Methods for quantitative assessment of femoral antroposcopic landmarks using hand-held laser scanner

Purpose : This study is focused on an innovative approach to the numerical assessment of gluteal tuberosity through 3D visualization and its use as sex discriminant.Materials and methods : The study was based on an aggregate of 40 right femora, male and female in equal proportion. The surface of tuberositas glutea femoris is captured in a 3D image, using a Hand-held Laser Scanner (FastSCAN). Afterwards, the assessment contains three ways. Firstly, the result is a 3D shape comprising two tetrahedrons with common base. Therefore, the volume of the roughness is approximately equal to the total of the volumes of these two tetrahedrons (volume). Secondly, several points /markers/ are placed on the surface of the roughness of the 3D image. After that we create two-dimensional shape which is a function of the three-dimensional one. The area of the formed shape is measured (area) as well as its greatest elevation (elevation). Thirdly, we assess the position angle of gluteal tuberosity (angle C). The results were processed with SPSS 17.0 using Discriminant Function Analysis.Results : If the predictors (volume, area, elevation and angle) are included in the model, than the percentage of cases classified correctly is 95%.Conclusion : This score coincides with world results based on various anthropometric indices of the femur

Comparative dermatoglyphic study of fingerprint patterns in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls

Purpose : The aim of this study was to compare the fingerprint patterns in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.Material and methods : The study included 136 patients with schizophrenia (72 males, 64 females) and 113 mentally healthy subjects (52 males, 61 females) of Bulgarian origin. Fingerprints were obtained using an ink method and were read with light (6D) magnification in accordance with the methods given by Cummins, Midlo. The data were analyzed with SPSS 17.0.Results : Our results showed a higher mean score of whorls and lower mean score of loops and arches for both hands in schizophrenia males compared with their same-sex controls. Schizophrenia females had a higher mean score of arches and whorls, but lower mean score of loops for both hands, compared with the healthy females. The differences were statistically significant for the loops and whorls of the left hands in males, and for the loops of the left hands and those of both hands in females. Conclusion : Within the context of neurodevelopmental hypothesis of mental disorders dermatoglyphic traits may become reliable biological markers of the timing of prenatal damage and the pathogenetic mechanisms behind it

Sex -related differences in the lips and mouth area of Buglarians - an investigation by 3D laser scanning

Purpose : The objective of this study was to supply information about normal sex-related dimensions of the mouth area and lips among contemporary Bulgarian population (linear distances, ratios, angles, area, volume) and compare the results with other populations.Materials and methods : The three-dimensional coordinates of several soft-tissue landmarks on the lips and mouth were obtained by a non-invasive method with FastSCAN in 16 male and 23 female healthy subjects aged 21-35 years. From the landmarks, linear distances (mouth width, width of the philtrum, vermilion heights of the upper, lower and total lips, total lip height), the vermilion height-to-mouth width ratio, areas (vermilion of the upper, lower and total lip) and volumes (upper, lower, and total lip volume) were calculated and averaged for sex.Results : Comparisons were performed by SPSS 17.0. Data collected in the present investigation could serve as a database for the quantitative description of human lip morphology during normal growth, development and aging. Conclusion. Forensic applications (evaluations of trauma, craniofacial alterations, teratogenic- induced conditions, facial reconstruction, aging of living and dead persons, personal identification) may also benefit from age- and sex-based data banks

Quantitative dermatoglyphic study of the finger ridge count in breast carcinoma patients from Northeastеrn Bulgaria

The present study aimed to assess the relationship between the results from a quantitative dermatoglyphic analysis of the finger ridge count and the predisposition for developing breast cancer.The fingerprints of 82 breast carcinoma female patients diagnosed by histological and mammographic investigations were obtained and compared to 60 female controls from Northeastеrn Bulgaria. The fingerprints were obtained by classical ink method. The finger ridge count was determined by the method of Cummins and Midlo.The total finger ridge count (TFRC) showed statistically significant difference between the patients and the controls on the first and second finger of the right hand and on the second and third finger of the left hand. Due to statistically significant differences of TFRC on some of the fingers, we discovered differences in the descending formulas in the two observed groups. Descending formulas on the fingers of the breast carcinoma patients compared with the controls on the left hand were respectively 2>4>1>5>3 vs 2>1>4>5>3, and on the right hand 1>2>4>3>5 vs 4>1>3>2>5, respectively. Statistical significance was examined by SPSS 18.0 software.Our data indicated that a dermatoglyphic analysis could be utilized as a fast inexpensive supportive screening tool for the early diagnostics of breast cancer

Experimental Investigations. Neurotrophic Factor Receptors trkB and trkC in Experimental Model of Lesion in Rat Brain Structures in Schizophrenia / Рецепторы Нейротрофических Факторов trkB И trkC В Эксперимен- Тальной Модели Для Исследования Повреждений В Мозговых Структурах Крысы При Шизофрении

ВВЕДЕНИЕ: Модель шизофрении, связанной с нарушениями в развитии постулирует патологические отклонения в эмбриональном нейрогенезе в качестве этиопатогенетической основы шизофренических психозов. Гипотеза о нейротрофических факторах объясняет данные нейропатологические отклонения как результат нарушений в системе нейротрофинов, вызванных различными генетическими, инфекциозными и травматическими факторами. Тирозинкиназные рецепторы trkB и trkC опосредуют эффекты нейротрофинов, стимулирующих рост и соответствуют изменениям в их наличности. ЦЕЛЬ: Целью настоящего исследования является установление модели экспрессии trkB и trkC в мозговых структурах крысы при экспериментальной модели шизофрении. МАТЕРИАЛЫ И МЕТОДЫ: На криостатных срезах мозга контрольных и испытуемых крыс (после билатеральной инфузии изибутановой кислоты в гиппокампальную формацию) была прослежена иммунореактивность на trkB и trkC. РЕЗУЛЬТАТЫ: Наш анализ выявил заниженную экспрессию рецепторов trkB и trkC в гиппокампальной формации испытуемых животных по сравнению с контрольными. Количественное измерение интенсивности иммуногистохимических реакций и статистический анализ подтвердили понижение иммунореактивности исследуемых антигенов (trkB и trkC) в позитивных гиппокампальных нейронах у испытуемых крыс 56-дневного возраста по сравнению с иммунореактивностью контрольных животных. ЗАКЛЮЧЕНИЕ: Установленное понижение в экспрессии рецепторов нейротрофических факторов можно рассматривать в связи с нарушением функции и пластичности гиппокампальной формации в мозге при шизофрении