Bubble shock wave interaction near biomaterials

The interaction of bubbles, both oscillating and stationary near biomaterials is of interest for the development of various medical treatment involving ultrasound and shock waves. This is because cavitation bubbles often nucleate in the bodily fluid under pressure waves, and their dynamics directly influence the success of the treatment and the collateral damages sustained. For example, in the treatment of Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy (ESWL), cavitation bubbles are created when the shock wave is administered. These bubbles oscillate and collapse near the kidney stones and the body tissues. They are responsible both for the breaking up of the stones as well as the collateral damages to the nearby tissues. We study the interaction of an oscillating bubble near various biomaterials. The bio-materials are modeled as elastic fluids with similar physical properties such as elastic modulus, Poisson ratio, and density. The bubble dynamics are summarized based on biomaterial physical properties. We also study the interaction of a stationary bubble with the nearby bio-materials when hit by a lithotripter shock wave. High speed jets and splitting of bubbles are observed due to the influence of the nearby biomaterials.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/84287/1/CAV2009-final104.pd

Optical supercavitation in soft-matter

We investigate theoretically, numerically and experimentally nonlinear optical waves in an absorbing out-of-equilibrium colloidal material at the gelification transition. At sufficiently high optical intensity, absorption is frustrated and light propagates into the medium. The process is mediated by the formation of a matter-shock wave due to optically induced thermodiffusion, and largely resembles the mechanism of hydrodynamical supercavitation, as it is accompanied by a dynamic phase-transition region between the beam and the absorbing material.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, revised version: corrected typos and reference

Seasonal variation in breast cancer diagnosis in Singapore

This study investigates seasonality in the diagnosis of 3219 female breast carcinoma cases reported between 1995–8 in Singapore. There is little evidence of marked seasonal variation. Angular regression suggested that observed differences in peak diagnosis with respect to menopausal status, tumour size, ER and PR status may be chance. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Prevalence and determinants of anxiety and depression in end stage renal disease (ESRD). A comparison between ESRD patients with and without coexisting diabetes mellitus

Objective: To compare anxiety and/or depressive symptoms between patients with end-stage renal disease with and without comorbid diabetes and identify factors associated with symptoms of distress in this population. Methods: Data from two studies (conducted between 2010 and 2014) were pooled. A total of 526 patients on hemodialysis (68.8% with diabetes) completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Elevated symptoms were defined as HADS-Anxiety or HADS-Depression ≥ 8. Univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to estimate associations between diabetic status, and other socio-demographic and clinical factors with baseline clinical anxiety and depression. Results: A total of 233 (45.4%) reported elevated anxiety symptoms and 256 (49.9%) reported elevated depressive symptoms sufficient for caseness. Rates were not different between patients with and without diabetes. Risk for clinical depression was higher in patients who were single/unpartnered (OR = 1.828), Chinese vs. Malay (OR = 2.05), or had lower albumin levels (OR = 0.932). None of the parameters were associated with anxiety caseness. Conclusion: Sociocultural factors rather than comorbid burden may help identify patients at risk for depression. The high rates of anxiety and depression underlie the importance for monitoring and intervention in dialysis care

Co-existing structures in 105Ru

New positive-parity states, having a band-like structure, were observed in 105Ru. The nucleus was produced in induced fission reaction and the prompt gamma-rays, emitted from the fragments, were detected by the EUROBALL III multi-detector array. The partial scheme of excited 105Ru levels is analyzed within the Triaxial-Rotor-plus-Particle approach