OBJECTIVES To provide the practicing surgeon with data to make an informed economic decision regarding conversion from analog to digital photography. METHODS A cost analysis of photography based on 35-mm vs digital platforms (low-, medium-, and high-cost hardware). RESULTS Break-even thresholds for the investment in a digital platform of low, medium, and high costs were 3674, 15,789, and 34...

“South Korea is the plastic surgery capital of the world.” This is how Korean plastic surgery was described in the Washington Post in 2015 [1]. Korea seems to be consolidating its position as a leading plastic surgery nation. However, to survive the fierce competition among plastic surgeons and to satisfy patients’ high­ est expectations, plastic surgeons must sustain their efforts over the lon...

After initiating a trial series of art classes for plastic surgery residents, the authors recommend that art education, including hands-on training and art appreciation, becomes part of an aesthetic surgery training curriculum.

The Milestone Project in plastic surgery was created to define training outcomes and measure progress as a trainee progresses from novice to expert. The Plastic Surgery Milestones represent a framework with graduated measures to ensure the learner and program faculty know the expected intermediate and long-term competencies, and can more accurately measure where an individual is on the expected...

Strengthening of existing circular reinforced concrete columns by CFRP confinement

The purpose of the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) investigation was to examine how language proficiency and orthographic transparency (letter-sound mapping consistency) modulate neural activity during bilingual single word reading. Spanish-English bilingual participants, more fluent in their second language (L2; English) than their native language (L1; Spanish), were asked...

The critical parameters for the structural stability of physical vapor deposited TiN film on (112̄0) sapphire were investigated by analyzing the adhesion strength and failure mechanism through in situ observations of the fracture sequence during scratch tests and static normal indentation. TiN was deposited by arc ion plating on (112̄0) sapphire, and the thickness of the TiN film was controlled t...

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) is a promising protective coating for future optical storage technologies. The requirements place conflicting constraints on the nature of the DLC. It must be transparent at 400 nm, hard and wear-resistant, uniform, pinhole-free, have a low stress and be deposited at high rate without a high heat load on a plastic substrate. In order to optimise the films under these c...