Geometric analysis of medio.lateral position of patella: A new measuring tool

Background: Evaluation of medio.lateral position of patella is necessary for diagnosis and treatment of patellofemoral diseases.Objective: In the present study, we aimed to evaluate medio-lateral  patellar position differences and to define a new practical measuring tool which enables us to analyze relationships of the points at the knee.Materials and Methods: Total of 120 healthy volunteers (60 men and 60 women) were included in our study and both of their knees were measured. In the research, the gender groups and right-left differences were  evaluated. In the measurements, a four-lever measuring tool designed for this study was used. The four anatomic points of the knee which are center of patella, epicondylus lateralis, epicondylus medialis and middle point of tuberositas tibiae were used.Results: While patella is 76% lateral in the right knee, it is 90% lateral in the left knee in men. As for woman, while it is 50% lateral in the right.knee, it is 30% lateral in the left-knee. In medio.lateral patellar position, while bilateral asymmetry is 28% in men, it is 50% in women. In measurements of knees of women and men, significant differences were detected both in the right and left knees (P < 0.05 and P < 0.001).Conclusion: The patellofemoral order differences between men and women can explain anatomic reasons of patellofemoral diseases, which are encountered more in women than men.Key words: Anatomy, patella, patellofemoral order, tuberositas tibia

Determination of long-term effects of consecutive effective fresh chicken manure with solarization and verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahlia Klebb) on weed and its control in egg plant

The aim of the study was to determine the weed density and the most economical way of weed control in eggplant (Solanum melongena) fields contaminated with Verticillium dahliae (Kleb) after the application of fresh chicken manure and solarization in the second year as the same crop was grown. The effect of solarization on weed and the labor need in weed control continued in a diminishing way in the consecutive observations. With fresh chicken manure (FCM), number of weeds (number m-2) decreased but their green and dry biomass (weights g m-2) increased. The labor need (d ha-1) to control the weeds decreased. Similar results were also recorded for V. dahliae inoculation. As a result of the study, 50% of labor saving was achieved in the plots of solarization and either FCM rate combinations [sol x FCM (12 kg.m-2); sol x FCM (6 kg.m-2)] compared to the control plots. Achieved savings in labor can afford to cover the costs of solarization and FCM.Key words: Soil solarization, fresh chicken manure, Verticillium dahliae, eggplant, weed, weed control

Central region morphometry in a child brain; Age and gender differences

Background: Data on central region morphometry of a child brain is  important not only in terms of providing us with information about central region anatomy of the brain but also in terms of the help of this  information for the plans to be applied in neurosurgery.Objective: In the present study, central region morphometry of a child  brain in mid.sagittal MR images was analyzed in age and gender groups.Materials and Methods: Different points determined previously,  commissura posterior (PC) and the distances between cerebral cortex point (VCS) vertical to commissura anterior. commissura posterior line, sulcus centralis (CS), sulcus marginalis (MS), and the angle (α) between   CS-PC-MS were determined and measured together with difference of gender in three different age groups (aged 6.9, 10.13, and 14.17).Results: Central region measures of the brains of boys aged 6.17 are  higher than girls except for MS.PC distance. While VCS.PC, CS.PC, and MS-PC measures display a significant difference in the girls aged 14.17  when compared to the other age groups of 6.9 and 10.13 (P < 0.05), angle α is not significantly different in age and gender groups (P > 0.05). However, while VCS-PC, CS-PC and MS-PC distances show a significant  increase in girls beginning from the age of 14, this increase is limited in boys.Conclusion: Morphometric differences observed in different age groups in boys and girls shall contribute our evaluation of the alterations in brain development in both of genders and shall be useful in preparation of  surgical operation plans to be applied to the central region.Key words: Brain, central region, child, morphometry, magnetic resonance Imagin

CoronARe: A Coronary Artery Reconstruction Challenge

CoronARe ranks state-of-the-art methods in symbolic and tomographic coronary artery reconstruction from interventional C-arm rotational angiography. Specifically, we benchmark the performance of the methods using accurately pre-processed data, and study the effects of imperfect pre-processing conditions (segmentation and background subtraction errors). In this first iteration of the challenge, evaluation is performed in a controlled environment using digital phantom images, where accurate 3D ground truth is known

TiO2 thin film transistor by atomic layer deposition

In this study, TiO2 films were deposited using thermal Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) system. It is observed that asdeposited ALD TiO 2 films are amorphous and not suitable as TFT channel material. In order to use the film as channel material, a post-annealing process is needed. Annealed films transform into a polycrystalline form containing mixed anatase and rutile phases. For this purpose, devices are annealed at 475°C and observed that their threshold voltage value is 6.5V, subthreshold slope is 0.35 V/dec, Ion/Ioff ratios 2.5×106 and mobility value is 0.672 cm2/V.s. Optical response measurements showed that devices exhibits decent performance at ultraviolet region where TiO 2 has band to band absorption mechanism. © 2013 SPIE

Group-wise similarity registration of point sets using Student’s t-mixture model for statistical shape models

A probabilistic group-wise similarity registration technique based on Student’s t-mixture model (TMM) and a multi-resolution extension of the same (mr-TMM) are proposed in this study, to robustly align shapes and establish valid correspondences, for the purpose of training statistical shape models (SSMs). Shape analysis across large cohorts requires automatic generation of the requisite training sets. Automated segmentation and landmarking of medical images often result in shapes with varying proportions of outliers and consequently require a robust method of alignment and correspondence estimation. Both TMM and mrTMM are validated by comparison with state-of-the-art registration algorithms based on Gaussian mixture models (GMMs), using both synthetic and clinical data. Four clinical data sets are used for validation: (a) 2D femoral heads ( 1000 samples generated from DXA images of healthy subjects); (b) control-hippocampi ( 50 samples generated from T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images of healthy subjects); (c) MCI-hippocampi ( 28 samples generated from MR images of patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment); and (d) heart shapes comprising left and right ventricular endocardium and epicardium ( 30 samples generated from short-axis MR images of: 10 healthy subjects, 10 patients diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension and 10 diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). The proposed methods significantly outperformed the state-of-the-art in terms of registration accuracy in the experiments involving synthetic data, with mrTMM offering significant improvement over TMM. With the clinical data, both methods performed comparably to the state-of-the-art for the hippocampi and heart data sets, which contained few outliers. They outperformed the state-of-the-art for the femur data set, containing large proportions of outliers, in terms of alignment accuracy, and the quality of SSMs trained, quantified in terms of generalization, compactness and specificity

Circulating Biomarkers of Fibrosis Formation in Patients with Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a progressive inheritable disease which is characterized by a gradual fibro-(fatty) replacement of the myocardium. Visualization of diffuse and patchy fibrosis patterns is challenging using clinically applied cardiac imaging modalities (e.g., late gadolinium enhancement, LGE). During collagen synthesis and breakdown, carboxy-peptides are released into the bloodstream, specifically procollagen type-I carboxy-terminal propeptides (PICP) and collagen type-I carboxy-terminal telopeptides (ICTP). We collected the serum and EDTA blood samples and clinical data of 45 ACM patients (age 50.11 ± 15.53 years, 44% female), divided into 35 diagnosed ACM patients with a 2010 ARVC Task Force Criteria score (TFC) ≥ 4, and 10 preclinical variant carriers with a TFC < 4. PICP levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay and ICTP levels with a radio immunoassay. Increased PICP/ICTP ratios suggest a higher collagen deposition. We found significantly higher PICP and PICP/ICTP levels in diagnosed patients compared to preclinical variant carriers (p < 0.036 and p < 0.027). A moderate negative correlation existed between right ventricular ejection fractions (RVEF) and the PICP/ICTP ratio (r = -0.46, p = 0.06). In addition, significant correlations with left ventricular function (LVEF r = -0.53, p = 0.03 and end-systolic volume r = 0.63, p = 0.02) were found. These findings indicate impaired contractile performance due to pro-fibrotic remodeling. Follow-up studies including a larger number of patients should be performed to substantiate our findings and the validity of those levels as potential promising biomarkers in ACM

The effect of ticagrelor and clopidogrel on angiographic parameters according to diabetic status in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction

Aim. We aimed to compare post-interventional angiographic outcomes of ticagrelor versus clopidogrel according to glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction.Material and methods. The study included a total of 532 patients, with 334 receiving ticagrelor (62,8%) and 198 clopidogrel (37,2%). Diabetic status of the patients was assessed with HbA1c. TIMI flow grade and TIMI frame count were calculated and compared between two groups.Results. TIMI flow grade 3 was higher and TFC was lower after percutaneous coronary intervention of the infarct-related artery in patients treated with ticagrelor compared to clopidogrel (89,2% vs. 73,7%; p&lt; 0,001, 20 vs. 24; p&lt; 0,001). There was a positive correlation between the increases in HbA1c and TFC levels in the whole group (r=0,225; p=0,004). In subgroup analysis, higher HbA1c levels did not affect TFC in patients using ticagrelor (r=-0,060; p=0,326 for patients with noreflow, r=-0,133; p=0,321 for patients with TIMI-3 flow). While level of HbA1c did not affect TFC in patients with TIMI-3 flow, the presence of post-procedural no-reflow caused worsening of TFC in patients using clopidogrel as HbA1c levels increased (r=0,374; p=0,005).Conclusion. Ticagrelor was found to be better in terms of angiographic parameters regardless of diabetes

Circulating Biomarkers of Fibrosis Formation in Patients with Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) is a progressive inheritable disease which is characterized by a gradual fibro-(fatty) replacement of the myocardium. Visualization of diffuse and patchy fibrosis patterns is challenging using clinically applied cardiac imaging modalities (e.g., late gadolinium enhancement, LGE). During collagen synthesis and breakdown, carboxy–peptides are released into the bloodstream, specifically procollagen type-I carboxy-terminal propeptides (PICP) and collagen type-I carboxy-terminal telopeptides (ICTP). We collected the serum and EDTA blood samples and clinical data of 45 ACM patients (age 50.11 ± 15.53 years, 44% female), divided into 35 diagnosed ACM patients with a 2010 ARVC Task Force Criteria score (TFC) (Formula presented.) 4, and 10 preclinical variant carriers with a TFC (Formula presented.) 4. PICP levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay and ICTP levels with a radio immunoassay. Increased PICP/ICTP ratios suggest a higher collagen deposition. We found significantly higher PICP and PICP/ICTP levels in diagnosed patients compared to preclinical variant carriers (p < 0.036 and p < 0.027). A moderate negative correlation existed between right ventricular ejection fractions (RVEF) and the PICP/ICTP ratio (r = −0.46, p = 0.06). In addition, significant correlations with left ventricular function (LVEF r = −0.53, p = 0.03 and end-systolic volume r = 0.63, p = 0.02) were found. These findings indicate impaired contractile performance due to pro-fibrotic remodeling. Follow-up studies including a larger number of patients should be performed to substantiate our findings and the validity of those levels as potential promising biomarkers in ACM