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Objective To investigate the most common causes of death and trends in cause-specific long-term mortality in patients hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction (AMI).Methods This analysis was based on 10,718 patients, aged 25–74 years, recorded by the population-based Myocardial Infarction Registry Augsburg between 2000 and 2017. All hospitalized cases of AMI occurring in the study region during this period were included. If a patient died during follow-up (median: 6.6 years, IQR: 2.8–11.2) the death certificate was obtained and coded using the ICD-10 to determine the main cause of death. Cause-specific mortality was calculated for three 6-year periods. Multivariable adjusted Cox regression models stratified by time interval were calculated.Results The most common cause of death was cardiovascular disease (CVD), more precisely ischemic-heart disease (IHD), followed by cancer. The proportions of CVD deaths and IHD deaths were stable over time. An increasing trend was observed in cancer mortality in post-AMI patients. In male patients, the hazard ratio for cancer mortality was 44.4% higher in 2012–2017 compared to 2000–2005, in female patients, it was more than twice as high in 2006–2012 compared to 2000–2005.Conclusion This study revealed consistent CVD and IHD long-term mortality and increasing trends in long-term cancer mortality in patients post-AMI. Thus, post-AMI patients should emphasize tertiary prevention of CVD by minimizing risk factors. Furthermore, patients should regularly undergo cancer screening programs. The reasons for the unfavorable development in terms of increasing cancer mortality should be investigated in further studies.

Thromboembolic events are common in patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET). However, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the increased thrombotic risk remain to be determined. Here, we perform the first phenotypical characterization of platelet expression using single-cell mass cytometry in six ET patients and six age- and sex-matched healthy individuals. A large panel of 18 transmembrane regulators of platelet function and activation were analyzed, at baseline and after ex-vivo stimulation with thrombin receptor-activating peptide (TRAP). We detected a significant overexpression of the activation marker CD62P (p-Selectin) (p = .049) and the collagen receptor GPVI (p = .044) in non-stimulated ET platelets. In contrast, ET platelets had a lower expression of the integrin subunits of the fibrinogen receptor GPIIb/IIIa CD41 (p = .036) and CD61 (p = .044) and of the von Willebrand factor receptor CD42b (p = .044). Using the FlowSOM algorithm, we identified 2 subclusters of ET platelets with a prothrombotic expression profile, one of them (cluster 3) significantly overrepresented in ET (22.13% of the total platelets in ET, 2.94% in controls, p = .035). Platelet counts were significantly increased in ET compared to controls (p = .0123). In ET, MPV inversely correlated with platelet count (r=-0.96). These data highlight the prothrombotic phenotype of ET and postulate GPVI as a potential target to prevent thrombosis in these patients.

IntroductionThis study aimed to explore mental health literacy (MHL) and its related factors in a cross-sectional, registry-based sample of patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI).MethodsAll survivors of AMI between 2017 and 2019 from the Myocardial Infarction Registry Augsburg (n=1.712) received a postal questionnaire on MHL (Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS-GER)) and single questions on experiences with and information on mental disorders in 2023. The response rate was 49.9%. Logistic and linear regression models were used to investigate the associations between these variables and sociodemographic factors.ResultsIn the sample of 855 patients (77.5% male, mean age 71.4 ± 10.9 years), 30.0% had experienced mental problems about 5 years after AMI. Among these, 17.4% received psychotherapy and 26.1% psychotropic drugs. Information about possible mental problems after their AMI was obtained from a physician by 30.8% of the patients and in a rehabilitation setting by 46.4%, respectively. Of the patients, 26.2% wished to receive more information on mental problems after AMI. MHLS-GER subscale scores ranged between and 54 (“Social distance”) and 76 (“Information seeking”) (best score 100). Age was the most important factor that was significantly associated with the report of mental health problems, a perceived lack of information, help seeking behavior and treatment, and MHL.DiscussionElderly and poorly educated patients were at risk of poor MHL. Further studies are required to specify the role of MHL in post-AMI life and health care.

Background: AF is a common complication of an acute MI (AMI) and goes along with adverse events. Nevertheless, the therapeutical guidelines and pharmacological possibilities have improved over the past years. Therefore, this contemporary study aimed to clarify the effect of AF on long-term mortality in patients with incident AMI. Methods: This study included 2,313 patients aged 25–84 years with initial AMI that occurred from 2009 until 2017, documented within the population-based Augsburg Myocardial Infarction Registry. Patients were monitored from hospital admission, with a median follow-up duration of 4.5 years (interquartile range 4.4 years). Survival analysis and multivariable Cox regression analysis were conducted to explore the relationship between AF and long-term all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. Results: Altogether, 156 individuals had AF on their admission ECG, while the remaining 2,157 presented with sinus rhythm (SR). Patients with AF were significantly older, more frequently had arterial hypertension, non-ST-segment elevation MI, worse kidney function, smaller AMIs, and were more often former and non-smokers. An increased long-term all-cause mortality was observed among the AF group. (AF patients 39.1%, SR group 16.7%), Upon multivariable adjustment, a HR of 1.40 (95% CI [1.05–1.87]; p=0.023) was calculated when comparing the AF with SR patients. Conclusion: An independently increased risk of long-term mortality for patients with AF compared with patients with SR in case of incident AMI was identified. Therefore, AF should be considered as a serious risk factor in AMI patients, and must be treated aggressively to reduce mortality risk.

One of the elements influencing users’ perception of video quality is the viewing distance. Although TVs have grown in size and resolution, viewers’ watching behavior and living room conditions have not changed equally and therefore viewers sit at distances farther than optimal. This gives rise to the question whether higher resolutions are perceptually beneficial in such scenarios. Therefore, this paper presents four studies that investigate the improvements offered by 8K/UHD-2 in comparison to 4K/UHD-1 using HDR videos with viewing distances between 0.50H and 3.00H with H representing the screen height. Study 1 identifies general effects while Study 2 refines the methodology and aims at finding the distance of subjective quality parity. Study 3 includes encoded contents to better represent a real-world streaming scenario. Study 4 looks into the effects of watching contents once or repeatedly per test and includes a wider variety of self created sources. The findings of the studies provide quantitative data on the effect of viewing distance, showing how the slight video quality advantage of 8K HDR against 4K HDR content at the design viewing distance of 0.80H diminishes as the viewing distance increases, with no or very little improvements beyond 2.60H, depending on the content. In general, the degree of enhancement is related to the spatial and temporal content complexity, as well as the bitrate settings employed for encoding. Additionally, it is found that, on average, subjects prefer to sit at viewing distances of around 2.20H. For most people this may be too far away to truly appreciate the improvements offered by the 8K resolution.

IntroductionSo far, health literacy (HL) and its related factors in patients with acute myocardial infarction received little attention. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the associations between the different dimensions of HL and disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and factors that may affect these relations in patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI).MethodsAll survivors of AMI between June 2020 and September 2021, from the Myocardial Infarction Registry Augsburg (n=882) received a postal questionnaire on HL [Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ)], HRQOL (MacNew Heart Disease HRQOL questionnaire) and depression (Patient Health Questionnaire). From the 592 respondents, 546 could be included in the analysis. Multivariable linear regression models were performed to investigate the associations between the nine subscales of the HLQ and the total score and three subscales of the MacNew questionnaire. A mediation analysis was performed to estimate direct and indirect effects of HL on HRQOL taking into account the mediating effect of depression.ResultsIn the sample of 546 patients (72.5% male, mean age 68.5 ± 12.2 years), patients with poor education showed significantly lower HLQ scores. Significant associations between the subscales of the HLQ and the MacNew were found, which remained significant after adjustment for sociodemographic variables with few exceptions. More than 50% of the association between HL and HRQOL was mediated by depression in seven HLQ subscales and a complete mediating effect was found for the HLQ subscales ‘Actively managing my health’ and ‘Appraisal of health information’.DiscussionDepression mediates the associations between HL and disease-specific HRQOL in patients with myocardial infarction.

BackgroundDifferent ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) localizations go along with dissimilarities in the size of the affected myocardium, the causing coronary vessel occlusion, and the right ventricular participation. Therefore, this study aims to clarify if there is any difference in long-term survival between anterior- and non-anterior-wall STEMI.MethodsThis study included 2,195 incident STEMI cases that occurred between 2009 and 2017, recorded by the population-based Augsburg Myocardial Infarction Registry, Germany. The study population comprised 1.570 men and 625 women aged 25–84 years at acute myocardial infarction. The patients were observed from the day of their first acute event with an average follow-up period of 4.3 years, (standard deviation: 3.0). Survival analyses and multivariable Cox regression analyses were performed to examine the association between infarction localizations and long-term all-cause mortality.ResultsOf the 2,195 patients, 1,118 had an anterior (AWS)- and 1,077 a non-anterior-wall-STEMI (NAWS). No significant associations of the STEMI localization with long-term mortality were found. When comparing AWS with NAWS, a hazard ratio of 0.91 [95% confidence interval: 0.75–1.10] could be calculated after multivariable adjustment. In contrast to NAWS, AWS was associated with a greater

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to investigate the differences in presenting symptoms between patients with and without diabetes being diagnosed with an acute myocardial infarction (AMI).MethodsA total of 5,900 patients with a first-time AMI were included into the analysis. All patients aged between 25 and 84 years were recorded by the population-based Myocardial Infarction Registry in Augsburg, Germany, between 2010 and 2017. The presence (yes/no) of 12 AMI typical symptoms during the acute event was assessed within the scope of a face-to-face interview. Multivariable adjusted logistic regression models were calculated to analyze the associations between presenting symptoms and diabetes mellitus in AMI patients.ResultsPatients with diabetes had significantly less frequent typical pain symptoms, including typical chest pain. Also, other symptoms like sweating, vomiting/nausea, dizziness/vertigo and fear of death/feeling of annihilation occurred significantly more likely in non-diabetic patients. The only exception was the symptom of shortness of breath, which was found significantly more often in patients with diabetes. In multivariable-adjusted regression models, however, the observed effects were attenuated. In patients younger than 55 years, the associations between diabetes and various symptoms were mainly missing.ConclusionsType 2 diabetes mellitus is a risk factor not only for the development of AMI, but is also associated with an adverse outcome after AMI. Atypical clinical presentation additionally complicates the diagnostic process. It is therefore essential for physicians to be aware of the more often atypical symptoms that diabetic AMI patients report.

Abstract Aim Patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) and acute heart failure (HF) have refractory symptoms without adequate response to medical therapy. The objective of this analysis was to assess the impact of the MitraClip device in acutely ill HF patients, characterized by NYHA Class IV at baseline, in a real‐world, contemporary setting. Methods and results EXPAND was a prospective, multicenter, international study enrolling patients with MR who consented to receive the MitraClip System at 57 sites globally. The study outcomes included acute procedural success (APS), quality of life, heart failure hospitalizations (HFH), and all‐cause mortality. The study population comprised 1,041 patients, with 118 patients having baseline NYHA Class IV, and 922 having baseline NYHA Class I/II/III. NYHA Class IV patients had a significantly higher rate of baseline co‐morbidities and secondary MR aetiology compared with NYHA Class I/II/III patients. APS was achieved in 92.4% of NYHA Class IV patients and significant improvement in MR grade to ≤Mild (1+) in 90.7% of subjects at 30 days and 92.9% at 1 year was observed. 1‐year‐mortality was higher in the NYHA Class IV subjects compared with the NYHA Class I/II/III subjects (29.2% vs. 17.7%, P

Abstract Aims Wildtype transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy is an under‐recognized cause of heart failure in elderly patients. Transcatheter tricuspid valve repair is a newly emerging therapeutic option for severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR). We present first insights into safety and possible benefits of this procedure in patients with cardiac amyloidosis. Methods and results Eight patients with cardiac non‐hereditary (wildtype) transthyretin (ATTRwt) amyloidosis and severe to torrential TR, undergoing successful transcatheter tricuspid valve repair, were included in the analysis and compared to a control group of 21 patients without cardiac amyloidosis. All patients presented with an advanced stage of amyloid cardiomyopathy. Primary endpoint was reduction in TR at 3 months follow‐up. Secondary endpoints were feasibility, safety, hospitalization or death, clinical improvement, cardiac biomarkers, and structural and functional right heart parameter obtained by echocardiography. Transcatheter tricuspid valve repair resulted in a significant reduction of TR (IV to II, P = 0.008) in all eight patients with cardiac amyloidosis (100%). Device success (amyloidosis 75% vs. control group 86%, P = 0.597) and overall probability of hospitalization or death (amyloidosis 13% vs. control group 25%, P = 0.646) were similar compared with those in the control group at 3 months follow‐up. Transcatheter tricuspid valve repair led to an improvement of New York Heart Association functional class (P = 0.031) and 6 min walking distance (from 313 ± 118 to 337 ± 106, P = 0.012). TR reduction in amyloidosis patients was less extensive compared with that in control group (TR‐reduction 1.6 ± 0.3, P = 0.008 vs. control group 2.3 ± 0.3, P

In a non-professional environment, multi-camera recordings of theater performances or other stage shows are difficult to realize, because amateurs are usually untrained in camera work and in using a vision mixing desk that mixes multiple cameras. This can be remedied by a production process with high-resolution cameras where recordings of image sections from long shots or medium-long shots are manually or automatically cropped in post-production. For this purpose, Gandhi et al. presented a single-camera system (referred to as Gandhi Recording System in the paper) that obtains close-ups from a high-resolution recording from the central perspective. The proposed system in this paper referred to as “Proposed Recording System” extends the method to four perspectives based on a Reference Recording System from professional TV theater recordings from the Ohnsorg Theater. Rules for camera selection, image cropping, and montage are derived from the Reference Recording System in this paper. For this purpose, body and pose recognition software is used and the stage action is reconstructed from the recordings into the stage set. Speakers are recognized by detecting lip movements and speaker changes are identified using audio diarization software. The Proposed Recording System proposed in this paper is practically instantiated on a school theater recording made by laymen using four 4K cameras. An automatic editing script is generated that outputs a montage of a scene. The principles can also be adapted for other recording situations with an audience, such as lectures, interviews, discussions, talk shows, gala events, award ceremonies, and the like. More than 70 % of test persons confirm in an online study the added value of the perspective diversity of four cameras of the Proposed Recording System versus the single-camera method of Gandhi et al.

There are more and more photographic images uploaded to social media platforms such as Instagram, Flickr, or Facebook on a daily basis. At the same time, attention and consumption for such images is high, with image views and liking as one of the success factors for users and driving forces for social media algorithms. Here, “liking” can be assumed to be driven by image appeal and further factors such as who is posting the images and what they may show and reveal about the posting person. It is therefore of high research interest to evaluate the appeal of such images in the context of social media platforms. Such an appeal evaluation may help to improve image quality or could be used as an additional filter criterion to select good images. To analyze image appeal, various datasets have been established over the past years. However, not all datasets contain high-resolution images, are up to date, or include additional data, such as meta-data or social-media-type data such as likes and views. We created our own dataset “AVT-ImageAppeal-Dataset”, which includes images from different photo-sharing platforms. The dataset also includes a subset of other state-of-the-art datasets and is extended by social-media-type data, meta-data, and additional images. In this paper, we describe the dataset and a series of laboratory- and crowd-tests we conducted to evaluate image appeal. These tests indicate that there is only a small influence when likes and views are included in the presentation of the images in comparison to when these are not shown, and also the appeal ratings are only a little correlated to likes and views. Furthermore, it is shown that lab and crowd tests are highly similar considering the collected appeal ratings. In addition to the dataset, we also describe various machine learning models for the prediction of image appeal, using only the photo itself as input. The models have a similar or slightly better performance than state-of-the-art models. The evaluation indicates that there is still an improvement in image appeal prediction and furthermore, other aspects, such as the presentation context could be evaluated.

AI-generated images have gained in popularity in recent years due to improvements and developments in the field of artificial intelligence. This has led to several new AI generators, which may produce realistic, funny, and impressive images using a simple text prompt. DALL-E-2, Midjourney, and Craiyon are a few examples of the mentioned approaches. In general, it can be seen that the quality, realism, and appeal of the images vary depending on the used approach. Therefore, in this paper, we analyze to what extent such AI-generated images are realistic or of high appeal from a more photographic point of view and how users perceive them. To evaluate the appeal of several state-of-the-art AI generators, we develop a dataset consisting of 27 different text prompts, with some of them being based on the DrawBench prompts. Using these prompts we generated a total of 135 images with five different AI-Text-To-Image generators. These images in combination with real photos form the basis of our evaluation. The evaluation is based on an online subjective study and the results are compared with state-of-the-art image quality models and features. The results indicate that some of the included generators are able to produce realistic and highly appealing images. However, this depends on the approach and text prompt to a large extent. The dataset and evaluation of this paper are made publicly available for reproducibility, following an Open Science approach.

A production process using high-resolution cameras can be used for multi-camera recordings of theater performances or other stage performances. One approach to automate the generation of suitable image cuts could be to focus on speaker changes so that the person who is speaking is shown in the generated cut. However, these image cuts can appear static and robotic if they are set too precisely. Therefore, the characteristics and habits of professional vision mixers (persons who operate the vision mixing desk) during the editing process are investigated in more detail in order to incorporate them into an automation process. The characteristic features of five different vision mixers are examined, which were used under almost identical recording conditions for theatrical cuts in TV productions. The cuts are examined with regard to their temporal position in relation to pauses in speech, which take place during speaker changes on stage. It is shown that different professional vision mixers set the cuts individually differently before, in or after the pauses in speech. Measured are differences on average up to 0.3 seconds. From the analysis of the image cuts, an approach for a model is developed in which the individual characteristics of a vision mixer can be set. With the help of this novel model, a more human appearance can be given to otherwise exact and robotic cuts, when automating image cuts.

Abstract Aims Mitral valve transcatheter edge‐to‐edge repair (TEER) has been established as a suitable alternative to mitral valve surgery in patients with severe mitral regurgitation (MR) and high surgical risk. The PASCAL system represents a novel device, potentially augmenting the toolkit for TEER. The aim of this study was to assess and compare short and 1 year safety and efficacy of the PASCAL and MitraClip systems for TEER. Methods and results Procedural, short, and 1 year outcomes of a 1:2 propensity‐matched cohort including 41 PASCAL and 82 MitraClip cases were investigated. Matching was based on clinical, laboratory, echocardiographic, and functional characteristics. The primary endpoints assessed were procedural success [as defined by the Mitral Valve Academy Research Consortium (MVARC)], residual MR, functional class, and a composite endpoint comprising death, heart failure hospitalization, and mitral valve re‐intervention. We found for the PASCAL and the matched MitraClip cohort no significant differences in MVARC defined technical (90.2% vs. 95.1%, P = 0.44), device (90.2% vs. 89.0%, P = 1.0), or procedural (87.8% vs. 80.5%, P = 0.45) success rates. Accordingly, the overall MR reduction and improvement in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class were comparable (1 year follow‐up: MR ≤ 2 95% vs. 93.6%, P = 1.0; NYHA ≤ 2 57.1% vs. 66.7%, P = 0.59). The composite outcome revealed no statistically significant difference between both devices (1 year follow‐up: 31.7% vs. 37.8%, P = 0.55). Interestingly, we found at both short and 1 year follow‐up a significantly higher rate of patients with none or trace MR in the PASCAL‐treated cohort (short follow‐up: 17.9% vs. 0%, P = 0.0081; 1 year follow‐up: 25% vs. 0%, P = 0.0016). Conversely, the rate of aborted device implantations due to an elevated transmitral gradient was higher in PASCAL interventions (9.8% vs. 1.2%, P = 0.04). Conclusions Transcatheter edge‐to‐edge repair using the PASCAL or MitraClip device results in favourable and comparable outcomes regarding safety, efficacy, and clinical improvement after 1 year.

Abstract Aims Several new percutaneous tricuspid repair systems have recently been introduced as new treatment options for severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR). Clinical improvement following percutaneous tricuspid valve leaflet repair has been demonstrated by recent studies. A possible impact on exercise capacity has not yet been reported. Methods and results Eleven patients with at least severe TR and successful tricuspid leaflet repair using the PASCAL Ace implant at our cardiology department were included in this analysis. All patients suffered from symptomatic right‐sided heart failure with compromised exercise capacity. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic parameters were assessed at baseline and 3 months follow‐up. The primary endpoint was the change in maximal oxygen consumption [VO2 max (mL/(min*kg))] at 3 months follow‐up. Secondary endpoints included improvement in TR, cardiac biomarkers, and other clinical outcomes. TR severity at 3 months follow‐up post‐PASCAL Ace implantation was significantly lower than at baseline (P = 0.004). Cardiac biomarkers including high‐sensitivity troponin T and N‐terminal pro‐brain natriuretic peptide as well as right ventricular diameter improved slightly without reaching statistical significance (P = 0.89, P = 0.32, and P = 0.06, respectively). PASCAL Ace implantation resulted in a significant improvement in cardiopulmonary exercise capacity at 3 months follow‐up compared with baseline. Mean VO2 max improved from 9.5 ± 2.8 to 11.4 ± 3.4 mL/(min*kg) (P = 0.006), VO2 max per cent predicted from 42 ± 12% to 50 ± 15% (P = 0.004), peak oxygen uptake from 703 ± 175 to 826 ± 198 mL/min (P = 0.004), and O2 pulse per cent predicted from 67 ± 21% to 81 ± 25% (P = 0.011). Other CPET‐related outcomes did not show any significant change over time. Conclusions In this single‐centre retrospective analysis, direct tricuspid valve leaflet repair using the transcatheter PASCAL Ace implant system was associated with a reduced TR severity and improved cardiopulmonary exercise capacity.

The paper presents $AVQBits$ , a versatile, bitstream-based video quality model. It can be applied in several contexts such as video service monitoring, evaluation of video encoding quality, of gaming video QoE, and even of omnidirectional video quality. In the paper, it is shown that $AVQBits$ predictions closely match video quality ratings obained in various subjective tests with human viewers, for videos up to 4K-UHD resolution (Ultra-High Definition, 3840 x 2180 pixels) and framerates up 120 fps. With the different variants of $AVQBits$ presented in the paper, video quality can be monitored either at the client side, in the network or directly after encoding. The no-reference $AVQBits$ model was developed for different video services and types of input data, reflecting the increasing popularity of Video-on-Demand services and widespread use of HTTP-based adaptive streaming. At its core, $AVQBits$ encompasses the standardized ITU-T P.1204.3 model, with further model instances that can either have restricted or extended input information, depending on the application context. Four different instances of $AVQBits$ are presented, that is, a Mode 3 model with full access to the bitstream, a Mode 0 variant using only metadata such as codec type, framerate, resoution and bitrate as input, a Mode 1 model using Mode 0 information and frame-type and -size information, and a Hybrid Mode 0 model that is based on Mode 0 metadata and the decoded video pixel information. The models are trained on the authors’ own AVT-PNATS-UHD-1 dataset described in the paper. All models show a highly competitive performance by using AVT-VQDB-UHD-1 as validation dataset, e.g., with the Mode 0 variant yielding a value of 0.890 Pearson Correlation, the Mode 1 model of 0.901, the hybrid no-reference mode 0 model of 0.928 and the model with full bitstream access of 0.942. In addition, all four $AVQBits$ variants are evaluated when applying them out-of-the-box to different media formats such as 360° video, high framerate (HFR) content, or gaming videos. The analysis shows that the ITU-T P.1204.3 and Hybrid Mode 0 instances of $AVQBits$ for the considered use-cases either perform on par with or better than even state-of-the-art full reference, pixel-based models. Furthermore, it is shown that the proposed Mode 0 and Mode 1 variants outperform commonly used no-reference models for the different application scopes. Also, a long-term integration model based on the standardized ITU-T P.1203.3 is presented to estimate ratings of overall audiovisual streaming Quality of Experience (QoE) for sessions of 30 s up to 5 min duration. In the paper, the $AVQBits$ instances with their per-1-sec score output are evaluated as the video quality component of the proposed long-term integration model. All $AVQBits$ variants as well as the long-term integration module are made publicly available for the community for further research.

Telemeetings such as audiovisual conferences or virtual meetings play an increasingly important role in our professional and private lives. For that reason, system developers and service providers will strive for an optimal experience for the user, while at the same time optimizing technical and financial resources. This leads to the discipline of Quality of Experience (QoE), an active field originating from the telecommunication and multimedia engineering domains, that strives for understanding, measuring, and designing the quality experience with multimedia technology. This paper provides the reader with an entry point to the large and still growing field of QoE of telemeetings, by taking a holistic perspective, considering both technical and non-technical aspects, and by focusing on current and near-future services. Addressing both researchers and practitioners, the paper first provides a comprehensive survey of factors and processes that contribute to the QoE of telemeetings, followed by an overview of relevant state-of-the-art methods for QoE assessment. To embed this knowledge into recent technology developments, the paper continues with an overview of current trends, focusing on the field of eXtended Reality (XR) applications for communication purposes. Given the complexity of telemeeting QoE and the current trends, new challenges for a QoE assessment of telemeetings are identified. To overcome these challenges, the paper presents a novel Profile Template for characterizing telemeetings from the holistic perspective endorsed in this paper.

Abstract Aim Percutaneous mitral valve repair (PMVR) via MitraClip implantation is a therapeutic option for severe mitral regurgitation (MR) in advanced stages of heart failure (HF). However, progressive left ventricular dilation in these patients may lead to recurrent MR after PMVR and consequent re‐do MitraClip implantation. Here, we describe the characteristics and outcomes of this clinical scenario. Methods and results Patients with systolic HF and functional MR undergoing a re‐do MitraClip procedure were retrospectively analysed. Inclusion criteria were age ≥18 years, technical, device and procedural success at first MitraClip procedure, functional MR and systolic HF with an ejection fraction (EF) of

Abstract Aims We investigated short and mid‐term safety and efficacy of the PASCAL system for percutaneous mitral valve repair (PMVr) in severe mitral regurgitation (MR) in an all‐comer population. Methods and results In the first consecutive 41 patients undergoing PMVr using the PASCAL system in our centre, procedural success and safety were assessed. Efficacy in improving MR and functional class were evaluated. Median patient age was 74 years, 58.5% were male patients, and median European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation Score II was 5.1%. All patients suffered from severe MR with 59% functional MR, 29% degenerative MR, and 12% of mixed aetiology MR. The technical success rate was 90%, limited by four cases where PASCAL implantation was aborted due to a prohibitive mitral gradient. On average, 1.16 PASCAL devices per patient were implanted. All patients successfully implanted with a PASCAL device were discharged with MR grade ≤ 2 and 79% with MR grade ≤ 1. Mean follow‐up was 8.7 ± 4.9 months. Ninety‐seven per cent of patients remained at MR ≤ 2 at follow‐up, which translated into a significantly improved New York Heart Association functional class as well as a significant reduction of systolic pulmonary artery pressure and brain natriuretic peptide levels. The procedure‐related rate for major adverse events was 3%. Neither early nor late single‐leaflet detachment was found. In one patient, air embolism occurred, resulting in modification of the PASCAL instructions for use. Conclusions Percutaneous mitral valve repair using PASCAL in a real‐world, all‐comer population was feasible and safe, resulting in a significant mid‐term reduction of MR with persistent clinical improvement.

Introduction: Many barriers exist when implementing new educational technologies. Some institutions without specialty support staff or offices may struggle with the necessary steps. In a climate that increasingly asks faculty to do more with less, empowering faculty-driven processes may prove important. Innovation: When the need for an academic electronic health record (EHR) was identified, a faculty champion followed a structured approach to research available options, garner faculty interest, bring forth a proposal to the administration, implement the academic EHR technology, and perform continuous quality improvement thereby paving the pathway for future faculty-led initiatives. Findings: A single faculty member followed a structured approach that could be carried out by others to bring meaningful academic technology to multiple programs. This process was subsequently successfully used by another faculty member and the technology implemented was well-received by administration, faculty, and students. Conclusion: Despite few resources to support or compel technological adaptation or change, faculty can follow steps to introduce these projects and moreover, spark a cultural shift and momentum to embolden faculty to follow a process to bring forth change or initiatives in the future.

The popularity of video on-demand streaming services increased tremendously over the last years. Most services use http-based adaptive video streaming methods. Today's movies and TV shows are typically recorded in UHD-1/4K and streamed using settings attuned to the end-device and current network conditions. Video quality prediction models can be used to perform an extensive analysis of video codec settings to ensure high quality. Hence, we present a framework for the development of pixel-based video quality models. We instantiate four different model variants (hyfr, hyfu, fume and nofu) for short-term video quality estimation targeting various use cases. Our models range from a no-reference video quality model to a full-reference model including hybrid model extensions that incorporate client accessible meta-data. All models share a similar architecture and the same core features, depending on their mode of operation. Besides traditional mean opinion score prediction, we tackle quality estimation as a classification and multi-output regression problem. Our performance evaluation is based on the publicly available AVT-VQDB-UHD-1 dataset. We further evaluate the introduced center-cropping approach to speed up calculations. Our analysis shows that our hybrid full-reference model (hyfr) performs best, e.g. 0.92 PCC for MOS prediction, followed by the hybrid no-reference model (hyfu), full-reference model (fume) and no-reference model (nofu). We further show that our models outperform popular state-of-the-art models. The introduced features and machine-learning pipeline are publicly available for use by the community for further research and extension.