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This paper proposes an approach based on a state-space model for learning the user concepts in image retrieval. We first design a scheme of region-based image representation based on concept units, which are integrated with different types of feature spaces and with different region scales of image segmentation. The design of the concept units aims at describing similar characteristics at a certain perspective among relevant images. We present the details of our proposed approach based on a state-space model for interactive image retrieval, including likelihood and transition models, and we also describe some experiments that show the efficacy of our proposed model. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using a state-space model to estimate the user intuition in image retrieval.

Object movie refers to a set of images captured from different perspectives around a 3D object. Object movie provides a good representation of a physical object because it can provide 3D interactive viewing effect, but does not require 3D model reconstruction. In this paper, we propose an efficient approach for content-based object movie retrieval. In order to retrieve the desired object movie from the database, we first map an object movie into the sampling of a manifold in the feature space. Two different layers of feature descriptors, dense and condensed, are designed to sample the manifold for representing object movies. Based on these descriptors, we define the dissimilarity measure between the query and the target in the object movie database. The query we considered can be either an entire object movie or simply a subset of views. We further design a relevance feedback approach to improving retrieved results. Finally, some experimental results are presented to show the efficacy of our approach.

Background: The discovery of effective therapeutic options for treating metastatic poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) after prior platinum‐based chemotherapy remains elusive. This study analyzed the efficacy of TLC388 (Lipotecan) Hydrochloride, a novel camptothecin analog, for pretreated patients with metastatic NEC. Methods: This single‐arm, two‐stage, phase II clinical trial was conducted at four community and academic centers in Taiwan. Patients aged 20 years or older with confirmed metastatic NEC and who had received prior systemic therapy with etoposide plus cisplatin were enrolled between July 2015 and May 2018. Patients received 40 mg/m2 of TLC388 intravenously on days 1, 8, and 15 of a 28‐day cycle until disease progression or unacceptable toxic effects. Gene mutations were analyzed by next‐generation sequencing. Results: Twenty‐three patients with a median age of 61 (range, 44–73) years, 18 of whom were men (78%), were enrolled. Patients received a median of 2 (range, 0–6) treatment cycles. Among 20 evaluable patients, 3 patients exhibited stable disease and no patient experienced a complete or partial remission, resulting in a disease control rate of 15%. Median progression‐free survival was 1.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4–15) months, and the median overall survival was 4.3 (95% CI, 1.7–15) months. The most common treatment‐related hematologic adverse events at grade 3 or higher were leukopenia (22.7%), anemia (31.8%), and thrombocytopenia (18.2%). The most frequent mutated genes in 35 patients with NEC were ARSA, DPYD, HEXB, BRCA1, HPD, MYBPC3, BBS2, IL7R, HSD17B4, and PRODH. Conclusion: TLC388 demonstrates limited antitumor activity in metastatic NEC. ClinicalTrials.govidentifier: NCT02457273. Implications for Practice: Poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (NECs) are rare and aggressive. Currently, effective therapeutic options for treating metastatic poorly differentiated NECs beyond platinum‐based chemotherapy remain elusive. In this single‐arm, multicenter, phase II study, 23 patients with NEC were enrolled and received TLC388 (Lipotecan) Hydrochloride, which is a novel camptothecin analog. The results demonstrated the disease control rate of 15%, the median progression‐free survival of 1.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.4–15) months, and the median overall survival of 4.3 (95% CI, 1.7–15) months. Most importantly, several novel genetic mutations and pathways were identified. These results offer the opportunity to develop future treatment strategies in this rare cancer. This article reports on the efficacy and safety of TLC388 in a second‐line setting for patients with poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our previous study showed Tai‐Chi‐Chuan (TCC) training, a moderate exercise, at school improved pulmonary function and inflammation profiles in children with mild asthma. However, habitual practice is hard to maintain with the lack of continuous family and peer support. We investigated whether parental intervention with social media could enhance children's adherence to exercise at home and improve asthmatic outcome measures. Parents were opted to attend a 12‐week TCC classroom training, supervise home practice, and report to a four‐step web‐based social media platform to stay updated and motivated through logging activity and tracking competition. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), FEV1/FVC and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were measured before and after 12 weeks of training. Fifty‐three asthmatic children were allocated into non‐TCC (control, n = 12), TCC groups with moderate‐to‐severe (TCC‐S, n = 26) and mild‐to‐moderate (TCC‐M, n = 15) asthma. We found both TCC groups exhibited better pulmonary function than the non‐TCC control. TCC increased FVC in mild‐to‐moderate asthma children while more pronounced improvement in FEV1, FEV1/FVC, PEF and FeNO was noticed in moderate‐to‐severe asthmatic children. All TCC subjects retained greater participation and better interaction online except for low‐ranking families who dramatically dropped their practice 9 weeks later. For asthmatic children, moderate exercise improves pulmonary functions in a severity‐dependent fashion. Parent‐based Learn‐Practice‐Persuade‐Award wheel is a useful platform to motivate children engagement in physical activity. Classical social persuasive skills could enhance general parent‐child relationship but tend to decrease in persuasiveness over time in low‐ranking families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a new method, the RANSAC-based DARCES method, which can solve the partially overlapping 3D registration problem without any initial estimation. For the noiseless case, the basic algorithm of our method can guarantee that the solution it finds is the true one, and its time complexity can be shown to be relatively low. An extra characteristic is that our method can be used even for the case that there are no local features in the 3D data sets. Index Terms--Computer vision, range data, range image, registration, 3D imaging.