An Aesthetic Factor Priority List of the Female Breast in Scandinavian Subjects

Background: There is little consensus about the relative determinative value of each individual factor in female breast aesthetics. When performing breast surgery with an aesthetic goal, certain factors will be more important than others. The purpose of this study was to make an aesthetic factor rank list to determine the relative contributions to overall breast aesthetics. Method: Volunteers were scanned using the 3-dimensional Vectra system. Ten Scandinavian plastic surgeons rated 37 subjects, using a validated scoring system with 49 scoring items. The correlation between specific aesthetic factors and overall breast aesthetic scores of the subjects were calculated using Pearson's r, Spearman's rho, and Kendall's tau. Results: A very strong correlation was found between overall breast aesthetic score and lower pole shape (0.876, P <0.0001). This was also true for upper pole shape (0.826, P <0.0001) and breast height (0.821, P <0.0001). A strong correlation was found between overall breast aesthetic score and nipple position (0.733, P <0.0001), breast size (0.644, P <0.0001), and breast width (0.632, P <0.0001). Factors that were only moderately correlated with aesthetic score were intermammary distance (0.496, P = 0.002), nipple size and projection (0.588, P <0.0001), areolar diameter (0.484, P <0.0001), and areolar shape (0.403, P <0.0001). Perceived symmetry was a weak factor (0.363, P = 0.027). Conclusions: Aesthetic factors of the female breast can be ranked in a priority list. Shape of the lower pole and upper pole and breast height are primary factors of female breast aesthetics. These should be prioritized in any aesthetic breast surgery. Vertical dimensional factors seem to be more determinative than horizontal factors.Peer reviewe

Metopic synostosis

Premature closure of the metopic suture results in a growth restriction of the frontal bones, which leads to a skull malformation known as trigonocephaly. Over the course of recent decades, its incidence has been rising, currently making it the second most common type of craniosynostosis. Treatment consists of a cranioplasty, usually preformed before the age of 1 year. Metopic synostosis is linked with an increased level of neurodevelopmental delays. Theories on the etiology of these delays range from a reduced volume of the anterior cranial fossa to intrinsic malformations of the brain. This paper aims to provide an overview of this entity by giving an update on the epidemiology, etiology, evolution of treatment, follow-up, and neurodevelopment of metopic synostosis

Luminescence of Ni²⁺ and Ni⁺ ions in ZnTe

Fine structures of the luminescence bands 3T2(F)→3T1(F) of Ni2+ and 2E(D)→2T2(D) of Ni+ in ZnTe bulk crystals are presented. A threefold split zero-phonon line near 3840 cm-1 is assigned to Ni2+ and a main line at 3095 cm-1 followed by a low-energy statellite in a distance of 400 cm-1 to Ni+. A comparison with other host crystals reveals an almost linear dependence of the transition energies on the band gap. Charge-transfer energies are deduced from excitation spectra

V⁺ (d⁴) and V²⁺ (d³) ion states in CdTe evidenced by photoluminescence

High-resistivity CdTe:V crystals are investigated by photo-luminescence in the infrared spectral region. In addition to the known 3T2(F)→ 3A2(F) emission of V3+ near 4100 cm−1, two further luminescence bands are detected at lower energies. A band peaking at 3450 cm−1 is assigned to the 4T2(F) → 4T1(F) transition of V2+ and a strong luminescence near 2780 cm−1 is identified as the 5E(D) → 5T2(D) emission of V+. These results are compared to other vanadium-doped II–VI compounds. A clear general trend of the transition energy with the band gap energy is deduced