Scene graphs have been proven to be useful for various scene understanding tasks due to their compact and explicit nature. However, existing approaches often neglect the importance of maintaining the ...symmetry-preserving property when generating scene graphs from 3D point clouds. This oversight can diminish the accuracy and robustness of the resulting scene graphs, especially when handling noisy, multi-view 3D data. This work, to the best of our knowledge, is the first to implement an Equivariant Graph Neural Network in semantic scene graph generation from 3D point clouds for scene understanding. Our proposed method, ESGNN, outperforms existing state-of-the-art approaches, demonstrating a significant improvement in scene estimation with faster convergence. ESGNN demands low computational resources and is easy to implement from available frameworks, paving the way for real-time applications such as robotics and computer vision.
The high prevalence of chronic pain and difficulties in pain management in older people are challenging for healthcare providers globally. Patient satisfaction regarding pain management is one of the ...measures to assess efficacy of pain control as well as healthcare services. Thus, our study aimed to evaluate the older patients' satisfaction with pain management and its associated factors in Vietnam.
A cross-sectional study was conducted at National Geriatric Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam from May to October 2018. Face-to-face interviews were conducted on 495 older patients with chronic pain by using a structured questionnaire. The Pain Treatment Satisfaction Scale (PTSS) was used to assess the level of satisfaction with pain management. A Tobit regression model was used to estimate factors associated with satisfaction toward pain management.
The mean total satisfaction score was 1.77 (SD= 0.22). Older patients were most satisfied with the aspect of side effects of pain relief medication (mean=0.66, SD=0.56). On the contrary, they were most dissatisfied with information provided about pain and its treatment and efficacy of pain relief medication. Outpatients were less satisfied with information provided, the impact of current medication and pain management in general compared to inpatients. The regression model showed that patients with severe pain tended to be more dissatisfied with pain management than those with no pain.
This study indicated that the general satisfaction with chronic pain management in older patients was quite good especially in the aspect of pain medication's side effects. However, dissatisfactory factors remained, including information provided about pain and efficacy of current pain medication. Intensive training regarding pain in geriatric care, health education communication for older people, and improved quality of medical services should be performed to ensure the quality of pain management, especially in the older population.
A colorimetric chemosensor for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and biosensor for cholesterol is developed in this work following a ‘label-free and reagentless’ concept. In this strategy, silver ...nanoparticles (AgNPs) are used as a bifunctional probe, namely, a chemical capture probe for H2O2 recognition and a signal probe for displaying detection results. The working principle of these colorimetric sensors is based on the redox reaction between AgNPs and H2O2. This reaction converts AgNPs into Ag+ ions, which can induce a visible color change from yellow to pinkish or colorless depending on the amount of H2O2. Therefore, H2O2 concentration can be measured. The developed colorimetric H2O2 chemosensor exhibits a highly selective and sensitive property towards H2O2 with a limit of detection (LOD) of 3.5 μM. Subsequently, a colorimetric biosensor is developed for cholesterol detection by combining AgNPs and cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) enzyme. Here, ChOx oxidizes cholesterol into cholest-4-en-3-one and H2O2. Then, the detected as-generated H2O2 concentration reflects the cholesterol level in the sample. This cholesterol biosensor exhibits high selectivity and sensitivity for cholesterol detection with a LOD of 40 μM. The developed sensor is successfully applied to the detection of cholesterol levels in serum samples. Our results show that the AgNP–based colorimetric method is cost-effective, sensitive and selective. It has potential applications in H2O2 and cholesterol detection and in clinical and medical diagnoses.
•Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) as bifunctional probe to develop of colorimetric following “label-free and reagentless” concept.•Working principle of proposed colorimetric sensors have been proposed and they were confirmed by TEM, DLS and UV-Vis data.•Combining AgNPs and ChOx enzyme to develop of a selective and sensitive colorimetric cholesterol biosensor with LOD of 40 μM.•The developed colorimetric cholesterol biosensor has displayed great possibility for application in the clinical diagnostics.
Playing the edge ball Wei, Lan; Nguyen, Minh T.N
Focaal,
12/2022, Volume:
2022, Issue:
94
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
This article analyzes a particular form of everyday politics through the case of land development in a Chinese village. Commonly referred to as edge ball politics (cabianqiu), it implies the act of ...transgressing certain rules or laws and testing the limits of what is socially and legally possible. We found that the state, the village leadership, private developers, and villagers all vie to influence the outcomes of land development in the village by engaging in this practice. We suggest that edge ball politics plays into the Chinese state's governing strategies, which allow for a manageable space of negotiation to ward off a collective sense of injustice in the face of rampant dispossession of the weak and accumulation by the powerful.
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the significance of adopting healthy lifestyles to mitigate the risk of severe outcomes and long-term consequences.
This study focuses on assessing the ...prevalence and clustering of 5 unhealthy lifestyle behaviors among Vietnamese adults after recovering from COVID-19, with a specific emphasis on sex differences.
The cross-sectional data of 5890 survivors of COVID-19 in Vietnam were analyzed from December 2021 to October 2022. To examine the sex differences in 5 unhealthy lifestyle behaviors (smoking, drinking, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and sedentary behavior), the percentages were plotted along with their corresponding 95% CI for each behavior. Latent class analysis was used to identify 2 distinct classes of individuals based on the clustering of these behaviors: the "less unhealthy" group and the "more unhealthy" group. We examined the sociodemographic characteristics associated with each identified class and used logistic regression to investigate the factors related to the "more unhealthy" group.
The majority of individuals (male participants: 2432/2447, 99.4% and female participants: 3411/3443, 99.1%) exhibited at least 1 unhealthy behavior, with male participants being more susceptible to multiple unhealthy behaviors. The male-to-female ratio for having a single behavior was 1.003, but it escalated to 25 for individuals displaying all 5 behaviors. Male participants demonstrated a higher prevalence of combining alcohol intake with sedentary behavior (949/2447, 38.8%) or an unhealthy diet (861/2447, 35.2%), whereas female participants tended to exhibit physical inactivity combined with sedentary behavior (1305/3443, 37.9%) or an unhealthy diet (1260/3443, 36.6%). Married male participants had increased odds of falling into the "more unhealthy" group compared to their single counterparts (odds ratio OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.14-1.85), while female participants exhibited lower odds (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.51-0.83). Female participants who are underweight showed a higher likelihood of belonging to the "more unhealthy" group (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.89-1.39), but this was not observed among male participants (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.41-0.89). In both sexes, older age, dependent employment, high education, and obesity were associated with higher odds of being in the "more unhealthy" group.
The study identified notable sex differences in unhealthy lifestyle behaviors among survivors of COVID-19. Male survivors are more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors compared to female survivors. These findings emphasize the importance of tailored public health interventions targeting sex-specific unhealthy behaviors. Specifically, addressing unhealthy habits is crucial for promoting post-COVID-19 health and well-being.
In order to end tuberculosis (TB), it is necessary to expand coverage of TB care services, including systematic screening initiatives. However, more evidence is needed for groups among whom ...systematic screening is only conditionally recommended by the World Health Organization. This study evaluated concurrent screening in multiple target groups using community health workers (CHW).
In our two-year intervention study lasting from October 2017 to September 2019, CHWs in six districts of Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam verbally screened three urban priority groups: (1) household TB contacts; (2) close TB contacts; and (3) residents of urban priority areas without clear documented exposure to TB including hotspots, boarding homes and urban slums. Eligible persons were referred for further screening with chest radiography and follow-on testing with the Xpert MTB/RIF assay. Symptomatic individuals with normal or without radiography results were tested on smear microscopy. We described the TB care cascade and characteristics for each priority group, and calculated yield and number needed to screen. Subsequently, we fitted a mixed-effect logistic regression to identify the association of these target groups and secondary patient covariates with TB treatment initiation.
We verbally screened 321 020 people including 24 232 household contacts, 3182 social and close contacts and 293 606 residents of urban priority areas. This resulted in 1138 persons treated for TB, of whom 85 were household contacts, 39 were close contacts and 1014 belonged to urban priority area residents. The yield of active TB in these groups was 351, 1226 and 345 per 100 000, respectively, corresponding to numbers needed to screen of 285, 82 and 290. The fitted model showed that close contacts adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.07; 95% CI: 1.38-3.11; P < 0.001 and urban priority area residents (aOR = 2.18; 95% CI: 1.69-2.79; P < 0.001) had a greater risk of active TB than household contacts.
The study detected a large number of unreached persons with TB, but most of them were not among persons in contact with an index patient. Therefore, while programs should continue to optimize screening in contacts, to close the detection gap in high TB burden settings such as Viet Nam, coverage must be expanded to persons without documented exposure such as residents in hotspots, boarding homes and urban slums.
Adjunctive glucocorticoids are widely used to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated tuberculous meningitis despite limited data supporting their safety and efficacy.
We conducted a ...double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial involving HIV-positive adults (≥18 years of age) with tuberculous meningitis in Vietnam and Indonesia. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a 6-to-8-week tapering course of either dexamethasone or placebo in addition to 12 months of antituberculosis chemotherapy. The primary end point was death from any cause during the 12 months after randomization.
A total of 520 adults were randomly assigned to receive either dexamethasone (263 participants) or placebo (257 participants). The median age was 36 years; 255 of 520 participants (49.0%) had never received antiretroviral therapy, and 251 of 484 participants (51.9%) with available data had a baseline CD4 count of 50 cells per cubic millimeter or less. Six participants withdrew from the trial, and five were lost to follow-up. During the 12 months of follow-up, death occurred in 116 of 263 participants (44.1%) in the dexamethasone group and in 126 of 257 participants (49.0%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 0.85; 95% confidence interval, 0.66 to 1.10; P = 0.22). Prespecified analyses did not reveal a subgroup that clearly benefited from dexamethasone. The incidence of secondary end-point events, including cases of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome during the first 6 months, was similar in the two trial groups. The numbers of participants with at least one serious adverse event were similar in the dexamethasone group (192 of 263 participants 73.0%) and the placebo group (194 of 257 participants 75.5%) (P = 0.52).
Among HIV-positive adults with tuberculous meningitis, adjunctive dexamethasone, as compared with placebo, did not confer a benefit with respect to survival or any secondary end point. (Funded by the Wellcome Trust; ACT HIV ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03092817.).
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