Virtual reality implementation as a useful software tool for e-health applications

Human hand and finger movements are of obvious importance. The possibility of recording all fingers joints movements during everyday life is then strategic for medical diagnosis, surgery and post traumatic rehabilitation. A proper presentation of recorded data can be really useful for doctors and therapists to correctly act in the occurrence of peripheral nerve injury, rigidities, camptodactyly (decline in permanent deformity of the interphalangeal junction), orthoses, tenolisi, congenital malformations, trauma, dexterity and/or muscular and/or articulate motility evaluations, thumb atros, syndromes, use of mentors, spasm, use of mechanical supports etc.. According to this context we report a virtual reality implementation on the basis of fingers movements recorded data, suitable for fingers joints movement analysi

Exploring directional and fluctuating asymmetry in the human palate during growth

open24siObjectives: Palate morphology is constantly changing throughout an individual's lifespan, yet its asymmetry during growth is still little understood. In this research, we focus on the study of palate morphology by using 3D geometric morphometric approaches to observe changes at different stages of life, and to quantify the impact of directional and fluctuating asymmetry on different areas at different growth stages. Materials and Methods: The sample consists of 183 individuals (1–72 years) from two identified human skeletal collections of 19th and early 20th Century Italian contexts. A 3D-template of 41 (semi)landmarks was applied on digital palate models to observe morphological variation during growth. Results: Asymmetrical components of the morphological structure appears multidirectional on the entire palate surface in individuals <2 years old and become oriented (opposite bilateral direction) between 2 and 6 years of age. Specifically, directional asymmetry differentially impacts palate morphology at different stages of growth. Both the anterior and posterior palate are affected by mild alterations in the first year of life, while between 2 and 6 years asymmetry is segregated in the anterior area, and moderate asymmetry affects the entire palatal surface up to 12 years of age. Our results show that stability of the masticatory system seems to be reached around 13–35 years first by females and then males. From 36 years on both sexes show similar asymmetry on the anterior area. Regarding fluctuating asymmetry, inter-individual variability is mostly visible up to 12 years of age, after which only directional trends can be clearly observed at a group level. Discussion: Morphological structure appears instable during the first year of life and acquires an opposite asymmetric bilateral direction between 2 and 6 years of age. This condition has been also documented in adults; when paired with vertical alteration, anterior/posterior asymmetry seems to characterize palate morphology, which is probably due to mechanical factors during the lifespan. Fluctuating asymmetry is predominant in the first period of life due to a plausible relationship with the strength of morphological instability of the masticatory system. Directional asymmetry, on the other hand, shows that the patterning of group-level morphological change might be explained as a functional response to differential inputs (physiological forces, nutritive and non-nutritive habits, para-masticatory activity as well as the development of speech) in different growth stages. This research has implications with respect to medical and evolutionary fields. In medicine, palate morphology should be considered when planning orthodontic and surgical procedures as it could affect the outcome. As far as an evolutionary perspective is concerned the dominance of directional asymmetries in the masticatory system could provide information on dietary and cultural habits as well as pathological conditions in our ancestors.embargoed_20220511Oxilia G.; Menghi Sartorio J.C.; Bortolini E.; Zampirolo G.; Papini A.; Boggioni M.; Martini S.; Marciani F.; Arrighi S.; Figus C.; Marciani G.; Romandini M.; Silvestrini S.; Pedrosi M.E.; Mori T.; Riga A.; Kullmer O.; Sarig R.; Fiorenza L.; Giganti M.; Sorrentino R.; Belcastro M.G.; Cecchi J.M.; Benazzi S.Oxilia G.; Menghi Sartorio J.C.; Bortolini E.; Zampirolo G.; Papini A.; Boggioni M.; Martini S.; Marciani F.; Arrighi S.; Figus C.; Marciani G.; Romandini M.; Silvestrini S.; Pedrosi M.E.; Mori T.; Riga A.; Kullmer O.; Sarig R.; Fiorenza L.; Giganti M.; Sorrentino R.; Belcastro M.G.; Cecchi J.M.; Benazzi S

Obturations en amalgame et modifications des lymphocytes T

Dental amalgam and nickel alloys have been considered quite safe. Previous authors reported the effect of dental amalgam and nickel alloys on human T-lymphocytes modifications after amalgam dental fillings, into dose-dependence of any modifications and into possible temporary.Eight patients were subjected to dental care with amalgam dental fillings. Drawings of blood were executed at start, fifteen days after late fillings and two months later.The results about modifications of T-lymphocytes were not univocal. We believe, at now, that temporary modifications of the immunity seem to be related to a cytotoxic mechanism.Les auteurs ont étudié les modifications systémiques des lymphocytes T (T3) et des sous-populations T4 et T8 après la pose d’obturations en amalgame. Les résultats ne sont pas univoques et leur interprétation n’est pas facile.On pense que l’amalgame dentaire pourrait provoquer une modification transitoire et temporaire des défenses immunitaires par un mécanisme de cytotoxicité

Flow in a slowly-tapering channel with oscillating walls

The flow of a fluid in a channel with walls inclined at an angle to each other is investigated at arbitrary Reynolds number. The flow is driven by an oscillatory motion of the wall incorporating a time-periodic displacement perpendicular to the channel centreline. The gap between the walls varies linearly with distance along the channel and is a prescribed periodic function of time. An approximate solution is constructed assuming that the angle of inclination of the walls is small. At leading order the flow corresponds to that in a channel with parallel, vertically oscillating walls examined by Hall and Papageorgiou \cite{HP}. A careful study of the governing partial differential system for the first order approximation controlling the tapering flow due to the wall inclination is conducted. It is found that as the Reynolds number is increased from zero the tapering flow loses symmetry and undergoes exponential growth in time. The loss of symmetry occurs at a lower Reynolds number than the symmetry-breaking for the parallel-wall flow. A window of asymmetric, time-periodic solutions is found at higher Reynolds number, and these are reached via a quasiperiodic transient from a given set of initial conditions. Beyond this window stability is again lost to exponentially growing solutions as the Reynolds number is increased

Pharmacological characterization of a new Ca2+ sensitizer

The benzimidazole molecule was modified to synthesize a Ca(2+) sensitizer devoid of additional effects associated with Ca(2+) overload. Newly synthesized compounds, termed 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, were evaluated in spontaneously beating and electrically driven atria from reserpine-treated guinea pigs. Compound 3 resulted as the most effective positive inotropic agent, and experiments were performed to study its mechanism of action. In spontaneously beating atria, the inotropic effect of 3 was concentration-dependent (3.0 microM-0.3 mM). Compound 3 was more potent and more active than the structurally related Ca(2+) sensitizers sulmazole and caffeine, but unlike them it did not increase the heart rate. In electrically driven atria, the inotropic activity of 3 was well preserved and it was not inhibited by propranolol, prazosin, ranitidine, pyrilamine, carbachol, adenosine deaminase, or ruthenium red. At high concentrations (0.1-1.0 mM) 3 inhibited phosphodiesterase-III, whereas it did not affect Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase, sarcolemmal Ca(2+)-ATPase, Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchange carrier, or sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) pump activities of guinea pig heart. In skinned fibers obtained from guinea pig papillary muscle and skeletal soleus muscle, compound 3 (0.1 mM, 1 mM) shifted the pCa/tension relation curve to the left, with no effect on maximal tension and no signs of toxicity. Compound 3 did not influence the basal or raised tone of guinea pig isolated aorta rings, whose cells do not contain the contractile protein troponin. The present results indicate that the inotropic effect of compound 3 seems to be primarily sustained by sensitization of the contractile proteins to Ca(2+)

Avaliacao preliminar da cultura do aspargo no norte de Minas Gerais.

Introducao de uma colecao de hibridos e cultivares de aspargo, objetivando avaliar seu comportamento nas condicoes da regiao Norte de Minas Gerais, sob irrigacao

Fast offline data reduction of laser ablation MC-ICP-MS Sr isotope measurements: Via an interactive Excel-based spreadsheet 'SrDR'

Strontium isotopes are applied to a wide range of scientific fields and to different types of materials, providing valuable information foremost about provenance and age, but also on diagenetic processes and mixing relationships between different Sr reservoirs. The development of in situ analytical techniques, such as laser ablation ICP-MS, has improved our understanding of Sr isotope variability in several fields of application, because of the possibility to discriminate small-scale changes and their spatial distribution. However, large outputs of Sr isotope data are produced by laser ablation MC-ICP-MS systems, which necessitate multiple offline steps to correct and assess the data. This requires the availability of simple and user-friendly tools, easily manageable by non-specialists too. With this in mind, we developed SrDR, an Excel-based interactive data reduction spreadsheet ('SrDR', Sr-Data-Reduction) for the processing of Sr isotopes measured by LA-MC-ICP-MS. The SrDR spreadsheet is easily customizable (a) to meet user-specific analytical protocols, (b) for different instruments (i.e. Nu plasma vs. Neptune), and (c) for diverse target materials (e.g. rare earth element enriched or depleted samples). We also include several examples relevant to low and high temperature geochemistry fields-a fossil tooth, a modern seashell, a speleothem sample and plagioclase crystals-to show how different sample materials are corrected for different interfering masses

Wide-gap Couette flows of dense emulsions: Local concentration measurements, and comparison between macroscopic and local constitutive law measurements through magnetic resonance imaging

Flows of dense emulsions show many complex features among which long range nonlocal effects pose a problem for macroscopic characterization. In order to get around this problem, we study the flows of several dense emulsions in a wide-gap Couette geometry. We couple macroscopic rheometric experiments and local velocity measurements through MRI techniques. As concentration heterogeneities can be expected, we designed a method to measure the local droplet concentration in emulsions with a MRI device. In contrast to dense suspensions of rigid particles where very fast migration occurs under shear, we show that no migration takes place in dense emulsions even for strains as large as 100 000 in our systems. As a result of the absence of migration and of finite size effect, we are able to determine very precisely the local rheological behavior of several dense emulsions. As the materials are homogeneous, this behavior can also be inferred from purely macroscopic measurements. We thus suggest that properly analyzed purely macroscopic measurements in a wide-gap Couette geometry can be used as a tool to study the local constitutive laws of dense emulsions. All behaviors are basically consistent with Herschel-Bulkley laws of index 0.5, but discrepancies exist at the approach of the yield stress due to slow shear flows below the apparent yield stress in the case of a strongly adhesive emulsion. The existence of a constitutive law accounting for all flows contrasts with previous results obtained within a microchannel by Goyon et al. (2008): the use of a wide-gap Couette geometry is likely to prevent here from nonlocal finite size effects; it also contrasts with the observations of B\'ecu et al. (2006)