Asynchronous Co-eating Through Video Message Exchange: Support for Making Video Messages

[HCII 2020]12th International Conference, CCD 2020, Held as Part of the 22nd HCI International Conference, HCII 2020, Copenhagen, Denmark, July 19–24, 2020, Proceedings, Part IIPart of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS, volume 12193)Co-Eating, i.e., eating meals in the company of other people, has been widely recognized as good for both physical and mental health. However, the chances of co-eating have drastically decreased for families living separately and for older people living alone. To cope with this problem, we propose a framework of “asynchronous co-eating” that enables virtual co-eating through video message exchanges, which does not necessarily require people to eat simultaneously. This framework is aimed to maintain frequent communication between family members and promote ordinary types of co-eating when possible. To make this process easy for both older people and their distant family members, we designed a video message exchange scheme with an omnidirectional camera and a topic recommendation mechanism. With preliminary experiments, we obtained results that suggest our framework has the potential to be beneficial

A novel research definition of bladder health in women and girls: Implications for research and public health promotion

BACKGROUND:Bladder health in women and girls is poorly understood, in part, due to absence of a definition for clinical or research purposes. This article describes the process used by a National Institutes of Health funded transdisciplinary research team (The Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms [PLUS] Consortium) to develop a definition of bladder health. METHODS:The PLUS Consortium identified currently accepted lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and outlined elements of storage and emptying functions of the bladder. Consistent with the World Health Organization's definition of health, PLUS concluded that absence of LUTS was insufficient and emphasizes the bladder's ability to adapt to short-term physical, psychosocial, and environmental challenges for the final definition. Definitions for subjective experiences and objective measures of bladder dysfunction and health were drafted. An additional bioregulatory function to protect against infection, neoplasia, chemical, or biologic threats was proposed. RESULTS:PLUS proposes that bladder health be defined as: "A complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being related to bladder function and not merely the absence of LUTS. Healthy bladder function permits daily activities, adapts to short-term physical or environmental stressors, and allows optimal well-being (e.g., travel, exercise, social, occupational, or other activities)." Definitions for each element of bladder function are reported with suggested subjective and objective measures. CONCLUSIONS:PLUS used a comprehensive transdisciplinary process to develop a bladder health definition. This will inform instrument development for evaluation of bladder health promotion and prevention of LUTS in research and public health initiatives

Entanglement by linear SU(2) transformations: generation and evolution of quantum vortex states

We consider the evolution of a two-mode system of bosons under the action of a Hamiltonian that generates linear SU(2) transformations. The Hamiltonian is generic in that it represents a host of entanglement mechanisms, which can thus be treated in a unified way. We start by solving the quantum dynamics analytically when the system is initially in a Fock state. We show how the two modes get entangled by evolution to produce a coherent superposition of vortex states in general, and a single vortex state under certain conditions. The degree of entanglement between the modes is measured by finding the explicit analytical dependence of the Von Neumann entropy on the system parameters. The reduced state of each mode is analyzed by means of its correlation function and spatial coherence function. Remarkably, our analysis is shown to be equally as valid for a variety of initial states that can be prepared from a two-mode Fock state via a unitary transformation and for which the results can be obtained by mere inspection of the corresponding results for an initial Fock state. As an example, we consider a quantum vortex as the initial state and also find conditions for its revival and charge conjugation. While studying the evolution of the initial vortex state, we have encountered and explained an interesting situation in which the entropy of the system does not evolve whereas its wave function does. Although the modal concept has been used throughout the paper, it is important to note that the theory is equally applicable for a two-particle system in which each particle is represented by its bosonic creation and annihilation operators.Comment: 6 figure

The perils of standardizing infant weight to assess weight change differences across exposure groups

Purpose: When conducting analyses of child weight growth trajectories, researchers commonly use Z-scores from a standard instead of the observed weights. However, these Z-scores, calculated from cross-sectional data, may introduce methodological limitations when used in the context of longitudinal analyses. We assessed analytic limitations when analyzing infant growth data with three anthropometric measures: weight and the corresponding Z-scores and percentiles from a standard. Methods: We undertook a series of Monte Carlo simulations and compared tests of differences in postnatal weight change across time (growth velocity) between two exposure groups. Models with the observed weight outcome were compared to the corresponding weight World Health Organization (WHO) Z-score or weight percentile outcomes. We calculated power, type I error, and median product term coefficient estimates to assess differences between the models. Results: There was lower power to detect velocity differences across exposure groups for WHO Z-scores and percentiles as outcomes compared to the use of observed weight values. We also noted instances in which velocity differences between exposed and unexposed groups were in the opposite direction in analyses with WHO Z-score outcomes. Conclusions: In our simulations of infant weight velocity differences across exposure groups, we observed lower power and effect inconsistencies when applying a standard-derived Z-score transformation. These results emphasize the need for careful consideration of the appropriate scale when assessing infant growth trajectories across categorical groups

The Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) in girls and women: Developing a conceptual framework for a prevention research agenda

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146323/1/nau23787_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146323/2/nau23787.pd

Polarisation Patterns and Vectorial Defects in Type II Optical Parametric Oscillators

Previous studies of lasers and nonlinear resonators have revealed that the polarisation degree of freedom allows for the formation of polarisation patterns and novel localized structures, such as vectorial defects. Type II optical parametric oscillators are characterised by the fact that the down-converted beams are emitted in orthogonal polarisations. In this paper we show the results of the study of pattern and defect formation and dynamics in a Type II degenerate optical parametric oscillator for which the pump field is not resonated in the cavity. We find that traveling waves are the predominant solutions and that the defects are vectorial dislocations which appear at the boundaries of the regions where traveling waves of different phase or wave-vector orientation are formed. A dislocation is defined by two topological charges, one associated with the phase and another with the wave-vector orientation. We also show how to stabilize a single defect in a realistic experimental situation. The effects of phase mismatch of nonlinear interaction are finally considered.Comment: 38 pages, including 15 figures, LATeX. Related material, including movies, can be obtained from http://www.imedea.uib.es/Nonlinear/research_topics/OPO

Converging on bladder health through design thinking: From an ecology of influence to a focused set of research questions

Lower urinary tract symptoms affect a substantial number of women in the United States (U.S.) and globally. In 2015, the Prevention of Lower Urinary tract Symptoms in women (PLUS) Research Consortium was funded to establish the scientific basis for prevention efforts by (1) understanding healthy bladder function and (2) identifying risk and protective factors for bladder health in women across the lifecourse. This transdisciplinary consortium generated a list of over 600 candidate risk and protective factors for bladder health in women and girls and refined and prioritized these into 29 focused research questions to inform a national longitudinal observational study in the U.S. This paper describes that process using design thinking, a human-centered set of principles and strategies by which innovations are developed, as a framework. Design thinking is an iterative process consisting of five stages: Empathizing with end-users of innovations, Defining core principles girding the work, Ideation of all possible solutions, and rapid-cycle Prototyping and Testing of solutions. Lessons learned are offered to inform future prevention science research endeavors that might benefit from such an approach

A survey of Italian and Spanish neonatologists and paediatricians regarding awareness of the diagnosis of FAS and FASD and maternal ethanol use during pregnancy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ethanol is the most widely used drug in the world and a human teratogen whose consumption among women of childbearing age has been steadily increasing. There are no Italian or Spanish statistics on ethanol consumption during pregnancy nor any information regarding prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). There is also a reasonable suspicion that these two diseases are underdiagnosed by professionals from the above-reported countries. The objectives of this study were: 1) to evaluate the experience, knowledge and confidence of Italian and Spanish neonatologists and paediatricians with respect to the diagnosis of FAS and FASD, and 2) to evaluate professionals awareness of maternal drinking patterns during pregnancy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A multiple-choice anonymous questionnaire was e-mailed to Italian neonatologists registered in the mailing list of the corresponding Society and administered to Italian and Spanish paediatricians during their National Congress.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The response rate was 16% (63/400) for the Italian neonatologists of the National Society while a total of 152 Spanish and 41 Italian paediatricians agreed to complete the questionnaire during National Congress. Over 90% of the surveyed physicians declared that FAS is an identifiable syndrome and over 60% of them identified at least one of the most important features of FAS. Although over 60% Italian responders and around 80% Spanish responders were aware that ethanol use in pregnancy is dangerous, approximately 50% Italian responders and 40% Spanish ones allowed women to drink sometimes a glass of wine or beer during pregnancy.</p> <p>Neonatologists and paediatricians rated confidence in the ability to diagnosis FAS and FASD as low, with over 50% responders feeling they needed more information regarding FAS and FASD identification in newborn and child.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Italian and Spanish neonatologists and paediatricians do not feel confident about diagnosing FAS and FASD. More training is needed in order to accurately diagnose ethanol use during pregnancy and correctly inform pregnant women on the consequences on the newborn.</p