Sensory navigation device for blind people

[EN] This paper presents a new Electronic Travel Aid (ETA) 'Acoustic Prototype' which is especially suited to facilitate the navigation of visually impaired users. The device consists of a set of 3-Dimensional Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (3-D CMOS) image sensors based on the three-dimensional integration and Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) processing techniques implemented into a pair of glasses, stereo headphones as well as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) used as processing unit. The device is intended to be used as a complementary device to navigation through both open known and unknown environments. The FPGA and the 3D-CMOS image sensor electronics control object detection. Distance measurement is achieved by using chip-integrated technology based on the Multiple Short Time Integration method. The processed information of the object distance is presented to the user via acoustic sounds through stereophonic headphones. The user interprets the information as an acoustic image of the surrounding environment. The Acoustic Prototype transforms the surface of the objects of the real environment into acoustical sounds. The method used is similar to a bat's acoustic orientation. Having good hearing ability, with few weeks training the users are able to perceive not only the presence of an object but also the object form (that is, if the object is round, if it has corners, if it is a car or a box, if it is a cardboard object or if it is an iron or cement object, a tree, a person, a static or moving object). The information is continuously delivered to the user in a few nanoseconds until the device is shut down, helping the end user to perceive the information in real time.The first author would like to acknowledge that this research was funded through the FP6 European project CASBLiP number 027063 and Project number 2062 of the Programa de Apoyo a la Investigacion y Desarrollo 2011 from the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia.Dunai, L.; Peris Fajarnes, G.; Lluna Gil, E.; Defez Garcia, B. (2013). Sensory navigation device for blind people. Journal of Navigation. 66(3):346-362. doi:10.1017/S0373463312000574S34636266

A new terophytic grassland association (Polycarpo diphylli-Psiluretum incurvi, ass. nova) from Serra d'Espadà and surroundings is proposed (Castelló, Spain)

Es proposa un nou pradell terofític, l'associació Polycarpo diphylli-Psiluretum incurvi R. Roselló, J. R, Vázquez, P. P. Ferrer, E. Laguna, Gómez Nav. & J. B. Peris, pertanyent a l'aliança Brachypodietalia distachyi (classe Tuberarietea guttatae), emplaçat al Parc Natural de la Serra d'Espadà i els seus voltants (Castelló, Espanya).A new terophytic grassland association Polycarpo diphylli-Psiluretum incurvi R. Roselló, J. R. Vázquez, P. P. Ferrer, E. Laguna, Gómez Nav. & J. B. Peris, belonging to the alliance Brachypodietalia distachyi (Tuberarietea guttatae class) is proposed, occurring in the Natural Park Serra d'Espadà and its surroundings (Castellón, Spain)

A new ruderal-nitrophilous association, Beto vulgaris-Atriplicetum suberecti ass. nov. (Chenopodion muralis), for the Valencian Quaternary plain (Valencia, Spain)

Es descriu una associació nitròfila nova Beto vulgaris-Atriplicetum suberecti, amb dues subassociacions noves per a la Comunitat Valenciana (Espanya).A new nitrophilous association Beto vulgaris-Atriplicetum suberecti, with two new sub-associations are described for the Valencian Community (Spain)

Characterization of rare spontaneous human immunodeficiency virus viral controllers attending a national United Kingdom clinical service using a combination of serology and molecular diagnostic assays

BACKGROUND: We report outcomes and novel characterization of a unique cohort of 42 individuals with persistently indeterminate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status, the majority of whom are HIV viral controllers. METHODS: Eligible individuals had indeterminate or positive HIV serology, but persistently undetectable HIV ribonucleic acid (RNA) by commercial assays and were not taking antiretroviral therapy (ART). Routine investigations included HIV Western blot, HIV viral load, qualitative HIV-1 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), coinfection screen, and T-cell quantification. Research assays included T-cell activation, ART measurement, single-copy assays detecting HIV-1 RNA and DNA, and plasma cytokine quantification. Human immunodeficiency virus seropositivity was defined as ≥3 bands on Western blot; molecular positivity was defined as detection of HIV RNA or DNA. RESULTS: Human immunodeficiency virus infection was excluded in 10 of 42 referrals, remained unconfirmed in 2 of 42, and was confirmed in 30 of 42, who were identified as HIV elite controllers (ECs), normal CD4 T-cell counts (median 820/mL, range 805-1336), and normal CD4/CD8 ratio (median 1.8, range 1.2-1.9). Elite controllers had a median duration of elite control of 6 years (interquartile range = 4-14). Antiretroviral therapy was undetected in all 23 subjects tested. Two distinct categories of ECs were identified: molecular positive (n = 20) and molecular negative (n = 10). CONCLUSIONS: Human immunodeficiency virus status was resolved for 95% of referrals with the majority diagnosed as EC. The clinical significance of the 2 molecular categories among ECs requires further investigation

The clinical presentation of monkeypox: a retrospective case-control study of patients with possible or probable monkeypox in a West London cohort

Objectives: Since May 2022, cases of human monkeypox virus (hMPXV) with human-to-human cross-transmission have significantly increased in non-endemic countries. Our aim was to characterise diagnostic features of patients with confirmed and possible monkeypox to guide future risk stratification, and to describe a virtual care model. Methods: We performed a retrospective case-control study of 140 patients assessed and screened for suspected monkeypox; on hMPXV PCR testing, 70 were confirmed positive and 70 negative. Data were compared to generate odds ratios of demographic and clinical features. Results: Positive patients were predominantly cis-male (99%) and self-identified as gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) (94%). Lymphadenopathy at presentation was associated with a higher likelihood of a positive result (OR 7.69 [95% CI 3.58, 16.51]). Positive patients were more likely to have a rash affecting the genital (OR 5.38 [95% CI 2.57, 11.23]) or buttocks/perianal region (OR 3.79 [1.70, 8.45]) compared with negative controls. 79% of patients engaged with virtual ward follow-up. Conclusions: These data can inform a risk-based approach to management of suspected monkeypox in GBMSM populations. Lymphadenopathy at presentation and the location of the rash were more associated with a positive hMPXV result. Health authorities can consider a virtual ward approach in the hMPXV outbreak

Constraints on the χ_(c1) versus χ_(c2) polarizations in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV

The polarizations of promptly produced χ_(c1) and χ_(c2) mesons are studied using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, in proton-proton collisions at √s=8  TeV. The χ_c states are reconstructed via their radiative decays χ_c → J/ψγ, with the photons being measured through conversions to e⁺e⁻, which allows the two states to be well resolved. The polarizations are measured in the helicity frame, through the analysis of the χ_(c2) to χ_(c1) yield ratio as a function of the polar or azimuthal angle of the positive muon emitted in the J/ψ → μ⁺μ⁻ decay, in three bins of J/ψ transverse momentum. While no differences are seen between the two states in terms of azimuthal decay angle distributions, they are observed to have significantly different polar anisotropies. The measurement favors a scenario where at least one of the two states is strongly polarized along the helicity quantization axis, in agreement with nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics predictions. This is the first measurement of significantly polarized quarkonia produced at high transverse momentum