The Use of Multi-Scale Fiducial Markers To Aid Takeoff and Landing Navigation by Rotorcraft

This paper quantifies the impact of adverse environmental conditions on the detection of fiducial markers (i.e., artificial landmarks) by color cameras mounted on rotorcraft. We restrict our attention to square markers with a black-and-white pattern of grid cells that can be nested to allow detection at multiple scales. These markers have the potential to enhance the reliability of precision takeoff and landing at vertiports by flying vehicles in urban settings. Prior work has shown, in particular, that these markers can be detected with high precision (i.e., few false positives) and high recall (i.e., few false negatives). However, most of this prior work has been based on image sequences collected indoors with hand-held cameras. Our work is based on image sequences collected outdoors with cameras mounted on a quadrotor during semi-autonomous takeoff and landing operations under adverse environmental conditions that include variations in temperature, illumination, wind speed, humidity, visibility, and precipitation. In addition to precision and recall, performance measures include continuity, availability, robustness, resiliency, and coverage volume. We release both our dataset and the code we used for analysis to the public as open source.Comment: Extended abstract accepted at the 2024 AIAA SciTec

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Related to Shift Work among Korean Workers Aged from 30 to 49 Years

This study was to compare health behaviors between day workers (DW ) and shift workers (SW), and to investigate the cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among 30-49 years Korean workers. SW showed higher prevalence of smoking than DW. The proportion of adequate sleep was lower in SW than in DW. DW showed high.er prevalence of impaired fasting glucose, however, there were no significant differences in hypertension, obesity, hypercholesterolemia, and metabolic syndrome between DW and SW. Further research is recommended to include mediating factors such as organizational culture or working time, etc., for scrutinizing the association between work type and CVD risk factors

Comparative Study of Visual SLAM-Based Mobile Robot Localization Using Fiducial Markers

This paper presents a comparative study of three modes for mobile robot localization based on visual SLAM using fiducial markers (i.e., square-shaped artificial landmarks with a black-and-white grid pattern): SLAM, SLAM with a prior map, and localization with a prior map. The reason for comparing the SLAM-based approaches leveraging fiducial markers is because previous work has shown their superior performance over feature-only methods, with less computational burden compared to methods that use both feature and marker detection without compromising the localization performance. The evaluation is conducted using indoor image sequences captured with a hand-held camera containing multiple fiducial markers in the environment. The performance metrics include absolute trajectory error and runtime for the optimization process per frame. In particular, for the last two modes (SLAM and localization with a prior map), we evaluate their performances by perturbing the quality of prior map to study the extent to which each mode is tolerant to such perturbations. Hardware experiments show consistent trajectory error levels across the three modes, with the localization mode exhibiting the shortest runtime among them. Yet, with map perturbations, SLAM with a prior map maintains performance, while localization mode degrades in both aspects.Comment: IEEE 2023 IROS Workshop "Closing the Loop on Localization". For more information, see https://oravus.github.io/vpr-workshop/inde

Association of epicardial fat with left ventricular diastolic function in subjects with metabolic syndrome: assessment using 2-dimensional echocardiography

Background Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is related with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) and poor cardiovascular outcome. Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness, measured by echocardiography, is increased in subjects with MetS. However, the association of EAT with LV diastolic function has not been evaluated in subjects with MetS. Methods In this retrospective study, EAT thickness was measured in 1,486 consecutive asymptomatic patients with no known heart disease who had transthoracic echocardiography during a self-referred healthcare exam. Subjects with a history of ischemic heart disease, cardiomyopathy or significant valvular heart disease were excluded. LVDD was defined as E/e ratio ≥ 15. Subjects were grouped into two groups, those with MetS and those without. Results MetS was present in 346 subjects. There was no difference in LV systolic function between the two groups. However compared to patients without MetS, patients with MetS had larger left atrium (LA) size and higher E/e ratio (38 ± 5 versus 35 ± 5 mm for LA and 10.0 ± 3.3 versus 8.7 ± 2.7 for E/e ratio in subjects with versus without MetS both p < 0.001). LVDD was found in 27 (7.8%) subjects with MetS, compared to 30 (2.6%) subjects without MetS (p < 0.001). In subjects with MetS, EAT was significantly correlated with LVDD, even after adjusting for other cardiometabolic risk factors such as age, systolic blood pressure, BMI, blood glucose and LDL cholesterol (OR 1.845, 95% CI 1.153-2.951, p = 0.011).This study was supported by Seoul National University Hospital (0420100700, 2010–1096).Peer Reviewe

Resting-state EEG activity related to impulsivity in gambling disorder

Background and aims Impulsivity is a core feature of gambling disorder (GD) and is related to the treatment response. Thus, it is of interest to determine objective neurobiological markers associated with impulsivity in GD. We explored resting-state electroencephalographic (EEG) activity in patients with GD according to the degree of impulsivity. Methods In total, 109 GD subjects were divided into three groups according to Barratt impulsiveness scale-11 (BIS-11) scores: high (HI; 25th percentile of BIS-11 scores, n = 29), middle (MI; 26th–74th percentile, n = 57), and low-impulsivity (LI) groups (75th percentile, n = 23). We used generalized estimating equations to analyze differences in EEG absolute power considering group (HI, MI, and LI), brain region (frontal, central, and posterior), and hemisphere (left, midline, and right) for each frequency band (delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma). Results The results indicated that GD patients in the HI group showed decreased theta absolute power, and decreased alpha and beta absolute power in the left, right, particularly midline frontocentral regions. Discussion and conclusions This study is a novel attempt to reveal impulsive features in GD by neurophysiological methods. The results suggest different EEG patterns among GD patients according to the degree of impulsivity, raising the possibility of neurophysiological objective features in GD and helping clinicians in treating GD patients with impulsive features

Predictors of intentional intoxication using decision tree modeling analysis: a retrospective study

Objective The suicide rate in South Korea is very high and is expected to increase in coming years. Intoxication is the most common suicide attempt method as well as one of the common reason for presenting to an emergency medical center. We used decision tree modeling analysis to identify predictors of risk for suicide by intentional intoxication. Methods A single-center, retrospective study was conducted at our hospital using a 4-year registry of the institute from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2016. Demographic factors, such as sex, age, intentionality, therapeutic adherence, alcohol consumption, smoking status, physical disease, cancer, psychiatric disease, and toxicological factors, such as type of intoxicant and poisoning severity score were collected. Candidate risk factors based on the decision tree were used to select variables for multiple logistic regression analysis. Results In total, 4,023 patients with intoxication were enrolled as study participants, with 2,247 (55.9%) identified as cases of intentional intoxication. Reported annual percentages of intentional intoxication among patients were 628/937 (67.0%), 608/1,082 (56.2%), 536/1,017 (52.7), 475/987 (48.1%) from 2013 to 2016. Significant predictors identified based on decision tree analysis were alcohol consumption, old age, psychiatric disease, smoking, and male sex; those identified based on multiple regression analysis were alcohol consumption, smoking, male sex, psychiatric disease, old age, poor therapeutic adherence, and physical disease. Conclusion We identified important predictors of suicide risk by intentional intoxication. A specific and realistic approach to analysis using the decision tree modeling technique is an effective method to determine those groups at risk of suicide by intentional intoxication

A Protein Profile of Visceral Adipose Tissues Linked to Early Pathogenesis of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Adipose tissue is increasingly recognized as an endocrine organ playing important pathophysiological roles in metabolic abnormalities, such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In particular, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), as opposed to subcutaneous adipose tissue, is closely linked to the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and T2DM. Despite the importance of VAT, its molecular signatures related to the pathogenesis of T2DM have not been systematically explored. Here, we present comprehensive proteomic analysis of VATs in drug-naïve early T2DM patients and subjects with normal glucose tolerance. A total of 4,707 proteins were identified in LC-MS/MS experiments. Among them, 444 increased in abundance in T2DM and 328 decreased. They are involved in T2DM-related processes including inflammatory responses, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signaling, oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid oxidation, and glucose metabolism. Of these proteins, we selected 11 VAT proteins that can represent alteration in early T2DM patients. Among them, up-regulation of FABP4, C1QA, S100A8, and SORBS1 and down-regulation of ACADL and PLIN4 were confirmed in VAT samples of independent early T2DM patients using Western blot. In summary, our profiling provided a comprehensive basis for understanding the link of a protein profile of VAT to early pathogenesis of T2DM. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.1

Overcoming the therapeutic limitations of EZH2 inhibitors in Burkitt’s lymphoma: a comprehensive study on the combined effects of MS1943 and Ibrutinib

Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) and Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) are both key factors involved in the development and progression of hematological malignancies. Clinical studies have demonstrated the potential of various EZH2 inhibitors, which target the methyltransferase activity of EZH2, for the treatment of lymphomas. However, despite their ability to effectively reduce the H3K27me3 levels, these inhibitors have shown limited efficacy in blocking the proliferation of lymphoma cells. To overcome this challenge, we employed a hydrophobic tagging approach utilizing MS1943, a selective EZH2 degrader. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of two drugs, the FDA-approved EZH2 inhibitor Tazemetostat, currently undergoing clinical trials, and the novel drug MS1943, on Burkitt’s lymphoma. Furthermore, we assessed the potential synergistic effect of combining these drugs with the BTK inhibitor Ibrutinib. In this study, we evaluated the effects of combination therapy with MS1943 and Ibrutinib on the proliferation of three Burkitt’s lymphoma cell lines, namely RPMI1788, Ramos, and Daudi cells. Our results demonstrated that the combination of MS1943 and Ibrutinib significantly suppressed cell proliferation to a greater extent compared to the combination of Tazemetostat and Ibrutinib. Additionally, we investigated the underlying mechanisms of action and found that the combination therapy of MS1943 and Ibrutinib led to the upregulation of miR29B-mediated p53-upregulated modulator of apoptosis PUMA, BAX, cleaved PARP, and cleaved caspase-3 in Burkitt’s lymphoma cells. These findings highlight the potential of this innovative therapeutic strategy as an alternative to traditional EZH2 inhibitors, offering promising prospects for improving treatment outcomes in Burkitt’s lymphoma

Toward Green Synthesis of Graphene Oxide Using Recycled Sulfuric Acid via Couette-Taylor Flow

Developing eco-friendly and cost-effective processes for the synthesis of graphene oxide (GO) is essential for its widespread industrial applications. In this work, we propose a green synthesis technique for GO production using recycled sulfuric acid and filter-processed oxidized natural graphite obtained from a Couette-Taylor flow reactor. The viscosity of reactant mixtures processed from Couette-Taylor flow was considerably lower (???200 cP at 25 ??C) than that of those from Hummers&apos; method, which enabled the simple filtration process. The filtered sulfuric acid can be recycled and reused for the repetitive GO synthesis with negligible differences in the as-synthesized GO qualities. This removal of sulfuric acid has great potential in lowering the overall GO production cost as the amount of water required during the fabrication process, which takes a great portion of the total production cost, can be dramatically reduced after such acid filtration. The proposed eco-friendly GO fabrication process is expected to promote the commercial application of graphene materials into industry shortly