Torus palatinus (TP) was recorded in 13.5% of 1317 German patients (606 men, 711 women). There was no statistically significant difference between the sexes. Torus palatinus was found in 23.1% of 947 Thai (404 men, 543 women). The difference between the sexes was significant (P less than 0.001); women were affected in 28.5%, men showed a TP in 15.8%. The differences in prevalence rates between Germans and Thai was also statistically significant (P less than 0.001). Torus mandibularis (TM) was recorded in 5.2% of the German patients with 8.6% of the men and 2.4% of the women being affected (P less than 0.001). In the Thai, 9.4% of the men and 9% of the women showed TM. The difference between the prevalence rates in Germans and Thai was significant (P less than 0.001). While generally milder forms of tori were observed in German patients, marked forms of TM were also seen in this group. While the etiology of TP and TM is still no quite clear, racial factors must definitely be considered.

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Three-dimensional laser range finders provide autonomous systems with vast amounts of information. However, autonomous robots navigating in unstructured environments are usually not interested in every geometric detail of their surroundings. Instead, they require realtime information about the location of obstacles and the condition of drivable areas.In this paper, we first present grid-based algorithms for classifying regions as either drivable or not. In a subsequent step, drivable regions are further examined using a novel algorithm which determines the local terrain roughness. This information can be used by a path planning algorithm to decide whether to prefer a rough, muddy area, or a plain street, which would not be possible using binary drivability information only.

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