Purpose – The purpose of this work is to describe the effects of the length of cracks and the patch size on the stress intensity factors in a bonded composite repair structure containing multiple site damage. Design/methodology/approach – Finite element method was applied to simulate a bonded repair of a cracked aluminum plate with multiple site damage. A two-dimensional three-layer technique w...

Left ventricular pseudoaneurysm (LVPA) is a known serious complication of myocardial infarction or mitral valve replacement. As an alternative option, transmitral patch repair for LVPA has been reported. However, it is very difficult to complete the procedure for LVPA with a large defect. A 68-year old man with a history of inferior myocardial infarction had undergone mitral valve repair. At 4 ...

The direct Kugel Patch method is a minimally invasive but nonlaparoscopic preperitoneal method of hernia repair which has various ideal characteristics including all the benefits of laparoscopic hernia repair without the risks of complications. In this retrospective study, we report our experience with this method for adult inguinal hernia repair. Forty-four hernias, including 35 indirect, 7 di...

BACKGROUND In general, all conduits available for right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) reconstruction eventually become stenotic or insufficient. Owing to the lack of an ideal conduit and with the hope of reducing the incidence of reoperations, we have developed and utilized a bicuspid valved polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) conduit for the reconstruction of the RVOT. The purpose of this study ...

OBJECTIVES The absence of a pulmonary valve (PV) after tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) repair has been shown to impact postoperative right ventricular (RV) function. The purposes of this study were to (i) compare early outcomes after PV-sparing vs transannular patching (TAP) with monocusp valve reconstruction or TAP alone and (b) assess the mid-term results after polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membra...

INTRODUCTION Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a highly crystalline polymer with melting temperature around 330°C, possesses unique properties. Chemically inert, it has high chemical and heat resistance with upper service temperature around 260°C. Since its invention it has found limited applications especially as an additive because of its high molecular weight and inert surface. However, by mid...

A microstrip antenna design is introduced in which aperture coupled rectangular microstrip patch is coupled electromagnetically with a parasitic gridded rectangular patch placed above. The gridded patch consists of nine identical rectangular parts separated by a distance which is much smaller than a free space wavelength for a central frequency. The antenna is designed to operate in the 60GHz b...

Ataxia oculomotor apraxia 1 (AOA1) results from mutations in aprataxin, a component of DNA strand break repair that removes AMP from 5' termini. Despite this, global rates of chromosomal strand break repair are normal in a variety of AOA1 and other aprataxin-defective cells. Here we show that short-patch single-strand break repair (SSBR) in AOA1 cell extracts bypasses the point of aprataxin act...