Three Dimensional Fast Exact Euclidean Distance (3D-FEED) Maps

In image and video analysis, distance maps are frequently used. They provide the (Euclidean) distance (ED) of background pixels to the nearest object pixel. Recently, the Fast Exact Euclidean Distance (FEED) transformation was launched. In this paper, we present the three dimensional (3D) version of FEED. 3D-FEED is compared with four other methods for a wide range of 3D test images. 3D-FEED proved to be twice as fast as the fastest algorithm available. Moreover, it provides true exact EDs, where other algorithms only approximate the ED. This unique algorithm makes the difference, especially there where time and precision are of importance

The Enduring Effects of Parental Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use on Child Well-being: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis

The effects of psychoactive substance abuse are not limited to the user, but extend to the entire family system, with children of substance abusers being particularly at risk. This meta-analysis attempted to quantify the longitudinal relationship between parental alcohol, tobacco, and drug use and child well-being, investigating variation across a range of substance and well-being indices and other potential moderators. We performed a literature search of peer-reviewed, English language, longitudinal observational studies that reported outcomes for children aged 0 to 18 years. In total, 56 studies, yielding 220 dependent effect sizes, met inclusion criteria. A multilevel random-effects model revealed a statistically significant, small detriment to child well-being for parental substance abuse over time (r = .15). Moderator analyses demonstrated that the effect was more pronounced for parental drug use (r = .25), compared with alcohol use (r = .13), tobacco use (r = .13), and alcohol use disorder (r = .14). Results highlight a need for future studies that better capture the effect of parental psychoactive substance abuse on the full breadth of childhood well-being outcomes and to integrate substance abuse into models that specify the precise conditions under which parental behavior determines child well-being

Determining key clinical predictors for chronic ankle instability and return to sports with cost of illness analysis: protocol of a prospective cohort study

Introduction: Ankle sprains are common in sports and the general population. Although considered innocuous, a large proportion has residual complaints such as recurrent ankle sprains and develop chronic ankle instability. Although some predicting factors are identified, there is no unequivocality regarding the development of chronic ankle instability, nor about the optimal rehabilitation for an acute ankle sprain. Alongside the biomechanical impairments, ankle sprains are a burden on society due to substantial economic costs. Therefore, we aim to identify key clinical predictors of chronic ankle instability or recovery after acute lateral ankle sprain. Additionally, we aim to determine cost-of-illness of patients who developed chronic ankle instability. Methods and analysis: This prospective cohort study (Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT05637008 - pre-results) aims to recruit adult (18-55 years) patients with an acute lateral ankle sprain who are active in sports. Clinical assessments and patient-reported outcome measures will be used to collect data at 7-14 days, 6 weeks, 12 weeks and 12 months after enrolment in the study. The primary outcome will be chronic ankle instability at 12-month follow-up. Salient outcomes will be analysed by logistic regression to determine association with the development of chronic ankle instability. Participants will fill in a cost diary containing direct and indirect costs related to their injury. Ethics and disseminations: The ethical committee of the Antwerp University Hospital (B3002022000138) has given approval of the protocol and consent forms on 10 October 2022. We perform this study according to the Helsinki Declaration. We will present results at conferences or webinars and publish in peer-reviewed articles.NCT05637008

Impairment-based assessments for patients with lateral ankle sprain: A systematic review of measurement properties

Study design Systematic review. Background and objective The International Ankle Consortium developed a core outcome set for the assessment of impairments in patients with lateral ankle sprain (LAS) without consideration of measurement properties (MP). Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate MPs of assessments for the evaluation of individuals with a history of LAS. Methods This systematic review of measurement properties follows PRISMA and COSMIN guidelines. Databases Pubmed, CINAHL, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and SPORTDiscus were searched for eligible studies (last search: July 2022). Studies on MP of specific tests and patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) in patients with acute and history of LAS (>4 weeks post injury) were deemed eligible. Results Ten studies of acute LAS and 39 studies of history of LAS patients with a total of 3313 participants met the inclusion criteria. Anterior Drawer Test (ADT) in supine position five days post injury and Reverse Anterolateral Drawer Test are recommended in acute settings in single studies. In the history of LAS patients, Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAIT) (4 studies) as a PROM, Multiple Hop (3 studies) and Star Excursion Balance Tests (SEBT) (3 studies) for dynamic postural balance testing showed good MPs. No studies investigated pain, physical activity level and gait. Only single studies reported on swelling, range of motion, strength, arthrokinematics, and static postural balance. Limited data existed on responsiveness of the tests in both subgroups. Conclusion There was good evidence to support the use of CAIT as PROM, Multiple Hop, and SEBT for dynamic postural balance testing. Insufficient evidence exists in relation to test responsiveness, especially in the acute situation. Future research should assess MPs of assessments of other impairments associated with LAS

Active optical clock based on four-level quantum system

Active optical clock, a new conception of atomic clock, has been proposed recently. In this report, we propose a scheme of active optical clock based on four-level quantum system. The final accuracy and stability of two-level quantum system are limited by second-order Doppler shift of thermal atomic beam. To three-level quantum system, they are mainly limited by light shift of pumping laser field. These limitations can be avoided effectively by applying the scheme proposed here. Rubidium atom four-level quantum system, as a typical example, is discussed in this paper. The population inversion between $6S_{1/2}$ and $5P_{3/2}$ states can be built up at a time scale of $10^{-6}$s. With the mechanism of active optical clock, in which the cavity mode linewidth is much wider than that of the laser gain profile, it can output a laser with quantum-limited linewidth narrower than 1 Hz in theory. An experimental configuration is designed to realize this active optical clock.Comment: 5 page

Learning from failure

We study decentralized learning in organizations. Decentralization is captured through a symmetry constraint on agents’ strategies. Among such attainable strategies, we solve for optimal and equilibrium strategies. We model the organization as a repeated game with imperfectly observable actions. A fixed but unknown subset of action profiles are successes and all other action profiles are failures. The game is played until either there is a success or the time horizon is reached. For any time horizon, including infinity, we demonstrate existence of optimal attainable strategies and show that they are Nash equilibria. For some time horizons, we can solve explicitly for the optimal attainable strategies and show uniqueness. The solution connects the learning behavior of agents to the fundamentals that characterize the organization: Agents in the organization respond more slowly to failure as the future becomes more important, the size of the organization increases and the probability of success decreases.Game theory

Metastable neon collisions: anisotropy and scattering length

In this paper we investigate the effective scattering length $a$ of spin-polarized Ne*. Due to its anisotropic electrostatic interaction, its scattering length is determined by five interaction potentials instead of one, even in the spin-polarized case, a unique property among the Bose condensed species and candidates. Because the interaction potentials of Ne* are not known accurately enough to predict the value of the scattering length, we investigate the behavior of $a$ as a function of the five phase integrals corresponding to the five interaction potentials. We find that the scattering length has five resonances instead of only one and cannot be described by a simple gas-kinetic approach or the DIS approximation. However, the probability for finding a positive or large value of the scattering length is not enhanced compared to the single potential case. The complex behavior of $a$ is studied by comparing a quantum mechanical five-channel numerical calculation to simpler two-channel models. We find that the induced dipole-dipole interaction is responsible for coupling between the different |\Omega> states, resulting in an inhomogeneous shift of the resonance positions and widths in the quantum mechanical calculation as compared to the DIS approach. The dependence of the resonance positions and widths on the input potentials turns out to be rather straightforward. The existence of two bosonic isotopes of Ne* enables us to choose the isotope with the most favorable scattering length for efficient evaporative cooling towards the Bose-Einstein Condensation transition, greatly enhancing the feasibility to reach this transition.Comment: 13pages, 8 eps figures, analytical model in section V has been remove