Hemorrhage control in arteries using high-intensity focused ultrasound: a survival study

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has been shown to provide an effective method for hemorrhage control of blood vessels in acute animal studies. The objective of the current study was to investigate the long-term effects of HIFU-induced hemostasis in punctured arteries. The femoral arteries ( approximately 2mm in diameter) of 25 adult anesthetized rabbits were surgically exposed, and either punctured and treated with HIFU (n=15), served as control (no puncture and no HIFU application: n=7), or were punctured and left untreated (n=3). Treated animals were allowed to recover, and examined and/or sacrificed on days 0, 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, and 60 after treatment to obtain ultrasound images and samples of blood and tissue. Hemostasis (arrest of bleeding) was achieved in all 15 of the HIFU-treated arteries. Eleven of the arteries were patent after HIFU treatment, and four arteries were occluded, as determined by Doppler ultrasound. The median HIFU application time to achieve hemostasis was 20s (range 7-55 s) for the patent arteries and 110 s (range 50-134 s) for the occluded arteries. In untreated animals, bleeding had not stopped after 120 s. One of the occluded arteries had reopened by day 14. No immediate or delayed re-bleeding was observed after HIFU treatment. Maximal blood flow velocities were similar in HIFU-treated patent vessels and control vessels. No significant difference in hematocrits was found between HIFU-treated and control groups at different time points after the procedure. Light microscopy observations of the HIFU-treated arteries showed disorganization of adventitia, and coagulation and thinning of the tunica media. The general organization of the adventitia and tunica media recovered to normal appearance within 28 days, with some thinning of the tunica media observed up to day 60. Neointimal hyperplasia was observed on days 14 and 28. The results show that HIFU can produce effective and long-term (up to 60 days) hemostasis of punctured femoral arteries while preserving normal blood flow and vessel wall structure in the majority of vessels.     

Evaluation of characteristic parameters for high performance hall cells

The current work focuses on presenting specific Hall cells with high performance, and their corresponding parameters. The design, integration, measurements and model development for their performance assessment are necessary stages considered in the generation of the Hall cells. Experimental results regarding the Hall cells absolute sensitivity, offset and offset temperature drift are provided for two particular structures exhibiting the best behavior in terms of maximum sensitivity and lowest offset. Three-dimensional physical simulations were performed for the structures and the Hall mobility was extracted. Representation of the inverse of the geometrical correction factor for the Greek-cross Hall cell is also provided.     

Fractal Modeling of Polymer Plasma Laser Ablation,Plasma Plume Tsallis Entropy and Its q-Statistics Interpretation,Part I: Theory

Polymer plasma produced by laser ablation is investigated in a theoretical manner. In relation to the fact that the charge carrier circulation is assumed to take place on fractal curves, the so-called fractality type, electrical charge transport can be resolved by an extended scale relativity method. In addition, an elegant mathematical model, utilizing a conjecture of fractal space-time, is elaborated. The complete solution and its graphical representation for temperature distribution in two-dimensional and three-dimensional cases are successfully introduced. The discrete physical behavior and irrevocable transformation of nanoscale microdomain substructures by laser ablation are realistically examined. Further, benefiting from the interpretation of the fractal analysis, each of the experimental results can be fairly explained. On top of that, this paper presents a proof of Tsallis nonextensive q-statistics, especially for the plasma plume studied. Tsallis entropy in direct connection with fractal dynamics and chaotic-type mechanics of the plasma plume and time-series representation of plasma temperature is introduced for the first time in the present publication, and the q-statistics of the plume plasma temperature are also studied, among others.     

Sur l'effectivité numérique des images inverses de fibrés en droites

Sans résumé

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Re?u le 7 Octobre 1996     

Fractal surface analysis of Zircaloy-4 SEM micrographs using the time-series method

The SEM microfractographies of Zircaloy-4 are studied by the time-series method. We first develop a computer application which associates a time series to each SEM micrograph. Furthermore, we will apply the phase space embedding technique to reconstruct the attractor and to compute the autocorrelation dimension. Using the fractal analysis technique, the SEM microfractographies of the fracture surface of the Zircaloy-4 samples have been analyzed.      

Evaluation of Pt and Re oxidation state in a pressurized reactor: difference in reduction between gas and liquid phase

Determination of metal oxidation state under relevant working conditions is crucial to understand catalytic behaviour. The reduction behaviour of Pt and Re was evaluated simultaneously as a function of support and solvent in a pressurized reactor (autoclave). The bimetallic catalysts are used in selective hydrogenation of carboxylic acids and amides. Gas phase reduction reduced the metals more efficiently, in particular Pt.     

Fractal model of the atom and some properties of the matter through an extended model of scale relativity

The scale relativity model was extended for the motions on fractal curves of fractal dimension D _F and third order terms in the equation of motion of a complex speed field. It results that, in a fractal fluid, the convection, dissipation and dispersion are compensating at any scale (differentiable or non-differentiable), whereas a generalized Schrödinger type equation is obtained for an irrotational movement of the fractal fluid. For D _F = 2 and the dissipative approximation of the motions, the fractal model of atom is build: the real part of the complex speed field describes the electron motion on stationary orbits according to a quantification condition, while the imaginary part of the complex speed field gives the electron energy quantification. For D _F = 3 and the dispersive approximation of motions, some properties of the matter are explained: at the differentiable scale the flowing regimes (non-quasi-autonomous and quasi-autonomous) of the fractal fluids are separated by the experimental “0.7 structure”, while for the non-differentiable scale the fractal potential acts as an energy accumulator and controls through coherence the transport phenomena. Moreover, the compatibility between the differentiable and non-differentiable scales implies a Cantor space-time, and consequently a fractal at any scale. Thus, some properties of the matter (the anomaly of nano-fluids thermal conductivity, the superconductivity etc.) can be explained by this model.     

Characteristics of Volcanic Tuff from Macicasu (Romania) and Its Capacity to Remove Ammonia from Contaminated Air

In the present work, the capability of the volcanic tuff from Macicasu (Romania) to remove ammonia (NH₃) from air with different contamination levels during 24 h of adsorption experiments was investigated. The natural zeolitic volcanic tuff was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) method, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The adsorption capacities varied between 0.022 mg NH₃ g⁻¹ zeolite and 0.282 mg NH₃ g⁻¹ zeolite, depending on the NH₃ concentrations in the air and at the contact time. The nonlinear forms of the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were used to fit the experimental data. Additionally, the adsorption of NH₃ was studied using nonlinear pseudo-first-order (PFO), pseudo-second-order (PSO), and Elovich kinetic model. Based on the total volume of pores of used volcanic tuff, the NH₃ was removed from the air both due to the physical adsorption of NH₃ gas and the ion exchange of NH₄⁺ (resulted from a reaction between NH₃ and H₂O adsorbed by the zeolite). Depending on the initial NH₃ concentration and the amount of volcanic tuff, the NH₃ concentrations can be reduced below the threshold of this contaminant in the air. The adsorption capacity of NH₃ per unit of zeolite (1 g) varied in the range of 0.022–0.282 mg NH₃ g⁻¹ depending on the NH₃ concentration in the air.     

Quality and Human Health Risk Assessment of Metals and Nitrogen Compounds in Drinking Water from an Urban Area Near a Former Non-Ferrous Ore Smelter

The quality and potential health risk of drinking waters in Medias, a town near a former non-ferrous ore smelter in Romania, was assessed using the drinking water quality index (DWQI), hazard quotient (HQ) and total hazard quotient (THQ). A total of 29 water samples collected from 26 wells and 3 springs used as drinking water sources, located in near proximity to agricultural, industrial or household contamination sources, were characterized. The obtained results indicated high NO₂^?, NO₃^?, Cd and Mn levels that exceeded the corresponding maximum allowable concentrations. According to the DWQI values, only 10% of water sources have acceptable quality, while 21% are threatened, and 69% have poor- quality. The health risk assessment suggested a high risk for NO₃^? for more than 72% of the drinking waters HQ_NO3^??>?1.0 but no risk for metals and NO₂^? (HQ_metals< 1.0; HQ_NO2^?< 1.0).     

Iterative reading of numbers and “black-holes”

The paper proposes a mathematical model of the iterated reading process, by slightly modifying the well-known Parikh mapping in formal language theory: basically, the domain and the range sets will be the same monoid, the positive integers set in a given basep,p2. The iteration of this mapping is shown to converge, irrespective of the starting point, either to a singleton, or to a cycle. Examples of suchattractors (we also call them black-holes) are given many of them found by computer, then their structure, some of the restriction appearing in this area as well as variants and particular cases are investigated.Research supported by AvHumboldt Foundation