As light is transmitted from subject to observer it is absorbed and scattered by the medium it passes through. In mediums with large suspended particles, such as fog or turbid water, the effect of scattering can drastically decrease the quality of images. In this paper we present an algorithm for removing the effects of light scattering, referred to as dehazing, in underwater images. Our key contribution is to propose a simple, yet effective, prior that exploits the strong difference in attenuation between the three image color channels in water to estimate the depth of the scene. We then use this estimate to reduce the spatially varying effect of haze in the image. Our method works with a single image and does not require any specialized hardware or prior knowledge of the scene. As a by-product of the dehazing process, an up-to-scale depth map of the scene is produced. We present results over multiple real underwater images and over a controlled test set where the target distance and true colors are known.

Background and Objectives:To compare surgical outcomes of overweight and obese patients with acute appendicitis who have undergone single-port extracorporeal laparoscopically assisted appendectomy (SP) with those who have had conventional 3-port laparoscopic appendectomy (TP).Methods:This single-center retrospective chart review included patients 21 years of age and younger with a preoperative diagnosis of appendicitis who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy from January 2010 through December 2015. Cases of gangrenous and perforated appendicitis were excluded. Subgroup analyses of patients with acute appendicitis were performed. Operative time (OT), length of stay (LOS), and cost were compared between groups stratified by body mass index (BMI) and operative technique.Results:A total of 625 appendectomies were performed—457 for acute appendicitis. Sixty-eight patients were overweight. The SP technique (n = 30) had shorter OT (median minutes, 41 vs 68; P < .001), lower cost (median , $5741 vs $8530; P < .001), and shorter LOS (median hours, 16 vs 19; P = .045) than the TP technique had (n = 38). Seventy patients were obese: 19 were treated with SP and 51 with TP. LOS did not differ significantly between the SP and TP groups, but subjects treated with SP had shorter OT (median minutes, 39 vs 63; P < .001) and lower cost (median, $6401 vs $8205; P = .043).Conclusions:The SP technique for acute appendicitis was found to have a significantly shorter OT and lower cost in all weight groups. There were minimal differences in LOS. SP should be considered in patients with acute appendicitis, regardless of their weight.

Disclosure of Conflict of Interest: C.M. O'Connor and G. Narla are named inventors on a US provisional patent application concerning compositions and methods for treating high grade subtypes of uterine cancer. C.M. O'Connor, T.K. Suhan, K.P. Zawacki, and J. Sangodkar are consultants for RAPPTA Therapeutics. G. Narla is chief scientific officer at RAPPTA Therapeutics, is an SAB member at Hera BioLabs, reports receiving commercial research support from RAPPTA Therapeutics, and has ownership interest (including patents) in RAPPTA Therapeutics. D. Zamarin reports research support to his institution from Astra Zeneca, Plexxikon, and Genentech; personal/consultancy fees from Synlogic Therapeutics, GSK, Genentech, Xencor, Memgen, Immunos, Celldex, Calidi, and Agenus. D. Zamarin is an inventor on a patent related to use of oncolytic Newcastle Disease Virus for cancer therapy.Research.

TULAA had a shorter OT and was less costly than conventional TPLA. TULAA should be considered as the first surgical approach at treating appendicitis in children.

SP has comparable surgical outcomes in adolescent, adult, and pediatric patients.