Fine Relief Research Articles

Micro-relief characterization of benign and malignant skin lesions by polarization speckle analysis in vivo.

A recent direction in skin disease classification is to develop quantitative diagnostic techniques. Skin relief, colloquially known as roughness, is an important clinical feature. The aim of this study is to demonstrate a novel polarization speckle technique to quantitatively measure roughness on skin lesions in vivo. We then calculate the average roughness of different types of skin lesions to determine the extent to which polarization speckle roughness measurements can be used to identify skin cancer. The experimental conditions were set to target the fine relief structure on the order of ten microns within a small field of view of 3 mm. The device was tested in a clinical study on patients with malignant and benign skin lesions that resemble cancer. The cancer group includes 37 malignant melanomas (MM), 43 basal cell carcinomas (BCC), and 26 squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), all categories confirmed by gold standard biopsy. The benign group includes 109 seborrheic keratoses (SK), 79 nevi, and 11 actinic keratoses (AK). Normal skin roughness was obtained for the same patients (301 different body sites proximal to the lesion). The average root mean squared (rms) roughness ± standard error of the mean for MM and nevus was equal to 19 ± 5 μm and 21 ± 3 μm, respectively. Normal skin has rms roughness of 31 ± 3 μm, other lesions have roughness of 35 ± 10 μm (AK), 35 ± 7 μm (SCC), 31 ± 4 μm (SK), and 30 ± 5 μm (BCC). An independent-samples Kruskal-Wallis test indicates that MM and nevus can be separated from each of the tested types of lesions, except each other. These results quantify clinical knowledge of lesion roughness and could be useful for optical cancer detection.

Fruit micromorphology of Siberian Apiaceae and its value for taxonomy of the family

Using a scanning electron microscope, the fruit micromorphology of the family Apiaceae of Siberia was studied. In total, the study covered 97 species of wild, adventive, and the most important cultivated plants. Within one fruit, micromorphology is heterogeneous; the most informative is the surface of the grooves and the rib bases. Exocarp cells are described (relative position, shape, size, nature of the boundaries between cells, outer walls, and fine relief of the cell wall). Characters most consistent within the species, for example, outgrowths on cell surface and a thin relief of cell wall, are noted. The characteristics of the ridges of the ribs, stomata (their presence, position on the surface of the fruit, and cuticle on the cells adjacent to the stomata), and epicuticular wax are also given. 25 species have hairs, scales, spines or warts on the surface; the shape of these structures and their fine relief are described. The importance of micromorphology for species identification and taxonomy is shown. The wide distribution of parallel variability in the family is noted.

Introduction: The Dangers of a Metaphor—Beyond the Battlefield in the Sex Wars

AbstractThe eleven essays in this special issue reconsider and explore the “sex wars” that emerged in 1982 with The Scholar and the Feminist IX: Towards a Politics of Sexuality, widely known as the Barnard Conference on Sexuality, and have engaged and divided feminist scholars and activists ever since. One of the most gratifying elements of editing this special issue was to see the ways in which feminist scholars are pushing in directions that don’t simply (obsessively) reinscribe these splits and divisions. Rather, the essays in this issue bring into fine relief both the resonance of the subject and the excitement of seeing how questions of sexuality, of desire, of violence, of identity are being thought in altered and innovative ways. Not only are a wide range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary locations represented here, but the eclectic archive of sources and methodologies makes for an exceedingly robust commitment to feminist interdisciplinarity.

Visual Culture and Ancient History

Through a specific example, this paper explores the problems of empiricism and ideology in the uses of material-cultural and visual evidence for the writing of ancient history. The focus is on an Athenian documentary stele with a fine relief from the late fifth century bc, the history of its publications, and their failure to account for the totality of the object's information—sculptural and epigraphic—let alone the range of rhetorical ambiguities that its texts and images implied in their fifth-century context. While the paper reflects on the Samos Stele (the meanings of the dexiosis of the figures represented, and the repeated references to the “goodness” of the Samians with respect to the Athenians, for instance), it also considers the broader hermeneutic problems of approaching the different discourses ofword and imagewithin antiquity andworries about the distortions introduced into ancient history by modern formulations, descriptions, and translations of the past.

Pilastar sa stupićem ograde svetišta iz episkopalnog kompleksa u Zadru

Autor piše o pilastru sa stupićem ograde svetišta otkrivenom 1970. godine u hodniku prizemlja nadbiskupske palače u Zadru. Tamo je dospio odbačen unepoznatim okolnostima. Nije moguće sa sigurnošću pripisati ga određenoj građevini episkopalnog kompleksa (bazilici, rotondi, ili nekom trećem liturgijskomprostoru). U stručnoj literaturi pilastar je spomenut, ali ne s opsežnijim opisom niti s dobrim likovnim prikazima. Na prednjoj plohi uklesan je vrstan reljefs ornamentom vinove lozice, vrijedan primjer kamene plastike iz vremena ranoga razdoblja preromaničke umjetnosti na Jadranu. Stoga mu autor posvećuje zasebnu pažnju, uz komentar sa sličnim ornamenatima na pilastrima, plutejima i ciborijima od laguna Venecije do juga Dalmacije. Ujedno ističe važnost istovjetnogaornamenta rovašenjem urezanoga na plohi drvene grede iz rotonde.

Chancel Screen Post-cum-Colonette from the Episcopal Complex at Zadar

The article focuses on a chancel screen post which was discovered in the ground-floor hallway of the Episcopal Palace at Zadar in 1970. It is not known how it reached this location. The post cannot be attributed to a specific building within the episcopal complex – consisting of the Cathedral, the church of St Donatus and other liturgical spaces – with certainty. Although previously published, the post has never been examined in much detail nor was it reproduced in a high-quality image. The front face bears a fine relief of an ornamental vine-scroll and represents a valuable example of stone sculpture from the early period of pre-Romanesque art in the Adriatic. As such it warrants special attention and the author compares it to similar ornaments found on chancel screen posts and panels, but also ciboria, along the east Adriatic coast from the Venetian lagoons to southern Dalmatia. In addition, the author highlights the important fact that an identical ornament was carved on the surface of a wooden beam from the well-known centrally planned church of the Holy Trinity (St Donatus) at Zadar.

Low voltage and variable-pressure scanning electron microscopy of fractured composites

Uncoated fracture surfaces of carbon–epoxy composites are investigated using a variable-pressure environmental scanning electron microscope (VP-ESEM), under optimized conditions for topographic description, image quality and sample preservation. Always using freeware or open source programs, parameters for low-voltage and low vacuum are stipulated with the support of Monte Carlo simulations combined to topographic measurements, tailoring the VP-ESEM setup for visualization of fine relief details. Based on topographic information from atomic force microscope (AFM) images, finest fracture steps were measured. These were the references to optimize and define boundaries for applied beam voltages and chamber pressures, restricted by the beam penetration depth and gas–electron interactions, guided by Monte Carlo simulations and signal-to-noise measurements. For VP mode, ideal chamber pressure was found around 30–40Pa at 3keV beam voltage and 6mm working distance. Lower pressures will cause noise due to electron charging and gas excess provokes resolution degradation and noise due to positive charging and electron beam scattering, raising the skirt radius. When a larger working distance is necessary, it can be compensated by adjusting the detector bias and the probe current, or even lowering chamber pressure, but the signal-to-noise ratio will certainly change. Monte Carlo simulations provided a good approach to optimize imaging conditions under low vacuum and low voltage for fractographic analysis of carbon–epoxy composites.

Matter and Meaning of Mother-of-Pearl: The Origins of Allegory in the Spheres of Things

The first, theoretical part of this study pursues the question of how meaning was generated and how an ambivalent—or polyvalent—object, for example, an allegory, was or can be understood. The interweaving of acts of interpretations involving things, ideas, nature, and—in the specific case of a work of art—the artist, that is to say, the material history of matter and artistic traditions, can be described as allegoresis. As this study demonstrates, the scholar who most vigorously shed light on the medieval exegesis of nature through allegoresis was Friedrich Ohly.The second part of the essay is a case study of an object executed in émail en ronde bosse, combined with an extremely fine relief carved in mother-of-pearl, that unfolds the various layers of the object's meaning through an analysis of the ambivalence of its iconographic motifs, its cultural origin (the courtly practices of gift-giving in French families), and its artistic origin in Paris about 1400, in the workshop of a goldsmith with an extraordinary expertise in only recently developed artistic techniques (rouge cler, émail blanc, painted enamel, and pointillé). The aim of this article is not to provide one interpretation of this object but, rather, to elucidate its ability to oscillate between multiple possible meanings and to reveal how insisting on just one of them would deprive the object of its ability to function in different contexts—secular and sacred.

Functional morphology and taxonomic significance of a novel cuticular Structure in Cretaceous Raninid crabs (Decapoda: Brachyura: Raninidae)

Fossil raninid crabs,Cretacoranina punctata(Rathbun, 1935), from the Pawpaw Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Fort Worth, Texas, exhibit an unusual cuticular morphology. Comparison of the cuticle of extantRaninoides louisianensisto that ofC. punctatareveals general similarities in endocuticular, exocuticular, and epicuticular ultrastructure; however, their gross morphology is strikingly different. The surface of the carapace ofC. punctataappears pebbled, much like the surface of a basketball, with closely packed, hexagonal caps. In cross-section, these caps are the upper portion of fungiform structures within convoluted exocuticle. Along the anterior margin, anterolateral margins, and pterygostomial region of the carapace ofC. punctataeach cap dips slightly posteriorly, creating a series of tiny terraces. In contrast to terrace lines, questa lines, spines, and nodes that provide frictional resistance in interactions with coarse-grained sediments, the fine relief and contouring of the pebbled surface of the carapace ofC. punctataprovides frictional resistance in interactions with fine-grained sediments.Cretacoranina dichrous, C. trechmanni, C. testacea,andC. schloenbachi,as well asEucorystes carteriwere all found to possess variations of the exocuticular structures seen onC. punctata.This pebbled surface has not been recognized in any other decapod taxon, nor has its structure and function been described previously.

FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY AND TAXONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE OF A NOVEL CUTICULAR STRUCTURE IN CRETACEOUS RANINID CRABS (DECAPODA: BRACHYURA: RANINIDAE)

Abstract Fossil raninid crabs, Cretacoranina punctata (Rathbun, 1935), from the Pawpaw Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Fort Worth, Texas, exhibit an unusual cuticular morphology. Comparison of the cuticle of extant Raninoides louisianensis to that of C. punctata reveals general similarities in endocuticular, exocuticular, and epicuticular ultrastructure; however, their gross morphology is strikingly different. The surface of the carapace of C. punctata appears pebbled, much like the surface of a basketball, with closely packed, hexagonal caps. In cross-section, these caps are the upper portion of fungiform structures within convoluted exocuticle. Along the anterior margin, anterolateral margins, and pterygostomial region of the carapace of C. punctata each cap dips slightly posteriorly, creating a series of tiny terraces. In contrast to terrace lines, questa lines, spines, and nodes that provide frictional resistance in interactions with coarse-grained sediments, the fine relief and contouring of the pebb...

Metallographie und Bruchflächenuntersuchungen an Metall- Keramik-Bikristallen / Metallographic and Fracture Surface Investigations of Metal- Ceramic Bicrystals

As has been demonstrated with the example of a niobium/sapphire pairing, a careful metallographic preparation of the mono-crystalline material is required to be able to produce the metal/sapphire composite by diffusion welding in an ultrahigh vacuum. Both for the sapphire and the metal, an average depth of roughness of 6 nm and less can be achieved. The curvature of the specimens was measured to be 2 μm over a specimen dimension of 15 mm. The examination of interface fractures in monocrystalline niobium/sapphire composites must be carried out using optical light microscopy in differential interference contrast (DIC), due to the formation of extremely fine relief on the surfaces of the fractures. Examination in the scanning electron microscope provides little information

Digitale Bildverstärker-Radiographie - Einjährige Erfahrung mit einem Polytron-System

Since January 1988, digital image intensifier radiography has been used in the Clinic in Mannheim for DSA examinations and also in place of conventional screen/film examinations. Measurements have shown that compared with 100 mm and film/screen formats, digital radiography has poorer spatial resolution, but improved contrast resolution. The most common use of digital radiography was for examinations of the gastrointestinal tract. Using the demonstration of the mucosal fine relief pattern as a criterion of image quality, digital image intensifier radiography was able to achieve this satisfactorily. Comparison with film/screen examinations showed no loss of diagnostic information. Advantages of image intensifier radiography are reduced radiation dose, the possibility of postprocessing and economy. On the basis of 399 examinations, digital image intensifier radiography is now firmly established as part of the daily routine of the Mannheim Clinic.

King Narasiṁha I Before his Spiritual Preceptor

The collection of Indian sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum includes a fine relief from Koṇārka. It is about 2 feet 6¾ inches (78·1 cm.) in height and depicts King Narasiṁha I (a.d. 1238–64), the founder of the celebrated Sun temple at Koṇārka in Orissa, sitting at the feet of his spiritual preceptor (Plate I). Acquired in the 19th century, this relief, which is carved in carboniferous shale, was long believed to be Nepalese. Havell, writing in 1911, notes that this sculpture is “said to have come from Nepal. Its date is uncertain. It appears to represent a Vaishnava adaptation of some old Buddhist jātaka story.” Some years later it was realized that the style of this sculpture belonged to that of the Eastern Ganga of the 13th century a.d., and that it represented the conversion of a kṣatriya noble to the worship of Viṣṇu by a Vaiṣṇava priest. The figure of the warrior sitting at the feet of the priest was identified as that of Narasimha I receiving spiritual instruction from his guru. This relief is one of a number showing scenes from the life of Narasimha which come from the great Koṇārka temple dedicated by him to the sun-god Sūrya. Of these, the panel already mentioned and another in New Delhi throw an interesting light on Narasiṃha's religious beliefs.

STOMACH RELIEF ROENTGENOGRAM

1. From normal subjects and patients with strophic gastritis, relatively good relief roentgenogtam can be obtained without any pretreatment. In contrast with this, pretreatment with parasympathetic blocking agent, digestive enzyme, and neutralizer is necessary in order to obtain good stomach relief and fine relief from patients of superficial gastritis, hypertrophic gastritis, peptic ulcer and stomach cancer.2. As for techniques of fine relief roentgenography of the stomach, unsatisfactory picture is generally obtained from untreated cases either by the Berg's or by the doublecontrast technique when small amounts of contrast medium (10-20cc) are used. But when medium amounts are used, the double contrast and the compression technique are adequate for untreated cases, and the double contrast technique is adequate for treated cases.3. As for fine relief roentgenography, it is successful without pretreatment, at 39.6% with normal subjects, at 27.3% with patients or atrophic gastritis, but only at about 10% with patients of superficial gastritis, hypertrophic gastritis, peptic ulcer and stomach cancer. And in the latter cases, the range of fine relief is confined to a part of the antrum. With treated cases, however, it is successful at high frequencies of 45.5-71.4% with any of the above cases, and range of roentgenography is extended to the corpus from the antrum.4) Fine relief will make significant contribution to discovery of early stage gastric lesions of stomach cancer and small ulcer.

A Fragment of the Hatshepsut Punt Relief

Of the vast quantity of fine relief which decorates the temple of Hatshepsut at D£r el-Bahri, no single composition has attracted more scholarly attention than the famous scenes representing the commercial expedition to the land of Punt in the Queen's ninth year. As well as being a historical document of the first importance, the Punt relief of Hatshepsut provides us with a remarkable example of an artistic arrangement which resembles a landscape with figures in the modern sense more nearly perhaps than any similar work produced by an Egyptian artist. Unfortunately, the interest and value of the scene have been much diminished by the damage the walls have suffered through natural accident and by the hands of vandals. By a happy chance, one of the missing portions has recently come to light in Cairo and now rests with its companion pieces in the Egyptian Museum. Early in October of 196 1 the writer had occasion to visit the home of a resident of Cairo whose father had collected a few fragments of ancient relief. His heirs were anxious to dispose of objects of so little interest to them, and wished to have them inspected by an Egyptologist before offering them for sale to one of the dealers in antiquities. Most of the pieces were of little or no value either historically or artistically, but one of them, a slab of fine white limestone broken into several fragments, was immediately recognizable as a missing part of the Hatshepsut Punt relief, and the writer accordingly made arrangements with the owners for its purchase by the American Research Center for presentation to the Egyptian Museum. It was felt that a fragment of a famous and beautiful national monument should not be permitted to leave the country, as certainly would have been its fate if it had fallen into the hands of a dealer, and since the adjoining pieces of the composition had been removed for safekeeping to the Museum, the new slab could fittingly be placed beside them. Accordingly on the tenth of January the relief was formally donated to H. E. Dr. Sarwat Okasha, Minister of Culture and National Guidance, at the Abdin Palace. Later the same day it was removed to the Chemical Laboratory of the Egyptian Museum, where it was treated and repaired, the several fragments being cemented together and the back strengthened with plaster. Before describing the new slab, it seems in order to review briefly the previous publications of the great Punt relief. In 1877 tne French savant Auguste Mariette produced as one of the last major works of a long and fruitful life the first publication of the Der el-Bahri temple that attempted to be in any way comprehensive.1 An earlier work by Duemichen, Die Flotte einer dgyptischen Konigin, published in Leipzig in 1868, had dealt with the Punt reliefs at length, making a serious attempt to identify the wildlife represented and thus determine the locale of the country the Egyptians knew as Punt. In both of these publications the famous scenes are shown in a more complete state than they exhibit at a later date, and it would seem that it was about this time that some of the slabs of relief were stolen from the south wall of the Middle Colonnade. Indeed, it is more than likely that the appearance of the two publications, and the consequent increase in scholarly interest in the temple, were directly responsible for the plundering; it would not be the first time in archaeological history that scholarly notice of a monument drew the less disinterested attention of dealers and unscrupulous collectors. At any rate, the vandals who descended upon Der el-Bahri were obviously well aware of what portions of the much-admired relief would be most readily saleable, and they proceeded