The presence or absence of midsagittal tissue bridges and walking: a retrospective cohort study in spinal cord injury.

STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study. Retrospective analysis of T2-weighted magnetic resonance images (MRIs) and clinical documentation. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relationship between the presence/absence and widths of midsagittal tissue bridges and walking ability among veterans with cervical, predominantly chronic SCI. SETTING: University research and hospital setting. METHODS: T2-weighted midsagittal MRIs of 22 United States veterans with cervical spinal cord injuries were examined. The presence/absence of midsagittal tissue bridges were determined, and the widths of present ventral and dorsal tissue bridges were measured. Midsagittal tissue bridge characteristics were related to each participant's ability to walk based off examination of clinical documentation. RESULTS: Fourteen of the analyzed participant images revealed the presence of midsagittal tissue bridges. Ten of those individuals (71%) possessed overground walking ability. The 8 individuals with no apparent tissue bridges were all unable to walk. There was a significant correlation between walking and widths of ventral midsagittal tissue bridges (r = 0.69, 95%CI: 0.52, 0.92, p < 0.001), as well as dorsal midsagittal tissue bridges (r = 0.44, 95%CI: 0.15, 0.73, p = 0.039). CONCLUSION: The evaluation of midsagittal tissue bridges may be useful in various rehabilitation settings to help inform patients' plan of care, allocation of neuromodulatory resources, and appropriate stratification into research cohorts.

Color-rendering capability of commercial lamps.

Evaluation of color-rendering capability of commercial lamps is considered from the point of view of the lampmaker and the typical user, rather than for precision color-matching applications. Only an approximate magnitude of color-rendering capability of a test lamp has meaning for the average user. Only illuminants of superb color-rendering capability are used here as reference illuminants. Such ideal reference illuminants are defined for a range of colors, both on and off the blackbody line. Chromatic adaptation approximates object-color constancy adequately closely as long as both initial and final illuminants have color-rendering capability approximately as good as that of a daylightlike illuminant. These considerations lead to more universal reference illuminants and allow usefully valid comparison of lamps of different colors with acceptable accuracy.