External fixator for the treatment of narrowed pelvic canal in a cat

The aim of this study was to report the outcome of the use of an external fixator to treat a pelvic canal stenosis in a 5-month-old female cat. The cat was referred with a history of 3 weeks of intermittent signs of constipation refractory to the medical management, occurring after surgical treatment for a bilateral sacroiliac luxation and sacral fracture. The clinical examination revealed instability of the pelvis and a radiograph showed a pelvic canal stenosis and megacolon. External fixator was the method of choice to be used in this case. The manually applied tension on an external fixator resulted in a widening of the pelvic canal. At 45 days after surgery, there were no signs of constipation, and the radiological examination showed progressive bone healing. At 18 months post-op, the cat had no abnormalities both on the clinical examination and on the radiography. In conclusion, the use of an external fixator led to the widening of the pelvic canal using a minimally invasive procedure. To the authors’ knowledge, this case report represents the first surgical description and clinical outcome of the widening of the pelvic canal in cats using an external skeletal fixator.

Influence of Tensile Stress on Woven Compression Bandage Structure and Porosity

Woven compression bandage (CB) is one of the elastic textiles that exert pressure on muscles. With a defined tensile strength, it is possible to create the required compression on the given body parts. This work aims to investigate the relationship between woven fabric deformation, porosity, and tensile stress properties of three main types of woven CBs. All bandage samples are applied on human leg using two- and three-layer bandaging techniques. Bandage porosity is calculated for all frames at different weave angles using NIS software. Woven bandage construction parameters which are given by the preparation of warp and weft yarns, twist, count, and density along with woven fabric weave, type of weaving, and finishing process are the main factors that influence the bandage properties. Several methods considering thread distributions have been developed to determine the woven fabric's porosity during the tensile stress. Experimental results confirm that bandage porosity is directly proportional to the bandage extension and weave angle that ranges from 44° to 90°. The novelty of candidate study is to introduce practical remarks to the patient for optimizing the required bandage pressure by suitable extension or applied tension or weave angle for two- and three-layer bandaging systems.

Membranes, Plates, and Microphones

The restoring forces on membranes are due to the applied tension, while the restoring forces for plates are due to the flexural rigidity of the plate’s material. The transition to two dimensions introduces some features that did not show up in our analysis of one-dimensional vibrating systems. Instead of applying boundary conditions at one or two points, those constraints will have to be applied along a line or a curve. In this way, incorporation of the boundary condition is linked inexorably to the choice of coordinate systems used to describe the resultant normal mode shape functions. For two-dimensional vibrators, two indices are required to specify the frequency of a normal mode, fm,n, with the number of modes in a given frequency interval increasing in proportion to the center frequency of the interval, even though that interval remains a fixed frequency span. It is also possible that modes with different mode numbers might correspond to the same frequency of vibration, a situation that is designated as “modal degeneracy.” A membrane’s response to sound pressures provides the basis for broadband condenser microphone technology that produces signals related to the electrical properties of that capacitor and the charge stored on its plates.

Allosteric activation of an ion channel triggered by modification of mechanosensitive nano-pockets

Lipid availability within transmembrane nano-pockets of ion channels is linked with mechanosensation. However, the effect of hindering lipid-chain penetration into nano-pockets on channel structure has not been demonstrated. Here we identify nano-pockets on the large conductance mechanosensitive channel MscL, the high-pressure threshold channel. We restrict lipid-chain access to the nano-pockets by mutagenesis and sulfhydryl modification, and monitor channel conformation by PELDOR/DEER spectroscopy. For a single site located at the entrance of the nano-pockets and distal to the channel pore we generate an allosteric response in the absence of tension. Single-channel recordings reveal a significant decrease in the pressure activation threshold of the modified channel and a sub-conducting state in the absence of applied tension. Threshold is restored to wild-type levels upon reduction of the sulfhydryl modification. The modification associated with the conformational change restricts lipid access to the nano-pocket, interrupting the contact between the membrane and the channel that mediates mechanosensitivity.

Static Analysis of Suspended Pipes

We analyze a suspended pipe with the application to offshore pipelaying and suspended production risers. Basic equations from the planar theory of elastic rods are reduced to a second-order ordinary differential equation with special end conditions that is solved numerically. Dimensionless results are given for the maximum curvature in the sag portion of the pipe and the slope angle at the upper end of the pipe in the absence of hydrodynamic forces. Both a rigid and a compliant seafloor are treated. We find that tension is highly effective in limiting curvature. A equation is found for the applied tension at the upper end of the pipe. Our results are intended for preliminary design studies that can be followed by more sophisticated analyses.