INTRODUCTION: Cranial defects following the removal of tumor involved bone require repair and reconstruction for brain protection and cosmesis. A variety of autologous bone substrates and synthetic materials can be employed, alone or in combination. In thi

Fenestration of the vertebral artery is a rare vascular anomaly that has been observed at autopsy and on angiography. It is most commonly seen in the extracranial segments of the vertebral artery. This congenital anomaly can arise during multiple different

 Meningiomas of the anterior clinoid process are uncommon tumors, acknowledged by most experienced surgeons to be among the most challenging meningiomas to completely remove. In this article, we summarize our institutional experience removing these uncommo

The pterional approach (PA) is a versatile anterolateral neurosurgical technique that enables access to reach different structures contained in the cranial fossae. It is essential for neurosurgical practice to dominate and be familiarized with its multilayer anatomy. Recent advances in three-dimensional (3D) technology can be combined with dissections to better understand the spatial relationships between anatomical landmarks and neurovascular structures that are encountered during the surgical procedure. The present study aims to create a stereoscopic collection of volumetric models (VM) obtained from cadaveric dissections that depict the relevant anatomy and surgical techniques of the PA. Five embalmed heads and two dry skulls were used to record and simulate the PA. Relevant steps and anatomy of the PA were recorded using 3D scanning technology (e.g. photogrammetry, structured light scanner) to construct high-resolution VM. Stereoscopic images, videos, and VM were generated to demonstrate major anatomical landmarks for PA. Modifications of the standard PA, including the mini-pterional and two-part pterional approaches, were also described. The PA was divided into seven major steps: positioning, incision of the skin, dissection of skin flap, dissection of temporal fascia, craniotomy, drilling of basal structures, and dural opening. Emphasis was placed on preserving the temporal branches of the facial nerve and carefully dissecting the temporalis muscle. The interactive models presented in this article allow for clear visualization of the surgical anatomy and windows in 360-degrees and VR. This new modality of recording neuroanatomical dissections renders a closer look at every nuance of the topography experienced by our team in the laboratory. By accurately depicting essential landmarks, stereoscopy and VM can be valuable resources for anatomical education and surgical planning.

Object interactions – collisions, scraping and rolling – create many of the sounds that we hear in the world around us. These sounds are generated via lawful physical dynamics. Anecdotally, humans possess some intuitive knowledge of the physical generative processes underlying sound production, but little is known about the extent and nature of this knowledge. In this work, we study the human ability to make inferences about physical properties like mass, size, velocity and surface roughness from contact sounds, and test whether it is consistent with the use of a generative model of the underlying physics. Additionally, we propose a computational model that uses analysis-by-synthesis to infer object properties and their physical configurations using contact sounds as input, and compare it to human behavior.

INTRODUCTION: Cranial defects following the removal of tumor involved bone require repair and reconstruction for brain protection and cosmesis. A variety of autologous bone substrates and synthetic materials can be employed, alone or in combination. In this article, we describe the use of dual thin and thick titanium mesh, connected together using plate hardware, to repair a right frontotemporal sphenoidal bone defect following resection of a hyperostosing sphenoid wing meningioma. METHODS: Reconstruction of the pterion was done with a dual mesh cranioplasty. After replacement of the native orbitozygomatic and frontotemporal bone pieces, a piece of thinner mesh was molded to the pterional defect connecting the two bone pieces and re-creating the concave shape of the pterion below the superior temporal line. The circular area of the bony defect overlying the frontal and temporal lobes was supplemented by cutting and molding an additional piece of thicker mesh which was secured to the thinner mesh with burr hole cover sectors using rescue screws. RESULTS: A 30-year-old woman presented with painless proptosis and was found to have a hyperostosing right sphenoid wing meningioma. The patient underwent a frontotemporal orbitozygomatic craniotomy for tumor resection and extensive bony osteotomy. Repair and reconstruction of the cranial defect in the region were accomplished at the time of open operation using two thicknesses of mesh connected one to another with titanium plate pieces and rescue screws. The patient underwent gross total resection of the meningioma and near total resection of the soft tissue and bony components (Simpson Grade II). The external cosmetic results following the orbital-cranial reconstruction with the dual mesh technique was deemed very good by the surgeon and patient. Postoperative CT imaging demonstrated symmetric re-approximation of the shape of the pterion as compared to the opposite side. CONCLUSIONS: We present a method for connecting two titanium mesh sheets with available hardware to improve the strength in compression while maintaining the ability to mold thinner sheets as necessary for the best cosmetic results. This method is an option for coverage of bony defects in the region of the pterion for young, physically active patients providing them with additional mesh cranioplasty strength.

We experience our soundscape in terms of physical events; for instance, a friend sweeping up after a plate crashed onthe floor. The underlying perceptual inferences are typically ill-posed: without constraints, there are infinite possiblecauses of the observed sound. Thus, a core task for cognitive science is specifying the variables we perceive along withthe constraints that allow them to be estimated. We identified sustained contact sounds (e.g., hands rubbing together,scraping a pan) as a rich domain with which to explore perceptual constraints. We developed a simple physics-basedsound-synthesis model that can generate a diverse set of realistic scraping sounds. We find that listeners perceive thegenerative physical variables from scraping sounds, including velocity, motion trajectory, and surface roughness. Furtherexperiments and acoustic analyses will address whether perception is constrained by a holistic generative model of soundor by invariant features that specify each perceived variable.