The Aging Behavior of Polyurethane-based Ureteral Catheters

Ureteral catheters, commonly known as double j stents according to their specific shape, are largely used worldwide with good results to assure proper renal drainage and to overpass ureteral obstacles successfully. This study deals with the aging behavior of polyurethane-based urinary catheters, explanted at different time intervals: 22 days, 29 days, three months, and eight months respectively. TGA (Thermogravimetric analyses) tests showed significant differences in the thermal behavior of polyurethane-based material, especially at eight months, where a higher thermostability was noticed. Also, the DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry) curves presented different shapes for the samples of polyurethane-based urinary catheters after three months and eight months. FTIR (Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometry) spectra gave a detailed picture of the chemical trans-formation which has occurred within the material at eight months. All the analyses gave an overview of the aging process of polyurethane-based urinary catheters and showed insights into the chemical/ physical transformations that the polymeric material suffers from prolonged usage.

Design and dynamics calculations of shallot seed feeding mechanism

Research on shallot planting feeding technology is an integral part of the shallot planter associations in which determines the suitable drop of shallot seeds to the planting mechanism. The shape of shallot seed will affect the process of selecting the feeding mechanism and feeding funnel shape. The dynamics study of shallot seeds in the feeding funnel and their movement (that is dependent on the profile and mass property of seeds) is important for manufacturing and running a good mechanism. The shallots will then be transferred by the feeding mechanism to the planting mechanism with a suitable falling trajectory. In this research, design and calculation of dynamics of the feeding mechanism of the shallot seeds is investigated using dynamics equations and also Autodesk Inventor Professional and Matlab Simulink codes. The suitable ranges of feeding mechanism parameters are obtained for the analyzed shallot seeds in terms of the specific shape, weight and mass center coordinates of the seeds.

Atlas-Based Evaluation of Hemodynamic in Ascending Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms

Atlas-based analyses of patients with cardiovascular diseases have recently been explored to understand the mechanistic link between shape and pathophysiology. The construction of probabilistic atlases is based on statistical shape modeling (SSM) to assess key anatomic features for a given patient population. Such an approach is relevant to study the complex nature of the ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm (ATAA) as characterized by different patterns of aortic shapes and valve phenotypes. This study was carried out to develop an SSM of the dilated aorta with both bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and tricuspid aortic valve (TAV), and then assess the computational hemodynamic of virtual models obtained by the deformation of the mean template for specific shape boundaries (i.e., ±1.5 standard deviation, σ). Simulations demonstrated remarkable changes in the velocity streamlines, blood pressure, and fluid shear stress with the principal shape modes such as the aortic size (Mode 1), vessel tortuosity (Mode 2), and aortic valve morphologies (Mode 3). The atlas-based disease assessment can represent a powerful tool to reveal important insights on ATAA-derived hemodynamic, especially for aneurysms which are considered to have borderline anatomies, and thus challenging decision-making. The utilization of SSMs for creating probabilistic patient cohorts can facilitate the understanding of the heterogenous nature of the dilated ascending aorta.

Present state of 3D printing from glass

This paper deals with the issue of additive technologies using glass. At the beginning, our research dealt with a review of the current state and specification of potentially interesting methods and solutions. At present, this technology is being actively developed and studied in glass research. However, as the project started at the Department of Glass Producing Machines and Robotics, the following text will be more focused on the existing 3D printing machinery and basic technological approaches. Although “additive manufacturing” in the sense of adding materials has been used in glass manufacturing since the beginning of the production of glass by humans, the term additive manufacturing nowadays refers to 3D printing. Currently, there are several approaches to 3D printing of glass that have various outstanding advantages, but also several serious limitations. The resulting products very often have a high degree of shrinkage and rounding (after sintering), and specific shape structures (after the application in layers), but they generally have a large number of defects (especially bubbles or crystallization issues). Some technologies do not lead to the production of transparent glass and, therefore, its optical properties are significantly restricted. So far, the additive manufacturing of glass do not produce goods that are price competitive to goods produced by conventional glass-making technologies. If 3D glass printing is to be successful as an industrial and/or highly aesthetically valuable method, then it must bring new and otherwise unachievable features and properties, as with 3D printing of plastic, metal, or ceramics. Nowadays, these technologies promise to be such a tool and are beginning to attract more and more interest.

Tool-Workpiece Interaction in the Cutting Process and Its Use

The paper analyzes the influence of natural tool wear on parameters of chip shaping and machining forces and proposes the adjustment of tool geometry based on natural shape of crater wear to extend time of machining. The contact of the cutting tool and the workpiece at actual cutting speed is a complex physical process, the result of which is a specific shape and characteristics of the machined surface and the modification of tool cutting characteristics. Due to the fact that there is no existing cutting material which would resist wear in the conditions of working high stress and temperature, it is necessary to take into account that tool cutting conditions change with cutting time. This is caused by the change in tool geometry after its functional areas become worn out. One of the practical effects of those changes is gradual modification of machined surface geometry, its fortification, formation of residual stress, character of chip formation and shaping, the development of friction temperature and deformation in the zone of the contact of the tool and workpiece. This means that the cut part changes its characteristics. It is up to date to eliminate or at least mitigate this negative influence of tool wear based on the results of cutting.

Young children remember specific transitions but not general groups from structured input

As early as infancy, humans extract patterns from structured input, and demonstrate the ability to distinguish between reliably experienced patterns and new ones. However, the nature of memories that support these behaviors—and how their structure might change across childhood—remains unknown. Here, we ask what children and adults remember after exposure to a continuous stream of shapes: the particular sequence in which the shapes occurred, their higher-level group structure, or both? We showed 5- to 9-year-olds and adults (N=211) a stream of shapes comprising three triplets (groups of three shapes) that always occurred in a fixed order, followed by an old-new memory test including lure sequences that matched the exposure stream on a particular dimension (e.g., group structure). Given the early emergence of simple associative memories that increase in complexity over development, we predicted that the youngest children in our sample would remember specific shape-shape sequences, while older children and adults would additionally represent groups. After accounting for developmental improvements in overall memory, we found all ages were sensitive to specific transitions: Participants responded “old” to lures with intact shape-shape transitions at above-baseline levels. In contrast, order-independent group memory—as measured by “old” responses to shuffled triplets—was only observed in older children and adults. Our results show that while young children form memories for specific aspects of a structured experience, memory for commonalities across events is refined later—underscoring that even after identical experiences, adults and young children form different memories for those events.

Three new species of caddisflies (Trichoptera, Hydroptilidae, Polycentropodidae, Leptoceridae) from Khon Phapheng Waterfall, the Mekong River, Laos

The Mekong River is a hotspot area for freshwater biodiversity, but caddisfly diversity is largely understudied. Three new species of caddisflies from three different families are described and illustrated from Khon Phapheng Waterfall, the Mekong River, Laos; Orthotrichia choengthongi Malicky & Laudee, sp. nov. (Hydroptilidae), Pseudoneureclipsis khonphaphengensis Malicky & Thamsenanupap, sp. nov. (Polycentropodidae), and Setodes karrilai Malicky & Laudee, sp. nov.Orthotrichia choengthongi Malicky & Laudee, sp. nov. can be differentiated from the most similar Orthotrichia tritonMalicky 2008 by the specific shape of segment X which is long and tubular, pointed apically and curved inward then immediately upward in dorsal view. Pseudoneureclipsis khonphaphengensis Malicky & Thamsenanupap, sp. nov. differs from the similar P. kaineus Malicky & Bunlue in Malicky et al. 2004 by the shape of the inferior appendages that are usually broad, almost circular in lateral view. Setodes karrilai Malicky & Laudee, sp. nov. is mainly different to S. omphale Malicky & Changthong in Malicky et al. 2004 by the distal part of segment X which has a brush-like process.

Penggunaan Baju ANT-VGAR untuk Rasa Nyaman Pasien pada Pemeriksaan Eleltrokardiogram (EKG)

Elektrokardiogram (EKG) merupakan suatu sinyal yang terbentuk sebagai hasil dari aktivitas listrik jantung, sinyal ekg mempunyai bentuk spesifik sehingga dapat dijadikan sebagai acuan untuk menentukan kondisi kesehatan jantung. Pemeriksaan EKG pasien diharuskan membuka baju, di mana hal ini mengakibatkan pasien kurang nyaman. Hasil wawancara terhadap pasien yang akan dilakukan EKG, semua responden mengalami rasa malu atau kurang nyaman ketika pemasangan EKG terutama pasien perempuan karena daerah dada dibuka. Salah satu tindakan untuk meningkatkan rasa nyaman dengan menggunakan baju ANT-VGAR yang digunakan untuk menutupi area dada pasien. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh baju ANT-VGAR terhadap rasa nyaman pasien pada pemeriksaan EKG. Penelitian ini menggunakan desain quasy exsperimen dengan pendekatan intact group comparison. Sampel penelitian ini adalah pasien yang akan dilakukan pemeriksaan EKG dengan teknik purposive sampling sebanyak 30 responden yang dibagi dua kelompok, 15 responden kelompok intervensi dan 15 responden kelompok kontrol. Instrumen yang digunakan adalah Standar prosedur Operasional (SPO) baju ANT-VGAR dan kuesioner rasa nyaman untuk mengukur kenyamanan responden saat pemeriksaan EKG. Hasil penelitian didapatkan nilai rerata rasa nyaman pasien pada kelompok intervensi 22,53 dan pada kelompok kontrol 19,86. Hasil uji Man Whitney didapatkan perbedaan yang signifikan rerata rasa nyaman pada kelompok kontrol dan kelompok intervensi dengan p-value (0,023). Baju ANT-VGAR meningkatkan rasa nyaman pasien pada pemeriksaan EKG. Kata Kunci : rasa nyaman; baju ANT-VGAR; pemeriksaan EKG ANT-VGAR CLOTHING FOR PATIENTS’ COMFORT ON ELECTROCARDIOGRAM EXAMINATION ABSTRACT Electrocardiogram (ECG) is a signal that is formed as a result of electrical activity of the heart; ECG signal has a specific shape so that it can be used as a reference to determine the condition of heart health. ECG examination requires the patient to undress that’s causing the patient feel less comfortable. The results of interviews with the patients who would have an ECG examination showed that all respondents feel embarrassed or uncomfortable when installing an ECG, especially female patients because the chest area is opened. Using ANT-VGA cloth to cover chest area was an effort to reducing uncomfort feeling for patients. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of ANT-VGAR clothing on the comfort of the patient during the examination.This study used quasy exsperiment with an intact group comparison approach. The respondents used in this research were the patients of ECG examination with purposive sampling . A total of 30 respondents were divided into two groups, 15 respondents in the intervention group and 15 respondents in the control group. The instrument used was the Standart Operational Prosedure (SOP) ANT-VGAR shirt used during the ECG examination and a comfort questionnaire to measure the respondents' comfort during the ECG examination. The mean value of comfort in the intervention group was 22.53 and in the control group were 19.86. Whitney Man test results obtained significant differences in the average comfort in the control group and the intervention group with p-value (0.023). The results of this study concluded that there is an influence of the ANT-VGAR shirt on the comfort of the patient during the ECG examination. Keywords: patient comfort; ANT-VGAR shirt; ECG examination

A Digital Image-Based Phenotyping Platform for Analyzing Root Shape Attributes in Carrot

Root shape in carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus), which ranges from long and tapered to short and blunt, has been used for at least several centuries to classify carrot cultivars. The subjectivity involved in determining market class hinders the establishment of metric-based standards and is ill-suited to dissecting the genetic basis of such quantitative phenotypes. Advances in digital image acquisition and analysis has enabled new methods for quantifying sizes of plant structures and shapes, but in order to dissect the genetic control of the shape features that define market class in carrot, a tool is required that quantifies the specific shape features used by humans in distinguishing between classes. This study reports the construction and demonstration of the first such platform, which facilitates rapid phenotyping of traits that are measurable by hand, such as length and width, as well as principal component analysis (PCA) of the root contour and its curvature. This latter approach is of particular interest, as it enabled the detection of a novel and significant quantitative trait, defined here as root fill, which accounts for 85% of the variation in root shape. Curvature analysis was demonstrated to be an effective method for precise measurement of the broadness of the carrot shoulder, and degree of tip fill; the first principal component of the respective curvature profiles captured 87% and 84% of the total variance. This platform’s performance was validated in two experimental panels. First, a diverse, global collection of germplasm was used to assess its capacity to identify market classes through clustering analysis. Second, a diallel mating design between inbred breeding lines of differing market classes was used to estimate the heritability of the key phenotypes that define market class, which revealed significant variation in the narrow-sense heritability of size and shape traits, ranging from 0.14 for total root size, to 0.84 for aspect ratio. These results demonstrate the value of high-throughput digital phenotyping in characterizing the genetic control of complex quantitative phenotypes.