Gaze and Peripheral Vision Analysis for Human-Environment Interaction: Applications in Automotive and Mixed-Reality Scenarios

This thesis studies eye-based user interfaces which integrate information about the user’s perceptual focus-of-attention into multimodal systems to enrich the interaction with the surrounding environment. We examine two new modalities: gaze input and output in the peripheral field of view. All modalities are considered in the whole spectrum of the mixed-reality continuum. We show the added value of these new forms of multimodal interaction in two important application domains: Automotive User Interfaces and Human-Robot Collaboration. We present experiments that analyze gaze under various conditions and help to design a 3D model for peripheral vision. Furthermore, this work presents several new algorithms for eye-based interaction, like deictic reference in mobile scenarios, for non-intrusive user identification, or exploiting the peripheral field view for advanced multimodal presentations. These algorithms have been integrated into a number of software tools for eye-based interaction, which are used to implement 15 use cases for intelligent environment applications. These use cases cover a wide spectrum of applications, from spatial interactions with a rapidly changing environment from within a moving vehicle, to mixed-reality interaction between teams of human and robots.In dieser Arbeit werden blickbasierte Benutzerschnittstellen untersucht, die Infor- mationen ¨uber das Blickfeld des Benutzers in multimodale Systeme integrieren, um neuartige Interaktionen mit der Umgebung zu erm¨oglichen. Wir untersuchen zwei neue Modalit¨aten: Blickeingabe und Ausgaben im peripheren Sichtfeld. Alle Modalit¨aten werden im gesamten Spektrum des Mixed-Reality-Kontinuums betra- chtet. Wir zeigen die Anwendung dieser neuen Formen der multimodalen Interak- tion in zwei wichtigen Dom¨anen auf: Fahrerassistenzsysteme und Werkerassistenz bei Mensch-Roboter-Kollaboration. Wir pr¨asentieren Experimente, die blickbasierte Benutzereingaben unter verschiedenen Bedingungen analysieren und helfen, ein 3D- Modell f¨ur das periphere Sehen zu entwerfen. Dar¨uber hinaus stellt diese Arbeit mehrere neue Algorithmen f¨ur die blickbasierte Interaktion vor, wie die deiktis- che Referenz in mobilen Szenarien, die nicht-intrusive Benutzeridentifikation, oder die Nutzung des peripheren Sichtfeldes f¨ur neuartige multimodale Pr¨asentationen. Diese Algorithmen sind in eine Reihe von Software-Werkzeuge integriert, mit de- nen 15 Anwendungsf¨alle f¨ur intelligente Umgebungen implementiert wurden. Diese Demonstratoren decken ein breites Anwendungsspektrum ab: von der r¨aumlichen In- teraktionen aus einem fahrenden Auto heraus bis hin zu Mixed-Reality-Interaktionen zwischen Mensch-Roboter-Teams

Antifungal activities of fluconazole and ketoconazole agentsagainst Malassezia species

(Received 12 Oct, 2008; Accepted 20 Apr, 2009)AbstractBackground and purpose: Malassezia, a yeast-like fungus found in normal skin flora is known to be associated with various skin diseases, along with systemic infections. Our aim was to determine the in -vitro susceptibility of Malassezia spp. to ketoconazole and fluconazole.Materials and methods: In this study, we identified 99 Malassezia isolates from patients with pityriasis vesicular by morphological and biochemical criteria. In vitro susceptibility testing was in macro-broth dilutions, conducted based on the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) M27-A proposed standard. The results were analyzed statistically by Mann-Whitney.Results: The Malassezia isolates were identified as M. globosa (42), M. furfur (39), M. obtusa (10), M. sympodialis (6), and M.slooffiae (2). The rate of MFC of ketoconazole against Malassezia spp. was 0.06-2 µg/ml, while the MFC of fluconazole against Malassezia spp. was 2-64 µg/ml. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC90) of ketoconazole against Malassezia spp. was 0.03-1 µg/ml, while the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC90) of fluconazole against Malassezia spp. was 0.5-32 µg/ml.Conclusion: Although fluconazole can be an effective treatment option for pityriasis versicolor, in our study, fluconazole MICs were higher than ketoclonazole. J Mazand Univ Med Sci 2009; 19(69): 22-27 (Persian