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Introduction: In high-volume trauma centers, especially in developing countries, penetrating cardiac box injuries are frequent. Although many aspects of penetrating chest injuries have been well established, video-assisted thoracoscopy is still finding its place in cardiac box trauma and algorithmic approaches are still lacking. The purpose of this manuscript is to provide a streamlined recommendation for penetrating cardiac box injury in stable patients. Methods: Literature review was carried out using PubMed/MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases to identify articles describing the characteristics and concepts of penetrating cardiac box trauma, including the characteristics of tamponade, cardiac ultrasound, indications and techniques of pericardial windows and, especially, the role of video-assisted thoracoscopy in stable patients. Results: Penetrating cardiac box injuries, whether by stab or gunshot wounds, require rapid surgical consultation. Unstable patients require immediate open surgery, however, determining which stable patients should be taken to thoracoscopic surgery is still controversial. Here, the classification of penetrating cardiac box injury used in Colombia is detailed, as well as the algorithmic approach to these types of trauma. Conclusion: Although open surgery is mandatory in unstable patients with penetrating cardiac box injuries, a more conservative and minimally invasive approach may be undertaken in stable patients. As rapid decision-making is critical in the trauma bay, surgeons working in high-volume trauma centers should expose themselves to thoracoscopy and always consider this possibility in the setting of penetrating cardiac box injuries in stable patients, always in the context of an experienced trauma team.

During the last decade, the use of renewable energy sources is dramatically increasing around the world. However, countries like the Puerto Rico depend in their majority on energy sources like petroleum or natural gas. To encourage the implementation of distributed generation systems using renewable energy sources, the Sustainability Energy Center (SEC) in the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez (UPRM) developed an AC Microgrid Testbed that will allow students and community to have a deeper understanding about the use of this type of technologies. In this work, the design and implementation of this AC Microgrid Testbed is presented. Experimental results of Voltage Proportional-Resonant Control for AC inverters are presented as well. Results from this development show adequate performance of the testbed and demonstrate its modularity of being used with different types of energy sources, filters, and topologies.