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At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources

New approach for making accurate cross sections of casts.

This article describes a new procedure for producing cross sections of a cast, a denture, or an impression and a method of presenting the results in graphic form to show variance. To test the method, identically colored, duplicate dentures were embedded in plaster blocks formed from a precisely engineered and calibrated brass box. A modified jig and saw allowed the plaster blocks to be positioned, held, and sectioned at any required location with a high degree of accuracy. The sectioned surfaces of the duplicate dentures were scanned. The resultant profiles were registered in location frames on the computer screen, traced by computer to produce outlines, and printed onto transparent film for the purpose of comparison. In vitro results showed the relationship between congruent outer forms and provided clear visual evidence of the accuracy of the procedure used and a way to further in vivo use.

Calcium Sulfate↗

New visualization techniques for in utero surgery: amnioscopy with a three-dimensional head-mounted display and a computer-controlled endoscope.

Endoscopic fetal surgery may reduce preterm labor associated with open hysterotomy but is partially limited by current visualization technology. We investigated a three-dimensional (3D) imaging system coupled to a head-mounted display (3D-HMD) and also employed a computer-controlled zoom endoscope for noninsufflated amnioscopy. Pregnant sheep were prepared in aseptic fashion for general anesthesia. Uterine access was obtained following maternal laparoscopy. A 10-mm zoom endoscope (Vista Medical Technologies, Carlsbad, CA) was used to examine the fetus and uterine contents. Fetal limbs were exteriorized for microsurgery. A new system (Vista Medical Technologies) was attached to an operative microscope, permitting projection of a 3D image via an HMD. The fetus and umbilical cord were inspected using the zoom endoscope, which changes the depth of focus under computer control. Basic manipulations of the fetus and cord were easily completed. Real-time 3D fetal imaging was accomplished. The added depth perception enabled detailed fetal and placental examination, fostering manipulation of the fetus and cord. The HMD was adjusted to fit several surgeons, permitting a natural operative posture. This unit has the capacity to display any video, CT, MR, or ultrasound image as a picture-in-picture. The success of minimally invasive fetal surgery is in part dependent on the development of video technologies capable of providing both magnification and optimal resolution. The zoom endoscope affords excellent visibility of multiple surgical targets without instrument repositioning. A 3D HMD system such as this provides greater anatomic detail and an appreciation of fetal movements that may make intrauterine procedures more feasible.

Animals↗

Wrist and forearm postures of users of conventional computer keyboards.

The aim of this study was to perform a comprehensive investigation to document wrist and forearm postures of users of conventional computer keyboards. We instrumented 90 healthy, experienced clerical workers with electromechanical goniometers to measure wrist and forearm position and range of motion for both upper extremities while typing. For an alphabetic typing task, the left wrist showed significantly greater (p < .01) mean ulnar deviation (15.0 degrees +/- 7.7 degrees) and extension (21.2 degrees +/- 8.8 degrees) than the right wrist (10.1 degrees +/- 7.2 degrees and 17.0 degrees +/- 7.4 degrees for ulnar deviation and extension, respectively). Conversely, the right forearm had greater mean pronation (65.6 degrees +/- 8.3 degrees) than the left forearm (62.2 degrees +/- 10.6 degrees). We noted minimal functional differences in the postures of the wrists and forearms between alphabetic and alphanumeric typing tasks. Ergonomists should consider the statistically significant and probable practical difference in wrist and forearm posture between the left and right hand in ergonomic interventions in the office and in the design of computer keyboards. Actual or potential applications of this research include guiding the design of new computer keyboards.

Adult↗

The Psychophysics Toolbox.

The Psychophysics Toolbox is a software package that supports visual psychophysics. Its routines provide an interface between a high-level interpreted language (MATLAB on the Macintosh) and the video display hardware. A set of example programs is included with the Toolbox distribution.

Computer Terminals↗

Computer-assisted 3D reconstruction of the terminal branches of the cerebral arteries. III. Posterior cerebral artery and circle of Willis.

We present a three-dimensional anatomical computer model of the terminal branches of the posterior cerebral artery and circle of Willis, acquired from equidistant serial anatomical slices of three brains. The reconstructions provide a clear picture from all angles of the complicated course of the terminal branches of the cerebral arteries. This can help to identify the arteries in conventional and magnetic resonance angiography. Our rendition of the cerebral arteries can be matched with CT, MR und PET images to indicate the areas of extension of the individual branches, allowing neuromorphological and functional correlations.

Basilar Artery↗

Accommodative and binocular vision disorders associated with video display terminals: diagnosis and management issues.

BACKGROUND: With the rapid computerization of the workplace, school and home office, it is likely that a vast majority of Americans will be using computers for significant amounts of time in the near future. Research has demonstrated a high prevalence of accommodative and binocular vision disorders in symptomatic VDT users, which underscores the importance of the assessment and management of accommodation and binocular vision for patients working with computers. METHODS/RESULTS: This paper presents a simplified approach for the diagnosis and management of accommodative and binocular vision disorders in VDT users. The emphasis is on modifications of the traditional examination routine to make the assessment as sensitive as possible to the vision problems associated with VDT use. CONCLUSIONS: To meet the needs of symptomatic VDT users, optometrists must perform a comprehensive assessment of accommodation and binocular vision. The use of appropriate testing, when combined with attention to the environmental factors associated with VDT use, will enable optometrists to understand the reasons for symptoms and design an effective treatment program.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

The use of video refraction to measure the dynamic properties of the near triad in observers of a 3-D display.

OBJECTIVE: Recording of the dynamic behaviour of the near triad during viewing of a three-dimensional (3-D) display is attempted. This may then be used to identify the possible origin of asthenopia and other ocular problems which occur whilst viewing such displays. METHODS: Subjects viewed a 3-D display through an image splitter. Video recordings of ocular responses (pupil diameter, vergence and accommodation) were made with a commercially available video refraction unit at a distance of 1.2 m from the subject. Continuous recordings were made whilst a step-wise disparity of up to 2.6 degrees was introduced between the targets presented to the two eyes, but the accommodative stimulus remained unchanged. Image analysis from the recordings was carried out on a personal computer. RESULTS: Results showed various complex patterns of response, with the accommodation and vergence recorded reflecting the effect of stimulus conflict. Difficulty in fusional convergence was recorded when disparity was large, and the recordings reflected the subjects' comments. CONCLUSION: The video refraction method is a useful tool for studying the dynamic behaviour of the near triad.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

Generation of TACT image slices using different reconstruction algorithms: effects on natural caries detection.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the method of reconstruction of tuned-aperture computed tomography (TACT) slices has an influence on observer performance in caries detection. STUDY DESIGN: Eight images of each of 40 extracted posterior teeth were acquired by using a solid state intraoral detector. Stacks of tuned-aperture computed tomography slices were generated by using the minimum and average reconstruction methods. Slices of the 2 experimental conditions were presented to 8 observers in a balanced order. Images were viewed on a high-resolution 21-in color monitor. Observers scored the presence/absence of caries by using a 5-point confidence scale. Observers' assessments were compared with histologic examinations of tooth sections. Receiver operating characteristic curves measured observers' diagnostic performance. Analysis of variance was used to test for possible significant differences between observers and between experimental conditions. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and interobserver reliability were also calculated. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences between the 2 methods of reconstruction were found for the detection of either occlusal (P =.07) or proximal (P =.52) caries. Interobserver reliability was similar for both experimental conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The minimum and average methods of TACT reconstruction provide comparable performances for caries detection tasks.

Algorithms↗

A modified Perkins Brailler for text entry into windows applications.

In this paper, we describe how a Perkins Brailler can be adapted so that it can function as a keyboard to a personal computer. The paper describes the earlier work of others and the hardware and software of our system and concludes with indications of how the system may be improved.

Blindness↗

Accuracy and availability of the computed assisted neurosurgery navigation system during epilepsy surgery.

The magnetic-force-based Computed Assisted Neurosurgery System was used for epilepsy surgery to localize targets accurately in the operative field. The correlation between X components of target coordinates in the axial plane and the coronal plane for the same target was strong in all cases. Concerning Y components, there were statistically significant differences in 2 cases. There was a case that showed statistically significant differences only in the Z dimension. The interdisk distance by data sets of coordinates obtained from neuronavigation was calculated to quantify localization error, and the measuring error ranged from -5 to 13.3 mm (1.3 +/- 3.2 mm). The magnitude of the application errors in this study tended to be large in the frontal and vertex regions.

Adolescent↗

A note on luminance calibration of raster-scan cathode-ray tubes: temporal resolution, ripple, and accuracy.

Accurate luminance calibration is an important issue for stimuli in vision research. Raster-scan cathode-ray tubes present a rapidly scanning spot with a luminance of the order of 10,000 cd m-2 (the actual value depends on video timing and phosphor persistence). With little spatial integration this may result in overloading of the front stage of a photometer. More importantly, even if averaged over hundreds of milliseconds, the pulsed nature of the luminance signal will markedly reduce accuracy of the luminance measurement. A frame-synchronised photometer is described to increase measurement accuracy whilst still rapidly acquiring the result.

Computer Terminals↗

Eye activity correlates of workload during a visuospatial memory task.

Changes in six measures of eye activity were assessed as a function of task workload in a target identification memory task. Eleven participants completed four 2-hr blocks of a mock anti-air-warfare task, in which they were required to examine and remember target classifications (friend/enemy) for subsequent prosecution (fire upon/allow to pass), while targets moved steadily toward two centrally located ship icons. Target density served as the task workload variable; between one and nine targets were simultaneously present on the display. For each participant, moving estimates of blink frequency and duration, fixation frequency and dwell time, saccadic extent, and mean pupil diameter, integrated over periods of 10 to 20 s, demonstrated systematic changes as a function of target density. Nonlinear regression analyses found blink frequency, fixation frequency, and pupil diameter to be the most predictive variables relating eye activity to target density. Participant-specific artificial neural network models, developed through training on two or three sessions and subsequently tested on a different session from the same participant, correlated well with actual target density levels (mean R = 0.66). Results indicate that moving mean estimation and artificial neural network techniques enable information from multiple eye measures to be combined to produce reliable near-real-time indicators of workload in some visuospatial tasks. Potential applications include the monitoring of visual activity of system opetators for indications of visual workload and scanning efficiency.

Adult↗

Computer study of presynaptic inhibition controlling the spread of action potentials into axonal terminals.

1. The effect of presynaptic, axoaxonal inhibition, that exerts its action by producing a local conductance increase, on the behavior of action potentials at postsynaptic axon terminals is analyzed computationally. The significance of the location and strength of the presynaptic inhibition, as well as the morphology and membrane properties of the axonal terminals, are considered. 2. Keeping the specific properties of terminal membrane and axoplasm constant, the critical "silent" steady-state conductance change (gcrit) that blocks propagation is linearly scaled with the terminal diameter raised to the 3/2 power. At the midpoint of a 5 lambda long, 1 micron diameter axon that has the standard Hodgkin and Huxley (1952) kinetics at 18 degrees C (and an input conductance of 8.7 nS), gcrit is 72 nS. At 0 degrees C, gcrit = 200 nS, whereas at 30 degrees C gcrit = 30 nS. 3. The critical conductance change that blocks propagation depends steeply on the density of excitable channels (gNa) at the terminal. For a geometrically uniform terminal at 18 degrees C, the action potential can not be blocked by a local shunt when gNa greater than 600 mS/cm2. 4. An axoaxonal synapse in the proximity of the postsynaptic release site has graded control over the spike amplitude (and, therefore, over the postsynaptic output) at that site. Presynaptic inhibition located remotely from the release site has an all-or-none effect at the release site. 5. Inhibition is more effective in attenuating the spike at the terminal when it impinges onto a passive terminal rather than on an excitable one. 6. The detectability of the conductance increase as well as the change in action potential amplitude associated with the presynaptic inhibition is poor at only a short distance from the axoaxonal synapse. The presence of bottlenecks and varicosities at some axonal terminals enhances this decoupling effect even more. Thus presynaptic inhibition may reduce the potential near the output site of the affected axon significantly, without producing any noticeable conductance or voltage change at a distance of only several tens of micrometers (a few tenths of a space constant) away from it. 7. Varicosities and bottlenecks typically found along axonal terminals are the optimal loci for presynaptic inhibition to be most effective in attenuating the action potential at the terminal. Even with high density of excitable channels, propagation with such terminal geometry is insecure, and one, or few, quanta of inhibitory transmitter (a conductance change of several nanosiemens) can block propagation there.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Action Potentials↗