Background: The Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Research Ethics Committees (RECs) is established to review the research proposals and ensure that participants’ ethical standards, scientific merit, and human right...Background: The Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Research Ethics Committees (RECs) is established to review the research proposals and ensure that participants’ ethical standards, scientific merit, and human rights are protected. Purpose: The authors report the experience of the REC at Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia over 10 years period. Methods: All proposals submitted to Qassim REC during the period 2008-2017 were studied using a 30 items data collection form based on The National Committee of Bioethics Regulations. Data extracted included;principal investigator characteristics, numbers of proposals reviewed, applications completeness, approval decision status, reported ethical issues, classification of the ethical review, and committee review duration. The structure, workload, and review process of Qassim REC were addressed redundant. Results: During 10 years, Qassim Research Ethics Committee (QREC) witnessed a progressive increase in the number of submitted proposals, from 9 to 149 proposals. Out of 508 submitted applications, 439 (86.4%) proposals were eligible for ethical review. Of these, 50 (11.4%) proposals were incomplete due to nonresponse of the principal investigators to the QREC comments. The final decision was made for 389 (88.6%) completed proposals. The approval rate was 85.4%, while the rejection rate was only 1.1%. The median time taken for ethical review was 13 days. Proposals that underwent full board review had a long review duration (Median: 19 days) in comparison to the expedited review (Median: 10 days). Incomplete Committee requirements, unclear research methodology, or possible ethical violation opportunities were the main reasons for delayed decisions. Conclusion: The workload of the Qassim ethics committee is high and growing progressively. However, the process indicators as per National Bioethics Committee rules were satisfactory. Rejection of proposals was rare as most of the reviewed proposals were descriptive studies with infrequent ethical matters.展开更多
Recognizing human interactions in RGB videos is a critical task in computer vision,with applications in video surveillance.Existing deep learning-based architectures have achieved strong results,but are computationall...Recognizing human interactions in RGB videos is a critical task in computer vision,with applications in video surveillance.Existing deep learning-based architectures have achieved strong results,but are computationally intensive,sensitive to video resolution changes and often fail in crowded scenes.We propose a novel hybrid system that is computationally efficient,robust to degraded video quality and able to filter out irrelevant individuals,making it suitable for real-life use.The system leverages multi-modal handcrafted features for interaction representation and a deep learning classifier for capturing complex dependencies.Using Mask R-CNN and YOLO11-Pose,we extract grayscale silhouettes and keypoint coordinates of interacting individuals,while filtering out irrelevant individuals using a proposed algorithm.From these,we extract silhouette-based features(local ternary pattern and histogram of optical flow)and keypoint-based features(distances,angles and velocities)that capture distinct spatial and temporal information.A Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory network(BiLSTM)then classifies the interactions.Extensive experiments on the UT Interaction,SBU Kinect Interaction and the ISR-UOL 3D social activity datasets demonstrate that our system achieves competitive accuracy.They also validate the effectiveness of the chosen features and classifier,along with the proposed system’s computational efficiency and robustness to occlusion.展开更多
Major depressive disorder is a debilitating disorder affecting millions of people each year.Brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)and inflammation are two prominent biologic risk factors in the pathogenesis of depres...Major depressive disorder is a debilitating disorder affecting millions of people each year.Brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)and inflammation are two prominent biologic risk factors in the pathogenesis of depression that have received considerable attention.Many clinical and animal studies have highlighted associations between low levels of BDNF or high levels of inflammatory markers and the development of behavioral symptoms of depression.However,less is known about potential interaction between BDNF and inflammation,particularly within the central nervous system.Emerging evidence suggests that there is bidirectional regulation between these factors with important implications for the development of depressive symptoms and antidepressant response.Elevated levels of inflammatory mediators have been shown to reduce expression of BDNF,and BDNF may play an important negative regulatory role on inflammation within the brain.Understanding this interaction more fully within the context of neuropsychiatric disease is important for both developing a fuller understanding of biological pathogenesis of depression and for identifying novel therapeutic opportunities.Here we review these two prominent risk factors for depression with a particular focus on pathogenic implications of their interaction.展开更多
We refute the controversial statement that addiction is not a brain disorder. Extensive peer-reviewed studies support the underlying neurobiological and neurogenetic basis of addiction’s “disease model”. In the 70s...We refute the controversial statement that addiction is not a brain disorder. Extensive peer-reviewed studies support the underlying neurobiological and neurogenetic basis of addiction’s “disease model”. In the 70s and 80s, a few clinical scientists suggested that it is possible to use behavioral training to teach controlled drinking. However, this controversial model failed drastically and increased labeling and stigmatization. Additionally, it was unhelpful in the search for treatment. Instead, we assert that addiction is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by a recurring desire to continue taking substances despite harmful physical and mental consequences. Work from our laboratory in 1995 supported the Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) concept based on a common neurogenetic mechanism (hypodopaminergia) that underlies all substance and non-substance addictions. Non-substance addictions include behaviors like pathological gambling, internet addiction, and mobile phone addiction. Certain impulsive and compulsive behaviors or the acute intake of psychoactive substances result in heightened dopaminergic activity, while the opposite, hypodopaminergia, occurs following chronic abuse. Patients with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) can have a genetic predisposition compounded by stress or other epigenetic insults that can impact recovery. Relapse will occur post-short-term recovery if dopaminergic dysfunction remains untreated. Addiction, a brain disorder, requires treatment with DNA-directed pro-dopamine regulation and rehabilitation.展开更多
We use a potential flow solver to investigate the aerodynamic aspects of flapping flights in enclosed spaces. The enclosure effects are simulated by the method of images. Our study complements previous aerodynamic ana...We use a potential flow solver to investigate the aerodynamic aspects of flapping flights in enclosed spaces. The enclosure effects are simulated by the method of images. Our study complements previous aerodynamic analyses which considered only the near-ground flight. The present results show that flying in the proximity of an enclosure affects the aerodynamic performance of flapping wings in terms of lift and thrust generation and power consumption. It leads to higher flight efficiency and more than 5% increase of the generation of lift and thrust.展开更多
文摘Background: The Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Research Ethics Committees (RECs) is established to review the research proposals and ensure that participants’ ethical standards, scientific merit, and human rights are protected. Purpose: The authors report the experience of the REC at Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia over 10 years period. Methods: All proposals submitted to Qassim REC during the period 2008-2017 were studied using a 30 items data collection form based on The National Committee of Bioethics Regulations. Data extracted included;principal investigator characteristics, numbers of proposals reviewed, applications completeness, approval decision status, reported ethical issues, classification of the ethical review, and committee review duration. The structure, workload, and review process of Qassim REC were addressed redundant. Results: During 10 years, Qassim Research Ethics Committee (QREC) witnessed a progressive increase in the number of submitted proposals, from 9 to 149 proposals. Out of 508 submitted applications, 439 (86.4%) proposals were eligible for ethical review. Of these, 50 (11.4%) proposals were incomplete due to nonresponse of the principal investigators to the QREC comments. The final decision was made for 389 (88.6%) completed proposals. The approval rate was 85.4%, while the rejection rate was only 1.1%. The median time taken for ethical review was 13 days. Proposals that underwent full board review had a long review duration (Median: 19 days) in comparison to the expedited review (Median: 10 days). Incomplete Committee requirements, unclear research methodology, or possible ethical violation opportunities were the main reasons for delayed decisions. Conclusion: The workload of the Qassim ethics committee is high and growing progressively. However, the process indicators as per National Bioethics Committee rules were satisfactory. Rejection of proposals was rare as most of the reviewed proposals were descriptive studies with infrequent ethical matters.
基金supported and funded by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number(PNURSP2025R410),Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University,Riyadh,Saudi Arabia.
文摘Recognizing human interactions in RGB videos is a critical task in computer vision,with applications in video surveillance.Existing deep learning-based architectures have achieved strong results,but are computationally intensive,sensitive to video resolution changes and often fail in crowded scenes.We propose a novel hybrid system that is computationally efficient,robust to degraded video quality and able to filter out irrelevant individuals,making it suitable for real-life use.The system leverages multi-modal handcrafted features for interaction representation and a deep learning classifier for capturing complex dependencies.Using Mask R-CNN and YOLO11-Pose,we extract grayscale silhouettes and keypoint coordinates of interacting individuals,while filtering out irrelevant individuals using a proposed algorithm.From these,we extract silhouette-based features(local ternary pattern and histogram of optical flow)and keypoint-based features(distances,angles and velocities)that capture distinct spatial and temporal information.A Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory network(BiLSTM)then classifies the interactions.Extensive experiments on the UT Interaction,SBU Kinect Interaction and the ISR-UOL 3D social activity datasets demonstrate that our system achieves competitive accuracy.They also validate the effectiveness of the chosen features and classifier,along with the proposed system’s computational efficiency and robustness to occlusion.
基金Supported by National Institutes of Health,No.TL1 TR002647Veterans Affairs,No.I01BX003195。
文摘Major depressive disorder is a debilitating disorder affecting millions of people each year.Brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF)and inflammation are two prominent biologic risk factors in the pathogenesis of depression that have received considerable attention.Many clinical and animal studies have highlighted associations between low levels of BDNF or high levels of inflammatory markers and the development of behavioral symptoms of depression.However,less is known about potential interaction between BDNF and inflammation,particularly within the central nervous system.Emerging evidence suggests that there is bidirectional regulation between these factors with important implications for the development of depressive symptoms and antidepressant response.Elevated levels of inflammatory mediators have been shown to reduce expression of BDNF,and BDNF may play an important negative regulatory role on inflammation within the brain.Understanding this interaction more fully within the context of neuropsychiatric disease is important for both developing a fuller understanding of biological pathogenesis of depression and for identifying novel therapeutic opportunities.Here we review these two prominent risk factors for depression with a particular focus on pathogenic implications of their interaction.
文摘We refute the controversial statement that addiction is not a brain disorder. Extensive peer-reviewed studies support the underlying neurobiological and neurogenetic basis of addiction’s “disease model”. In the 70s and 80s, a few clinical scientists suggested that it is possible to use behavioral training to teach controlled drinking. However, this controversial model failed drastically and increased labeling and stigmatization. Additionally, it was unhelpful in the search for treatment. Instead, we assert that addiction is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by a recurring desire to continue taking substances despite harmful physical and mental consequences. Work from our laboratory in 1995 supported the Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) concept based on a common neurogenetic mechanism (hypodopaminergia) that underlies all substance and non-substance addictions. Non-substance addictions include behaviors like pathological gambling, internet addiction, and mobile phone addiction. Certain impulsive and compulsive behaviors or the acute intake of psychoactive substances result in heightened dopaminergic activity, while the opposite, hypodopaminergia, occurs following chronic abuse. Patients with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) can have a genetic predisposition compounded by stress or other epigenetic insults that can impact recovery. Relapse will occur post-short-term recovery if dopaminergic dysfunction remains untreated. Addiction, a brain disorder, requires treatment with DNA-directed pro-dopamine regulation and rehabilitation.
文摘We use a potential flow solver to investigate the aerodynamic aspects of flapping flights in enclosed spaces. The enclosure effects are simulated by the method of images. Our study complements previous aerodynamic analyses which considered only the near-ground flight. The present results show that flying in the proximity of an enclosure affects the aerodynamic performance of flapping wings in terms of lift and thrust generation and power consumption. It leads to higher flight efficiency and more than 5% increase of the generation of lift and thrust.
