Using image morphing for memory-efficient impostor rendering on GPU

Real-time rendering of large animated crowds consisting thousands of virtual humans is important for several applications including simulations, games and interactive walkthroughs; but cannot be performed using complex polygonal models at interactive frame rates. For that reason, several methods using large numbers of pre-computed image-based representations, which are called as impostors, have been proposed. These methods take the advantage of existing programmable graphics hardware to compensate the computational expense while maintaining the visual fidelity. Making the number of different virtual humans, which can be rendered in real-time, not restricted anymore by the required computational power but by the texture memory consumed for the variety and discretization of their animations. In this work, we proposed an alternative method that reduces the memory consumption by generating compelling intermediate textures using image-morphing techniques. In order to demonstrate the preserved perceptual quality of animations, where half of the key-frames were rendered using the proposed methodology, we have implemented the system using the graphical processing unit and obtained promising results at interactive frame rates

Reproductive Outcome After Surgical Treatment of Endometriosis – Retrospective Analytical Study

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the reproductive outcomes of patients after surgical treatment of endometriosis. Material and Methods: The study included 100 infertile women, aged 21 to 41 years, who underwent surgical treatment of endometriosis. From January 2007 to January 2012, excision of endometriosis was performed by operative laparoscopy or laparotomy. Demographic, clinical, surgical and reproductive outcomes of 52 patients were retrospectively analyzed. Result: Twenty-three pregnancies (44%) were obtained in 52 patients, resulting in 16 term pregnancies, 4 spontaneous abortions under 16 weeks gestation, 2 spontaneous abortions at 20 gestational weeks and 1 ectopic pregnancy. Twenty nine patients did not achieve pregnancy and 68.9% (20/29) of them were treated with IVFICSI. Spontaneous pregnancies were obtained within 7 months after the surgery, whereas IVF-ICSI pregnancies were obtained within the period of 11 months. Seven patients were stage I, 14 patients stage II, 19 patients stage III, and 12 patients stage IV according to the American Fertility Society (AFS) Classification of Endometriosis. The pregnancy rate was 57% in stages I-II, 47% in stage III, 16% in stage IV endometriosis; and the rate of term pregnancies was 83%, 66%, and 0%, respectively. Seven pregnancies (7/14) were obtained in patients with bilateral endometriosis and 5 of them resulted in term pregnancy. Sixteen pregnancies (16/38) were obtained in patients with unilateral endometriosis and 11 of them resulted in term pregnancy. Conclusion: After surgical treatment of endometriosis, the pregnancy and live birth rates seem to be improved. Reproductive outcome is closely associated with the AFS score. Bilaterality of endometriosis does not affect pregnancy outcome

Cisplatin and Doxorubicin Induce Distinct Mechanisms of Ovarian Follicle Loss; Imatinib Provides Selective Protection Only against Cisplatin

Chemotherapy treatment in premenopausal women has been linked to ovarian follicle loss and premature ovarian failure; the exact mechanism by which this occurs is uncertain. Here, two commonly used chemotherapeutic agents (cisplatin and doxorubicin) were added to a mouse ovary culture system, to compare the sequence of events that leads to germ cell loss. The ability of imatinib mesylate to protect the ovary against cisplatin or doxorubicin-induced ovarian damage was also examined.Newborn mouse ovaries were cultured for a total of six days, exposed to a chemotherapeutic agent on the second day: this allowed for the examination of the earliest stages of follicle development. Cleaved PARP and TUNEL were used to assess apoptosis following drug treatment. Imatinib was added to cultures with cisplatin and doxorubicin to determine any protective effect.Histological analysis of ovaries treated with cisplatin showed oocyte-specific damage; in comparison doxorubicin preferentially caused damage to the granulosa cells. Cleaved PARP expression significantly increased for cisplatin (16 fold, p<0.001) and doxorubicin (3 fold, p<0.01). TUNEL staining gave little evidence of primordial follicle damage with either drug. Imatinib had a significant protective effect against cisplatin-induced follicle damage (p<0.01) but not against doxorubicin treatment.Cisplatin and doxorubicin both induced ovarian damage, but in a markedly different pattern, with imatinib protecting the ovary against damage by cisplatin but not doxorubicin. Any treatment designed to block the effects of chemotherapeutic agents on the ovary may need to be specific to the drug(s) the patient is exposed to

Docetaxel induces moderate ovarian toxicity in mice, primarily affecting granulosa cells of early growing follicles

Advances in cancer therapy have focused attention on the quality of life of cancer survivors. Since infertility is a major concern following chemotherapy, it is important to characterize the drug-specific damage to the reproductive system to help find appropriate protective strategies. This study investigates the damage on neonatal mouse ovary maintained in vitro for 6 days, and exposed for 24 h (on Day 2) to clinically relevant doses of Docetaxel (DOC; low: 0.1 µM, mid: 1 µM, high: 10 µM). Furthermore, the study explores the putative protective action exerted by Tri-iodothyronine (T3; 10(−7) M). At the end of culture, morphological analyses and follicle counts showed that DOC negatively impacts on early growing follicles, decreasing primary follicle number and severely affecting health at the transitional and primary stages. Poor follicle health was mainly due to effects on granulosa cells, indicating that the effects of DOC on oocytes were likely to be secondary to granulosa cell damage. DOC damages growing follicles specifically, with no direct effect on the primordial follicle reserve. Immunostaining and western blotting showed that DOC induces activation of intrinsic, type II apoptosis in ovarian somatic cells; increasing the levels of cleaved caspase 3, cleaved caspase 8, Bax and cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, while also inducing movement of cytochrome C from mitochondria into the cytosol. T3 did not prevent the damage induced by the low dose of DOC. These results demonstrated that DOC induces a gonadotoxic effect on the mouse ovary through induction of somatic cell apoptosis, with no evidence of direct effects on the oocyte, and that the damaging effect is not mitigated by T3

Ovarian damage from chemotherapy and current approaches to its protection

BACKGROUND: Anti-cancer therapy is often a cause of premature ovarian insufficiency and infertility since the ovarian follicle reserve is extremely sensitive to the effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. While oocyte, embryo and ovarian cortex cryopreservation can help some women with cancer-induced infertility achieve pregnancy, the development of effective methods to protect ovarian function during chemotherapy would be a significant advantage.OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE: This paper critically discusses the different damaging effects of the most common chemotherapeutic compounds on the ovary, in particular, the ovarian follicles and the molecular pathways that lead to that damage. The mechanisms through which fertility-protective agents might prevent chemotherapy drug-induced follicle loss are then reviewed.SEARCH METHODS: Articles published in English were searched on PubMed up to March 2019 using the following terms: ovary, fertility preservation, chemotherapy, follicle death, adjuvant therapy, cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, doxorubicin. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied to the analysis of the protective agents.OUTCOMES: Recent studies reveal how chemotherapeutic drugs can affect the different cellular components of the ovary, causing rapid depletion of the ovarian follicular reserve. The three most commonly used drugs, cyclophosphamide, cisplatin and doxorubicin, cause premature ovarian insufficiency by inducing death and/or accelerated activation of primordial follicles and increased atresia of growing follicles. They also cause an increase in damage to blood vessels and the stromal compartment and increment inflammation. In the past 20 years, many compounds have been investigated as potential protective agents to counteract these adverse effects. The interactions of recently described fertility-protective agents with these damage pathways are discussed.WIDER IMPLICATIONS: Understanding the mechanisms underlying the action of chemotherapy compounds on the various components of the ovary is essential for the development of efficient and targeted pharmacological therapies that could protect and prolong female fertility. While there are increasing preclinical investigations of potential fertility preserving adjuvants, there remains a lack of approaches that are being developed and tested clinically

Reproductive outcomes after hysteroscopic metroplasty for uterine septum

PubMed ID: 21355459Purpose of Investigation: To evaluate reproductive outcome after hysteroscopic metroplasty. Methods: We analyzed the reproductive outcome of 30 patients with different degrees of septate uterus undergoing hysteroscopic metroplasty. In all cases the procedure was performed by resectoscope. Results: The patients had a total 74 pregnancies before metroplasty. Of these, ten (14%) were carried to term, six (8%) ended in preterm delivery, and 58 (78%) ended in spontaneous abortion. At least one year following hysteroscopic metroplasty a total of 20 pregnancies occurred. Of these, 11 (55%) were carried to term, two (10%) ended in preterm delivery, seven (35%) ended in spontaneous abortion. Conclusion: Correction of uterine septum significantly improves the prognosis of the pregnancies in patients with a history of severe obstetric problems. These results are similar to the results reported in the literature. Our data analysis suggests that hysteroscopic metroplasty for uterine septum improves pregnancy outcome of patients who come to us with a desire to conceive

Reproductive outcome after surgical treatment of endometriosis-retrospective analytical study

PubMed ID: 24505952Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the reproductive outcomes of patients after surgical treatment of endometriosis. Material and Methods: The study included 100 infertile women, aged 21 to 41 years, who underwent surgical treatment of endometriosis. From January 2007 to January 2012, excision of endometriosis was performed by operative laparoscopy or laparotomy. Demographic, clinical, surgical and reproductive outcomes of 52 patients were retrospectively analyzed. Result: Twenty-three pregnancies (44%) were obtained in 52 patients, resulting in 16 term pregnancies, 4 spontaneous abortions under 16 weeks gestation, 2 spontaneous abortions at 20 gestational weeks and 1 ectopic pregnancy. Twenty nine patients did not achieve pregnancy and 68.9% (20/29) of them were treated with IVFICSI. Spontaneous pregnancies were obtained within 7 months after the surgery, whereas IVF-ICSI pregnancies were obtained within the period of 11 months. Seven patients were stage I, 14 patients stage II, 19 patients stage III, and 12 patients stage IV according to the American Fertility Society (AFS) Classification of Endometriosis. The pregnancy rate was 57% in stages I-II, 47% in stage III, 16% in stage IV endometriosis; and the rate of term pregnancies was 83%, 66%, and 0%, respectively. Seven pregnancies (7/14) were obtained in patients with bilateral endometriosis and 5 of them resulted in term pregnancy. Sixteen pregnancies (16/38) were obtained in patients with unilateral endometriosis and 11 of them resulted in term pregnancy. Conclusion: After surgical treatment of endometriosis, the pregnancy and live birth rates seem to be improved. Reproductive outcome is closely associated with the AFS score. Bilaterality of endometriosis does not affect pregnancy outcome. © Polskie Towarzystwo Ginekologiczne