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Background Viridans streptococci (VS) are a large group of streptococcal bacteria that are causative agents of community-acquired respiratory tract infection. However, data regarding their clinical characteristics are limited. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the clinical and radiologic features of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) with or without parapneumonic effusion caused by VS. Methods Of 455 consecutive CAP patients with or without parapneumonic effusion, VS were isolated from the blood or pleural fluid in 27 (VS group, 5.9%) patients. Streptococcus pneumoniae was identified as a single etiologic agent in 70 (control group) patients. We compared various clinical parameters between the VS group and the control group. Results In univariate analysis, the VS group was characterized by more frequent complicated parapneumonic effusion or empyema and bed-ridden status, lower incidences of productive cough, elevated procalcitonin (>0.5 ng/mL), lower age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index score, and more frequent ground glass opacity (GGO) or consolidation on computed tomography (CT) scans. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that complicated parapneumonic effusion or empyema, productive cough, bed-ridden status, and GGO or consolidation on CT scans were independent predictors of community-acquired respiratory tract infection caused by VS. Conclusion CAP caused by VS commonly presents as complicated parapneumonic effusion or empyema. It is characterized by less frequent productive cough, more frequent bed-ridden status, and less common CT pulmonary parenchymal lesions. However, its treatment outcome and clinical course are similar to those of pneumococcal pneumonia.

We present two complementary methodologies to automatically generate 3D surfaces of human bodies including internal bones. The first methodology is a data-driven approach and uses a database of human bodies in conjunction with a learning model synthesizer to create 3D surfaces subject to desired shape and size. In the second methodology, we use medical scanning devices to capture the internal anatomy of the individual and reconstruct 3D surfaces of bones. The final result is an animatable human body including skin external surface as well as the internal skeleton.

Although graphical human modeling has been a long sought subject in computer graphics, when it comes to dealing with real-time applications, it raises a number of unique requirements for both CG artists and researchers. For example, for a real-time performance it is highly desirable to lighten the geometry and optimize the runtime animation of characters wherever possible. An important need in such systems is to assist the CG artists in seamlessly transforming their modeling work from CG packages to the real-time application, without limiting their expressivity. In this paper we describe techniques by which dressed human characters are modeled, loaded into VR scenes, and simulated in real-time. In doing so, we point out challenging issues and solutions that such tasks imply at each phase of modeling and simulation. In particular, we turn our attention to what we consider as key technical components: body and clothes. Case studies show that our modelers successfully meet the need of real-time requirements over a wide variety of scenarios.

Highly realistic virtual human models are rapidly becoming commonplace in computer graphics. These models, often represented by complex shape and requiring labor-intensive process, challenge the problem of automatic modeling. We study the problem and solutions to automatic modeling of animatable virtual humans. Methods for capturing the shape of real people, parameterization techniques for modeling static shape (the variety of human body shapes) and dynamic shape (how the body shape changes as it moves) of virtual humans are classified, summarized and compared. Finally, methods for clothed virtual humans are reviewed.

Highly realistic virtual human models are rapidly becoming commonplace in computer graphics. These models, often represented by complex shape and requiring labor-intensive process, challenge the problem of automatic modeling. The problem and solutions to automatic modeling of animatable virtual humans are studied. Methods for capturing the shape of real people, parameterization techniques for modeling static shape (the variety of human body shapes) and dynamic shape (how the body shape changes as it moves) of virtual humans are classified, summarized and compared. Finally, methods for clothed virtual humans are reviewed.

Simulating virtual environments populated with virtual but realistic crowds requires dozens of different face and body geometries. We present GENESIS (GENeration of E-population based on Statistical Information), an application that allows automatic generation of desired population models. The aim of this application is to generate any population group that is statistically calculated to satisfy given properties. We divide the population generation module into the face part and the body part. Each of them is based on a database, which is an organization of information collected and processed from the real population dataset. Upon the specification of the population parameters by the user, GENESIS transforms them onto a number Of queries to the underlying databases, and process the results from the database in a statistical manner, allowing dynamic generation of desired number of individuals while satisfying the given properties of on the overall population.

Presents the VPARK (Virtual Park) system, which includes a networked virtual environment (NVE) system called W-VLNET and an "attraction building system" that is able to create and modify the attractions used in the NVE. Both systems have been developed in the Windows NT environment. The paper outlines the techniques for communication, scene management, facial and body animation, and general user interaction modules. The use of VRML97 and MPEG-4 SHNC is overviewed for the purpose of outlining the compatability of the system with other similar virtual reality systems. The software provides realistic virtual actors as well as sets of high-level actions that are applicable to them in real-time. Related issues on obtaining actor models and animating them in real time are presented. The creation process of an attraction incorporates assembling animation units through a timeline. Using this software, the users are able to bring their own scenario-based applications into a shared virtual environment.

Presents our work on a level-of-detail (LoD) technique for human-like face models in virtual environments. Conventional LoD techniques have been adapted to allow facial animation on simplified geometric models. This includes the optimization of both geometric and animation parameters. Simplified models are generated in a region-based manner, considering the mobility of each region. The animation process is decomposed into two sub-processes, and each step is optimized. In the MPA (minimum perceptible action) level optimization, a hierarchical structure is devised for the multi-level animation model. The deformation level is simplified by reducing the number of control points. At run-time, the animation level is selected in combination with viewpoint information at the geometric level.

Acquisition of various human body models is useful in many cases. In this paper, we present some of our recent work on body creation tools. Our goal is to enable rapid creation of various body models that are immediately usable for animation. In doing so, we aim to carry out realistic deformations on the human body models as well as make its usage simple. Our system is composed of several modules: (1) Skin attachment to an H-Anim skeleton is carried out first in order to get deformation in skeletal shape modification as well as in animation. (2) Volumetric deformation module deals with the volumetric scale of body parts such as breast, belly and bottoms. These deformation operators, together with the skeletal deformation allow the automatic adaptation of the body model to different sizes and proportions to accommodate anthropometrical variations. (3) Surface optimization is used to simplify the model in consideration of not only geometric features but also the animation aspect of it. (4) Finally, the BDP generation module describes the geometry of the model as well as how to animate it according to the MPEG-4 BDP specifications.

This paper describes a complete methodology for cloning and dressing people by using a website. The input is simple photographs or body measurements that anybody can produce in any environment. Then the Web-based virtual-try-on allows users to see them dressed. The basic methodology uses a pre-calculated generic database to produce personally sized bodies and animate garments on a Web application.

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) has received considerable attention in recent years as the cause of infections in individuals in the community who do not have traditional risk factors for MRSA infection, such as hospitalization or contact with healthcare services. CA-MRSA strains have different molecular and antimicrobial susceptibilities, as compared to hospital-associated MRSA. Although CA-MRSA strains are primarily associated with skin and soft tissue infections, they can cause more invasive infections, such as severe community-acquired pneumonia. Reports on CA-MRSA pneumonia in Korea are sparse. Therefore, we report a case of CA-MRSA pneumonia with molecular typing of the MRSA isolate. (Korean J Med 2013;84:728-732)

The public are becoming increasingly concerned about the privacy invasion via the internet. The information privacy in telecommunications service management, privacy laws, especially the Online Privacy Act of 2003, and use of Platform for Privacy Preference (P3P) are discussed in this paper. Then, a quantification model using P3P in privacy control is suggested.

SummaryBackgroundAfter the application of chest computed tomography (CT), ground glass opacity (GGO) was introduced as one of major accompanying findings of miliary tuberculosis (MT) in addition to miliary nodules. However, little is known about whether GGO is associated with the clinical manifestations and outcomes of MT. Therefore, the present study examined the clinical relevance of GGO in patients with MT.MethodsChest radiographs and CT scans of MT patients were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical manifestations and outcomes were compared in terms of the extent of GGO revealed by chest CT.ResultsConfirmed 105 MT patients were included. GGO was observed in 70 (67%) patients. MT patients with an extent of GGO >50% (n = 21) had symptoms of shorter duration, more frequent dyspnea, and more pronounced changes in the levels of acute phase reactants. Miliary nodules were less discernible on CT in those with an extent of GGO >50%. MT patients with an extent of GGO >50% were significantly associated with a longer hospital stay (p = 0.02) and with acute respiratory failure (p 50% had more rapidly progressive manifestations and a greater potential for delayed diagnosis and poorer prognosis. Nevertheless, mortality was not higher in confirmed MT patients with an extent of GGO >50% than in those with an extent of GGO ≤50%.

Nowadays, 3D modeling is omnipresent, however modern tools for creating 3D models are complex and time consuming. Conversely, the sketch is a natural way to quickly communicate ideas, so a method allowing the automatic reconstruction of 3D objects from a sketch would simplify this process. This method should solve two problems: the computation of the hidden parts of the drawn shape and the determination of the 3D coordinates from the 2D data of the sketch. In this thesis, we present two new approaches that aim to overcome these problems. The first makes use of a priori and a pre-existing database to allow automatic 3D reconstruction of flowers from a single sketch from any angle of view. The second allows the reconstruction of all types of objects, without limitations, using a more informative drawing style and being guided by the user., De nos jours, la modélisation 3D est omniprésente, cependant les outils modernes pour créer des modèles 3D sont complexes et requièrent beaucoup de temps. A contrario, l’esquisse est un moyen naturel de communiquer rapidement des idées, ainsi une méthode permettant la reconstruction automatique d’objets 3D à partir d’un croquis simplifierait ce processus. Cette méthode devrait résoudre deux problèmes : le calcul des parties cachées de la forme dessinée et la détermination des coordonnées 3D à partir des données 2D du croquis. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons deux nouvelles approches qui visent à surmonter ces problèmes. La première se sert d’a priori et d’une base de données préexistantes pour permettre la reconstruction 3D automatique de fleurs à partir d’un seul croquis selon n’importe quel angle de vue. La seconde permet la reconstruction de tout type d’objets, sans limitations, en utilisant un style de dessin plus informatif et en étant guidée par l’utilisateur.

3D geometry modelling tools and 3D scanners become more enhanced and to a greater degree affordable today. Thus, development of the new algorithms in geometry processing, shape analysis and shape correspondence gather momentum in computer graphics. Those algorithms steadily extend and increasingly replace prevailing methods based on images and videos. Non-rigid shape correspondence or deformable shape matching has been a long-studied subject in computer graphics and related research fields. Not to forget, shape correspondence is of wide use in many applications such as statistical shape analysis, motion cloning, texture transfer, medical applications and many more. However, robust and efficient non-rigid shape correspondence still remains a challenging task due to fundamental variations between individual subjects, acquisition noise and the number of degrees of freedom involved in correspondence search. Although dynamic 2D/3D intra-subject shape correspondence problem has been addressed in the rich set of previous methods, dynamic inter-subject shape correspondence received much less attention. The primary purpose of our research is to develop a novel, efficient, robust deforming shape analysis and correspondence framework for animated meshes based on their dynamic and motion properties. We elaborate our method by exploiting a profitable set of motion data exhibited by deforming meshes with time-varying embedding. Our approach is based on an observation that a dynamic, deforming shape of a given subject contains much more information rather than a single static posture of it. That is different from the existing methods that rely on static shape information for shape correspondence and analysis.Our framework of deforming shape analysis and correspondence of animated meshes is comprised of several major contributions: a new dynamic feature detection technique based on multi-scale animated mesh’s deformation characteristics, novel dynamic feature descriptor, and an adaptation of a robust graph-based feature correspondence approach followed by the fine matching of the animated meshes. [...]; Correspondance de forme est un problème fondamental dans de nombreuses disciplines de recherche, tels que la géométrie algorithmique, vision par ordinateur et l'infographie. Communément définie comme un problème de trouver injective/ multivaluée correspondance entre une source et une cible, il constitue une tâche centrale dans de nombreuses applications y compris le transfert de attributes, récupération des formes etc. Dans récupération des formes, on peut d'abord calculer la correspondance entre la forme de requête et les formes dans une base de données, puis obtenir le meilleure correspondance en utilisant une mesure de qualité de correspondance prédéfini. Il est également particulièrement avantageuse dans les applications basées sur la modélisation statistique des formes. En encapsulant les propriétés statistiques de l'anatomie du sujet dans le model de forme, comme variations géométriques, des variations de densité, etc., il est utile non seulement pour l'analyse des structures anatomiques telles que des organes ou des os et leur variations valides, mais aussi pour apprendre les modèle de déformation de la classe d'objets. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à une enquête sur une nouvelle méthode d'appariement de forme qui exploite grande redondance de l'information à partir des ensembles de données dynamiques, variables dans le temps. Récemment, une grande quantité de recherches ont été effectuées en infographie sur l'établissement de correspondances entre les mailles statiques (Anguelov, Srinivasan et al. 2005, Aiger, Mitra et al. 2008, Castellani, Cristani et al. 2008). Ces méthodes reposent sur les caractéristiques géométriques ou les propriétés extrinsèques/intrinsèques des surfaces statiques (Lipman et Funkhouser 2009, Sun, Ovsjanikov et al. 2009, Ovsjanikov, Mérigot et al. 2010, Kim, Lipman et al., 2011) pour élaguer efficacement les paires. Bien que l'utilisation de la caractéristique géométrique est encore un standard d'or, les méthodes reposant uniquement sur l'information statique de formes peuvent générer dans les résultats de correspondance grossièrement trompeurs lorsque les formes sont radicalement différentes ou ne contiennent pas suffisamment de caractéristiques géométriques. [...]

3D geometry modelling tools and 3D scanners become more enhanced and to a greater degree affordable today. Thus, development of the new algorithms in geometry processing, shape analysis and shape correspondence gather momentum in computer graphics. Those algorithms steadily extend and increasingly replace prevailing methods based on images and videos. Non-rigid shape correspondence or deformable shape matching has been a long-studied subject in computer graphics and related research fields. Not to forget, shape correspondence is of wide use in many applications such as statistical shape analysis, motion cloning, texture transfer, medical applications and many more. However, robust and efficient non-rigid shape correspondence still remains a challenging task due to fundamental variations between individual subjects, acquisition noise and the number of degrees of freedom involved in correspondence search. Although dynamic 2D/3D intra-subject shape correspondence problem has been addressed in the rich set of previous methods, dynamic inter-subject shape correspondence received much less attention. The primary purpose of our research is to develop a novel, efficient, robust deforming shape analysis and correspondence framework for animated meshes based on their dynamic and motion properties. We elaborate our method by exploiting a profitable set of motion data exhibited by deforming meshes with time-varying embedding. Our approach is based on an observation that a dynamic, deforming shape of a given subject contains much more information rather than a single static posture of it. That is different from the existing methods that rely on static shape information for shape correspondence and analysis.Our framework of deforming shape analysis and correspondence of animated meshes is comprised of several major contributions: a new dynamic feature detection technique based on multi-scale animated mesh’s deformation characteristics, novel dynamic feature descriptor, and an adaptation of a robust graph-based feature correspondence approach followed by the fine matching of the animated meshes. [...]; Correspondance de forme est un problème fondamental dans de nombreuses disciplines de recherche, tels que la géométrie algorithmique, vision par ordinateur et l'infographie. Communément définie comme un problème de trouver injective/ multivaluée correspondance entre une source et une cible, il constitue une tâche centrale dans de nombreuses applications y compris le transfert de attributes, récupération des formes etc. Dans récupération des formes, on peut d'abord calculer la correspondance entre la forme de requête et les formes dans une base de données, puis obtenir le meilleure correspondance en utilisant une mesure de qualité de correspondance prédéfini. Il est également particulièrement avantageuse dans les applications basées sur la modélisation statistique des formes. En encapsulant les propriétés statistiques de l'anatomie du sujet dans le model de forme, comme variations géométriques, des variations de densité, etc., il est utile non seulement pour l'analyse des structures anatomiques telles que des organes ou des os et leur variations valides, mais aussi pour apprendre les modèle de déformation de la classe d'objets. Dans cette thèse, nous nous intéressons à une enquête sur une nouvelle méthode d'appariement de forme qui exploite grande redondance de l'information à partir des ensembles de données dynamiques, variables dans le temps. Récemment, une grande quantité de recherches ont été effectuées en infographie sur l'établissement de correspondances entre les mailles statiques (Anguelov, Srinivasan et al. 2005, Aiger, Mitra et al. 2008, Castellani, Cristani et al. 2008). Ces méthodes reposent sur les caractéristiques géométriques ou les propriétés extrinsèques/intrinsèques des surfaces statiques (Lipman et Funkhouser 2009, Sun, Ovsjanikov et al. 2009, Ovsjanikov, Mérigot et al. 2010, Kim, Lipman et al., 2011) pour élaguer efficacement les paires. Bien que l'utilisation de la caractéristique géométrique est encore un standard d'or, les méthodes reposant uniquement sur l'information statique de formes peuvent générer dans les résultats de correspondance grossièrement trompeurs lorsque les formes sont radicalement différentes ou ne contiennent pas suffisamment de caractéristiques géométriques. [...]

With an abundance of animation techniques available today, animated mesh has become a subject of various data processing techniques in Computer Graphics community, such as mesh segmentation and compression. Created from animation software or from motion capture data, a large portion of the animated meshes are deforming meshes, i.e. ordered sequences of static meshes whose topology is fixed (fixed number of vertices and fixed connectivity). Although a great deal of research on static meshes has been reported in the last two decades, the analysis, retrieval or compressions of deforming meshes remain as new research challenges. Such tasks require efficient representations of animated meshes, such as segmentation. Several spatial segmentation methods based on the movements of each vertex, or each triangle, have been presented in existing works that partition a given deforming mesh into rigid components. In this thesis, we present segmentation techniques that compute the temporal and spatio-temporal segmentation for deforming meshes, which both have not been studied before. We further extend the segmentation results towards the application of motion similarity measurement between deforming meshes. This may be significant as it solves the problem that cannot be handled by current approaches.; Avec le développement important des techniques d’animation, les maillages animés sont devenus un sujet de recherche important en informatique graphique, comme la segmentation de maillages animés ou la compression. Ces maillages animés qui sont créés à l’aide de logiciels ou à partir de données de capture de mouvements sont composés d’une séquence ordonnée de maillages de forme statique et dont la topologie reste la même (nombre fixe de sommets et de triangles). Bien qu’un grand nombre de travaux ont été menés sur les maillages statiques durant les deux dernières décennies, le traitement et la compression de maillages animés présentent de nombreuses difficultés techniques. En particulier, les traitements de maillages dynamiques nécessitent une représentation de données efficace basée sur la segmentation. Plusieurs travaux ont été publiés par le passé et qui permettent de segmenter un maillage animé en un ensemble de composants rigides.Dans cette thèse, nous présentons plusieurs techniques qui permettent de calculer une segmentation spatio-temporelle d’un maillage animé ; de tels travaux n’ont pas encore été publiés sur ce sujet. De plus, nous avons étendu cette méthode pour pouvoir comparer ces maillages animés entre eux à l’aide d’une métrique. À notre connaissance, aucune méthode existante ne permet de comparer des maillages animés entre eux.

With an abundance of animation techniques available today, animated mesh has become a subject of various data processing techniques in Computer Graphics community, such as mesh segmentation and compression. Created from animation software or from motion capture data, a large portion of the animated meshes are deforming meshes, i.e. ordered sequences of static meshes whose topology is fixed (fixed number of vertices and fixed connectivity). Although a great deal of research on static meshes has been reported in the last two decades, the analysis, retrieval or compressions of deforming meshes remain as new research challenges. Such tasks require efficient representations of animated meshes, such as segmentation. Several spatial segmentation methods based on the movements of each vertex, or each triangle, have been presented in existing works that partition a given deforming mesh into rigid components. In this thesis, we present segmentation techniques that compute the temporal and spatio-temporal segmentation for deforming meshes, which both have not been studied before. We further extend the segmentation results towards the application of motion similarity measurement between deforming meshes. This may be significant as it solves the problem that cannot be handled by current approaches.; Avec le développement important des techniques d’animation, les maillages animés sont devenus un sujet de recherche important en informatique graphique, comme la segmentation de maillages animés ou la compression. Ces maillages animés qui sont créés à l’aide de logiciels ou à partir de données de capture de mouvements sont composés d’une séquence ordonnée de maillages de forme statique et dont la topologie reste la même (nombre fixe de sommets et de triangles). Bien qu’un grand nombre de travaux ont été menés sur les maillages statiques durant les deux dernières décennies, le traitement et la compression de maillages animés présentent de nombreuses difficultés techniques. En particulier, les traitements de maillages dynamiques nécessitent une représentation de données efficace basée sur la segmentation. Plusieurs travaux ont été publiés par le passé et qui permettent de segmenter un maillage animé en un ensemble de composants rigides.Dans cette thèse, nous présentons plusieurs techniques qui permettent de calculer une segmentation spatio-temporelle d’un maillage animé ; de tels travaux n’ont pas encore été publiés sur ce sujet. De plus, nous avons étendu cette méthode pour pouvoir comparer ces maillages animés entre eux à l’aide d’une métrique. À notre connaissance, aucune méthode existante ne permet de comparer des maillages animés entre eux.