (Q) asymmetric resonance with Q values as high as 7.773 × 105 and slope rates in excess of 880 dB/nm can be achieved. A circuit model has been proposed for this device based on which an analysis has been carried out that can predict the effect of reflections in the coupling components. Depending on the coupling coefficient between the disks and the micro-ring resonator (MRR), it is possible to use this design in three regimes, with different spectral features. Moreover, it is shown that the disks introduce a discontinuity in the transmission spectrum and the relative positioning of the disks in the ring provides a new degree of freedom in the design step. The proposed device features a high extinction ratio (ER) around 1550 nm and could be fabricated in any standard silicon photonics technology without requiring any extra materials or processing steps. The proposed resonator has a high sensitivity of Δλ Res (nm)/Δn > 299 nm/RIU, which makes it suitable for sensing applications and efficient modulators.

Aim: Chest compression depth (CCD) in cardiopulmonary resuscitation is important. However, lightweight rescuers have difficulty achieving an appropriate depth. Chest compression force (CCFORCE) can be increased by placing the arms at 100° to the patient’s frontal plane. In a simulation manikin study, we compared the CCD at 90° and 100° among lightweight Asian females and hypothesized that the CCD would be greater when the arms were placed at 100°. Methods: We included 35 lightweight female students from Shimane University who performed compressions 30 times each at 90° and 100°. The CCFORCE and CCD and the residual force on the chest wall during decompression for each chest compression were compared using CPRmeter-2. Results: Of the 35 participants, 3 were excluded because their angles deviated from the prescribed angle. Thirty-two participants were categorized according to CCD at 90°: ≤40 mm (group 1), 41–49 mm (group 2), and ≥ 50 mm (group 3). The overall mean CCD increased from 90° to 100° (44.3 ± 8.2 mm vs. 48.1 ± 7.2 mm; p

ObjectiveMET positivity is independently associated with survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Since MET is a known orchestrator of invasive tumor growth, we investigated its association with LNM in early oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC). As it is recommended by the NCCN to use tumor depth of invasion (DOI) in making decisions on elective neck dissection (END), the results obtained for MET positivity were aligned with those for DOI > 4 mm. The cutoff value used in our institution.MethodsTumor samples from patients who underwent primary tumor resection and neck dissection between 1995 and 2013, were collected from the archives of the Leiden and Erasmus University Medical Center. Immunohistochemistry with D1C2 was performed to identify MET negative (< 10% uniform positivity) and MET positive (≥ 10% uniform positivity) cancers. ROC curve analysis and the Chi-squared test were used to investigate the association of MET positivity with LNM (pN+ and occult). Binary logistic regression was used to investigate the association of MET positivity with LNM.ResultsForty-five (44.1%) of the 102 cancers were MET positive. Ninety were cN0 of which 20 were pN+ (occult metastasis). The remaining 12 cancers were cN+, of which 10 were proven pN+ and 2 were pN0. MET positivity was associated with LNM with a positive predictive value (PPV) of 44.4% and a negative predictive value (NPV) of 82.5% for pN+. For the occult group, the PPV was 36.8% and the NPV was 88.5%. Regression analysis showed that MET positivity is associated with pN+ and occult LNM (p-value < 0.05).ConclusionMET positivity is significantly associated with LNM in early OTSCC, outperforming DOI. The added value of MET positivity could be in the preoperative setting when END is being considered during the initial surgery. For cases with DOI ≤ 4 mm, MET positivity could aid in the clinical decision whether regular follow-up, watchful waiting, or END is more appropriate. Realizing that these preliminary results need to be independently validated in a larger patient cohort, we believe that MET positivity could be of added value in the decision making on END in early OTSCC.

The neuroscientific approach to peripersonal space (PPS) stems directly from electrophysiological studies assessing the response properties of multisensory neurons in behaving non-human primates. This multisensory context fostered frameworks which i) stress the PPS role in actions (including defensive reactions) and affordances, which are optimally performed through multiple sensory convergence; and ii) largely make use of tasks that are multisensory in nature. Concurrently, however, studies on spatial attention reported proximity-related advantages in purely unisensory tasks. These advantages appear to share some key PPS features. Activations in brain areas reported to be multisensory, indeed, can also be found using unimodal (visual) paradigms. Overall, these findings point to the possibility that closer objects may benefit from being processed as events occurring in PPS. The dominant multisensory view of PPS should therefore be expanded accordingly, as perceptual advantages in PPS may be broader than previously thought.

Background If the depth of gallbladder malignant tumor (GBMT) invasion is deeper than the subserosa (ss), cholecystectomy is insufficient. In past reports that used endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) to diagnose the depth of tumor invasion, it was difficult to diagnose GMBT invasion in the ss without a narrow or disrupted lateral hyperechoic layer (LHEL). Therefore, we developed a simple preoperative method to diagnose GBMTs with ss invasion. Methods Forty-nine GBMT patients who underwent both EUS and surgery were enrolled: 15 patients whose tumors invaded the mucosa (m) or muscularis propria (mp) were classified as the “shallow group”, and 34 patients whose tumors invaded the ss were classified as the “deep group”. The EUS findings were compared between the two groups. Results An irregular (narrow or thickened) LHEL was significantly more frequently observed on EUS in the deep group than in the shallow group. The diagnosis of ss invasion based on an irregular LHEL had the highest sensitivity and accuracy among the EUS imaging parameters (sensitivity 97.1% (33/34), specificity 86.7% (13/15), accuracy 93.8% (46/49)). When the deep group was limited to patients with a tumor depth of ss, the results were similar. When an irregular LHEL was used, the diagnostic accuracy of GBMTs with ss invasion was not significantly different between EUS specialists and beginners. Conclusions The observation of an irregular (thickened or narrow) LHEL observed on EUS could be a reliable and simple method of diagnosing GBMTs with ss invasion and could contribute to choosing an appropriate surgical method.

Innovation is a crucial dimension for the transition to a greener Europe, a process that has accelerated notably in the latest years. An open mode has been applied to those innovations that mitigate the impact of economic activities on the natural environment, which is green open innovation (GOI). This is approach is mainly driven by the importance of stakeholders and the specificity of environmental fields, which call for a greater role of the external collaboration in green innovation. Although the interest of management scholars and practitioners in GOI has increased enormously, the empirical GOI literature has overlooked a project-level approach. Firms may have heterogenous openness across different projects depending on the characteristics of the projects or the strategic objective of the firm. This paper contributes to GOI literature by investigating whether green projects are more open than non-green projects in terms of breadth and depth of knowledge sources. Based on a dataset of projects funded by Seventh European research framework, the results confirm the greater openness of environmental-related research projects. These results corroborate the necessity for managers to apply an open mode to green innovation, especially in highly competitive calls such as the European Union framework program.

We introduce a new Dutch receptive vocabulary test, the Dutch auditory & image vocabulary test (DAIVT). The test is multiple choice and assesses vocabulary knowledge for spoken words. The measure has an online (available at https://tpsurvey.ugent.be/limesurvey315/index.php/923234?lang=nl) format, has free access, and allows easy data collection. The test was developed with the intent to enable testing for research purposes with university students. This paper describes the test construction. We cover three phases: 1) collecting stimulus materials and developing the test’s first version, 2) an exploratory item-analysis on the first draft (n = 93), and 3) validating the test (both the second and the final version) by comparing it to two existing tests (n = 270, n = 157). The results indicate that the test is reliable and correlates well with existing Dutch receptive vocabulary tests (convergent validity). The final version of the DAIVT comprises 90 test items and 1 practice item. It can be used freely for research purposes.

Background The high variability in the types and number of measures adopted to evaluate childcare across European countries makes it necessary to investigate country practices to identify trends in setting national priorities in the assessment of child well-being. Objective This paper intends to investigate country practices under the lens of variability to explore possible trends in setting national priority in the evaluation of childcare. In particular, it analyses variability considering to what extent this depends on the tendency of adopting a broad vision (i.e. selecting measures for a larger variety of aspects) or whether this is influenced by the choice of adopting an in-depth approach (i.e. using more measures to analyse a specific aspect) Methods An ad hoc questionnaire was administered to a national expert in each country and yielded 352 measures. To analyse variability, the breadth in the number of aspects considered was explored using a convergence index, while the depth in the distribution of measures in each aspect was investigated by computing a coefficient of variation. Countries were grouped by adopting a hierarchical clustering approach. Results There is a high variability across countries in the selection of measures that cover different aspects of childcare. Preferences in the distribution of measures are significant even at the domain level and in countries that use a limited number of measures and become more evident at the category and sub-category levels. The statistical analysis clusters countries in four main groups and two outliers. The in-depth distribution of measures focused on a specific aspect shows a homogeneous pattern, with the identification of two main groups of countries. Conclusions A limited set of measures are shared across countries hampering a robust comparison of paediatric models. The selection of measures shows that the evaluation is closely related to national priorities as resulting from the number and types of measures adopted. Moreover, a range of a reasonable number of measures can be hypothesized to address the quality of childcare under a multi-dimensional perspective.

This paper summarizes the ChaLearn Looking at People 2020 Challenge on Identity-preserved Human Detection (IPHD). For the purpose, we released a large novel dataset containing more than 112K pairs of spatiotemporally aligned depth and thermal frames (and 175K instances of humans) sampled from 780 sequences. The sequences contain hundreds of non-identifiable people appearing in a mix of in-the-wild and scripted scenarios recorded in public and private places. The competition was divided into three tracks depending on the modalities exploited for the detection: (1) depth, (2) thermal, and (3) depth-thermal fusion. Color was also captured but only used to facilitate the groundtruth annotation. Still the temporal synchronization of three sensory devices is challenging, so bad temporal matches across modalities can occur. Hence, the labels provided should considered 'weak', although test frames were carefully selected to minimize this effect and ensure the fairest comparison of the participants' results. Despite this added difficulty, the results got by the participants demonstrate current fully-supervised methods can deal with that and achieve outstanding detection performance when measured in terms of AP@0.50.

Visual sensor networks (VSNs) can be widely used in multimedia, security monitoring, network camera, industrial detection, and other fields. However, with the development of new communication technology and the increase of the number of camera nodes in VSN, transmitting and compressing the huge amounts of video and image data generated by video and image sensors has become a major challenge. The next-generation video coding standard&mdash, versatile video coding (VVC), can effectively compress the visual data, but the higher compression rate is at the cost of heavy computational complexity. Therefore, it is vital to reduce the coding complexity for the VVC encoder to be used in VSNs. In this paper, we propose a sample adaptive offset (SAO) acceleration method by jointly considering the histogram of oriented gradient (HOG) features and the depth information for VVC, which reduces the computational complexity in VSNs. Specifically, first, the offset mode selection (select band offset (BO) mode or edge offset (EO) mode) is simplified by utilizing the partition depth of coding tree unit (CTU). Then, for EO mode, the directional pattern selection is simplified by using HOG features and support vector machine (SVM). Finally, experimental results show that the proposed method averagely saves 67.79% of SAO encoding time only with 0.52% BD-rate degradation compared to the state-of-the-art method in VVC reference software (VTM 5.0) for VSNs.

Background: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has been introduced as a diagnostic staging modality for detection of occult metastases in patients with early stage oral cancer. Comparisons regarding accuracy to the routinely used elective neck dissection (END) are lacking in literature. Methods: A retrospective, multicenter cohort study included 390 patients staged by END and 488 by SLNB. Results: The overall sensitivity (84% vs. 81%, p = 0.612) and negative predictive value (NPV) (93%, p = 1.000) were comparable between END and SLNB patients. The END cohort contained more pT2 tumours (51%) compared to the SLNB cohort (23%) (p &lt, 0.001). No differences were found for sensitivity and NPV between SLNB and END divided by pT stage. In floor-of-mouth (FOM) tumours, SLNB had a lower sensitivity (63% vs. 92%, p = 0.006) and NPV (90% vs. 97%, p = 0.057) compared to END. Higher disease-specific survival (DSS) rates were found for pT1 SLNB patients compared to pT1 END patients (96% vs. 90%, p = 0.048). Conclusion: In the absence of randomized clinical trials, this study provides the highest available evidence that, in oral cancer, SLNB is as accurate as END in detecting occult lymph node metastases, except for floor-of-mouth tumours.

Purpose: To compare the effects of chloral hydrate and melatonin on sleep EEG recordings in children by using standard EEG sleep stages and the bispectral index scores (BIS). Methods: A total of 86 children were randomly assigned to two groups: (1) melatonin group (n = 43) and (2) chloral hydrate group (n = 43). BIS monitoring scores and sleep EEGs were recorded simultaneously. The effect of two drugs on sleep EEG recording was evaluated with sleep stages of EEG and BIS. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the groups with regard to time to sleep onset and the need for a second drug (P = 0.432; P = 1.000). Eight patients (18.6%) in chloral hydrate group reported side effects while there were no reported side effects in the melatonin group (P = 0.006). Mean BIS values during EEG recordings were similar in both groups (59.72 +/- 18.69 minutes and 66.17 +/- 18.44 minutes, respectively, P = 1.000). The average time to achieve N2 sleep was 32.38 minutes in the chloral hydrate group and 43.25 minutes in the melatonin group (P < 0.001). Both time spent in wakefulness and N1 sleep were found to be significantly higher in the melatonin group (P < 0.001 and P = 0.005). BIS scores higher than 75 were found to be suggestive for wakefulness; 75 to 66 for N1, 65 to 46 for N2, and values lower than 46 were found to be indicative for N3 sleep with a good strength of agreement in weighted Kappa analysis (95% confidence interval; weighted Kappa = 0.67). Conclusions: Melatonin is reliable and at least as effective as chloral hydrate for sleep EEG acquisition in children.

This study was conducted to investigate if anthropometric features can predict the depth of the soleus muscle, as assessed with ultrasound imaging, in a sample of healthy individuals to assist clinicians in the application of dry needling. A diagnostic study to calculate the accuracy of a prediction model for soleus muscle depth, as assessed with ultrasonography, in the middle-third and distal-third of the calf, based on anthropometric features such as age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), calf length, mid-third and distal-third calf girth, was conducted on 48 asymptomatic healthy subjects (75% male) involving a total of 96 calves. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to determine which variables contributed significantly to the variance in the soleus muscle depth at middle-third and distal-third of the calf by gender. Women were found to have a deeper soleus muscle than men (p &lt, 0.001). Weight, height, BMI, and mid-third calf perimeter explained 69.9% of variance in men, whereas mid-third calf perimeter, calf length, height, and distal-third calf girth explained 73% of the variance in women of the distal-third soleus depth (p &lt, 0.001). Additionally, mid-third calf girth and calf length explained 28.8% of variance in men, whereas mid-third calf perimeter, calf length, and weight explained 67.8% of variance in women of the mid-third soleus depth (p &lt, 0.001). This study identified anthropometric features that predict soleus muscle depth, as assessed with ultrasound, in asymptomatic individuals, but these features are different in men and women. Our findings could assist clinicians in choosing the proper length of the needle to avoiding passing through the soleus during dry needling.

The converted Solar energy as electrical and thermal energy was named photovoltaic thermal (PVT). The aim of this study is to the analysis of different length and depth channel effect of photovoltaic thermal with ∇-groove collector by a mathematical model. The matrix inversion was used to analyze the energy balance equation. Simulation results were conducted below the solar intensity of 800 W/m2 and mass flow rate between 0.0069 kg/s and 0.0491 kg/s. Electrical and thermal efficiency was done to assess the effect of different length and channel depth of PVT system with ∇-groove collector. The effect of different length and depth of ∇-groove collector for electrical and thermal performance is caused by changed mass flow rate. The effect Increasing of the mass flow rate of collector increased the thermal and electrical performance of the ∇-groove collector.

Summary: The partitioning of solar radiation in the Arctic sea ice during the melt season is investigated using a radiative transfer model containing three layers of melt pond, underlying sea ice, and ocean beneath ice. The wavelength distribution of the spectral solar irradiance clearly narrowed with increasing depth into ice, from 350–900 nm at the pond surface to 400–600 nm in the ocean beneath. In contrast, the net spectral irradiance is quite uniform. The absorbed solar energy is sensitive to both pond depth (Hp) and the underlying ice thickness (Hi). The solar energy absorbed by the melt pond (Ψp) is proportional only to Hp. However, the solar energy absorbed by the underlying ice (Ψi) is more complicated due to the counteracting effects arising from the pond and ice to the energy absorption. In September, Ψp decreased by 10% from its August value, which is attributed to more components in the shortwave band (

Background Electrode contact locations are important when planning tailored brain surgeries to identify pathological tissue targeted for resection and conversely avoid eloquent tissue. Current methods employ trained experts to use neuroimaging scans that are manually co-registered and localize contacts within ~2 mm. Yet, the state of the art is limited by either the expertise needed for each type of intracranial electrode or the inter-modality co-registration which increases error, reducing accuracy. Patients often have a variety of strips, grids and depths implanted; therefore, it is cumbersome and time-consuming to apply separate localization methods for each type of electrode, requiring expertise across different approaches. New method To overcome these limitations, a computational method was developed by separately registering an implant magnetic resonance image (MRI) and implant computed tomography image (CT) to the pre-implant MRI, then calculating an iterative closest point transformation using the contact locations extracted from the signal voids as ground truth. Results The implant MRI is robustly co-registered to the pre-implant MRI with a boundary-based registration algorithm. By extracting and utilizing ‘signal voids’ (the metal induced artifacts from the implant MRI) as electrode fiducials, the novel method is an all-in-one approach for all types of intracranial electrodes while eliminating inter-modality co-registration errors. Comparison with existing methods The distance between each electrode centroid and the brain's surface was measured, for the proposed method as well as the state of the art method using two available software packages, SPM 12 and FSL 4.1. The method presented here achieves the smallest distances to the brain's surface for all strip and grid type electrodes, i.e. contacts designed to rest directly on the brain surface. Conclusion We use one of the largest reported sample sizes in localization studies to validate this novel method for localizing different kinds of intracranial electrodes including grids, strips and depth electrodes., Highlights • Co-registration between intramodal pre- and implant images allows for accurate localization of all subdural electrode types. • Iterative closest point (ICP) assisted grid electrode localization is comparable to existing implant MRI based methods. • ICP is a novel, semi-automated method to localize grid, strip and depth electrodes with state-of-the-art accuracy

We studied and simulated the ultrasonic smoothing process. We carried out the analysis of the contact interaction of a tool with a part in the process of ultrasonic smoothing with a preceding gap. The analysis provides an opportunity to calculate a change in a size of a part during the treatment depending on modes. We derived the dependences of a contact area at the ultrasonic smoothness with a preceding gap. We performed the experimental study of an influence of parameters of the process of ultrasonic smoothing on parameters of a quality of a surface layer of a part. We established that in order to ensure the required roughness and accuracy, the depth of introduction should not exceed 7μm, especially when treated parts are made of materials with a low modulus of elasticity. We developed an installation for experiments based on the high precision automatic screw machine 16B05АF10. All additional devices and tools were attached to the tool holder of a given machine. We developed a technique to measure the time of contact between a tool and an article under ultrasonic smoothing with a preceding gap. We established that deformation of micro roughnesses occurs due to a pressure of projections of micro roughnesses to cavities since we excluded shift deformation by using a solid lubricant. The fact that there was no texture on the microsection of the treated surface, although we could observe hardening of a surface, indicates that there is no shift deformation. Based on this conclusion, it is possible to disregard a non-contact wave of deformation. We obtained analytical dependences of contact area under ultrasonic smoothness with a preceding gap on treatment parameters, namely, the treatment speed, the feed rate, the radius of an operation surface of a tool. The results of mathematical modeling and experimental data are quite close. We defined the region of optimal feed, which makes it possible to obtain surfaces with minimal roughness or microrelief

The article presents the general state of exploration and regional geotectonic characteristics of the structure of the basins of Western Kazakhstan (the Caspian Basin, Ustyurt-Bozashi and Mangyshlak). Principal results of regional studies carried out on the «Comprehensive study of sedimentary basins of the Republic of Kazakhstan» project for 2009-2013 are given. Based on this, topical issues in the study of the deep structure of basins are emphasized, from the perspective of further assessment of the forecasted hydrocarbon potential. In accordance with the new deep drilling data (5.5-7.0 km and more) in recent years, the importance and necessity of specifying the structure and high prospects of the Paleozoic deposits are substantiated. In this regard, it is stated that it is advisable to post a parametric well in the future with an anomalous projected depth (14-15 km) in the central part of the Caspian Basin (Eurasia Project). Also, the program of regional studies (geotraverses and 2D seismic profiles) on the most important geological «cuttings» from the sides of the Caspian basin to the center, the zones of its articulation with the other basins that apply in the south, was considered. The characteristic of the problems solved by the program of regional study of the basins of Western Kazakhstan is given.

This paper proposes a segmentation scheme based on the joint usage of color and depth data together with a 3D surface estimation scheme. Firstly a set of multi-dimensional vectors is built from color, geometry and surface orientation information. Normalized cuts spectral clustering is then applied in order to recursively segment the scene in two parts thus obtaining an over-segmentation. This procedure is followed by a recursive merging stage where close segments belonging to the same object are joined together. At each step of both procedures a NURBS model is fitted on the computed segments and the accuracy of the fitting is used as a measure of the plausibility that a segment represents a single surface or object. By comparing the accuracy to the one at the previous step, it is possible to determine if each splitting or merging operation leads to a better scene representation and consequently whether to perform it or not. Experimental results show how the proposed method provides an accurate and reliable segmentation.

This paper presents an effective yet simple video representation for RGB-D-based action recognition. It proposes to represent a depth map sequence into three pairs of structured dynamic images (DIs) at body, part, and joint levels, respectively, through hierarchical bidirectional rank pooling. Different from previous works that applied one convolutional neural network (ConvNet) for each part/joint separately, one pair of structured DIs is constructed from depth maps at each granularity level and serves as the input of a ConvNet. The structured DI not only preserves the spatial-temporal information but also enhances the structure information across both body parts/joints and different temporal scales. In additionally, it requires low computational cost and memory to construct. This new representation, referred to as Spatially and Temporally Structured Dynamic Depth Images, aggregates from global to fine-grained levels motion and structure information in a depth sequence, and enables us to fine-tune the existing ConvNet models trained on image data for classification of depth sequences, without a need for training the models afresh. The proposed representation is evaluated on six benchmark data sets, namely, MSRAction3D, G3D, MSRDailyActivity3D, SYSU 3D HOI, UTD-MHAD, and M2I data sets and achieves the state-of-the-art results on all six data sets.

International audience; When an object casts a shadow on a background surface, both the offset of the shadow and the blur of its penumbra are potential cues to the distance between the object and the background. However, the shadow offset and blur are also affected by the direction and angular extent of the light source and these are often unknown. This means that the observer must make some assumptions about the illumination, the expected distribution of depth, or the relation between offset and depth in order to use shadows to make distance judgments. Here, we measure human judgments of perceived depth over a range of shadow offsets, blurs, and lighting directions to gain insight into this internal model. We find that distance judgments are relatively unaffected by blur or light direction, whereas the shadow offset has a strong and linear effect. The data are consistent with two models, a generic shadow-to-depth model and a Bayesian model.

Being one of the most successful surgeries in the history of medicine, the indications for total hip arthroplasty have widened and are increasingly being offered to younger and fitter patients. This has also led to high expectations for longevity and outcomes. Acetabular cup position has a significant impact on the results of hip arthroplasty as it affects dislocation, abductor muscle strength, gait, limb lengths, impingement, noise generation, range of motion (ROM), wear, loosening, and cup failure. The variables in cup position are depth, height, and angular position (anteversion and inclination). The implications of change in depth of center of rotation (COR) are medialized versus anatomical positioning. As opposed to traditional medialization with beneficial effects on joint reaction force, the advantages of an anatomical position are increasingly recognized. The maintained acetabular offset offers advantages in terms of ROM, impingement, cortical rim press fit, and maintaining medial bone stock. The height of COR influences muscle activity and limb lengths and available bone stock for cup support. On the other hand, ideal angular position remains a matter of much debate and reliably achieving a target angular position remains elusive. This is not helped by variations in the way we describe angular position, with operative, radiologic, or anatomic definitions being used variably to describe anteversion and inclination. Furthermore, pelvic tilt plays a major role in functional positions of the acetabulum. In addition, commonly used techniques of positioning often do not inform us of the real orientation of the pelvis on operating table, with possibility of significant adduction, flexion, and external rotation of the pelvis being possibilities. This review article brings together the evidence on cup positioning and aims to provide a systematic and pragmatic approach in achieving the best position in individual cases.

Background/Aims The presence of invasion is a diagnostic criterion of early gastric cancer (EGC) in Korea, whereas diagnosis in Japan is based on enlarged nuclei and prominent nucleoli. Moreover, the depth of invasion is the location of cancer cell infiltration in Korea, whereas it is the location of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) or cancer cell infiltration in Japan. We evaluated the characteristics of EGC with LVI to uncover the effects of different diagnostic criteria. Methods Consecutive T1-stage EGC patients who underwent complete resection were included after endoscopic or surgical resection. The presence of LVI was evaluated. Results LVI was present in 112 of 1,089 T1-stage EGC patients. LVI was associated with depth of invasion (p

With the current practice of therapeutic hypothermia for neonatal encephalopathy, disability rates and the severity spectrum of cerebral palsy are reduced. Nevertheless, safe and effective adjunct therapies are needed to optimize outcomes. This study’s objective was to assess if 18 mg/kg melatonin given rapidly over 2 h at 1 h after hypoxia-ischemia with cooling from 1–13 h was safe, achieved therapeutic levels within 3 h and augmented hypothermic neuroprotection. Following hypoxia-ischemia, 20 newborn piglets were randomized to: (i) Cooling 1–13 h (HT; n = 6); (ii) HT+ 2.5% ethanol vehicle (HT+V; n = 7); (iii) HT + Melatonin (HT+M; n = 7). Intensive care was maintained for 48 h; aEEG was acquired throughout, brain MRS acquired at 24 and 48 h and cell death (TUNEL) evaluated at 48 h. There were no differences for insult severity. Core temperature was higher in HT group for first hour after HI. Comparing HT+M to HT, aEEG scores recovered more quickly by 19 h (p 2) compared to HT (123.8 cells/mm2) (p = 0.0003) and HT+V (97.5 cells/mm2) compared to HT (p = 0.012). Localized protection was seen in white matter for HT+M versus HT (p = 0.036) and internal capsule for HT+M compared to HT (p = 0.001) and HT+V versus HT (p = 0.006). Therapeutic melatonin levels (15–30mg/l) were achieved at 2 h and were neuroprotective following HI, but ethanol vehicle was partially protective.

Although the measurement of dielectric properties of the skin is a long-known tool for assessing the changes caused by nociception, the frequency modulated response has not been considered yet. However, for a rigorous characterization of the biological tissue during noxious stimulation, the bioimpedance needs to be analyzed over time as well as over frequency. The 3-dimensional analysis of nociception, including bioimpedance, time, and frequency changes, is provided by ANSPEC-PRO device. The objective of this observational trial is the validation of the new pain monitor, named as ANSPEC-PRO. After ethics committee approval and informed consent, 26 patients were monitored during the postoperative recovery period: 13 patients with the in-house developed prototype ANSPEC-PRO and 13 with the commercial device MEDSTORM. At every 7 min, the pain intensity was measured using the index of Anspec-pro or Medstorm and the 0&ndash, 10 numeric rating scale (NRS), pre-surgery for 14 min and post-anesthesia for 140 min. Non-significant differences were reported for specificity-sensitivity analysis between ANSPEC-PRO (AUC = 0.49) and MEDSTORM (AUC = 0.52) measured indexes. A statistically significant positive linear relationship was observed between Anspec-pro index and NRS (r2 = 0.15, p &lt, 0.01). Hence, we have obtained a validation of the prototype Anspec-pro which performs equally well as the commercial device under similar conditions.

Goal-directed movements involve a series of neural computations that compare the sensory representations of goal location and effector position, and transform these into motor commands. Neurons in posterior parietal cortex (PPC) control several effectors (e.g., eye, hand, foot) and encode goal location in a variety of spatial coordinate systems, including those anchored to gaze direction, and to the positions of the head, shoulder, or hand. However, there is little evidence on whether reference frames depend also on the effector and/or type of motor response. We addressed this issue in macaque PPC area V6A, where previous reports using a fixate-to-reach in depth task, from different starting arm positions, indicated that most units use mixed body/hand-centered coordinates. Here, we applied singular value decomposition and gradient analyses to characterize the reference frames in V6A while the animals, instead of arm reaching, performed a nonspatial motor response (hand lift). We found that most neurons used mixed body/hand coordinates, instead of "pure" body-, or hand-centered coordinates. During the task progress the effect of hand position on activity became stronger compared to target location. Activity consistent with body-centered coding was present only in a subset of neurons active early in the task. Applying the same analyses to a population of V6A neurons recorded during the fixate-to-reach task yielded similar results. These findings suggest that V6A neurons use consistent reference frames between spatial and nonspatial motor responses, a functional property that may allow the integration of spatial awareness and movement control.

Two-photon excitation (2PE) laser scanning microscopy is the imaging modality of choice when one desires to work with thick biological samples. However, its spatial resolution is poor, below confocal laser scanning microscopy. Here, we propose a straightforward implementation of 2PE image scanning microscopy (2PE-ISM) that, by leveraging our recently introduced single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array detector and a novel blind image reconstruction method, is shown to enhance the effective resolution, as well as the overall image quality of 2PE microscopy. With our adaptive pixel reassignment procedure similar to 1.6 times resolution increase is maintained deep into thick semi-transparent samples. The integration of Fourier ring correlation based semi-blind deconvolution is shown to further enhance the effective resolution by a factor of similar to 2 - and automatic background correction is shown to boost the image quality especially in noisy images. Most importantly, our 2PE-ISM implementation requires no calibration measurements or other input from the user, which is an important aspect in terms of day-to-day usability of the technique. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement H2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (AdaptiveSTED, No. 794531); FondsWetenschappelijk Onderzoek (G092915, V429717N); European Research Council (Bright Eyes, No. 818699). Vicidomini, G (corresponding author), Ist Italiano Tecnol, Mol Microscopy & Spect, Genoa, Italy giuseppe.vicidomini@iit.it

Methods to image complex 3D cell cultures are limited by issues such as fluorophore photobleaching and decomposition, poor excitation light penetration, and lack of complementary techniques to verify the 3D structure. Although it remains insufficiently demonstrated, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) imaging is a promising tool for the characterization of biological complex systems. To this aim, a controllable 3D cell culture model which spans nearly 1 cm(2) in surface footprint is designed. This structure is composed of fibroblasts containing SERS-encoded nanoparticles (i.e., SERS tags), arranged in an alternating layered structure. This "sandwich" type structure allows monitoring of the SERS signals in the z-axis and with mm dimensions in the xy-axis. Taking advantage of correlative microscopy techniques such as electron microscopy, it is possible to corroborate nanoparticle positioning and distances in z-depths of up to 150 mu m. This study reveals a proof-of-concept method for detailed 3D SERS imaging of a complex, dense 3D cell culture model.

Aim High-quality chest compressions is challenging for bystanders and first responders to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Long compression pauses and compression rates higher than recommended are common and detrimental to survival. Our aim was to design a simple and low computational cost algorithm for feedback on compression rate using the transthoracic impedance (TI) acquired by automated external defibrillators (AEDs). Methods ECG and TI signals from AED recordings of 242 OHCA patients treated by basic life support (BLS) ambulances were retrospectively analyzed. Beginning and end of chest compression series and each individual compression were annotated. The algorithm computed a biased estimate of the autocorrelation of the TI signal in consecutive non-overlapping 2-s analysis windows to detect the presence of chest compressions and estimate compression rate. Results A total of 237 episodes were included in the study, with a median (IQR) duration of 10 (6-16) min. The algorithm performed with a global sensitivity in the detection of chest compressions of 98.7%, positive predictive value of 98.7%, specificity of 97.1%, and negative predictive value of 97.1% (validation subset including 207 episodes). The unsigned error in the estimation of compression rate was 1.7 (1.3-2.9) compressions per minute. Conclusion Our algorithm is accurate and robust for real-time guidance on chest compression rate using AEDs. The algorithm is simple and easy to implement with minimal software modifications. Deployment of AEDs with this capability could potentially contribute to enhancing the quality of chest compressions in the first minutes from collapse. The Basque Government provided support in the form of a grant for research groups (IT1087-16) for authors Sofia Ruiz de Gauna, Jesus Maria Ruiz, and Jose Julio Gutierrez. The Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness provided support in the form of a grant for research projects (RTI2018-094396-BI00) for authors Sofia Ruiz de Gauna, Jesus Maria Ruiz, and Jose Julio Gutierrez; and in the form of the program Torres Quevedo (PTQ-16-08201) for author Digna Maria Gonzalez-Otero. The University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) provided support in the form of a grant for collaboration between research groups and companies (US18/30) for authors Sofia Ruiz de Gauna, Jesus Maria Ruiz, and Jose Julio Gutierrez. Bexen Cardio, a Spanish medical device manufacturer, provided support in the form of a salary for author Digna Mara Gonzalez-Otero. None of the above funding organizations had any additional role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific role of each author is articulated in the Author Contributions section. Authors Daniel Alonso, Carlos Corcuera, and Juan Francisco Urtusagasti received no funding for this work.

Offshore energy production has been a rising industry in the North Sea since the past century and will likely gain more importance in the future with the increasing development of renewable alternatives. The platforms that are responsible for harvesting and producing energy provide a hard substrate in areas where most substrate is soft, establishing a habitat for fouling communities to settle and to grow on. With time, these communities start to compose a problem for energy production companies, as their natural increase in biomass may pose risks to the platform foundations, leading to the necessity of performing regular inspection so the installations can keep working properly. To address this issue and to better understand how cleaning efforts can be directed, a model was created to relate the growth of these fouling communities with different environmental variables. The variables tested were related to sea surface salinity and temperature, seafloor topography, distance to shore, depth, current and wind velocity, fish abundance, concentration of suspended particulate matter and chlorophyll and presence or absence of artificial structures. Our results indicated that depth and chlorophyll concentration in the water column where the main factors affecting biomass variations in fouling communities.

When an object is partially occluded, the different parts of the object have to be perceptually coupled. Cues that can be used for perceptual coupling are, for instance, depth ordering and visual motion information. In subjects with impaired stereovision, the brain is less able to use stereoscopic depth cues, making them more reliant on other cues. Therefore, our hypothesis is that stereovision-impaired subjects have stronger motion coupling than stereoscopic subjects. We compared perceptual coupling in 8 stereoscopic and 10 stereovision-impaired subjects, using random moving dot patterns that defined an ambiguous rotating cylinder and a coaxially presented nonambiguous half cylinder. Our results show that, whereas stereoscopic subjects exhibit significant coupling in the far plane, stereovision-impaired subjects show no coupling and under our conditions also no stronger motion coupling than stereoscopic subjects.