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Recent studies on inverse tone mapping (iTM) have moved toward indirect mapping, which generates a stack of low dynamic range (LDR) images with multiple exposure values (multi-EV stack) and then merges them. In order to generate multi-EV stack(s), several large-scale networks with more than 20 M parameters have been proposed, but their high dynamic range (HDR) reconstruction and multi-EV stack generation performance were not acceptable. Also, some previous methods using cycle consistency should even have trained additional networks that are not used for multi-EV stack generation, which results in large memory for training. Thus, this paper proposes novel cyclic learning based on cycle consistency to reduce the memory burden in training. In detail, we eliminated networks used only for training, so the proposed method enables efficient learning in terms of training-purpose memory. In addition, this paper presents a lightweight iTM network that dramatically reduces the network sizes of the existing networks. Actually, the proposed lightweight network requires only a small parameter size of 1/100 compared to the state-of-the-art (SOTA) method. The lightweight network contributes to the practical use of iTM. Therefore, the proposed method based on a lightweight network reliably generates a multi-EV stack. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves quantitatively SOTA performance and is qualitatively comparable to conventional indirect iTM methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In a cohort study involving 393 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer, we incorporated the TERT mutational status into AJCC TNM staging 8th edition (TNM-8), proposing a new prognostic system, termed TNM-8T. We demonstrated that the new prognostic system is superior to the existing TNM-8 staging system and its contents are not very complicated. This study is the first to present a new model that combines the mutational profile with the AJCC TNM stage to improve the predictability of cancer-specific survival with long-term follow-up. The role of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations as an independent poor prognostic factor in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients is well known, but there is no prognostic system that combines the TERT promoter mutation status with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage to predict cancer-specific survival (CSS). A total of 393 patients with pathologically confirmed DTC after thyroidectomy were enrolled. After incorporating wild-type TERT and mutant TERT with stages I, II, and III/IV of the AJCC TNM system 8th edition (TNM-8), we generated six combinations and calculated 10-year and 15-year CSS and adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for cancer-related death using Cox regression. Then, a new mortality prediction model termed TNM-8T was derived based on the CSS and HR of each combination in the four groups. Of the 393 patients, there were 27 (6.9%) thyroid cancer-related deaths during a median follow-up of 14 years. Patients with a more advanced stage had a lower survival rate (10-year CSS for TNM-8T stage 1, 2, 3, and 4: 98.7%, 93.5%, 77.3%, and 63.0%, respectively; p < 0.001). TNM-8T showed a better spread of CSS (p < 0.001) than TNM-8 (p = 0.002) in the adjusted survival curves. The C-index for mortality risk predictability was 0.880 (95% CI, 0.665–0.957) in TNM-8T and 0.827 (95% CI, 0.622–0.930) in TNM-8 (p < 0.001). TNM-8T, a new prognostic system that incorporates the TERT mutational status into TNM-8, showed superior predictability to TNM-8 in the long-term survival of DTC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Systemic hematologic markers such as the neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are attracting attention in a simple blood test predicting survival and treatment outcomes in various solid cancers. In our study including 40 patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) who underwent radiotherapy, we found that high NLR before and after radiotherapy was associated with poor survival. This study result means that host immunity has an important role in patients with ATC, which can be important information for designing future investigations on the impact of immune system modulating therapy in ATC. The neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a marker of systemic inflammation, and its elevation has recently been associated with poor survival in many solid cancers. Leukocyte elevation and lymphocyte reduction are associated with a poor response to radiotherapy (RT). This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of NLR before and after RT for anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC). This retrospective study analyzed 40 patients with ATC who received RT with available complete blood cell count data from November 1995 through May 2020 at Samsung Medical Center (Seoul, Korea). Patients were classified into two groups according to the NLR before and after RT. The median overall survival (OS) was 8.9 months (range, 3.5–18.2) in the low NLR group (<3.47) and 5.2 months (range, 2.7–7.5) months in the high NLR group (≥3.47). The association between NLR and OS was also observed in multivariable Cox regression analysis (hazard ratio, 3.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.15–8.85; p = 0.026). The OS curves differed significantly according to post-RT NLR (p = 0.036). A high NLR before and after RT may be significantly associated with poor OS in patients with ATC who receive RT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]