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BackgroundEye-tracking technology has been used to measure human cognitive processes and has the potential to improve the usability of health information technology (HIT). However, it is still unclear how the eye-tracking method can be integrated with other traditional usability methodologies to achieve its full potential. ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to report on HIT evaluation studies that have used eye-tracker technology, and to envision the potential use of eye-tracking technology in future research. MethodsWe used four reference databases to initially identify 5248 related papers, which resulted in only 9 articles that met our inclusion criteria. ResultsEye-tracking technology was useful in finding usability problems in many ways, but is still in its infancy for HIT usability evaluation. Limited types of HITs have been evaluated by eye trackers, and there has been a lack of evaluation research in natural settings. ConclusionsMore research should be done in natural settings to discover the real contextual-based usability problems of clinical and mobile HITs using eye-tracking technology with more standardized methodologies and guidance.

Zebrafish collective behaviour is widely used to assess their physical and mental state, serving as a valuable tool to assess the impact of ageing, disease genetics, and the effect of drugs. The essence of these macroscopic phenomena can be represented by active matter models, where the individuals are abstracted as interactive self-propelling agents. The behaviour of these agents depends on a set of parameters in a manner reminiscent of those between the constituents of physical systems. In a few cases, the system may be controlled at the level of the individual constituents such as the interactions between colloidal particles, or the enzymatic behaviour of de novo proteins. Usually, however, while the collective behaviour may be influenced by environmental factors, it typically cannot be changed at will. Here, we challenge this scenario in a biological context by genetically modifying zebrafish. We thus demonstrate the potential of genetic modification in the context of controlling the collective behaviour of biological active matter systems at the level of the constituents, rather than externally. In particular, we probe the effect of the lack of col11a2 gene in zebrafish, which causes the early onset of osteoarthritis. The resulting col11a2 -/- zebrafish exhibited compromised vertebral column properties, bent their body less while swimming, and took longer to change their orientations. Surprisingly, a group of 25 mutant fish exhibited more orderly collective motion than the wildtype. We show that the collective behaviour of wildtype and col11a2 -/- zebrafish are captured with a simple active matter model, in which the mutant fish are modelled by self–propelling agents with a higher orientational noise on average. In this way, we demonstrate the possibility of tuning a biological system, changing the state space it occupies when interpreted with a simple active matter model. Author summary: Collective behaviour emerges across a very wide range of systems which span lengthscales of many orders of magnitude. Examples include phase transitions in atomic and molecular materials, and colloidal dispersions, and self-propelled particles. Recently universal behaviour has been found connecting these physical systems to motile cells and groups of animals, such as the murmuration in Starlings. The swimming of a group of Zebrafish can be described with surprising accuracy by self-propelled particles which follow very simple mathematical rules. This model exhibits an ordering transition in which all individuals travel in the same direction. Here we study the effect of genetic modification of their spines on the swimming of the Zebrafish. We find that the genetically modified fish take a longer time to make turns, and have a continuous range of swim speeds, while wild type fish turn tightly and tend to swim either slowly or quickly. Surprisingly, the mutant fish are also described by the very same model of self-propelled particles but under a slight change of parameter. This work shows that genetic modification can tune the dynamical behaviour of a biological system and this can be captured accurately with a very simple physical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

L-shaped moderately thick plates have widespread applications in diverse engineering structures. Exploring the benchmark analytic solutions for the free vibration of L-shaped moderately thick plates is important in order to accurately analyze and efficiently design structures. Nevertheless, analytical solutions, which serve as the benchmarks, have been rarely documented in previous literature due to the challenge of finding suitable solutions that satisfy both the governing higher-order partial differential equations (PDEs) and the boundary conditions of the plates. The symplectic superposition method was employed in our recently published study to present the benchmark vibration solutions of clamped rectangular moderately thick plates. In this study, we expand upon this method to solve the free vibration problem of L-shaped moderately thick plates. By employing domain decomposition, we construct an irregular domain by combining multiple rectangular domains. First, the construction of the superposition system is carried out, followed by the import of the sub-problems into the Hamiltonian system, utilizing the fundamental governing equations of the plate. Then, the sub-problems are resolved through the application of the symplectic geometry methodology in an analytical manner. Ultimately, the analytical solutions for frequencies and mode shapes are derived through ensuring the equivalence between the initial problem and the combination of sub-problems. The finite element method is used to validate and present a comprehensive analysis of the natural frequencies and mode shapes obtained from this method. This method possesses the benefits of rapid convergence and accurate precision, rendering it well suited for the analytic modeling of a broader range of plate-related problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, abnormal expression of collagen triple helix repeat containing 1 (CTHRC1) has been found in some tumors, closely related to the poor prognosis of cancer patients. However, the clinical significance of CTHRC1 in gliomas is not completely understood. Methods: We investigated the expression, prognostic value, and potential biological function of CTHRC1 in different types of gliomas through bioinformatics analysis and experimental verification. Results: Bioinformatics analysis revealed several key findings regarding the expression and clinical significance of CTHRC1 in gliomas. First, the analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between CTHRC1 expression and the World Health Organization (WHO) grading of gliomas, a relationship that was validated through immunohistochemistry experiments. In addition, a trend was observed in which CTHRC1 expression increased with the extent of glioma invasion, as supported by Western blot experiments. Subsequent bioinformatics analysis identified the mesenchymal subtype of gliomas as having the highest levels of CTHRC1 expression, a finding reinforced by immunohistochemical staining. Moreover, high CTHRC1 expression was associated with poor prognosis in gliomas and emerged as an independent prognostic factor, with varying impacts on prognosis between low-grade gliomas (LGGs) and glioblastoma (GBM) subgroups. Notably, comparative analysis unveiled distinct patterns of immune infiltration of CTHRC1 in LGG and GBM. Furthermore, alterations in copy number variations and DNA methylation were identified as potential mechanisms underlying elevated CTHRC1 levels in gliomas. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis indicated that CTHRC1 and its associated genes mainly function in the extracellular matrix and participate in tumor-related signaling pathways. Conclusions: The CTHRC1 has shown significant clinical utility as a prognostic marker and mesenchymal subtype marker of glioma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the problem of tracking target control of a nonlinear system in the context of cyber-physical systems for connected autonomous vehicles with external unknown disturbances. A new robust tracking strategy via backstepping sliding-mode control is proposed. First, a connected nonlinear vehicle dynamical model with disturbances is constructed. Then, a disturbance observer is presented to approximate the unknown disturbances when the derivative of the disturbance is bounded. This paper has proved that the error of the observation can converge to zero in finite time. Third, a tracking control method is designed which combines the backstepping method with the sliding-mode method. According to the method, the estimated values of interference are used as a priori knowledge. Furthermore, the stability of the designed control strategy is demonstrated through using the Lyapunov theory. Finally, simulation experiments are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]