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In this work, the multiferroic bismuth ferrite materials Bi0.9RE0.1FeO3 doped by rare-earth (RE = La, Eu, and Er) elements were obtained by the solution combustion synthesis. Structure, electrical, and magnetic properties of prepared samples were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, electrical hysteresis measurement, broadband dielectric spectroscopy, and SQUID magnetometry. All obtained nanomaterials are characterized by spontaneous electrical polarization, which confirmed their ferroelectric properties. Investigation of magnetic properties at 300.0 K and 2.0 K showed that all investigated Bi0.9RE0.1FeO3 ferrites possess significantly higher magnetization in comparison to bismuth ferrites obtained by different methods. The highest saturation magnetisation of 5.161 emu/g at 300.0 K was observed for the BLaFO sample, while at 2.0 K it was 12.07 emu/g for the BErFO sample. Several possible reasons for these phenomena were proposed and discussed.

Three new compounds, namely [HL]2+[CuCl4]2−, [HL]2+[ZnCl4]2−, and [HL]2+[CdCl4]2− (where L: imipramine) were synthesized and their physicochemical and biological properties were thoroughly investigated. All three compounds form isostructural, crystalline systems, which have been studied using Single-Crystal X-ray diffraction analysis (SC-XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The thermal stability was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and melting points for all compounds have been determined. Magnetic measurements were performed in order to study the magnetic properties of the compounds. The above mentioned techniques allowed us to comprehensively examine the physicochemical properties of the newly obtained compounds. The biological activity was investigated using the number of Zebrafish tests, as it is one of the most common models for studying the impact of newly synthesized compounds on the central nervous system (CNS), since this model is very similar to the human CNS.

Tiny changes in the covalent structure of a noble-metal-anchored peptide may affect its surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signature. While SERS spectra of Cys-Trp peptides are dominated by t...

Decoding of atomic and ionic radii of transition metals in terms of energy response against changes in electron number and external potential variation has been considered. Energy as a functional of electron density by means of its derivatives is linked to response density and the electron detachment process. Employing charge sensitivity analysis and the electronegativity equalization principle, we interpret the electronic structure transformations (electron-following/preceding perspectives) into atomic diameters. Additionally, qualitative associations described within hard/soft acid/base theory and the approximate correlations of respective conceptual density functional theory reactivity descriptors were considered to meet postulates of the correspondence principle, giving the characteristic radius the attribute of latent variable related to quantum mechanical observables. By means of local density approximation, an insight from statistical analysis of frontier electron density complements the picture of...

We report the development of a method for eliminating background-induced systematic shifts affecting precise measurements of saturation absorption signals. With this technique, we measured the absolute frequency of the $6s^2~^1\text{S}_0 \to 6s6p~^3\text{P}_1$ transition in $^{201a}\text{Hg}$ ($F=3/2\to F'=5/2$) to be $1181541111051(83)$~kHz. The measurement was referenced with an optical frequency comb synchronized to the frequency of the local representation of the UTC. This specific atomic line is situated on the steep slope of the Doppler background at room temperature, which results in frequency systematic shift. We determined the dependence of this shift on the properties of both the spectral line and the background of the measured signal., Comment: Copyright 2022 Optica Publishing Group. Users may use, reuse, and build upon the article, or use the article for text or data mining, so long as such uses are for non-commercial purposes and appropriate attribution is maintained. All other rights are reserved

Introduction . Strain and strain rate (SR) are techniques, which provide local information on myocardial deformation. The aim of the study was to assess the usefulness of strain and SR measurement in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) response in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. Materials and methods . The study included 35 CHF patients with QRS complex duration ≥ 120ms with LBBB morphology. Biochemical and clinical parameters were assessed before and after six months of CRT. TTE classical and tissue Doppler echocardiography parameters (longitudinal peak systolic strain — LPS and SR for basal segment of intraventricular septum and lateral wall) were evaluated. Results . Twenty-two patients (62.8%) benefited from CRT (the responders) and revealed improvement in septal and lateral LPS in the 6-month observation [-7.1 (-5.2– -11.1) vs -12.1 (-8.7– -14)%, p = 0.002; - 10.4 (-6.1– -17.6) vs - 13.8 (-8.9 – -17.8)%, p = 0.03; respectively]. Six months after CRT, the responders were characterised by higher increase in septal LPS comparing to the nonresponders (-4.6 ± 6.1 vs -2.4 ± 3.9%, p = 0.045). Septal LPS changes correlated positively with baseline cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) parameters: peak oxygen uptake (r = 0.6, p = 0.004), peak carbon dioxide excretion (r = 0.62, p = 0.002) and negatively with VE/VCO2 slope (r = -0.5, p = 0.037). Conclusions . LV regional LPS appears to be a good parameter reflecting the improvement of clinical status in patients treated with CRT. The responders had better improvement of septal LPS, therefore positive response to this therapy may be related to the improvement of septal contractility.

The aim of the present study was an attempt to utilize density measurements using different methods as 3D scanning, hydrostatic, and pycnometric for the estimation of chemical composition of 20 pork semispinalis capitis. The density determined with direct (hydrostatic, pycnometric) and indirect (3D scanning) methods was correlated with water, protein, fat, and ash content. The highest correlation coefficients (absolute value) between density and water (r = 0.86), protein (r = 0.79), and fat (r = − 0.87) content of pork necks were found for hydrostatic method. Despite the standard error of prediction (SEP) obtained for density determination using 3D scanning method was close to acceptable tolerance range recommended by the EU law, which amounts to 20% mean value on the declaration of calculated fat and protein content in a product, further studies are needed on a larger population of samples.

Felsner, Li and Trotter showed that the dimension of the adjacency poset of an outerplanar graph is at most 5, and gave an example of an outerplanar graph whose adjacency poset has dimension 4. We improve their upper bound to 4, which is then best possible.

The influence of high-heel footwear on the lumbar lordosis angle, anterior pelvic tilt, and sacral tilt are inconsistently described in the literature. This study aimed to investigate the impact of medium-height heeled footwear on the static posture parameters of homogeneous young adult standing women. Heel geometry, data acquisition process, as well as data analysis and parameter extraction stage, were controlled. Seventy-six healthy young adult women with experience in wearing high-heeled shoes were enrolled. Data of fifty-three subjects were used for analysis due to exclusion criteria (scoliotic posture or missing measurement data). A custom structured light surface topography measurement system was used for posture parameters assessment. Three barefoot measurements were taken as a reference and tested for the reliability of the posture parameters. Two 30-degree wedges were used to imitate high-heel shoes to achieve a repeatable foot position. Our study confirmed the significant (p &lt, 0.001) reduced vertical balance angle and pelvis inclination angle with large and medium-to-large effects, respectively, due to high-heel shoes. No significant differences were found in the kyphosis or lordosis angles. High-heeled shoes of medium height in young asymptomatic women can lead to a straightening effect associated with a reduced vertical balance angle and decreased pelvic inclination.

When speaker is recorded from distance, a microphone captures speech signal corrupted by room reverberation and environmental noise. In this paper, we aim to reduce the effect of detrimental late reverberation and noise on speaker recognition based on x-vector extractor. We investigate features that are robust against room reverberation and dedicated Probabilistic Linear Discriminant Analysis (PLDA) training. The results of performed experiments indicate that an improvement in the performance of a speaker embeddings system is mostly brought about by careful PLDA training with data adjusted to the test conditions. An improvement in reverberant conditions is also observed for the reverberation robust features, such as Mel-frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC) from the dereverberated signal and Mean Hilbert Envelope Coefficients (MHEC). This work has been performed as part of our contribution to the Voices Obscured in Complex Environmental Settings (VOiCES) from a Distance Challenge 2019, in which the reported methods led to a 12% and 32% relative gains in terms of the Equal Error Rate for the VOiCES development and evaluation datasets, respectively.

We report the measurement of the absolute frequencies of the 6s

Inflammatory activation plays a pivotal role in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HF-REF). A novel mediator from TNF family: soluble tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (sTWEAK) along its soluble decoy receptor CD163 (sCD163) recently has been investigated in other cardiovascular pathologies. We aimed to evaluate sTWEAK and sCD163 concentrations in HF-REF patients. The study enrolled 79 patients with stable HF-REF, EF35%. The control population without history of heart failure included two groups: 26 comorbidities matched patients and 27 healthy volunteers. sTWEAK and sCD163 serum concentrations were determined using ELISA kits. Univariate and multivariate analysis was performed to assess variables affecting concentration of sTWEAK and sCD163. HF-REF patients were characterized by higher sTWEAK (median 374 IQR: 321-429 vs 201 IQR: 145-412pg/ml, P=0.005), sCD163 (median 744 IQR: 570-1068 vs 584 IQR: 483-665pg/ml, P=0.03) concentrations and sTWEAK/sCD163 ratio (median 0.53 IQR: 0.32-0.7 vs 0.3 IQR: 0.22-0.37, P=0.001) comparing to healthy volunteers. Comparing to comorbidities matched controls, HF-REF patients had lower sTWEAK levels (median 374 IQR: 321-429 vs 524 IQR: 384-652pg/ml; P=0.002), while sCD163 and sTWEAK/sCD163 ratio didn't differ. Concentration of sTWEAK in HF-REF was affected by white blood cell count and aspirin intake, while sCD163 by exercise capacity, LV diastolic volume, CRP and presence of arterial hypertension.HF-REF patients present increased sTWEAK and sCD163 levels as well as sTWEAK/sCD163 ratio when compared to healthy subjects, however CHF itself appears to be associated with down-regulation of sTWEAK.

The existing methods for measuring the shape of the human body in motion are limited in their practical application owing to immaturity, complexity, and/or high price. Therefore, we propose a method based on structured light supported by multispectral separation to achieve multidirectional and parallel acquisition. Single-frame fringe projection is employed in this method for detailed geometry reconstruction. An extended phase unwrapping method adapted for measurement of the human body is also proposed. This method utilizes local fringe parameter information to identify the optimal unwrapping path for reconstruction. Subsequently, we present a prototype 4DBODY system with a working volume of 2.0 &times, 1.5 &times, 1.5 m3, a measurement uncertainty less than 0.5 mm and an average spatial resolution of 1.0 mm for three-dimensional (3D) points. The system consists of eight directional 3D scanners functioning synchronously with an acquisition frequency of 120 Hz. The efficacy of the proposed system is demonstrated by presenting the measurement results obtained for known geometrical objects moving at various speeds as well actual human movements.

The paper presents the basic properties of the serial composition of two transformations: wavelet and Fourier. Two types of transformations were obtained because wavelet and Fourier transformations do not commute. The consequences of a phenomenon known as a "wavelet crime" are presented. Using wavelets with compact support in the frequency domain (e.g. Meyer wavelets) leads to the representation of signals as sparse matrices. Speech signals were used to test the presented transforms.

UNLABELLED The aim of this study was to determine the possibility of 3-D scanning method in chemical composition evaluation of pork meat. The sampling material comprised neck muscles (1000 g each) obtained from 20 pork carcasses. The volumetric estimation process of the elements was conducted on the basis of point cloud collected using 3-D scanner. Knowing the weight of neck muscles, their density was calculated which was subsequently correlated with the content of basic chemical components of the pork meat (water, protein and fat content, determined by standard methods). The significant correlations (P ≤ 0.05) between meat density and water (r = 0.5213), protein (r = 0.5887), and fat (r = -0.6601) content were obtained. Based on the obtained results it seems likely to employ the 3-D scanning method to compute the meat chemical composition. PRACTICAL APPLICATION The use of the 3-D scanning method in industrial practice will allow to evaluate the chemical composition of meat in online mode on a dressing and fabrication line and in a rapid, noninvasive manner. The control of the raw material using the 3-D scanning will allow to make visual assessment more objective and will enable optimal standardization of meat batches prior to processing stage. It will ensure not only the repeatability of product quality characteristics, but also optimal use of raw material-lean and fat meat. The knowledge of chemical composition of meat is essential due to legal requirements associated with mandatory nutrition facts labels on food products.

The chapter presents an automatic method for an optical three-dimensional markerless shape measurement and assessment of pectus excavatum severity. The body shape measurement is conducted with use of a four-directional measurement system based on structured light projection method (namely Temporal Phase Shifting TPS and modified Gray code projection). The system set-up is described and the typical measurement parameters are given. Three-dimensional point clouds acquired during the measurement are being automatically processed and analyzed in order to calculate the value of trunk deformation index (I3ds) that shows correlation with CT Haller Index widely used for assessment of pectus excavatum. Three-dimensional structured light measurement of funnel chest is safe allowing to perform this test without any risk to the patient.

The aim of this study was to determine the possibility of 3-D scanning method in chemical composition evaluation of pork meat. The sampling material comprised neck muscles (1000 g each) obtained from 20 pork carcasses. The volumetric estimation process of the elements was conducted on the basis of point cloud collected using 3-D scanner. Knowing the weight of neck muscles, their density was calculated which was subsequently correlated with the content of basic chemical components of the pork meat (water, protein and fat content, determined by standard methods). The significant correlations (P ≤ 0.05) between meat density and water (r = 0.5213), protein (r = 0.5887), and fat (r = -0.6601) content were obtained. Based on the obtained results it seems likely to employ the 3-D scanning method to compute the meat chemical composition.The use of the 3-D scanning method in industrial practice will allow to evaluate the chemical composition of meat in online mode on a dressing and fabrication line and in a rapid, noninvasive manner. The control of the raw material using the 3-D scanning will allow to make visual assessment more objective and will enable optimal standardization of meat batches prior to processing stage. It will ensure not only the repeatability of product quality characteristics, but also optimal use of raw material-lean and fat meat. The knowledge of chemical composition of meat is essential due to legal requirements associated with mandatory nutrition facts labels on food products.

The aim of our work is to develop the software for caller identification or to create his characteristic by analysis of his voice. Based on collected speech samples, our system aims to identify emergency callers both on-line and off-line. This homeland security project covers speaker recognition (when speaker's speech sample is known), speaker's gender, age detection and recognition of emotions. Proposed system is not limited to bio-metrics. The goal of this application is to provide an innovative, supporting tool for rapid and accurate threat detection and threat neutralization. This complex system will include: a speech signal analysis, an automatic development of speech patterns database and appropriate classification methods.

Contains fulltext : 118760.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) We report on a structured light-scanning system, the OGX|4DSCANNER, capable of capturing the surface of a human body with 2 mm spatial resolution at a 60 Hz frame-rate. The performance of modeling the human lower body dynamics is evaluated by comparing the system with the current gold standard, i.e., the VICON system. The VICON system relies on the application of reflective markers on a person's body and tracking their positions in three-dimensional space using multiple cameras [optical motion capture (OMC)]. For the purpose of validation of the 4DSCANNER, a set of "virtual" markers was extracted from the measured surface. A set of musculoskeletal models was built for three subjects based on the trajectories of real and virtual markers. Next, the corresponding models were compared in terms of joint angles, joint moments, and activity of a number of major lower body muscles. Analyses showed a good overall agreement of the modeling outcome. We conclude that the 4DSCANNER within its limitations has the potential to be used in clinical gait analysis instead of optical marker-based systems. The advantage of the 4DSCANNER over OMC solutions is that it does not burden patients with time-consuming marker application. This study demonstrates the versatility of this measurement technique. 01 mei 2013

The transmission and analysis of video is frequently used for a variety of applications outside the entertainment sector, and it is generally used to perform specific tasks. The Quality of Experience (QoE) concept for video content used for entertainment differs significantly from the QoE of video used for recognition tasks, because in the latter case the subjective satisfaction of the user depends on achieving the given task, e.g. event detection or object recognition. Additionally, the quality of video used by a human observer is distinct from objective video quality used in computer processing — Computer Vision. The VQiPS (Video Quality in Public Safety) Working Group, established in 2009 and supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office for Interoperability and Compatibility, has been developing a user guide for public safety video applications. According to VQiPS, the ability to achieve a recognition task is influenced by many parameters, and five of them have been selected as being of particular importance. They are: usage time-frame, discrimination level, target size, lighting level, and level of motion. These parameters form what are referred to as Generalized Use Classes, or GUCs. The aim of our research was to develop algorithms that would automatically support classification of input sequences into one of the GUCs. Target size and lighting level parameters were approached. The described experiment reveals the ambiguity and hesitation of the experts during the manual target size determination process. However, the developed automatic methods of target size classification make it possible to determine GUC parameters with satisfactory efficiency at compliance levels of 70% with end-users opinion. Lighting levels of the entire sequence can be classified with an efficiency reaching 93%.

We present an automatic method for assessment of pectus excavatum severity based on an optical 3-D markerless shape mea- surement. A four-directional measurement system based on a struc- tured light projection method is built to capture the shape of the body surface of the patients. The system setup is described and typical mea- surement parameters are given. The automated data analysis path is explained. Their main steps are: normalization of trunk model orien- tation, cutting the model into slices, analysis of each slice shape, se- lecting the proper slice for the assessment of pectus excavatum of the patient, and calculating its shape parameter. We develop a new shape parameter I3ds that shows high correlation with the computed to- mography CT Haller index widely used for assessment of pectus excavatum. Clinical results and the evaluation of developed indexes are presented. © 2009 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

In this paper a concept of a Internet Virtual Studio as a modern system for production of news, entertainment, educational and training material is proposed. This system is based on virtual studio technology and integrated with multimedia data base. Its was developed for web television content production. In successive subentries the general system architecture, as well as the architecture of modules one by one is discussed. The authors describe each module by presentation of a brief information about work principles and technical limitations. The presentation of modules is strictly connected with a presentation of their capabilities. Results produced by each of them are shown in the form of exemplary images. Finally, exemplary short production is presented and discussed.

The recent development of electro-optical instrumentation allowed constructing 4D (3D + time) structure-light scanners which may be used to measure the surface of human body in motion. The main advantage of structure-light scanners is the possibility of capturing data from the whole measured body surface, while traditional marker-based systems acquire data only form markers attached to skin of the examined patient. The paper describes new parameters describing the local shape of measured surface. The distribution maps of these parameters allow discrimination of various surface types and in effect localization and tracing of under-skin anatomical structures in time. The presented parameters give similar results to well-known curvatures but are easier and quicker to calculate. Moreover the calculation process of the new parameters is more numerically stable itself. The developed path of processing and analysis of 4D measurement data has been presented. It contains the following stages: data acquisition, volumetric model creation, calculations of shape parameters, selecting areas of interest, locating and tracing of anatomical landmarks. Exemplary results of application of developed parameters and methods to real measurement and computer generated data are also presented.

Orthopedics and neurosciences are fields of medicine where the analysis of objective movement parameters is extremely important for clinical diagnosis. Moreover, as there are significant differences between static and dynamic parameters, there is a strong need of analyzing the anatomical structures under functional conditions. In clinical gait analysis the benefits of kinematical methods are undoubted. In this paper we present a 4D (3D + time) measurement system capable of automatic location of selected anatomical structures by locating and tracing the structures' position and orientation in time. The presented system is designed to help a general practitioner in diagnosing selected lower limbs' dysfunctions (e.g. knee injuries) and also determine if a patient should be directed for further examination (e.g. x-ray or MRI). The measurement system components are hardware and software. For the hardware part we adapt the laser triangulation method. In this way we can evaluate functional and dynamic movements in a contact-free, non-invasive way, without the use of potentially harmful radiation. Furthermore, opposite to marker-based video-tracking systems, no preparation time is required. The software part consists of a data acquisition module, an image processing and point clouds (point cloud, set of points described by coordinates (x, y, z)) calculation module, a preliminary processing module, a feature-searching module and an external biomechanical module. The paper briefly presents the modules mentioned above with the focus on the feature-searching module. Also we present some measurement and analysis results. These include: parameters maps, landmarks trajectories in time sequence and animation of a simplified model of lower limbs.

New optical full-field shape measurement systems allow transient shape capture at rates between 15 and 30 Hz. These frequency rates are enough to monitor controlled movements used e.g. for medical examination purposes. In this paper we present a set of algorithms which may be applied for processing of data gathered by fringe projection method implemented for lower limbs shape measurement. The purpose of presented algorithms is to locate anatomical structures based on the limb shape and its deformation in time. The algorithms are based on local surface curvature calculation and analysis of curvature maps changes during the measurement sequence. One of anatomical structure of high medical interest that is possible to scan and analyze, is patella. Tracking of patella position and orientation under dynamic conditions may lead to detect pathological patella movements and help in knee joint disease diagnosis. Therefore the usefulness of the algorithms developed was proven at examples of patella localization and monitoring.

Myocardial infarction in a 24-year-old woman with secondary antiphospholipid syndrome - a case report. A case of a 24-year-old female patient with a secondary antiphospholipid syndrome is described. She had a history of pulmonary embolism occurring after miscarriage. One month later she was admitted to the hospital due to acute myocardial infarction. Coronary angiography revealed distal occlusions in the left anterior descending and left circumflex coronary arteries. Angioplasty was not effective. She received thrombolysis, heparin and finally improved after administration of high doses of corticosteroids. She was discharged from hospital, however, died four weeks later. The treatment and complications of the antiphospholipid syndrome are discussed.

The basic methodologies used in animation are presented and their most significant problems connected with combining real and virtual worlds are recognised. Measured objects are classified into groups based on their mechanical properties and behaviour. The optical methods of shape and movement parameters determination adequate for fast virtual object generation are presented. Combination of various fringe projection techniques with photogrammetry is proposed to calculate the temporal shape and position of the object points. The spatio-temporal analysis of a projected fringe pattern delivers information about object shape and its out-of-plane deformation. The shape of measured object is calculated based on algorithm spatial carrier phase shifting technique. The analysis of marker dislocations during the measurement provides information about object shifts within the measurement volume. Combined information about object shape and its dislocation during the measurement enable to generate a virtual model that can be used to generate e.g.: realistic animation. The short comparison between proposed method and currently available systems is given and exemplary results of measurements are presented. The further directions of development of proposed techniques are presented.© (2003) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Faulty postures, scoliosis and sagittal plane deformities should be detected as early as possible to apply preventive and treatment measures against major clinical consequences. To support documentation of the severity of deformity and diminish x-ray exposures, several solutions utilizing analysis of back surface topography data were introduced. A novel approach to automatic recognition and localization of anatomical landmarks of the human back is presented that may provide more repeatable results and speed up the whole procedure. The algorithm was designed as a two-step process involving a statistical model built upon expert knowledge and analysis of three-dimensional back surface shape data. Voronoi diagram is used to connect mean geometric relations, which provide a first approximation of the positions, with surface curvature distribution, which further guides the recognition process and gives final locations of landmarks. Positions obtained using the developed algorithms are validated with respect to accuracy of manual landmark indication by experts. Preliminary validation proved that the landmarks were localized correctly, with accuracy depending mostly on the characteristics of a given structure. It was concluded that recognition should mainly take into account the shape of the back surface, putting as little emphasis on the statistical approximation as possible.

Four-dimensional (4D) (3D+time) measurement systems make it possible today to measure objects while moving and deforming. One of the fields where 4D systems prove themselves useful is medicine--particularly orthopedics and neural sciences--where measurement results may be used to estimate dynamic parameters of a patient's movement. Relatively new in 4D, optical full-field shape measurement systems capture more data than standard marker-based systems and open new ways for clinical diagnosis. However, before this is possible, the appropriate 4D data processing and analysis methods need to be developed. We present a new data analysis path for 4D data input as well as new shape parameters describing local features of a surface. The developed shape parameters are easier and quicker to calculate than standard surface parameters, such as curvatures, but they give results that are very similar to the latter. The presented 4D data analysis path allows characteristic areas on the body, so-called anatomical landmarks, to be located and traces them in time along the measurement sequence. We also present the general concepts and describe selected steps of the developed 4D data analysis path. The algorithms were implemented and tested on real and computer-generated data representing the surface of lower limbs. Finally, we give sample processing and analysis results.

In this note we study asymptotic properties of random lifts of graphs introduced by Amit and Linial as a new model of random graphs. Given a base graph $G$ and an integer $n$, a random lift of $G$ is obtained by replacing each vertex of $G$ by a set of $n$ vertices, and joining these sets by random matchings whenever the corresponding vertices of $G$ are adjacent. In this paper we study connectivity properties of random lifts. We show that the size of the largest topological clique in typical random lifts, with $G$ fixed and $n\rightarrow\infty$, is equal to the maximum degree of the core of $G$ plus one. A similar idea can be used to prove that for any graph $G$ with $\delta(G)\geq2k-1$ almost every random lift of $G$ is $k$-linked.

Features of trunk and postural deformations are clinically observed to detect related musculoskeletal disorders, namely scoliosis, kyphosis or other thoracic deformities. High variability and controversial reliability of results of postural screening require new solutions to be employed. Standardized criteria for correct body posture are needed for further studies. The aim of this work was to present the current status of development of the 3D diagnostic system for anatomical structures detection. The designed system is based on a parameterized method of body surface analysis for automated measurement of the three-dimensional shape of patient’s trunk. This system uses structured light to measure patient’s body in 3D space by projection of a set of raster images on its surface. A unique feature of the presented system is the ability to operate on remote sites and carry out measurement interpretation by telemedicine utilizing a data warehouse. The system comprises of three independent modules which deal with measurement, data archiving and its analysis. Communication between modules is performed over the TCP/IP protocol, incorporating two different channels for each client, dedicated to two kinds of data - text channel, for transmission of XML documents used for delivering commands and information and binary channel for the transfer of large binary data, such as clouds of points or photographs. Presented modules altogether allow to measure the full shape of subject’s 3D surface along with measurement data storage and analysis for support of screening and diagnosis.

New image processing methods and active photonics apparatus have made possible the development of relatively inexpensive optical systems for complex shape and object measurements. We present dynamic 360° scanning method for analysis of human lower body biomechanics, with an emphasis on the analysis of the knee joint. The anatomical structure (of high medical interest) that is possible to scan and analyze, is patella. Tracking of patella position and orientation under dynamic conditions may lead to detect pathological patella movements and help in knee joint disease diagnosis. The processed data is obtained from a dynamic laser triangulation surface measurement system, able to capture slow to normal movements with a scan frequency between 15 and 30 Hz. These frequency rates are enough to capture controlled movements used e.g. for medical examination purposes. The purpose of the work presented is to develop surface analysis methods that may be used as support of diagnosis of motoric abilities of lower limbs. The paper presents algorithms used to process acquired lower limbs surface data in order to find the position and orientation of patella. The algorithms implemented include input data preparation, curvature description methods, knee region discrimination and patella assumed position/orientation calculation. Additionally, a method of 4D (3D + time) medical data visualization is proposed. Also some exemplary results are presented.