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Background Although malunion resulting from reconstruction for scaphoid fracture nonunion is a typical complication, there has been little consideration regarding its clinical outcomes. Hypothesis The quality of restoration of the scaphoid anatomy may have little effect on clinical outcomes. Materials and Methods Twenty-five patients with scaphoid fracture nonunion underwent curettage and internal fixation with bone grafting performed by a single surgeon, and they were followed up for a minimum of 5 years. Some of these patients comprised the malunion group if the height/length ratio (H/L ratio) in the most central longitudinal computed tomographic image was more than 0.6. We compared the clinical outcomes of the malunion group with a well-union group based on various clinical scores (Patient Evaluation Measure, Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand, modified Mayo wrist scoring system). Results The average follow-up period was 81 months (range: 65–110), and 15 cases among the 25 patients were included in the malunion group. There were no statistical differences in the clinical scores between malunions (15 cases) and well unions (10 cases), and there was no correlation between the H/L ratios and the clinical outcomes. Conclusion The clinical outcomes of malunited scaphoids after reconstruction for scaphoid fractures nonunion did not differ significantly from well-united scaphoids at a minimum 5-year follow-up. Level of evidence Level IV, prognostic case series.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of autogenous palmaris longus grafting for extensor tendon ruptures of 2 or more fingers in rheumatoid hands and to identify the factors related to the clinical outcome. Methods Between 2000 and 2013, a total 41 patients with advanced rheumatoid arthritis and multiple extensor tendon ruptures reconstructed with autogenous palmaris longus tendon grafts were reviewed. Extension lag at the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint, total active motion (TAM), and fingertip-to-palm (TTP) distance were evaluated at final follow-up. Simple regression analysis was done to determine the factors predictive of clinical outcome. Results The mean extension lag at the MCP joint of the reconstructed finger was 9° (range, 0°–90°; median, 0°). The mean TAM was 239° (range, 85°–280°; median, 260°), and the mean TTP distance was 5 mm (range, 0–50 mm; median, 0 mm). Simple regression analysis showed that only age was related to extension lag at the MCP joint and only arthritis of the MCP joint was related to TAM. Conclusions In rheumatoid arthritis, extensor tendon reconstruction of multiple extensor tendon ruptures using autogenous palmaris longus tendon graft is a viable option to achieve a favorable clinical result. Type of study/level of evidence Therapeutic IV.

Manipulation complexity of teleoperation increases the necessity of shared autonomy. However designing an autonomy while keeping in mind the environmental uncertainty is challenging. This paper proposes shared autonomy and virtual guidance generation for a human interactive teleoperation. The major concept of both shared autonomy and virtual guidance generation is utilizing the cognitive ability of a human operator. In shared autonomy case, the human intention information is provided to the autonomous system in the form of a path which is acquired by our proposed sketch method. Our novel proposed sketch method allows the operator to sketch the path on the visual feedback image of the remote environments and the information is then transmitted to the autonomous system. In virtual guidance generation, we employ human cognitive abilities to assist the computer to generate virtual guidance for teleoperation tasks. The resulting both systems are more efficient and less fatigued than direct teleoperation.

A Hill-Sachs lesion is a bony defect of the posterosuperior humeral head occurring with anterior shoulder instability. It has been considered as an important factor associated with recurrence, and the risk of recurrent dislocation is increased in the large or engaged type. 1 The remplissage operation is one of the treatment methods for a pathogenic Hill-Sachs lesion. It attaches the posterosuperior aspect of joint capsule and the infraspinatus tendon to the Hill-Sachs lesion, thereby preventing the lesion from engaging into the anterior glenoid. 7 Although the rate is low, redislocation can occur even after the remplissage operation, and how to treat failed remplissage is not yet clear. In this case report we present a patient who underwent a revision remplissage operation for failed remplissage procedure caused by early exercise and trauma.

A novel non-isolated bidirectional soft-switching SEPIC/ZETA converter with reduced ripple currents is proposed and characterized in this study. Two auxiliary switches and an inductor are added to the original bidirectional SEPIC/ZETA components to form a new direct power delivery path between input and output. The proposed converter can be operated in the forward SEPIC and reverse ZETA modes with reduced ripple currents and increased voltage gains attributed to the optimized selection of duty ratios. All switches in the proposed converter can be operated at zero-current-switching turn-on and/or turn-off through soft current commutation. Therefore, the switching and conduction losses of the proposed converter are considerably reduced compared with those of conventional bidirectional SEPIC/ZETA converters. The operation principles and characteristics of the proposed converter are analyzed in detail and verified by the simulation and experimental results.

The damage in germanium (Ge) optical window irradiated by a near-infrared continuous wave (CW) laser was studied. Laser-induced heating and melting process were surveyed, and the specific laser power and the irradiance time to melt were estimated by numerical simulation. The experiments were also carried out to investigate the macro and micro structure change on Ge window. Results showed that the surface deformation was formed by melting and resolidification process, the damaged surface had a polycrystalline phase, and the transmittance as an optical performance factor in mid-infrared region was decreased. We confirmed that an abnormal polycrystalline phase and surface deformation effect such as hillock formation and roughness increase reduced the transmittance of Ge window and were the damage mechanism of CW laser induced damage on Ge window.Key Words : Continuous Wave Laser, Ge Window, Laser Induced Damage 1. 서 론 고출력 레이저와 광학부품, 수광소자 등의 상호작용에 의한 광학재료의 손상에 대한 많은 연구가 진행되어 왔다 [1～5]

This prospective cohort study was undertaken to explore the hypothesis that the retinaculum is thicker in de Quervain's disease and to identify another landmark for the presence of the intracompartmental septum.A case group (60 wrists) comprised of Korean female patients with unilateral de Quervain's disease and a healthy control group (60 wrists) were evaluated by ultrasonography. The case group underwent surgery for extensor retinacular release, and surgical findings were used as the reference standard. The mean extensor retinacular thickness in the case and control groups was compared using a Wilcoxon rank-sum test. A receiver operation characteristic curve was constructed for the parameter.The mean thickness of the extensor retinaculum was 0.94 mm (SD 0.37) in the case group and 0.35 mm (SD 0.07) in the control group, and this difference was significant. The cutoff value of the extensor retinaculum for diagnosing de Quervain's disease was 0.45 mm (sensitivity 96.3%, specificity 93.3%). Bony crests were found in all cases of presence of the intracompartmental septum and could be classified into three types according to shape.We concluded that the extensor retinaculum is thicker in de Quervain's disease. And the bony crest on the radial styloid can be considered a new landmark for determining the presence of an intracompartmental septum.Diagnostic, level II.

Objectives: To test the factors affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty in B2G business. Methods/Statistical analysis: The survey was given to soldiers operating special equipment and its results were statistically analyzed and utilized SPSS22.0 and AMOS 22.0 to conduct exploratory factor analysis and measurement model analysis. Findings: The results are as follows: First, it was found that product quality has a positive impact on customer satisfaction. Second, it was found that After Service and Before Service do not have any impact on customer satisfaction. Finally, it was found that customer satisfaction has a positive impact on customer loyalty. Improvements/Applications: The results of the study provide a perspective that a business dealing with the government should focus more on perfecting product quality than service.

We experimentally demonstrate an all-fiber high-power fiber amplifier with high beam quality and a slope efficiency of 81.8%, using a fiber-Bragg-grating-stabilized laser diode as a narrow spectral linewidth (0.08 nm) seed source. During amplification, the spectral linewidth of the laser output is broadened from 0.08 to 0.24 nm due to nonlinear phenomena. To the best of our knowledge, we report the first experimental observation of the suppression of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), with increased output power. In addition, we investigated the SBS suppression by simultaneously measuring the optical backscattered power, backscattered spectrum, and output spectrum at different values of output power. The beam quality, M2, was measured to be ∼1.28 at the maximum output power of 2.05 kW, and modal instability was not observed.

This paper presents a new concept of a 1-DOF elbow exoskeleton driven by a twisted strings-based actuator. A novel joint actuation mechanism is proposed and its kinematic model is presented along with its experimental evaluation, and guidelines on how to choose the strings suitable for such an exoskeleton are given. We also proposed and experimentally verified a human intention detection method which takes advantage of intrinsic compliance of the mechanism. The study showed that the developed twisted strings-driven elbow exoskeleton is light, compact and have a high payload-to-weight ratio, which suggests that the device can be effectively used in a variety of haptics, teleoperation, and rehabilitation applications.

Purpose This study evaluated the biomechanical properties of a new volar locking plate made by 3-dimensional printing using titanium alloy powder and 2 conventional volar locking plates under static and dynamic loading conditions that were designed to replicate those seen during fracture healing and early postoperative rehabilitation. Methods For all plate designs, 12 fourth-generation synthetic composite radii were fitted with volar locking plates according to the manufacturers' technique after segmental osteotomy. Each specimen was first preloaded 10 N and then was loaded to 100 N, 200 N, and 300 N in phases at a rate of 2 N/s. Each construct was then dynamically loaded for 2,000 cycles of fatigue loading in each phase for a total 10,000 cycles. Finally, the constructs were loaded to a failure at a rate of 5 mm/min. Results All 3 plates showed increasing stiffness at higher loads. The 3-dimensional printed volar locking plate showed significantly higher stiffness at all dynamic loading tests compared with the 2 conventional volar locking plates. The 3-dimensional printed volar locking plate had the highest yield strength, which was significantly higher than those of 2 conventional volar locking plates. Conclusions A 3-dimensional printed volar locking plate has similar stiffness to conventional plates in an experimental model of a severely comminuted distal radius fracture in which the anterior and posterior metaphyseal cortex are involved. Clinical relevance These results support the potential clinical utility of 3-dimensional printed volar locking plates in which design can be modified according the fracture configuration and the anatomy of the radius.

The aim of this research was to develop a zeolite carrier for wastewater treatment in a small-size sewage treatment facility. To evaluate the ion-exchange characteristic of zeolite medium, the isotherm equation of both Langmuir and Freundlich model were examined. It was found that the maximum absorption amount (qm) and adsorption strength (1/n) were about 2.94 mg NH4+-N/g and 0.3854, respectively. In order to validate the adsorption performance by applying the zeolite carrier to the in-situ field, nitrogen removal efficiency was evaluated by a retrofitted process in the small sewage treatment where carbon-nitrogen ratio was especially low in influent. By the application of this proposed method, the effluent TN concentration was in the range of 6.5-20 mg/L (average of 12.9 mg/L) which may satisfy sufficient discharge standard limit. The zeolite medium had ion-exchange capacity of 30-40% of influent NH4+-N concentration, and TN removal efficiency improved about 40% compared to the existing process. Therefore, the renovation of the carrier utilization shows the possibility of pre-treatment of NH4+-N in influent and thus improves the TN removal efficiency of wastewater treatment.

When the microarray experiment developed, main interest was limited to detect differentially expressed genes associated with a phenotype of interest. However, as human diseases are thought to occur through the interactions of multiple genes within a same functional category, the unit of analysis of the microarray experiment expanded to the set of genes. For the phenotype of censored survival time, Gene Set Enrichment Analysis(GSEA), Global test and Wald type test are widely used. In this paper, we modified the Wald type test by adopting normal score transformation of gene expression values and developed a parametric test which requires much less computation than others. The proposed method is compared with other methods using a real data set of ovarian cancer and a simulation data set.

This paper proposes a method for reducing the negative spatial harmonics of the radial flux density of an interior-type permanent magnet (IPM) motor. The reliability of the motor is increased by minimizing its vibrations under dynamic eccentricity (DE) state and normal state due to reduction of a negative spatial harmonics component through the influx of a zero spatial harmonics component in the radial flux density. To minimize the vibrations, optimal notches corresponding to the distribution shape of the magnetic field are designed on the rotor pole face. The variations of vibration computation by finite element method (FEM) and the validity of the analysis and rotor shape design are confirmed by vibration and performance experiments.

Most recent birth rate at home raising children, only one has come out well. Accordingly, children born to parents is to have a strong interest, and healthcare (Healthcare) sector, while emerging as a new growth industry (Baby Care) Baby Care also increased the interest. Baby Care products until now the food, toiletries and clothing, etc. Although it advances the development of ubiquitous computing environment with the development of the healthcare industry, Baby Care Electronics products have been developed. Europe and the U.S. infant from another room deungeseoneun feeder. At this time SIDS infants to prevent this phenomenon often takes place in order to measure the status of children and away from parents to children, also can check the status of children was used to implement the Platform. In this paper, using the radio frequency real-time observation of data storage without the parents were determined only by the speed of the ARM11-based systems using the S3C6410 CPU and wireless WI-FI (IEEE8.2.11) technology to prevent sudden infant death using Platform for the implementation study was conducted.

The placement of a headless screw within the scaphoid is important for successful fixation of fractured scaphoids. We ascertained the safe position of a screw using virtual collision experiments on a three-dimensionally reconstructed scaphoid bone and screw model, and applied measured angles to simple radiographs. We used images from computed tomograms of the wrists taken from 13 men to reconstruct a three-dimensional cortical image of the scaphoid. Inside the bone, we inserted a virtually reconstructed Herbert screw model and calculated the safe angle along the long axis of the scaphoid at which the screw did not collide with the bone in any sample, then applied measured safe angles to simple anteroposterior and lateral radiographs. In all experiments, the safe angle between the screw and the anteroposterior scaphoid line (defined from the most distal portion of the scaphoid where it met the capitate to the proximal position where the lunate and capitate meet) ranged from 8° to 27° in the anteroposterior view, and the safe angle between the screw and the lateral scaphoid line (defined from the most volar portion of the scaphoid tuberosity to the volar position where the scaphoid faced the radius) ranged from 2° to 26° in the lateral view. These ranges can be used as a guide for a safe position of the screw within the scaphoid in volar percutaneous fixation of screws in scaphoid fractures.

Predicting survival from microarray data is not easy due to the problem of high dimensionality of data and the existence of censored observations. Also the limitation of individual gene analysis causes the shift of focus to the level of gene sets with functionally related genes. For developing a survival prediction model based on pathway information, the methods for selecting a supergene using principal component analysis and testing its significance for each pathway are discussed. Besides, the performance of gene filtering is compared.

Researches of Healthcare have been fulfilled lively with an advanced age and change of lifestyles. Especially, medical field has focused on researches of Healthcare due to that reasons. The Healthcare service requires the foundation technologies, such as sensor aggregating, data saving and data transmitting/analysis. In this research, we proposed the unrestricted equipment which can save a lot of aggregated patient`s medical data to guarantee the patient`s movement in Healthcare service. Moreover, we research the method which can transmit the aggregated data as soon as possible. Also, we implemented the system which can transmit the patient`s medical data automatically for convenient use.

The development of microarray technology makes possible to analyse many thousands of genes simultaneously. While it is important to test each gene whether it shows changes in expression associated with a phenotype, human diseases are thought to occur through the interactions of multiple genes within a same functional cafe-gory. Recent research interests aims to directly test the behavior of sets of functionally related genes, instead of focusing on single genes. Gene set enrichment analysis(GSEA), significance analysis of microarray to gene-set analysis(SAM-GS) and parametric analysis of gene set enrichment(PAGE) have been applied widely as a tool for gene-set analyses. We describe their problems and propose an alternative method using a parametric analysis by adopting normal score transformation of gene expression values. Performance of the newly derived method is compared with previous methods on three real microarray datasets.

Catalyst-free ZnO nanowires were formed on an n-Si substrate by using metal-vapor deposition. The scanning electron microscopy and the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images showed that the ZnO nanowires had diameters of about 120 nm, relatively uniform rod-like shapes, and a uniform size distribution. Selected-area electron diffraction patterns and HRTEM images showed that the ZnO nanowires had a preferentially c-axis-orientation wurzite structure. Cathodoluminescence spectra showed two peaks, one around 380 nm and the other around 500 nm, that corresponded to ultraviolet and green emission. The microstructural and optical properties of ZnO nanowires synthesized on Si and sapphire substrates were compared. These results can help improve understanding of the microstructural and optical properties of ZnO nanowires synthesized on Si substrates without a catalyst.

We propose a 200times160 pixel CMOS fingerprint system-on-a-chip with a local adaptive pixel scheme and embedded column-parallel processors for performing 2-D digital image processing for fingerprint recognition. The pixel includes a sensing block, ADC, and in-pixel frame memory with no additional area penalty. The sensor can capture robust fingerprint images in various finger conditions using a locally adapted capacitive sensing scheme through adaptable pixel networks. The embedded parallel processors can enhance the captured image in digital signal domain by self-reconfigurable signal processing including low-pass and band-pass filtering, and create the thinned image for fingerprint recognition. A test chip has been fabricated using a 0.5 mum standard CMOS process. We have successfully captured and characterized the fingerprint images from the fabricated test chip at each step of adaptive signal processing steps. The total execution time for acquiring and processing a fingerprint image is less than 360 ms at 10 MHz and the power consumption is below 70 mW at 3.3 V supply voltage. The proposed sensor can be applied to personal identification systems for portable devices such as cellular phones, PDA and smart cards.

Initial work of microarray data analysis focused on identification of differentially expressed genes, and recently, the focus has moved to discovering significant sets of functionally related genes. We describe some problems of GSEA and PAGE, and propose a modified method to identify significant gene sets. The results based on a simulated experiment and real data analysis using a set of publicly available data show the superiority of the newly proposed method, GSA-AT, in detecting significant pathways with the accurate prediction.

A 53-year-old woman presented with 10-year history of pain and limited range of motion in both shoulders. Radiographs of both shoulders showed severe destructive change with glenoid bone defect. Very thin rotator cuff and superior migration of the humerus were also observed on computed tomography arthrography images. We performed bony increased-offset reverse total shoulder arthroplasty on her both shoulders to resolve these major problems although it was a much challengeable operation, which resulted in a good clinical outcome without any particular complication. DOI: 10.3944/AOTT.2015.14.0384This abstract belongs to the un-edited version of the article and is only for informative purposes. Published version may differ from the current version.

A new type of thermotropic main-chain liquid crystalline polyurethanes containing biphenyl units was synthesized by polyaddition reaction of diisocyanates such as 2,6-tolylene diisocyanate, 2,5-tolylene diisocyanate, 2,4-tolylene diisocyanate, and 1,4-phenylene diisocyanate, with 4,4′-Bis(11-hydroxyundeyloxy)biphenyl (BP11). The structure of the monomer and the corresponding polymers were confirmed FT-IR and 1H NMR spectroscopic methods. BP11 exhibited a smectic type mesophase, however, nematic phase was found for all synthesized liquid crystalline polyurethanes except for 1,4-phenylene diisocyanate/BP11 based polyurethane. For example, polyurethane 2,5-TDI/BP11 exhibited monotropic liquid crystallinity in the temperature ranges from 173 to 156 °C on the cooling stage.

Sloshing flows in two- and three-dimensional prismatic tanks are considered in the present paper. A finite difference method is applied for simulating violent sloshing flows and impact occurrence. The computation focuses on the global flow and assumes a single-valued free-surface profile. For the simulation of impact occurrence near sloping boundaries, the concept of a buffer zone, previously used for impact simulation on the tank ceiling, is extended to sloping boundaries near the tank ceiling. For validation of the present numerical method, a comparison is made between the computational results for two-dimensional tanks and available experimental data, for which favorable agreement is shown. It is observed that the application of a buffer zone and a time-averaging scheme mitigates the sensitivity to grid resolution and time segment. Impact pressures on sloping boundaries and the tank ceiling for three-dimensional tanks are then compared with the results for two-dimensional tanks, which show higher peak pressures for the case of three-dimensional tanks.

Attitude control law synthesis for the three-axis attitude maneuver of a flexible spacecraft model is presented in this study. The basic idea is motivated by previous works for the extension into a more general case. The new case includes gravitational gradient torque which has significant effect on a wide range of low earth orbit missions. As the first step, the fully nonlinear dynamic equations of motion are derived including gravitational gradient. The control law design based upon the Lyapunov approach is attempted. The Lyapunov function consists of a weighted combination of system kinetic and potential energy. Then, a set of stabilizing control law is derived from the basic Lyapunov stability theory. The new control law is therefore in a general form partially validating the previous work in some sense.

The objective of this study was to investigate national surgical trends for distal radius fractures (DRFs) in Korea and analyze healthcare institution type-specific surgical trends. We analyzed a nationwide database acquired from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) from 2011 to 2015. International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) codes and procedure codes were used to identify patients aged ≥ 20 years with newly diagnosed DRFs. A total of 459,388 DRFs occurred from 2011 to 2015. The proportion of DRF cases treated by surgery tended to increase over time, from 32.6% in 2011 to 38.3% in 2015 (P < 0.001). Open reduction with internal fixation (ORIF) using a plate steadily gained in popularity each year, increasing from 39.2% of overall surgeries in 2011 to 60.9% in 2015. The type of surgery for DRFs differed depending on the type of healthcare institution. ORIF (91%) was the most popular procedure in tertiary hospitals, whereas percutaneous pinning (58%) was most popular in clinics. In addition, general hospitals and hospitals with 30–100 beds used external fixation more frequently than tertiary hospitals and clinics did. Overall, our findings indicate that surgical treatment of DRF, particularly ORIF, continues to increase, and that the component ratio of operation codes differed according to the healthcare institution type., Graphical Abstract

Aim To assess the incidence rate of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and investigate the correlations between CTS and disease activity and duration in patients with RA. Materials and methods This retrospective cohort study was conducted to assess the incidence rate of CTS in 1070 patients with RA who had visited our rheumatism center between March 2001 and May 2013, and had participated in follow-up at least once over a 5-year period. We also investigated duration of RA and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels at time of CTS occurrence to identify correlations between CTS occurrence and duration of RA, and disease activity of RA. Results The cumulative incidence for 12 years of CTS in patients with RA was 6.8% (12/176), and 37 cases of CTS occurred in 1070 patients with RA. The incidence rate of CTS in patients with RA was found to be 4.18 per 1000 person-years (37 in 8849 person-years). There was no statistically significant correlation between CTS occurrence and duration of RA, and no positive correlation between CTS occurrence and CRP levels. Conclusion Our incidence rate of CTS in patients with RA was similar to the incidence rate of CTS in the general population (0.3–5.0 per 1000 person-years). CTS occurrence did not correlate with duration of RA and had no positive correlation with disease activity of RA.

A novel Power Assist Recuperation System consisted of motor, inverter, DC-DC converter and 48V Li-ion battery has been presented for fuel saving of conventional Internal Combustion Engine and hybrid vehicles. As a total solution of the next-generation 48V PARS, key components such as Permanent Magnet motor, MOSFET power switching inverter and bi-directional DC-DC converter with cost competitiveness from in-house power IC's and power modules have been optimized based on the 48V battery pack for quick charge and discharge. A deep flux weakening control has been evaluated for the PM motor's high speed operation. The specific value of how much the proposed 48V PARS can reduce CO 2 emission and fuel consumption was numerically simulated by using both motoring and generating efficiency maps as input data. It is noticed that the present 48V PARS gives a considerably enhanced performance in fuel saving by as high as 17% for a commercial 1.8L gasoline engine during the Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule mode.

The present study proposed a novel Power Assist Recuperation System consisted of motor, inverter, DC-DC converter and 48V Li ion battery for fuel saving of conventional Internal Combustion Engine and hybrid vehicles. As a total solution of the next-generation 48V PARS, key components such as Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor, MOSFET power switching inverter and bi-directional DC-DC converter with cost competitiveness from in-house power IC's and power modules have been optimized based on a 48V Li ion battery. A deep flux weakening control has been evaluated for the IPMSM's high speed operation. The specific value of how much the proposed 48V PARS can reduce CO2 emission and fuel consumption was estimated by so-called Autonomie software using both efficiency maps of motoring and generating modes. It is noticed that the present 48V PARS gives a considerably enhanced performance in reduction of fuel consumption by as high as 17% for a commercial 1.8L engine.

Objective To determine, using in vitro comparative studies, developmental aspects associated with the active properties of the urinary bladder in neonatal and adult rats. Materials and methods Urinary bladders were removed from neonatal (1–3 days old) and adult (15 weeks old) male Sprague–Dawley rats. Anterior longitudinal muscle strips were obtained from each group and isometric tensions recorded. Nerve-mediated contractions elicited by electrical field stimulation (0.8 ms pulse) or carbachol-induced contractile responses in neonatal and adult bladder strips were compared. Contractile tensions were normalized using the wet weight of the bladder strip or by using the percentage contraction induced by 60 mmol/L KCl. Results Nerve-mediated contractile responses showed that the muscarinic component predominated in the neonatal rat bladder, which contrasted with the predominant purinergic components in adult bladder. The pattern of spontaneous activity and carbachol-induced contraction differed in the two groups. Small spontaneous contractions in the basal state occurred in adult bladder strips, while short-lived large spontaneous contractions were present in neonatal strips. The amplitude of carbachol-induced contractions generated in the neonatal bladder was larger than that in the adult bladder. In addition, the time to achieve peak contraction elicited by carbachol (5 µmol/L) was shorter in the neonatal bladder. Repetitive carbachol applications induced an attenuation of the contractile response (desensitization), but the neonatal bladder was more resistant to desensitization than the adult bladder. Conclusions These results show that nerve-mediated or agonist-induced contractile patterns, and spontaneous activity, in the neonatal bladder differ from those of the adult bladder in rats. The results suggest that in addition to neural immaturity, there are functional differences between the bladders of adult and neonatal rats.

Interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogels composed of chitosan and poly(acrylic acid) (PAAc) were synthesized by UV irradiation method, and their structure, crystallinity, swelling behavior, thermal property, and mechanical property were investigated. Chitosan/PAAc IPNs exhibited relatively high equilibrium water content and also showed reasonable sensitivity to pH. From the swelling behaviors at various pH's, Fourier transform infrared spectra at high temperature and thermal analysis confirmed the formation of polyelectrolyte complex due to the reaction between amino groups in chitosan and carboxyl groups in PAAc. For this reason, even at a swollen state, the present chitosan/PAAc IPNs possess good mechanical properties. Particularly, the CA-2 sample (with a weight ratio of chitosan/PAAc = 50/50, molar ratio [NH2]/[COOH] = 25/75) showed the lowest equilibrium water content and free water content, attributed to the more compact structure of the polyelectrolyte than CA-1 or CA-3 due to the high amount of interchain bond within the IPN. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 73: 113–120, 1999

Controlled centrifugal instabilities (called Dean vortices) resulting from sufficient flow in composite polyamide–poly(ether sulfone) helical membrane tubes have been used to reduce concentration polarization during nanofiltration. These vortices enhance back-migration through convective flow away from the membrane–solution interface and increased shear at the membrane–solution interface and allow for increased membrane permeation rates. As a result, solute concentrations at the membrane–solution interface and resulting osmotic-driven back flow are reduced. The performance of two sets of modules (designated Set II and Set III), each set containing a prototype vortex generating helical tubular nanofiltration (NF) element and a conventional linear element was evaluated. Nanofiltration of aqueous solutions of inorganic salts (including KCl, K2SO4 and K3PO4) and amino acids of similar molecular weight (including glutamic acid, glutamine and lysine) was performed with Set II. These experiments, designed to evaluate the effects of solute type, were conducted at the same energy consumption and transmembrane pressures. Both membrane swelling and charge effects were evident as a function of varying the pH during membrane filtration of both inorganic salts and amino acids. Both flux and rejection were higher for the helical module than the linear module during amino acid nanofiltration. A new modified phenomenological model was shown to be effective for predictive purposes for cases of responsive concentration polarization. Its applicability is validated by performing nanofiltration of aqueous MgSO4 solutions with a new set of modules designated as Set III. Modules of Set III contained dissimilar helical and linear elements. The model was then tested against the results obtained previously.

Hypothesis: Osteoporosis may result in increased distal radius fracture severity and the need for surgical intervention. We hypothesized that patients who have a lower bone density will have a tendency toward operative management of a distal radius fracture when compared to patients of similar age with higher bone density scores. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed, including all Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) enrollees who were aged 55 years or older between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2012 and underwent treatment for a distal radius fracture. IRB approval was obtained. All patients over the age of 50 who sustain a distal radius fracture are evaluated with a DXA scan within 3 months of the injury within KPSC. Of the non-operative patients, 48 did not have DXA data and were excluded from analysis. Radiographs were classified using the AO classification for distal radius fractures. 761 non-operative cases were included in the analysis. The total study population (operative and nonoperative) was 890. Demographic data and T-scores were recorded from the distal radius fracture operative registry, administrative databases and the medical record. Results: There were 737 fractures in women and 153 fractures in men. The mean age was 69.9 years (range, 55-96). The mean T-score was -1.95 (SD 0.97). There were 283 AO type A fractures, 150 type B fractures, and 381 type C fractures. Treatment was non-operative for 761 fractures (86%), and surgical for 129 fractures (14%). There was no difference in T-score between fractures in the surgical and non-operative cohorts, but patients treated surgically were younger than patients treated non-operatively. T-scores were higher in men than women, and higher in type B fractures than in type A or C fractures. Increasing age and AO fracture type B were associated with lower odds ratio for surgical treatment. Age and sex significantly influenced T-score, and age significantly influenced treatment group (decreasing surgery with increasing age), but that AO fracture classification was not sequentially increased by decreasing T-score and did not itself influence treatment group. Summary Points: Non-operative treatment of distal radius fractures is more common in elderly patients despite lower T-scores. T-scores decline at a faster rate in men as compared to women as one ages. T-score did not predict surgical intervention when controlling for age, gender and AO classification. Fracture severity (AO classification) was independent of T-score. Decision making for surgery may include subjective factors such as patient/physician preference and objective fracture characteristics not accounted for by the AO classification. PAPER 20

The swelling behaviors of poly(vinyl alcohol)–poly(acrylic acid) (PVA–PAAc) interpenetrating networks (IPN) hydrogels in the presence of electrolytes were studied. The ionized carboxylic group within IPN hydrogels at pH 7 strongly interacted with electrolytes in the medium and caused anomalous swelling pattern. The permeabilities of 5 representative solutes were regulated as a function of temperature, pH, ionic strength, solute size, and ionic properties of solutes. The permeation of nonionic solutes followed the swelling behaviors dependent on external stimuli, including the above factors. However, the ionic solutes showed different trends in their permeation through IPN hydrogels. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polm Sci 69: 479–486, 1998

We calculate the Coulomb pseudopotential for the simple hexagonal phase of Si at a pressure of 14 GPa using a full-dielectric-matrix approach within the local-density-functional approximation. With all of the screening effects such as the crystal potential, local-field, and exchange - correlation effects, the value of is estimated to be 0.104. Considering only the crystal potential effect, is found to be very close to that of a free-electron gas. The exchange - correlation effect on the electron dielectric response function decreases the dielectric screening, especially for large wave vectors, giving rise to an increase of , while the local-field effect which results from directional bonds slightly reduces .

This study was designed to determine the frequency of available radial styloid and metacarpal vascularized bone pedicle grafts and to determine the potential clinical availability (ie, sufficient length) of each pedicle graft for revascularization procedures to the dorsal and palmar scaphoid and dorsal lunate. Five vascularized bone pedicles (radial styloid 1, radial styloid 2, first metacarpal, second metacarpal, and third metacarpal) were evaluated in 20 fresh-frozen unpaired cadaveric forearms after methylene blue injection. For the dorsal approach to the scaphoid, radial styloid 2 bone graft was most reliable; for a palmar approach to the scaphoid, the first metacarpal graft was the most reliable; and for the dorsal approach to the lunate, the third metacarpal was the most reliable. Not all pedicles were available in all specimens; thus, versatility in using all five pedicles is recommended.

Optical interconnect for a DDR3 DRAM device is verified at a 4:1-serialized 1.6-Gbps data rate using a FPGA-based memory controller board and optical transceiver chips with bulk-Si-based photonic die and electronic die co-packaged.

Conceptual designs of the Π core and dual Π core switched reluctance motors have been proposed for traction motors of the electric vehicle. Compared to a conventional SRM, the three-phase π core SRM shows an increased average torque by 23% and reduced torque ripple by 41% from finite element analysis results, due to its characteristics of the isolated stator segments and short flux path. The π Core SRM has better performance in vibration and noise for its much lower torque ripple and radial force. In addition, the dual rotor π core SRMs with and without permanent magnets are introduced in this study. These dual rotor models have their potential applicability to in-wheel motor drives in the near future.