Despite their growing popularity, in-ear Earable / Hearable devices (i.e., ear-mounted wearables) face interaction challenges due to limited input space and compact form factors. To enhance interaction capabilities, researchers are exploring off-device hand-based input spaces above the neck using midair and onskin gestures. However, existing literature primarily focuses on axial swipes (i.e., horizontal and vertical), leaving nonaxial swipes (i.e., unidirectional swipes with varied orientations) and angular swipes (e.g., L, U, or V) largely underexplored despite their potential interaction advantages. To address this gap, we conducted a within-subject gesture motion analysis study with 24 participants, analyzing 5,568 swipes of varying shape, orientation, and complexity. Our results revealed preferred starting and ending regions for different unidirectional and angular swipe shapes, as well as intuitive swipe shapes within the off-device, above-neck manual interaction space. We further examine off-device swipe characteristics, discuss the feasibility of recognizing these earable gestures with current sensing technologies, and highlight their potential application in various scenarios. These findings broaden the understanding of off-device earable gestures and provide design insights for integrating suitable nonaxial and angular swipes alongside traditional axial gestures to enhance interaction with in-ear earable devices.

Advances in Virtual Reality (VR) technology have redefined sports training, offering a new modality for athletes to prepare for competitions. This paper explores the coaching strategies used to train novice table tennis players in VR. Through interviews with the coach and participant feedback, we identified key strategies such as personalized feedback, table division, and a structured training regimen for skill development in VR. Challenges include limited facial awareness and the absence of virtual cheering, which impacted the coach's ability to engage fully with participants. These findings offer valuable insights into coaching strategies in VR environments, contributing to developing more effective and engaging VR training systems.

Modern Virtual Reality (VR) technology has enabled users to experience Real Environment (RE) sports in their homes. For VR table tennis, one of the most popular VR sports, the players have rankings and tournaments and compete for RE awards. Based on this phenomenon, this paper aims to understand the benefits of RE training in improving VR table tennis skills. In a user study with 12 novice table tennis players, we measured their performance in 16 basic skills via a pre- and post-study design using a novel training protocol designed for both RE and VR players. We also asked participants for their insights into the training and to evaluate their experience. Our results show a significant improvement in all measured skills. However, participants identified issues with the technology that caused discomfort. Our findings provide valuable insights for software developers working on VR sports applications, enabling them to create better experiences for VR table tennis players. They can also help developers of VR training applications identify areas for improvement with the current technology.

Thanks to stand-alone Virtual Reality (VR) advances, users can play realistic simulations of real-life sports at their homes. In these game simulations, players control their avatars by doing the same movements as in real life (RL) while playing against a person or AI opponent, making VR sports attractive for the players. In this paper, we surveyed a popular VR table tennis game community, focusing on understanding their demographics, challenges, and experiences with skill transfers between VR and RL. Our results show that, on average, VR table tennis players are primarily men, live in Europe/Asia, and are 38 years old. We also found that the current state of VR technology affects the player’s experience and that players see VR as a convenient way to play matches but that RL is better for socialization. Finally, we identified skills like backhand and forehand strikes that players perceived to be transferred from VR to RL and vice versa. Our research findings have the potential to serve as a valuable resource for VR table tennis game developers seeking to integrate mid-air controllers into their future projects.

Efficient ovarian follicle development, maturation, and ovulation are critical for egg production performance. Previous research has underscored the importance of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in regulating development and folliculogenesis in chicken ovarians. However, the molecular mechanism is not fully understood, especially in the late period of the laying cycle. In the present study, ovarian tissues from 80-week-old Hy-Line Brown layers (three with high and three with low rates of egg laying) were collected for transcriptome sequencing. A total of 306 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in this study, at a false discovery rate (FDR)-corrected P-value < 0.05 and a log2|fold change| (log2|FC|) =1.5. Among these DEGs, stanniocalcin 1 (STC1) was mainly related to cellular processes, single-organism processes, biological regulation, metabolic processes, developmental processes, and reproductive processes. Then, we further investigated the regulation of STC1 during chicken follicle development and found that STC1 inhibited the proliferation and stimulated the apoptosis of follicular granulosa cells (GCs), and decreased the expression of progesterone (P4) and estradiol (E2). Collectively, these results suggest that STC1 plays an important role in chicken follicle development by decreasing GC proliferation and steroidogenesis and stimulating GC apoptosis. This study contributes to the understanding of the reproductive biology of laying hens in the late period of the laying cycle and further lays a foundation for the improvement of egg production in poultry breeding.

Thanks to stand-alone Virtual Reality (VR) advances, users can play realistic simulations of real-life sports at their homes. In these game simulations, players control their avatars by doing the same movements as in real life (RL) while playing against a person or AI opponent, making VR sports attractive for the players. In this paper, we surveyed a popular VR table tennis game community, focusing on understanding their demographics, challenges, and experiences with skill transfers between VR and RL. Our results show that, on average, VR table tennis players are primarily men, live in Europe/Asia, and are 38 years old. We also found that the current state of VR technology affects the player's experience and that players see VR as a convenient way to play matches but that RL is better for socialization. Finally, we identified skills like backhand and forehand strikes that players perceived to be transferred from VR to RL and vice versa. Our research findings have the potential to serve as a valuable resource for VR table tennis game developers seeking to integrate mid-air controllers into their future projects.

Thanks to stand-alone Virtual Reality (VR) advances, users can play realistic simulations of real-life sports at their homes. In these game simulations, players control their avatars by doing the same movements as in real life (RL) while playing against a person or AI opponent, making VR sports attractive for the players. In this paper, we surveyed a popular VR table tennis game community, focusing on understanding their demographics, challenges, and experiences with skill transfers between VR and RL. Our results show that, on average, VR table tennis players are primarily men, live in Europe/Asia, and are 38 years old. We also found that the current state of VR technology affects the player’s experience and that players see VR as a convenient way to play matches but that RL is better for socialization. Finally, we identified skills like backhand and forehand strikes that players perceived to be transferred from VR to RL and vice versa. Our research findings have the potential to serve as a valuable resource for VR table tennis game developers seeking to integrate mid-air controllers into their future projects.

Previous work hypothesized that for Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) displays a mismatch between disparities and optical focus cues, known as the vergence and accommodation conflict (VAC), affects depth perception and thus limits user performance in 3D selection tasks within arm’s reach (peri-personal space). To investigate this question, we built a multifocal stereo display, which can eliminate the influence of the VAC for pointing within the investigated distances. In a user study, participants performed a virtual hand 3D selection task with targets arranged laterally or along the line of sight, with and without a change in visual depth, in display conditions with and without the VAC. Our results show that the VAC influences 3D selection performance in common VR and AR stereo displays and that multifocal displays have a positive effect on 3D selection performance with a virtual hand.

PenShaft is a battery-free, easy to implement solution for augmenting the shaft of a capacitive pen with interactive capabilities. By applying conductive materials in a specific pattern on the pen’s shaft, we can detect when it is laid on a capacitive touchscreen. This enables on-pen interactions, such as button clicks or swiping, and whole-shaft interactions, such as rotating and dragging the stylus. PenShaft supports at least six interactions, freeing the pen from having to interact with the layers or menus of a conventional user interface. We validate a device’s capability to detect these six interactions with all but two interactions achieving a success rate above 95%. We then present a series of applications to demonstrate the flexibility and utility of these interactions when using the pen.

旨在探讨ZP3基因在海兰褐蛋鸡中的表达特性,为后期研究ZP3基因在蛋鸡卵泡发育中的作用提供理论支撑.本研究以产蛋期50周龄(50 W)海兰褐蛋鸡为试验对象,利用RACE技术克隆ZP3基因全长,并对编码区进行生物信息学分析.选择健康、体重相近的海兰褐蛋鸡6只,分别取心、肝、肺、肾、卵巢、胸肌、腿肌和不同等级卵泡构建表达谱.卵巢颗粒细胞经不同浓度(PBS、5 ng·mL-1、10 ng·mL-1、20 ng·mL-1)促卵泡素(follicle-stimulating hormone,FSH)处理后,提取总RNA,采用实时荧光定量检测ZP3基因在各个样品的表达水平.结果 表明,鸡ZP3基因全长1415 bp,其中编码区1341 bp,共编码446个氨基酸,位于10号染色体上,包含9个外显子;其亲缘关系与猪最远;跨膜结构预测表示,其含有一个跨膜结构域和一个信号肽区域;对其亲疏水性进行分析,预测该蛋白为弱的疏水性蛋白,蛋白质结构主要由无规则卷曲构成.组织表达谱显示,ZP3基因在鸡的卵巢中相对表达量最高.各等级卵泡ZP3表达分析显示,随着卵泡发育,ZP3基因在成熟卵泡(F1)颗粒细胞层表达量最高;在使用FSH处理等级颗粒细胞后,发现ZP3表达量显著上调(P＜0.05),暗示ZP3基因在颗粒细胞中受到FSH激素调节.本试验对ZP3基因的结构进行了分析并预测该基因存在跨膜结构和信号肽区域.基因表达谱分析结果显示,ZP3基因在卵泡发育过程中表达量逐渐升高且主要在颗粒细胞中表达,可能受到FSH的调节作用,因此预测,ZP3基因可能与海兰褐蛋鸡繁殖功能相关.

Target acquisition in an occluded environment is challenging given the omni-directional and first-person view in virtual reality (VR). We propose Solar-Casting, a global scene filtering technique to manage occlusion in VR. To improve target search, users control a reference sphere centered at their head through varied occlusion management modes: Hide, SemiT (Semi-Transparent), Rotate. In a preliminary study, we find SemiT to be better suited for understanding the context without sacrificing performance by applying semi-transparency to targets within the controlled sphere. We then compare Solar-Casting to highly efficient selection techniques to acquire targets in a dense and occluded VR environment. We find that Solar-Casting performs competitively to other techniques in known environments, where the target location information is revealed. However, in unknown environments, requiring target search, Solar-Casting outperforms existing approaches. We conclude with scenarios demonstrating how Solar-Casting can be applied to crowded and occluded environments in VR applications.

旨在探索鸡肉碱棕榈酰转移酶1A(CPT1A)基因的生物学特征,研究其表达的组织和时空差异.通过生物信息学软件对CPT1A序列进行分析和功能预测,利用荧光定量PCR技术检测该基因在12周固始鸡腹脂、皮脂、胸肌、腿肌和肝中的表达量,以及在不同时期(6周,12周,22周和30周)固始鸡胸肌中的表达量.结果显示,鸡CPT1A蛋白无信号肽,有两个跨膜结构域.鸡与斑马鱼CPT1A基因的亲缘关系最远,与小鼠、人、猪、山羊、奶牛的亲缘关系较近.CPT1A基因在12周固始鸡肝脏组织中表达量最高,胸肌和腿肌次之,腹脂和皮脂中表达量较低,在不同发育阶段中固始鸡胸肌中表达量相对较高的为12周和6周,22周次之,30周则表达量最低.试验结果为进一步研究鸡CPT1A基因调控鸡脂质代谢的分子机制提供理论基础.

Although precise 3D positioning is not always necessary in virtual environments, it is still an important task for current and future applications of Virtual Reality (VR), including 3D modelling, engineering, and scientific applications. We focus on 3D positioning techniques in immersive environments that use a 6DOF controller as input device and present a new technique that improves 3D positioning performance in VR, in both speed and accuracy. Towards this goal, we adapted an extended sliding technique to VR systems with a controller as input device and compared it with previously presented 3DOF positioning techniques. The results showed that our new Extended VR Sliding technique significantly improved the accuracy for 3D positioning tasks, especially for targets in contact with the scene.

Selecting and positioning objects in 3D space are fundamental tasks in 3D user interfaces. We present two new techniques to improve 3D selection and positioning. We first augment 3D user interfaces with a new technique that enables users to select objects that are hidden from the current viewpoint. This layer-based technique for selecting hidden objects works for arbitrary objects and scenes. We then also extend a mouse-based sliding technique to work even if the manipulated object is hidden behind other objects, by making the manipulated object always fully visible through a transparency mask during drag-and-drop positioning. Our user study shows that with the new techniques, users can easily select hidden objects and that sliding with transparency performs faster than the common 3D widgets technique.

Constrained interaction and navigation methods for virtual reality reduce the complexity of the interaction. Yet, with previously presented solutions, users need to learn new interaction tools or remember different actions for changing between different interaction methods. In this paper, we propose Fluid VR, a new 3D user interface for interactive virtual environments that lets users seamlessly transition between navigation and selection. Based on the selected object's properties, Fluid VR applies specific constraints to the interaction or navigation associated with the object. This way users have a better control of their actions, without having to change tools or activate different modes of interaction.

We augment 3D user interfaces with a new technique that enables users to select objects that are invisible from the current viewpoint. We present a layer-based method for selecting invisible objects, which works for arbitrary objects and scenes. The user study shows that with our new techniques users can easily select hidden objects.

A lot of studies have proved that Zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1,ZEB1 played a major role in cell proliferation,cell survival and cell differentiation.However,the regulation of ZEB1 expression by microRNAs (miRNAs) in chicken breast muscle still remains unknown.This experiment examined the expression of ZEB1 in chicken breast tissues at 55 weeks and 20 weeks of age.In this study,TargetScan and miRDB software were used to predict the target miRNA of chicken ZEB1 gene,and ZEB1 wild-type and mutant double fluorescent reporter vector were constructed,the relationship between the potential miRNA and ZEB1 was verified using dual luciferase reporter assay in chicken DF1 cells.Dual-luciferasereporter assays results demonstrated that the expression of luciferase reporter gene linked with part sequence of the YUTR of chicken ZEB1 gene was down-regulated by the overexpression of gga-miR-200a in the DF1 cells,and the down-regulation behavior was abolished when the gga-miR-200a binding site in 3'UTR of ZEB1 was mutated,indicating that gga-miR-200a can suppress the expression level of its target gene ZEB1.Therefore,we concluded that gga-miR-200a might be involved in the cell differentiation and proliferation of chicken breast muscle through binding with ZEB1 3'UTR.These findings will contribute to further understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of miRNAs in chickens.

Intramuscular fat (IMF) has significant effects on the tenderness, juiciness, and flavor of chicken, which are important determinants of poultry meat quality. Although many studies have focused on microRNAs (miRNAs) involved in adipogenesis, little is known about miRNAs associated with poultry IMF deposition or intramuscular adipocyte differentiation. Bioinformatic analysis identified mitochondrial glycerol‑3‑phosphate acyltransferase (GPAM) as a putative target of miR-223. To explore the role of miR-223 in the process of chicken IMF deposition, loss and gain of function experiments were performed in primary intramuscular preadipocytes using miR-223 mimics, miR-223 inhibitor, and si-GPAM. Our results showed that miR-223 is significantly down-regulated in the breast muscle tissues of Gushi hens at the later-laying period in comparison with hens at the pre-laying period. Using qRT-PCR, we found that miR-223 expression in chicken tissues and intramuscular adipocytes correlates negatively with GPAM expression. Cell transfection experiments suggest that miR-223 inhibits intramuscular adipocyte differentiation via targeting GPAM. Experiments using a dual luciferase reporter system show that GPAM is a direct target of miR-223. Taken together, our results support the hypothesis that miR-223 regulates intramuscular fat deposition in chickens.

Moving objects is an important task in 3D user interfaces. In this work, we focus on (precise) 3D object positioning in immersive virtual reality systems, especially head-mounted displays (HMDs). To evaluate input method performance for 3D positioning, we focus on an existing sliding algorithm, in which objects slide on any contact surface. Sliding enables rapid positioning of objects in 3D scenes on a desktop system but is yet to be evaluated in an immersive system. We performed a user study that compared the efficiency and accuracy of different input methods (mouse, hand-tracking, and trackpad) and cursor display conditions (stereo cursor and one-eyed cursor) for 3D positioning tasks with the HTC Vive. The results showed that the mouse outperformed hand-tracking and the trackpad, in terms of efficiency and accuracy. Stereo cursor and one-eyed cursor did not demonstrate a significant difference in performance, yet the stereo cursor condition was rated more favourable. For situations where the user is seated in immersive VR, the mouse is thus still the best input device for precise 3D positioning.