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As online shopping continues to grow in popularity, shoes are increasingly being purchased without being physically tried on. This has resulted in a significant surge in returns, causing both financial and environmental consequences. To tackle this issue, several systems are available to measure foot dimensions accurately either in-store or at home. By obtaining precise foot measurements, individuals can determine their ideal shoe size and prevent unnecessary returns. In order to make such a system as simple as possible for the user, only a single image should be sufficient to measure the foot. To make this possible, point clouds from one side of the foot, which are generated by taking a depth image, are to be used. Since these point clouds represent only one side of the foot, the other side has to be generated. For this purpose, different existing state of the art networks were tested and compared to determine which architecture is best suited for this task. After implementing, re-training on our own dataset and testing the different architectures, it can be concluded that the point/transormer-based network SnowflakeNet is the most efficient to be used for our task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical fiber with YPO4:Pr3+ nanocrystals (NCs) is presented for the first time using the glass powder—NCs doping method. The method's advantage is separate preparation of NCs and glass to preserve luminescent and optical properties of NCs once they are incorporated into optical fiber. The YPO4:Pr3+ nanocrystals were synthesized by the co-precipitation and hydrothermal methods, optimized for size (< 100 nm), shape, Pr3+ ions concentration (0.2 mol%), and emission lifetime. The core glass was selected from the non-silica P2O5-containing system with refractive index (n = 1.788) close to the NCs (no = 1.657, ne = 1.838). Optical fiber was drawn by modified powder-in-tube method after pre-sintering of glass powder—YPO4:Pr3+ (wt 3%) mixture to form optical fiber preform. Luminescent properties of YPO4:Pr3+ and optical fiber showed their excellent agreement, including sharp Pr3+ emission at 600 nm (1D2–3H4) and 1D2 level lifetime (τ = 156 ± 5 µs) under 488 nm excitation. The distribution of the YPO4:Pr3+ NCs in optical fiber were analyzed by TEM-EDS in the core region (FIB-SEM-prepared). The successful usage of glass powder—NCs doping method was discussed in the aspect of promising properties of the first YPO4:Pr3+ doped optical fiber as a new way to develop active materials for lasing applications, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to the general population, people with severe mental illness (SMI) have an increased risk of weight gain and metabolic syndrome, but also of malnutrition, in part due to unhealthy lifestyle behaviours. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to identify barriers to healthy eating, including nutrition knowledge and skills in people with SMI. For this purpose, we compared the means of anthropometric data such as body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and interview data on nutrition knowledge and skills, health-related variables, eating behaviours, personality, motivation, and attitudes in 65 inpatients and 67 outpatients of the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Zurich and 64 healthy adults using ANOVA and chi-squared tests. The results showed that patients with SMI had worse nutritional status and lifestyle compared to the healthy controls, including disordered (e.g., night eating) and unhealthy (e.g., high intake of sugary foods) eating habits. However, levels of nutrition knowledge, cooking and food skills, and motivation to eat healthily were not significantly lower in the psychiatric patients than in the healthy adults and were not associated with weight change. Based on our findings, nutritional support for people with SMI is urgently needed and should include not only educational but also behavioural and long-term approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Small area analysis is a health services research technique that facilitates geographical comparison of services supply and utilization rates between health service areas (HSAs). HSAs are functionally relevant regions around medical facilities within which most residents undergo treatment. We aimed to identify HSAs for psychiatric outpatient care (HSA‐PSY) in Switzerland. Methods: We used HSAr, a new and automated methodological approach, and comprehensive psychiatric service use data from insurances to identify HSA‐PSY based on travel patterns between patients' residences and service sites. Resulting HSA‐PSY were compared geographically, demographically and regarding the use of inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services. Results: We identified 68 HSA‐PSY, which were reviewed and validated by local mental health services experts. The population‐based rate of inpatient and outpatient service utilization varied considerably between HSA‐PSY. Utilization of inpatient and outpatient services tended to be positively associated across HSA‐PSY. Conclusions: Wide variation of service use between HSA‐PSY can hardly be fully explained by underlying differences in the prevalence or incidence of disorders. Whether other factors such as the amount of services supply did add to the high variation should be addressed in further studies, for which our functional mapping on a small‐scale regional level provides a good analytical framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Coercive measures (such as seclusion, mechanical restraint, and forced medication) during psychiatric inpatient treatment should be avoided whenever possible. Different interventions were already developed to reduce coercion, but for their effective application, it is crucial to know the risk factors of individuals and clinical situations that might be associated with coercion. Since the results of previous studies differ considerably the current study aims to fill this gap by evaluating the course of the exertion of coercion in detail. Methods. In this study, we analyzed clinical, procedural, and sociodemographic data from patients (n = 16,607 cases) who were treated as inpatients in Switzerland’s largest psychiatric institution with 320 beds during the years 2017 to 2020. We used regression models to identify predictors for the exertion of coercion, the number of coercive measures during a treatment episode and time until exertion of the first and last coercive measure. Results. Coercive measures are mostly used during the first days of treatment. We identified clinical parameters such as manic or psychotic episodes to be the most relevant predictors for the exertion of coercion. Cases with those disorders also received coercion more often and earlier in their treatment course than other diagnostic groups. Other promoting factors for frequency and early application of coercion were involuntary admission and factors of chronicity and clinical severity. Conclusions. Knowing the risk factors may help to target preventive strategies for those at highest risk. In particular, interventions should focus on the critical timeframe at the beginning of treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Concentrations of serum neopterin and homocysteine concentrations as well as pyridoxal-5-phosphate (P-5-P) deficiency have been determined in 30 healthy individuals and 61 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) verified by coronary angiography. Patients have been observed before percutaneus trans luminal coronary angioplasty followed by balloon angioplasty (10 patients; group I), 1st time stent implantation (27 patients; group II), repeated stent implantation (8 patients; group III) and due to restenosis (16 patients; group IV). An increase of serum homocysteine concentrations as well as P-5-P deficiency was observed in all groups of CHD patients, while elevated serum neopterin concentrations were identified only in CHD patients of groups III and IV i.e. mainly in patients presenting with serious coronary events. The grade of P-5-P deficiency and serum homocysteine concentrations was higher in patients with restenosis than in patients before the 1st time stent implantation, suggesting that both, normalization of P-5-P and of serum homocysteine concentrations could be significant in the prevention of CHD as well as in the treatment of CHD patients.