7,995 research outputs found
The Investment Decision in the Central City: A Consideration of a Property Tax Abatement Law
This article addresses an indirect policy approach to handling gray areas in large central cities where dilapidated and deteriorated housing go unresolved. Rather than focusing on abandonment and rebuilding, the article looks to fostering renewal of existing structures through property tax abatement programs. Using Pittsburgh as a model and experience to outline the framework for such a program, the article attempts to enhance ones understanding of the economic impacts that a property tax can have on the condition of city housing. The article concludes that for any city to embark on a tax abatement policy, it must understand the conditions necessary for success
A multimedia package for patient understanding and rehabilitation of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injuries
Non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury is one of the most common ligament injuries in the body. Many patients’ receive graft surgery to repair the damage, but have to undertake an extensive period of rehabilitation. However, non-compliance and lack of understanding of the injury, healing process and rehabilitation means patient’s return to activities before effective structural integrity of the graft has been reached. When clinicians educate the patient, to encourage compliance with treatment and rehabilitation, the only tools that are currently widely in use are static plastic models, line diagrams and pamphlets. As modern technology grows in use in anatomical education, we have developed a unique educational and training package for patient’s to use in gaining a better understanding of their injury and treatment plan. We have combined cadaveric dissections of the knee (and captured with high resolution digital images) with reconstructed 3D modules from the Visible Human dataset, computer generated animations, and images to produce a multimedia package, which can be used to educate the patient in their knee anatomy, the injury, the healing process and their rehabilitation, and how this links into key stages of improving graft integrity. It is hoped that this will improve patient compliance with their rehabilitation programme, and better long-term prognosis in returning to normal or near-normal activities. Feedback from healthcare professionals about this package has been positive and encouraging for its long-term use
An investigation to examine the most appropriate methodology to capture historical and modern preserved anatomical specimens for use in the digital age to improve access: a pilot study
Anatomico-pathological specimens constitute a valuable component of many medical museums or
institutional collections but can be limited in their impact on account of both physical and intellectual
inaccessibility. Further concerns relate to conservation as anatomical specimens may be subject to
tissue deterioration, constraints imposed by spatial or financial limitations of the host institution, or
accident-based destruction. In awareness of these issues, a simple and easily implementable
methodology to increase accessibility, impact and conservation of anatomical specimens is proposed
which combines photogrammetry, object virtual reality (object VR), and interactive portable document
format (PDF) with supplementary historical and anatomical commentary. The methodology was
developed using wet, dry, and plastinated specimens from the historical and modern collections in the
Museum of Anatomy at the University of Glasgow. It was found that photogrammetry yielded excellent
results for plastinated specimens and showed potential for dry specimens, while object VR produced
excellent photorealistic virtual specimens for all materials visualised. Use of PDF as output format was
found to allow for the addition of textual, visual, and interactive content, and as such supplemented the
virtual specimen with multidisciplinary information adaptable to the needs of various audiences. The
results of this small-scale pilot study indicate the beneficial nature of combining these established
techniques into a methodology for the digitisation and utilisation of historical anatomical collections in
particular, but also collections of material culture more broadly
SEASAT B orbit synthesis
Addition were made to Battelle's Interactive Graphics Orbit Selection (IGOS) program; IGOS was exercised via telephone lines from JPL, and candidate SEASAT orbits were analyzed by Battelle. The additions to the program enable clear understanding of the implications of a specific orbit to the diverse desires of the SEASAT user community
Circular frame fixation for calcaneal fractures risks injury to the medial neurovascular structures: a cadaveric description
Aim: There is a risk of iatrogenic injury to the soft tissues of the calcaneus and this study assesses the risk of injury to these structures in circular frame calcaneal fracture fixation.
Materials and Methods: After olive tip wires were inserted, an L-shaped incision on the lateral and medial aspects of 5 formalin fixed cadaveric feet was performed to expose the underlying soft tissues. The calcaneus was divided into zones corresponding to high, medium and low risk using a grading system.
Results: Structures at high risk included the posterior tibial artery, posterior tibial vein and posterior tibial nerve on the medial aspect. Soft tissue structures on the lateral side that were shown to be at lower risk of injury were the small saphenous vein and the sural nerve and the tendons of fibularis longus and fibularis brevis.
Conclusion: The lateral surface of the calcaneus provides a lower risk area for external fixation. The risk of injury to significant soft tissues using a circular frame fixation approach has been shown to be greater on the medial aspect.
Clinical Relevance: This study highlights the relevant anatomical relations in circular frame fixation for calcaneal fractures to minimize damage to these structures
To sell or not to sell? Behavior of shareholders during price collapses
It is a common belief that the behavior of shareholders depends upon the
direction of price fluctuations: if prices increase they buy, if prices
decrease they sell. That belief, however, is more based on ``common sense''
than on facts. In this paper we present evidence for a specific class of
shareholders which shows that the actual behavior of shareholders can be
markedly different.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure. To appear in International Journal of Modern
Physics
Proof of concept of a workflow methodology for the creation of basic canine head anatomy veterinary education tool using augmented reality
Neuroanatomy can be challenging to both teach and learn within the undergraduate veterinary medicine and surgery curriculum. Traditional techniques have been used for many years, but there has now been a progression to move towards alternative digital models and interactive 3D models to engage the learner. However, digital innovations in the curriculum have typically involved the medical curriculum rather than the veterinary curriculum. Therefore, we aimed to create a simple workflow methodology to highlight the simplicity there is in creating a mobile augmented reality application of basic canine head anatomy. Using canine CT and MRI scans and widely available software programs, we demonstrate how to create an interactive model of head anatomy. This was applied to augmented reality for a popular Android mobile device to demonstrate the user-friendly interface. Here we present the processes, challenges and resolutions for the creation of a highly accurate, data based anatomical model that could potentially be used in the veterinary curriculum. This proof of concept study provides an excellent framework for the creation of augmented reality training products for veterinary education. The lack of similar resources within this field provides the ideal platform to extend this into other areas of veterinary education and beyond
Three undescribed pathogenic Phytophthora taxa from the south-west of Western Australia
The Phytophthora culture collection of the Vegetation Health Service of the Department of Environment and Conservation of Western Australia (WA) has been re-evaluated using DNA sequencing (Burgess et al., 2009). This has revealed many undescribed taxa previously classified as known morpho-species, one of which has recently been described as P. multivora (Scott et al., 2009).
The aim of this study was to describe three of these taxa, all of which occur in WA native ecosystems. They were compared with both the morphological species to which they are most similar and their closest phylogenetic relatives. In addition, the pathogenicity of these taxa was assessed in glasshouse trials
The neurochemical basis of photic entrainment of the circadian pacemaker
Circadian rhythmicity in mammals is controlled by the action of a light-entrainable hypothalamus, in association with two cell clusters known as the supra chiasmatic nuclei (SCN). In the absence of temporal environmental clues, this pacemaker continues to measure time by an endogenous mechanism (clock), driving biochemical, physiological, and behavioral rhythms that reflect the natural period of the pacemaker oscillation. This endogenous period usually differs slightly from 24 hours (i.e., circadian). When mammals are maintained under a 24 hour light-dark (LD) cycle, the pacemaker becomes entrained such that the period of the pacemaker oscillation matches that of the LD cycle. Potentially entraining photic information is conveyed to the SCN via a direct retinal projection, the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT). RHT neurotransmission is thought to be mediated by the release of excitatory amino acids (EAA) in the SCN. In support of this hypothesis, recent experiments using nocturnal rodents have shown that EAA antagonists block the effects of light on pacemaker-driven behavioral rhythms, and attenuate light induced gene expression in SCN cells. An understanding of the neurochemical basis of the photic entrainment process would facilitate the development of pharmacological strategies for maintaining synchrony among shift workers in environments, such as the Space Station, which provide unreliable or conflicting temporal photic clues
- …