Driver hand-held cellular phone use: a four-year analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Eby, David W; Vivoda, Jonathon M; St Louis, Renée M

2006-01-01

The use of hand-held cellular (mobile) phones while driving has stirred more debate, passion, and research than perhaps any other traffic safety issue in the past several years. There is ample research showing that the use of either hand-held or hands-free cellular phones can lead to unsafe driving patterns. Whether or not these performance deficits increase the risk of crash is difficult to establish, but recent studies are beginning to suggest that cellular phone use elevates crash risk. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in the rate of hand-held cellular phone use by motor-vehicle drivers on a statewide level in Michigan. This study presents the results of 13 statewide surveys of cellular phone use over a 4-year period. Hand-held cellular phone use data were collected through direct observation while vehicles were stopped at intersections and freeway exit ramps. Data were weighted to be representative of all drivers traveling during daylight hours in Michigan. The study found that driver hand-held cellular phone use has more than doubled between 2001 and 2005, from 2.7% to 5.8%. This change represents an average increase of 0.78 percentage points per year. The 5.8% use rate observed in 2005 means that at any given daylight hour, around 36,550 drivers were conversing on cellular phones while driving on Michigan roadways. The trend line fitted to these data predicts that by the year 2010, driver hand-held cellular phone use will be around 8.6%, or 55,000 drivers at any given daylight hour. These results make it clear that cellular phone use while driving will continue to be an important traffic safety issue, and highlight the importance of continued attempts to generate new ways of alleviating this potential hazard.

Assessment of Laparoscopic Skills Performance: 2D Versus 3D Vision and Classic Instrument Versus New Hand-Held Robotic Device for Laparoscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Leite, Mariana; Carvalho, Ana F; Costa, Patrício; Pereira, Ricardo; Moreira, Antonio; Rodrigues, Nuno; Laureano, Sara; Correia-Pinto, Jorge; Vilaça, João L; Leão, Pedro

2016-02-01

Laparoscopic surgery has undeniable advantages, such as reduced postoperative pain, smaller incisions, and faster recovery. However, to improve surgeons' performance, ergonomic adaptations of the laparoscopic instruments and introduction of robotic technology are needed. The aim of this study was to ascertain the influence of a new hand-held robotic device for laparoscopy (HHRDL) and 3D vision on laparoscopic skills performance of 2 different groups, naïve and expert. Each participant performed 3 laparoscopic tasks-Peg transfer, Wire chaser, Knot-in 4 different ways. With random sequencing we assigned the execution order of the tasks based on the first type of visualization and laparoscopic instrument. Time to complete each laparoscopic task was recorded and analyzed with one-way analysis of variance. Eleven experts and 15 naïve participants were included. Three-dimensional video helps the naïve group to get better performance in Peg transfer, Wire chaser 2 hands, and Knot; the new device improved the execution of all laparoscopic tasks (P < .05). For expert group, the 3D video system benefited them in Peg transfer and Wire chaser 1 hand, and the robotic device in Peg transfer, Wire chaser 1 hand, and Wire chaser 2 hands (P < .05). The HHRDL helps the execution of difficult laparoscopic tasks, such as Knot, in the naïve group. Three-dimensional vision makes the laparoscopic performance of the participants without laparoscopic experience easier, unlike those with experience in laparoscopic procedures. © The Author(s) 2015.

Gen-2 Hand-Held Optical Imager towards Cancer Imaging: Reflectance and Transillumination Phantom Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anuradha Godavarty

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Hand-held near-infrared (NIR optical imagers are developed by various researchers towards non-invasive clinical breast imaging. Unlike these existing imagers that can perform only reflectance imaging, a generation-2 (Gen-2 hand-held optical imager has been recently developed to perform both reflectance and transillumination imaging. The unique forked design of the hand-held probe head(s allows for reflectance imaging (as in ultrasound and transillumination or compressed imaging (as in X-ray mammography. Phantom studies were performed to demonstrate two-dimensional (2D target detection via reflectance and transillumination imaging at various target depths (1–5 cm deep and using simultaneous multiple point illumination approach. It was observed that 0.45 cc targets were detected up to 5 cm deep during transillumination, but limited to 2.5 cm deep during reflectance imaging. Additionally, implementing appropriate data post-processing techniques along with a polynomial fitting approach, to plot 2D surface contours of the detected signal, yields distinct target detectability and localization. The ability of the gen-2 imager to perform both reflectance and transillumination imaging allows its direct comparison to ultrasound and X-ray mammography results, respectively, in future clinical breast imaging studies.

Hand-held optical fuel pin scanner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirchner, T.L.; Powers, H.G.

1987-01-01

A portable, hand-held apparatus is described for optically scanning indicia imprinted about a planar end face of an article having an outer wall surface, the apparatus comprising: a supporting frame; light detector means fixed to the frame for digitizing light patterns directed thereto; indexing means on the frame for engaging the planar end face and locating the end face in a preselected focal plane on the frame. The indexing means has an inner wall surface complementary to the article wall surface for disposition thereabout and terminates in an end portion beyond the planar end face. The inner wall surface has a radially inwardly extending shoulder spaced from the end portion and engageable with the planar end face; light means directed onto the preselected focal plane; optical means mounted on the frame about a central axis, the optical means being optically interposed between the indexing means and the light detector means for directing reflected light from the preselected focal plane to the light detector means and including a dove prism centrally aligned along the central axis; and means for selectively rotating the dove prism relative to the frame about the central axis to thereby rotate the image from the focal plane as transmitted to the light detector means

75 FR 27504 - Substantial Product Hazard List: Hand-Held Hair Dryers

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-17

... immersion during their use. Section 15(a) of the CPSA defines ``substantial product hazard'' to include, a....'' Hand-held hair dryers routinely contain open-coil heating elements that are, in essence, uninsulated..., bathtub, or lavatory). The proposed rule would define ``hand-held hair dryer'' as ``an electrical...

Attentionally splitting the mass distribution of hand-held rods.

Science.gov (United States)

Burton, G; Turvey, M T

1991-08-01

Two experiments on the length-perception capabilities of effortful or dynamic touch differed only in terms of what the subject intended to perceive, while experimental conditions and apparatus were held constant. In each trial, a visually occluded rod was held as still as possible by the subject at an intermediate position. For two thirds of the trials, a weight was attached to the rod above or below the hand. In Experiment 1, in which the subject's task was to perceive the distance reachable with the portion of the rod forward of the hand, perceived extent was a function of the first moment of the mass distribution associated with the forward portion of the rod, and indifferent to the first moment of the entire rod. In Experiment 2, in which the task was to perceive the distance reachable with the entire rod if it was held at an end, the pattern of results was reversed. These results indicate the capability of selective sensitivity to different aspects of a hand-held object's mass distribution, without the possibility of differential exploration specific to these two tasks. Results are discussed in relation to possible roles of differential information, intention, and self-organization in the explanations of selective perceptual abilities.

Ultrasonography with a hand-held device for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kameda, Toru; Takahashi, Isao

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of ultrasonography (US) with a hand-held device for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis in the emergency room. US with a hand-held device was performed by the first author in 33 patients suspected of having appendicitis in the emergency room. From these 33 patients, 24 who subsequently underwent computed tomography (CT) or surgery were included in this study. The accuracy of US with the hand-held device for the diagnosis of acute appendicitis was evaluated based on the findings of CT or surgery. CT and surgery were performed in 22 and 12 patients, respectively. Final diagnoses were acute appendicitis (n=18), terminal ileitis (n=2), pelvic inflammatory disease (n=2), diverticulitis (n=1), and ureterolithiasis (n=1). The US yielded a sensitivity of 78% and a positive predictive value of 100%. The shortest distance between the abdominal wall and the appendix measured on CT was less than 40 mm in 11 patients. In ten (91%) of the 11 patients US with the hand-held device showed the swollen appendix. US with a hand-held device is potentially useful in the positive identification of acute appendicitis, but further investigation is needed to prove its utility in the routine diagnosis of acute appendicitis. (author)

Adaptive RF front-ends for hand-held applications

CERN Document Server

van Bezooijen, Andre; van Roermund, Arthur

2010-01-01

The RF front-end - antenna combination is a vital part of a mobile phone because its performance is very relevant to the link quality between hand-set and cellular network base-stations. The RF front-end performance suffers from changes in operating environment, like hand-effects, that are often unpredictable. ""Adaptive RF Front-Ends for Hand-Held Applications"" presents an analysis on the impact of fluctuating environmental parameters. In order to overcome undesired behavior two different adaptive control methods are treated that make RF frond-ends more resilient: adaptive impedance control,

3D Scan of Ornamental Column (huabiao Using Terrestrial LiDAR and Hand-held Imager

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Zhang

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In ancient China, Huabiao was a type of ornamental column used to decorate important buildings. We carried out 3D scan of a Huabiao located in Peking University, China. This Huabiao was built no later than 1742. It is carved by white marble, 8 meters in height. Clouds and various postures of dragons are carved on its body. Two instruments were used to acquire the point cloud of this Huabiao, a terrestrial LiDAR (Riegl VZ-1000 and a hand-held imager (Mantis Vision F5. In this paper, the details of the experiment were described, including the differences between these two instruments, such as working principle, spatial resolution, accuracy, instrument dimension and working flow. The point clouds obtained respectively by these two instruments were compared, and the registered point cloud of Huabiao was also presented. These should be of interest and helpful for the research communities of archaeology and heritage.

Epilepsy Forewarning Using A Hand-Held Device

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hively, LM

2005-02-21

Over the last decade, ORNL has developed and patented a novel approach for forewarning of a large variety of machine and biomedical events. The present implementation uses desktop computers to analyze archival data. This report describes the next logical step in this effort, namely use of a hand-held device for the analysis.

Leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental x-ray unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Eun Kyung

2007-01-01

To compare the leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental X-ray unit with radiation from fixed dental X-ray unit. For evaluation we used one hand-held dental X-ray unit and Oramatic 558 (Trophy Radiologie, France), a fixed dental X-ray unit. Doses were measured with Unfors Multi-O-Meter 512L at the right and left hand levels of X-ray tube head part for the scattered and leakage radiation when human skull DXTTR ΙΙΙ was exposed to both dental X-ray units. And for the leakage radiation only, doses were measured at the immediately right, left, superior and posterior side of the tube head part when air was exposed. Exposure parameters of hand-held dental X-ray unit were 70 kVp, 3 mA , 0.1 second, and of fixed X-ray unit 70 kVp, 8 mA, 0.45 second. The mean dose at the hand level when human skull DXTTR ΙΙΙ was exposed with portable X-ray unit 6.39 μGy, and the mean dose with fixed X-ray unit 3.03 μGy (p<0.001). The mean dose at the immediate side of the tube head part when air was exposed with portable X-ray unit was 2.97 μGy and with fixed X-ray unit the mean dose was 0.68 μGy (p<0.01). The leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental radiography was greater than from fixed dental radiography

Leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental x-ray unit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Eun Kyung [Dankook Univ. School of Dentistry, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2007-06-15

To compare the leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental X-ray unit with radiation from fixed dental X-ray unit. For evaluation we used one hand-held dental X-ray unit and Oramatic 558 (Trophy Radiologie, France), a fixed dental X-ray unit. Doses were measured with Unfors Multi-O-Meter 512L at the right and left hand levels of X-ray tube head part for the scattered and leakage radiation when human skull DXTTR {iota}{iota}{iota} was exposed to both dental X-ray units. And for the leakage radiation only, doses were measured at the immediately right, left, superior and posterior side of the tube head part when air was exposed. Exposure parameters of hand-held dental X-ray unit were 70 kVp, 3 mA , 0.1 second, and of fixed X-ray unit 70 kVp, 8 mA, 0.45 second. The mean dose at the hand level when human skull DXTTR {iota}{iota}{iota} was exposed with portable X-ray unit 6.39 {mu}Gy, and the mean dose with fixed X-ray unit 3.03 {mu}Gy (p<0.001). The mean dose at the immediate side of the tube head part when air was exposed with portable X-ray unit was 2.97 {mu}Gy and with fixed X-ray unit the mean dose was 0.68 {mu}Gy (p<0.01). The leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental radiography was greater than from fixed dental radiography.

Plans for Hand-Held/Portable Oil Assessment Devices

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Urbansky, Edward

2005-01-01

At the request of the U.S. Army Oil Analysis Program, the JOAP TSC conducted a market study, assembled a plan of action, and prepared a worksheet for the evaluation of portable or hand-held oil assessment devices...

New portable hand-held radiation instruments for measurements and monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fehlau, P.E.

1987-01-01

Hand-held radiation monitors are often used to search pedestrians and motor vehicles for special nuclear material (SNM) as part of a physical protection plan for nuclear materials. Recently, the Los Alamos Advanced Nuclear Technology group has commercialized an improved hand-held monitor that can be used for both physical-protection monitoring and verification measurements in nuclear material control and waste management. The new monitoring instruments are smaller and lighter; operate much longer on a battery charge; are available with NaI(Tl) or neutron and gamma-ray sensitive plastic scintillation detectors; and are less expensive than other comparable instruments. They also have a second operating mode for making precise measurements over counting times as long as 99 s. This mode permits making basic verification measurements that may be needed before transporting nuclear material or waste outside protected areas. Improved verification measurements can be made with a second new hand-held instrument that has a stabilized detector and three separate gamma-ray energy windows to obtain spectral information for SNM quantity, enrichment, or material-type verification

An Intelligent Hand-Held Microsurgical Instrument for Improved Accuracy

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Ang, Wei

2001-01-01

This paper presents the development and initial experimental results of the first prototype of Micron, an active hand-held instrument to sense and compensate physiological tremor and other unwanted...

Position statement on use of hand-held portable dental X-ray equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-06-01

The position statement focuses on justification in the medical field, in particular on the use of hand-held portable dental x-ray equipment. It supplements another HERCA position paper, providing a general overview of the use of all hand-held portable X-ray equipment. Key Messages: - HERCA finds that the use of hand-held portable X-ray devices should be discouraged except in special circumstances. - As a general rule, these devices should only be used in scenarios where an intraoral radiograph is deemed necessary for a patient and the use of a fixed or semi-mobile x-ray unit is impractical, e.g.: - nursing homes, residential care facilities or homes for persons with disabilities; - forensic odontology, - military operations abroad without dental facilities

Hand-held electronic data collection and procedure environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kennedy, E.; Doniz, K.

1996-01-01

As part of a CANDU Owners Group project, AECL has developed a hand-held electronic data collection and procedure environment. Integral to this environment is the C omputerized Procedure Engine . The development of the CPE allows operators, maintainers, and technical support staff to execute virtually any type of station procedure on a general-purpose PC-compatible hand-held computer. There are several advantages to using the computerized procedures: less paper use and handling, reduction in human error, reduction in rework in the field, an increase in procedural compliance, and immediate availability of data to download to databases and plant information systems. The paper describes: the advantages of using computerized procedures, why early forms of computerized procedures were inadequate, the features that the C omputerized Procedure Engine o ffers to the user, the streamlined life cycle of a computerized procedure, and field experience. The paper concludes that computerized procedures are ready for pilot applications at stations. (author)

Measuring thyroid uptake with hand-held radiation monitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deschamps, M.

1987-04-01

With the use of Iodine 123, 125 and 131 and some compounds of Technetium-99 m, a fraction of the isotopes can be trapped in the thyroid of the technicians. We used the hand-held radiation contamination or survey meters of the nine (9) Nuclear medicine departments we visited to see if they were adequate for the evaluation of thyroid uptake of the users. Measurements on a neck-phanton helped us to determine a minimum detectable activity for each isotope. We were then able to check if the measurements of investigations and action levels were possible. None of the hand-held radiation monitors are completely satisfactory for the measure of thyroid uptake of the user. We discuss a class of equipment capable of measuring radiation emissions at the investigation level. Measurement at the action level is possible with meters having scintillation or proportional probes but none of them permits the discrimination in energy required for a quantitative evaluation of the radioisotopes used

The availability of relatively cheap hand-held Global Positioning ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

spamer

conditions, so the approach failed to produce results ... Hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers provide opportunities for detailed and rapid mapping of features ..... TICKELL, W. L. N. 1968 — The biology of the great albatrosses,.

Hand-held and automated breast ultrasound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bassett, L.W.; Gold, R.H.; Kimme-Smith, C.

1985-01-01

The book is a guide for physicians and technologists who use US as an adjunct to mammography; it carefully outlines the pros and cons of US of the breast and its role in the diagnosis of benign and malignant diseases. After an introduction that discusses the philosophy of breast US, the chapters cover the physics of US and instrumentation (both hand-held transducers as well as automated water path scanners), then proceed to a discussion of the normal breast. Sections on benign disorders, malignant lesions, and pitfalls of diagnosis are followed by quiz cases

Hand held data collection and monitoring system for nuclear facilities

Science.gov (United States)

Brayton, D.D.; Scharold, P.G.; Thornton, M.W.; Marquez, D.L.

1999-01-26

Apparatus and method is disclosed for a data collection and monitoring system that utilizes a pen based hand held computer unit which has contained therein interaction software that allows the user to review maintenance procedures, collect data, compare data with historical trends and safety limits, and input new information at various collection sites. The system has a means to allow automatic transfer of the collected data to a main computer data base for further review, reporting, and distribution purposes and uploading updated collection and maintenance procedures. The hand held computer has a running to-do list so sample collection and other general tasks, such as housekeeping are automatically scheduled for timely completion. A done list helps users to keep track of all completed tasks. The built-in check list assures that work process will meet the applicable processes and procedures. Users can hand write comments or drawings with an electronic pen that allows the users to directly interface information on the screen. 15 figs.

Hand held data collection and monitoring system for nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brayton, D.D.; Scharold, P.G.; Thornton, M.W.; Marquez, D.L.

1999-01-01

Apparatus and method is disclosed for a data collection and monitoring system that utilizes a pen based hand held computer unit which has contained therein interaction software that allows the user to review maintenance procedures, collect data, compare data with historical trends and safety limits, and input new information at various collection sites. The system has a means to allow automatic transfer of the collected data to a main computer data base for further review, reporting, and distribution purposes and uploading updated collection and maintenance procedures. The hand held computer has a running to-do list so sample collection and other general tasks, such as housekeeping are automatically scheduled for timely completion. A done list helps users to keep track of all completed tasks. The built-in check list assures that work process will meet the applicable processes and procedures. Users can hand write comments or drawings with an electronic pen that allows the users to directly interface information on the screen. 15 figs

Evaluation of an automated breast 3D-ultrasound system by comparing it with hand-held ultrasound (HHUS) and mammography.

Science.gov (United States)

Golatta, Michael; Baggs, Christina; Schweitzer-Martin, Mirjam; Domschke, Christoph; Schott, Sarah; Harcos, Aba; Scharf, Alexander; Junkermann, Hans; Rauch, Geraldine; Rom, Joachim; Sohn, Christof; Heil, Joerg

2015-04-01

Automated three-dimensional (3D) breast ultrasound (US) systems are meant to overcome the shortcomings of hand-held ultrasound (HHUS). The aim of this study is to analyze and compare clinical performance of an automated 3D-US system by comparing it with HHUS, mammography and the clinical gold standard (defined as the combination of HHUS, mammography and-if indicated-histology). Nine hundred and eighty three patients (=1,966 breasts) were enrolled in this monocentric, explorative and prospective cohort study. All examinations were analyzed blinded to the patients´ history and to the results of the routine imaging. The agreement of automated 3D-US with HHUS, mammography and the gold standard was assessed with kappa statistics. Sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive value were calculated to assess the test performance. Blinded to the results of the gold standard the agreement between automated 3D-US and HHUS or mammography was fair, given by a Kappa coefficient of 0.31 (95% CI [0.26;0.36], p automated 3D-US the sensitivity improved to 84% (NPV = 99%, specificity = 85%). The results of this study let us suggest, that automated 3D-US might be a helpful new tool in breast imaging, especially in screening.

A hand-held robotic device for peripheral intravenous catheterization.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Zhuoqi; Davies, Brian L; Caldwell, Darwin G; Barresi, Giacinto; Xu, Qinqi; Mattos, Leonardo S

2017-12-01

Intravenous catheterization is frequently required for numerous medical treatments. However, this process is characterized by a high failure rate, especially when performed on difficult patients such as newborns and infants. Very young patients have small veins, and that increases the chances of accidentally puncturing the catheterization needle directly through them. In this article, we present the design, development and experimental evaluation of a novel hand-held robotic device for improving the process of peripheral intravenous catheterization by facilitating the needle insertion procedure. To our knowledge, this design is the first hand-held robotic device for assisting in the catheterization insertion task. Compared to the other available technologies, it has several unique advantages such as being compact, low-cost and able to reliably detect venipuncture. The system is equipped with an electrical impedance sensor at the tip of the catheterization needle, which provides real-time measurements used to supervise and control the catheter insertion process. This allows the robotic system to precisely position the needle within the lumen of the target vein, leading to enhanced catheterization success rate. Experiments conducted to evaluate the device demonstrated that it is also effective to deskill the task. Naïve subjects achieved an average catheterization success rate of 88% on a 1.5 mm phantom vessel with the robotic device versus 12% with the traditional unassisted system. The results of this work prove the feasibility of a hand-held assistive robotic device for intravenous catheterization and show that such device has the potential to greatly improve the success rate of these difficult operations.

Validity of maximal isometric knee extension strength measurements obtained via belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry in healthy adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Ushiyama, Naoko; Kurobe, Yasushi; Momose, Kimito

2017-11-01

[Purpose] To determine the validity of knee extension muscle strength measurements using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry with and without body stabilization compared with the gold standard isokinetic dynamometry in healthy adults. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-nine healthy adults (mean age, 21.3 years) were included. Study parameters involved right side measurements of maximal isometric knee extension strength obtained using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry with and without body stabilization and the gold standard. Measurements were performed in all subjects. [Results] A moderate correlation and fixed bias were found between measurements obtained using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry with body stabilization and the gold standard. No significant correlation and proportional bias were found between measurements obtained using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry without body stabilization and the gold standard. The strength identified using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry with body stabilization may not be commensurate with the maximum strength individuals can generate; however, it reflects such strength. In contrast, the strength identified using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry without body stabilization does not reflect the maximum strength. Therefore, a chair should be used to stabilize the body when performing measurements of maximal isometric knee extension strength using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry in healthy adults. [Conclusion] Belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry with body stabilization is more convenient than the gold standard in clinical settings.

Hand-held cell phone use while driving legislation and observed driver behavior among population sub-groups in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudisill, Toni M; Zhu, Motao

2017-05-12

Cell phone use behaviors are known to vary across demographic sub-groups and geographic locations. This study examined whether universal hand-held calling while driving bans were associated with lower road-side observed hand-held cell phone conversations across drivers of different ages (16-24, 25-59, ≥60 years), sexes, races (White, African American, or other), ruralities (suburban, rural, or urban), and regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West). Data from the 2008-2013 National Occupant Protection Use Survey were merged with states' cell phone use while driving legislation. The exposure was presence of a universal hand-held cell phone ban at time of observation. Logistic regression was used to assess the odds of drivers having a hand-held cell phone conversation. Sub-groups differences were assessed using models with interaction terms. When universal hand-held cell phone bans were effective, hand-held cell phone conversations were lower across all driver demographic sub-groups and regions. Sub-group differences existed among the sexes (p-value, phone bans, the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of a driver hand-held phone conversation was 0.34 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.28, 0.41] for females versus 0.47 (CI 0.40, 0.55) for males and 0.31 (CI 0.25, 0.38) for drivers in Western states compared to 0.47 (CI 0.30, 0.72) in the Northeast and 0.50 (CI 0.38, 0.66) in the South. The presence of universal hand-held cell phone bans were associated lower hand-held cell phone conversations across all driver sub-groups and regions. Hand-held phone conversations were particularly lower among female drivers and those from Western states when these bans were in effect. Public health interventions concerning hand-held cell phone use while driving could reasonably target all drivers.

Hand-held cell phone use while driving legislation and observed driver behavior among population sub-groups in the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toni M. Rudisill

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cell phone use behaviors are known to vary across demographic sub-groups and geographic locations. This study examined whether universal hand-held calling while driving bans were associated with lower road-side observed hand-held cell phone conversations across drivers of different ages (16–24, 25–59, ≥60 years, sexes, races (White, African American, or other, ruralities (suburban, rural, or urban, and regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Methods Data from the 2008–2013 National Occupant Protection Use Survey were merged with states’ cell phone use while driving legislation. The exposure was presence of a universal hand-held cell phone ban at time of observation. Logistic regression was used to assess the odds of drivers having a hand-held cell phone conversation. Sub-groups differences were assessed using models with interaction terms. Results When universal hand-held cell phone bans were effective, hand-held cell phone conversations were lower across all driver demographic sub-groups and regions. Sub-group differences existed among the sexes (p-value, <0.0001 and regions (p-value, 0.0003. Compared to states without universal hand-held cell phone bans, the adjusted odds ratio (aOR of a driver hand-held phone conversation was 0.34 [95% confidence interval (CI: 0.28, 0.41] for females versus 0.47 (CI 0.40, 0.55 for males and 0.31 (CI 0.25, 0.38 for drivers in Western states compared to 0.47 (CI 0.30, 0.72 in the Northeast and 0.50 (CI 0.38, 0.66 in the South. Conclusions The presence of universal hand-held cell phone bans were associated lower hand-held cell phone conversations across all driver sub-groups and regions. Hand-held phone conversations were particularly lower among female drivers and those from Western states when these bans were in effect. Public health interventions concerning hand-held cell phone use while driving could reasonably target all drivers.

A feasibility study to develop a diabetes prevention program for young adults with prediabetes using digital platforms and a hand held device

Science.gov (United States)

Cha, EunSeok; Kim, Kevin H.; Umpierrez, Guillermo; Dawkins, Colleen R.; Bello, Morenike K.; Lerner, Hannah; Narayan, K.M. Venkat; Dunbar, Sandra B.

2014-01-01

Purpose The purpose of the pilot study was to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an age-specific diabetes prevention program in young adults with prediabetes. Methods One group pretest-posttest design was conducted. The inclusion criteria were young adults age 18–29 years with prediabetes [either Impaird fasting glucose [IFG] (100–125 mg/dL), or an A1C of 5.7%–6.4%]. Fifteen participants were enrolled in this study. A technology based lifestyle coaching program focused on diet and physical activity and incorporating a hand-held device and digital platforms was developed and tested. Psychosocial factors (health literacy, illness perception, self-efficacy, therapeutic efficacy) based on social cognitive theory, changes in diet and physical activity, and cardiometabolic risk factors were assessed at baseline and week 12 after intervention. A paired-samples t-test was performed to examine changes between baseline and post-intervention on each psychosocial and physical variable. Results Participants (n= 13 completers) were mean age 24.4 yrs [SD: 2.2], 23.1% male, and 53.8% were African American. Overall, the participants were satisfied with the intervention (M = 4.15 on a 5-point Likert scale). Between pre and post testing, BMI and A1C decreased from 41.0 ±7.3 to 40.1±7.0 and 6.0% ± .5 to 5.6% ± .5, respectively, while fasting glucose did not significantly change (92.6±11 mg/dl to 97.6 ±14.3 mg/dl). Conclusion The intervention resulted in reduced A1C and a trend for decreased BMI in obese sedentary young adults with prediabetes after 12 weeks of intervention. Further study through a randomized clinical trial with a longer intervention period is warranted. PMID:24950683

Measuring digit lengths with 3D digital stereophotogrammetry: A comparison across methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Gremba, Allison; Weinberg, Seth M

2018-05-09

We compared digital 3D stereophotogrammetry to more traditional measurement methods (direct anthropometry and 2D scanning) to capture digit lengths and ratios. The length of the second and fourth digits was measured by each method and the second-to-fourth ratio was calculated. For each digit measurement, intraobserver agreement was calculated for each of the three collection methods. Further, measurements from the three methods were compared directly to one another. Agreement statistics included the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and technical error of measurement (TEM). Intraobserver agreement statistics for the digit length measurements were high for all three methods; ICC values exceeded 0.97 and TEM values were below 1 mm. For digit ratio, intraobserver agreement was also acceptable for all methods, with direct anthropometry exhibiting lower agreement (ICC = 0.87) compared to indirect methods. For the comparison across methods, the overall agreement was high for digit length measurements (ICC values ranging from 0.93 to 0.98; TEM values below 2 mm). For digit ratios, high agreement was observed between the two indirect methods (ICC = 0.93), whereas indirect methods showed lower agreement when compared to direct anthropometry (ICC < 0.75). Digit measurements and derived ratios from 3D stereophotogrammetry showed high intraobserver agreement (similar to more traditional methods) suggesting that landmarks could be placed reliably on 3D hand surface images. While digit length measurements were found to be comparable across all three methods, ratios derived from direct anthropometry tended to be higher than those calculated indirectly from 2D or 3D images. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Development of dual sensor hand-held detector

Science.gov (United States)

Sezgin, Mehmet

2010-04-01

In this paper hand-held dual sensor detector development requirements are considered dedicated to buried object detection. Design characteristics of such a system are categorized and listed. Hardware and software structures, ergonomics, user interface, environmental and EMC/EMI tests to be applied and performance test issues are studied. Main properties of the developed system (SEZER) are presented, which contains Metal Detector (MD) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). The realized system has ergonomic structure and can detect both metallic and non-metallic buried objects. Moreover classification of target is possible if it was defined to the signal processing software in learning phase.

Intra-operative ultrasound hand-held strain imaging for the visualization of ablations produced in the liver with a toroidal HIFU transducer: first in vivo results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chenot, J; Melodelima, D; N' Djin, W A; Souchon, Remi; Rivoire, M; Chapelon, J Y, E-mail: jeremy.chenot@inserm.f [Inserm, U556, Lyon, F-69003 (France)

2010-06-07

The use of hand-held ultrasound strain imaging for the intra-operative real-time visualization of HIFU (high-intensity focused ultrasound) ablations produced in the liver by a toroidal transducer was investigated. A linear 12 MHz ultrasound imaging probe was used to obtain radiofrequency signals. Using a fast cross-correlation algorithm, strain images were calculated and displayed at 60 frames s{sup -1}, allowing the use of hand-held strain imaging intra-operatively. Fourteen HIFU lesions were produced in four pigs. Intra-operative strain imaging of HIFU ablations in the liver was feasible owing to the high frame rate. The correlation between dimensions measured on gross pathology and dimensions measured on B-mode images and on strain images were R = 0.72 and R = 0.94 respectively. The contrast between ablated and non-ablated tissue was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the strain images (22 dB) than in the B-mode images (9 dB). Strain images allowed equivalent or improved definition of ablated regions when compared with B-mode images. Real-time intra-operative hand-held strain imaging seems to be a promising complement to conventional B-mode imaging for the guidance of HIFU ablations produced in the liver during an open procedure. These results support that hand-held strain imaging outperforms conventional B-mode ultrasound and could potentially be used for the assessment of thermal therapies.

Validation of digit-length ratio (2D:4D) assessments on the basis of DXA-derived hand scans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Romann, Michael; Fuchslocher, Jörg

2015-01-01

The second-to-fourth digit-length ratio (2D:4D) may be a correlate of prenatal sex steroids, and it has been linked to sporting prowess. The aim of the study was to validate dual-energy X-ray-absorptiometry (DXA) as a technique to assess 2D:4D in soccer players under 15 years of age (U-15). Paired X-ray and DXA scans of the left hands of 63 male U-15 elite soccer players (age: 14.0 ± 0.3 years) were performed, and 2D:4D was then compared between the two techniques. The 2D:4D measurements were performed twice by two blinded raters. Intrarater and interrater reliability, as well as agreement between the X-ray and the DXA assessments, were tested. Intrarater reliabilities of both raters using X-ray with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of 0.97 and 0.90 were excellent. Using DXA, the ICCs were 0.90 and 0.91 thus also showing excellent reliability. Interrater reliabilities were excellent using both the X-ray (ICC of 0.94) and the DXA (ICC of 0.90), assessments respectively. Bland-Altman plots demonstrated that the 2D:4D ratios of the two raters did not differ significantly between the X-ray and the DXA assessments. The standard errors of estimate were 0.01 for both techniques. The 95% limits of agreement of ±0.018 (±2.0%) and ±0.023 (±2.6%), respectively, were within the acceptable tolerance of 5%, and showed very good agreement. DXA offered a replicable technique for assessing 2D:4D in youth soccer players. Therefore, the DXA technique seems to be an alternative method for evaluating 2D:4D in youth sports

Performance of a new hand-held device for exhaled nitric oxide measurement in adults and children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janson C

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Exhaled nitric oxide (NO measurement has been shown to be a valuable tool in the management of patients with asthma. Up to now, most measurements have been done with stationary, chemiluminescence-based NO analysers, which are not suitable for the primary health care setting. A hand-held NO analyser which simplifies the measurement would be of value both in specialized and primary health care. In this study, the performance of a new electrochemical hand-held device for exhaled NO measurements (NIOX MINO was compared with a standard stationary chemiluminescence unit (NIOX. Methods A total of 71 subjects (6–60 years; 36 males, both healthy controls and atopic patients with and without asthma were included. The mean of three approved exhalations (50 ml/s in each device, and the first approved measurement in the hand-held device, were compared with regard to NO readings (Bland-Altman plots, measurement feasibility (success rate with 6 attempts and repeatability (intrasubject SD. Results Success rate was high (≥ 84% in both devices for both adults and children. The subjects represented a FENO range of 8–147 parts per billion (ppb. When comparing the mean of three measurements (n = 61, the median of the intrasubject difference in exhaled NO for the two devices was -1.2 ppb; thus generally the hand-held device gave slightly higher readings. The Bland-Altman plot shows that the 95% limits of agreement were -9.8 and 8.0 ppb. The intrasubject median difference between the NIOX and the first approved measurement in the NIOX MINO was -2.0 ppb, and limits of agreement were -13.2 and 10.2 ppb. The median repeatability for NIOX and NIOX MINO were 1.1 and 1.2 ppb, respectively. Conclusion The hand-held device (NIOX MINO and the stationary system (NIOX are in clinically acceptable agreement both when the mean of three measurements and the first approved measurement (NIOX MINO is used. The hand-held device shows good repeatability, and it

Performance of a new hand-held device for exhaled nitric oxide measurement in adults and children.

Science.gov (United States)

Alving, K; Janson, C; Nordvall, L

2006-04-20

Exhaled nitric oxide (NO) measurement has been shown to be a valuable tool in the management of patients with asthma. Up to now, most measurements have been done with stationary, chemiluminescence-based NO analysers, which are not suitable for the primary health care setting. A hand-held NO analyser which simplifies the measurement would be of value both in specialized and primary health care. In this study, the performance of a new electrochemical hand-held device for exhaled NO measurements (NIOX MINO) was compared with a standard stationary chemiluminescence unit (NIOX). A total of 71 subjects (6-60 years; 36 males), both healthy controls and atopic patients with and without asthma were included. The mean of three approved exhalations (50 ml/s) in each device, and the first approved measurement in the hand-held device, were compared with regard to NO readings (Bland-Altman plots), measurement feasibility (success rate with 6 attempts) and repeatability (intrasubject SD). Success rate was high (> or = 84%) in both devices for both adults and children. The subjects represented a FENO range of 8-147 parts per billion (ppb). When comparing the mean of three measurements (n = 61), the median of the intrasubject difference in exhaled NO for the two devices was -1.2 ppb; thus generally the hand-held device gave slightly higher readings. The Bland-Altman plot shows that the 95% limits of agreement were -9.8 and 8.0 ppb. The intrasubject median difference between the NIOX and the first approved measurement in the NIOX MINO was -2.0 ppb, and limits of agreement were -13.2 and 10.2 ppb. The median repeatability for NIOX and NIOX MINO were 1.1 and 1.2 ppb, respectively. The hand-held device (NIOX MINO) and the stationary system (NIOX) are in clinically acceptable agreement both when the mean of three measurements and the first approved measurement (NIOX MINO) is used. The hand-held device shows good repeatability, and it can be used successfully on adults and most children

How to use hand-held computers to evaluate wood drying.

Science.gov (United States)

Howard N. Rosen; Darrell S. Martin

1985-01-01

Techniques have been developed to evaluate end generate wood drying curves with hand-held computers (3-5K memory). Predictions of time to dry to a specific moisture content, drying rates, and other characteristics of wood drying curves can be made. The paper describes the development of programs and illustrates their use.

78 FR 27441 - NIJ Evaluation of Hand-Held Cell Phone Detector Devices

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-10

...The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is soliciting interest in supplying hand-held cell phone detector devices for participation in an evaluation by the NIJ Corrections Technology Center of Excellence (CXCoE).

78 FR 73415 - Safety Standard for Hand-Held Infant Carriers

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-06

... modifications to the ASTM test procedure set forth in ASTM F2050-12 so that the test produces more repeatable... skills necessary for the preparation of reports or records; and a description of the steps the agency has... the Rule on Small Business There are at least 47 firms currently known to be marketing hand- held...

The Weak Link HP-41C hand-held calculator program

Science.gov (United States)

Ross A. Phillips; Penn A. Peters; Gary D. Falk

1982-01-01

The Weak Link hand-held calculator program (HP-41C) quickly analyzes a system for logging production and costs. The production equations model conventional chain saw, skidder, loader, and tandemaxle truck operations in eastern mountain areas. Production of each function of the logging system may be determined so that the system may be balanced for minimum cost. The...

Hand-held transendoscopic robotic manipulators: A transurethral laser prostate surgery case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrick, Richard J; Mitchell, Christopher R; Herrell, S Duke; Webster, Robert J

2015-11-01

Natural orifice endoscopic surgery can enable incisionless approaches, but a major challenge is the lack of small and dexterous instrumentation. Surgical robots have the potential to meet this need yet often disrupt the clinical workflow. Hand-held robots that combine thin manipulators and endoscopes have the potential to address this by integrating seamlessly into the clinical workflow and enhancing dexterity. As a case study illustrating the potential of this approach, we describe a hand-held robotic system that passes two concentric tube manipulators through a 5 mm port in a rigid endoscope for transurethral laser prostate surgery. This system is intended to catalyze the use of a clinically superior, yet rarely attempted, procedure for benign prostatic hyperplasia. This paper describes system design and experiments to evaluate the surgeon's functional workspace and accuracy using the robot. Phantom and cadaver experiments demonstrate successful completion of the target procedure via prostate lobe resection.

Hand held lasers, a hazard to aircraft: How do we address this?

Science.gov (United States)

Barat, K.

2015-10-01

The availability of hand held lasers, commonly termed "laser pointers" is easy and wide spread, through commercial web sites and brick & mortar stores. The output of these hand held devices ranges from 1-5 milliWatts (mW) the legal laser pointer output limit, to 5000mW (5Watts). This is thousand times the maximum limit for pointers. Sadly the abuse of these devices is also wide spread. Over the last few years over 3000 aircraft are exposed to laser hits per year. While these aircraft exposures are of no danger to the aircraft frame but they can cause pilot distractions with the potential to cause a serve accident. The presentation will discuss the problem review visual effects, the regulatory response and how educators need to be aware of the problem and can take steps to educate students in the hope of having an effect.

An integrated portable hand-held analyser for real-time isothermal nucleic acid amplification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Matthew C.; Steimle, George; Ivanov, Stan; Holly, Mark; Fries, David P.

2007-01-01

A compact hand-held heated fluorometric instrument for performing real-time isothermal nucleic acid amplification and detection is described. The optoelectronic instrument combines a Printed Circuit Board/Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (PCB/MEMS) reaction detection/chamber containing an integrated resistive heater with attached miniature LED light source and photo-detector and a disposable glass waveguide capillary to enable a mini-fluorometer. The fluorometer is fabricated and assembled in planar geometry, rolled into a tubular format and packaged with custom control electronics to form the hand-held reactor. Positive or negative results for each reaction are displayed to the user using an LED interface. Reaction data is stored in FLASH memory for retrieval via an in-built USB connection. Operating on one disposable 3 V lithium battery >12, 60 min reactions can be performed. Maximum dimensions of the system are 150 mm (h) x 48 mm (d) x 40 mm (w), the total instrument weight (with battery) is 140 g. The system produces comparable results to laboratory instrumentation when performing a real-time nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) reaction, and also displayed comparable precision, accuracy and resolution to laboratory-based real-time nucleic acid amplification instrumentation. A good linear response (R 2 = 0.948) to fluorescein gradients ranging from 0.5 to 10 μM was also obtained from the instrument indicating that it may be utilized for other fluorometric assays. This instrument enables an inexpensive, compact approach to in-field genetic screening, providing results comparable to laboratory equipment with rapid user feedback as to the status of the reaction

An integrated portable hand-held analyser for real-time isothermal nucleic acid amplification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Matthew C. [College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St Petersburg, FL (United States)], E-mail: msmith@marine.usf.edu; Steimle, George; Ivanov, Stan; Holly, Mark; Fries, David P. [College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St Petersburg, FL (United States)

2007-08-29

A compact hand-held heated fluorometric instrument for performing real-time isothermal nucleic acid amplification and detection is described. The optoelectronic instrument combines a Printed Circuit Board/Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (PCB/MEMS) reaction detection/chamber containing an integrated resistive heater with attached miniature LED light source and photo-detector and a disposable glass waveguide capillary to enable a mini-fluorometer. The fluorometer is fabricated and assembled in planar geometry, rolled into a tubular format and packaged with custom control electronics to form the hand-held reactor. Positive or negative results for each reaction are displayed to the user using an LED interface. Reaction data is stored in FLASH memory for retrieval via an in-built USB connection. Operating on one disposable 3 V lithium battery >12, 60 min reactions can be performed. Maximum dimensions of the system are 150 mm (h) x 48 mm (d) x 40 mm (w), the total instrument weight (with battery) is 140 g. The system produces comparable results to laboratory instrumentation when performing a real-time nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) reaction, and also displayed comparable precision, accuracy and resolution to laboratory-based real-time nucleic acid amplification instrumentation. A good linear response (R{sup 2} = 0.948) to fluorescein gradients ranging from 0.5 to 10 {mu}M was also obtained from the instrument indicating that it may be utilized for other fluorometric assays. This instrument enables an inexpensive, compact approach to in-field genetic screening, providing results comparable to laboratory equipment with rapid user feedback as to the status of the reaction.

Hand-held spectrophotometer design for textile fabrics

Science.gov (United States)

Böcekçi, Veysel Gökhan; Yıldız, Kazım

2017-09-01

In this study, a hand-held spectrophotometer was designed by taking advantage of the developments in modern optoelectronic technology. Spectrophotometer devices are used to determine the color information from the optic properties of the materials. As an alternative to a desktop spectrophotometer device we have implemented, it is the first prototype, low cost and portable. The prototype model designed for the textile industry can detect the color tone of any fabric. The prototype model consists of optic sensor, processor, display floors. According to the color applied on the optic sensor, it produces special frequency information on its output at that color value. In Arduino type processor, the frequency information is evaluated by the program we have written and the color tone information between 0-255 ton is decided and displayed on the screen.

Can digit ratio (2D:4D) studies be helpful in explaining the aetiology of idiopathic gynecomastia?

Science.gov (United States)

Kasielska-Trojan, Anna; Antoszewski, Bogusław

2015-01-01

Aetiology of idiopathic form of gynecomastia is unknown and it has not been established if it is related to factors present at the prenatal period or if it is caused by yet unidentified environmental conditions. The aim of this study is to compare digit ratio (2D:4D) in men with idiopathic gynecomastia and unaffected male and female controls from the general population. The study involved 250 subjects (50 men with idiopathic gynecomastia, 100 control men and 100 control women). Eight measurements were taken: body height, waist and hip circumferences, II and IV digits' lengths (right and left), and body weight, and 4 indices were calculated: BMI, WHR, and 2D:4D for the right and left hand. 2D:4D in men with gynecomastia ([median (I-III quartiles)]: 1.03 (1.01-1.04) for right hand and 1.03 (1.01-1.03) for left hand) was significantly different than the ratio in control men [0.97 (0.95-0.99)] for right and left hand) (pgynecomastia were characterized with higher values of the following variables: weight, waist and hip circumferences, BMI and WHR. Their body height was significantly greater than in women (pgynecomastia and justify introducing the new group: "gynecomastia related to the prenatal sex hormones disturbances". Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The reliability and validity of hand-held refractometry water content measures of hydrogel lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Nichols, Jason J; Mitchell, G Lynn; Good, Gregory W

2003-06-01

To investigate within- and between-examiner reliability and validity of hand-held refractometry water content measures of hydrogel lenses. Nineteen lenses of various nominal water contents were examined by two examiners on two occasions separated by 1 hour. An Atago N2 hand-held refractometer was used for all water content measures. Lenses were presented in a random order to each examiner by a third party, and examiners were masked to any potential lens identifiers. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), 95% limits of agreement, and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to characterize the within- and between-examiner reliability and validity of lens water content measures. Within-examiner reliability was excellent (ICC, 0.97; 95% limits of agreement, -3.6% to +5.7%), and the inter-visit mean difference of 1.1 +/- 2.4% was not biased (p = 0.08). Between-examiner reliability was also excellent (ICC, 0.98; 95% limits of agreement, -4.1% to +3.9%). The mean difference between examiners was -0.1 +/- 2.1% (p = 0.83). The mean difference between the nominally reported water content and our water content measures was -2.1 +/- 1.7% (p refractometry and is material dependent. Therefore, investigators may need to account for bias when measuring hydrogel lens water content via hand-held refractometry.

Balancing fast-rotating parts of hand-held machine drive

Science.gov (United States)

Korotkov, V. S.; Sicora, E. A.; Nadeina, L. V.; Yongzheng, Wang

2018-03-01

The article considers the issues related to the balancing of fast rotating parts of the hand-held machine drive including a wave transmission with intermediate rolling elements, which is constructed on the basis of the single-phase collector motor with a useful power of 1 kW and a nominal rotation frequency of 15000 rpm. The forms of balancers and their location are chosen. The method of balancing is described. The scheme for determining of residual unbalance in two correction planes is presented. Measurement results are given in tables.

Radiation safety evaluation of a hand-held, battery operated image intensifier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, O.J.; Young, B.F.

1987-01-01

A portable, hand-held, fluoroscopic unit intended for medical and industrial use was tested to verify the claim of the manufacturers that the radiation doses to the patient and user are low, and comparable to those received from standard radiographic procedures. The first claim was substantiated but not the second. A number of concerns arising from the use of this unit are discussed

FURTHER EVIDENCE OF AN ASSOCIATION BETWEEN LOW SECOND-TO-FOURTH DIGIT RATIO (2D:4D) AND SELECTION FOR THE UNIFORMED SERVICES: A STUDY AMONG POLICE PERSONNEL IN WROCŁAW, POLAND.

Science.gov (United States)

Kozieł, Sławomir; Kociuba, Marek; Chakraborty, Raja; Sitek, Aneta; Ignasiak, Zofia

2017-08-22

Males and females differ in their preference for occupations and sporting activities, and differ also in risk-taking attitudes. In addition to other explanations, prenatal hormone exposure has been implicated in these gender-associated differences. The ratio of the relative lengths of the second-to-fourth digits (2D:4D) is a proxy indicator of prenatal exposure to testosterone relative to oestrogen. The 2D:4D ratio has been found to be associated with choice of occupation, particularly among females. This study investigated whether 2D:4D differed between police officers and a control group of civilians in Wrocław, Poland. Participants were 147 male and 55 female police officers and 91 male and 75 female civilian controls. The police officers had to undergo rigorous physical ability tests during recruitment and their job bore relatively higher risk, whereas the controls had a normal civilian lifestyle. Height, weight, hand grip strength and lengths of the second and fourth digits were measured. Analyses of variance and covariance were employed to assess the significance of difference in digit ratio between groups (police officers and civilians) allowing for interaction with sex. The policewomen, compared with the female controls, were taller and had stronger hand grip strength, but had lower 2D:4D in the right hand and average 2D:4D of both hands. However, male and female police officers slightly differed only in the right hand digit ratio but not in the left hand ratio or the average for the two hands. However, the control group showed significant sex differences in all digit ratios with higher (feminine) mean values in females. The study provides further evidence that prenatal testosterone exposure, as reflected in the 2D:4D ratio, might have an association with choice of occupation, particularly among females.

Feature issue of digital holography and 3D imaging (DH) introduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayasaki, Yoshio; Zhou, Changhe; Popescu, Gabriel; Onural, Levent

2014-11-17

The OSA Topical Meeting "Digital Holography and 3D Imaging (DH)," was held in Seattle, Washington, July 13-17, 2014. Feature issues based on the DH meeting series have been released by Applied Optics (AO) since 2007. This year Optics Express (OE) and AO jointly decided to have one such feature issue in each journal. The DH meeting will continue in the future, as expected, and the next meeting is scheduled to be held on 24 - 28 May 2015, in Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Shanghai, China.

Post-Disaster Image Processing for Damage Analysis Using GENESI-DR, WPS and Grid Computing

OpenAIRE

Bielski, Conrad; Gentilini, Simone; Pappalardo, Marco

2011-01-01

The goal of the two year Ground European Network for Earth Science Interoperations-Digital Repositories (GENESI-DR) project was to build an open and seamless access service to Earth science digital repositories for European and world-wide science users. In order to showcase GENESI-DR, one of the developed technology demonstrators focused on fast search, discovery, and access to remotely sensed imagery in the context of post-disaster building damage assessment. This paper descri...

Standard guide to In-Plant performance evaluation of Hand-Held SNM monitors

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

1999-01-01

1.1 This guide is one of a series on the application and evaluation of special nuclear material (SNM) monitors. Other guides in the series are listed in Section 2, and the relationship of in-plant performance evaluation to other procedures described in the series is illustrated in Fig. 1. Hand-held SNM monitors are described in of Guide C1112, and performance criteria illustrating their capabilities can be found in Appendix X1. 1.2 The purpose of this guide to in-plant performance evaluation is to provide a comparatively rapid procedure to verify that a hand-held SNM monitor performs as expected for detecting SNM or alternative test sources or to disclose the need for repair. The procedure can be used as a routine operational evaluation or it can be used to verify performance after a monitor is calibrated. 1.3 In-plant performance evaluations are more comprehensive than daily functional tests. They take place less often, at intervals ranging from weekly to once every three months, and derive their result fr...

Implementation of synthetic aperture imaging on a hand-held device

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hemmsen, Martin Christian; Kjeldsen, Thomas; Larsen, Lee

2014-01-01

-held devices all with different chipsets and a BK Medical UltraView 800 ultrasound scanner emulating a wireless probe. The wireless transmission is benchmarked using an imaging setup consisting of 269 scan lines x 1472 complex samples (1.58 MB pr. frame, 16 frames per second). The measured data throughput...... reached an average of 28.8 MB/s using a LG G2 mobile device, which is more than the required data throughput of 25.3 MB/s. Benchmarking the processing performance for B-mode imaging showed a total processing time of 18.9 ms (53 frames/s), which is less than the acquisition time (62.5 ms).......This paper presents several implementations of Syn- thetic Aperture Sequential Beamforming (SASB) on commer- cially available hand-held devices. The implementations include real-time wireless reception of ultrasound radio frequency sig- nals and GPU processing for B-mode imaging. The proposed...

Force-independent distribution of correlated neural inputs to hand muscles during three-digit grasping.

Science.gov (United States)

Poston, Brach; Danna-Dos Santos, Alessander; Jesunathadas, Mark; Hamm, Thomas M; Santello, Marco

2010-08-01

The ability to modulate digit forces during grasping relies on the coordination of multiple hand muscles. Because many muscles innervate each digit, the CNS can potentially choose from a large number of muscle coordination patterns to generate a given digit force. Studies of single-digit force production tasks have revealed that the electromyographic (EMG) activity scales uniformly across all muscles as a function of digit force. However, the extent to which this finding applies to the coordination of forces across multiple digits is unknown. We addressed this question by asking subjects (n = 8) to exert isometric forces using a three-digit grip (thumb, index, and middle fingers) that allowed for the quantification of hand muscle coordination within and across digits as a function of grasp force (5, 20, 40, 60, and 80% maximal voluntary force). We recorded EMG from 12 muscles (6 extrinsic and 6 intrinsic) of the three digits. Hand muscle coordination patterns were quantified in the amplitude and frequency domains (EMG-EMG coherence). EMG amplitude scaled uniformly across all hand muscles as a function of grasp force (muscle x force interaction: P = 0.997; cosines of angle between muscle activation pattern vector pairs: 0.897-0.997). Similarly, EMG-EMG coherence was not significantly affected by force (P = 0.324). However, coherence was stronger across extrinsic than that across intrinsic muscle pairs (P = 0.0039). These findings indicate that the distribution of neural drive to multiple hand muscles is force independent and may reflect the anatomical properties or functional roles of hand muscle groups.

Algorithms for a hand-held miniature x-ray fluorescence analytical instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elam, W.T.; Newman, D.; Ziemba, F.

1998-01-01

The purpose of this joint program was to provide technical assistance with the development of a Miniature X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analytical Instrument. This new XRF instrument is designed to overcome the weaknesses of spectrometers commercially available at the present time. Currently available XRF spectrometers (for a complete list see reference 1) convert spectral information to sample composition using the influence coefficients technique or the fundamental parameters method. They require either a standard sample with composition relatively close to the unknown or a detailed knowledge of the sample matrix. They also require a highly-trained operator and the results often depend on the capabilities of the operator. In addition, almost all existing field-portable, hand-held instruments use radioactive sources for excitation. Regulatory limits on such sources restrict them such that they can only provide relatively weak excitation. This limits all current hand-held XRF instruments to poor detection limits and/or long data collection times, in addition to the licensing requirements and disposal problems for radioactive sources. The new XRF instrument was developed jointly by Quantrad Sensor, Inc., the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and the Department of Energy (DOE). This report describes the analysis algorithms developed by NRL for the new instrument and the software which embodies them

Maintaining radiation exposures as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) for dental personnel operating portable hand-held x-ray equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

McGiff, Thomas J; Danforth, Robert A; Herschaft, Edward E

2012-08-01

Clinical experience indicates that newly available portable hand-held x-ray units provide advantages compared to traditional fixed properly installed and operated x-ray units in dental radiography. However, concern that hand-held x-ray units produce higher operator doses than fixed x-ray units has caused regulatory agencies to mandate requirements for use of hand-held units that go beyond those recommended by the manufacturer and can discourage the use of this technology. To assess the need for additional requirements, a hand-held x-ray unit and a pair of manikins were used to measure the dose to a simulated operator under two conditions: exposures made according to the manufacturer's recommendations and exposures made according to manufacturer's recommendation except for the removal of the x-ray unit's protective backscatter shield. Dose to the simulated operator was determined using an array of personal dosimeters and a pair of pressurized ion chambers. The results indicate that the dose to an operator of this equipment will be less than 0.6 mSv y⁻¹ if the device is used according to the manufacturer's recommendations. This suggests that doses to properly trained operators of well-designed, hand-held dental x-ray units will be below 1.0 mSv y⁻¹ (2% of the annual occupational dose limit) even if additional no additional operational requirements are established by regulatory agencies. This level of annual dose is similar to those reported as typical dental personnel using fixed x-ray units and appears to satisfy the ALARA principal for this class of occupational exposures.

Neurosurgical hand-held optical coherence tomography (OCT) forward-viewing probe

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Cuiru; Lee, Kenneth K. C.; Vuong, Barry; Cusimano, Michael; Brukson, Alexander; Mariampillai, Adrian; Standish, Beau A.; Yang, Victor X. D.

2012-02-01

A prototype neurosurgical hand-held optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging probe has been developed to provide micron resolution cross-sectional images of subsurface tissue during open surgery. This new ergonomic hand-held probe has been designed based on our group's previous work on electrostatically driven optical fibers. It has been packaged into a catheter probe in the familiar form factor of the clinically accepted Bayonet shaped neurosurgical non-imaging Doppler ultrasound probes. The optical design was optimized using ZEMAX simulation. Optical properties of the probe were tested to yield an ~20 um spot size, 5 mm working distance and a 3.5 mm field of view. The scan frequency can be increased or decreased by changing the applied voltage. Typically a scan frequency of less than 60Hz is chosen to keep the applied voltage to less than 2000V. The axial resolution of the probe was ~15 um (in air) as determined by the OCT system. A custom-triggering methodology has been developed to provide continuous stable imaging, which is crucial for clinical utility. Feasibility of this probe, in combination with a 1310 nm swept source OCT system was tested and images are presented to highlight the usefulness of such a forward viewing handheld OCT imaging probe. Knowledge gained from this research will lay the foundation for developing new OCT technologies for endovascular management of cerebral aneurysms and transsphenoidal neuroendoscopic treatment of pituitary tumors.

Three-dimensional modeling of physiological tremor for hand-held surgical robotic instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Tatinati, Sivanagaraja; Yan Naing Aye; Pual, Anand; Wei Tech Ang; Veluvolu, Kalyana C

2016-08-01

Hand-held robotic instruments are developed to compensate physiological tremor in real-time while augmenting the required precision and dexterity into normal microsurgical work-flow. The hardware (sensors and actuators) and software (causal linear filters) employed for tremor identification and filtering introduces time-varying unknown phase-delay that adversely affects the device performance. The current techniques that focus on three-dimensions (3D) tip position control involves modeling and canceling the tremor in 3-axes (x, y, and z axes) separately. Our analysis with the tremor data recorded from surgeons and novice subjects show that there exists significant correlation in tremor motion across the dimensions. Motivated by this, a new multi-dimensional modeling approach based on extreme learning machines (ELM) is proposed in this paper to correct the phase delay and to accurately model tremulous motion in three dimensions simultaneously. A study is conducted with tremor data recorded from the microsurgeons to analyze the suitability of proposed approach.

Value of digit ratio 2D:4D, a biomarker of prenatal hormone exposure, is stable across the menstrual cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Klimek, Magdalena; Marcinkowska, Urszula M; Jasienska, Grazyna

2017-07-01

Digit ratio (2D:4D) is used as a marker of prenatal hormone exposure and, consequently, as a predictor of many characteristics throughout a woman's lifespan. A previous study has suggested that values of 2D:4D vary across menstrual cycles and further questioned the reliability of a single measurement of 2D:4D among cycling women, while another study failed to confirm these results. However, these studies estimated the timing of cycle phases based on a date of menstruation reported by participants and also had small sample sizes. For our study, we evaluated potential changes in 2D:4D values across a menstrual cycle in a group of women among whom the phases of the menstrual cycle were determined by hormonal (luteinizing hormone based) ovulation tests. We studied 32 naturally cycling women aged 22-37 from rural Poland. Lengths of second and fourth digits were measured based on scans of both hands taken three times (i.e. in the follicular phase, peri-ovulatory phase and luteal phase of the cycle) for each participant. No differences in 2D:4D value across the menstrual cycle were detected either when right-hand, left-hand, and mean 2D:4D for both hands were analysed, nor when difference in the 2D:4D value between hands (D left-right ) was evaluated. We documented that 2D:4D is independent of the phase of the menstrual cycle and these findings suggest that among naturally cycling women, a value of 2D:4D can be reliably obtained from measurements taken during any day of the menstrual cycle. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Digit Ratio (2D:4D) Predicts Self-Reported Measures of General Competitiveness, but Not Behavior in Economic Experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Bönte, Werner; Procher, Vivien D; Urbig, Diemo; Voracek, Martin

2017-01-01

The ratio of index finger length to ring finger length (2D:4D) is considered to be a putative biomarker of prenatal androgen exposure (PAE), with previous research suggesting that 2D:4D is associated with human behaviors, especially sex-typical behaviors. This study empirically examines the relationship between 2D:4D and individual competitiveness, a behavioral trait that is found to be sexually dimorphic. We employ two related, but distinct, measures of competitiveness, namely behavioral measures obtained from economic experiments and psychometric self-reported measures. Our analyses are based on two independent data sets obtained from surveys and economic experiments with 461 visitors of a shopping mall (Study I) and 617 university students (Study II). The correlation between behavior in the economic experiment and digit ratios of both hands is not statistically significant in either study. In contrast, we find a negative and statistically significant relationship between psychometric self-reported measures of competitiveness and right hand digit ratios (R2D:4D) in both studies. This relationship is especially strong for younger people. Hence, this study provides some robust empirical evidence for a negative association between R2D:4D and self-reported competitiveness. We discuss potential reasons why digit ratio may relate differently to behaviors in specific economics experiments and to self-reported general competitiveness.

Digit Ratio (2D:4D Predicts Self-Reported Measures of General Competitiveness, but Not Behavior in Economic Experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Werner Bönte

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The ratio of index finger length to ring finger length (2D:4D is considered to be a putative biomarker of prenatal androgen exposure (PAE, with previous research suggesting that 2D:4D is associated with human behaviors, especially sex-typical behaviors. This study empirically examines the relationship between 2D:4D and individual competitiveness, a behavioral trait that is found to be sexually dimorphic. We employ two related, but distinct, measures of competitiveness, namely behavioral measures obtained from economic experiments and psychometric self-reported measures. Our analyses are based on two independent data sets obtained from surveys and economic experiments with 461 visitors of a shopping mall (Study I and 617 university students (Study II. The correlation between behavior in the economic experiment and digit ratios of both hands is not statistically significant in either study. In contrast, we find a negative and statistically significant relationship between psychometric self-reported measures of competitiveness and right hand digit ratios (R2D:4D in both studies. This relationship is especially strong for younger people. Hence, this study provides some robust empirical evidence for a negative association between R2D:4D and self-reported competitiveness. We discuss potential reasons why digit ratio may relate differently to behaviors in specific economics experiments and to self-reported general competitiveness.

A study of cladding technology on tube wall surface by a hand-held laser torch

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terada, Takaya; Nishimura, Akihiko; Oka, Kiyoshi; Moriyama, Taku; Matsuda, Hiroyasu

2015-01-01

New maintenance technique was proposed using a hand-held laser torch for aging chemical plants and power plants. The hand-held laser torch was specially designed to be able to access limited tubular space in various cases. A composite-type optical fiberscope was composed of a center fiber for beam delivery and surrounded fibers for visible image delivery. Laser irradiation on a work pieces with the best accuracy of filler wire was carried out. And, we found that the optimized wire-feed speed was 2 mm/s in laser cladding. We succeeded to make a line clad on the inner wall of 23 mm tube. This technique was discussed to be applied to the maintenance for cracks or corrosions of tubes in various harsh environments. (author)

Exploring field-of-view non-uniformities produced by a hand-held spectroradiometer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamir Caras

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The shape of a spectroradiometer’s field of view (FOV affects the way spectral measurements are acquired. Knowing this property is a prerequisite for the correct use of the spectrometer. If the substrate is heterogeneous, the ability to accurately know what is being measured depends on knowing the FOV location, shape, spectral and spatial sensitivity. The GER1500 is a hand-held spectrometer with a fixed lens light entry slit and has a laser guide that allows control over the target by positioning the entire unit. In the current study, the FOV of the GER1500 was mapped and analysed. The spectral and spatial non-uniformities of the FOV were examined and were found to be spectrally independent. The relationship between the FOV and the built-in laser guide was tested and found to have a linear displacement dependent on the distance to the target. This allows an accurate prediction of the actual FOV position. A correction method to improve the agreement between the expected and measured reflectance over heterogeneous targets was developed and validated. The methods described are applicable and may be of use with other hand-held spectroradiometers.

Gamma-ray detectors for intelligent, hand-held radiation monitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fehlau, P.E.

1983-01-01

Small radiation detectors based on HgI 2 , bismuth germanate (BGO), plastic, or NaI(Tl) detector materials were evaluated for use in small, lighweight radiation monitors. The two denser materials, HgI 2 and BGO, had poor resolution at low-energy and thus performed less well than NaI(Tl) in detecting low-energy gamma rays from bare, enriched uranium. The plastic scintillator, a Compton recoil detector, also performed less well at low gamma-ray energy. Two small NaI(Tl) detectors were suitable for detecting bare uranium and sheilded plutonium. One became part of a new lightweight hand-held monitor and the other found uses as a pole-mounted detector for monitoring hard-to-reach locations

Comparison of two single-breath-held 3-D acquisitions with multi-breath-held 2-D cine steady-state free precession MRI acquisition in children with single ventricles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Atweh, Lamya A.; Dodd, Nicholas A.; Krishnamurthy, Ramkumar; Chu, Zili D. [Texas Children' s Hospital, EB Singleton Department of Pediatric Radiology, Cardiovascular Imaging, Houston, TX (United States); Pednekar, Amol [Philips Healthcare, Houston, TX (United States); Krishnamurthy, Rajesh [Texas Children' s Hospital, EB Singleton Department of Pediatric Radiology, Cardiovascular Imaging, Houston, TX (United States); Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Houston, TX (United States); Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Houston, TX (United States)

2016-05-15

Breath-held two-dimensional balanced steady-state free precession cine acquisition (2-D breath-held SSFP), accelerated with parallel imaging, is the method of choice for evaluating ventricular function due to its superior blood-to-myocardial contrast, edge definition and high intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio throughout the cardiac cycle. The purpose of this study is to qualitatively and quantitatively compare the two different single-breath-hold 3-D cine SSFP acquisitions using 1) multidirectional sensitivity encoding (SENSE) acceleration factors (3-D multiple SENSE SSFP), and 2) k-t broad-use linear acceleration speed-up technique (3-D k-t SSFP) with the conventional 2-D breath-held SSFP in non-sedated asymptomatic volunteers and children with single ventricle congenital heart disease. Our prospective study was performed on 30 non-sedated subjects (9 healthy volunteers and 21 functional single ventricle patients), ages 12.5 +/- 2.8 years. Two-dimensional breath-held SSFP with SENSE acceleration factor of 2, eight-fold accelerated 3-D k-t SSFP, and 3-D multiple SENSE SSFP with total parallel imaging factor of 4 were performed to evaluate ventricular volumes and mass in the short-axis orientation. Image quality scores (blood myocardial contrast, edge definition and interslice alignment) and volumetric analysis (end systolic volume, end diastolic volume and ejection fraction) were performed on the data sets by experienced users. Paired t-test was performed to compare each of the 3-D k-t SSFP and 3-D multiple SENSE SSFP clinical scores against 2-D breath-held SSFP. Bland-Altman analysis was performed on left ventricle (LV) and single ventricle volumetry. Interobserver and intraobserver variability in volumetric measurements were determined using intraclass coefficients. The clinical scores were highest for the 2-D breath-held SSFP images. Between the two 3-D sequences, 3-D multiple SENSE SSFP performed better than 3-D k-t SSFP. Bland-Altman analysis for volumes

Survey reveals public open to ban on hand-held cell phone use and texting.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

A study performed by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reveals that the public is open to a ban on hand-held cell phone use while driving. The study is based on data from 2009s Omnibus Household Survey (OHS), which is administered by B...

Comparative Geometrical Investigations of Hand-Held Scanning Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kersten, T. P.; Przybilla, H.-J.; Lindstaedt, M.; Tschirschwitz, F.; Misgaiski-Hass, M.

2016-06-01

An increasing number of hand-held scanning systems by different manufacturers are becoming available on the market. However, their geometrical performance is little-known to many users. Therefore the Laboratory for Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning of the HafenCity University Hamburg has carried out geometrical accuracy tests with the following systems in co-operation with the Bochum University of Applied Sciences (Laboratory for Photogrammetry) as well as the Humboldt University in Berlin (Institute for Computer Science): DOTProduct DPI-7, Artec Spider, Mantis Vision F5 SR, Kinect v1 + v2, Structure Sensor and Google's Project Tango. In the framework of these comparative investigations geometrically stable reference bodies were used. The appropriate reference data were acquired by measurement with two structured light projection systems (AICON smartSCAN and GOM ATOS I 2M). The comprehensive test results of the different test scenarios are presented and critically discussed in this contribution.

Potential role of a new hand-held miniature gamma camera in performing minimally invasive parathyroidectomy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ortega, Joaquin; Lledo, Salvador [University of Valencia, Clinic University Hospital, Department of Surgery, Valencia (Spain); Ferrer-Rebolleda, Jose [Clinic University Hospital, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Valencia (Spain); Cassinello, Norberto [Clinic University Hospital, Unit of Endocrinologic and Bariatric Surgery, Valencia (Spain)

2007-02-15

Sestamibi scans have increased the use of minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) to treat primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) when caused by a parathyroid single adenoma. The greatest concern for surgeons remains the proper identification of pathological glands in a limited surgical field. We have studied the usefulness of a new hand-held miniature gamma camera (MGC) when used intraoperatively to locate parathyroid adenomas. To our knowledge this is the first report published on this subject in the scientific literature. Five patients with PHPT secondary to a single adenoma, positively diagnosed by preoperative sestamibi scans, underwent a MIP. A gamma probe for radioguided surgery and the new hand-held MGC were used consecutively to locate the pathological glands. This new MGC has a module composed of a high-resolution interchangeable collimator and a CsI(Na) scintillating crystal. It has dimensions of around 15 cm x 8 cm x 9 cm and weighs 1 kg. The intraoperative assay of PTH (ioPTH) was used to confirm the complete resection of pathological tissue. All cases were operated on successfully by a MIP. The ioPTH confirmed the excision of all pathological tissues. The MGC proved its usefulness in all patients, even in a difficult case in which the first attempt with the gamma probe failed. In all cases it offered real-time accurate intraoperative images. The hand-held MGC is a useful instrument in MIP for PHPT. It may be used to complement the standard tools used to date, or may even replace them, at least in selected cases of single adenomas. (orig.)

Potential role of a new hand-held miniature gamma camera in performing minimally invasive parathyroidectomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortega, Joaquin; Lledo, Salvador; Ferrer-Rebolleda, Jose; Cassinello, Norberto

2007-01-01

Sestamibi scans have increased the use of minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) to treat primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) when caused by a parathyroid single adenoma. The greatest concern for surgeons remains the proper identification of pathological glands in a limited surgical field. We have studied the usefulness of a new hand-held miniature gamma camera (MGC) when used intraoperatively to locate parathyroid adenomas. To our knowledge this is the first report published on this subject in the scientific literature. Five patients with PHPT secondary to a single adenoma, positively diagnosed by preoperative sestamibi scans, underwent a MIP. A gamma probe for radioguided surgery and the new hand-held MGC were used consecutively to locate the pathological glands. This new MGC has a module composed of a high-resolution interchangeable collimator and a CsI(Na) scintillating crystal. It has dimensions of around 15 cm x 8 cm x 9 cm and weighs 1 kg. The intraoperative assay of PTH (ioPTH) was used to confirm the complete resection of pathological tissue. All cases were operated on successfully by a MIP. The ioPTH confirmed the excision of all pathological tissues. The MGC proved its usefulness in all patients, even in a difficult case in which the first attempt with the gamma probe failed. In all cases it offered real-time accurate intraoperative images. The hand-held MGC is a useful instrument in MIP for PHPT. It may be used to complement the standard tools used to date, or may even replace them, at least in selected cases of single adenomas. (orig.)

Hand-held cell phone use while driving legislation and observed driver behavior among population sub-groups in the United States

OpenAIRE

Rudisill, Toni M.; Zhu, Motao

2017-01-01

Abstract Background Cell phone use behaviors are known to vary across demographic sub-groups and geographic locations. This study examined whether universal hand-held calling while driving bans were associated with lower road-side observed hand-held cell phone conversations across drivers of different ages (16–24, 25–59, ≥60 years), sexes, races (White, African American, or other), ruralities (suburban, rural, or urban), and regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West). Methods Data from the...

COMPARATIVE GEOMETRICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF HAND-HELD SCANNING SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. P. Kersten

2016-06-01

Full Text Available An increasing number of hand-held scanning systems by different manufacturers are becoming available on the market. However, their geometrical performance is little-known to many users. Therefore the Laboratory for Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning of the HafenCity University Hamburg has carried out geometrical accuracy tests with the following systems in co-operation with the Bochum University of Applied Sciences (Laboratory for Photogrammetry as well as the Humboldt University in Berlin (Institute for Computer Science: DOTProduct DPI-7, Artec Spider, Mantis Vision F5 SR, Kinect v1 + v2, Structure Sensor and Google’s Project Tango. In the framework of these comparative investigations geometrically stable reference bodies were used. The appropriate reference data were acquired by measurement with two structured light projection systems (AICON smartSCAN and GOM ATOS I 2M. The comprehensive test results of the different test scenarios are presented and critically discussed in this contribution.

The contributions of Hans-Dieter Rösler: pioneer of digit ratio (2D:4D) research.

Science.gov (United States)

Voracek, Martin; Dressler, Stefan G; Loibl, Lisa Mariella

2008-12-01

Over the past decade, the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D), a putative biomarker for the organizational (permanent) effects of prenatal androgens on the human brain, body, and behavior, has received extensive research attention in psychology. This account makes more widely accessible the contributions of the German psychologist, Hans-Dieter Rösler, an early, for a long time unnoticed, predecessor of modern 2D:4D research. In the mid-1950s, Rösler collected a massive sample of hand outline drawings, totalling nearly 7,000 individuals, ranging in age from 1 mo. to 70 yr. With regard to the distal finger-extent pattern, Rösler differentiated radial (longer index than ring finger), ulnar (reversed pattern), and intermediate hand types, which reflect higher (more female-typical), lower (more male-typical), and intermediate 2D:4D, respectively. Here is summarized Rösler's research. In a series of investigations into the hand types, he reported on their anatomical bases, unsuitability for paternity testing, developmental changes, heritability, sex, side, and occupational group differences, and associations with left-handedness, manual dexterity, mental retardation, and clinodactyly. Based on new data from 313 male and 316 female adults, hand type is further shown to be only a weak proxy of actual 2D:4D, leaving 75% of the interindividual variation in 2D:4D unexplained. Notwithstanding these shortcomings of the hand-type method, Rösler's work from the 1950s still has the potential to inform modern 2D:4D research, as it contains a multitude of testable hypotheses not yet picked up by current research.

GENESI-DR: Discovery, Access and on-Demand Processing in Federated Repositories

Science.gov (United States)

Cossu, Roberto; Pacini, Fabrizio; Parrini, Andrea; Santi, Eliana Li; Fusco, Luigi

2010-05-01

GENESI-DR (Ground European Network for Earth Science Interoperations - Digital Repositories) is a European Commission (EC)-funded project, kicked-off early 2008 lead by ESA; partners include Space Agencies (DLR, ASI, CNES), both space and no-space data providers such as ENEA (I), Infoterra (UK), K-SAT (N), NILU (N), JRC (EU) and industry as Elsag Datamat (I), CS (F) and TERRADUE (I). GENESI-DR intends to meet the challenge of facilitating "time to science" from different Earth Science disciplines in discovery, access and use (combining, integrating, processing, …) of historical and recent Earth-related data from space, airborne and in-situ sensors, which are archived in large distributed repositories. In fact, a common dedicated infrastructure such as the GENESI-DR one permits the Earth Science communities to derive objective information and to share knowledge in all environmental sensitive domains over a continuum of time and a variety of geographical scales so addressing urgent challenges such as Global Change. GENESI-DR federates data, information and knowledge for the management of our fragile planet in line with one of the major goals of the many international environmental programmes such as GMES, GEO/GEOSS. As of today, 12 different Digital Repositories hosting more than 60 heterogeneous dataset series are federated in GENESI-DR. Series include satellite data, in situ data, images acquired by airborne sensors, digital elevation models and model outputs. ESA has started providing access to: Category-1 data systematically available on Internet; level 3 data (e.g., GlobCover map, MERIS Global Vegetation Index); ASAR products available in ESA Virtual Archive and related to the Supersites initiatives. In all cases, existing data policies and security constraints are fully respected. GENESI-DR also gives access to Grid and Cloud computing resources allowing authorized users to run a number of different processing services on the available data. The GENESI

Evaluation of a focussed protocol for hand-held echocardiography and computer-assisted auscultation in detecting latent rheumatic heart disease in scholars.

Science.gov (United States)

Zühlke, Liesl J; Engel, Mark E; Nkepu, Simpiwe; Mayosi, Bongani M

2016-08-01

Introduction Echocardiography is the diagnostic test of choice for latent rheumatic heart disease. The utility of echocardiography for large-scale screening is limited by high cost, complex diagnostic protocols, and time to acquire multiple images. We evaluated the performance of a brief hand-held echocardiography protocol and computer-assisted auscultation in detecting latent rheumatic heart disease with or without pathological murmur. A total of 27 asymptomatic patients with latent rheumatic heart disease based on the World Heart Federation criteria and 66 healthy controls were examined by standard cardiac auscultation to detect pathological murmur. Hand-held echocardiography using a focussed protocol that utilises one view - that is, the parasternal long-axis view - and one measurement - that is, mitral regurgitant jet - and a computer-assisted auscultation utilising an automated decision tool were performed on all patients. The sensitivity and specificity of computer-assisted auscultation in latent rheumatic heart disease were 4% (95% CI 1.0-20.4%) and 93.7% (95% CI 84.5-98.3%), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the focussed hand-held echocardiography protocol for definite rheumatic heart disease were 92.3% (95% CI 63.9-99.8%) and 100%, respectively. The test reliability of hand-held echocardiography was 98.7% for definite and 94.7% for borderline disease, and the adjusted diagnostic odds ratios were 1041 and 263.9 for definite and borderline disease, respectively. Computer-assisted auscultation has extremely low sensitivity but high specificity for pathological murmur in latent rheumatic heart disease. Focussed hand-held echocardiography has fair sensitivity but high specificity and diagnostic utility for definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease in asymptomatic patients.

Flexible CMOS low-noise amplifiers for beyond-3G wireless hand-held devices

Science.gov (United States)

Becerra-Alvarez, Edwin C.; Sandoval-Ibarra, Federico; de la Rosa, José M.

2009-05-01

This paper explores the use of reconfigurable Low-Noise Amplifiers (LNAs) for the implementation of CMOS Radio Frequency (RF) front-ends in the next generation of multi-standard wireless transceivers. Main circuit strategies reported so far for multi-standard LNAs are reviewed and a novel flexible LNA intended for Beyond-3G RF hand-held terminals is presented. The proposed LNA circuit consists of a two-stage topology that combines inductive-source degeneration with PMOS-varactor based tuning network and a programmable load to adapt its performance to different standard specifications without penalizing the circuit noise and with a reduced number of inductors as compared to previous reported reconfigurable LNAs. The circuit has been designed in a 90-nm CMOS technology to cope with the requirements of the GSM, WCDMA, Bluetooth and WLAN (IEEE 802.11b-g) standards. Simulation results, including technology and packaging parasitics, demonstrate correct operation of the circuit for all the standards under study, featuring NF13.3dB and IIP3>10.9dBm, over a 1.85GHz-2.4GHz band, with an adaptive power consumption between 17mW and 22mW from a 1-V supply voltage. Preliminary experimental measurements are included, showing a correct reconfiguration operation within the operation band.

Hand-held tidal breathing nasal nitric oxide measurement--a promising targeted case-finding tool for the diagnosis of primary ciliary dyskinesia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marthin, June Kehlet; Nielsen, Kim Gjerum

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: Nasal nitric oxide (nNO) measurement is an established first line test in the work-up for primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). Tidal breathing nNO (TB-nNO) measurements require minimal cooperation and are potentially useful even in young children. Hand-held NO devices are becoming...... increasingly widespread for asthma management. Therefore, we chose to assess whether hand-held TB-nNO measurements reliably discriminate between PCD, and Healthy Subjects (HS) and included Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients as a disease control group known to have intermediate nNO levels. METHODS: In this cross...... sectional, single centre, single occasion, proof-of-concept study in children and adults with PCD and CF, and in HS we compared feasibility, success rates, discriminatory capacity, repeatability and agreement between a hand-held electrochemical device equipped with a nNO software application sampling...

Digital tomosynthesis of hand joints for arthritis assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duryea, J.; Dobbins, J.T. III; Lynch, J.A.

2003-01-01

The two principal forms of hand arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) have large clinical and economic costs. Radiography has been shown to be a useful tool to assess the condition of the disease. A hand radiograph, however, is a two-dimensional projection of a three-dimensional object. In this report we present the results of a study that applied digital tomosynthesis to hand radiography in order to extract three-dimensional outcome measures that should be more sensitive to arthritis progression. The study was performed using simulated projection radiographs created using micro computed tomography (μCT) and a set of five dry-bone hand skeletons. These simulated projection images were then reconstructed into tomographic slices using the matrix inversion tomosynthesis (MITS) algorithm. The accuracy of the tomosynthesis reconstruction was evaluated by comparing the reconstructed images to a gold standard created using the μCT data. A parameter from image registration science, normalized mutual information, provided a quantifiable figure of merit. This study examined the effects of source displacement, number of reconstructed planes, number of acquisitions, noise added to the gray scale images, and errors in the location of a fiducial marker. We also optimized the reconstruction as a function of two variables k and α, that controlled the mixing of MITS with conventional shift-and-add tomosynthesis. A study using hand delineated joint margins demonstrated that MITS images provided a better measurement of average joint space width. We found good agreement between the MITS slices and the true planes. Both joint margins and trabecular structure were visible and the reconstructed slices showed additional structures not visible with the standard projection image. Using hand-delineated joint margins we compared the average joint space width of the gold standard slices to the MITS and projection images. A root-mean square deviation (RMSD), calculated

Film-screen vs. digital radiography in rheumatoid arthritis of the hand. An ROC analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jonsson, A.; Borg, A.; Hannesson, P.; Herrlin, K.; Jonsson, K.; Sloth, M.; Pettersson, H.

1994-01-01

In a prospective investigation the diagnostic accuracy of filmscreen and digital radiography in rheumatoid arthritis of hands was compared. Seventy hands of 36 patients with established rheumatoid arthritis were included in the study. Each of 11 joints in every hand was evaluated regarding the following radiologic parameters: soft tissue swelling, joint space narrowing, erosions and periarticular osteopenia. The digital images were obtained with storage phosphor image plates and evaluated in 2 forms; as digital hard-copy on film and on a monitor of an interactive workstation. The digital images had a resolution of either 3.33 or 5.0 lp/mm. ROC curves were constructed and comparing the area under the curves no significant difference was found between the 3 different imaging forms in either resolution group for soft tissue swelling, joint space narrowing and erosions. The film-screen image evaluation of periarticular osteopenia was significantly better than the digital hard-copy one in the 3.33 lp/mm resolution group, but no significant difference was found in the 5.0 lp/mm group. These results support the view that currently available digital systems are capable of adequate diagnostic performance. (orig.)

Rapid and automatic chemical identification of the medicinal flower buds of Lonicera plants by the benchtop and hand-held Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jianbo; Guo, Baolin; Yan, Rui; Sun, Suqin; Zhou, Qun

2017-07-01

With the utilization of the hand-held equipment, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is a promising analytical technique to minimize the time cost for the chemical identification of herbal materials. This research examines the feasibility of the hand-held FT-IR spectrometer for the on-site testing of herbal materials, using Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (LJF) and Lonicerae Flos (LF) as examples. Correlation-based linear discriminant models for LJF and LF are established based on the benchtop and hand-held FT-IR instruments. The benchtop FT-IR models can exactly recognize all articles of LJF and LF. Although a few LF articles are misjudged at the sub-class level, the hand-held FT-IR models are able to exactly discriminate LJF and LF. As a direct and label-free analytical technique, FT-IR spectroscopy has great potential in the rapid and automatic chemical identification of herbal materials either in laboratories or in fields. This is helpful to prevent the spread and use of adulterated herbal materials in time.

Hand-held indirect calorimeter offers advantages compared with prediction equations, in a group of overweight women, to determine resting energy expenditures and estimated total energy expenditures during research screening.

Science.gov (United States)

Spears, Karen E; Kim, Hyunsook; Behall, Kay M; Conway, Joan M

2009-05-01

To compare standardized prediction equations to a hand-held indirect calorimeter in estimating resting energy and total energy requirements in overweight women. Resting energy expenditure (REE) was measured by hand-held indirect calorimeter and calculated by prediction equations Harris-Benedict, Mifflin-St Jeor, World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization/United Nations University (WHO), and Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). Physical activity level, assessed by questionnaire, was used to estimate total energy expenditure (TEE). Subjects (n=39) were female nonsmokers older than 25 years of age with body mass index more than 25. Repeated measures analysis of variance, Bland-Altman plot, and fitted regression line of difference. A difference within +/-10% of two methods indicated agreement. Significant proportional bias was present between hand-held indirect calorimeter and prediction equations for REE and TEE (Pvalues and underestimated at higher values. Mean differences (+/-standard error) for REE and TEE between hand-held indirect calorimeter and Harris-Benedict were -5.98+/-46.7 kcal/day (P=0.90) and 21.40+/-75.7 kcal/day (P=0.78); between hand-held indirect calorimeter and Mifflin-St Jeor were 69.93+/-46.7 kcal/day (P=0.14) and 116.44+/-75.9 kcal/day (P=0.13); between hand-held indirect calorimeter and WHO were -22.03+/-48.4 kcal/day (P=0.65) and -15.8+/-77.9 kcal/day (P=0.84); and between hand-held indirect calorimeter and DRI were 39.65+/-47.4 kcal/day (P=0.41) and 56.36+/-85.5 kcal/day (P=0.51). Less than 50% of predictive equation values were within +/-10% of hand-held indirect calorimeter values, indicating poor agreement. A significant discrepancy between predicted and measured energy expenditure was observed. Further evaluation of hand-held indirect calorimeter research screening is needed.

3D Printed Robotic Hand

Science.gov (United States)

Pizarro, Yaritzmar Rosario; Schuler, Jason M.; Lippitt, Thomas C.

2013-01-01

Dexterous robotic hands are changing the way robots and humans interact and use common tools. Unfortunately, the complexity of the joints and actuations drive up the manufacturing cost. Some cutting edge and commercially available rapid prototyping machines now have the ability to print multiple materials and even combine these materials in the same job. A 3D model of a robotic hand was designed using Creo Parametric 2.0. Combining "hard" and "soft" materials, the model was printed on the Object Connex350 3D printer with the purpose of resembling as much as possible the human appearance and mobility of a real hand while needing no assembly. After printing the prototype, strings where installed as actuators to test mobility. Based on printing materials, the manufacturing cost of the hand was $167, significantly lower than other robotic hands without the actuators since they have more complex assembly processes.

Design of hand held RID's monitoring system based on embedded system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Hongwei; Wei Yixiang

2008-01-01

In this paper we introduce the design of monitoring system for the hand held radionuclide identification device (RID), constructed under the embedded operating system of WinCE. At first, we introduce the design of hardware and software platform, and following is the major part of technical view of the software system, including the driver development, P/Invoke mechanism to call the C/C++ subroutines, multi-thread technology. In the experimental hardware platform, we have developed a front-end monitoring system for portable device targeted nuclide identification and orientation. It's a full-featured and flexible system, with the functions of data acquisition, radioactivity locating, data import and export, etc. (authors)

Temporary Nerve Block at Selected Digits Revealed Hand Motor Deficits in Grasping Tasks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aude Carteron

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Peripheral sensory feedback plays a crucial role in ensuring correct motor execution throughout hand grasp control. Previous studies utilized local anesthesia to deprive somatosensory feedback in the digits or hand, observations included sensorimotor deficits at both corticospinal and peripheral levels. However, the questions of how the disturbed and intact sensory input integrate and interact with each other to assist the motor program execution, and whether the motor coordination based on motor output variability between affected and non-affected elements (e.g., digits becomes interfered by the local sensory deficiency, have not been answered. The current study aims to investigate the effect of peripheral deafferentation through digital nerve blocks at selective digits on motor performance and motor coordination in grasp control. Our results suggested that the absence of somatosensory information induced motor deficits in hand grasp control, as evidenced by reduced maximal force production ability in both local and non-local digits, impairment of force and moment control during object lift and hold, and attenuated motor synergies in stabilizing task performance variables, namely the tangential force and moment of force. These findings implied that individual sensory input is shared across all the digits and the disturbed signal from local sensory channel(s has a more comprehensive impact on the process of the motor output execution in the sensorimotor integration process. Additionally, a feedback control mechanism with a sensation-based component resides in the formation process for the motor covariation structure.

Functional and cosmetic outcome of single-digit ray amputation in hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhat, A K; Acharya, A M; Narayanakurup, J K; Kumar, B; Nagpal, P S; Kamath, A

2017-12-01

To assess patient satisfaction, functional and cosmetic outcomes of single-digit ray amputation in hand and identify factors that might affect the outcome. Forty-five patients who underwent ray amputation were evaluated, 37 males and eight females whose mean age was 36.6 years ranging between 15 and 67 years. Twenty-eight patients had dominant hand involvement. Twenty-one patients underwent primary ray amputation, and 24 patients had secondary ray amputation. Eight out of the 23 patients with central digit injuries underwent transposition. Grip strength, pinch strength, tactile sensibility and functional evaluation using Result Assessment Scale (RAS) and DASH score were analysed. Cosmetic assessment was performed using visual analogue scale (VAS) for cosmesis. Median time of assessment after surgery was 20 months. Average loss of grip strength and pinch strength was found to be 43.3 and 33.6%, respectively. Average RAS score was 3.75. Median DASH score was 23.4. Eighty-three percentage of patients had excellent or good cosmesis on the VAS. Transposition causes significant increase in DASH scores for central digit ray amputations but was cosmetically superior. Middle finger ray amputation had the maximum loss of grip strength, and index finger ray amputation had greater loss of pinch strength. Affection of neighbouring digits caused greater grip and pinch loss, and a higher DASH score. Primary ray resection decreased the total disability and eliminated the costs of a second procedure. Following ray amputation, one can predict an approximate 43.3% loss of grip strength and 33.6% loss of pinch strength. The patients can be counselled regarding the expected time off from work, amount of disability and complications after a single-digit ray amputation. Majority of the patients can return to the same occupation after a period of dedicated hand therapy. Therapeutic, Level III.

Hand-Held Sunphotometers for High School Student Construction and Measuring Aerosol Optical Thickness

Science.gov (United States)

Almonor, Linda; Baldwin, C.; Craig, R.; Johnson, L. P.

2000-01-01

Science education is taking the teaching of science from a traditional (lecture) approach to a multidimensional sense-making approach which allows teachers to support students by providing exploratory experiences. Using projects is one way of providing students with opportunities to observe and participate in sense-making activity. We created a learning environment that fostered inquiry-based learning. Students were engaged in a variety of Inquiry activities that enabled them to work in cooperative planning teams where respect for each other was encouraged and their ability to grasp, transform and transfer information was enhanced. Summer, 1998: An air pollution workshop was conducted for high school students in the Medgar Evers College/Middle College High School Liberty Partnership Summer Program. Students learned the basics of meteorology: structure and composition of the atmosphere and the processes that cause weather. The highlight of this workshop was the building of hand-held sunphotometers, which measure the intensity of the sunlight striking the Earth. Summer, 1999: high school students conducted a research project which measured the mass and size of ambient particulates and enhanced our ability to observe through land based measurements changes in the optical depth of ambient aerosols over Brooklyn. Students used hand held Sunphotometers to collect data over a two week period and entered it into the NASA GISS database by way of the internet.

Extra-oral dental radiography for disaster victims using a flat panel X-ray detector and a hand-held X-ray generator.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohtani, M; Oshima, T; Mimasaka, S

2017-12-01

Forensic odontologists commonly incise the skin for post-mortem dental examinations when it is difficult to open the victim's mouth. However, it is prohibited by law to incise dead bodies without permission in Japan. Therefore, we attempted using extra-oral dental radiography, using a digital X-ray equipment with rechargeable batteries, to overcome this restriction. A phantom was placed in the prone position on a table, and three plain dental radiographs were used per case: "lateral oblique radiographs" for left and right posterior teeth and a "contact radiograph" for anterior teeth were taken using a flat panel X-ray detector and a hand-held X-ray generator. The resolving power of the images was measured by a resolution test chart, and the scattered X-ray dose was measured using an ionization chamber-type survey meter. The resolving power of the flat panel X-ray detector was 3.0 lp/mm, which was less than that of intra-oral dental methods, but the three extra-oral plain dental radiographs provided the overall dental information from outside of the mouth, and this approach was less time-consuming. In addition, the higher dose of scattered X-rays was laterally distributed, but the dose per case was much less than that of intra-oral dental radiographs. Extra-oral plain dental radiography can be used for disaster victim identification by dental methods even when it is difficult to open the mouth. Portable and rechargeable devices, such as a flat panel X-ray detector and a hand-held X-ray generator, are convenient to bring and use anywhere, even at a disaster scene lacking electricity and water.

Surgical amputation of the digit: an investigation into the technical variations among hand surgeons.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Andrew; Meunier, Matthew; Rennekampff, Hans-Oliver; Tenenhaus, Mayer

2013-01-01

Digital injuries are common and frequently complicate occupational hazards and trauma. The management of these injuries often necessitates digital amputation, and a variety of different amputation techniques are advocated and employed by hand surgeons. In this survey study, we investigate the variation in technical detail among a group of hand surgeons when performing digital amputations, specifically the preferred management of the residual articular cartilage, transected nerves, and phalangeal contouring. We reviewed the literature on techniques in digital amputation and created a 7-question survey that targeted controversial issues within this specific topic. We then sent this survey electronically to the members of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and reviewed the responses of the respondents (n = 592, 20%). There was a mixed response regarding whether or not to remove the articular cartilage when disarticulating, nearly a 50% split between the respondents. Most would perform a "pull and resect" technique for transected nerves. Phalangeal contouring was generally agreed upon, though the technique in doing so varied from performing condylectomies, to bony contouring only, to some combination of both. We detected a substantial variation in technique among our group of hand surgeons regarding the treatment of articular cartilage and the method of phalangeal contouring. There was more consensus regarding the treatment of transected nerve. It is interesting that to date, the aforementioned issues in digital amputation have not been critically evaluated by definitive and well-controlled studies.

Effect of data compression on diagnostic accuracy in digital hand and chest radiography

Science.gov (United States)

Sayre, James W.; Aberle, Denise R.; Boechat, Maria I.; Hall, Theodore R.; Huang, H. K.; Ho, Bruce K. T.; Kashfian, Payam; Rahbar, Guita

1992-05-01

Image compression is essential to handle a large volume of digital images including CT, MR, CR, and digitized films in a digital radiology operation. The full-frame bit allocation using the cosine transform technique developed during the last few years has been proven to be an excellent irreversible image compression method. This paper describes the effect of using the hardware compression module on diagnostic accuracy in hand radiographs with subperiosteal resorption and chest radiographs with interstitial disease. Receiver operating characteristic analysis using 71 hand radiographs and 52 chest radiographs with five observers each demonstrates that there is no statistical significant difference in diagnostic accuracy between the original films and the compressed images with a compression ratio as high as 20:1.

3D interactive topology optimization on hand-held devices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nobel-Jørgensen, Morten; Aage, Niels; Christiansen, Asger Nyman

2015-01-01

This educational paper describes the implementation aspects, user interface design considerations and workflow potential of the recently published TopOpt 3D App. The app solves the standard minimum compliance problem in 3D and allows the user to change design settings interactively at any point...... in time during the optimization. Apart from its educational nature, the app may point towards future ways of performing industrial design. Instead of the usual geometrize, then model and optimize approach, the geometry now automatically adapts to the varying boundary and loading conditions. The app...

Precise intraoperative location of gastrointestinal bleeding with a hand-held counter. Work in progress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williamson, M.R.; Boyd, C.M.; McGuire, E.L.

1986-01-01

The nuclear medicine bleeding scan is frequently insufficient to locate sites of bleeding precisely, in spite of its great sensitivity. A small, hand-held Geiger-Mueller counter, placed directly on exposed intestine in the operating room, enables precise location of the probable bleeding site. In three patients, the technique allowed a minimal amount of intestine to be resected, distinguished between large- and small-intestinal hemorrhage, and eliminated other foci as sites of bleeding.A

Vascular changes of the hand in professional baseball players with emphasis on digital ischemia in catchers.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginn, T Adam; Smith, Adam M; Snyder, Jon R; Koman, L Andrew; Smith, Beth P; Rushing, Julia

2005-07-01

Repetitive trauma to the hand is a concern for baseball players. The present study investigated the effects of repetitive trauma and the prevalence of microvascular pathological changes in the hands of minor league professional baseball players. In contrast to previous investigators, we documented the presence of abnormalities in younger, asymptomatic individuals. Thirty-six baseball players on active minor league rosters underwent a history and physical examination of both hands as well as additional specialized tests, including Doppler ultrasound, a timed Allen test, determination of digital brachial pressure indices, and ring sizing of fingers. Data were compared between gloved hands and throwing hands, hitters and nonhitters, and players at four different positions (catcher [nine subjects], outfielder [seven subjects], infielder [five subjects], and pitcher [fifteen subjects]). Digital brachial indices in the ring fingers of the gloved (p healthy professional baseball players in all positions, with a significantly higher prevalence in catchers, prior to the development of clinically important ischemia. Repetitive trauma resulting from the impact of the baseball also leads to digital hypertrophy in the index finger of the gloved hand of catchers. Gloves currently used by professional catchers do not adequately protect the hand from repetitive trauma.

Materialedreven 3d digital formgivning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Flemming Tvede

2010-01-01

Formålet med forskningsprojektet er for det første at understøtte keramikeren i at arbejde eksperimenterende med digital formgivning, og for det andet at bidrage til en tværfaglig diskurs om brugen af digital formgivning. Forskningsprojektet fokuserer på 3d formgivning og derved på 3d digital...... formgivning og Rapid Prototyping (RP). RP er en fællesbetegnelse for en række af de teknikker, der muliggør at overføre den digitale form til 3d fysisk form. Forskningsprojektet koncentrerer sig om to overordnede forskningsspørgsmål. Det første handler om, hvordan viden og erfaring indenfor det keramiske...... fagområde kan blive udnyttet i forhold til 3d digital formgivning. Det andet handler om, hvad en sådan tilgang kan bidrage med, og hvordan den kan blive udnyttet i et dynamisk samspil med det keramiske materiale i formgivningen af 3d keramiske artefakter. Materialedreven formgivning er karakteriseret af en...

Hadza hunter-gatherer men do not have more masculine digit ratios (2D:4D).

Science.gov (United States)

Apicella, Coren L; Tobolsky, Victoria A; Marlowe, Frank W; Miller, Kathleen W

2016-02-01

The ratio between the length of the second and the length of the fourth digit (2D:4D) is sexually dimorphic such that males of many species possess a lower ratio than females, particularly in the right hand. Still, men and women often exhibit overlapping 2D:4D ranges and the ratio is highly variable between populations. In order to further explore populational variability, we chose to analyze 2D:4D in the Hadza, a population of hunter-gatherers living in Tanzania. Data were collected separately by two researchers over the course of three years (1998, 2001, 2006) from 152 adult participants (male: n = 76, female: n = 76). Independent samples t-tests were used to explore sex differences, paired samples t-tests were used to explore directional effects within each sex, and linear regression and one-way ANOVA were used to test possible age effects. In none of the years, or pooled (n = 152), did we find evidence that adult men have a lower 2D:4D than adult women. If anything, the data suggest that women in this population have a significantly lower right hand 2D:4D than men (P < 0.001, d = 0.57). In contrast, left hand 2D:4D did not exhibit a sex difference (P = 0.862, d = 0.03). These findings challenge the current view that lower 2D:4D in men is a uniform characteristic of our species. Cross-populational variance in 2D:4D may be related to known patterns of hormonal variation resulting from both genetic and environmental mechanisms, though this relationship merits further investigation. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Portable Hand-Held Electrochemical Sensor for the Transuranics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dale D. Russell, William B. Knowlton, Ph.D.; Russel Hertzog, Ph.D

2005-11-25

sensitive detector for uranium. Millimeter scale electrodes, operated by a hand-held instrument assembled in this lab and operated in the voltammetric mode, were transported to the DOE-Nevada test site (Las Vegas, NV) where field detection and quantitation of plutonium, uranium, and a mixture of these two elements was also demonstrated. Several probe designs were prepared, built and tested including probes with movable protective windows. A miniature, battery powered potentiostat was designed, built and demonstrated for use in a hand-held field portable instrument. This work was performed largely by undergraduates who gained valuable research experience, and many of them have continued on to graduate schools. In addition, they all gained exposure to and appreciation for national security research, in particular non-proliferation research. Four graduate students participated and one earned the MS degree on this project.

3D Digital Modelling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hundebøl, Jesper

wave of new building information modelling tools demands further investigation, not least because of industry representatives' somewhat coarse parlance: Now the word is spreading -3D digital modelling is nothing less than a revolution, a shift of paradigm, a new alphabet... Research qeustions. Based...... on empirical probes (interviews, observations, written inscriptions) within the Danish construction industry this paper explores the organizational and managerial dynamics of 3D Digital Modelling. The paper intends to - Illustrate how the network of (non-)human actors engaged in the promotion (and arrest) of 3...... important to appreciate the analysis. Before turning to the presentation of preliminary findings and a discussion of 3D digital modelling, it begins, however, with an outline of industry specific ICT strategic issues. Paper type. Multi-site field study...

Teaching Digital Citizenship in a Global Academy

Science.gov (United States)

Pescetta, Marxan

2011-01-01

As technology continues to change the way society communicates, teachers need to prepare their students for digital literacy and competencies in their adulthood. Specific training is necessary for educators in the appropriate and effective methods for incorporating technologies such as smart phones and hand-held devices. Teachers, who work in…

Digital Genesis: Computers, Evolution and Artificial Life

OpenAIRE

Taylor, Tim; Dorin, Alan; Korb, Kevin

2015-01-01

The application of evolution in the digital realm, with the goal of creating artificial intelligence and artificial life, has a history as long as that of the digital computer itself. We illustrate the intertwined history of these ideas, starting with the early theoretical work of John von Neumann and the pioneering experimental work of Nils Aall Barricelli. We argue that evolutionary thinking and artificial life will continue to play an integral role in the future development of the digital ...

Dupuytren’s disease digital radius IV right hand and carpal tunnel syndrome on ipsilateral hand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Teona Sebe Ioana

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Dupuytren’s contracture is a fibroproliferative disease whose etiology and pathophysiology are unclear and controversial. It is a connective tissue disorder, which takes part in the palmar’s fibromatosis category and has common characteristics with the healing process. Dupuytren’s disease is characterized by the flexion contracture of the hand due to palmar and digital aponevrosis. It generally affects the 4th digital radius, followed by the 5th one. Without surgery, it leads to functional impotence of those digital rays and/or hand. It is associated with other diseases and situational conditions like Peyronie’s disease, the Lederhose disease (plantar fibromatosis, Garrod’s digital knuckle-pads, diabetes, epilepsy, alcoholism, micro traumatisms, stenosing tenosynovitis and not the least with carpal tunnel syndrome. The carpal tunnel syndrome is a peripheral neuropathy with the incarceration of the median nerve at the ARC level, expressed clinically by sensory and motor disturbances in the distribution territory of the median nerve, which cause functional limitations of daily activities of the patient. After the failure of the nonsurgical treatment or the appearance of the motor deficit, is established the open or endoscopic surgical treatment with the release of the median nerve. Postoperative recovery in both diseases is crucial to the functionality of the affected upper limb and to the quality of the patient’s life. The patient, a 61 years old man, admitted to the clinic for the functional impotence of the right hand, for the permanent flexion contracture of the metacarpophalangeal joint (MCP and proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP of the 4th finger with extension deficit, for the damage of the thumb pulp clamp of the 4th finger, for nocturnal paresthesia of fingers I-III and pain that radiates into the fingertips. After clinical, paraclinical, imagistic and electrical investigations, surgery is practiced partial aponevrectomy

A new approach for the screening of carotid lesions: a 'fast-track' method with the use of new generation hand-held ultrasound devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Aboyans, V; Lacroix, P; Jeannicot, A; Guilloux, J; Bertin, F; Laskar, M

2004-09-01

We assessed the usefulness of fast-track neck sonography with a new-generation hand-held ultrasound scanner in the detection of > or =60% carotid stenosis. Patients with a past history of atherosclerotic disease or presence of risk factors were enrolled. All had fast-track carotid screening with a hand-held ultrasound scanner. Initial assessment was performed with our quick imaging protocol. A second examiner performed a conventional complete carotid duplex as gold-standard. We enrolled 197 consecutive patients with a mean age of 67 years (range 35-94). A carotid stenosis >60% was detected in 13 cases (6%). The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of fast-track sonography was 100%, 64%, 17% and 100%, respectively. Concomitant power Doppler imaging during the fast-track method did not improve accuracy. The use of a fast-track method with a hand-held ultrasound device can reduce the number of unnecessary carotid Duplex and enhance the screening efficiency without missing significant carotid stenoses.

Digital Holography and 3D Imaging: introduction to the joint feature issue in Applied Optics and Journal of the Optical Society of America B.

Science.gov (United States)

Banerjee, Partha P; Osten, Wolfgang; Picart, Pascal; Cao, Liangcai; Nehmetallah, George

2017-05-01

The OSA Topical Meeting on Digital Holography and 3D Imaging (DH) was held 25-28 July 2016 in Heidelberg, Germany, as part of the Imaging Congress. Feature issues based on the DH meeting series have been released by Applied Optics (AO) since 2007. This year, AO and the Journal of the Optical Society of America B (JOSA B) jointly decided to have one such feature issue in each journal. This feature issue includes 31 papers in AO and 11 in JOSA B, and covers a large range of topics, reflecting the rapidly expanding techniques and applications of digital holography and 3D imaging. The upcoming DH meeting (DH 2017) will be held from 29 May to 1 June in Jeju Island, South Korea.

Serious games for digital tablets as an introduction to 3D modeling and printing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Luis SAORIN

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Currently, one of the most direct ways children access to digital technology is through games. This aspect is usually not considered in educational settings in the acquisition of Basic Skills. However, there are international reports assessing the potential of video games as an educational resource. Since 2006, the Horizon Report includes educational video games as a technology impact on teaching, learning and creative expression in education environments. In the 2012 Report, Digital Tablets are considered as one of the technologies most likely to be in widespread use in education in the short term. On the other hand, there are studies linking student interest in careers in science, art and technology to the premature use of 3D modeling tools or 3D printing. In this article, we want to value two applications, Blokify and Pottery, available for digital tablets, which work like games that introduce students to the three-dimensional digital modeling and printing.

Absorption Related to Hand-Held Devices in Data Mode

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Jørgen Bach; Nielsen, Jesper Ødum; Pedersen, Gert F.

2016-01-01

The human body has an influence on the radiation from handheld devices like smartphones, tablets and laptops, part of the energy is absorbed and the spatial distribution of the radiated part is modified. Previous studies of whole body absorp- tion have mainly been numerical or related to talk mode....... In the present paper an experimental study involving four volunteers and three different devices is performed from 0.5 to 3 GHz. The devices are a laptop, a tablet, and a smartphone all held in the lap. The 3D distribution of radiation is measured. Comparing the integrated power in the case of a person present...

Cost effective spectral sensor solutions for hand held and field applications

Science.gov (United States)

Reetz, Edgar; Correns, Martin; Notni, Gunther

2015-05-01

Optical spectroscopy is without doubt one of the most important non-contact measurement principles. It is used in a wide range of applications from bio-medical to industrial fields. One recent trend is to miniaturize spectral sensors to address new areas of application. The most common spectral sensor type is based on diffraction gratings, while other types are based on micro mechanical systems (MEMS) or filter technologies. The authors represent the opinion that there is a potentially wide spread field of applications for spectrometers, but the market limits the range of applications since they cannot keep up with targeted cost requirements for consumer products. The present article explains an alternative approach for miniature multichannel spectrometer to enhance robustness for hand held field applications at a cost efficient price point.

Hip- and knee-strength assessments using a hand-held dynamometer with external belt-fixation are inter-tester reliable

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorborg, Kristian; Bandholm, Thomas; Hölmich, Per

2013-01-01

PURPOSE: In football, ice-hockey, and track and field, injuries have been predicted, and hip- and knee-strength deficits quantified using hand-held dynamometry (HHD). However, systematic bias exists when testers of different sex and strength perform the measurements. Belt-fixation of the dynamome...

Automation Study for Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant Hand Held Signal Flight Assembly, Rocket Barrel Assembly, 40 MM Signal, Final Packaging/Pack-Out, and Star Finishing

Science.gov (United States)

1990-03-01

wood protectors in the HHS Rocket Barrel Assembly Operations. d) Use of hot melt sealant rather than lacquer on the end of the assembled Hand Held...4OL.UA8LYADHRlE CG411!cLVPAM-1 ~LW7m~I~o~c~c LCA ~TM18UX"Y.31nSRGU-11 STiIM ASSELYJMACE FINh1TZ1A1*4CWAJKRZAM’ WAOiNt rs~my" LOCATM1ED 0~7 LOCA1ED’ IWCM-1W...Moorfeed Fairview, PA Indianapolis, IN Voice Synthesis Module Square D Micro Chip Technology Palatine, IL Chandler, AZ 85224 Vacuum Unit Venturi’s

3D palmprint and hand imaging system based on full-field composite color sinusoidal fringe projection technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zonghua; Huang, Shujun; Xu, Yongjia; Chen, Chao; Zhao, Yan; Gao, Nan; Xiao, Yanjun

2013-09-01

Palmprint and hand shape, as two kinds of important biometric characteristics, have been widely studied and applied to human identity recognition. The existing research is based mainly on 2D images, which lose the third-dimensional information. The biological features extracted from 2D images are distorted by pressure and rolling, so the subsequent feature matching and recognition are inaccurate. This paper presents a method to acquire accurate 3D shapes of palmprint and hand by projecting full-field composite color sinusoidal fringe patterns and the corresponding color texture information. A 3D imaging system is designed to capture and process the full-field composite color fringe patterns on hand surface. Composite color fringe patterns having the optimum three fringe numbers are generated by software and projected onto the surface of human hand by a digital light processing projector. From another viewpoint, a color CCD camera captures the deformed fringe patterns and saves them for postprocessing. After compensating for the cross talk and chromatic aberration between color channels, three fringe patterns are extracted from three color channels of a captured composite color image. Wrapped phase information can be calculated from the sinusoidal fringe patterns with high precision. At the same time, the absolute phase of each pixel is determined by the optimum three-fringe selection method. After building up the relationship between absolute phase map and 3D shape data, the 3D palmprint and hand are obtained. Color texture information can be directly captured or demodulated from the captured composite fringe pattern images. Experimental results show that the proposed method and system can yield accurate 3D shape and color texture information of the palmprint and hand shape.

Direction-Sensitive Hand-Held Gamma-Ray Spectrometer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mukhopadhyay, S.

2012-10-04

A novel, light-weight, hand-held gamma-ray detector with directional sensitivity is being designed. The detector uses a set of multiple rings around two cylindrical surfaces, which provides precise location of two interaction points on two concentric cylindrical planes, wherefrom the source location can be traced back by back projection and/or Compton imaging technique. The detectors are 2.0 × 2.0 mm europium-doped strontium iodide (SrI2:Eu2+) crystals, whose light output has been measured to exceed 120,000 photons/MeV, making it one of the brightest scintillators in existence. The crystal’s energy resolution, less than 3% at 662 keV, is also excellent, and the response is highly linear over a wide range of gamma-ray energies. The emission of SrI2:Eu2+ is well matched to both photo-multiplier tubes and blue-enhanced silicon photodiodes. The solid-state photomultipliers used in this design (each 2.0 × 2.0 mm) are arrays of active pixel sensors (avalanche photodiodes driven beyond their breakdown voltage in reverse bias); each pixel acts as a binary photon detector, and their summed output is an analog representation of the total photon energy, while the individual pixel accurately defines the point of interaction. A simple back-projection algorithm involving cone-surface mapping is being modeled. The back projection for an event cone is a conical surface defining the possible location of the source. The cone axis is the straight line passing through the first and second interaction points.

Digital Holography and 3D Imaging: introduction to the joint feature issue in Applied Optics and Journal of the Optical Society of America A.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hoonjong; Lee, Byoungho; Kozacki, Tomasz; Picart, Pascal; Situ, Guohai

2018-01-01

The OSA Topical Meeting on Digital Holography and 3D Imaging (DH) was held 29 May to 1 June 2017 in Jeju Island, South Korea. Feature issues based on the DH meeting series have been released by Applied Optics (AO) since 2007. This year, AO and the Journal of the Optical Society of America A (JOSA A) jointly decided to have one such feature issue in each journal. This feature issue includes 33 papers in AO and 9 in JOSA A and covers a large range of topics, reflecting the rapidly expanding techniques and applications of digital holography and 3D imaging. The upcoming DH meeting (DH 2018) will be held 25-28 June 2018 in Orlando, Florida, USA, as part of the OSA Imaging and Applied Optics Congress.

Effects of a new mild shampoo for preventing hair loss in Asian by a simple hand-held phototrichogram technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Baek, J H; Lee, S Y; Yoo, M; Park, W-S; Lee, S J; Boo, Y C; Koh, J-S

2011-12-01

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a commercially available shampoo in Korean subjects with alopecia using a simple hand-held phototrichogram technique. Forty-four subjects with alopecia were enrolled and forty subjects continued for 16 weeks. In the test group, total hair counts increased significantly at weeks 8 and 16, and the number of shedding hair significantly decreased at week 16. Terminal hair counts significantly increased at week 8. In the control group, hair thickness and the number of vellus hairs significantly decreased at week 16. The number of total hairs significantly increased in the test group than in the control group at weeks 8 and 16. The number of shedding hairs significantly decreased in the test group than in the control group at week 16. Visual assessment using clinical digital images showed that the number of total hairs appeared to increase although there was no statistical significance. In this study, it was found that the test shampoo could prevent hair loss. © 2011 DERMAPRO Co Ltd. ICS © 2011 Society of Cosmetic Scientists and the Société Française de Cosmétologie.

Visual Search and Target Cueing: A Comparison of Head-Mounted Versus Hand-Held Displays on the Allocation of Visual Attention

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Yeh, Michelle; Wickens, Christopher D

1998-01-01

We conducted a study to examine the effects of target cueing and conformality with a hand-held or head-mounted display to determine their effects on visual search tasks requiring focused and divided attention...

Simple Multiplexing Hand-Held Control Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Hannaford, Blake

1989-01-01

Multiplexer consists of series of resistors, each shunted by single-pole, single-throw switch. User operates switches by pressing buttons or squeezing triggers. Prototype includes three switches operated successfully in over 200 hours of system operations. Number of switches accommodated determined by signal-to-noise ratio of current source, noise induced in control unit and cable, and number of bits in output of analog-to-digital converter. Because many computer-contolled robots have extra analog-to-digital channels, such multiplexer added at little extra cost.

Poaching Museum Collections using Digital 3D Technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Younan

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the creative engagement with digital 3D models of museum artefacts and gives insight into new uses of museum collections enabled by digital scanning, editing and 3D printing technologies. Digital 3D models of museum artefacts are malleable and increasingly easy to use. Additionally, freely available 3D software has made 3D scanning, editing and manufacturing possible for non-specialists. These technologies allow users to create new artworks through the creation and transformation of digital replicas of museum artefacts. Examples of creative works, taken from two case studies that involve the creative use of digital reproductions of museum artefacts are presented in this paper. These projects are illustrative of a larger trend: the digital ‘poaching’ of heritage artefacts. This paper examines how digital 3D technologies can foster creative forms of museum engagement, democratise access to museum collections and engage users with personal forms of museum experience.

2D:4D digit ratio predicts delay of gratification in preschoolers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Da Silva

Full Text Available We replicate the Stanford marshmallow experiment with a sample of 141 preschoolers and find a correlation between lack of self-control and 2D:4D digit ratio. Children with low 2D:4D digit ratio are less likely to delay gratification. Low 2D:4D digit ratio may indicate high fetal testosterone. If this hypothesis is true, our finding means high fetal testosterone children are less likely to delay gratification.

Glucose concentration in capillary blood of dairy cows obtained by a minimally invasive lancet technique and determined with three different hand-held devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Mair, B; Drillich, M; Klein-Jöbstl, D; Kanz, P; Borchardt, S; Meyer, L; Schwendenwein, I; Iwersen, M

2016-02-24

Dairy cows have a massive demand for glucose at the onset of lactation. A poor adaption to this period leads to an excessive negative energy balance with an increased risk for ketosis and impaired animal health and production. Besides the measurement of ketones, analysing the glucose concentration in blood is reported as helpful instrument for diagnosis and differentiation of ketosis. Monitoring metabolic parameters requires multiple blood sampling. In other species, new blood sampling techniques have been introduced in which small amounts of blood are rapidly analysed using electronic hand-held devices. The objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of capillary blood for blood glucose measurement in dairy cows using the hand-held devices FreeStyle Precision (FSP, Abbott), GlucoMen LX Plus (GLX, A. Menarini) and the WellionVet GLUCO CALEA, (WGC, MED TRUST). In total, 240 capillary blood samples were obtained from dry and fresh lactating Holstein-Friesian cows. Blood was collected from the skin of the exterior vulva by using a lancet. For method comparison, additional blood samples were taken from a coccygeal vessel and analyzed in a laboratory. Glucose concentrations measured by a standard laboratory method were defined as the criterion standard. The Pearson correlation coefficients between the glucose concentrations analyzed in capillary blood with the devices and the reference were 73% for the FSP, 81% for the GLX and 41% for the WGC. Bland-Altman plots showed biases of -18.8 mg/dL for the FSP, -11.2 mg/dL for the GLX and +20.82 mg/dL for the WGC. The optimized threshold determined by a Receiver Operating Characteristics analysis to detect hyperglycemia using the FSP was 43 mg/dL with a sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of 76 and 80%. Using the GLX and WGC optimized thresholds were 49 mg/dL (Se = 92%, Sp = 85%) and 95 mg/dL (Se = 39%, Sp = 92%). The results of this study demonstrate good performance characteristics for the GLX

Genesis and Evolution of Digital Payment Platforms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjelholt, Morten; Damsgaard, Jan

2012-01-01

Payment transactions through the use of physical coins, bank notes or credit cards have for centuries been the standard formats of exchanging money. Recently online and mobile digital payment platforms has entered the stage as contenders to this position and possibly could penetrate societies...... thoroughly and substitute current payment standards in the decades to come. This paper portrays how digital payment paltforms evolve in socio-technical niches and how various technological platforms aim for institutional attention in their attempt to challenge earlier platforms and standards. The paper...... applies a co-evolutionary multilevel perspective to model the interplay and processes between technology and society wherein digital payment platforms potentially will substitute other payment platforms just like the credit card negated the check. On this basis this paper formulate a multilevel conceptual...

Digit ratio (2D:4D) in primary brain tumor patients: A case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunevicius, Adomas; Tamasauskas, Sarunas; Deltuva, Vytenis Pranas; Tamasauskas, Arimantas; Sliauzys, Albertas; Bunevicius, Robertas

2016-12-01

The second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D) reflects prenatal estrogen and testosterone exposure, and is established in utero. Sex steroids are implicated in development and progression of primary brain tumors. To investigate whether there is a link between 2D:4D ratio and primary brain tumors, and age at presentation. Digital images of the right and left palms of 85 primary brain tumor patients (age 56.96±13.68years; 71% women) and 106 (age 54.31±13.68years; 68% women) gender and age matched controls were obtained. The most common brain tumor diagnoses were meningioma (41%), glioblastoma (20%) and pituitary adenoma (16%). Right and left 2D:4D ratios, and right minus left 2D:4D (D r-l ) were compared between patients and controls, and were correlated with age. Right and left 2D:4D ratios were significantly lower in primary brain tumor patients relative to controls (t=-4.28, pbrain tumor patients and controls (p=0.27). In meningioma and glioma patients, age at presentation correlated negatively with left 2D:4D ratio (rho=-0.42, p=0.01 and rho=-0.36, p=0.02, respectively) and positively with D r-l (rho=0.45, p=0.009 and rho=0.65, p=0.04, respectively). Right and left hand 2D:4D ratios are lower in primary brain tumor patients relative to healthy individuals suggesting greater prenatal testosterone and lower prenatal estrogen exposure in brain tumor patients. Greater age at presentation is associated with greater D r-l and with lower left 2D:4D ratio of meningioma and glioma patients. Due to small sample size our results should be considered preliminary and interpreted with caution. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

3D mass digitization: a milestone for archeological documentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Santos

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In the heritage field, the demand for fast and efficient 3D digitization technologies for historic remains is increasing. Besides, 3D digitization has proved to be a promising approach to enable precise reconstructions of objects. Yet, unlike the digital acquisition of cultural goods in 2D widely used today, 3D digitization often still requires a significant investment of time and money. To make it more widely available to heritage institutions, the Competence Center for Cultural Heritage Digitization at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD has developed CultLab3D, the world’s first 3D mass digitization facility for collections of three-dimensional objects. CultLab3D is specifically designed to automate the entire 3D digitization process thus allowing to scan and archive objects on a large-scale. Moreover, scanning and lighting technologies are combined to capture the exact geometry, texture, and optical material properties of artefacts to produce highly accurate photo-realistic representations. The unique setup allows to shorten the time needed for digitization to several minutes per artefact instead of hours, as required by conventional 3D scanning methods.

Digital Mayhem 3D machine techniques where inspiration, techniques and digital art meet

CERN Document Server

Evans, Duncan

2014-01-01

From Icy Tundras to Desert savannahs, master the art of landscape and environment design for 2D and 3D digital content. Make it rain, shower your digital scene with a snow storm or develop a believable urban scene with a critical eye for modeling, lighting and composition. Move beyond the limitations of gallery style coffee table books with Digital Mayhem: 3D Landscapes-offering leading professional techniques, groundbreaking inspiration, and artistic mastery from some of the greatest digital artists. More than just a gallery book - each artist has written a breakdown overview, with supporting

Generalized Galileons: instabilities of bouncing and Genesis cosmologies and modified Genesis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Libanov, M. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences,60th October Anniversary Prospect 7a, 117312 Moscow (Russian Federation); Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology,Institutskii per. 9, 141700 Dolgoprudny, Moscow Region (Russian Federation); Mironov, S. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences,60th October Anniversary Prospect 7a, 117312 Moscow (Russian Federation); Rubakov, V. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences,60th October Anniversary Prospect 7a, 117312 Moscow (Russian Federation); Department of Particle Physics and Cosmology, Physics Faculty,M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,Vorobjevy Gory, 119991, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2016-08-18

We study spatially flat bouncing cosmologies and models with the early-time Genesis epoch in a popular class of generalized Galileon theories. We ask whether there exist solutions of these types which are free of gradient and ghost instabilities. We find that irrespectively of the forms of the Lagrangian functions, the bouncing models either are plagued with these instabilities or have singularities. The same result holds for the original Genesis model and its variants in which the scale factor tends to a constant as t→−∞. The result remains valid in theories with additional matter that obeys the Null Energy Condition and interacts with the Galileon only gravitationally. We propose a modified Genesis model which evades our no-go argument and give an explicit example of healthy cosmology that connects the modified Genesis epoch with kination (the epoch still driven by the Galileon field, which is a conventional massless scalar field at that stage).

Hand and digital ischemia due to arteriosclerosis and thromboembolization in young adults: pathologic features with clinical correlations.

Science.gov (United States)

Guarda, L A; Borrero, J L

1990-11-01

Twenty young adult patients with hand and digital ischemia were found to have obstructive arterial disease. All patients were surgically explored, and the occluded vessels were resected and by-passed. Eighteen patients had obstruction at the level of the distal ulnar artery and palmar arch, and 12 had obstruction of the common digital and digital proper arteries. Occlusive arteriosclerotic lesions were found in all patients; these lesions were characterized by prominent fibromuscular intimal plaques with superimposed thrombosis. Six patients had also thromboembolism to distal digital vessels. Vasculitis, calcifications, cholesterol deposits, and atheromatous emboli were not observed. Five patients had transmural neovascularization of the lesions in a similar manner to that described in coronary artery lesions. Obstructive lesions due to fibromuscular intimal proliferation with associated thrombosis and/or distal thromboembolization affecting arteries of hands and digits appear to be an important lesion that can affect young patients.

A hand-held sensor for analyses of local distributions of magnetic fields and losses

CERN Document Server

Krismanic, G; Baumgartinger, N

2000-01-01

The paper describes a novel sensor for non-destructive analyses of local field and loss distributions in laminated soft magnetic cores, such as transformer cores. It was designed for rapid information on comparative local degrees of inhomogeneity, e.g., for the estimation of local building factors. Similar to a magnifying glass with handle, the compact hand-held sensor contains extremely sharp needle electrodes for the detection of the induction vector B as well as double-field coils for the vector H. Losses P are derived from the Poynting law. Applied to inner -- or also outer -- core regions, the sensor yields instantaneous computer displays of local H, B, and P.

Reliability of measuring hip abductor strength following total knee arthroplasty using a hand-held dynamometer.

Science.gov (United States)

Schache, Margaret B; McClelland, Jodie A; Webster, Kate E

2016-01-01

To investigate the test-retest reliability of measuring hip abductor strength in patients with total knee arthroplasty (TKA) using a hand-held dynamometer (HHD) with two different types of resistance: belt and manual resistance. Test-retest reliability of 30 subjects (17 female, 13 male, 71.9 ± 7.4 years old), 9.2 ± 2.7 days post TKA was measured using belt and therapist resistance. Retest reliability was calculated with intra-class coefficients (ICC3,1) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for both the group average and the individual scores. A paired t-test assessed whether a difference existed between the belt and therapist methods of resistance. ICCs were 0.82 and 0.80 for the belt and therapist resisted methods, respectively. Hip abductor strength increases of 8 N (14%) for belt resisted and 14 N (17%) for therapist resisted measurements of the group average exceeded the 95% CI and may represent real change. For individuals, hip abductor strength increases of 33 N (72%) (belt resisted) and 57 N (79%) (therapist resisted) could be interpreted as real change. Hip abductor strength can be reliably measured using HHD in the clinical setting with the described protocol. Belt resistance demonstrated slightly higher test-retest reliability. Reliable measurement of hip abductor muscle strength in patients with TKA is important to ensure deficiencies are addressed in rehabilitation programs and function is maximized. Hip abductor strength can be reliably measured with a hand-held dynamometer in the clinical setting using manual or belt resistance.

Predicting meat quality traits of ovine m. semimembranosus, both fresh and following freezing and thawing, using a hand held Raman spectroscopic device.

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, Stephanie M; Schmidt, Heinar; van de Ven, Remy; Wynn, Peter; Hopkins, David L

2015-10-01

Complementary studies were conducted to determine the potential for a Raman spectroscopic hand held device to predict meat quality traits of fresh lamb m. semimembranosus (topside) after ageing and freezing/thawing. Spectra were collected from 80 fresh muscles at 24h and 5d PM, another 80 muscles were measured at 24h, 5d and following freezing/thawing. Shear force, cooking loss, sarcomere length, colour, particle size, collagen content, pH24, pHu, purge and thaw loss were also measured. Results indicated a potential to predict pHu (R(2)cv=0.59), pH24 (R(2)cv=0.48) and purge (R(2)cv=0.42) using spectra collected 24h PM. L* could be predicted using spectra collected 24h (R(2)cv=0.33) or 5d PM (R(2)cv=0.33). This suggests that Raman spectroscopy is suited to identifying carcases which deviate from the normal metabolic processes and related meat quality traits. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Characterization of a high performance ultra-thin heat pipe cooling module for mobile hand held electronic devices

Science.gov (United States)

Ahamed, Mohammad Shahed; Saito, Yuji; Mashiko, Koichi; Mochizuki, Masataka

2017-11-01

In recent years, heat pipes have been widely used in various hand held mobile electronic devices such as smart phones, tablet PCs, digital cameras. With the development of technology these devices have different user friendly features and applications; which require very high clock speeds of the processor. In general, a high clock speed generates a lot of heat, which needs to be spreaded or removed to eliminate the hot spot on the processor surface. However, it is a challenging task to achieve proper cooling of such electronic devices mentioned above because of their confined spaces and concentrated heat sources. Regarding this challenge, we introduced an ultra-thin heat pipe; this heat pipe consists of a special fiber wick structure named as "Center Fiber Wick" which can provide sufficient vapor space on the both sides of the wick structure. We also developed a cooling module that uses this kind of ultra-thin heat pipe to eliminate the hot spot issue. This cooling module consists of an ultra-thin heat pipe and a metal plate. By changing the width, the flattened thickness and the effective length of the ultra-thin heat pipe, several experiments have been conducted to characterize the thermal properties of the developed cooling module. In addition, other experiments were also conducted to determine the effects of changes in the number of heat pipes in a single module. Characterization and comparison of the module have also been conducted both experimentally and theoretically.

Thresholds of whole-blood β-hydroxybutyrate and glucose concentrations measured with an electronic hand-held device to identify ovine hyperketonemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Pichler, M; Damberger, A; Schwendenwein, I; Gasteiner, J; Drillich, M; Iwersen, M

2014-03-01

Metabolic disorders, especially hyperketonemia, are very common in dairy sheep. The whole-blood concentrations of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) and glucose can be determined by commercially available electronic hand-held devices, which are used in human medicine and for the detection of ketosis in dairy cows. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the hand-held device Precision Xceed (PX; Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Park, IL) to detect hyperketonemia in ewes. An additional objective of this study was to evaluate the agreement between samples obtained by minimal invasive venipuncture of an ear vein and measurements of whole-blood samples from the jugular vein (vena jugularis, v. jug.). Blood samples taken from the v. jug. were collected from 358 ewes on 4 different farms. These samples and a blood drop obtained from an ear vein were analyzed simultaneously on farm with the PX. For method comparison, the samples obtained from the v. jug. were also analyzed by standard methods, which served as the gold standard at the Central Laboratory of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria. The correlation coefficients between the serum BHBA concentration and the concentrations measured with the hand-held meter in the whole blood from an ear vein and the v. jug. were 0.94 and 0.96, respectively. The correlation coefficients of plasma and whole-blood glucose concentration were 0.68 for the v. jug. and 0.47 for the ear vein. The mean glucose concentration was significantly lower in animals classified as hyperketonemic (BHBA ≥ 1.6 mmol/L) compared with healthy ewes. Whole-blood concentrations of BHBA and glucose measured with the PX from v. jug. showed a constant negative bias of 0.15 mmol/L and 8.4 mg/dL, respectively. Hence, a receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to determine thresholds for the PX to detect hyperketonemia in ewes. This resulted in thresholds for moderate ketosis of BHBA concentrations of 0.7 mmol/L in blood

Clinical assessment of hip strength using a hand-held dynamometer is reliable

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorborg, K; Petersen, J; Magnusson, S P

2010-01-01

rotation (ER), internal rotation (IR), flexion (FLEX) and extension (EXT) using a hand-held dynamometer. Nine subjects (five males, four females), physically active for at least 2.5 h a week, were included. Twelve standardized isometric strength tests were performed twice with a 1-week interval in between......Hip strength assessment plays an important role in the clinical examination of the hip and groin region. The primary aim of this study was to examine the absolute test-retest measurement variation concerning standardized strength assessments of hip abduction (ABD), adduction (ADD), external...... by the same examiner. The test order was randomized to avoid systematic bias. Measurement variation between sessions was 3-12%. When the maximum value of four measurements was used, test-retest measurement variation was below 10% in 11 of the 12 individual hip strength tests and below 5% in five of the 12...

Diagnosis and evaluation of diseases of the hand by intravenous digital subtraction angiography done by an improved method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minakuchi, Kazuo; Nakamura, Kenji; Kudoh, Hiroaki; Takashima, Sumio; Manabe, Takao; Kaminoh, Toshio; Onoyama, Yasuto

1988-01-01

Twenty patients with various diseases of the hand were studied by intravenous digital subtraction angiography (IV-DSA). We used clay preparation as a compensatory filter to improve the radiological conditions and increased local circulation by use of a hot compress. By IV-DSA done in this way, excellent or good images of the carpal arteries were obtained in 21 of 23 hands examined (91%). For the metacarpal region, images were excellent or good for 13 hands (57%), and for the digital region, for 4 (17%). The arteries of the hand could be seen in all studies, although sometimes the image was poor. Further improvements of images by IV-DSA should make it possible to use IV-DSA for screening and follow-up studies of many parts of the body. (author)

76 FR 54454 - Issuance of Loan Guarantee to Genesis Solar, LLC, for the Genesis Solar Energy Project

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-01

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Issuance of Loan Guarantee to Genesis Solar, LLC, for the Genesis Solar... Energy Project (GSEP), a 250-megawatt (MW) nominal capacity solar power generating facility on.../Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Genesis Solar Energy Project, Riverside County, California...

Comparison of maximal voluntary isometric contraction and hand-held dynamometry in measuring muscle strength of patients with progressive lower motor neuron syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Visser, J.; Mans, E.; de Visser, M.; van den Berg-Vos, R. M.; Franssen, H.; de Jong, J. M. B. V.; van den Berg, L. H.; Wokke, J. H. J.; de Haan, R. J.

2003-01-01

Context. Maximal voluntary isometric contraction, a method quantitatively assessing muscle strength, has proven to be reliable, accurate and sensitive in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Hand-held dynamometry is less expensive and more quickly applicable than maximal voluntary isometric contraction.

Incidence of Apical Crack Initiation during Canal Preparation using Hand Stainless Steel (K-File) and Hand NiTi (Protaper) Files.

Science.gov (United States)

Soni, Dileep; Raisingani, Deepak; Mathur, Rachit; Madan, Nidha; Visnoi, Suchita

2016-01-01

To evaluate the incidence of apical crack initiation during canal preparation with stainless steel K-files and hand protaper files (in vitro study). Sixty extracted mandibular premo-lar teeth are randomly selected and embedded in an acrylic tube filled with autopolymerizing resin. A baseline image of the apical surface of each specimen was recorded under a digital microscope (80×). The cervical and middle thirds of all samples were flared with #2 and #1 Gates-Glidden (GG) drills, and a second image was recorded. The teeth were randomly divided into four groups of 15 teeth each according to the file type (hand K-file and hand-protaper) and working length (WL) (instrumented at WL and 1 mm less than WL). Final image after dye penetration and photomicrograph of the apical root surface were digitally recorded. Maximum numbers of cracks were observed with hand protaper files compared with hand K-file at the WL and 1 mm short of WL. Chi-square testing revealed a highly significant effect of WL on crack formation at WL and 1 mm short of WL (p = 0.000). Minimum numbers of cracks at WL and 1 mm short of WL were observed with hand K-file and maximum with hand protaper files. Soni D, Raisingani D, Mathur R, Madan N, Visnoi S. Incidence of Apical Crack Initiation during Canal Preparation using Hand Stainless Steel (K-File) and Hand NiTi (Protaper) Files. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2016;9(4):303-307.

Potential air contamination during CO2 angiography using a hand-held syringe: theoretical considerations and gas chromatography.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, David R; Cho, Kyung J; Hawkins, Irvin F

2006-01-01

To assess air contamination in the hand-held syringes currently used for CO2 delivery and to determine whether there is an association between their position and the rate of air contamination. Assessment of air contamination in the syringe (20 ml) included theoretical modeling, mathematical calculation, and gas chromatography (GC). The model was used with Fick's first law to calculate the diffusion of CO2 and the amount of air contamination. For GC studies, the syringes were placed in the upright, horizontal, and inverted positions and gas samples were obtained after 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min. All trials with each position for each sampling time were performed five times. The amounts of air contamination with time calculated mathematically were 5-10% less than those of GC. With the diffusivity of air-CO2 at 0.1599 cm2/sec (9.594 cm2/min), air contamination was calculated to be 60% at 60 min. With GC air contamination was 13% at 5 min, 31% at 20 min, 43% at 30 min, and 68% at 60 min. There was no difference in air contamination between the different syringe positions. Air contamination occurs in hand-held syringes filled with CO2 when they are open to the ambient air. The amounts of air contamination over time are similar among syringes placed in the upright, horizontal, and inverted positions.

Non-invasive volumetric analysis of asymptomatic hands using a 3-D scanner.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hiroki Shinkai

Full Text Available Hand swelling is one of the symptoms often seen in practice, but none of the available morphometric methods can quickly and efficiently quantify hand volume in an objective manner, and the current gold-standard volume measurement requires immersion in water, which can be difficult to use. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the accuracy of using 3-dimensional (3-D scanning to measure hand volume. First, we compared the hand volume calculated using the 3-D scanner to that calculated from the conventional method among 109 volunteers to determine the reliability of 3-D measurements. We defined the beginning of the hand as the distal wrist crease, and 3-D forms of the hands were captured by the 3-D scanning system. Second, 238 volunteers (87 men, 151 women with no disease or history of hand surgery underwent 3-D scanning. Data collected included age, height, weight, and shoe size. The wrist circumference (WC and the distance between distal wrist crease and tip of middle finger (DDT were measured. Statistical analyses were performed using linear regression to investigate the relationship between the hand volume and these parameters. In the first study, a significantly strong positive correlation was observed [R = 0.98] between the hand volume calculated via 3-D scanning and that calculated via the conventional method. In the second study, no significant differences between the volumes, WC or DDT of right and left hands were found. The correlations of hand volume with weight, WC, and DDT were strong. We created a formula to predict the hand volume using these parameters; these variables explained approximately 80% of the predicted volume. We confirmed that the new 3-D scanning method, which is performed without touching the hand and can record the form of the hand, yields an accurate volumetric analysis of an asymptomatic hand.

Using 2D: 4D digit ratios to determine motor skills in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Y; Wang, H-L; Li, Y-H; Zhu, F-L; Li, S-J; Ni, H

2016-03-01

In past few decades, there has an outburst of research surrounding second to fourth finger digit ratio (2D:4D) and its relation to prenatal sex steroids including both testosterone and estrogen. In utero, testosterone and estrogen are responsible for the differences in digit ratio between the genders. Recent research has tried to extend past the influence of steroids and look at the potential effect of digit ratios on fine and gross motor skills in children. We compiled the current understanding of the connection between sex hormones and the development of the 2D:4D ratio as well as the effect the ratio has on motor skills. There seems to be a significant positive correlation between 2D:4D digit ratio and precision of fine motor skill. In addition, there is a negative correlation between 2D:4D ratio and speed of fine motor activity. In this review, we will outline the use of 2D:4D ratio as a biomarker for prenatal sex steroids and through that, a proxy marker for fine and gross motor skills.

Qualitative Evaluation of Digital Hand X-rays is Not a Reliable Method to Assess Bone Mineral Density

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AndrewJ. Miller

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Object: The gold standard for evaluating bone mineral density is dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA.  Prior studies have shown poor reliability using analog wrist X-rays in diagnosing osteoporosis. Our goal was to investigate if there was improved diagnostic value to visual assessment of digital hand X-rays in osteoporosis screening. We hypothesized that similar to analog counterparts, digital hand X-rays have poor correlation and reliability in determining bone mineral density (BMD relative to DEXA.Methods: We prospectively evaluated female patients older than 65 years who presented to our hand clinic with digital hand and wrist X-rays as part of their evaluation over six months. Patients who had a fracture and were without DEXA scans within the past two years were excluded. Five fellowship-trained hand surgeons, blinded to DEXA T-scores, evaluated the x-rays over two assessments separated by four weeks and classified them as osteoporotic, osteopenic, or normal BMD.  Accuracy relative to DEXA T-score, interobserver and intraobserver rates were calculated.Results: Thirty four patients met the inclusion criteria and a total of 340 x-rays reviews were performed.  The assessments were correct in 169 cases (49% as compared to the DEXA T-scores. A mean weighted kappa coefficient of agreement between observers was 0.29 (range 0.02-0.41 reflecting a fair agreement. The first and second assessment for all five physicians was 0.46 (range 0.19-0.78 reflecting a moderate agreement.  Grouping osteoporosis and osteopenia together compared to normal, the accuracy, interobserver and intraobserver rates increased to 63%, 0.42 and 0.54 respectively.Conclusion: Abnormally low BMD is a common occurrence in patients treated for upper extremity disorders. There is poor accuracy relative to DEXA scan and only fair agreement in diagnosing osteoporosis using visual assessments of digital x-rays.

Contactless and pose invariant biometric identification using hand surface.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanhangad, Vivek; Kumar, Ajay; Zhang, David

2011-05-01

This paper presents a novel approach for hand matching that achieves significantly improved performance even in the presence of large hand pose variations. The proposed method utilizes a 3-D digitizer to simultaneously acquire intensity and range images of the user's hand presented to the system in an arbitrary pose. The approach involves determination of the orientation of the hand in 3-D space followed by pose normalization of the acquired 3-D and 2-D hand images. Multimodal (2-D as well as 3-D) palmprint and hand geometry features, which are simultaneously extracted from the user's pose normalized textured 3-D hand, are used for matching. Individual matching scores are then combined using a new dynamic fusion strategy. Our experimental results on the database of 114 subjects with significant pose variations yielded encouraging results. Consistent (across various hand features considered) performance improvement achieved with the pose correction demonstrates the usefulness of the proposed approach for hand based biometric systems with unconstrained and contact-free imaging. The experimental results also suggest that the dynamic fusion approach employed in this work helps to achieve performance improvement of 60% (in terms of EER) over the case when matching scores are combined using the weighted sum rule.

The role of hand drawing in basic design education in the digital age

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Have, R.; Van den Toorn, M.W.M.

2012-01-01

In the last decennia, hand drawing has been slowly moved out of the curricula in architecture schools and the teaching of computer skills has taken over. It has also created an 'intellectual dichotomy of viewpoints'; the digital and analogues. The question now is how to find a new balance for

Hand-held hyperspectral imager for chemical/biological and environmental applications

Science.gov (United States)

Hinnrichs, Michele; Piatek, Bob

2004-03-01

A small, hand held, battery operated imaging infrared spectrometer, Sherlock, has been developed by Pacific Advanced Technology and was field tested in early 2003. The Sherlock spectral imaging camera has been designed for remote gas leak detection, however, the architecture of the camera is versatile enough that it can be applied to numerous other applications such as homeland security, chemical/biological agent detection, medical and pharmaceutical applications as well as standard research and development. This paper describes the Sherlock camera, theory of operations, shows current applications and touches on potential future applications for the camera. The Sherlock has an embedded Power PC and performs real-time-image processing function in an embedded FPGA. The camera has a built in LCD display as well as output to a standard monitor, or NTSC display. It has several I/O ports, ethernet, firewire, RS232 and thus can be easily controlled from a remote location. In addition, software upgrades can be performed over the ethernet eliminating the need to send the camera back to the factory for a retrofit. Using the USB port a mouse and key board can be connected and the camera can be used in a laboratory environment as a stand alone imaging spectrometer.

Hand surface area estimation formula using 3D anthropometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Yao-Wen; Yu, Chi-Yuang

2010-11-01

Hand surface area is an important reference in occupational hygiene and many other applications. This study derives a formula for the palm surface area (PSA) and hand surface area (HSA) based on three-dimensional (3D) scan data. Two-hundred and seventy subjects, 135 males and 135 females, were recruited for this study. The hand was measured using a high-resolution 3D hand scanner. Precision and accuracy of the scanner is within 0.67%. Both the PSA and HSA were computed using the triangular mesh summation method. A comparison between this study and previous textbook values (such as in the U.K. teaching text and Lund and Browder chart discussed in the article) was performed first to show that previous textbooks overestimated the PSA by 12.0% and HSA by 8.7% (for the male, PSA 8.5% and HSA 4.7%, and for the female, PSA 16.2% and HSA 13.4%). Six 1D measurements were then extracted semiautomatically for use as candidate estimators for the PSA and HSA estimation formula. Stepwise regressions on these six 1D measurements and variable dependency test were performed. Results show that a pair of measurements (hand length and hand breadth) were able to account for 96% of the HSA variance and up to 98% of the PSA variance. A test of the gender-specific formula indicated that gender is not a significant factor in either the PSA or HSA estimation.

Potential Air Contamination During CO2 Angiography Using a Hand-Held Syringe: Theoretical Considerations and Gas Chromatography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, David R.; Cho, Kyung J.; Hawkins, Irvin F.

2006-01-01

Purpose. To assess air contamination in the hand-held syringes currently used for CO 2 delivery and to determine whether there is an association between their position and the rate of air contamination. Methods. Assessment of air contamination in the syringe (20 ml) included theoretical modeling, mathematical calculation, and gas chromatography (GC). The model was used with Fick's first law to calculate the diffusion of CO 2 and the amount of air contamination. For GC studies, the syringes were placed in the upright, horizontal, and inverted positions and gas samples were obtained after 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min. All trials with each position for each sampling time were performed five times. Results. The amounts of air contamination with time calculated mathematically were 5-10% less than those of GC. With the diffusivity of air-CO 2 at 0.1599 cm 2 /sec (9.594 cm 2 /min), air contamination was calculated to be 60% at 60 min. With GC air contamination was 13% at 5 min, 31% at 20 min, 43% at 30 min, and 68% at 60 min. There was no difference in air contamination between the different syringe positions. Conclusion. Air contamination occurs in hand-held syringes filled with CO 2 when they are open to the ambient air. The amounts of air contamination over time are similar among syringes placed in the upright, horizontal, and inverted positions

Development and performance of a hand-held CZT detector for in-situ measurements at the emergency response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ji, Young Yong; Chung, Kun Ho; Kim, Chang Jong; Lee, Wan No; Choi, Geun Sik; Kang, Mun Ja [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Yoon, Jin [SI Detection Co. Ltd, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-15

A hand-held detector for an emergency response was developed for nuclide identification and to estimate the information of the ambient dose rate in the scene of an accident as well as the radioactivity of the contaminants. To achieve this, the most suitable sensor was first selected as a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) semiconductor and the signal processing unit from a sensor and the signal discrimination and storage unit were successfully manufactured on a printed circuit board. The performance of the developed signal processing unit was then evaluated to have an energy resolution of about 14 keV at 662 keV. The system control unit was also designed to operate the CZT detector, monitor the detector, battery, and interface status, and check and transmit the measured results of the ambient dose rate and radioactivity. In addition, a collimator, which can control the inner radius, and the airborne dust sampler, which consists of an air filter and charcoal filter, were developed and mounted to the developed CZT detector for the quick and efficient response of a nuclear accident. The hand-held CZT detector was developed to make the in-situ gamma-ray spectrometry and its performance was checked to have a good energy resolution. In addition, the collimator and the airborne dust sampler were developed and mounted to the developed CZT detector for a quick and efficient response to a nuclear accident.

Digital Waveguide Architectures for Virtual Musical Instruments

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Julius O.

Digital sound synthesis has become a standard staple of modern music studios, videogames, personal computers, and hand-held devices. As processing power has increased over the years, sound synthesis implementations have evolved from dedicated chip sets, to single-chip solutions, and ultimately to software implementations within processors used primarily for other tasks (such as for graphics or general purpose computing). With the cost of implementation dropping closer and closer to zero, there is increasing room for higher quality algorithms.

Second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D and concentrations of circulating sex hormones in adulthood

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morris Howard A

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The second to fourth digit ratio (2D:4D is used as a marker of prenatal sex hormone exposure. The objective of this study was to examine whether circulating concentrations of sex hormones and SHBG measured in adulthood was associated with 2D:4D. Methods This analysis was based on a random sample from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study. The sample consisted of of 1036 men and 620 post-menopausal women aged between 39 and 70 at the time of blood draw. Concentrations of circulating sex hormones were measured from plasma collected at baseline (1990-1994, while digit length was measured from hand photocopies taken during a recent follow-up (2003-2009. The outcome measures were circulating concentrations of testosterone, oestradiol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, androstenedione, Sex Hormone Binding Globulin, androstenediol glucoronide for men only and oestrone sulphate for women only. Free testosterone and oestradiol were estimated using standard formulae derived empirically. Predicted geometric mean hormone concentrations (for tertiles of 2D:4D and conditional correlation coefficients (for continuous 2D:4D were obtained using mixed effects linear regression models. Results No strong associations were observed between 2D:4D measures and circulating concentrations of hormones for men or women. For males, right 2D:4D was weakly inversely associated with circulating testosterone (predicted geometric mean testosterone was 15.9 and 15.0 nmol/L for the lowest and highest tertiles of male right 2D:4D respectively (P-trend = 0.04. There was a similar weak association between male right 2D:4D and the ratio of testosterone to oestradiol. These associations were not evident in analyses of continuous 2D:4D. Conclusions There were no strong associations between any adult circulating concentration of sex hormone or SHGB and 2D:4D. These results contribute to the growing body of evidence indicating that 2D:4D is unrelated to adult sex

Characterization of wood dust emission from hand-held woodworking machines.

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, F-X; Chata, F

2018-01-01

This article focuses on the prevention of exposure to wood dust when operating electrical hand-held sawing and sanding machines. A laboratory methodology was developed to measure the dust concentration around machines during operating processes. The main objective was to characterize circular saws and sanders, with the aim of classifying the different power tools tested in terms of dust emission (high dust emitter vs. low dust emitter). A test set-up was developed and is described and a measurement methodology was determined for each of the two operations studied. The robustness of the experimental results is discussed and shows good tendencies. The impact of air-flow extraction rate was assessed and the pressure loss of the system for each machine established. For the circular saws, three machines over the nine tested could be classified in the low dust emitter group. Their mean concentration values measured are between 0.64 and 0.98 mg/m 3 for the low dust emitter group and from 2.55 and 4.37 mg/m 3 for the high dust emitter group. From concentration measurements, a machine classification is possible-one for sanding machines and one for sawing machines-and a ratio from 1-7 is obtained when comparing the results. This classification will be helpful when a choice of high performance power tools, in terms of dust emission, must be made by professionals.

Investigating the Learning Challenges Presented by Digital Technologies to the College of Education in Kuwait University

Science.gov (United States)

Aldhafeeri, Fayiz; Male, Trevor

2016-01-01

There is now widespread recognition that digital technologies, particularly portable hand held devices capable of Internet connection, present opportunities and challenges to the way in which student learning is organized in schools, colleges and institutions of higher education in the 21st Century. Traxler, "Journal of the Research Centre…

Digital fringe projection for hand surface coordinate variation analysis caused by osteoarthritis

Science.gov (United States)

Nor Haimi, Wan Mokhdzani Wan; Hau Tan, Cheek; Retnasamy, Vithyacharan; Vairavan, Rajendaran; Sauli, Zaliman; Roshidah Yusof, Nor; Hambali, Nor Azura Malini Ahmad; Aziz, Muhammad Hafiz Ab; Bakhit, Ahmad Syahir Ahmad

2017-11-01

Hand osteoarthritis is one of the most common forms of arthritis which impact millions of people worldwide. The disabling problem occurs when the protective cartilage on the boundaries of bones wear off over time. Currently, in order to identify hand osteoarthritis, special instruments namely X-ray scanning and MRI are used for the detection but it also has its limitations such as radiation exposure and can be quite costly. In this work, an optical metrology system based on digital fringe projection which comprises of an LCD projector, CCD camera and a personal computer has been developed to anticipate abnormal growth or deformation on the joints of the hand which are common symptoms of osteoarthritis. The main concept of this optical metrology system is to apply structured light as imaging source for surface change detection. The imaging source utilizes fringe patterns generated by C++ programming and is shifted by 3 phase shifts based on the 3 steps 2 shifts method. Phase wrapping technique and analysis were applied in order to detect the deformation of live subjects. The result has demonstrated a successful method of hand deformation detection based on the pixel tracking differences of a normal and deformed state.

Optical coherence tomography based 1D to 6D eye-in-hand calibration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Antoni, Sven Thomas; Otte, Christoph; Savarimuthu, Thiusius Rajeeth

2017-01-01

and based on this introduce pivot+d, a new 1D to 6D eye-in-hand calibration. We provide detailed results on the convergence and accuracy of our method and use translational and rotational ground truth to show that our methods allow for submillimeter positioning accuracy of an OCT beam with a robot.......e., it can be easily integrated with instruments. However, to use OCT for intra-operative guidance its spatial alignment needs to be established. Hence, we consider eye-in-hand calibration between the 1D OCT imaging and a 6D robotic position system. We present a method to perform pivot calibration for OCT....... For pivot calibration we observe a mean translational error of 0.5161 ± 0.4549 mm while pivot+d shows 0.3772 ± 0.2383 mm. Additionally, pivot+d improves rotation detection by about 8° when compared to pivot calibration....

Origins, transformations and key foci in instrumental genesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tamborg, Andreas Lindenskov

This paper investigates the origins of the instrumental genesis and instrumental orchestrations frameworks. This is done by reviewing instrumented activity situations, instrumental genesis, and instrumental orchestrations with the purpose of identifying their epistemological assumptions, what the...... and instrumental orchestrations have potential shortcomings since the technologies that currently exist in school contexts are rather different from the technologies instrumental genesis was originally developed to study.......This paper investigates the origins of the instrumental genesis and instrumental orchestrations frameworks. This is done by reviewing instrumented activity situations, instrumental genesis, and instrumental orchestrations with the purpose of identifying their epistemological assumptions, what...

Hand-held dynamic visual noise reduces naturally occurring food cravings and craving-related consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Kemps, Eva; Tiggemann, Marika

2013-09-01

This study demonstrated the applicability of the well-established laboratory task, dynamic visual noise, as a technique for reducing naturally occurring food cravings and subsequent food intake. Dynamic visual noise was delivered on a hand-held computer device. Its effects were assessed within the context of a diary study. Over a 4-week period, 48 undergraduate women recorded their food cravings and consumption. Following a 2-week baseline, half the participants watched the dynamic visual noise display whenever they experienced a food craving. Compared to a control group, these participants reported less intense cravings. They were also less likely to eat following a craving and consequently consumed fewer total calories following craving. These findings hold promise for curbing unwanted food cravings and craving-driven consumption in real-world settings. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Complimentary Role of Methoxy-Isobutyl-Isonitrile and Hand-Held Gamma Probe in Adamantinoma

Science.gov (United States)

Maharaj, Masha; Korowlay, Nisaar; Ellmann, Prof

2016-01-01

Adamantinoma is a rare locally aggressive osteolytic tumor that is found 90% of the time in the diaphysis of the tibia with the remaining lesions found in the fibula and long tubular bones. A case of adamantinoma of the tibia is presented. The added value of nuclear medicine investigations in the workup of this patient is described. A three-phase whole body 99mTc-methylene diphosphonate bone and a whole body 99mTc-methoxy-isobutyl-isonitrile scans were complimentary in the demarcation of viable bone tumor and the assessment of the remainder of the bone and soft tissue to exclude other sites. Intra-operative assistance with a hand-held gamma probe, guided the biopsy of the most metabolically active tumor tissue. Histology revealed a biphasic tumor composed of epithelial and fibrous components, in keeping with an adamantinoma. PMID:26912979

Advanced digital counting rate meter for gamma ray logging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kannan, S.; Meenakshi Sundari, A.; Rai, A.K.

2013-01-01

A compact, hand held controller based Advanced Digital Count Rate Meter (ADCRM) as a replacement of bulky Count Rate (analog) Meters (SBL-2A) was designed, developed and fabricated to carry out Gamma-Ray borehole logging with Geiger Muller (GM) tubes and Scintillation (SC) detectors. In the hardware the functionality of analog meter simulation, digital counting of gamma events and auto reference adjustment to use different length of armour cable winches were implemented. The in-built software evaluates grade in ppm and at the end of logging, the reports are prepared automatically. ADCRM was developed in-house to assist the uranium mineral exploration in AMD. (author)

Forest Inventory with Terrestrial LiDAR: A Comparison of Static and Hand-Held Mobile Laser Scanning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sébastien Bauwens

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The application of static terrestrial laser scanning (TLS in forest inventories is becoming more effective. Nevertheless, the occlusion effect is still limiting the processing efficiency to extract forest attributes. The use of a mobile laser scanner (MLS would reduce this occlusion. In this study, we assessed and compared a hand-held mobile laser scanner (HMLS with two TLS approaches (single scan: SS, and multi scan: MS for the estimation of several forest parameters in a wide range of forest types and structures. We found that SS is competitive to extract the ground surface of forest plots, while MS gives the best result to describe the upper part of the canopy. The whole cross-section at 1.3 m height is scanned for 91% of the trees (DBH > 10 cm with the HMLS leading to the best results for DBH estimates (bias of −0.08 cm and RMSE of 1.11 cm, compared to no fully-scanned trees for SS and 42% fully-scanned trees for MS. Irregularities, such as bark roughness and non-circular cross-section may explain the negative bias encountered for all of the scanning approaches. The success of using MLS in forests will allow for 3D structure acquisition on a larger scale and in a time-efficient manner.

Hand D and Shakespeare’s Unorthodox Literary Paper Trail

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Price

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The biography of William Shakespeare exerts an influence on various areas of research related to Shakespeare, including textual, bibliographical, and attribution studies. A case in point is the theory that Shakespeare wrote the Hand D Additions in the Sir Thomas More manuscript. That theory is now part of received scholarship, even though many of the assumptions and arguments first published in 1923 have been challenged. The original palaeographic argument can be reappraised with reference to the criteria and procedures of the forensic document examiner. Recent scholarship relevant to an investigation of the case that the Hand D Additions are Shakespeare’s ‘foul papers’, including Paul Werstine’s Early Modern Playhouse Manuscripts and the Editing of Shakespeare, provides the foundation for a brief reconsideration of that topic. Supporting arguments for the Hand D attribution, in particular those based on orthography, prove vulnerable to challenge.

G3 : GENESIS software envrionment update

OpenAIRE

Castagné, Nicolas; Cadoz, Claude; Allaoui, Ali; Tache, Olivier Michel

2009-01-01

GENESIS3 is the new version of the GENESIS software environment for musical creation by means of mass-interaction physics network modeling. It was designed, and developed from scratch, in hindsight of more than 10 years working on and using the previous version. We take the opportunity of this birth to provide in this article (1) an analysis of the peculiarities in GENESIS, aiming at highlighting its core ?software paradigm?; and (2) an update on the features of the new version as compared to...

Hand-held Raman sensor head for in-situ characterization of meat quality applying a microsystem 671 nm diode laser

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Heinar; Sowoidnich, Kay; Maiwald, Martin; Sumpf, Bernd; Kronfeldt, Heinz-Detlef

2009-05-01

A hand-held Raman sensor head was developed for the in-situ characterization of meat quality. As light source, a microsystem based external cavity diode laser module (ECDL) emitting at 671 nm was integrated in the sensor head and attached to a miniaturized optical bench which contains lens optics for excitation and signal collection as well as a Raman filter stage for Rayleigh rejection. The signal is transported with an optical fiber to the detection unit which was in the initial phase a laboratory spectrometer with CCD detector. All elements of the ECDL are aligned on a micro optical bench with 13 x 4 mm2 footprint. The wavelength stability is provided by a reflection Bragg grating and the laser has an optical power of up to 200 mW. However, for the Raman measurements of meat only 35 mW are needed to obtain Raman spectra within 1 - 5 seconds. Short measuring times are essential for the hand-held device. The laser and the sensor head are characterized in terms of stability and performance for in-situ Raman investigations. The function is demonstrated in a series of measurements with raw and packaged pork meat as samples. The suitability of the Raman sensor head for the quality control of meat and other products will be discussed.

Robotic Hand

Science.gov (United States)

1993-01-01

The Omni-Hand was developed by Ross-Hime Designs, Inc. for Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract. The multiple digit hand has an opposable thumb and a flexible wrist. Electric muscles called Minnacs power wrist joints and the interchangeable digits. Two hands have been delivered to NASA for evaluation for potential use on space missions and the unit is commercially available for applications like hazardous materials handling and manufacturing automation. Previous SBIR contracts resulted in the Omni-Wrist and Omni-Wrist II robotic systems, which are commercially available for spray painting, sealing, ultrasonic testing, as well as other uses.

3D DIGITAL CADASTRE JOURNEY IN VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Shojaei

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Land development processes today have an increasing demand to access three-dimensional (3D spatial information. Complex land development may need to have a 3D model and require some functions which are only possible using 3D data. Accordingly, the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM, as a national body in Australia provides leadership, coordination and standards for surveying, mapping and national datasets has developed the Cadastre 2034 strategy in 2014. This strategy has a vision to develop a cadastral system that enables people to readily and confidently identify the location and extent of all rights, restrictions and responsibilities related to land and real property. In 2014, the land authority in the state of Victoria, Australia, namely Land Use Victoria (LUV, has entered the challenging area of designing and implementing a 3D digital cadastre focused on providing more efficient and effective services to the land and property industry. LUV has been following the ICSM 2034 strategy which requires developing various policies, standards, infrastructures, and tools. Over the past three years, LUV has mainly focused on investigating the technical aspect of a 3D digital cadastre. This paper provides an overview of the 3D digital cadastre investigation progress in Victoria and discusses the challenges that the team faced during this journey. It also addresses the future path to develop an integrated 3D digital cadastre in Victoria.

Inter-Tester Reliability and Precision of Manual Muscle Testing and Hand-Held Dynamometry in Lower Limb Muscles of Children with Spina Bifida

Science.gov (United States)

Mahony, Kate; Hunt, Adrienne; Daley, Deborah; Sims, Susan; Adams, Roger

2009-01-01

Reliability and measurement precision of manual muscle testing (MMT) and hand-held dynamometry (HHD) were compared for children with spina bifida. Strength measures were obtained of the hip flexors, hip abductors, and knee extensors of 20 children (10 males, 10 females; mean age 9 years 10 months; range: 5 to 15 years) by two experienced physical…

The Association of Digit Ratio (2D : 4D) with Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunevicius, Adomas

2018-01-01

Intrauterine sex hormone environment as indicated by the second to the fourth digit ratio (2D : 4D) can be associated with cancer risk. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the association of 2D : 4D with cancer diagnosis, malignancy, and age at presentation. Studies that evaluated the association of 2D : 4D with cancer risk were collected from Pubmed/MEDLINE and Clarivate Analytics databases. Nineteen studies were included in the qualitative analysis. The 2D : 4D ratio was studied in prostate cancer, breast cancer, testicular cancer, gastric cancer, oral cancer, brain tumors, and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Low 2D : 4D was associated with prostate cancer, gastric cancer, and brain tumors, while high 2D : 4D, with breast cancer risk and cervical dysplasia. The 2D : 4D ratio was not associated with prostate, breast, and gastric cancer stage. Greater 2D : 4D ratio was associated with younger presentation of breast cancer and brain tumors. The meta-analyses demonstrated that testicular cancer was not associated with right-hand 2D : 4D ratio ( p = 0.74) and gastric cancer was not associated with right-hand ( p = 0.15) and left-hand ( p = 0.95) 2D : 4D ratio. Sex hormone environment during early development is associated with cancer risk later in life. Further studies exploring the link between intrauterine hormone environment and cancer risk are encouraged.

Hand and foot pressures in the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) reveal novel biomechanical trade-offs required for walking on gracile digits.

Science.gov (United States)

Kivell, Tracy L; Schmitt, Daniel; Wunderlich, Roshna E

2010-05-01

Arboreal animals with prehensile hands must balance the complex demands of bone strength, grasping and manipulation. An informative example of this problem is that of the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), a rare lemuriform primate that is unusual in having exceptionally long, gracile fingers specialized for foraging. In addition, they are among the largest primates to engage in head-first descent on arboreal supports, a posture that should increase loads on their gracile digits. We test the hypothesis that aye-ayes will reduce pressure on their digits during locomotion by curling their fingers off the substrate. This hypothesis was tested using simultaneous videographic and pressure analysis of the hand, foot and digits for five adult aye-ayes during horizontal locomotion and during ascent and descent on a 30 degrees instrumented runway. Aye-ayes consistently curled their fingers during locomotion on all slopes. When the digits were in contact with the substrate, pressures were negligible and significantly less than those experienced by the palm or pedal digits. In addition, aye-ayes lifted their hands vertically off the substrate instead of 'toeing-off' and descended head-first at significantly slower speeds than on other slopes. Pressure on the hand increased during head-first descent relative to horizontal locomotion but not as much as the pressure increased on the foot during ascent. This distribution of pressure suggests that aye-ayes shift their weight posteriorly during head-first descent to reduce loads on their gracile fingers. This research demonstrates several novel biomechanical trade-offs to deal with complex functional demands on the mammalian skeleton.

The use of stereolithographic hand held models for evaluation of congenital anomalies of the great arteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Vranicar, Mark; Gregory, William; Douglas, William I; Di Sessa, Peter; Di Sessa, Thomas G

2008-01-01

Imaging anomalies of the great vessels has traditionally been accomplished using conventional biplane modalities as well as three-dimensional (3D) video displays. Our aim was to review the use of stereolithography to create 3D models to assess coarctation of the aorta and vascular rings. Twelve patients had high-resolution CT scans to evaluate anomalies of the great arteries (coarctation: 9, vascular ring: 3). Ages were 19 days to 29 years and weights were 3.3 to 139 kg. Digital dicom data from each scan were converted by a commercially available software package into a 3D digital image. The area of interest was selected and the image was exported to a 3D stereolithographic printer to create a 3D model. The models were then evaluated and the results compared to catheterization and surgical findings. All models accurately displayed the pathology investigated. All 3 of the vascular ring models correlated with surgical findings (double arch: 2, pulmonary sling: 1). Models of aortic coarctation allowed clear depictions of discrete narrowing as well as arch hypoplasia and tortuosity. Stereolithography can create realistic 3D models that accurately display aortic pathology and add important additional information, which may have implications regarding surgical and transcatheter interventions and may also be useful teaching tools for parents and students.

Coordination of intrinsic and extrinsic hand muscle activity as a function of wrist joint angle during two-digit grasping.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Jamie A; Bobich, Lisa R; Santello, Marco

2010-04-26

Fingertip forces result from the activation of muscles that cross the wrist and muscles whose origins and insertions reside within the hand (extrinsic and intrinsic hand muscles, respectively). Thus, tasks that involve changes in wrist angle affect the moment arm and length, hence the force-producing capabilities, of extrinsic muscles only. If a grasping task requires the exertion of constant fingertip forces, the Central Nervous System (CNS) may respond to changes in wrist angle by modulating the neural drive to extrinsic or intrinsic muscles only or by co-activating both sets of muscles. To distinguish between these scenarios, we recorded electromyographic (EMG) activity of intrinsic and extrinsic muscles of the thumb and index finger as a function of wrist angle during a two-digit object hold task. We hypothesized that changes in wrist angle would elicit EMG amplitude modulation of the extrinsic and intrinsic hand muscles. In one experimental condition we asked subjects to exert the same digit forces at each wrist angle, whereas in a second condition subjects could choose digit forces for holding the object. EMG activity was significantly modulated in both extrinsic and intrinsic muscles as a function of wrist angle (both pextrinsic and intrinsic muscles as a muscle synergy. These findings are discussed within the theoretical frameworks of synergies and common neural input across motor nuclei of hand muscles. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Avocado Hand

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Rahmani, G

2017-11-01

Accidental self-inflicted knife injuries to digits are a common cause of tendon and nerve injury requiring hand surgery. There has been an apparent increase in avocado related hand injuries. Classically, the patients hold the avocado in their non-dominant hand while using a knife to cut\\/peel the fruit with their dominant hand. The mechanism of injury is usually a stabbing injury to the non-dominant hand as the knife slips past the stone, through the soft avocado fruit. Despite their apparent increased incidence, we could not find any cases in the literature which describe the “avocado hand”. We present a case of a 32-year-old woman who sustained a significant hand injury while preparing an avocado. She required exploration and repair of a digital nerve under regional anaesthesia and has since made a full recovery.

GENESI-DR Portal: a scientific gateway to distributed repositories

Science.gov (United States)

Goncalves, Pedro; Brito, Fabrice; D'Andria, Fabio; Cossu, Roberto; Fusco, Luigi

2010-05-01

GENESI-DR (Ground European Network for Earth Science Interoperations - Digital Repositories) is a European Commission (EC)-funded project, kicked-off early 2008 lead by ESA; partners include Space Agencies (DLR, ASI, CNES), both space and no-space data providers such as ENEA (I), Infoterra (UK), K-SAT (N), NILU (N), JRC (EU) and industry as Elsag Datamat (I), CS (F) and TERRADUE (I). GENESI-DR intends to meet the challenge of facilitating "time to science" from different Earth Science disciplines in discovery, access and use (combining, integrating, processing, …) of historical and recent Earth-related data from space, airborne and in-situ sensors, which are archived in large distributed repositories. "Discovering" which data are available on a "geospatial web" is one of the main challenges ES scientists have to face today. Some well- known data sets are referred to in many places, available from many sources. For core information with a common purpose many copies are distributed, e.g., VMap0, Landsat, and SRTM. Other data sets in low or local demand may only be found in a few places and niche communities. Relevant services, results of analysis, applications and tools are accessible in a very scattered and uncoordinated way, often through individual initiatives from Earth Observation mission operators, scientific institutes dealing with ground measurements, service companies or data catalogues. In the discourse of Spatial Data Infrastructures, there are "catalogue services" - directories containing information on where spatial data and services can be found. For metadata "records" describing spatial data and services, there are "registries". The Geospatial industry coins specifications for search interfaces, where it might do better to reach out to other information retrieval and Internet communities. These considerations are the basis for the GENESI-DR scientific portal, which adopts a simple model allowing the geo-spatial classification and discovery of

Generating 3D and 3D-like animations of strongly uneven surface microareas of bloodstains from small series of partially out-of-focus digital SEM micrographs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hortolà, Policarp

2010-01-01

When dealing with microscopic still images of some kinds of samples, the out-of-focus problem represents a particularly serious limiting factor for the subsequent generation of fully sharp 3D animations. In order to produce fully-focused 3D animations of strongly uneven surface microareas, a vertical stack of six digital secondary-electron SEM micrographs of a human bloodstain microarea was acquired. Afterwards, single combined images were generated using a macrophotography and light microscope image post-processing software. Subsequently, 3D animations of texture and topography were obtained in different formats using a combination of software tools. Finally, a 3D-like animation of a texture-topography composite was obtained in different formats using another combination of software tools. By one hand, results indicate that the use of image post-processing software not concerned primarily with electron micrographs allows to obtain, in an easy way, fully-focused images of strongly uneven surface microareas of bloodstains from small series of partially out-of-focus digital SEM micrographs. On the other hand, results also indicate that such small series of electron micrographs can be utilized for generating 3D and 3D-like animations that can subsequently be converted into different formats, by using certain user-friendly software facilities not originally designed for use in SEM, that are easily available from Internet. Although the focus of this study was on bloodstains, the methods used in it well probably are also of relevance for studying the surface microstructures of other organic or inorganic materials whose sharp displaying is difficult of obtaining from a single SEM micrograph.

Bone age assessment in Hispanic children: digital hand atlas compared with the Greulich and Pyle (G&P) atlas

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, James Reza; Zhang, Aifeng; Vachon, Linda; Tsao, Sinchai

2008-03-01

Bone age assessment is most commonly performed with the use of the Greulich and Pyle (G&P) book atlas, which was developed in the 1950s. The population of theUnited States is not as homogenous as the Caucasian population in the Greulich and Pyle in the 1950s, especially in the Los Angeles, California area. A digital hand atlas (DHA) based on 1,390 hand images of children of different racial backgrounds (Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian) aged 0-18 years was collected from Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Statistical analysis discovered significant discrepancies exist between Hispanic and the G&P atlas standard. To validate the usage of DHA as a clinical standard, diagnostic radiologists performed reads on Hispanic pediatric hand and wrist computed radiography images using either the G&P pediatric radiographic atlas or the Children's Hospital Los Angeles Digital Hand Atlas (DHA) as reference. The order in which the atlas is used (G&P followed by DHA or vice versa) for each image was prepared before actual reading begins. Statistical analysis of the results was then performed to determine if a discrepancy exists between the two readings.

Design, data, and theory regarding a digital hand inclinometer: a portable device for studying slant perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhi; Durgin, Frank H

2011-06-01

Palm boards are often used as a nonverbal measure in human slant perception studies. It was recently found that palm boards are biased and relatively insensitive measures, and that an unrestricted hand gesture provides a more sensitive response (Durgin, Hajnal, Li, Tonge, & Stigliani, Acta Psychologica, 134, 182-197, 2010a). In this article, we describe an original design for a portable lightweight digital device for measuring hand orientation. This device is microcontroller-based and uses a micro inclinometer chip as its inclination sensor. The parts are fairly inexpensive. This device, used to measure hand orientation, provides a sensitive nonverbal method for studying slant perception, which can be used in both indoor and outdoor environments. We present data comparing the use of a free hand to palm-board and verbal measures for surfaces within reach and explain how to interpret free-hand measures for outdoor hills.

Assessment of isometric muscle strength and rate of torque development with hand-held dynamometry: Test-retest reliability and relationship with gait velocity after stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Mentiplay, Benjamin F; Tan, Dawn; Williams, Gavin; Adair, Brooke; Pua, Yong-Hao; Bower, Kelly J; Clark, Ross A

2018-04-27

Isometric rate of torque development examines how quickly force can be exerted and may resemble everyday task demands more closely than isometric strength. Rate of torque development may provide further insight into the relationship between muscle function and gait following stroke. Aims of this study were to examine the test-retest reliability of hand-held dynamometry to measure isometric rate of torque development following stroke, to examine associations between strength and rate of torque development, and to compare the relationships of strength and rate of torque development to gait velocity. Sixty-three post-stroke adults participated (60 years, 34 male). Gait velocity was assessed using the fast-paced 10 m walk test. Isometric strength and rate of torque development of seven lower-limb muscle groups were assessed with hand-held dynamometry. Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated for reliability and Spearman's rho correlations were calculated for associations. Regression analyses using partial F-tests were used to compare strength and rate of torque development in their relationship with gait velocity. Good to excellent reliability was shown for strength and rate of torque development (0.82-0.97). Strong associations were found between strength and rate of torque development (0.71-0.94). Despite high correlations between strength and rate of torque development, rate of torque development failed to provide significant value to regression models that already contained strength. Assessment of isometric rate of torque development with hand-held dynamometry is reliable following stroke, however isometric strength demonstrated greater relationships with gait velocity. Further research should examine the relationship between dynamic measures of muscle strength/torque and gait after stroke. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Open Source Low-Cost Automatic System for Image-Based 3d Digitization

Science.gov (United States)

Menna, F.; Nocerino, E.; Morabito, D.; Farella, E. M.; Perini, M.; Remondino, F.

2017-11-01

3D digitization of heritage artefacts, reverse engineering of industrial components or rapid prototyping-driven design are key topics today. Indeed, millions of archaeological finds all over the world need to be surveyed in 3D either to allow convenient investigations by researchers or because they are inaccessible to visitors and scientists or, unfortunately, because they are seriously endangered by wars and terrorist attacks. On the other hand, in case of industrial and design components there is often the need of deformation analyses or physical replicas starting from reality-based 3D digitisations. The paper is aligned with these needs and presents the realization of the ORION (arduinO Raspberry pI rOtating table for image based 3D recostructioN) prototype system, with its hardware and software components, providing critical insights about its modular design. ORION is an image-based 3D reconstruction system based on automated photogrammetric acquisitions and processing. The system is being developed under a collaborative educational project between FBK Trento, the University of Trento and internship programs with high school in the Trentino province (Italy).

Digital Materia

OpenAIRE

Lindgren, Marcus; Richey, Emma

2014-01-01

Med tankar från pedagogen Montessori och filosoferna Platon och Baudrillard har detta arbete behandlat frågor om datorn och dess betydelse för en grafiker. Frågeställningen formulerades efter hand och lydde tillslut: ”Hur kan materia te sig i digital form?” Forskningen resulterade i en hypotes för hur digital materia skulle födas i datorn: genom att blanda två uppsättningar av data, såsom två genuppsättningar tillsammans skapar en ny organism. Under produktionen utvecklades därmed en metod fö...

Towards 3C-3D digital holographic fluid velocity vector field measurement—tomographic digital holographic PIV (Tomo-HPIV)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soria, J; Atkinson, C

2008-01-01

Most unsteady and/or turbulent flows of geophysical and engineering interest have a highly three-dimensional (3D) complex topology and their experimental investigation is in pressing need of quantitative velocity measurement methods that are robust and can provide instantaneous 3C-3D velocity field data over a significant volumetric domain of the flow. This paper introduces and demonstrates a new method that uses multiple digital CCD array cameras to record in-line digital holograms of the same volume of seed particles from multiple orientations. This technique uses the same basic equipment as Tomo-PIV minus the camera lenses, it overcomes the depth-of-field problem of digital in-line holography and does not require the complex optical calibration of Tomo-PIV. The digital sensors can be oriented in an optimal manner to overcome the depth-of-field limitation of in-line holograms recorded using digital CCD or CMOS array cameras, resulting in a 3D reconstruction of the seed particles within the volume of interest, which can subsequently be analysed using 3D cross-correlation PIV analysis to yield a 3C-3D velocity field. A demonstration experiment of Tomo-HPIV using uniform translation with nominally 11 µm diameter seed particles shows that the 3D displacement derived from 3D cross-correlation Tomo-HPIV analysis can be measured within 5% of the imposed uniform translation, where the imposed uniform translation has an estimated standard uncertainty of 4.3%. So this paper proposes a multi-camera digital holographic imaging 3C-3D PIV method, which is identified as tomographic digital holographic PIV or Tomo-HPIV

Effects of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome on adaptation of multi-digit forces to object mass distribution for whole-hand manipulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang Wei

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS is a compression neuropathy of the median nerve that results in sensorimotor deficits in the hand. Until recently, the effects of CTS on hand function have been studied using mostly two-digit grip tasks. The purpose of this study was to investigate the coordination of multi-digit forces as a function of object center of mass (CM during whole-hand grasping. Methods Fourteen CTS patients and age- and gender-matched controls were instructed to grasp, lift, hold, and release a grip device with five digits for seven consecutive lifts while maintaining its vertical orientation. The object CM was changed by adding a mass at different locations at the base of the object. We measured forces and torques exerted by each digit and object kinematics and analyzed modulation of these variables to object CM at object lift onset and during object hold. Our task requires a modulation of digit forces at and after object lift onset to generate a compensatory moment to counteract the external moment caused by the added mass and to minimize object tilt. Results We found that CTS patients learned to generate a compensatory moment and minimized object roll to the same extent as controls. However, controls fully exploited the available degrees of freedom (DoF in coordinating their multi-digit forces to generate a compensatory moment, i.e., digit normal forces, tangential forces, and the net center of pressure on the finger side of the device at object lift onset and during object hold. In contrast, patients modulated only one of these DoFs (the net center of pressure to object CM by modulating individual normal forces at object lift onset. During object hold, however, CTS patients were able to modulate digit tangential force distribution to object CM. Conclusions Our findings suggest that, although CTS did not affect patients’ ability to perform our manipulation task, it interfered with the modulation of specific grasp

Hand-held multi-DOF robotic forceps for neurosurgery designed for dexterous manipulation in deep and narrow space.

Science.gov (United States)

Okubo, Takuro; Harada, Kanako; Fujii, Masahiro; Tanaka, Shinichi; Ishimaru, Tetsuya; Iwanaka, Tadashi; Nakatomi, Hirohumi; Sora, Sigeo; Morita, Akio; Sugita, Naohiko; Mitsuishi, Mamoru

2014-01-01

Neurosurgical procedures require precise and dexterous manipulation of a surgical suture in narrow and deep spaces in the brain. This is necessary for surgical tasks such as the anastomosis of microscopic blood vessels and dura mater suturing. A hand-held multi-degree of freedom (DOF) robotic forceps was developed to aid the performance of such difficult tasks. The diameter of the developed robotic forceps is 3.5 mm, and its tip has three DOFs, namely, bending, rotation, and grip. Experimental results showed that the robotic forceps had an average needle insertion force of 1.7 N. Therefore, an increase in the needle insertion force is necessary for practical application of the developed device.

Rehand: Realistic electric prosthetic hand created with a 3D printer.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshikawa, Masahiro; Sato, Ryo; Higashihara, Takanori; Ogasawara, Tsukasa; Kawashima, Noritaka

2015-01-01

Myoelectric prosthetic hands provide an appearance with five fingers and a grasping function to forearm amputees. However, they have problems in weight, appearance, and cost. This paper reports on the Rehand, a realistic electric prosthetic hand created with a 3D printer. It provides a realistic appearance that is same as the cosmetic prosthetic hand and a grasping function. A simple link mechanism with one linear actuator for grasping and 3D printed parts achieve low cost, light weight, and ease of maintenance. An operating system based on a distance sensor provides a natural operability equivalent to the myoelectric control system. A supporter socket allows them to wear the prosthetic hand easily. An evaluation using the Southampton Hand Assessment Procedure (SHAP) demonstrated that an amputee was able to operate various objects and do everyday activities with the Rehand.

New Results from the Flare Genesis Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Rust, D. M.; Bernasconi, P. N.; Eaton, H. A.; Keller, C.; Murphy, G. A.; Schmieder, B.

2000-05-01

From January 10 to 27, 2000, the Flare Genesis solar telescope observed the Sun while suspended from a balloon in the stratosphere above Antarctica. The goal of the mission was to acquire long time series of high-resolution images and vector magnetograms of the solar photosphere and chromosphere. Images were obtained in the magnetically sensitive Ca I line at 6122 Angstroms and at H-alpha (6563 Angstroms). The FGE data were obtained in the context of Max Millennium Observing Campaign #004, the objective of which was to study the ``Genesis of Solar Flares and Active Filaments/Sigmoids." Flare Genesis obtained about 26,000 usable images on the 8 targeted active regions. A preliminary examination reveals a good sequence on an emerging flux region and data on the M1 flare on January 22, as well as a number of sequences on active filaments. We will present the results of our first analysis efforts. Flare Genesis was supported by NASA grants NAG5-4955, NAG5-5139, and NAG5-8331 and by NSF grant OPP-9615073. The Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization supported early development of the Flare Genesis Experiment.

Utility of hand-held echocardiography in outpatient pediatric cardiology management.

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Alan; Sable, Craig; Prasad, Aparna; Spurney, Christopher; Harahsheh, Ashraf; Clauss, Sarah; Colyer, Jessica; Gierdalski, Marcin; Johnson, Ashley; Pearson, Gail D; Rosenthal, Joanna

2014-12-01

Adult patient series have shown hand-held echocardiography (echo) units (HHE) to be accurate for rapid diagnosis and triage. This is the first study to evaluate the ability of HHE to inform decision making in outpatient pediatric cardiology. New pediatric cardiology patients in outpatient clinics staffed by six pediatric cardiologists (experience 1-17 years) were prospectively enrolled if an echocardiogram (echo) was ordered during their initial visit. After history and physical examination and before a standard echo, the cardiologists performed a bedside HHE examination (GE Vscan 1.7-3.8 MHz), documented findings, and made a clinical decision. Diagnoses and decisions based on HHE were compared with final management after the standard echo. The study enrolled 101 subjects (ages 9 days to 19 years). The cardiologists considered HHE imaging adequate for decision making for 80 of the 101 subjects. For 77 of the 80 subjects with acceptable HHE imaging (68/68 normal and 9/12 abnormal standard echoes), the HHE-based primary diagnoses and decisions agreed with the final management. The sensitivity of HHE was 75 % (95 % confidence interval [CI] 43-94 %) and the positive predictive value 100 % (95 % CI 66-100 %) for pediatric heart disease. The agreement between standard echocardiography and HHE imaging was substantial (κ = 0.82). Excluding one of the least experienced cardiologists, HHE provided the basis for correct cardiac diagnoses and management for all the subjects with acceptable HHE imaging (58/58 normal and 9/9 abnormal echoes). In outpatient pediatric cardiology, HHE has potential as a tool to complement physical examination. Further investigation is needed to evaluate how value improves with clinical experience.

Comparison Between Digital and Synthetic 2D Mammograms in Breast Density Interpretation.

Science.gov (United States)

Alshafeiy, Taghreed I; Wadih, Antoine; Nicholson, Brandi T; Rochman, Carrie M; Peppard, Heather R; Patrie, James T; Harvey, Jennifer A

2017-07-01

The purpose of this study was to compare assessments of breast density on synthetic 2D images as compared with digital 2D mammograms. This retrospective study included consecutive women undergoing screening with digital 2D mammography and tomosynthesis during May 2015 with a negative or benign outcome. In separate reading sessions, three radiologists with 5-25 years of clinical experience and 1 year of experience with synthetic 2D mammography read digital 2D and synthetic 2D images and assigned breast density categories according to the 5th edition of BI-RADS. Inter- and intrareader agreement was assessed for each BI-RADS density assessment and combined dense and nondense categories using percent agreement and Cohen kappa coefficient for consensus and all reads. A total of 309 patients met study inclusion criteria. Agreement between consensus BI-RADS density categories assigned for digital and synthetic 2D mammography was 80.3% (95% CI, 75.4-84.5%) with κ = 0.73 (95% CI, 0.66-0.79). For combined dense and nondense categories, agreement reached 91.9% (95% CI, 88.2-94.7%). For consensus readings, similar numbers of patients were shifted between nondense and dense categories (11 and 14, respectively) with the synthetic 2D compared with digital 2D mammography. Interreader differences were apparent; assignment to dense categories was greater with digital 2D mammography for reader 1 (odds ratio [OR], 1.26; p = 0.002), the same for reader 2 (OR, 0.91; p = 0.262), and greater with synthetic 2D mammography for reader 3 (OR, 0.86; p = 0.033). Overall, synthetic 2D mammography is comparable with digital 2D mammography in assessment of breast density, though there is some variability by reader. Practices can readily adopt synthetic 2D mammography without concern that it will affect density assessment and subsequent recommendations for supplemental screening.

A Critical Analysis of a Hand Orthosis Reverse Engineering and 3D Printing Process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriele Baronio

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The possibility to realize highly customized orthoses is receiving boost thanks to the widespread diffusion of low-cost 3D printing technologies. However, rapid prototyping (RP with 3D printers is only the final stage of patient personalized orthotics processes. A reverse engineering (RE process is in fact essential before RP, to digitize the 3D anatomy of interest and to process the obtained surface with suitable modeling software, in order to produce the virtual solid model of the orthosis to be printed. In this paper, we focus on the specific and demanding case of the customized production of hand orthosis. We design and test the essential steps of the entire production process with particular emphasis on the accurate acquisition of the forearm geometry and on the subsequent production of a printable model of the orthosis. The choice of the various hardware and software tools (3D scanner, modeling software, and FDM printer is aimed at the mitigation of the design and production costs while guaranteeing suitable levels of data accuracy, process efficiency, and design versatility. Eventually, the proposed method is critically analyzed so that the residual issues and critical aspects are highlighted in order to discuss possible alternative approaches and to derive insightful observations that could guide future research activities.

Growing expertise in Africa: CERN-UNESCO's 3rd Digital Library School

CERN Multimedia

Joannah Caborn Wengler

2012-01-01

The third in the series of CERN-UNESCO African Schools on Digital Libraries took place in Dakar, Senegal, in November last year. The School represents an important opportunity for CERN to contribute to a global exchange of knowledge, skills and culture.   Ludmila Marian assisting participants during a hands-on computer session. More photographs available here. After Rwanda and Morocco, this time it was Senegal's turn to host the Digital Library School, the third of its kind, held from 21 to 25 November 2011. Participants from seven African French-speaking countries met at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar to learn about digital libraries and the importance of new technologies in the dissemination of knowledge by libraries. The School outlined the principles of digital information management and showcased the Invenio software, developed by CERN to manage digital libraries and freely available as Open Source software. The series of Schools, which combine in...

Calculation of induced current densities and specific absorption rates (SAR) for pregnant women exposed to hand-held metal detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kainz, Wolfgang; Chan, Dulciana D; Casamento, Jon P; Bassen, Howard I

2003-01-01

The finite difference time domain (FDTD) method in combination with a well established frequency scaling method was used to calculate the internal fields and current densities induced in a simple model of a pregnant woman and her foetus, when exposed to hand-held metal detectors. The pregnant woman and foetus were modelled using a simple semi-heterogeneous model in 10 mm resolution, consisting of three different types of tissue. The model is based on the scanned shape of a pregnant woman in the 34th gestational week. Nine different representative models of hand-held metal detectors operating in the frequency range from 8 kHz to 2 MHz were evaluated. The metal detectors were placed directly on the abdomen of the computational model with a spacing of 1 cm. Both the induced current density and the specific absorption rate (SAR) are well below the recommended limits for exposure of the general public published in the ICNIRP Guidelines and the IEEE C95.1 Standard. The highest current density is 8.3 mA m -2 and the highest SAR is 26.5 μW kg -1 . Compared to the limits for the induced current density recommended in the ICNIRP Guidelines, a minimum safety factor of 3 exists. Compared to the IEEE C95.1 Standard, a safety factor of 60,000 for the specific absorption rate was found. Based on the very low specific absorption rate and an induced current density below the recommended exposure limits, significant temperature rise or nerve stimulation in the pregnant woman or in the foetus can be excluded

3D digital anatomy modelling - Practical or pretty?

Science.gov (United States)

Murgitroyd, Ellen; Madurska, Marta; Gonzalez, Jasmina; Watson, Angus

2015-06-01

With an increasing move towards digitalisation of medical records and medical teaching, such as online exams and webinars, one of the questions that persists asks 'is there a place for digital anatomy teaching and can it effectively replace the traditional teaching methods such as cadaveric dissection?' Cadaveric dissection has a number of benefits as a teaching method but it also has its limitations. Although these can be partially addressed by prosections and new more "life-like" fixatives, it does not address the lack of resources and the increasing pressure to be able to study and learn at home. This paper reviews the literature with regards to the suitability of digital models for teaching and the wider uses a 3D digital anatomy model could have, such as postgraduate teaching, patient education and surgical planning. It also looks briefly at the learning model that anatomy as art contributes. The literature has scattered examples of digital models used for teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, which demonstrate a number of positive outcomes, mostly surrounding user satisfaction and convenience. 3D modelling for patient education and operation planning has less exploration, and these papers generate a number of discussion points, mostly surrounding the practicality of digital models, which can be more time consuming and require the technology to be widely available and reliable. 3D digital anatomy is a useful adjunct to teaching and its use in patient education and operation planning have interesting possibilities still to be fully explored. Copyright © 2014 Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (Scottish charity number SC005317) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perceiving the vertical distances of surfaces by means of a hand-held probe.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, T C; Turvey, M T

1991-05-01

Nine experiments were conducted on the haptic capacity of people to perceive the distances of horizontal surfaces solely on the basis of mechanical stimulation resulting from contacting the surfaces with a vertically held rod. Participants touched target surfaces with rods inside a wooden cabinet and reported the perceived surface location with an indicator outside the cabinet. The target surface, rod, and the participant's hand were occluded, and the sound produced in exploration was muffled. Properties of the probe (length, mass, moment of inertia, center of mass, and shape) were manipulated, along with surface distance and the method and angle of probing. Results suggest that for the most common method of probing, namely, tapping, perceived vertical distance is specific to a particular relation among the rotational inertia of the probe, the distance of the point of contact with the surface from the probe's center of percussion, and the inclination at contact of the probe to the surface. They also suggest that the probe length and the distance probed are independently perceivable. The results were discussed in terms of information specificity versus percept-percept coupling and parallels between selective attention in haptic and visual perception.

METHODOLOGY TO CREATE DIGITAL AND VIRTUAL 3D ARTEFACTS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Calin Neamtu

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a methodology to create 3D digital and virtual artefacts in the field of archaeology using CAD software solution. The methodology includes the following steps: the digitalization process, the digital restoration and the dissemination process within a virtual environment. The resulted 3D digital artefacts have to be created in files formats that are compatible with a large variety of operating systems and hardware configurations such as: computers, graphic tablets and smartphones. The compatibility and portability of these 3D file formats has led to a series of quality related compromises to the 3D models in order to integrate them on in a wide variety of application that are running on different hardware configurations. The paper illustrates multiple virtual reality and augmented reality application that make use of the virtual 3D artefacts that have been generated using this methodology.

The hand of birds revealed by early ostrich embryos

Science.gov (United States)

Feduccia, Alan; Nowicki, Julie

2002-08-01

The problem of resolving the homology of the digits of the avian hand has been framed as a conflict between paleontological and embryological evidence, the former thought to support a hand composed of digits I, II, III, because of similarity of the phalangeal formulae of the earliest known bird Archaeopteryx to that of Mesozoic pentadactyl archosaurs, while embryological evidence has traditionally favored a II, III, IV avian hand. We have identified the critical developmental period for the major features of the avian skeleton in a primitive bird, the ostrich. Analysis of digit anlagen in the avian hand has revealed those for digits/metacarpals I and V, thus confirming previous embryological studies that indirectly suggested that the avian hand comprises digits II, III, IV, and was primitively pentadactyl.

Digital Dentistry — 3D Printing Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zaharia Cristian

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Three-dimensional (3D printing is an additive manufacturing method in which a 3D item is formed by laying down successive layers of material. 3D printers are machines that produce representations of objects either planned with a CAD program or scanned with a 3D scanner. Printing is a method for replicating text and pictures, typically with ink on paper. We can print different dental pieces using different methods such as selective laser sintering (SLS, stereolithography, fused deposition modeling, and laminated object manufacturing. The materials are certified for printing individual impression trays, orthodontic models, gingiva mask, and different prosthetic objects. The material can reach a flexural strength of more than 80 MPa. 3D printing takes the effectiveness of digital projects to the production phase. Dental laboratories are able to produce crowns, bridges, stone models, and various orthodontic appliances by methods that combine oral scanning, 3D printing, and CAD/CAM design. Modern 3D printing has been used for the development of prototypes for several years, and it has begun to find its use in the world of manufacturing. Digital technology and 3D printing have significantly elevated the rate of success in dental implantology using custom surgical guides and improving the quality and accuracy of dental work.

Into the Wild: Neuroergonomic Differentiation of Hand-Held and Augmented Reality Wearable Displays during Outdoor Navigation with Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

McKendrick, Ryan; Parasuraman, Raja; Murtza, Rabia; Formwalt, Alice; Baccus, Wendy; Paczynski, Martin; Ayaz, Hasan

2016-01-01

Highly mobile computing devices promise to improve quality of life, productivity, and performance. Increased situation awareness and reduced mental workload are two potential means by which this can be accomplished. However, it is difficult to measure these concepts in the "wild". We employed ultra-portable battery operated and wireless functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to non-invasively measure hemodynamic changes in the brain's Prefrontal cortex (PFC). Measurements were taken during navigation of a college campus with either a hand-held display, or an Augmented reality wearable display (ARWD). Hemodynamic measures were also paired with secondary tasks of visual perception and auditory working memory to provide behavioral assessment of situation awareness and mental workload. Navigating with an augmented reality wearable display produced the least workload during the auditory working memory task, and a trend for improved situation awareness in our measures of prefrontal hemodynamics. The hemodynamics associated with errors were also different between the two devices. Errors with an augmented reality wearable display were associated with increased prefrontal activity and the opposite was observed for the hand-held display. This suggests that the cognitive mechanisms underlying errors between the two devices differ. These findings show fNIRS is a valuable tool for assessing new technology in ecologically valid settings and that ARWDs offer benefits with regards to mental workload while navigating, and potentially superior situation awareness with improved display design.

The Relationship of Digit Ratio (2D:4D) with Cerebral Lateralization and Grip Strength in Elite Swimmers

Science.gov (United States)

Acar, Hakan; Eler, Nebahat

2018-01-01

The index finger and the 4th finger ratio (2D:4D) is the indicator of the prenatal testosterone. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between 2D:4D, hand preference and hand grip strength in swimmers. A total of 80 elite swimmers, participated in the study. Height, body weight, body mass index (BMI), hand 2D:4D finger…

Application of FDM three-dimensional printing technology in the digital manufacture of custom edentulous mandible trays

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hu; Yang, Xu; Chen, Litong; Wang, Yong; Sun, Yuchun

2016-01-01

The objective was to establish and evaluate a method for manufacture of custom trays for edentulous jaws using computer aided design and fused deposition modeling (FDM) technologies. A digital method for design the custom trays for edentulous jaws was established. The tissue surface data of ten standard mandibular edentulous plaster models, which was used to design the digital custom tray in a reverse engineering software, were obtained using a 3D scanner. The designed tray was printed by a 3D FDM printing device. Another ten hand-made custom trays were produced as control. The 3-dimentional surface data of models and custom trays was scanned to evaluate the accuracy of reserved impression space, while the difference between digitally made trays and hand-made trays were analyzed. The digitally made custom trays achieved a good matching with the mandibular model, showing higher accuracy than the hand-made ones. There was no significant difference of the reserved space between different models and its matched digitally made trays. With 3D scanning, CAD and FDM technology, an efficient method of custom tray production was established, which achieved a high reproducibility and accuracy. PMID:26763620

Breast-density assessment with hand-held ultrasound: A novel biomarker to assess breast cancer risk and to tailor screening?

Science.gov (United States)

Sanabria, Sergio J; Goksel, Orcun; Martini, Katharina; Forte, Serafino; Frauenfelder, Thomas; Kubik-Huch, Rahel A; Rominger, Marga B

2018-03-19

To assess feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of a novel hand-held ultrasound (US) method for breast density assessment that measures the speed of sound (SoS), in comparison to the ACR mammographic (MG) categories. ACR-MG density (a=fatty to d=extremely dense) and SoS-US were assessed in the retromamillary, inner and outer segments of 106 women by two radiographers. A conventional US system was used for SoS-US. A reflector served as timing reference for US signals transmitted through the breasts. Four blinded readers assessed average SoS (m/s), ΔSoS (segment-variation SoS; m/s) and the ACR-MG density. The highest SoS and ΔSoS values of the three segments were used for MG-ACR whole breast comparison. SoS-US breasts were examined in densities a-d were 1,421 m/s (SD 14), 1,432 m/s (SD 17), 1,448 m/s (SD 20) and 1,500 m/s (SD 31), with significant differences between all groups (pdensity was evident (r s =0.622, p=density without discomfort, readers evaluated measurements with high inter-reader agreement, and SoS-US correlated significantly with ACR-MG breast-density categories. • The novel speed-of-sound ultrasound correlated significantly with mammographic ACR breast density categories. • Radiographers measured breast density without women discomfort or radiation. • SoS-US can be implemented on a standard US machine. • SoS-US shows potential for a quantifiable, cost-effective assessment of breast density.

Cognitive Hacking and Digital Government: Digital Identity

OpenAIRE

Paul Thompson

2004-01-01

Recently the National Center for Digital Government held a workshop on "The Virtual Citizen: Identity, Autonomy, and Accountability: A Civic Scenario Exploration of the Role of Identity in On-Line. Discussions at the workshop focused on five scenarios for future authentication policies with respect to digital identity. The underlying technologies considered for authentication were: biometrics: cryptography, with a focus on digital signatures; secure processing/computation; and reputation syst...

AN OPEN SOURCE LOW-COST AUTOMATIC SYSTEM FOR IMAGE-BASED 3D DIGITIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Menna

2017-11-01

Full Text Available 3D digitization of heritage artefacts, reverse engineering of industrial components or rapid prototyping-driven design are key topics today. Indeed, millions of archaeological finds all over the world need to be surveyed in 3D either to allow convenient investigations by researchers or because they are inaccessible to visitors and scientists or, unfortunately, because they are seriously endangered by wars and terrorist attacks. On the other hand, in case of industrial and design components there is often the need of deformation analyses or physical replicas starting from reality-based 3D digitisations. The paper is aligned with these needs and presents the realization of the ORION (arduinO Raspberry pI rOtating table for image based 3D recostructioN prototype system, with its hardware and software components, providing critical insights about its modular design. ORION is an image-based 3D reconstruction system based on automated photogrammetric acquisitions and processing. The system is being developed under a collaborative educational project between FBK Trento, the University of Trento and internship programs with high school in the Trentino province (Italy.

Drift from the Use of Hand-Held Knapsack Pesticide Sprayers in Boyacá (Colombian Andes).

Science.gov (United States)

García-Santos, Glenda; Feola, Giuseppe; Nuyttens, David; Diaz, Jaime

2016-05-25

Offsite pesticide losses in tropical mountainous regions have been little studied. One example is measuring pesticide drift soil deposition, which can support pesticide risk assessment for surface water, soil, bystanders, and off-target plants and fauna. This is considered a serious gap, given the evidence of pesticide-related poisoning in those regions. Empirical data of drift deposition of a pesticide surrogate, Uranine tracer, within one of the highest potato-producing regions in Colombia, characterized by small plots and mountain orography, is presented. High drift values encountered in this study reflect the actual spray conditions using hand-held knapsack sprayers. Comparison between measured and predicted drift values using three existing empirical equations showed important underestimation. However, after their optimization based on measured drift information, the equations showed a strong predictive power for this study area and the study conditions. The most suitable curve to assess mean relative drift was the IMAG calculator after optimization.

Expanding the Interaction Lexicon for 3D Graphics

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Pierce, Jeffrey S

2001-01-01

.... This research makes several contributions to 3D interaction and virtual reality. The Voodoo Dolls technique is a new technique for manipulating objects in immersive 3D environments in which users manipulate hand-held copies of objects...

How Digital Autoradiography Technique can be useful for D and D projects?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fichet, Pascal; Haudebourg, Raphael

2016-01-01

For many stakeholders, it is obvious that radiological characterization is essential for D and D projects and all of them have its own specificities. Different types of techniques have been developed for characterizations not only by destructive methods but also by in situ investigations. Since 2010, the LASE laboratory, in charge of characterizations of different radionuclides that can be found in nuclear wastes, has developed the Digital Autoradiography (DA) technique. Today, DA technique is in routine use commercially for biological researches to obtain images of labelled molecules containing for example H-3, C-14, I-129,... i.e. radionuclides difficult to measure for D and D projects. The needs to investigate these hard to observe radionuclides are one of the R and D subjects for D and D proposed recently and highlighted by OECD. Up to now the R and D projects concerning Digital Autoradiography has been focused on mapping process in buildings under dismantling process and also on sampling procedures being essential before any destructive analysis. New developments are still going on to develop the technique and to modify technologies coming from biological researches. (authors)

Competencia Digital: Uso y manejo de modelos 3D tridimensionales digitales e impresos en 3D

OpenAIRE

Jose Luis Saorín; Cecile Meier; Jorge de la Torre-Cantero; Carlos Carbonell-Carrera; Dámari Melián-Díaz; Alejandro Bonnet de León

2017-01-01

El uso y manejo de modelos tridimensionales digitales no está concebido dentro de la competencia digital de los currículos de secundaria y Bachillerato. Sin embargo muchos autores relacionan la competencia digital con el manejo de modelos 3D, el modelado 3D y entornos virtuales tridimensionales (Realidad aumentada, virtual,…). En este artículo se presenta un recurso educativo para facilitar el acceso a contenidos didácticos de carácter tridimensional digital y tangible. Determinadas materias ...

Hand held control unit for controlling a display screen-oriented computer game, and a display screen-oriented computer game having one or more such control units

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2001-01-01

A hand-held control unit is used to control a display screen-oriented computer game. The unit comprises a housing with a front side, a set of control members lying generally flush with the front side for through actuating thereof controlling actions of in-game display items, and an output for

Fully digital 1-D, 2-D and 3-D multiscroll chaos as hardware pseudo random number generators

KAUST Repository

Mansingka, Abhinav S.; Radwan, Ahmed Gomaa; Salama, Khaled N.

2012-01-01

This paper introduces the first fully digital implementation of 1-D, 2-D and 3-D multiscroll chaos using the sawtooth nonlinearity in a 3rd order ODE with the Euler approximation. Systems indicate chaotic behaviour through phase space boundedness

First Invenio Workshop: CERN’s digital library software ten years on

CERN Multimedia

Joannah Caborn Wengler

2012-01-01

To mark the release of Invenio 1.0, the first User Group Workshop was held last week, with more than 40 developers, system administrators and librarians from 14 different countries attending. The participants were able to catch up on developments in CERN’s digital library software and get a glimpse of where it's going next.   “This is the first time we’ve held such a big workshop,” explains Jean-Yves Le Meur, head of Digital Library Services. “There was a lot of demand for an event like this, and bringing out version 1.0 of Invenio was an obvious time to do it.” Ask him what’s new in version 1.0 and he opens his eyes wide. “There’s so much, it’s hard to summarise. One key improvement is that the code and the database are stable, well tested and optimised, which makes the software more efficient.” The participants, on the other hand, highlight new features coming up in Invenio...

Digit ratio (2D:4D) and circulating testosterone, oestradiol, and progesterone levels across the menstrual cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Gareth; Klimek, Magdalena; Jasienska, Grazyna; Marcinkowska, Urszula M

2018-02-01

Digit ratio (2D:4D) is used by researchers as an indicator of prenatal sex hormone exposure. Two previous studies have examined associations between 2D:4D and circulating sex steroid concentrations across the menstrual cycle in adult females. One reported that digit ratio correlated positively with oestradiol levels, whereas the other found no such effect; neither observed significant associations with progesterone. To examine associations between 2D:4D, as well as asymmetry (i.e. right minus left 2D:4D), and circulating sex steroids across the menstrual cycle. Correlational. 32 naturally cycling adult females from rural southern Poland. Salivary oestradiol, progesterone, testosterone, and testosterone to oestradiol ratio (T:O) measured during the follicular, peri-ovulatory, and luteal phases. Average levels across the cycle were also examined. Asymmetry in digit ratio correlated positively with oestradiol at each phase, as well as with average levels across the cycle. Each association, other than that relating to average levels, remained statistically significant after a range of covariates had been controlled for. No other significant correlations were observed between digit ratio variables and circulating hormone levels. Our results might suggest that low exposure to androgens and/or high exposure to oestrogens during gestation is a predictor of high oestradiol levels in naturally cycling females of reproductive age. However, considering that it was asymmetry in digit ratio, and not either right or left 2D:4D, that was a significant predictor, it is also possible that these effects reflect more general associations between bilateral asymmetry and circulating oestradiol levels. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison of the spatial landmark scatter of various 3D digitalization methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Boldt, Florian; Weinzierl, Christian; Hertrich, Klaus; Hirschfelder, Ursula

2009-05-01

The aim of this study was to compare four different three-dimensional digitalization methods on the basis of the complex anatomical surface of a cleft lip and palate plaster cast, and to ascertain their accuracy when positioning 3D landmarks. A cleft lip and palate plaster cast was digitalized with the SCAN3D photo-optical scanner, the OPTIX 400S laser-optical scanner, the Somatom Sensation 64 computed tomography system and the MicroScribe MLX 3-axis articulated-arm digitizer. First, four examiners appraised by individual visual inspection the surface detail reproduction of the three non-tactile digitalization methods in comparison to the reference plaster cast. The four examiners then localized the landmarks five times at intervals of 2 weeks. This involved simply copying, or spatially tracing, the landmarks from a reference plaster cast to each model digitally reproduced by each digitalization method. Statistical analysis of the landmark distribution specific to each method was performed based on the 3D coordinates of the positioned landmarks. Visual evaluation of surface detail conformity assigned the photo-optical digitalization method an average score of 1.5, the highest subjectively-determined conformity (surpassing computer tomographic and laser-optical methods). The tactile scanning method revealed the lowest degree of 3D landmark scatter, 0.12 mm, and at 1.01 mm the lowest maximum 3D landmark scatter; this was followed by the computer tomographic, photo-optical and laser-optical methods (in that order). This study demonstrates that the landmarks' precision and reproducibility are determined by the complexity of the reference-model surface as well as the digital surface quality and individual ability of each evaluator to capture 3D spatial relationships. The differences in the 3D-landmark scatter values and lowest maximum 3D-landmark scatter between the best and the worst methods showed minor differences. The measurement results in this study reveal that it

The 2D:4D digit ratio as biomarker for substance abuse

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fernstrand, A.M.; Van Den Borne, L.; Lensvelt, L.M.H.; Ribbert, L.L.A.; De With, A.C.; Goede, L.X.Y.; Garssen, J.; Verster, J.C.

2015-01-01

Purpose: The second (2D, index finger) to fourth (4D, ring finger) digit ratio is a biomarker for prenatal testosterone and estrogen exposure. It has been hypothesized that the developmental origins of health and behavior are modulated by the presence or absence of prenatal sex hormones. Several

3D Hand Gesture Analysis through a Real-Time Gesture Search Engine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahrouz Yousefi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available 3D gesture recognition and tracking are highly desired features of interaction design in future mobile and smart environments. Specifically, in virtual/augmented reality applications, intuitive interaction with the physical space seems unavoidable and 3D gestural interaction might be the most effective alternative for the current input facilities such as touchscreens. In this paper, we introduce a novel solution for real-time 3D gesture-based interaction by finding the best match from an extremely large gesture database. This database includes images of various articulated hand gestures with the annotated 3D position/orientation parameters of the hand joints. Our unique matching algorithm is based on the hierarchical scoring of the low-level edge-orientation features between the query frames and database and retrieving the best match. Once the best match is found from the database in each moment, the pre-recorded 3D motion parameters can instantly be used for natural interaction. The proposed bare-hand interaction technology performs in real time with high accuracy using an ordinary camera.

Cost Model for Digital Curation: Cost of Digital Migration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kejser, Ulla Bøgvad; Nielsen, Anders Bo; Thirifays, Alex

2009-01-01

The Danish Ministry of Culture is currently funding a project to set up a model for costing preservation of digital materials held by national cultural heritage institutions. The overall objective of the project is to provide a basis for comparing and estimating future financial requirements...... for digital preservation and to increase cost effectiveness of digital preservation activities. In this study we describe an activity based costing methodology for digital preservation based on the OAIS Reference Model. In order to estimate the cost of digital migrations we have identified cost critical...

Cosmological bounce and Genesis beyond Horndeski

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kolevatov, R.; Mironov, S.; Volkova, V. [Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 60th October Anniversary Prospect, 7a, 117312 Moscow (Russian Federation); Sukhov, N., E-mail: kolevatov@ms2.inr.ac.ru, E-mail: sa.mironov_1@physics.msu.ru, E-mail: nd.sukhov@physics.msu.ru, E-mail: volkova.viktoriya@physics.msu.ru [Department of Particle Physics and Cosmology, Physics Faculty, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Vorobjevy Gory, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation)

2017-08-01

We study 'classical' bouncing and Genesis models in beyond Horndeski theory. We give an example of spatially flat bouncing solution that is non-singular and stable throughout the whole evolution. We also provide an example of stable geodesically complete Genesis with similar features. The model is arranged in such a way that the scalar field driving the cosmological evolution initially behaves like full-fledged beyond Horndeski, whereas at late times it becomes a massless scalar field minimally coupled to gravity.

Hand-held triangulation laser profilometer with audio output for blind people Profilométre laser à triangulation tenu en main avec sortie sonare pour non-voyants

Science.gov (United States)

Farcy, R.; Damaschini, R.

1998-06-01

We describe a device currently under industrial development which will give to the blind a means of three-dimensional space perception. It consists of a 350 g hand-held triangulating laser telemeter including electronic parts and batteries, with auditory feedback either inside the apparatus or close to the ear. The microprocessor unit converts in real time the distance measured by the telemeter into a musical note. Scanning the space with an adequate movement of the hand produces musical lines corresponding to the profiles of the environment. We discuss the optical configuration of the system relative to our first year of clinical experimentation.

The 3D Digital Story-telling Media on Batik Learning in Vocational High Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Widiaty, I.; Achdiani, Y.; Kuntadi, I.; Mubaroq, S. R.; Zakaria, D.

2018-02-01

The aim of this research is to make 3D digital Story-telling Media on Batik Learning in Vocational High School. The digital story-telling developed in this research is focused on 3D-based story-telling. In contrast to the digital story-telling that has been developed in existing learning, this research is expected to be able to improve understanding of vocational students about the value of local wisdom batik more meaningful and “live”. The process of making 3D digital story-telling media consists of two processes, namely the creation of 3D objects and the creation of 3D object viewer.

Digital holography microscopy in 3D biologic samples analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ricardo, J O; Palacios, F; Palacios, G F; Sanchez, A [Department of Physics, University of Oriente (Cuba); Muramatsu, M [Department of General Physics, University of Sao Paulo - Sao Paulo (Brazil); Gesualdi, M [Engineering center, Models and Applied Social Science, UFABC - Sao Paulo (Brazil); Font, O [Department of Bio-ingeniering, University of Oriente - Santiago de Cuba (Cuba); Valin, J L [Mechanics Department, ISPJAE, Habana (Cuba); Escobedo, M; Herold, S [Department of Computation, University of Oriente (Cuba); Palacios, D F, E-mail: frpalaciosf@gmail.com [Department of Nuclear physics, University of Simon BolIva (Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of)

2011-01-01

In this work it is used a setup for Digital Holography Microscopy (MHD) for 3D biologic samples reconstruction. The phase contrast image reconstruction is done by using the Double propagation Method. The system was calibrated and tested by using a micrometric scale and pure phase object respectively. It was simulated the human red blood cell (erythrocyte) and beginning from the simulated hologram the digital 3D phase image for erythrocytes it was calculated. Also there was obtained experimental holograms of human erythrocytes and its corresponding 3D phase images, being evident the correspondence qualitative and quantitative between these characteristics in the simulated erythrocyte and in the experimentally calculated by DHM in both cases.

A systematized WYSIWYG pipeline for digital stereoscopic 3D filmmaking

Science.gov (United States)

Mueller, Robert; Ward, Chris; Hušák, Michal

2008-02-01

Digital tools are transforming stereoscopic 3D content creation and delivery, creating an opportunity for the broad acceptance and success of stereoscopic 3D films. Beginning in late 2005, a series of mostly CGI features has successfully initiated the public to this new generation of highly-comfortable, artifact-free digital 3D. While the response has been decidedly favorable, a lack of high-quality live-action films could hinder long-term success. Liveaction stereoscopic films have historically been more time-consuming, costly, and creatively-limiting than 2D films - thus a need arises for a live-action 3D filmmaking process which minimizes such limitations. A unique 'systematized' what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) pipeline is described which allows the efficient, intuitive and accurate capture and integration of 3D and 2D elements from multiple shoots and sources - both live-action and CGI. Throughout this pipeline, digital tools utilize a consistent algorithm to provide meaningful and accurate visual depth references with respect to the viewing audience in the target theater environment. This intuitive, visual approach introduces efficiency and creativity to the 3D filmmaking process by eliminating both the need for a 'mathematician mentality' of spreadsheets and calculators, as well as any trial and error guesswork, while enabling the most comfortable, 'pixel-perfect', artifact-free 3D product possible.

Sun-genesis 21: Empowering the global village in the digital age and the solar century

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamasaki, Les [Los Angeles, CA (United States)

2000-07-01

Sun-Genesis 21 is a global economic development plan for creating an environmentally sustainable future in the developing world. Its premise is that the solution to the survival of civil stability and democracy in developing countries in the Information Age is to slow the migration of the rural poor into the urban centers as well as dispersing some of the residents of the already impacted cities into new agro-communities. This strategy envisions empowering the 25 million coffee farmers located in the poorest countries in the world to control their own economic destiny by marketing their products directly to the international marketplace over the World Wide Web (Coffee Belt Plan 2020). The plan also envisions creating a network of new agricultural communities called World Farm Solar Telecommunities that utilizes telecommunications and environmental technologies to disperse the impacted urban population. Proven profitable commodities such as industrial hemp, aloe vera, and aquacultural farming will be the economic foundation of these agro-communities. The goal is to empower rural agro-entrepreneurs to become an economic engine for job creation and be able to afford the Coffee Solar Televillages that include distant learning centers, telemedicine clinics, food processing centers, e-commerce centers, and solar crop-drying centers. The Genesis 21 program includes creative financing strategies to deal with these massive problems of poverty and hunger through the concept of trade, not aid, including the use of barter in a proposed Green Technology for Green Coffee program. [Spanish] Sun-Genesis 21 es un plan global de desarrollo economico para crear un futuro ambiental sustentable en el mundo en desarrollo. La premisa del plan es que la solucion para la supervivencia de la estabilidad civil y la democracia en paises en desarrollo dentro de la Era de la Informacion es desacelerar la migracion de la gente pobre de las areas rurales hacia los centros urbanos, asi como

Towards a Statistical Model of Tropical Cyclone Genesis

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, A.; Kashinath, K.; McAuliffe, J.; Prabhat, M.; Stark, P. B.; Wehner, M. F.

2017-12-01

Tropical Cyclones (TCs) are important extreme weather phenomena that have a strong impact on humans. TC forecasts are largely based on global numerical models that produce TC-like features. Aspects of Tropical Cyclones such as their formation/genesis, evolution, intensification and dissipation over land are important and challenging problems in climate science. This study investigates the environmental conditions associated with Tropical Cyclone Genesis (TCG) by testing how accurately a statistical model can predict TCG in the CAM5.1 climate model. TCG events are defined using TECA software @inproceedings{Prabhat2015teca, title={TECA: Petascale Pattern Recognition for Climate Science}, author={Prabhat and Byna, Surendra and Vishwanath, Venkatram and Dart, Eli and Wehner, Michael and Collins, William D}, booktitle={Computer Analysis of Images and Patterns}, pages={426-436}, year={2015}, organization={Springer}} to extract TC trajectories from CAM5.1. L1-regularized logistic regression (L1LR) is applied to the CAM5.1 output. The predictions have nearly perfect accuracy for data not associated with TC tracks and high accuracy differentiating between high vorticity and low vorticity systems. The model's active variables largely correspond to current hypotheses about important factors for TCG, such as wind field patterns and local pressure minima, and suggests new routes for investigation. Furthermore, our model's predictions of TC activity are competitive with the output of an instantaneous version of Emanuel and Nolan's Genesis Potential Index (GPI) @inproceedings{eman04, title = "Tropical cyclone activity and the global climate system", author = "Kerry Emanuel and Nolan, {David S.}", year = "2004", pages = "240-241", booktitle = "26th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology"}.

3D Adaptive Virtual Exhibit for the University of Denver Digital Collections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shea-Tinn Yeh

2015-07-01

Full Text Available While the gaming industry has taken the world by storm with its three-dimensional (3D user interfaces, current digital collection exhibits presented by museums, historical societies, and libraries are still limited to a two-dimensional (2D interface display. Why can’t digital collections take advantage of this 3D interface advancement? The prototype discussed in this paper presents to the visitor a 3D virtual exhibit containing a set of digital objects from the University of Denver Libraries’ digital image collections, giving visitors an immersive experience when viewing the collections. In particular, the interface is adaptive to the visitor’s browsing behaviors and alters the selection and display of the objects throughout the exhibit to encourage serendipitous discovery. Social media features were also integrated to allow visitors to share items of interest and to create a sense of virtual community.

The genesis of fluid mechanics, 1640-1780

CERN Document Server

Calero, Julián Simón

2008-01-01

Fluid Mechanics, as a scientific discipline in a modern sense, was established between the last third of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th one. This book analyses its genesis, following its evolution along two basic lines of research, which have been named the "problem of resistance" and the "problem of discharge". This approach highlights the existence of a remarkable experimental aspect in the aforementioned research lines, together with their link with problems of a practical nature, such as ballistics, hydraulics, fluid-using machines or naval theory. On the other hand, although previous studies usually present fluid mechanics from the point of view of mathematics, this is complemented here by an engineering viewpoint; gathering attempts made in the beginnings of fluid mechanics to see if the theory was capable of productive application in practical terms. This is nothing unusual in a time where the quality of knowledge and skill is measured largely by its usefulness. (c) Universidad Naciona...

Different Digitalization Techniques for 3D Printing of Anatomical Pieces.

Science.gov (United States)

Ugidos Lozano, M T; Blaya Haro, F; Ruggiero, Alessandro; Manzoor, S; Nuere Menendez-Pidal, S; Juanes Méndez, J A

2018-01-25

The use of different technological devices that allow the creation of three-dimensional models is in constant evolution, allowing a greater application of these technologies in different fields of health sciences and medical training. The equipment for digitalization is becoming increasingly sophisticated allowing obtaining three-dimensional which are more defined and similar to real image and original object. In this work, different modalities of designing 3D anatomical models of bone pieces are presented, for use by students of different disciplines in Health Sciences. To do this we digitalized bone pieces, with different models of scanners, producing images that can be transformed for 3D printing, with a Colido X 3045 printer by digital treatment with different software.

What Is the Role of Manual Preference in Hand-Digit Mapping During Finger Counting? A Study in a Large Sample of Right- and Left-Handers.

Science.gov (United States)

Zago, Laure; Badets, Arnaud

2016-01-01

The goal of the present study was to test whether there is a relationship between manual preference and hand-digit mapping in 369 French adults with similar numbers of right- and left-handers. Manual laterality was evaluated with the finger tapping test to evaluate hand motor asymmetry, and the Edinburgh handedness inventory was used to assess manual preference strength (MPS) and direction. Participants were asked to spontaneously "count on their fingers from 1 to 10" without indications concerning the hand(s) to be used. The results indicated that both MPS and hand motor asymmetry affect the hand-starting preference for counting. Left-handers with a strong left-hand preference (sLH) or left-hand motor asymmetry largely started to count with their left hand (left-starter), while right-handers with a strong right-hand preference (sRH) or right-hand motor asymmetry largely started to count with their right hand (right-starter). Notably, individuals with weak MPS did not show a hand-starting preference. These findings demonstrated that manual laterality contributes to finger counting directionality. Lastly, the results showed a higher proportion of sLH left-starter individuals compared with sRH right-starters, indicating an asymmetric bias of MPS on hand-starting preference. We hypothesize that the higher proportion of sLH left-starters could be explained by the congruence between left-to-right hand-digit mapping and left-to-right mental number line representation that has been largely reported in the literature. Taken together, these results indicate that finger-counting habits integrate biological and cultural information. © The Author(s) 2015.

High speed digital TDC for D0 vertex reconstruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Guosheng; Partridge, R.

1992-01-01

A high speed digital TDC has been built as part of the Level 0 trigger for the D0 experiment at Fermilab. The digital TDC is used to make a fast determination of the primary vertex position by timing the arrival time of beam jets detected in the Level 0 counters. The vertex position is then used by the Level 1 trigger to determine the proper sinθ weighting factors for calculation transverse energies. Commercial GaAs integrated circuits are used in the digital TDC to obtain a time resolution of σ t == 226 ps

Human Digital Modeling & Hand Scanning Lab

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — This laboratory incorporates specialized scanning equipment, computer workstations and software applications for the acquisition and analysis of digitized models of...

Genesis and Development of Consolidated Financial Statements

OpenAIRE

Kostyantyn Bezverkhiy

2015-01-01

In the context of economy globalization it is the mission of consolidated financial statements to meet demands of users for financial information about activities of a company group as one company. The article is devoted to study of genesis and development of consolidated financial statements of companies. Historical prerequisites of genesis of consolidated financial statements are shown as well as factors which conduced to their spreading. The approaches are elucidated to preparation of cons...

3D Visual Sensing of the Human Hand for the Remote Operation of a Robotic Hand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Gil

2014-02-01

Full Text Available New low cost sensors and open free libraries for 3D image processing are making important advances in robot vision applications possible, such as three-dimensional object recognition, semantic mapping, navigation and localization of robots, human detection and/or gesture recognition for human-machine interaction. In this paper, a novel method for recognizing and tracking the fingers of a human hand is presented. This method is based on point clouds from range images captured by a RGBD sensor. It works in real time and it does not require visual marks, camera calibration or previous knowledge of the environment. Moreover, it works successfully even when multiple objects appear in the scene or when the ambient light is changed. Furthermore, this method was designed to develop a human interface to control domestic or industrial devices, remotely. In this paper, the method was tested by operating a robotic hand. Firstly, the human hand was recognized and the fingers were detected. Secondly, the movement of the fingers was analysed and mapped to be imitated by a robotic hand.

Augmenting comprehension of geological relationships by integrating 3D laser scanned hand samples within a GIS environment

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, A. S.; Fotopoulos, G.; Hall, B.; Amolins, K.

2017-06-01

Geological observations can be made on multiple scales, including micro- (e.g. thin section), meso- (e.g. hand-sized to outcrop) and macro- (e.g. outcrop and larger) scales. Types of meso-scale samples include, but are not limited to, rocks (including drill cores), minerals, and fossils. The spatial relationship among samples paired with physical (e.g. granulometric composition, density, roughness) and chemical (e.g. mineralogical and isotopic composition) properties can aid in interpreting geological settings, such as paleo-environmental and formational conditions as well as geomorphological history. Field samples are collected along traverses in the area of interest based on characteristic representativeness of a region, predetermined rate of sampling, and/or uniqueness. The location of a sample can provide relative context in seeking out additional key samples. Beyond labelling and recording of geospatial coordinates for samples, further analysis of physical and chemical properties may be conducted in the field and laboratory. The main motivation for this paper is to present a workflow for the digital preservation of samples (via 3D laser scanning) paired with the development of cyber infrastructure, which offers geoscientists and engineers the opportunity to access an increasingly diverse worldwide collection of digital Earth materials. This paper describes a Web-based graphical user interface developed using Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS for digitized meso-scale 3D scans of geological samples to be viewed alongside the macro-scale environment. Over 100 samples of virtual rocks, minerals and fossils populate the developed geological database and are linked explicitly with their associated attributes, characteristic properties, and location. Applications of this new Web-based geological visualization paradigm in the geosciences demonstrate the utility of such a tool in an age of increasing global data sharing.

Genesis machines

CERN Document Server

Amos, Martyn

2014-01-01

Silicon chips are out. Today's scientists are using real, wet, squishy, living biology to build the next generation of computers. Cells, gels and DNA strands are the 'wetware' of the twenty-first century. Much smaller and more intelligent, these organic computers open up revolutionary possibilities. Tracing the history of computing and revealing a brave new world to come, Genesis Machines describes how this new technology will change the way we think not just about computers - but about life itself.

Dental impressions using 3D digital scanners: virtual becomes reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Birnbaum, Nathan S; Aaronson, Heidi B

2008-10-01

The technologies that have made the use of three-dimensional (3D) digital scanners an integral part of many industries for decades have been improved and refined for application to dentistry. Since the introduction of the first dental impressioning digital scanner in the 1980s, development engineers at a number of companies have enhanced the technologies and created in-office scanners that are increasingly user-friendly and able to produce precisely fitting dental restorations. These systems are capable of capturing 3D virtual images of tooth preparations, from which restorations may be fabricated directly (ie, CAD/CAM systems) or fabricated indirectly (ie, dedicated impression scanning systems for the creation of accurate master models). The use of these products is increasing rapidly around the world and presents a paradigm shift in the way in which dental impressions are made. Several of the leading 3D dental digital scanning systems are presented and discussed in this article.

Hand-Held Photometer for Instant On-Spot Quantification of Nucleic Acids, Proteins, and Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shi-Hao; Jain, Abhinav; Tscharntke, Timo; Arnold, Tobias; Trau, Dieter W

2018-02-20

This paper presents a novel hand-held photometer, termed "Photopette", for on-spot absorbance measurements of biochemical analytes. The Photopette is a multicomponent, highly portable device with an overall weight of 160 g, which fits within 202 mm × 47 mm × 42 mm. Designed in the form factor of a micropipette, Photopette integrates a photodiode detector with light emitting diodes (LEDs) to form a highly customizable photometer which supports a wide variety of applications within the wavelengths between 260 and 1050 nm. A dual-purpose disposable reflective tip was designed to act as a sample holder and a light-reflecting system, which is in stark contrast to the operation of mainstream spectrophotometers and photometers. Small volume analytes may be measured with low sample loss using this proprietary CuveTip. A user-friendly software application running on smart devices was developed to control and read the values from Photopette via a low-energy Bluetooth link. This one-step strategy allows measurements on-spot without sample transfer, minimizing cross-contamination and human error. The results reported in this paper demonstrate Photopette's great potential to quantify DNA, direct protein, and cell density directly within the laminar flow hood. Results are compared with a Nanodrop 2000c spectrophotometer, a mainstream spectrophotometer for small-volume measurements.

Hands-on guide for 3D image creation for geological purposes

Science.gov (United States)

Frehner, Marcel; Tisato, Nicola

2013-04-01

Geological structures in outcrops or hand specimens are inherently three dimensional (3D), and therefore better understandable if viewed in 3D. While 3D models can easily be created, manipulated, and looked at from all sides on the computer screen (e.g., using photogrammetry or laser scanning data), 3D visualizations for publications or conference posters are much more challenging as they have to live in a 2D-world (i.e., on a sheet of paper). Perspective 2D visualizations of 3D models do not fully transmit the "feeling and depth of the third dimension" to the audience; but this feeling is desirable for a better examination and understanding in 3D of the structure under consideration. One of the very few possibilities to generate real 3D images, which work on a 2D display, is by using so-called stereoscopic images. Stereoscopic images are two images of the same object recorded from two slightly offset viewpoints. Special glasses and techniques have to be used to make sure that one image is seen only by one eye, and the other image is seen by the other eye, which together lead to the "3D effect". Geoscientists are often familiar with such 3D images. For example, geomorphologists traditionally view stereographic orthophotos by employing a mirror-steroscope. Nowadays, petroleum-geoscientists examine high-resolution 3D seismic data sets in special 3D visualization rooms. One of the methods for generating and viewing a stereoscopic image, which does not require a high-tech viewing device, is to create a so-called anaglyph. The principle is to overlay two images saturated in red and cyan, respectively. The two images are then viewed through red-cyan-stereoscopic glasses. This method is simple and cost-effective, but has some drawbacks in preserving colors accurately. A similar method is used in 3D movies, where polarized light or shuttering techniques are used to separate the left from the right image, which allows preserving the original colors. The advantage of red

Applying and extending ISO/TC42 digital camera resolution standards to mobile imaging products

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Don; Burns, Peter D.

2007-01-01

There are no fundamental differences between today's mobile telephone cameras and consumer digital still cameras that suggest many existing ISO imaging performance standards do not apply. To the extent that they have lenses, color filter arrays, detectors, apertures, image processing, and are hand held, there really are no operational or architectural differences. Despite this, there are currently differences in the levels of imaging performance. These are driven by physical and economic constraints, and image-capture conditions. Several ISO standards for resolution, well established for digital consumer digital cameras, require care when applied to the current generation of cell phone cameras. In particular, accommodation of optical flare, shading non-uniformity and distortion are recommended. We offer proposals for the application of existing ISO imaging resolution performance standards to mobile imaging products, and suggestions for extending performance standards to the characteristic behavior of camera phones.

Role of Dlx6 in regulation of an endothelin-1-dependent, dHAND branchial arch enhancer

Science.gov (United States)

Charité, Jeroen; McFadden, David G.; Merlo, Giorgio; Levi, Giovanni; Clouthier, David E.; Yanagisawa, Masashi; Richardson, James A.; Olson, Eric N.

2001-01-01

Neural crest cells play a key role in craniofacial development. The endothelin family of secreted polypeptides regulates development of several neural crest sublineages, including the branchial arch neural crest. The basic helix–loop–helix transcription factor dHAND is also required for craniofacial development, and in endothelin-1 (ET-1) mutant embryos, dHAND expression in the branchial arches is down-regulated, implicating it as a transcriptional effector of ET-1 action. To determine the mechanism that links ET-1 signaling to dHAND transcription, we analyzed the dHAND gene for cis-regulatory elements that control transcription in the branchial arches. We describe an evolutionarily conserved dHAND enhancer that requires ET-1 signaling for activity. This enhancer contains four homeodomain binding sites that are required for branchial arch expression. By comparing protein binding to these sites in branchial arch extracts from endothelin receptor A (EdnrA) mutant and wild-type mouse embryos, we identified Dlx6, a member of the Distal-less family of homeodomain proteins, as an ET-1-dependent binding factor. Consistent with this conclusion, Dlx6 was down-regulated in branchial arches from EdnrA mutant mice. These results suggest that Dlx6 acts as an intermediary between ET-1 signaling and dHAND transcription during craniofacial morphogenesis. PMID:11711438

[Functional magnetic resonance imaging. What are the benefits expected in hand surgery?].

Science.gov (United States)

Moutet, F; Delon-Martin, C; Martin, O; Sirigu, A; Delaquaize, F; Benali, H; Masquelet, A-C

2013-06-01

Functional MRI (fMRI) allowed considerable advances upon understanding of cerebral functioning. Cortical plasticity, which allows the voluntary command of a restored function by a transferred muscle remains to be investigated in its intimacy. The authors present here the round table held at the 48th annual meeting of the French Society for Surgery of the Hand on December 22nd, 2012. It tries to review the analysis of the phenomenon observed during multiple tendinous transfers for restoration of proximal radial nerve palsy. Were successively approached: 1) Methods of acquisition and analysis of the signals (C. D-M.); 2) Movement reorganization (O.M.); 3) Motor plasticity after hand allograft (A. S.); 4) The potential interest of the fMRI in hand rehabilitation (F. D.); 5) The analysis of cerebral plasticity in general (H. B.). A rather philosophical conclusion opens other fields to f MRI (A.M.). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Joint Calibration of 3d Laser Scanner and Digital Camera Based on Dlt Algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, X.; Li, M.; Xing, L.; Liu, Y.

2018-04-01

Design a calibration target that can be scanned by 3D laser scanner while shot by digital camera, achieving point cloud and photos of a same target. A method to joint calibrate 3D laser scanner and digital camera based on Direct Linear Transformation algorithm was proposed. This method adds a distortion model of digital camera to traditional DLT algorithm, after repeating iteration, it can solve the inner and external position element of the camera as well as the joint calibration of 3D laser scanner and digital camera. It comes to prove that this method is reliable.

Suitability of capillary blood obtained by a minimally invasive lancet technique to detect subclinical ketosis in dairy cows by using 3 different electronic hand-held devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanz, P; Drillich, M; Klein-Jöbstl, D; Mair, B; Borchardt, S; Meyer, L; Schwendenwein, I; Iwersen, M

2015-09-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of capillary blood obtained by a minimally invasive lancet technique to detect subclinical ketosis in 49 prepartum and 191 postpartum Holstein-Friesian cows using 3 different electronic hand-held devices [FreeStyle Precision (FSP, Abbott), GlucoMen LX Plus (GLX, A. Menarini), NovaVet (NOV, Nova Biomedical)]. The β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) concentration in serum harvested from coccygeal blood samples was analyzed in a laboratory and used as a reference value. Capillary samples were obtained from the skin of the exterior vulva by using 1 of 3 different lancets. In all samples, the concentration of BHBA was immediately analyzed with all 3 hand-held devices used in random order. All lancets used in the study were eligible for capillary blood collection but differed in the total number of incisions needed. Spearman correlation coefficients between the BHBA concentrations in capillary blood and the reference test were highly significant with 83% for the FSP, 73% for the NOV, and 63% for the GLX. Using capillary blood, the FSP overestimated the mean BHBA concentration compared with the reference test (+0.08 mmol/L), whereas the GLX and NOV underestimated the mean concentration (-0.07 and -0.01 mmol/L). When a BHBA concentration of 1.2 mmol/L in serum was used to define subclinical ketosis, the corresponding analyses of receiver operating characteristics resulted in optimized thresholds for capillary blood of 1.1 mmol/L for the NOV and GLX devices, and of 1.0 mmol/L for the FSP. Based on these thresholds, sensitivities (Se) and specificities (Sp) were 89 and 84% for the NOV, 80 and 89% for the GLX, and 100 and 76% for the FSP. Based on a serum BHBA concentration of 1.4 mmol/L, analyses of receiver operating characteristics resulted in optimized cut-offs of 1.4 mmol/L for the FSP (Se 100%, Sp 92%), 1.3 mmol/L for the NOV (Se 80%, Sp 95%), and 1.1 mmol/L (Se 90%, Sp 85%) for the GLX. Using these optimized thresholds

In-Season Yield Prediction of Cabbage with a Hand-Held Active Canopy Sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Rongting; Min, Ju; Wang, Yuan; Cheng, Hu; Zhang, Hailin; Shi, Weiming

2017-10-08

Efficient and precise yield prediction is critical to optimize cabbage yields and guide fertilizer application. A two-year field experiment was conducted to establish a yield prediction model for cabbage by using the Greenseeker hand-held optical sensor. Two cabbage cultivars (Jianbao and Pingbao) were used and Jianbao cultivar was grown for 2 consecutive seasons but Pingbao was only grown in the second season. Four chemical nitrogen application rates were implemented: 0, 80, 140, and 200 kg·N·ha -1 . Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was collected 20, 50, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, and 140 days after transplanting (DAT). Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis were performed to identify the relationship between the NDVI measurements and harvested yields of cabbage. NDVI measurements obtained at 110 DAT were significantly correlated to yield and explained 87-89% and 75-82% of the cabbage yield variation of Jianbao cultivar over the two-year experiment and 77-81% of the yield variability of Pingbao cultivar. Adjusting the yield prediction models with CGDD (cumulative growing degree days) could make remarkable improvement to the accuracy of the prediction model and increase the determination coefficient to 0.82, while the modification with DFP (days from transplanting when GDD > 0) values did not. The integrated exponential yield prediction equation was better than linear or quadratic functions and could accurately make in-season estimation of cabbage yields with different cultivars between years.

Hand-arm vibration disorder among grass-cutter workers in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Azmir, Nor Azali; Ghazali, Mohd Imran; Yahya, Musli Nizam; Ali, Mohamad Hanafi

2016-09-01

Prolonged exposure to hand-transmitted vibration from grass-cutting machines has been associated with increasing occurrences of symptoms and signs of occupational diseases related to hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). A cross-sectional study was carried out using an adopted HAVS questionnaire on hand-arm vibration exposure and symptoms distributed to 168 male workers from the grass and turf maintenance industry who use hand-held grass-cutting machines as part of their work. The prevalence ratio and symptom correlation to HAVS between high and low-moderate exposure risk groups were evaluated. There were positive HAVS symptoms relationships between the low-moderate exposure group and the high exposure group among hand-held grass-cutting workers. The prevalence ratio was considered high because there were indicators that fingers turned white and felt numb, 3.63, 95% CI [1.41, 9.39] and 4.24, 95% CI [2.18, 8.27], respectively. Less than 14.3% of workers stated that they were aware of the occupational hand-arm vibration, and it seemed to be related to the finger blanching and numbness. The results suggest that HAVS is under-diagnosed in Malaysia, especially in the agricultural sectors. More information related to safety and health awareness programmes for HAVS exposure is required among hand-held grass-cutting workers.

Assessment of Lower Limb Muscle Strength and Power Using Hand-Held and Fixed Dynamometry: A Reliability and Validity Study

Science.gov (United States)

Perraton, Luke G.; Bower, Kelly J.; Adair, Brooke; Pua, Yong-Hao; Williams, Gavin P.; McGaw, Rebekah

2015-01-01

Introduction Hand-held dynamometry (HHD) has never previously been used to examine isometric muscle power. Rate of force development (RFD) is often used for muscle power assessment, however no consensus currently exists on the most appropriate method of calculation. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability of different algorithms for RFD calculation and to examine the intra-rater, inter-rater, and inter-device reliability of HHD as well as the concurrent validity of HHD for the assessment of isometric lower limb muscle strength and power. Methods 30 healthy young adults (age: 23±5yrs, male: 15) were assessed on two sessions. Isometric muscle strength and power were measured using peak force and RFD respectively using two HHDs (Lafayette Model-01165 and Hoggan microFET2) and a criterion-reference KinCom dynamometer. Statistical analysis of reliability and validity comprised intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), Pearson correlations, concordance correlations, standard error of measurement, and minimal detectable change. Results Comparison of RFD methods revealed that a peak 200ms moving window algorithm provided optimal reliability results. Intra-rater, inter-rater, and inter-device reliability analysis of peak force and RFD revealed mostly good to excellent reliability (coefficients ≥ 0.70) for all muscle groups. Concurrent validity analysis showed moderate to excellent relationships between HHD and fixed dynamometry for the hip and knee (ICCs ≥ 0.70) for both peak force and RFD, with mostly poor to good results shown for the ankle muscles (ICCs = 0.31–0.79). Conclusions Hand-held dynamometry has good to excellent reliability and validity for most measures of isometric lower limb strength and power in a healthy population, particularly for proximal muscle groups. To aid implementation we have created freely available software to extract these variables from data stored on the Lafayette device. Future research should examine the reliability

An embedded system developed for hand held assay used in water monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Lin; Wang, Jianwei; Ramakrishna, Bharath; Hsueh, Mingkai; Liu, Jonathan; Wu, Qufei; Wu, Chao-Cheng; Cao, Mang; Chang, Chein-I.; Jensen, Janet L.; Jensen, James O.; Knapp, Harlan; Daniel, Robert; Yin, Ray

2005-11-01

The US Army Joint Service Agent Water Monitor (JSAWM) program is currently interested in an approach that can implement a hardware- designed device in ticket-based hand-held assay (currently being developed) used for chemical/biological agent detection. This paper presents a preliminary investigation of the proof of concept. Three components are envisioned to accomplish the task. One is the ticket development which has been undertaken by the ANP, Inc. Another component is the software development which has been carried out by the Remote Sensing Signal and Image Processing Laboratory (RSSIPL) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). A third component is an embedded system development which can be used to drive the UMBC-developed software to analyze the ANP-developed HHA tickets on a small pocket-size device like a PDA. The main focus of this paper is to investigate the third component that is viable and is yet to be explored. In order to facilitate to prove the concept, a flatbed scanner is used to replace a ticket reader to serve as an input device. The Stargate processor board is used as the embedded System with Embedded Linux installed. It is connected to an input device such as scanner as well as output devices such as LCD display or laptop etc. It executes the C-Coded processing program developed for this embedded system and outputs its findings on a display device. The embedded system to be developed and investigated in this paper is the core of a future hardware device. Several issues arising in such an embedded system will be addressed. Finally, the proof-of-concept pilot embedded system will be demonstrated.

Discussion on the genesis of Zhongchuan uranium deposit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yulong; Zhang Chengzhong

2008-01-01

Through elaborating the geological setting, deposit and orebody geological charactors and hydrological features, the ore controlling factors are analysed and the genesis of Zhongchuan uranium deposit is discussed in the way of deposit occurrence, mineral asembleage and matalization ages. It is believed that uranium deposit was formed under the regional uplifting background with the exogenous mechanism and its genesis belongs to surface leaching. (authors)

Genesis / Juta Kivimäe

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Kivimäe, Juta, 1952-

2003-01-01

Poola skulptori Magdalena Schmidt-G̤ra installatsioonid "Genesis I, II" rahvusraamatukogu fuajees ja peanäitusesaalis, kus oli samal ajal eksponeeritud eesti nahakunstnike Luule Maari ja Ruuda Maarandi köitenäitus

Discounting and Digit Ratio: Low 2D:4D Predicts Patience for a Sample of Females

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Aycinena

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Inter-temporal trade-offs are ubiquitous in human decision making. We study the relationship between preferences over such trade-offs and the ratio of the second digit to that of the forth (2D:4D, a marker for pre-natal exposure to sex hormones. Specifically, we study whether 2D:4D affects discounting. Our sample consists of 419 female participants of a Guatemalan conditional cash transfer program who take part in an experiment. Their choices in the convex time budget (CTB experimental task allow us to make inferences regarding their patience (discounting, while controlling for present-biasedness and preference for smoothing consumption (utility curvature. We find that women with lower digit ratios tend to be more patient.

Vibration produced by hand-held olive electrical harvesters

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Emanuele Cerruto

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The paper reports the results of some laboratory and field tests aimed at assessing the acceleration levels transmitted to the hand-arm system by electric portable harvesters for olive. Four harvesting heads, different for shape and kinematic system, and five bars, different for diameter, length and material (aluminium and carbon fibre, were used in assembling eleven harvesters. The vibrations were measured in two points, next to the handgrips. The laboratory tests allowed the evaluation of the acceleration levels in standard controlled conditions, while the field tests allowed the assessing of the effects of the tree canopy with respect to the no load running. The laboratory tests showed that in reducing the vibration level plays a major role the kinematic system of the harvesting head and then the bar material. The classical flap-type harvester produced accelerations of around 20 m/s2, while by using a harvesting head with two parts in opposite movement, the accelerations were lowered to about 6 m/s2. The use of carbon fibres for the bars, besides the reduction in weight, produced also a reduction in acceleration (from 21 to 16 m/s2. The field tests proved that the tree canopy had a negative effect on the vibrations transmitted to the hand-arm system, especially when the aluminium bar of small diameter was used.

3D Digital Smile Design With a Mobile Phone and Intraoral Optical Scanner.

Science.gov (United States)

Daher, René; Ardu, Stefano; Vjero, Osela; Krejci, Ivo

2018-06-01

Extraoral facial scanning using a mobile phone has emerged as a viable, cost-effective option for certain applications not requiring high precision, such as patient education and 3-dimensional (3D) digital smile design. This technological development is particularly promising for general practitioners (GPs) who may not be able to invest in expensive,complex digital impressioning devices. This article describes and illustrates a relatively simple and accessible workflow that avails digital 3D facial scanning benefits to GPs.

Mirrors in the PDB: left-handed alpha-turns guide design with D-amino acids.

Science.gov (United States)

Annavarapu, Srinivas; Nanda, Vikas

2009-09-22

Incorporating variable amino acid stereochemistry in molecular design has the potential to improve existing protein stability and create new topologies inaccessible to homochiral molecules. The Protein Data Bank has been a reliable, rich source of information on molecular interactions and their role in protein stability and structure. D-amino acids rarely occur naturally, making it difficult to infer general rules for how they would be tolerated in proteins through an analysis of existing protein structures. However, protein elements containing short left-handed turns and helices turn out to contain useful information. Molecular mechanisms used in proteins to stabilize left-handed elements by L-amino acids are structurally enantiomeric to potential synthetic strategies for stabilizing right-handed elements with D-amino acids. Propensities for amino acids to occur in contiguous alpha(L) helices correlate with published thermodynamic scales for incorporation of D-amino acids into alpha(R) helices. Two backbone rules for terminating a left-handed helix are found: an alpha(R) conformation is disfavored at the amino terminus, and a beta(R) conformation is disfavored at the carboxy terminus. Helix capping sidechain-backbone interactions are found which are unique to alpha(L) helices including an elevated propensity for L-Asn, and L-Thr at the amino terminus and L-Gln, L-Thr and L-Ser at the carboxy terminus. By examining left-handed alpha-turns containing L-amino acids, new interaction motifs for incorporating D-amino acids into right-handed alpha-helices are identified. These will provide a basis for de novo design of novel heterochiral protein folds.

Competencia Digital: Uso y manejo de modelos 3D tridimensionales digitales e impresos en 3D

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Jose Luis Saorín

2017-07-01

Full Text Available El uso y manejo de modelos tridimensionales digitales no está concebido dentro de la competencia digital de los currículos de secundaria y Bachillerato. Sin embargo muchos autores relacionan la competencia digital con el manejo de modelos 3D, el modelado 3D y entornos virtuales tridimensionales (Realidad aumentada, virtual,…. En este artículo se presenta un recurso educativo para facilitar el acceso a contenidos didácticos de carácter tridimensional digital y tangible. Determinadas materias precisan de la comprensión e interpretación de conceptos volumétricos: los recursos didácticos innovadores para la edición, visualización e impresión 3D ofrecen una alternativa a las representaciones 2D en los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje. En este artículo se describe la creación de un catálogo escultórico que contempla versiones digitales y tangibles de modelos tridimensionales de las esculturas a través de tecnologías innovadoras de bajo coste como la visualización e impresión 3D. La prueba piloto desarrollada con 15 alumnos de bachillerato recoge una alta valoración de los participantes sobre las tecnologías empleadas.

The Making of a 3D-Printed, Cable-Driven, Single-Model, Lightweight Humanoid Robotic Hand

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Li Tian

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Dexterity robotic hands can (Cummings, 1996 greatly enhance the functionality of humanoid robots, but the making of such hands with not only human-like appearance but also the capability of performing the natural movement of social robots is a challenging problem. The first challenge is to create the hand’s articulated structure and the second challenge is to actuate it to move like a human hand. A robotic hand for humanoid robot should look and behave human like. At the same time, it also needs to be light and cheap for widely used purposes. We start with studying the biomechanical features of a human hand and propose a simplified mechanical model of robotic hands, which can achieve the important local motions of the hand. Then, we use 3D modeling techniques to create a single interlocked hand model that integrates pin and ball joints to our hand model. Compared to other robotic hands, our design saves the time required for assembling and adjusting, which makes our robotic hand ready-to-use right after the 3D printing is completed. Finally, the actuation of the hand is realized by cables and motors. Based on this approach, we have designed a cost-effective, 3D printable, compact, and lightweight robotic hand. Our robotic hand weighs 150 g, has 15 joints, which are similar to a real human hand, and 6 Degree of Freedom (DOFs. It is actuated by only six small size actuators. The wrist connecting part is also integrated into the hand model and could be customized for different robots such as Nadine robot (Magnenat Thalmann et al., 2017. The compact servo bed can be hidden inside the Nadine robot’s sleeve and the whole robotic hand platform will not cause extra load to her arm as the total weight (150 g robotic hand and 162 g artificial skin is almost the same as her previous unarticulated robotic hand which is 348 g. The paper also shows our test results with and without silicon artificial hand skin, and on Nadine robot.

A CAD system and quality assurance protocol for bone age assessment utilizing digital hand atlas

Science.gov (United States)

Gertych, Arakadiusz; Zhang, Aifeng; Ferrara, Benjamin; Liu, Brent J.

2007-03-01

Determination of bone age assessment (BAA) in pediatric radiology is a task based on detailed analysis of patient's left hand X-ray. The current standard utilized in clinical practice relies on a subjective comparison of the hand with patterns in the book atlas. The computerized approach to BAA (CBAA) utilizes automatic analysis of the regions of interest in the hand image. This procedure is followed by extraction of quantitative features sensitive to skeletal development that are further converted to a bone age value utilizing knowledge from the digital hand atlas (DHA). This also allows providing BAA results resembling current clinical approach. All developed methodologies have been combined into one CAD module with a graphical user interface (GUI). CBAA can also improve the statistical and analytical accuracy based on a clinical work-flow analysis. For this purpose a quality assurance protocol (QAP) has been developed. Implementation of the QAP helped to make the CAD more robust and find images that cannot meet conditions required by DHA standards. Moreover, the entire CAD-DHA system may gain further benefits if clinical acquisition protocol is modified. The goal of this study is to present the performance improvement of the overall CAD-DHA system with QAP and the comparison of the CAD results with chronological age of 1390 normal subjects from the DHA. The CAD workstation can process images from local image database or from a PACS server.

Design, implementation and analysis of fully digital 1-D controllable multiscroll chaos

KAUST Repository

Mansingka, Abhinav S.; Radwan, Ahmed G.; Salama, Khaled N.

2011-01-01

This paper introduces the fully digital implementation of a 1-D multiscroll chaos generator based on a staircase nonlinearity in the 3rd-order jerk system using the Euler approximation. For the first time, digital design is exploited to provide real-time controllability of (i) number of scrolls, (ii) position in 1-D space, (iii) Euler step size and (iv) system parameter. The effect of variations in these fields on the maximum Lyapunov exponent (MLE) is analyzed. The system is implemented using Verilog HDL and synthesized on an Xilinx Virtex 4 FPGA, exhibiting area utilization less than 3.5% and high performance with experimentally verified throughput up to 3.33 Gbits/s. This fully digital system enables applications in modulation schemes and chaos-based cryptosystems without analog to digital conversion. © 2011 IEEE.

Design, implementation and analysis of fully digital 1-D controllable multiscroll chaos

KAUST Repository

Mansingka, Abhinav S.

2011-12-01

This paper introduces the fully digital implementation of a 1-D multiscroll chaos generator based on a staircase nonlinearity in the 3rd-order jerk system using the Euler approximation. For the first time, digital design is exploited to provide real-time controllability of (i) number of scrolls, (ii) position in 1-D space, (iii) Euler step size and (iv) system parameter. The effect of variations in these fields on the maximum Lyapunov exponent (MLE) is analyzed. The system is implemented using Verilog HDL and synthesized on an Xilinx Virtex 4 FPGA, exhibiting area utilization less than 3.5% and high performance with experimentally verified throughput up to 3.33 Gbits/s. This fully digital system enables applications in modulation schemes and chaos-based cryptosystems without analog to digital conversion. © 2011 IEEE.

Lightwand-Guided Endotracheal Intubation Performed by the Nondominant Hand is Feasible

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Yi-Wei Kuo

2007-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of lightwand-guided endotracheal intubation (LWEI performed using either the right (dominant or left (nondominant hand. Two hundred and forty patients aged 21–64 years, with a Mallampati airway classification grade of I—II and undergoing endotracheal intubation under general anesthesia, were enrolled in this randomized and controlled study. Induction of anesthesia was initiated by intravenous administration of fentanyl (2 mg/kg and thiopentone (5mg/kg, and tracheal intubation was facilitated by intravenous atracurium (0.5 mg/kg. In the direct-vision laryngoscope group (group D; n = 80, the intubator held the laryngoscope in the left hand and inserted the endotracheal tube (ETT into the glottic opening with the right hand. In the group in which LWEI was performed with the right hand (group R; n = 80, the intubator lifted the patients' jaws with the left hand and inserted the ETT-LW unit into the glottic openings with the right hand. On the contrary, in the group in which LWEI was performed with the left hand (group L; n = 80, the intubator lifted the jaws with the right hand and inserted the ETT-LW unit with the left hand. Data including total intubation time, the number of intubation attempts, hemodynamic changes during intubation, and side effects following intubation, were collected. Regardless of whether lightwand manipulation was performed with the left hand (group L; 11.4 ± 9.3 s or the right-hand (group R; 12.4 ± 9.2 s, less time was consumed in the LWEI groups than in the laryngoscope group (group D; 17.9 ± 9.9s (p 95% on their first intubation attempts. The changes in mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate were similar among the three groups. A higher incidence of intubation-related oral injury and ventricular premature contractions (VPC was found in group D compared with groups L and R (oral injury: group D 8.5%, group L 1.3%, group R 0%, p = 0.005; VPC: group D 16

Mirrors in the PDB: left-handed α-turns guide design with D-amino acids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nanda Vikas

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Incorporating variable amino acid stereochemistry in molecular design has the potential to improve existing protein stability and create new topologies inaccessible to homochiral molecules. The Protein Data Bank has been a reliable, rich source of information on molecular interactions and their role in protein stability and structure. D-amino acids rarely occur naturally, making it difficult to infer general rules for how they would be tolerated in proteins through an analysis of existing protein structures. However, protein elements containing short left-handed turns and helices turn out to contain useful information. Molecular mechanisms used in proteins to stabilize left-handed elements by L-amino acids are structurally enantiomeric to potential synthetic strategies for stabilizing right-handed elements with D-amino acids. Results Propensities for amino acids to occur in contiguous αL helices correlate with published thermodynamic scales for incorporation of D-amino acids into αR helices. Two backbone rules for terminating a left-handed helix are found: an αR conformation is disfavored at the amino terminus, and a βR conformation is disfavored at the carboxy terminus. Helix capping sidechain-backbone interactions are found which are unique to αL helices including an elevated propensity for L-Asn, and L-Thr at the amino terminus and L-Gln, L-Thr and L-Ser at the carboxy terminus. Conclusion By examining left-handed α-turns containing L-amino acids, new interaction motifs for incorporating D-amino acids into right-handed α-helices are identified. These will provide a basis for de novo design of novel heterochiral protein folds.

The Ratio of Second to Fourth Digit Length (2D:4D in Children with Autistic Disorder

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Javad Baharara

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Introduction Emerging hypotheses suggest a causal role for prenatal androgen exposure in some cases of Autism spectrum disorders (ASD. The ratios of the lengths of the bones of the 2nd to the 4th digits (2D:4D are purported to be markers for prenatal androgen exposure and to be established early in gestation. Ratio of second and fourth digits (2D:4D  is usually used as a proxy for prenatal testosterone. Methods and Materials In this study, 2D:4D in 48 children with ASD and in 41  control child was measured. Two groups were matched with the gender and age. Both groups were selected by convenience sampling method. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 19.0 software, considering as significant less than .05 (p < .05. Results: Results showed that the average ratio of 2D:4D in ASD children were lower than the ratio in control children (P

3D DIGITIZATION OF AN HERITAGE MASTERPIECE - A CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON QUALITY ASSESSMENT

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F. Menna

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Despite being perceived as interchangeable when properly applied, close-range photogrammetry and range imaging have both their pros and limitations that can be overcome using suitable procedures. Even if the two techniques have been frequently cross-compared, critical analysis discussing all sub-phases of a complex digitization project are quite rare. Comparisons taking into account the digitization of a cultural masterpiece, such as the Etruscan Sarcophagus of the Spouses (Figure 1 discussed in this paper, are even less common. The final 3D model of the Sarcophagus shows impressive spatial and texture resolution, in the order of tenths of millimetre for both digitization techniques, making it a large 3D digital model even though the physical size of the artwork is quite limited. The paper presents the survey of the Sarcophagus, a late 6th century BC Etruscan anthropoid Sarcophagus. Photogrammetry and laser scanning were used for its 3D digitization in two different times only few days apart from each other. The very short time available for the digitization was a crucial constraint for the surveying operations (due to constraints imposed us by the museum curators. Despite very high-resolution and detailed 3D models have been produced, a metric comparison between the two models shows intrinsic limitations of each technique that should be overcome through suitable onsite metric verification procedures as well as a proper processing workflow.

3D computer-aided detection for digital breast tomosynthesis: Comparison with 2D computer-aided detection for digital mammography in the detection of calcifications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chu, A Jung; Cho, Nariya; Chang, Jung Min; Kim, Won Hwa; Lee, Su Hyun; Song, Sung Eun; Shin, Sung Ui; Moon, Woo Kyung [Dept. of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-08-15

To retrospectively evaluate the performance of 3D computer-aided detection (CAD) for digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) in the detection of calcifications in comparison with 2D CAD for digital mammography (DM). Between 2012 and 2013, both 3D CAD and 2D CAD systems were retrospectively applied to the calcification data set including 69 calcifications (31 malignant calcifications and 38 benign calcifications) and the normal data set including 20 bilateral normal mammograms. Each data set consisted of paired DBT and DM images. Sensitivities for the detection of malignant calcifications were calculated from the calcification data set. False-positive mark rates were calculated from the normal data set. They were compared between the two systems. Sensitivities of 3D CAD [100% (31/31) at levels 2, 1, and 0] were same as those of the 2D CAD system [100% (31/31) at levels 2 and 1] (p = 1.0, respectively). The mean value of false-positive marks per view with 3D CAD was higher than that with 2D CAD at level 2 (0.52 marks ± 0.91 vs. 0.07 marks ± 0.26, p = 0.009). 3D CAD for DBT showed equivalent sensitivity, albeit with a higher false-positive mark rate, than 2D CAD for DM in the detection of calcifications.

On the genesis of the uraniferous deposits I; Consideraciones sobre la genesis de los yacimientos uraniferos. I.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mingarro, E

1964-07-01

The main problems of the genesis of uranium deposits as hydro thermals are objectively considered here under three aspects: uranium source transport and deposition. The transport of uranium can be effected under a tetravalent form, or as complex ions of hexavalent uranium: as uranyl ion (UO{sub 2}){sup 2}+ or under complex carbonic or sulfuric forms, such as UO{sub 2}(XO{sub n}){sub 2}{sup 2}- or UO{sub 2}(XO{sub n}){sub 3}{sup 4}-. These three ways of transport correspond to the three basic geochemical para genesis of uranium: uranium-titanium, uranium-cobalt, uranium. Deposition is currently made by reduction and in some way is no dependent of mineralogical association. (Author) 61 refs.

The Digital Space Shuttle, 3D Graphics, and Knowledge Management

Science.gov (United States)

Gomez, Julian E.; Keller, Paul J.

2003-01-01

The Digital Shuttle is a knowledge management project that seeks to define symbiotic relationships between 3D graphics and formal knowledge representations (ontologies). 3D graphics provides geometric and visual content, in 2D and 3D CAD forms, and the capability to display systems knowledge. Because the data is so heterogeneous, and the interrelated data structures are complex, 3D graphics combined with ontologies provides mechanisms for navigating the data and visualizing relationships.

3D printing in social education: Eki-Fab and student PBL

Science.gov (United States)

Makino, Masato; Saito, Azusa; Kodama, Mai; Takamatsu, Kyuuichiro; Tamate, Hideaki; Sakai, Kazuyuki; Wada, Masato; Khosla, Ajit; Kawakami, Masaru; Furukawa, Hidemitsu

2017-04-01

Additive manufacturing or 3D printer is one of the most innovative material processing methods. We are considering that human resources for 3D printing would be needed in the future. To educate the abilities of the digital fabrication, we have the public digital fabrication space "Eki-Fab" for junior and high school students and Project Based Learning (PBL) class for undergraduate students. Eki-Fab is held on every Saturday at the Yonezawa train station. In the "Eki-Fab", anybody can study the utilizing of 3D printer and modeling technics under the instruction of staff in Yamagata University. In the PBL class, we have the class every Thursday. The students get the techniques of the digital fabrication through the PBL.

Digital archaeology field recording in the 4th dimension: ArchField C++ a 4D GIS for digital field work

KAUST Repository

Smith, Neil; Howland, Matthew; Levy, Thomas E.

2016-01-01

With the rapid adoption of laser scanning and photogrammetry among the archaeological community the creation of point cloud `data scaffolds' and digital documentation of archaeological sites is now becoming common. In field excavations, however, the continual exposure of archaeological layers requires a digital toolset in which to record, categorize and spatially locate artifacts, installations, and loci within a site's daily 3D or aerial scan. We present ArchField C++, the latest version of our digital field recording software that enables real-time digital GIS 3D Top Plan production within a rendering engine designed for visualizing massive 3D datasets. ArchField directly connects to Total Stations and our RTK GPS units to record sub-centimeter measurements for artifacts, scanning markers, loci boundaries, and camera positions. The processing pipeline enables the generation of publishable orthographic and perspective maps from the first day of excavation to the last. As a backend it uses a PostGIS database and the ability to export and import various vector, raster, DEM and 3D datasets that can be hosted by on-line geo-referenced databases. We present the application of ArchField C++ to our 2014 field excavations of the early Iron Age site of Khirbat al-Jariyah located in Southern Jordan.

Digital archaeology field recording in the 4th dimension: ArchField C++ a 4D GIS for digital field work

KAUST Repository

Smith, Neil

2016-02-25

With the rapid adoption of laser scanning and photogrammetry among the archaeological community the creation of point cloud `data scaffolds\\' and digital documentation of archaeological sites is now becoming common. In field excavations, however, the continual exposure of archaeological layers requires a digital toolset in which to record, categorize and spatially locate artifacts, installations, and loci within a site\\'s daily 3D or aerial scan. We present ArchField C++, the latest version of our digital field recording software that enables real-time digital GIS 3D Top Plan production within a rendering engine designed for visualizing massive 3D datasets. ArchField directly connects to Total Stations and our RTK GPS units to record sub-centimeter measurements for artifacts, scanning markers, loci boundaries, and camera positions. The processing pipeline enables the generation of publishable orthographic and perspective maps from the first day of excavation to the last. As a backend it uses a PostGIS database and the ability to export and import various vector, raster, DEM and 3D datasets that can be hosted by on-line geo-referenced databases. We present the application of ArchField C++ to our 2014 field excavations of the early Iron Age site of Khirbat al-Jariyah located in Southern Jordan.

3D and 2D marginal fit of pressed and CAD/CAM lithium disilicate crowns made from digital and conventional impressions.

Science.gov (United States)

Anadioti, Evanthia; Aquilino, Steven A; Gratton, David G; Holloway, Julie A; Denry, Isabelle; Thomas, Geb W; Qian, Fang

2014-12-01

This in vitro study evaluated the 3D and 2D marginal fit of pressed and computer-aided-designed/computer-aided-manufactured (CAD/CAM) all-ceramic crowns made from digital and conventional impressions. A dentoform tooth (#30) was prepared for an all-ceramic crown (master die). Thirty type IV definitive casts were made from 30 polyvinyl siloxane (PVS) impressions. Thirty resin models were produced from thirty Lava Chairside Oral Scanner impressions. Thirty crowns were pressed in lithium disilicate (IPS e.max Press; 15/impression technique). Thirty crowns were milled from lithium disilicate blocks (IPS e.max CAD; 15/impression technique) using the E4D scanner and milling engine. The master die and the intaglio of the crowns were digitized using a 3D laser coordinate measurement machine with accuracy of ±0.00898 mm. For each specimen a separate data set was created for the Qualify 2012 software. The digital master die and the digital intaglio of each crown were merged using best-fitting alignment. An area above the margin with 0.75 mm occlusal-gingival width circumferentially was defined. The 3D marginal fit of each specimen was an average of all 3D gap values on that area. For the 2D measurements, the marginal gap was measured at two standardized points (on the margin and at 0.75 mm above the margin), from standardized facial-lingual and mesial-distal digitized sections. One-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey's honestly significant difference and two-way ANOVA tests were used, separately, for statistical analysis of the 3D and 2D marginal data (alpha = 0.05). One-way ANOVA revealed that both 3D and 2D mean marginal gap for group A: PVS impression/IPS e.max Press (0.048 mm ± 0.009 and 0.040 mm ± 0.009) were significantly smaller than those obtained from the other three groups (p max CAD (0.088 mm ± 0.024 and 0.076 mm ± 0.023), C: digital impression/IPS e.max Press (0.089 mm ± 0.020 and 0.075 mm ± 0.015) and D: digital impression/IPS e.max CAD (0.084 mm ± 0.021 and 0

ARSITEKTUR DVD (Digital Virtual Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danny Santoso Mintorogo

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Soon after the millennium year of 2000 and toward 21th century, the ways of architecture design will be a great change from traditional hand design and drawings to super computer digital virtual design models with tremendous of high-end architectural 3D software domains. Virtual Technology will be a plus to architectural design stage to obtain several "scheme" and observe with real - time feedback of the quality (height, light, furniture, shape, and environment as well as the sequential of the space, site context or massing studies. Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia : Strategi dalam desain arsitektur pada abad 22 atau setelah tahun milinium 2000 ini akan banyak didominasi dengan perangkap teknologi canggih yang tentunya akan mengandalkan pada perangkap keras (komputer dan perangkap lunak (software untuk tujuan desain arsitektur secara digital. Teknologi "Virtual" akan dimanfaatkan untuk bidang arsitektur dalam mengoptimasikan disain arsitektur secara digital maya, untuk mengobservasi/mengkaji kwalitas ruang, model suatu ruang/massa secara maya dalam phase perancangan arsitektur. Kata kunci: arsitektur, desain, digital, maya.

Four dimensional hybrid ultrasound and optoacoustic imaging via passive element optical excitation in a hand-held probe

Science.gov (United States)

Fehm, Thomas Felix; Deán-Ben, Xosé Luís; Razansky, Daniel

2014-10-01

Ultrasonography and optoacoustic imaging share powerful advantages related to the natural aptitude for real-time image rendering with high resolution, the hand-held operation, and lack of ionizing radiation. The two methods also possess very different yet highly complementary advantages of the mechanical and optical contrast in living tissues. Nonetheless, efficient integration of these modalities remains challenging owing to the fundamental differences in the underlying physical contrast, optimal signal acquisition, and image reconstruction approaches. We report on a method for hybrid acquisition and reconstruction of three-dimensional pulse-echo ultrasound and optoacoustic images in real time based on passive ultrasound generation with an optical absorber, thus avoiding the hardware complexity of active ultrasound generation. In this way, complete hybrid datasets are generated with a single laser interrogation pulse, resulting in simultaneous rendering of ultrasound and optoacoustic images at an unprecedented rate of 10 volumetric frames per second. Performance is subsequently showcased in phantom experiments and in-vivo measurements from a healthy human volunteer, confirming general clinical applicability of the method.

Four dimensional hybrid ultrasound and optoacoustic imaging via passive element optical excitation in a hand-held probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fehm, Thomas Felix; Razansky, Daniel; Deán-Ben, Xosé Luís

2014-01-01

Ultrasonography and optoacoustic imaging share powerful advantages related to the natural aptitude for real-time image rendering with high resolution, the hand-held operation, and lack of ionizing radiation. The two methods also possess very different yet highly complementary advantages of the mechanical and optical contrast in living tissues. Nonetheless, efficient integration of these modalities remains challenging owing to the fundamental differences in the underlying physical contrast, optimal signal acquisition, and image reconstruction approaches. We report on a method for hybrid acquisition and reconstruction of three-dimensional pulse-echo ultrasound and optoacoustic images in real time based on passive ultrasound generation with an optical absorber, thus avoiding the hardware complexity of active ultrasound generation. In this way, complete hybrid datasets are generated with a single laser interrogation pulse, resulting in simultaneous rendering of ultrasound and optoacoustic images at an unprecedented rate of 10 volumetric frames per second. Performance is subsequently showcased in phantom experiments and in-vivo measurements from a healthy human volunteer, confirming general clinical applicability of the method.

Four dimensional hybrid ultrasound and optoacoustic imaging via passive element optical excitation in a hand-held probe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fehm, Thomas Felix; Razansky, Daniel, E-mail: dr@tum.de [Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg (Germany); Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität München, Munich (Germany); Deán-Ben, Xosé Luís [Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg (Germany)

2014-10-27

Ultrasonography and optoacoustic imaging share powerful advantages related to the natural aptitude for real-time image rendering with high resolution, the hand-held operation, and lack of ionizing radiation. The two methods also possess very different yet highly complementary advantages of the mechanical and optical contrast in living tissues. Nonetheless, efficient integration of these modalities remains challenging owing to the fundamental differences in the underlying physical contrast, optimal signal acquisition, and image reconstruction approaches. We report on a method for hybrid acquisition and reconstruction of three-dimensional pulse-echo ultrasound and optoacoustic images in real time based on passive ultrasound generation with an optical absorber, thus avoiding the hardware complexity of active ultrasound generation. In this way, complete hybrid datasets are generated with a single laser interrogation pulse, resulting in simultaneous rendering of ultrasound and optoacoustic images at an unprecedented rate of 10 volumetric frames per second. Performance is subsequently showcased in phantom experiments and in-vivo measurements from a healthy human volunteer, confirming general clinical applicability of the method.

Estudi d'estratègies de màrqueting digital a la moda espanyola

OpenAIRE

Amor Jiménez, Esther

2015-01-01

Aquest treball neix de la voluntat d'analitzar 'moda' i 'màrqueting digital' en un únic estudi complet de recerca. Per aquest motiu, l'estudi defineix les estratègies de màrqueting digital que utilitzen les marques de moda espanyoles i de­termina quines tendències actuals de màrqueting digital estan aplicant, a més d'establir diferències entre les seves pàgines web, web mòbils i aplicacions. El presente trabajo nace de la voluntad de analizar 'moda' y 'marketing digital' en un único estu...

Common input to motor units of intrinsic and extrinsic hand muscles during two-digit object hold.

Science.gov (United States)

Winges, Sara A; Kornatz, Kurt W; Santello, Marco

2008-03-01

Anatomical and physiological evidence suggests that common input to motor neurons of hand muscles is an important neural mechanism for hand control. To gain insight into the synaptic input underlying the coordination of hand muscles, significant effort has been devoted to describing the distribution of common input across motor units of extrinsic muscles. Much less is known, however, about the distribution of common input to motor units belonging to different intrinsic muscles and to intrinsic-extrinsic muscle pairs. To address this void in the literature, we quantified the incidence and strength of near-simultaneous discharges of motor units residing in either the same or different intrinsic hand muscles (m. first dorsal, FDI, and m. first palmar interosseus, FPI) during two-digit object hold. To extend the characterization of common input to pairs of extrinsic muscles (previous work) and pairs of intrinsic muscles (present work), we also recorded electromyographic (EMG) activity from an extrinsic thumb muscle (m. flexor pollicis longus, FPL). Motor-unit synchrony across FDI and FPI was weak (common input strength, CIS, mean +/- SE: 0.17 +/- 0.02). Similarly, motor units from extrinsic-intrinsic muscle pairs were characterized by weak synchrony (FPL-FDI: 0.25 +/- 0.02; FPL-FPI: 0.29 +/- 0.03) although stronger than FDI-FPI. Last, CIS from within FDI and FPI was more than three times stronger (0.70 +/- 0.06 and 0.66 +/- 0.06, respectively) than across these muscles. We discuss present and previous findings within the framework of muscle-pair specific distribution of common input to hand muscles based on their functional role in grasping.

Survey of Munitions Response Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

2006-06-01

item. EMI detectors are operated in either time domain (TD) or frequency domain (FD). A common example of a hand-held EMI sensor is the 3-1 metal ...held Digital Emerging Fisher 1266-X Metal Detector Hand-held Analog Established Foerster MINEX 2FD 4.500 Hand-held Analog Established Minelab...ferrous and nonferrous metallic objects. • Effective in detecting near-surface objects. • Can be effective in geology that challenges magnetometers

Low 2D:4D values are associated with video game addiction.

Science.gov (United States)

Kornhuber, Johannes; Zenses, Eva-Maria; Lenz, Bernd; Stoessel, Christina; Bouna-Pyrrou, Polyxeni; Rehbein, Florian; Kliem, Sören; Mößle, Thomas

2013-01-01

Androgen-dependent signaling regulates the growth of the fingers on the human hand during embryogenesis. A higher androgen load results in lower 2D:4D (second digit to fourth digit) ratio values. Prenatal androgen exposure also impacts brain development. 2D:4D values are usually lower in males and are viewed as a proxy of male brain organization. Here, we quantified video gaming behavior in young males. We found lower mean 2D:4D values in subjects who were classified according to the CSAS-II as having at-risk/addicted behavior (n = 27) compared with individuals with unproblematic video gaming behavior (n = 27). Thus, prenatal androgen exposure and a hyper-male brain organization, as represented by low 2D:4D values, are associated with problematic video gaming behavior. These results may be used to improve the diagnosis, prediction, and prevention of video game addiction.

Low 2D:4D values are associated with video game addiction.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Johannes Kornhuber

Full Text Available Androgen-dependent signaling regulates the growth of the fingers on the human hand during embryogenesis. A higher androgen load results in lower 2D:4D (second digit to fourth digit ratio values. Prenatal androgen exposure also impacts brain development. 2D:4D values are usually lower in males and are viewed as a proxy of male brain organization. Here, we quantified video gaming behavior in young males. We found lower mean 2D:4D values in subjects who were classified according to the CSAS-II as having at-risk/addicted behavior (n = 27 compared with individuals with unproblematic video gaming behavior (n = 27. Thus, prenatal androgen exposure and a hyper-male brain organization, as represented by low 2D:4D values, are associated with problematic video gaming behavior. These results may be used to improve the diagnosis, prediction, and prevention of video game addiction.

Digitalization of the second finger in type 2 central longitudinal deficiencies (clefting) of the hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Oberlin, Christophe; Korchi, Amar; Belkheyar, Zoubir; Touam, Chabane; Macquillan, Anthony

2009-06-01

In central longitudinal deficiency of the hand type 2 (Manske and Halikis), the second finger presents itself anatomically and functionally as a second thumb. It is therefore necessary to undertake digitalization of the index, performed exactly as a reverse pollicization technique, with the same principles: minimum volar scarring and reconstruction of a large first web space without scars at the fold of the commissure. The incision surrounds the second digit at the level of the midproximal phalanx, extends over the dorsal edge of the cleft, and finishes on the radial side of the third finger where the second web space is to be created. Through this approach, the index metacarpal is freed (extraperiosteally), preserving the dorsal venous network, and translocated into the space of the missing third ray. After internal bone fixation, the flap, with its wide and safe volar cutaneous pedicle, is easily transposed to reconstruct the first web space, avoiding the need for skin grafting. This technique is easier and safer and does not impair the normal thumb musculature compared with the classic Snow-Littler procedure.

The 2D : 4D Digit Ratio as a Biomarker for Autism Spectrum Disorder

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mackus, Marlou; de Kruijff, Deborah; Otten, Leila S.; Kraneveld, A D; Garssen, J; Verster, J C

2017-01-01

It has been suggested that the second (2D, index finger) to fourth (4D, ring finger) digit ratio, 2D : 4D, may be a biomarker for the risk of developing autism. The aim of the current study was to determine the usefulness of the 2D : 4D digit ratio as biomarker for autistic traits. N = 401 healthy

Cost Model for Digital Preservation: Cost of Digital Migration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kejser, Ulla Bøgvad; Nielsen, Anders Bo; Thirifays, Alex

2011-01-01

The Danish Ministry of Culture has funded a project to set up a model for costing preservation of digital materials held by national cultural heritage institutions. The overall objective of the project was to increase cost effectiveness of digital preservation activities and to provide a basis...... for comparing and estimating future cost requirements for digital preservation. In this study we describe an activity-based costing methodology for digital preservation based on the Open Archice Information System (OAIS) Reference Model. Within this framework, which we denote the Cost Model for Digital...... Preservation (CMDP), the focus is on costing the functional entity Preservation Planning from the OAIS and digital migration activities. In order to estimate these costs we have identified cost-critical activities by analysing the functions in the OAIS model and the flows between them. The analysis has been...

From eLearning to Digital Transformation: A Framework and Implications for L&D

OpenAIRE

Seufert, Sabine; Meier, Christoph

2016-01-01

How can the learning function (L&D) support learning and innovation ability of the entire organization in times of digital transformation? The core challenges for the learning function are twofold. Competence clarification: What are relevant “digital competences” in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes that employees need in order to cope with digital transformation? Competence development: How to organize, design and support learning processes contributing to digital competences and digi...

Digital imaging in cardiovascular radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heintzen, P.H.; Brennecke, R.

1983-01-01

The present book contains 27 papers presented at an international symposium on digital imaging in cardiovascular radiology held in Kiel in 1982. The main themes were as follows. Introductory reviews, digital systems for X-ray video imaging, quantitative X-ray image analysis, and clinical applications. (MG)

3D interactive augmented reality-enhanced digital learning systems for mobile devices

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Kai-Ten; Tseng, Po-Hsuan; Chiu, Pei-Shuan; Yang, Jia-Lin; Chiu, Chun-Jie

2013-03-01

With enhanced processing capability of mobile platforms, augmented reality (AR) has been considered a promising technology for achieving enhanced user experiences (UX). Augmented reality is to impose virtual information, e.g., videos and images, onto a live-view digital display. UX on real-world environment via the display can be e ectively enhanced with the adoption of interactive AR technology. Enhancement on UX can be bene cial for digital learning systems. There are existing research works based on AR targeting for the design of e-learning systems. However, none of these work focuses on providing three-dimensional (3-D) object modeling for en- hanced UX based on interactive AR techniques. In this paper, the 3-D interactive augmented reality-enhanced learning (IARL) systems will be proposed to provide enhanced UX for digital learning. The proposed IARL systems consist of two major components, including the markerless pattern recognition (MPR) for 3-D models and velocity-based object tracking (VOT) algorithms. Realistic implementation of proposed IARL system is conducted on Android-based mobile platforms. UX on digital learning can be greatly improved with the adoption of proposed IARL systems.

A Pipeline for 3D Digital Optical Phenotyping Plant Root System Architecture

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, T. W.; Shaw, N. M.; Schneider, D. J.; Shaff, J. E.; Larson, B. G.; Craft, E. J.; Liu, Z.; Kochian, L. V.; Piñeros, M. A.

2017-12-01

This work presents a new pipeline for digital optical phenotyping the root system architecture of agricultural crops. The pipeline begins with a 3D root-system imaging apparatus for hydroponically grown crop lines of interest. The apparatus acts as a self-containing dark room, which includes an imaging tank, motorized rotating bearing and digital camera. The pipeline continues with the Plant Root Imaging and Data Acquisition (PRIDA) software, which is responsible for image capturing and storage. Once root images have been captured, image post-processing is performed using the Plant Root Imaging Analysis (PRIA) command-line tool, which extracts root pixels from color images. Following the pre-processing binarization of digital root images, 3D trait characterization is performed using the next-generation RootReader3D software. RootReader3D measures global root system architecture traits, such as total root system volume and length, total number of roots, and maximum rooting depth and width. While designed to work together, the four stages of the phenotyping pipeline are modular and stand-alone, which provides flexibility and adaptability for various research endeavors.

D Digital Simulation of Minnan Temple Architecture CAISSON'S Craft Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Y. C.; Wu, T. C.; Hsu, M. F.

2013-07-01

Caisson is one of the important representations of the Minnan (southern Fujian) temple architecture craft techniques and decorative aesthetics. The special component design and group building method present the architectural thinking and personal characteristics of great carpenters of Minnan temple architecture. In late Qing Dynasty, the appearance and style of caissons of famous temples in Taiwan apparently presented the building techniques of the great carpenters. However, as the years went by, the caisson design and craft techniques were not fully inherited, which has been a great loss of cultural assets. Accordingly, with the caisson of Fulong temple, a work by the well-known great carpenter in Tainan as an example, this study obtained the thinking principles of the original design and the design method at initial period of construction through interview records and the step of redrawing the "Tng-Ko" (traditional design, stakeout and construction tool). We obtained the 3D point cloud model of the caisson of Fulong temple using 3D laser scanning technology, and established the 3D digital model of each component of the caisson. Based on the caisson component procedure obtained from interview records, this study conducted the digital simulation of the caisson component to completely recode and present the caisson design, construction and completion procedure. This model of preserving the craft techniques for Minnan temple caisson by using digital technology makes specific contribution to the heritage of the craft techniques while providing an important reference for the digital preservation of human cultural assets.

Digital Holographic Capture and Optoelectronic Reconstruction for 3D Displays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Damien P. Kelly

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The application of digital holography as a viable solution to 3D capture and display technology is examined. A review of the current state of the field is presented in which some of the major challenges involved in a digital holographic solution are highlighted. These challenges include (i the removal of the DC and conjugate image terms, which are features of the holographic recording process, (ii the reduction of speckle noise, a characteristic of a coherent imaging process, (iii increasing the angular range of perspective of digital holograms (iv and replaying captured and/or processed digital holograms using spatial light modulators. Each of these challenges are examined theoretically and several solutions are put forward. Experimental results are presented that demonstrate the validity of the theoretical solutions.

Hand burns surface area: A rule of thumb.

Science.gov (United States)

Dargan, Dallan; Mandal, Anirban; Shokrollahi, Kayvan

2018-03-11

Rapid estimation of acute hand burns is important for communication, standardisation of assessment, rehabilitation and research. Use of an individual's own thumbprint area as a fraction of their total hand surface area was evaluated to assess potential utility in hand burn evaluation. Ten health professionals used an ink-covered dominant thumb pulp to cover the surfaces of their own non-dominant hand using the contralateral thumb. Thumbprints were assessed on the web spaces, sides of digits and dorsum and palm beyond the distal wrist crease. Hand surface area was estimated using the Banerjee and Sen method, and thumbprint ellipse area calculated to assess correlation. Mean estimated total hand surface area was 390.0cm 2 ±SD 51.5 (328.3-469.0), mean thumbprint ellipse area was 5.5cm 2 ±SD 1.3 (3.7-8.4), and mean estimated print number was 73.5±SD 11.0 (range 53.1-87.8, 95% CI 6.8). The mean observed number of thumbprints on one hand was 80.1±SD 5.9 (range 70.0-88.0, 95% CI 3.7), χ 2 =0.009. The combined mean of digital prints was 42, comprising a mean of two prints each on volar, dorsal, radial and ulnar digit surfaces, except volar middle and ring (3 prints each). Palmar prints were 15 (11-19), dorsal 15 (11-19), ulnar palm border 3, first web space 2, and second, third and fourth web spaces one each. Using the surface of the palm alone, excluding digits, as 0.5% of total body surface area, the area of one thumbprint was approximated as 1/30th of 1%. We have demonstrated how thumbprint area serves as a simple method for evaluating hand burn surface area. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd and ISBI. All rights reserved.

Genesis and Evolution of Interfaces in Product Architecture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Donmez, Mehmet; Hsuan, Juliana

Interfaces are elements of the product architecture that facilitates innovation and enables an organization to leverage the trade-off between cost and performance of its products. Despite the importance of interfaces for organizations, little is known about their genesis and evolution. In this st......Interfaces are elements of the product architecture that facilitates innovation and enables an organization to leverage the trade-off between cost and performance of its products. Despite the importance of interfaces for organizations, little is known about their genesis and evolution...

Use of a hand-held bladder ultrasound scanner in the assessment of dehydration and monitoring response to treatment in a paediatric emergency department.

Science.gov (United States)

Enright, Kevin; Beattie, Tom; Taheri, Sepideh

2010-10-01

Dehydration is a common concern in paediatric emergency care. Limited tools are available to assess reduced urine production, which is commonly cited as a reliable marker of dehydration. To evaluate the utility of a hand-held bladder ultrasound scanner in monitoring urine production in children attending the emergency department with suspected dehydration. A prospective pilot study was undertaken on a convenience sample of patients presenting with suspected dehydration. Serial bladder ultrasound scanning was performed to monitor urine output. Dehydration was assessed clinically using the WHO guide to dehydration assessment. Decisions about treatment and admission were made independently of the urine output measurements obtained using the bladder scanner. 45 children were studied. Using the WHO guide, 33 (73%) had mild dehydration, 8 (18%) had moderate dehydration and 4 (9%) had severe dehydration. There was a significant difference in estimated urine production between those admitted and those discharged (0.9±1.2 ml/kg/h vs 1.8±1.5 ml/kg/h, p=0.01) and between those with mild dehydration versus moderate/severe dehydration (2.3±1.5 ml/kg/h vs 0.6±0.7 ml/kg/h, p=0.0011). Urine output had been significantly reduced in those who had received an intravenous fluid bolus compared with those who had not (0.4±0.46 ml/kg/h vs 1.9±1.6 ml/kg/h, p=0.001). The hand-held bladder scanner is a convenient, non-invasive and objective adjunct in the assessment and management of children attending the emergency department with suspected dehydration.

3D digital stereophotogrammetry: a practical guide to facial image acquisition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Upson Kristen

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract The use of 3D surface imaging technology is becoming increasingly common in craniofacial clinics and research centers. Due to fast capture speeds and ease of use, 3D digital stereophotogrammetry is quickly becoming the preferred facial surface imaging modality. These systems can serve as an unparalleled tool for craniofacial surgeons, proving an objective digital archive of the patient's face without exposure to radiation. Acquiring consistent high-quality 3D facial captures requires planning and knowledge of the limitations of these devices. Currently, there are few resources available to help new users of this technology with the challenges they will inevitably confront. To address this deficit, this report will highlight a number of common issues that can interfere with the 3D capture process and offer practical solutions to optimize image quality.

Topology-Preserving Rigid Transformation of 2D Digital Images.

Science.gov (United States)

Ngo, Phuc; Passat, Nicolas; Kenmochi, Yukiko; Talbot, Hugues

2014-02-01

We provide conditions under which 2D digital images preserve their topological properties under rigid transformations. We consider the two most common digital topology models, namely dual adjacency and well-composedness. This paper leads to the proposal of optimal preprocessing strategies that ensure the topological invariance of images under arbitrary rigid transformations. These results and methods are proved to be valid for various kinds of images (binary, gray-level, label), thus providing generic and efficient tools, which can be used in particular in the context of image registration and warping.

Current status of DIII-D real-time digital plasma control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Penaflor, B.G.; Piglowski, D.A.; Ferron, J.R.; Walker, M.L.

1999-06-01

This paper describes the current status of real-time digital plasma control for the DIII-D tokamak. The digital plasma control system (PCS) has been in place at DIII-D since the early 1990s and continues to expand and improve in its capabilities to monitor and control plasma parameters for DIII-D fusion science experiments. The PCs monitors over 200 tokamak parameters from the DIII-D experiment using a real-time data acquisition system that acquires a new set of samples once every 60 micros. This information is then used in a number of feedback control algorithms to compute and control a variety of parameters including those affecting plasma shape and position. A number of system related improvements has improved the usability and flexibility of the DIII-D PCS. These include more graphical user interfaces to assist in entering and viewing the large and ever growing number of parameters controlled by the PCS, increased interaction and accessibility from other DIII-D applications, and upgrades to the computer hardware and vended software. Future plans for the system include possible upgrades of the real-time computers, further links to other DIII-D diagnostic measurements such as real-time Thomson scattering analysis, and joint collaborations with other tokamak experiments including the NSTX at Princeton

The dBoard: a Digital Scrum Board for Distributed Software Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Esbensen, Morten; Tell, Paolo; Cholewa, Jacob Benjamin

2015-01-01

In this paper we present the dBoard - a digital Scrum Board for distributed Agile software development teams. The dBoard is designed as a 'virtual window' between two Scrum team spaces. It connects two locations with live video and audio, which is overlaid with a synchronized and interactive...... digital Scrum board, and it adapts the fidelity of the video/audio to the presence of people in front of it. The dBoard is designed to work (i) as a passive information radiator from which it is easy to get an overview of the status of work, (ii) as a media space providing awareness about the presence...... of remote co-workers, and (iii) as an active meeting support tool. The paper presents a case study of distributed Scrum in a large software company that motivates the design of the dBoard, and details the design and technical implementation of the dBoard. The paper also reports on an initial user study...

Integrated optical detection of autonomous capillary microfluidic immunoassays:a hand-held point-of-care prototype.

Science.gov (United States)

Novo, P; Chu, V; Conde, J P

2014-07-15

The miniaturization of biosensors using microfluidics has potential in enabling the development of point-of-care devices, with the added advantages of reduced time and cost of analysis with limits-of-detection comparable to those obtained through traditional laboratory techniques. Interfacing microfluidic devices with the external world can be difficult especially in aspects involving fluid handling and the need for simple sample insertion that avoids special equipment or trained personnel. In this work we present a point-of-care prototype system by integrating capillary microfluidics with a microfabricated photodiode array and electronic instrumentation into a hand-held unit. The capillary microfluidic device is capable of autonomous and sequential fluid flow, including control of the average fluid velocity at any given point of the analysis. To demonstrate the functionality of the prototype, a model chemiluminescence ELISA was performed. The performance of the integrated optical detection in the point-of-care prototype is equal to that obtained with traditional bench-top instrumentation. The photodiode signals were acquired, displayed and processed by a simple graphical user interface using a computer connected to the microcontroller through USB. The prototype performed integrated chemiluminescence ELISA detection in about 15 min with a limit-of-detection of ≈2 nM with an antibody-antigen affinity constant of ≈2×10(7) M(-1). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Region-Based GeneSIS Segmentation Algorithm for the Classification of Remotely Sensed Images

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stelios K. Mylonas

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes an object-based segmentation/classification scheme for remotely sensed images, based on a novel variant of the recently proposed Genetic Sequential Image Segmentation (GeneSIS algorithm. GeneSIS segments the image in an iterative manner, whereby at each iteration a single object is extracted via a genetic-based object extraction algorithm. Contrary to the previous pixel-based GeneSIS where the candidate objects to be extracted were evaluated through the fuzzy content of their included pixels, in the newly developed region-based GeneSIS algorithm, a watershed-driven fine segmentation map is initially obtained from the original image, which serves as the basis for the forthcoming GeneSIS segmentation. Furthermore, in order to enhance the spatial search capabilities, we introduce a more descriptive encoding scheme in the object extraction algorithm, where the structural search modules are represented by polygonal shapes. Our objectives in the new framework are posed as follows: enhance the flexibility of the algorithm in extracting more flexible object shapes, assure high level classification accuracies, and reduce the execution time of the segmentation, while at the same time preserving all the inherent attributes of the GeneSIS approach. Finally, exploiting the inherent attribute of GeneSIS to produce multiple segmentations, we also propose two segmentation fusion schemes that operate on the ensemble of segmentations generated by GeneSIS. Our approaches are tested on an urban and two agricultural images. The results show that region-based GeneSIS has considerably lower computational demands compared to the pixel-based one. Furthermore, the suggested methods achieve higher classification accuracies and good segmentation maps compared to a series of existing algorithms.

Cognitive Hacking and Digital Government: Digital Identity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Thompson

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Recently the National Center for Digital Government held a workshop on "The Virtual Citizen: Identity, Autonomy, and Accountability: A Civic Scenario Exploration of the Role of Identity in On-Line. Discussions at the workshop focused on five scenarios for future authentication policies with respect to digital identity. The underlying technologies considered for authentication were: biometrics: cryptography, with a focus on digital signatures; secure processing/computation; and reputation systems. Most discussion at the workshop focused on issues related to authentication of users of digital government, but, as implied by the inclusion of a scenario related to ubiquitous identity theft, there was also discussion of problems related to misinformation, including cognitive hacking. Cognitive hacking refers to a computer or information system attack that relies on changing human users' perceptions and corresponding behaviors in order to succeed. This paper describes cognitive hacking, suggests countermeasures, and discusses the implications of cognitive hacking for identity in digital government. In particular, spoofing of government websites and insider misuse are considered.

Validation of Ankle Strength Measurements by Means of a Hand-Held Dynamometer in Adult Healthy Subjects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Ancillao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Uniaxial Hand-Held Dynamometer (HHD is a low-cost device widely adopted in clinical practice to measure muscle force. HHD measurements depend on operator’s ability and joint movements. The aim of the work is to validate the use of a commercial HHD in both dorsiflexion and plantarflexion ankle strength measurements quantifying the effects of HHD misplacements and unwanted foot’s movements on the measurements. We used an optoelectronic system and a multicomponent load cell to quantify the sources of error in the manual assessment of the ankle strength due to both the operator’s ability to hold still the HHD and the transversal components of the exerted force that are usually neglected in clinical routine. Results showed that foot’s movements and angular misplacements of HHD on sagittal and horizontal planes were relevant sources of inaccuracy on the strength assessment. Moreover, ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion force measurements presented an inaccuracy less than 2% and higher than 10%, respectively. In conclusion, the manual use of a uniaxial HHD is not recommended for the assessment of ankle plantarflexion strength; on the contrary, it can be allowed asking the operator to pay strong attention to the HHD positioning in ankle dorsiflexion strength measurements.

User certification of hand-held x-ray tube based analytical fluorescent devices in a canadian context

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maharaj, H.P.

2005-01-01

Safety education aims to reduce personal injury and improve well being. This health promotion principle is applied in the case of hand-held open beam x-ray tube based analytical x-ray devices. Such devices not only are light weight and portable, but also present high radiation exposure levels at the beam exit port and potentially can be used in a variety of industrial applications for determination of material composition. There is much potential for radiation risks to occur with resultant adverse effects if such devices are not used by trained individuals within controlled environments. A level of radiation safety knowledge and understanding of the device design, construction and performance characteristics appear warranted. To reduce radiation risks, user certification at a federal level was introduced in 2004 based on International Standards Organization 20807, since that standard comprises elements commensurate with risk reduction strategies. Within these contexts, a federally certified user is deemed to have acquired a level of safety knowledge and skills to facilitate safe use of the device. Certification, however, does not absolve the holder from obligations of compliance with applicable provincial, territorial or federal laws respecting device operation. The union of federal certification and applicable legislative mandated operational criteria reduces radiation risks overall. (author)

Digital 3D Modeling of Whole Garment Based on Structure Illumination

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

TAO Jun

2006-01-01

With the coming of information age and the development of computer science, digitalization of whole garment is becoming more and more important. The surface of whole garment is sequent and glossy so that it is lack of the texture characteristic which is the key of digital 3D modeling.According to this reason, the structure illumination is steered into a method of this paper. The paper proposes the method by which 3D model of whole garment is created from 2D image sequences directly but not by the common techniques using general CAD model. In the paper the structure illumination is generated by the slide projector and the modeling of whole garment is based on the strict theory of the digital photogrammetry, computer vision and image processing pattern recognition. Because whole garment is lack of the applicable texture for matching, the characteristic texture generated by the structure illumination is added onto the surface of whole garment. After the characteristic texture is extracted from images and is matched well, 3D coordinates of the characteristic texture can be calculated out by the space forward intersection.Then the whole garment model is acquired by connecting all neighbour space points in the TIN and rendering the real texture of whole garment automatically. The 3D modeling method is untouched so that it is nondestructive which is just suitable for the messaline and the clothing. The method of whole garment 3D modeling proposed in the paper is flexible, effective and practical, which is confirmed by the results of the reconstructing experiments.

[Constructing 3-dimensional colorized digital dental model assisted by digital photography].

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Hong-qiang; Liu, Yu-shu; Liu, Yun-song; Ning, Jing; Zhao, Yi-jiao; Zhou, Yong-sheng

2016-02-18

To explore a method of constructing universal 3-dimensional (3D) colorized digital dental model which can be displayed and edited in common 3D software (such as Geomagic series), in order to improve the visual effect of digital dental model in 3D software. The morphological data of teeth and gingivae were obtained by intra-oral scanning system (3Shape TRIOS), constructing 3D digital dental models. The 3D digital dental models were exported as STL files. Meanwhile, referring to the accredited photography guide of American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD), five selected digital photographs of patients'teeth and gingivae were taken by digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) with the same exposure parameters (except occlusal views) to capture the color data. In Geomagic Studio 2013, after STL file of 3D digital dental model being imported, digital photographs were projected on 3D digital dental model with corresponding position and angle. The junctions of different photos were carefully trimmed to get continuous and natural color transitions. Then the 3D colorized digital dental model was constructed, which was exported as OBJ file or WRP file which was a special file for software of Geomagic series. For the purpose of evaluating the visual effect of the 3D colorized digital model, a rating scale on color simulation effect in views of patients'evaluation was used. Sixteen patients were recruited and their scores on colored and non-colored digital dental models were recorded. The data were analyzed using McNemar-Bowker test in SPSS 20. Universal 3D colorized digital dental model with better color simulation was constructed based on intra-oral scanning and digital photography. For clinical application, the 3D colorized digital dental models, combined with 3D face images, were introduced into 3D smile design of aesthetic rehabilitation, which could improve the patients' cognition for the esthetic digital design and virtual prosthetic effect. Universal 3D colorized

Anàlisi forense d'evidències digitals

OpenAIRE

Bonachera López, Esteban

2014-01-01

L'objectiu principal d'aquest projecte consisteix en la realització de l'anàlisi forense del disc dur i de la memòria RAM d'un ordinador personal, en concret un Netbook, vinculat a una possible conducta delictiva. També s'inclou en l'anàlisi una base de dades del conegut programari WhatsApp extreta d'un smartphone. Per realitzar aquesta tasca s'utilitzaran eines específiques per localitzar les evidències digitals que puguin demostrar els presumptes delictes. El objetivo principal de este p...

Israel state implementation and the genesis of conflict Israeli/arab

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luciano Kneip Zucchi

2014-12-01

Full Text Available We aimed to demonstrate mainly through historical analysis and international politics, the genesis of the conflict in the middle east between jews and arabs, is embedded within a global context and has its heart in imperialist interests and also the bipolarity emerged after world war ii world, and not in rivalry or hatred between secular people, although the ethnic/religious discourse has often succeeded mask the reality of this antagonism, originating in the twentieth century, which entered the xxi no prospect of resolution. history shows that, on the one hand, jews and arabs had some "conflicting interinsti'', especially at the dawn of islam, on the other hand, lived peacefully and productively for centuries, as the umayyad caliphate in spain and elsewhere. History shows that, on the one hand, Jews and Arabs had some "conflicting Interinsti'', especially at the dawn of Islam, on the other hand, lived peacefully and productively for centuries, as the Umayyad Caliphate in Spain and elsewhere. The proclamation of the State of Israel in 1948, although it had set up a compromise solution to the problem anti/Semitic in Europe, redound, however, and paradoxically, a new strangeness and new conflicts now between Jewish and Arab inhabitants of Palestine and throughout the Middle East. The European powers, in this context, flow into a contradiction that your in the same motion that reiterated their prejudices, transporting them to the Middle East and, worsening noticeably with the Cold War and the confrontation between the United States and Soviet Union, which will make region – rich in essential energy resources to the West – the scene of their confrontation, making worse a situation was already desperate in the extreme.

3D Digital Legos for Teaching Security Protocols

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Li; Harrison, L.; Lu, Aidong; Li, Zhiwei; Wang, Weichao

2011-01-01

We have designed and developed a 3D digital Lego system as an education tool for teaching security protocols effectively in Information Assurance courses (Lego is a trademark of the LEGO Group. Here, we use it only to represent the pieces of a construction set.). Our approach applies the pedagogical methods learned from toy construction sets by…

SU-F-I-14: 3D Breast Digital Phantom for XACT Imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tang, S; Laaroussi, R; Chen, J; Samant, P; Xiang, L [University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States); Chen, Y; Ahmad, S [University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK (United States); Yang, K [Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (United States)

2016-06-15

Purpose: The X-ray induced acoustic computed tomography (XACT) is a new imaging modality which combines X-ray contrast and high ultrasonic resolution in a single modality. Using XACT in breast imaging, a 3D breast volume can be imaged by only one pulsed X-ray radiation, which could dramatically reduce the imaging dose for patients undergoing breast cancer screening and diagnosis. A 3D digital phantom that contains both X-ray properties and acoustic properties of different tissue types is indeed needed for developing and optimizing the XACT system. The purpose of this study is to offer a realistic breast digital phantom as a valuable tool for improving breast XACT imaging techniques and potentially leading to better diagnostic outcomes. Methods: A series of breast CT images along the coronal plane from a patient who has breast calcifications are used as the source images. A HU value based segmentation algorithm is employed to identify breast tissues in five categories, namely the skin tissue, fat tissue, glandular tissue, chest bone and calcifications. For each pixel, the dose related parameters, such as material components and density, and acoustic related parameters, such as frequency-dependent acoustic attenuation coefficient and bandwidth, are assigned based on tissue types. Meanwhile, other parameters which are used in sound propagation, including the sound speed, thermal expansion coefficient, and heat capacity are also assigned to each tissue. Results: A series of 2D tissue type image is acquired first and the 3D digital breast phantom is obtained by using commercial 3D reconstruction software. When giving specific settings including dose depositions and ultrasound center frequency, the X-ray induced initial pressure rise can be calculated accordingly. Conclusion: The proposed 3D breast digital phantom represents a realistic breast anatomic structure and provides a valuable tool for developing and evaluating the system performance for XACT.

The simulation of 3D microcalcification clusters in 2D digital mammography and breast tomosynthesis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaheen, Eman; Van Ongeval, Chantal; Zanca, Federica; Cockmartin, Lesley; Marshall, Nicholas; Jacobs, Jurgen; Young, Kenneth C.; Dance, David R.; Bosmans, Hilde

2011-01-01

Purpose: This work proposes a new method of building 3D models of microcalcification clusters and describes the validation of their realistic appearance when simulated into 2D digital mammograms and into breast tomosynthesis images. Methods: A micro-CT unit was used to scan 23 breast biopsy specimens of microcalcification clusters with malignant and benign characteristics and their 3D reconstructed datasets were segmented to obtain 3D models of microcalcification clusters. These models were then adjusted for the x-ray spectrum used and for the system resolution and simulated into 2D projection images to obtain mammograms after image processing and into tomographic sequences of projection images, which were then reconstructed to form 3D tomosynthesis datasets. Six radiologists were asked to distinguish between 40 real and 40 simulated clusters of microcalcifications in two separate studies on 2D mammography and tomosynthesis datasets. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to test the ability of each observer to distinguish between simulated and real microcalcification clusters. The kappa statistic was applied to assess how often the individual simulated and real microcalcification clusters had received similar scores (''agreement'') on their realistic appearance in both modalities. This analysis was performed for all readers and for the real and the simulated group of microcalcification clusters separately. ''Poor'' agreement would reflect radiologists' confusion between simulated and real clusters, i.e., lesions not systematically evaluated in both modalities as either simulated or real, and would therefore be interpreted as a success of the present models. Results: The area under the ROC curve, averaged over the observers, was 0.55 (95% confidence interval [0.44, 0.66]) for the 2D study, and 0.46 (95% confidence interval [0.29, 0.64]) for the tomosynthesis study, indicating no statistically significant difference between real and simulated

Strategies in digital marketing

OpenAIRE

Robert DRAGOMIR; Mihai ANDRONIE

2017-01-01

The present paper deals with digital marketing. The approach into discussion is the strategies met with the concept mentioned above. Within the actual socio-economic context, the electronic equipments offer on one hand new and innovative methods for products promoting and, on the other hand new challenges for the consumers. Thus, we analysed different and major types of strategies, which have a great impact on the digital marketing.

Managing Documentary Collections Through Digitization

OpenAIRE

Deegan, Marylin

2001-01-01

Digital collection development is part of a broader perspective on collection development, and generally needs to be assessed using the same criteria. However, there is a difference between reviewing collections already held by the institution with digitization in mind, and choosing to acquire digital materials from elsewhere. In-house holdings have been initially acquired or retained because they are perceived to have some value to the community served by the library, and therefore theoretic...

Lean Management Genesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parkes Aneta

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Lean Management is a philosophy and management concept, based on reduction of the waste and resources used in the process of producing goods and providing services. Lean Management genesis dates back to scientific management in America (for example concepts of H. Ford and F.W. Taylor and quality management, including development of TQM concept. Japanese Toyota Production System has been inspired by chosen elements of these concepts, and then it evolved towards global concept called Toyota Way (which connects production rules with values and work attitude.

Linearization of weak hand holds in Russian Sign Language

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kimmelman, V.

2017-01-01

Russian Sign Language (RSL) makes use of constructions involving manual simultaneity, in particular, weak hand holds, where one hand is being held in the location and configuration of a sign, while the other simultaneously produces one sign or a sequence of several signs. In this paper, I argue that

Virtual hand: a 3D tactile interface to virtual environments

Science.gov (United States)

Rogowitz, Bernice E.; Borrel, Paul

2008-02-01

We introduce a novel system that allows users to experience the sensation of touch in a computer graphics environment. In this system, the user places his/her hand on an array of pins, which is moved about space on a 6 degree-of-freedom robot arm. The surface of the pins defines a surface in the virtual world. This "virtual hand" can move about the virtual world. When the virtual hand encounters an object in the virtual world, the heights of the pins are adjusted so that they represent the object's shape, surface, and texture. A control system integrates pin and robot arm motions to transmit information about objects in the computer graphics world to the user. It also allows the user to edit, change and move the virtual objects, shapes and textures. This system provides a general framework for touching, manipulating, and modifying objects in a 3-D computer graphics environment, which may be useful in a wide range of applications, including computer games, computer aided design systems, and immersive virtual worlds.

Lectures on Genesis 1:26-2:3 and 2:21-25

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stjerna, Kirsi; Pedersen, Else Marie Wiberg

2017-01-01

This introduction to parts of Luther's lectures on Genesis (1535-45), namely his lectures on Genesis 1:26-2:3 and 2:21-25, discusses the reformer's grappling with the text in its historical and theological context. Not least is the question of gender taken under scrutiny, as the two authors, Kirsi...

High-accuracy and real-time 3D positioning, tracking system for medical imaging applications based on 3D digital image correlation

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Yuan; Cheng, Teng; Xu, Xiaohai; Gao, Zeren; Li, Qianqian; Liu, Xiaojing; Wang, Xing; Song, Rui; Ju, Xiangyang; Zhang, Qingchuan

2017-01-01

This paper presents a system for positioning markers and tracking the pose of a rigid object with 6 degrees of freedom in real-time using 3D digital image correlation, with two examples for medical imaging applications. Traditional DIC method was improved to meet the requirements of the real-time by simplifying the computations of integral pixel search. Experiments were carried out and the results indicated that the new method improved the computational efficiency by about 4-10 times in comparison with the traditional DIC method. The system was aimed for orthognathic surgery navigation in order to track the maxilla segment after LeFort I osteotomy. Experiments showed noise for the static point was at the level of 10-3 mm and the measurement accuracy was 0.009 mm. The system was demonstrated on skin surface shape evaluation of a hand for finger stretching exercises, which indicated a great potential on tracking muscle and skin movements.

Fully digital 1-D, 2-D and 3-D multiscroll chaos as hardware pseudo random number generators

KAUST Repository

Mansingka, Abhinav S.

2012-10-07

This paper introduces the first fully digital implementation of 1-D, 2-D and 3-D multiscroll chaos using the sawtooth nonlinearity in a 3rd order ODE with the Euler approximation. Systems indicate chaotic behaviour through phase space boundedness and positive Lyapunov exponent. Low-significance bits form a PRNG and pass all tests in the NIST SP. 800-22 suite without post-processing. Real-time control of the number of scrolls allows distinct output streams with 2-D and 3-D multiscroll chaos enabling greater controllability. The proposed PRNGs are experimentally verified on a Xilinx Virtex 4 FPGA with logic utilization less than 1.25%, throughput up to 5.25 Gbits/s and up to 512 distinct output streams with low cross-correlation.

Automated full-3D digitization system for documentation of paintings

Science.gov (United States)

Karaszewski, Maciej; Adamczyk, Marcin; Sitnik, Robert; Michoński, Jakub; Załuski, Wojciech; Bunsch, Eryk; Bolewicki, Paweł

2013-05-01

In this paper, a fully automated 3D digitization system for documentation of paintings is presented. It consists of a specially designed frame system for secure fixing of painting, a custom designed, structured light-based, high-resolution measurement head with no IR and UV emission. This device is automatically positioned in two axes (parallel to the surface of digitized painting) with additional manual positioning in third, perpendicular axis. Manual change of observation angle is also possible around two axes to re-measure even partially shadowed areas. The whole system is built in a way which provides full protection of digitized object (moving elements cannot reach its vicinity) and is driven by computer-controlled, highly precise servomechanisms. It can be used for automatic (without any user attention) and fast measurement of the paintings with some limitation to their properties: maximum size of the picture is 2000mm x 2000mm (with deviation of flatness smaller than 20mm) Measurement head is automatically calibrated by the system and its possible working volume starts from 50mm x 50mm x 20mm (10000 points per square mm) and ends at 120mm x 80mm x 60mm (2500 points per square mm). The directional measurements obtained with this system are automatically initially aligned due to the measurement head's position coordinates known from servomechanisms. After the whole painting is digitized, the measurements are fine-aligned with color-based ICP algorithm to remove any influence of possible inaccuracy of positioning devices. We present exemplary digitization results along with the discussion about the opportunities of analysis which appear for such high-resolution, 3D computer models of paintings.

Digital health revolution: perfect storm or perfect opportunity for pharmaceutical R&D?

Science.gov (United States)

Hird, Nick; Ghosh, Samik; Kitano, Hiroaki

2016-06-01

The convergence of technology and medicine has pushed healthcare to the brink of a major disruption that pharma has, until recently, been slow to recognize. Tech players have pioneered the emerging field of digital wellness and health, and pharma is ideally placed to use its expertise in drug development and embrace these technologies to create digital applications that address major medical needs. This review describes digital innovation from a pharma R&D perspective, outlining principal drivers, digital components, opportunities and challenges as well as a sustainable new business model predicated on empowered patients and achieving therapeutic outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficacy of hand held, inexpensive UV light sources on Acanthamoeba, causative organism in amoebic keratitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Cometa

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Ivan Cometa1, Andrew Rogerson1, Scott Schatz21Department of Biology, California State University Fresno, Fresno, CA, USA; 2Arizona College of Optometry, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USAAbstract: Multipurpose lens cleaning solutions (MPS fail to consistently kill or inactivate Acanthamoeba cysts and UV irradiation, while effective at high doses, can damage contact lenses. The present study considered synergy of action between MPS and hand-held inexpensive (ie, relatively weak UV irradiation units. Regardless of disinfection method recently formed cysts (<10 days were far more susceptible to treatment than mature cysts (>14 days. This has important implications for future protocols on testing methods for killing amoebae. The study also showed that cysts of different strains (two tested, FLA2 and P120 are variable in their response to MPS, presumably reflecting differences in cyst wall structure and thus permeability to the disinfectant. On the other hand, the effect of UV irradiation was not wall structure dependent. A 6-hour treatment with MPS alone killed trophic amoebae but failed to kill any mature cysts. Cysts of strain FLA2 were killed after 24 hours with MPS but cysts of strain P120 survived. UV irradiation with the larger 4 W unit killed all cysts after 7 minutes and was more effective than the smaller battery-powered unit (after 10 minutes about 50% of cysts were killed. When the larger unit was used with the MPS disinfection, all trophozoites were killed using UV for 3 minutes and MPS for 1 hour. The resistant P120 cysts remained a challenge but a 2- to 4-minute UV treatment followed by MPS for 3 or 6 hours reduced mature cyst survival by about 50%. The small unit in combination with MPS was less effective but did reduce the time required to kill trophic amoebae in MPS (6 hours MPS alone versus 3 hours MPS with a 1-minute UV treatment. In short, inexpensive UV units do enhance MPS disinfection and future lens cleaning systems

A feasibility and efficacy trial of a hand-held humidification device in patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Priyanka; Lazar, Ann A; Ryan, William R; Yom, Sue S

2017-08-01

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of warm-mist humidification during and after head and neck radiation therapy (HN RT) on quality of life (QOL), as measured by the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck (MDASI-HN) HN score. A secondary aim was to compare QOL among compliers (≥60% of protocol-recommended usage) versus non-compliers. Twenty patients self-administered a hand-held, self-sterilizing humidification device for a recommended time of at least 15 min twice daily for 12 weeks. Patients completed the MDASI-HN instrument at RT start, after 6 weeks, and after 12 weeks. Compliance was reported weekly. The average HN score at baseline was 1.7 (SD = 1.8) and increased to 6.0 (SD = 1.6) after 6 weeks; this increase was much higher than anticipated and the primary endpoint could not be reached. However, compliers had an average of nearly two less HN symptoms (-1.8, 95% CI -4 to 0.2; p = 0.08) than non-compliers at 6 weeks and fewer symptoms at 12 weeks as well (-0.9, 95% CI -2.9 to 1.2; p = 0.39). The most common terms patients used to describe humidification were "helpful" and "soothing." Compliance with humidification during RT was associated with fewer reported HN symptoms and a strong trend to better QOL. Improvements were seen from compliance with occasional required use of a portable, inexpensive device. Our findings support continued efforts to reduce barriers to humidification, as an intervention that should be considered for standard HN RT clinical practice.

Integrated optical 3D digital imaging based on DSP scheme

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaodong; Peng, Xiang; Gao, Bruce Z.

2008-03-01

We present a scheme of integrated optical 3-D digital imaging (IO3DI) based on digital signal processor (DSP), which can acquire range images independently without PC support. This scheme is based on a parallel hardware structure with aid of DSP and field programmable gate array (FPGA) to realize 3-D imaging. In this integrated scheme of 3-D imaging, the phase measurement profilometry is adopted. To realize the pipeline processing of the fringe projection, image acquisition and fringe pattern analysis, we present a multi-threads application program that is developed under the environment of DSP/BIOS RTOS (real-time operating system). Since RTOS provides a preemptive kernel and powerful configuration tool, with which we are able to achieve a real-time scheduling and synchronization. To accelerate automatic fringe analysis and phase unwrapping, we make use of the technique of software optimization. The proposed scheme can reach a performance of 39.5 f/s (frames per second), so it may well fit into real-time fringe-pattern analysis and can implement fast 3-D imaging. Experiment results are also presented to show the validity of proposed scheme.

The application of digital medical 3D printing technology on tumor operation

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jimin; Jiang, Yijian; Li, Yangsheng

2016-04-01

Digital medical 3D printing technology is a new hi-tech which combines traditional medical and digital design, computer science, bio technology and 3D print technology. At the present time there are four levels application: The printed 3D model is the first and simple application. The surgery makes use of the model to plan the processing before operation. The second is customized operation tools such as implant guide. It helps doctor to operate with special tools rather than the normal medical tools. The third level application of 3D printing in medical area is to print artificial bones or teeth to implant into human body. The big challenge is the fourth level which is to print organs with 3D printing technology. In this paper we introduced an application of 3D printing technology in tumor operation. We use 3D printing to print guide for invasion operation. Puncture needles were guided by printed guide in face tumors operation. It is concluded that this new type guide is dominantly advantageous.

3D DIGITAL SIMULATION OF MINNAN TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE CAISSON'S CRAFT TECHNIQUES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. C. Lin

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Caisson is one of the important representations of the Minnan (southern Fujian temple architecture craft techniques and decorative aesthetics. The special component design and group building method present the architectural thinking and personal characteristics of great carpenters of Minnan temple architecture. In late Qing Dynasty, the appearance and style of caissons of famous temples in Taiwan apparently presented the building techniques of the great carpenters. However, as the years went by, the caisson design and craft techniques were not fully inherited, which has been a great loss of cultural assets. Accordingly, with the caisson of Fulong temple, a work by the well-known great carpenter in Tainan as an example, this study obtained the thinking principles of the original design and the design method at initial period of construction through interview records and the step of redrawing the "Tng-Ko" (traditional design, stakeout and construction tool. We obtained the 3D point cloud model of the caisson of Fulong temple using 3D laser scanning technology, and established the 3D digital model of each component of the caisson. Based on the caisson component procedure obtained from interview records, this study conducted the digital simulation of the caisson component to completely recode and present the caisson design, construction and completion procedure. This model of preserving the craft techniques for Minnan temple caisson by using digital technology makes specific contribution to the heritage of the craft techniques while providing an important reference for the digital preservation of human cultural assets.

Evaluation of D-1 tape and cassette characteristics: Moisture content of Sony and Ampex D-1 tapes when delivered

Science.gov (United States)

Ashton, Gary

Commercial D-1 cassette tapes and their associated recorders were designed to operate in broadcast studios and record in accordance with the International Radio Consultative Committee (CCIR) 607 digital video standards. The D-1 recorder resulted in the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) standards 224 to 228 and is the first digital video recorder to be standardized for the broadcast industry. The D-1 cassette and associated media are currently marketed for broadcast use. The recorder was redesigned for data applications and is in the early stages of being evaluated. The digital data formats used are specified in MIL-STD-2179 and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) X3.175-190 standard. In early 1990, the National Media Laboratory (NML) was asked to study the effects of time, temperature, and relative humidity on commercial D-1 cassettes. The environmental range to be studied was the one selected for the Advanced Tactical Air Reconnaissance System (ATARS) program. Several discussions between NML personnel, ATARS representatives, recorder contractors, and other interested parties were held to decide upon the experimental plan to be implemented. Review meetings were held periodically during the course of the experiment. The experiments were designed to determine the dimensional stability of the media and cassette since this is one of the major limiting factors of helical recorders when the media or recorders are subjected to non-broadcasting environments. Measurements were also made to characterize each sample of cassettes to give preliminary information on which purchase specifications could be developed. The actual tests performed on the cassettes and media before and after aging fall into the general categories listed.

3D Printing and Digital Rock Physics for Geomaterials

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, M. J.; Yoon, H.; Dewers, T. A.

2015-12-01

Imaging techniques for the analysis of porous structures have revolutionized our ability to quantitatively characterize geomaterials. Digital representations of rock from CT images and physics modeling based on these pore structures provide the opportunity to further advance our quantitative understanding of fluid flow, geomechanics, and geochemistry, and the emergence of coupled behaviors. Additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, has revolutionized production of custom parts with complex internal geometries. For the geosciences, recent advances in 3D printing technology may be co-opted to print reproducible porous structures derived from CT-imaging of actual rocks for experimental testing. The use of 3D printed microstructure allows us to surmount typical problems associated with sample-to-sample heterogeneity that plague rock physics testing and to test material response independent from pore-structure variability. Together, imaging, digital rocks and 3D printing potentially enables a new workflow for understanding coupled geophysical processes in a real, but well-defined setting circumventing typical issues associated with reproducibility, enabling full characterization and thus connection of physical phenomena to structure. In this talk we will discuss the possibilities that these technologies can bring to geosciences and present early experiences with coupled multiscale experimental and numerical analysis using 3D printed fractured rock specimens. In particular, we discuss the processes of selection and printing of transparent fractured specimens based on 3D reconstruction of micro-fractured rock to study fluid flow characterization and manipulation. Micro-particle image velocimetry is used to directly visualize 3D single and multiphase flow velocity in 3D fracture networks. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U

Comparison of conventional study model measurements and 3D digital study model measurements from laser scanned dental impressions

Science.gov (United States)

Nugrahani, F.; Jazaldi, F.; Noerhadi, N. A. I.

2017-08-01

The field of orthodontics is always evolving,and this includes the use of innovative technology. One type of orthodontic technology is the development of three-dimensional (3D) digital study models that replace conventional study models made by stone. This study aims to compare the mesio-distal teeth width, intercanine width, and intermolar width measurements between a 3D digital study model and a conventional study model. Twelve sets of upper arch dental impressions were taken from subjects with non-crowding teeth. The impressions were taken twice, once with alginate and once with polivinylsiloxane. The alginate impressions used in the conventional study model and the polivinylsiloxane impressions were scanned to obtain the 3D digital study model. Scanning was performed using a laser triangulation scanner device assembled by the School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics at the Institut Teknologi Bandung and David Laser Scan software. For the conventional model, themesio-distal width, intercanine width, and intermolar width were measured using digital calipers; in the 3D digital study model they were measured using software. There were no significant differences between the mesio-distal width, intercanine width, and intermolar width measurments between the conventional and 3D digital study models (p>0.05). Thus, measurements using 3D digital study models are as accurate as those obtained from conventional study models

On the genesis of the uraniferous deposits I

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mingarro, E.

1964-01-01

The main problems of the genesis of uranium deposits as hydro thermals are objectively considered here under three aspects: uranium source transport and deposition. The transport of uranium can be effected under a tetravalent form, or as complex ions of hexavalent uranium: as uranyl ion (UO 2 ) 2 + or under complex carbonic or sulfuric forms, such as UO 2 (XO n ) 2 2 - or UO 2 (XO n ) 3 4 -. These three ways of transport correspond to the three basic geochemical para genesis of uranium: uranium-titanium, uranium-cobalt, uranium. Deposition is currently made by reduction and in some way is no dependent of mineralogical association. (Author) 61 refs

Prosthetic design directives: Low-cost hands within reach.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, G K; Rosendo, A; Stopforth, R

2017-07-01

Although three million people around the world suffer from the lack of one or both upper limbs 80% of this number is located within developing countries. While prosthetic prices soar with technology 3D printing and low cost electronics present a sensible solution for those that cannot afford expensive prosthetics. The electronic and control design of a low-cost prosthetic hand, the Touch Hand II, is discussed. This paper shows that sensorless techniques can be used to reduce design complexities, costs, and provide easier access to the electronics. A closing and opening finite state machine (COFSM) was developed to handle the actuated digit joint control state and a supervisory switching control scheme, used for speed and grip strength control. Three torque and speed settings were created to be preset for specific grasps. The hand was able to replicate ten frequently used grasps and grip some common objects. Future work is necessary to enable a user to control it with myoelectric signals (MESs) and to solve operational problems related to electromagnetic interference (EMI).

Automatic digitization of SMA data

Science.gov (United States)

Väänänen, Mika; Tanskanen, Eija

2017-04-01

In the 1970's and 1980's the Scandinavian Magnetometer Array produced large amounts of excellent data from over 30 stations In Norway, Sweden and Finland. 620 film reels and 20 kilometers of film have been preserved and the longest time series produced in the campaign span almost uninterrupted for five years, but the data has never seen widespread use due to the choice of medium. Film is a difficult medium to digitize efficiently. Previously events of interest were searched for by hand and digitization was done by projecting the film on paper and plotting it by hand. We propose a method of automatically digitizing geomagnetic data stored on film and extracting the numerical values from the digitized data. The automatic digitization process helps in preserving old, valuable data that might otherwise go unused.

PBL, Hands-On/ Digital resources in Geology, (Teaching/ Learning)

Science.gov (United States)

Soares, Rosa; Santos, Cátia; Carvalho, Sara

2015-04-01

several instruments such as small questionnaires (Hot Potatoes), Gowin V, scientific report, a grid to evaluate group work and a grid to evaluate the development of competencies. This study intended to evaluate the success of a PBL intervention program when trying to improve students' outcomes. The positive impact obtained allowed us to advance some conclusions and instructional implications regarding teaching Rock Cycle through PBL and different digital and hands-on resources, obtained, especially in the students' questionnaires and Gowin V, allowed us to verify that students did learn about Rock Cycle and developed collaborative work skills.

Concept and Design of a 3D Printed Support to Assist Hand Scanning for the Realization of Customized Orthosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Baronio, Gabriele; Volonghi, Paola; Signoroni, Alberto

2017-01-01

In the rehabilitation field, the use of additive manufacturing techniques to realize customized orthoses is increasingly widespread. Obtaining a 3D model for the 3D printing phase can be done following different methodologies. We consider the creation of personalized upper limb orthoses, also including fingers, starting from the acquisition of the hand geometry through accurate 3D scanning. However, hand scanning procedure presents differences between healthy subjects and patients affected by pathologies that compromise upper limb functionality. In this work, we present the concept and design of a 3D printed support to assist hand scanning of such patients. The device, realized with FDM additive manufacturing techniques in ABS material, allows palmar acquisitions, and its design and test are motivated by the following needs: (1) immobilizing the hand of patients during the palmar scanning to reduce involuntary movements affecting the scanning quality and (2) keeping hands open and in a correct position, especially to contrast the high degree of hypertonicity of spastic subjects. The resulting device can be used indifferently for the right and the left hand; it is provided in four-dimensional sizes and may be also suitable as a palmar support for the acquisition of the dorsal side of the hand.

Concept and Design of a 3D Printed Support to Assist Hand Scanning for the Realization of Customized Orthosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriele Baronio

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the rehabilitation field, the use of additive manufacturing techniques to realize customized orthoses is increasingly widespread. Obtaining a 3D model for the 3D printing phase can be done following different methodologies. We consider the creation of personalized upper limb orthoses, also including fingers, starting from the acquisition of the hand geometry through accurate 3D scanning. However, hand scanning procedure presents differences between healthy subjects and patients affected by pathologies that compromise upper limb functionality. In this work, we present the concept and design of a 3D printed support to assist hand scanning of such patients. The device, realized with FDM additive manufacturing techniques in ABS material, allows palmar acquisitions, and its design and test are motivated by the following needs: (1 immobilizing the hand of patients during the palmar scanning to reduce involuntary movements affecting the scanning quality and (2 keeping hands open and in a correct position, especially to contrast the high degree of hypertonicity of spastic subjects. The resulting device can be used indifferently for the right and the left hand; it is provided in four-dimensional sizes and may be also suitable as a palmar support for the acquisition of the dorsal side of the hand.

Upper Limb-Hand 3D Display System for Biomimetic Myoelectric Hand Simulator

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Jimenez, Gonzalo

2001-01-01

A graphics system displaying both upper limb posture and opening-closing of a prosthetic hand was developed for realtime operation of our biomimetic myoelectric hand simulator, Posture of the upper...

Defining new dental phenotypes using 3-D image analysis to enhance discrimination and insights into biological processes

OpenAIRE

Smith, Richard; Zaitoun, Halla; Coxon, Tom; Karmo, Mayada; Kaur, Gurpreet; Townsend, Grant; Harris, Edward F.; Brook, Alan

2009-01-01

Aims In studying aetiological interactions of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors in normal and abnormal developments of the dentition, methods of measurement have often been limited to maximum mesio-distal and bucco-lingual crown diameters, obtained with hand-held calipers. While this approach has led to many important findings, there are potentially many other informative measurements that can be made to describe dental crown morphology. Advances in digital imaging and computer te...

Python as a federation tool for GENESIS 3.0.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugo Cornelis

Full Text Available The GENESIS simulation platform was one of the first broad-scale modeling systems in computational biology to encourage modelers to develop and share model features and components. Supported by a large developer community, it participated in innovative simulator technologies such as benchmarking, parallelization, and declarative model specification and was the first neural simulator to define bindings for the Python scripting language. An important feature of the latest version of GENESIS is that it decomposes into self-contained software components complying with the Computational Biology Initiative federated software architecture. This architecture allows separate scripting bindings to be defined for different necessary components of the simulator, e.g., the mathematical solvers and graphical user interface. Python is a scripting language that provides rich sets of freely available open source libraries. With clean dynamic object-oriented designs, they produce highly readable code and are widely employed in specialized areas of software component integration. We employ a simplified wrapper and interface generator to examine an application programming interface and make it available to a given scripting language. This allows independent software components to be 'glued' together and connected to external libraries and applications from user-defined Python or Perl scripts. We illustrate our approach with three examples of Python scripting. (1 Generate and run a simple single-compartment model neuron connected to a stand-alone mathematical solver. (2 Interface a mathematical solver with GENESIS 3.0 to explore a neuron morphology from either an interactive command-line or graphical user interface. (3 Apply scripting bindings to connect the GENESIS 3.0 simulator to external graphical libraries and an open source three dimensional content creation suite that supports visualization of models based on electron microscopy and their conversion to

Python as a federation tool for GENESIS 3.0.

Science.gov (United States)

Cornelis, Hugo; Rodriguez, Armando L; Coop, Allan D; Bower, James M

2012-01-01

The GENESIS simulation platform was one of the first broad-scale modeling systems in computational biology to encourage modelers to develop and share model features and components. Supported by a large developer community, it participated in innovative simulator technologies such as benchmarking, parallelization, and declarative model specification and was the first neural simulator to define bindings for the Python scripting language. An important feature of the latest version of GENESIS is that it decomposes into self-contained software components complying with the Computational Biology Initiative federated software architecture. This architecture allows separate scripting bindings to be defined for different necessary components of the simulator, e.g., the mathematical solvers and graphical user interface. Python is a scripting language that provides rich sets of freely available open source libraries. With clean dynamic object-oriented designs, they produce highly readable code and are widely employed in specialized areas of software component integration. We employ a simplified wrapper and interface generator to examine an application programming interface and make it available to a given scripting language. This allows independent software components to be 'glued' together and connected to external libraries and applications from user-defined Python or Perl scripts. We illustrate our approach with three examples of Python scripting. (1) Generate and run a simple single-compartment model neuron connected to a stand-alone mathematical solver. (2) Interface a mathematical solver with GENESIS 3.0 to explore a neuron morphology from either an interactive command-line or graphical user interface. (3) Apply scripting bindings to connect the GENESIS 3.0 simulator to external graphical libraries and an open source three dimensional content creation suite that supports visualization of models based on electron microscopy and their conversion to computational models

Automatic intensity-based 3D-to-2D registration of CT volume and dual-energy digital radiography for the detection of cardiac calcification

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiang; Gilkeson, Robert; Fei, Baowei

2007-03-01

We are investigating three-dimensional (3D) to two-dimensional (2D) registration methods for computed tomography (CT) and dual-energy digital radiography (DR) for the detection of coronary artery calcification. CT is an established tool for the diagnosis of coronary artery diseases (CADs). Dual-energy digital radiography could be a cost-effective alternative for screening coronary artery calcification. In order to utilize CT as the "gold standard" to evaluate the ability of DR images for the detection and localization of calcium, we developed an automatic intensity-based 3D-to-2D registration method for 3D CT volumes and 2D DR images. To generate digital rendering radiographs (DRR) from the CT volumes, we developed three projection methods, i.e. Gaussian-weighted projection, threshold-based projection, and average-based projection. We tested normalized cross correlation (NCC) and normalized mutual information (NMI) as similarity measurement. We used the Downhill Simplex method as the search strategy. Simulated projection images from CT were fused with the corresponding DR images to evaluate the localization of cardiac calcification. The registration method was evaluated by digital phantoms, physical phantoms, and clinical data sets. The results from the digital phantoms show that the success rate is 100% with mean errors of less 0.8 mm and 0.2 degree for both NCC and NMI. The registration accuracy of the physical phantoms is 0.34 +/- 0.27 mm. Color overlay and 3D visualization of the clinical data show that the two images are registered well. This is consistent with the improvement of the NMI values from 0.20 +/- 0.03 to 0.25 +/- 0.03 after registration. The automatic 3D-to-2D registration method is accurate and robust and may provide a useful tool to evaluate the dual-energy DR images for the detection of coronary artery calcification.

Eye and hand motor interactions with the Symbol Digit Modalities Test in early multiple sclerosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nygaard, Gro O; de Rodez Benavent, Sigrid A; Harbo, Hanne F; Laeng, Bruno; Sowa, Piotr; Damangir, Soheil; Bernhard Nilsen, Kristian; Etholm, Lars; Tønnesen, Siren; Kerty, Emilia; Drolsum, Liv; Inge Landrø, Nils; Celius, Elisabeth G

2015-11-01

Eye and hand motor dysfunction may be present early in the disease course of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), and can affect the results on visual and written cognitive tests. We aimed to test for differences in saccadic initiation time (SI time) between RRMS patients and healthy controls, and whether SI time and hand motor speed interacted with the written version of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (wSDMT). Patients with RRMS (N = 44, age 35.1 ± 7.3 years), time since diagnosis < 3 years and matched controls (N = 41, age 33.2 ± 6.8 years) were examined with ophthalmological, neurological and neuropsychological tests, as well as structural MRI (white matter lesion load (WMLL) and brainstem lesions), visual evoked potentials (VEP) and eye-tracker examinations of saccades. SI time was longer in RRMS than controls (p < 0.05). SI time was not related to the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), WMLL or to the presence of brainstem lesions. 9 hole peg test (9HP) correlated significantly with WMLL (r = 0.58, p < 0.01). Both SI time and 9HP correlated negatively with the results of wSDMT (r = -0.32, p < 0.05, r = -0.47, p < 0.01), but none correlated with the results of PASAT. RRMS patients have an increased SI time compared to controls. Cognitive tests results, exemplified by the wSDMT, may be confounded by eye and hand motor function. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development and pilot testing of HEXORR: Hand EXOskeleton Rehabilitation Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Godfrey Sasha B

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Following acute therapeutic interventions, the majority of stroke survivors are left with a poorly functioning hemiparetic hand. Rehabilitation robotics has shown promise in providing patients with intensive therapy leading to functional gains. Because of the hand's crucial role in performing activities of daily living, attention to hand therapy has recently increased. Methods This paper introduces a newly developed Hand Exoskeleton Rehabilitation Robot (HEXORR. This device has been designed to provide full range of motion (ROM for all of the hand's digits. The thumb actuator allows for variable thumb plane of motion to incorporate different degrees of extension/flexion and abduction/adduction. Compensation algorithms have been developed to improve the exoskeleton's backdrivability by counteracting gravity, stiction and kinetic friction. We have also designed a force assistance mode that provides extension assistance based on each individual's needs. A pilot study was conducted on 9 unimpaired and 5 chronic stroke subjects to investigate the device's ability to allow physiologically accurate hand movements throughout the full ROM. The study also tested the efficacy of the force assistance mode with the goal of increasing stroke subjects' active ROM while still requiring active extension torque on the part of the subject. Results For 12 of the hand digits'15 joints in neurologically normal subjects, there were no significant ROM differences (P > 0.05 between active movements performed inside and outside of HEXORR. Interjoint coordination was examined in the 1st and 3rd digits, and no differences were found between inside and outside of the device (P > 0.05. Stroke subjects were capable of performing free hand movements inside of the exoskeleton and the force assistance mode was successful in increasing active ROM by 43 ± 5% (P Conclusions Our pilot study shows that this device is capable of moving the hand's digits through

Development and pilot testing of HEXORR: Hand EXOskeleton Rehabilitation Robot

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background Following acute therapeutic interventions, the majority of stroke survivors are left with a poorly functioning hemiparetic hand. Rehabilitation robotics has shown promise in providing patients with intensive therapy leading to functional gains. Because of the hand's crucial role in performing activities of daily living, attention to hand therapy has recently increased. Methods This paper introduces a newly developed Hand Exoskeleton Rehabilitation Robot (HEXORR). This device has been designed to provide full range of motion (ROM) for all of the hand's digits. The thumb actuator allows for variable thumb plane of motion to incorporate different degrees of extension/flexion and abduction/adduction. Compensation algorithms have been developed to improve the exoskeleton's backdrivability by counteracting gravity, stiction and kinetic friction. We have also designed a force assistance mode that provides extension assistance based on each individual's needs. A pilot study was conducted on 9 unimpaired and 5 chronic stroke subjects to investigate the device's ability to allow physiologically accurate hand movements throughout the full ROM. The study also tested the efficacy of the force assistance mode with the goal of increasing stroke subjects' active ROM while still requiring active extension torque on the part of the subject. Results For 12 of the hand digits'15 joints in neurologically normal subjects, there were no significant ROM differences (P > 0.05) between active movements performed inside and outside of HEXORR. Interjoint coordination was examined in the 1st and 3rd digits, and no differences were found between inside and outside of the device (P > 0.05). Stroke subjects were capable of performing free hand movements inside of the exoskeleton and the force assistance mode was successful in increasing active ROM by 43 ± 5% (P < 0.001) and 24 ± 6% (P = 0.041) for the fingers and thumb, respectively. Conclusions Our pilot study shows that this device

Scoops3D: software to analyze 3D slope stability throughout a digital landscape

Science.gov (United States)

Reid, Mark E.; Christian, Sarah B.; Brien, Dianne L.; Henderson, Scott T.

2015-01-01

The computer program, Scoops3D, evaluates slope stability throughout a digital landscape represented by a digital elevation model (DEM). The program uses a three-dimensional (3D) method of columns approach to assess the stability of many (typically millions) potential landslides within a user-defined size range. For each potential landslide (or failure), Scoops3D assesses the stability of a rotational, spherical slip surface encompassing many DEM cells using a 3D version of either Bishop’s simplified method or the Ordinary (Fellenius) method of limit-equilibrium analysis. Scoops3D has several options for the user to systematically and efficiently search throughout an entire DEM, thereby incorporating the effects of complex surface topography. In a thorough search, each DEM cell is included in multiple potential failures, and Scoops3D records the lowest stability (factor of safety) for each DEM cell, as well as the size (volume or area) associated with each of these potential landslides. It also determines the least-stable potential failure for the entire DEM. The user has a variety of options for building a 3D domain, including layers or full 3D distributions of strength and pore-water pressures, simplistic earthquake loading, and unsaturated suction conditions. Results from Scoops3D can be readily incorporated into a geographic information system (GIS) or other visualization software. This manual includes information on the theoretical basis for the slope-stability analysis, requirements for constructing and searching a 3D domain, a detailed operational guide (including step-by-step instructions for using the graphical user interface [GUI] software, Scoops3D-i) and input/output file specifications, practical considerations for conducting an analysis, results of verification tests, and multiple examples illustrating the capabilities of Scoops3D. Easy-to-use software installation packages are available for the Windows or Macintosh operating systems; these packages

The Relationship Between Digit Independence and Digital Sesamoids in Humans and a Proposal of a New Digital Sesamoid Evolutionary Hypothesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Yammine, Kaissar

2018-01-03

Digital sesamoids are found in the metapodial-phalangeal joints of most mammals and quadrupedal tetrapods, yet their functional significance is still unclear. During primate evolution, a slight decline in their frequency has been associated with brachiation in gibbons, followed by a quasi-complete absence in orangutans then a slight resurgence occurred in gorillas and chimpanzees. Simultaneously, forearm muscles showed a progressive division in hominoid evolution towards a more "individualistic" musculature yielding more mobility and independence to some fingers. In humans, sesamoids are consistently observed in thumbs and big toes and frequently in other hypermobile digits such as the index and little fingers. Using a simple mathematical equation, this paper attempted to quantify a presumed association between hypermobile fingers and sesamoid frequency and distribution in humans. To this, an anatomic definition of digital independence has been formulated which includes three variables; (1) number and (2) frequency of independent flexor/extensor forearm muscles destined to a single finger, (3) and number of free/absent webspace. Results of previous meta-analyses and means of big sample studies were used to evaluate the frequency of such muscles. The expected values obtained via this model were found to be very close to the observed (published) values of the ossified sesamoids in human hands, and that in terms of frequency and distribution. The findings in humans showed a quasi-linear association between the degree of mobility and sesamoid frequency. The more the number of independent muscles destined to a finger, the more its metacarpo-phalangeal joint is likely to bear sesamoids. Based on our results and on a new analysis of primates' forearm/hand muscles and sesamoid evolution, a new hypothesis is proposed to answer two questions; the evolution of digital sesamoid frequency in primates and its sesamoid distribution in human digits. It claims that the number

Field Tests of the HYDAD-D Landmine Detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brooks, F.D.; Drosg, M.; Smit, F.D.

2010-01-01

The HYDAD-D landmine detector has been field tested in South Africa and in Egypt, using both a dummy landmine and real (disabled) anti-personnel landmines. A hand-held version of the detector and a version that incorporates a motor-driven scanner were tested. The test results demonstrate that HYDAD-D can detect the VS 50 anti-personnel landmine (mass 185 g) when buried at a cover depth of 20 cm in dry sand. (author)

Can persistence hunting signal male quality? A test considering digit ratio in endurance athletes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Longman

Full Text Available Various theories have been posed to explain the fitness payoffs of hunting success among hunter-gatherers. 'Having' theories refer to the acquisition of resources, and include the direct provisioning hypothesis. In contrast, 'getting' theories concern the signalling of male resourcefulness and other desirable traits, such as athleticism and intelligence, via hunting prowess. We investigated the association between androgenisation and endurance running ability as a potential signalling mechanism, whereby running prowess, vital for persistence hunting, might be used as a reliable signal of male reproductive fitness by females. Digit ratio (2D:4D was used as a proxy for prenatal androgenisation in 439 males and 103 females, while a half marathon race (21km, representing a distance/duration comparable with that of persistence hunting, was used to assess running ability. Digit ratio was significantly and positively correlated with half-marathon time in males (right hand: r = 0.45, p<0.001; left hand: r = 0.42, p<0.001 and females (right hand: r = 0.26, p<0.01; left hand: r = 0.23, p = 0.02. Sex-interaction analysis showed that this correlation was significantly stronger in males than females, suggesting that androgenisation may have experienced stronger selective pressure from endurance running in males. As digit ratio has previously been shown to predict reproductive success, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that endurance running ability may signal reproductive potential in males, through its association with prenatal androgen exposure. However, further work is required to establish whether and how females respond to this signalling for fitness.

Maximal isometric muscle strength values obtained By hand-held dynamometry in children between 6 and 15 years of age.

Science.gov (United States)

Escobar, Raul G; Munoz, Karin T; Dominguez, Angelica; Banados, Pamela; Bravo, Maria J

2017-01-01

In this study we aimed to determine the maximal isometric muscle strength of a healthy, normal-weight, pediatric population between 6 and 15 years of age using hand-held dynamometry to establish strength reference values. The secondary objective was determining the relationship between strength and anthropometric parameters. Four hundred normal-weight Chilean children, split into 10 age groups, separated by 1-year intervals, were evaluated. Each age group included between 35 and 55 children. The strength values increased with increasing age and weight, with a correlation of 0.83 for age and 0.82 for weight. The results were similar to those reported in previous studies regarding the relationships among strength, age, and anthropometric parameters, but the reported strength differed. These results provide normal strength parameters for healthy and normal-weight Chilean children between 6 and 15 years of age and highlight the relevance of ethnicity in defining reference values for muscle strength in a pediatric population. Muscle Nerve 55: 16-22, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Digit ratio (2D:4D) and social integration: an effect of prenatal sex hormones

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kovářík, Jaromír; Brañas-Garza, P.; Davidson, M. W.; Haim, D. A.; Carcelli, S.; Fowler, J. H.

2017-01-01

Roč. 5, č. 4 (2017), s. 476-489 ISSN 2050-1242 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-22044S Institutional support: RVO:67985998 Keywords : social networks * digit ratio * prenatal and rogens Subject RIV: AH - Economics OBOR OECD: Applied Economics, Econometrics

Digital 3D Borobudur – Integration of 3D surveying and modeling techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Suwardhi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The Borobudur temple (Indonesia is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world, now listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. The present state of the temple is the result of restorations after being exposed to natural disasters several times. Today there is still a growing rate of deterioration of the building stones whose causes need further researches. Monitoring programs, supported at institutional level, have been effectively executed to observe the problem. The paper presents the latest efforts to digitally document the Borobudur Temple and its surrounding area in 3D with photogrammetric techniques. UAV and terrestrial images were acquired to completely digitize the temple, produce DEM, orthoimages and maps at 1:100 and 1:1000 scale. The results of the project are now employed by the local government organizations to manage the heritage area and plan new policies for the conservation and preservation of the UNESCO site. In order to help data management and policy makers, a web-based information system of the heritage area was also built to visualize and easily access all the data and achieved 3D results.

3D Printing and Digital Rock Physics for the Geosciences

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, M. J.; Yoon, H.; Dewers, T. A.

2014-12-01

Imaging techniques for the analysis of porous structures have revolutionized our ability to quantitatively characterize geomaterials. For example, digital representations of rock from CT images and physics modeling based on these pore structures provide the opportunity to further advance our quantitative understanding of fluid flow, geomechanics, and geochemistry, and the emergence of coupled behaviors. Additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, has revolutionized production of custom parts, to the point where parts might be cheaper to print than to make by traditional means in a plant and ship. Some key benefits of additive manufacturing include short lead times, complex shapes, parts on demand, zero required inventory and less material waste. Even subtractive processing, such as milling and etching, may be economized by additive manufacturing. For the geosciences, recent advances in 3D printing technology may be co-opted to print reproducible porous structures derived from CT-imaging of actual rocks for experimental testing. The use of 3D printed microstructure allows us to surmount typical problems associated with sample-to-sample heterogeneity that plague rock physics testing and to test material response independent from pore-structure variability. Together, imaging, digital rocks and 3D printing potentially enables a new workflow for understanding coupled geophysical processes in a real, but well-defined setting circumventing typical issues associated with reproducibility, enabling full characterization and thus connection of physical phenomena to structure. In this talk we will discuss the possibilities that the marriage of these technologies can bring to geosciences, including examples from our current research initiatives in developing constitutive laws for transport and geomechanics via digital rock physics. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of

Wideband aperture array using RF channelizers and massively parallel digital 2D IIR filterbank

Science.gov (United States)

Sengupta, Arindam; Madanayake, Arjuna; Gómez-García, Roberto; Engeberg, Erik D.

2014-05-01

Wideband receive-mode beamforming applications in wireless location, electronically-scanned antennas for radar, RF sensing, microwave imaging and wireless communications require digital aperture arrays that offer a relatively constant far-field beam over several octaves of bandwidth. Several beamforming schemes including the well-known true time-delay and the phased array beamformers have been realized using either finite impulse response (FIR) or fast Fourier transform (FFT) digital filter-sum based techniques. These beamforming algorithms offer the desired selectivity at the cost of a high computational complexity and frequency-dependant far-field array patterns. A novel approach to receiver beamforming is the use of massively parallel 2-D infinite impulse response (IIR) fan filterbanks for the synthesis of relatively frequency independent RF beams at an order of magnitude lower multiplier complexity compared to FFT or FIR filter based conventional algorithms. The 2-D IIR filterbanks demand fast digital processing that can support several octaves of RF bandwidth, fast analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) for RF-to-bits type direct conversion of wideband antenna element signals. Fast digital implementation platforms that can realize high-precision recursive filter structures necessary for real-time beamforming, at RF radio bandwidths, are also desired. We propose a novel technique that combines a passive RF channelizer, multichannel ADC technology, and single-phase massively parallel 2-D IIR digital fan filterbanks, realized at low complexity using FPGA and/or ASIC technology. There exists native support for a larger bandwidth than the maximum clock frequency of the digital implementation technology. We also strive to achieve More-than-Moore throughput by processing a wideband RF signal having content with N-fold (B = N Fclk/2) bandwidth compared to the maximum clock frequency Fclk Hz of the digital VLSI platform under consideration. Such increase in bandwidth is

An Object-Oriented Simulator for 3D Digital Breast Tomosynthesis Imaging System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saeed Seyyedi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT is an innovative imaging modality that provides 3D reconstructed images of breast to detect the breast cancer. Projections obtained with an X-ray source moving in a limited angle interval are used to reconstruct 3D image of breast. Several reconstruction algorithms are available for DBT imaging. Filtered back projection algorithm has traditionally been used to reconstruct images from projections. Iterative reconstruction algorithms such as algebraic reconstruction technique (ART were later developed. Recently, compressed sensing based methods have been proposed in tomosynthesis imaging problem. We have developed an object-oriented simulator for 3D digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT imaging system using C++ programming language. The simulator is capable of implementing different iterative and compressed sensing based reconstruction methods on 3D digital tomosynthesis data sets and phantom models. A user friendly graphical user interface (GUI helps users to select and run the desired methods on the designed phantom models or real data sets. The simulator has been tested on a phantom study that simulates breast tomosynthesis imaging problem. Results obtained with various methods including algebraic reconstruction technique (ART and total variation regularized reconstruction techniques (ART+TV are presented. Reconstruction results of the methods are compared both visually and quantitatively by evaluating performances of the methods using mean structural similarity (MSSIM values.

An object-oriented simulator for 3D digital breast tomosynthesis imaging system.

Science.gov (United States)

Seyyedi, Saeed; Cengiz, Kubra; Kamasak, Mustafa; Yildirim, Isa

2013-01-01

Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) is an innovative imaging modality that provides 3D reconstructed images of breast to detect the breast cancer. Projections obtained with an X-ray source moving in a limited angle interval are used to reconstruct 3D image of breast. Several reconstruction algorithms are available for DBT imaging. Filtered back projection algorithm has traditionally been used to reconstruct images from projections. Iterative reconstruction algorithms such as algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) were later developed. Recently, compressed sensing based methods have been proposed in tomosynthesis imaging problem. We have developed an object-oriented simulator for 3D digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) imaging system using C++ programming language. The simulator is capable of implementing different iterative and compressed sensing based reconstruction methods on 3D digital tomosynthesis data sets and phantom models. A user friendly graphical user interface (GUI) helps users to select and run the desired methods on the designed phantom models or real data sets. The simulator has been tested on a phantom study that simulates breast tomosynthesis imaging problem. Results obtained with various methods including algebraic reconstruction technique (ART) and total variation regularized reconstruction techniques (ART+TV) are presented. Reconstruction results of the methods are compared both visually and quantitatively by evaluating performances of the methods using mean structural similarity (MSSIM) values.

Characterizing Digital Light Processing (DLP) 3D Printed Primitives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tyge, Emil; Pallisgaard, Jens J.; Lillethorup, Morten

2015-01-01

The resolution and repeatability of 3D printing processes depends on a number of factors including the software, hardware, and material used. When printing parts with features that are near or below the nominal printing resolution, it is important to understand how the printer works. For example......, what is the smallest unit shape that can be produced? And what is the reproducibility of that process? This paper presents a method for automatically detecting and characterizing the height, width, and length of micro scale geometric primitives produced via a digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing...

3D for Graphic Designers

CERN Document Server

Connell, Ellery

2011-01-01

Helping graphic designers expand their 2D skills into the 3D space The trend in graphic design is towards 3D, with the demand for motion graphics, animation, photorealism, and interactivity rapidly increasing. And with the meteoric rise of iPads, smartphones, and other interactive devices, the design landscape is changing faster than ever.2D digital artists who need a quick and efficient way to join this brave new world will want 3D for Graphic Designers. Readers get hands-on basic training in working in the 3D space, including product design, industrial design and visualization, modeling, ani

Digit ratio (2D:4D) and social integration: an effect of prenatal sex hormones

OpenAIRE

Kovářík, Jaromír; Branas-Garza, Pablo; Davidson, Michael W.; Haim, Dotan A.; Carcelli, Shannon; Fowler, James H.

2017-01-01

The position people occupy in their social and professional networks is related to their social status and has strong effects on their access to social resources. While attainment of particular positions is driven by behavioral traits, many biological factors predispose individuals to certain behaviors and motivations. Prior work on exposure to fetal androgens (measured by second-to-fourth digit ratio, 2D:4D) shows that it correlates with behaviors and traits related to social status, which m...

4+D digital engineering for advanced nuclear energy systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, S. G.; Suh, K. Y.; Nam, S. K.

2007-01-01

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) require massive quantity of data during the design, construction, operation, maintenance and decommissioning stages because of their special features like size, cost, radioactivity, and so forth. The system engineering thus calls for a fully automated way of managing the information flow spanning their life cycle. In line with practice in disciplines of naval architecture, aerospace engineering, and automotive manufacturing, the paper proposes total digital systems engineering based on three-dimensional (3D) computer-aided design (CAD) models. The signature in the proposal lies with the four-plus-dimensional (4 + D) Technology T M, a critical know-how for digital management. The so-called OPIUM (Optimized Plant Integrated Ubiquitous Management) features a 4 + D Technology T M for nuclear energy systems engineering. The technology proposed in the 3D space and time plus cost coordinates, i.e. 4 + D, is the backbone of digital engineering in the nuclear systems design and management. Based on an integrated 3D configuration management system, OPIUM consists of solutions NOTUS (Nuclear Optimization Technique Ubiquitous System), VENUS (Virtual Engineering Nuclear Ubiquitous System), INUUS (Informatics Nuclear Utilities Ubiquitous System), JANUS (Junctional Analysis Numerical Ubiquitous System) and EURUS (Electronic Unit Research Ubiquitous System). These solutions will help initial simulation capability for NPPs to supply the crucial information. NOTUS contributes to reducing the construction cost of the NPPs by optimizing the component manufacturing procedure and the plant construction process. Planning and scheduling construction projects can thus benefit greatly by integrating traditional management techniques with digital process simulation visualization. The 3D visualization of construction processes and the resulting products intrinsically afford most of the advantages realized by incorporating a purely schedule level detail based the 4

The hand of Homo naledi

Science.gov (United States)

Kivell, Tracy L.; Deane, Andrew S.; Tocheri, Matthew W.; Orr, Caley M.; Schmid, Peter; Hawks, John; Berger, Lee R.; Churchill, Steven E.

2015-01-01

A nearly complete right hand of an adult hominin was recovered from the Rising Star cave system, South Africa. Based on associated hominin material, the bones of this hand are attributed to Homo naledi. This hand reveals a long, robust thumb and derived wrist morphology that is shared with Neandertals and modern humans, and considered adaptive for intensified manual manipulation. However, the finger bones are longer and more curved than in most australopiths, indicating frequent use of the hand during life for strong grasping during locomotor climbing and suspension. These markedly curved digits in combination with an otherwise human-like wrist and palm indicate a significant degree of climbing, despite the derived nature of many aspects of the hand and other regions of the postcranial skeleton in H. naledi. PMID:26441219

Digit Ratio (2D:4D): A Biomarker for Prenatal Sex Steroids and Adult Sex Steroids in Challenge Situations.

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, John; Kilduff, Liam; Cook, Christian; Crewther, Blair; Fink, Bernhard

2014-01-01

Digit ratio (2D:4D) denotes the relative length of the second and fourth digits. This ratio is considered to be a biomarker of the balance between fetal testosterone (T) and estrogen (E) in a narrow window of early ontogeny. Evidence for this assertion is derived from direct and indirect measures of prenatal hormonal exposure (in experimental animals, via amniotic fluid samples and in the study of sex-typical traits) in relation to 2D:4D. In contrast, the relationships between 2D:4D and levels of sex steroids in adults are less clear, as many correlational studies of 2D:4D and adult sex steroids have concluded that this association is statistically non-significant. Here, we suggest that in order to understand the link between 2D:4D and sex hormones, one must consider both fetal organizing and adult activating effects of T and E. In particular, we hypothesize that 2D:4D correlates with organizing effects on the endocrine system that moderate activating effects in adulthood. We argue that this is particularly evident in "challenging" conditions such as aggressive and sexual encounters, in which individuals show increased levels of T. We discuss this refinement of the 2D:4D paradigm in relation to the links between 2D:4D and sports performance, and aggression.

3D documenatation of the petalaindera: digital heritage preservation methods using 3D laser scanner and photogrammetry

Science.gov (United States)

Sharif, Harlina Md; Hazumi, Hazman; Hafizuddin Meli, Rafiq

2018-01-01

3D imaging technologies have undergone massive revolution in recent years. Despite this rapid development, documentation of 3D cultural assets in Malaysia is still very much reliant upon conventional techniques such as measured drawings and manual photogrammetry. There is very little progress towards exploring new methods or advanced technologies to convert 3D cultural assets into 3D visual representation and visualization models that are easily accessible for information sharing. In recent years, however, the advent of computer vision (CV) algorithms make it possible to reconstruct 3D geometry of objects by using image sequences from digital cameras, which are then processed by web services and freeware applications. This paper presents a completed stage of an exploratory study that investigates the potentials of using CV automated image-based open-source software and web services to reconstruct and replicate cultural assets. By selecting an intricate wooden boat, Petalaindera, this study attempts to evaluate the efficiency of CV systems and compare it with the application of 3D laser scanning, which is known for its accuracy, efficiency and high cost. The final aim of this study is to compare the visual accuracy of 3D models generated by CV system, and 3D models produced by 3D scanning and manual photogrammetry for an intricate subject such as the Petalaindera. The final objective is to explore cost-effective methods that could provide fundamental guidelines on the best practice approach for digital heritage in Malaysia.

Cardinal principle and application practice of 3D digital model design for nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Ruobing; Wu Yan

2005-01-01

The practical application of 3D digital model design at nuclear power plants was introduced in detail in the paper. The whole process for system choice, program constitution, model design and project practice were also summarized. By demonstrating the cardinal principal and application practice of 3D digital model design as an important sub-project of CGNPC Digital Plant, the paper validates the rationality and validity of the major architecture system and program configuration of the digital plant, carries out beneficial attempt and study in the overall power plant life engineering management and site practice, and has achieved significant engineering and social benefits. The success of practices in the project accelerates the extended and extensive application of Digital Plant in the operation and maintenance simulation of Daya Bay and Ling'ao Nuclear Power Plants, and the engineering design management for Ling'ao II and III of CGNPC on a consolidated basis. (authors)

The relationship between second-to-fourth digit (2D:4D) ratios and problematic and pathological Internet use among Turkish university students.

Science.gov (United States)

Canan, Fatih; Karaca, Servet; Düzgün, Melike; Erdem, Ayşe Merve; Karaçaylı, Esranur; Topan, Nur Begüm; Lee, Sang-Kyu; Zhai, Zu Wei; Kuloğlu, Murat; Potenza, Marc N

2017-03-01

Background and aims The ratio of the second and fourth fingers (2D:4D ratio) is a sexually dimorphic trait, with men tending to have lower values than women. This ratio has been related to prenatal testosterone concentrations and addictive behaviors including problematic video-gaming. We aimed to investigate the possible association between 2D:4D ratios and Internet addiction and whether such a relationship would be independent of impulsivity. Methods A total of 652 university students (369 women, 283 men), aged 17-27 years, were enrolled in the study. Problematic and pathological Internet use (PPIU) was assessed using the Internet Addiction Test (IAT). The participants also completed the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (version 11; BIS-11) and had their 2D:4D ratios measured. Results 2D:4D ratios were not significantly different in women with PPIU and in those with adaptive Internet use (AIU). Men with PPIU exhibited lower 2D:4D ratios on both hands when compared with those with AIU. Correlation analysis revealed that 2D:4D ratios on both hands were negatively correlated with IAT scores among men, but not among women. The multiple linear regression analysis revealed that age, duration of weekly Internet use, impulsiveness, and 2D:4D ratios on the right hand were independently associated with IAT scores among men, and impulsivity did not mediate the relationship between 2D:4D ratios and PPIU. Conclusions For men, 2D:4D ratios on the right hand were inversely correlated with Internet addiction severity even after controlling for individual differences in impulsivity. These findings suggest that high prenatal testosterone levels may contribute to the occurrence of PPIU among men.

High quality 3D shape reconstruction via digital refocusing and pupil apodization in multi-wavelength holographic interferometry

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Li

Multi-wavelength holographic interferometry (MWHI) has good potential for evolving into a high quality 3D shape reconstruction technique. There are several remaining challenges, including I) depth-of-field limitation, leading to axial dimension inaccuracy of out-of-focus objects; and 2) smearing from shiny smooth objects to their dark dull neighbors, generating fake measurements within the dark area. This research is motivated by the goal of developing an advanced optical metrology system that provides accurate 3D profiles for target object or objects of axial dimension larger than the depth-of-field, and for objects with dramatically different surface conditions. The idea of employing digital refocusing in MWHI has been proposed as a solution to the depth-of-field limitation. One the one hand, traditional single wavelength refocusing formula is revised to reduce sensitivity to wavelength error. Investigation over real example demonstrates promising accuracy and repeatability of reconstructed 3D profiles. On the other hand, a phase contrast based focus detection criterion is developed especially for MWHI, which overcomes the problem of phase unwrapping. The combination for these two innovations gives birth to a systematic strategy of acquiring high quality 3D profiles. Following the first phase contrast based focus detection step, interferometric distance measurement by MWHI is implemented as a next step to conduct relative focus detection with high accuracy. This strategy results in +/-100mm 3D profile with micron level axial accuracy, which is not available in traditional extended focus image (EFI) solutions. Pupil apodization has been implemented to address the second challenge of smearing. The process of reflective rough surface inspection has been mathematically modeled, which explains the origin of stray light and the necessity of replacing hard-edged pupil with one of gradually attenuating transmission (apodization). Metrics to optimize pupil types and

On the utility of 3D hand cursors to explore medical volume datasets with a touchless interface.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Daniel Simões; Parreira, Pedro Duarte de Figueiredo; Paulo, Soraia Figueiredo; Nunes, Vitor; Rego, Paulo Amaral; Neves, Manuel Cassiano; Rodrigues, Pedro Silva; Jorge, Joaquim Armando

2017-08-01

Analyzing medical volume datasets requires interactive visualization so that users can extract anatomo-physiological information in real-time. Conventional volume rendering systems rely on 2D input devices, such as mice and keyboards, which are known to hamper 3D analysis as users often struggle to obtain the desired orientation that is only achieved after several attempts. In this paper, we address which 3D analysis tools are better performed with 3D hand cursors operating on a touchless interface comparatively to a 2D input devices running on a conventional WIMP interface. The main goals of this paper are to explore the capabilities of (simple) hand gestures to facilitate sterile manipulation of 3D medical data on a touchless interface, without resorting on wearables, and to evaluate the surgical feasibility of the proposed interface next to senior surgeons (N=5) and interns (N=2). To this end, we developed a touchless interface controlled via hand gestures and body postures to rapidly rotate and position medical volume images in three-dimensions, where each hand acts as an interactive 3D cursor. User studies were conducted with laypeople, while informal evaluation sessions were carried with senior surgeons, radiologists and professional biomedical engineers. Results demonstrate its usability as the proposed touchless interface improves spatial awareness and a more fluent interaction with the 3D volume than with traditional 2D input devices, as it requires lesser number of attempts to achieve the desired orientation by avoiding the composition of several cumulative rotations, which is typically necessary in WIMP interfaces. However, tasks requiring precision such as clipping plane visualization and tagging are best performed with mouse-based systems due to noise, incorrect gestures detection and problems in skeleton tracking that need to be addressed before tests in real medical environments might be performed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives: Learning Business Informatics at Higher Educational Level

OpenAIRE

Suša, Dalia

2014-01-01

Background: The term digital natives refer to those born since the 1980s and have been growing up surrounded by technology. On the other hand, digital immigrants are born before 1980s and learned how to use technology later in life. Objectives: Goal of the paper is to explore attitudes of digital native students on the course of Business Informatics at higher educational institutions (HEIs), and to compare them with attitudes of digital immigrants. Methods/Approach: The survey was conducted i...

[Hand hygiene technique assessment using electronic equipment in 26 Hungarian healthcare institutions].

Science.gov (United States)

Lehotsky, Ákos; Morvai, Júlia; Szilágyi, László; Bánsághi, Száva; Benkó, Alíz; Haidegger, Tamás

2017-07-01

Hand hygiene is probably the most effective tool of nosocomial infection prevention, however, proper feedback and control is needed to develop the individual hand hygiene practice. Assessing the efficiency of modern education tools, and digital demonstration and verification equipment during their wide-range deployment. 1269 healthcare workers took part in a training organized by our team. The training included the assessment of the participants' hand hygiene technique to identify the most often missed areas. The hand hygiene technique was examined by a digital device. 33% of the participants disinfected their hands incorrectly. The most often missed sites are the fingertips (33% on the left hand, 37% on the right hand) and the thumbs (42% on the left hand, 32% on the right hand). The feedback has a fundamental role in the development of the hand hygiene technique. With the usage of electronic devices feedback can be provided efficiently and simply. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(29): 1143-1148.

Finding the Genesis for a Thesis

Science.gov (United States)

Caroll, Joyce Armstrong

2013-01-01

This article describes a prewriting heuristics strategy that can help students find the genesis of their thesis. The 3 functions of the heuristic procedure are that it aids in retrieving relevant information stored in the mind; draws attention to important information that can be further researched or accessed; and prepares the mind for the…

Photovoltaic technologies and the genesis project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuwano, Y.

1994-01-01

In this paper, the author first presents briefly global environmental problems and energy problems, as well as recent trends in representative types of solar cell. Next, he gives examples of applications for these solar cells, and finally discusses future prospects for solar cells in the form of the GENESIS project. (TEC). 12 figs., 4 refs

Digital techniques in simulation, communication and control. Proceedings of the IMACS European meeting held at University of Patras, Patras, Greece, July 9-12, 1984

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tzafestas, S G

1985-01-01

The book contains 90 papers which are classified in the following five parts: Modelling and simulation; Digital signal processing and 2-D system design; Information and communication systems; Control systems; and Applications (robotics, industrial and miscellaneous applications). The volume reflects the state-of-art of the field of digital techniques. (Auth.).

Decrease of tropical cyclone genesis frequency in the western North Pacific since 1960s

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Feng; Li, Tim; Liu, Jia; Bi, Mingyu; Peng, Melinda

2018-03-01

Tropical cyclone (TC) genesis frequency in the western North Pacific (WNP) during 1960-2014 shows a step-by-step decrease on interdecadal timescale, in accordance to the phase of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO). The environmental parameters responsible for the interdecadal change of TC genesis frequency were investigated. It was found that vertical wind shear especially the zonal wind shear plays a critical role, while other parameters such as sea surface temperature (SST), vertical velocity, divergence, humidity and maximum potential intensity cannot explain the step-by-step decrease of TC genesis frequency. A further diagnosis shows that the interdecadal change of vertical wind shear is caused by SST and associated rainfall pattern changes across the Indo-Pacific Ocean. A stronger warming in the Indian Ocean/western Pacific from 1960-1976 to 1977-1998 led to enhanced convection over the Maritime Continent and thus strengthened vertical shear over the key TC genesis region in the WNP. A La Nina-like SST pattern change from 1977-1998 to 1999-2014 led to a strengthened Walker circulation in the tropical Pacific, which further enhanced the vertical shear and decreased TC genesis frequency in the WNP.

Intrarater reliability of hand held dynamometry in measuring lower extremity isometric strength using a portable stabilization device.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Steven M; Cheng, M Samuel; Smith, A Russell; Kolber, Morey J

2017-02-01

Hand held dynamometry (HHD) is a more objective way to quantify muscle force production (MP) compared to traditional manual muscle testing. HHD reliability can be negatively impacted by both the strength of the tester and the subject particularly in the lower extremities due to larger muscle groups. The primary aim of this investigation was to assess intrarater reliability of HHD with use of a portable stabilization device for lower extremity MP in an athletic population. Isometric lower extremity strength was measured for bilateral lower extremities including hip abductors, external rotators, adductors, knee extensors, and ankle plantar flexors was measured in a sample of healthy recreational runners (8 male, 7 females, = 30 limbs) training for a marathon. These measurements were assessed using an intrasession intrarater reliability design. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated using 3,1 model based on the single rater design. The standard error of measurement (SEM) for each muscle group was also calculated. ICC were excellent ranging from ICC (3,1) = 0.93-0.98 with standard error of measurements ranging from 0.58 to 17.2 N. This study establishes the use of a HHD with a portable stabilization device as demonstrating good reliability within testers for measuring lower extremity muscle performance in an active healthy population. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hands on, mobiles on The use of a digital narrative as a scaffolding remedy in a classical science centre

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Kahr-Højland

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines an educational design experiment which aimed to support young people’s involvement and reflection in the exhibition at a Danish science centre. The experiment consisted in the examination of the design and implementation of a mobile phone facilitated narrative, which was planned as a so-called scaffolding remedy in the hands-on based exhibition. The digital narrative, called EGO-TRAP, was developed using Design-Based Research as the overall methodological framework. The study of students’ interactions in the exhibition suggests, among other things, that because of its quality as a digital narrative, EGO-TRAP scaffolds pleasurable engagement and counteracts the tendency of "random button pressing" that often occurs in classical science centre exhibitions. In this connection, the mobile phone plays an essential role due to the fact that it, as the favoured media by the young students, offers an experience which they describe as both personal and flexible.

D0 calorimeter electronics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schamberger, R.D.

1991-01-01

A detailed description of the electronics used to readout the signals from the D0 Uranium-Liquid Argon Calorimeter is presented. The three major components of the readout system are the charge sensitive preamps, the shaping and sample and hold circuits, and the Analog to Digital converters. The very low noise preamps achieve an input noise equivalent to 2000e's + 3000e's per nanofarad of input capacitance. The coherent noise in the system is very low, less than 1/20 of an ADC count which is equivalent to about 200 KeV of energy incident on the detector. The ADC system contains a 12 bit, 5 μsecond successive approximation digitizer. We maintain a 15 bit dynamic range by automatically amplifying small signals after they are held, but before digitization. The ADC also contains pedestal and limit memory, to allow (on a channel by channel basis) offset subtraction, and suppression of small signals, symmetrically around zero signal. (orig.)

Augustine on redemption in Genesis 1�3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edward L. Smither

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Many theologians, including those concerned with theology of mission, frame the dramaof God�s story and mission (missio Dei through the three major acts of creation, fall andredemption. Others add that the new creation ought to be regarded as a fourth act. Althoughthis framework describes the entire biblical narrative, creation, fall and the hope of redemptionare, of course, quite present in the first three chapters of Genesis. In this article, I endeavouredto engage with the commentaries of the African church father Augustine of Hippo (354�430 CE to grasp his thoughts on redemption in Genesis 1�3. In his Genesis works, Augustinewas primarily concerned with clarifying the doctrine of creation and, relatively speaking, hadfar less to say about redemption. That said, Augustine was, quite interested with Scripture�sstory of redemption in his magnum opus De Civitate Dei [City of God]. Thus, in this article, Iexplored two major questions: firstly, why did Augustine pay so little attention to redemptionin Genesis 1�3? Secondly, how did he articulate and relate redemption in these chapters? Itwas shown that whilst his primary focus was to articulate creation, his thoughts on redemptionwere probably limited some because of the insufficiency of his Old Latin Bible translation andperhaps because of other distractions in ministry. Furthermore, it was argued that Augustine�sdoctrine of redemption was a subset of his discussion on creation � specifically, that the secondAdam (Christ brought new life to God�s image bearers affected by the fall of the first Adam.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: My aim was to establish Augustine�sthoughts on redemption as a point of dialogue for theologians of mission endeavouring toclarify a theology of mission. As most mission theologians do not consult Augustine in theirwork and as most early Christian scholars do not read Augustine missionally, this studyoffered fresh insights for

Performance of hand-held whole-breast ultrasound based on BI-RADS in women with mammographically negative dense breast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youk, Ji Hyun; Kim, Eun-Kyung; Kim, Min Jung; Kwak, Jin Young; Son, Eun Ju

2011-01-01

To assess the performance of breast ultrasound based on BI-RADS final assessment categories in women with mammographically negative dense breast. Of 3,820 cases with mammographically negative dense breast and subsequent hand-held bilateral whole-breast ultrasound, a total of 1,507 cases in 1,046 women who had biopsy or at least 2-year follow-up ultrasound constituted the basis of this retrospective study. Cancer rate of each sonographic BI-RADS category was determined and medical audit was performed separately in screening-general, screening-treated, and diagnostic group. A total of 43 cases (2.9%) were confirmed as malignancy. Cancer rate among BI-RADS categories was significantly different (p < 0.0001). Among three groups, the cancer rate was significantly different (p < 0.0001) and the highest in diagnostic group (15.8%, 22 of 139). Abnormal interpretation rate, PPV of biopsy performed, cancer detection rate, and rate of early stage cancer, and the size of invasive cancer were significantly different among three groups and the highest in diagnostic group. Regarding cancer characteristics, the proportion of advanced cancer was the highest in diagnostic group. Breast ultrasound based on BI-RADS as an adjunctive to negative mammography can be useful for predicting malignancy in women with dense breast. (orig.)

Audio-magnetotelluric (AMT) study to investigate the genesis of Mujil hill

Science.gov (United States)

Rahmania, Suryanto, Wiwit

2017-07-01

Gunung Mujil is an isolated hill located near Pondoworejo village, Kalibawang sub-district, Kulon Progo district, and Special Province of Yogyakarta. The hill is part of the eastern Kulon Progo mountain range extended relatively in the North-South direction. The lithology of the hill consists of andesite breccia and it's similar with the Old Andesite Formation that built the Kulon Progo Mountains. There are at least two hypothesis about the genesis and the formation mechanism of this hill, (1) it was formed by debris mass from Kulon Progo Mountains, and (2) ) it was formed by an intrusion. Our study intended to determine the subsurface resistivity below the hill and to relating those results to with the scenario of the genesis of the Mujil hill. We conducted Audio-magnetotellurics (AMT) measurements along two lines survey crossing the Mujil hill consisting of 20 measurements. Since the measurements are located near the villages, most of the data has a fair to bad quality and only one station yielded an excellent data. A 1D Forward modeling was then applied to find best-fit model of the AMT data. The results shows that the Mujil hill was built by debris mass of the Old Andesite Formation from Kulon Progo mountain which is represented by a lower resistivity value under the Mujil hill.

Safety analysis of a pool Genesis II irradiator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodrigues Junior, Ary de A.

2011-01-01

The Genesis II Irradiator manufactured by GRAT * STAR Inc. (USA) is a category III gamma irradiator in which the sealed source is contained in a water filled storage pool and is shielded permanently, i.e. the material has to move down to the source. Even though the pool is 5.6 m deep, what would happen if the water level lowered? There are a series of safety devices that will avoid this situation and calculations show that the water level has to be very low in order to deliver a significant dose; moreover, only in case a person remains at the border of the pool for a long time this would be risky. In conclusion, it is practically impossible for someone to be exposed to radiation from a Genesis II Irradiator source. (author)

Every Day a New 3D Printing Material

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Bill; Mona, Lynn; Wilson, Greg; Seamans, Jeff; McAninch, Steve; Stout, Heath

2017-01-01

A handful of technological episodes: fire, wheel and axle, Industrial Revolution, Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction, the transistor, and the digital age, have historically altered humanity. We are now witnessing/participating in the next transformational technology: 3D printing. Although dating back nearly 30 years, the technology…

An Enhanced Data Integrity Model In Mobile Cloud Environment Using Digital Signature Algorithm And Robust Reversible Watermarking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boukari Souley

2017-10-01

Full Text Available the increase use of hand held devices such as smart phones to access multimedia content in the cloud is increasing with rise and growth in information technology. Mobile cloud computing is increasingly used today because it allows users to have access to variety of resources in the cloud such as image video audio and software applications with minimal usage of their inbuilt resources such as storage memory by using the one available in the cloud. The major challenge faced with mobile cloud computing is security. Watermarking and digital signature are some techniques used to provide security and authentication on user data in the cloud. Watermarking is a technique used to embed digital data within a multimedia content such as image video or audio in order to prevent authorized access to those content by intruders whereas digital signature is used to identify and verify user data when accessed. In this work we implemented digital signature and robust reversible image watermarking in order enhance mobile cloud computing security and integrity of data by providing double authentication techniques. The results obtained show the effectiveness of combining the two techniques robust reversible watermarking and digital signature by providing strong authentication to ensures data integrity and extract the original content watermarked without changes.

Slip rate and tremor genesis in Cascadia

Science.gov (United States)

Wech, Aaron G.; Bartlow, Noel M.

2014-01-01

At many plate boundaries, conditions in the transition zone between seismogenic and stable slip produce slow earthquakes. In the Cascadia subduction zone, these events are consistently observed as slow, aseismic slip on the plate interface accompanied by persistent tectonic tremor. However, not all slow slip at other plate boundaries coincides spatially and temporally with tremor, leaving the physics of tremor genesis poorly understood. Here we analyze seismic, geodetic, and strainmeter data in Cascadia to observe for the first time a large, tremor-generating slow earthquake change from tremor-genic to silent and back again. The tremor falls silent at reduced slip speeds when the migrating slip front pauses as it loads the stronger adjacent fault segment to failure. The finding suggests that rheology and slip-speed-regulated stressing rate control tremor genesis, and the same section of fault can slip both with and without detectable tremor, limiting tremor's use as a proxy for slip.

Teaching digital pathology: The international school of digital pathology and proposed syllabus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincenzo Della Mea

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Digital pathology is an interdisciplinary field where competency in pathology, laboratory techniques, informatics, computer science, information systems, engineering, and even biology converge. This implies that teaching students about digital pathology requires coverage, expertise, and hands-on experience in all these disciplines. With this in mind, a syllabus was developed for a digital pathology summer school aimed at professionals in the aforementioned fields, as well as trainees and doctoral students. The aim of this communication is to share the context, rationale, and syllabus for this school of digital pathology.

Digitized hand-wrist radiographs: comparison of subjective and software-derived image quality at various compression ratios.

Science.gov (United States)

McCord, Layne K; Scarfe, William C; Naylor, Rachel H; Scheetz, James P; Silveira, Anibal; Gillespie, Kevin R

2007-05-01

The objectives of this study were to compare the effect of JPEG 2000 compression of hand-wrist radiographs on observer image quality qualitative assessment and to compare with a software-derived quantitative image quality index. Fifteen hand-wrist radiographs were digitized and saved as TIFF and JPEG 2000 images at 4 levels of compression (20:1, 40:1, 60:1, and 80:1). The images, including rereads, were viewed by 13 orthodontic residents who determined the image quality rating on a scale of 1 to 5. A quantitative analysis was also performed by using a readily available software based on the human visual system (Image Quality Measure Computer Program, version 6.2, Mitre, Bedford, Mass). ANOVA was used to determine the optimal compression level (P quality. When we used quantitative indexes, the JPEG 2000 images had lower quality at all compression ratios compared with the original TIFF images. There was excellent correlation (R2 >0.92) between qualitative and quantitative indexes. Image Quality Measure indexes are more sensitive than subjective image quality assessments in quantifying image degradation with compression. There is potential for this software-based quantitative method in determining the optimal compression ratio for any image without the use of subjective raters.

Is the poleward migration of tropical cyclone maximum intensity associated with a poleward migration of tropical cyclone genesis?

Science.gov (United States)

Daloz, Anne Sophie; Camargo, Suzana J.

2018-01-01

A recent study showed that the global average latitude where tropical cyclones achieve their lifetime-maximum intensity has been migrating poleward at a rate of about one-half degree of latitude per decade over the last 30 years in each hemisphere. However, it does not answer a critical question: is the poleward migration of tropical cyclone lifetime-maximum intensity associated with a poleward migration of tropical cyclone genesis? In this study we will examine this question. First we analyze changes in the environmental variables associated with tropical cyclone genesis, namely entropy deficit, potential intensity, vertical wind shear, vorticity, skin temperature and specific humidity at 500 hPa in reanalysis datasets between 1980 and 2013. Then, a selection of these variables is combined into two tropical cyclone genesis indices that empirically relate tropical cyclone genesis to large-scale variables. We find a shift toward greater (smaller) average potential number of genesis at higher (lower) latitudes over most regions of the Pacific Ocean, which is consistent with a migration of tropical cyclone genesis towards higher latitudes. We then examine the global best track archive and find coherent and significant poleward shifts in mean genesis position over the Pacific Ocean basins.

Adam. Příběh prvního člověka v knize Genesis a v Koránu

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mlada Mikulicová

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In both books Adam is presented as a prototypical man created from physical elements and endowed with divine inspiration that makes him capable of rational actions. While Genesis narrates the story of Adam from his creation to his death, stressing chronology and future development in history, the Qur’an’s rendering is fragmentary. Of vast underlying popular traditions on Adam and Eve, Genesis previews the history of God’s covenant and salvific action towards humankind while the Qur’an persists on the theme of human disobedience and God’s absolute governance. Despite common themes as the createdness of man, his superiority over the rest of the creation, the complementary nature of human being as man and woman, the loss of happiness through disobedience to God’s law, the two stories differ in interpretation. While the acceptance of evil into human heart is reflected as voluntary in Genesis, the Qur’an finds excuse in the revolt of Satan who is shown in a more active role than man. Eliminating the notions of man as the image of God, and the final abolishment of evil, the Qur’an uses Adam’s story to demonstrate the principal axioms of Islamic doctrine: God must be obeyed and Satan’s lures avoided else man will not attain the Garden; Adam is a prototypal prophet, informing of these truths. Adam and Eve, according to the narration of the Book of Genesis, represent human existence in the drama of knowing evil and distress, hiding from God, and hearing his promise of future salvation that begins to unroll in their progeny. V biblicke knize Genesis i v Koranu je Adam představen jako prototyp člověka stvořeneho z fyzickych prvků a „Božiho vdechnuti“ racionality. Biblicke vypravěni je chronologicky přiběh, Koran zmiňuje pouze některe časti sparsatim v deseti různych surach. Genesis jakožto prolog k biblickemu celku vybira tradični latky k dokumentaci Božich dějin spasy, zatimco Koran eliminuje všechno, co nesouvisi

Successful replantation in ten-digit amputation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kantarci, Umit; Cepel, Selim; Buldu, Halil

2010-01-01

Amputations involving ten digits are very rare because of different lengths of the digits. A 34-year-old man working in a printing house presented one hour after guillotine amputation involving all ten digits. Surgery was initiated 80 minutes after admission and took seven hours. Under axillary anesthesia, the operation was performed by two teams each consisting of two microsurgeons and two assistants. Replantation was completed without the use of any skin graft or flap. Fingertip examination showed poor arterial circulation in the second, third, and fourth digits of the left hand after 24 hours of replantation and surgical exploration was performed, during which anastomosis of the ulnar digital artery of the second digit was re-established and a Y-shaped vein graft was placed at the level of the third web to restore revascularization of the third and fourth digits. However, these interventions did not prevent the development of necrosis in the distal segment of the fourth digit which resulted in dry gangrene that required amputation. After 38 months of replantation, radiographic examination showed complete union in all fingers without malunion or damage to the joint surface and about 8 degrees of medial angulation in the proximal phalanx of the fourth digit of the right hand. The patient did not have difficulty in performing daily activities and had a considerably good pinching. Losses of active range of motion of the metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal joints were within the rage of 10 to 30 degrees in both hands. In the assessment of sensation, static and dynamic two-point discrimination test results were 6.1 mm and 4.0 mm, respectively.

Genesis nature of financial strategy

OpenAIRE

O.V. Pashchenko

2015-01-01

The article is devoted to the study of the origin and history of the interpretation of the genesis of «strategy», «financial strategy», its elements and composite types. Scientists studied different views on the concept of strategy. Several specific positions founders of different approaches to define the strategy of schools operating strategies involved in the formulation and implementation of the concept of «strategy». Evaluation of different schools of strategies that deepened understandin...

ABRAHAM IN GALATIANS AND IN GENESIS1

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In Genesis 12-25, attention is paid to the promise of land and on Abraham as a blessing to ... It is a truism to claim that Abraham serves as an important figure in both the ..... them rest (Jos 21:43), became the ground for hope for the people who.

Using an Analysis of Behavior Change to Inform Effective Digital Intervention Design: How Did the PRIMIT Website Change Hand Hygiene Behavior Across 8993 Users?

Science.gov (United States)

Ainsworth, B; Steele, M; Stuart, B; Joseph, J; Miller, S; Morrison, L; Little, P; Yardley, L

2017-06-01

In designing digital interventions for healthcare, it is important to understand not just whether interventions work but also how and for whom-including whether individual intervention components have different effects, whether a certain usage threshold is required to change behavior in each intervention and whether usage differs across population subgroups. We investigated these questions using data from a large trial of the digital PRimary care trial of a website based Infection control intervention to Modify Influenza-like illness and respiratory tract infection Transmission) (PRIMIT) intervention, which aimed to reduce respiratory tract infections (RTIs) by increasing hand hygiene behavior. Baseline and follow-up questionnaires measured behaviors, intentions and attitudes in hand hygiene. In conjunction with objective measures of usage of the four PRIMIT sessions, we analysed these observational data to examine mechanisms of behavior change in 8993 intervention users. We found that the PRIMIT intervention changed behavior, intentions and attitudes, and this change was associated with reduced RTIs. The largest hand hygiene change occurred after the first session, with incrementally smaller changes after each subsequent session, suggesting that engagement with the core behavior change techniques included in the first session was necessary and sufficient for behavior change. The intervention was equally effective for men and women, older and younger people and was particularly effective for those with lower levels of education. Our well-powered analysis has implications for intervention development. We were able to determine a 'minimum threshold' of intervention engagement that is required for hand hygiene change, and we discuss the potential implications this (and other analyses of this type) may have for further intervention development. We also discuss the application of similar analyses to other interventions.

A New Total Digital Smile Planning Technique (3D-DSP to Fabricate CAD-CAM Mockups for Esthetic Crowns and Veneers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F. Cattoni

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Recently, the request of patients is changed in terms of not only esthetic but also previsualization therapy planning. The aim of this study is to evaluate a new 3D-CAD-CAM digital planning technique that uses a total digital smile process. Materials and Methods. Study participants included 28 adult dental patients, aged 19 to 53 years, with no oral, periodontal, or systemic diseases. For each patient, 3 intra- and extraoral pictures and intraoral digital impressions were taken. The digital images improved from the 2D Digital Smile System software and the scanner stereolithographic (STL file was matched into the 3D-Digital Smile System to obtain a virtual previsualization of teeth and smile design. Then, the mockups were milled using a CAM system. Minimally invasive preparation was carried out on the enamel surface with the mockups as position guides. Results. The patients found both the digital smile design previsualization (64.3% and the milling mockup test (85.7% very effective. Conclusions. The new total 3D digital planning technique is a predictably and minimally invasive technique, allows easy diagnosis, and improves the communication with the patient and helps to reduce the working time and the errors usually associated with the classical prosthodontic manual step.

Tropical cyclone genesis in the Southern Hemisphere and its relationship with the ENSO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kuleshov, Y.; Qi, L. [Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Melbourne, VIC (Australia). National Climate Centre; Chane Ming, F.; Chouaibou, I.; Hoareau, C. [UMR CNRS-Meteo-France-Univ. de la Reunion, La Reunion (France). Lab. de l' Atmosphere et des Cyclones; Roux, F. [Paul Sabatier Univ., CNRS, Toulouse (France). Lab. d' Aerologie

2009-07-01

Tropical cyclogenesis climatology over the South Indian and South Pacific Oceans has been developed using a new tropical cyclone (TC) archive for the Southern Hemisphere, and changes in geographical distribution of areas favourable for TC genesis related to changes in the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases have been investigated. To explain these changes, large-scale environmental variables which influence TC genesis and development such as sea surface temperatures (SSTs), relative humidity in mid-troposphere, vertical wind shear and lower tropospheric vorticity have been examined. In the South Indian Ocean, reduction of TC genesis in the western part of the basin and its increase in the eastern part as well as displacement of the area favourable for TC genesis further away from the equator during La Nina events compared to El Nino events can be explained by changes in geographical distribution of relative humidity and vorticity across the basin as primary contributors; positive anomalies of SSTs observed during La Nina seasons in the eastern part of the basin additionally contribute to enhanced cyclogenesis near the Western Australia. In the South Pacific Ocean, changes in geographical distribution of relative humidity and vorticity appear to be the key large-scale environmental factors responsible for enhanced TC genesis in the eastern (western) part of the basin as well as for the northeast (southwest) shift of points of cyclogenesis during El Nino (La Nina) events, with vertical wind shear and SSTs as additional contributing large-scale environmental variables. (orig.)

75 FR 69458 - Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Genesis Solar Energy Project and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-12

..., LVRWB09B2520] Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Genesis Solar Energy Project [email protected] . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Genesis Solar, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, filed right-of-way (ROW) application CACA-048880 for the proposed Genesis Solar Energy...

The Learning Preferences of Digital Learners in K-12 Schools in China

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Junfeng; Huang, Ronghuai; Kinshuk

2016-01-01

Students grown up with digital technology and Internet are called digital natives or net generation. All others, who grew up without so much immersion with digital technologies are called digital immigrants. Researchers held different ideas on whether a new generation of learners existed. One of the foci of the debate is on the appropriateness of…

The 2D:4D Marker and Different Forms of Internet Use Disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marko Müller

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Internet use disorder (IUD presents a growing problem worldwide. Among others, it manifests in loss of control over Internet usage and social problems due to problematic Internet use. Although IUD currently is not an official diagnosis in DSM-5 or ICD-10, mounting evidence suggests that IUD indeed could be categorized as a behavioral addiction. On a systemic neuroscientific level, IUD is well characterized and dysfunctions in the fronto-striatal-limbic loop have been observed in persons being afflicted with IUD. On a molecular level underlying these neural dysfunctions less is known. Therefore, the present research investigates the influence of prenatal testosterone as measured via the 2D:4D marker of the hand on IUD. Testosterone represents an interesting hormonal marker, because sex differences in IUD have been observed, e.g., males show higher tendencies toward Internet gaming disorder (IGD or females toward overusage of online social networks (both compared to the contrary sex. In N = 217 participants associations between the 2D:4D marker of the hand and both unspecified IUD and specific forms of IUD were investigated. It appeared that more female hands (right side; characterized by higher digit ratio of the index to the ring finger, i.e., >1, meaning lower prenatal testosterone were associated with lower IGD (rho = −0.17, p = 0.01, N = 211. This effect was driven by the facet of loss of control of Internet Gaming in the whole sample (rho = −0.20, p < 0.01, N = 211 and the female subsample (rho = −0.20, p = 0.02, N(f = 137. Aside from this, a negative association appeared between the facet of loss of control of generalized IUD and the right digit ratio in males underlining earlier work. In sum, the present work demonstrates that the 2D:4D marker is an interesting marker for Internet addiction and can be easily included as a biomarker to understand the biological underpinnings of Internet (over-usage.

The 2D:4D Marker and Different Forms of Internet Use Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Marko; Brand, Matthias; Mies, Julia; Lachmann, Bernd; Sariyska, Rayna Yordanova; Montag, Christian

2017-01-01

Internet use disorder (IUD) presents a growing problem worldwide. Among others, it manifests in loss of control over Internet usage and social problems due to problematic Internet use. Although IUD currently is not an official diagnosis in DSM-5 or ICD-10, mounting evidence suggests that IUD indeed could be categorized as a behavioral addiction. On a systemic neuroscientific level, IUD is well characterized and dysfunctions in the fronto-striatal-limbic loop have been observed in persons being afflicted with IUD. On a molecular level underlying these neural dysfunctions less is known. Therefore, the present research investigates the influence of prenatal testosterone as measured via the 2D:4D marker of the hand on IUD. Testosterone represents an interesting hormonal marker, because sex differences in IUD have been observed, e.g., males show higher tendencies toward Internet gaming disorder (IGD) or females toward overusage of online social networks (both compared to the contrary sex). In N  = 217 participants associations between the 2D:4D marker of the hand and both unspecified IUD and specific forms of IUD were investigated. It appeared that more female hands (right side; characterized by higher digit ratio of the index to the ring finger, i.e., >1, meaning lower prenatal testosterone) were associated with lower IGD ( rho  = -0.17, p  = 0.01, N  = 211). This effect was driven by the facet of loss of control of Internet Gaming in the whole sample ( rho  = -0.20, p  negative association appeared between the facet of loss of control of generalized IUD and the right digit ratio in males underlining earlier work. In sum, the present work demonstrates that the 2D:4D marker is an interesting marker for Internet addiction and can be easily included as a biomarker to understand the biological underpinnings of Internet (over-)usage.

Estimation of percentage breast tissue density: comparison between digital mammography (2D full field digital mammography) and digital breast tomosynthesis according to different BI-RADS categories.

Science.gov (United States)

Tagliafico, A S; Tagliafico, G; Cavagnetto, F; Calabrese, M; Houssami, N

2013-11-01

To compare breast density estimated from two-dimensional full-field digital mammography (2D FFDM) and from digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) according to different Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) categories, using automated software. Institutional review board approval and written informed patient consent were obtained. DBT and 2D FFDM were performed in the same patients to allow within-patient comparison. A total of 160 consecutive patients (mean age: 50±14 years; mean body mass index: 22±3) were included to create paired data sets of 40 patients for each BI-RADS category. Automatic software (MedDensity(©), developed by Giulio Tagliafico) was used to compare the percentage breast density between DBT and 2D FFDM. The estimated breast percentage density obtained using DBT and 2D FFDM was examined for correlation with the radiologists' visual BI-RADS density classification. The 2D FFDM differed from DBT by 16.0% in BI-RADS Category 1, by 11.9% in Category 2, by 3.5% in Category 3 and by 18.1% in Category 4. These differences were highly significant (pBI-RADS categories and the density evaluated using 2D FFDM and DBT (r=0.56, pBI-RADS categories. These data are relevant for clinical practice and research studies using density in determining the risk. On DBT, breast density values were lower than with 2D FFDM, with a non-linear relationship across the classical BI-RADS categories.

A hand-held imaging probe for radio-guided surgery: physical performance and preliminary clinical experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pitre, S.; Menard, L.; Charon, Y.; Solal, M.; Garbay, J.R.

2003-01-01

Improvements in the specificity of radiopharmaceutical compounds have been paralleled by an upsurge of interest in developing small detectors to assist surgeons in localizing tumour tissue during surgery. This study reports the main technical features and physical characteristics of a new hand-held gamma camera dedicated to accurate and real-time intra-operative imaging. First clinical experience is also reported. The POCI (Per-operative Compact Imager) camera consists of a head module composed of a high-resolution interchangeable lead collimator and a CsI(Na) crystal plate optically coupled to an intensified position-sensitive diode. The current prototype has a 40-mm diameter field of view, an outer diameter of 9.5 cm, a length of 9 cm and a weight of 1.2 kg. Overall detector imaging characteristics were evaluated by technetium-99m phantom measurements. Three patients with breast cancer previously scheduled to undergo sentinel lymph node detection were selected for the preliminary clinical experience. Preoperative images of the lymphatic basin obtained using the POCI camera were compared with conventional transcutaneous explorations using a non-imaging gamma probe. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) spatial resolution was investigated in both air and scattering medium; when the phantom was placed in contact with the collimator, the POCI camera exhibited a 3.2 mm FWHM. The corresponding sensitivity was 290 cps/MBq. The preliminary clinical results showed that POCI was able to predict the number and location of all SLNs. In one case, two deep radioactive nodes missed by the gamma probe were detected on the intra-operative images. This very initial experience demonstrates that the physical performance of the POCI camera is adequate for radio-guided surgery. These results are sufficiently encouraging to prompt further evaluation studies designed to determine the specific and optimal clinical role of intra-operative imaging devices

The use of hand-held 35 mm color infrared imagery for estimates of suspended solids - A progress report. [in water pollution monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, W. F.; Whisler, F. D.; Robinette, H. R.; Finnie, D.; Cannon, T.

1975-01-01

A cost-effective aerial surveillance technique is proposed for detection and identification of suspended solids which would be operational for both governmental monitoring organizations and private individuals operating catfish farms. Sixteen catfish ponds were flown daily for seven days using two hand-held 35 mm cameras with both Kodachrome X and Ektachrome infrared film. Hue, value, and chroma designations were recorded for each pond on each date by three interpreters, and the accepted color was that recorded by at least two of the interpreters, or if there was a three hue range, the median was accepted. Relations between suspended solids and color designations were analyzed graphically, and chroma was discarded due to an apparent lack of correlation. The data obtained were then analyzed by multiple regression. Significant correlations were revealed between hue and value and total and inorganic suspended solids. If perfected, this technique could be developed to sufficent accuracy for large-scale reconnaissance surveys to monitor the quality of rivers and streams.

Correlation of Index Finger Length (2D with Height, Weight and BMI in Adult Bangladeshi Male

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karim Rezwan Hasan

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Human hand is one of the most versatile parts of the human body which plays an important role in modern medical science and evolutionary biology. By virtue of evolution and genetic arrangements, digital lengths vary from person to person according to age, sex, races, occupation or even environmental influences. It has been found that the digital lengths and their ratios are not same in different sexes and even in both hands of same individual. Specially, index to ring digit lengths and their ratios which already have been proved to represent sexual dimorphism may differ in both hands of an individual and show positive correlations with other morphological attributes like height, weight and BMI. Objectives: To analyze the variation of index finger (2D length and its correlation with height, weight and BMI in adult Bangladeshi male. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in the department of Anatomy, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka from July 2012 to June 2013 on 100 male MBBS students (20−25 years of age. With the help of digital vernier caliper measurements of index finger length (2D was recorded. Height and weight were measured by the stadiometer and weighing scale respectively. BMI was calculated from height and weight. Pearson’s correlation analysis was done to find out the correlation of index finger length with height, weight and BMI. Results: Significant correlation has been found between the lengths of index fingers (2D and height (p0.05. Conclusion: In this study, we found variation in index finger lengths of both hands of Bangladeshi male subjects, which needs further study and comparison.

Helical 3D-CT images of soft tissue tumors in the hand

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Otani, Kazuhiro; Kikuchi, Hiraku; Tan, Akihiro; Hamanishi, Chiaki; Tanaka, Seisuke [Kinki Univ., Osaka-Sayama (Japan). School of Medicine

2000-02-01

X-ray, ultrasonograph CT, MRI and angiography are used to detect tumoral lesions. Recently, helical CT has been revealed to be a useful method for the diagnosis and preoperative evaluation of soft tissue tumors, by which high quality and accurate three dimensional (3D) images can be obtained quickly. We analyzed the preoperative 3D-CT images of soft tissue tumors in the hands of 11 cases (hemangioma in 6 cases, giant cell tumor, lipoma, angiofibroma, chondrosarcoma and malignant fibro-histiocytoma in one case each). Enhanced 3D-CT clearly visualized hemangiomas and solid tumors from the surrounding tissues. The tumors could easily be observed from any direction and color-coded according to the CT number. Helical 3D-CT was thus confirmed to be useful for the diagnosis and preoperative planning by indicating the details of tumor expansion into surrounding tissues. (author)

Progression of Authorship of Scientific Articles in The Journal of Hand Surgery, 1985-2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Alex; Almeida, Neil; Cohen, Jordan S; Peck, Kathryn M; Merrell, Gregory A

2017-04-01

For scientists, authorship is academic currency. Authorship characteristics have been studied in a subset of the surgical and medical literature, but trends in the specialty of hand surgery have not yet been investigated. Specifically, a longitudinal analysis of number, educational training, sex, and geographical origin of authors has not been conducted. We explored the progression of authorship of scientific articles in a leading hand surgery journal. We recorded number of authors, number of references, degrees, and sex of the first and senior authors as well as geographical origin of the corresponding author in The Journal of Hand Surgery in 1985, 1995, 2005, and 2015. All original work was analyzed. A total of 892 articles were reviewed. The mean number of authors per article increased significantly from 2.6 in 1985 to 3.9 in 2015 and the number of references increased significantly from 13.7 in 1985 to 22.6 in 2015. There was a significant increase in the proportion of first authors with an MD/PhD, PhD, master's or bachelor's degree since 1985. During that same time period, a decrease in the proportion of first authors who held solely an MD was seen. There was a significant increase in proportion of the number of last authors with an MD/PhD, PhD or Master's degree in that same time period. There has been significant growth in publications originating from the "Far East" and "Other" regions, with 4.2% and 5.0% of publications, respectively, in 1985 having increased to 10.3% and 7.4% of publications, respectively, in 2015. Female first authorship significantly increased over the study period from 7.9% in 1985 to 22.1% of publications in 2015. There has been a significant increase in number of authors per article in The Journal of Hand Surgery. Similar to other studies, we noted shifts in the degrees most commonly held by authors, an increase in references per article, and a greater representation of international authors in the hand surgery. In addition, the

Cellulose Acetate Replica Cleaning Study of Genesis Non-Flight Sample 3CZ00327

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhlman, K. R.; Schmeling, M.; Gonzalez, C. P.; Allton, J. H.; Burnett, D. S.

2014-01-01

The Genesis mission collected solar wind and brought it back to Earth in order to provide precise knowledge of solar isotopic and elemental compositions. The ions in the solar wind were stopped in the collectors at depths on the order of 10 to a few hundred nanometers. This shallow implantation layer is critical for scientific analysis of the composition of the solar wind and must be preserved throughout sample handling, cleaning, processing, distribution, preparation and analysis. We are working interactively with the community of scientists analyzing Genesis samples, using our unique laboratory facilities -- and, where needed, our unique cleaning techniques -- to significantly enhance the science return from the Genesis mission. This work is motivated by the need to understand the submicron contamination on the collectors in the Genesis payload as recovered from the crash site in the Utah desert, and -- perhaps more importantly -- how to remove it. That is, we are evaluating the effectiveness of the wet-chemical "cleaning" steps used by various investigators, to enable them to design improved methods of stripping terrestrial contamination from surfaces while still leaving the solar-wind signal intact.

A 2D driven 3D vessel segmentation algorithm for 3D digital subtraction angiography data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spiegel, M; Hornegger, J; Redel, T; Struffert, T; Doerfler, A

2011-01-01

Cerebrovascular disease is among the leading causes of death in western industrial nations. 3D rotational angiography delivers indispensable information on vessel morphology and pathology. Physicians make use of this to analyze vessel geometry in detail, i.e. vessel diameters, location and size of aneurysms, to come up with a clinical decision. 3D segmentation is a crucial step in this pipeline. Although a lot of different methods are available nowadays, all of them lack a method to validate the results for the individual patient. Therefore, we propose a novel 2D digital subtraction angiography (DSA)-driven 3D vessel segmentation and validation framework. 2D DSA projections are clinically considered as gold standard when it comes to measurements of vessel diameter or the neck size of aneurysms. An ellipsoid vessel model is applied to deliver the initial 3D segmentation. To assess the accuracy of the 3D vessel segmentation, its forward projections are iteratively overlaid with the corresponding 2D DSA projections. Local vessel discrepancies are modeled by a global 2D/3D optimization function to adjust the 3D vessel segmentation toward the 2D vessel contours. Our framework has been evaluated on phantom data as well as on ten patient datasets. Three 2D DSA projections from varying viewing angles have been used for each dataset. The novel 2D driven 3D vessel segmentation approach shows superior results against state-of-the-art segmentations like region growing, i.e. an improvement of 7.2% points in precision and 5.8% points for the Dice coefficient. This method opens up future clinical applications requiring the greatest vessel accuracy, e.g. computational fluid dynamic modeling.

Digital collections and exhibits

CERN Document Server

Denzer, Juan

2015-01-01

Today's libraries are taking advantage of cutting-edge technologies such as flat panel displays using touch, sound, and hands-free motions to design amazing exhibits using everything from simple computer hardware to advanced technologies such as the Microsoft Kinect. Libraries of all types are striving to add new interactive experiences for their patrons through exciting digital exhibits, both online and off. Digital Collections and Exhibits takes away the mystery of designing stunning digital exhibits to spotlight library trea

Tropical cyclone genesis in the Southern Hemisphere and its relationship with the ENSO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Kuleshov

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Tropical cyclogenesis climatology over the South Indian and South Pacific Oceans has been developed using a new tropical cyclone (TC archive for the Southern Hemisphere, and changes in geographical distribution of areas favourable for TC genesis related to changes in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO phases have been investigated. To explain these changes, large-scale environmental variables which influence TC genesis and development such as sea surface temperatures (SSTs, relative humidity in mid-troposphere, vertical wind shear and lower tropospheric vorticity have been examined. In the South Indian Ocean, reduction of TC genesis in the western part of the basin and its increase in the eastern part as well as displacement of the area favourable for TC genesis further away from the equator during La Niña events compared to El Niño events can be explained by changes in geographical distribution of relative humidity and vorticity across the basin as primary contributors; positive anomalies of SSTs observed during La Niña seasons in the eastern part of the basin additionally contribute to enhanced cyclogenesis near the Western Australia. In the South Pacific Ocean, changes in geographical distribution of relative humidity and vorticity appear to be the key large-scale environmental factors responsible for enhanced TC genesis in the eastern (western part of the basin as well as for the northeast (southwest shift of points of cyclogenesis during El Niño (La Niña events, with vertical wind shear and SSTs as additional contributing large-scale environmental variables.

The tropical diabetic hand syndrome: a surgical perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Nthumba, Peter; Cavadas, Pedro C; Landin, Luis

2013-01-01

Tropical diabetic hand syndrome (TDHS) is an aggressive type of hand sepsis that results in significant morbidity and mortality among patients with diabetes in the tropics. This study set out to establish a protocol for the holistic management of TDHS to improve digit/hand salvage and function at AIC Kijabe Hospital. This prospective study examined the following demographics of patients presenting to the authors institution between October 2009 and September 2010 with TDHS: their sex, age, comorbidities, length of in-hospital stay, surgical and medical treatment, total cost of treatment, and immediate postdischarge outcomes. A total of 10 patients (3 men and 7 women) were presented with TDHS during the study period. Surgical procedures included a thorough debridement of the hand at initial presentation, followed by procedures aimed at preserving length and hand function, with digit or hand amputation when there was no possibility of salvage. Three hands were salvaged, without the need for an amputation; 2 of these, however, developed severe stiffness with resultant poor function. Fifty percent of the patients developed considerable disability; 3 of these patients had disabilities of the arm, shoulder, and hand, (DASH) scores of >90 at 6 months after treatment. TDHS appears to be more aggressive in some patients than in others; a multidisciplinary approach, with early involvement of the surgical team, and a radical surgical debridement are essential to improved outcomes. Although the goal of medical treatment (ie, glycemic control) is simple and easily achieved, surgical goals (salvage of limb or life, preservation of hand function) are more complex, costly, and difficult to achieve. Educating health care workers, diabetic patients, and their relatives on hand care is an important preventive measure. Diligence in taking antidiabetic medicine, early presentation, and appropriate care of TDHS are required for meaningful improvement in outcomes of patients with

[Fabrication and accuracy research on 3D printing dental model based on cone beam computed tomography digital modeling].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hui-Rong; Yin, Le-Feng; Liu, Yan-Li; Yan, Li-Yi; Wang, Ning; Liu, Gang; An, Xiao-Li; Liu, Bin

2018-04-01

The aim of this study is to build a digital dental model with cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), to fabricate a virtual model via 3D printing, and to determine the accuracy of 3D printing dental model by comparing the result with a traditional dental cast. CBCT of orthodontic patients was obtained to build a digital dental model by using Mimics 10.01 and Geomagic studio software. The 3D virtual models were fabricated via fused deposition modeling technique (FDM). The 3D virtual models were compared with the traditional cast models by using a Vernier caliper. The measurements used for comparison included the width of each tooth, the length and width of the maxillary and mandibular arches, and the length of the posterior dental crest. 3D printing models had higher accuracy compared with the traditional cast models. The results of the paired t-test of all data showed that no statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups (P>0.05). Dental digital models built with CBCT realize the digital storage of patients' dental condition. The virtual dental model fabricated via 3D printing avoids traditional impression and simplifies the clinical examination process. The 3D printing dental models produced via FDM show a high degree of accuracy. Thus, these models are appropriate for clinical practice.

Systems and methods for automatically identifying and linking names in digital resources

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Charles T.; Lyons, Catherine M.; Roston, Gerald P.; Garrity, George M.

2017-06-06

The present invention provides systems and methods for automatically identifying name-like-strings in digital resources, matching these name-like-string against a set of names held in an expertly curated database, and for those name-like-strings found in said database, enhancing the content by associating additional matter with the name, wherein said matter includes information about the names that is held within said database and pointers to other digital resources which include the same name and it synonyms.

Response of the Karst Phreatic Zone to Flood Events in a Major River (Bohemian Karst, Czech Republic) and its Implication for Cave Genesis

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Vysoká, H.; Bruthans, J.; Žák, Karel; Mls, J.

2012-01-01

Roč. 74, č. 1 (2012), s. 65-81 ISSN 1090-6924 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP210/10/1760 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30130516 Keywords : karst * cave genesis * Bohemian Karst Subject RIV: DB - Geology ; Mineralogy Impact factor: 0.474, year: 2012

Apropiación por la mirada, La paradoja de la "huella digital" en la imagen fotográfica

OpenAIRE

Vélez Salazar, Gabriel Mario

2003-01-01

La imagen fotográfica, por la forma como se produce su génesis técnica, se ha relacionado con la huella y el efecto indicial que supone . No obstante con la llegada de la imagen digital y el cambio de naturaleza asociado, ¿es acaso posible sostener mismo principio? The photographical image, because of the way its technical genesis is produced, has been related with the prints and the sign effects it supposes. Nonetheless, with the arrival of the digital image and the nature change as...

Genesis Eco Systems, Inc. soil washing process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cena, R.J.

1994-01-01

The Genesis soil washing system is an integrated system of modular design allowing for maximum material handling capabilities, with optimized use of space for site mobility. The Surfactant Activated Bio-enhanced Remediation Equipment-Generation 1 (SABRE-1, Patent Applied For) modification was developed specifically for removing petroleum byproducts from contaminated soils. Scientifically formulated surfactants, introduced by high pressure spray nozzles, displace the contaminant from the surface of the soil particles into the process solution. Once the contaminant is dispersed into the liquid fraction of the process, it is either mechanically removed, chemically oxidized, or biologically oxidized. The contaminated process water is pumped through the Genesis Biosep (Patent Applied For) filtration system where the fines portion is flocculated, and the contaminant-rich liquid portion is combined with an activated mixture of nutrients and carefully selected bacteria to decompose the hydrocarbon fraction. The treated soil and dewatered fines are transferred to a bermed stockpile where bioremediation continues during drying. The process water is reclaimed, filtered, and recycled within the system

A simple hand-held magnet array for efficient and reproducible SABRE hyperpolarisation using manual sample shaking.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Peter M; Jackson, Scott; Parrott, Andrew J; Nordon, Alison; Duckett, Simon B; Halse, Meghan E

2018-07-01

Signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) is a hyperpolarisation technique that catalytically transfers nuclear polarisation from parahydrogen, the singlet nuclear isomer of H 2 , to a substrate in solution. The SABRE exchange reaction is carried out in a polarisation transfer field (PTF) of tens of gauss before transfer to a stronger magnetic field for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) detection. In the simplest implementation, polarisation transfer is achieved by shaking the sample in the stray field of a superconducting NMR magnet. Although convenient, this method suffers from limited reproducibility and cannot be used with NMR spectrometers that do not have appreciable stray fields, such as benchtop instruments. Here, we use a simple hand-held permanent magnet array to provide the necessary PTF during sample shaking. We find that the use of this array provides a 25% increase in SABRE enhancement over the stray field approach, while also providing improved reproducibility. Arrays with a range of PTFs were tested, and the PTF-dependent SABRE enhancements were found to be in excellent agreement with comparable experiments carried out using an automated flow system where an electromagnet is used to generate the PTF. We anticipate that this approach will improve the efficiency and reproducibility of SABRE experiments carried out using manual shaking and will be particularly useful for benchtop NMR, where a suitable stray field is not readily accessible. The ability to construct arrays with a range of PTFs will also enable the rapid optimisation of SABRE enhancement as function of PTF for new substrate and catalyst systems. © 2017 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

High-accuracy 3-D modeling of cultural heritage: the digitizing of Donatello's "Maddalena".

Science.gov (United States)

Guidi, Gabriele; Beraldin, J Angelo; Atzeni, Carlo

2004-03-01

Three-dimensional digital modeling of Heritage works of art through optical scanners, has been demonstrated in recent years with results of exceptional interest. However, the routine application of three-dimensional (3-D) modeling to Heritage conservation still requires the systematic investigation of a number of technical problems. In this paper, the acquisition process of the 3-D digital model of the Maddalena by Donatello, a wooden statue representing one of the major masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance which was swept away by the Florence flood of 1966 and successively restored, is described. The paper reports all the steps of the acquisition procedure, from the project planning to the solution of the various problems due to range camera calibration and to material non optically cooperative. Since the scientific focus is centered on the 3-D model overall dimensional accuracy, a methodology for its quality control is described. Such control has demonstrated how, in some situations, the ICP-based alignment can lead to incorrect results. To circumvent this difficulty we propose an alignment technique based on the fusion of ICP with close-range digital photogrammetry and a non-invasive procedure in order to generate a final accurate model. In the end detailed results are presented, demonstrating the improvement of the final model, and how the proposed sensor fusion ensure a pre-specified level of accuracy.

Value of wireless personal digital assistants for practice: perceptions of advanced practice nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Garrett, Bernard; Klein, Gerri

2008-08-01

The aims were to explore advanced practice nurses' perceptions on wireless Personal Digital Assistant technologies, to establish the type and range of tools that would be useful to support their practice and to identify any requirements and limitations that may impact the implementation of wireless Personal Digital Assistants in practice. The wireless Personal Digital Assistant is becoming established as a hand-held computing tool for healthcare professionals. The reflections of advanced practice nurses' about the value of wireless Personal Digital Assistants and its potential to contribute to improved patient care has not been investigated. A qualitative interpretivist design was used to explore advanced practice nurses' perceptions on the value of wireless Personal Digital Assistant technologies to support their practice. The data were collected using survey questionnaires and individual and focus group interviews with nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists and information technology managers based in British Columbia, Canada. An open-coding content analysis was performed using qualitative data analysis software. Wireless Personal Digital Assistant's use supports the principles of pervasivity and is a technology rapidly being adopted by advanced practice nurses. Some nurses indicated a reluctance to integrate wireless Personal Digital Assistant technologies into their practices because of the cost and the short technological life cycle of these devices. Many of the barriers which precluded the use of wireless networks within facilities are being removed. Nurses demonstrated a complex understanding of wireless Personal Digital Assistant technologies and gave good rationales for its integration in their practice. Nurses identified improved client care as the major benefit of this technology in practice and the type and range of tools they identified included clinical reference tools such as drug and diagnostic/laboratory reference applications and wireless

The presence of aggression cues inverts the relation between digit ratio (2D:4D) and pro-social behaviour in a dictator game

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Millet, K.; Dewitte, S.

2009-01-01

Digit ratio (2D:4D) is a sexually dimorphic trait. Men have relatively shorter index (2D) compared to ring (4D) fingers than women. More masculine ratios are thought to be influenced by higher prenatal testosterone levels. In the present paper, we aim to show the context-dependency of the relation

Digitization of Blocks and Virtual Anastylosis of AN Antique Facade in Pont-Sainte (france)

Science.gov (United States)

Alby, E.; Grussenmeyer, P.; Bitard, L.; Guillemin, S.; Brunet-Gaston, V.; Gaston, C.; Rougier, R.

2017-08-01

This paper is dedicated to the digitization of blocks and virtual anastylosis of an antique façade in Pont-Sainte-Maxence (France). In 2014 during the construction of a shopping center, the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) discovered a Gallo-Roman site from the 2nd century AD. The most interesting part of the site for the study is a façade of 70 meters long by nearly 10 meters high. The state of the conservation of the blocks of the façade makes them exceptional due to the question raised by the collapse. Representative and symbolic blocks of this building have been selected for a virtual anastylosis study. The blocks discovered belong to different types: decorated architectural blocks, monumental statuary elements and details of very fine decorations. The digital reproduction of the façade will facilitate the formulation of hypothesis for the collapse of the structure. The Photogrammetry and Geomatics Group from INSA Strasbourg is in charge of the digitization, the anastylosis and the development of exploratory methods for understanding the ruin of the façade. To develop the three-dimensional model of the facade, approximately 70 blocks of various dimensions were chosen by the archaeologists. The choice of the digitization technique is made according to the following pragmatic criterion: the movable objects are acquired with a scan-arm or a hand-held scanner in the laboratory and the largest blocks are recorded by photogrammetry at the repository near Paris. The expected types of deliverables are multiple: very accurate 3D models with the most faithful representation to document the objects in the best way and with optimized size model allowing easy handling during anastylosis tests. The visual aspect of the models is also a very important issue. Indeed, textures from photos are an excellent way to bring about the realism of the virtual model, but fine details of the object are sometimes blurred by the uniformity of the color

A digital input class-D audio amplifier with sixth-order PWM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo Shumeng; Li Dongmei

2013-01-01

A digital input class-D audio amplifier with a sixth-order pulse-width modulation (PWM) modulator is presented. This modulator moves the PWM generator into the closed sigma—delta modulator loop. The noise and distortions generated at the PWM generator module are suppressed by the high gain of the forward loop of the sigma—delta modulator. Therefore, at the output of the modulator, a very clean PWM signal is acquired for driving the power stage of the class-D amplifier. A sixth-order modulator is designed to balance the performance and the system clock speed. Fabricated in standard 0.18 μm CMOS technology, this class-D amplifier achieves 110 dB dynamic range, 100 dB signal-to-noise rate, and 0.0056% total harmonic distortion plus noise. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Digital imaging in diagnostic radiology. Image quality - radiation exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schmidt, T.; Stieve, F.E.

1996-01-01

The publication contains the 37 lectures of the symposium on digital imaging in diagnostic radiology, held in November 1995 at Kloster Seeon, as well as contributions enhancing the information presented in the lectures. The publication reflects the state of the art in this subject field, discusses future trends and gives recommendations and information relating to current practice in radiology. In-depth information is given about R and D activities for the digitalisation of X-ray pictures and the image quality required to meet the purposes of modern diagnostics. Further aspects encompass radiological protection and dose optimization as well as optimization of examination methods. (vhe) [de

Novel real-time 3D radiological mapping solution for ALARA maximization, D and D assessments and radiological management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dubart, Philippe; Hautot, Felix [AREVA Group, 1 route de la Noue, Gif sur Yvette (France); Morichi, Massimo; Abou-Khalil, Roger [AREVA Group, Tour AREVA-1, place Jean Millier, Paris (France)

2015-07-01

Good management of dismantling and decontamination (D and D) operations and activities is requiring safety, time saving and perfect radiological knowledge of the contaminated environment as well as optimization for personnel dose and minimization of waste volume. In the same time, Fukushima accident has imposed a stretch to the nuclear measurement operational approach requiring in such emergency situation: fast deployment and intervention, quick analysis and fast scenario definition. AREVA, as return of experience from his activities carried out at Fukushima and D and D sites has developed a novel multi-sensor solution as part of his D and D research, approach and method, a system with real-time 3D photo-realistic spatial radiation distribution cartography of contaminated premises. The system may be hand-held or mounted on a mobile device (robot, drone, e.g). In this paper, we will present our current development based on a SLAM technology (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) and integrated sensors and detectors allowing simultaneous topographic and radiological (dose rate and/or spectroscopy) data acquisitions. This enabling technology permits 3D gamma activity cartography in real-time. (authors)

Novel real-time 3D radiological mapping solution for ALARA maximization, D and D assessments and radiological management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dubart, Philippe; Hautot, Felix; Morichi, Massimo; Abou-Khalil, Roger

2015-01-01

Good management of dismantling and decontamination (D and D) operations and activities is requiring safety, time saving and perfect radiological knowledge of the contaminated environment as well as optimization for personnel dose and minimization of waste volume. In the same time, Fukushima accident has imposed a stretch to the nuclear measurement operational approach requiring in such emergency situation: fast deployment and intervention, quick analysis and fast scenario definition. AREVA, as return of experience from his activities carried out at Fukushima and D and D sites has developed a novel multi-sensor solution as part of his D and D research, approach and method, a system with real-time 3D photo-realistic spatial radiation distribution cartography of contaminated premises. The system may be hand-held or mounted on a mobile device (robot, drone, e.g). In this paper, we will present our current development based on a SLAM technology (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) and integrated sensors and detectors allowing simultaneous topographic and radiological (dose rate and/or spectroscopy) data acquisitions. This enabling technology permits 3D gamma activity cartography in real-time. (authors)

Comparative study of anatomical normalization errors in SPM and 3D-SSP using digital brain phantom.

Science.gov (United States)

Onishi, Hideo; Matsutake, Yuki; Kawashima, Hiroki; Matsutomo, Norikazu; Amijima, Hizuru

2011-01-01

In single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) cerebral blood flow studies, two major algorithms are widely used statistical parametric mapping (SPM) and three-dimensional stereotactic surface projections (3D-SSP). The aim of this study is to compare an SPM algorithm-based easy Z score imaging system (eZIS) and a 3D-SSP system in the errors of anatomical standardization using 3D-digital brain phantom images. We developed a 3D-brain digital phantom based on MR images to simulate the effects of head tilt, perfusion defective region size, and count value reduction rate on the SPECT images. This digital phantom was used to compare the errors of anatomical standardization by the eZIS and the 3D-SSP algorithms. While the eZIS allowed accurate standardization of the images of the phantom simulating a head in rotation, lateroflexion, anteflexion, or retroflexion without angle dependency, the standardization by 3D-SSP was not accurate enough at approximately 25° or more head tilt. When the simulated head contained perfusion defective regions, one of the 3D-SSP images showed an error of 6.9% from the true value. Meanwhile, one of the eZIS images showed an error as large as 63.4%, revealing a significant underestimation. When required to evaluate regions with decreased perfusion due to such causes as hemodynamic cerebral ischemia, the 3D-SSP is desirable. In a statistical image analysis, we must reconfirm the image after anatomical standardization by all means.

Tablatures : Exposition photographique d'instruments virtuels GENESIS

OpenAIRE

Cadoz, Claude

2012-01-01

International audience; Le concept de « composer le son », introduit et expérimenté musicalement par Jean-Claude Risset à partir des années 1960 par la synthèse de sons par ordinateur, prolonge, élargit, dépasse et transforme l'acte d'écriture pour des instruments mécano-acoustiques. Il ne résout cependant pas la question de l'instrumentalité, particulièrement mise à mal avec l'ordinateur. Les technologies de modélisation et de simulation numériques pour « écrire l'instrument pour le composer...

THE SOMEŞAN PLATEAU LAKES: GENESIS, EVOLUTION AND TERRITORIAL REPARTITION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor SOROCOVSCHI

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The present paper analyzes the genesis of the lake depressions in the Someşan Plateau and the way they evolved in time and space, as well as the morphometric elements characteristic of the different genetic types of lakes. The natural lakes in this region are few and their dimensions are small; they generally appear solitarily and only rarely as lake complexes. In this category have been included the valley lakes, the lakes formed in abandoned meanders and the lakes formed in areas with landslides. The artificial lakes are more numerous and include several genetic types. The most representative are the remnant lakes formed in the depressions resulted from the exploitation of different construction materials (kaolin sands, lime stones and the anthropic salty lakes lakes formed in abandoned salt mines from the diapir area of the Hills of Dej. The rapid evolution of these types of lakes has been highlighted through the comparative analysis of the morphometric elements obtained on the basis of topometric and bathymetric measurements. The lakes arranged for pisciculture include several subtypes (ponds, fish ponds that have been identified and characterized for the fist time, their morphometric elements being determined using digital data bases, satellite images and detailed topometric maps.

Modeling the problem of many hands in organisations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lima, de T.; Royakkers, L.M.M.; Dignum, F.P.M.; Coelho, H.; Studer, R.; Woodridge, M.J.

2010-01-01

In this paper we provide a formalism to reason about the problem of many hands in organisations. This is a problem that arises whenever the organisation is responsible for some undesirable outcome but none of its members can be held responsible for the outcome. The formalism proposed here is a logic

Three-Dimensional Interpretation of Sculptural Heritage with Digital and Tangible 3D Printed Replicas

Science.gov (United States)

Saorin, José Luis; Carbonell-Carrera, Carlos; Cantero, Jorge de la Torre; Meier, Cecile; Aleman, Drago Diaz

2017-01-01

Spatial interpretation features as a skill to acquire in the educational curricula. The visualization and interpretation of three-dimensional objects in tactile devices and the possibility of digital manufacturing with 3D printers, offers an opportunity to include replicas of sculptures in teaching and, thus, facilitate the 3D interpretation of…

Using 3D Printers to Model Earth Surface Topography for Increased Student Understanding and Retention

Science.gov (United States)

Thesenga, David; Town, James

2014-05-01

visualization and exporting as a .stl file for 3D printing. A proposal for improving the method and making it more accessible to middle school aged students is provided. Using the SRTM data to print a hand-held visual representation of a portion of the Earth's surface would utilize existing technology in the school and alter how topography can be taught in the classroom. Combining methods of 2D paper representations, on-screen 3D visualizations, and 3D hand-held models, give students the opportunity to truly grasp and retain the information being provided.

Hand Grasping Synergies As Biometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Vrajeshri; Thukral, Poojita; Burns, Martin K; Florescu, Ionut; Chandramouli, Rajarathnam; Vinjamuri, Ramana

2017-01-01

Recently, the need for more secure identity verification systems has driven researchers to explore other sources of biometrics. This includes iris patterns, palm print, hand geometry, facial recognition, and movement patterns (hand motion, gait, and eye movements). Identity verification systems may benefit from the complexity of human movement that integrates multiple levels of control (neural, muscular, and kinematic). Using principal component analysis, we extracted spatiotemporal hand synergies (movement synergies) from an object grasping dataset to explore their use as a potential biometric. These movement synergies are in the form of joint angular velocity profiles of 10 joints. We explored the effect of joint type, digit, number of objects, and grasp type. In its best configuration, movement synergies achieved an equal error rate of 8.19%. While movement synergies can be integrated into an identity verification system with motion capture ability, we also explored a camera-ready version of hand synergies-postural synergies. In this proof of concept system, postural synergies performed well, but only when specific postures were chosen. Based on these results, hand synergies show promise as a potential biometric that can be combined with other hand-based biometrics for improved security.

Hand Grasping Synergies As Biometrics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramana Vinjamuri

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Recently, the need for more secure identity verification systems has driven researchers to explore other sources of biometrics. This includes iris patterns, palm print, hand geometry, facial recognition, and movement patterns (hand motion, gait, and eye movements. Identity verification systems may benefit from the complexity of human movement that integrates multiple levels of control (neural, muscular, and kinematic. Using principal component analysis, we extracted spatiotemporal hand synergies (movement synergies from an object grasping dataset to explore their use as a potential biometric. These movement synergies are in the form of joint angular velocity profiles of 10 joints. We explored the effect of joint type, digit, number of objects, and grasp type. In its best configuration, movement synergies achieved an equal error rate of 8.19%. While movement synergies can be integrated into an identity verification system with motion capture ability, we also explored a camera-ready version of hand synergies—postural synergies. In this proof of concept system, postural synergies performed well, but only when specific postures were chosen. Based on these results, hand synergies show promise as a potential biometric that can be combined with other hand-based biometrics for improved security.