Search Results (815)

Background: The widespread use of Social Networks (SNS), particularly among youths, could promote Feeding and Eating Disorders (FEDs), but could also be a tool for implementing FED prevention strategies. This study aimed to identify which SNS could be most effective for implementing primary and secondary FED prevention. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted via an Italian population-based survey, distributed using a snowball sampling strategy. The survey included 283 participants aged 18–35 by using the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), the SCOFF screening tool for FEDs, items from the Body Uneasiness Test (BUT), and the Mukbang Addiction Scale (MAS). Results: The sample was predominantly female (69.3%). Participants screening positive on the SCOFF were more frequently TikTok users. Stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that TikTok use was associated with SCOFF positivity (OR = 1.9) and body image concerns (e.g., spending a lot of time in front of the mirror; OR = 1.9). Instagram use was associated with body image dissatisfaction (OR = 3.9). In the overall sample, the likelihood of screening positive on the SCOFF was associated with TikTok use (OR = 1.7), higher BSMAS scores (OR = 1.1), exposure to body positivity/neutrality content (OR = 1.9), and watching Mukbang videos (OR = 1.8). Conclusions: TikTok and, to a lesser extent, Instagram appear to be widely used by young individuals vulnerable to FEDs and body image dissatisfaction. These platforms may therefore represent strategic channels for delivering educational and preventive interventions targeting eating behaviors and body image among young people. Further longitudinal research is needed to clarify causal relationships and evaluate the effectiveness of SNS-based prevention strategies. Full article

Background: Kartagener syndrome (KS) is a rare subset of primary ciliary dyskinesia characterized by the triad of situs viscerum inversus (SVI), chronic sinusitis, and bronchiectasis. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in patients with SVI is technically demanding because of mirror-image anatomy, while evidence supporting the use of indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence in this setting is scarce. Case Presentation: We report the case of a 25-year-old woman with KS and SVI totalis who underwent elective LC for symptomatic cholelithiasis. The procedure was performed using a mirror American approach with four trocars and near-infrared ICG fluorescence cholangiography. ICG enabled real-time visualization of biliary anatomy and facilitated intraoperative orientation. The procedure was completed laparoscopically without intraoperative or postoperative complications, and the postoperative course was uneventful. Methods: A non-systematic narrative review of the literature was conducted to identify reported cases of LC in patients with SVI, including cases associated with KS. Studies published between 1991 and 2025 were retrieved from PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase. Data were descriptively summarized, focusing on surgical technique, trocar placement, and reported use of ICG fluorescence. Results: A total of 143 articles were included. Most cases involved isolated SVI, while KS was reported only in a minority of patients. The mirror American technique and four-trocar configuration were the most frequently adopted approaches. Only three cases, including the present report, described the use of ICG fluorescence during LC in patients with SVI or KS. Conclusions: LC in patients with SVI is feasible but technically demanding. ICG fluorescence may assist intraoperative biliary orientation in complex anatomical settings; however, current evidence is extremely limited and should be considered hypothesis-generating only. Full article

Background: Auricular keloids and ear helix deformities are undesirable and aesthetically unpleasing deformities that can cause significant patient psychologic and self-esteem problems. Pressure therapy for keloids is well documented to be an effective non-invasive treatment modality. However, current devices lack comfort and aesthetic appeal to deliver the pressure forces required effectively and uniformly. This work aims to highlight some different pressure therapy approaches for the management of keloids and irregularities in the ear helix morphology. Methods: A case series of four patients presenting with auricle keloids of various sizes and at different locations secondary to ear piercing and one case of congenital helix deformity were treated successfully with pressure therapy devices. The device designs varied based on the keloids’ characteristics and patients’ preferences and involved wire-based spring-activated appliances resembling ear rings for moderate keloid lesions, modified double-spring systems for large or elongated lesions, and magnet-based devices. A pair of inert magnetic discs of different diameters was positioned on the anterior and posterior aspects of the keloid lesion. The magnets were then encapsulated in acrylic resin to improve retention and adaptation, and the external surface was masked with gold glitter to enhance aesthetics and patient acceptance. The helix-deformity case was treated following a complete digital workflow integration where the sound contralateral ear was digitally scanned, mirror-imaged and then 3D-printed in resin to produce an ear model based on which an anatomically symmetrical pressure device was constructed. Results: All devices were successfully fitted and well tolerated, with no reported discomfort or adverse reactions. The wire spring devices were effective in reducing a large keloids volume; however, frequent reactivation every two weeks was required to ensure continuous pressure application. Incorporating magnets in the customised design allowed controlled and uniform pressure application to small keloid-lesion morphology, with enhanced aesthetics and improved patient acceptance and compliance. The digitally assisted case achieved near-perfect anatomical symmetry with the contralateral ear, reducing operator dependency and fabrication guesswork. Conclusions: Customised pressure therapy devices, of magnetic and spring-based systems, alongside utilising digital technologies, offer effective, non-invasive management for auricular keloids and irregular ear helices as long as the patient is committed to wearing the device. Full article

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reconstruction from undersampled k-space data enables accelerated acquisition but leads to a severely ill-posed inverse problem. Although supervised deep learning methods have achieved strong performance, they typically rely on large paired datasets that are difficult to obtain in clinical practice. To address these limitations, we propose a dictionary-learning-inspired dAta-fRee deep generative modeling with Meta-Attention and implicit precoNditIoning for compressively sampled MRI (CS-MRI), termed ARMANI. Specifically, a meta-attention-augmented deep image prior (MA-DIP) generator performs a joint optimization over the latent input $\eta$ and the network parameter $\theta$, where $\eta$ is regularized via gradient-domain sparsity and $\theta$ is constrained by a ridge penalty, mirroring the adaptive estimation of sparse coefficients and an empirical sparsifying dictionary. Furthermore, we integrate a single-step pseudo-orthogonal projection to achieve implicit preconditioning, which modulates the loss landscape and mitigates ill-conditioning of the forward operator. Experimental results demonstrate that ARMANI consistently outperforms existing SOTA data-free and self-supervised methods, and, with limited training data, achieves performance comparable to or slightly better than the supervised benchmark MoDL, with effective artifact suppression and faithful recovery of fine structural details. Overall, ARMANI shows strong scalability and potential for practical deployment in fully data-free CS-MRI reconstruction scenarios. Full article

The successful detection of X-ray polarization from many celestial sources belonging to different classes by the IXPE mission has opened a new window in X-ray astronomy. While an impressive number of scientific topics have already been addressed by IXPE, many of them would benefit from a new class of instrumentation that could be launched on a relatively short time scale. In this contribution, we present the development activities of a focal-plane polarimeter whose goal is to extend the energy range of IXPE up to tens of keV, with better sensitivity and lower background. Our design is based on the use of multilayer mirrors and stacked instrumentation, comprising either a low- or medium-energy imaging photoelectric polarimeter and an active Compton polarimeter. Such an approach relies on hardware with flight heritage and—although still under development for the specific application in X-ray polarimetry—it has the potential to answer compelling scientific questions and to soon become competitive from the point of view of feasibility for space applications. Full article

The Xingqi (行气, breath circulation) pattern bronze mirrors of the Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE) represent a distinctive category of Daoist material culture in southern China. Despite their unique iconography, systematic research on their functions and religious significance has been lacking. This study examines sixteen Xingqi pattern bronze mirrors through iconographic analysis and textual research, integrating evidence from surviving Daoist scriptures and ritual manuals. Two primary types are identified: the “Tortoise-Swallowing and Crane-Breathing Style” and the “Sun and Moon Observing Style”. The former depicts practitioners imitating the breathing techniques of tortoises and cranes, while the latter shows figures gazing upward to ingest the essences of the sun and moon. Both motifs continue earlier health preservation traditions from the Pre-Qin (221–207 BCE) through Han dynasties, adapted within the Northern and Southern Song context. These mirrors were specifically used by Daoists along the middle Yangtze River for inner alchemy cultivation, particularly in visualized Cunsi (存思, contemplation practices). They were predominantly passed down through generations rather than buried, explaining their scarcity in archaeological contexts. These artifacts illuminate how Song Daoism translated abstract philosophical concepts into tangible, operable practices through material imagery. They provide new physical evidence for understanding historical Daoist cultivation methods and the materialization of religious experience. Full article

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a key biological sensing and imaging tool widely used in biomedical detection, and its images are often degraded by multiplicative speckle noises—especially when micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) mirrors are employed in endoscopic OCT imaging, which reduces visual quality and affects the accuracy of subsequent analysis. Traditional denoising algorithms and supervised deep learning approaches have shown some effectiveness, but they are limited by their reliance on paired noisy–clean data and their insufficient modeling of global structural dependencies. To address these issues, this paper proposes a frequency-domain enhanced UNet based on the Neighbor2Neighbor (N2N) framework (FEN2N). The proposed FEN2N integrates wavelet-guided spectral pooling modules (WSPMs) and frequency-domain enhanced receptive field blocks (FE-RFBs). In this work, OCT images are obtained in a self-constructed MEMS-OCT system. Then the FEN2N is applied to the OCT image dataset. Results show that FEN2N achieves a more than 2.3 dB PSNR improvement over the N2N baseline, while the incorporation of FE-RFB contributes to a 0.02 improvement in SSIM. In addition, FEN2N outperforms several state-of-the-art methods, effectively suppressing speckle noise while preserving fine structural details that are important for clinical diagnosis. Full article

Large depth of field (DOF) is a core pursuit in integral imaging (InIm). In this paper, we propose a DOF-enhanced InIm display system comprising a transmissive mirror device (TMD), a semi-transparent mirror (STM), two 2D displays, and a micro-lens array (MLA). The two 2D displays pre-render two sets of elemental image arrays (EIAs), each corresponding to a distinct depth plane. The STM spatially coaxializes the two EIAs emitted by the two 2D displays. At the same time, the TMD collaborates with the STM to adjust the effective projection distances of the coaxialized EIAs onto the MLA to different values. The MLA couples with the two EIAs projected at different effective distances, enabling the reconstruction of three-dimensional (3D) images at two separate central depth planes (CDPs). This system solves the narrow DOF issue in conventional InIm displays by reconstructing 3D images at two separate CDPs, thus enhancing the DOF. Notably, the proposed system achieves an approximate two-fold increase in DOF compared to a conventional one. A prototype of the DOF-enhanced InIm display system is constructed, and experimental results verify its feasibility. Full article

Focusing on the problems of difficult alignment and low efficiency when coupling the spatially scattered light from 532 nm underwater LiDAR to a single-mode fiber, this paper presents an analysis and simulation of the coupling principle of spatially scattered light and its influencing factors based on the extended light source imaging model, and designs and develops a spatially scattered light adaptive coupling system. The system adopts a three-lens set to receive spatially scattered light, combines a fast steering mirror and displacement stage to adjust the beam position dynamically, and realizes the automatic and efficient coupling of spatially scattered light through a joint control strategy combining rough alignment and precise alignment (using the improved simulated annealing SPGD algorithm). The experimental results show that the best coupling efficiency reaches 88.18% of the theoretical value after program adjustment. This represents an approximate 88% improvement over the best coupling efficiency obtained after manual adjustment, whilst the algorithm effectively circumvents the issue of local optima. This study provides a feasible adaptive solution for underwater LiDAR and similar applications involving scattered light coupling. Full article

Background/Objectives: This article develops theory and methods for 3D tomographic imaging of absorption coefficient distributions using axial scanning with EUV microscopes at 46× and 345× magnification. Unlike conventional CT that requires sample rotation, axial scanning moves cells through the microscope focus. The aim is tomographic reconstruction of living cell fine structure without the organelle staining used in optical fluorescence microscopy or ultra-thin cell slicing as in electron microscopy. Methods: By generalizing the geometric-optical approximation for small absorption coefficient inhomogeneities in absorbing media, we derived a new explicit tomography equation and solution algorithm validated through numerical simulation. The approach was applied to Convallaria cell analysis using the ×46 microscope. For the ×345 microscope, we developed an alternative method where the kernel of the tomography integral equation was determined experimentally using gold nanospheres with known absorption coefficient, shape, and position. This method was tested through modeling and applied to diagnostics of Convallaria and mouse cerebellar granule cells. Results: The developed methods resolve subcellular features down to 140 nm using the ×46 microscope and 50 nm using the ×345 microscope. Thin low-contrast intracellular structures and individual 50–100 nm organelles were detected. Conclusions: Methods for retrieving absorption coefficient distributions in cone-beam geometry based on geometric-optical theory generalization and on calibration by gold nanoparticles have been developed and validated through numerical simulation and cell analysis. These methods demonstrate for the first time the effectiveness of axial nanotomography using multilayer mirror microscopes for cell diagnostics. Full article

This study evaluates the feasibility of using two affordable thermal cameras (UNI-T UTi260M and UTi260T), which are not designed as automotive sensors, for observing pedestrians and warm objects during night-time driving under low-illumination conditions. The experimental setup includes mounting the camera on the vehicle body (e.g., side mirror area/roof), recording road scenes in urban and rural environments, and selecting representative frames for qualitative and quantitative analysis. The study assesses: (i) observable pedestrian detectability in unlit road sections and under oncoming headlight glare, where visible cameras often lose contrast; (ii) the influence of low ambient temperature and strong cold wind on image appearance (including “whitening”/contrast shifts); and (iii) workflow differences, where UTi260M relies on a smartphone application for streaming/recording, while UTi260T supports PC-based image analysis and temperature-profile visualization. In addition, a calibration-based geometric method is proposed for approximate pedestrian distance estimation from single frames using silhouette pixel height and a regression model based on 1$/h_{px}$, valid for a specific mounting configuration and a known subject height. Results indicate that both cameras can highlight warm objects relative to the background and support visual pedestrian identification at low illumination, including in the presence of oncoming headlights, with UTi260M showing more stable behavior in parts of the tests. This work is a feasibility study and does not claim Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) functionality; it outlines limitations, repeatability considerations, and a minimal set of metrics and procedures for future extension. All quantitative indicators derived from exported frames are explicitly treated as image-level proxy metrics, not as physical sensor characteristics. Full article

The tortured and mutilated bodies of seven virgin martyrs stand side by side in an antependium woven around 1430 in Nuremberg. The Virgin Martyrs Tapestry is a striking representation of female saints’ martyrdoms that has yet to be fully analyzed for its potential contributions to discourses about hagiographic iconography, suffering and pain, religious constructs of gender, and sexualized violence in the fifteenth century. Nuanced interpretations of the iconography, with reference to images of Christ, enlighten and recontextualize the tapestry’s brutal depiction of the virgin martyrs. My analysis of the tapestry engages with this unusual presentation of virgin martyrs, stripped and statically accepting brutal torture that far exceeds their textual legends by weapons wielded by disembodied hands, as avenues for imitatio Christi. This interpretation considers the tapestry’s visual program, its enigmatic portrayal of torturing hands, late medieval attitudes toward pain and suffering, and the phenomenon of Christian women “becoming male” to transcend their femininity. Theologically and iconographically, the martyrs’ portrayals in the tapestry mirror the human and divine aspects of Christ. Full article

High-resolution long-wave infrared imaging is critical for lunar mineralogy. However, it must balance a large FOV, a small F-number, chromatic aberration correction, optical efficiency, and system compactness. We introduce a push-broom multispectral imager employing a collaborative integrated filter array and an off-axis two-mirror Gregorian telescope. The system, utilizing an uncooled Vanadium Oxide detector, has an F-number of 1.0, an IFOV of 0.04943 mrad, and a 2.90° × 2.83° FOV that covers eight bands ranging between 7.38 and 14.3 μm. Optical simulation confirms that the modulation transfer function exceeds 0.25 at the Nyquist frequency of 42 lp/mm, with a maximum RMS spot radius of less than 12 μm. The system has remarkable versatility within an operating temperature range of 0 °C to 40 °C. Thermal background radiation analysis, stray light analysis, and detection sensitivity were conducted, which indicated that the system has good compliance with indicators and engineering feasibility. This high-throughput optical design meets the rigorous criteria for lunar remote sensing and provides a reliable device for site evaluation in future manned lunar missions. Full article

With in situ imaging systems becoming more common, precise, and economically viable, use of these systems has grown dramatically, including both automated classification and biomass estimations. However, a rather large and overlooked portion of these efforts is reliable detection and classification of these organisms as they pass through the imaging device. This paper focuses on the development of an end-to-end classification CNN-based algorithm for marine zooplankton using the in situ Ichthyoplankton Imaging System (ISIIS-DPI) from Bellamare (La Jolla, CA, USA). Our novel approach considers many issues with automated segmentation and classification, including over-segmentation, noise segmentation, and organism size input. This allows for classifications in diverse water types, demonstrated by the comparison of three datasets created in conjunction with this project, each with very different water properties and zooplankton communities (Florida Gulf coast; Trondheimsfjord, Norway; Sargasso Sea). Our segmented image dataset contains 70,624 regions of interest (ROIs) across four organism classes—Chaetognath, Crustacean, Gelatinous, and Larvacean—with two classes dedicated to detritus. Four common network architectures—Resnet, Xception, GoogleNet, and Darknet—are trained on this dataset, with final test accuracies in the range of 95.94–96.09%. Following this initial training, a secondary level of classification is introduced. The base Gelatinous class is further divided into six groups. The same four CNN architectures are used once again, with final accuracies in the range of 86.12–90.40%, showing the ability to taxonomically classify down to the order level. The present work introduces a versatile, adaptable, scalable and autonomous segmentation and classification algorithm using niched networks mirroring taxonomy, and is fully contained in a publicly available MATLAB R2025a custom graphical user interface. Full article

The echelle spectrometer utilizes an echelle grating as the primary dispersive element, combined with a prism or planar grating for cross-dispersion, to form a two-dimensional spectral image on an area-array Charge-Coupled Device (CCD). Compared with traditional spectrometers, this configuration provides superior spectral resolution, broader wavelength coverage, enhanced transient direct-reading capability, and higher energy throughput within a similar footprint. However, the use of area-array detectors significantly increases system cost, limiting adoption in cost-sensitive applications. To reduce cost while maintaining performance, we introduce a digital micromirror device (DMD) as a spatial light modulator to replace the traditional area-array detector, paired with a highly sensitive photomultiplier tube (PMT) for signal acquisition. The designed system operates across a wavelength range of 270 to 800 nm within a compact footprint of approximately 307 mm × 210 mm × 150 mm. The focused spot is accurately positioned on the DMD surface across the entire band, with the root mean square (RMS) spot radius smaller than a single micromirror’s size. Spectral information is efficiently coupled into the PMT via a focusing mirror by selectively flipping the DMD micromirrors for detection. Full article