BACKGROUND Tissue expanders are used in breast reconstruction after mastectomy to stretch the remaining tissue to create space for placement of permanent breast implants. The AeroForm™ Tissue Expander, developed by AirXpanders™ Inc., contains electronic components designed to activate the release of carbon dioxide from an internal reservoir to inflate the expander. Breast cancer patients who un...

This study analyzed occlusal radiographs to compare the transverse changes produced in patients treated with rapid maxillary expansion using two types of appliances. The sample consisted of 31 children aged 7 to 10.6 years, of both genders, with posterior cross-bite. Fifteen children were treated with a tooth-borne expander and 16 were treated with a tooth-tissue-borne expander. Occlusal radiog...

BACKGROUND In this finite element (FE) study, the stress distribution and displacement pattern was evaluated in the mid-palatal area and around circum-maxillary sutures exerted by bone-borne palatal expander (BBPE) in comparison with conventional HYRAX rapid palatal expander in unilateral cleft lip and palate. METHODS Computed tomography scan images of a patient with unilateral cleft palate w...

An organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is a power cycle employing an organic working fluid. The term ORC is also applied generally to any Rankine cycle with a low-grade heat source (80° – 300 o C). Because ORC are often employed in small-scale applications, use of positive displacement equipment is favored over the centrifugal units used in large-scale power plants. A key feature of a positive displace...

Introduction: With the impossibility of prosthetic implantation with a definitive final volume due to dehiscence and posterior extrusion risks, the development of skin-sparing mastectomy provides an ideal condition for the use of a definitive expander implant. Therefore, this study aimed to demonstrate the use of a definitive expander implant and discuss its indications, cutaneous incision, and...

The discovery of Turbo Codes in 1996 by Berrou et. al. proved to be a huge boost for the research of channel coding. The Turbo Principle behind turbo codes was found to be applicable in other areas. One of these areas is Multiuser Detection. In this thesis, Turbo Multiuser Detection is investigated in order to answer two main questions. The questions concern the performance gain that is obtaine...

Micro (0.5–10 kW) organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power systems are nowadays considered for domestic power generation. Selection of a suitable expander is one of the most important problems connected with the domestic ORC system design. Volumetric machines or micro-turbines can be adopted as an expander in domestic ORC systems. Scroll and screw expanders are a common choice and were successfully ap...

The current study investigates experimentally the potential of integrating a scroll expander into a micro cogeneration steam Rankine cycle. This expander technology is not an existing technical option for such applications; consequently an existing oil-free scroll compressor is adapted to run in an expander mode with water as working fluid. The performance of the adapted scroll expander, with d...