the new non-conventional cutting process by the use of thermal shock is a convenient procedure for cutting the brittle materials such as glasses and ceramics. this method is based on the application of localized thermal shock to brittle materials by the use of hot air jet, which induces thermal stresses at the tip of an existed pre-crack. due to the thermo-elastic behavior of materials, the pre...

a new approach is proposed to model a crack in orthotropic composite media using the extended finite element method (xfem). the xfem uses the concept of partition of unity in addition to meshless basic idea of approximating a field variable by its values at a set of surrounding nodes. as a result, higher order approximations can be designed with the same total number of degrees of freedom. in t...

Aquaporins (AQP) are family of water channels found in several epithelial and endothelial cells, whose recent identification has provided insights into water transport in several tissues, including the central nervous system (CNS). Since brain edema continues to be the main cause of death from several CNS diseases, such as stroke, much of the interest in AQPs and their functional contribution t...

Because tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha can upregulate alveolar fluid clearance (AFC) in pneumonia or septic peritonitis, the mechanisms responsible for the TNF-alpha-mediated increase in epithelial fluid transport were studied. In rats, 5 microg of TNF-alpha in the alveolar instillate increased AFC by 67%. This increase was inhibited by amiloride but not by propranolol. We also tested a trip...

BACKGROUND Although open irrigation tip catheters (OITC) are effective in producing transmural radiofrequency (RF) lesions, they have the potential for fluid overload or excessive tissue damage. METHODS AND RESULTS The 203 patients with non-paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (NPAF; 85.2% males, 55.2+/-10.6 years old) who underwent RF catheter ablation (RFCA) were analyzed retrospectively. Clinica...

In this paper, controlling the location of the tip of an L-shape beam under gravity field is investigated. The beam is covered with piezoelectric patches. The gravity filed moves the tip of beam downward and the actuators with induced voltage move the tip to the previous location. to optimize the best location and voltages for actuators, the particle swarm optimization algorithm code is develop...

Involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) is rarely described in malignant mixed Müllerian tumors (MMMTs). Only four intracranial and two spinal cases have been published to date. Here we report two more cases with heterogeneous clinical, radiologic and pathologic features and summarize the available contemporary literature. One patient presented with aphasia due to an intra-axial contras...

We measured brain tissue Po2 in the frontal and occipital cortices, mid-brain and basal ganglia in monkeys for up to 5 hours after 16 min global brain ischemia to gain some insight into those factors responsible for the selective vulnerability of the brain to ischemic anoxia. Brain tissue Po2 measurements were made with gold microelectrodes with tip diameters of 5 to 10 nm. Reoxygenation of the...