iCub3 avatar system: Enabling remote fully immersive embodiment of humanoid robots.

We present an avatar system designed to facilitate the embodiment of humanoid robots by human operators, validated through iCub3, a humanoid developed at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia. More precisely, the paper makes two contributions: First, we present the humanoid iCub3 as a robotic avatar that integrates the latest significant improvements after about 15 years of development of the iCub series. Second, we present a versatile avatar system enabling humans to embody humanoid robots encompassing aspects such as locomotion, manipulation, voice, and facial expressions with comprehensive sensory feedback including visual, auditory, haptic, weight, and touch modalities.

Plant identification applications do not reliably identify toxic and edible plants in the American Midwest.

Introduction: Exposure to potentially toxic plants is a global problem, resulting in thousands of calls to poison centers and emergency department visits annually and occasional deaths. Persons with limited botanical knowledge may be tempted to rely on smartphone applications to determine if plants are safe to forage. This study evaluated the reliability of several popular smartphone applications to identify foraged foods and distinguish them from potentially toxic plants in the Midwestern United States.

Methanol toxicity in a pediatric patient treated with fomepizole and hemodialysis.

Methanol toxicity is an important cause of toxic alcohol exposure resulting in morbidity and mortality in both adult and pediatric populations. Methanol is metabolized into formaldehyde and formic acid: toxic metabolites that can cause altered mental status, visual disturbances, multisystem organ failure, and death. Recognition of methanol intoxication and rapid treatment are critical for the prevention of long-term sequelae.

European collaboration on health technology assessment: looking backward and forward.

The establishment of health technology assessment (HTA) has been an important topic in Europe for many years. There have been a series of activities starting with first projects in 1994 leading to joint actions from the European Network of HTA (EUnetHTA) ending in 2021. This long interval of engagement with HTA structures, methodology, and processes by all member states led to a reliable basis for European collaboration in HTA.