An augmented Lagrangian method for total variation video restoration,”

Abstract-This paper presents a fast algorithm for restoring video sequences. The proposed algorithm, as opposed to existing methods, does not consider video restoration as a sequence of image restoration problems. Rather, it treats a video sequence as a space-time volume and poses a space-time total variation regularization to enhance the smoothness of the solution. The optimization problem is solved by transforming the original unconstrained minimization problem to an equivalent constrained minimization problem. An augmented Lagrangian method is used to handle the constraints, and an alternating direction method (ADM) is used to iteratively find solutions of the subproblems. The proposed algorithm has a wide range of applications, including video deblurring and denoising, video disparity refinement, and hot-air turbulence effect reduction

Epidural Interventions in the Management of Chronic Spinal Pain: American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) Comprehensive Evidence-Based Guidelines.

BACKGROUND: Chronic spinal pain is the most prevalent chronic disease with employment of multiple modes of interventional techniques including epidural interventions. Multiple randomized controlled trials (RCTs), observational studies, systematic reviews, and guidelines have been published. The recent review of the utilization patterns and expenditures show that there has been a decline in utilization of epidural injections with decrease in inflation adjusted costs from 2009 to 2018. The American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIPP) published guidelines for interventional techniques in 2013, and guidelines for facet joint interventions in 2020. Consequently, these guidelines have been prepared to update previously existing guidelines. OBJECTIVE: To provide evidence-based guidance in performing therapeutic epidural procedures, including caudal, interlaminar in lumbar, cervical, and thoracic spinal regions, transforaminal in lumbar spine, and percutaneous adhesiolysis in the lumbar spine. METHODS: The methodology utilized included the development of objective and key questions with utilization of trustworthy standards. The literature pertaining to all aspects of epidural interventions was viewed with best evidence synthesis of available literature and recommendations were provided. RESULTS: In preparation of the guidelines, extensive literature review was performed. In addition to review of multiple manuscripts in reference to utilization, expenditures, anatomical and pathophysiological considerations, pharmacological and harmful effects of drugs and procedures, for evidence synthesis we have included 47 systematic reviews and 43 RCTs covering all epidural interventions to meet the objectives.The evidence recommendations are as follows: Disc herniation: Based on relevant, high-quality fluoroscopically guided epidural injections, with or without steroids, and results of previous systematic reviews, the evidence is Level I for caudal epidural injections, lumbar interlaminar epidural injections, lumbar transforaminal epidural injections, and cervical interlaminar epidural injections with strong recommendation for long-term effectiveness.The evidence for percutaneous adhesiolysis in managing disc herniation based on one high-quality, placebo-controlled RCT is Level II with moderate to strong recommendation for long-term improvement in patients nonresponsive to conservative management and fluoroscopically guided epidural injections. For thoracic disc herniation, based on one relevant, high-quality RCT of thoracic epidural with fluoroscopic guidance, with or without steroids, the evidence is Level II with moderate to strong recommendation for long-term effectiveness.Spinal stenosis: The evidence based on one high-quality RCT in each category the evidence is Level III to II for fluoroscopically guided caudal epidural injections with moderate to strong recommendation and Level II for fluoroscopically guided lumbar and cervical interlaminar epidural injections with moderate to strong recommendation for long-term effectiveness.The evidence for lumbar transforaminal epidural injections is Level IV to III with moderate recommendation with fluoroscopically guided lumbar transforaminal epidural injections for long-term improvement. The evidence for percutaneous adhesiolysis in lumbar stenosis based on relevant, moderate to high quality RCTs, observational studies, and systematic reviews is Level II with moderate to strong recommendation for long-term improvement after failure of conservative management and fluoroscopically guided epidural injections. Axial discogenic pain: The evidence for axial discogenic pain without facet joint pain or sacroiliac joint pain in the lumbar and cervical spine with fluoroscopically guided caudal, lumbar and cervical interlaminar epidural injections, based on one relevant high quality RCT in each category is Level II with moderate to strong recommendation for long-term improvement, with or without steroids. Post-surgery syndrome: The evidence for lumbar and cervical post-surgery syndrome based on one relevant, high-quality RCT with fluoroscopic guidance for caudal and cervical interlaminar epidural injections, with or without steroids, is Level II with moderate to strong recommendation for long-term improvement. For percutaneous adhesiolysis, based on multiple moderate to high-quality RCTs and systematic reviews, the evidence is Level I with strong recommendation for long-term improvement after failure of conservative management and fluoroscopically guided epidural injections. LIMITATIONS: The limitations of these guidelines include a continued paucity of high-quality studies for some techniques and various conditions including spinal stenosis, post-surgery syndrome, and discogenic pain. CONCLUSIONS: These epidural intervention guidelines including percutaneous adhesiolysis were prepared with a comprehensive review of the literature with methodologic quality assessment and determination of level of evidence with strength of recommendations

Spatio-temporal consistency in video disparity estimation

We present a novel stereo video disparity estimation method. The proposed method is a two-stage algorithm. During the first stage, initial disparity maps are computed in a frame-by-frame basis. In the second stage, the initial estimates are treated as a space-time volume. By setting up an l1-normed minimization problem with a novel three-dimensional total variation regularization, spatial smoothness and temporal consistency are handled simultaneously. Due to our unique formulation, any existing image disparity estimation tech-nique may utilize our method as a post-processing step to refine noisy estimates or to be extended to videos. The proposed method shows superior speed, accuracy, and con-sistency compared to state-of-the-art algorithms. Index Terms — stereo vision, video disparity, signal de-noising, augmented Lagrangian, total variation minimization 1

Good Architecture = Good (ADL + Practices)

International audienceIn order to ensure the quality of their software development, companies incorporate best practices from recognized repositories or from their own experiences. These best practices are often described in software quality manuals which does not guarantee their implementation. In this paper, we propose a framework for the implementation of best practices concerning the design of the software architecture. We treat first the case of architecture design activity because it's the basis of the software development process. Our framework enables on the one hand to describe best practices and on the other hand to check their application by designers. We present an implementation of our framework in the Eclipse platform and for an ADL dedicated to Web applications. Finally, we give an example of use taken from the context of our industrial partner