scholarly journals Visibility Restoration: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 2625
Author(s):  
Dat Ngo ◽  
Seungmin Lee ◽  
Tri Minh Ngo ◽  
Gi-Dong Lee ◽  
Bongsoon Kang

Image acquisition is a complex process that is affected by a wide variety of internal and environmental factors. Hence, visibility restoration is crucial for many high-level applications in photography and computer vision. This paper provides a systematic review and meta-analysis of visibility restoration algorithms with a focus on those that are pertinent to poor weather conditions. This paper starts with an introduction to optical image formation and then provides a comprehensive description of existing algorithms as well as a comparative evaluation. Subsequently, there is a thorough discussion on current difficulties that are worthy of a scientific effort. Moreover, this paper proposes a general framework for visibility restoration in hazy weather conditions while using haze-relevant features and maximum likelihood estimates. Finally, a discussion on the findings and future developments concludes this paper.

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 175628641983780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Prosperini ◽  
Revere P. Kinkel ◽  
Augusto A. Miravalle ◽  
Pietro Iaffaldano ◽  
Simone Fantaccini

Background: Natalizumab (NTZ) is sometimes discontinued in patients with multiple sclerosis, mainly due to concerns about the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. However, NTZ interruption may result in recrudescence of disease activity. Objective: The objective of this study was to summarize the available evidence about NTZ discontinuation and to identify which patients will experience post-NTZ disease reactivation through meta-analysis of existing literature data. Methods: PubMed was searched for articles reporting the effects of NTZ withdrawal in adult patients (⩾18 years) with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Definition of disease activity following NTZ discontinuation, proportion of patients who experienced post-NTZ disease reactivation, and timing to NTZ discontinuation to disease reactivation were systematically reviewed. A generic inverse variance with random effect was used to calculate the weighted effect of patients’ clinical characteristics on the risk of post-NTZ disease reactivation, defined as the occurrence of at least one relapse. Results: The original search identified 205 publications. Thirty-five articles were included in the systematic review. We found a high level of heterogeneity across studies in terms of sample size (10 to 1866 patients), baseline patient characteristics, follow up (1–24 months), outcome measures (clinical and/or radiological), and definition of post-NTZ disease reactivation or rebound. Clinical relapses were observed in 9–80% of patients and peaked at 4–7 months, whereas radiological disease activity was observed in 7–87% of patients starting at 6 weeks following NTZ discontinuation. The meta-analysis of six articles, yielding a total of 1183 patients, revealed that younger age, higher number of relapses and gadolinium-enhanced lesions before treatment start, and fewer NTZ infusions were associated with increased risk for post-NTZ disease reactivation ( p ⩽ 0.05). Conclusions: Results from the present review and meta-analysis can help to profile patients who are at greater risk of post-NTZ disease reactivation. However, potential reporting bias and variability in selected studies should be taken into account when interpreting our data.


2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Giovanella ◽  
Marco Castellana ◽  
Pierpaolo Trimboli

Abstract Background Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) has an excellent prognosis and the role of high-sensitive thyroglobulin measured during levothyroxine (ON-T4 hs-Tg) testing to discriminate patients with structural from not-evidence of disease (SED and NED, respectively) has been investigated. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the performance of ON-T4 hs-Tg in two clinical scenarios considering its negative predictive value (NPV) as primary outcome: (1) diagnostic performance of Tg when undetectable value and NED status are simultaneously demonstrated; (2) prognostic performance of undetectable Tg in predicting NED in the subsequent follow-up. Methods This systematic review and meta-analysis were registered on PROSPERO (CRD42019125092). PubMed, Scopus, CENTRAL and Web of Science were searched until February 12, 2019. Original articles reporting data on SED/NED in patients with detectable/undetectable ON-T4 hs-Tg were selected. Summary operating points were estimated using a random-effects model. Results Out of 1413 retrieved papers, 10 studies evaluating 1796 patients were included. Participants were outpatients diagnosed with DTC, treated with near-total (NTx) or total thyroidectomy (TTx) with or without radioactive iodine (RAI). The NPV of ON-T4 hs-Tg for diagnostic and prognostic performance was 99.4% (95% CI 98.9–99.9; I2 = 13%) and 99.4% (95% CI 98.8–100; I2 = 0%), respectively. Conclusions Our findings show that ON-T4 hs-Tg is an excellent diagnostic tool and prognostic factor to rule-out SED. A high level of evidence is provided to decrease the intensity and frequency of follow-up in those DTC patients having undetectable high-sensitive Tg.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 1188-1200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yingjie Shao ◽  
Yiting Geng ◽  
Wendong Gu ◽  
Jin Huang ◽  
Honglei Pei ◽  
...  

Background: Recently, many studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNA) exhibit altered expression in various cancers and may serve as prognostic biomarkers. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic role of miR-200c expression in different cancers. Methods: Studies were recruited by searching PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library (last search update was May 2014) and assessed by further quality evaluation. Results: A total of 25 studies dealing with various carcinomas were identified for systematic review. Among them, 18 studies were ultimately included in the meta-analysis. Our results indicated that the expression of tissue miR-200c was not associated with OS and PFS in various carcinomas; however, downregulation of tissue miR-200c did predict poor OS of patients with stage I disease (HR=0.41, 95% CI 0.25-0.68, P=0.001). Furthermore, overexpression of blood miR-200c was significantly related to poor OS and PFS (HR=3.07 95% CI 1.58-5.96 P=0.001, HR=2.26 95% CI 1.66-3.08 P<0.001, respectively), especially in patients with advanced disease. Conclusion: This systematic review and meta-analysis clarified that low expression of miR-200c in primary tissue was significantly associated with poor survival in cancer patients at early stage, whereas a high level of blood miR-200c predicted poor prognosis in patients with advanced tumors.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
qi le ◽  
wei chen ◽  
Lei Jiang ◽  
Wenwen Hu ◽  
Nan Yao

Abstract Objectives: MCM3AP-AS1 is a newly discovered long non-coding RNA that functions as a biomarker in many different cancer types. However, the pooled role of lncRNA MCM3AP-AS1 in the prognosis of human cancers remains unclear. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore its potential prognosis for malignant tumors. Materials and methods: A literature survey was conducted by searching in the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases for studies published as of September 1, 2021. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated to evaluate the relationship between MCM3AP-AS1 expression and overall survival (OS). The endpoints also included various clinical parameters. Results: A total of 14 studies containing 921 cancer patients were finally included into this meta-analysis. The results comprehensively showed that increased MCM3AP-AS1 expression was significantly correlated with poor overall survival (HR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.56-2.14, P<0.00001). A subgroup meta-analysis for overall survival was conducted. Additionally, high level of lncRNA MCM3AP-AS1 was significantly associated with worse differentiation (OR = 1.76, 95 % CI: 1.12–2.75, P = 0.01), larger tumor size (OR = 2.70, 95 % CI: 1.13–6.46, P = 0.03), advanced clinical stage (OR = 2.52, 95 % CI: 1.32–4.81, P = 0.005) and lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.85, 95 % CI: 1.16–7.00, P = 0.02), respectively. Conclusions: LncRNA MCM3AP-AS1 might be a potential and unfavorable prognostic biomarker of cancer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (20) ◽  
pp. 1320-1326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Coenen ◽  
Maaike A Huysmans ◽  
Andreas Holtermann ◽  
Niklas Krause ◽  
Willem van Mechelen ◽  
...  

ObjectiveRecent evidence suggests the existence of a physical activity paradox, with beneficial health outcomes associated with leisure time physical activity, but detrimental health outcomes for those engaging in high level occupational physical activity. This is the first quantitative systematic review of evidence regarding the association between occupational physical activity and all-cause mortality.DesignSystematic review with meta-analysis.Data sourceA literature search was performed in electronic databases PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Cochrane.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesWe screened for peer reviewed articles from prospective studies assessing the association of occupational physical activity with all-cause mortality. A meta-analysis assessed the association of high (compared with low) level occupational physical activity with all-cause mortality, estimating pooled hazard ratios (HR) (with 95% CI).Results2490 unique articles were screened and 33 (from 26 studies) were included. Data from 17 studies (with 193 696 participants) were used in a meta-analysis, showing that men with high level occupational physical activity had an 18% increased risk of early mortality compared with those engaging in low level occupational physical activity (HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.05 to 1.34). No such association was observed among women, for whom instead a tendency for an inverse association was found (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.80 to 1.01).ConclusionsThe results of this review indicate detrimental health consequences associated with high level occupational physical activity in men, even when adjusting for relevant factors (such as leisure time physical activity). These findings suggest that research and physical activity guidelines may differentiate between occupational and leisure time physical activity.


Author(s):  
Aline Amaro DAMASCENO ◽  
Antônio Carlos PEREIRA ◽  
Andreza Maria Luzia Baldo de SOUZA ◽  
Luciane Miranda GUERRA ◽  
Denise de Fatima Barros CAVALCANTE ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objective Understanding the individual and collective behavior of individuals about their oral health conditions is important to prevent and control of dental caries. This study aimed to seek evidence of the relationship between social capital and caries experience. Methods Using a systematic review with meta-analysis, we searched articles in PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, LILACS, IBECS, BBO, SCIELO, The Cochrane Library and MEDLINE databases. Studies with humans, of all ages and languages, published until July 2019, which related social capital to the caries experience, were included in this review. Results We identified 1163 articles evaluated considering inclusion and exclusion criteria, leaving 5 articles selected to compose the study sample, and only 3 included in the meta-analysis. In the final analysis p value was significant (p <0.001), showing that both social cohesion and neighborhood empowerment are associated with the caries experience. In the random model, the individual has 2.39 chances of not having the caries disease. The results reinforce the importance of community social capital in the caries experience of individuals. Conclusions The high level of community social capital is directly related to lower caries experience rates.


BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. e039576
Author(s):  
Jiena Zhou ◽  
Zhihao Shi ◽  
Lifang Zhou ◽  
Yong Hu ◽  
Meibian Zhang

ObjectiveMost of the Chinese occupational population are becoming at risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). However, there is a limited number of literature reviews on occupational NIHL in China. This study aimed to analyse the prevalence and characteristics of occupational NIHL in the Chinese population using data from relevant studies.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.MethodsFrom December 2019 to February 2020, we searched the literature through databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, the China National Knowledge Internet, Chinese Sci-Tech Journal Database (weip.com), WanFang Database and China United Library Database, for studies on NIHL in China published in 1993–2019 and analysed the correlation between NIHL and occupational exposure to noise, including exposure to complex noise and coexposure to noise and chemicals.ResultsA total of 71 865 workers aged 33.5±8.7 years were occupationally exposed to 98.6±7.2 dB(A) (A-weighted decibels) noise for a duration of 9.9±8.4 years in the transportation, mining and typical manufacturing industries. The prevalence of occupational NIHL in China was 21.3%, of which 30.2% was related to high-frequency NIHL (HFNIHL), 9.0% to speech-frequency NIHL and 5.8% to noise-induced deafness. Among manufacturing workers, complex noise contributed to greater HFNIHL than Gaussian noise (overall weighted OR (OR)=1.95). Coexposure to noise and chemicals such as organic solvents, welding fumes, carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide led to greater HFNIHL than noise exposure alone (overall weighted OR=2.36). Male workers were more likely to experience HFNIHL than female workers (overall weighted OR=2.26). Age, noise level and exposure duration were also risk factors for HFNIHL (overall weighted OR=1.35, 5.63 and 1.75, respectively).ConclusionsThe high prevalence of occupational NIHL in China was related to the wide distribution of noise in different industries as well as high-level and long-term noise exposure. The prevalence was further aggravated by exposure to complex noise or coexposure to noise and specific chemicals. Additional efforts are needed to reduce occupational noise exposure in China.


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