The basal diameter of uveal melanoma is critical for its prognosis and therapy, and it can indicate the metastatic risk of the tumor. Tumor segmentation is also significant for guiding clinical diagnosis, as it provides morphological and other essential information for clinicians. However, precise uveal melanoma segmentation and basal diameter prediction remain challenging for current computer-aided methods. The scarcity of large, annotated datasets and appropriate multi-task models hinders further exploration to simultaneously and accurately segment the tumors and predict their basal diameter for uveal melanoma. To address this challenge, we collected a novel dataset and proposed the Tumor Segmentation and Basal Diameter Prediction Network for Uveal Melanoma (TSBPNet-UM), which utilizes readily accessible fundus images to accomplish both tasks concurrently. Its two sub-networks, the Uveal Melanoma Segmentation and Basal Diameter Prediction networks, are designed for mutual performance enhancement. The Uveal Melanoma Segmentation network transfers spatial segmentation information to assist the Basal Diameter Prediction network. Conversely, the Basal Diameter Prediction network updates all parameters using basal diameter-derived gradient information. This model effectively overcomes the limitation that conventional models often struggle to converge on the direct prediction task of basal diameter. The superior performance and efficacy of the TSBPNetUM have been demonstrated through extensive experiments.

Although an increasing number of studies explore the factors influencing users’ privacy concerns regarding social robots, the existing understanding of this issue remains largely fragmented. Previous studies have mainly focused on the "net effect" between variables, leaving the complexity of causal configurations, and the holistic impact of design characteristics of social robots on user privacy concerns remains unclear. Based on the Stimuli-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework and Communication Privacy Management Theory (CPMT), this study integrates social robot design characteristics such as Anthropomorphism, Warmth, Competence, and Transparency into causal configurations, and uses Perceived Privacy Risk and Perceived Privacy Control as mediating variables to propose a Comprehensive conceptual model. Based on valid data from a sample of 198 Chinese social robot users, this study conducted empirical analyses of the conceptual model using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA). PLS-SEM results show that anthropomorphism, warmth, competence, and transparency are key factors influencing privacy concerns, and perceived privacy risk mediates the relationship between warmth, information transparency, and privacy concerns. The FsQCA results further validated the findings of PLS-SEM and identified five configurations of factor combinations that led to higher levels of user privacy concerns. Among them, the combination of high anthropomorphism design, high competence, and low warmth of social robots is the core configuration that leads to users’ privacy concerns. Overall, this study broadens our understanding of social robot users’ privacy concerns and reveals the causal complexity behind social robot users’ privacy concerns. It provides some theoretical and practical insights for subsequent scholars and designers.

In the context of intelligent systems for human-vehicle collaboration, the fusion of information space, physical space, and user cognitive space has become a trend. This paper aims to address the challenges posed by information perception gaps and cognitive limitations experienced by drivers by leveraging Augmented Reality Head-up Displays (ie, AR-HUD) to compensate for perceptual deficiencies and enhance driver cognition. We introduce the innovative concept of the Human-Machine Team Situation Awareness (ie, TSA) loop model. Firstly, we analyze the cognitive characteristics of drivers and the spatiotemporal information elements within hazardous scenarios. Subsequently, AR-HUDs are employed to provide drivers with perceptual compensation and cognitive enhancement. Furthermore, we design AR-HUD interfaces for two representative scenarios. The results demonstrate that, with the support of AR-HUDs, the integration of dynamic interface elements proves to be more effective in compensating for perceptual deficiencies, and the inclusion of predictive information contributes to improved driving performance. Notably, in emergency situations, AR-HUDs play a crucial role in providing decision-enhancing information to drivers. The proposed theoretical framework offers opportunities for expanding the theoretical approaches and application domains of AR-HUDs.

Driver’s instinctive responses and skill-based behaviors enable them to react faster and better control their vehicle in dangerous situations. This study incorporated dynamic spatial information design (DSID) in an augmented reality head-up display (AR-HUD) under manual driving conditions. By integrating the skill, rule, and knowledge (SRK) taxonomy and situation awareness (SA) theory, our AR-HUD successfully evoked drivers’ instinctive responses and improved driving safety. First, we converted symbol and sign information processed at the knowledge-based and rule-based levels, respectively, into signal information processed at the skill-based level. Then we developed four AR-HUD interfaces with different dynamic designs for use in a hazardous scenario at an intersection. Finally, we investigated each design’s impact on drivers’ SA and driving performance. Experimental results demonstrated that our DSID enhanced drivers’ SA and accident-avoidance capabilities while reducing their cognitive workload. Among the four AR-HUD interfaces, the one that incorporated all three information elements under study (i.e., lateral warning, dynamic driving space, and speedometer) performed the best. This indicates that our proposed framework has potential applications in other similar dangerous driving scenarios, thus contributing to the development of safer and more efficient driving environments.

Ethereum, the largest blockchain for running smart contracts, has been widely used, especially in financial and cryptocurrency exchange applications. Among them, Tornado Cash is a typical financial application that protects the privacy of users with anonymous transactions. However, users need to pay prohibitively high gas (transaction fees for smart contract calls) for anonymous transactions, which hinders Tornado Cash from wide applications. To address this issue, we introduced a new approach that shifts the high gas-consuming operations on smart contracts to local users. Furthermore, we use zero-knowledge proofs to ensure the operations are properly executed. The smart contract only needs to verify and update the results, which significantly reduces the gas fees of Tornado Cash. To validate our approach, we implemented a prototype and showed that our proposed method could save more than 61% of gas consumption of current operations while maintaining the privacy feature of Tornado Cash. Finally, we discussed further applications and open problems of our approach.