Surgical site contamination, for example, with coagulase-negative staphylococci, probably derives from both the patient's own skin flora and those of the surgical team. Despite preoperative antiseptic preparation with chlorhexidine solution, complete sterilization of the skin is not possible and gradual recolonization will occur. Plastic adhesive drape is an established method used to prevent d...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To elaborate a method for applicator reconstruction for MRI-based brachytherapy for cervical cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Custom-made plastic catheters with a copper sulphate solution were made for insertion in the source channels of MR-CT compatible applicators: plastic and titanium tandem ring applicators, and titanium needles. The applicators were CT and MR scanned ...

Degradable polymers are considered to present a promising solution combat plastic pollution.

BACKGROUND We determined the feasibility of, and tissue response to silicone-covered biodegradable magnesium- and plastic-stent insertion into the esophagus in rabbits. METHODS The mechanical compression-recovery characteristics and degradation behaviors of the magnesium stent were investigated in vitro. A total of 45 rabbits were randomly divided into a magnesium- (n = 15) and a plastic- (n ...

The ground reaction curve (GRC) is a vital component of the convergence-confinement method, which possesses many applications in the underground space designs. It defines a relation between the tunnel wall deformations and the ground pressure acting on the tunnel walls. Generally, GRC includes descending and ascending branches. According to many researchers, the descending branch trend for the ...

The emerging field of "organic" or "plastic" electronics has brought low-voltage, ultrathin, and energy-efficient lighting and displays to market as organic light-emitting diode (OLED) televisions and displays in cameras and mobile phones. Despite using carbon-based materials as the light-emitting layer, previous efficient organic electronic light-emitting devices have required at least one met...

The double impulse input is introduced as a substitute of the fling-step near-fault ground motion and a closed-form solution of the elastic–plastic response of a structure by the “critical double impulse input” is derived. Since only the free-vibration appears under such double impulse input, the energy approach plays an important role in the derivation of the closed-form solution of a complica...

The triple impulse input is used as a simplified version of the forward-directivity near-fault ground motion and a closed-form solution of the elastic–plastic response of a structure by this triple input is obtained. It is noteworthy that only the free-vibration appears under such triple impulse input. An almost critical excitation is defined and its response is derived. The energy approach pla...

A B S TR AC T This paper presents an incremental elastic-plastic finite element solution to the problem of small scale yieldmg near a crack in plane strain for a non-hardening material. Emphasis is placed on the design of finite elements which allow accurate reproduction, m a numerical solution, of the detailed structure of the near crack tip stress and strain fields, as understood from previou...

The following nomenclature is used in this Chapter: a allotriomorphic ferrite aa acicular ferrite a w Widmanstatten ferrite ~ delta-ferrite !:i.0' increment in yield stress I austenite € true strain € true average strain €~ true plastic strain in softer phase of a dual-phase steel €~I true plastic strain in harder phase of a dual-phase steel €UTS true strain at ultimate tensile stress €y true s...