Search

Aggregation, as an operation of cartographic generalization, provides an effective means of abstracting the configuration of building features by combining them according to the scale reduction of the 2D map. Automating this design process effectively helps professional cartographers design both paper and digital maps, but finding the best aggregation result from the numerous combinations of building features has been a challenge. This paper presents a novel approach to assist cartographers in interactively designing the aggregation of building features in scale‐aware map visualization. Our contribution is to provide an appropriate set of candidates for the cartographer to choose from among a limited number of possible combinations of building features. This is achieved by collecting locally optimal solutions that emerge in the course of aggregation operations, formulated as a label cost optimization problem. Users can also explore better aggregation results by interactively adjusting the design parameters to update the set of possible combinations, along with an operator to force the combination of manually selected building features. Each cluster of aggregated building features is tightly enclosed by a concave hull, which is later adaptively simplified to abstract its boundary shapes. Experimental design examples and evaluations by expert cartographers demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach to interactive aggregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transit maps are designed to present information for using public transportation systems, such as urban railways. Creating a transit map is a time‐consuming process, which requires iterative information selection, layout design, and usability validation, and thus maps cannot easily be customised or updated frequently. To improve this, scientists investigate fully‐ or semi‐automatic techniques in order to produce high quality transit maps using computers and further examine their corresponding usability. Nonetheless, the quality gap between manually‐drawn maps and machine‐generated maps is still large. To elaborate the current research status, this state‐of‐the‐art report provides an overview of the transit map generation process, primarily from Design, Machine, and Human perspectives. A systematic categorisation is introduced to describe the design pipeline, and an extensive analysis of perspectives is conducted to support the proposed taxonomy. We conclude this survey with a discussion on the current research status, open challenges, and future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A set diagram represents the membership relation among data elements. It is often visualized as secondary information on top of primary information, such as the spatial positions of elements on maps and charts. Visualizing the temporal evolution of such set diagrams as well as their primary features is quite important; however, conventional approaches have only focused on the temporal behavior of the primary features and do not provide an effective means to highlight notable transitions within the set relationships. This paper presents an approach for generating a stepwise animation between set diagrams by decomposing the entire transition into atomic changes associated with individual data elements. The key idea behind our approach is to optimize the ordering of the atomic changes such that the synthesized animation minimizes unwanted set occlusions by considering their depth ordering and reduces the gaze shift between two consecutive stepwise changes. Experimental results and a user study demonstrate that the proposed approach effectively facilitates the visual identification of the detailed transitions inherent in dynamic set diagrams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To evaluate the long‐term outcome of stereotactic body radiotherapy in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma who were ineligible for resection or ablation therapies. Methods: A total of 65 patients with 74 hepatocellular carcinomas (median tumor size 16 mm) were enrolled in the present study. They were treated with the prescribed dose of 48 Gy in four fractions at the isocenter. We extended the observation period and analyzed long‐term outcomes, including overall survival, progression‐free survival, local control, and various prognostic factors, in these patients. Results: The median follow‐up period was 41 months for all patients and 62 months for surviving patients. The 3‐ and 5‐year overall survival rates were 56.3% (95% confidence interval, 44.1–68.5%) and 41.4% (95% confidence interval, 28.7–54.1%), respectively. The 3‐ and 5‐year progression‐free survival rates were 25.4% (95% confidence interval, 14.0–36.8%) and 10.6% (95% confidence interval, 1.5–19.8%), respectively. The 3‐ and 5‐year local control rates were both 100% (95% confidence interval 100%). Liver toxicities exceeding grade 3 were observed in 15 patients (23.1%). The proportion of patients who had grade ≥3 toxicities did not increase. Adverse effects (grade ≤2) presented as significant prognostic factors of overall survival, while TNM stage (T1N0M0) was a significant prognostic factor of progression‐free survival after multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Stereotactic body radiotherapy was effective for patients with small hepatocellular carcinomas who were ineligible for resection or ablation therapies. The incidence of grade ≥3 adverse effects did not increase, even after longer follow‐up times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To evaluate the efficacy and safety of stereotactic body radiotherapy ( SBRT) in patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC) who were ineligible for resection or ablation therapies. Methods Overall, 65 patients with 74 HCC (median tumor size, 16 mm) were enrolled. They were treated at the prescribed dose of 48 Gy in four fractions at the isocenter. Child- Turcotte- Pugh ( CTP) scoring was used to classify 56 and nine patients into classes A and B, respectively. Local progression was defined as irradiated tumor growth on a dynamic computed tomography follow up. The median follow-up period was 26 months. Tumor responses were assessed according to the modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors. Treatment-related toxicities were evaluated according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4.0. Results The 2-year overall survival, progression-free survival and local control rates were 76.0% (95% confidence interval [ CI], 65.4-86.7%), 40.0% (95% CI, 27.6-52.3%) and 100% (95% CI, 100%), respectively. At 6-12 months after SBRT, grade 3 or higher toxicities was observed in 15 (23.1%) patients. The incidence of grade 3 or higher toxicities was higher in CTP class B than in class A ( P = 0.0127). Conclusion SBRT was effective and relatively safe for patients with small HCC who were ineligible for resection or ablation therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate portal vein and bile duct toxicity after stereotactic body radiation therapy ( SBRT) for hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC). We retrospectively reviewed 63 patients who were administrated SBRT once for HCC. The prescribed doses were from 48 Gy in four fractions to 60 Gy in eight fractions. Portal vein thrombosis and bile duct stenosis were evaluated. The dose received by 2% of the volume ( D2) of the portal vein and bile duct was calculated. Portal vein thrombosis was observed in three patients (4.8%). Common points of these patients were Child- Pugh class B and D2 of the portal vein 40 Gy or more ( BED3 ≥200 Gy). Bile duct stenosis was observed in one patient (1.6%). The patient had a history of cholangiocarcinoma and left hepatic lobectomy. Portal vein thrombosis may be necessary to be considered when SBRT for HCC is administrated to patients in higher Child- Pugh class with higher D2 of the portal vein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annotating metro maps with thumbnail photographs is a commonly used technique for guiding travelers. However, conventional methods usually suffer from small labeling space around the metro stations especially when they are interchange stations served by two or more metro lines. This paper presents an approach for aesthetically designing schematic metro maps while ensuring effective placement of large annotation labels that are sufficiently close to their corresponding stations. Our idea is to distribute such labels in a well-balanced manner to labeling regions around the metro network first and then adjust the lengths of metro line and leader line segments, which allows us to fully maximize the space coverage of the entire annotated map. This is accomplished by incorporating additional constraints into the conventional mixed-integer programming formulation, while we devised a three-step algorithm for accelerating the overall optimization process. We include several design examples to demonstrate the spatial efficiency of the map layout generated using the proposed approach through minimal user intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To evaluate the dynamic computed tomography ( CT) appearance of tumor response after stereotactic body radiation therapy ( SBRT) for hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC) and reconsider response evaluation criteria for SBRT that determine treatment outcomes. Methods Fifty-nine patients with 67 tumors were included in the study. Of these, 56 patients with 63 tumors underwent transarterial chemoembolization using lipiodol prior to SBRT that was performed using a 3- D conformal method (median, 48 Gy/four fractions). Dynamic CT scans were performed in four phases, and tumor response was evaluated by comparing tumor appearance on CT prior SBRT and at least 6 months after SBRT. The median follow-up time was 12 months. Results The dynamic CT appearance of tumor response was classified into the following: type 1, continuous lipiodol accumulation without early arterial enhancement (26 lesions, 38.8%); type 2, residual early arterial enhancement within 3 months after SBRT (17 lesions, 25.3%); type 3, residual early arterial enhancement more than 3 months after SBRT (19 lesions, 28.4%); and type 4, shrinking low-density area without early arterial enhancement (five lesions, 7.5%). Only two tumors with residual early arterial enhancement did not demonstrate remission more than 6 months after SBRT. Conclusion The dynamic CT appearance after SBRT for HCC was classified into four types. Residual early arterial enhancement disappeared within 6 months in most type 3 cases; therefore, early assessment within 3 months may result in a misleading response evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When providing travel guides for a specific route in a metro network, we often place the route around the center of the map and annotate stations on the route with thumbnail photographs. Nonetheless, existing methods do not offer an effective means of customizing the network layout in order to accommodate such large annotation labels while preserving its planar embedding. This paper presents a new approach for designing the metro map layout in order to annotate stations on a specific travel route with large annotation labels. Our idea is to elongate the travel route to be straight along the centerline of the map so that we can systematically annotate such stations with external labels. This is accomplished by extending the conventional mixed-integer programming technique for computing octilinear layouts where orientations inherent to the metro line segments are plausibly rearranged. The stations are then connected with external labels through leaders while minimizing intersections with metro lines for enhancing visual clarity. We present several design examples of metro maps and user studies to demonstrate that the proposed aesthetic criteria successfully direct viewers' attention to specific travel routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a method for automatically generating continuous line illustrations, drawings consisting of a single line, from a given input image. Our approach begins by inferring a graph from a set of edges extracted from the image in question and obtaining a path that traverses through all edges of the said graph. The resulting path is then subjected to a series of post-processing operations to transform it into a continuous line drawing. Moreover, our approach allows us to manipulate the amount of detail portrayed in our line illustrations, which is particularly useful for simplifying the overall illustration while still retaining its most significant features. We also present several experimental results to demonstrate that our approach can automatically synthesize continuous line illustrations comparable to those of some contemporary artists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constructing a 3D papercraft model from its unfolding has been fun for both children and adults since we can reproduce virtual 3D models in the real world. However, facilitating the papercraft construction process is still a challenging problem, especially when the shape of the input model is complex in the sense that it has large variation in its surface curvature. This paper presents a new heuristic approach to unfolding 3D triangular meshes without any shape distortions, so that we can construct the 3D papercraft models through simple atomic operations for gluing boundary edges around the 2D unfoldings. Our approach is inspired by the concept of topological surgery, where the appearance of boundary edges of the unfolded closed surface can be encoded using a symbolic representation. To fully simplify the papercraft construction process, we developed a genetic-based algorithm for unfolding the 3D mesh into a single connected patch in general, while optimizing the usage of the paper sheet and balance in the shape of that patch. Several examples together with user studies are included to demonstrate that the proposed approach works well for a broad range of 3D triangular meshes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To estimate nitrogen release through the decomposition of Zoysia japonica litter, we conducted 2-year litter-bag measurements for dry matter loss and nitrogen dynamics of decomposing litter on the soil surface of a Z. japonica pasture in central Japan, and modeled the nitrogen release from the litter. The litter mass decreased to approximately 50% in the first year with a steep decline in summer and a gradual decline in winter. The nitrogen concentration of the litter increased with incubation time, while the amount of nitrogen in the litter changed minimally for more than one year and then gradually declined to approximately 60% of the initial amount at the end of the incubation. The model for estimating nitrogen release from the litter was established as a cubic relationship to the litter mass, because nitrogen concentration of the litter was well expressed as a quadratic function of the litter mass loss. The litter mass loss was estimated using a negative exponential equation in which the decomposition rate increased linearly with air temperature. The model can be used as a submodel of an integrated model for simulating nitrogen cycling in Z. japonica pastures in an area with sufficient rainfall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method for automatically generating a picture maze from two different images is introduced throughout this paper. The process begins with the extraction of salient contours and edge tangent flow information from the primary image in order to build the overall maze. Thus, mazes with passages flowing in the main edge directions and walls that effectively represent an abstract version of the primary image can be successfully created. Furthermore, our proposed approach makes possible the use of their solution path as a means of illustrating the main features of the secondary image, while attempting to keep its image motif concealed until the maze has been finally solved. The contour features and intensity of the secondary image are also incorporated into our method in order to determine the areas of the maze to be shaded by allowing the solution path to go through them. Moreover, an experiment has been conducted to confirm that solution paths can be successfully hidden from the participants in the mazes generated using our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given a pair of keyframe formations for a group consisting of multiple individuals, we present a spectral-based approach to smoothly transforming a source group formation into a target formation while respecting the clusters of the involved individuals. The proposed method provides an effective means for controlling the macroscopic spatiotemporal arrangement of individuals for applications such as expressive formations in mass performances and tactical formations in team sports. Our main idea is to formulate this problem as rotation interpolation of the eigenbases for the Laplacian matrices, each of which represents how the individuals are clustered in a given keyframe formation. A stream of time-varying formations is controlled by editing the underlying adjacency relationships among individuals as well as their spatial positions at each keyframe, and interpolating the keyframe formations while producing plausible collective behaviors over a period of time. An interactive system of editing existing group behaviors in a hierarchical fashion has been implemented to provide flexible formation control of large crowds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to clarify the effect of land-use change from forest to grazing pasture on the organic carbon storage in Andosol soil, the Rothamsted carbon turnover model for volcanic soil was applied to a pasture situated at the National Livestock Breeding Center (37°09′N, 140°03′E). The top 25-cm soil layer was considered to be an active soil carbon pool. The carbon storage in the soils of native forest surrounding the pastures ranged 111–163 t C ha−1 with an average of 133 t C ha−1, which was adjusted according to an equivalent soil weight of pasture. The pasture soil carbon stocks ranged 88–135 t C ha−1, with variations according to site and/or pasture age. The carbon inputs to the soil through the above- and below-ground dead material from pasture plants and cattle feces were estimated to be 1.1, 1.8 and 0.9 t C ha−1 year−1, respectively. As the model outputs of 14C content of the soil, which is an index of carbon dating corresponding to nuclear weapons testing, showed a relatively close agreement with the observations, the modeling was acceptable for the purpose of predicting the turnover of organic carbon in Andosol soil. The model simulation demonstrated that, in order to maintain the average forest carbon level, 3–4 t ha−1 year−1 of the organic carbon input would be needed. These inputs would be provided in a grazing pasture producing 8–9 t ha−1 year−1 of above-ground dry matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixtures of orchard grass, perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, redtop, Kentucky bluegrass and white clover were sown in the autumn of 1973. Two 8-year grazing experiments were carried out at the National Grassland Research Institute (Nasushiobara, Tochigi, Japan) to determine the effects of grazing intensity and nitrogen levels on the pasture ecosystem: two different grazing intensities (1974–1981) and two different nitrogen levels (1982–1989). Large temporal and spatial variations in phytomass were observed in both experiments. To clarify the adaptability of the phytomass of the herbage species to environmental variations in year, season and treatments, we re-examined the data obtained in these two experiments using a Finlay-Wilkinson analysis. Orchard grass and tall fescue achieved significantly higher phytomass in a more fertile environment in that they showed a high adaptability to environmental variation. Redtop and Kentucky bluegrass showed an increase in phytomass proportional to environmental improvement. The phytomass performances of perennial ryegrass and white clover were almost independent of environmental variation in that their adaptability was low. Finally, Zoysia japonica and weeds such as Pennisetum alopecuroides and Digitaria adscendens, which were invaders from the surrounding areas to the experimental site, were not observed in the pasture during the first 8-year period; during the second 8-year period, they showed moderate adaptability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on an approach for modeling superspective projection of landscapes based on shape deformation techniques. Conversion of two dimensional visual effects into three dimensional geometric constraints; Use of photorealistic rendering in the field of computer graphics; Algorithm for partitioning a terrain surface.

Introduces a watermarking algorithm with informed detection for three dimensional polygonal meshes. Generation of watermark patches on the given mesh; Computation of a set of spectral coefficients of a polygonal mesh; Use of patch generation in watermark embedding.

A new regression analysis was proposed to evaluate the degree of spatial heterogeneity for individual species comprising a plant grassland community. The weighted average of the heterogeneity value of all the species comprising the community provides a measure of community-level heterogeneity. A field survey was carried out, as an example, in order to analyze the spatial heterogeneity of a pasture with grazing cows, using 100 quadrats 50 cm × 50 cm, each of which was divided into four smaller quadrats 25 cm × 25 cm, on a 50 m long line-transect. The frequency of occurrence for all the species in each small quadrat was recorded. The regression associated with the ratio of the theoretical and observed variances of occurence counts was used to analyse the frequency distribution of species in a pasture community. A good fit to the regression for the whole community was obtained. These results indicate that (i) each species in the example was distributed more heterogeneously than a random pattern; and (ii) the regression could well describe the spatial heterogeneity of the grassland plant community. In most of the observed species, spatial heterogeneity is often characterized by species-specific propagation traits and the architecture of plant bodies. Thus, the spatial patterns of a grassland community can be evaluated in detail by this power-law approach. This measure is suitable for field surveys and comparative studies of grassland communities, and for other plant communities that are generally short in height. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The purpose of this study was to report the treatment outcome of a patient with nasopharyngeal small cell carcinoma. Methods The patient received concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT). Chemotherapy consisted of 4 cycles of cisplatin and etoposide. Accelerated hyperfractionated radiotherapy (RT) was performed with a dose of 45 Gy in 30 fractions over 3 weeks for the nasopharynx and upper neck region, whereas conventional fractionated RT was performed with a dose of 50 Gy in 25 fractions over 5 weeks for the lower neck region. Results Complete response was achieved 1 month after the completion of CRT. Prophylactic cranial irradiation was not performed. Isolated brain metastasis was diagnosed 18 months after the completion of CRT. Finally, the patient died because of the brain and cord metastases 32 months after the completion of CRT. Conclusion The administration of prophylactic cranial irradiation may be considered for nasopharyngeal small cell carcinoma. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 37: E63-E65, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using gamma distribution and spatial autocorrelation, it was demonstrated that plant biomass per unit area of a pasture grazed by cattle exhibited two kinds of spatial heterogeneity: small-scale heterogeneity caused by grazing and large-scale heterogeneity caused by topography, land aspect, etc. For each of the 10 measurement times from May to August, 100 quadrats 50 cm × 50 cm were arranged along a straight line 50 m long in a pasture, and the plants within the quadrats were harvested at the height of 3 cm above the ground surface to measure the dry weight. The data were aggregated into frequency distributions, and gamma distribution and the parameter values were estimated. This analysis showed that with the progression of grazing the amount of biomass decreased and the degree of spatial heterogeneity in biomass, measured per 0.25 m2 , increased, and due to plant regrowth the trends were reversed. By rearranging the 100 biomass data in order of weight, it was suggested that plots with an extremely large biomass were not grazed by cattle and remained in the pasture. For the same data, variations of biomass along the straight line were divided into two parts based on the moving average: the spatial trend and the residuals which cannot be explained by the trend. In this analysis, 48–75% of the total spatial variation was explained by the trend along the straight line. Analysis using spatial autocorrelation for the actual biomass changes showed that the biomass changes within a range of about 10 m on the straight line gave a positive correlation, which indicates a topographical trend in biomass. Spatial autocorrelation for residuals suggested that the spatial changes in biomass along the straight line followed a wave-like or checker-board pattern. Small-scale spatial heterogeneity in plant biomass may be caused by the uneven deposition of excreta by grazing animals, uneven use of the grassland by grazing animals, and uneven dispersal of plant seeds through faeces over the grassland. The possibility that such unevenness might accelerate energy flow in the grassland ecosystem and contribute to grassland sustainability is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method is proposed to estimate the frequency and the spatial heterogeneity of occurrence of individual plant species composing the community of a grassland or a plant community with a short height. The measure is based on the beta-binomial distribution. The weighted average heterogeneity of all the species composing a community provides a measure of community-level heterogeneity determining the spatial intricateness of community composition of existing species. As an example to illustrate the method, a sown grassland with grazing cows was analysed, on 102 quadrats of 50 cm x 50 cm, each of which divided into four small quadrats of 25 cm x 25 cm. The frequency of occurrence for all the species was recorded in each small quadrat. Good fits to the beta-binomial series for most species of the community were obtained. These results indicate that (1) each species is distributed heterogeneously with respective spatial patterns, (2) the degree of heterogeneity is different from species to species, and (3) the beta-binomial distribution can be applied for grassland communities. In most of the observed species spatial heterogeneity is often characterized by species-specific propagating traits: seed-propagating plant species exhibited a low heterogeneity/random pattern while clonal species exhibited a high heterogeneity/aggregated pattern. This measure can be applied to field surveys and to the estimation of community parameters for grassland diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]