Reliable Gait Recognition Using 3D Reconstructions and Random Forests - An Anthropometric Approach.

Photogrammetric measurements of bodily dimensions and analysis of gait patterns in CCTV are important tools in forensic investigations but accurate extraction of the measurements are challenging. This study tested whether manual annotation of the joint centers on 3D reconstructions could provide reliable recognition. Sixteen participants performed normal walking where 3D reconstructions were obtained continually.

New equations to calculate 3D joint centres in the lower extremities.

Biomechanical movement analysis in 3D requires estimation of joint centres in the lower extremities and this estimation is based on extrapolation from markers placed on anatomical landmarks. The purpose of the present study was to quantify the accuracy of three established set of equations and provide new improved equations to predict the joint centre locations. The 'true' joint centres of the knee and ankle joint were obtained in vivo by MRI scans on 10 male subjects whereas the 'true' hip joint centre was obtained in 10 male and 10 female cadavers by CT scans.

A novel suture method to place and adjust peripheral nerve catheters.

We have developed a peripheral nerve catheter, attached to a needle, which works like an adjustable suture. We used in-plane ultrasound guidance to place 45 catheters close to the femoral, saphenous, sciatic and distal tibial nerves in cadaver legs. We displaced catheters after their initial placement and then attempted to return them to their original positions.

Reflections on a career in neurosurgery.

Robert Heimburger recounts his career in neurosurgery, including some of the early years of modern neurosurgery and some of the contributions he made, particularly in the areas of early repair of myelomeningocele and spinal cord tethering, high-intensity focused ultrasound for the brain, stereotactic surgery, washing hair and scalps instead of shaving for cranial surgery, and neurosurgical consultation in Asian countries. Now aged 96, he continues to have a keen mind and thorough commitment to the profession that offered him a lifetime of inspiration and service.

An encounter with stereotactic brain surgery.

A historical account of the "medieval" period of stereotactic brain surgery characterizes it as a time of instrument development, choosing of treatment targets, and close rapport between patients and neurological surgeons. Pioneers had frequent contact with the next tier of investigators. Brain function and instrumentation became better understood, leading to the more recent exponential advancements in the field.

The relationship of the spinal cord to scoliosis.

The authors present an original description of the tethered spinal cord. This submission in its day was not welcomed by the contemporaries of Dr. Robert Heimburger who theorized that there may be an association between the tethered spinal cord and scoliosis.

Return of function after spinal cord transection.

Many able investigators have shown electronic conduction across the transected spinal cords of a variety of animals. LW Freeman reported return of function in paralyzed extremities after spinal cord section and transection in rats, cats and dogs before Medline searches could be performed online. This summary of Freeman's reports will lead today's investigators to his publications methods and successes.

Granulometry and the content of toxic and potentially toxic elements in vacuum-cleaner collected, indoor dusts of the city of Warsaw.

Twenty-seven sites, together with 23 household dust sample sites, representing the home environment, and four public room dust sample sites, representing working environment (mainly offices) have been described in this paper. The latter were examined to obtain an approximate reference to the home environment data. All the samples were collected between May and July 1997 by a vacuum-cleaner method, in the city of Warsaw, Poland.

Arsenic speciation in marine organisms: from the analytical methodology to the constitution of reference materials.

An analytical procedure for total arsenic and arsenic species quantification in marine organisms has been developed. Fresh materials are freeze-dried and reduced to powders before analysis. Arsenic is determined either by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) directly or by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP/OES) after microwave digestion.

Determination of total mercury in estuary, lake and river sediments.

In order to improve the quality of the results in sediment analysis, the Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) of the European Communities has developed 3 sediment reference materials (CRM) from estuarine, lake and river origins. Certification of mercury content in these materials was achieved by 3 methods (cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry, plasma emission spectrometry, neutron activation analysis with radiochemical separation). The values finally certified in the CRM estuarine, lake and river sediments are 1.

International medical training.

Health care personnel (HCP) from developing nations are seeking to increase their knowledge and skills in other countries. Improved health care in developing parts of the world makes long periods of training abroad less necessary. HCP who train abroad for a year or even less return to their homes and practice new skills.

Features of head injury in a developing country--Taiwan (1977-1987).

Certain features of head-injured patients admitted to the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan during the period 1977 to 1987 were reviewed. The most common causes of injury were motorcycle accidents (56.3%) and street accidents with pedestrian injury (29.

Ultrasound and the blood-brain barrier.

High intensity focused ultrasound was employed to modify the permeability of the normal feline and canine blood-brain barrier (BBB) to a circulating vital dye--Evans blue (EB). The threshold doses (W sec/cm2) for focally increasing the permeability of the BBB in white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) were as follows: internal capsule (WM)--340 to 680; thalamus (GM)--approximately 1326; and caudate nucleus (GM)--2284 to 2952. In the presence of supralesioning doses of ultrasound, the cross sectional area occupied by the EB was consistently greater than that of the attendant nonhemorrhagic lesion--thus suggesting that BBB changes may be inducible at sublesioning doses.

Prophylactic anticonvulsants for prevention of immediate and early postcraniotomy seizures.

Phenytoin (15 mg/kg) was administered intravenously to 189 patients shortly before their intracranial, supratentorial surgery was completed. Intravenous phenytoin of 5-6 mg/kg/day in three divided doses was administered daily for the first 3 postoperative days. Therapeutic serum levels (10-20 micrograms/mL) were achieved in 113 (59.

Electrical stimulation across the midline and between basal ganglion nuclei.

Paired unipolar electrodes were introduced into the pulvinar and ventrolateral thalamic nuclei in 3 patients. Stimulation was applied in 1 patient in an attempt to alter the vegetative state after a closed head injury, and increased alertness and ability to comply resulted with stimulation. Auditory evoked responses improved from almost flat to a recognizable pattern.

Positional oculogyric crises. Case report.

A young woman with a cystic glioma in the region of the posterior third ventricle is presented. Each time she turned to the supine position she developed immediate, forceful, conjugate upward gaze (oculogyric crises) and an inability to talk. If she turned to either side, she was alert and oriented, and could talk and lie comfortably.

Pituitary apoplexy with intracerebral hemorrhage simulating rupture of an anterior cerebral artery aneurysm.

Pituitary apoplexy presenting with intracerebral hemorrhage into the left frontal lobe and lateral ventricle, simulating an anterior cerebral artery aneurysm rupture, is reported. No other cases of intracerebral hemorrhage caused by pituitary apoplexy have been found in a review of the English literature.

Acute mercury chloride intoxication. Effects of hemodialysis and plasma exchange on mercury kinetic.

A 27 year-old man developed after ingestion of mercury chloride, 6 g, a hypovolemic shock, an acute renal failure and a necrosis of the stomach which required a total gastrectomy. The anuria did not improve and required 42 hemodialyses. Subsequent evolution showed numerous complications and the patient died on the 91st day.

Simultaneous determination of trace elements in lavage fluids from human bronchial alveoli by energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence. 3. Routine analysis.

We applied the energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence technique to determination of trace elements in human bronchoalveolar lavage fluids. Our analysis of more than 200 samples allowed us to determine normal reference values, to be used in characterizing occupational exposure. These values are expressed both in nanograms per 1000 cells (of all kinds) and nanograms per 1000 macrophages to correlate lavage efficiency and dust content of the alveoli.

Simultaneous determination of trace elements in lavage fluids from human bronchial alveoli by energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence. 2: Determination of abnormal lavage contents and verification of the results.

We applied energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence to the determination of abnormally present elements or abnormal concentrations of elements in human broncho-alveolar lavage fluids. The low detection limits and the ability to perform multi-elemental analysis permit one to establish or confirm occupational exposure of workers. We also describe different methods used to check our method and our results.

Simultaneous determination of trace elements in lavage fluids from human bronchial alveoli by energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence. 1: Technique and determination of the normal reference interval.

We have applied energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence to the analysis of broncho-alveolar lavage fluids, to determine the concentration of several elements simultaneously with manipulation of the sample minimized. A 20-microL sample of a homogenized lavage fluid, to which two internal standards (containing Y and V) have been added, is deposited on a polypropylene film, 4 microns in thickness, and analyzed by x-ray fluorescence. We report the analytical procedure, the detection limits, and the reproducibility.