3D printed ventricular septal defect patch: a primer for the 2015 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) hands-on course in 3D printing.

Hand-held three dimensional models of the human anatomy and pathology, tailored-made protheses, and custom-designed implants can be derived from imaging modalities, most commonly Computed Tomography (CT). However, standard DICOM format images cannot be 3D printed; instead, additional image post-processing is required to transform the anatomy of interest into Standard Tessellation Language (STL) format is needed. This conversion, and the subsequent 3D printing of the STL file, requires a series of steps. Initial post-processing involves the segmentation-demarcation of the desired for 3D printing parts and creating of an initial STL file. Then, Computer Aided Design (CAD) software is used, particularly for wrapping, smoothing and trimming. Devices and implants that can also be 3D printed, can be designed using this software environment. The purpose of this article is to provide a tutorial on 3D Printing with the test case of complex congenital heart disease (CHD). While the infant was born with double outlet right ventricle (DORV), this hands-on guide to be featured at the 2015 annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America Hands-on Course in 3D Printing focused on the additional finding of a ventricular septal defect (VSD). The process of segmenting the heart chambers and the great vessels will be followed by optimization of the model using CAD software. A virtual patch that accurately matches the patient's VSD will be designed and both models will be prepared for 3D printing

Promoting Parents' Use of Non-Pharmacological Methods and Assessment of Children's Postoperative Pain at Home

Background: Parents have reported challenges in assessing their child's postoperative pain at home.Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the parental use of the Parents' Postoperative Pain Measure -tool (PPPM) on 1-3 -year-old children's non-pharmacological pain alleviation at home.Methodology: This was a non-randomized, prospective study with two parallel groups, where the parents in the intervention group were provided with PPPM in addition to a pain diary consisting of a verbal pain scale. The data were collected from 50 parents whose children had undergone day surgery in three Finnish university hospitals between January 2006 and June 2007. Parents completed questionnaires consisting of background information, verbal pain rating scale and a sub-scale measuring parents' use of non-pharmacological methods in children's postoperative pain alleviation.Results: Most children had mild postoperative pain after discharge, but in some children pain was moderate or severe. Non-pharmacological interventions were used commonly for pain alleviation in both groups, including holding the child in lap, comforting the child and spending time with the child more than usual during the recovery period after discharge. However, the use of non-pharmacological pain alleviation methods was 15% more common in the intervention group than in the control group. Parents of the intervention group had carried the child (p=0.04) and used distraction (p=0.05) more commonly than parents in control group. No group differences were found in parental assessments of the helpfulness of non-pharmacological pain alleviation methods.Conclusions: Children's pain remains under-treated and their pain alleviation can be promoted by providing the parents pain assessment tools, such as PPPM, to be used at home. The results can be utilized to further improve children's pain alleviation. More parental education is needed to promote their skills to alleviate the child's pain. Further research of the usefulness of the PPPM using larger samples is needed

Advanced photovoltaic power systems using tandem GaAs/GaSb concentrator modules

In 1989, Boeing announced the fabrication of a tandem gallium concentrator solar cell with an energy conversion efficiency of 30 percent. This research breakthrough has now led to panels which are significantly smaller, lighter, more radiation resistant, and potentially less expensive than the traditional silicon flat plate electric power supply. The new Boeing tandem concentrator (BTC) module uses an array of lightweight silicone Fresnel lenses mounted on the front side of a light weight aluminum honeycomb structure to focus sunlight onto small area solar cells mounted on a thin back plane. This module design is shown schematically. The tandem solar cell in this new module consists of a gallium arsenide light sensitive cell with a 24 percent energy conversion efficiency stacked on top of a gallium antimonide infrared sensitive cell with a conversion efficiency of 6 percent. This gives a total efficiency 30 percent for the cell-stack. The lens optical efficiency is typically 85 percent. Discounting for efficiency losses associated with lens packing, cell wiring, and cell operating temperature still allows for a module efficiency of 22 percent which leads to a module power density of 300 Watts/sq. m. This performance provides more than twice the power density available from a single crystal silicon flat plate module and at least four times the power density available from amorphous silicon modules. The fact that the lenses are only 0.010 ft. thick and the aluminum foil back plane is only 0.003 ft. thick leads to a very lightweight module. Although the cells are an easy to handle thickness of 0.020 ft., the fact that they are small, occupying one-twenty-fifth of the module area, means that they add little to the module weight. After summing all the module weights and given the high module power, we find that we are able to fabricate BTC modules with specific power of 100 watts/kg

Comparison of peak serum C-reactive protein and hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase levels in patients with acute myocardial infarction treated with alteplase and streptokinase

Peak serum C-reactive protein concentrations were measured in 146 patients randomized to receive streptokinase, alteplase, or a combination of streptokinase and alteplase in the GUSTO-I trial. Those receiving alteplase treatment had lower values than those receiving streptokinase or the combination treatment. Irrespective of treatment, complete reperfusion of the infarct-related artery (TIMI grade 3 flow) was associated with low peak serum C-reactive protein values

A super massive black hole binary in 3C66B: future observational perspectives

Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) may exist in the centers of galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGN) and are expected to be fairly common in the Universe as a consequence of merging processes between galaxies. The existence of SMBHBs can be probed by looking for double nuclei in galaxy centers or, more easily, detecting periodic behavior in the observed radio light curves. In a recent paper, Sudou et al. \cite{sudou2003} announced the first direct observation of an SMBHB. Using VLBI observations they found that the unresolved radio core of the radio galaxy 3C66B shows a well defined elliptical motion with a period of $1.05\pm 0.03$ yrs, implying the presence of a couple of massive black holes in the center of the galaxy. In the present paper we study the astrophysical implications of the existence of such an SMBHB in 3C66B. In particular we focus on the information that can be obtained from detecting a signal periodicity either in the $X$-ray and/or $\gamma$-ray light curves as a consequence of the motion of the black holes. These observations could be used to extract further information on the physical parameters of the SMBHB and partially solve the system parameter degeneracy. The detection of the gravitational wave spectrum emitted by such system may be used to completely determine the physical parameters of the binary system.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, in Press on Astronomy & Astrophysic

Time-course of left ventricle function during mild therapeutic hypothermia in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients

Peer reviewe

Political geographies of the object

This paper examines the role of objects in the constitution and exercise of state power, drawing on a close reading of the acclaimed HBO television series The Wire, an unconventional crime drama set and shot in Baltimore, Maryland. While political geography increasingly recognizes the prosaic and intimate practices of stateness, we argue that objects themselves are central to the production, organization, and performance of state power. Specifically, we analyze how three prominent objects on The Wire—wiretaps, cameras, and standardized tests—arrange and produce the conditions we understand as ‘stateness’. Drawing on object-oriented philosophy, we offer a methodology of power that suggests it is generalized force relations rather than specifically social relations that police a population—without, of course, ever being able to fully capture it. We conclude by suggesting The Wire itself is an object of force, and explore the implications of an object-oriented approach for understanding the nature of power, and for political geography more broadly

Adaptive RSK-EphA2-GPRC5A signaling switch triggers chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer

Metastatic cancers commonly activate adaptive chemotherapy resistance, attributed to both microenvironment-dependent phenotypic plasticity and genetic characteristics of cancer cells. However, the contribution of chemotherapy itself to the non-genetic resistance mechanisms was long neglected. Using high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC) patient material and cell lines, we describe here an unexpectedly robust cisplatin and carboplatin chemotherapy-induced ERK1/2-RSK1/2-EphA2-GPRC5A signaling switch associated with cancer cell intrinsic and acquired chemoresistance. Mechanistically, pharmacological inhibition or knockdown of RSK1/2 prevented oncogenic EphA2-S897 phosphorylation and EphA2-GPRC5A co-regulation, thereby facilitating a signaling shift to the canonical tumor-suppressive tyrosine phosphorylation and consequent downregulation of EphA2. In combination with platinum, RSK inhibitors effectively sensitized even the most platinum-resistant EphA2(high), GPRC5A(high) cells to the therapy-induced apoptosis. In HGSC patient tumors, this orphan receptor GPRC5A was expressed exclusively in cancer cells and associated with chemotherapy resistance and poor survival. Our results reveal a kinase signaling pathway uniquely activated by platinum to elicit adaptive resistance. They further identify GPRC5A as a marker for abysmal HGSC outcome and putative vulnerability of the chemo-resistant cells to RSK1/2-EphA2-pS897 pathway inhibition.Peer reviewe

Spermidine Promotes Human Hair Growth and Is a Novel Modulator of Human Epithelial Stem Cell Functions

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