Is hugging a robot weird? Investigating the influence of robot appearance on users' perception of hugging

Humanoid robots are expected to be able to communicate with humans using physical interaction, including hug, which is a common gesture of affection. In order to achieve that, their physical embodiment has to be carefully planned, as a user-friendly design will facilitate interaction and minimise repulsion. In this paper, we investigate the effect of manipulating the visual/tactile appearance of a robot, covering wires and metallic parts with clothes, and the auditory effect by enabling or disabling the connector of the hand. The experiment consists in a hugging interaction between the participants and the humanoid robot ARMAR-IIIb. Results after participation of 24 subjects confirm the positive effect from using clothes to modify the appearance and the negative effect of noise and vibration

Global Guidelines in Dermatology Mapping Project (GUIDEMAP):a scoping review of dermatology clinical practice guidelines

Background Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) play a critical role in standardizing and improving treatment outcomes based on the available evidence. It is unclear how many CPGs are available globally to assist clinicians in the management of patients with skin disease. Objectives To search for and identify CPGs for dermatological conditions with the highest burden globally. Methods We adapted a list of 12 dermatological conditions with the highest burden from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2019. A systematic literature search was done to identify CPGs published between October 2014 to October 2019. The scoping review was conducted and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework. Results A total of 226 CPGs were included. Melanoma had the greatest representation in the CPGs, followed by dermatitis and psoriasis. Skin cancers had a relatively high CPG representation but with lower GBD disease burden ranking. There was an uneven distribution by geographical region, with resource-poor settings being under-represented. The skin disease categories of the CPGs correlated weakly with the GBD disability-adjusted life-years metrics. Eighty-nine CPGs did not have funding disclosures and 34 CPGs were behind a paywall. Conclusions The global production of dermatology CPGs showed wide variation in geographical representation, article accessibility and reporting of funding. The number of skin disease CPGs were not commensurate with its disease burden. Future work will critically appraise the methodology and quality of dermatology CPGs and lead to the production of an accessible online resource summarizing these findings.Dermatology-oncolog

Structural Bootstrapping - A Novel, Generative Mechanism for Faster and More Efficient Acquisition of Action-Knowledge

eISSN: 1943-0612Humans, but also robots, learn to improve their behavior. Without existing knowledge, learning either needs to be explorative and, thus, slow or-to be more efficient-it needs to rely on supervision, which may not always be available. However, once some knowledge base exists an agent can make use of it to improve learning efficiency and speed. This happens for our children at the age of around three when they very quickly begin to assimilate new information by making guided guesses how this fits to their prior knowledge. This is a very efficient generative learning mechanism in the sense that the existing knowledge is generalized into as-yet unexplored, novel domains. So far generative learning has not been employed for robots and robot learning remains to be a slow and tedious process. The goal of the current study is to devise for the first time a general framework for a generative process that will improve learning and which can be applied at all different levels of the robot's cognitive architecture. To this end, we introduce the concept of structural bootstrapping-borrowed and modified from child language acquisition-to define a probabilistic process that uses existing knowledge together with new observations to supplement our robot's data-base with missing information about planning-, object-, as well as, action-relevant entities. In a kitchen scenario, we use the example of making batter by pouring and mixing two components and show that the agent can efficiently acquire new knowledge about planning operators, objects as well as required motor pattern for stirring by structural bootstrapping. Some benchmarks are shown, too, that demonstrate how structural bootstrapping improves performanceTaikomosios informatikos katedraVytauto Didžiojo universiteta

Varespladib and cardiovascular events in patients with an acute coronary syndrome: the VISTA-16 randomized clinical trial

IMPORTANCE: Secretory phospholipase A2(sPLA2) generates bioactive phospholipid products implicated in atherosclerosis. The sPLA2inhibitor varespladib has favorable effects on lipid and inflammatory markers; however, its effect on cardiovascular outcomes is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of sPLA2inhibition with varespladib on cardiovascular outcomes. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A double-blind, randomized, multicenter trial at 362 academic and community hospitals in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, and North America of 5145 patients randomized within 96 hours of presentation of an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) to either varespladib (n = 2572) or placebo (n = 2573) with enrollment between June 1, 2010, and March 7, 2012 (study termination on March 9, 2012). INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to receive varespladib (500 mg) or placebo daily for 16 weeks, in addition to atorvastatin and other established therapies. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary efficacy measurewas a composite of cardiovascular mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), nonfatal stroke, or unstable angina with evidence of ischemia requiring hospitalization at 16 weeks. Six-month survival status was also evaluated. RESULTS: At a prespecified interim analysis, including 212 primary end point events, the independent data and safety monitoring board recommended termination of the trial for futility and possible harm. The primary end point occurred in 136 patients (6.1%) treated with varespladib compared with 109 patients (5.1%) treated with placebo (hazard ratio [HR], 1.25; 95%CI, 0.97-1.61; log-rank P = .08). Varespladib was associated with a greater risk of MI (78 [3.4%] vs 47 [2.2%]; HR, 1.66; 95%CI, 1.16-2.39; log-rank P = .005). The composite secondary end point of cardiovascular mortality, MI, and stroke was observed in 107 patients (4.6%) in the varespladib group and 79 patients (3.8%) in the placebo group (HR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.02-1.82; P = .04). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In patients with recent ACS, varespladib did not reduce the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events and significantly increased the risk of MI. The sPLA2inhibition with varespladib may be harmful and is not a useful strategy to reduce adverse cardiovascular outcomes after ACS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01130246. Copyright 2014 American Medical Association. All rights reserved

Global Guidelines in Dermatology Mapping Project (GUIDEMAP): a scoping review of dermatology clinical practice guidelines

From Wiley via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: accepted 2021-04-28, pub-electronic 2021-07-05Article version: VoRPublication status: PublishedSummary: Background: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) play a critical role in standardizing and improving treatment outcomes based on the available evidence. It is unclear how many CPGs are available globally to assist clinicians in the management of patients with skin disease. Objectives: To search for and identify CPGs for dermatological conditions with the highest burden globally. Methods: We adapted a list of 12 dermatological conditions with the highest burden from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2019. A systematic literature search was done to identify CPGs published between October 2014 to October 2019. The scoping review was conducted and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) framework. Results: A total of 226 CPGs were included. Melanoma had the greatest representation in the CPGs, followed by dermatitis and psoriasis. Skin cancers had a relatively high CPG representation but with lower GBD disease burden ranking. There was an uneven distribution by geographical region, with resource‐poor settings being under‐represented. The skin disease categories of the CPGs correlated weakly with the GBD disability‐adjusted life‐years metrics. Eighty‐nine CPGs did not have funding disclosures and 34 CPGs were behind a paywall. Conclusions: The global production of dermatology CPGs showed wide variation in geographical representation, article accessibility and reporting of funding. The number of skin disease CPGs were not commensurate with its disease burden. Future work will critically appraise the methodology and quality of dermatology CPGs and lead to the production of an accessible online resource summarizing these findings

Capsaicin ameliorate pulmonary fibrosis via antioxidant Nrf-2/ PPAR- γ pathway activation and inflammatory TGF-β1/ NF-κB/COX II pathway inhibition

Bleomycin is an effective antibiotic with a significant anticancer properties, but its use is limited due to its potential to induce dose-dependent pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the therapeutic potential of Capsaicin as an additional treatment to enhance patient tolerance to Bleomycin compared to the antifibrotic drug Pirfenidone. Pulmonary fibrosis was induced in rats through by a single intratracheal Bleomycin administration in day zero, followed by either Capsaicin or Pirfenidone treatment for 7 days. After the animals were sacrificed, their lungs were dissected and examined using various stains for macroscopic and histopathological evaluation. Additionally, the study assessed various antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antifibrotic parameters were assessed. Rats exposed to Bleomycin exhibited visible signs of fibrosis, histopathological alterations, increased collagen deposition, and elevated mucin content. Bleomycin also led to heightened increased inflammatory cells infiltration in the bronchoalveolar lavage, elevated fibrosis biomarkers such as hydroxyproline, alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β1), increased inflammatory markers including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interlukine-6 (Il-6), interlukine-1β (Il-1β) nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), and Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β1),. Furthermore, it reduced the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-γ), increased oxidative stress biomarkers like nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO) and protein carbonyl. Bleomycin also decreased the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf-2), reduced glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant capacity, and the activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Treating the animals with Capsaicin and Pirfenidone following Bleomycin exposure resulted in improved lung macroscopic and microscopic characteristics, reduced collagen deposition (collagen I and collagen III) and mucin content, decreased inflammatory cell infiltration, lowered levels of hydroxyproline, α-SMA, and TGF-β1, decreased TNF-α, Il-6, Il-1β, NF-κB, and COX-2, increased PPAR-γ and Nrf-2 expression, and improvement improved in all oxidative stress biomarkers. In summary, Capsaicin demonstrates significant antifibrotic activity against Bleomycin-induced lung injury that may be attributed, at least in part, to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of Capsaicin mediated by upregulation of PPAR-γ and Nrf-2 expression and decreasing. TGF-β1, NF-κB and COX II proteins concentrations

Selenium and Lung Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis

Selenium is a natural health product widely used in the treatment and prevention of lung cancers, but large chemoprevention trials have yielded conflicting results. We conducted a systematic review of selenium for lung cancers, and assessed potential interactions with conventional therapies.Two independent reviewers searched six databases from inception to March 2009 for evidence pertaining to the safety and efficacy of selenium for lung cancers. Pubmed and EMBASE were searched to October 2009 for evidence on interactions with chemo- or radiation-therapy. In the efficacy analysis there were nine reports of five RCTs and two biomarker-based studies, 29 reports of 26 observational studies, and 41 preclinical studies. Fifteen human studies, one case report, and 36 preclinical studies were included in the interactions analysis. Based on available evidence, there appears to be a different chemopreventive effect dependent on baseline selenium status, such that selenium supplementation may reduce risk of lung cancers in populations with lower baseline selenium status (serum<106 ng/mL), but increase risk of lung cancers in those with higher selenium (≥ 121.6 ng/mL). Pooling data from two trials yielded no impact to odds of lung cancer, OR 0.93 (95% confidence interval 0.61-1.43); other cancers that were the primary endpoints of these trials, OR 1.51 (95%CI 0.70-3.24); and all-cause-death, OR 0.93 (95%CI 0.79-1.10). In the treatment of lung cancers, selenium may reduce cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and side effects associated with radiation therapy.Selenium may be effective for lung cancer prevention among individuals with lower selenium status, but at present should not be used as a general strategy for lung cancer prevention. Although promising, more evidence on the ability of selenium to reduce cisplatin and radiation therapy toxicity is required to ensure that therapeutic efficacy is maintained before any broad clinical recommendations can be made in this context