Worldwide, more than 80% of people with cancer will require surgery during their disease course, but less than 25% have access to safe, affordable and timely surgery. Among the barriers to increasing surgical capacity are the time and costs required to train novices. Virtual reality (VR) surgical simulations can reduce the time required for novices to reach surgical proficiency, though their costs may exceed USD 100,000.Thegoalofthisstudywastodetermineifalow−costsystem,usingcommerciallyavailabletechnologydesignedforin−homecomputergaming,couldbeusedtocreatearealisticVRsurgicaloncologysimulation.StandardcommerciallyavailableVRsoftwareandOculusRifthardwarehavebeenusedtoprovidehigh−qualityvisualsandbelievablesurgeonhandinteractions.NearidenticalVRreproductionofanoperatingroomusing1:1scalematchingofreal−worldelements,includingequipment,instruments,suppliesandsounds,maintainingframerategreaterthan60fpstomaintainvisualfidelityhasbeencreated.InternalanatomywasdesignedasVRreplicaofhumanfemalepelvicanatomy,includingorgans,veinsandothervessels,peritoneumandconnectivetissue.Internalanatomywasdesignedtorunat120fpsandtoallowforarealisticabdominalradicalhysterectomysimulation.Surgicalhandsweremodelledtoscaleforthosewithlargeandsmallhands.MultiplehandpositionsweresimulatedusingOculustouchhardware.Reconstructingthevirtualenvironmenttosimulaterealityasaccuratelyaspossiblewasdonetoimmerseusersinthesimulatorsothattheyfocusonlearningandpractisewithoutdistractions.Trainingmoduleswereco−designedbyexpertsinlearningsciences,humanbehaviour,VRandgynaecologiconcology.Wehavesuccessfullycreatedalow−costVRsimulationtohelppreparenovicesurgeonstoperformaradicalabdominalhysterectomysurgeryprocedure.ThesimulationcanbeusedwithcommerciallyavailablecomputergaminghardwarethatcurrentlycostslessthanUSD1,500. Low-cost VR simulation has the potential to reduce the time and cost to train surgeons to perform surgical oncology procedures, as well as both improve and audit quality. If effective in real-world clinical trials, such simulations have relevance to multiple surgical procedures and applicability in both resource-limited and high-income settings
Based on exactly mapping of a many-body electron-phonon interaction problem
onto a one-body problem, we apply the well-established nonequilibrium Green
function technique to solve the time-dependent phonon-assisted tunneling at low
temperature through a single-molecular quantum dot connected to two leads,
which is subject to a microwave irradiation field. It is found that in the
presence of the electron-phonon interaction and the microwave irradiation
field, the time-average transmission and the nonlinear differential conductance
display additional peaks due to pure photon absorption or emission processes
and photon-absorption-assisted phonon emission processes. The variation of the
time-average current with frequency of the microwave irradiation field is also
studied.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B. accepted by Phys. Rev.
OBJECTIVE: Intravenous drug use (IDU) remains a prominent pathway of HIV transmission in the United States, though little is know about modifiable factors influencing quality of life among IDUs. The goal of this study was to evaluate the influence of psychological variables (e.g., depression and anxiety) on health related quality of life among HIV-positive individuals with a history of IDU who were enrolled in outpatient treatment for opioid dependence. METHOD: 108 HIV-positive individuals with a history of IDU and participating in current outpatient treatment for opiate dependence who were screened for participation in a depression and adherence study reported sociodemographic data, depressive and anxiety symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL; Multidimensional Health Assessment using the ACTG-SF 21). RESULTS: Multiple regression models controlling for disease stage and background characteristics identified significant negative relationships between General Health Perception and Functioning without Pain for anxiety and depression, and between Role Functioning and Physical Functioning for anxiety. CD4 cell count was significantly related to Physical Functioning only. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate that distress (both depression and anxiety) contribute significantly to variation in HRQoL over and above the effects of disease variables. Effective depression and anxiety treatment may result in improved overall functioning