A Mobile Museum Navigation System Designed For Visitors’ Usability

With the popularization of smartphone and the increasing use of mobile applications, the mobile navigation system has been widely used in museum. User satisfaction is correlated to information system usage and success. Thus it is essential that the mobile navigation system can meet the visitors’ need and create a good user experience. According to previous studies, we classify the design factors affecting visitors’ usability in museum mobile navigation system into seven main factors: connectivity, interface design, content design, user experience, marketing and promotion, exhibition space and cultural aspects. In this paper, a mobile guide system of the National Palace Museum which is designed and built on the basis of these seven factors is presented. Visitors can use the navigation system on their smartphones to read the timely information of the artifacts and the exhibitions ubiquitously, plan the desired tour routes, and share the unique experience via social media

Retinal pigment epithelium transplantation in retinal diseases

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and inherited macular diseases (IMD) are retinal disorders that can cause blindness through atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) or choroidal neovascularisation (CNV). RPE transplantation in severe forms of neovascular AMD has been performed with promising short-term outcomes. However, this approach has not been evaluated in atrophic types of AMD or IMD. Furthermore, the long-term outcomes of photoreceptors cell function rescue by RPE reconstruction in neovascular AMD is unknown. Current surgical techniques are complex with associated high complication rates. Therefore, other treatment approaches to reconstruct the RPE are required. This thesis aims to examine whether long-term photoreceptor cell function rescue can be achieved through RPE reconstruction by investigating the outcomes of autologous RPE transplantation or full macular translocation in AMD and IMD. A further aim is to determine the feasibility of a new approach to reconstruct the RPE using human embryonic stem cell (hESC). A prospective study of autologous RPE-choroid grafts in 9 patients with atrophic macular disease secondary to AMD or IMD demonstrated that submacular RPE graft can support retinal function and fixation. However, there was a high surgical and post-operative complication rates and the overall visual acuity and reading ability declined. Long-term follow-up demonstrated that the graft can maintain retinal function for over 2 years in some patients. A retrospective review of long-term outcomes following autologous RPE-choroid grafts and full macular translocation in 12 and 40 patients with neovascular AMD, respectively, showed that rescue of retinal function beyond 2 years is possible. A visual acuity of 6/12 was achieved and maintained for over 2 years in 8% and 15% of patients who had patch graft and translocation, respectively. However, overall visual acuity outcomes were limited by delayed post-operative complications such as recurrent CNV and cystoid macular oedema. A prospective porcine experiment showed that subretinal implant of hESC derived-RPE was feasible and human donor cell can survive in vivo for up to 6 weeks. However, there was significant loss of the hESC-RPE which may have occurred intra-operatively or during the first 2 weeks post-operatively. Macrophages were noted at the site of the graft suggesting some inflammatory and immunological responses to the human cells, polyester substrate or surgical trauma. The work in this thesis has provided the proof of principle that reconstruction of the RPE can maintain retinal function in atrophic and neovascular macular diseases over the long-term. A novel approach using hESC-RPE on an artificial substrate may be a more feasible and safer alternative to current clinical techniques of RPE reconstruction

Correcting magnification error in foveal avascular zone area measurements of optical coherence tomography angiography images with estimated axial length

Background To generate and validate a method to estimate axial length estimated (ALest) from spherical equivalent (SE) and corneal curvature [keratometry (K)], and to determine if this ALest can replace actual axial length (ALact) for correcting transverse magnification error in optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images using the Littmann-Bennett formula. Methods Data from 1301 participants of the Raine Study Gen2-20 year follow-up were divided into two datasets to generate (n = 650) and validate (n = 651) a relationship between AL, SE, and K. The developed formula was then applied to a separate dataset of 46 participants with AL, SE, and K measurements and OCTA images to estimate and compare the performance of ALest against ALact in correcting transverse magnification error in OCTA images when measuring the foveal avascular zone area (FAZA). Results The formula for ALest yielded the equation: ALest = 2.102K − 0.4125SE + 7.268, R2 = 0.794. There was good agreement between ALest and ALact for both study cohorts. The mean difference [standard deviation (SD)] between FAZA corrected with ALest and ALact was 0.002 (0.015) mm2 with the 95% limits of agreement (LoA) of − 0.027 to 0.031 mm2. In comparison, mean difference (SD) between FAZA uncorrected and corrected with ALact was − 0.005 (0.030) mm2, with 95% LoA of − 0.064 to 0.054 mm2. Conclusions ALact is more accurate than ALest and hence should be used preferentially in magnification error correction in the clinical setting. FAZA corrected with ALest is comparable to FAZA corrected with ALact, while FAZA measurements using images corrected with ALest have a greater accuracy than measurements on uncorrected images. Hence, in the absence of ALact, clinicians should use ALest to correct for magnification error as this provides for more accurate measurements of fundus parameters than uncorrected images

IT Enabled Service Innovation In E-Government: The Case Of Taiwan Drug Abuse Reduction Service

Drug abuse problem is one of the toughest issues faced by governments in the world. The typical solution is every time when the drug abuse offenders are under arrest, they are jailed for a while. There is high probability that they will repeat the offense after leaving the prison. Thus, such a solution wastes lots of administrative resources from the government, yet still cannot reduce the recidivism of drug abuse. Nowadays, most countries treat drug abuse offenders as patients, and offer them substitute treatment in order to reduce the dependence on drug and also reduce the risk of infecting AIDS. The patients will go to work as a normal person, live as a normal person, and keep their human dignity. In this study, we introduce the care of Taiwan drug abuse reduction service by service blueprinting method. The service integrates several ministries of Taiwan government in signal information system, and will be triggered automatically when the drug abuse offender is leaving the prison. Subsequently, we analyze the case by the framework of Service Open System View and then provide some suggestions for improvement of the existing service. This study share the case of Taiwan drug abuse reduction service and provide the best practice of improving existing service by the view point of service science to academics

Retinal boundary segmentation in stargardt disease optical coherence tomography images using automated deep learning

Purpose: To use a deep learning model to develop a fully automated method (fully semantic network and graph search [FS-GS]) of retinal segmentation for optical coherence tomography (OCT) images from patients with Stargardt disease. Methods: Eighty-seven manually segmented (ground truth) OCT volume scan sets (5171 B-scans) from 22 patients with Stargardt disease were used for training, validation and testing of a novel retinal boundary detection approach (FS-GS) that combines a fully semantic deep learning segmentation method, which generates a per-pixel class prediction map with a graph-search method to extract retinal boundary positions. The performance was evaluated using the mean absolute boundary error and the differences in two clinical metrics (retinal thickness and volume) compared with the ground truth. The performance of a separate deep learning method and two publicly available software algorithms were also evaluated against the ground truth. Results: FS-GS showed an excellent agreement with the ground truth, with a boundary mean absolute error of 0.23 and 1.12 pixels for the internal limiting membrane and the base of retinal pigment epithelium or Bruch's membrane, respectively. The mean difference in thickness and volume across the central 6 mm zone were 2.10 µm and 0.059 mm3. The performance of the proposed method was more accurate and consistent than the publicly available OCTExplorer and AURA tools. Conclusions: The FS-GS method delivers good performance in segmentation of OCT images of pathologic retina in Stargardt disease. Translational Relevance: Deep learning models can provide a robust method for retinal segmentation and support a high-throughput analysis pipeline for measuring retinal thickness and volume in Stargardt disease

Evaluating distribution of foveal avascular zone parameters corrected by lateral magnification and their associations with retinal thickness

Purpose To examine the distribution of foveal avascular zone (FAZ) parameters, with and without correction for lateral magnification, in a large cohort of healthy young adults. Design Cross-sectional, observational cohort study. Participants A total of 504 healthy adults, 27 to 30 years of age. Methods Participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmic examination including axial length measurement and OCT angiography (OCTA) imaging of the macula. OCT angiography images of combined superficial and deep retinal vessel plexuses were processed via a custom software to extract foveal avascular zone area (FAZA) and foveal density-300 (FD-300), the vessel density in a 300-μm wide annulus surrounding the FAZ, with and without correction for lateral magnification. Bland–Altman analyses were performed to examine the effect of lateral magnification on FAZA and FD-300, as well as to evaluate the interocular agreement in both parameters. Linear mixed-effects models were used to examine the relationship between retinal thicknesses and OCTA parameters. Main Outcome Measures The FAZA and FD-300, corrected for lateral magnification. Results The mean (standard deviation [SD]) of laterally corrected FAZA and FD-300 was 0.22 mm2 (0.10 mm2) and 51.9% (3.2%), respectively. Relative to uncorrected data, 55.6% of corrected FAZA showed a relative change > 5%, whereas all FD-300 changes were within 5%. There was good interocular symmetry (mean right eye–left eye difference, 95% limits of agreement [LoA]) in both FAZA (0.006 mm2, -0.05 mm2, to 0.07 mm2) and FD-300 (-0.05%, -5.39%, to 5.30%). There were significant negative associations between central retinal thickness and FAZA (β = -0.0029), as well as between central retinal thickness and FD-300 (β = -0.044), with the relationships driven by inner, not outer, retina. Conclusions We reported lateral magnification adjusted normative values for FAZA and FD-300 in a large cohort of young, healthy eyes. Clinicians should strongly consider accounting for lateral magnification when evaluating FAZA. Good interocular agreement in FAZA and FD-300 suggests the contralateral eye can be used as control data

Pathogenesis and Treatment of Usher Syndrome Type IIA

Usher syndrome (USH) is the most common form of deaf-blindness, with an estimated prevalence of 4.4 to 16.6 per 100,000 people worldwide. The most common form of USH is type IIA (USH2A), which is caused by homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in the USH2A gene and accounts for around half of all USH cases. USH2A patients show moderate to severe hearing loss from birth, with diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa in the second decade of life and variable vestibular involvement. Although hearing aids or cochlear implants can provide some mitigation of hearing deficits, there are currently no treatments aimed at preventing or restoring vision loss in USH2A patients. In this review, we first provide an overview of the molecular biology of the USH2A gene and its protein isoforms, which include a transmembrane protein (TM usherin) and an extracellular protein (EC usherin). The role of these proteins in the inner ear and retina and their impact on the pathogenesis of USH2A is discussed. We review animal cell-derived and patient cell-derived models currently used in USH2A research and conclude with an overview of potential treatment strategies currently in preclinical development and clinical trials

Duration of untreated bipolar disorder: A multicenter study

Little is known about the demographic and clinical differences between short and long duration of untreated bipolar disorder (DUB) in Chinese patients. This study examined the demographic and clinical features of short (≤2 years) and long DUB (\u3e2 years) in China. A consecutively recruited sample of 555 patients with bipolar disorder (BD) was examined in 7 psychiatric hospitals and general hospital psychiatric units across China. Patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics were collected using a standardized protocol and data collection procedure. The mean DUB was 3.2 ± 6.0 years; long DUB accounted for 31.0% of the sample. Multivariate analyses revealed that longer duration of illness, diagnosis of BD type II, and earlier misdiagnosis of BD for major depressive disorder or schizophrenia were independently associated with long DUB. The mean DUB in Chinese BD patients was shorter than the reported figures from Western countries. The long-term impact of DUB on the outcome of BD is warranted

"Low-state" Black Hole Accretion in Nearby Galaxies

I summarize the main observational properties of low-luminosity AGNs in nearby galaxies to argue that they are the high-mass analogs of black hole X-ray binaries in the "low/hard" state. The principal characteristics of low-state AGNs can be accommodated with a scenario in which the central engine is comprised of three components: an optically thick, geometrically accretion disk with a truncated inner radius, a radiatively inefficient flow, and a compact jet.Comment: 8 pages. To appear in From X-ray Binaries to Quasars: Black Hole Accretion on All Mass Scales, ed. T. J. Maccarone, R. P. Fender, and L. C. Ho (Dordrecht: Kluwer

Phase-space analysis of interacting phantom cosmology

We perform a detailed phase-space analysis of various phantom cosmological models, where the dark energy sector interacts with the dark matter one. We examine whether there exist late-time scaling attractors, corresponding to an accelerating universe and possessing dark energy and dark matter densities of the same order. We find that all the examined models, although accepting stable late-time accelerated solutions, cannot alleviate the coincidence problem, unless one imposes a form of fine-tuning in the model parameters. It seems that interacting phantom cosmology cannot fulfill the basic requirement that led to its construction.Comment: 6 figures, use revtex, v2: minor corrections, references added, accepted for publication in JCA