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A variety of 2D dendritic morphologies, such as orthogonal lattices, oblique lattices, curved weaves, and randomly branching morphologies, of a simple cubic crystal, NaCl, were selectively produced in a thin gel matrix by the tuning of branching growth modes with the variation of NaCl and gelatin concentrations. We characterized the crystal fabric of these specific patterns consisting of NaCl blocks. It is notable that particular curved branches were induced by gradual changes in the growth direction in asymmetric concentration fields. Straight and bending growth in the particular dendrites can be switched by changing the growth velocity in the gel medium.

Crush syndrome (CS) is the systemic manifestation of muscle cell damage resulting from pressure and crushing. It is associated with a high mortality rate, even when patients are treated with conventional therapy. We demonstrated the utility of intramuscular administration of dexamethasone (DEX) in disaster medical care by using a model of CS to characterize the pharmacokinetics and biochemical parameters. We compared intravenous (IV) and intramuscular (IM) injection. The IM sites were the right anterior limb (AL), bilateral hind limbs (bHL), and unilateral hind limb (uHL). DEX (5.0 mg/kg) was administered in sham-operated (sham, S-IV, S-AL, S-bHL, S-uHL groups) and CS rats (control, C-IV, C-AL, C-bHL, C-uHL groups). The survival rate in the IM groups was lower than that in the C-IV group. Survival was highest in the C-AL group, followed by the C-uHL and C-bHL groups. The blood DEX concentration of the C-AL group was similar to that in the C-IV group. The C-bHL and C-uHL groups had decreased blood DEX concentrations. Moreover, inhibition of inflammation was related to these changes. Administration of DEX to non-injured muscle, as well as IV administration, increased the survival rate by modulating shock and inflammatory mediators, consequently suppressing myeloperoxidase activity and subsequent systemic inflammation, resulting in a complete recovery of rats from lethal CS. These results demonstrate that injection DEX into the non-injured muscle is a potentially effective early therapeutic intervention for CS that could easily be used in transport to the hospital., Regular Articles

A tsunami destroys many offshore and seafront structures supported by the sea floor. However, a disaster mechanism to address these concerns has not yet been completely formulated. In this paper, we discuss the ways in which multi-phase interactions among soil, water, and gas and multi-scaling problems from soil, water, and gas particles affect these structures. Based on centrifuge model tests and SPH simulation with three phase interactions, it is shown that the destabilization of offshore structures due to a tsunami not only impacts the sea-front structures, but also causes water seepage into the seabed/seafront soil, which results in the scouring of the soil due to turbulence. Excessive pore water pressure in the soil is generated and liquefaction occurs as a result, which decreases the stiffness of the soil. The scouring and liquefaction occur both at the particle scale and, in the soil, at mass scale, thereby destroying the structures: this is a multi-scale interaction. This study attempts to explain the scouring mechanism by focusing on the tractive force and pore water pressure in the ground. During a tsunami, the traction water flow and the water overflow in the soil generates a vertically upward hydraulic gradient along with excess pore water pressure in the saturated ground and, consequently, scouring is facilitated. Scouring is also expanded when the pore air is blown out of the unsaturated ground. This study finds the scouring in the ground to be facilitated by a three-phase interaction among the soil particles, the pore water, and the pore air.