Development of a Large-Scale Roadside Facility Detection Model Based on the Mapillary Dataset.

The detection of road facilities or roadside structures is essential for high-definition (HD) maps and intelligent transportation systems (ITSs). With the rapid development of deep-learning algorithms in recent years, deep-learning-based object detection techniques have provided more accurate and efficient performance, and have become an essential tool for HD map reconstruction and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADASs). Therefore, the performance evaluation and comparison of the latest deep-learning algorithms in this field is indispensable. However, most existing works in this area limit their focus to the detection of individual targets, such as vehicles or pedestrians and traffic signs, from driving view images. In this study, we present a systematic comparison of three recent algorithms for large-scale multi-class road facility detection, namely Mask R-CNN, YOLOx, and YOLOv7, on the Mapillary dataset. The experimental results are evaluated according to the recall, precision, mean F1-score and computational consumption. YOLOv7 outperforms the other two networks in road facility detection, with a precision and recall of 87.57% and 72.60%, respectively. Furthermore, we test the model performance on our custom dataset obtained from the Japanese road environment. The results demonstrate that models trained on the Mapillary dataset exhibit sufficient generalization ability. The comparison presented in this study aids in understanding the strengths and limitations of the latest networks in multiclass object detection on large-scale street-level datasets.

RDD2020: An annotated image dataset for automatic road damage detection using deep learning.

This data article provides details for the RDD2020 dataset comprising 26,336 road images from India, Japan, and the Czech Republic with more than 31,000 instances of road damage. The dataset captures four types of road damage: longitudinal cracks, transverse cracks, alligator cracks, and potholes; and is intended for developing deep learning-based methods to detect and classify road damage automatically. The images in RDD2020 were captured using vehicle-mounted smartphones, making it useful for municipalities and road agencies to develop methods for low-cost monitoring of road pavement surface conditions. Further, the machine learning researchers can use the datasets for benchmarking the performance of different algorithms for solving other problems of the same type (image classification, object detection, etc.). RDD2020 is freely available at [1]. The latest updates and the corresponding articles related to the dataset can be accessed at [2].

The efficacy of a trauma call system: challenges in managing severe trauma at a rural emergency center without full-time emergency physicians.

AIMS: There have been some reports about the efficacy of trauma team activation. In November 2015, we implemented a trauma call system, wherein a general surgeon, neurosurgeon, and orthopedic surgeon are called to the emergency department when severe trauma patients are transferred to our emergency department. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of this trauma call system. METHODS: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of a trauma call system for trauma cases with an Injury Severity Score ≥16. We compared the mortality of trauma cases and the time from arrival to the start of the examination and intervention before and after implementing this trauma call system. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the mortality rates before and after the implementation of the trauma call system. The median time from arrival to the start of contrast-enhanced computed tomography or transcatheter arterial embolization improved from 54 to 19 min (P = 0.015) and 171 to 84 min (P = 0.030), respectively, after the implementation of the trauma call system. CONCLUSION: Our trauma call system did not significantly improve the mortality of trauma patients with an Injury Severity Score ≥16. However, it was effective for reducing the time from the arrival to the start of contrast-enhanced computed tomography or transcatheter arterial embolization.

Perioperative supplementation with bifidobacteria improves postoperative nutritional recovery, inflammatory response, and fecal microbiota in patients undergoing colorectal surgery: a prospective, randomized clinical trial.

The use of probiotics has been widely documented to benefit human health, but their clinical value in surgical patients remains unclear. The present study investigated the effect of perioperative oral administration of probiotic bifidobacteria to patients undergoing colorectal surgery. Sixty patients undergoing colorectal resection were randomized to two groups prior to resection. One group (n=31) received a probiotic supplement, Bifidobacterium longum BB536, preoperatively for 7-14 days and postoperatively for 14 days, while the other group (n=29) received no intervention as a control. The occurrences of postoperative infectious complications were recorded. Blood and fecal samples were collected before and after surgery. No significant difference was found in the incidence of postoperative infectious complications and duration of hospital stay between the two groups. In comparison to the control group, the probiotic group tended to have higher postoperative levels of erythrocytes, hemoglobin, lymphocytes, total protein, and albumin and lower levels of high sensitive C-reactive proteins. Postoperatively, the proportions of fecal bacteria changed significantly; Actinobacteria increased in the probiotic group, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria increased in the control group, and Firmicutes decreased in both groups. Significant correlations were found between the proportions of fecal bacteria and blood parameters; Actinobacteria correlated negatively with blood inflammatory parameters, while Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria correlated positively with blood inflammatory parameters. In the subgroup of patients who received preoperative chemoradiotherapy treatment, the duration of hospital stay was significantly shortened upon probiotic intervention. These results suggest that perioperative oral administration of bifidobacteria may contribute to a balanced intestinal microbiota and attenuated postoperative inflammatory responses, which may subsequently promote a healthy recovery after colorectal resection.

A rare cause of dysphagia: malignant pleural mesothelioma in the posterior mediastinum.

A 69-year-old man presented to the emergency room with dysphagia and vomiting. A computed tomographic scan revealed a posterior mediastinal mass surrounding the lower portion of the esophagus. Endoscopic examination demonstrated narrowing of the lower esophagus without malignant mucosal lesions. Thoracoscopic biopsies of the mediastinal mass failed to yield a pathologic diagnosis. The hyaluronic acid concentration in the left pleural effusion was remarkably high (755 mg/L), which is a finding strongly suggestive of malignant mesothelioma. Four months after the initial admission, a subcutaneous nodule was found in the left chest wall and a biopsy was taken. The histopathologic and immunohistochemical findings of the biopsy were consistent with the diagnosis of pleural malignant mesothelioma.

[Solitary fibrous tumor of the parietal pleura resected by video-assisted thoracic surgery; report of a case].

A 35-year-old male was admitted to our hospital for further examination of abnormal shadow on chest X-ray. Contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) showed a clear-shaped tumor with homogenous enhancement, measuring 25 x 20 mm in size, which had enlarged, compared with chest CT of 2 years before. The tumor appeared to be based partially on the parietal pleura. Under the diagnosis of solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) originated from the visceral or parietal pleura, video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) was performed. Under thoracoscopy, the tumor was pedunculated and arose from the parietal pleura. The tumor was resected completely. The pathologic findings revealed proliferation of spindle cells and collagen fibers without malignant aspects. Immuno-histochemical findings showed positive immunostaining for CD34 and vimentin in the tumor cells. These findings confirmed that the tumor was SFT.

[Feasibility and anti-tumor activity of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with gemcitabine for resected pancreatic cancer].

The feasibility and anti-tumor activity of gemcitabine (GEM) as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy were evaluated retrospectively. Between September 1998 and June 2007, patients with resected invasive pancreatic cancer (stage III, IVa, IVb) were given adjuvant chemotherapy with GEM (GEM group, n=10) or did not receive chemotherapy (n=11). Started the administration of GEM 38.5 days after surgery, and the mean duration was 15.4 months. Grade 3 or 4 adverse event was not observed in the GEM group. There was a significant difference in overall survival between the GEM group and the no-chemotherapy group (p=0.037), but there was no significant difference in disease-free survival between the two groups. Adjuvant chemotherapy with GEM was feasible and showed a benefit in patients with invasive pancreatic cancer.

[Two cases of advanced low rectal cancer, preoperative chemo-radiation therapy leading to complete histological response].

We report two cases of advanced low rectal cancer, with preoperative chemo-radiation therapy leading to a complete histological response. Case 1 was a 74-year-old male who was diagnosed as advanced low rectal cancer. Preoperative chemo-radiation (a total of 45 Gy radiation+oral 5'-DFUR 800 mg/day for 3 weeks) was performed. Then, 30 days after chemo-radiation, we conducted a low anterior resection with lymph node dissection. Histological examination revealed no residual cancer cells in the resected specimen. Case 2 was a 35-year-old male who was diagnosed as advanced low rectal cancer. Preoperative chemo-radiation (a total of 45 Gy radiation+5-FU 500 mg/day+CDDP 10 mg/day for 3 weeks) was performed. 28 days after chemo-radiation, we conducted an abdominoperineal resection with lymph node dissection and a partial resection of the liver. Histological examination revealed well-differentiated adenocarcinoma in the resected liver tissue, but a rectal tumor was replaced by scar tissue with no viable cells.

[Improved quality of life in a patient with carcinomatous meningitis from invasive lobular carcinoma treated with intrathecal MTX and Ara-C in combination with systemic docetaxel].

Carcinomatous meningitis from breast cancer is rare and has a poor prognosis with a life expectancy of approximately 80 days. We performed intrathecal MTX and Ara-C in combination with systemic docetaxel treatments in the patient, a 44-year-old woman with carcinomatous meningitis from invasive lobular carcinoma previously treated with anthracycline and paclitaxel. Although the patient died 128 days after the onset, intrathecal chemotherapy in combination with systemic docetaxel reduced the number of malignant cells and induced degeneration of the cells in CSF, resulting in improved quality of life.

Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia/fibrosis completely recovered by adding cyclophosphamide to corticosteroids.

Nonspecific interstitial pneumonia/fibrosis (NSIP) was first described by Katzenstein and Fiorelli in 1994 (Am J Surg Pathol 18: 136-147). Many reports have described that corticosteroids are effective for NSIP. We describe a case of group II idiopathic NSIP in whom cyclophosphamide was administered since the initial response to corticosteroids had been insufficient. Lung biopsy was performed by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and NSIP was diagnosed pathologically, clinically and radiologically. Although the initial response to corticosteroids was insufficient, interstitial infiltrates on chest computed tomography improved dramatically after adding intravenous cyclophosphamide followed by oral cyclophosphamide. This case demonstrates that the addition of cyclophosphamide to corticosteroids might be a useful treatment for patients with NSIP.