Real-world Cases Research Articles

Assessment of a Perfusion and Ventilation Method for Detecting Lung and Liver Injury in a Cadaveric Model.

Surgical simulation models have been developed using post-mortem human subjects (PMHS). These models involve the pressurization and ventilation of the PMHS to create a more realistic environment for training and the practice of surgical procedures. The overall objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of a previously developed surgical simulation model to detect soft tissue injuries during a ballistic impact to the torso. One of the main limitations of using PMHS for the assessment of soft tissue injuries in the field of injury biomechanics is the lack of physiological blood flow. To overcome this limitation, the assessment of the surgical simulation model for use in injury biomechanics applications was conducted based on data collected from behind armor blunt trauma (BABT) case studies. Documented injuries in real-world cases included anterior lung contusion, posterior lung contusion, and liver contusion. These real-world injuries were compared to those seen post-impact in the PMHS using pathological and histological techniques. Discussion of limitations and future work is presented.

Close the Optical Sensing Domain Gap by Physics-Grounded Active Stereo Sensor Simulation

In this article, we focus on the simulation of active stereovision depth sensors, which are popular in both academic and industry communities. Inspired by the underlying mechanism of the sensors, we designed a fully physics-grounded simulation pipeline that includes material acquisition, ray-tracing-based infrared (IR) image rendering, IR noise simulation, and depth estimation. The pipeline is able to generate depth maps with material-dependent error patterns similar to a real depth sensor in real time. We conduct real experiments to show that perception algorithms and reinforcement learning policies trained in our simulation platform could transfer well to the real-world test cases without any fine-tuning. Furthermore, due to the high degree of realism of this simulation, our depth sensor simulator can be used as a convenient testbed to evaluate the algorithm performance in the real world, which will largely reduce the human effort in developing robotic algorithms. The entire pipeline has been integrated into the SAPIEN simulator and is open-sourced to promote the research of vision and robotics communities.

Dynamic Clustering Meeting Points Strategy to Improve Operational Service Capability of Flex-Route Transit

To improve the operational service capability of flex-route transit under the condition of uncertain and inhomogeneous passenger travel demand, a dynamic meeting points optimization solution is proposed. This solution can set dynamic pickup and drop-off meeting points according to real-time travel demand. The flex-route transit operation mode is described in detail and is divided into a two-stage optimization problem. Mixed integer programming is employed to formulate the problem with a twofold objective—(1) serve as many requests as possible; and (2) minimize the time cost of the accepted passengers. An improved memetic solution algorithm is proposed for the model constructed. Computational results based on real-world cases show that the dynamic clustering meeting points solution breaks the space constraints of the original pickup and drop-off points of passengers and can significantly reduce the proportion of passenger reservation requests rejected without increasing operation cost.

Blockchain Based Crowdfunding Using Ethereum Smart Contract

Abstract: This research paper explores the emerging field of crowdfunding and its integration with blockchain technology. Crowdfunding has gained significant traction as a viable alternative to traditional funding methods, empowering entrepreneurs and innovators to raise capital directly from the public. However, this fundraising model is not without its limitations, including issues of trust, transparency, and intermediaries' control over the process. In recent years, blockchain technology has emerged as a potential solution to address these challenges. Blockchain's inherent properties of transparency, immutability, and decentralization offer promising opportunities for transforming the crowdfunding landscape. This research paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the benefits and challenges associated with implementing blockchain in crowdfunding. It examines real-world use cases and discusses how blockchain enhances transparency, mitigates fraud risks, reduces transaction costs, and enables global participation. Furthermore, it explores the potential impact of blockchain on crowdfunding ecosystems, including its implications for investors, entrepreneurs, and regulatory frameworks.

MorphStream: Adaptive Scheduling for Scalable Transactional Stream Processing on Multicores

Transactional stream processing engines (TSPEs) differ significantly in their designs, but all rely on non- adaptive scheduling strategies for processing concurrent state transactions. Subsequently, none exploit multicore parallelism to its full potential due to complex workload dependencies. This paper introduces MorphStream, which adopts a novel approach by decomposing scheduling strategies into three dimensions and then strives to make the right decision along each dimension, based on analyzing the decision trade-offs under varying workload characteristics. Compared to the state-of-the-art, MorphStream achieves up to 3.4 times higher throughput and 69.1% lower processing latency for handling real-world use cases with complex and dynamically changing workload dependencies.

Sinusoidal-assisted synchrosqueezing transform: Algorithms and biomedical applications

Intermittent oscillation signals (IOSs) exist widely in biomedical systems. They are always contaminated by various randomnesses like noise and artifacts. Compared with traditional time–frequency analysis (TFA) methods, adaptive TFA methods show significant advantages in separating IOSs. However, these methods are implemented by assuming that the input signal is in a weakly noisy environment and have narrow-band limitation for extracting IOSs. Besides, it is difficult for these methods to alleviate the noise in the gap between time where IOSs happen. Therefore, in this paper, a new method called the sinusoidal-assisted synchrosqueezing transform (SASST) is proposed for separating IOSs in strongly noisy environments. The SASST method locates the IOSs with the aid of a sinusoidal signal. Such a sinusoidal signal fills the energy blank in the gap between time where IOSs happen. This enables the ridge detection approach, which is the necessary tool for mode retrieval of SST-based methods, to focus on the assisted sinusoidal signal rather than noise. Thus, the background noise in the gap is suppressed. Moreover, this sinusoidal-assisted framework can be introduced into any SST-based TFA method. Depending on the characteristics of different biomedical signals, different SST-based methods are chosen to achieve better separation. As a result, SASST is capable of extracting both narrow- and wide-band IOSs in strongly noisy environments. The effectiveness and advantages of the proposed algorithm are verified by both numerical simulations and real-world cases. Even in a strongly noisy environment of −10 dB, SASST achieves output SNR of 12.66 dB and 10.53 dB in narrow- and wide-band simulation, respectively.

Environmental commemoration: Guiding principles and real-world cases

Addressing the political implications of the ever-accumulating destruction of ecosystems and more-than-human life, this paper asks whether and in what ways environmental losses should be publicly commemorated. Our answer is two-pronged. First, we hold that a politics of environmental commemoration would enfranchise those who are already grieving, by lending legitimacy to their experiences. Moreover, commemorative practices might prompt much-needed norm change by nurturing a recognition of our species’ entanglement with the more-than-human world. Second, we programmatically introduce five principles that should guide environmental commemoration, ethically and pragmatically: multispecies justice, responsibility, pluralism, dynamism, and anticlosure. A critical examination of two real-world examples – the memorialization of the passenger pigeon’s extinction and the annual ritual of the Remembrance Day for Lost Species – substantiates our theoretical argument. Finally, the paper engages with several potential criticisms.

Real-Time Monitoring and Management of Hardware and Software Resources in Heterogeneous Computer Networks through an Integrated System Architecture

The theoretical and practical progress that has occurred in the field of computer networks during the past fifteen years has enhanced the economical efficiency and social relevance of related real-world use cases. Nevertheless, this ubiquitous usage has also introduced numerous security risks. Therefore, monitoring hardware and software resources represents one of the main instruments used in order to prevent potential attacks and to ensure the security and reliability of a network. Various solutions have been reported in the related scientific literature. In essence, most of the existing approaches are not suitable to implement a real-time hardware monitoring and management solution, particularly in heterogeneous networks. Therefore, the main contribution of this paper is represented by an architectural and implementational model, which is effective in order to build an interconnected system that can help system and network administrators to secure a network. This requirement is met by considering symmetrical design and implementation features related to various operating systems. Thus, the existing symmetrical relationships among identified parameters allow for the data to be wrapped into the same custom network packages, which are transported over the communication medium or are stored using the same data structures or tables. The system has been thoroughly assessed considering several real-world use case scenarios, and the results demonstrate that the proposed model can be applied to software-defined networks, which can be protected by relevant intrusion detection systems (IDS).

A clarity-intensity model for evacuation behaviour: A VR study and comparison with a real-world case

It is previously discovered that evacuees’ mental state involves two key elements: the awareness of the situation, namely the clarity; and the intensity of the stimulation (Deng et al., 2022). In this paper, we aim to construct a clarity-intensity model for the delay time and the speed preference through a VR experiment, and to compare the model with real-world cases. 15 disaster stimuli are designed to build a clarity-intensity plane, and are applied in the virtual environment (VE). The VE is made walkable with an omni-directional treadmill, and the behaviours are videotaped for later analysis. The analysed behaviours are quadratically regressed on the clarity-intensity plane, and it is discovered 1) that the delay time is effectively reduced with high clarity, and appears an inverted U-shape on the intensity dimension, and 2) that the stride frequency ratio, which represents the speed preference, rises with both clarity and intensity. The results on the delay time are further compared with a dormitory building fire case, and consistency is concluded.

Class of How People Learn: An Investigation into Theories of Learning How Praise in Class Affects Students Learning Motivation

By analyzing the case comparison of three different praise methods, this paper compares the most suitable praise strategies for the classroom at the k-12 stage. The research proposal is to introduce the beneficial effects of praise in the classroom through behaviourism and cognitivism and then to compare which kind of praise students respond to using real-world cases in the classroom: general praise targeted praise, and negative statementmost productive in the classroom. The survey method is that three teachers teach a class of 15 to 20 people, and one day is randomly selected each week to count the number of times teachers use different praise methods on average to analyze the cases. The results showed that general praise was more practical at ages K-8, where students were more likely to be praised by their teachers for their behaviour. In addition, the combination of targeted praise and negative statements in grades 8-12 can help students achieve academically.

Using business negotiation simulation with China's English-major undergraduates for practice ability development

As an important part of business English practice teaching, this study explores the design and implementation of business negotiation simulation in a Chinese university context with 77 English-major participants, using online surveys and written document analyses. The English-major participants were satisfied with the approach used in the design of the business negotiation simulation, which mostly used real-world cases in the international context. The participants considered teamwork and group cooperation to be their most improved skills, along with other soft skills and practice abilities. Most of the participants reported that the business negotiation simulation directly reflected the real-world scenarios. Most of the participants ranked the negotiation process as the best sessions, followed up by preparation, group cooperation and discussion. Regarding areas of improvement, the participants needed more rehearsal and practice, more examples of negotiation, more guidance from the teacher on case selection and grouping, feedback from the teacher and the incorporation of simulation activities in offline classroom teaching settings.

Big data analytics and smart cities: applications, challenges, and opportunities.

Urban environments continuously generate larger and larger volumes of data, whose analysis can provide descriptive and predictive models as valuable support to inspire and develop data-driven Smart City applications. To this aim, Big data analysis and machine learning algorithms can play a fundamental role to bring improvements in city policies and urban issues. This paper introduces how Big Data analysis can be exploited to design and develop data-driven smart city services, and provides an overview on the most important Smart City applications, grouped in several categories. Then, it presents three real-case studies showing how data analysis methodologies can provide innovative solutions to deal with smart city issues. The first one is an approach for spatio-temporal crime forecasting (tested on Chicago crime data), the second one is methodology to discover mobility hotsposts and trajectory patterns from GPS data (tested on Beijing taxi traces), the third one is an approach to discover predictive epidemic patterns from mobility and infection data (tested on real COVID-19 data). The presented real-world cases prove that data analytics models can effectively support city managers in tackling smart city challenges and improving urban applications.

Choose Compassion: Why It Matters and How It Works (2022) by James Kirby. University of Queensland Press. ISBN: 9780702265648

One of Australia’s leading compassion researchers, Dr. James Kirby employs science and real-world cases to argue that compassion is the most important human motivation to harness in today’s world. Citing the benefits of compassion training exercises for life struggles including self-criticism, shame, grief, parenting, depression, and anxiety, Kirby draws on findings from the University of Queensland’s Compassionate Mind Research Group, of which he is co-director. Debunking the myth that compassion is a soft or weak emotion, he examines fears, blocks, and resistances we and our clients may have to compassion, which he defines as the courageous and wise motivation to turn towards suffering and try to alleviate it. Reviewer Prof. Paul Gilbert, who developed compassion focused therapy, applauds how Choose Compassion: Why it matters and how it works (Kirby, 2022) takes on big themes, such as the inevitability of suffering and loss, and makes them understandable and accessible to readers. Despite climate change, mass extinctions, genocide, wars, and the capacity of humans to be callous and contradictory, Kirby’s message is ultimately one of hope.

Toward a Comprehensive Understanding and Evaluation of the Sustainability of E-Health Solutions

Digital health transformation (DHT) has been deployed rapidly worldwide, and many e-health solutions are being invented and improved on an accelerating basis. Healthcare already faces many challenges in terms of reducing costs and allocating resources optimally, while improving provided services. E-solutions in healthcare can be a key enabler for improvements while controlling the budget; however, if the sustainability of those solutions is not assessed, many resources directed towards e-solutions and the cost of adoption/implementation will be wasted. Thus, it is important to assess the sustainability of newly proposed or already in-use e-health solutions. In the literature, there is a paucity of empirically driven comprehensive sustainability models and assessment tools to guide practices in real-world cases. Hence, this study proposes a comprehensive sustainability model for e-health solutions to assess the essential sustainability aspects of e-health solutions and anticipate the likelihood of their sustainability. To build the model, a systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to extract the e-health sustainability dimensions and elements. In addition, the SLR analyzes the existing definitions of sustainability in healthcare and sustainability assessment methods. The proposed sustainability model has five dimensions, namely; technology, organization, economic, social, and resources. Each dimension has aspects that provide another level of required detail to assess sustainability. In addition, an assessment method was developed for this model to assess the aspects of each dimension, resulting in the overall prediction of the e-health solution’s sustainability level. The sustainability model and the assessment method were validated by three experts in terms of comprehensiveness and applicability to be used in healthcare. Furthermore, a case study was conducted on a Hospital Information System (HIS) of a hospital in Saudi Arabia to evaluate the sustainability model and its assessment method. The sustainability model and assessment method were illustrated to be effective in evaluating the sustainability of e-solutions and more comprehensive and systematic than the evaluation used in the hospital.

Resolving the ethical quagmire of the persistent vegetative state.

A patient is diagnosed with the persistent vegetative state (PVS) when they show no evidence of the awareness of the self or the environment for an extended period of time. The chance of recovery of any mental function or the ability to interact in a meaningful way is low. Though rare, the condition, considering its nature as a state outwith the realm of the conscious, coupled with the trauma experienced by the patient's kin as well as health care staff confronted with painful decisions regarding the patient's care, has attracted a considerable amount of discussion within the bioethics community. At present, there is a wealth of literature that discusses the relevant neurology, that elucidates the plethora of ethical challenges in understanding and dealing with the condition, and that analyses the real-world cases which have prominently featured in the mainstream media as a result of emotionally charged, divergent views concerning the provision of care to the patient. However, there is scarcely anything in the published scholarly literature that proposes concrete and practically actionable solutions to the now widely recognized moral conundrums. The present article describes a step in that direction. I start from the very foundations, laying out a sentientist approach which serves as the basis for the consequent moral decision-making, and then proceed to systematically identify and deconstruct the different cases of discord, using the aforementioned foundations as the basis for their resolution. A major intellectual contribution concerns the fluidity of the duty of care which I argue is demanded by the sentientist focus. The said duty is shown initially to have for its object the patient, which depending on the circumstances, can change to the patient's kin, or the health care staff themselves. In conclusion, the proposed framework represents the first comprehensive proposal regarding the decision-making processes involved in the deliberation on the provision of life sustaining treatment to a patient in a PVS.

Effectiveness and Safety of Dabigatran Reversal with Idarucizumab in the Taiwanese Population: A Comparison Based on Eligibility for Inclusion in Clinical Trials.

Background and Objectives: The effectiveness and safety of idarucizumab for the reversal of the effects of dabigatran have been proven. However, there remains a paucity of literature comprehensively investigating outcomes in real-world patients. This is especially true when comparing patients who were eligible for inclusion in the RE-VERSE AD trial with patients who were ineligible. As the prescription of dabigatran has become increasingly popular, the generalizability of the results to real-world populations has come into question due to the broad variability of real-world patients receiving dabigatran. Our study aimed to identify all patients who were prescribed idarucizumab and examined how effectiveness and safety varied among those patients who were eligible and ineligible for the trial. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed the largest medical database in Taiwan. We enrolled all patients who were prescribed and received idarucizumab from when it became available in Taiwan up until May 2021. A Total of 32 patients were included and analyzed, and they were further divided into subgroups based on their eligibility for inclusion in the RE-VERSE AD trial. Multiple outcomes were evaluated, including successful hemostasis rate, complete reversal efficacy of idarucizumab, 90-day thromboembolic events, intra-hospital mortality, and adverse event rate. Results: In our study, we found that 34.4% of real-world cases of idarucizumab use were ineligible for the RE-VERSE AD trials. The eligible group had higher successful hemostasis rates (95.2% vs. 80%) and anticoagulant effect reversal rates compared to the ineligible group (73.3% vs. 0%). The mortality rates were 9.5%, compared to 27.3% in the ineligible group. Few adverse effects (n = 3) and 90-day thromboembolic events (n = 1) were observed in either group. Among the ineligible cases, all acute ischemic stroke patients (n = 5) received definite, timely treatments without complications. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated the real-world effectiveness and safety of idarucizumab infusion for trial-eligible patients and all acute ischemic stroke patients. However, although it seems to be effective and safe, idarucizumab appears to be less effective in other trial-ineligible patients. Despite this result, our study provides further evidence for extending the applicability of idarucizumab in real-world scenarios. Our study suggests that idarucizumab can be a safe and effective option for reversing the anticoagulant effect of dabigatran, particularly for eligible patients.

Resilient Structural Sparsity in the Design of Consensus Networks.

The consensus problem is relevant to different areas ranging from biology, social psychology, and physics to power systems and robotics. Two crucial aspects of the design of a consensus system are the implementation issues that arise in densely connected networks and the presence of malicious agents that try to cause a deviation from a synchronization state. In this article, we introduce a formulation to design the topology of a consensus network to improve its resilience to attacks while remaining sparse and consistent with the a priori structural relations between the agents. Through mathematical analysis and simulations on artificial and real-world cases, we show the benefits and usefulness of using this strategy to design resilient and structurally sparse consensus networks.

A Critical Review of Construction Using 3D Printing Technology

Abstract The limitations of traditional construction methods can be addressed by 3D printing, a technology that prints structural buildings in layers, which reduces labor, construction time, wastage of material, and the overall cost of the structure. This paper presents a literature review of the state-of-the-art of construction using 3D printing technology. We present a definition and a brief history of 3D printing in construction and discuss research contributions. Subsequently, we describe methods of pre-printing design, 3D design programs for construction, and on-site printing methods. Furthermore, the nature of the materials used, the printing properties, and the different construction mixtures are discussed. Additionally, the effects of commonly used chemical admixtures on the properties of the concrete mix are reviewed. Moreover, mixture tests for ensuring the requirements are met and the challenges faced in the standards and regulations during printing are discussed. Subsequently, we consider successful real-world cases from various companies and controlled laboratory environments using 3D printing based on the printing method, materials used, and challenges faced by each company. Lastly, we present future recommendations to improve the capability and printing quality of 3D printing technology.

Co-creation for Transformative Innovation Policy: an implementation case for projects structured as portfolio of knowledge services

Background:Transformative Innovation Policy (TIP) encompasses a variety of policy frameworks that seek to use the potential of science, technology, and innovation to address societal challenges. To do so, it relies on inclusive co-creation processes for the design, implementation and evaluation programmes and policies that can drive systemic transformation towards sustainability. Aims and objectives:To date there are few empirical studies available on how this co-creation approach can be implemented at the level of programmes and projects working on transformative innovation, and what specific competences, processes and functions are required for the successful implementation of this framework. This paper seeks to provide empirical evidence on how to implement TIP at the project level. Key conclusions:This paper shows the importance of adaptability and modularity of processes that are used to translate the TIP framework to a specific context, allowing and encouraging processes of adaptation by project partners and other stakeholders. Secondly, we highlight how knowledge services can be used to translate and negotiate meaning for complex frameworks, resulting in the production of new knowledge that is not only contextually relevant, but that feeds into a larger pool of evidence of how theories apply to real-world cases. Thirdly, it highlights the importance of building teams with skills such as facilitation, brokering, communication, translation and embedding of science-based concepts and frameworks, and the ability to lead processes of co-design that ensure coherence across different interventions while being adaptable to varied project contexts.

Incorporating health equity in the neurology curriculum: Our experience

BackgroundSocial determinants of health (SDoH) are responsible for 80–90% of modifiable contributors to health, yet this material may not be covered in preclinical medical school neuroscience courses. ObjectiveTo describe how topics related to SDoH and inclusion, diversity, equity, anti-racism, and social justice (IDEAS) were incorporated into a preclinical neuroscience course. MethodsIDEAS concepts and guided discussions were added to our existing case-based curriculum, and guest speakers were invited to discuss how these concepts are relevant in the field of neurology. ResultsMost students felt that content and discussions were integrated thoughtfully. Students also found it helpful to learn and observe how faculty address these topics in real-world cases. ConclusionThe additional content related to SDoH and IDEAS is feasible. Faculty with or without expertise in IDEAS concepts were able to utilize these cases and generate discussion without detracting from the neuroscience course material.