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Purpose To evaluate parafoveal microvasculature in eyes with circumscribed choroidal hemangioma using optical coherence tomography angiography. Methods Fourteen eyes with unilateral circumscribed choroidal hemangioma were imaged using OCT for central macular thickness and optical coherence tomography angiography for superficial and deep foveal avascular zone area, and superficial and deep capillary density (CD), comparing affected and paired fellow eyes. Results Mean patient age was 53 years, and mean visual acuity was 20/60 in the involved eye and 20/25 in the fellow eye. In the affected eye, clinical findings included cystoid macular edema (CME) in 1, parafoveal/subfoveal subretinal fluid (SRF) in three, and both CME and SRF in two eyes. OCT revealed current CME/SRF in six eyes, and normal foveal contour in eight eyes, among which five never demonstrated OCT evidence of CME or SRF. By OCT (affected vs. fellow eye), mean central macular thickness was greater in affected eyes (312 vs. 264 μm, P = 0.042). By optical coherence tomography angiography, there was no difference in superficial foveal avascular zone (P = 0.327), deep foveal avascular zone (P = 0.563), and superficial CD (P = 0.159), but mean deep plexus CD was reduced in affected eyes (50% vs. 54%, P = 0.010). Subgroup analysis showed that eyes with previous or current CME and/or SRF had reduced deep plexus CD (53% vs. 57%, P = 0.005), while eyes without previous/current CME/SRF had similar deep plexus CD (P = 0.399) compared with fellow eyes. Conclusion Circumscribed choroidal hemangioma generally does not affect parafoveal inner retinal microvasculature. However, a reduction in deep plexus CD can be expected in eyes with previous or current CME/SRF.

Disorders of the brain can exhibit considerable epidemiological comorbidity and often share symptoms, provoking debate about their etiologic overlap. We quantified the genetic sharing of 25 brain disorders from genome-wide association studies of 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants and assessed their relationship to 17 phenotypes from 1,191,588 individuals. Psychiatric disorders share common variant risk, whereas neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders. We also identified significant sharing between disorders and a number of brain phenotypes, including cognitive measures. Further, we conducted simulations to explore how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity affect genetic correlations. These results highlight the importance of common genetic variation as a risk factor for brain disorders and the value of heritability-based methods in understanding their etiology. © 2018 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.

To study changes in the foveal microvascular anatomy using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) after intravenous chemotherapy (IVC) for retinoblastoma (RB).A retrospective comparative case-control series included 10 age-matched normal eyes with no documented ocular pathology (control), 10 fellow eyes of patients with unilateral RB treated with IVC (RB fellow), and 10 eyes with extramacular RB in patients with bilateral RB treated with IVC (RB tumor). All eyes were scanned using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography and OCTA. Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography measurements of central macular thickness and subfoveolar choroidal thickness as well as OCTA measurements of foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area in superficial (sFAZ) and deep (dFAZ) plexus and capillary density (CD) in the superficial (sCD) and deep (dCD) plexus were performed. Comparison among the three groups was conducted.Among the three cohorts (control, RB fellow, and RB tumor), there was no difference in mean age at measurement (12, 10, and 12 years) and mean interval between last IVC and OCTA (RB fellow and RB tumor) (9, 10 years). Optical coherence tomography and OCTA revealed no significant difference in central macular thickness (all P ≥ 0.161), choroidal thickness (all P ≥ 0.066), sFAZ (all P ≥ 0.618), dFAZ (all P ≥ 0.610), and sCD (all P ≥ 0.638) comparing controls versus RB fellow, controls versus RB tumor, and RB fellow versus RB tumor. By contrast, mean dCD was significantly greater in controls (52%), compared with both RB fellow (49%, P = 0.026) and RB tumor (48%, P = 0.028) groups, but no difference was found between RB fellow and RB tumor (49% vs. 48%, P = 0.515). LogMAR visual acuity showed no difference among the three groups (all P ≥ 0.150).At mean 10-year follow-up, slight reduction in dCD seems to occur after IVC for RB without alterations in central macular thickness, choroidal thickness, FAZ, or sCD and without visual compromise.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder, affecting 1% of the population over 65 years characterized clinically by both motor and non-motor symptoms accompanied by the preferential loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Here, we sequenced the exomes of 244 Parkinson’s patients selected from the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre Discovery Cohort and, after quality control, 228 exomes were available for analyses. The PD patient exomes were compared to 884 control exomes selected from the UK10K datasets. No single non-synonymous (NS) single nucleotide variant (SNV) nor any gene carrying a higher burden of NS SNVs was significantly associated with PD status after multiple-testing correction. However, significant enrichments of genes whose proteins have roles in the extracellular matrix were amongst the top 300 genes with the most significantly associated NS SNVs, while regions associated with PD by a recent Genome Wide Association (GWA) study were enriched in genes containing PD-associated NS SNVs. By examining genes within GWA regions possessing rare PD-associated SNVs, we identified RAD51B. The protein-product of RAD51B interacts with that of its paralogue RAD51, which is associated with congenital mirror movements phenotypes, a phenotype also comorbid with PD.

Remote assistive technologies are one of the most promising solutions for an aging society in the future. This paper describes a design of a remote assistive system to guide elderly to find and recognize hidden objects in a kitchen through ubiquitous technologies utilizing sensing and light projection. These intelligent technologies can play a vital role in taking care of the elderly with cognitive impairments when the caregiver’s lives or work far away. The main goal of this research is to provide visual guidance to elderly to overcoming the deficits of initiation, planning, attention and memory deficits while performing kitchen-based activities of daily living such as locating and identifying items for cooking. In a standard kitchen where objects can be placed in open and closed spaces, it is difficult for elderly with cognitive impairment to find and locate objects that are invisible and sometimes hidden behind other objects. In this situation the RFID technology can directly provide the location of the items and projection technology can display the image of the object at the exact location. An initial prototype has been developed and a user study with twelve elderly people has been conducted. The initial results show that the visual guidance makes the task of finding and identifying objects easier and simpler. Additionally, results show promise for further development and system can be used for other kitchen activities.

In the version of this article initially published online, the affiliations for Bertram Muller-Myhsok and Patricia Pozo-Rosich were incorrect or incomplete. These errors have been corrected for the print, PDF and HTML versions of this article.

The last instar larva of Tachysphex inconspicuus (Kirby, 1890) is described and illustrated. Minute spines on the anterior dorsal annulets of abdominal segments and different types of setae on prothorax and mesothorax are remarkable features observed in the larva of T. inconspicuus which were not reported in previously descriptions of larvae of the genus. Distribution of spines and sensilla on the epipharynx and distribution of setae on head and body seem also useful to distinguish Tachysphex larvae.A larva de último estádio de Tachysphex inconspicuus (Kirby, 1890) é descrita e ilustrada. Pequenos espinhos nos anéis dorsais anteriores dos segmentos abdominais e diferentes tipos de cerdas no protórax e mesotórax são características destacáveis observadas na larva de T. inconspicuus, as quais não foram registradas em descrições anteriores de larvas do gênero. Distribuição de espinhos e sensilas na epifaringe e distribuição de cerdas na cabeça e no corpo também parecem úteis para distingüir larvas de Tachysphex.

The nesting behaviour of Prionyx fervens (Linnaeus, 1758) is described, based on one nesting female observed in a coastal environment from southeastern Brazil. One prey bearing a wasp's egg was created in laboratorial conditions and aspects of the larval behaviour and development are described. Schistocerca cancellata (Serville, 1838) (Caelifera, Acrididae) was found as prey.O comportamento de nidificação de Prionyx fervens (Linnaeus, 1758) é descrito, baseado em uma fêmea nidificante observada em um ambiente costeiro do sudeste do Brasil. Uma presa portando ovo da vespa foi criada em condições de laboratório e aspectos do comportamento e do desenvolvimento da larva são descritos. Schistocerca cancellata (Serville, 1838) (Caelifera, Acrididae) foi encontrada como presa.

The last instar larva of Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) albitarse Fabricius, 1804 is described and illustrated, based on one specimen collected in southeastern Brazil. This larva can be distinguished from other described larvae of the subgenus Trypargilum Richards, 1934 for the following combination of features: integument of the body with spines; labrum and epipharynx with sensillae; medio-apical and latero-basal portions of the epipharynx devoid of spines.A larva de último estádio de Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) albitarse Fabricius, 1804 é descrita e ilustrada, com base em um exemplar coletado do sudeste do Brasil. Esta larva pode ser distinta de outras larvas do subgênero Trypargilum Richards, 1934 descritas pela seguinte combinação de caracteres: tegumento do corpo com espinhos; labro e epifaringe com sensilas; porções medio-apical e latero-basal da epifarge sem espinhos.

Aspects of the nesting behaviour of Sphex opacus Dahlbom, 1845 are presented for the first time, based on observations carried out in a coastal habitat from southeastern Brazil. Larval behaviour and development were studied in laboratorial conditions.Aspectos do comportamento de nidificação de Sphex opacus Dahlbom, 1845 são apresentados pela primeira vez, com base em observações feitas em um habitat costeiro do sudeste do Brasil. O comportamento e o desenvolvimento da larva foram estudados em condições de laboratório.

The calibration of optical see-through head-mounted displays is an important fundament for correct object alignment in augmented reality. Any calibration process for OSTHMDs requires users to align 2D points in screen space with 3D points in the real world and to confirm each alignment. In this poster, we present the results of our empiric evaluation where we compared four confirmation methods: Keyboard, Hand-held, Voice, and Waiting. The Waiting method, designed to reduce head motion during confirmation, showed a significantly higher accuracy than all other methods. Averaging over a time frame for sampling user input before the time of confirmation improved the accuracy of all methods in addition. We conducted a further expert study proving that the results achieved with a video see-through head-mounted display showed valid for optical see-through head-mounted display calibration, too.

The last instar larva of Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) albitarse Fabricius, 1804 is described and illustrated, based on one specimen collected in southeastern Brazil. This larva can be distinguished from other described larvae of the subgenus Trypargilum Richards, 1934 for the following combination of features: integument of the body with spines; labrum and epipharynx with sensillae; medio-apical and latero-basal portions of the epipharynx devoid of spines. A larva de último estádio de Trypoxylon (Trypargilum) albitarse Fabricius, 1804 é descrita e ilustrada, com base em um exemplar coletado do sudeste do Brasil. Esta larva pode ser distinta de outras larvas do subgênero Trypargilum Richards, 1934 descritas pela seguinte combinação de caracteres: tegumento do corpo com espinhos; labro e epifaringe com sensilas; porções medio-apical e latero-basal da epifarge sem espinhos.

With recent advances of Head-up Display technology in cars, Augmented Reality becomes interesting in supporting the driving task to guide a driver’s attention. We have set up an experiment to compare two different approaches to inform the driver about dangerous situations around the car. One approach used AR to visualize the source of danger in the driver’s frame of reference while the other one presented information in an exocentric frame of reference. Both approaches were evaluated in user tests.

In this paper we describe why we believe that the development of Augmented Reality user interfaces requires special attention and cannot be efficiently handled with neither existing tools nor traditional development processes. A new methodology comprising both a new process and better tools might be the best action to take. A requirement analysis on issues regarding the process, the user groups involved, and the supportive tools for Augmented Reality user interface development is presented. This opens up a number of research challenges covering the tools, the process and the methodology as a whole. A new development process which is a first attempt to meet the newly found challenges is briefly outlined. This process relies on high parallelism and extends previously learned insights with usability evaluation matters. Following, our complementary proposed tool set gets introduced in detail. This set again profited mostly from new tools fitting in the usability engineering realm, which so far has been mostly ignored in the field of Augmented Reality. First steps towards a development methodology for the creation of Augmented Reality user interfaces, tackling the found requirements, are thereby made. Finally, our planed future steps are shown, meant to bring the development methodology further along, by solving important, but achievable, remaining challenges.

CUIML, the Cooperative User Interfaces Markup Language, was developed as part of the DWARF project. The goal of DWARF is the development of a framework for augmented reality applications running on wearable computers. For wearable systems, the HCI (human-computer interface) consists of numerous I/O devices such as head mounted displays, palm-size devices, and speech recognition systems. This should lead to a multimodal interaction with the user. To make the development of multimodal user interfaces easier, we propose a unified user interface description language. This language describes the user interface in an abstract way and allows to map it to different output and input components. To keep the different parts of the user interface in a consistent state, a controller object is needed. We used UIML, the User Interface Markup Language, as a starting point. CUIML o ers an abstract description language for the views and the controller. By XSL transformations, these presentation free HCI descriptions are converted to markup languages that can be displayed on the various I/O devices. Furthermore the controller, whose internal structure is a deterministic finite automaton (DFA), is also con gured by CUIML. CUIML is a promising approach to solving the problems that occur, when developing a multimodal HCI. On a higher level of abstraction CUIML is a description language for views and controllers of the MVC (Model/View/Controller) design pattern that can be transformed to the required structures at runtime. Because it is based on XML it can be extended easily to support many di erent wearable systems.

B water resources planning for a particular region can be undertaken, it is necessary to know how much water the region is likely to use. Water consumption from public utilities is determined partly from measured data. When the pumpage is not metered at the plant, an estimate must be made of the water used. The study reported in this article considers the principal factors affecting per capita consumption and relates the size of communities to their metered water consumption. If there is a correlation between population and plantmetered water use, it may then be possible to estimate unmetered public water consumption with reasonable accuracy. data. A detailed study based on the preliminary findings was initiated to discover any relationship between population and water consumption that would help to estimate more accurately the total pumpage from public water utilities within the area under investiga tion.

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of influence of various factors on municipal water consumption in Illinois. For the collection of basic data, questionnaires were sent to all public water works of incorporated towns. The questionnaire was designed to obtain information on factors which may have any effect on water use. The effects of the different parameters on water consumption were based on several correlation and regression combinations of predictands and predictors. It was found that in the Chicago region the percent of services and water used for commercial and industrial purposes and the age of the water works were the most important parameters influencing water consumption (gallons per capita per day) when pumpage is metered at the water works as well as at the customers. For the State, excluding the Chicago region, percent of public water use, persons per service, population and commercial and industrial water use were the most important parameters. It has been recommended that similar statistical analysis be conducted periodically to establish a trend or law of change from the influencing parameters.

One feature of the 1968 Illinois Water Plan was concern with the condition and future capability of water systems in 1200 incorporated communities. It was necessary to determine the condition of each water facility, such as its present pumpage, the filter plant capacity, and the water source capacity. Projections of the water demands on each system to the year 1980, and on a county basis to 2020, were made by using population estimates. By developing a gallons per capita per day relationship from present pumpage and present population data, corresponding 1980 values could be computed by using the appropriate projected population data. The technique for presenting these data is shown in both graphical and formula form. In addition, table sand graphs are included to show various parameter relationships and how the large amount of data were assembled in order to display projections individually, by counties, and by river basins. This water resource planning approach has a potential for wide use beyond the area for which it was developed.