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The present work aims to investigate the negative effects of network latencies in immersive collaborative virtual environments. A user study was conducted to determine the impact of those delays on the performance of users. Participants of the study played a simple cooperative game designed for two players. The goal of the game was to correctly place bicolored cubes into their specific destinations. Since each player only saw the colors of the cubes of his or her partner, both players had to visually and verbally exchange information to complete the game. Each pair of participants played the game under four different latency conditions. The task performance was measured by the time needed to place one cube successfully. Besides, other subjectively observable variables were investigated. The results of the study show that a high end-to-end delay between two VR stations has an adverse effect on the users’ task performance, the amount of mutual understanding and the perceived workload. For the co-presence metric, i.e., the perceived amount of togetherness inside the virtual environment, no significant correlation to the network delay could be determined.

Distributed Virtual Reality systems enable globally dispersed users to interact with each other in a shared virtual environment. In such systems, different types of latencies occur. For a good VR experience, they need to be controlled. The time delay between the user's head motion and the corresponding display output of the VR system might lead to adverse effects such as a reduced sense of presence or motion sickness. Additionally, high network latency among worldwide locations makes collaboration between users more difficult and leads to misunderstandings. To evaluate the performance and optimize dispersed VR solutions it is therefore important to measure those delays. In this work, a novel, easy to set up, and inexpensive method to measure local and remote system latency will be described. The measuring setup consists of a microcontroller, a microphone, a piezo buzzer, a photosensor, and a potentiometer. With these components, it is possible to measure motion-to-photon and mouth-to-ear latency of various VR systems. By using GPS-receivers for timecode-synchronization it is also possible to obtain the end-to-end delays between different worldwide locations. The described system was used to measure local and remote latencies of two HMD based distributed VR systems.

The transition from hospital to primary care is a vulnerable period for patients. Telemedicine may enhance continuity of care; however, evidence on its role in supporting hospital-to-primary-care transitions remains limited. We implemented and evaluated a telephone-based follow-up program to support the transition from hospital to home and primary care, focusing on patient health as well as patient and health care provider satisfaction. In this prospective, single-center intervention study (University Hospital Basel, September 2022-December 2024), 234 patients discharged from the emergency unit or internal medicine wards received structured telemedical follow-up for up to 10 days until their first primary care appointment. Primary outcomes were patient health and satisfaction; secondary outcomes were health care provider satisfaction. Data were collected using patient-reported outcome measures, patient-reported experience measures, and provider assessments and analyzed descriptively and analytically (P=.05). Patient-reported outcome measure and patient-reported experience measure scores changed during follow-up, while no deterioration was observed. Health care provider satisfaction varied, with telemedical physicians reporting the highest ratings, hospital physicians intermediate ratings, and general practitioners the lowest, citing challenges in information transfer and perceived added value. This study outlines both the potential benefits and the practical challenges of implementing a telephone follow-up program after hospital discharge. Variations in physician satisfaction highlight the need for more user-friendly technical infrastructure and clearer role definitions. Future multicenter studies with broader patient samples, usual care controls, and simplified recruitment processes are required to strengthen the feasibility and generalizability of this approach.

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and DNA damage were analyzed in coke oven (n = 37), refractory (n = 96), graphite electrode (n = 26), and converter workers (n = 12), whereas construction workers (n = 48) served as referents. PAH exposure was assessed by personal air sampling during shift and biological monitoring in urine post shift (1-hydroxypyrene, 1-OHP and 1-, 2 + 9-, 3-, 4-hydroxyphenanthrenes, ΣOHPHE). DNA damage was measured by 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodGuo) and DNA strand breaks in blood post shift. Median 1-OHP and ΣOHPHE were highest in converter workers (13.5 and 37.2 μg/g crea). The industrial setting contributed to the metabolite concentrations rather than the air-borne concentration alone. Other routes of uptake, probably dermal, influenced associations between air-borne concentrations and levels of PAH metabolites in urine making biomonitoring results preferred parameters to assess exposure to PAH. DNA damage in terms of 8-oxo-dGuo and DNA strand breaks was higher in exposed workers compared to referents ranking highest for graphite-electrode production. The type of industry contributed to genotoxic DNA damage and DNA damage was not unequivocally associated to PAH on the individual level most likely due to potential contributions of co-exposures.

The chemical complexity of emissions from bitumen applications is a challenge in the assessment of exposure. Personal sampling of vapours and aerosols of bitumen was organized in 320 bitumen-exposed workers and 69 non-exposed construction workers during 2001–2008. Area sampling was conducted at 44 construction sites. Area and personal sampling of vapours and aerosols of bitumen showed similar concentrations between 5 and 10 mg/m 3 , while area sampling yielded higher concentrations above the former occupational exposure limit (OEL) of 10 mg/m 3 . The median concentration of personal bitumen exposure was 3.46 mg/m 3 (inter-quartile range 1.80–5.90 mg/m 3 ). Only few workers were exposed above the former OEL. The specificity of the method measuring C–H stretch vibration is limited. This accounts for a median background level of 0.20 mg/m³ in non-exposed workers which is likely due to ubiquitous aliphatic hydrocarbons. Further, area measurements of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were taken at 25 construction sites. U.S. EPA PAHs were determined with GC/MS, with the result of a median concentration of 2.47 μg/m 3 at 15 mastic asphalt worksites associated with vapours and aerosols of bitumen, with a Spearman correlation coefficient of 0.45 (95% CI −0.13 to 0.78). PAH exposure at mastic-asphalt works was higher than at reference worksites (median 0.21 μg/m 3 ), but about one order of magnitude lower compared to coke-oven works. For a comparison of concentrations of vapours and aerosols of bitumen and PAHs in asphalt works, differences in sampling and analytical methods must to be taken into account.

Possible health hazards of fumes and aerosols of bitumen are in discussion, and data on their adverse effects on human airways under current exposure conditions are limited. To assess the irritative effects of exposure to fumes and aerosols of bitumen on the airways, a cross-sectional cross-shift study was conducted including external and internal exposure measurements, spirometry and especially non-invasive methods like nasal lavage collection and induction of sputum in order to identify and evaluate more precisely inflammatory process in the upper and lower airways. The cross-shift study comprised 74 mastic asphalt workers who were exposed to fumes and aerosols of bitumen and 49 construction workers without this exposure as reference group. Questionnaire, spirometry, ambient monitoring and urinary analysis were performed. Humoral and cellular parameters were measured in nasal lavage fluid (NALF) and induced sputum. For data analysis, a mixed linear model was performed on the different outcomes with exposure group, time of measurement (pre-, post-shift), current smoking, German nationality and age as fixed factors and subjects as random factor. Based on personal exposure measurements during shift, mastic asphalt workers were classified into a low (< or =10 mg/m(3); n = 46) and a high (>10 mg/m(3); n = 28) exposure group. High exposure was accompanied by significant higher urinary post-shift concentrations of 1-hydroxypyrene and the sum of hydroxyphenanthrenes. Acute respiratory symptoms were reported more frequently in the high exposure group after shift. Significant cross-shift declines in lung function parameters (forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV(1) (% predicted)] and forced vital capacity [FVC (% predicted)]) were measured in mastic asphalt workers. Pre-shift FEV(1) (% predicted) and FVC (% predicted) were higher in the low exposure group. In pre- and post-shift NALF samples, interleukin (IL)-1beta-, IL-8- and total protein concentrations were lower in the low exposure group compared to the reference and the high exposure group. Pre- and post-shift neutrophil percentages in both nasal and sputum samples were also lower in the low exposure group. Significantly higher pre- and post-shift sputum concentrations of IL-8, IL-6, nitrogen oxide (NO) derivatives and total protein were detected especially in highly exposed workers. Irritative effects of exposure to fumes and aerosols of bitumen on the upper and lower airways were apparent, especially in mastic asphalt workers with exposure above 10 mg/m(3).