Rethinking Quality of Experience for Metaverse Services: A Consumer-based Economics Perspective

The Metaverse is considered to be one prototype of the next-generation Internet, which contains people's expectations for the future world. However, the academic discussion of the Metaverse still mainly focused on the system technical design, and few research studied Metaverse challenges from the perspective of consumers, i.e., Metaverse users. One difficulty is that the analysis from the consumer's perspective requires interdisciplinary theoretical framework and quantifiable Quality of Experience (QoE) measurements. In this article, pioneering from consumers' point of view, we explore an interaction between Metaverse system design and consumer behaviors. Specifically, we rethink the QoE and propose an interdisciplinary framework that encompasses both the Metaverse service providers (MSPs) and consumer considerations. From the macro perspective, we introduce a joint optimization scheme that simultaneously considers the Metaverse system design, consumers' utility, and profitability of the MSPs. From the micro perspective, we advocate the Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) as an easy-to-implement QoE measurement for future Metaverse system studies. To illustrate the usability of the proposed integrated framework, a use case of Metaverse, i.e., virtual traveling, is presented. We show that our framework can benefit the MSPs in offering competitive and economical service design to consumers while maximizing the profit

Development of Degree-of-Priority Based Control Strategy for Emergency Vehicle Preemption Operation

This paper proposes a degree-of-priority based control strategy for emergency vehicle preemption operation to decrease the impacts of emergency vehicles on normal traffic. The proposed model features its effectiveness to the following three aspects: (1) a multilayer fuzzy model was established to determine the degree-of-priority based on emergency vehicle preemption demand intensity and preemption influence intensity; (2) for emergency vehicles with proper classification, a travel time estimation model for emergency traffic was formulated, an optimal emergency route determines model based on the level of priority of emergency events, and the emergency vehicle travel time was developed to minimize evacuation time as well as minimize the adverse impacts of preemption on normal traffic; and (3) a conditional traffic signals priority control method at each intersection of the evacuation route was built, so that traffic queue at each intersection can be cleared before the arrival of emergency vehicles. A simulation model based on field data was developed, and the performance of the proposed strategy was compared with the conventional local detection based method under the microscopic simulation model. The results validated the efficiency of the proposed strategy in terms of minimizing the delay of emergency vehicles and reducing adverse impacts on normal traffic

Knowledge Base Aware Semantic Communication in Vehicular Networks

Semantic communication (SemCom) has recently been considered a promising solution for the inevitable crisis of scarce communication resources. This trend stimulates us to explore the potential of applying SemCom to vehicular networks, which normally consume a tremendous amount of resources to achieve stringent requirements on high reliability and low latency. Unfortunately, the unique background knowledge matching mechanism in SemCom makes it challenging to realize efficient vehicle-to-vehicle service provisioning for multiple users at the same time. To this end, this paper identifies and jointly addresses two fundamental problems of knowledge base construction (KBC) and vehicle service pairing (VSP) inherently existing in SemCom-enabled vehicular networks. Concretely, we first derive the knowledge matching based queuing latency specific for semantic data packets, and then formulate a latency-minimization problem subject to several KBC and VSP related reliability constraints. Afterward, a SemCom-empowered Service Supplying Solution (S$^{\text{4}}$) is proposed along with the theoretical analysis of its optimality guarantee. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of S$^{\text{4}}$ in terms of average queuing latency, semantic data packet throughput, and user knowledge preference satisfaction compared with two different benchmarks.Comment: This paper has been accepted for publication by 2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC 2023). Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessible. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2302.1199

CT-guided 125I brachytherapy combined with chemotherapy for the treatment of unresectable or locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma

PURPOSEWe aimed to explore the feasibility and clinical effectiveness of percutaneous CT-guided iodine-125 (¹²⁵I) brachytherapy combined with chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with unresectable or locally advanced pancreatic carcinoma (PC).METHODSWe retrospectively reviewed 66 patients with Stage III and IV PC who had received chemotherapy. A total of 35 (53%) patients receiving 125I brachytherapy and chemotherapy (gemcitabine + cisplatin, GP) were classified as Group A, and 31 (47%) patients who received GP chemotherapy alone were categorized as Group B. The evaluated indications were local control rate (LCR), local progression-free survival (LPFS), overall survival (OS), treatment-related complications, and the degree of symptom relief. Kaplan-Meier curves, log-rank test and Cox regression models were generated and used for further analysis to identify predictors of outcomes.RESULTSThe median follow-up time was 6.00±0.84 months. The 1-, 3-, 6-, 12- and 18-month LCRs for Group A were 100% (35/35), 89.3% (25/28), 71.4% (15/21), 37.5% (3/8) and 33.3% (1/3), respectively; and those for Group B were 87.1% (27/31), 69.6% (16/23), 41.2% (7/17), 14.3% (1/7) and 0% (0/3), respectively. The LCR differed at 1-, 3- and 6-months (P = 0.032; P = 0.009; P = 0.030; respectively). The median LPFS was 7.00±0.30 months and 5.00±0.75 months for Groups A and B (P = 0.023), respectively; however, the median OS of the groups were not significantly different (8.00±0.77 months vs. 6.00±1.04 months. P = 0.917). No life-threatening complications occurred during or after the procedures. Patients in Group A experienced better pain control and relief of abdominal distension than those in Group B.CONCLUSIONCT-guided 125I brachytherapy is a feasible, safe, and valuable treatment for patients with unresectable PC

Privacy-preserving Anomaly Detection in Cloud Manufacturing via Federated Transformer

With the rapid development of cloud manufacturing, industrial production with edge computing as the core architecture has been greatly developed. However, edge devices often suffer from abnormalities and failures in industrial production. Therefore, detecting these abnormal situations timely and accurately is crucial for cloud manufacturing. As such, a straightforward solution is that the edge device uploads the data to the cloud for anomaly detection. However, Industry 4.0 puts forward higher requirements for data privacy and security so that it is unrealistic to upload data from edge devices directly to the cloud. Considering the above-mentioned severe challenges, this paper customizes a weakly-supervised edge computing anomaly detection framework, i.e., Federated Learning-based Transformer framework (\textit{FedAnomaly}), to deal with the anomaly detection problem in cloud manufacturing. Specifically, we introduce federated learning (FL) framework that allows edge devices to train an anomaly detection model in collaboration with the cloud without compromising privacy. To boost the privacy performance of the framework, we add differential privacy noise to the uploaded features. To further improve the ability of edge devices to extract abnormal features, we use the Transformer to extract the feature representation of abnormal data. In this context, we design a novel collaborative learning protocol to promote efficient collaboration between FL and Transformer. Furthermore, extensive case studies on four benchmark data sets verify the effectiveness of the proposed framework. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time integrating FL and Transformer to deal with anomaly detection problems in cloud manufacturing

A Cross-Tissue Transcriptome-Wide Association Study Identifies Novel Susceptibility Genes for Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis in Asia and Europe

BackgroundJuvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common rheumatic disease in children, and its pathogenesis is still unclear. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of JIA have identified hundreds of risk factors, but few of them implicated specific biological mechanisms.MethodsA cross-tissue transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) was performed with the functional summary-based imputation software (FUSION) tool based on GWAS summary datasets (898 JIA patients and 346,102 controls from BioBank Japan (BBJ)/FinnGen). The gene expression reference weights of skeletal muscle and the whole blood were obtained from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTExv8) project. JIA-related genes identified by TWAS findings genes were further compared with the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified by the mRNA expression profile of JIA from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database (accession number: GSE1402). Last, candidate genes were analyzed using functional enrichment and annotation analysis by Metascape to examine JIA-related gene sets.ResultsThe TWAS identified 535 significant genes with P < 0.05 and contains 350 for Asian and 195 for European (including 10 genes both expressed in Asian and European), such as CDC16 (P = 1.72E-03) and PSMD5-AS1 (P = 3.65E-02). Eight overlapping genes were identified based on TWAS results and DEGs of JIA patients, such as SIRPB1 (PTWAS = 4.21E-03, PDEG = 1.50E-04) and FRAT2 (PTWAS = 2.82E-02, PDEG = 1.43E-02). Pathway enrichment analysis of TWAS identified 183 pathways such as cytokine signaling in the immune system and cell adhesion molecules. By integrating the results of DEGs pathway and process enrichment analyses, 19 terms were identified such as positive regulation of T-cell activation.ConclusionBy conducting two populations TWAS, we identified a group of JIA-associated genes and pathways, which may provide novel clues to uncover the pathogenesis of JIA

Differential production of type I IFN determines the reciprocal levels of IL-10 and proinflammatory cytokines produced by C57BL/6 and BALB/c macrophages

Pattern recognition receptors detect microbial products and induce cytokines, which shape the immunological response. IL-12, TNF-alpha, and IL-1 beta are proinflammatory cytokines, which are essential for resistance against infection, but when produced at high levels they may contribute to immunopathology. In contrast, IL-10 is an immunosuppressive cytokine, which dampens proinflammatory responses, but it can also lead to defective pathogen clearance. The regulation of these cytokines is therefore central to the generation of an effective but balanced immune response. In this study, we show that macrophages derived from C57BL/6 mice produce low levels of IL-12, TNF-alpha, and IL-1 beta, but high levels of IL-10, in response to TLR4 and TLR2 ligands LPS and Pam3CSK4, as well as Burkholderia pseudomallei, a Gram-negative bacterium that activates TLR2/4. In contrast, macrophages derived from BALB/c mice show a reciprocal pattern of cytokine production. Differential production of IL-10 in B. pseudomallei and LPS-stimulated C57BL/6 and BALB/c macrophages was due to a type I IFN and ERK1/2-dependent, but IL-27-independent, mechanism. Enhanced type I IFN expression in LPS-stimulated C57BL/6 macrophages was accompanied by increased STAT1 and IFN regulatory factor 3 activation. Furthermore, type I IFN contributed to differential IL-1 beta and IL-12 production in B. pseudomallei and LPS-stimulated C57BL/6 and BALB/c macrophages via both IL-10-dependent and -independent mechanisms. These findings highlight key pathways responsible for the regulation of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in macrophages and reveal how they may differ according to the genetic background of the host.his work was supported by The Francis Crick Institute, which receives its core funding from Cancer Research UK (FC001126), the U.K. Medical Research Council (FC001126), and the Wellcome Trust (FC001126) since April 1, 2015 and before that by U.K. Medical Research Council Grant MRC U117565642 and also by European Research Council Grant 294682-TB-PATH (Crick 10127). A.H. was additionally funded by a U.K. Medical Research Council Centenary Award. M.S. was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal Grant FCT-ANR/BIM-MEC/ 0007/2013. M.S. is an associate Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal investigator.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ethyl Pyruvate Attenuates CaCl2-Induced Tubular Epithelial Cell Injury by Inhibiting Autophagy and Inflammatory Responses

Background/Aims: Nephrolithiasis is one of the most prevalent diseases of the urinary system. Approximately 80% of human kidney stones are composed of calcium oxalate (CaOx), and hypercalciuria is one of the most common metabolic disorders. Emerging evidence indicates that autophagy and inflammatory responses are related to the formation of CaOx nephrolithiasis. However, the roles of autophagy and inflammation in patients with hypercalciuria remain unclear. Ethyl pyruvate (EP) displays protective effects in experimental models of many illnesses. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of EP in vitro through its inhibition of autophagy and inflammatory responses after CaCl2-induced tubular epithelial cell injury. Methods: First, we cultured human tubular epithelial (HK-2) cells in the presence of various concentrations of CaCl2 (0, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mg/ml) for 12 h and EP (0, 1.0, 2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 mM) for 2 h to select the optimum concentration using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. Cells in culture were stimulated with CaCl2 (1.0 mg/ml, 12 h) with or without EP pretreatment (2.5 mM, 2 h). After the exposure, we detected the expression of inflammation-related proteins using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot analysis. Finally, the levels of autophagy-related proteins were determined through Western blot analysis, and the number of GFP-LC3 dots and autophagic vacuoles was detected under confocal microscopy. Results: With the use of the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay and the LDH assay, we identified the optimum concentration for CaCl2 (1.0 mg/ml) treatment and EP pretreatment (2.5 mM). Our research indicated that CaCl2 can induce autophagy and inflammatory responses in HK-2 cells. Furthermore, treatment with EP prior to CaCl2 stimulation attenuated HK-2 cell injury by inhibiting autophagy and inflammation. Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that EP attenuates CaCl2-induced injury of HK-2 cells by downregulating the expression of inflammation and autophagy proteins that may be associated with the inhibition of the high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1)/toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/NF-κB pathway and the competitive interaction with Beclin-1 of HMGB1