Multisensor Data Fusion Strategies for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

Multisensor data fusion and integration is a rapidly evolving research area that requires interdisciplinary knowledge in control theory, signal processing, artificial intelligence, probability and statistics, etc. Multisensor data fusion refers to the synergistic combination of sensory data from multiple sensors and related information to provide more reliable and accurate information than could be achieved using a single, independent sensor (Luo et al., 2007). Actually Multisensor data fusion is a multilevel, multifaceted process dealing with automatic detection, association, correlation, estimation, and combination of data from single and multiple information sources. The results of data fusion process help users make decisions in complicated scenarios. Integration of multiple sensor data was originally needed for military applications in ocean surveillance, air-to air and surface-to-air defence, or battlefield intelligence. More recently, multisensor data fusion has also included the nonmilitary fields of remote environmental sensing, medical diagnosis, automated monitoring of equipment, robotics, and automotive systems (Macci et al., 2008). The potential advantages of multisensor fusion and integration are redundancy, complementarity, timeliness, and cost of the information. The integration or fusion of redundant information can reduce overall uncertainty and thus serve to increase the accuracy with which the features are perceived by the system. Multiple sensors providing redundant information can also serve to increase reliability in the case of sensor error or failure. Complementary information from multiple sensors allows features in the environment to be perceived that are impossible to perceive using just the information from each individual sensor operating separately. (Luo et al., 2007) Besides, driving as one of our daily activities is a complex task involving a great amount of interaction between driver and vehicle. Drivers regularly share their attention among operating the vehicle, monitoring traffic and nearby obstacles, and performing secondary tasks such as conversing, adjusting comfort settings (e.g. temperature, radio.) The complexity of the task and uncertainty of the driving environment make driving a very dangerous task, as according to a study in the European member states, there are more than 1,200,000 traffic accidents a year with over 40,000 fatalities. This fact points up the growing demand for automotive safety systems, which aim for a significant contribution to the overall road safety (Tatschke et al., 2006). Therefore, recently, there are an increased number of research activities focusing on the Driver Assistance System (DAS) development in order O pe n A cc es s D at ab as e w w w .in te ch w eb .o r

Effect of exercise on the improvement of age-induced cognitive impairment: With emphasis on cross talk between the brain and skeletal muscles

Dear Editor-in-ChiefThe brain weighs about 1.36 kg and is mainly composed of blood. Although the brain includes only 2% of the body's weight, it receives 25% of the whole body oxygen consumption, 15% of the cardiac output volume and 2000 L of blood flow per day (Hartmann et al., 1994; Ohta et al., 1992; Xing et al., 2017). The brain has largest and most complex structure of the central nervous system. This organ regulates the functions of human body and stands for the basis of higher neural activities such as consciousness, alertness, learning, memory, intelligence, spirit and language learning. Cognitive function in a person means the brain ability to process, store, and extract information. In addition, this ability is a kind of advanced psychological function such as thinking, memory, and attention. Cognitive function plays an irreplaceable role in our daily life and study. Based on Cognitive psychology, the brain can modify its structure and function according to environmental changes and the experience of different types of exercising, especially exercise training, plays a crucial role in the evolution of the brain (Barnes. 2015; Raichlen et al., 2017). For example, exercise can positively affect synaptic plasticity and synaptic function to promote cerebral cortex, neural network and hippocampus function (an important structure in the memory information processing) (Ding et al., 2006; Li et al., 2019; Loprinzi et al., 2017). Exercise also has a significant effect on brain metabolism. Exercise not only promotes physical health of people, but also prevents mental illness and delays cognitive aging (Robinson et al., 2018).Brain function depends on nerve fibers, number of neurons and synapses.  The cognitive performance is also closely related to the number of nerve fibers and synaptic connections, which can be reduced by diseases and aging process. The neurotrophics factors, such as neurotrophic factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are required to provide nutrients to maintain the structure and function of nerve fibers and synaptic connections (Ivanov, 2014). However, with aging, sharp decrease of dendritic branches, degeneration of glial cells, the reduction of neuron number and contraction of nerves may impede the transmission of electrical signals in the nervous system, leading to the shrinkage of gray matter in the brain and cognitive impairment (Reisberg et al., 2008; Thorin-Trescases et al., 2018).Several studies have shown that an active lifestyle could delay the aging of cognitive-control areas in the brain, and exercise can significantly improve brain health in patients with Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia (Falkai et al., 2017; Frederiksen et al., 2018). Colcombe et al. (2003; 2006) used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brain of 55 healthy people aged from 55 to 79 years old and observed a decrease in tissue density in the frontal and temporal lobes with age. The important point is that brain structure atrophy was related to aerobic fitness. In another study, 59 healthy people aged from 60-79 years old were divided into exercise training groups and control group. In the exercise training group, aerobic exercise intervention was conducted for 6 months. The results showed that the volume of gray matter and white matter was significantly increased in the exercise training group, and the researchers concluded that aerobic training could effectively delay brain aging process and lead to promote brain health (Colcombe et al., 2003; Colcombe et al., 2006; Colcombe & Kramer, 2003).In terms of the mechanism based on which exercise training may enhance cognitive ability and  delay brain aging, it has been proved that exercise training can induce fibronectin type III domain-containing protein 5 (FNDC5) expression in skeletal muscle which will be released into the circulation with Irisin variant (Wrann et al., 2013). Spiegelman found that exercise training for 30 days in mice increased the activity of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-alpha (PGC-1α), which is a metabolic regulatory molecule in skeletal muscle. PGC-1α could stimulate the upregulation of FNDC5 expression, and when FNDC5 enters the hippocampus through the blood-brain barrier, it enhanced the expression of BDNF in the dentate nucleus of the hippocampus (responsible for learning and memory). Interestingly, the study on sedentary mice injected with FNDC5 produced by exercise showed it activated gene for the brain health and improved the growth of new neurons involved in learning and memory. This new discovery links FNDC5, PGC-1α and BDNF in the cross talk between the brain and skeletal muscle upon exercise (Wrann et al., 2013). In addition to PGC-1 α/FNDC5 signaling on other molecules have also been found to affect BDNF expression in cognitive impairment.In a cell model simulating the effect of exercise by adding AMPK agonist to L6 myoblasts rat, proteomics and mass spectrometry were performed to screen the factors secreted by myoblasts. Data showed that Cathepsin B (CTSB) increased after treatment while other cytokines did not changed. Meanwhile, CTSB levels also increased in gastrocnemius muscle and plasma of rats after voluntary wheel running exercise, anti-fatigue ability; spatial memory ability and coordinated movement improved in the exercised rats compared to the sedentary control group. However, these beneficial effects were absent in CTSB knockout rat. In addition, intravenous injected CSTB is able to enter the brain through blood-brain barrier and upregulate DCX and BDNF expression and thus enhancing hippocampal nerve growth (Moon et al., 2016).Aerobic Training not only promotes physical health of people, but also prevents mental illness and effectively delays brain aging process, prevents brain structure atrophy, promotes volume gray and white matter and  promotes cognitive ability in patients with Age-induced cognitive impairment. Therefore, it is very important to conduct original and cross-sectional research in order to discover relevant and new mechanisms

TD-GEM: Text-Driven Garment Editing Mapper

Language-based fashion image editing allows users to try out variations of desired garments through provided text prompts. Inspired by research on manipulating latent representations in StyleCLIP and HairCLIP, we focus on these latent spaces for editing fashion items of full-body human datasets. Currently, there is a gap in handling fashion image editing due to the complexity of garment shapes and textures and the diversity of human poses. In this paper, we propose an editing optimizer scheme method called Text-Driven Garment Editing Mapper (TD-GEM), aiming to edit fashion items in a disentangled way. To this end, we initially obtain a latent representation of an image through generative adversarial network inversions such as Encoder for Editing (e4e) or Pivotal Tuning Inversion (PTI) for more accurate results. An optimization-based Contrasive Language-Image Pre-training (CLIP) is then utilized to guide the latent representation of a fashion image in the direction of a target attribute expressed in terms of a text prompt. Our TD-GEM manipulates the image accurately according to the target attribute, while other parts of the image are kept untouched. In the experiments, we evaluate TD-GEM on two different attributes (i.e., "color" and "sleeve length"), which effectively generates realistic images compared to the recent manipulation schemes.Comment: The first two authors contributed equall

Effects of exercise on cognition, hippocampal neurogenesis, and learning: Muscle–brain crosstalk in health and diseases

Dear Editor-in-Chief Based on recent studies, it is now clear that there is a muscle–brain endocrine loop that can be partly mediated by myokine signaling. There are also other metabolites as mediators which can affect circulating compounds (Rai & Demontis, 2016) and these include noncoding RNAs (Makarova et al., 2014), hormone-associated responses, as well as, muscular enzymes (Pedersen, 2019). Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is considered to be a key role in helping to mediate the impacts of exercise on the hippocampus (Loprinzi & Frith, 2019). Studies conducted on laboratory rats showed an increase in BDNF mRNA and BDNF protein in the hippocampus of these animals when wheel running exercise was performed for 1 to 8 weeks (Adlard, Perreau, & Cotman, 2005; Farmer et al., 2004; Liu & Nusslock, 2018; Neeper, Góauctemez-Pinilla, Choi, & Cotman, 1995; Oliff, Berchtold, Isackson, & Cotman, 1998; Van Hoomissen, Chambliss, Holmes, & Dishman, 2003). In terms of cognitive functions, i.e. memory and learning, BDNF has also been demonstrated to be effective in the improvement of such functions (Vaynman, Ying, & Gomez‐Pinilla, 2004; Vaynman, Ying, & Gómez‐Pinilla, 2004).Research on humans indicates that their brains can release BDNF while cycling (Rasmussen et al., 2009; Seifert et al., 2010), also in another study in healthy people as well as people with schizophrenia who had been training in aerobic exercise for three months, the level of BDNF increased in their hippocampus by 12% and 16%, respectively (Pajonk et al., 2010). As a growth factor for the hippocampus, BDNF plays a significant role in learning and improving cell survival (Wrann et al., 2013). Interestingly enough, research findings show that BDNF can also be expressed in skeletal muscle tissues during exercise in humans; nonetheless, it is not clear whether muscle-derived BDNF can get into the bloodstream from the muscle to create a direct interaction between muscle and brain (Matthews et al., 2009).Some fascinating studies indicate that irisin and myokines cathepsin-B might cross the (BBB) blood-brain barrier, and consequently, BDNF levels may increase. In recent a study conducted by Moon et al. (Moon et al., 2016) a novel myokine, cathepsin B (CTSB) was identified. Other work also demonstrated that exercise can increase CTSB systemic level, therefore, BDNF expression will be promoted in the hippocampus and lead to the formation of nerve tissue as well. Running on a treadmill for four months increased CTSB plasma levels, as well as CTSB gene expression in humans, mice, and rhesus monkeys. In addition, it was indicated that CTSB could cross BBB in mice. In studies by Moon et al. (2016) on CTSB knockout mice, it was made clear that mice without CTSB refused to do voluntary exercise regarding hippocampal growth and cognitive development. It is not clear whether myokine CTSB can lead to cognitive function development in humans regarding exercise training or not (Moon et al., 2016; Suzuki, 2016).The PGC-1α-dependent myokine irisin, which is famous for its browning impacts (Boström et al., 2012), can play a role in the intervention of the brain’s physical activity (Wrann et al., 2013). An excessive expression of irisin in the primary cortical neurons can cause a higher BDNF expression, while FNDC5 knockdown mediated by RNAi can cause a lower BDNF expression. Furthermore, irisin delivery to the mice’s liver by adenoviral vectors will raise the systemic irisin level, consequently resulting in a higher level of BDNF in the hippocampus. Whether doing exercise can increase irisin plasma concentration in humans (Albrecht et al., 2015; Wrann, 2015), and whether irisin is affected by a muscle–brain endocrine loop is a disputable issue

Hepatoprotective activity of phloretin and hydroxychalcones against Acetaminophen Induced hepatotoxicity in mice

Polyphenolics form a major part of the dietary antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables have been identified as chemopreventive or anticancer agents. Hydroxychalcones are polyphenols abundantly distributed throughout the plant kingdom and are compounds with two aromatic rings (benzene or phenol) and an unsaturated side chain. In the present study, effect of phloretin (apple major flavonoid), 4-hydroxychalcone and 4'-hydroxychalcone were investigated against acetaminophen-induced acute liver damage. The study was designed as multiple dose pre- and post-treatments. Mice were administratedacetaminophen (1g/kg and 640 mg/kg for mortality and acute toxicity experiments, respectively). Mortality rate, serum transaminases (SGOT and SGPT) and histological examination were applied. Acetaminophen produced 100% mortality at the dose of 1 g/kg in mice, while pre-treatment and post-treatment (i.p., twice daily for 48 hrs) of animals with phloretin and 4-hydroxychalcone (50 mg/kg) and 4'-hydroxychalcone (25 mg/kg) significantly reduced the mortality rate. Acetaminophen produced acute toxicity at the dose of 640 mg/kg in mice, while pre- and post-treatments of animals with phloretin and hydroxychalcones significantly lowered the rise in SGOT and SGPT. Liver sections collected for histological examination showed cellular changes including centrilobular necrosis, extensive portal inflammation, and micro and macro vesicular structures in the acetaminophen group. These cellular changes were reduced following treatment of mice with Phloretin and hydroxychalcones. Taken collectively, from the results of this study it may be suggested that phloretin and hydroxychalcones have hepatoprotective activity against acetaminophen liver injury in mice

The psychological consequences of COVID-19 on children’s world

Dear Editor-in-ChiefThe world’s countries are presently shaken by a novel member of the coronavirus family. Apparently, a very tiny creature has been commissioned to carry out a large mission. This issue causes us to experience a universal life-threatening condition that is changing the life framework for humans. It appears that humans are showing a more real picture of themselves in the current turmoil

Thoracoscopic Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia repair in neonate: The First Experience of Iranian Group

Background: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) occurs due to a failure in closing pleuroperitoneal membrane thus resulting in an incomplete diaphragm formation1, which allows passage of the abdominal viscera into the thorax.1,3 Until 1995, the standard method for treatment of CDH was performed by open surgery through the abdomen or thoracic cavity. Minimally invasive approach via thoracoscopy or laparoscopy is applicable for treatment of CDH since 1995.4 Now a day’s thoracoscopic repair of CDH (T’Scopy CDH) is performed in many centers. In this paper, we present our experience of T’Scopy CDH repair from Iran.Patients and Methods: From 2011 to 2015, 74 patients with CDH were admitted to Pediatric Surgery Department of Dr. Sheikh (Sarvar) Pediatric Hospital. Twenty one patients (28%) met our inclusion criteria and underwent T’Scopy CDH repair. The median age at the time of repair was 5 days (2-daysold to 4-years-old patients). Inclusion criteria were weight over 2 kg and stable hemodynamics and arterial blood gas. Fourteen cases were intubated before entering the operating room. The defect was in the left side except in two cases. In 8 cases, we used thoracic wall as part of repair. Also, mesh support was utilized in 8 cases even in cases were primary repair of diaphragm was possible in order to reinforcing the repair (5 cases). Of these 8 cases, in 3 patients, whole repair was accomplished by mesh due to presence of a large defect.Results: The mean time of operation was 80 minutes (40-230 minutes). Intraoperative mortality was zero. In hospital, mortality occurred in two cases due to septicemia in one and respiratory and cardiac failure in another. Conversion to open surgery was required in 6 cases. Late recurrence was observed in 2 cases. The mean time of follow up was 14.6 months (3-36 months).Conclusion: It seems that appropriate case selection and liberal use of thoracic wall and mesh as a part of repair may cause better results and decreased chance of early and late recurrence

Time Management and Metacognitive Strategies in Graduate Students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences

Background: Time management and metacognitive strategies are the most important academic skills of students to achieve scientific success. Objectives: The current study aimed at comparing the effect of the two widely used teaching methods, role-playing and lecturing, on learning the communication skills among health workers of Kerman health centers in Iran, 2018. Methods: This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 on 322 graduate students. The time-management questionnaire developed by Britton and Tesser and the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory Schraw and Dennison were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and Pearson correlation coefficient and Multivariate Linear Regression by SPSS software. Results: The mean score of time management in students was 5.24±32.41 (14-70) and the mean score of metacognitive strategies was 11.56±148.97 (52-260), which showed the -moderate level of students regarding these factors. A positive and significant relationship was observed between time management and metacognitive strategies (P <0.050). Conclusion: Time management and metacognitive strategies of graduate students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences is at a moderate level. Due to the relationship between time management and metacognitive strategies, it is recommended to pay attention to metacognitive components in teaching and learning methods. It is also suggested to plan for the creativity and innovation of these students to use their ability to achieve organizational goals. Keywords: Time Management, Metacognitive Strategies, Graduate Students, Kerman University of Medical Science

Clinical Environment Assessment Based on DREEM Model from the Viewpoint of Interns and Residents of Hospitals Affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Background & Objective: Clinical environments have a crucial role on medical students' training. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess clinical environments based on the (Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure) DREEM model from the viewpoint of interns and residents in hospitals affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2012. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytic study. The data collection tool was the DREEM Questionnaire with 50 questions (5-point Likert scale) in the 5 domains of learning, teachers, educational environment, student's academic self-perceptions, and student's social self-perceptions. The study environment consisted of 4 main wards (internal, surgical, pediatrics, and gynecology) of hospitals affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences. The study subjects consisted of 63 interns and 73 residents. Data was analyzed in SPSS software using Students' t-test and ANOVA. Results: Mean score of perception of educational environment in interns was 161.17 ± 22.30 and in residents was 157.45 ± 21.14. The comparison of different areas of clinical environment evaluation only showed a significant difference between the two groups in the area of student's social self-perceptions (P < 0.05). The interns' score was higher than that of the residents. No significant differences were observed between hospitals and the studied wards. Conclusion: The students' perceptions of their educational environment in clinical wards were desirable. Despite different literature's recommendation of using DREEM in order to evaluate weaknesses and strengths of clinical environments, the concurrent use of other methods and instruments for the assessment of the efficacy of this questionnaire is recommended. Key Words: DREEM model, Assessment, Residents, Interns, Ira