Contactless Fluid Manipulation in Air: Droplet Coalescence and Active Mixing by Acoustic Levitation

Acoustic manipulation by an ultrasonic phased array provides an entirely new approach to processes such as coalescence, mixing, separation, and evaporation occurring in the generation of new materials, physical property measurement, the biomedical industry, etc. However, to date, ultrasonic phased arrays have not been fully investigated for applications in fluid manipulation. This paper provides contactless coalescence and mixing techniques for droplets in air by controlling the acoustic potential by using an ultrasonic phased array. We focused on mode oscillation to propose an efficient mixing technique for liquid without contact. A comparison of mixing performance between cases with mode oscillation and without mode oscillation showed that the flow induced by mode oscillation promotes droplet mixing. Our paper demonstrates the feasibility of contactless coalescence and mixing as a first step in fluid manipulation with a phased array

Nursing care process for releasing psychiatric inpatients from long-term seclusion in Japan: Modified grounded theory approach

Based on a modified grounded theory approach, in this study, we sought to elucidate the nursing care process used to guide psychiatric inpatients in long-term seclusion towards release from seclusion. Participant observations and interviews were conducted with a total of 18 nurses from three long-term psychiatric wards at two institutions from September 2011 to November 2012, to collect data on the nursing care they provided for psychiatric patients in long-term seclusion. Consequently, four categories and 15 concepts were extracted. The nurses viewed "a mature therapeutic environment that utilizes flexible apportionment of care" as the foundation (i.e. the core category) in guiding psychiatric inpatients towards release from long-term seclusion. The results revealed a care structure in which nurses in such a treatment environment provided care by flexible apportionment of three types of care: care aimed at avoiding mental and physical exhaustion, standardized care that does not confer a disadvantage to patients, and immediately responding to prevent problematic behaviors. © 2013 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.発行後1年より全文公

A novel rat model of abdominal aortic aneurysm using a combination of intraluminal elastase infusion and extraluminal calcium chloride exposure

ObjectiveAn ideal animal model of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is of great importance for clarifying unknown complex mechanisms of the pathogenesis. We introduce a new, simple technique to create reliable AAAs that simulate human aneurysms.MethodsExperimental models of AAAs were created in 71 rats by means of a 20-minute application of intraluminal elastase (30 U) and extraluminal calcium chloride (0.5M) in the 1-cm segment of infrarenal abdominal aorta (group EC, n = 26). A single application of elastase (group E, n = 24) or calcium chloride (group C, n = 21) was used as control. The treated aorta in each group was measured under physiologic conditions and harvested at 1 and 4 weeks. Successful AAA formation was defined as a dilation ratio >50%. Inflammatory response, elastolytic activity, and histology in the treated aorta were evaluated among the three groups.ResultsThe surgical procedure in each group was similarly completed for approximate 30 minutes and performed without any technical failure or operative death. At 4 weeks, the dilation ratio and wall thickness were 94.8% ± 9.9% and 125.4 ± 5.6 μm in group EC, 43.3% ± 6.3% and 149.6 ± 6.5 μm in group E, and 10.9% ± 4.2% and 152.9 ± 7.2 μm in group C. The success rate of AAA formation in group EC (92.7%) was significantly higher than that in group E (25.0%) and group C (0.0%). Less elastin content in the aortic wall was observed in group EC. At 1 week, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β messenger RNA (mRNA) expressions were significantly upregulated, and CD3+ and CD11b+ cells were significantly infiltrated into the treated aorta of group EC, compared with groups E or C. Gelatinolytic activities and mRNA expressions of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 were also significantly activated in group EC.ConclusionThe rat AAA model using a combination of intraluminal elastase infusion and extraluminal calcium chloride exposure is simple and easy to perform and is highly reliable and reproducible to create a saccular aneurysm similar to human AAAs. This model could be more useful to clarify AAA pathogenesis, mechanisms, and treatment interventions in experimental researches.Clinical RelevanceAbdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) typically has a silent nature, and its rupture has high morbidity and mortality. There are currently no therapeutic approaches to prevent AAA, and complete mechanisms of AAA formation are still poorly understood. We developed a novel rat AAA model using a combination of intraluminal elastase infusion and extraluminal calcium chloride exposure. This model is simple and easy to perform and is highly reliable and reproducible to create a saccular aneurysm. It could become a powerful tool not only to elucidate etiopathogenetic mechanisms of AAA formation but also to explore new diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities

Autologous fibrin-coated small-caliber vascular prostheses improve antithrombogenicity by reducing immunologic response

ObjectiveWe have recently developed a thrombin-free fibrin-coated vascular prosthesis that has a high performance rate in producing graft antithrombogenicity. We hypothesized that autologous, compared with xenologous, fibrin coatings could improve the antithrombogenicity of grafts by reducing immunologic response.MethodsAutologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses and/or xenologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses (internal diameter, 2 mm; length, 2.5 cm) were implanted in the bilateral carotid arteries of 50 Japanese white rabbits. They were classified into 2 groups by the selection of grafts in the individual: group I (autologous fibrin-coated vascular prosthesis and xenologous fibrin-coated vascular prosthesis); and group II (group IIa: both autologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses, or group IIx: both xenologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses). During a maximum of 180 days after implantation, we evaluated the thrombotic, inflammatory, and immunologic responses associated with both types of graft.ResultsAll grafts were patent at each end point. In group I, both platelet deposition and anti-graft antibodies in autologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses were significantly less than those in xenologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses until postoperative day 30. At postoperative day 10, there were significantly fewer CD45-positive infiltrating cells in autologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses, and intercellular adhesion molecule-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and nuclear factor-kappa B expression in autologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses were less than those in xenologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses. The neointimal hyperplasia in autologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses was significantly decreased at postoperative day 180. In group II, serial changes of serum levels of immunoglobulin M, immunoglobulin G, interleukin-1β, and tissue-type plasminogen activator/plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 ratio in autologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses were significantly less than those in xenologous fibrin-coated vascular prostheses. In both grafts, platelet deposition significantly correlated with serum immunoglobulin G level and tissue-type plasminogen activator/plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 ratio.ConclusionThese findings suggest that autologous fibrin coating in thrombin-free fibrin-coated vascular prostheses improve antithrombogenicity by reducing immunologic response and have a potential for clinical use in hybrid small-caliber vascular grafts

Random phase-free kinoform for large objects

We propose a random phase-free kinoform for large objects. When not using the random phase in kinoform calculation, the reconstructed images from the kinoform are heavy degraded, like edge-only preserved images. In addition, the kinoform cannot record an entire object that exceeds the kinoform size because the object light does not widely spread. In order to avoid this degradation and to widely spread the object light, the random phase is applied to the kinoform calculation; however, the reconstructed image is contaminated by speckle noise. In this paper, we overcome this problem by using our random phase-free method and error diffusion method