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BACKGROUND: Adult spinal deformity (ASD) occurs from progressive anterior column collapse due to disc space desiccation, compression fractures, and autofusion across disc spaces. Anterior column realignment (ACR) is increasingly recognized as a powerful tool to address ASD by progressively lengthening the anterior column through the release of the anterior longitudinal ligament during lateral interbody approaches. Here, we describe the application of minimally invasive ACR through an oblique antepsoas corridor for deformity correction in a patient with adult degenerative scoliosis and significant sagittal imbalance. OBSERVATIONS: A 65-year-old female with a prior history of L4-5 transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion and morbid obesity presented with refractory, severe low-back and lower-extremity pain. Preoperative radiographs showed significant sagittal imbalance. Computed tomography showed a healed L4-5 fusion and a vacuum disc at L3-4 and L5-S1, whereas magnetic resonance imaging was notable for central canal stenosis at L3-4. The patient was treated with a first-stage L5-S1 lateral anterior lumbar interbody fusion with oblique L2-4 ACR. The second-stage posterior approach consisted of a robot-guided minimally invasive T10-ilium posterior instrumented fusion with a mini-open L2-4 posterior column osteotomy (PCO). Postoperative radiographs showed the restoration of her sagittal balance. There were no complications. LESSONS: Oblique ACR is a powerful minimally invasive tool for sagittal plane correction. When combined with a mini-open PCO, substantial segmental lordosis can be achieved while eliminating the need for multilevel PCO or invasive three-column osteotomies.

Incomplete sacroiliac joint injuries are often associated with external rotation and extension deformities on the injured hemipelvis. To appropriately correct this deformity, an oblique reduction force from caudal to cranial and lateral to medial is helpful. These injuries are often associated with traumatic disruption of the pubic symphysis. However, in injuries without traumatic disruption to the pubic symphysis, a two-pin oblique anterior external fixator can be used to obtain and maintain reduction of the sacroiliac joint, while percutaneous fixation is subsequently placed. Through a small case series and three specific patient examples, we demonstrate that the oblique anterior external fixator frame is a simple and effective strategy with the reduction and stabilization process of these multiplanar hemipelvis deformities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Droplet impact is a common occurrence in nature, agriculture, and industry. The research on the multi‐droplet impact is fundamental to understanding the tangled nature of reality. This paper numerically studies the successive oblique impact of dual droplets on the liquid film by building an effective three‐dimensional model. The leading and trailing droplets are set to pass a certain impact point with the same velocity. The main contribution of this paper is the investigation of the effects of Weber number, liquid film thickness, impact angle, and impact time interval on the interface morphology evolution after the droplet impact. Results show that splash pattern conversion of the primary or secondary crown occurs with the change of these factors. Besides, the variations of the maximum crater radius in upstream, lateral, and downstream directions with time are quantitatively analyzed. The crater radius analysis is carried out from three perspectives, the variation during the single droplet impact, the change during the dual droplets impact, and the comparison between them. It is found that the crater of dual droplets impact exhibits shape distortion in the deformation period and appears a marked dimensional increase in the secondary expansion period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual testing of helmets using finite element (FE) analysis can be a valuable tool during product development. Still, its usefulness is limited by the quality of the constitutive model of the energy-absorbing material, usually foam. Built-in constitutive models in commercial FE software are developed for traditional linear compression loading. However, modern oblique test methods load the foam in combined compression and shear. Therefore, we aim to evaluate to what extent built-in constitutive models in commercial FE software can represent Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam during combined compression and shear loading (CCSL). EPS foam is tested experimentally in a newly developed test rig for CCSL (V-test). The response is compared against the simulation using three different constitutive models available in LS-DYNA (M83, M126, and M181). The models are assessed by their ability to capture the correct response, focusing on how well the continuum models can capture the phenomenological events seen in the experiments. The results show that the models perform well in compression, as expected. However, we point out limitations in the shear response and significant limitations in the unloading response, both important for oblique helmet testing. Due to these limitations, we conclude that the existing models are inadequate for accurately simulating oblique helmet impacts. There is a clear need to develop and implement new constitutive models focused on capturing CCSL including the unloading. Additionally, frictional sliding was found to substantially influence the measured response in the V-test method. Minimizing interface sliding is therefore critical for isolating the material behavior.

Two injured wild Mohave desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) presented with hind leg lameness. A contaminated and infected bite wound exposed the coxofemoral joint in one individual. Dorsoventral, lateral, and craniocaudal radiographs produced reduced detail of the affected coxofemoral joint in each tortoise because of superimposition of soft tissue and the bones of the shell, pelvis, and femur. Radiotracking devices that had been epoxied to the shell also complicated diagnosis with traditional radiographic views. Based on a view described in birds, a craniodorsal–caudoventral 45° oblique image offered a superior view of the coxofemoral joint. This image was used to prescribe a femoral head ostectomy and verify successful completion following surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main topic of this article is the relationship between morphosyntactic contexts and nominal inflections in Aromanian varieties of southern Albania. These varieties have a specialized inflection in the plural definite and feminine singular nouns, associated with genitive, dative, and prepositional contexts, where it is preceded by a Possessive Introducer. We present a detailed picture of the microvariation that characterizes the different systems. The broad syncretism that emerges suggests a rethinking of the syntactic status of inflections and the notion of Case. Our approach assumes that morphology is based on Merge within the syntactic computation and that sub-word elements are provided with interpretable content. This theoretical model will also guide us in the study of prepositions and their distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate changes in astigmatism with age. Are changes from with‐the‐rule (WTR) in younger ages to against‐the‐rule (ATR) in older patients mediated through oblique astigmatic axes or spherical prescriptions, and at what ages do these changes occur? Methods: Prescription data were gathered retrospectively from one optical practice belonging to a large multiple group in the UK. Longitudinal assessments were made of the changes in astigmatism for 326 patients (mean age at first prescription 46 years, range 28–69 years) and 640 eyes through their recorded prescription history (median 20 years of prescription data per participant, IQR 19–22 years, range 18–29 years). Results: Changes in small degrees of astigmatism (0.25 or 0.50 DC) from WTR to ATR were more than three times more likely to pass through an oblique cylinder axis as through a spherical prescription (56 vs. 16, χ12 = 22.2, p < 0.0001). For patients aged 28–40 years at their first recorded eye examination, 55% (92/167) of eyes had an onset of astigmatic changes at a mean of 44 years (SD 6.2) and 41% (68/167) of eyes had no change until after a mean of 54 years (SD 4.6). Compared with a measured prevalence of oblique astigmatism in the literature of 11%–19%, 36% (232/640) of the eyes in this study had an oblique cylinder prescribed at least once in their refraction history and of these oblique cylinders, 78% were transient in nature. Conclusions: The change in ocular astigmatism with age, from WTR to ATR, was more than three times more likely (56 vs. 16) to pass through oblique cylinder axes as through a spherical prescription. Changes in oblique astigmatism have been implicated in complaints with new spectacles, so given this prevalence of oblique cylinder axes (232/640, 36%), continuing professional development is needed regarding reconciling these oblique changes with previous prescriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short essay explores oblique approaches to rhetorical theory and practice and, in doing so, accidently arrives at a renewed appreciation of Aesthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spray impacts can be found in several technical applications and consist of many single droplets, which impact under different trajectories on wetted walls. This study investigates the asymmetric crown morphology resulting from an oblique impact ( α = 60°) of a single droplet on a horizontal and quiescent wall film of the same liquid. A droplet generator with an accelerated needle releases the droplets ( D = 1.5 mm) in a controlled trajectory on a thin film ( h f / D = 0.2). The impact process is recorded from two perspectives with two synchronized high-speed cameras. Varying the Weber number within the splashing regime reveals distinct crown morphologies, which are described in detail. For W e < 500, a single central finger develops at the front of the crown, with subsequent detachments of secondary droplets. At higher W e (>500), a collision of the crown with the wall film shortly after impact introduces disturbances into the rim, leading to two fingers in the middle of the front crown. A further increase in W e (>600) intensifies the crown–film interaction, resulting in an early ejection of tiny droplets and a complete breakup of the front rim. The influence of W e on the crown morphology during an oblique impact is also compared to the normal impact (90°). This study paves the way for a classification of impact regimes and a comprehensive picture of the oblique impact process, which deserve more investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Oblique Mercator (OM) has been the runt in the family of conformal coordinate projection where its particular attribute of arbitrary orientation has been largely ignored. It is proposed that the Oblique Mercator, as a conformal projection, is well-suited to bridge the gap between a conventional north-oriented projection and the family of engineering grids that are unit-scaled and arbitrarily oriented improve the management of coordinate reference systems (CRS) between GIS and CAD/BIM software that has been, and remains, a significant cause of inefficiency for engineering design and construction, and for plane surveying. Issues relating to the selection of an optimal set of HOM projection parameters are discussed, including a new method to transform an existing engineering grid into an optimised HOM grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil erosion on agricultural land causes severe environmental problems and damages crop plants. Structure-from-motion with multiview stereo (SfM-MVS) together with data obtained via unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) helps understand spatiotemporal changes in the ground surface if there is enough precise data. However, installing ground control points in the field is labor intensive and disturbs field conditions. Here, images georeferenced using the Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) method were further improved using Post-Processing Kinematic (PPK) analysis. This study aims to verify whether the UAV-RTK-PPK method can create precise digital surface models to evaluate topographic changes owing to erosion without ground control points. The effects of the camera's interior orientation parameters settings and the addition of oblique images to nadiral images on the precision were also examined to reduce the positional error by the doming and bowling phenomena. Field observations were conducted in a 150 m × 25 m potato field with 156 poles to consider the three-dimensional object shapes in the verification. The doming or bowling phenomena occurred using only the nadiral images. The precision of the digital surface model was approximately 0.40 and 0.20 m (in the Z-direction) using the estimated and fixed camera's interior orientation parameters, respectively. In contrast, the digital surface models produced by adding oblique images to the nadiral images had a precision of approximately 0.04 m, regardless of the camera's interior orientation parameters. Thus, a high-precision digital surface model was obtained from images acquired using the UAV-RTK-PPK and SfM-MVS methods without ground control points. The digital surface model positional precision was improved by adding oblique images to the nadiral images without having to consider the camera's interior orientation parameters. Topographic changes >0.05 m after erosion by heavy rainfall were evaluated without ground control points using the UAV-RTK-PPK method with oblique and nadiral images. Therefore, our method can monitor the erosion of agricultural fields that may cause crop damage, such as the greening of potatoes.

Attention can be shifted with or without an accompanying saccade (i.e., overtly or covertly, respectively). Thus far, it is unknown how cognitively costly these shifts are, yet such quantification is necessary to understand how and when attention is deployed overtly or covertly. In our first experiment (N = 24 adults), we used pupillometry to show that shifting attention overtly is more costly than shifting attention covertly, likely because planning saccades is more complex. We pose that these differential costs will, in part, determine whether attention is shifted overtly or covertly in a given context. A subsequent experiment (N = 24 adults) showed that relatively complex oblique saccades are more costly than relatively simple saccades in horizontal or vertical directions. This provides a possible explanation for the cardinal-direction bias of saccades. The utility of a cost perspective as presented here is vital to furthering our understanding of the multitude of decisions involved in processing and interacting with the external world efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction of the new Büchler bridge in Luxembourg The transport infrastructure project new national road N3 covers several districts of the capital city of Luxembourg and includes the replacement of the Büchler bridge, running over all twelve railroad tracks south of the main station, which is necessary in this context. The new bridge design is characterized by a significantly widened traffic cross‐section that carries a total of six lanes for road traffic and a new double‐track tram line, in addition to wider sidewalks and bike lanes. The traffic is supported by an undivided girder grid, whose three main girders in the form of steel sails pierce the carriageway slab above the inclined intermediate supports. The design of the new bridge is characterized by the small possible construction height below the roadway level, which resulted from the maintained longitudinal profile of the N3 in the construction area and the increased clearance height of 0.85 m for rail traffic under the bridge. The present report describes the challenging planning and the demanding construction work at the same location under full traffic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) has been used to treat lumbar intervertebral instability, which has some advantages including less trauma, less blood loss, faster recovery and bigger cage. However, it usually needs posterior screws fixation for biomechanical stability, and possible direct decompression for relieving neurologic symptoms. In this study, OLIF and anterolateral screws rod fixation through mini-incision were combined with percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic surgery (PTES) for the treatment of multi-level lumbar degenerative diseases (LDDs) with intervertebral instability. The purpose of study is to evaluate the feasibility, efficacy and safety of this hybrid surgery. Methods From July 2017 to May 2018, 38 cases of multi-level LDDs of disc herniation, foramen stenosis, lateral recess stenosis or central canal stenosis with intervertebral instability and neurologic symptoms undergoing one-stage PTES combined with OLIF and anterolateral screws rod fixation through mini-incision were recruited in this retrospective study. The culprit segment was predicted according to the position of patient’s leg pain and PTES under local anesthesia was performed for the culprit segment in the prone position to enlarge the foramen, remove the flavum ligamentum and herniated disc for the lateral recess decompression and expose bilateral traversing nerve roots for the central spinal canal decompression through an unilateral incision. During the operation, communicate with the patients to confirm the efficacy using VAS. And then mini-incision OLIF using allograft, autograft bone harvested in PTES and anterolateral screws rod fixation were performed in the right lateral decubitus position under general anesthesia. Back and leg pain were preoperatively and postoperatively evaluated using VAS. And the clinical outcomes were evaluated with ODI at the 2-year follow-up. The fusion status was assessed according to Bridwell’s fusion grades. Results There were 27 cases of 2-level, 9 cases of 3-level and 2 cases of 4-level LDDs with single-level instability on the X-ray, CT and MRI. Five cases of L3/4 instability and 33 cases of L4/5 instability were included. PTES was performed for 1 segment of 31 cases (25 cases of instability segment, 6 cases of no instability segment) and 2 segments including instability segment of 7 cases. Then, all instability segments were treated using mini-incision OLIF and anterolateral screws rod fixation. The average operation duration was 48.9 ± 7.3 min per level for PTES and 69.2 ± 11.6 min for OLIF and anterolateral screws rod fixation. The mean frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy was 6 (5–9) times per level for PTES and 7 (5–10) times for OLIF. There was a mean blood loss of 30 (15–60) ml, and the incision length was 8.1 ± 1.1 mm for PTES and 40.0 ± 3.2 mm for OLIF. The mean hospital stay was 4 (3–6) days. The average follow-up duration was 31.1 ± 4.0 months. For the clinical evaluation, the VAS pain index and the ODI showed excellent outcomes. Fusion grades based on the Bridwell grading system at 2-year follow-up were grade I in 29 segments (76.3%) and grade II in 9 segments (23.7%). One patient encountered nerve root sleeves rupture during PTES and did not confront cerebrospinal fluid leakage or other abnormal clinical symptoms. There were two cases of hip flexion pain and weakness, which was relieved during 1 week after surgery. No patients had any form of permanent iatrogenic nerve damage and a major complication. No failure of instruments was observed. Conclusions The hybrid surgery of PTES combined with OLIF and anterolateral screws rod fixation is a good choice of minimally invasive surgery for multi-level LDDs with intervertebral instability, which can get direct neurologic decompression, easy reduction, rigid fixation and solid fusion, and hardly destroy the paraspinal muscles and bone structures.

Finite element analysis of double tubes under axial and oblique loads are presented in this paper. This study tested double tubes which consisted of an outer tube and an inner tube. The inner tube used varied, in terms of shape, including the form of a triangle, square, hexagon, and octagonal. The crash behavior of the four types of tubes are first investigated by nonlinear finite element analysis through ABAQUS. It is found that the octagonal tube has the best crashworthiness performance under axial impact regarding both specific energy absorption (SEA) and peak crushing force (PCF). Then, the variations in the loading angle were analyzed in the oblique test category for octagonal tubes with angular variations of 10°, 20°, and 30°. In addition, optimization design of the octagonal tube is performed by adopting multiobjective nueral network algorithm to achieve maximum SEA capacity and minimum TEA with and without considering load angle effect. It is found that the optimal designs of the octagonal tubes under different load angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses syncretism patterns differential object marking (DOM) constructed with oblique morphology (dative, locative, genitive) induces cross-linguistically. It is shown that enriched case hierarchies (Starke 2017, Caha 2019, a.o.), which are also extended to ergative-absolutive systems, derive all these syncretisms. Enriched case hierarchies also capture crucial properties of the oblique DOM types discussed here: i) such categories have the syntax of direct objects, as types of structural accusatives, and not obliques, making their oblique appearance rather a matter of PF syncretism; ii) at the same time, oblique DOM can show syntactic differences from unmarked accusatives, motivating the need for more than one instance of the accusative in the hierarchy.

The main topic of this article is the relationship between morphosyntactic contexts and nominal inflections in Aromanian varieties of southern Albania. These varieties have a specialized inflection in the plural definite and feminine singular nouns, associated with genitive, dative, and prepositional contexts, where it is preceded by a Possessive Introducer. We present a detailed picture of the microvariation that characterizes the different systems. The broad syncretism that emerges suggests a rethinking of the syntactic status of inflections and the notion of Case. Our approach assumes that morphology is based on Merge within the syntactic computation and that sub-word elements are provided with interpretable content. This theoretical model will also guide us in the study of prepositions and their distribution.

Background: Oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) has been used to treat lumbar intervertebral instability, which has some advantages including less trauma, less blood loss, faster recovery and bigger cage. However, it usually needs posterior screws fixation for biomechanical stability, and possible direct decompression for relieving neurologic symptoms. In this study, OLIF and anterolateral screws rod fixation through mini-incision were combined with percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic surgery (PTES) for the treatment of multi-level lumbar degenerative diseases (LDDs) with intervertebral instability. The purpose of study is to evaluate the feasibility, efficacy and safety of this hybrid surgery. Methods: From July 2017 to May 2018, 38 cases of multi-level LDDs of disc herniation, foramen stenosis, lateral recess stenosis or central canal stenosis with intervertebral instability and neurologic symptoms undergoing one-stage PTES combined with OLIF and anterolateral screws rod fixation through mini-incision were recruited in this retrospective study. The culprit segment was predicted according to the position of patient's leg pain and PTES under local anesthesia was performed for the culprit segment in the prone position to enlarge the foramen, remove the flavum ligamentum and herniated disc for the lateral recess decompression and expose bilateral traversing nerve roots for the central spinal canal decompression through an unilateral incision. During the operation, communicate with the patients to confirm the efficacy using VAS. And then mini-incision OLIF using allograft, autograft bone harvested in PTES and anterolateral screws rod fixation were performed in the right lateral decubitus position under general anesthesia. Back and leg pain were preoperatively and postoperatively evaluated using VAS. And the clinical outcomes were evaluated with ODI at the 2-year follow-up. The fusion status was assessed according to Bridwell's fusion grades. Results: There were 27 cases of 2-level, 9 cases of 3-level and 2 cases of 4-level LDDs with single-level instability on the X-ray, CT and MRI. Five cases of L3/4 instability and 33 cases of L4/5 instability were included. PTES was performed for 1 segment of 31 cases (25 cases of instability segment, 6 cases of no instability segment) and 2 segments including instability segment of 7 cases. Then, all instability segments were treated using mini-incision OLIF and anterolateral screws rod fixation. The average operation duration was 48.9 ± 7.3 min per level for PTES and 69.2 ± 11.6 min for OLIF and anterolateral screws rod fixation. The mean frequency of intraoperative fluoroscopy was 6 (5–9) times per level for PTES and 7 (5–10) times for OLIF. There was a mean blood loss of 30 (15–60) ml, and the incision length was 8.1 ± 1.1 mm for PTES and 40.0 ± 3.2 mm for OLIF. The mean hospital stay was 4 (3–6) days. The average follow-up duration was 31.1 ± 4.0 months. For the clinical evaluation, the VAS pain index and the ODI showed excellent outcomes. Fusion grades based on the Bridwell grading system at 2-year follow-up were grade I in 29 segments (76.3%) and grade II in 9 segments (23.7%). One patient encountered nerve root sleeves rupture during PTES and did not confront cerebrospinal fluid leakage or other abnormal clinical symptoms. There were two cases of hip flexion pain and weakness, which was relieved during 1 week after surgery. No patients had any form of permanent iatrogenic nerve damage and a major complication. No failure of instruments was observed. Conclusions: The hybrid surgery of PTES combined with OLIF and anterolateral screws rod fixation is a good choice of minimally invasive surgery for multi-level LDDs with intervertebral instability, which can get direct neurologic decompression, easy reduction, rigid fixation and solid fusion, and hardly destroy the paraspinal muscles and bone structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Oblique anterior to psoas (ATP) interbody lumbar fusion is associated with advantages such as sufficient indirect decompression and restoration of lordosis. Therefore, a comprehensive preoperative assessment that includes the location of entry into the disc space, a feasible trajectory to complete the intervertebral space procedure, and the possible retraction of the psoas muscle is necessary to correctly and safely perform the technique. Methods From January 2019 to January 2020, 160 lumbar CT scans were evaluated. Only 124 images from the L2-L3, L3-L4, and L4-L5 levels met the inclusion criteria. The length of the anterior vertebral line (AVL) and the middle-third of the disc in the anteroposterior axis were measured to localize the entry point (EP). The distance between the anterior arterial vessel (AV) and the EP was also measured. The trajectory commonly used to set the surgical instruments into the disc space was called α, and a new proposed trajectory termed β was calculated. The psoas cross-sectional area anterior to the β angle trajectory was measured to determine any possible retraction using this parameter. Results The EP-AVL distances were L2-L3 11.49 ± 0.89 mm, L3-L4 11.54 ± 0.88 mm, and L4-L5 11.57 ± 0.87 mm. The EP-AV lengths were 17.64 ± 5.62 mm, 19.36 ± 5.49 mm, and 16.48 ± 6.47 mm at L2-L3, L3-L4, and L4-L5, respectively. The average α and β trajectory angles reported were 39.91º and 14.48º, respectively. Psoas muscle retraction was primarily noted at the L4-L5 level. Conclusion This article's proposed parameters represent a routine preoperative safety assessment in patients previously selected for oblique ATP lumbar interbody fusion.

Grammatical genders have been addressed in many languages of the world. To present a comparative view, the present article provides a general investigation of Dutch and Kurdish grammatical genders by examining relevant data throughout the Dutch and Kurdish language. Most of the data of the present article focus on the structural management of the grammatical gender systems of the highlighted languages. Finally, the paper attempts to address some conclusions to show a range of closeness and farness among Dutch and Kurdish via similarities and differences between the grammatical gender systems of the stated languages.

Spray impacts can be found in several technical applications and consist of many single droplets, which impact under different trajectories on wetted walls. This study investigates the asymmetric crown morphology resulting from an oblique impact (α= 60°) of a single droplet on a horizontal and quiescent wall film of the same liquid. A droplet generator with an accelerated needle releases the droplets (D= 1.5 mm) in a controlled trajectory on a thin film (hf/D= 0.2). The impact process is recorded from two perspectives with two synchronized high-speed cameras. Varying the Weber number within the splashing regime reveals distinct crown morphologies, which are described in detail. For We< 500, a single central finger develops at the front of the crown, with subsequent detachments of secondary droplets. At higher We (>500), a collision of the crown with the wall film shortly after impact introduces disturbances into the rim, leading to two fingers in the middle of the front crown. A further increase in We (>600) intensifies the crown–film interaction, resulting in an early ejection of tiny droplets and a complete breakup of the front rim. The influence of We on the crown morphology during an oblique impact is also compared to the normal impact (90°). This study paves the way for a classification of impact regimes and a comprehensive picture of the oblique impact process, which deserve more investigation.

The resonant right-hand instability (RHI) is often the dominant mode driven by reflected ions upstream of Earth’s quasi-parallel bow shock. In the tradition of Peter Gary, this paper further explores the right-hand instability using numerical solutions of the plasma dispersion relation and non-linear kinetic simulations, with parameters inspired by observations from NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. Agreement is found between the ion distributions in the particle-in-cell simulations and Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft data, which show the gyrophase bunching characteristic of the instability. The non-linear structures created by right-hand instability tend to be stronger when the plasma beta is lower. These structures have sizes of around 100 to 200 ion inertial lengths perpendicular to the magnetic field, presenting planet-sized disturbances to the magnetosphere. 2d and 3D hybrid particle-in-cell simulations show that modes with a range of propagation angles oblique to the magnetic field are excited, providing a ground to understand previous statistical studies of observed foreshock waves.

This article approaches aerial images from a media geographical perspective, tracing the development of three modes of seeing from above: historical aerial reconnaissance before and after the introduction of aerial photography; the advent of satellite-based remote sensing during the space age; and finally the development of drone-based imaging practices in the second half of the 20th century. Starting from the assumption that the aerial image is not a geomedium per se, but rather one that emerges as such through various co-operative processes of establishing geographical references with and within it, we draw on Goodwin's notions of "co-operative action" and Farocki's concept of "operative imagery" to theorize useful aerial images as co-operative images. Consequently, our historical analysis looks beyond the aerial image itself, taking into account the wider practices, infrastructures, and intended use cases involved in its operationalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the pronominal split in the expression of datives in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), which consists in the use of first and second person clitics, as opposed to the third person strong pronoun in the complement position of the dative preposition (para ele(s)/ ela(s)), with the loss of the third person dative clitics (lhe(s)). The analysis argues in favor of the survival of the first person clitic me in view of its wide syntactic distribution, in ditransitive predicates, dynamic and stative, in monotransitive predicates, inergative and inaccustative, incluind psychological verbs, and in predicates expressing the ethical datives. Assuming an approach of the pronominal split in terms of an interpretable person feature in the applicative heads (cf. TORRES MORAIS; SALLES, 2010, 2019), we propose that a microparametric change in the values of the person feature, from a bivalent system to a monovalent one, causes that the syntactic and semantic properties of the dative clitic me be unified as a High Applicative head, in Pylkkänen's (2002, 2008) typology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various heat sinks have been widely researched to get a better performance design. This research aims to study the effect of fin longitudinal spacing and Reynolds number on heat sink performance at an oblique angle of 45 degrees. This study utilizes a finite-volume computational approach to determine the performance and details of the flow on the heat sinks. The calculations are conducted on fin spacing between 0.3 mm and 1.5 mm in the Reynolds number of 6,470 to 19,410. It was found that the fin longitudinal spacing significantly affects the performance of heat sinks for various Reynolds numbers, where the larger the spacing, the higher the Nusselt number. Based on this study, it can be concluded that it is necessary to determine the optimal fin longitudinal spacing in the design of the oblique heat sink. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim was to clarify the anatomy and function of the retinacular ligaments. Forty-eight fingers were dissected and the thickness of the oblique retinacular ligament (ORL) was graded. In four fingers, the motion in the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) and distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints was subjected to an in-depth analysis before and after sectioning of either the lateral bands (LB) or the ORLs. The function of the ORLs in restricting flexion of the DIP joint with full extension of the PIP joint was measured in 10 fingers. An ORL could be identified on both sides in all 48 fingers. The distribution of the insertion on the proximal phalanx was 7/96 (7%) in the distal third, 70/96 (73%) in the middle third and 19/96 (20%) in the proximal third. Among the specimens, 29% were graded as having a strong bundle of fibers, 51% as having well-defined and regular fibers and 20% as having thin and sparse fibers. With the PIP joint extended, there was a statistically significant increase in flexion of the DIP joint after the ORL was cut. After the LB was sectioned, the ORL was able to extend the DIP joint with an extension lag of 10-22°. Cutting the ORL did not affect the ability to extend that joint. We conclude that the retinacular ligaments are consistent. Their major role is not connected with finger movement, but to provide stabilizing links between the PIP and DIP joints. They are active in not only specific, uncommon finger positions but also in ordinary use of the fingers., (© 2023 American Association of Clinical Anatomists and British Association of Clinical Anatomists.)

Study Design: Retrospective review of prospectively collected data.Objective: To investigate the size of prepsoas surgical corridors, developed between the iliopsoas and prespinal vessels, at all disk levels between L1 and S1 granted by left and right lateral antepsoas (ATP) approaches. Secondary aims include evaluation of presurgery radiographic prepsoas windows between L1 and S1 with respect to the intraoperative findings.Summary Of Background Data: The ATP technique is an evolving alternative to the transpsoas and direct anterior exposures for lumbar fusion. However, the vascular morphometric data of the ATP approach remain underexplored, especially at L5-S1.Materials and Methods: Patients indicated for ATP lumbar-lumbosacral fusion between September 2018 and February 2020 were enrolled (n=121). Data were collected prospectively, including the following (in mm): intraoperative manual measurements of the premobilization psoas-vessel (pre-PV) window, the final postmobilization psoas-vessel (post-PV) window, and the preoperative radiographic psoas-to-vessel distance at the respective studied disk levels.Results: A total of 121 patients (75 female, mean age: 55.3 yr, 81.8% right-sided approach) underwent a total of 279 levels of spinal fusion. Irrespective of the ATP access laterality, we noted ample postmobilization psoas-vessel (post-PV differential) corridors: largest at L4-L5 (36-38 mm) followed by L5-S1 (31-35 mm), L3-L4 (32-33 mm), L2-L3 (28-30 mm), and L1-L2 (20-24 mm). Similarly, the relative increases of the psoas-vessel corridors (post-PV and pre-PV differentials, averaged: 31 mm at L5-S1, 32 mm at L4-L5, 26 mm at L3-L4, 25 mm at L2-L3, and 14 mm at L1-L2) were also significant in both lateral approaches. In right flank approaches, the right vascular structures projected more dorsally compared with left-sided vasculature ( P <0.05).Conclusion: The ATP access offers generous bilateral prepsoas surgical windows to L1-S1 intervertebral disks, allowing for a safe anterior column release, decompression, instrumentation, and fusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a 1D ternary photonic crystal with Silicon/MCP/Air structure, whose transmission properties have been analyzed. By employing the TMM, the transmittance spectra are plotted for the introduced TPC in four cases by varying the parameters: angle of incidence, lattice constant, static magnetic field, and electron density. The focus of this analysis is to illustrate the PBGs or zero-transmission regions (GHz) exhibited by the TPC in these four cases. In the first case, there exist three PBGs at normal incidence in which the first two bands are enhanced with increase in the incident angle, while the third band shows reverse nature. At the incident angle 89°, three sets of multiple sharp peaks of transmission, showing multichannel filter characteristics, occur in place of allowed regions, and such abnormal feature of the TPC is attributed to the existence of MCP. Next it is demonstrated that such TPC can be exploited as multiband reflectors for a larger lattice parameter with increased thickness of the Si layer. In the third and fourth cases, the first bandgap is found to be least sensitive to the variations in the parameters, while the tunability in second and third bands in both cases is opposite to each other. By comparing the features of this TPC with a binary PC of Silicon/MCP structure, the tunablity in the second bandgap is far better in case of TPC. Based on the investigated results, the TPC under different conditions may be a good candidate for various applications, including highly tunable broadband and multiband reflectors; and multichannel filters for dense wavelength division multiplexing and high-speed signal processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research introduces a novel oblique longwave infrared (LWIR) atmospheric compensation (AC) technique for hyperspectral imagery, oblique in-scene AC (OISAC). Current AC algorithms have been developed for nadir-viewing geometries, which assume that every pixel in the scene is affected by the atmosphere in nearly the same manner. However, this assumption is violated in oblique imaging conditions where the transmission and path radiance vary continuously as a function of object-sensor range, negatively impacting current algorithms’ ability to compensate for the atmosphere. The technique presented here leverages the changing viewing conditions to improve rather than hinder AC performance. An initial analysis of OISAC’s ability to perform AC for both synthetic and measured hyperspectral images suggests improved performance in oblique-viewing conditions compared with standard techniques. OISAC is an extension of ISAC, a technique that has been used extensively for LWIR AC applications for over 20 years. OISAC has been developed to incorporate the range dependence of atmospheric transmission and path radiance in identification of the atmospheric state. Similar to the full implementation of ISAC, OISAC requires the existence of near-blackbody-like materials over the 11.73- $\mu \text{m}$ water band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The RAND-36 and RAND-12 (equivalent to versions 1 of the SF-36 Health Survey and SF-12 Health Survey, respectively) are widely used measures of health-related quality of life. However, there are diverging views regarding how to create the physical health and mental health composite scores of these questionnaires. We present a simple approach using an unweighted linear combination of subscale scores for constructing composite scores for physical and mental health that assumes these scores should be free to correlate. The aim of this study was to investigate the criterion validity and convergent validity of these scores.Methods: We investigated oblique and unweighted RAND-36/12 composite scores from a random sample of the general Norwegian population (N = 2107). Criterion validity was tested by examining the correlation between unweighted composite scores and weighted scores derived from oblique principal component analysis. Convergent validity was examined by analysing the associations between the different composite scores, age, gender, body mass index, physical activity, rheumatic disease, and depression.Results: The correlations between the composite scores derived by the two methods were substantial (r = 0.97 to 0.99) for both the RAND-36 and RAND-12. The effect sizes of the associations between the oblique versus the unweighted composite scores and other variables had comparable magnitudes.Conclusion: The unweighted RAND-36 and RAND-12 composite scores demonstrated satisfactory criterion validity and convergent validity. This suggests that if the physical and mental composite scores are free to be correlated, the calculation of these composite scores can be kept simple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mechanics of penetration investigate the interactions between projectiles and targets. The Mechanics of penetration were initially developed with military motives and were used in the design and manufacture of durable military vehicles, warships, protective vests, bulletproof panels, satellite protective equipment, nuclear reactor protection used. In this paper, the penetration of cylindrical and conical-nosed long rods projectiles in normal and the diagonally ceramic target is studied by analytically and numerical methods; And the Interface defeat e phenomenon, in which the projectile is eroded so that the material in the target surface is radial and outward flow. A comparison was also made between the oblique and normal penetration of long rods cylindrical and conical-nosed projectiles, which illustrates the importance of collision angles. The analytical relations related to the reduction of velocity and erosion of the projectile mass were investigated concerning the extraction time and kinetic energy loss of the projectile. Transition from the interface defeat phase to the penetration phase is also described in detail, and the variation of the critical speed suffering from the change in the angle of impact has been investigated. Each of the results of the analytical work and numerical simulations has been evaluated by experimental work carried out in previous studies and the comparison of the results shows the acceptable accuracy for the obtained relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is a survey of all available descriptive data on a rare agreement pattern observed in East Caucasian (Nakh-Daghestanian) languages under which nominal dependents take different forms depending on whether their head is in the nominative case or any other case. I show that, depending on the language, “agreement in obliqueness” is attested in cardinal numerals, demonsratives, adjectives (and participles) and nominal possessors. In some form, it exists in Nakh, Tsezic and some Lezgic languages and in Khinalug; while it seems to be completely absent from the languages of the Avar-Andic and Dargwa branches and from Lak.

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Remote sensing data and techniques are widely used for monitoring and managing natural or man-made disasters, due to their timeliness and their satisfactory accuracy. A key stage in disaster research is the detailed and precise mapping of an affected area. The current work examines the relationship that may exist between the acquisition geometry of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) campaigns and the topographic characteristics of an investigated area, toward landslide mapping and monitoring that is as accurate as possible. In fact, this work, concerning the systematic research of the acquisition geometry of UAV flights over multiple active landslides, is conducted for the first time and is focused on creating a guideline for any researcher trying to follow the UAV photogrammetric survey during landslide mapping and monitoring. In particular, UAV flights were executed over landslide areas with different characteristics (land cover, slope, etc.) and the collected data from each area were classified into three groups depending on UAV acquisition geometry, i.e., nadir imagery, oblique imagery, and an integration of nadir and oblique imagery. High-resolution orthophotos and Digital Surface Models (DSMs) emerged from the processing of the UAV imagery of each group through structure-from-motion photogrammetry (SfM). Accuracy assessment was carried out using quantitative and qualitative comparative approaches, such as root mean square error calculation, length comparison, and mean center estimation. The evaluation of the results revealed that there is a strong relationship between UAV acquisition geometry and landslide characteristics, which is evident in the accuracy of the generated photogrammetric products (orthophotos, DSMs). In addition, it was proved that the synergistic processing of nadir and oblique imagery increased overall centimeter accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grammatical genders have been addressed in many languages of the world. To present a comparative view, the present article provides a general investigation of Dutch and Kurdish grammatical genders by examining relevant data throughout the Dutch and Kurdish language. Most of the data of the present article focus on the structural management of the grammatical gender systems of the highlighted languages. Finally, the paper attempts to address some conclusions to show a range of closeness and farness among Dutch and Kurdish via similarities and differences between the grammatical gender systems of the stated languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Ulnar shortening osteotomy (USO) is an effective treatment for ulnar impaction syndrome. However, there have been reports of osteoarthritis (OA) at the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) when USO was performed on patients with a reverse oblique sigmoid notch. This study aimed to evaluate the radiographic and functional outcomes following USO in patients with a reverse oblique sigmoid notch. Methods We retrospectively reviewed patients having a reverse oblique sigmoid notch who underwent USO for ulnar impaction syndrome between 2002 and 2013. We evaluated radiographic changes of the DRUJ and functional outcomes of patients. Results We enrolled 22 patients (22 wrists) with an average age of 49.6 years and a mean follow-up of 93.2 (range, 36–179; standard deviation [SD], 38.2) months. We found that there were changes in the inclination angle of the sigmoid notch, from an average reverse oblique of 14.9o (range, 11o–23o; SD, 3.4o) preoperatively to a more parallel 5.1o (range, 0o–11o; SD, 3.2o) at the final follow-up. The functional results at the final follow-up were good, with a mean visual analogue scale for pain of 0.2 (range, 0–1; SD, 0.4) at rest and 1.3 (range, 0–3; SD, 0.9) during activity, QuickDASH of 15.1 (range, 2.3–34.1; SD, 8.8), and modified Mayo Wrist Score of 91.6 (range, 70–100; SD, 6.4). Seven wrists (31.8%) had changes compatible with OA, but the wrists did not exhibit a significantly worse function when compared to wrists without OA changes, except for supination motion and grip strength. Conclusions For patients with a reverse oblique sigmoid inclination following USO, we observed that the inclination angle had a tendency to become parallel and some patients developed OA at the DRUJ. However, long-term functional outcomes could still be good. The reverse oblique sigmoid inclination does not seem to be an absolute contraindication for USO.

BACKGROUND: The technique of oblique lumbar interbody fusion has become increasingly mature, but when pedicle screw internal fixation is performed through posterior approach, the fluoroscopy-assisted pedicle screw insertion using a traditional open technique still brings greater trauma to the patient. With the advancement of technology, robot-assisted surgery systems have provided clinicians with new options. OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical outcomes of percutaneous robot-assisted minimally invasive pedicle screw insertion in an oblique lumbar interbody fusion procedure. METHODS: Totally 78 patients with lumbar degenerative disease who attended Department of Spinal Surgery, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital were treated with oblique lumbar interbody fusion. When lumbar pedicle screw internal fixation was performed through posterior approach, 36 cases (trial group) underwent percutaneous robot-assisted minimally invasive pedicle screw insertion, and 42 cases (control group) underwent fluoroscopy-assisted open invasive screw insertion. The difference in operation time, visual analogue scale score, Oswestry disability index, intraoperative and postoperative blood loss was compared between the two groups. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The operative time of trial group was shorter than that of control group (P < 0.05). The postoperative visual analogue scale score of the trial group was lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). The amount of intraoperative and postoperative blood loss in the trial group was less than that in the control group (P < 0.05). It is concluded that robot-assisted pedicle screw insertion in oblique lumbar interbody fusion can shorten the operative time, reduce intraoperative blood loss, lessen risk of surgical complications, and reduce the soft tissue damage of lumbar spine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The aim of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of utilization of oblique sagittal and oblique coronal MRI techniques separately and concurrently in improving the diagnosis of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) complete and partial tears. Between December 2017 and November 2018, 71 patients, with suspected ACL injury, were examined by MRI using four diagnostic approaches: standard routine images only (approach A), standard and oblique coronal images (approach B), standard and oblique sagittal images (approach C), and standard images with both oblique coronal and sagittal images (approach D). Two experienced musculoskeletal radiologists evaluated the MRI images separately and in a random order using the four methods, and findings were compared with arthroscopy results as a gold standard. Results The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for approach A in diagnosis of partial ACL tear was significantly lower than that for approaches B, C, and D (p value < 0.05). The PPV and NPV for approaches B (82% and 85%) and C (83% and 87%) in diagnosis of partial ACL tear which were significantly lower than that for approach D (94% and 95%). The four approaches revealed no significant difference in diagnosis of complete ACL tear (p value > 0.05). Approach D demonstrated highest interobserver agreement (94% in complete and 88% in partial ACL tears) in comparison to B (79% in complete and 66% in partial) and C (85% in complete and 71% in partial) when combining oblique sagittal and oblique coronal images in identifying both complete and partial ACL tears Conclusion The addition of oblique sagittal and coronal images improved diagnostic accuracy of detection of complete and partial ACL tears. The concurrent use of sagittal and coronal oblique images enhanced the diagnostic efficacy of diagnosis of partial ACL tears only.

Background: To rigorously derive easy to use formulae for the inclination angle for single cut rotation osteotomy that can be used for tibia deformity correction., Method: Three theorems were proven using trigonometric identities and concepts of linear algebra. These were rigorously shown. The three concepts were how to convert deformities in an AP/Lateral plane to an oblique plane deformity with a true angular magnitude of deformity; how to project an angular quantity from one plane to another; and the calculation of the inclination angle for the oblique osteotomy plane. All figures in this article were created by the authors of this paper., Results: From the formula derived, a statistical t-test was performed that showed no significant difference between the formula derived in this paper and the original Sangeorzan paper charts (p=0.8782)., Conclusions: The formulae described in this article are a method to accurately calculate the inclination angle of the osteotomy for a single cut rotational osteotomy for tibial deformity correction., Clinical Relevance: The article gives a deeper understanding of fundamental concepts behind deformity correction and provides an easy-to-use mathematical formula to calculate the osteotomy inclination for single cut rotational osteotomies.

Metasurfaces are emerging techniques to manipulate electromagnetic (EM) wave propagations. Metasurfaces are usually composed of subwavelength periodic unit cells in order to achieve effective surface electric and magnetic impedances. Conventionally, non-planar structures, e.g. metallic loops, are used to realize the required surface impedances, which are difficult to fabricate at high frequencies. In this work, we propose a metasurface synthesis method using only planar electric impedance surfaces, which are not only easy to fabricate even at very high frequencies, but also have great freedom to control EM wave propagations. Without loss of generality, the proposed method has taken into account the tensor form of the constituent planar electric surface impedance, the dielectric substrate effect as well as arbitrary incident angles. The proposed method is general so as to have a wide application scope, and is efficient so as to simplify the design procedure. It has been validated by numerical simulations, and has been applied to design two multi-functional metasurface devices as an demonstration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flatfoot is commonly encountered in the paediatric population and describes a spectrum of clinical and radiological presentations which encompass both normally developing and pathological feet. Flatfoot can be categorised as flexible or rigid, a distinction which has important implications when considering the potential underlying aetiology and treatment options, and therefore imaging is an important component of the diagnostic workup. Weight-bearing plain radiographs are established initial investigations, although the significance of a number of the commonly derived quantitative parameters in children remains unclear. CT and MRI are important additional imaging modalities reserved for the investigation of symptomatic cases or those in which an underlying structural abnormality is suspected, rigid flatfoot commonly falling into one of these two categories. We review and illustrate the multimodality imaging of the paediatric flatfoot, with reference to both qualitative and quantitative radiographic assessment and cross-sectional imaging appearances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]