We investigated the microbial contamination of suction tubes attached to wall-type suction instruments. Microbial contamination of suction tubes used for endoscopy or sputum suction in hospital wards was examined before and after their disinfection. In addition, disinfection and washing methods for suction tubes were evaluated. Suction tubes (n=33) before disinfection were contaminated with 10(...

Suction-feeding fishes exhibit diverse prey-capture strategies that vary in their relative use of suction and predator approach (ram), which is often referred to as the ram-suction continuum. Previous research has found that ram varies more than suction distance among species, such that ram accounts for most differences in prey-capture behaviors. To determine whether these findings hold at broa...

The nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum, is an obligate suction feeder that preys on benthic invertebrates and fish. Its cranial morphology exhibits a suite of structural and functional modifications that facilitate this mode of prey capture. During suction-feeding, subambient pressure is generated by the ventral expansion of the hyoid apparatus and the floor of its buccopharyngeal cavity. As i...

Suction-based end effectors are widely used in industry and are often preferred over parallel-jaw and multifinger grippers due to their ability to lift objects with a single point of contact. This ability simplifies planning, and handcoded heuristics such as targeting planar surfaces are often used to select suction grasps based on point cloud data. In this paper, we propose a compliant suction...

Dear Editors, Suction blister roof grafting, a method of grafting the epidermis, has been used in the treatment of vitiligo and skin ulcers. Despite damage to keratinocytes and cell death during the suction procedure, application of suction blister roof to wounds appears to aid wound healing, possibly because of the production of cytokines such as TGF-α, PDGF, bFGF, VEGF, IL-1 and IL-6 (1). In ...

Unsaturated soils are commonly widespread around the world, especially at shallow depths from the surface. The mechanical behavior of this near surface soil is influenced by the seasonal variations such as rainfall or drought, which in turn may have a detrimental effect on many structures (e.g. retaining walls, shallow foundations, mechanically stabilized earth walls, soil slopes, and pavements...

We review the origins, prominent innovations, and major patterns of diversification in suction feeding by vertebrates. Non-vertebrate chordates and larval lamprey suspension-feed by capturing small particles in pharyngeal mucous. In most of these lineages the gentle flows that transport particles are generated by buccal cilia, although larval lamprey and thaliacean urochordates have independent...

OBJECTIVES The decision to proceed to simple underwater seal drainage or to apply active suction to the underwater seal following pulmonary operation is a controversial one. For the sake of selecting the alternative to reduce postoperative air leakage, we performed a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to determine the benefit of suction or non-suction following lung surgery on...

Most aquatic vertebrates use suction to capture food, relying on rapid expansion of the mouth cavity to accelerate water and food into the mouth. In ray-finned fishes, mouth expansion is both fast and forceful, and therefore requires considerable power. However, the cranial muscles of these fishes are relatively small and may not be able to produce enough power for suction expansion. The axial ...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of Tono-Pen XL in measuring IOP during the application of a suction ring in rabbit eyes with manometrically controlled IOP. METHODS Tono-Pen XL was calibrated against direct manometry in 10 rabbit eyes. A suction ring was then applied in 4 rabbit eyes and the IOP was determined manometrically during suction ring application at 350 mm...