Stitching for multi-view videos with large parallax based on adaptive pixel warping

Conventional stitching techniques for images and videos are based on smooth warping models, and therefore, they often fail to work on multi-view images and videos with large parallax captured by cameras with wide baselines. In this paper, we propose a novel video stitching algorithm for such challenging multi-view videos. We estimate the parameters of ground plane homography, fundamental matrix, and vertical vanishing points reliably, using both of the appearance and activity based feature matches validated by geometric constraints. We alleviate the parallax artifacts in stitching by adaptively warping the off-plane pixels into geometrically accurate matching positions through their ground plane pixels based on the epipolar geometry. We also exploit the inter-view and inter-frame correspondence matching information together to estimate the ground plane pixels reliably, which are then refined by energy minimization. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm provides geometrically accurate stitching results of multi-view videos with large parallax and outperforms the state-of-the-art stitching methods qualitatively and quantitatively

Learning Curve for Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy for Pathologic T2 Disease

Purpose: To investigate the learning curve for robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP) for pathologic T2 disease, we examined differences in perioperative outcomes according to time period. Materials and Methods: Between July 2005 and June 2008, a total of 307 consecutive patients underwent RALP for prostate cancer and 205 patients had pathologic T2 disease. Patients were grouped into 6-month time periods. We collected and examined the patient's perioperative data including age, body mass index (BMI), prostate-specific antigen (PSA), operation time, estimated blood loss, and positive surgical margin. Results: There were no significant differences among the groups in age (p=0.705), BMI (p=0.246), PSA (p=0.425), or prostate volume (p=0.380). Operation time (p<0.001) and estimated blood loss (p<0.001) decreased significantly with time. The positive surgical margin rate also showed a decreasing trend, but this was not significant (p=0.680). Conclusions: Operation time and estimated blood loss had a steep learning curve during the early 24 cases and then stabilized. A positive surgical margin rate, however, did not have a significant learning curve, although the positive surgical margin decreased continuously. ?? the Korean Urological Association, 2010

Skeletal changes of maxillary protraction without rapid maxillary expansion- A comparison of the primary and mixed dentition

Objective: To determine potential differences in treatment efficiencies of face mask therapy without rapid maxillary expansion (RME) at different early dental stages. Materials and Methods: Forty-nine Class III children who were treated with a face mask without RME were divided into two groups according to their pretreatment dental stage. The primary dentition treatment group consisted of 26 subjects and the mixed dentition treatment group consisted of 23 subjects. Lateral cephalograms before treatment (T0), at the end of treatment (T1), and at least 1 year after the end of treatment (T2) were calculated and analyzed. Fourteen cephalometric variables were evaluated by t-test to identify any significant differences in skeletal changes between the two groups during T1-T0, T2-T1, and T2-T0. Results: The primary dentition group showed not only a greater response to maxillary protraction without RME than did the mixed dentition group during T1-T0, but also a greater relapse tendency during T2-T1. As a result, no significant differences were noted between the two groups in the treatment effects of face masks without RME over the time period T2-T0. Conclusion: This study suggests that face mask therapy without RME may be postponed to the early to mid mixed dentition period because the therapy induces similar skeletal changes when initiated at primary or mixed dentition.This study was supported by the Korea University Fund

Regulation of TM4SF5-mediated tumorigenesis through induction of cell detachment and death by tiarellic acid

mRNA for four-transmembrane L6 family member 5 (TM4SF5), a homolog of tumor antigen L6, was previously shown to be highly expressed in diverse tumors. We recently found that human hepatocarcinoma tissues also overexpressed TM4SF5 protein, in comparison to normal liver tissues.We also found that tiarellic acid (TA) caused cell detachment-related apoptosis in cells expressing endogenous or stably-overexpressing TM4SF5. When cells expressing TM4SF5 were treated with TA, we observed reduced phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase, paxillin, and p130Cas, but not c-Src. TA treatment also caused focal adhesion loss and reduced cell adhesion, and increased the numbers of floating cells and apoptotic cells. These effects were blocked by overexpression of focal adhesion molecules, suggesting that treatment with TA mediates anoikis of TM4SF5-expressing cells. However, TM4SF5-null cells were not affected by TA, indicating that these effects occur specifically in TM4SF5-positive cells. TA administration reduced tumor formation in nude mice injected with TM4SF5-expressing cells, presumably through increased apoptosis in TM4SF5-positive tumors. These observations indicate that TM4SF5-positive tumorigenesis can be inhibited by TA via induction of cell detachment-related apoptosis, and suggest that TA may be developed as a putative therapeutic reagent against TM4SF5-positive tumorigenesis

Three-dimensional evaluation of soft tissue change gradients after mandibular setback surgery in skeletal Class III malocclusion

Objective: To evaluate whether mandibular setback surgery (MSS) for Class III patients would produce gradients of three-dimensional (3D) soft tissue changes in the vertical and transverse aspects. Materials and Methods: The samples consisted of 26 Class III patients treated with MSS using bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy. Lateral cephalograms and 3D facial scan images were taken before and 6 months after MSS, and changes in landmarks and variables were measured using a Rapidform 2006. Paired and independent t-tests were performed for statistical analysis. Results: Landmarks in the upper lip and mouth corner (cheilion, Ch) moved backward and downward (respectively, cupid bow point, 1.0 mm and 0.3 mm, P <.001 and P < 01; alar curvature-Ch midpoint, 0.6 mm and 0.3 mm, both P <.001; Ch, 3.4 mm and 0.8 mm, both P < <.001). However, landmarks in stomion (Stm), lower lip, and chin moved backward (Stm, 1.6 mm; labrale inferius [Li], 6.9 mm; LLBP, 6.9 mm; B9, 6.7 mm; Pog9, 6.7 mm; Me9, 6.6 mm; P < 001, respectively). Width and height of upper and lower lip were not altered significantly except for a decrease of lower vermilion height (Stm-Li, 1.7 mm, P <.001). Chin height (B9-Me9) was decreased because of backward and upward movement of Me9 (3.1 mm, P<.001). Although upper lip projection angle and Stm-transverse projection angle became acute (ChRt-Ls-ChLt, 5.7° Ch Rt-Stm-ChLt, 6.4°, both P, <.001) because of the greater backward movement of Ch than Stm, lower lip projection angle and Stm-vertical projection angle became obtuse (ChRt-Li-ChLt, 10.8°; Ls- Stm-Li, 23.5°, both P <.001) because of the larger backward movement of Li than labrale superius (Ls). Conclusions: Three-dimensional soft tissue changes in Class III patients after MSS exhibited increased gradients from upper lip and lower lip to chin as well as from Stm to Ch

Childhood Granulomatous Periorificial Dermatitis

Childhood granulomatous periorificial dermatitis (CGPD), also known as facial Afro-Caribbean childhood eruption (FACE), is a distinctive granulomatous form of perioral dermatitis. It is a condition of unknown etiology, characterized by monomorphous, small, papular eruptions around the mouth, nose and eyes that histopathologically show a granulomatous pattern. It affects prepubescent children of both sexes and typically persists for several months but resolved without scarring. We report a 9 year-old girl with multiple, discrete, monomorphic, papular eruptions of 2-months duration on the perioral and periocular areas. Histopathological examination demonstrated upper dermal and perifollicular granulomatous infiltrate

Short Term Virologic Efficacies of Telbivudine versus Entecavir against Hepatitis B-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Telbivudine has been reported to be more effective than lamivudine. However, because of the resistance rate to telbivudine (TLV), the current guidelines recommend entecavir (ETV) or tenofovir (TNV) as the first-line therapy for chronic hepatitis B. We investigated the short term virologic efficacy of TLV in comparison with ETV as the first-line agent of HBV suppression in HBV-related advanced HCC patients. A total of 86 consecutive patients with HBV-related HCC for whom antiviral treatment was initiated in Incheon St. Mary’s Hospital between 2010 and 2013 were analyzed. Virologic responses were investigated on the 4th, 12th, and 24th weeks of the antiviral therapies. In patients with advanced TNM stage cancer (stage 3 or 4) and poor liver function (Child-Pugh class B or C), the virologic response rates at weeks 12 and 24 were 25% (1/4) and 42.8% (3/7) in the TLV group and 33.3% (1/3) and 33.3% (1/3) in the ETV group, respectively (P=0.424, P=0.800). The short term efficacy of TLV was similar to that of ETV. Since TLV is highly cost-effective, it should be considered as a first-line antiviral agent in patients with advanced HCC, poor liver function, and short life expectancies

Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Isolated Para-aortic Lymph Node Recurrence after Curative Resection in Gastric Cancer

The aim of this study was to investigate whether stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) can salvage gastric cancer patients with para-aortic lymph node (PALN) recurrence. From January 2003 to December 2006, 7 patients were treated for isolated PALN recurrence from gastric cancer after curative resection. Follow up durations ranged from 19 to 33 months (median; 26 months), and SBRT doses from 45 Gy to 51 Gy (median 48 Gy) in 3 fractions. Disease progression-free and overall survivals and toxicities were recorded. Response to treatment was assessed by computed tomography. Final patient outcomes were as follows: 2 were alive without evidence of disease, 3 remained alive with disease, and 2 patients died of disease. Five of 7 patients showed complete response and 2 patients partial response between 3 and 11 months after SBRT. Three-year overall and disease progression-free survival rates post-SBRT were 43% and 29%, respectively. No severe complication was detected during follow-up. Selected patients with isolated PALN recurrence can be salvaged by SBRT without severe complications

The Distribution of Fetal Nuchal Translucency Thickness in Normal Korean Fetuses

The aim of present study was to establish normative data for the distribution of nuchal translucency (NT) thickness in normal Korean fetuses. The data were collected from pregnant women with singleton pregnancies in whom fetal ultrasound was performed and the fetal NT thickness was measured between 11 and 14 weeks of gestation. Among them, a total of 2,577 fetuses with a known normal outcome were included in this study. The distribution of multiple of median (MoM) values of the NT thickness with crown-rump length (CRL) in 10-mm intervals and the 95th percentile of MoM were calculated with the linear regression method. The present study showed that NT measurements increase with increasing CRL and a false positive rate increases with increasing gestational age. Therefore, a fixed cut-off point through the first trimester was not appropriate and each NT measurement should be examined according to the gestational age. The present study offers normative data of the fetal NT thickness in a Korean population, which can be used as reference for screening chromosomal aberrations or other congenital abnormalities in the first trimester