Calculating the curvature shape characteristics of the human body from 3D scanner data.

In the recent years, there have been significant advances in the development and manufacturing of 3D scanners capable of capturing detailed (external) images of whole human bodies. Such hardware offers the opportunity to collect information that could be used to describe, interpret and analyse the shape of the human body for a variety of applications where shape information plays a vital role (e.g. apparel sizing and customisation; medical research in fields such as nutrition, obesity/anorexia and perceptive psychology; ergonomics for vehicle and furniture design). However, the representations delivered by such hardware typically consist of unstructured or partially structured point clouds, whereas it would be desirable to have models that allow shape-related information to be more immediately accessible. This thesis describes a method of extracting the differential geometry properties of the body surface from unorganized point cloud datasets. In effect, this is a way of constructing curvature maps that allows the detection on the surface of features that are deformable (such as ridges) rather than reformable under certain transformations. Such features could subsequently be used to interpret the topology of a human body and to enable classification according to its shape, rather than its size (as is currently the standard practice for many of the applications concemed). The background, motivation and significance of this research are presented in chapter one. Chapter two is a literature review describing the previous and current attempts to model 3D objects in general and human bodies in particular, as well as the mathematical and technical issues associated with the modelling. Chapter three presents an overview of: the methodology employed throughout the research; the assumptions regarding the data to be processed; and the strategy for evaluating the results for each stage of the methodology. Chapter four describes an algorithm (and some variations) for approximating the local surface geometry around a given point of the input data set by means of a least-squares minimization. The output of such an algorithm is a surface patch described in an analytic (implicit) form. This is necessary for the next step described below. The case is made for using implicit surfaces rather than more popular 3D surface representations such as parametric forms or height functions. Chapter five describes the processing needed for calculating curvature-related characteristics for each point of the input surface. This utilises the implicit surface patches generated by the algorithm described in the previous chapter, and enables the construction of a "curvature map" of the original surface, which incorporates rich information such as the principal curvatures, shape indices and curvature directions. Chapter six describes a family of algorithms for calculating features such as ridges and umbilic points on the surface from the curvature map, in a manner that bypasses the problem of separating a vector field (i.e. the principal curvature directions) across the entire surface of an object. An alternative approach, using the focal surface information, is also considered briefly in comparison. The concluding chapter summarises the results from all steps of the processing and evaluates them in relation to the requirements set in chapter one. Directions for further research are also proposed

A METAMODELLING IMPLEMENTATION OF A TWO-WAY COUPLED MESOSCALE-MICROSCALE FLOW MODEL FOR URBAN AREA SIMULATIONS

Systems of coupled prognostic mesoscale and microscale models have been used as a tool to accurately simulate flows around artificial structures and over densely-built urban areas. Typical implementations of such systems are based on a one-way coupling scheme, where the mesoscale model provides initial and boundary conditions for each off-line application of the microscale model. While very successful in predicting steady-state flows within specific local-scale areas, such schemes fail to account for feedbacks on the mesoscale flow induced by the presence of structures in smaller scales. Unfortunately, the large gap of spatial and temporal scales practically prohibits parallel on-line execution of the mesoscale and microscale models for any significant time interval. It is therefore necessary that a simplifying approach is adopted, where the microscale feedback is spatially and temporally upscaled to interact with parts of the mesoscale domain covering the urban area. In the present work a two-way coupled model system is developed, consisting of the prognostic mesoscale model MEMO and the microscale model MIMO. The microscale feedback on the mesoscale domain is simulated using a metamodelling approach, where the effect of local flows on the vertical profiles is estimated for representative urban areas of sizes up to a few hundred meters and used as calibration input for a set of interpolating metamodels. The feedback from the microscale metamodels is then introduced back in the mesoscale grid by means of Newtonian relaxation. As an illustrative application, simulations for the city of Athens, Greece during a multi-day period are presented. Effects of the microscale feedback on the mesoscale flow become evident both as a reduction of lower-level wind speeds in urban cells as well as an overall increase in turbulent kinetic energy production over densely-built areas

A multimodal real-time MRI articulatory corpus of French for speech research

In this work we describe the creation of ArtSpeechMRIfr: a real-time as well as static magnetic resonance imaging (rtMRI, 3D MRI) database of the vocal tract. The database contains also processed data: denoised audio, its phonetically aligned annotation, articulatory contours, and vocal tract volume information , which provides a rich resource for speech research. The database is built on data from two male speakers of French. It covers a number of phonetic contexts in the controlled part, as well as spontaneous speech, 3D MRI scans of sustained vocalic articulations, and of the dental casts of the subjects. The corpus for rtMRI consists of 79 synthetic sentences constructed from a phonetized dictionary that makes possible to shorten the duration of acquisitions while keeping a very good coverage of the phonetic contexts which exist in French. The 3D MRI includes acquisitions for 12 French vowels and 10 consonants, each of which was pronounced in several vocalic contexts. Ar-ticulatory contours (tongue, jaw, epiglottis, larynx, velum, lips) as well as 3D volumes were manually drawn for a part of the images

Gallstone Obstructive Ileus 3 Years Post-cholecystectomy to a Patient with an Old Ileoileal Anastomosis

The present case is one of gallstone obstructive ileus due to gallstones 3 yr after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. It is interesting because of the sex of the patient, the fact that ileus occurred 3 yr after cholecystectomy and that the localization of the obstruction was an old side-to-side ileoileal anastomosis due to a diverticulectomy following intussusception of Meckels' diverticulum at the age of 3

Modelling the dispersion of particle numbers in five European cities

We present an overview of the modelling of particle number concentrations (PNCs) in five major European cities, namely Helsinki, Oslo, London, Rotterdam, and Athens, in 2008. Novel emission inventories of particle numbers have been compiled both on urban and European scales. We used atmospheric dispersion modelling for PNCs in the five target cities and on a European scale, and evaluated the predicted results against available measured concentrations. In all the target cities, the concentrations of particle numbers (PNs) were mostly influenced by the emissions originating from local vehicular traffic. The influence of shipping and harbours was also significant for Helsinki, Oslo, Rotterdam, and Athens, but not for London. The influence of the aviation emissions in Athens was also notable. The regional background concentrations were clearly lower than the contributions originating from urban sources in Helsinki, Oslo, and Athens. The regional background was also lower than urban contributions in traffic environments in London, but higher or approximately equal to urban contributions in Rotterdam. It was numerically evaluated that the influence of coagulation and dry deposition on the predicted PNCs was substantial for the urban background in Oslo. The predicted and measured annual average PNCs in four cities agreed within approximatelyPeer reviewe

Endothelin 1 levels in relation to clinical presentation and outcome of Henoch Schonlein purpura

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Henoch Schonlein purpura (HSP) is a common vasculitis of small vessels whereas endothelin-1 (ET-1) is usually reported elevated in vasculities and systematic inflammation. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether ET-1 levels are correlated with the clinical presentation and the outcome of HSP.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study sample consisted of thirty consecutive patients with HSP. An equal number of healthy patients of similar age and the same gender were served as controls. The patients' age range was 2–12.6 years with a mean ± SD = 6.3 ± 3 years. All patients had a physical examination with a renal, and an overall clinical score. Blood and urinary biochemistry, immunology investigation, a skin biopsy and ET-1 measurements in blood and urine samples were made at presentation, 1 month later and 1 year after the appearance of HSP. The controls underwent the same investigation with the exception of skin biopsy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>ET-1 levels in plasma and urine did not differ between patients and controls at three distinct time points. Furthermore the ET-1 were not correlated with the clinical score and renal involvement was independent from the ET-1 measurements. However, the urinary ET-1 levels were a significant predictor of the duration of the acute phase of HSP (HR = 0.98, p = 0.032, CI0.96–0.99). The ET-1 levels did not correlate with the duration of renal involvement.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Urinary ET-1 levels are a useful marker for the duration of the acute phase of HSP but not for the length of renal involvement.</p

Targeting tumorigenesis: development and use of mTOR inhibitors in cancer therapy

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is an intracellular serine/threonine protein kinase positioned at a central point in a variety of cellular signaling cascades. The established involvement of mTOR activity in the cellular processes that contribute to the development and progression of cancer has identified mTOR as a major link in tumorigenesis. Consequently, inhibitors of mTOR, including temsirolimus, everolimus, and ridaforolimus (formerly deforolimus) have been developed and assessed for their safety and efficacy in patients with cancer. Temsirolimus is an intravenously administered agent approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Everolimus is an oral agent that has recently obtained US FDA and EMEA approval for the treatment of advanced RCC after failure of treatment with sunitinib or sorafenib. Ridaforolimus is not yet approved for any indication. The use of mTOR inhibitors, either alone or in combination with other anticancer agents, has the potential to provide anticancer activity in numerous tumor types. Cancer types in which these agents are under evaluation include neuroendocrine tumors, breast cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, sarcoma, endometrial cancer, and non-small-cell lung cancer. The results of ongoing clinical trials with mTOR inhibitors, as single agents and in combination regimens, will better define their activity in cancer

Trends in eczema prevalence in children and adolescents: A Global Asthma Network Phase I Study

Background: Eczema (atopic dermatitis) is a major global public health issue with high prevalence and morbidity. Our goal was to evaluate eczema prevalence over time, using standardized methodology. Methods: The Global Asthma Network (GAN) Phase I study is an international collaborative study arising from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC). Using surveys, we assessed eczema prevalence, severity, and lifetime prevalence, in global centres participating in GAN Phase I (2015–2020) and one/ both of ISAAC Phase I (1993–1995) and Phase III (2001–2003). We fitted linear mixed models to estimate 10-yearly prevalence trends, by age group, income, and region. Results: We analysed GAN Phase I data from 27 centres in 14 countries involving 74,361 adolescents aged 13–14 and 47,907 children aged 6–7 (response rate 90%, 79%). A median of 6% of children and adolescents had symptoms of current eczema, with 1.1% and 0.6% in adolescents and children, respectively, reporting symptoms of severe eczema. Over 27 years, after adjusting for world region and income, we estimated small overall 10-year increases in current eczema prevalence (adolescents: 0.98%, 95% CI 0.04%–1.92%; children: 1.21%, 95% CI 0.18%–2.24%), and severe eczema (adolescents: 0.26%, 95% CI 0.06%–0.46%; children: 0.23%, 95% CI 0.02%–0.45%) with larger increases in lifetime prevalence (adolescents: 2.71%, 95% CI 1.10%–4.32%; children: 3.91%, 95% CI 2.07%–5.75%). There was substantial heterogeneity in 10-year change between centres (standard deviations 2.40%, 0.58%, and 3.04%), and strong evidence that some of this heterogeneity was explained by region and income level, with increases in some outcomes in high-income children and middle-income adolescents. Conclusions: There is substantial variation in changes in eczema prevalence over time by income and region. Understanding reasons for increases in some regions and decreases in others will help inform prevention strategies