Virtual cystoscopy based on helical CT scan datasets: perspectives and limitations

The purpose of the study was to simulate cystoscopy based on three-dimensional helical CT scan datasets in real-time in patients with tumours of the urinary bladder. A helical CT scan with double detector technology was carried out pre-operatively in 11 patients with histologically confirmed carcinoma of the urinary bladder and one patient with chronic cystitis. A non-enhanced scan was first performed, followed by an examination in the early phase of contrast medium enhancement. Further images were acquired after adequate filling of the bladder with contrast medium, approximately 30 min after injection. These data were transferred to a separate graphic computer workstation and reconstructed. The results were then compared with the cystoscopic and histopathological findings. All tumours of the urinary bladder identified at fibreoptic cystoscopy were shown on virtual cystoscopy. The best reconstruction results were obtained from data acquired 30 min after injection of contrast medium. The ureteric orifices were not visualized at virtual cystoscopy. These data lead us to conclude that, at present, virtual cystoscopy has not reached the quality of fibreoptic examination and remains restricted to use in specific cases, for example patients with urethral strictures.     

Vorkommen von β-Phenylethylamin und seinen Derivaten in Kakao und Kakaoerzeugnissen

Zusammenfassung -Phenylethylamin wurde aus Kakaokernen und Schokoladen extrahiert und anhand GC/MS als Trifluoracetamid analysiert. Seine Konzentration steigt bei der Fermentation des Kakaos und sinkt während der Röstung und des Alkalisierens. Der Gehalt in Schokoladen hängt vom fettfreien Kakaoanteil ab. In Kakaopulver wurden erstmals Aldimine aus der Kondensation von Phenylethylamin mit Aldehyden gefunden, deren Hauptprodukt das N-Benzyliden--phenylethylamin (CAS 3240-95-7) darstellt.

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Occurrence of 2-phenylethylamine and its derivatives in cocoas and chocolates

Summary 2-Phenylethylamine was extracted from cocoa nibs and chocolates and analysed by coupled gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. The amine concentration increases in fermentation of cocoa and decreased during roasting and alkalization. Its concentration in chocolates is dependent on non-fat cocoa contents. Previously unreported aldimines were found in cocoa powders, which arise from the condensation of phenylethylamine and aldehydes. The main component of these products isN-phenylmethyl-N-phenylmethylene amine (CAS 3240-95-7).

     

Real-Time Intensity-Image Reconstruction for Event Cameras Using Manifold Regularisation

Event cameras or neuromorphic cameras mimic the human perception system as they measure the per-pixel intensity change rather than the actual intensity level. In contrast to traditional cameras, such cameras capture new information about the scene at MHz frequency in the form of sparse events. The high temporal resolution comes at the cost of losing the familiar per-pixel intensity information. In this work we propose a variational model that accurately models the behaviour of event cameras, enabling reconstruction of intensity images with arbitrary frame rate in real-time. Our method is formulated on a per-event-basis, where we explicitly incorporate information about the asynchronous nature of events via an event manifold induced by the relative timestamps of events. In our experiments we verify that solving the variational model on the manifold produces high-quality images without explicitly estimating optical flow. This paper is an extended version of our previous work (Reinbacher et al. in British machine vision conference (BMVC), 2016) and contains additional details of the variational model, an investigation of different data terms and a quantitative evaluation of our method against competing methods as well as synthetic ground-truth data.     

Measuring working memory load effects on electrophysiological markers of attention orienting during a simulated drive

Intersection accidents result in a significant proportion of road fatalities, and attention allocation likely plays a role. Attention allocation may depend on (limited) working memory (WM) capacity. Driving is often combined with tasks increasing WM load, consequently impairing attention orienting. This study (n = 22) investigated WM load effects on event-related potentials (ERPs) related to attention orienting. A simulated driving environment allowed continuous lane-keeping measurement. Participants were asked to orient attention covertly towards the side indicated by an arrow, and to respond only to moving cars appearing on the attended side by pressing a button. WM load was manipulated using a concurrent memory task. ERPs showed typical attentional modulation (cue: contralateral negativity, LDAP; car: N1, P1, SN and P3) under low and high load conditions. With increased WM load, lane-keeping performance improved, while dual task performance degraded (memory task: increased error rate; orienting task: increased false alarms, smaller P3).

Practitioner Summary: Intersection driver-support systems aim to improve traffic safety and flow. However, in-vehicle systems induce WM load, increasing the tendency to yield. Traffic flow reduces if drivers stop at inappropriate times, reducing the effectiveness of systems. Consequently, driver-support systems could include WM load measurement during driving in the development phase.     

Die Mikroflora des Sauerteiges

Zusammenfassung Die aus Reinzuchtsauern isolierten homo- and heterofermentativen Milchsdurebakterien der UntergattungThermobacterium, Streptobacterium undBetabacterium wurden im Säuerungsversueh vergleichend überprüft. Ihre Anwendung erfolgte nach Anreicherung in Roggenkleie-Extrakt-Bouillon (30 °C/24 Std) und Vorkultur in einem Roggenmehlteig mit einer Teigausbeute von 200 (30 °C/24 Std). Unter den gegebenen Versuchsbedingungen (Dreistufensauer-Führung, Detmolder Einstufensauer-Führung, Berliner Kurzsauer-Führung) erwiesen sich die Sauerteigbakterien verschiedener Artzugehörigkeit von unterschiedlicher Wirkung. In jedem Falle ließen sie jedoch einen vom spontan gesäuerten Teig abweichenden Säuerungsverlauf erkennen. Der vom Reinzuchtsauer ausgehenden Säuerung (pH-Erniedrigung, Anstieg des Säuregrades) entsprachen unter allen Führungsbedingungen die Sauerteigbakterien der ArtLactobacillus brevis var. lindneri. Unter den Bedingungender Detmolder Einstufensauer-Führung bedingten ebenfallsL. brevis undL. fructivorans eine hinreichende Säuerung des Sauerteiges. Bei der Heranführung der Sauerteige als Berliner Kurzsauer gelangte nebenL. brevis var. lindneri einzigL. fructivorans in ausreichendem Maße zur Entwicklung.[/p]

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The microflora of sourdoughIX. Communication: Comparative investigations over the performance of lactic acid bacteria (Genus Lactobacillus Beilerinck) occuríng in starter cultures (Reimuchtsauer)

Summary The homo- and heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria of the subgenusThermobacterium, Streptobacterium andBetabacterium, isolated from startercultures (Reinzuchtsauer), were examined by comparing them in an acidification test. They were used in this test after enrichment in a rye-bran-extract broth (30 °C/24 h) and preculture in a rye flour dough with a dough yield of 200 (30 °C/24 h). Under the given conditions (three-stage-sour-dough-method, Detmolderone-stage-sour-dough-method, Berliner short-sour dough method) the sour dough bacteria of different types showed varying effects. But they all differed in the acidification process from the spontaneously leavened dough. The sour dough bacteria of the genusLactobacillus brevis var.linderi produced acidification equivalent to the starter culture Reinzuchtsauer under all sourdough conditions (in pH lowering as well as dough acidity increase). Under conditions of the Detmolder one-stage-sour-dough-methodL. brevis andL. fructivorans also produced sufficient acidification. When preparing the sour-dough as the Berliner short-sour dough, besideL. brevis var. linderi onlyL. fruttivorans showed sufficient acid development.

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Nr. 4678 der Veröffentlichungen der Bundesforschungsanstalt für Getreide- und Kartoffelverarbeitung, Detmold

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Diese Untersuchungen wurden ermöglicht durch eine finanzielle Förderung seitens des Bundesministeriums für Forschung und Technologie im Rahmen des Programms Biologie und Technik     

Mechanical properties and morphologies of PP/mPE/filler composites

Because of the poor impact behavior of polypropylene (PP) at low temperatures, the blending of PP with metallocene‐polymerized polyethylene (mPE) elastomers was investigated in this study. However, a reduced modulus of the overall blend was inevitable because of the addition to elastomers. To obtain a balance of the properties, we introduced rigid inorganic fillers to PP/mPE blends. The performance of the composites was characterized with tensile and Charpy notched impact tests, and the fracture morphology was examined with scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the effects of fillers in a brittle matrix and in a ductile matrix were quantitatively different. For PP/mPE/filler ternary composites, the dependence of Young's modulus and yield strength on CaCO₃ content was not significant compared with that of PP/filler binary composites, whereas the elongation at break and tensile toughness at room temperature for PP/mPE/filler systems were more improved. The impact strength of the PP/mPE blends filled with untreated glass beads and CaCO₃ at a low temperature was lowered because of the weak interfacial bond. However, the values of the impact strength of the PP/mPE/filler composites at a low temperature remained at a high level compared with that of pure PP. In particular, a PP/mPE blend filled with surface‐treated kaolin had a higher low‐temperature impact toughness than the unfilled blend. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 83: 3029–3035, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.2333     

Structure and mechanical properties of optimized extrusion welds

A knowledge of how welding parameters affect the mechanical properties of welds is important. However, the mechanical properties of welds cannot be characterized by nondestructive testing methods. Because of its sensitivity to process conditions, extrusion welding of polypropylene-homopolymer (PP-H) was used to investigate the effects of welding parameters on the resulting mechanical properties of welds. Overall optimization of the welding process to obtain stable conditions during welding, which required a redesign of the welding shoe and the welding geometry, resulted in improved weld properties through better build-up of critical weld areas and suppression of void formation. Investigation of material heating characteristics led to a new air nozzle design. The effect of air temperature and welding velocity on the temperature and thickness of the molten layer was determined. The effects of individual process parameters on the structure and mechanical behavior of welds were established, thereby making it possible to specify narrow limits on the values of the weld parameters for producing high-quality welds. The quality of these joints cannot be determined by short-time tests because, even with severe testing conditions, cracks occur in the bulk material. Polarized optical microscopy was used to correlate crack behavior with the build-up of a specific multilayer structure in the weld area. Long-term tests demonstrated that, in both the time-to-crack and crack behavior, the joining area is not the weakest link in an extrusion weld when the welding parameters are chosen correctly.