Subjective Evaluation Scores Research Articles

Feasibility of pulmonary MRI for nodule detection in comparison to computed tomography

BackgroundTo assess the feasibility of various magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences for the detection of pulmonary nodules by comparing the detection rate of computed tomography (CT).MethodsForty-two patients with pulmonary nodules detected by multi-slice CT (MSCT) were prospectively enrolled in the present study between November 2016 and February 2017. Chest MRI was acquired within 24 h of CT. The MRI protocol included free-breathing radial VIBE (r-VIBE) and a conventional breathhold T1-weighted VIBE (C-VIBE) were analyzed by two independent radiologists. Both detection and morphology results of each MRI image were recorded. Subjective image evaluation in terms of overall nodule morphology on the MRI images was carried out using the 4-point scoring criteria. The MRI results were compared with those from CT, with the results of MSCT serving as the reference standard.ResultsTwo hundred and fifty-eight solid pulmonary nodules in 42 patients were detected by CT. The r-VIBE correctly detected 94% of the pulmonary nodules as compared with CT. The detection rate increased to 100% for lesions ≥6 mm. The C-VIBE had a lower overall detection rate (64.3%) of pulmonary nodules. The difference in the subjective image evaluation scores between the two sequences was statistically significant (p < 0.001).ConclusionSignificantly increased detection rates were obtained with free-breathing r-VIBE as compared with C-VIBE for the detection of pulmonary nodules and also provided more information when evaluating the nodules as compared with C-VIBE.

Clinical and Radiographic Outcomes of Double-Bundle Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction for Asian Patients with Bone-Patellar Tendon-Bone and Gracilis Tendon Grafts: A Matched-Control Comparison.

For anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)-deficient patients, using a single bone-patellar tendon-bone (BPTB) graft for the double-bundle concept is one of the suitable approaches for acquiring better stability and reducing bone tunnel enlargement compared with the use of hamstring grafts. At least 10-mm width of BPTB autograft is needed to achieve this concept; however, it is larger than one-third of the patellar tendon width for small or middle physique patients. This study aimed to assess the clinical and radiographic outcomes of BPTB and gracilis (G) composite autografts for primary double-bundle ACL reconstruction in Asian athletes. Thirty-two Asian patients undergoing double-bundle ACL reconstruction with 7.0 to 7.5 mm of BPTB and 5.0 to 5.5 mm of G composite grafts were compared with 43 double-bundle ACL reconstruction with hamstring graft cases. The BPTB graft was used for the anteromedial bundle (AMB), with the G graft for the posterolateral bundle (PLB). Percentage of femoral bone tunnel enlargement compared with the original size was determined by computed digital radiographs on the first postoperative day and at 12 months in the anteroposterior (AP) and lateral views. Standard clinical evaluations, including the limb symmetry index (LSI), were also performed. Less PLB tunnel enlargement was found in the BPTB + G group than in the hamstring group in the AP (101.9 ± 22.9 vs.113.7 ± 20.6%, p = 0.031) and lateral views (104.4 ± 18.1 vs. 120.6 ± 23.4%, p < 0.01).There was no significant difference between the groups in 12-month postoperative clinical outcomes (Lysholm's score, Tegner's activity level scale, and International Knee Documentation Committee subjective knee evaluation score).The side-to-side difference was significantly less in the BPTB + G group (0.2 ± 1.3 vs. 0.9 ± 1.1 mm, p = 0.026). Despite the small sizes of the BPTB and G grafts, there was no significant difference in the knee extensor LSI between the groups (92.9 ± 10.1 vs. 93.3 ± 12.2%, p = 0.707), whereas the knee flexor LSI was significantly higher in the BPTB + G group (97.7 ± 14.8 vs. 90.1 ± 13.3%, p = 0.033). Double-bundle ACL reconstruction with a small size BPTB and G composite graft procedure provided good clinical outcomes and significantly less femoral bone tunnel enlargement than the hamstring procedure 12 months after surgery. It is thus a useful surgical option for ACL-deficient Asian athletes. This study reflects level of evidence III.

Early clinical and neuromuscular properties in patients with normal or sub-normal subjective knee function after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

To determine clinical and neuromuscular properties in patients with normal or sub-normal subjective knee function after finalisation of 6months' post-operative rehabilitation following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Sixty patients after primary anatomical single-bundle hamstring ACLR were prospectively enrolled. Demographics, subjective, clinical and functional status of the injured knee were recorded at baseline, 6 and 12months post-operatively. Return to pre-injury activities time (months) was monitored. Tensiomyography and isokinetic dynamometry of thigh muscles were performed at 6months, when standard ACLR rehabilitation is finalized. Based on their IKDC Subjective Knee Evaluation scores at 6months, they were assigned into "Normal" or "Sub-normal" group. All the above measured parameters were then compared between the two groups. At 6months' timeline, 21 patients (35%) perceived their knee function as "Normal", while 39 (65%) were "Sub-normal". There were no differences in clinical status between both groups, but patients in Normal group achieved higher IKDC, Lysholm, Tegner scores as well as higher single-leg hop test. They were taller, had lower body mass index and more of them achieved their preinjury level of activity at 12months (67% vs. 33%). Tensiomyography revealed higher biceps femoris as well as semitendinosus and semimembranosus radial displacement values on the operated leg in Normal group. Isokinetic dynamometry showed significantly higher normalised peak torque and average power of knee extensor muscles. Patients who perceive their knee function as normal at 6months following ACLR presented with better neuromuscular properties of the thigh muscles. Decreased hamstring stiffness seems to be the key to higher return-to-preinjury activity. Postoperative rehabilitation should be more focused on reducing hamstring stiffness in addition to improving knee extensor muscle strength. Level of evidence II (prospective cohort study).

Regional bit allocation with visual attention and distortion sensitivity

This paper proposes a regional rate allocation method for enhancing the perceived quality in image compression. Bit allocation to image regions should be performed by considering the viewer’s attention and distortion sensitivity maps in order to address subjective quality concerns. The paper first proposes an exponential model for the relation between the viewer’s fixation duration and perceived information. The human visual system is more sensitive to the distortion around edges than the distortion in complex textured regions. Therefore, a novel distortion sensitivity method is also proposed that distinguishes true edges from complex textures without using edge detectors or gradient magnitude thresholds. The estimates for the visual attention level and the distortion sensitivity level are jointly used to modify the distortion contribution of each codeblock for determining its quantization parameter. The experiments validate the improved perceptual quality of decoded images due to the integrated use of the visual distortion sensitivity and the visual attention level in bit allocation. Moreover, the proposed bit allocation method is experimentally shown to yield a substantially higher subjective evaluation score than the other well-known bit allocation methods based on post-compression rate-distortion optimization, saliency maps, foveation of fixations and foveated just-noticeable-difference maps.

EFFECT OF 8-WEEK MULTILATERAL TRAINING ON PHYSICAL AND TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE IN YOUNG KARATEKA

Karate training, a Japanese martial art, is considered enough to increase physical-motor and technical performance. Instructors seem to prefer only technical Karate training to other physical-motor training methods. Therefore, the purpose of the present investigation was to assess the effects of 8 weeks of multilateral training on the physical-motor performance and technical gesture quality in young karateka. Participants (8-10 years) were recruited from a karate school and pair-matched based on gender and then randomly assigned to either an experimental group (EG, n = 14) or a control group (CG, n = 14). The EG was trained three times per week on non-consecutive days replacing a part of karate training with a multilateral training (i.e. flexibility, balance, strength and coordination, 45 min.) without increasing the total training time (90 min.). At baseline and after 8-weeks all participants were tested on the sit and reach, stork balance stand, standing long jump, and Harre test, and the technical gesture quality through the prefixed decision-making criteria. After intervention, the EG group showed significantly improvement than CG in the sit and reach test (2.0 vs. 1.1 cm, p < 0.001, ES = 0.73) and standing long jump test (8.3 vs. -4.0 cm, p < 0.01, ES = 0.88). Furthermore, the subjective evaluation scores of the technical gesture were significantly enhanced ( p < 0.001, ES = 0.6 - 2.0) for EG in terms of technique, power, expressiveness and rhythm, whereas for CG the scores remained unchanged. Results suggested that incorporating a physical-motor training with a multilateral approach to karate technical sessions was more effective than technical training alone to improve physical-motor and technical performance in children. Article visualizations:

Clinical Outcomes After Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction With Suture Fixation of the Gracilis Tendon via Transosseous Tunnels.

Background:Several fixation methods have been introduced in medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction. However, the optimal management of patients with recurrent patellar dislocation remains controversial.Purpose:To present a case series with a minimum 2-year follow-up of 29 patients with recurrent patellar dislocation who underwent a new transosseous suture fixation technique for MPFL reconstruction.Study Design:Case series; Level of evidence, 4.Methods:From January 2014 through February 2016, a total of 29 patients with recurrent patellar dislocation for which the MPFL was reconstructed with transosseous suture patellar fixation were studied. All patients were available for follow-up (mean, 37.52 months; range, 26-48 months). The patellar attachment was fixed by transosseous patellar sutures. The International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective knee score, Kujala score, Tegner score, range of motion, congruence angle, patellar tilt angle, and complications were assessed both pre- and postoperatively.Results:No recurrent dislocation was observed in any of the 29 patients for a minimum of 2 years. All outcome scores improved significantly from preoperatively to postoperatively: the average IKDC subjective knee evaluation score from 53 to 87, Kujala from 54 to 90, Lysholm from 50 to 89, and Tegner from 3 to 5 (P < .001 for all). The congruence angle significantly decreased from 22° preoperatively to –3° postoperatively, and the patellar tilt angle (Merchant) decreased from 23° preoperatively to 5° postoperatively (P < .001 for both). In total, 25 patients (25/29; 86.21%) were completely pain-free when performing activities of daily living at the last follow-up, and 27 patients (93.1%) rated themselves as very satisfied or satisfied with the results.Conclusion:In patients with chronic recurrent patellar dislocation, transosseous patellar suture fixation for MPFL reconstruction can significantly improve patellar stability and achieve good results at short-term follow-up.

Feature-segmentation strategy based convolutional neural network for no-reference image quality assessment

Convolutional neural networks (CNN) have been shown to deliver outstanding performance for image quality assessment (IQA). Most CNN models are trained using small image patches with a fixed resolution of 32 × 32. However, more information of image content and human visual system should be taken into account. This paper proposes a post segmentation based CNN model for no-reference quality assessment without any pre-processing. The network consists of five convolutional layers with max pooling, one special fully connected layer feature-segmentation and one output layer. This paper adopts the feature-segmentation strategy to assure enough training data. We modify the structure of fully connected layer and regard every feature vector of the last pooling maps as an independent sample to train our proposed model. In this way, the raw images can be fed into the input and do not need to be split into patches, to avoid any hand-crafted features. Moreover, the size of the input images is not fixed, and the size of the extracted feature vector is invariant. Experiments on LIVE, CSIQ and TID2008 databases demonstrate that our approach has high consistency with the subjective evaluation scores. The experimental results show that the proposed network outperforms state-of-the-art no-reference IQA algorithms and is comparable to some full-reference IQA algorithms.

Is Cyclic Exercise Performed before Tibial Fixation Effective on Grafts during Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction?

Objectives:The necessity of cyclic exercise to pre-stretch the autograft before tibial fixation during ACL reconstruction is unknown. In this study, we evaluated whether there was a statistically significant difference between the results of patients who underwent cyclic exercise by way of physical examinations, knee joint stability tests, and functional evaluation tests, compared with the patients who underwent ACL reconstructions with or without cyclic exercise.Methods:Between March 2016 and May 2018, 59 patients with at least eight months’ follow-up of an ACL reconstruction were identified. Thirty patients (Group 1) who underwent cyclic exercise before tibial fixation and 29 patients (Group 2) who did not undergo cyclic exercise were evaluated and compared.Results:The mean age of the patients in Group 1 and Group 2 was 25.9 (range, 18-36) years and 25.2 (range, 18-35) years, respectively. The mean follow-up period in Group 1 was 14.6 (range, 8-22) months and 13.5 months in Group 2 (range, 8-21 months).The mean Lysholm scores of Group 1 and 2 were 95.1 (range, 83-100) and 87.1 (range, 78-100), respectively. The modified Cincinnati scores of Groups 1 and 2 were 28.7 (range, 24-30) and 26.2 (range, 21-30). The mean IKDC subjective knee evaluation scores in Groups 1 and 2 were 91.9 (range, 83-100) and 86.7 (range, 75-100). The mean thigh atrophy was 1.5 cm in Group 1 and 2.5 cm in Group 2. In Group 1, 23 patients jumped 85% of the distance compared with the intact side in the single-legged hop test, and 12 patients in Group 2 were able to hop this distance successfully.Group 1 had statistically significantly better results in Lysholm activity scores, modified Cincinnati scores, IKDC subjective knee assessment scores, two-time IKDC activity scale results, comparison of thigh diameters, and single-legged hop tests (p<0.05). No significant difference was found in other examinations and tests.Conclusion:Cyclic exercise during the operation had a positive effect on functional scores. We believe that cyclic exercise should be added to the operative procedure.

Nonoperative Management of Minimally Displaced Patellar Sleeve Fractures.

Patellar sleeve fractures primarily occur in the adolescent population from a rapid contraction of the quadriceps with the knee in a flexed position. Several small case reports describe operative reduction and fixation for displaced fractures. However, there is sparse literature on nonoperative management of these injuries. Retrospective review and prospective follow-up of all patients diagnosed with patellar sleeve fracture between 1991 and 2014 at a single institution. Patients with superior pole avulsion fractures, history of prior knee surgery, and fractures managed operatively were excluded. Patients with a clinical diagnosis without support of advanced imaging were also excluded. Radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were reviewed for initial fracture displacement, time until fracture union, and the presence of patellar tendon ossification. Outcome was assessed using the Tegner's activity scale, Kujala's Score and the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) subjective knee evaluation score at final follow-up. Eighteen nonoperatively treated distal patellar pole sleeve fractures were identified, while five patients had advanced imaging to support their diagnosis. All were males with a mean age of 15.1 (range: 12-18). Traumatic and sport-related injuries were noted in the majority of patients. Only one patient had any appreciable displacement, but still < 2 mm. Final radiographic evaluation revealed fracture healing without patellar tendon ossification in all patients. All five patients had full terminal knee extension and symmetric range of motion. Mean IKDC score was 96.4 (range: 82-100) mean Tegner's activity score was 60 (range: 5-8), and mean Kujala's score was 89.7 (range: 63-100) at final follow-up. Of the five cases, three patients presented in a delayed fashion, and all went on to have surgical treatment. Two required arthroscopic loose body removal, while the other had an open patellar debridement and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection. Minimally displaced patellar sleeve fractures can be successfully managed nonoperatively with excellent clinical outcomes. However, delayed in presentation may be associated with worse outcome. This study of case series reflects level of evidence IV.

How and When? Metacognition and Solution Timing Characterize an "Aha" Experience of Object Recognition in Hidden Figures.

The metacognitive feelings of an “aha!” experience are key to comprehending human subjective experience. However, behavioral characteristics of this introspective cognition are not well known. An aha experience sometimes occurs when one gains a solution abruptly in problem solving, a subjective experience that subserves the conscious perception of an insight. We experimentally induced an aha experience in a hidden object recognition task, and analyzed whether this aha experience was associated with metacognitive judgments and behavioral features. We used an adaptation of Mooney images, i.e., morphing between a grayscale image and its binarised image in 100 steps, to investigate the phenomenology associated with insight: aha experience, confidence, suddenness, and pleasure. Here we show that insight solutions are more accurate than non-insight solutions. As metacognitive judgments, participants’ confidence in the correctness of their solution is higher in insight than non-insight problem solving. Intensities of the aha feeling are positively correlated with subjective rating scores of both suddenness and pleasure, features that show marked signs of unexpected positive emotions. The strength of the aha experience is also positively correlated with response times from the onset of presentation until finding the solution, or with task difficulty only if the solution confidence is high enough. Our findings provide metacognitive and temporal conditions for an aha experience, characterizing features distinct from those supporting non-aha experience.

Modelling the biochemical and sensory changes of strawberries during storage under diverse relative humidity conditions

Many studies stress the importance of keeping strawberries at high relative humidity conditions during postharvest storage. However, the effect of deviations occurring across the supply chain on the appearance, acceptability and biochemical properties of strawberries has not been adequately explored or quantified to date using kinetic modelling applications. This study investigated the effect of relative humidity (RH) on degradation kinetics of quality and biochemical properties of ‘Strawberry Festival’, during 7 days of storage at 2 °C, using zero, first-order and Weibull models. The strawberries were stored at 40, 60, 70, 80 or 90% RH and were evaluated using subjective quality evaluation, weight loss monitoring and biochemical analysis. The shelf life was established based on current industry practices using subjective quality evaluation, namely shrivelling and colour scores. The Weibull model was found to better fit the experimental chemical analysis data compared to zero and first order kinetics models. The analysis of the rate constants quantified the significant effect of RH conditions on the weight loss and degradation rate of chemical components. Storage at low RH conditions accelerated the loss of ascorbic acid, and anthocyanins and negatively affect the in vitro antioxidant activity. The overall appearance of strawberries was modelled with zero-order kinetic model and the results revealed that lower RH conditions can limit the remaining shelf life of fresh strawberries by increasing the rate of appearance deterioration. Using RH and time as predictors in a logistic regression model, the waste occurring due to unacceptable strawberry quality, was predicted; highlighting the importance of using RH in predictive modelling when designing supply chains with the view to minimise losses.

Effects of control-display gain and postural control method on distal pointing performance

The present study investigated the effects of different joint-based interactive methods and control-display gains on performance and usability for distant pointing by using ISO 9241–9 test procedures. Ten healthy participants performed multi-directional tapping tests with three joint-based interactive methods (wrist-, elbow-, and shoulder-based interactive methods) and three CD gains (0.6, 1.0, and 1.7) by using an air mouse as the input device. The experimental results indicated that the wrist-based interactive method is a better interactive method for tasks where pointing speed is the highest priority and the 1.7 CD gain, which was found to cause significantly higher MT and ER and lower TP and subjective usability rating scores than wrist- and elbow-based pointing, should be avoided in distal pointing tasks. Furthermore, the best suggested CD gains for the wrist-based interactive method are 1.0 and 1.7. The recommended CD gain setting of the elbow-based interactive method is 0.6, and 1.0 CD gain is feasible for the shoulder-based interactive method.

Crowd wisdom enhanced by costly signaling in a virtual rating system

Costly signaling theory was developed in both economics and biology and has been used to explain a wide range of phenomena. However, the theory's prediction that signal cost can enforce information quality in the design of new communication systems has never been put to an empirical test. Here we show that imposing time costs on reporting extreme scores can improve crowd wisdom in a previously cost-free rating system. We developed an online game where individuals interacted repeatedly with simulated services and rated them for satisfaction. We associated ratings with differential time costs by endowing the graphical user interface that solicited ratings from the users with "physics," including an initial (default) slider position and friction. When ratings were not associated with differential cost (all scores from 0 to 100 could be given by an equally low-cost click on the screen), scores correlated only weakly with objective service quality. However, introducing differential time costs, proportional to the deviation from the mean score, improved correlations between subjective rating scores and objective service performance and lowered the sample size required for obtaining reliable, averaged crowd estimates. Boosting time costs for reporting extreme scores further facilitated the detection of top performances. Thus, human collective online behavior, which is typically cost-free, can be made more informative by applying costly signaling via the virtual physics of rating devices.

Does anterolateral ligament rupture affect functional outcomes in patients who underwent an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction?

BackgroundStudies have shown that the anterolateral ligament contributes to knee stability. This study aims to compare the results of postoperative physical examinations, knee joint stability tests, and functional assessment tests of patients with intact anterolateral (AL) ligaments and patients with ruptured anterolateral (AL) ligaments. Material and methodThis study consisted of 101 patients, with at least a 12-month follow-up period, who underwent an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction between 2010 and 2016, and whose AL ligaments were evaluated by the radiologist with the preoperative and postoperative magnetic resonance images (MRI). Of these patients, 41 had intact AL ligament (Group 1) in MRI and other 60 had ruptured AL ligament (Group 2). Groups were compared according to postoperative physical examinations, knee joint stability tests, and functional assessment tests. ResultsThe average Lysholm score of Group 1 was 94.9 (range: 81–100), and the score of Group 2 was 87.2 (range: 74–100). The modified Cincinnati score of Group 1 was 28.7 (24–30), while the score of Group 2 was 25.6 (21–30). The average IKDC subjective knee evaluation score of Group 1 was 91.9 (range: 83–100), and the score of Group 2 was 86.6 (range: 75–100). The average thigh atrophy value was 1.5 centimeters (cm) in Group 1 and 2.4 cm in Group 2. Thirty-three patients in Group 1 were able to jump over 85% of the distance in single-legged hop test compared to the intact side, while 16 patients in Group 2 were able to jump over this distance successfully.As a result of the analysis, it was determined that the Lysholm activity scoring results, the Modified Cincinnati scoring results, IKDC subjective knee evaluation results, two-cycle IKDC activity scale results, comparison of thigh diameters and the single-legged hop tests of two groups showed a statistically significant difference, and the results of the patients with intact AL ligaments who underwent an ACL reconstruction were found to be better (p < 0.05). No significant difference was found in other examinations and tests. ConclusionSince the rupture of the AL ligament has negative effects on functional outcomes, we think that the reconstruction of the AL ligament in the same session with the ACL reconstruction or later will have a positive effect on functional outcomes.

Revision ACL reconstruction using quadriceps or hamstring autografts leads to similar results after 4 years: good objective stability but low rate of return to pre-injury sport level.

Due to the increased importance of revision ACL reconstruction, this study aims to evaluate the outcome 4years after the surgery, compare two revision strategies and identify factors that influence the results. Seventy-nine patients who received a revision ACL reconstruction were retrospectively evaluated. All patients were assessed with an average follow-up of 4.4years (range 3.3-5.5years). The results of patients treated with a quadriceps autograft were compared with those treated with a hamstring autograft. Ninety-seven percent of patients had a KT-1000 side-to-side difference of ≤ 5mm (mean 1.7 ± 2.0mm). Pivot-shift test was absent or minor in 95%. In the SLTH-test, 70% of patients reached 90% of the contralateral side. The mean Lysholm score on follow-up was 83 ± 12 (56% excellent/good). The mean IKDC 2000 subjective evaluation score was 81 ± 14 (58% normal/almost normal). The median Tegner activity score was 6 (range 3-10), a median of 2 levels worse than before the first injury. Return to sport rate was 89% but only 34% of patients reached their pre-injury sport level. Most common cause for this reduction was fear of another injury. Three patients suffered a re-rupture. Patients with a hamstring autograft performed pivoting sports more often, but had worse pivot-shift results compared to those with a quadriceps autograft. No significant influence was seen for other parameters. Young, male patients with a high activity level and no chondral damage had the best results. Through revision ACL reconstruction, the goal of stabilizing the knee can be achieved in the majority of patients. However, a good function and a high activity level are significantly less common in these patients. The main reason for this is fear of a renewed ACL-injury. Both quadriceps and hamstring autografts were able to achieve a good outcome. Young, male, patients with a normal BMI, a high activity level and without cartilage damage seem to benefit the most from revision ACL surgery. The discrepancy between the good laxity restoration and the lower activity rate should therefore be a main point in clinical counseling when deciding for or against revision ACL-Reconstruction. III.

Efficacy of an ocular bandage contact lens for the treatment of dry eye after phacoemulsification

BackgroundTo evaluate the safety and efficacy of a bandage contact lens for alleviating dry eye discomfort after phacoemulsification.MethodsIn this prospective, controlled study, 60 age-related cataract patients with mild Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) were randomized to treatment with an ocular bandage contact lens (BCL) (n = 30) or to an untreated control group (n = 30) after phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation. The Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, evaluation of subjective symptoms and evaluation of the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were conducted preoperatively and postoperatively on days 1, 7, 14, 30 and 90. The tear breakup time (TBUT), Schirmer test with anesthesia, and fluorescein staining scores were measured preoperatively and postoperatively on days 7, 14, 30 and 90.ResultsThere were no significant differences with respect to the BCVA between the groups at any time point. For the comparison of the OSDI, subjective evaluation scores, TBUT and fluorescein staining, statistically significant improvements were noted in the BCL group, especially on days 7 and 14 (P < 0.001, P < 0.001; P = 0.031, P = 0.009; P = 0.021, P = 0.028; and P = 0.03, P = 0.032, respectively). The Schirmer test results did not significantly change postoperatively.ConclusionsA BCL can improve tear film stability and lessen dry eye discomfort immediately after phacoemulsification.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ChiCTR-INR-16008863 (Date of registration: 20 July 2016).

A new method of Thangka image inpainting quality assessment

In order to solve the problem of Thangka image inpainting quality assessment (IIQA) and existing quality evaluation methods are not suitable for inpainting Thangka image, this paper proposes a new non-reference quality evaluation method which can effectively solve this problem. Firstly, due to lack of original Thangka image, the proposed method using symmetry of Thangka images to predicted an undamaged image. Secondly, we extract harries corner in Thangka inpainting images to show the structural feature of total graph. Thirdly, demonstrate subjective evaluation score of inpainting Thangka image by caparison difference of structural feature between inpainting and predicted original area. Finally, in order to compensate the lack of Thangka images in existing database, we add Generative Adversarial Nets (GANs) to generate large number of available image. Experiments show that our proposed method generates a state-of-the-art index for Thangka image inpainting quality which correlated with human vision.

The use of natural language to communicate the perception of vibrotactile stimuli

This study explores the subjective use of adjectives to verbally communicate vibrotactile stimulation across multiple frequencies. In total, nine different vibrotactile stimulus frequencies (10–300 Hz) were utilized, and subjective evaluation methods, which involved adjectives, were used to assess the sensory representations of the participants (18 healthy male participants; mean age, 22.9 years; standard deviation, 3.5). Sensory terms such as ‘slow,’ ‘protruding,’ and ‘thick’ were used as representative expressions to describe low-frequency (10–100 Hz) vibrotactile stimulations, while ‘fast,’ ‘shallow,’ and ‘tickly’ were used to describe high-frequency (225–300 Hz) vibrotactile stimulations. At the frequencies of 150 and 200 Hz, no characteristic word was found because there was no difference in subjective evaluation scores from other low or high frequencies. The results suggest that vibrotactile stimulation at different frequencies induce diverse sensory representations, owing to not only the motion and shape of the stimuli but also the subjective responses of the perceivers. The results of this study could be utilized in developing affective haptic devices in the future.

Correlation between Subjective and Objective Evaluations of Steering Performance of Passenger Vehicles

The relationship between subjective and objective evaluations on the steering performance of passenger vehicles is investigated to realize the subjective evaluation with objective measurement and to completely replace the objective measurement by subjective evaluation. The subjective evaluation uses steering performance as the study point, and objective evaluation focuses on angle pulse, wheel, snaking, and central tests. The subjective and objective evaluation systems are established, which consist of 7 subjective evaluation indicators (inherent steering characteristics, steering transient response, yawing response, and others) and 17 objective evaluation indicators (formant frequency, average steering angle, yaw velocity gain, et al.). A total of 7 groups of subjective evaluation score and 17 groups of objective evaluation score are obtained by evaluating 4 vehicles. The functional relationship between subjective and objective evaluations is established through regression analysis. Result shows that a 1D binary linear relationship exists between subjective and objective evaluation indicators under a small sample condition. Most of the subjective evaluation indicators have a negative relationship with formant level within the linear function. The formant level is a critical indicator that influences the steering performance of passenger vehicles on the basis of hypothesis testing and dynamic analysis. The lower the formant level is, the higher the subjective evaluation score will be.

Interval Scoring Method on Vehicle Seat Comfort Evaluation

This paper provided an evaluation method to analyze the comfort interval of automobile seats. According to the theory and analytical procedure of interval parameter structure, based on the human pressure data and valuation results of a large number of automobile seat comfort subjective evaluation tests, the uncertain mathematical relations between objective data of automobile seat comfort test and subjective evaluation scores could be established. This mathematical relation was called interval relationship. The author established the seat evaluation database with a large number of test results, and developed an evaluation method of seat comfort interval with the application of the mathematical model. The Result of the analysis on the feasibility and effectiveness of the evaluation method proved that it could provide more reliable seat comfort evaluation results. The seat design engineer could use this method to replace the complex manual seat evaluation process. Meanwhile, the comfort score provided theoretical guidance for automobile seat design and improvement.