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Abstract We describe a case of chronic Salter-Harris I injury of the proximal tibial epiphysis. To our knowledge such an injury has not been described in the English language literature. The radiological appearance can mimic chronic infection. The possibility of chronic athletic stress-related change should be considered in such scenarios to avoid a misdiagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Tumoral lesions related to Pagets disease may be classified as malignant, benign or pseudotumoral. While sarcomatous degeneration is the most feared complication, awareness of benign and pseudotumoral lesions is essential for assisting in accurate histological interpretation of the biopsy sample, which may avoid unnecessary repeat biopsies. We present the first case of a juxta-articular subperiosteal ganglion associated with Pagets disease, with classic imaging characteristics, especially on CT examination. The well-defined soft tissue mass at the medial aspect of the obturator rim, adjacent to a small fracture in pagetic quadrilateral plate, showed an ossified rim and internal gas lucencies, these being the hallmarks of a juxta-articular subperiosteal ganglion. On MRI, the lesion was of intermediate signal intensity on T1-weighted sequences, increased signal intensity on T2-weighted sequences, with rim enhancement after gadolinium contrast injection and preservation of fatty marrow signal of the underlying pagetic bone. Identification of the entity avoided an unnecessary biopsy or surgical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to assess the use of testicular sperm for ICSI in azoospermic men with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism unresponsive to gonadotrophin therapy. METHODS: Fifteen patients with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism who remained azoospermic after hormonal treatment underwent testicular sperm extraction (TESE) and ICSI. These men were recruited from the Egyptian IVF centre over a period of 4 years. All patients were given 75 IU hMG thrice weekly and 5000 IU hCG once or twice weekly for ≥6 months prior to attempting ICSI/TESE. RESULTS: In 11 out of 15 patients (73%), sperm could be retrieved from testicular tissue and were used for ICSI. Two chemical pregnancies resulted but no clinical pregnancies. Nine patients continued gonadotrophin therapy for another 6 months. Sperm appeared in the ejaculate of three of them. The remaining six patients underwent another ICSI cycle, one using cryopreserved sperm and five underwent a second TESE. One chemical pregnancy and three clinical pregnancies were established. One ongoing, one singleton and one twin pregnancies resulted in the delivery of three healthy babies. In total, of 17 ICSI cycles performed using testicular sperm retrieval, the fertilization rate was 41.7% and the cumulative pregnancy rate was 20%. CONCLUSIONS: The use of testicular sperm for ICSI is a treatment option that can be offered to azoospermic males with hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism either not responding or reluctant to continue hormonal treatment. However, prolonged hormonal treatment may improve TESE/ICSI results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding of the plasma physics in ablating carbon arcs plays an important role in the synthesis of carbon nanomaterials. In this paper, ablating carbon arc discharges in atmospheric pressure conditions are modeled using a one-dimensional fluid model. The mass and momentum conservation equations are solved for individual species in the arc, and intermolecular collisions between species are considered. Energy equations for the electrons and the heavy species are solved separately without the use of local thermodynamic equilibrium condition. The bulk plasma model is coupled with sheath models at the electrodes, which provide the sheath potential drop and electrode temperatures. A model to determine the size of the cathode deposit formation is also proposed using the principle of minimized energy loss. The numerical results show a qualitative agreement with experiments for the transition between low and high ablation modes that is observed when varying the total current or the anode diameter. While the numerical results suggest that the electron and heavy species temperatures are not in equilibrium, mainly due to the one-dimensional approximation of the model, it is shown that the radiative heat flux between the electrodes plays an important role in determining the anode temperature, which affects the ablation rate and in turn the bulk plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the design and characterization of two reconfigurable MEMS discrete capacitor banks for high power and low frequency applications. The first design is a 3-bit capacitor bank built using three parallel-connected series-switched comb-drive capacitors with appropriately scaled values. The second design is a compact discretized comb-drive varactor that can be operated as 2-bit or 3-bit capacitor bank depending on the number of latched states. Both devices are demonstrated using the METALMUMP process where 20 µm-thick plated nickel is the only structural and metal layer. The MEMS switches use thermal actuation with chevron actuator design. This allows for large displacements at relatively low actuation voltages. Using mechanical latching for both designs, the switch reconfiguration energy is minimized. The relatively very high mechanical stiffness inherent to both thermal actuator designs provides an excellent immunity to self-actuation at high RF power levels. The proposed MEMS switches are capable of operating under low-pressure conditions (e.g. in a package), without degradation of their thermo-mechanical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]