Aesthetic choices: Defining the range of aesthetic views in interactive digital media including games and 3D virtual environments (3D VEs)

Defining aesthetic choices for interactive digital media such as games is a challenging task. Objective and subjective factors such as colour, symmetry, order and complexity, and statistical features among others play an important role for defining the aesthetic properties of interactive digital artifacts. Computational approaches developed in this regard also consider objective factors such as statistical image features for the assessment of aesthetic qualities. However, aesthetics for interactive digital media, such as games, requires more nuanced consideration than simple objective and subjective factors, for choosing a range of aesthetic features. From the study it was found that the there is no one single optimum position or viewpoint with a corresponding relationship to the aesthetic considerations that influence interactive digital media. Instead, the incorporation of aesthetic features demonstrates the need to consider each component within interactive digital media as part of a range of possible features, and therefore within a range of possible camera positions. A framework, named as PCAWF, emphasized that combination of features and factors demonstrated the need to define a range of aesthetic viewpoints. This is important for improved user experience. From the framework it has been found that factors including the storyline, user state, gameplay, and application type are critical to defining the reasons associated with making aesthetic choices. The selection of a range of aesthetic features and characteristics is influenced by four main factors and sub-factors associated with the main factors. This study informs the future of interactive digital media interaction by providing clarity and reasoning behind the aesthetic decision-making inclusions that are integrated into automatically generated vision by providing a framework for choosing a range of aesthetic viewpoints in a 3D virtual environment of a game. The study identifies critical juxtapositions between photographic and cinema-based media aesthetics by incorporating qualitative rationales from experts within the interactive digital media field. This research will change the way Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated interactive digital media in the way that it chooses visual outputs in terms of camera positions, field-view, orientation, contextual considerations, and user experiences. It will impact across all automated systems to ensure that human-values, rich variations, and extensive complexity are integrated in the AI-dominated development and design of future interactive digital media production

Impact of viscosity on creeping viscous fluid flow through a permeable slit: a study for the artificial kidneys

The idea of this study is to present the mathematical model of two-dimensional biofluid flow having variable viscosity along the height of the channel (proximal renal tube of artificial kidney). This research describes that flow resistance is dependent on the height of the channel (proximal renal tube of artificial kidney) which makes the high flow near the centre and slow near the wall. The goal of this research is to provide the formulas to find the flow speed, average pressure, outflow flux and filtration rate of the viscous fluid having variable viscosity. The complex mathematical problem is solved by the Inverse method and results for axial velocity are plotted at the opening, central and departure region of the conduit. The numerical values for constant reabsorption and mean pressure are calculated against the filtration rate for the constant and variable viscosity. The numerical results of pressure rise show that when the viscosity of biofluid varies from centre to the boundary, then high change in pressure is required as compared with the biofluid having constant viscosity along the height of the slit. These mathematical formulas are very useful for the bioengineers to design the portable artificial kidney which works as a mechanical tool to filter the biofluid

Trends in antibiotic susceptibility and incidence of late-onset Klebsiella pneumoniae neonatal sepsis over a six-year period in a neonatal intensive care unit in Karachi, Pakistan

Introduction: The incidence, change in antibiotic susceptibility,a n risk factors associated with mortality of late-onset Klebsiella pneumoniae sepsis during 2006–2011, in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a developing country, were analyzed. Methods: The medical records of neonates with a discharge diagnosis of sepsis due to late-onset K. pneumoiae were retrieved. Demographic features, gestational age, date and year of admission, antibiotic susceptibility of isolates, and discharge status were recorded.The late-onset K. pneumoniae incidence per 1000 NICU admissions and risk factors for mortality due to late-onset K. pneumoniae sepsis are reported. Results: During the period 2006-2011, 104 of 2768 neonates developed late-onset K. pneumoniae sepsis. The overall incidence of late-onset K.pneumoniae sepsis was 3.7% (37/1000 NICU admissions), with the highest annual incidence being 53/1000 in 2010. Most cases were males (n = 64; 62%) and most were premature and very low birth weight (n = 68; 65%). More than 80% of isolates were resistant to ampicillin + clavulanic acid, gentamicin, aztreonam, and cephalosporins. An increasing trend of resistance to amikacin, fluoroquinolones, piperacillin/tazobactam, and imipenem was observed. In 2011, three-quarters (72%;n = 13) of late-onset K. pneumoniae were CR K. pneumoniae. Seventeen (16%) neonates died. Being male (p= 0.06, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 9.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3–66.9), having an extremely low birth weight (p = 0.01, AOR 6.1, 95% CI 0.8–44.4), having severe thrombocytopenia (p = 0.07, AOR 3.9, 95% CI 1.2–13.0), and failure to achieve microbiological clearance (p \u3c 0.001, AOR 19.6, 95% CI 4.0–98.0) were significantly associated with mortality due to late-onset K. pneumoniae sepsis. Conclusion: There has been a rise in carbapenem-resistant strains of late-onset K. pneumoniae, associated with an increased mortality and limited antibacterial choices. Antimicrobial stewardship and rigorous infection control measures seem to be the only way to limit the spread of these strains