Influence of Directional Sound Cues on Users'' Exploration across 360° Movie Cuts

Virtual reality (VR) is a powerful medium for 360° 360 storytelling, yet content creators are still in the process of developing cinematographic rules for effectively communicating stories in VR. Traditional cinematography has relied for over a century on well-established techniques for editing, and one of the most recurrent resources for this are cinematic cuts that allow content creators to seamlessly transition between scenes. One fundamental assumption of these techniques is that the content creator can control the camera; however, this assumption breaks in VR: Users are free to explore 360° 360 around them. Recent works have studied the effectiveness of different cuts in 360° 360 content, but the effect of directional sound cues while experiencing these cuts has been less explored. In this work, we provide the first systematic analysis of the influence of directional sound cues in users'' behavior across 360° 360 movie cuts, providing insights that can have an impact on deriving conventions for VR storytelling. © 1981-2012 IEEE

Maintenance of street lighting systems using mobile phones

There is no doubt that street lighting systems have an important role in cities promoting comfort, as well as enhancing safety and security. These kinds of systems require maintenance in order to guarantee operation and reduce energy consumption. To help with certain maintenance tasks, a new smartphone application has been developed. The aim of this tool is to set up street lighting energy efficiency level at the same time that the illuminance level is evaluated. The benefit of this tool is that maintenance staff can assess energy efficiency on an easy and quick way, achieving a result report. In addition, a new Bluetooth device was created to perform the measurements, being necessary to perform a brief study about its accuracy compared with a mobile phone ambient light sensor and an external sensor

D-SAV360: A Dataset of Gaze Scanpaths on 360° Ambisonic Videos

Understanding human visual behavior within virtual reality environments is crucial to fully leverage their potential. While previous research has provided rich visual data from human observers, existing gaze datasets often suffer from the absence of multimodal stimuli. Moreover, no dataset has yet gathered eye gaze trajectories (i.e., scanpaths) for dynamic content with directional ambisonic sound, which is a critical aspect of sound perception by humans. To address this gap, we introduce D-SAV360, a dataset of 4,609 head and eye scanpaths for 360° videos with first-order ambisonics. This dataset enables a more comprehensive study of multimodal interaction on visual behavior in virtual reality environments. We analyze our collected scanpaths from a total of 87 participants viewing 85 different videos and show that various factors such as viewing mode, content type, and gender significantly impact eye movement statistics. We demonstrate the potential of D-SAV360 as a benchmarking resource for state-of-the-art attention prediction models and discuss its possible applications in further research. By providing a comprehensive dataset of eye movement data for dynamic, multimodal virtual environments, our work can facilitate future investigations of visual behavior and attention in virtual reality

Transcriptional activation of the proapoptotic bik gene by E2F proteins in cancer cells

AbstractBH3-only proteins are required for execution of apoptotic cell death. We have found that one of these proteins, Bik, is strongly induced in cancer cells treated with chemotherapeutic agents. Furthermore, we showed that chemotherapy-induced expression of bik is independent of p53. Consistent with its pro-apoptotic activity, blockade of bik expression reduces the adriamycin-mediated apoptotic cell death. We also found that the bik gene is transcriptionally activated by E2F proteins. Consistently, adriamycin induces the E2F-bik pathway. In addition, E2Fs transactivate bik by a p53-independent mechanism. Thus, our data indicate that transcriptional regulation of bik contributes to the efficient apoptotic response to chemotherapeutic agents

Education and Training of Nurses Who Work in Interventional Radiology Services A Special Way to do it

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a pioneering Master's program in bridging the educational gap for nurses in Interventional Radiology (IR). Developed by the University of Zaragoza's research group in Image-Guided Minimally Invasive Techniques and supported by professional societies, the program aims to provide comprehensive training, combining theoretical knowledge with practical skills, to meet the increasing demand for specialized nursing care in IR. Materials and Methods: This study involves a Master's program offering a blend of theoretical and practical training, including the use of animal models and simulators. The program is evaluated based on enrollment data, satisfaction rates, and the practical applicability of the training. A total of 62 nurses from across Spain participated in the program, which includes 62 ECTS credits. Surveys assessed theoretical content, practical skills, and overall satisfaction, with a focus on the program's ability to meet educational expectations and its relevance to professional development in clinical settings. Conclusion: The Master's program has demonstrated significant effectiveness in addressing the educational needs of nurses in the specialized field of IR. With an overall satisfaction rate of over 90% and a high rate of applicability of learned skills to professional practice, the program underscores the need for specialized training in nursing education. The findings advocate for the active involvement of nursing faculties, health administration, and professional societies in promoting specialized nursing training. This approach not only enhances the professional development of nurses but also promises to improve patient care outcomes and the efficiency of the health system. Future research should focus on the long-term impact of such programs and the expansion of specialized training to other areas of emerging healthcare needs

Impact of a Costello Syndrome-Causing Mutation on Learning and Myelin-Producing Cells

Background:Costello Syndrome (CS) is a rare genetic disorder caused by hyperactivating mutations in the HRAS gene, which controls the RAS/MAPK intracellular pathway. Symptoms of CS typically include neurocognitive developmental delays, increased risk of autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disabilities, and other neurological issues. Additionally, most CS patients present with white matter (WM) abnormalities. WM has been proposed to regulate learning due to its roles in increasing/synchronizing action potentials and protecting neuronal axons. Females of a myelin-focused mouse model of CS (PlpCre;HRasG12V; pHRas) show learning deficits in a myelin-regulated test (the complex running wheel; CW) that resolve with time. To shed light onto the mechanisms of these learning deficits, the goal of our study is to describe changes in oligodendrocyte (OL; myelin-producing cells) lineage cells in pHRas mice. Methods: To correlate the cellular and functional impact of HRas mutation on OL lineage (OLL) cells, HRas mutation was induced in mature OLs (mOL) using a tamoxifen-inducible system. Four months after recombination, mice were subjected to the voluntary CW test (a wheel with unevenly spaced rungs), and learning curves were analyzed. An acquisition phase of 14 days was followed by a break from CWs of 3 weeks and a second CW phase of 7 days (memory of skills acquired). After the second exposure to the CW, mice were euthanized, and brain sections were collected for staining with DAPI (nucleated cells), GFP (recombinant cells), PDGFRα (oligodendrocyte precursor cells; OPCs), and Sox10 (OLL cells). Then, cell quantification was performed after conducting confocal imaging. Seven regions of the corpus callosum, across 4 coronal sections, were analyzed for regional differences in the numbers of PDGFR+ OPCs and Sox10+ OLL cells. Results: Our antecedents show that at 2 weeks and 2 months post-mutation, there were significant decreases in distance, average speed, and max speed ran, as well as activity in mutant mice compared to WTs (defective learning curves). However, at 4 months post-mutation, there were no significant differences in learning curves between mutant and WT mice. We then wondered how OPC populations remained at 4 months post-tamoxifen when differences in behavioral phenotypes were no longer detected. We observed that the number of PDGFR+ OPCs decreased in the lateral region of the most anterior coronal section of the corpus callosum, suggesting non-cell-autonomous effects of pHRas on proliferation and/or differentiation of OPCs. Conclusion: Taken together, our results shed light on the role of the HRas mutation on CS mouse models that show transient learning deficits on the CW after the induction of the mutation. Our working hypothesis is that decreased number of OPCs may be a result of an increase in their differentiation into mOLs (to form myelin that restores learning) but lead to a proliferative exhaustion state. We propose an immediate impact (weeks) of HRas mutation on learning that is ameliorated by OPC differentiation \u3c 4 months post-injection. Finding the mechanism of these events can aid in the understanding of this disease and in designing therapeutic treatments based on restoration of myelin function

Gold compounds inhibit the Ca2+-ATPase activity of brain PMCA and human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells and decrease cell viability

Plasma membrane calcium ATPases (PMCA) are key proteins in the maintenance of calcium (Ca2+) homeostasis. Dysregulation of PMCA function is associated with several human pathologies, including neurodegenerative diseases, and, therefore, these proteins are potential drug targets to counteract those diseases. Gold compounds, namely of Au(I), are well-known for their therapeutic use in rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases for centuries. Herein, we report the ability of dichloro(2-pyridinecarboxylate)gold(III) (1), chlorotrimethylphosphinegold(I) (2), 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazol-2-ylidenegold(I) chloride (3), and chlorotriphenylphosphinegold(I) (4) compounds to interfere with the Ca2+-ATPase activity of pig brain purified PMCA and with membranes from SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell cultures. The Au(III) compound (1) inhibits PMCA activity with the IC50 value of 4.9 µM, while Au(I) compounds (2, 3, and 4) inhibit the protein activity with IC50 values of 2.8, 21, and 0.9 µM, respectively. Regarding the native substrate MgATP, gold compounds 1 and 4 showed a non-competitive type of inhibition, whereas compounds 2 and 3 showed a mixed type of inhibition. All gold complexes showed cytotoxic effects on human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells, although compounds 1 and 3 were more cytotoxic than compounds 2 and 4. In summary, this work shows that both Au (I and III) compounds are high-affinity inhibitors of the Ca2+-ATPase activity in purified PMCA fractions and in membranes from SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells. Additionally, they exert strong cytotoxic effects.Projects BFU2017-85723-P (to A.M.M. and C.G.-M.), and PID2020-115512GB-I00 (to A.M.M.) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ESF Investing in your future”. We acknowledge Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) project UIDB/04326/2020, Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry–LAQV, financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UIDB/50006/2020 and UIDP/50006/2020) and Scientific Employment Stimulus-Institutional Call (CEECINST/00102/2018).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pilot study of an online intervention for young people with a first psychotic episode: Thinkapp

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Metasurface Holographic Optical Traps for Ultracold Atoms

We propose metasurface holograms as a novel platform to generate optical trap arrays for cold atoms with high fidelity, efficiency, and thermal stability. We developed design and fabrication methodologies to create dielectric, phase-only metasurface holograms based on titanium dioxide. We experimentally demonstrated optical trap arrays of various geometries, including periodic and aperiodic configurations with dimensions ranging from 1D to 3D and the number of trap sites up to a few hundred. We characterized the performance of the holographic metasurfaces in terms of the positioning accuracy, size and intensity uniformity of the generated traps, and power handling capability of the dielectric metasurfaces. Our proposed platform has great potential for enabling fundamental studies of quantum many-body physics, and quantum simulation and computation tasks. The compact form factor, passive nature, good power handling capability, and scalability of generating high-quality, large-scale arrays also make the metasurface platform uniquely suitable for realizing field-deployable devices and systems based on cold atoms

Built environment change and change in BMI and waist circumference: Multi‐ethnic S tudy of A therosclerosis

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109571/1/oby20873.pd