Learning and Teaching after 50 Years of THORAX Surgery

Surgeries are practiced in different areas, and specifically in the thorax described in this chapter, the medical doctors must know in detail the biological structures in which they perform such surgical procedures. Therefore, in this chapter, we refer to the descriptive and topographical anatomy written by French doctors L. Testut and A. Latarjet. In earlier times, for several reasons, the medical surgeon operated all body organs and was involved in resolving the pathology of different areas. Currently and in the future, medical knowledge in thoracic surgery will cover subspecialties specifically divided, for example: assisted video surgery, interventional bronchoscopy, and mediastinoscopies to take mediastinal biopsies using robotic surgery of pulmonary exeresis to shorten the hospitalization period and even the days spent in the intensive care unit

Biofuel cell based on microscale nanostructured electrodes with inductive coupling to rat brain neurons.

Miniature, self-contained biodevices powered by biofuel cells may enable a new generation of implantable, wireless, minimally invasive neural interfaces for neurophysiological in vivo studies and for clinical applications. Here we report on the fabrication of a direct electron transfer based glucose/oxygen enzymatic fuel cell (EFC) from genuinely three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured microscale gold electrodes, modified with suitable biocatalysts. We show that the process underlying the simple fabrication method of 3D nanostructured electrodes is based on an electrochemically driven transformation of physically deposited gold nanoparticles. We experimentally demonstrate that mediator-, cofactor-, and membrane-less EFCs do operate in cerebrospinal fluid and in the brain of a rat, producing amounts of electrical power sufficient to drive a self-contained biodevice, viz. 7 μW cm(-2) in vitro and 2 μW cm(-2) in vivo at an operating voltage of 0.4 V. Last but not least, we also demonstrate an inductive coupling between 3D nanobioelectrodes and living neurons

Transparent and flexible, nanostructured and mediatorless glucose/oxygen enzymatic fuel cells

Here we detail transparent, flexible, nanostructured, membrane-less and mediator-free glucose/oxygen enzymatic fuel cells, which can be reproducibly fabricated with industrial scale throughput. The electrodes were built on a biocompatible flexible polymer, while nanoimprint lithography was used for their nanostructuring. The electrodes were covered with gold, their surfaces were visualised using scanning electron and atomic force microscopies, and they were also studied spectrophotometrically and electrochemically. The enzymatic fuel cells were fabricated following our previous reports on membrane-less and mediator-free biodevices in which cellobiose dehydrogenase and bilirubin oxidase were used as anodic and cathodic biocatalysts, respectively. The following average characteristics of transparent and flexible biodevices operating in glucose and chloride containing neutral buffers were registered: 0.63 V open-circuit voltage, and 0.6 mu W cm(-2) maximal power density at a cell voltage of 0.35 V. A transparent and flexible enzymatic fuel cell could still deliver at least 0.5 mu W cm(-2) after 12 h of continuous operation. Thus, such biodevices can potentially be used as self-powered biosensors or electric power sources for smart electronic contact lenses. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A comparison between the structures of reconstituted salivary pellicles and oral mucin (MUC5B) films

Hypothesis: Salivary pellicles i.e., thin films formed upon selective adsorption of saliva, protect oral surfaces against chemical and mechanical insults. Pellicles are also excellent aqueous lubricants. It is generally accepted that reconstituted pellicles have a two-layer structure, where the outer layer is mainly composed of MUC5B mucins. We hypothesized that by comparing the effect of ionic strength on reconstituted pellicles and MUC5B films we could gain further insight into the pellicle structure. Experiments: Salivary pellicles and MUC5B films reconstituted on solid surfaces were investigated at different ionic strengths by Force Spectroscopy, Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation, Null Ellipsometry and Neutron Reflectometry. Findings: Our results support the two-layer structure for reconstituted salivary pellicles. The outer layer swelled when ionic strength decreased, indicating a weak polyelectrolyte behavior. While initially the MUC5B films exhibited a similar tendency, this was followed by a drastic collapse indicating an interaction between exposed hydrophobic domains. This suggests that mucins in the pellicle outer layer form complexes with other salivary components that prevent this interaction. Lowering ionic strength below physiological values also led to a partial removal of the pellicle inner layer. Overall, our results highlight the importance that the interactions of mucins with other pellicle components play on their structure

Effect of nonionic and amphoteric surfactants on salivary pellicles reconstituted in vitro

Surfactants are important components of oral care products. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is the most common because of its foaming properties, taste and low cost. However, the use of ionic surfactants, especially SDS, is related to several oral mucosa conditions. Thus, there is a high interest in using non‐ ionic and amphoteric surfactants as they are less irritant. To better understand the performance of these surfactants in oral care products, we investigated their interaction with salivary pellicles i.e., the proteinaceous films that cover surfaces exposed to saliva. Specifically, we focused on pentaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C12E5) and cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) as model nonionic and amphoteric surfactants respectively, and investigated their interaction with reconstituted salivary pellicles with various surface techniques: Quartz Crystal Microbalance with Dissipation, Ellipsometry, Force Spectroscopy and Neutron Reflectometry. Both C12E5 and CAPB were gentler on pellicles than SDS, removing a lower amount. However, their interaction with pellicles differed. Our work indicates that CAPB would mainly interact with the mucin components of pellicles, leading to collapse and dehydration. In contrast, exposure to C12E5 had a minimal effect on the pellicles, mainly resulting in the replacement/solubilisation of some of the components anchoring pellicles to their substrate

A soluble and highly functional polyaniline-carbon nanotube composite

A completely soluble polyaniline-multi-wall carbon nanotube (CNT–PANI) composite with drastically enhanced conductivity, improved thermal stability, and luminescent behaviour, has been synthesized. The presence of straight multi-wall carbon nanotubes during the polymerization of aniline induces the formation of a more planar conformation of polyaniline which acts as coating layer for the carbon nanotubes and leads to favourable interaction between the constituents. The polyaniline-coated multi-wall carbon nanotubes align into bundles and form a three-dimensional network in the overall composite. A highly functional carbon nanotube composite completely soluble in n-methylpyrrolidinone (NMP) exhibiting all the favourable processing and transformation possibilities of PANI has been obtained. These findings have important consequences for practical technological applications, especially for the development of opto-electronic devices.Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (MCyT) under project NANOSIN (MAT2002-04540-C0-04) is gratefully acknowledged.Peer reviewe

DNA molecules resolved by electrical double layer force spectroscopy imaging

3 pages, 2 figures.This paper deals with spatially resolved force spectroscopy applied to the imaging of the electrical double layer EDL force. It is focused on an important point that has not been elucidated yet, the resolution that can be achieved. For this purpose, single plasmid DNA molecules have been studied with an atomic force microscope operated in the force spectroscopy imaging mode. With this approach, important quantities deduced from the force spectra can be simultaneously mapped along with the topography image. Single DNA molecules have been probed obtaining a lateral resolution in the EDL force similar to that of the topography.Financial support has been provided by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia through Project Nos. NAN2004–09183–C10–01 and BIO2006–09178-C02–02. J.S. is indebted to CSIC for an I3P predoctoral fellowship.Peer reviewe