Gender assessment through three-dimensional analysis of maxillary sinuses by means of Cone Beam Computed Tomography

OBJECTIVE: The availability of a low dose radiation technology such as Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) in dental practice has increased the number of scans available for forensic purposes. Moreover, specific software allows for three-dimensional (3D) characterization of the maxillary sinuses. This study was performed to determine whether sinus maxillary volumes can be useful to identify gender after validating the use of the Dolphin software as a tool for volumetric estimation of maxillary sinus volumes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The validation was performed by four different operators measuring the volume of six phantoms, where the real volume was already known. The maxillary sinus volumes of 52 patients (26 males and 26 females) mean age 24.3 were calculated and compared between genders and sagittal skeletal class subdivision. The measurements for patients and phantoms were based on CBCT scans (ILUMA™) processed by Dolphin 3D software. RESULTS: No statistical difference was observed between the real volume and the volume measurements performed by the operators. No statistical difference was found in patient's maxillary sinus volumes between gender. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, it is not possible to support the use of maxillary sinuses to discern sexual difference in corpse identification

The orienteering problem: A hybrid control Formulation

In the last years, a growing number of challenging applications in navigation, logistics, and tourism were modeled as orienteering problems. This problem has been proposed in relation to a sport race where certain control points must be visited in a minimal time. In a certain kind of these competitions, the choice of the number and the order for the control points are left to the competitor. We propose an original approach to solve the orienteering problem based on hybrid control. The continuous state of the system contains information about the navigation toward the next control point. In contrast, the discrete state keeps track of the already visited ones. The control problem is solved using non-standard dynamical programming techniques

Evolution of sea-surface temperature in the tropical Atlantic Ocean during FGGE, 1979: II. Oceanographic fields and heat balance of the mixed layer

Surface meteorological and surface and subsurface oceanographic data collected during 1979 are used to describe sea-surface temperature, mixed layer depth, zonal current component and net oceanic heat gain fields and to estimate the terms in a heat balance relation for the mixed layer. The terms are evaluated monthly on a 6° of latitude by 10° of longitude grid which covers the equatorial Atlantic from 9S to 9N. The first balance tested is between changes in mixed layer temperature and surface energy fluxes. These fluxes can account for more than 75% of the variance in the original time series of the quadrangles along 6S. Variance reductions are less, along 0° (order of 50%) and 6N (less than 25%). The addition of zonal advection improves some of the predictions but not significantly. Low variance reductions along 6N, west of 20W are attributed to the uncertainties in the estimates of observed temperature change and surface fluxes. The small variance reductions east of 20W, at 6N and along 0° may be related to the neglect of coastal and equatorial upwelling and meridional advection. A simple model is proposed which assumes an annual cycle for the intensity of mixing across the base of the mixed layer, most intense during summer, least intense during winter. Variance reductions at 0°, 5W increase from 20% to 60% with the inclusion of mixing. Meridional advection may also account for a portion of the observed variability in mixed layer temperature

Evolution of the near-surface thermal structure in the western Indian Ocean during FGGE, 1979

The evolution of mixed layer temperature (taken as sea-surface temperature, SST) in the western Indian Ocean north of 20S and west of 80E during the First GARP Global Experiment (FGGE), 1979 is described and modelled. The FGGE-year development in time and space of SST is compared to the appropriate climatology. FGGE events occurred in phase with climatology, but some amplitude anomalies were observed. Heat budget computations for the surface mixed layer indicate that over 25% of the region studied energy fluxes through the sea surface can account for 80% of the observed SST variance. South of the equator, 80% of the variance is accounted for in 36% of the area and north, only 11%. Exceptions are noted along the western boundary, in the central and eastern Arabian Sea, and in a band south of the equator between 6S and 12S, east of 60E. The addition of entrainment through the base of the mixed layer improves the heat budget estimates over most of the region, in particular, along the Arabian coast. Near the northern part of the coast of east Africa, however, inclusion of the effect of horizontal advection gives more improvement. The breakdown of the heat budget computations in the central and eastern Arabian Sea and in the band south of the equator is attributed to a small signal in SST variance and few data in the regions

Free-ranging livestock and a diverse landscape structure increase bat foraging in mountainous landscapes

Traditional farming, where livestock is seasonally managed as free-ranging and the use of drugs is reduced or absent, may prove beneficial to biodiversity by fostering the occurrence of spatial heterogeneity, and increasing the availability of trophic resources to wildlife. Previous work indicates that the presence of cattle in lowlands leads to an increase in bat foraging activity, yet no study has addressed this topic in mountainous regions, where free-ranging livestock is still common. Here we explore the relationships between landscape structure, farming and bat activity in a mountainous agricultural area, hypothesizing that bat activity will increase in response to the presence of livestock and landscape structure and heterogeneity. We found that traditional cattle farming may have a role in influencing bat activity in mountainous agroecosystems, yet its effects are evident for a limited number of species. Three pipistrelle species favoured foraging in areas subjected to cattle farming by hunting more often over cattle or fresh dung than at control sites. Free-ranging cattle thus provide profitable foraging opportunities for bats in mountainous landscapes, which remarks the importance of traditional farming activities in sustaining biodiversity. Cattle might also benefit from bat foraging activity if this leads to suppression of bloodsucking pests