PICOZOOM: A context sensitive multimodal zooming interface

This paper introduces a novel zooming interface deploying a pico projector that, instead of a second visual display, leverages audioscapes for contextual information. The technique enhances current flashlight metaphor approaches, supporting flexible usage within the domain of spatial augmented reality to focus on object or environment-related details. Within a user study we focused on quantifying the projection limitations related to depiction of details through the pico projector and validated the interaction approach. The quantified results of the study correlate pixel density, detail and proximity, which can greatly aid to design more effective, legible zooming interfaces for pico projectors - the study can form an example testbed that can be applied well for testing aberrations with other projectors. Furthermore, users rated the zooming technique using audioscapes well, showing the validity of the approach. The studies form the foundation for extending our work by detailing out the audio-visual approach and looking more closely in the role of real-world features on interpreting projected content

An Introduction to 3D User Interface Design

3D user interface design is a critical component of any virtual environment (VE) application. In this paper, we present a broad overview of three-dimensional (3D) interaction and user interfaces. We discuss the effect of common VE hardware devices on user interaction, as well as interaction techniques for generic 3D tasks and the use of traditional two-dimensional interaction styles in 3D environments. We divide most user interaction tasks into three categories: navigation, selection/manipulation, and system control. Throughout the paper, our focus is on presenting not only the available techniques, but also practical guidelines for 3D interaction design and widely held myths. Finally, we briefly discuss two approaches to 3D interaction design, and some example applications with complex 3D interaction requirements. We also present an annotated online bibliography as a reference companion to this article

Crossmodal content binding in information-processing architectures

Operating in a physical context, an intelligent robot faces two fundamental problems. First, it needs to combine information from its different sensors to form a representation of the environment that is more complete than any of its sensors on its own could provide. Second, it needs to combine high-level representations (such as those for planning and dialogue) with its sensory information, to ensure that the interpretations of these symbolic representations are grounded in the situated context. Previous approaches to this problem have used techniques such as (low-level) information fusion, ontological reasoning, and (high-level) concept learning. This paper presents a framework in which these, and other approaches, can be combined to form a shared representation of the current state of the robot in relation to its environment and other agents. Preliminary results from an implemented system are presented to illustrate how the framework supports behaviours commonly required of an intelligent robot

Increase of sentinel lymph node melanoma staging in The Netherlands; still room and need for further improvement

Aim: To investigate implementation of the seventh American Joint Committee on Cancer melanoma staging with sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and associations with socioeconomic status (SES). Patients & methods: Data from The Netherlands Cancer Registry on patient and tumor characteristics were analyzed for all stage IB-II melanoma cases diagnosed 2010-2016, along with SES data from The Netherlands Institute for Social Research. Results: The proportion of SLNB-staged patients increased from 40% to 65% (p <0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that being female, elderly, or having head-and-neck disease reduced the likelihood of SLNB staging. Conclusion: SLNB staging increased by 25% during the study period but lagged among elderly patients and those with head-and-neck melanoma. In The Netherlands, SES no longer affects SLNB staging performance

The application of fluorescence techniques in meningioma surgery-a review

Surgical resections of meningiomas, the most common intracranial tumor in adults, can only be curative if radical resection is achieved. Potentially, the extent of resection could be improved, especially in complex and/or high-grade meningiomas by fluorescence-guided surgery using 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), indocyanine green (ICG), or fluorescein. This review aims to summarize and evaluate these fluorescence-guided meningioma surgery techniques. PubMed and Embase were searched for relevant articles. Additionally, we checked reference lists for further studies. Forty-eight articles were included in the final analysis. 5-ALA fluoresced with varying sensitivity and selectivity in meningiomas and in invaded bone and dura mater. Although ICG was mainly applied for video angiography, one report shows tumor fluorescence 18-28 h post-ICG injection. Lastly, the use of fluorescein could aid in the identification of tumor remnants; however, detection of dural tail is highly questionable. Fluorescence-guided meningioma surgery should be a reliable, highly specific, and sensitive technique. Despite numerous studies reporting the use of fluorescent dyes, currently, there is no evidence that these tools improve the radical resection rate and long-term recurrence-free outcome in meningioma surgery without neurological deficits. Evidence regarding the effectiveness and increased safety of resection after the application of these fluorophores is currently lacking. Future research should focus on the development of a meningioma-targeted, highly sensitive, and specific fluorophore

Posterior retroperitoneoscopic resection of recurrent nonseminomatous tumor mass:a case report of the surgical procedure

Treatment of stage II-IV nonseminomatous testicular germ cell tumors (NSTGCTs) consists of cisplatin-based combination chemotherapy and, when present, resection of residual retroperitoneal tumor mass (RRTM) by conventional laparotomy or laparoscopy. In case of a retroperitoneal recurrence, a second conventional or laparoscopic procedure may be challenging. A case of late relapse after prior conventional resection of a RRTM and tailor-made surgical management with a posterior retroperitoneoscopic resection (PRR) is reported. A posterior retroperitoneoscopic RRTM resection was performed in a 26-year-old male with a history of stage IIC NSTGCT, presenting with a late left-sided retroperitoneal relapse, 6 years after initial treatment. Postoperative course was uneventful and at 1-year follow-up the patient had no evidence of disease. Reoperative surgery by a minimal invasive retroperitoneoscopic approach should be considered as an alternative for patients with a recurrent retroperitoneal tumor mass of a NSTGCT.</p

Focal Thyroid Incidentalomas on F-18-FDG PET/CT:A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Prevalence, Risk of Malignancy and Inconclusive Fine Needle Aspiration

BackgroundThe rising demand for 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography with computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) has led to an increase of thyroid incidentalomas. Current guidelines are restricted in giving options to tailor diagnostics and to suit the individual patient.ObjectivesWe aimed at exploring the extent of potential overdiagnostics by performing a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature on the prevalence, the risk of malignancy (ROM) and the risk of inconclusive FNAC (ROIF) of focal thyroid incidentalomas (FTI) on 18F-FDG PET/CT.Data SourcesA literature search in MEDLINE, Embase and Web of Science was performed to identify relevant studies.Study SelectionStudies providing information on the prevalence and/or ROM of FTI on 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with no prior history of thyroid disease were selected by two authors independently. Sixty-one studies met the inclusion criteria.Data AnalysisA random effects meta-analysis on prevalence, ROM and ROIF with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was performed. Heterogeneity and publication bias were tested. Risk of bias was assessed using the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS-2) tool.Data SynthesisFifty studies were suitable for prevalence analysis. In total, 12,943 FTI were identified in 640,616 patients. The pooled prevalence was 2.22% (95% CI = 1.90% - 2.54%, I2 = 99%). 5151 FTI had cyto- or histopathology results available. The pooled ROM was 30.8% (95% CI = 28.1% - 33.4%, I2 = 57%). 1308 (83%) of malignant nodules were papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). The pooled ROIF was 20.8% (95% CI = 13.7% - 27.9%, I2 = 92%).LimitationsThe main limitations were the low to moderate methodological quality of the studies and the moderate to high heterogeneity of the results.ConclusionFTI are a common finding on 18F-FDG PET/CTs. Nodules are malignant in approximately one third of the cases, with the majority being PTC. Cytology results are non-diagnostic or indeterminate in one fifth of FNACs. These findings reveal the potential risk of overdiagnostics of FTI and emphasize that the workup of FTI should be performed within the context of the patient’s disease and that guidelines should adopt this patient tailored approach

Optimal design of line replaceable units

A line replaceable unit (LRU) is a collection of connected parts in a system that isreplaced when any part of the LRU fails. Companies use LRUs as a mechanism toreduce downtime of systems following a failure. The design of LRUs determineshow fast a replacement is performed, so a smart design reduces replacement anddowntime cost. A firm must purchase/repair a LRU upon failure, and large LRUsare more expensive to purchase/repair. Hence, a firm seeks to design LRUs suchthat the average costs per time unit are minimized. We formalize this problem ina new model that captures how parts in a system are connected, and how they are disassembled from the system. Our model optimizes the design of LRUs such that the replacement (and downtime) costs and LRU purchase/repair costs are minimized. We present a set partitioning formulation for which we prove a rare result: the optimal solution is integer, despite a nonintegral feasible polyhedron. Second, we formulate our problem as a binary linear program (BLP). The article concludes by numerically comparing the computation times of both formulations and illustrates the effects of various parameters on the model’s outcome

The immediate impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on burn-out, work-engagement, and surgical training in the Netherlands

Contains fulltext : 237065.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access