This paper presents a new yet simple family of microactuators that provide both large displacements ( m) and high forces ( N) hence suitable for microvalves. The actuators use the high volumetric expansion of a sealed, surface micromachined patch of paraffin heated near its melting point to deform a sealing diaphragm. Two types of actuators were fabricated using a simple 2-mask process. The fir...

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia is a relatively rare disorder (1:3000 newborns) that frequently presents with respiratory distress in the immediate neonatal period due to severe pulmonary hypertension and lung hypoplasia. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) can be used as a last resort when artificial ventilation and/or modulation of the pulmonary vascular tone fail to improve the clinic...

Jarcho-Levin syndrome, also known as spondylothoracic dysplasia and characterized by short trunk dwarfism, "crab-like" rib cage, with ribs and vertebral defects; it is not uncommon in Puerto Ricans. Many patients die in early infancy due to respiratory compromise associated to lung restriction and the reported cases emphasize mostly the skeletal malformations associated to the syndrome. We repo...

TOPIC: Critical Care TYPE: Medical Student/Resident Case Reports INTRODUCTION: Chronic diaphragmatic paralysis is a rare but well documented complication of thymic cancer requiring thymectomy. Atrophy muscle directly contributes to reduced lung capacity and often results in atelectasis unilateral pulmonary hypoventilation. Paralyzed serves as structural weak point at the peritoneal-thoracic cav...

Maintaining traceability for transfer standards in the range of 10 Pa to 5 kPa is critical to many calibration laboratories. However, standards with suitable uncertainty that can also be practically implemented in the typical laboratory have not been available. A new pressure standard based on piston-cylinder technology has been developed that provides the measurement uncertainty needed to supp...

Being born directly into the aquatic environment creates unique challenges for the breathing muscles of neonatal cetaceans. Not only must these muscles be active at the instant of birth to ventilate the lungs, but their activities must also be coordinated with those of the locomotor muscles such that breathing takes place only at the water's surface. At least one major locomotory muscle of bott...

Diaphragmatic defects were identified in 11 of 130 golden lion tamarins. Seven of the cases were found at necropsy (52 tamarins) and 4 were diagnosed by radiography (78 tamarins). When screening radiography revealed a thoracic mass, a barium series was indicated and either demonstrated loops of bowel within the thorax or suggested liver displacement by the cranial location of the intestine. In ...