Real World Research Articles

Human papillomavirus vaccine to prevent CIN3 or worse (CIN3+): A nationwide case-control study in Japan.

An increase in cervical cancer incidence has been reported in Japan. The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan has resumed the active recommendation of regular HPV vaccines in 2022. In Japan, the preventive effect of CIN3+ in the real world has not yet been demonstrated in age-adjusted cohort or case-control studies. This study aimed to estimate the effect of the HPV vaccine against CIN3+ in Japanese women. This nationwide case-control study from April 2013 to March 2020 targeted women aged 20-26 years old at the time of cervical screening. We compared HPV vaccination exposure between those with abnormal and those with normal cytology. Abnormal cytology was classified into cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN)1+, CIN2+, and CIN3+. We calculated the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the above endpoints and vaccination exposure using the conditional logistic regression model and estimated vaccine effectiveness using the formula (1 -OR) × 100. A total of 2790 cases and 13,990 controls (one-to-five matching) were eligible in 37 municipalities in Japan. In this study, 61 CIN3 (2.2%) and 10 squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) (0.4%) were found. The OR for CIN3+ versus controls was 0.14 (95% CI, 0.03-0.75), equating to a vaccine effectiveness of 86%. Of the 10 patients who had SCC none were vaccinated. This nationwide case-control study in Japan demonstrated a substantial risk reduction in CIN3+ among women who did versus those who did not receive HPV vaccination.

Validation and clinical performance of a single test, DNA based endometrial cancer molecular classifier

ObjectivesWe have previously shown that DNA based, single test molecular classification by next generation sequencing (NGS) (Proactive Molecular risk classifier for Endometrial cancer (ProMisE) NGS) is highly concordant with the...

BTM models driving success

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Utilizing a BTM model can significantly assist with enacting new technologies and methods of operation within a firm, analyzing real-world impacts without actually placing it in the real world. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Diffusion-model-based inverse problem processing for optically-measured sound field

This paper proposes a diffusion-model-based method for addressing inverse problems in optical sound-field imaging. Optical sound-field imaging, known for its high spatial resolution, measures sound by detecting small variations in the refractive index of air caused by sound but often suffers from unavoidable noise contamination. Therefore, we present a diffusion model-based approach for sound-field inverse problems, including denoising, noisy sound-field reconstruction and extrapolation. During inference, sound-field degradation is introduced into the inverse denoising process, with range-null space decomposition used as a solver to handle degradation, iteratively generating degraded sound-field information. Numerical experiments show that our method outperforms other deep-learning-based methods in denoising and reconstruction tasks, and obtains effective results in extrapolation task. The experimental results demonstrate the applicability of our model to the real world.

Current real world health data of telemedicine for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background Telemedicine has improved adherence to heart failure (HF) treatment, however it has not yet been tailored specifically to address HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Our objective is to undertake a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of existing research studies that focus on telemedicine in HFrEF. Methods We conducted an extensive literature review encompassing trials which included outpatients with HFrEF who underwent telemedicine compared with usual care. We exclude any studies without ejection fraction data. Three bibliographic databases from PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane Library were utilized in our search from January 1999 to May 2023. The endpoints of interest included all-cause mortality, cardiovascular-related mortality, all-cause hospitalization, and HF-related hospitalization. The Cochrane risk-of-bias (RoB) and the risk of bias in non-randomized studies – of interventions (ROBINS-I) were used for non-randomized or observational studies. To quantitatively analyze the collective findings, a pooled odds ratio (OR) was computed for each outcome. Results Out of the initial pool of 4,947 articles, we narrowed down our analysis to 27 studies, Results showed that telemedicine significantly reduced all-cause mortality (OR: 0.65; 95% CI 0.54 – 0.78; p<0.00001), cardiovascular-related mortality (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.58 – 0.80, p < 0.00001), and HF-related hospitalization based on number of events (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.64 – 0.94, p = 0.009) as well as number of patients (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.69 – 0.87, p < 0.0001). Conclusion Telemedicine was shown significantly beneficial in decreasing mortality and hospitalization in HFrEF patients. Future research should focus on standardizing effective telemedicine practices due to the existing variability in methods and clinical situation of the patients. PROSPERO: CRD42023471222 registerd on October 21, 2023

Personal Experience Sharing Cat Meme Videos among Contemporary Chinese Young People: Take the Bilibili Platform as an Example

Abstract: This study explores the phenomenon of personal experience-sharing cat meme videos among contemporary Chinese young people on the Bilibili platform. By employing qualitative content and discourse analysis on two popular cat meme videos and their comments, this research delves into how these videos foster empathetic communication, thereby forming an interactive connection between creators and audiences. The research finds that the cat meme video connects the real world with the video world through the means of cat meme symbol, scene construction, narrative method, and atmosphere creation. The cat meme video absorbs the audiences emotional perception and identification, so as to promote the audiences emotional fit with the cat meme video and thus trigger the audiences empathy. The findings indicate that viewers are not merely passive recipients but active participants who, through their interactions, enhance the emotional transmission of the videos. This two-way empathy communication leads to the establishment of a supportive online community, where individuals share similar experiences, offer advice, and provide emotional support. Consequently, cat meme videos on Bilibili serve as a medium for young people to express their social emotions, creating a vibrant and emotionally connected online community.

Don’t Block My Stuff: Fostering Personal Object Awareness in Multi-user Mixed Reality Environments

In Mixed Reality (MR), users can collaborate efficiently by creating personalized layouts that incorporate both personal and shared virtual objects. Unlike in the real world, personal objects in MR are only visible to their owner. This makes them susceptible to occlusions from shared objects of other users, who remain unaware of their existence. Thus, achieving unobstructed layouts in collaborative MR settings requires knowledge of where others have placed their personal objects. In this paper, we assessed the effects of three visualizations, and a baseline without any visualization, on occlusions and user perceptions. Our study involved 16 dyads (N=32) who engaged in a series of collaborative sorting tasks. Results indicate that the choice of visualization significantly impacts both occlusion and perception, emphasizing the need for effective visualizations to enhance collaborative MR experiences. We conclude with design recommendations for multi-user MR systems to better accommodate both personal and shared interfaces simultaneously.

MSA-GCN: Multistage Spatio-Temporal Aggregation Graph Convolutional Networks for Traffic Flow Prediction

Timely and accurate traffic flow prediction is crucial for stabilizing road conditions, reducing environmental pollution, and mitigating economic losses. While current graph convolution methods have achieved certain results, they do not fully leverage the true advantages of graph convolution. There is still room for improvement in simultaneously addressing multi-graph convolution, optimizing graphs, and simulating road conditions. Based on this, this paper proposes MSA-GCN: Multistage Spatio-Temporal Aggregation Graph Convolutional Networks for Traffic Flow Prediction. This method overcomes the aforementioned issues by dividing the process into different stages and achieves promising prediction results. In the first stage, we construct a latent similarity adjacency matrix and address the randomness interference features in similarity features through two optimizations using the proposed ConvGRU Attention Layer (CGAL module) and the Causal Similarity Capture Module (CSC module), which includes Granger causality tests. In the second stage, we mine the potential correlation between roads using the Correlation Completion Module (CC module) to create a global correlation adjacency matrix as a complement for potential correlations. In the third stage, we utilize the proposed Auto-LRU autoencoder to pre-train various weather features, encoding them into the model’s prediction process to enhance its ability to simulate the real world and improve interpretability. Finally, in the fourth stage, we fuse these features and use a Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit (BiGRU) to model time dependencies, outputting the prediction results through a linear layer. Our model demonstrates a performance improvement of 29.33%, 27.03%, and 23.07% on three real-world datasets (PEMSD8, LOSLOOP, and SZAREA) compared to advanced baseline methods, and various ablation experiments validate the effectiveness of each stage and module.

Evaluating Typing Performance in Different Mixed Reality Manifestations using Physiological Features

Mixed reality enables users to immerse themselves in high-workload interaction spaces like office work scenarios. We envision physiologically adaptive systems that can move users into different mixed reality manifestations, to improve their focus on the primary task. However, it is unclear which manifestation is most conducive for high productivity and engagement. In this work, we evaluate whether physiological indicators for engagement can be discriminated for different manifestations. For this, we engaged participants in a typing task in three different mixed reality manifestations (augmented reality, augmented virtuality, virtual reality) and monitored physiological correlates (EEG, ECG, and eye tracking) of users' engagement and workload. We found that users achieved best typing performances in augmented reality and augmented virtuality. At the same time, physiological engagement peaked in augmented virtuality, while workload decreased. We conclude that augmented virtuality strikes a good balance between the different manifestations, as it facilitates displaying the physical keyboard for improved typing performance and, at the same time, allows one to block out the real world, removing many real-world distractors.

Mathematical Modelling from a Semiotic-Cognitive Approach

Mathematical modelling has acquired relevance in different fields at an international level, both in education and research. This article states that, throughout the construction of the theoretical corpus of this mathematical process and competency – among others – two big issues have occurred: one of terminological nature since the definitions surrounding modelling have varied, and other of representational nature since different representations have been proposed to explain modelling as a cyclical process. These two issues occur mainly due to the diversity of positions on how modelling is understood and how this process is tried to be explained. To address the terminological issue, a position was adopted on the terminology surrounding modelling in Mathematics Education, based on the main theoretical developments of ICTMA Community. To address the representational issue, a modelling cycle from a semiotic-cognitive approach that represents this process in a non-set way is proposed, that is, without a strict separation between «real world» and «mathematical world». In this way, a proposal aligned with a system of theoretical principles (terminology and structure), a methodology (modelling cycle), and sketches of research questions (for future theoretical and empirical developments) is presented to address both issues.

How Increased CO2 Warms the Earth-Two Contexts for the Greenhouse Gas Effect

The widespread explanations of the greenhouse effect taught to millions of schoolchildren are misleading. The objective of this work is to clarify how increasing CO2 produces warming in current times. It is found that there are two contexts for the greenhouse gas effect. In one context, the fundamental greenhouse gas effect, one imagines a dry Earth starting with no water or CO2 and adding water and CO2. This leads to the familiar “thermal blanket” that strongly inhibits IR transmission from the Earth to the atmosphere. The Earth is much warmer with H2O and CO2. In the other context, the current greenhouse gas effect, CO2 is added to the current atmosphere. The thermal blanket on IR radiation hardly changes. But the surface loses energy primarily by evaporation and thermals. Increased CO2 in the upper atmosphere carries IR radiation to higher altitudes. The Earth radiates to space at higher altitudes where it is cooler, and the Earth is less able to shed energy. The Earth warms to restore the energy balance. The “thermal blanket” is mainly irrelevant to the current greenhouse gas effect. It is concluded that almost all discussions of the greenhouse effect are based on the fundamental greenhouse gas effect, which is a hypothetical construct, while the current greenhouse gas effect is what is happening now in the real world. Adding CO2 does not add much to a “thermal blanket” but instead, drives emission from the Earth to higher, cooler altitudes.

Holistic Sensor-Based Approach for Assessing Community Mobility and Participation of Manual Wheelchair Users in the Real World

Holistic Sensor-Based Approach for Assessing Community Mobility and Participation of Manual Wheelchair Users in the Real World

Difference between real world practice and clinical research: A comparison of oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal sampling data in influenza

Oropharyngeal (OP) sampling is one of the most commonly used methods for respiratory sampling, but its positivity rate in real practice compared with that of nasopharyngeal (NP) sampling is not fully known. The differences between OP and NP in practice and between practice and the literature were compared. In total, 2323 positive results from 6708 patients were recorded in the laboratory test system, and 15,021 positive results from 31,333 patients were recorded in the national report. The positivity rate changed from 2.3 % to 38.11 % after the sampling method was changed from OP to NP in the same setting. The difference between OP and NP (calculated as (NP-OP)/NP) varies from −7.73–28.57 % in the literature and from 61.35–94.59 % in practice. Real-world practice is complicated and thus different from strictly quality-controlled studies.

Beyond the matrix: Experimental approaches to studying cognitive agents in social-ecological systems

Social-ecological systems, in which agents interact with each other and their environment are important both for sustainability applications and for under- standing how human cognition functions in context. In such systems, the en- vironment shapes the agents' experience and actions, and in turn collective action of agents changes social and physical aspects of the environment. Here we review current investigation approaches, which rely on a lean design, with discrete actions and outcomes and little scope for varying environmental pa- rameters and cognitive demands. We then introduce multiagent reinforcement learning (MARL) approach, which builds on modern artificial intelligence tech- niques, which provides new avenues to model complex social worlds, while pre- serving more of their characteristics, and allowing them to capture a variety of social phenomena. These techniques can be fed back to the laboratory where they make it easier to design experiments in complex social situations without compromising their tractability for computational modeling. We showcase the potential MARL by discussing several recent studies that have used it, detail- ing the way environmental settings and cognitive constraints can lead to the emergence of complex cooperation strategies. This novel approach can help re- searchers bring together insights from human cognition, sustainability, and AI, to tackle real world problems of social-ecological systems.

Real world comparison of filgrastim to filgrastim-sndz in patients with chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.

There exists some apprehension by prescribers, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders regarding the real-world safety and effectiveness of biosimilars. While some of the apprehension is likely due to clinician knowledge gaps in the biosimilarity exercise, additional data (including those generated from the real-world) regarding safety and efficacy could reduce a clinician's perception of biosimilar uncertainty and can potentially increase biosimilar acceptance and uptake. The published literature is lacking regarding the real-world impact on healthcare costs and clinical outcomes when a single healthcare institution converts from filgrastim to filgrastim-sndz as its short-acting Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (GCSF), especially within diverse populations and indications not explicitly studied through the registration trials. Specifically, both filgrastim and filgrastim-sndz possess FDA-approved indications within patients with hematologic malignancies receiving high-dose chemotherapy and in those undergoing bone marrow transplantation. As a biosimilar to filgrastim, the FDA did not require prospective, randomized controlled trials to obtain these indications for filgrastim-sndz. The purpose of this study is to describe real-world healthcare resource costs, utilization patterns, and clinical outcomes in patients with hematologic malignancies who received filgrastim-sndz or filgrastim to support neutrophil recovery following chemotherapy (i.e., induction or consolidation) or a bone marrow transplant (BMT) at Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH). A total of 148 patients were identified and met the following criteria: at least 18 years old, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 to 2, absence of fever or infection, newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia or newly post-bone marrow transplant and received filgrastim-sndz (Zarxio®) or reference filgrastim (Neupogen®). Healthcare resource utilization outcomes were compared between biosimilar and reference filgrastim using descriptive statistics. There were no major differences between either cohort, including duration of hospitalization, the number of overall emergency room visits and additional hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of febrile neutropenia or neutropenia within 30 days post-discharge from initial hospital admission, time to neutrophil recovery following GCSF support, and the incidence and duration of both fever and febrile neutropenia. The total cost based on treatment of all patients in each arm differed significantly with filgrastim-sndz being the most cost-effective choice. filgrastim-sndz significantly reduced healthcare utilization costs compared to reference filgrastim with similar effect on absolute neutrophil count, incidence of fever, and febrile neutropenia.

In-depth exploration of the focus issues of TKI combined with radiotherapy for EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinoma patients with brain metastasis: a systematic analysis based on literature metrology, meta-analysis, and real-world observational data

BackgroundThere is a growing interest in utilizing a combination of brain radiotherapy (RT) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for patients diagnosed with brain metastases (BM) in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-positive lung adenocarcinoma (LAC). The current status of this treatment strategy remains a subject of debate.MethodsWe initiated our study by conducting a comprehensive literature search using the SCI-expanded database of Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). We utilized the VOSPviewer software to analyze various aspects of the research, including the year of publication, authorship, keywords, and country.Subsequently, we performed an extensive and systematic literature search on popular online databases. Our primary outcome measures were overall survival (OS) and intracranial progression-free survival (iPFS), both quantified by hazard ratios (HRs).Additionally, for data verification, we included data from patients in non-small cell lung cancer with brain metastasis who underwent therapeutic intervention at the Cancer Prevention and Treatment Center of Sun Yat-sen University and the Radiotherapy Department of Hanzhong Central Hospital between August 2012 and November 2021.ResultsThe bibliometric analysis revealed an increasing trend in research focused on the combination of RT and TKIs for the management of lung cancer brain metastases over the previous decade. Then, nine studies consistent with the research direction were included for meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that the OS (HR = 0.81, 95% confidence interval: 0.69–0.94; P = 0.007) and iPFS (HR = 0.71, 95% confidence interval: 0.61–0.82; P < 0.001) of the combination therapy were significantly prolonged. Finally, 168 EGFR-mutated BM advanced LAC patients in the real world were verified, and the median iPFS of the combination therapy (n = 88 and EGFR-TKIs alone (n = 80) were 16.0 and 9.0 months, respectively, (P < 0.001). The median OS was 29.0 and 27.0 months, respectively, with no dramatic difference (P = 0.188).ConclusionsResearch on EGFR-mutant LAC brain metastasis has turned towards exploring optimal treatment strategies for this condition. Our meta-analysis and real-world data analysis consistently demonstrate that combination therapy offers a substantial improvement in patient survival compared to EGFR-TKI monotherapy. Notably, among patients undergoing salvage radiotherapy (RT), our subgroup analysis reveals that those initially treated with third-generation TKIs experience more significant benefits than those treated with first- or second-generation TKIs.

The Power of Documentaries Comes from the Fact that They are Grounded in Fact, Not Fiction

This paper examines the distinctive power of documentaries compared to fiction films, emphasizing their authenticity. Documentaries are often perceived as more credible due to their use of real images and sounds, which leads audiences to trust the content presented. However, the author draws on multiple scholarly perspectives to argue that the truthfulness of documentaries can be subjective, much like that of fiction films. The paper also analyzes the educational and transformative roles of documentaries in society, highlighting key differences between documentaries and fiction films in terms of information dissemination, visual representation, and audience interaction. Through this analysis, the paper concludes that the strength of documentaries stems from their portrayal of the real world, setting them apart from the imaginative nature of fiction films.

Five definitions of adsorption and their relevance to the formulation of dynamic mass balances in gas adsorption columns

Numerous dynamic mass balances in the literature that describe the adsorption of gases in a column are written in terms of actual or absolute adsorption, while unwittingly and incorrectly utilizing excess adsorption isotherms. Perhaps this is because the actual and absolute adsorption isotherms cannot be experimentally measured nor predicted without making uncertain assumptions. The objective here was to derive unambiguous relationships between actual, absolute, excess, net and column amounts adsorbed that provide a straightforward understanding of the subtle differences between these quantities and that provide a simple means for incorporating them into dynamic mass balances. For this purpose, the actual, absolute, excess, net and column amounts adsorbed (loadings) were clearly defined, along with various volumes, porosities and densities that exist inside and outside an adsorbent contained in a column with a gaseous adsorbate. These adsorption definitions and quantities were used to derive four interconversion relationships for each type of adsorption in terms of the actual loading. The resulting expressions, based on intensive properties, can be used to relate any adsorption definition to any other adsorption definition. These relationships were also used to derive five dynamic mass balances, one for each type of adsorption. The similarities and differences in the terms between each of these five dynamic mass balances were discussed, along with their applicability to real world problems. In some cases at low pressure where the isotherms do not differ appreciably, it may be approximately correct to use excess or net adsorption isotherms in a dynamic mass balance written in terms of actual or absolute adsorption. However, the extent of the incorrectness is unknown due to mass transfer effects. So, it is recommended to use the dynamic mass balance with its specific type of adsorption, most likely excess adsorption. Then, when certain assumptions are made about the adsorbing and non-adsorbing void fractions, these expressions can be readily used in adsorption process simulation.

Trace Ratio Based Manifold Learning With Tensor Data

ABSTRACTIn this article, we propose an extension of trace ratio based Manifold learning methods to deal with multidimensional data sets. Based on recent progress on the tensor‐tensor product, we present a generalization of the trace ratio criterion by using the properties of the t‐product. This will conduct us to introduce some new concepts such as Laplacian tensor and we will study formally the trace ratio problem by discussing the conditions for the existence of solutions and optimality. Next, we will present a tensor Newton QR decomposition algorithm for solving the trace ratio problem. Manifold learning methods such as Laplacian eigenmaps, linear discriminant analysis and locally linear embedding will be formulated in a tensor representation and optimized by the proposed algorithm. Finally, we will evaluate the performance of the different studied dimension reduction methods on several synthetic and real world data sets.

Canine courtship: Zoomorphism in Japanese Boys Love Omegaverse manga

In 2010, in the English-language kink fanfiction community of the American television show Supernatural (2005–20), the Omegaverse genre emerged. In this universe, humans have canine-like sexual characteristics and society is structured around a sexual hierarchy stratified by whether one is an alpha, a beta or an omega. In the years since, the genre has spread globally, finding particular popularity in Japanese Boys Love (BL) media. The Omegaverse represents one part of a global boom in zoomorphism, the depiction of humans with animal-like characteristics, for representing and understanding human societal norms. Through a textual and discourse analysis of three Japanese Omegaverse BL manga series and associated reviews from BL fan site Chill Chill, this article discusses the appeal of zoomorphism, its boom in popularity and the reasons for its global spread. Drawing on animal studies, I highlight how the Omegaverse provides a space to critique and explore issues surrounding relationships in the real world, arguing that this suggests that the global appeal of zoomorphism is in how the animal can reflect what it means to be human.