Movements Of Different Parts Research Articles

Strain rate and stress fields in the West and South Lut block, Iran: Insights from the inversion of focal mechanism and geodetic data

The active tectonic deformation and hazardous earthquakes in the south and west of the Lut block have been investigated for a long time. In this study, we compute the geodetic and seismic strain rates using focal mechanism data from the Harvard CMT catalogue and various other sources including the published GPS velocities. Moreover, we also perform Focal Mechanism Stress Inversion (FMSI) to deduce a stress model for the region. Our study shows an expected correlation between the stress orientations, seismic and geodetic strain rates. Our results show that the south and west of the Lut block is generally exposed as a compressional strike-slip tectonic regime. The tectonic convergence in this area is taken up not only by motions along and across the faults but also by the rotation of those blocks which bounded by these faults. The maximum amount of rotation rate is observed where there are the main right lateral strike slip fault systems such as Sabzevaran, Gowk, Nayband, Bam, Kuhbanan, and Kahurak. The orientation of the mean stress direction, obtained from the FMSI results in the west and south of the Lut block, is approximated ~N19 E. In this area, faults are almost oblique relative to the tectonic motion direction. Moreover, there are right-lateral and left-lateral shears, in addition to the dip movements in different parts of the south and west of the Lut block. Our analyses show three main categories of the stress regimes including strike-slip faulting (43.2%), thrust faulting (38.6%), and unknown or oblique faulting (18.2%).We also calculated seismic and geodetic moment rates for this area, which indicate the seismic moment rate is relatively high between Bam and Shahdad where there are some segments of the Gowk fault.

Assessing the potential of the qualitative trajectory calculus to detect gait pathologies: a case study of children with developmental coordination disorder

The Qualitative Trajectory Calculus (QTC) is a qualitative spatio-temporal calculus for describing interactions between moving point objects. So far, it remained unclear whether QTC is useful for describing subtle differences, such as between the movements of different parts of a human body. We tested the applicability of QTC to detect differences in the gait patterns of children with or without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). We found that using a combination of three markers (i.e. ankle, toe and trochanter), QTC can achieve a high classification accuracy (i.e. 83.3%) of classifying subjects correctly to either the DCD group or the control group.

IEEE ACCESS Special Section Editorial: Energy Harvesting and Scavenging: Technologies, Algorithms, and Communication Protocols

The operation of modern electronic communication devices relies on constant energy sources such as DC power, obtained from AC sources via AC to DC conversion, or small chargeable/replaceable batteries. However, in some cases, providing constant energy sources may not be feasible. Advanced energy harvesting technologies can be used to power up modern day electronic communication devices [item 1) in the Appendix]. These energy harvesting technologies rely on energy sources naturally present in the environment, such as solar energy, wind energy, and heat [item 2) in the Appendix]. Moreover, energy can also be acquired from the movement of different parts of the human body such as legs (walking), heart (beating) and arms (swinging), just to name a few. All these energy harvesting technologies and techniques may satisfy the need of energy for low power communication devices and may enable the charging of electronic mobile devices anywhere and at any time [item 3) in the Appendix].

A world where all worlds cohabit

ABSTRACTIn response to Stefan Bengtsson's search for alternatives to Education for Sustainable Development practices outside the mainstream of the state and its policy formulations, this response outlines how our journey, experiences, and approaches reflect a de-professionalizing encounter with autonomous places of learning emerging from indigenous knowledge, social, and ecological movements in different parts of the world. The article proposes an enlivened form of inquiry-in-solidarity as an ethical and intellectual framework for such encounters. Such an alternative approach to research opens up for official policy makers in ESD and academically institutionalized researchers contributing to the “politics of policy” the possibility of an ongoing ecological conversation between different knowledge traditions and practices and ways that they may engage, critique, celebrate, and deepen the questions we each ask in times that increasingly require innovative, hopeful, and urgent answers.

Assessment of stability of orthodontic mini-implants under orthodontic loading: A computed tomography study.

Miniscrews have been used in recent years for anchorage in orthodontic treatment. However, it is not clear whether the miniscrews are absolutely stationary or move when force is applied. This prospective clinical study was undertaken to evaluate the mobility of orthodontic miniscrews under orthodontic loading using computed tomography. Ten adult patients (7 females and 3 males with mean age of 19 years, 7 mm overjet) who required en masse retraction of upper and lower anterior teeth infirst premolar extraction spaces were included in this study. After initial alignment of anterior teeth, the 0.019" ×0.025" stainless steel archwire were placed in preadjusted edgewise appliance. The miniscrews (diameter - 1.3 mm, length - 7 mm) were inserted in between second premolar and thefirst molar in the maxilla (zygomatic buttress) and in mandible on the buccal side as direct anchorage. Immediately after placement of miniscrews without waiting period, NiTi coil springs (force of 150 g in the maxilla and 100 g in the mandible) were placed for the retraction. Denta Scans were taken immediately before force application (T1) and 6 months later (T2). The mean changes obtained at T1 and T2 in Denta Scans (axial plane, coronal plane, paraxial plane) were evaluated to determine any movement of different parts of miniscrews using one-way ANOVA test and Student's unpaired t-test. On average, miniscrews were extruded and tipped forward significantly, by 1 mm at the screw head in the axial plane (Group III) and 0.728 mm in the coronal plane (Group IV). Tail of miniscrews showed average tipping of 0.567 mm in the axial plane (Group I) and 0.486 mm in the paraxial plane (Group V). Least average mobility was shown by screw body of 0.349 mm in the axial plane (Group II). Clinically, no significant mobility was observed. Miniscrews are a stable anchorage for orthodontic tooth movement but do not remain absolutely stationary like an endosseous implant throughout orthodontic loading although miniscrews might move according to placement site, orthodontic loading, and inflammation of peri-implant tissue. Waiting period between miniscrews placement and orthodontic loading does not significantly affect the miniscrew mobility so immediate loading can be recommended. To prevent hitting any vital organs because of miniscrew mobility, it is recommended that they can be placed in a nontooth-bearing area that has no foramen, major nerves, or blood vessel pathway, or in a tooth-bearing area allowing a 1.5 mm safety clearance between the miniscrew and dental root.

Brain Machine Interface for forces and motion based on musculo-skeletal model

Event Abstract Back to Event Brain Machine Interface for forces and motion based on musculo-skeletal model Yasuharu Koike1*, Hiroyuki Kambara1 and Natsue Yoshimura1 1 Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan Non-invasive measurement method, such as EEG, fMRI or NIRS, has been used for Brain Computer Interface. EEG has nice temporal resolution, and it is used for BCI, such as amplitudes of different frequency bands; imagining movement of different parts of the body; slow cortical potentials and gamma band rhythms. Recently, Electrocorticography (ECoG) is an alternative approach to less invasive BMIs. Since ECoG records directly from neuronal activities on the cortical surface, ECoG has higher spatio- temporal resolution with better signal-to-noise ratio than scalp EEG. ECoG has also shown potential as a stable long-term recording method. Several studies using ECoG have already succeeded in the classification of movement direction, grasp type, and prediction of hand trajectory. Despite these successes, however, there still remains considerable work for the realization of ECoG- based prosthesis. The human neuromuscular system naturally modulates mechanical stiffness and vis- cosity to achieve proper interaction with the environment. Current rehabilitation robots can perform sophisticated operations including stiffness control. Our previous works suggested that the angle, torque, and stiffness of joints can be predicted from muscle activity. Therefore, decoding muscle activity is an important component for realizing BMI systems capable of controlling interaction force or stiffness. In this talk, we introduce a reconstruction of muscle activity time series using a simple mathematical musculoskeletal model (1,2). Then we introduce BMI using this musculoskeletal model from EEG, ECoG recordings (3-6). Reference (1) Hiroyuki Kambara, Duk Shin, and Yasuharu Koike. A computational model for optimal muscle activity considering muscle viscoelasticity in wrist movements. Journal of neurophysiology, 109:2145–60, 2013. (2) Duk Shin, Jaehyo Kim, and Yasuharu Koike. A myokinetic arm model for estimating joint torque and stiffness from EMG signals during maintained posture. Journal of neurophysiology, 101:387–401, 2009. (3) N Yoshimura, C S Dasalla, T Hanakawa, M A Sato, and Y Koike. Reconstruction of flexor and extensor muscle activities from electroencephalography cortical currents. Neuroimage, 59(2):1324–1337, 2012. (4) Duk Shin, Hidenori Watanabe, Hiroyuki Kambara, Atsushi Nambu, Tadashi Isa, Yukio Nishimura, and Yasuharu Koike. Prediction of Muscle Activities from Electrocorticograms in Primary Motor Cortex of Primates. PLoS ONE, 7, 2012. (5) Yasuhiko Nakanishi, Takufumi Yanagisawa, Duk Shin, Ryohei Fukuma, Chao Chen, Hiroyuki Kambara, Nat- sue Yoshimura, Masayuki Hirata, Toshiki Yoshimine, and Yasuharu Koike. Prediction of Three-Dimensional Arm Trajectories Based on ECoG Signals Recorded from Human Sensorimotor Cortex. PLoS ONE, 8, 2013. (6) Chao Chen, Duk Shin, Hidenori Watanabe, Yasuhiko Nakanishi, Hiroyuki Kambara, Natsue Yoshimura, Atsushi Nambu, Tadashi Isa, Yukio Nishimura, and Yasuharu Koike. Decoding grasp force profile from electrocorticography signals in non-human primate sensorimotor cortex. Neuroscience research, 83:1–7, 2014. Keywords: Brain machine interface (BMI), ECoG signals, fMRI, NIRS, Musculo-skeletal model Conference: 2015 International Workshop on Clinical Brain-Machine Interfaces (CBMI2015), Tokyo, Japan, 13 Mar - 15 Mar, 2015. Presentation Type: Oral presentation / lecture Topic: Clinical Brain-Machine Interfaces Citation: Koike Y, Kambara H and Yoshimura N (2015). Brain Machine Interface for forces and motion based on musculo-skeletal model. Conference Abstract: 2015 International Workshop on Clinical Brain-Machine Interfaces (CBMI2015). doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2015.218.00013 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 23 Apr 2015; Published Online: 29 Apr 2015. * Correspondence: Dr. Yasuharu Koike, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan, koike@pi.titech.ac.jp Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Yasuharu Koike Hiroyuki Kambara Natsue Yoshimura Google Yasuharu Koike Hiroyuki Kambara Natsue Yoshimura Google Scholar Yasuharu Koike Hiroyuki Kambara Natsue Yoshimura PubMed Yasuharu Koike Hiroyuki Kambara Natsue Yoshimura Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

Comparative Study of the Impact of Social Net Working Sites in Two Recent Mass Movements in Egypt and India

Recently we have seen a sudden upsurge of mass protests against establishment in different countries of various parts of world. These movements were generally ignited by the corrupt practices of ruling class. Individual reaction of people against corruption takes collective form sooner or later depending on quality and intensity of communication among people. Thus type of communication is an important factor for the conversion of general dissatisfaction into mass movement. To assess the nature and outcome of mass movements in contemporary world, it is must to assess the role of means of mass communication in general. In recent times particularly internet and social networking sites has emerged as a vital tool of collective communication. In various recent anti establishment movements in different parts of world decisive impact of this new tool of communication has been observed. Therefore, it needs to be critically evaluated. This paper is a small effort in this direction. In the present paper recent movements of India and Egypt are considered. These two countries represent the third world countries of two important continents. Both the countries had played decisive role in non aligned movement during the era of cold war and both are assumed to play important role in their regions in the emerging power balance in the new world order of post cold war era. The attempt here is to bring forth the role played by social networking sites in both Egyptian and Indian movement. In this paper an attempt has been made to compare the nature and tendencies of social networking sites and to co-relate this with the outcome of the anti corruption and anti establishment movements in these countries.

Cellular Dynamics Drives the Emergence of Supracellular Structure in the Cyanobacterium, Phormidium sp. KS.

Motile filamentous cyanobacteria, such as Oscillatoria, Phormidium and Arthrospira, are ubiquitous in terrestrial and aquatic environments. As noted by Nägeli in 1860, many of them form complex three-dimensional or two-dimensional structures, such as biofilm, weed-like thalli, bundles of filaments and spirals, which we call supracellular structures. In all of these structures, individual filaments incessantly move back and forth. The structures are, therefore, macroscopic, dynamic structures that are continuously changing their microscopic arrangement of filaments. In the present study, we analyzed quantitatively the movement of individual filaments of Phormidium sp. KS grown on agar plates. Junctional pores, which have been proposed to drive cell movement by mucilage/slime secretion, were found to align on both sides of each septum. The velocity of movement was highest just after the reversal of direction and, then, attenuated exponentially to a final value before the next reversal of direction. This kinetics is compatible with the “slime gun” model. A higher agar concentration restricts the movement more severely and, thus, resulted in more spiral formation. The spiral is a robust form compatible with non-homogeneous movements of different parts of a long filament. We propose a model of spiral formation based on the microscopic movement of filaments.

Capacitive facial activity measurement

A wide range of applications can benefit from the measurement of facial activity. The current study presents a method that can be used to detect and classify the movements of different parts of the face and the expressions the movements form. The method is based on capacitive measurement of facial movements. It uses principal component analysis on the measured data to identify active areas of the face in offline analysis, and hierarchical clustering as a basis for classifying the movements offline and in real-time. Experiments involving a set of voluntary facial movements were carried out with 10 participants. The results show that the principal component analysis of the measured data could be applied with almost perfect performance to offline mapping of the vertical location of the facial activity of movements such as raising and lowering eyebrows, opening mouth, raising mouth corners, and lowering mouth corners. The presented classification method also performed very well in classifying the same movements both with the offline and the real-time implementations.

Piezoelectric and ferroelectric materials and structures for energy harvesting applications

This review provides a detailed overview of the energy harvesting technologies associated with piezoelectric materials along with the closely related sub-classes of pyroelectrics and ferroelectrics. These properties are, in many cases, present in the same material, providing the intriguing prospect of a material that can harvest energy from multiple sources including vibration, thermal fluctuations and light. Piezoelectric materials are initially discussed in the context of harvesting mechanical energy from vibrations using inertial energy harvesting, which relies on the resistance of a mass to acceleration, and kinematic energy harvesting which directly couples the energy harvester to the relative movement of different parts of a source. Issues related to mode of operation, loss mechanisms and using non-linearity to enhance the operating frequency range are described along with the potential materials that could be employed for harvesting vibrations at elevated temperatures. In addition to inorganic piezoelectric materials, compliant piezoelectric materials are also discussed. Piezoelectric energy harvesting devices are complex multi-physics systems requiring advanced methodologies to maximise their performance. The research effort to develop optimisation methods for complex piezoelectric energy harvesters is then reviewed. The use of ferroelectric or multi-ferroic materials to convert light into chemical or electrical energy is then described in applications where the internal electric field can prevent electron–hole recombination or enhance chemical reactions at the ferroelectric surface. Finally, pyroelectric harvesting generates power from temperature fluctuations and this review covers the modes of pyroelectric harvesting such as simple resistive loading and Olsen cycles. Nano-scale pyroelectric systems and novel micro-electro-mechanical-systems designed to increase the operating frequency are discussed.

Beneficial Effects of Fluvoxamine for Chorea in a Patient With Huntington’s Disease

Beneficial Effects of Fluvoxamine for Chorea in a Patient With Huntington’s Disease

Accuracy of image registration between MRI and light microscopy in the ex vivo brain

A multistep procedure was developed to register magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histological data from the same sample in the light microscopy image space, with the ultimate goal of allowing quantitative comparisons of the two datasets. The fixed brain of an owl monkey was used to develop and test the procedure. In addition to the MRI and histological data, photographic images of the brain tissue block acquired during sectioning were assembled into a blockface volume to provide an intermediate step for the overall registration process. The MR volume was first registered to the blockface volume using a combination of linear and nonlinear registration, and two dimensional (2D) blockface sections were registered to corresponding myelin-stained sections using a combination of linear and nonlinear registration. Before this 2D registration, two major types of tissue distortions were corrected: tissue tearing and independent movement of different parts of the brain, both introduced during histological processing of the sections. The correction procedure utilized a 2D method to close tissue tears and a multiple iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm to reposition separate pieces of tissue in the image. The accuracy of the overall MR to micrograph registration procedure was assessed by measuring the distance between registered landmarks chosen in the MR image space and the corresponding landmarks chosen in the micrograph space. The average error distance of the MR data registered to micrograph data was 0.324±0.277 mm, only 8% larger than the width of the MRI voxel (0.3 mm).

Terrestrial photogrammetric techniques applied to the control of a parabolic dune in the Liencres dune system, Cantabria (Spain)

AbstractThe spatial–temporal variations of a dune system can be determined by using diverse ‘geomatic’ methodologies: geodesy, global positioning system (GPS) and photogrammetry. In the case of the Liencres dune system, a study will be carried out using the ‘close‐range’ photogrammetry technique and the topography technique (total station and GPS). In order to determine the dynamic of the dune system it is necessary to repeat the process of study after a specific interval of time. For this reason, three dimensional data should be available in two different time periods, between which the displacement of the object of analysis (the front portion of the dune) will be significant enough to evaluate its magnitude. This work analyses the viability of photogrammetry for the determination of the spatial–temporal changes of a coastal parabolic dune. Two factors have been analysed: first, the comparison of the photogrammetric results with the results obtained from topographic methods (total station and GPS), and second, the quantification of the displacement of the dune system. The analysis of the correspondence between the movement of different parts of the dune and the influence of the intensity and direction of the prevailing wind in the area is also desired. The dune advanced 12·15 ± 0·06 m (an average of 8·5 m/yr), and the partial implications for the dynamic of human modified processes on the natural park have been established. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Quantification and visualisation of differences between two motor tasks based on energy density maps for brain–computer interface applications

Objective To determine the most discriminative features for a brain–computer interface (BCI) system based on statistically significant differences between two energy density maps calculated from EEG signals during two different motor tasks. Methods EEG was recorded in ten healthy volunteers while performing different cue based, 3 s sustained, real and imaginary right hand movements. Energy density maps were calculated over fixed 240 ms and 2 Hz time–frequency windows (called resels) for each movement and statistically significant resels were determined. After that, normalised energy values of the statistically significant resels were compared between two real as well as between two imaginary movements using a parametric test. Results The largest differences between energy density maps between two motor tasks were noticed on electrode location Cp3 in the higher alpha and the beta bands (i.e., 12–30 Hz), for both real and imaginary movements. The method reduced a total number of discriminative features between two motor tasks to fewer than 2% for the imaginary and fewer than 3% for the real movements on the electrode location Cp3. Conclusions The method can be used for visualisation and feature extraction for BCI and other applications where event related desynchronisation/synchronisation (ERD/ERS) maps should be compared. Significance If a reliable on-line classification of imaginary movements of the same limb would be achieved it could be combined with classification of movements of different parts of the body. That would increase a number of separable classes of a BCI system, thereby providing a larger number of command signals to control the external devises such as computers and robotic devices.

'Mission In Christ's Way': The Way of Which Christ?

AbstractAll Churches and Missionary Movements in different parts of the world assert without hesitation that in all that they do, they follow the way of Jesus Christ. But the gross injustice in international economic dealings promoted by the so-called 'Christian Nations' in the world and the consequent widening of the gap between the rich and the poor in the world, the discrimination of people on the basis of creed, class, race and colour practised by many Christians and the power-struggle and corruption found in many local churches make the world wonder, the way of which Christ these Christians follow! The image of the Biblical Jesus is that of the Servant-leader, crowned with thorns, who emptied himself of all worldly riches, pomp and power and laid down his life as a ransom for many. Since the time of Emperor Constantine, this thorn-crowned servant Jesus is turned into a gold-crowned King, an anti-Christ with the face of 'Mammon', the idol of riches and power. Since one cannot worship God and Mammon at the same time, it is mandatory on the part of us all faithful Christians, to introspect ourselves and decide, the way of which Christ we want to follow.

Pre-Step and Post-Step Deformation Schemes for Fastening Band-Shaped Twisted Cloth

We have developed a simulation program that presents the process of fastening band-shaped cloth objects. These objects are twisted in 3D space to mimic the movements of tying garments such as Kimono sash. Even using extensive collision handling, this simulation is tough. The difficulty lies in the complex object contacts: The movements of different parts of a long contiguous deformable object conflict with each other causing numerous collisions during fastening process; Such collisions cause implausible deformations; Moreover, the collisions in different angles are prone to fatal penetrations that are not simple to remove. We propose three schemes to solve these problems. One is a pre-step mechanical scheme for calculating fastening force to move the object smoothly. Other two are a post-step geometrical correction scheme to smooth deformations and a set of schemes to remove penetrations. These schemes proved to enable robust and visually realistic simulations with low cost.

High field electrophoresis—computer simulations

We describe for the first time the results, obtained by means of a new two-dimensional version of a cellular automaton (2DA), designed for the simulation of the gel electrophoresis at high fields. The calculations are performed up to N = 442 reptons. The results are compared with those from a modified version of the one-dimensional automaton (1DA), which has been constructed previously. The modification is that the movements of different parts of a molecule of DNA are treated as statistically independent events. This approach is applied also for 2DA. Main results are: (i) for long molecules ( N ≫ 1 ) the velocity v tends to a constant both for 1DA and 2DA; (ii) the diffusion coefficient D for 2DA increases with N; (iii) 2DA enables the formation of so-called hernias, i.e. fragments of DNA locally perpendicular to the molecule, and (iv) a direct observation of the geometration effect. The results (i) and (ii) mimic the experimental behavior at high electric fields. We also calculate a dimensionless quantity y = D / ( L v ) , where L = N a is the molecule length and a is the stiffness length. The discussion of y reveals the role of the length fluctuations.

Creating an Agenda in the Sociology of Religion: Common Sources/Different Pathways

This article has three sections. The first sets out the theme: that is the task or tasks of the sociology of religion. The variations on this theme follow, for it becomes immediately clear that not all sociologists of religion either identify or set about their assignments in the same way. The second section tackles similar issues but from a different perspective: it is concerned with the evolution of the sub-discipline in different parts of the world and in different language communities. We share common sources in the sociological classics; in later generations, however, distinctive discourses have emerged in different global regions. The final section offers a worked example of one particular debate: that which relates to new religious movements in different parts of the world. This article, and to a considerable extent my idea for the conference from which it emerged, has two points of departure. The first lies in the evolution of my own work since the mid 1980s; the second in a specific invitation to think more about the current agenda in the sociology of religion. Both points need further elaboration. Since the mid-1980s I have been concerned with the connections between religion and modernity. The canvass on which I have worked, however, has widened steadily. I started my thinking with reference to the urban areas of Britain and, more specifically, with reference to the religious situation in Liverpool in the North West of England (Ahern and Davie 1987). I then worked in more detail on the religious life of modern Britain (Davie 1994), a book that contains an important theoretical chapter concerning the connections between religion and modernity. In 2000, I published Religion in Modern Europe, which placed the British material within the European context where it rightly belongs.

Movement quantification in epileptic seizures: a new approach to video-EEG analysis.

It is common that epileptic seizures induce uncoordinated movement in a patient's body. This movement is a relevant clinical factor in seizure identification. Nevertheless, quantification of this information has not been an object of much attention from the scientific community. In this paper, we present our effort in developing a new approach to the quantification of movement patterns in patients during epileptic seizures. We attach markers at landmark points of a patient's body and use a camera and a commercial video-electroencephalogram (EEG) system to synchronously register EEG and video during seizures. Then, we apply image-processing techniques to analyze the video frames and extract the trajectories of those points that represent the course of the quantified movement of different body parts. This information may help clinicians in seizure classification. We describe the framework of our system and a method of analyzing video in order to achieve the proposed goal. Our experimental results show that our method can reflect quantified motion patterns of epileptic seizures, which cannot be accessed by means of traditional visual inspection of video recordings. We were able, for the first time, to quantify the movement of different parts of a convulsive human body in the course of an epileptic seizure. This result represents an enhanced value to clinicians in studying seizures for reaching a diagnosis.

3D-sonography as "2D-M-mode sonography in fetal echocardiography

Establishing a technique employing 3D-ultrasound for the echocardiographic examination of foetuses. M-mode sonography has reached considerable importance in the detection of arrhythmia as well as pathological changes of the heart valves and contraction disorders of the foetal heart. The variability of the position of the foetus leads to problems typically arising with this method. The ventro-anterior position along the long axis of the foetal heart, being the optimal position for prenatal echocardiography, allows no examination in M-mode because the plane of the valve lies vertically in relation to the direction of the ultrasound. A special appliance of 3D-sonography solves the problem by providing a 2-dimensional examination technique of the heart in M-mode independent of the position of the foetal heart. The method allows simultaneous measurement of the movement of different parts of the myocardium in several different planes. By fixing the position of the applicator (in B-mode) and choosing the 3D-sequence in the "free-hand-mode" one gets a 2-dimensional time-tissue-block which contains all movements in the chosen axis. These "time planes" can be deliberately selected for the examination of different planes in the fixed B-mode image which shows their variations along the time axis. Our study describes the application and evaluation of this examination during pregnancy between the 28th and 40th week. Reliable images of the AV-valves or the aortic valve could be produced in 73% of examinations.