TRPINav: A System for Terrain, Route, Points of Interest, and Navigation

Maps are as fundamental to society as language and the written word. Maps are an abstraction of reality that help people to better understand the world around them. Route maps, specifically, depict a path from one place to another. Many route maps generated today contain excessive information making it difficult for people to process visually. Previous work has been done in generating routes, searching for nearby points of interest, and path generalization. This thesis proposes a system, TRPINav, that will integrate terrain data, route data, points of interest, and navigation in a cartographic visualization. This prototype navigation application includes a system designed to unify data from various sources, such as Yelp, Google Maps, and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) into a single coordinate frame for useful navigation and reference. This system presents a model to handle data acquisition and unification of these data sources and render them in a simplified and pleasing representation to the user. The prototype includes simple rendering techniques and a user study to validate which features are appealing and useful to the user. Analysis shows that users are generally pleased with features of the system, and that the system can help answer some geographic questions. The results of this analysis are used to determine future iterations of the system

Comparison of Swallowing Act Videofluoroscopy after Open and Laser Partial Supraglottic Laryngectomy

Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare the functional outcomes of swallowing act detected by videofluoroscopy of two different techniques in the treatment of laryngeal carcinoma.   Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 41 patients undergoing two supraglottic laryngectomy techniques. The research population was assigned into two groups of open and laser supraglottic laryngectomy, including 21 and 20 patients, respectively.   Results: Food residue was present in most of the patients in the open laryngectomy group. Aspiration of the liquid and solid contrasts was observed in 16 and 4 patients, respectively. In the laser laryngectomy group undergoing a partial supraglottic laryngectomy via carbon dioxide (CO2) laser, aspiration was recorded in only six patients. There was a statistically significant difference between these two groups regarding the presence of aspiration as a marker of a bad functional outcome.   Conclusion: Techniques that include the endoscopic removal of the tumor via CO2 laser result in good oncologic and functional outcomes, along with reduced postoperative morbidity and mortality