Search

The kidney is an important organ of the human body. However, the morbidity and mortality of endstage renal disease (ESRD) have been increasing year after year. Currently, the best treatment for ESRD is kidney transplantation. However, the extreme lack of donor kidneys causes many people to die in queues waiting for a kidney source. Fortunately, recent advances in bioengineering, stem cells, and regenerative medicine have raised new hopes that there may be a viable way to form new transplantable kidneys. Kidney scaffolds have had all cellular components removed, but retain intact extracellular matrix (ECM). However, there are still many challenges, such as thrombosis, before this potential therapy can be used in clinical patients. Vascularization is a key part of the success of tissue engineering and a vital factor for maintaining organ function. Endothelial cells are crucial in the formation of vessels in kidney scaffolds. The primary challenge of recellularized kidney scaffolds is to re-endothelialize the renal vasculature. Unfortunately, until now, there have been no report demonstrating successful vascularization in bioengineering kidney scaffolds, such as uniform endothelial cell coverage of vascular walls, no thrombosis and blood flow maintenance for a long time. Hence, this review mainly discusses the development of endothelial cells in the re-endothelialized vasculature of renal scaffolds.

Decellularized extracellular matrix (dECM) is widely used in regenerative medicine as a scaffold material due to its unique biological activity and good biocompatibility. Hydrogel is a three-dimensional network structure polymer with high water content and high swelling that can simulate the water environment of human tissues, has good biocompatibility, and can exchange nutrients, oxygen, and waste with cells. At present, hydrogel is the ideal biological material for tissue engineering. In recent years, rapid development of the hydrogel theory and technology and progress in the use of dECM to form hydrogels have attracted considerable attention to dECM hydrogels as an innovative method for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This article introduces the classification of hydrogels, and focuses on the history and formation of dECM hydrogels, the source of dECM, the application of dECM hydrogels in tissue engineering and the commercial application of dECM materials.

On a cool, overcast morning in Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, a chunky and colorfully painted ferry waits at a dock as a stream of passengers clambers aboard. It's Chinese New Year 2017, and white-gloved officials are standing at the rails, beaming and waving. The boat, called Happiness, isn't a new boat. Indeed, the years of wear and tear are quite obvious. But as a blue banner across the boat's side proclaims, Happiness has been retrofitted with a direct-current hybrid-electric microgrid, and this is the reborn ship's inaugural voyage. Most of the passengers have no idea what makes this boat so special, but all of them can appreciate the absence of diesel fumes, the whisper-quiet propulsion, and the lack of jarring vibrations from the deck.

Electric Vehicle is widely used in passenger service gradually. It is a critical successful factor to have a sufficient electric energy supply. In order to solve the constraint of economical issue, the fast charging method can decrease the charging time such that the service time can be extended without dramatically increasing the battery numbers. This research develops a fast charging system which follows international regulation. The fast charging system includes a charging station simulation system, a battery loading simulation system, and a charging controller mounted on a fast charging vehicle. This system has completed connection tests with charging stations of ABB from Europe and Delta in Taiwan and also finished system verification with Japan HASETEC, which is a major company involving in CHAdeMO association affair. The developing charging controller undergoes several charging/discharging experiments for marine high capacity lithium ion battery module. The cells of the battery module still maintain reasonable balance status after charging process, which proves the developed charging controller of this research can safely and efficiently fast charge a lithium battery module via high voltage direct current. It is the goal for this research that promote adopting electric boat in touring water field for carbon emission reduction and water resource protection can be realized all at once.

Cubital tunnel syndrome is often accompanied by paresthesia in ulnar nerve sites and hand muscle atrophy. When muscle weakness occurs, or after failure of more conservative treatments, anterior transposition is used. In the present study, the ulnar nerve and its blood vessels were examined in the elbows of 18 adult cadavers, and the external diameter of the nutrient vessels of the ulnar nerve at the point of origin, the distances between the origin of the vessels and the medial epicondyle of the humerus, and the length of the vessels accompanying the ulnar nerve in the superior ulnar collateral artery, the inferior ulnar collateral artery, and the posterior ulnar recurrent artery were measured. Anterior transposition of the vascularized ulnar nerve was performed to treat cubital tunnel syndrome. The most appropriate distance that the vascularized ulnar nerve can be moved to the subcutaneous tissue under tension-free conditions was 1.8 ± 0.6 cm (1.1-2.5 cm), which can be used as a reference value during the treatment of cubital tunnel syndrome with anterior transposition of the vascularized ulnar nerve.

Epileptic spike is an indicator of hyper-excitability and hyper-synchrony in the neural networks. The inhibitory effects of spikes on theta rhythms (4-8 Hz) might be helpful to understand the mechanism of epileptic damage on the cognitive functions. To quantitatively evaluate the inhibitory effects of spikes on theta rhythms, intracerebral electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings with both sporadic spikes (SSs) and spike-free transient period between adjacent spikes were selected in 4 patients in the status of rapid eyes movement (REM) sleep with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) under the pre-surgical monitoring. The electrodes of hippocampal CA3 and entorhinal cortex (EC) were employed, since CA3 and EC built up one of key loops to investigate cognition and epilepsy. These SSs occurred only in CA3, only in EC, or in both CA3 and EC synchronously. Theta power was respectively estimated around SSs and during the spike-free transient period by Gabor wavelet transform and Hilbert transform. The intermittent extent was then estimated to represent for the loss of theta rhythms during the spike-free transient period. The following findings were obtained: (1) The prominent rhythms were in theta frequency band; (2) The spikes could transiently reduce theta power, and the inhibitory effect was severer around SSs in both CA3 and EC synchronously than that around either SSs only in EC or SSs only in CA3; (3) During the spike-free transient period, theta rhythms were interrupted with the intermittent theta rhythms left and theta power level continued dropping, implying the inhibitory effect was sustained. Additionally, the intermittent extent of theta rhythms was converged to the inhibitory extent around SSs; (4) The average theta power level during the spike-free transient period might not be in line with the inhibitory extent of theta rhythms around SSs. It was concluded that the SSs had negative effects on theta rhythms transiently and directly, the inhibitory effects aroused by SSs sustained during the spike-free transient period and were directly related to the intermittent extent. It was indicated that the loss of theta rhythms might qualify exactly the sustained inhibitory effects on theta rhythms aroused by spikes in EEG. The work provided an argumentation about the relationship between the transient negative impact of interictal spike and the loss of theta rhythms during spike-free activity for the first time, offered an intuitive methodology to estimate the inhibitory effect of spikes by EEG, and might be helpful to the analysis of EEG rhythms based on local field potentials (LFPs) in deep brain.

To provide the anatomical basis of brachial plexus roots for the diagnosis and treatment of brachial plexus root avulsion injury. The morphological features of brachial plexus roots were observed and measured on 15 cervicothoracic spine of adult cadavers. The relationship of brachial plexus nerve roots and the surrounding tissues also were observed, as well as the blood supply of anterior and posterior roots of the brachial plexus. Origination of the nerve roots in the dorsal–ventral direction from the midline was fine-tuned at each level along the spinal cord. The minimum distance of the origin of the nerve root to midline was 2.2 mm at C 5, while the maximum was 3.1 mm at T 1. Inversely, the distance between the origin of the posterior root and the midline of the spinal cord gradually decreased, the maximum being 4.2 mm at C 5 and minimum 2.7 mm at T 1. Meanwhile, there was complicated fibrous connection among posterior roots of the brachial plexus. The C 5–6 nerve roots interlaced with tendons of the scalenus anterior and scalenus medius and fused with the transverse-radicular ligaments in the intervertebral foramina. However, these ligaments were not seen in C 7–8, and T 1. The blood supply of the anterior and posterior roots of the brachial plexus was from the segmental branches of the vertebral artery, deep cervical artery and ascending cervical artery, with a mean outer diameter of 0.61 mm. The systematic and comprehensive anatomic data of the brachial plexus roots provides the anatomical basis to diagnose and treat the brachial plexus root avulsion injury.

An edge Roman dominating function of a graph G is a function $$f:E(G) \rightarrow \{0,1,2\}$$f:E(G)ź{0,1,2} satisfying the condition that every edge e with $$f(e)=0$$f(e)=0 is adjacent to some edge $$e'$$eź with $$f(e')=2$$f(eź)=2. The edge Roman domination number of G, denoted by $$\gamma '_R(G)$$źRź(G), is the minimum weight $$w(f) = \sum _{e\in E(G)} f(e)$$w(f)=źeźE(G)f(e) of an edge Roman dominating function f of G. This paper disproves a conjecture of Akbari, Ehsani, Ghajar, Jalaly Khalilabadi and Sadeghian Sadeghabad stating that if G is a graph of maximum degree $$\Delta $$Δ on n vertices, then $$\gamma _R'(G) \le \lceil \frac{\Delta }{\Delta +1} n \rceil $$źRź(G)≤źΔΔ+1nź. While the counterexamples having the edge Roman domination numbers $$\frac{2\Delta -2}{2\Delta -1} n$$2Δ-22Δ-1n, we prove that $$\frac{2\Delta -2}{2\Delta -1} n + \frac{2}{2\Delta -1}$$2Δ-22Δ-1n+22Δ-1 is an upper bound for connected graphs. Furthermore, we provide an upper bound for the edge Roman domination number of k-degenerate graphs, which generalizes results of Akbari, Ehsani, Ghajar, Jalaly Khalilabadi and Sadeghian Sadeghabad. We also prove a sharp upper bound for subcubic graphs. In addition, we prove that the edge Roman domination numbers of planar graphs on n vertices is at most $$\frac{6}{7}n$$67n, which confirms a conjecture of Akbari and Qajar. We also show an upper bound for graphs of girth at least five that is 2-cell embeddable in surfaces of small genus. Finally, we prove an upper bound for graphs that do not contain $$K_{2,3}$$K2,3 as a subdivision, which generalizes a result of Akbari and Qajar on outerplanar graphs.

Epilepsy clinically has an inhibitory impact on cognitive function, but whether it is associated with epileptogenesis is unclear. Since the epileptic spike characterizes temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the present study was aimed to analyze the transient effects of sporadic spikes (SSs) on theta rhythm during epileptogenesis. The local field potentials (LFPs) were recorded in CA1 area in four rats with the pilocarpine injections during exploration, and theta phase stability and power were globally estimated around SSs, also during prolonged period without SS (both as experiments) as well as pre-injections (control). Finally, the LFPs were simulated by changing the average excitatory and inhibitory synaptic gain values (including slow and fast inhibition loops) with the help of simplified dynamical model of CA1 networks, and then theta phase stability was evaluated in several cases. It was found that the SSs could have negative impacts on theta rhythm both transiently and persistently, which may be dependent on the temporal courses leading to epilepsy, being acuter in early stage than later stage, but even in latent stage, theta power was strong. The simulations partly demonstrated that the synaptic imbalance concomitant with the occurrence of SSs might be related to the dynamics of theta phase stability. The results indicate that the SSs might have persistent negative impacts on the cognition rhythm, and the effects might alter during epileptogenesis, leading to the cognitive dysfunction.

System integration is crucial to fuel cells. In addition to considering relative control rules and treatment of the reactants, the design and control of the balance of plant (BOP) are vitally important for a self-sustainable and optimized fuel cell system. In this study, a fuel cell control system is developed by utilizing an instrument-based system integration platform and sensor-less fuel concentration estimation and verification. A control measure is determined by both consumption and concentration change of the fuel. The feasibility of the sensor-less fuel concentration estimation is verified by experimental results. A testing platform, integrating software and hardware, which is used for the direct liquid fuel cell system, has developed in this study. It is an beneficial and flexible tool for developing relative controlling algorithms, evaluating efficiency of cells, or designing BOP of fuel cells.

Spontaneous low-frequency brain rhythms could be associated with many neural functions, which were usually evaluated by physical parameters, such as power, frequency, and phase. However, how the parameters might be affected by the electrical features of brain tissue and the electrical activity of the rhythm source is not yet clearly known. To address this issue, the electrical significance of power and narrow-band phase stability (NBPS) was investigated by simulated rhythms. The rhythms were derived from the oscillatory field potentials (FPs) on a homogeneous sphere model of the solution to the electroencephalogram (EEG) forward problem. The sphere's electrical feature was set as isotropic or anisotropic conductivity. The source was set as a quasi-static dipole current, whose activity was representative of a low-frequency sine oscillation with a nonlinear phase course, and the source location was changeable. After the instantaneous power and phase of simulated rhythms were estimated by the Hilbert transformation, the NBPS was calculated and the statistical properties of power and NBPS were analyzed. It was found that only nonlinear phase dynamics could lower the NBPS. However, power depended on many factors, such as conducting anisotropy, amplitude and positon of dipole current, and meshes on the sphere model. We hypothesized that NBPS would map the influence of nonlinear phase dynamics on the brain rhythms, but be independent of power. This research might highlight the nonlinear phase dynamics of intrinsic low-frequency oscillations in the brain. The results might be beneficial for the measurement and analysis of spontaneous EEG rhythms.

To find out the advantages and insufficiency of the 3D reconstruction and traditional anatomy by comparing them with each other. 1. Infused with the radio-opaque material from the arteries and veins, respectively, fresh lower extremity specimens were subjected to spiral CT scanning and then 3D reconstruction was conducted to obtain 3D vessels. 2. Anatomizing the specimens to show the vessel system. 3. Comparing the images of 3D reconstruction and photos of the dissected specimens. 3D software could dissect and reconstruct the bones, vessels, skin and muscles, and the reconstructed photos could be shown, respectively or combinedly. On the other hand, the course, distribution, and anastomoses of the vessels could be viewed from different aspects and different layers, but the results were not completely correct, so they were not suitable for data acquisition. While the vessel systems could be observed clearly on the dissected specimens, so could the origin, course, distribution and the anastomoses of any vessel. The data acquisition could be conducted. The method of angiography with 3D reconstruction is very good and has considerable advantages for observing the 3D state of human blood vessels, and their distribution at different angles and different levels, but it cannot totally represent or replace the traditional dissected specimens.

Objective The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) on color duplex sonography (CDUS). Methods We retrospectively reviewed 115 nodules (104 patients) with PTC confirmed by pathology from February 1, 2005, to August 31, 2008. The size, border, calcification, echotexture, hemodynamics (peak systolic velocity and resistance index) of the thyroid nodules and cervical lymph nodes on CDUS were analyzed. Results There was a close relationship between the size of the nodule and the vascularity of the thyroid carcinoma ( P =.000). Microcalcification increased the suspicion for malignancy of the thyroid nodule. A hypoechoic thyroid nodule with abundant internal vascularity, ill-defined border and microcalcification was highly suggested PTC. Conclusion CDUS plays an important role in the early detection of PTC and cervical lymph node metastasis, which would provide surgeons with valuable information for planning surgical intervention. Mastering manifestations of PTC on CDUS will improve the accuracy in the diagnosis of PTC. CDUS-guided fine needle aspiration of the thyroid nodule is the standard in the diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma and metastasis pre- and postthyroidectomy.

To describe the morphometry of iliac columns for transiliac screw and to testify the conformity among the anatomic measurement, two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography.We evaluated the length, inner width, and angle of three screw trajectories starting at the iliac tubercle, posterior superior iliac spine, and posterior inferior iliac spine toward the anterior inferior iliac spine. Measurements were made on specimen, two- and 3D computed tomography using 18 embalmed cadaveric pelves.There was no significant difference among three measure methods. The path between the posterior superior iliac spine and anterior inferior iliac spine had the largest iliac column length, with 135 mm in male and 110 mm in female. The canal allowed placement of 8-mm screw in male and 6.5 mm in female with the angle of 25 degrees laterally directed from the midsagittal plane. The line between the posterior inferior iliac spine and anterior inferior iliac spine was below or just located at the top of greater sciatic notch in the majority measurements. The safe section for transiliac screw approximately located above the greater sciatic notch and could be divided into anterior and posterior parts.The measurements among anatomic measurement, 2D and 3D computed tomography are consistent. The screw path from the posterior superior iliac spine toward anterior inferior iliac spine provided the longest anchor site. At the same time, the line between the posterior inferior iliac spine and anterior inferior iliac spine is not available for transiliac screw insertion of eastern population. The posterior of the safe section also can be regarded as another ilium anchorage area for transiliac screws.

The use of free vascularized nerve grafts requires an intimate and accurate knowledge of the blood supply of peripheral nerve. This study was designed to compare the advantages and disadvantages of three methods employed to reveal the blood supply of the peripheral nerve, and to provide morphological basis for vascularized nerve grafts.The blood supply of brachial plexus and its main branches (ulnar, median, radial, musculocutaneous and axillary nerve) were observed using three vascular injection techniques: three specimens were injected with red latex through the thoracic aorta; two side specimens were injected with a Chinese ink solution, through the subclavian artery, for diaphanization and histology; one fresh cadaver was injected with the gelatin-lead oxide mixture through the femoral artery for radiography.The blood supply of the brachial plexus and its main branches was well examined using the three different vascular injection techniques. Perfusion with red latex exposed the extrinsic blood supply. Diaphanization and histology showed the intrinsic blood supply, while gelatin-lead oxide injection technique interactively displayed both the intrinsic and extrinsic blood supply to the peripheral nerve.The standard method for the study of the extrinsic blood supply to the peripheral nerve is the red latex perfusion; diaphanization and histology are very suitable to study the intrinsic blood supply of the peripheral nerve; while gelatin-lead oxide technique is the standard for visualization of the integral topography of the blood supply of the peripheral nerve.

The aim of this study was to provide the anatomical basis for the skin flap pedicled with the nutrient vessels of the cutaneous nerves and cutaneous veins of the upper extremity. Radio-opaque material was injected into the common carotid arteries of five fresh cadavers. The skin and the fascia were meticulously dissected, removed, and radiographed. The Photoshop CS and Scion image 4.02 were used to analyze the cutaneous arteries, the density of vessels, and the vascular territories of the perforator arteries. The results showed that the cutaneous arteries of the upper extremity came from 16 original arteries, and accordingly, the superficial tissue of the upper extremity could be divided into 16 vascular territories. The external diameter and the area of blood supply of each perforator were growing downwards from the proximum to the distal end. But the points at which the perforator arteries came out from the deep tissue were concentrated near the cutaneous nerves and cutaneous veins, and the arteries formed vascular chains. The density of the arteries near the cutaneous nerves and cutaneous veins was much higher than that of other areas. This article discussed the regularity of the nutrient vessels of the cutaneous nerves and veins on the basis of the experimental results.

The goal of this study was to confirm the decrease in radiation time required for a new technique to place dynamic hip screws (DHS) in intertrochanteric fractures. Seventy-six patients were treated with DHS by either the new technique (NT) or the conventional technique (CT). The width of femoral shaft, the length of the hip screw to be implanted into the injured side, and the distance between the tip of the greater trochanter and the entry point of the guide wire were measured at the uninjured side on the anteroposterior pelvic radiograph preoperatively, and the actual width of the injured femoral shaft was measured intra-operatively. Finally, the entry point and the length of hip screw were obtained through an equation. Mean radiation time of the NT patients (24.57 ± 7.80 s) was significantly shorter than the CT patients (54.2 ± 18.26 s) (P

The aim of this study was to establish a 3D digitized model of pelvic vasculature for anatomic study, preoperative planning, and virtual reality. Three adult fresh cadavers were perfused with carboxymethyl cellulose/lead oxide mixture to mark blood vessels, and subjected to multilayer spiral computed tomography scanning to obtain a series of thin sections. Then, the 2D images of the pelvis and pelvic blood vessels were transformed into 3D digitized models using Mimics 11.0. The 2D images of carboxymethyl cellulose/lead oxide filled arteries had the features of entire outline and few constructed defects. The 3D digitized models of the pelvis and pelvic artery system displayed spatial location and the adjacent relationship of arteries with the pelvis. Not only the well-known arteries but also the tiny blood vessels in the reconstructed structures were well demonstrated and observed interactively. The reconstructed tissue flaps, including a lobulated skin flap with the pedicel of superficial epigastric artery, and an iliac flap with the pedicel of deep iliac circumflex artery, demonstrated their blood supply area. This indicated that the modified technique of vascular perfusion with carboxymethyl cellulose/lead oxide and reconstitution with Mimics 11.0 software contributed to 3D digitized model of pelvic vasculature.

Liquid crystal display (LCD) drivers usually operate at low speed, and have a low input-count but high output-count with multilevel voltages. A novel built-in-self-test (BIST) method for LCD drivers is proposed to reduce testing costs. This BIST circuit will be placed in the sawing lanes to reduce the chip area. The chip overhead and the testing costs are reduced, while the test coverage can be maintained.

Suppose $G$ is a finite abelian group and $S$ is a sequence of elements in $G$. For any element $g$ of $G$, let $N_g(S)$ denote the number of subsequences of $S$ with sum $g$. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lower bound for $N_g(S)$. In particular, we prove that either $N_g(S)=0$ or $N_g(S) \ge 2^{|S|-D(G)+1}$, where $D(G)$ is the smallest positive integer $\ell$ such that every sequence over $G$ of length at least $\ell$ has a nonempty zero-sum subsequence. We also characterize the structures of the extremal sequences for which the equality holds for some groups., 9 pages